182 Listing on Amazon (Dana Derricks 1 of 3)

Dana Derricks is our guest today and he is the number 1 Amazon listing optimizer on the planet. It’s no small claim. His motto is ‘Go Big or Go Home’ which is just the kind of American thinking we need to have here. It’s also reflected in the amazing stuff in his book, The Amazon Listing Optimization Secrets Work Book. He’s here today to teach us about listing on Amazon.

Welcome to the show. Amazon Copy Writing specifically, everyone talks about listings but not many talk about the importance of the precision use of the words.

Dana’s Background as an Amazon Seller
Dana has quite a deep background in copywriting as he has been doing it for about a decade. He started copywriting for clients who were doing stuff off of Amazon. When he started working with an Amazon seller, that seller was doing $50K a month, which is great. But Dana helped him get that to $3 million dollars a month by helping fix his listing on Amazon. It was at that moment he realized Amazon was where it’s at.

Dana has worked with sellers one-on-one for almost 5 years and then started to realise he was making everyone else rich, so needed to get on Amazon himself. He launched his own Amazon company and did $635, 000 in first 12 months using all the strategies he had been using previously for clients. He is still selling on Amazon, and now works with people and teaches people the stuff that really works.

Dana is known as the Copywriting Professor. He realized he could affect more people if he taught what he knew than by only working with a small group one-on-one. The name came about purely by accident when he was digging around on Go Daddy for a domain name. Copywriting Professor was available, so he bought it and that’s how he got the name.

Words vs. Photos When Listing on Amazon
Images are great. They make a difference. But the copy is the number 1 thing that matters in your listing. Dana has worked with over 1000 sellers one-on-one in his career and been around the Amazon world for quite a while. He has tested everything and seen everything. When it comes to ROI, the most important thing is the copywriting for your listing on Amazon and getting it optimized. It’s not just about words, but about the format, and getting people to do what you want them to do, e.g. click on your listing and then converting.

The copy is important because words are what get you to do things. Images are important for sure, but still, people aren’t going to be swayed by the image itself. The words are what will get people to actually take the action that you want them to. Arguably one of the best things you can do on Amazon as a seller is to differentiate your product. Ultimately, if your product is very similar to the next guy’s product, then you’ll have to compete on things like price and reviews. It starts with the title.

What gets the customer to click on your title over anybody else's’? And then, once they’ve clicked, what gets them to buy? It’s the bullet points that gets them to convert. Dana’s copy is speaking to them, giving them exactly what they want, and justifying all their concerns. The photos have an impact but the words are what persuade people to action.
A Word on Cultural Differences When Listing on Amazon
Selling on Amazon US means you need to know how to speak to Americans. Being one of them. Dana acknowledges, “We are not humble, we are obnoxious and belligerent when we buy things. People from the UK are reserved and passive and reasonable and rationale. We are not, we are aggressive. If you aren’t that way you will get squashed.” His advice is even though saying crazy stuff that sounds sales-y and like an infomercial can feel weird, it works. This is very important for the British listeners and readers. It’s a really good reminder that there’s a big cultural difference that needs to be respected.
The First Steps to Listing on Amazon
Do not sit down and copy the competition’s listing and just change the words.