In this episode, the host interviews Howard Thai, a former top 50 Amazon seller and founder of the Elite Seller Society mastermind. Howard discusses how his mastermind group helps sellers solve problems, access mentorship, and gain valuable resources. He shares insights on black hat tactics in the Amazon marketplace and stresses the importance of understanding these to protect your business. Howard advises sellers to fully optimize their listings, monitor for unauthorized changes, and innovate through unique product bundles to stand out and succeed on Amazon. Chapters: Introduction to Howard Thai and His Amazon Journey (00:00:00)Host introduces Howard Thai, his Amazon success, and his background in educating Chinese sellers. Overview of the Elite Seller Society Mastermind (00:01:19)Howard explains the purpose, benefits, and unique resources of his mastermind group for Amazon sellers. Value of Mastermind Groups and Continuous Learning (00:03:16)Howard discusses attending other masterminds, the investment involved, and the importance of learning from top-tier groups. Black Hat Tactics: Stigma and Seller Concerns (00:04:22)Host and Howard address the stigma around Chinese sellers and black hat tactics on Amazon. Understanding and Defending Against Black Hat Tactics (00:04:52)Howard explains why sellers must understand black hat tactics to protect themselves and their listings. Current Black Hat Tactics and Amazon’s Response (00:06:17)Howard lists active black hat tactics, notes their decline, and praises Amazon’s efforts to protect sellers. Proactive Listing Protection Strategies (00:08:32)Howard details steps for sellers to proactively secure their listings, including team building and monitoring. Filling Out All Listing Fields for Security and Visibility (00:09:43)Howard explains the importance of completing all Amazon listing fields to prevent manipulation and improve searchability. Leveraging Filters and Searchability on Amazon (00:11:41)Howard highlights how properly filled fields affect product visibility in Amazon’s filters and search results. Key Takeaways and Actionable Advice (00:12:52)Host summarizes three main takeaways: innovate with bundles, optimize listings, and understand black hat tactics for defense. Closing Remarks and Resources (00:15:59)Host thanks Howard, shares his website, and encourages listeners to follow his work and mastermind events. Links and Mentions: Elite Seller Society ShopifyFacebookAmazon Seller Central Transcript: Josh 00:00:00 Without further ado, I am excited to introduce to you Howard Thai. Howard is a former top 50 seller on all of Amazon. And his origin story as a seller is an epic itself. Between selling thousands of units of hoverboards daily and battling with Amazon Incorporated on Amazon, Apple actually on Amazon. The story of his humble beginnings is a story too long to tell. He began his journey as an educator by single handedly spearheading the training of Chinese sellers on Amazon. The insights that Howard provided and the tools he developed led to what many in the United States consider the Chinese takeover of Amazon. He has saved, started, scaled and sold hundreds of businesses via Amazon and other virtual platforms. And he's done it time and time again. So welcome to the podcast, Howard. Howard, I think this is a good time to kind of talk about your mastermind. You do something with the elite seller society and you have a mastermind big, you know, kind of event that you do once a year, I believe. Josh 00:01:05 this is something that I've been very interested and I keep asking you about. I think every time I talk to you, I'm like, hey, do you have the dates? And do you know where you're going yet? So tell us more about that. And what is it all about? What content are you sharing? Howard 00:01:19 So the elite level of society is like, a mastermind that I have created. it's everyone that's been in our event, our mastermind events that gets, gets added into and, we kind of go in and help each other within our group, like how to solve problems, as well as, there's like, something that we can offer our group through, like, other mentorships or through, like, special, like things. I'm working on getting our, all our membership members. Members, that own, their own, account rep So that they don't have to go through the SAS program or SAS program. That really sucks. So they're getting like really good quality. employees and Amazon being able to support them. Howard 00:02:13 So I'm talking to Amazon on that on how we can actually make that work for our employees. So that's just something cool that I'm working with or things that things that are always open when you're in the mastermind. I like like you said, my shift change. Like you never you're in a box all the time. For most of the people that aren't in, in these mastermind I'm talking about, like, if you're even in these podcasts or in Facebook groups, you'll never get the same kind of, like information that you really could get on those different platforms than if it was in Bessemer. You probably know that, Josh. so, like, I'm just sitting there and learning and like, oh, there is this thing that out there to doing this stuff, you know, I'm not ready yet for it, but I know it's out there exists, so I need to do it. Like, for example, like, digital marketing, you know, I need to do some marketing, but I went to, I went to, custom conversion. Howard 00:03:16 I went to, a lot of, Carrie's events, like the weird events, you know, three and and even I'm thinking about getting into those two masterminds, right? One from all inside one site and also from Perry site, you know, so I'm trying to I'm looking into that. They're not cheap. They're like maybe 25,000 a year. but, yes, it's from the world, right? Josh 00:03:39 So yeah, I know that. That's great. And I agree with your statement there, Howard, in terms of, you know, the deeper tactics, if you want to go deep with stuff, you need to start reaching out and joining some of those mastermind groups. So I think it's going to take your learning to the next level. Now, Howard, you've educated a lot of Chinese sellers, right? And I think there's a negative stigma in the marketplace where it's like, oh, the Chinese sellers, they just want to implement black hat tactics, and that's who's always attacking me. you know, prior to this conversation, you and I discussed and you're like, you, you see kind of the black hat, black hat tactics kind of, you know, lessening to some extent or or another. Josh 00:04:22 But from your experience, you are so well versed on Amazon. I know a lot of sellers are fearful when it comes to black hat tactics, but would you mind kind of educating our audience in regards to what are the active black hat tactics that you see being implemented right now, and what are ways that sellers can do to protect themselves in advance, as well as what do you do if you do have a black hat tactic that actually affects you and attacks your listing? Howard 00:04:52 People think that, you know, like this stigma like, hey, you know, black hat and you do black hat, right? But the reality is, if a person has been in this industry for so long, they would need to know how to protect themselves. What kind of backpack techniques? Like what you're asking. Right. so, like, a computer security guy, right? Who does? Computer security? Needs to know how people are coming in and attacking the system. So if you're like a programmer an...
