Amazon entrepreneur success stories have been increasing as more entrepreneurs understand the Amazon seller platform. Leveraging the Amazon exclusive platform Co-Founder, Joe Jaconi and his team have earned the trust of consumers around the world. With the slogan “you play we protect” Tech Armor has empowered consumers and business owners with the ability to use their phones under any conditions without the stress. Joe has built the company from the ground up and continues to innovate as technology continues to change at a rapid pace. Joe has inspired others with his Amazon success story and I had the unique opportunity to speak with Joe and tap into the decades of his success. Here’s how it went:
I think You’ll Agree Amazon is Hard to Figure out. Here’s how it works:
Jay: You’ve built Tech Armor on Amazon into an incredible brand and have earned a stellar reputation. When building a brand online what’s the biggest principle you need to have to achieve success?
Joe: When building a brand the first impression is critical whether it be online or offline and can determine quickly whether you will be successful or if you have to regroup and change direction. That first and even the follow up impressions you give to a new customer starts with your product and is why we strive for perfection in everything the product is, beginning with the quality of what we sell. Historically people look for deals online, but that is no reason to sacrifice quality if you want the customers coming back. Next, the visual marketing around that product (its actually the first impression for a new customer) begins with your online listing from the images to the copy. Make sure they are PERFECT in every way. Nothing turns me off to a product online than a bad image or poor grammar, it just shows you that company does not care. The next component is support, which is where we always over-invest. Taking care of a customer’s problem is the greatest opportunity to win their loyalty, don’t squander it!
Jay: What’s the one product you’re most proud of?
Joe: The product I am most proud of would be the Tech Armor Ballistic Glass Screen Protector for iPhone 8/7/6. This product was the #1 selling product in mobile accessories on Amazon.com for a long period of time and one of our best all time sellers. We spent a great deal of time on the user experience and the steps a user goes through from opening the package to the installation of the product. The post sales support was also very thoughtfully developed and has carried over to our other products resulting in our achieving a very high Net Promoter Score with the customers we survey quarterly.
Here’s what you do when you’ve found success and want to continue to grow:
Jay: You’ve recently added a great skin care company to your portfolio. How did you get into that industry?
Joe: The opportunity arose for me to purchase Kino Hawaiian Skincare from a friend who had decided to exit the business. I was excited from the very beginning, who does not love Hawaii? The more we spoke about the brand and the vision for what it could become, the more enthusiastic I became. Everything we produce is organic, toxic free and never tested on animals and we also give back with every purchase to preserve the Islands, hence our tagline, Preserve your Skin, preserve the Islands! www.kinoskincare.com
Jay: What advice will you give yourself in building this business that you’ve learned from building Tech Armor?
Joe: Building Tech Armor has been a great learning experience and I intend to leverage some of the great practices from support, packaging and online merchandising and apply those core values to Kino. Kino will also be a brand that makes a strong personal connection with our customers and we want to make certain that every product we sell meets our promise of excellence both before and after their purchase.
Jay: From your experience what mistakes do young entrepreneurs make that they need to be aware of when building their brand?
Joe: I would tell all entrepreneurs that aim to start a brand to look at a few key things starting with the most important, “Are you passionate about your idea?” Without real drive and desire to be a success, most ideas will fail.
Following that make sure to do your homework (research) and know that there is a market for your idea, can you compete? Lastly is your idea defendable, or will others rush in to simply duplicate your story?
Plan for the Future!
Jay: What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?
Joe: When starting any business be cognizant of the time effort and resources it will take. If you think it will take 6 months to get off the ground, double that and if you think it will cost $50,000 to launch your brand, triple that! Setting expectations is key to keeping yourself and your team motivated and on task!
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