As Amazon influencers, we are constantly evaluating products based on present tense metrics: is it selling, does it have an upper carousel, how many videos are on it. But there is one critical factor that most influencers are not thinking about nearly enough, and it has to do with how easy the product was for you to find in the first place. If it was easy for you to discover, it was just as easy for hundreds or thousands of other influencers. And that has huge implications for how long that product is going to make you money.
Table of Contents
- The Present Tense Metrics Trap
- Why Hard to Find Products Are Better Long-Term
- The Creator Connections Example
- The Best Seller List Example
- The Silver Spoon Problem
- The Compounding Effect of Good Product Selection
- Opportunity Is a Two-Way Street
- The Bottom Line
The Present Tense Metrics Trap
When evaluating a product, most influencers look at the obvious metrics: sales numbers, upper carousel availability, and how many influencer videos are already there. Those are all important, but they only tell you what is happening right now. They tell you nothing about how long this opportunity is going to last. If you only evaluate products based on present tense data without considering discoverability, you are setting yourself up for short-term wins that dry up quickly.
Why Hard to Find Products Are Better Long-Term
This insight comes from observing influencers like Sean, who passed $6,000 a month in commissions with less than 700 videos on his storefront. Sean does not chase Creator Connections or collaboration samples. He spends his time clicking through products on Amazon, digging through pages, and even though it takes him a while to find something, he still finds something. The key insight is that the more he has to dig and the harder it is for him to find an opportunity, the better that opportunity actually ends up being. Because if it is hard for him to get to and it is not obvious, other people are less likely to see it.
The Creator Connections Example
Think about Creator Connections. Every campaign that comes out is being seen by you and several hundred, maybe thousands, of other influencers at the exact same time. You might look at a product and think it is incredible because it is selling 2,000 units a month and only has two influencer videos. But guess what? The other thousand influencers looking at that same campaign are saying the exact same thing. They see the same numbers, the same opportunity, because it was handed to them on a silver platter. All they had to do was turn their computer on and it popped up on their screen.
The Best Seller List Example
The same applies to Amazon’s best seller lists. The top 50 best sellers in vacuum cleaners, for example. You know who else is seeing that list today? Every other influencer who decides to look at the best sellers for vacuums. They are all going to see the exact same products in the exact same order. You can get to that list within a couple of clicks. Any product that is that easy to find is going to be just as easy for everyone else to find, which means competition is going to pile up fast.
The Silver Spoon Problem
If you are getting products hand-delivered to you on a silver spoon, whether through Creator Connections campaigns, best seller lists, or any other highly visible source, there is a high likelihood that a bunch of other people are getting that same delivery. That thing that looks like an opportunity right now might look like a burden in a week and a half. You bought a product or accepted a collaboration, and by the time you make the video, the carousel is full and you are not even in it anymore.
The Compounding Effect of Good Product Selection
Here is where the math really favors the diggers. When Sean selects products that other people have not discovered yet, he is not only finding present tense opportunity but he is selecting products that people may not realize have opportunity. That means he makes money on them for longer. So when next month rolls around, he is still earning from last month’s videos. It compounds. Each new batch of videos adds to a growing base of income. Compare that to influencers who choose highly visible, oversaturated products that make a quick buck this month but generate nothing next month because the carousel is packed.
Opportunity Is a Two-Way Street
Opportunity is a two-way street. Just because something looks like a great opportunity does not mean it will stay that way. If everyone can see it, everyone will act on it, and the window closes fast. The harder it is for you to find a product, the less likely it is for others to find it easily. That friction is actually your friend. It is what separates the products that make you money for two weeks from the ones that make you money for two months or more.
The Bottom Line
This is not to say you should abandon Creator Connections or stop looking at best seller lists. Those are still valid tools. But it is important to understand the actual viability of the products you find through those easy channels. The best strategy combines those quick-find methods with dedicated time spent digging through Amazon to find products that are not obvious to everyone else. The influencers who invest that extra time in product discovery are the ones who build compounding, sustainable income rather than chasing the same short-lived opportunities as everyone else.
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