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Two Strikes in the Amazon Influencer Program: The Suspenseful Journey to My Final Attempt

This is a newsletter I sent to my subscribers last week. I publish the newsletters on my website; however, I edit out some information from the public versions.

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Spring is here in our part of Canada with temps hitting double digits (in Celsius) this week! It feels nice and fresh. I feel a surge of new energy ⚡

It felt the same way a year ago when, on March 19, 2024, a coveted email landed in my inbox:

“Welcome to the Amazon Influencer Program!”

The subject line sent a little thrill through me. I’d been accepted 🎉

My plan was to create video reviews and publish them on Amazon—where the real revenue potential lay—and on YouTube as a supplementary source of affiliate income.

In case you do not know what I am talking about, the Amazon Influencer Program is a program by Amazon that allows content creators to earn money by creating and sharing product-focused videos on Amazon’s platform.

Members can create video reviews and publish them on their storefront to share with the followers as well as receive additional placement opportunities in product listings.

The Fine Print I Didn’t Read

However, as I quickly discovered, getting the initial nod from Amazon was just the beginning of the journey.

While acceptance into the program wasn’t difficult, becoming eligible for additional product listing placements? That was a completely different story. I needed to submit 3 high-quality, well-made videos for approval.

In total, Amazon gives you three attempts to submit initial videos. If you fail all the attempts, you are no longer eligible for additional placements. And all the program money is in these placements 😱

Attempt #1: Overconfidence Leads to Failure

After listening to podcast hosts casually bragging about how simple the process was, I naively dove in without much preparation 🤦‍♀️

My first attempt featured overhead shots of my hands demonstrating products—mumbling something about markers and drawing notebooks while trying to provide useful information.

The verdict? REJECTED.
Here’s one of the videos I made 🙈 Do you think it was a good one? 😆

***Edited out***

☝☝☝ I left out some details from my original newsletter. If you’d like to receive these updates in your Inbox in unedited form, sign up:

That’s when reality hit, and I started paying attention.

Attempt #2: Facing My Worst Fear

I read several articles about creating good product videos that Amazon would be happy with.

I learned I needed good audio and preferably to show my face. But the thing was, I was painfully aware this wasn’t my natural strength at all. Being on screen or even just voice recording doesn’t come easily to me… Some people are naturally comfortable in front of the camera or speaking into a mic; I’m not one of them.

But I wanted this opportunity badly enough to push myself out of my comfort zone.

So I gathered my courage, faced the camera, and provided a ton of useful info…

Here’s one of the videos I made – isn’t it better than the previous one? 😊

***Edited out***

☝☝☝ I left out some details from my original newsletter. If you’d like to receive these updates in your Inbox in unedited form, sign up:

I was sure it was (despite that horrible audio 😆)! So I submitted it…

…only to face REJECTION again.

What made it harder was that I had zero examples of a successful video that passed Amazon’s veto.

All the product videos I saw in the Amazon product listings were very crappy because once you pass this step, you do not need to make good videos… you can even outsource it like Spencer from Niche Pursuits did.

And then… something happened that gave me new hope!

What it was I will tell you in my next post (and my subscribers already know what happened 😉)! Including the results of my attempts to get a piece of a new Amazon pie.

Stay tuned!

Here’s a question for you: Have you tried applying to the Amazon Influencer program? If so, how did it go?

Go to the comments, and let’s chat!

Otherwise, have a wonderful weekend ❤️