5 Steps To Get Your Yoga DVD On Amazon

What is Recurring Income? 

Recurring Income is another term for residual income.  In a nutshell, there are three types of income streams that you may have coming into your yoga business.

Income #1
Paid Once

If you do a one-time job, sale or perform a contract, you get paid once and the income stops there.

Income #2
9 to 5 Job

If you do a normal 9 to 5 job (as is the case for a lot of yoga teachers), you will continue to get paid as long you continue to work for your employer; often called a linear income.  Even if you are a neurosurgeon, lawyer or engineer, you are only paid as long as you continue working. You stop working and the bank account dwindles.

Income #3
Recurring Income

The third type of income is the recurring income where you are paid even after you have stopped working.

For example, you create a Yoga DVD and as long as your DVD continues to sell, you will “continue to receive income for work done once”.  This recurring income is obviously the most ideal situation of the three.   Imagine working once and getting paid over and over again.  That is the incredible power of recurring income!

The majority of professionals that enjoy recurring income belong to the creative fields such as actors, writers, singers, and inventors.  Unfortunately, not many of us are blessed with the talents Beyonce has, let alone the opportunities to be in those lucrative industries.  However, there is one great opportunity for yoga teachers today to enjoy residual income – create a YOGA DVD.

Amazon Advantage Programme Explained

Getting your Yoga DVD listed on Amazon.co.uk (if you live in the UK) or Amazon.com (if you live in the USA) is easy if you follow these steps.

There are lots of advantages to having your Yoga DVD listed on Amazon. The biggest advantage is the potential for increased sales because Amazon is the largest distribution outlet in the World.   The other advantages include the potential of having your Yoga DVD being discovered by a distributor who wants to sell your DVDs in their store.   It also elevates you as an expert in your niche (e.g. if you created a Yoga DVD for runners you’d be considered an expert  in that niche).

Before any of this can happen, you have to get your product listed on Amazon.co.uk

Here’s how…

Four steps to getting your product listed on Amazon

Step 1
Get a UPC code

If you are selling a Yoga DVD, Amazon requires the DVD to have a scannable UPC Bar code on the front or back cover.

UPC stands for Universal Product Code. It is an all-numeric product identification system widely used by both manufacturers and retailers to manage and track the flow of millions of products. The UPC has 12 digits. The first six digits (1-6) identify the company.  The next five digits (7-11) identify a specific product. The combination of these eleven digits plus a one-digit “check character” form the 12-digit UPC that uniquely identifies one and only one item.  In the increasingly computerised world of order fulfilment, UPCs help ensure that customers always get what they want.

I show how to get a UPC code by using Kunaki.com in this blog post.  Within that post you can also download my illustrated, step by step Kunaki Guide.  Also within that same post you’ll be able to download one of my Yoga DVD Templates for free (PSD files).  It’s one I created for a Yoga DVD project.

Step 2
Join the Amazon Advantage Programme

If you’d like your Yoga DVD to be sold by Amazon, you must join the Amazon Advantage programme and submit your product.  Joining only costs £23.50 a year.   You can sell 1 or 100,000 different DVDS on Amazon (e.g. Yoga For Golfers DVD, Yoga For Footballers DVD, Yoga For Trapeze Artists, Yoga Practices For Motorhomers, etc) and it will still only cost you £23.50 a year.  To find out more, and to join, visit Amazon Advantage.

Once you join Amazon Advantage, good old Amazon will send you a thank-you e-mail within 24 hours.  Part of the application process involves you submitting your first Yoga DVD to Amazon. To do this, you need the DVD’s UPC code number, product name, and price.  In my case, it took approximately 7 days for me to receive the email from Amazon after I joined, confirming that my membership had been accepted and the product approved for sale.

If your DVD is accepted, Amazon will place an order with you for your product. The initial order will usually be 2 copies. After you receive the Amazon order, you must confirm with Amazon that you received the order, and that the product has been shipped.

Step 3
Add marketing content to your Amazon catalog page

Your Yoga DVD will be greatly enhanced by adding cover art and descriptive information to the listings.

To do this

• Go to the Advantage home page at: www.Amazon.co.uk/advantage.
• Click the Log In button.
• Enter your account login and password.
• From the Account Maintenance page, click the appropriate Marketing Resource Centre link for your product type (books, music, or video).
• For uploading cover art, click the ‘Display cover art for all of your titles’ link shown on the Amazon Advantage member’s page.

Step 4
When orders are placed

After your item has been listed on the Amazon site, Amazon will take care of everything related to accepting, processing, and shipping orders.  All you will need to do, is to ship new inventory to Amazon whenever they request it.

When sales are made, your account is credited (less the approximately 55% commission that goes to Amazon).  You will receive payment based on the settings in your account.  Again, Amazon handles all the customer orders that come in. They take the order, process the credit card, and ship the order to the customer. Your only involvement is in shipping product inventory to Amazon whenever they run low (they will place orders with you via email).

Step 5
Important Considerations

1. Amazon requires that DVDs be shrink wrapped.

2. Customers find your product on Amazon by searching for keywords – if those keywords don’t appear in the title of your product, it won’t be found. Having a title that includes words that would be searched by likely customers is very important.

3. Amazon handles millions of products, and they can’t hold your hand through the sign up process. Read and follow the instructions in the emails they send you.

4. The cover art of your product can have a big impact on sales. It is worth it to have a ‘retail ready’ cover created for your product, prior to duplication.  You can download a free ‘retail ready’ cover by going to this blog post. You can then ask a graphic designer on Fiverr.com (for only $5) to edit it for you.

5. You won’t get rich from Amazon sales. Having your product on Amazon has many benefits. But don’t expect to sell thousands of your products overnight on Amazon. To sell lots of your DVDs, you’ll need to do a wee bit of marketing (e.g. visiting forums, sending press releases, etc).  My biggest marketing tip is to find businesses who would be willing to sell your DVDs (e.g. Running Clubs if you created a Yoga For Runners DVD).  All you’d need to do is create a yoga flyer for your Yoga For Runners DVD and post it to the person who manages the running club (even better if you call him or her on the phone beforehand).  You can use this yoga flyer template.  Ask him or her to put up the poster and let the other runners know about your amazing DVD.