#264 – Introducing the Serious Sellers Club, and More!

At Helium 10, our goal is to make life easier for Amazon and other e-commerce sellers. We do that with our tools, and also with the community we continue to build that helps inspire and connect you with others that strive (like you do), to be the best!

That’s why today on the Serious Sellers Podcast, Helium 10’s Director of Training and Chief Evangelist, Bradley Sutton welcomes teammates to talk about three exciting new initiatives from Helium 10. Chelsea, a Brand Marketing Manager, Colleen, a Product Manager, and Dwight, a Video Content Producer and Creator take turns discussing the latest of our efforts to continually bring value to our users and to the e-commerce community as a whole.

First, Chelsea talks about how we’re celebrating (and rewarding) Helium 10 users with membership in the Serious Sellers Club for reaching six, seven, and eight figures of sales on Amazon. Then, we’ll hear from Colleen how Helium 10 is assembling an industry-leading all-star team of trusted companies to be part of our new Trusted Partner Directory.

Last, Dwight will tell us all about a thrilling and inspiring new Docu-Series he has produced highlighting (four separate) intimate stories of what it’s like to sell online and be part of an exploding ecosystem.

There’s something in this episode for everyone!

In episode 264 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley, Chelsea, Colleen, and Dwight discuss:

• 03:15 – A Passion for Storytelling
• 06:00 – Sundance, Venice, and Helium 10
• 07:45 – Announcing the Serious Sellers Club  
• 10:30 – Exclusive Access to a Serious Sellers Club LinkedIn Group
• 13:00 – Helium 10’s Trusted Partner Directory
• 15:40 – Who is the Directory Designed for?
• 17:30 – The New Elevate Mini Docu-Series
• 20:15 – Goodfellas Meets E-Commerce
• 25:30 – How to Apply to the Serious Sellers Club
• 28:00 – Here’s Where to Find the Helium 10 Partner Directory 
• 30:30 – Who is Part of the Vendor Directory?  
• 32:30 – Inspiration is Goal #1  
• 33:30 – Tools of Titans  
• 35:00 – It Takes a Village (to Create Great Content)  

Enjoy this episode? Be sure to check out our previous episodes for even more content to propel you to Amazon FBA Seller success! And don’t forget to “Like” our Facebook page and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Google Podcast or wherever you listen to our podcast.

Want to absolutely start crushing it on Amazon? Here are few carefully curated resources to get you started:

• Freedom Ticket: Taught by Amazon thought leader Kevin King, get A-Z Amazon strategies and techniques for establishing and solidifying your business.
• Ultimate Resource Guide: Discover the best tools and services to help you dominate on Amazon.
• Helium 10: 20+ software tools to boost your entire sales pipeline from product research to customer communication and Amazon refund automation. Make running a successful Amazon business easier with better data and insights. See what our customers have to say.
• Helium 10 Chrome Extension: Verify your Amazon product idea and validate how lucrative it can be with over a dozen data metrics and profitability estimation. 
• SellerTradmarks.com: Trademarks are vital for protecting your Amazon brand from hijackers, and sellertrademarks.com provides a streamlined process for helping you get one.

Transcript

Bradley Sutton: Today, we’re going to talk about three new features and none of them are tools. But they were all designed to help motivate and inspire serious sellers out there of any level. Today, you’re going to get an inside look at these brand new things so that you can see how they can elevate your Amazon game. How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think.

Bradley Sutton: Hello, everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Serious Sellers Podcast by Helium 10. I am your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is a show that’s completely BS-free, unscripted, and unrehearsed with organic conversation about serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the Amazon world. I’ve got three people here, none of whom are sellers, but guess what? That’s alright. They are all involved in different projects that are aimed to help you serious sellers out there. I’m happy to introduce my three co-workers here. We’ve got Chelsea, Colleen, and Dwight. How’s it going, guys?

Chelsea: Hey, I’m great.

Dwight: I’m great. I’m great. Thank you.

Bradley Sutton: Awesome. Now, first of all, let me just see where you guys are all at. Chelsea, where exactly are you calling in from?

Chelsea: So, I’m going live from San Diego, California.

Bradley Sutton: Oh, right down here. You’re my neighbor here.

Chelsea: Yeah. Just a jump away.

Bradley Sutton: Yes. And Colleen, you’re in San Francisco, right?

Colleen: Yeah. Cloudy, chilly, San Francisco.

Bradley Sutton: Yeah. We don’t know anything about chilly this week down here in Southern California. This weekend is supposedly going to be ridiculous. And Dwight, are you in the orange county, LA area, or where are you at?

Dwight: I am in sunny Los Angeles.

Bradley Sutton: Sunny Los Angeles.

Dwight: Right up the street from the historical famous Paramount studios.

Bradley Sutton: All right, cool. Cool. Yeah, I know exactly where that’s at. So, you had quite a drive to go to the office back in the days, huh?

Dwight: Yes, I did.

Bradley Sutton: Yup. You and me, both. You’re coming from almost the opposite side of me, like an hour north and I was an hour south, but anyways, we’re not here to talk about our drives. We’re here to talk about the new, exciting things that you guys have in store, but just real quick, I love to get the background and it’s just so interesting, whether we’re talking to Amazon sellers or Helium 10 employees here. We all end up kind of in the same ecosystem, but we all come from such different backgrounds and educations and things. So first of all, Chelsea, what was your career before this? What did you study in college?

Chelsea: Yeah, so I was a marketing major in college. I graduated from the University of San Diego and since graduating–

Bradley Sutton: Toreros?

Chelsea: Yeah, Toreros. And since graduating, I’ve always been on the agency side, so I’ve worked in advertising and have a performance marketing background, but I always had a passion for storytelling and wanted to go into the brand side and have been at Helium 10 for about four months now. It’s truly just been such an incredible experience and I’ve been able to kind of flex that storytelling aspect of my brain and that’s what I want to do with my career long term so it’s been great.

Bradley Sutton: I mean, was I correct in saying you have never sold on Amazon yourself, right?

Chelsea: Yeah. No, this industry has been completely new to me, I would say in the last like six months. So it was so much to learn, but so exciting.

Bradley Sutton: For somebody new like you who just maybe didn’t even know that– maybe you knew people sold on Amazon, but you have probably no idea of the extent, like in these four or five months you’ve been with us now. What is one or two of the biggest eye-opening things where you like, “are you serious? You can do that” Or what’s been your biggest revelation now that you’ve entered into this whole Amazon world?

Chelsea: Yeah, I think– so, I actually went through a Freedom Ticket when I first started at Helium 10. And I remember having this kind of aha moment, maybe halfway through the course where I was like, wow, this is a legit, incredible opportunity. And I’m not an idiot! I think I could do this. I think it was just having that kind of aha moment and realizing that this is a good opportunity and that so many people have seen success. And now maybe who knows, maybe I will become a seller in the future.

Bradley Sutton: Okay. Cool. Now, Colleen, you’re next up. You’ve been with us for a year now?

Colleen: Yeah, I joined at the end of August last year.

Bradley Sutton: End of August last year. Okay. So yeah, about a year now and you too did not have an Amazon selling background, right?

Colleen: Yeah. Not everything Amazon is selling. I’d worked in e-comm for a while with some of our competitors, like the brick and mortar stores. So, it was really interesting to kind of learn more about, I guess, the other side of the market.

Bradley Sutton: Okay. And what about you, what was your major in school and what kind of job did you have before Helium 10?

Colleen: I was a philosophy major. So, if anyone ever wants to talk about that, I’m super down. But before I worked at Helium 10, I was a product manager, so I would work with our engineering teams and stuff. I did a lot of advertising, like on TV, digital, etc. and I just kind of slowly moved into the kind of role that I am in now. So, yeah, it’s been a fun career.

Bradley Sutton: Awesome. Awesome. Well, welcome to the team. And then Dwight, I think you’ve been here the longest out of everyone here, but me in this group here. When did you join the company?

Dwight: I came on in November 2019.

Bradley Sutton: 2019. Alright. Coming up on two years. And what about you? What did you study in college and what kind of job did you have before Helium 10?

Dwight: Yeah, my background is in filmmaking; I studied film at Georgia State University, and at Santa Monica College, as well. And before I came on at Helium 10, I was actually an associate producer of a feature film called American Skin, which we won an award at the Venice film festival in 2019.

Bradley Sutton: Now we’re here to talk about some new tools, some new features, some new programs that we have here at Helium 10. And one thing is I actually said tools, but now I think none of these that we’re talking about today is necessarily a tool. And that’s one thing that I think is really cool about Helium 10. We’re not here just to– yeah, sure, you can call us a SaaScompany, software as a service. We have software, that’s our bread and butter, but we understand that for an Amazon seller to succeed, for any e-commerce seller to succeed, there’s so much more to it than just providing analytical tools. And so we really try to focus on things like, what are the things that we can do that will inspire our customers, where are the things that we can do that can help them outside of just the tool suite or what kind of things can motivate them. And I think those three things, along with just general help, is almost like a general theme of the new things that we’re going to talk about today. So let’s just go back to Chelsea for a second. Chelsea, first of all, I forgot to ask you this. And I don’t even know this myself. What is your official title here at Helium 10?

Chelsea: My official title is brand marketing manager.

Bradley Sutton: Brand marketing manager. Okay. So, this I believe was one of your first projects and go ahead and announce it. What is this that actually might be the first time anybody’s hearing about this because this is something brand new to Helium 10.

Chelsea: Yes. So hot off the presses. We’re super excited to announce the Serious Sellers Club. And what that is, is we’re creating a new community for our sellers who’ve reached six, seven and eight figures in annual revenue on Amazon. And you really touched on a good point there, Bradley. I think we talk a lot about how we really want to be there for our customers every step of the way throughout their seller journey. But how do we really formally recognize that? And especially for some of these achievements in big revenue milestones, that’s just something that we really wanted to do in terms of creating a space within our community for sellers who’ve reached these tiers and then create a new community. So, really excited to officially announce that, and this is launching in the next couple of weeks.

Bradley Sutton: Awesome. Awesome. Okay. So my first question is when you say six, seven and eight figures in annual revenue, is that in a calendar year or what’s the factor there?

Chelsea: Yeah. So, because we’re launching this in 2021, you’ll be eligible based on your annual revenue for the calendar year of 2021. So, if you’ve already reached six figures of revenue this year, and you’re on pace to hit seven, we recommend holding off to apply for the six-figure tier. And once you hit that seven figure milestone, apply for that threshold.

Bradley Sutton: Oh, okay. All right. So let’s say, like Project X, I’m running that account. It’s probably not, I don’t think it’s not going to hit seven figures. We’ve already hit 6 figures for the year. So, how do I apply for this? And then what do I get when I apply and then like, are you guys like verifying that I’m not just making it up, that I’m six figures? Like, are you verifying like my profits in Helium 10 to make sure Project X is, so you get six figures or what can you talk about that?

Chelsea: Yes. Great question. So, I’ll kind of walk you through how to apply and what the benefits are. So, the first step will be going to helium10.com/ssc, and that will give you a good overview of everything the club has to offer some of the benefits and eligibility factors. You do have to have your MWS token and profits enabled. So that’s the key thing there and definitely recommend applying with your Helium 10 email associated with your account. But essentially once you apply, we have a couple application questions and we will be validating your revenue based on what you input and just making sure that checks out with what is in the account. But once you’re admitted and once our team validates that, you’ll get access to a new LinkedIn group where you’ll be able to network with other sellers at the six, seven or eight figures in revenue. And you’ll be–

Bradley Sutton: LinkedIn?

Chelsea: Yeah.

Bradley Sutton: What is a LinkedIn group? I’ve never heard of this before.

Chelsea: Think of a Facebook group, but more for networking. I think it’s a little bit more professional. You can, I think the intent there is we wanted to create a new space where sellers within the Serious Sellers Club can ask for advice, or maybe you’re at the six figures, six figure tier. And you want advice from people who have hit seven and eight figures in revenue. And this is a space where you can reach out to people who have kind of crossed those milestones before and maybe identify some mentorship opportunities and just really have a safe space to connect with other people who are in the stage of selling that you’re at.

Bradley Sutton: Okay, cool. Now what– do I get a badge on my Helium 10 accounts? Do I get a sticker or a pin, or like what do I get if I want, if I’m proud about Project X and I want to show it off, what can I do? What can you help?

Chelsea: Totally. So I don’t want to give too much away yet. But once your application is validated and you’re confirmed, we will have a couple surprises initially with your acceptance email and we will be sending you a really cool physical award. And we love when you guys post and share that and tag us on social media. So, something to kind of commemorate your achievements and something physical that can really represent everything you’ve accomplished, because we know that entrepreneurship is not easy. And we want to give our sellers goals to continue to strive for. So, there will be a physical aspect as well. And then once you’re accepted, you’re also pretty much on our go-to list in terms of early bird and discounted access to Helium 10 events as we start to do more of those and more kinds of sweepstakes and things, exciting things to come down the line.

Bradley Sutton: Okay. All right. Cool. Now let’s go back to Colleen now. So Colleen, you talked about this just for a couple of minutes on our last Meganar that we did our quarterly webinar that we did a month ago or so, so can we talk more about it, I didn’t even mention it yet. I’m going to let you do that, but also again, what is your title, which I didn’t ask you at the beginning, and then what is the new feature that you’re going to be discussing today?

Colleen: Yeah, of course. So I’m a Product Manager at Helium 10, which means I’m really responsible I suppose, for bringing together all of our users’ ideas, and what like Helium 10 is going to make a huge impact and just kind of like bringing it to life. So, one of the things that we’ve noticed when we’ve seen a lot of feedback was that Amazon sellers really needed to find a place where they could find trustworthy partners to handle their taxes for shipping and fulfillment, to take their lifestyle photos for their listings. Helium 10 has so many relationships with top tier expert partners in those fields that we wanted to make it easy for our users and really any Amazon seller to access that. So, this quarter we’ve released what we’re calling the trusted partner directory, where people can go and find trusted professionals to help them build and expand their Amazon businesses.

Bradley Sutton: Okay, cool. Now what are like, what’s the criteria for who gets on this directory, like, I can’t just come on off the street and put my name down and boom, Helium 10 will put me up there and Bradley snake oil business is right there at the top. So like, how does one qualify, I guess?

Colleen: Absolutely. That’s a really good question. We have a pretty strict vetting process and an application process that partners with experts professionals have to go through to get added. So, we’re being really careful about what partners we put on that directory. Because we want to make sure that anyone in that directory of someone that Helium 10 itself trusts. And we thought that we would run behind.

Bradley Sutton: Now let’s say, I mean, nobody’s perfect, right. We have a strict vetting process, it sounds like, but maybe somebody who was good, I hit them up and I have a bad experience. So what should I do in that case? Like who can I report that to? Or what would happen if that happened?

Colleen: Yeah. Um, that’s a good question. It’s still a new directory. So, um, how, how I think that people can handle that is. We’re implementing reviews in the next couple of weeks that if I’ve worked with say some vendor and I had a really awesome experience, or maybe I had a so-so one, they can read a review on that partner’s profile so that one, like Helium 10 can learn about it, and two, like other sellers can kind of understand more about what that experience might be like. And then on the other side, what can you do for having a bad experience, we’re really just, we’re connecting sellers with these partners. So, we’re not handling any of the payment. We’re not handling any of that relationship building. So if there’s like a serious issue, one as a product manager, I would love to hear about it because I want to make sure we’re providing the best experience, but people should really make sure that they kind of vet and also kind of have a conversation with those vendors themselves so that they know that there’s someone they’d want to work with.

Bradley Sutton: Okay. Now I know this is still in its infancy. I don’t know how many we have, I’m guessing like 10, 15, 20, or something right now, but what are the types of– you mentioned some of that, like video, help with videos and shipping and things like that, but what are the types of companies that people can expect to find on there, if they’re on the Amazon seller side or what kind of companies are we inviting to apply? What are some of the services that you can think of that you would be looking for?

Colleen: Yeah. So, to answer your last question first, the people that we’re looking for are really anyone related to Amazon selling. So, if you’re a photographer and you do lifestyle, or if you’re an accountant and you’re really, really good with doing sales taxes, those are the people that we’d love to see in the directory. I think the most popular categories actually, no, the most popular categories are people that do shipping and fulfillment and that do paid advertising. So, we have a really great and highly interested audience for those two categories. And then likewise as a user, right now we have everyone from graphics and design to photography, to video, to shipping, to copywriting and translation and paid advertising, Amazon PPC, we have a whole host of vendors already. And we’re adding new categories and new vendors by the week.

Bradley Sutton: Okay, cool. I’m going to come back to you in a little bit with some final questions, but I got to make sure Dwight is still awake over there. He’s feeling neglected. Dwight, are you still with us?

Dwight: I’m still here. I’m still with you.

Bradley Sutton: Okay. All right. Cool. Now, Dwight, what is your title here at Helium 10? And what are you talking about today?

Dwight: My title, I am actually a video content producer and creator for Helium 10 and the film director, producer and creator of Helium 10’s mini docuseries Elevate. And that’s what I’m here to talk about.

Bradley Sutton: Awesome. Awesome. So, what’s the one minute elevator pitch for what Elevate is, and I’m sure once you say that I’m going to have some questions again.

Dwight: Okay, great. So, Elevate is actually our high-end, four episodes, short docuseries that’s produced by Helium 10 and it follows four of our users, inspiring entrepreneurs to tell their life stories and highlights. It highlights basically their various paths to becoming a successful seller, facing challenges and wins to share their story to the world.

Bradley Sutton: Okay, cool. Wow. You’re pretty good at this podcast thing. And that was very concise. I think that was exactly one minute, even as well. So like, who do you envision as being interested in this? Like it’s only if I’m already a million dollar seller or I can only be brand new on Amazon or who are the main viewers, what’s our demographic that’s going to be interested in this?

Dwight: Basically, just regular people. Just regular people who are interested in becoming entrepreneurs and Amazon sellers. Amazon is a landscape for every change and it can be intimidating to just dive into, especially in the e-commerce business. And for Elevate, the broader audience may also not know what the majority of Amazon sellers or just regular people, everyday people like us, and it’s difficult to visualize their own success. So, yeah, throughout this series, we just want to introduce and just reinforce the idea that successful Amazon sellers come from all walks of life, from any background, wherever you from just regular people, just like us with just dreams and aspirations and desire to get more out of life. We had four amazing e-commerce entrepreneurs. We have Vincent Mastrangelo, Isabella Hamilton, Mina Elias, and Christina. I can’t really pronounce her last name, but please forgive me, Christina, if you’re listening.

Bradley Sutton: Don’t worry, she’s been on the podcast once or twice, and I’ve only called her Christina because there’s like no way I could possibly pronounce her last name.

Dwight: So what stood out was very interesting. I’ll start with Vincent. Vincent’s background is very interesting because he comes from New York and his family background. I don’t want to go too much in it, but I’ll just say–

Bradley Sutton: Spoiler alert. Spoiler alert.

Dwight: I’ll just say, if any of you ever watched Goodfellas casino, let’s just say he has some sort of connection within that area from his bedroom. So, for him to come all the way from New York to Los Angeles and to get out of a certain, not being introduced to a certain lifestyle is very interesting because he does things that’s pretty much the opposite of 360 of what he’s seen, and being around and grew up in. And which is great. I mean, his kids embrace company has really expanded and he’s inspiring little kids lives just by building car seats and with Isabella, her background is, I mean, I’ll say Isabella and Christina, they’re both, they come from different countries, so they are more family oriented where they kind of grew up, not even realizing that this is something they could see themselves doing, because from where they’re from is like, oh, okay, I’m just going to grow up. I’m just going to get married, fine and work in a factory. And then, but they came to the US and they just became very inspiring entrepreneurs and Mina, Mina’s story is just so inspiring as well. What I like about him is that he’s an MMA fighter and his–

Bradley Sutton: Dwight, did he tell you his, like, I don’t know what you call it, like his nickname in the MMA world?

Dwight: No, he didn’t.

Bradley Sutton: Okay. You’re going to get a kick out of this. He’s known as the Egyptian Prescription.

Dwight: The Egyptian Prescription, wow.

Bradley Sutton: We had him on the pie. I got those little tidbits of like, you guys had a little bit of a taste of Mina, but when you’re going to go a deep dive in.

Dwight: Yeah. I got to tell Mina about it. But yeah, all four of them were very inspiring. I actually still stay in touch with them to this day. And we had a great time on set. I mean, yeah, it was really great.

Bradley Sutton: Awesome.

Bradley Sutton: All right, guys, quick break from this episode, you know what that sound is. It’s time for the BTS, Bradley’s 30 seconds. Here’s my 30-second tip. All right. If you are in Black box, one of the least used tabs in there is the one at the very top called niche. That’s actually been updated in the last six months. It’s almost like doing a search on Amazon. So like, let’s say for example, you’re searching for the coffin shelf and you know there’s like 306 results if you search on Amazon for a coffin shelf, right. Do your search instead on Black Bbox niche. And yeah, if you don’t put any filters at all, it’ll probably have at least 200 or so of those results in the similar order of what you see on Amazon. But you obviously don’t care about the random Gothic decor items. Maybe if you’re researching a coffin shelf, you just want to see the ones that are relevant to your coffin shelf, if that’s what you have, right. So, what you can do, even before you press enter, is in the filter that says title keyword, put it in a coffin shelf right there. And then out of those top 300 listings right away, you’re going to see how many of those listings and they’re going to come up right there. How many of those listings on not just on page one, but on the different pages of the results all have either a coffin and shelf in the titles. And you can also filter it for sales and number of reviews, things like that, things that you can’t do when you’re researching on Amazon. So guys, if you just want to do some research into a certain keyword and you don’t want to have to do it on Amazon, do it right there in Black box using the niche tab.

Bradley Sutton: Let’s go back to Chelsea. Now, Chelsea are going back to the Serious Sellers Club. First of all, this is kind of cool that we have the Serious Sellers Podcast. Now we’ve got the Serious Sellers Club, but remember guys, when we say serious sellers, first of all, it doesn’t mean that you have to be completely serious. I obviously am one of the least serious people out there. And it also does not mean that you have to be a $10 billion seller to be serious. No, like every single one of you guys who are listening right now, even if you’re not selling, if you’re an aspiring seller, guess what? You’re a serious seller in my book. And we’re just like having this program now to kind of reward you when you hit milestones, we love to have goals. If you’re an entrepreneur out there, it’s so important to set goals for yourself. And that is absolutely the case in the Amazon world as well. So, we launched something actually that was Colleen who launched this a few months ago. It was like the ability to set these revenue goals in your dashboard on seller central. Well, that’s great for a seven day or a 30 day, but you know what, let’s even aim higher and let’s try and see when do we hit that six-figure goal? When do we hit that seventh year goal? When do we hit that eight figure goal? Of course, knowing that that doesn’t mean that you’re instantly successful. Obviously at the end of the day, your profit is what matters, which is why we feature that in our tools as well. But I think this is really cool Chelsea, that you’re giving people these things that they can aspire for and a little bit of validation. Because they get some swag too with it. So, how do I go? Like where do I get more information about this right now?

Chelsea: Yeah. Well, first off Bradley, you nailed it. That’s exactly what we’re trying to convey and accomplish with launching this club. So, we’re super excited. And I think, as we were thinking through, how did we want, how do we envision this? How do we want this to come to life? We know that building a business can be lonely and a lot of our sellers are solopreneurs, and they’re really, their business is on their backs and backs alone. So, I think that’s another one of the reasons why we want to take the initiative to help this community celebrate these milestones. And some people are too humble to share their wins publicly too. So, that’s what we’re aiming to achieve here, but in terms of where you can go to get more information and apply, we’ll be on our website. So helium10.com/ssc is the easiest way to get there. And that’ll give you that page will give you everything you need to know. And we’ll link to the application page where you can sign up and add all your info. And our team will be processing applications and be in touch after that.

Bradley Sutton: That’s awesome. Now, guys, I don’t even know what you guys are going to get. Yeah, I think Chelsea might know, but she’s keeping it secret. So, I’m sure you guys are going to get something, but what I want you guys to do whenever you’re going to get whatever package she has available for you, for those of you who qualify for one of these clubs, is I want you to take a selfie with it and then post it up and tag us on Instagram, @helium10software is our Instagram handle. And then you can even tag me on it too, @h10Bradley. So make sure to tag us. And then we’ll definitely, Cassandra on the social media team and me on my Instagram, we’ll definitely repost it. Because I want to see those happy faces with whatever swag that Chelsea’s going to give you. Is it okay that I can get a copy of that swag once it’s ready too?

Chelsea: We’ll have to see Bradley. I think you’ll need to apply.

Bradley Sutton: If I qualify, I guess huh. I’m going to go through the same vetting process as everybody else. What else can you do? Like any last words about the program or like what does the future hold? What if the program is fully launched and I’m here as a seller and I have some great idea, like maybe for next year’s version or something like that. Like, are you open to taking ideas?

Chelsea: Yeah. We’re always looking for feedback. And I think the exciting thing about the Serious Sellers Club is it is new. It’s a new launch for us this year, but it will be an evergreen focus, right? So, lots of exciting initiatives, I think down the line in the pipeline, once you’re in the club, you’re in the club for life, if for whatever reason you’re not selling on Amazon anymore, you’re not at the initial revenue tier that you initially applied at, you’re still going to be a part of the club. Ultimately this club was inspired and created, inspired by our community and really created for our community. And I think that’s kind of where this is all coming from.

Bradley Sutton: Awesome. Awesome. Alright. So, let’s go now back to Colleen. So Colleen, I don’t think I asked for this, but what is the website that people can go to right now to get to that directory?

Colleen: Yeah, it’s super easy. It’s directory.helium10.com.

Bradley Sutton: directory.helium10.com. And on there is both the page that I can see as an Amazon seller to find the vendors. And is it also the same place where I go, if I’m a vendor and I’m interested in applying?

Colleen: Yeah, we’ll be adding the application flow to that in the next couple of weeks, but I do have an application form that people can fill out. Perhaps we can drop that in the show notes since the link is a little bit long. But we’re taking applications and we’re vetting them as they come in. So, I’d be super stoked to see a lot of new names pop up in there.

Bradley Sutton: Now I’m just going to give off a random scenario of somebody who should not apply. And then also something that you, as an Amazon seller can know that we’re not going to have. And so, if your business is engaged in black hat activity, like, Hey, we’re going to go get fake reviews for you, or we’re going to hijack somebody’s listing for you. Guys ,don’t even bother to apply. And if you’re looking for that as a seller, first of all, shame on you. But second of all, don’t come to our directory because that’s not what ‘s going to happen. What are some other things that like, maybe if they apply, we might reject, Colleen?

Colleen: Right now, I mean, I think you’re definitely right. We don’t want like black hats or nefarious actors or anything like that. But our directory is pretty flexible for the level of selling and support that partners have. So if you’re, say, a PPC agency and you really specialized in solopreneurs or small operations, we’d be just as happy to have you on there as if you’re someone that only works with like six, seven or eight figure sellers. So, our vetting process is flexible. We want to go with quality vendors. But I don’t think outside of the black hat, like I guess vendors, I don’t think we have anyone on the list right now that we would blacklist because of that.

Bradley Sutton: Okay. And then just, if nobody has seen that page yet, can you throw out some of the people who are already approved and already live, just so people have an idea of what kind of companies we’ve got on the directory so far?

Colleen: Yeah, of course. So, you’ve got some pretty cool relationships like a Vimeo, photo app, deliverer. We’ve got Reversion, Gembah, free up order metrics, white box. So, we’ve got a lot of really cool ones there. So, I really encourage everyone to check it out and to be honest, like if there’s someone on there, if there’s a category on there that you don’t see, I’d like to hear about it too. So, maybe we could drop my contact information in the podcast notes because I’m really looking for user feedback on this.

Bradley Sutton: Okay, cool. We’re going to come back to you in a couple of minutes, again for your tip and let’s go back to Dwight. Dwight, where will people be able to see this program? Actually, by the time this airs, I’m hoping that the first, at least the first couple of episodes might be out there. So where can I find it if I haven’t seen it yet?

Dwight: Yeah. Helium 10, we’ll be launching it on YouTube, on our YouTube channel, also Facebook as well.

Bradley Sutton: If people haven’t even seen the trailer, like, what would you compare this to? Obviously it’s not like any of our training videos or our webinars. If you could compare it to something in mainstream entertainment, like a show that people are familiar with, like what’s the level of quality and the vibe here would you say?

Dwight: Yeah, yeah. So, the production value of the series is high quality and sophisticated. And if you think of HBO docuseries, it is the first type of high-end storytelling that Helium 10 is releasing. And the tone of it is very personal. Like we want to connect, we’ll be able to connect with people personally, organic and authentic and overall an aspirational piece of content that allows us to tell the stories of our customers and their unique experience and build in their Amazon businesses.

Bradley Sutton: Okay, cool. Now, what would you say, like obviously as a creator, as a director, as a producer, it’s kind of like your work is your baby there. So what’s your goal of what would you like to have people walking away with the feeling of like, after watching this series?

Dwight: I want them to be inspired. I want to leave viewers like just to think about if he or she, can I do this? Can I become successful? I share similar values and motivations as this person does as well. So, I want them to– I want it to spark their mind and just kind of be able to say, look, if they’re successful in their Amazon business, I can be successful too.

Bradley Sutton: Okay, cool. I like that. We’re trying to elevate their elevation there, I guess you could say, right? Cool. All right. We’ll come back to you in a little bit for your tip. Let’s go back to Chelsea, do you have a TST, a 30-second tip, TST for us?

Chelsea: Yeah. So, instead of a tip, I’d say this is more of a recommendation and I would guess a lot of people are familiar with this one, but my number one tool in my toolbox is actually a book called Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss. And I constantly find myself going back to this book because it’s really a collection of so many powerful thinkers and marketers and business owners and brand builders. But whenever I find myself kind of personally or professionally stuck, really in any sense, I can always find a motivating nugget from someone in that book. And it’s been a really valuable resource for me in my career.

Bradley Sutton: Awesome. I love it. Colleen, you got a 30 second tip for us?

Colleen: Yeah, absolutely. As some of those into the Amazon space, like I cannot overemphasize, I guess the value that the blog post, Freedom Ticket, Project X has brought. So I would recommend that if you have a question or if you’re kind of lost somewhere to go, like do a quick search on the blog, check out project docs and try to find a topic that relates to you because I’ve been kind of confused or unsure on what to do. Next, those things have really helped me and given me a path forward. So, that’s my tip. Check out those resources.

Bradley Sutton: I love it. Alright. Thank you so much, Colleen. And then Dwight, what’s your 30-second tip? I’m actually hoping for something here, like video related for us amateur videographers out there, or it could just be a general, it could be a life hack or anything. What do you get for us?

Dwight: Not much of a 30-second tip, but I would like to give my thank yous. Just want to give a huge thank you to the entire Elevate team, the cast and crew. My great cinematographers, Becky Chen and Emily McCartney. Everyone who was involved in helping to bring the series to fruition. Jalina Sermons, Cassandra Craven, Fernando Funess and my main man contact creative director, Jesse Golden. I want to also give a huge thanks to Ryan Ingar and Christina Paulson and Sandy Keller as well, for propelling the Elevate series off the ground. And a huge thank you to you also Bradley for just bringing me on your podcast. I mean, this is great. So, that’s my 30 seconds.

Bradley Sutton: You know what, Dwight? That in itself is a 30-second tip. You know what the 32nd tip guys are great. Show gratitude when it’s a team effort, like we’re solopreneurs out there, but guess what? I bet you, our families are putting up with us doing crazy things for Amazon in the middle of the night. And we might have virtual assistants in other countries and we might have a sourcing agent. We might have a person who helps us with shipping on our Amazon accounts and just understand these people are working hard and they’re giving you help. So, give them shout outs, give them shout outs and be thankful, just like Dwight. And Dwight, that was the 30-second tip in itself. I like it.

Dwight: Thank you. Thank you. Alright. Well, Chelsea, Colleen and Dwight, thank you so much for joining the show we’ll have in helium10.com/podcast, some links there on how to contact any of these three, if you would like to get some more information on any of these programs. And we’re excited about– I’d love to have you guys back in 2022, because if I have you back, that means you must have some other cool projects that you guys had been working on the last year. So, I look forward to all three of you coming back next year and keep up the good work, guys.

Colleen: My pleasure, Bradley. Thanks for having us.

Chelsea: Thanks, Bradley. It’s been so much fun.

Dwight: Thank you, Bradley.