[EPFN] Love, Hate & Snail Slime: Amazon Lessons You Didn’t Expect

⚡️ Amazon, I Love You. I Hate You.

Let me be blunt: I despise Amazon Seller Support. For over a month I’ve been fighting just to ship my own inventory. Today, I finally lost it—not screaming, but the kind of personal lost it that forces someone to actually listen.

Here’s the nonsense: they told me I couldn’t create a shipment because I was out of capacity.

Really? I still have 23% left this month, and in October my limit is 2x higher, November 6x higher (based on sales history).

Blind much?

So I asked the agent, “What inventory limit did I mention at the start of this conversation?”

She couldn’t answer.

I answered for her:

“You didn’t listen. That’s why you can’t (aka don’t want to) help me. Your role is to help, not fight. Do you believe you can actually do your job and help me?”

And guess what—suddenly, she listened. Problem solved.

But here’s the real problem: in 99% of situations in life, you have to fight.

It’s exhausting. If you can make things easier—for your customers and for yourself—just do it.

You’ll save years of life, the color of your hair (if you’ve got any left), and maybe even build a little goodwill.

We. The. People.

🚀 APOE’s New Dashboard: A Goldmine for Product Validation

Amazon just rolled out a brand-new APOE dashboard, and let me tell you—it’s like going from dial-up internet to fiber optic. Endless opportunities to validate products are now literally at your fingertips: this data is only as powerful as the way you read it.

Look the screenshot below. On one hand, we see search volume hitting into the thousands with conversion rates shifting between 3–7%. On another, competitor count is surprisingly low—sometimes just a handful of brands and products splitting nearly 100% of the click share.

Now, here’s where many new sellers mess up: they look at “13 competitors owning 100% of clicks” and scream saturated! But if the search volume is driven by a genuine product need (like “collapsible dog crate” or “eco-friendly baby toy”) rather than by branded demand (think “iPhone 12/13/14”), the niche may actually be wide open.

This is why the new APOE dashboard is such a game-changer. It lets you overlay search volume, conversion rates, product counts, and brand counts all in one place, forcing you to validate the context—not just the numbers. Instead of running from data that looks intimidating, smart sellers will now dig deeper to see whether those numbers represent opportunity or noise.

In short: the new dashboard isn’t just prettier—it’s sharper, faster, and deadlier for anyone serious about finding viable products. Ignore it at your own risk.

🚀 Profitable Amazon PPC (Without the Panic Attack)

Amazon just dropped a stack of new PPC toys—AI-generated video ads that actually beat human videos on ACoS, laser-focused audience targeting so your ads only show to shoppers ready to swipe their card, and brand-new dayparting controls so you can squeeze every penny of profit out of your campaigns.

Sounds amazing, right?

Here’s the problem: if you try to run every single one of these features, you’ll end up curled in a ball under your desk with a panic attack.

Amazon isn’t making it easier—they’re making it overwhelming.

That’s why my friend Chris Rawlings (one of the biggest ad spenders on the entire platform) says something that will blow your mind: you can ignore 90% of the options in your ad console and still crush it.

Because the truth is, there are only a handful of PPC campaign setups and features that actually drive profitable growth. The rest? Distractions.

So Chris built something called The Profitable PPC Challenge—a 5-day live virtual workshop where you don’t just learn PPC, you fix it. In real time. With the same frameworks he uses across his own portfolio.

This isn’t another webinar or summit with “ninja hacks.” It’s a hands-on workshop with Chris and top PPC performers working alongside you to:

• Diagnose your campaigns and find the leaks killing your profits

• Implement the right frameworks step by step

• Leave with proven systems you can run forever

And here’s the kicker: this only happens twice a year, and it sells out every time.

Full-access tickets are still open right now (for about the cost of lunch). Once they’re gone, the only option left will be “standing room only” tickets—which don’t include coaching or workshop access.

👉 If you want to walk away with profitable PPC frameworks hardwired into your account, grab your ticket here before they’re gone.

P.S. Don’t just take it from me:

🤝 The Power of Networking (a.k.a. Why You Need to Feel Dumb in the Right Room)

When I went to CoCreate, I got to hang out with the one and only beard guy—Norm Farrar.

Always a pleasure, always full of insights, and always a reminder of why networking is non-negotiable.

You HAVE to network.

You HAVE to put yourself in a room where you feel dumb. If you can’t get a word in—perfect.

That means you’re learning. With Norm, I always learn.

One of the best takeaways this time?

Optimize your Google account. 

It’s not rocket science, but it’s not child’s play either. With a few tweaks, you can get indexed lightning fast and start pulling in sales.

Would I eventually stumble across that info online? Probably.

Would I actually pay attention?

Probably not. Will I execute now? 100%. 

Why? Because someone smarter than me, who I met years ago and trust, told me to.

And that’s the power of surrounding yourself with the right people—they don’t just drop knowledge, they push you to act.

🧴 COSRX, Aging, and Why Listening Wins

I’m 42 (ugh, I still can’t believe that).

I feel 25, which, honestly, feels like yesterday.

And if you’ve been reading my emails for a while, you know my biggest fear in life is aging—I fight it like it’s my full-time job.

Between all the medispa treatments and enough serums to drown a horse, one thing has been constant for the last three years: COSRX.

Now, COSRX isn’t just another skincare brand—it’s a masterclass in how to grow a business.

They didn’t throw millions into glossy billboards or “fancy CEO” nonsense.

They listened to their customers. 

When people begged for gentler formulations, they reformulated.

When TikTok influencers went nuts over Snail Mucin Essence, COSRX didn’t just sit back—they poured fuel on the fire.

They scaled globally by optimizing marketplaces like Amazon, Shopee, and TikTok Shop, and they localized products for every climate and skin type.

That’s how you go from a small Korean skincare brand to dominating shelves in Ulta and Watsons across the world.

COSRX grew with influencers. I’m not their affiliate, but they’re such a solid example of how case studies turn into growth strategies that they even gave me a 25% off code “COSRX_3P” (works for 5 days I believe).

Try it—I promise, it’s worth it.

Success isn’t about having the flashiest ad budget or the perfect “hero product.” It’s about listening—really listening—to your customers, tweaking, and giving them exactly what they scream for.

COSRX did it, and they turned into a global powerhouse.

And if a brand can sell literal snail slime by leaning into VOC and smart distribution, what excuse do the rest of us have?

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Have a wonderful weekend,
Izabella