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Welcome back friend!
And a big welcome to the +16 new readers this week!

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The Reckoning

I had a moment this week I can't shake.

I've been automating things. Tasks my team does every day. Things I used to hand off without thinking. One by one, I've been feeding them into Claude Code (OpenClaw also works). And one by one, they're getting done. Faster. Cheaper. Without a person.

Stuff I’ve already built:

1. A tool that scans my Amazon listings for dimension changes, and if the size increases, it auto-opens a case with Seller Support and requests an adjustment.

2. A bot that lets me make any change to my brand’s website simply by sending an email with what I want changed (it does it in 2 minutes). Here’s how long it used to take my web dev.

3. I've started cutting down (to put it lightly) on graphic design requests because the unit economics.

Every task I automate is a task I no longer need someone to do. And I like these people. They're good at their jobs. They have families. They trusted me enough to build their livelihoods around my business.

None of that changes the math.
…and the world is about to change (no, really).

So… do I keep them?
I don't have an answer here & I'm worried about them. This isn't a monologue where I reveal a tidy framework. I have a pit in my stomach, not a solution.

I keep hearing the same thing: "AI is just a tool. It makes your team more productive." For a while, that was true. But when the tool doesn't make your team faster and instead makes your team optional, "just a tool" stops being honest.

I could keep everyone on payroll. Choose inefficiency. Absorb the cost. Part of me wants to. These are people I recruited. People I trained. People who show up every day to help me.

But my competitors won't make that choice. And the seller running a two-person operation with AI doing the rest will eat my lunch because his costs are 1/10th of mine and his output is 10x.

This isn't an Amazon problem. This is every company that employs people to do knowledge work. All of it is in the blast radius.

The only thing I'm certain of is that pretending it isn't happening is the worst option. We owe our teams honesty. Even when the honest thing to say isn't great.

I don't have the answer. But the reckoning is closer than most people want to admit.

Everyone's talking about AI coding tools right now but nobody's talking about what to actually do with them. We put together a PDF with the ten things you need to automate first in an Amazon business (most of them used to need a VA, and now they don't).

The IVS

(aren't you glad you opened the email now?)

Big thanks to my friend Elizabeth Greene from Junglr for supplying this week’s Instant Value Section. You can find Elizabeth posting regularly on Linkedin and doing weekly video-AMAs.

The Campaign We Use When Keyword Rank Won’t Budge

One seller used this to rank #1 across all core keywords — even in a competitive niche.

You’re pouring money into keyword campaigns and still can’t break through to page one. When that happens, this is the campaign that can push you over the top. The “Rank Hijack Strategy” lets you ride the momentum of top-ranked competitors, so you can unlock progress when your top keywords feel tapped out.

Here’s how to set it up:

1. Choose Your Target Keyword

Pick the keyword you’re trying to rank for (e.g. “baby blanket”), then search it on Amazon using an incognito window to avoid any personalized or biased results from your browsing history.

2. Grab the Top 5–10 Organic ASINs

Skip any products marked as Sponsored: you only want to collect the ASINs that show up in the organic search results (the ones Amazon ranks naturally without ads).

3. Build a Sponsored Product campaign

• Manual targeting → Product targeting

• Target only those top ASINs

• Use exact targeting (not expanded)

• Start bids around Amazon’s suggested, or slightly higher

• Start with a $10–$20 daily budget

Why it works: When you drive conversions on those top-ranking ASINs, Amazon sees your product as just as relevant! This means you can finally break through the rank wall that keywords alone couldn’t crack.

This is one of the most powerful (and underused) tactics we teach inside our full A-to-Z launch system.

👉 Want to see exactly how to do it? This short screen share video walks you through every step.

If your main campaigns are stalling, this might be the missing piece.

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If you want to move to Costa Rica, you have to get comfortable with creatures.

One of the best parts of living here is the wildlife. Even though our house isn’t tucked into the jungle, we still see animals almost every day. Howler monkeys in the trees, the local fox wandering through, white-tailed deer, raccoons, skunks, and pizotes all make regular appearances around our place. For reasons I still don’t fully understand, the raccoons have decided my pool is their personal bathroom.

Inside the house, it’s mostly harmless stuff. Little geckos sneak in and announce themselves at night with their chirping. A few spiders show up from time to time. And now and then, a scorpion reminds you why you always shake out your shoes before putting them on.

Not all of these guests are exactly welcome, but they’re part of the balance here. The geckos and spiders do a great job keeping mosquitoes and other pests under control. I’ll take a bit of nighttime chirping over a house full of mosquito bites any day. Living in Costa Rica is about accepting that balance. You give a little, you get a lot back, and nature is always part of the deal.

Google Pomelli Releases “Photoshoot”

Pomelli just got an upgrade (We first heard about it and mentioned it in the newsletter a few months ago)

It's called Photoshoot. You upload one photo of your product... even a garbage iPhone pic... and it spits out studio-quality lifestyle images, "in use" shots with AI models, floating product shots, ingredient layouts. All of it.

See above, where I stuck in the product packaging of one of some Flax and what it made with it!

Totally free but only available in US & Canada (Sorry, my Euro friends)

Where you can use it:

Secondary images. Most sellers have weak slots 2-7. Fill them in minutes instead of spending $500+ on a photographer.

Ad creative. Need fresh images for Sponsored Brands or social? Generate a batch instead of recycling the same three photos.

New launches. Test your concept with AI images before investing in a real photoshoot.

You can even paste your product URL and it pulls your listing info to generate shots that match your brand. Amazon has its own AI image tool in Seller Central, but Pomelli's lifestyle shots are noticeably better.

Travel Anywhere and Use Data

On my recent trip to Costa Rica I only paid $15 for Data. No “Roam Like Home” BS @ $10/day.

No hunting for a SIM card kiosk at the airport. No begging the Airbnb host for the WiFi password so I could check my Amazon sales.

The tool is called Airalo.

It's an eSIM. You buy it on your phone before you leave. Pick your country. Pick your plan. It activates the second you land.

I had full data the entire trip. Checking Seller Central from the beach. Hopping on Slack. Pulling up Google Maps (Very important in CR). All of it.

How to set it up:

Download the Airalo app. Pick your destination. Buy a plan ($5-15 for most countries). Install the eSIM before you fly. Land. Turn it on. Done.

Your phone needs to support eSIM (most phones made after 2020 do). Takes about 3 minutes.

I'm not affiliated with them. I just hate overpaying for stuff. Which... if you sell on Amazon... you probably do too. 😅 

To your success,

Rob & Max