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- [00:00]
Sean Cannell
Hey, before we jump into the show, I wanted to give you a heads up that my free YouTube strategy class is available right now on demand@thinkmasterclass.com on the class, I reveal the one YouTube strategy we use at Think Media to generate over 330,000 views every single day. So if you're new to YouTube, this will help you start right and avoid mistakes. And if you're a YouTube pro, this training will help you multiply your your growth. This class is 100% free and you can watch it now on demand@thinkmasterclass.com now let's jump into today's show. So Amazon has flipped the script on how creators can earn money. And there's some new opportunities when it comes to the Amazon Influencer program. Making affiliate income and tying all this in with YouTube and other social media platforms to earn $5 a day and even more than $100 per day. And in this episode, we're going to be covering some of the new changes. We're going to be looking at some of the opportunities. And Prime Day is coming up, which means that you're listening to this at the right time to position yourself now to cash in on a massive influx of sales on Amazon. And whenever you're listening to this episode, maybe Prime Day is over. There's always another opportunity coming up, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, the holidays, back to school. And so there's going to be many tactical tips and in this episode that you can check out and check out the time codes and chapters if you're on the YouTube version of the podcast to skip around. Now, our guest today is Kathleen Coble. She's an Amazon selling expert with over 15 years of experience and she also has a YouTube channel where she breaks down how to really win with the Amazon Influencer program. The Think Media podcast is dedicated to the YouTube side. She's doing that as well. So buckle your seatbelt for a power packed episode. Kathleen, welcome back to the podcast.
- [02:00]
Kathleen Coble
Thank you so much for having me, Sean. I'm excited to talk all about Amazon Influencer Program.
- [02:06]
Sean Cannell
Now in just a second, we're going to cover your five specific tips. It's kind of a Prime Day playbook or a holiday playbook. But I want to cover a few things. First, there's some new changes. In 2025, Amazon removed the creator hub. They have. There's creator connections off site traffic is king. So let's talk about some of these 2025 changes. And actually, as I was saying that we just got, we just recorded part one, I think Creator Hubs back. So let's cover these one by one. First of all, what is Creator Hub and Inspire?
- [02:43]
Kathleen Coble
Yeah, so Amazon's Creator Hub is my favorite place to go upload my content directly to Amazon. A couple different places where you can do it as an Amazon influencer. But this is the dashboard that actually give you the best analytics as far as your videos go and how long people watch them for. How many views have you gotten over the last 30 days? So that's the Amazon Creator Hub. They took it away for a few weeks and then they brought it back, thankfully and hopefully it's here to stay. But you know, we'll just have to see what Amazon's, what Amazon decides to do with that. And another thing was Inspire. So Inspire was only available on the Amazon Shopping app and it was Amazon's kind of attempt at kind of the equivalent of like TikTok shop, right, where you could kind of scroll and you could see all these, you know, fast paced vertical videos. And Amazon did so many campaigns to promote creators to make content for that. And then one day, poof, it was just gone. And it's still gone and it's probably not coming back is my guess.
- [03:46]
Sean Cannell
Got it. So there's been some changes like that. Inspire is gone. And also to clarify if, when we're talking about Creator Club, that's assuming you're approved for the Amazon Influencer program. If you're not, listen to the recent episode that we'll link in the show notes that walks you through in a deep dive tutorial, step by step, how to get approved even with a small channel. But Creator Hub is where your analytics are. It's where the backend is. Now another big change in 2025 is off site traffic is king and it's something that Amazon seems to be communicating. What does that mean?
- [04:19]
Kathleen Coble
Well, what it means really is that Amazon wants all their creators, especially Amazon influencers who are getting paid for their content on Amazon. They really want us to be posting and bringing people from off Amazon onto their platform. And so they're doing incentivized things. They're giving us bonuses, they're giving us thresholds to hit in order to earn more money. And so they are really pushing creators to drive off site traffic and to Amazon.
- [04:46]
Sean Cannell
Okay, and now another new change is it's been around for a while, but creator connections, this is Amazon's internal brand marketplace where typically if we link to a product and we earn a commission, it's typically between 1 and 10%. But creator connections can be bonuses up to 50%. What exactly is Creator Connections?
- [05:07]
Kathleen Coble
Yeah, so this is Amazon's internal program where they basically pair sellers with influencers in order to generate sales for their platforms. Sellers get to go in, create a campaign based on the products that they want to promote. They get to decide how much commission they're willing to pay and for what campaign length is it for the next month or the next year, or really anywhere in between. And then us as influencers, we get to go search around in these campaigns and accept or opt in to any ones that we've already have the products for, we've already created content for, or maybe that we just want to promote. Accept the campaign. And then every, every time you make a sale, either on site or off site, you will earn that additional commission from the Creator Connections campaign. So instead of earning, you know, 2% for your sale, if you have a Connections campaign that's worth 20% right now, you're earning 22% for every sale for that campaign duration. It has really, really boosted a lot of people's income over the last few months.
- [06:08]
Sean Cannell
Yeah. You know, in just the last 30 days here at Think Media, I've earned $279.29 from Creator Connections alone, just because of paying attention and opting in. I mean, I've already been creating YouTube videos and linking to affiliate products. Especially we talk about cameras and tech on our main channel, but that's like extra money by knowing about these features. And a lot of creators could just be leaving money on the table if they're not opting in and understanding these or also even scanning their email for maybe promotions that Amazon is sending their way.
- [06:43]
Kathleen Coble
Yes, absolutely. There's always something going on. So you always want to look through your emails, whether it's a rate promotion or a sale opportunity or a Creator Connections campaign for something you've already created for. It's so important to keep your eyes out for these opportunities.
- [06:59]
Sean Cannell
So before we get into your five tips, I want to talk about why this is a moment for small creators. And the truth is, you don't need 100,000 followers. You don't need 10,000 followers. If you're in a particular niche, if you're approaching getting to this program the right way, do you have any stories of creators who maybe started even from scratch and got approved? Because I think on the countdown, Amazon Prime Day, someone might think, oh, it's too late. I'm not going to be able to make it, or whatever time of the year it is. Like, what does it take to get into the Amazon Influencer? Program start earning commissions.
- [07:32]
Kathleen Coble
Well, my favorite stories are the, are the ones of people who are like, I don't have a social media following or I already tried with my YouTube channel and it didn't work. And so Amazon is really letting people in with a very low barrier to entry for TikTok because they really are in competition with TikTok. They have been for a while. And I know that landscape is, you know, always growing and changing, but all of the creators that I have worked with who have started new TikToks and who have stayed engaged, I have one particular one who started and eight days later, after posting three times a day, she got in with a brand new TikTok. I have another creator who just could not get in with his YouTube channel. Just couldn't, didn't want to try TikTok. So, you know, the community just like, come on, just start it. Like, we'll help you, we'll give you content ideas. He posted videos of his cat for two weeks. He posted twice a day. And we did all kind of help with engagement, but it was just straight cat videos. And he got in on day 15, so it took a little bit longer, but he only posted twice a day. So that, you know. All that to say is that even if you're like, I don't know if I'm really into social media, but you really want to be in the Amazon Influencer program, there are ways to get in, in, you know, in just a couple weeks if you stick with it.
- [08:46]
Sean Cannell
That's super encouraging. And we're going to get into these five Prime Day tips and Amazon promotion tips, really your playbook. But I do want to encourage if, if you're newer at this, you want to learn more about this. We're not going to be covering this information in this particular video, but Kathleen does have a free class on how she earns $10,000 every month creating simple video content on Amazon. I'll link to that in the show notes. Or you could go to videoreview class.com and check that out. It's totally free and it'll get you going even if you're starting from scratch, like these stories she's sharing with you. She's got a very powerful community. So again, if you want access to that deep dive Amazon Influencer masterclass, go to video reviewclass.com and I'll tell you a little bit more about that later. But let's talk about your Prime Day playbook. First of all, what is Amazon Prime Day?
- [09:41]
Kathleen Coble
Yeah, so Amazon's Prime Day is basically Amazon's birthday. And so Amazon has decided to create this super shopping event every July. They don't reveal the dates until it gets much closer. Like we're talking within a couple of weeks they'll let us know the dates. But it's always in mid July. It's always after the fourth of July.
- [10:03]
Sean Cannell
Right.
- [10:03]
Kathleen Coble
Like I said, right around the their birthday. And basically what it is is the majority of the sellers on Amazon participate in Prime Day in that they put their items for sale. And so what it does is customers are more likely to of course go and purchase things, but the sales that come in on prime days and you can go back and look it up, I mean it's billions of dollars that Amazon sells on a daily basis. And so however many billions I want to say they did like 5 billion one day last year during Prime Day. And so it just gives you that many more eyeballs on your content, that many more people that are searching and buying products. And so as a creator, whether you're in the influencer program or you know, you're posting associates link, you want to make sure that you're participating in Prime Day and creating content to take advantage of all these customers buying things on those days.
- [10:58]
Sean Cannell
Yeah, you know what's crazy is I looked it up during the 48 hour, it's a two day event, Amazon Prime Day. In 2024, Amazon generated 14.2 billion in sales just in the United States. This included over 300 million items purchased by consumers in 23 countries. And so that's crazy. And then I think the thing to note is I know that the commission ranges vary, but if you have 14.2 billion, I know for me I get 4% on of cameras, cameras, camera lenses on Amazon. So 4% of 14.2 billion is $568 million. Now you know that commissions range and creator connections and sometimes they raise a percentage. But all that to say is that if that's, if people are clicking your links or watching your on site videos, that's like half a billion dollars is going into the pockets of creators. And if you're listening to this, you want to get in on that action. And then this is a lifestyle and a habit in an online business you could do all year long. But the whole point of even this podcast was like, let's talk about Prime Day. Let's get strategic, let's get ahead, let's put together a game plan and there is serious money to be made. And of course we are also, we're ultimately mission driven. We're not Just out here shilling products, but we're talking about things that we know, love and use, and people want to save money. I love a good deal. So whether that's clothes for your kids or gear to build your business or food or tools or all this different stuff, then it's just a great day to make it a win, win, win, win, win to talk about the products, you know, on loot use. So we've got five tips and a bonus tip. Number one is prep your content, break it down.
- [12:50]
Kathleen Coble
Yeah. So you want to really plan ahead as far as Prime Day goes. So something that I always do is I look back to my analytics for last year's Prime Day. What products sold well for me, what videos did well for me, and how can I replicate that with new content? But also going back, and I always. So I'll always pick my top, like 25 or so products that sold well for me on Prime Day. And I will do just very minimal changes, like update the title. Maybe I'll create a new thumbnail just to make sure that those videos are going to ideally be in the upper carousel, which is the best placement. But another thing I'll do too is I'll create a second video or maybe a third video for those products that sold really well for me last year during Prime Day, because now I've just doubled or tripled my chance that my content is going to get seen, clicked on, and, you know, purchased from. Because I know, I already know that that content did well last.
- [13:48]
Sean Cannell
So when you say change the title and thumbnail, you're talking about videos you've uploaded to the Amazon influencer program.
- [13:53]
Kathleen Coble
Yes, exactly. So I'm able to go. Because what I do is I pull my analytics every month, and so I can go pull my analytics from last July and all of those videos that were the most viewed and then the products that did the best, I'll just go make little tweaks just to make sure if they're not already on the product listing page. Right, Because I want to make sure that they're going to be there for Prime Day. But the best chance of doing that, let's say your. Your video's fallen off Prime Real Estate product listing page. If you do a little tweak, update the title or upload a new thumbnail, it triggers Amazon to then re. Re approve it. And so a lot of times when we see videos fall off that, you know, top carousel, we go in and do that, and then we see them back up there within the next 24 hours or so. Because Amazon looks at it kind of like new content, and so they're going to place it in the best spot and kind of see how well it does.
- [14:46]
Sean Cannell
So are you also saying that when you go back and you look at your top 25 products in your case, you might already have a good video and this next Prime Day, it's going to just keep going, but you're going to update the title, update the thumbnail, and you're also going to create a second or a third video about that product because it's proven from your analytics and to give yourself even a better shot because maybe a fresh version. What? You know, now you in a way don't know which videos are going to rank on Amazon. So if it's a very proven and lucrative product, then that's your strategy. Am I understanding it right?
- [15:23]
Kathleen Coble
Yes, exactly. Exactly. And so, like with the second or third video, right, I already know this product sold well for me last year. I'm hoping my old video that I know performed well. You know, I do those tweaks and that that will get back on the product page. But also I'm going to go create another piece of content to promote that product, which is totally fine by Amaz, but I'm gonna create another piece of content because it just maximizes my opportunity. The other thing too is I can say a year later, now I can show you how this thing has held up, you know, another year later. Right? People like those updated posts, especially with, you know, certain products on Amazon aren't necessarily the best quality. So if it's a good quality product that sold well, I'm gonna make another video for it and upload it right before Prime Day.
- [16:11]
Sean Cannell
That's genius for influencers on platform or affiliates off platform. The One Year later video, because there's so much authority, I mean, there's just nothing that replaces the fact that you've used it for a year. I mean, you unbox it, maybe you give your initial impressions, you maybe try it for 30 days. But now that there's a year on it, that's going to lead to higher conversions. I know it would for me. Okay, you've had this for a year, it still works. It's still lasting. And you're dusting off something that's already been proven before. I know in our industry, talking about cameras, sometimes we're like, is this Sony camera still relevant in this year? People don't always have to buy the newest thing too. Is this still. Maybe you can compare two versions. Do I need the newest version or actually Can I still get the older ones? You got the Beats by Dre headphones or in ears. You're like, do you need the 2025 versions? 2024 might be fine. You know, whatever. So really genius tip there. And I'm curious, when you say you go back and you pull your analytics, are you able to do that just on Amazon or are you using the software you like to use?
- [17:14]
Kathleen Coble
So I am doing that on Amazon, but one thing to note is that you can only go back so far. Typically, I want to say it's like maybe three months that you can go back and pull those analytics. So I do it on a monthly basis or I have my, you know, my virtual assistant go in and just pull those analytics so that I have those sales reports by month, month every year. Because you will not necessarily be able to access those six months or a year later.
- [17:42]
Sean Cannell
Good tip. That you do, of course, manually or as you scale this up, like you have into a proper business. I know that's also what you teach people, you know, eventually have like a VA that is having you do different actions and activities. Okay, so you're prepping your content. There's another tip on here. Would you recommend anything, like, best Prime Day Tech 2025? That's definitely a video idea we would do. Do you approach off site, anything like that? Like, what's your thinking in light of Prime Day coming up?
- [18:11]
Kathleen Coble
Yes, definitely. So, you know, kind of, you know, piggybacking on what products worked from last year. But also, you know, Amazon will give us tips as far as, like, what's going to be on sale. But I will make, I will make sure that I'm making videos and saying things about Prime Day, especially when I'm posting off Amazon with on Amazon. They like things to be evergreen, of course. But I can post on my YouTube channel, right, a compilation of all my favorite items that I know are going to be on sale for Prime Day. But I can also create an idealist on my storefront. And I know we're going to talk about storefronts in a minute too, but I can create an idealist on my storefront that is all of my favorite Prime Day deals and then pin it to the top. And now I can share that storefront and on all of my social media channels and my YouTube throughout Prime Day. And it just makes it really easy for people to click there. And now they've got my whole list that they can look through.
- [19:05]
Sean Cannell
That's genius because it's also. I know if you're a YouTube creator, you might be doing some live streams, you might make some videos, and you might just mention. And by the way, if you want to see all my favorite deals, I'll link that in the description that links to your storefront and you can keep that updated. It becomes, then it could be like a running list. And so in a way, almost kind of like an evergreen call to action. Even though, you know, Prime Day does start and stop it, the. The window of time around it, well, at least is those two 48 hours. And it allows you to kind of maximize the impact. Okay, one other thing before we get to number two, which is the storefront front strategy. But as far as prepping your content, you talk about using Amazon secret deal spreadsheets. What's that?
- [19:49]
Kathleen Coble
Yes. So another reason to be on the lookout for those emails from Amazon as it gets closer to Prime Day, because for pretty much every sale event, at least over the last two years, they send out emails with a big, long spreadsheet of all the deals that are going to happen that day. Now, it's a secret. So you can't share that spreadsheet and you also can't promote the items on that spreadsheet before the actual deal days. But they let us know ahead of time so that they're encouraging us to prep our content, go through that list. And what I like to do is compare that list to the list of products that I've already created content for. And, you know, what's the overlap there, there? How can I work smarter and, you know, start promoting those items as soon as the sales days start?
- [20:35]
Sean Cannell
Now, I kind of have a tip here that we've done, and I'm curious if you use, if you're using AI to help. When I get this secret deal spreadsheet, I look at it, I'm like, oh, my gosh, this thing is really hard to read. And there's so many things on here. But I take that Excel file, I upload it into ChatGPT, and then I do a prompt like this. I'm like, hey, so I run a YouTube channel called Think Media. We talk about cameras, tech, lighting. Can you scan this document and point out any deals that would be relevant for my channel? It's like having. It's like having a virtual assistant doing research for you instantaneously. All through AI. Are you doing anything like that? Is there any creative ways you've been using AI in basically your Amazon influencer business?
- [21:24]
Kathleen Coble
That's so brilliant. I have not done that one, but I will be now for Prime Day. That's that's very smart. No, primarily I'm using AI to help me with like scripting or to help me figure out, you know, you know, going to an Amazon, you know, a product listing page, or maybe I'm putting in some video URLs and saying, you know, how can I, how can I create a different hook or how can I create a different angle? As far as, you know, if I'm trying to get a video that's on a competitive product listing right, I know it's real saturated. Like, what can I do to set my video apart from all these other ones? And they'll give me some tips or, you know, some talking points that I can incorporate into my script.
- [22:03]
Sean Cannell
Genius. Hey, we're about to get back into the podcast in just a second, but I have a question for you. Do you want to grow your personal brand this year? Do you need more leads and sales in your business? If the answer is yes, then right now is the best time to go go all in on YouTube. Today's podcast is brought to you by thinkmasterclass.com where you can get on demand access to a one hour deep dive training revealing how to start and grow a profitable YouTube channel this year. For a limited time, you can get access to this on demand class entirely for free, where you will learn the three biggest mistakes that people make when starting a YouTube channel. The new rules and changes that have been happening on YouTube, YouTube and how you can use them to create an unfair advantage, and the exact strategy we use at Think Media to generate over 350,000 organic views every single day. The data is clear. 70% of viewers claim that YouTube makes them more aware of new brands. So don't wait any longer to start growing your brand and business with YouTube. Just go to thinkmasterclass.com to get access to this. No fluff, highly tactical, free on demand training. That's thinkmasterclass.com part of the influencer program is you have a storefront, you get it custom to you, your own custom URL. You can have eight pinned posts there, videos, photos. What is your tips specifically as we approach an event on Amazon?
- [23:36]
Kathleen Coble
Yes, definitely. You want to have your ideal list that are relevant pinned to the top. So whether it's, you know, my top Prime Day deals, you want that pin to the top. But also look to some of those seasonal items and create idealists for seasonal items. Especially if you know that they're going to be on sale, you know, as Prime Day approaches. Prime Day is in the summer, right? So yes, people are buying summer Items. But some of those, you know, some people are buying back to school items for Prime Day because they know they can get a discount, discount and you know, get ahead. So creating those strategic idealists where you're curating content that you know, you can easily promote things that'll be on sale and pinning them to your storefront is so critical, especially when you're promoting your storefront off Amazon. Again, just makes it easier for your audience to find the products that you're talking about in your content.
- [24:30]
Sean Cannell
That's genius. Okay, number three is go live on Amazon and Prime Day is really the most eyeballs on the site. So what are your tips here?
- [24:39]
Kathleen Coble
Yes, so I admittedly don't go live on Amazon a lot, but when I do, it's during these sales days. Even though it's more competitive, more people are going live, it still means that more eyeballs are going to be potentially watching my live stream because there's just more people on the site searching for deals. And as you know, an Amazon influencer through your storefront, you can actually build a following. There is a follow up, you know, button that people can press. And so when you go live on Amazon, all the people that follow you get alerted. Right. So when I go live on Prime Day, all my followers are going to see or get alerted that I'm going live. And ideally they're going to click through my Amazon affiliate link over somebody else's and then I'll be able to earn from their sales.
- [25:24]
Sean Cannell
That's powerful. And also I suppose could length of live stream help? Because even on YouTube, sometimes the longer that you're live, it's getting tested out there, it's being, and if you're holding attention or talking about cool stuff like on YouTube, 20 minutes in, people start popping on and this, this even small creators, because if you're small, you might have seven viewers, three, maybe you've got a hundred. And then it can start to spike because the longer you're on there, people are clicking through, it can go up and down. I imagine Amazon's algorithm works the same and I'm sure tons of people are going to be going live. But also people listening to this are in all kinds of different niches. So if you're maybe doing like, you know, apparel then, then it could be very crowded. But there's, there's some very hype ham radio people in our community. People that are doing, you know, very niche, maybe a niche type of cooking. So perhaps the positioning of your live stream. Any thoughts on that?
- [26:27]
Kathleen Coble
Yes, definitely. So definitely you're exactly right. The Amazon algorithm as far as live streams works very similar to YouTube in that the longer you're on, the more they push people to you. I've noticed right around that 30, 40 minute, once I get to an hour, I'm tired, but I see the most viewers after that hour, which is just incredible. But then, you know, the other thing too is that you, you don't want to just say, like, my favorite prime day deals, because that's what everyone's going to be doing, right? You want to, this is definitely a situation where you want to niche down and it's, you know, for me, you know, it would be like my favorite prime day deals for smart business moms. You know, even if you just make it, you know, slightly niche now, you're drawing people in, they have something to go on, you know, instead of just prime day deals. And it's a bunch of random stuff that doesn't necessarily appeal to the person that's watching.
- [27:19]
Sean Cannell
This is the, this is the small tweaks. It's like, you know, the opportunity then creator economy and social media is so big. And some people, I don't blame them. You know, you may be listening to this, you're discouraged. You're like, I've tried this for a lot. It hasn't worked. You know, growth can seem slow and I'm empathetic to that. But the mindset I hear you saying, Kathleen, is like, this stuff takes more, more rigor. It's like, man, if you don't title your live stream right, then you're just going to get lost with the noise. But if you learn the nuance of positioning it well, the length of time you're committed on there, getting your store updated, this is the kind of stuff that takes, takes work. And neither of us ever preaches get rich quick. That's not our ethic or our values. But this make money online thing, and even make significant money online is a real thing, but it's a real skill set. It's real business, real details. So live stream is a powerful thing that you could schedule as we look ahead. And as soon as you know, the days are coming up. Now your next tip is post on socials. Break down some tips here.
- [28:30]
Kathleen Coble
Yes. So social media is one of the best places to bring people onto Amazon during Prime Day that may not already be searching on there. So if you already have an audience, whether it's small or large, you want to prep content so that you can be posting on social media to help drive people onto Amazon because once they Click through your affiliate cookie. Now you're going to be the one that's earning on all of their purchases, especially if you're driving them to Amazon from social media. So just creating that content of, you know, Prime Day is coming. Are you a Prime Day member? Here are some of my favorite items I bought last year from Prime Day. Does any of this interest you? So there's so many powerful pieces of content that you can be posting on social media, both leading up to Prime Day, but then also during the Prime Day event as well.
- [29:19]
Sean Cannell
And you. What about like pre event during what's kind of your schedule for when you think about posting?
- [29:26]
Kathleen Coble
I post as much as I can during pre. I'll post maybe once or twice a day just to kind of let people know. Once Amazon posts, you know, when Prime Day is, then you will see all of the creators, right, start posting about. That's when you want to start posting and start priming your audience to know that you will be sharing deals and tips during Prime Day. So I would post once a day, once Prime Day is scheduled and then during Prime Day, I know it's gonna sound tiring, but like once an hour, right? Like it's only 48 hours. But the amount of money that you could potentially earn during this 48 hour event, if you really post, even if it's just a photo, or even if it's a piece of content that you've already uploaded to Amazon that you're now repurposing for, you know, TikTok or Facebook, you want to post as much as possible during Prime Day because people are going to be clicking around and you want to make sure that your link is the last one that they click before they purchase.
- [30:24]
Sean Cannell
So explain that, because the interesting thing on Amazon, right, is the way it works. If someone clicks your link on social media in a YouTube description and they go to Amazon and they purchase something you get credit for not just the thing you promoted, but anything they purchase on the website for 24 hours.
- [30:43]
Kathleen Coble
Yes, exactly. Exactly. That's why it's so powerful to make sure that you're posting as much as possible. Because even if you promote the one thing, but then they buy seven things, you earn from all seven of those things. Yes, got it.
- [30:56]
Sean Cannell
So then, so that makes so. So the volumes. Also people are clicking all over the place though. So the thing the, the dark side of that is that's also a massive upside and opportunity that in a way you might get credit, if you will, for work you haven't done. They've been adding Stuff to their cart. They've been around, they watch your thing, you get the last click and you get credit for their entire cart. The reverse is true. Maybe they're researching, watching YouTube videos, clicking on different things, social media. If they click somebody else's link as the last click and then check out then, then you'd miss that commission. It's just kind of the reality of Amazon Associates is an influencer, I suppose is they might watch three videos on Amazon influencer on site, but whichever one they watch, probably 50% of the last one that actually led to the purchase and that gets even. If they watch yours, that gets credit. And if they watched in my case, five tech reviews on YouTube and maybe our video is the best and they loved it the most. But watch somebody else's video and click the link, then that person's gonna get credit. Am I breaking it down right?
- [31:59]
Kathleen Coble
Yes, yes, exactly, exactly. That's why you want to stay relevant and create great content that makes them wanna purchase. Right. And you can say things that are more urgent in your Amazon that really promote like hey guys, you know, prime day is only 48 hours. So you want to make sure that as soon as you add to cart you check out because this stuff sells out fast. You know, you want to create that sense of urgency because you can't necessarily do call to actions on your Amazon content, but off site on your socials and you, you want to take advantage of being able to create that sense of urgency for your audience.
- [32:34]
Sean Cannell
Yeah. And that's not only just good marketing and good psychology, but it's actually good service to the individual. I shop on Prime Day, right. And there's lightning deals and stuff. And, and as funny as it is, and I know Amazon will group it a lot of times even if it's one item rather than like wait until the end of the day, it's like get the item added to cart checkout and then maybe still shop for more things. But there's limited time on the lightning deal. You don't want to forget about it, you don't want the item to sell out. So it's a win, win, win. You're giving good advice, but you're also giving really powerful verbal calls to action to increase the likelihood that you're going to get credit when a sales conversion happens. Okay, we do have a bonus tip in a second. But another tip you have is use bounties smartly. What does that mean?
- [33:19]
Kathleen Coble
Yeah, so Amazon offers a whole bunch of different, what they call bounties and example, you know, some of These bounties are like signing up to be a Prime member register, having your wedding registry, doing a baby registry, right? Signing up for, you know, a video streaming service through Amazon. So there's a whole bunch. And you can look in the, you know, in, in your reporting dashboard, there's a whole list of Amazon bounty programs. And so, you know, what I like to do leading up to Prime Day is I like to promote the prime bounty, right? You only make $3 on it, but you're also prepping your audience. You. Are you a Prime member? If not, here's my link. Now, everybody who becomes a Prime member through your link, you earn that bounty. And now, you know, you're, you're helping them because now they're prime members. And now, you know, now they can take advantage of Prime Day. So I do recommend looking at those bounties, especially if you're more in a, in a niche sector, right? Like let's say you're, you know, let's say you're a wedding planner, right? Make sure that you are promoting that wedding registry bounty all over, you know, your platforms, whether it's Prime Day or not. Because you can actually earn from people just signing up for a registry.
- [34:35]
Sean Cannell
So that's great. And, and there's maybe two objections. And one is like, my first thought is like, who in the world in 2025 is not a part of Amazon prime yet? But what's funny is number one, the Consumer Intelligence Research Partners say that approximately 196 million people. This is just in. I don't know if that's in America. Yeah, in America. EMarketer estimates 180 million U.S. prime members. So chances are the people around you are on Prime. You're like, no, duh, I am everybody else's. However, the current population of America as of June 2025 is approximately 343.6 million people. So that's. Call it 350. You're still. I'm not good at Matt, but it's, it's still about half of America that's not on Amazon Prime. So there's different economic situations, whatever. And some people are, are, are like lagging late adopters. Like late adopters. It's for, I mean, I mean, half the Think Media podcast. If you're watching the YouTube version, this is Confessions of an Amazon User. Tell us in the comments. Are Amazon packages showing up on your porch every day? Are you in therapy? Is it causing marriage conflict? Do you have an Amazon addiction? What's your relationship? How long have you been a Prime member? Again, especially with like a tech forward, creator, entrepreneur audience like this, we can't even imagine. But what it is interesting that you're bringing this up because there's just still a lot of people who maybe haven't adopted to that or maybe they even canceled or maybe they're going to renew. So tapping into the bounties for people signing up and it's also just a, a, just a trial sign up, right. That you just get credit for. Do you get credit even if they cancel?
- [36:29]
Kathleen Coble
Yes. Yes you do. I believe you do because they sign up, they try it. Right. And then you, from what I can see, you do get credit. Unless Amazon has changed that. But not even all bounties are, are paid items, right? Like I said, like some of the, like the registries or signing up for like Prime Video or things like that. Some of that stuff is even free to sign up for and you can still, you know, earn. Earn on the signup.
- [36:58]
Sean Cannell
Yeah, that reminds me of Amazon Audible, which is worth considering in this conversation because they do Prime Day specials and other perks and sometimes downloadable books and all kinds of things. Of course, Prime Day is wild. And one of our students, Sean, at the time Amazon was giving out like $5 if people just did a free trial. And then it was like 10 bucks if they signed it up for a gold membership and you know, and then you'd get a dollar or two for every book they purchased. And we're talking about the fact that Amazon owns Audible, the audiobook platform and it's a part of the broader affiliate program. So there's a lot to dig into. Like you talk about prime video registries, all these different things. So use bounties smartly and do your research. Of course, this episode is a deep dive into some of these tactics. But as the, as the day approaches, search for the emails, look for what the emails that because it will be communicating new opportunities, review the material, position yourself wisely and we're going to get to this bonus tip in a second. But I do want to. You've got a recommended resource. If you're listening to this and you're new or if you're listening to this and you're established but you want more specific tactics on just the macro. Amazon influencer program. Kathleen has a class, it's a deep dive training. It's totally free on how to earn $10,000 every month. How she does by creating simple video content on Amazon. You could go to videoreviewclass.com or just click the link in the show notes to check that out totally free, no strings attached. At the end of the class, she will let you know about her program and community. That is really changing a lot of lives as in terms of the Amazon Influencer program. But whether that's right for you or not, that is a no miss resource to watch right after this video or audio version, wherever you consume the podcast. And also if you actually just want to skip straight to her program, maybe you're ready to get serious. You know, the power of investing in yourself. And you want to research her online course as well as private community, the higher level one. And we'll link to that in the show notes as well. But there's a bonus tip that you have here, Kathleen, which is time management. I'm so glad you brought this up because it's really easy for our anxiety levels to increase. We think about the competition, we think about how much work we have to do. We're filming, we knock our coffee over. Like true story, right? You're like, desk is cluttered, you're trying to film videos, you feel the pressure of it. You also have life challenges, kids, all this stuff happening, happening, especially with the opportunity to just lock in now, breathe and make a plan. What are the lessons you have learned about time management as it relates to coming up to an Amazon, a promotion event like this and just in general managing your time as an Amazon influencer and creator?
- [39:58]
Kathleen Coble
Yeah, I think, well, there's so many different tips I could give. But like as far as time management goes, you know, we, we don't all have. Well, we all have the same 24 hours in a day. Right. And so I always preach about work smarter, not harder. Right. And what can we do to make the most amount of money in like the least amount of time possible? And especially as Prime Day and other sales events are approaching with Amazon, you know, go through all the tips that we talked about. But the other thing too is like, don't get overwhelmed. This can be a lot of information and it's going to be really hard for you to do everything. But the more you just sit down, take some time and prioritize and plan ahead, whether that's planning out your content, you know, planning out what products you want to make sure that you focus on. You know, put a, put a time limit on how much time you're going to go through, that Excel sheet, you know, of Amazon recommended deals. And just do the best you can. Try not to get organized, but also plan ahead. And I would also say don't schedule anything for those Prime Day events because that will give you more opportunity to post, you know, even if you post ahead, but it'll give you more opportunity to also engage with your audience and be able to answer questions if they have questions about the products. You want to make yourself available actually during those prime days, if you can, because it will maximize the opportunities that you have to earn and show your audience that you're, you know, that you're available to them, even though it's a very, you know, hectic and busy day.
- [41:30]
Sean Cannell
You know, that makes me think of, I think, one of the most powerful rules that every content creator needs to know. And this applies not just to Amazon Prime Day, but applies to all the money that we can make as creators. And it's called the 8020 rule. And if you're listening to this, you've never heard about it. Another name for it is the Pareto principle. And it suggests that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. So if you think about being a YouTube content creator and uploading videos, once you get monetized after a year has passed, you'll look back and what you'll often find is probably 80% of the YouTube ad revenue you've made came from 20% of your videos. If you're an Amazon influencer and you're uploading videos on platform, what you'll often Discover is that 80% of your income or views came from again, 20% of the videos you uploaded. And what's crazy about the Pareto principle is you can also like keep niching it down that sometimes even of the top 20% videos, you know, 20% of those, which would be like one or two videos, has driven like disproportionate amount of results. And so the big idea is it means you're focusing on the few actions or the few products that drive the majority of your revenue reach and results. So sometimes instead of trying to post a hundred low quality posts, you might be focusing on the highest impact things. This could be challenging when you don't know what's going to make an impact. So you do need to experiment. But it's like 20% of your content drives 80% of your revenue and maybe 20% of your recommended products generate 80% of your sales. And so you've already touched on a lot of this. But Kathleen, when you think about the 8020 rule, that's why you audit what videos worked last year. My question for you is this. If I have limited time, let me give you some constraints. I'm busy. I want to get into doing this I only have a few hours. I still got to work on Amazon Prime Day, but I talked to my boss. I only got to work four hours that day because I want to get up early and I want to come home and work on it a little bit. If I have limited time, I do not have, I'm not fortunate to be full time at this, to take those days off, to take a bunch of time off. What would you say is the 20% effort that drives 80% results in this conversation?
- [43:55]
Kathleen Coble
I would say it's definitely about product selection that you choose to create your content for. Because, Sean, you're exactly right. When I go look at my analytics, 80% of my revenue comes from 20% of my content. And so that makes it so much easier, once I know that, that makes it so much easier to figure out the products that work the best for me so that I can then go create that second video in order to earn even more. Right? And same, you know, same with the videos as we were talking about, you know, the most viewed videos and kind of what the content structure was and all that good stuff. So really, you know, best thing that you can do is if you have analytics from last year, look at those top performers from last year. If you don't, you can still look at the top performing products, the best seller lists on Amazon. Look to seasonal items, right? What's relevant right now? I'm definitely going to spend my time on creating content for, you know, backyard and summer items as opposed to even, you know, more, you know, like, like couches or like home decor because that's more relevant right now and people are going to be looking for it right now, especially as Prime Day comes up. So I would look to the product selection and how can you work smarter with finding those right products and then just promote those products? It could be 20 or it could be 10. It doesn't have to be a hundred.
- [45:20]
Sean Cannell
That's right. So great. Okay, as we land the plane, two things. One, mistakes to avoid. What might people do as they're hustling, they're posting links that could cause them to get shut down issues. And then we'll end with a summary of a few action steps so you know exactly what steps to take next after this episode. So mistakes, kind of a rapid fire. How do we, how do we, how do we stay safe as we think about what people might be doing? And you might say maybe people are getting away with it, but you might say, I mean, here's some of the things that maybe people do and that I see that they might be doing around Amazon Prime Day. Everyone's going crazy, and you're going to want to make sure you don't violate Amazon's rules. What are the biggest ones?
- [46:01]
Kathleen Coble
Yeah, I mean, I think one of the biggest things we see a lot now is stolen content. So, I mean, I'm pretty confident most people that listen to your podcast, Sean, are not of, you know, the people that would steal other people's content. But we see a lot of stolen content on Amazon now, especially with influencers. And, you know, I'm just here to say, you know, you get what you put into it, right? So if you steal someone's content and upload it to Amazon and think you're gonna make a quick buck for Prime Day, influencers are gonna find you, they're gonna report you, and then you're not actually gonna earn, right? So you don't get paid out for 60 days. So make sure that you're only uploading that authentic content. And, you know, the same goes with disclosure, especially as you're posting off Amazon, make sure that you're always disclosing. This is an Amazon affiliate link I earn from qualifying sales. You never want to get in trouble for not disclosing that you're prom promoting an affiliate link because that's also a very quick way to get your account shut down and to really get, you know, in trouble with bigger organizations as well. So always make sure you're disclosing. The other thing, too is don't just post on Amazon because there's so many people who are not already looking on Amazon. And Amazon loves when you bring, when you bring people onto their platform. So don't overlook posting on other platforms because maybe you're not used to it or you're not being consistent. I'm not always consistent with posting off Amazon, but I have a lot of content right. I'm always creating for Amazon. So it's really just a matter of getting those systems in place, but also prioritizing the content that works best on Amazon. Make sure you're posting that off Amazon. So you're double, triple, quadrupling, you know, the chances that you have to earn on that content you've already created.
- [47:38]
Sean Cannell
Great tips, and there might be a few things on your mind. You want to make sure you do this right, you set it up right. You want to make sure that you follow all the terms and all of that. We do have to land the plane on this episode, but your next step would definitely be to check out Kathleen's deep dive class. If you go to videoreviewclass.com, you can get access to her training on how she's earning over $10,000 every month creating simple video content for Amazon. And I encourage you, especially if you're a regular Think Media podcast listener. I love the episodes we do with Kathleen because of the synergy. This is just such a good fit. You're making video content anyways. You already have your smartphone, you're already making content. Amazon Influencer and Amazon affiliates and YouTube all work together so well. And whenever you're listening to this, you can benefit because there's always a new promotion coming up. But this is also the time to lock in, like get, get your mind right now, get your calendar right. Maybe, maybe you've never been this disciplined or this focused or this prepared. This is your year. You're listening to this podcast right now. Let's, let's take it to another level. More foresight, more planning ahead. The famous phrase, prior planning prevents poor performance. And if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. So the more planning and strategy and foresight and intentionality. I mean, I put it this way. Even our time in scheduling, this conversation was to get far enough ahead that Kathleen and I could do this episode together so we could release this episode for you, so that you could get prepared for prime day. Well, I had to look that many weeks and months ahead, so all of that came into play. That's the big takeaway today. Look ahead, plan ahead, and you're going to get much better results this year. And let me also encourage you that if you're just starting and it feels like competition is more fierce than ever before, get in the game. And even if you get one qualifying sale this year, 10 qualifying sales, you make a few dollars this year. I'll never forget, my first ever Amazon associates commission was $2 and 12 cents. And that's like nothing. In fact, it is. I would say it this way, it wasn't worth my time. There's no way you could quantify that the time I put in to make $2.12 from Amazon was worth the time. Unless you think like an entrepreneur. Because if I would have gone to my day job as a waiter at a burger place in the Pacific Northwest, I could, I could make a hundred bucks on a Friday night in tips from waiting tables. So a better short term use of my time would be going to my job. But when I made that $2.12, a light bulb moment went off. It was an epiphany and I was like, this is $2.12 more than my neighbors made today on online. And what if I could scale this up? What if eventually I could turn $2 into 200 into 2,000? Last month, Amazon paid me $12,000. And it's just one of multiple income streams in the crater economy, but that was multiple years of stacking King. So all of the energy and the work you're putting into Prime Day this year, getting your storefront right, getting your YouTube channel right, setting up all these details, it's not even just about this year. It's about habits and routines and patterns and the compound effect of building the skill sets, the systems, the routines and the discipline. And that's what I've seen, is every year we do Prime Day better. Every year we do Black Friday better. Just more intentionality. Some stuff only comes with experience. But then Kathleen and I are also here in your corner to help you maximize your earnings. Do it in a smarter way. And so, Kathleen, if people want to follow you, I know you're going to probably have some live streams on your YouTube channel, giving even more coaching. And you've got a lot of great free information. Where can people check you out?
- [51:36]
Kathleen Coble
Yes, definitely. Come find me on YouTube at Kathleen Coble. You'll find lots of great free videos. I also do live streams on Friday morning, so check those out if you want to get the news of the Amazon Influencer program. And sometimes we have some fun topics we talk about. And then I also have a Facebook group and you can come follow me on Instagram as well at Kathleen Koble.
- [51:58]
Sean Cannell
All right, so, so many resources. Let's lock it in. If you go to the show notes, you could check out all of Kathleen's resources and including her free class. And also if you want to make the smart move and just kind of skip to the front of the line and invest in her course because you know you're ready to get serious about Amazon Influencer. You just want to take the shortcut. You know that really time is more valuable than money. And when you learn from an expert, it's. It just gets you to your goals faster. That'll all be summarized in the show notes. I want to thank you for listening to the Think Media podcast. If you're still listening, can you, like, rate, share, review wherever you watch or listen? It means the world to us. And until next time, my name is Sean Cannell, your guide to building a profitable YouTube channel. And I will see you in the next episode of the Think Media podcast.