Awesomers.com

https://awesomers.com/163 - show notes Focus on Strengths It's the single most important driver of team performance - and yet, less than 2 out of 10 employees strongly agree that they get to use their strengths at work every day. Steve Simonson and Michael Pinkowski share some of their strengths and talk through how those strengths impact their decision making and their careers. As entrepreneurs, we are usually not great managers and therefore we will often look for the easiest path instead of the right path when it comes to the supervision and orchestration of our teams. That typically means that we abdicate the responsibility and then we are surprised and even mad when the new hire didn't execute with excellence. Building a culture based on strengths is immensely more powerful than building it based on fear. As you focus on a culture of strengths you build skills and processes that can create a predictable result every time for the business. This is the key to growing in a sustainable way. Steve and Michael share some of their personal stories to help you understand how this data-driven philosophy works in real life. To get started goto: http://gobestrong.com/go Take the assessment, get the insider help videos and coaching from Michael. Make a decision to invest in yourself today! https://awesomers.com/163 - show notes

https://awesomers.com/162 --> Show notes News is happening every single day that impacts Amazon Sellers and eCommerce companies in general and here are a few that caught Steve's eye this week: 1) Amazon admits it uses marketplace Seller data to come up with products.  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/19/amazon-uses-aggregated-data-from-sellers-to-build-its-own-products.html 2) Amazon responds to some Seller concerns, but ignores others. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kirimasters/2019/11/20/amazon-addresses-some-seller-concerns-ignores-others-in-antitrust-inquiry/#3e285b883445 3) Amazons written response to FTC Anti-Trust Inquiry.https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU05/20190716/109793/HHRG-116-JU05-20190716-SD038.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0o-I9gyz7rvIIuM5Qv2wDDe0pD5XoBCHcGIM0iZeNiWu55gUc6HTU8DVk Top Take Aways: Forcing Brands to match prices of "competitors" Buy Box factors remain elusive. Amazon Seller count lower than press estimates. Amazon eludes details about their own brand placement. MSRP pricing vs. Sale pricing is weird. Amazon's unfair use of data, placement, and external competitors is damaging US businesses. Don't forget that we must remain calm and carry on a dialogue to get change to happen. Losing our minds and yelling will not solve this situation and I believe there are ways to make improvements without the government getting too involved and without Amazon unfairly using its power.  https://awesomers.com/162 --> Show notes

https://awesomers.com/161 - show notes and webinar links Do you want to reduce your employee attrition by up to 73%? WEBINAR REPLAY - https://vimeo.com/374560745 Today on the Awesomers.com podcast we want to talk about the most important natural resource you have in business: people.Let's focus on how to grow your company by leveraging the strengths of the individuals in your company instead of concentrating on what's wrong with them. Michael Pinkowski from Go.Be.Strong. joins Steve to talk about the most impactful cultural system that can work in any business: Strengths Based Leadership. Starting with a simple assessment Entrepreneurs can first know themselves and start learning how to harness and develop their own strengths and THEN help they key team members do the same thing. This process takes work, but the payoff can be extraordinary.If you want to grow from $1M a year in sales to $10M a year in sales or even $50M a year in sales - the dirty little secret is that it will take people to create a real sustainable business with equity. YOU as the leader have to get good at leading people. Even if you don't like it. Even if you think you can't do it.You can do it and you can even get good at it. Listen to Michael and Steve talk through some of the history of the Strengths concept and how you can leverage this key system to enhance your own business today. http://gobestrong.com/go https://awesomers.com/161 - show notes and webinar links WEBINAR REPLAY - https://vimeo.com/374560745

https://www.awesomers.com/160 for show notes page and links This was originally recorded in 2018 with Patrick Maioho talking about the impact of the first round of China Tariffs that were just being implemented. Patrick is a global sourcing expert who has deep experience in China as well as many other countries. This conversation is enlightening and eye opening for anyone impacted by the China USA Trade War and specifically talks about the impact of Tariffs. If you don't know about how the tariffs work this conversation is for you. https://www.awesomers.com/160 for show notes page and links *lightly edited - not full edit.

https://awesomers.com/159 On October 12th China and the USA announced a "phase one" trade deal. Was it really a deal or was it just a cease fire? That's more of an academic question, but here are the key take aways: 1) Ratching down rhetoric is better than going farther into the abyss. 2) No formal deal has been inked, so we don't know if this will actually get over the finish line, but the USA has honored it's promise to waive or otherwise defer the additional 5% tariff that was expected to be applied as of October 15th. 3) Besides the press conferences related to the Washington DC based meetings and related press coverage we don't have alot of facts. Which leaves us to guess about what has been "agreed" to and what comes next. And since the absence of information leaves me OPEN for speculation, here we go: 1) China got something it wanted. Waiver or delay of the 5%. 2) USA got something it wanted. A committment to buy US Agriculture products in the amount of 50 Billion dollars. (The devil, however, is in the details since we don't know over what time period that represents.) Both the USA and CHINA could use some political wins on this trade war front and this was likely a good start for both. The fact that the USA is bringing in billions in tariffs gives the USA some power to mitigate those industries hardest hit with retalitory tariffs. The same applies the the added tariffs for items coming into China. China has a high interest in maintaining it's manufacturing base. Here are some things to watch for: What happens to the next round of tariffs set to take effect on December 15th? How will the African Swine Fever impact China's inflation and related US Ag purchases? What impact, if any, will the Hong Kong situation have short or long term? How will the Chinese delegation read the US Election and factor that into their results? How will the Impeachment inquiry impact the Trump strategy on trade in China or elsewhere? (Turkey, EU, Etc..) How will a prolonged trade way impact the global economy? Will the Congress play politics on the Canada-Mexico-USA new agreement? Will any tariffs get rolled back? If so when? https://awesomers.com/159 Stay tuned into this dynamic situation!

https://awesomers.com/158 An Update About Steve's Health: Today I am sharing a health update. Last Friday I began treatment for Stage IV Melanoma Cancer. Although this news is not my favorite thing to share I wanted to give you some context and provide my insights on what it means for the short term for me: 1) I remain otherwise healthy and strong and relatively young to fight this disease. I have no symptoms or effects and we would’t recognize this was even happening without a series of internal scans that have been happening over the past several months including recent biopsies that have confirmed the nature of the challenge that lies ahead. 2) My treatment will be in the form of Immunotherapy which I am told is a more effective version of chemotherapy and should have fewer side effects. I didn’t have any bad side effects from last Friday’s treatment for example. 3) In spite of my first treatment happening last week, I will still depart for China on the 18th for a sourcing trip with some great entrepreneurs and my kids are even coming along. The trip will continue without any impact. 4) My future schedule will be adjusted to accommodate the more frequent hospital visits, but in general I will carry on with my most important priorities which includes the Empowery Cooperative, The Awesomers podcast, and other "network effect" businesses. My lower priority businesses will be sold or discarded and I will divest in most larger consumer focused businesses that I am involved in to put focus on my priorities which include my health, my kids, and my entrepreneurial community related activities. 5) I am a very private person overall so sharing something of this personal nature is not normal for me. I share only to help those of you who are emailing me, messaging me, and otherwise asking me for some kind of help that I may be delayed in responding to you. As a matter of fact for those in need of assistance I would recommend posting in one of the online facebook groups or asking the Empowery.com/contact support area to see if they can help you before contacting me. I will be slower to respond if I can find the time. I have always been serious when I say that I am "At Your Service" to my fellow entrepreneurs and that mentality is not going to stop. However, it is logical to assume that my focus and immediate priorities will be on my recover. There is no doubt in my mind I will overcome this illness and although I wouldn't volunteer for this assigment, now that I have received it I am thankful for the clarity and overall sense of purpose that it gives me; even with a greater sense of urgency. There are many important things happening in the entrepreneurial community. Kevin King is holding the Billion Dollar Summit in November and I will be there to help unveil the next "BETA" round for the KevinandSteve.com project. Shhhhh..... The announcement of the Women’s Conference has been met with enthusiasm in the community and I have no doubt Melissa Simonson and the team will make that a very successful event. empowery.org/womensconference Sincerely, Steve Simonson Founder https://awesomers.com/158

Podcast Shownotes: https://awesomers.com/157 How about a little humility? Too often we see people showing off private jets, fancy cars, and projecting this lifestyle that IMPLIES that they have arrived. And how did they "arrive"? They were super smart and you should listen to them, better yet, send them some money and you can have what they have. However, rarely does those brag posts show the debt that the person is in. These modern millennial show-offs remind me of one of the original BS artists from America's so-called "Greatest Generation." Many people believe that TOM VU one of the clearest example of scam presentations ever. My point is that the current version of these are those ding dongs you see parading around on their private jets, posting every 3 hours them drinking champagne with the pretty people, or some other variation of illustrating that YOU suck and they are winning. The truth is often far different. My experience shows me that Zig Ziglar, as usual, is right on the money. Start from a place of NOT knowing. Start from a place of humility. Even if you have knowledge or skills about the topic at hand, set aside your bias and your preconceived notions and prepare to learn by accepting new input. Your ability to compare data, gather potentially new information is significantly impaired if you don't take the time to step back and prepare for a paradigm breaking moment. Now, many times, your guy is right and as you discuss whatever the current situation is, or occasional crisis, you may know the right answers before hearing all of the data. In addition to keeping yourself open for a potentially new and paradigm-shifting breakthrough you are allowing your team to share their views and inputs. THAT is leadership. THAT is necessary. The best people do want to follow, but they want to feel like they are part of the journey. The old saying from H Jackson Brown, Jr is, "Every person that you meet knows something you don't; learn from them." Don't be one of the "know it all" scum bags from the TV or now from the GRAM. Yes I'm hip. I've hear about Instagram. Be someone who can take a step back and learn, or even be wrong. That's when you will find the best results within your company and your team. Podcast Shownotes: https://awesomers.com/157

https://awesomers.com/156 for full show notes. Today Steve is sharing some updates about the Seller Sessions SELLERPOLL and his impresions of the program. VOTE NOW - https://sellersessions.com/sellerpoll-vote/ Steve went onto share his thoughts about the LINKEDIN case against web scraping public data and the potential ramifications with Amazon's TOS. Steve also discussed the South Carolina case where Amazon is liable for back sales tax on marketplace sellers sales and why this precedent is so important. Steve briefly talked about the current Trade war between the USA and China and what that means for sellers around the world. Consider this program to diversify:  https://www.empowery.org/goglobal Consider expanding your brand into Costco: https://www.empowery.org/costco-discovery Finally the topics of some of the cool new things that are happening here: Empowery Co-op: https://www.empowery.org/membershipParsimony Software: https://parsimony.com/parsimonyfreeSymoGlobal Photos: https://symoglobal.com/servicesKevinandSteve.com Secret Project: https://www.kevinandsteve.com/home https://awesomers.com/156 for full show notes.

https://awesomers.com/155 for FULL Show Notes Today Steve talked about his recent trip to Europe with his kids to help Awesomers understand his recent absence. Steve went onto share a summary of his 3 different community based initiatives: 1) https://Awesomers.com - Website, Podcast, Mailing List, Facebook Group - 100% FREE eCommerce Community Support 2) https://Empowery.com - A non-profit member owned cooperative to help leverage buying power and bring a unified voice to sellers. We can be: Independent. Together. 3) https://Catalyst88.com - The VIP high level mastermind focused on top performers looking to take their business to the next level. Steve shared why each of these distinct ideas exist and a little about how they came to be. Further into the episode Steve shared his views about the new Parsimony.com FREE version that allows Amazon Sellers to take control of their ASIN level listing changes and reviews including monitoring, alerts, notifications, and even project management to create advanced levels of automation. The robust system is only being opened to a tiny degree because we don't want to overwhelm users with the full ERP advanced feature set which is there, but it perhaps a bit intimidating to newer ecommerce users. Steve went on to talk about the Entrepreneurial "defect" when it comes to managing people. Our instincts and vision as entrepreneurs is exceptional, however, our management capabilities are often NOT SO AWESOMER! Steve mentioned the https://gobestrong.com resource to start to learn about YOU first and get to know your strengths and then roll out strengths training to your other team members.  And for goodness sake, build a team and create a culture to unlock the highest performance levels in each of the individuals. Stop treating people, especially freelancers, like disposable tissues. Steve mentioned his personal website stevensimonson.com as a place to try and keep track of some of the projects that Steve is working on. It's hard to keep track of them all!Don't forget to click the JOIN US link above to get sent some of our FREE processes to help get your company pointed the right direction. Steve is always busy hatching new schemes. Stay tuned to Awesomers for updates on current projects. https://awesomers.com/155 for FULL Show Notes

https://awesomers.com/154 Steve welcomed Zack Leonard who is the President of GEMBAH. GEMBAH is a product design and development company that is built to empower entrepreneurs, especially those Amazon FBA Sellers, who need to help with product differentiation. Everyone talks about finding product opportunities that you can differentiate, but few have a systemic path to that differentiation. So today's podcast is a conversation between Steve and Zach about the typical product design process. Zach walked through each of the steps and even included the graphics shown below as a reference for the Awesomer audience. The concepts behind product design are something that every Amazon Seller should at least become aware of, but more likely, the opportunity to make design improvement and create assets in your business such as molds or patents. There are so many possibilties! GEMBAH is an aligned and authorized Empowery Co-op vendor so don't hesitate to contact them and learn more about how they can help you. Empowery members can contact Empowery for a personal introduction and to be sure you get access to all of the extra perks and bonuses that are part of your Empowery membership. Don't forget to share this important episode with your fellow entrepreneurs who need product design advice! https://awesomers.com/154

https://awesomers.com/153 Sourcing In India Facebook Group Meghla's Sourcing to India Trip Steve and Meghla shared a conversation about her background and the incredibly diverse world locations she has lived in and her work experience with Global Sources that give her a unique and very experienced perspective about sourcing in general.  Meghla went on to discuss why she believes India is a viable alternative to China and she shared best practices about how to develop relationships with factories that transcend the email or skype conversations and help deliver a more positive result which can include better terms, better quality, timing, etc... The trip in India will be something worthwhile and will I believe it gives those who participate an edge when it comes to building on a new sourcing supply line. If you don't already have plans to goto India - this could be the exact solution you are looking for. Understanding international trading and sourcing requires learning and it requires new solutions to emerging problems. https://awesomers.com/153

Steve welcomes the God Father of entreprenuerial podcasting John Lee Dumas. JLD is known for hosting the long running Entrepreneurs on Fire Podcast which has over 2000 episodes. Steve asked JLD about his formative moments when he was beginning, what he takes the most pleasure in doing today and his recommendations for Amazon Sellers about how they can build their business today. JLD is a true entrepreneur and has been sharing, inspiring, and building his business and products for years. We are big fans of his podcast and really love his consistent message to take action and FOCUS. And finally, it was announced that the Sourcing with Steve trip has been officially announced. https://liranandsteve.com

https://awesomers.com/152 From Vietnam Steve joined today to talk to Awesomers about an upcoming webinar about the TOP 7 Sourcing Mistakes that Amazon Sellers make. REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR RIGHT NOW: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/36b4ec2d373d23647c24e00bf0acd2b8 Steve talked about some of the common mistakes that are STILL being made everyday by Amazon Sellers. These mistakes can have a big impact on the sales, growth, and opportunities for Amazon FBA marketplace sellers. The most important part is that these mistakes are absolutely preventable!Steve went into some detail about the upcoming trip to China in October. Steve is joining forces with Liran Hirshkorn, Andy Slamans, Oksana Brookie, Melissa Simonson, and Bell Isabell for this trip so it will be EPIC in every possible way! If you want to learn from experts how to create a global supply chain stay tuned here on Awesomers.com and sign up for the FREE webinar right now. And if you are interested in going to China don't hesitate. The prices go up every week based on availability, hotel costs and other variables.   REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR RIGHT NOW -> https://zoom.us/webinar/register/36b4ec2d373d23647c24e00bf0acd2b8 To get details about the Sourcing with Steve China trip click below: http://www.LiranandSteve.com Consider these resources to help your business: https://www.empowery.com - the non-profit member owned co-op https://www.catalyst88.com - the ecommerce focused global mastermind  https://www.stevensimonson.com - learn more about the founder Steve Simonson Don't forget that the Empowery eCommerce co-op is there to help you cope with the ever-changing market!

https://awesomers.com/150 Steve was joined by Bernie Thompson and Ritu Java to talk about Amazon Seller PPC Hacks and techiques that can help ANY Amazon Seller. Bernie and Ritu talked specifically about a couple MAJOR strategic changes they have made over the past 12 months in reponse to the SMART DUMB algorithms that are used by the Amazon Sponsored products auction alogrithms. This is a MUST listen to episode. PPC Ninja is an aligned Empowery Co-op Vendor so that means there are great offers to help members maximize services while minimizing prices. Don't forget to get the FREE self audit tool at PPCNinja.com or better yet, get the experts to conduct an audit tell you what's working and what's not! https://awesomers.com/150

https://awesomers.com/149 Steve talked about the origin of Amazon Prime Day and what Amazon Sellers need to pay attention to during the actual Prime Day event. Steve talked about the recent third circuit court of appeals ruling that says Amazon can be found liable for product liability for the products sold on its marketplace. THIS WILL HAVE HUGE impact. Contact the non-profit e-commerce co-op https://www.empowery.com/contact for a FREE no-obligation introduction to insurance resources that can help you. Steve reinforced the issues with California regarding state sales taxes being unfairly forced on marketplace sellers. The battle continues to rage on. Support the https://onlinemerchantsguild.org so that marketplace sellers have some representation! Steve mentioned the new California marketplace sellers rights bill which is actually the potential for good news from California. Steve updated everyone on the status of the https://KevinandSteve.com project. And finally, it was announced that the Sourcing with Steve trip has been officially announced. https://awesomers.com/149 >> GET CHINA SOURCING DETAILS: https://symo.kartra.com/page/Yzo89 <