Why I could not STAND Helium 10 (+ the truth about FBA influencers)

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For my very first newsletter edition, let me share with you why I started the Amazon Tools League.

I was working for Sellics from 2016 to 2020.

The old dogs among you may still remember them as one of the top Amazon tools back in the days.

In fact, in 2017, they were arguably the most popular tool out there.

But things changed. New competitors joined. Cancellations grew.

Of course, as every good software does, we tracked the reasons why clients were cancelling.

And yep, you guessed it, Helium 10 was popping up more and more.

But why? Their PPC tool sucked. They didn’t even have any automation back then, unlike Sellics.

On top of that, it seemed like every single Amazon FBA YouTuber started recommending them.

It was frustrating, to say the least.

Since these YouTuber recommendations were ignoring reality, sellers were losing out as well.

Granted, H10 had a better listing builder than Sellics.

But was that enough to warrant all that attention they were getting?

I didn’t think so.
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It wasn’t hard to figure out why they were winning, though.

They were the first tool in the Amazon space that embraced affiliate marketing.

They had and still have an EXCELLENT affiliate program.

A simple but generous 10% LIFETIME revenue sharing model.

While also enabling affiliates to offer their viewers a 10% LIFETIME discount.

It’s no wonder YouTubers went crazy about them. (and still are)

A year later or so, Sellics finally got into the affiliate game as well.

Offering 100% of a client’s first month’s payment.

To any affiliate dreaming of lifetime passive income, that was not close to being good enough. (yep, the Sellics leadership didn’t listen to me lol)

Fast forward a few more years, Sellics’ owners cashed in and the tool vanished.

I had already quit by then, freelancing my Amazon Ads services.

But being a huge football fan (the real one) and fair competition loving guy, that small grievance stuck with me.

Helium 10 was good - but not THAT good.

There should have been a much more balanced landscape of Amazon FBA content creators.

There should have been more YouTubers who looked at - in detail - which tools offered the best features.

There should have been more fairness and transparency.
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Then, one night, I woke up at 2 or 3. Sweating. An idea had struck.

I knew it was the kind of idea for which YouTube was made for.

I knew I had to get over any shyness and impostor syndrome.

I had to show Amazon brand builders who truly had the best tools.

In the most brutal, but fair and transparent way possible.

A league system.

A league that considered every relevant feature sellers might want.

Starting out with Amazon Ads tools.

It went pretty viral considering I had around 100 subscribers at the time.

It had cost me hours of software demos and sleepless nights.
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I couldn't stop thinking about which features to include or how to not piss off too many people.

But it seemed to have paid off.

At least in terms of views.

In money terms though, I got more or less nothing out of it.
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I wanted to spend more time on this project and help brands scale Amazon Ads with the right software.

But for that, I had to change my opinion on affiliate programs.

And in the spirit of full transparency:
I have since joined pretty much every affiliate program out there.

It enables me to give you guys discount codes to some of the top tools.

And yes, to get something back that pays the rent (and not give these tools completely free marketing).

But I knew I had to have another main income source from my content.

I had to avoid falling into the affiliate gold rush trap.

I needed my content work to be independent of earning affiliate revenue.

It was a major reason I put in almost a year’s work into the most advanced Amazon Ads course (and automation system) out there…

Without that 2nd income source, I would have inevitably lost my neutrality and sight of my goal:

Bringing COMPLETE transparency to the Amazon software market.

That’s why I appreciate my clients so much - and everyone who is considering to become one.

You guys are making this project possible.

Thank you, keep on grinding, and until next time!
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PS. what’s next? Reimbursement tool fans can finally look forward to a neutral ranking :)

PPS. I do actually like H10 these days, especially for Amazon SEO.
And they are basically the reason the Amazon Tools League was born. So peace! :)

PPPS. Want to start your own newsletter? I also reviewed and ranked all Email tools that help with that!