Hey, thanks for tuning in to another Partner Interview at EcomBalance. At EcomBalance, we’re all about creating win-win partnerships where we are able to grow with other companies in the ecommerce space.
In this exclusive interview, we have a conversation with Sumner Hobart from Amazing Escape Plan.
Sumner Hobart and his wife Ali are 7-figure Amazon sellers uncovering and sharing simple, powerful, up-to-date strategies to increase profit through Amazon, Etsy, and Walmart.
Connor: Hey Sumner, thanks for taking the time to chat with us here. We love getting to know our partners better so that our community can benefit from what our partners are offering and doing in the industry. To get started, can you give us a high level overview of The Amazing Escape Plan and how it got started? 
Sumner: Great to be here! Yep. My wife Ali and I have been selling on Amazon since 2018. Since beginning our journey we’ve found there has been (and still is) a lack of tactical, step-by-step video content on important Amazon FBA processes like product launch, Amazon PPC optimization, shipping plans, UPC barcodes, etc.
Ali and I take learnings from our own PL Amazon, Etsy and Walmart business and use them to create step-by-step tutorial videos for free on our YouTube channel as well as affordable and comprehensive courses on Udemy.Connor: That’s awesome! Can you dive a bit more into nurturing a community of Amazon sellers? I’m sure our audience would love to know exactly what problems you could solve for them. Sumner: Yep. It’s all about value. Value is king – selling is last. Our approach is similar to that of Alex Hormozi where we provide value over and over until someone in our community raises their hand and asks us how we can help further.
We mostly focus on providing free YouTube content and affordable programs. We don’t have an agency and no longer any 1-on-1 calls or services just because that takes away from our ability to be “in the trenches” learning and staying up to date on all things Amazon.
We have built a stellar network of Amazon professionals (lawyers, PPC specialists, copywriters, designers, photographers, etc) and we point people in the right direction for 1-on-1 services.
Connor: Jumping off of that…if there was one problem you’d say that The Amazing Escape Plan solves best for your clients, what would it be? Why? Sumner: Yes, we empower sellers and their team members to successfully execute on important processes instead of having to outsource.
Most creators out there post their results or make their services seem so complex that sellers need to hire them.
We are of the general mindset of the entrepreneur doing first BEFORE delegating or outsourcing which:
A. Saves them money
B. Saves headache & money by better being able to vet and select external agencies for assistance
C. Saves the need to outsource externally where with the right systems many of them can be delegated internally saving money and reliance on the external Connor: As the company continues to grow over the next year, what are your plans for expansion? Any new products, services, or enhancements to your current products and services? Sumner: We plan to have a thriving blog site for our audience that prefers written text and screenshots over videos.
We plan to expand our content to include:
• Cryptocurrency
• Real estate/ Airbnb
• Etsy digital downloads/ POD
Vs. primarily focusing on Amazon FBA content.
Basically, we are focused on finding and sharing the most efficient ways to generate substantial profit online and Amazon FBA won’t always be the best way. Connor: And how specifically would you say that The Amazing Escape Plan and your team is different from other similar businesses in the industry?Sumner: Well, we don’t offer coaching or hands-on services which some find strange.
We also don’t charge $1,000-$3,000+ for our course content which we honestly could begin doing.
We focus on empowering the individual (whether that’s the solopreneur or team member) with the tools, processes, and knowledge they need to be successful.
We’re about empowering vs. keeping the power to ourselves. Connor: What made you decide to get involved in having and growing a community? What’s your starting eCommerce story? From what we’ve found, a lot of business owners in the same space have fun stories of how they first started…Sumner: It all started back at the University of Cincinnati with my first business which was a flyer-posting service for small businesses.
We created flyers and posted to 260 billboard locations on campus as a service to attract students to community SMBs.
I had the idea of including perforated tabs with a coupon on them in order to directly track results.
From here I learned about online advertising like Facebook and Google ads.
I began offering these digital marketing services to my clients and realized I LOVE the teaching aspect and empowering the team vs. just doing the services myself and making it look like “magic”.
From then I had two life-changing meetings.
One with Neal Hoffman (creator of the “Mensch on a Bench” toy) and an angel investor.
Both of them showed me the scalability of physical products and made me realize that’s what I wanted to do.
When my wife and I started selling our first product on Amazon we took our gifts and desire to teach and that’s how The Amazing Escape Plan began.Connor: Love it! Talking more about the eCommerce industry, where do you see it going in the next 1-2 years? Any unique predictions that you could share? Sumner: Oh yes…
1. Everything has a lifespan. Trees, birds, humans, countries, and companies like Amazon.
Amazon won’t be around forever so plan for the long term.
2. To sell on Amazon with the traditional FBA model (find a product with high demand, low competition, analyze reviews & collect survey data to “differentiate”, source inexpensively from China, optimize your listing with keywords and phenomenal images, spend aggressively on Amazon PPC in order to establish rank and reviews) this model is becoming more and more difficult as competition increases, requires more capital, AND SKILLSET than ever before.
Many people who would have been successful with smaller budgets and a more limited marketing skillset can be successful in 2017 but in 2023 it’s much harder and more expensive and I don’t see that changing.
3. AI. One big pain point Amazon sellers have is competing with Chinese manufacturers who sell & market the products themselves allowing them to charge a very low price.
Historically many of these Chinese sellers haven’t been very good at marketing BUT it’s just a matter of time before that changes with AI.
Many sellers are going to just hire American marketers or use AI tools like Chat GPT themselves to create phenomenal copy, great packaging, good quality and have killer images ON TOP OF having the lowest price.
4. AI (of course) is changing everything. I literally have no need for a copywriter because of Chat GPT. It writes BETTER copy based in data than I could or just about any agency.
MidJourney is able to already produce usable, realistic product images and in just a few months the quality will exponentially improve.
AI applied to:
• Creatives
• Copy
• Review analysis
• Amazon advertising
Is going to displace a LOT of “experts”
What it won’t displace is investors with deep pockets. Connor: Giving you an open mic for a minute, what is something you’d want the EcomBalance audience to hear?Sumner: I think I’ve said pretty much everything I’ve wanted to at this point haha. Connor: Changing gears a little bit…When it comes to bookkeeping and accounting, what do you think the biggest pain points for business owners are? Feel free to speak from personal experience as well. Sumner: I believe the #1 pain is to keep all transactions organized AND separated. As business owners, we are constantly mixing personal life with business, and the same happens with finances. Lunchtime could become a team meeting and in that case, it’s good to remember to pay with your business card so it’s correctly claimed afterward.
In terms of accounting, I think many business owners miss out because they don’t look for CPAs that are more knowledgeable in their business model. Speaking from experience, we used to think that having our personal accountant file our business taxes would be better but looking for a CPA specific in the eCommerce area can completely change your business strategies and classifications.Connor: As we close this out, I just have one more question. Where is the best place to find and follow you and the company online? Also, if you have one, is there any special offer that you’ll be offering to the community today? Sumner: Yep. You can find Ali and I on YouTube as well as Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
If you’re interested in our affordable, step-by-step ecommerce courses you can check us out on Udemy.
