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Cyndi’s Take on SellerCon 2019

Cyndi Thomason answers questions about her attendance at SellerCon 2019

Q:  What is SellerCon all about? What is the purpose behind this event?

Cyndi:  According to Matt Clark, Co-founder of Amazing, SellerCon is all about providing people with the tools they need to succeed. The goal is to not only show people what strategies and ideas to use, but also teach them how to implement those strategies. This event is based around the idea of helping ecommerce businesses stay productive, relevant, and profitable. Each session has been constructed to give attendees an understanding of the best ways to implement proven strategies and problem solving within their own Amazon business. In between sessions, a myriad of activities are provided to expand attendees’ network and improve business development.

Q:  There are obviously many different speakers at the event. Which speakers would you recommend that really impacted you?

Cyndi:  All the speakers were dynamic and did an awesome job. I personally loved the message from Sarah Blakely, the CEO and Founder of Spanx. She started her business based on a need she knew existed. She grew organically based on sales. She said she launched new products as she had the funds available. To this day she is 100% owner. She created her business based on her terms and not what was “normal or typical.” Her story was inspirational and her message was clear: Spend every day thinking about how you can make your product, sell it or build awareness.

I also found the talk on Private Equity investment to be informative. This talk was presented by Drew Sanocki of Nerd Marketing and CEO of AutoAnything. I’ve already shared some of his ideas with clients.

In addition to the knowledge sharing from a multitude of experienced professionals, SellerCon is the perfect event for networking with others in the industry. It was great to connect with Mike Zagare of Margins Entourage and Kirsten Verity and Isaac Kuhlman of Real Coaching. They are already bought into Profit First and it was awesome to see them recommend it to their clients.

Q:  What should people expect when they come to the event? What are some of the things they will experience, things they will see/learn?

Cyndi:  SellerCon has something for everyone from new business owners to tracks for those ready to scale. The presentations are a mix of inspiration with a heavy dose of actionable strategies for attendees to start when they get home. The strategies covered mindset, marketing and advertising, sourcing, accounting and many other topics. The team from Amazing was so supportive of the attendees and those attending were very supportive of each other during the networking.

Q:  Even the most experienced business owners can learn new things. What were some of your big takeaways from the event?

Cyndi:  From Matt Clark, I learned about 7 mental traps that we fall into when we make decisions; such as sunk cost fallacy and confirmation bias. His suggestions for counteracting these traps were great; such as do less, not more – focus, always ask others’ opinions, and consider whether this will matter in 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years. His idea of keeping a decision log of important decisions and then tracking how they turned out is genius. He also suggests using a rolling 12-month forecast compared to actual. I also liked Bradley Sutton of Helium 10 who recommended Cameo.com to get celebrity endorsements. Karyn Thomas of Private Label Profit.com suggested building up your FAQ’s which display alongside of reviews on Amazon. Get your friends and family to ask good questions that you can answer.

Q:  Why do you think it is important for people to understand that other business owners go through some of the same ups and downs?

Cyndi:  We can learn from each other and know that we’re not alone in this journey. Sometimes talking to other business owners is the only support we get because family and employees don’t understand, or it may cause them concern. Colleagues have faced many of the same issues and can help us see things from another perspective.

Q:  What do you want people to take away from your message and SellerCon as a whole?

Cyndi:  At SellerCon I had the opportunity to introduce about 1000 people to Profit First. I gave them the basic plan to get started and I trust they have opened their bank accounts and are ready to allocate their next payout.

Post Author Cyndi Thomason

bookskeep

Cyndi Thomason is founder and president of bookskeep, a U.S.-based accounting, bookkeeping, and advisory firm for ecommerce sellers worldwide. She has a passion for data analysis and process development. She uses that passion to educate her clients and help them structure their businesses to maximize profits.

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