September 30, 2024 Newsletter

[SFTB] 🎊🎁🎈 The Super Duper 1-Year Old Birthday Edition

✅The Instant Value Section (IVS)✅

Over the past 2 years, there’s been a “CTR Renaissance” of sorts.

Lots of smart folks have come up with, and shared, clever ways to enhance main images so as to improve click-through rates (CTR).

Most of this cleverness has been focused on showing the product (i.e., the pill, the capsule, the chew), showcasing the flavor, graphically overlaying keywords or USPs, or otherwise adding design elements that serve to “stop the scroll.”

This main image from Pet Honesty is a reasonably good representation of where “the market” has evolved to with respect to main images.

But what do you do when you’ve already optimized your main image for the latest main image CTR best practices?

What do you do when there’s seemingly no more “juice” left to squeeze from your main image?

I’m going to share two ways to further optimize your main image, that no one talks about (let alone implements).

Did you know that Google indexes information from your Amazon product detail pages?

Maybe you did.

But did you also know that this includes metadata in your images?

I’m NOT talking about Alt Text here. I’m talking about title, location, keyword metadata that you can actually add to the back-end info of any image.

So, here’s the hack…

If you want greater discoverability and SEO – particularly through Google – add keywords to your image metadata.

You can do this using Adobe (or one of the free, open source alternatives), or using the Photos app on a Mac.

This is what it looks like when I add keywords to the Pet Honesty image from above.

PS: Note that I’ve added a competitor brand as keyword metadata. This is one way to “steal” competitor SEO juice.

If most of your sessions come from mobile (TIP: Review your business reports regularly to understand how your customers are shopping for your products), modify your image to a 5:6 ratio (WxH) instead of the typical 1:1 (Square).

Images with a 5:6 aspect ratio show up much larger in mobile SERP than typical 1:1 images.

Bigger, more visible images = Higher CTR and CVR.

Give these main image hacks a try, and let me know how it works out for you!

And, if you ever need help with creative & design work for your Amazon store, or just want to talk advanced strategy, send me an email at jon@colormorelines.com.

– Jon

We don’t often talk about OA here – but many of us got our start this way. I’m here to tell you it is still a viable strategy in 2024. The majority of sellers are now brand owners but there is a lot of money to be made these days as a reseller.

As we enter Q4, it’s the perfect time to focus on boosting your business and ending the year strong. If you’re looking to level up your income and strategies, Selling From The Beach’s Masterclass is your ideal investment. This program is designed to teach you how to build a scalable, sustainable, and location-independent business—so you can earn while living the lifestyle you want.

In this masterclass, you’ll learn everything from growing your email list to converting subscribers into paying customers, all while embracing the freedom to work from anywhere. Whether you’re an entrepreneur looking to create passive income streams or someone eager to transition into a digital business, this is a golden opportunity to hit your revenue goals before the year wraps up.

Don’t let Q4 slip by without maximizing your earning potential. Selling From The Beach’s Masterclass is not just a course; it’s a roadmap to financial freedom. Make the smart move now and invest in your future success!

If you’ve been around LinkedIn or Facebook, there’s a good chance that you’ve already seen a bunch of the new announcements from Accelerate this year. If you want a broad overview, check out this one.

Amazon PPC AI Images & Video: Amazon introduces improvements to the AI-powered image generator along with releasing gen AI videos.

B2B Sponsored Ads: Finally, we can target business customers (the best damn customers) directly within sponsored brands. Why should you care? Business customers return 50% less, spend 2-3x more, and have way more multi-unit orders.

Project Amelia: Support for the millions of Amazon sellers is always a big issue – I’m a bit apprehensive about this one, but it could be great. It’s a Gen AI tool that knows everything about Seller Central AND your business, and (hopefully) can provide tailored support.

The Big Flat File Fix: Amazon unveils significant improvements to its flat file system, making it easier for sellers to manage and upload data – how? You can upload a flat file in any format, and Amazon will translate it into the format that works for them. Thank God.

Return Analyzer: Even more data on why customers are returning your products. This is such a black box and it’s often extremely difficult to figure out what’s wrong. The new return tool will allow us to drill in and fix problems more quickly.

Even more Proactive Reimbursements: Amazon will continue with proactively identifying and reimbursing sellers for lost or damaged inventory without requiring sellers to file claims, improving seller cash flow – could eventually mean the end of GETIDA (and others).

Amazon Managed Shipments: A new feature where Amazon takes full control of shipment logistics for sellers, providing end-to-end management to ensure timely and efficient deliveries.

Honestly one of the coolest and most-needed additions to the launches at accelerate. Try out the completely free, brand new Amazon dashboard.

IMO – it’s a big improvement. What do you think? Try it here:

Well, here it is – as a loyal newsletter subscriber, we’re giving you access to a masterlist of every tip from the last year. Check it out below.

1) If the restaurant has a bunch of things on the menu — i’m talking over 100, there’s a good chance the food will be average or bad. Logically (and logistically), most restaurants can’t master 100s of items to the point where the food will be excellent.

(On the flip side, if a restaurant has only a few things on it <10, let’s say, there’s a good chance the food will be really good).

2) If the restaurant is scary looking, run down, or beat up — there’s a good chance the food is great. Why? I don’t know. Probably because the chef is so focused on making great food he didn’t bother painting the walls.

Thinking of coming to visit us in Costa Rica? Here’s 6 customs that will help your experience go more smoothly:

Instead of a formal greeting like “Hola” or “Buenos días,” Ticos often use a simple “Buenas” as a catch-all greeting. When you walk into an area where people are sitting its pretty common to say good morning to the entire room.  The doctors, electric company, DMV, etc.

Ticos tend to avoid confrontation or saying “no” directly. They might offer various excuses and justifications.  The old “family emergency” is a frequent one.

Ticos are notorious for running on “Tico time,” meaning they tend to be relaxed about punctuality. Being 15-30 minutes late is fairly common for social gatherings, and it’s not considered rude.

Ticos sometimes use a special whistle to catch someone’s attention from a distance. It’s not considered rude, and is actually a casual way to communicate in public spaces. It always get my attention.

While many countries have distinct breakfast foods, Ticos eat Gallo Pinto—a mixture of rice and beans.  We were at a hotel brunch and locals were still loading up on this even when there is other more premium breakfast options.

Ticos rarely use street names or house numbers when giving directions because they usually are not posted or even known. Instead, they refer to landmarks, like “200 meters north of the old tree” or “next to the place where the Soda used to be.”

(all of the responses boxed in red above were written by AI)

Inspired by Richard van der Blom‘s recent rant about AI responses, there’s been a flood of lazy, AI-generated posts and comments that are clogging up my feed and makes me roll my eyes and keep scrolling.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗟𝗶𝗲:

AI-generated posts (+50% AI content): up 128% in the last 6 months

AI-generated posts (100% AI): up 180%

AI-generated images: up 80%

AI-written comments: up 340% (!!)

That’s not success—that’s a flood of soulless content.

AI might seem “helpful” at first, but the side effect? Less engagement. Less connection. Less authenticity. Reach tanks because people are sensing they’re interacting with robots, not real humans.

So if so much of the content these days is AI generated – where is an Amazon seller to go to get their info? Here’s a few:

Reach out if you want some personalized recommendations 🙂

Speak Up! Community Comments & Questions:

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All the best,

Rob & Max