Zack Franklin has been called the “secret weapon” of the Chinese e-commerce giants – working with dozens of 9 figure Amazon sellers to dominate global eCommerce. Since the pandemic, he’s been living in Bangkok and has dozens of websites selling luxury products to the states – he’s sold everything from dog treadmills and football goals to wine fridges and solar panels. He’s a featured speaker around the world at the largest marketing conferences such as Affiliate World Asia.
Tell us about your childhood and where you grew up
I grew up in Detroit, Michigan, but I’ve spent almost the entirety of the last decade in Asia. I’ve lived in Korea, China, and Thailand and visited more than 35 countries. During my childhood I was always finding a way to sell something – I sold pirated CDs in middle school and sold energy drinks out of my locker in high school. I usually just used the proceeds on video games, which I loved to play.
How did you get started as an entrepreneur?
Honestly, I had to drop out of college at one point, although I later went back and finished. I had a year of free time and decided to go all in and figure out money, so I read the four-hour workweek and over 150 business books and started importing products from China and selling them on Amazon. I would also find items locally to flip – higher-end items like Saxophones. I also did a lot of affiliate marketing. Now I’ve sold more than 20,000 different products since then, worked with dozens of Chinese 9 figure e-commerce companies, and launched dozens of SAAS and high-ticket stores like www.empirehomedirect.com and www.amzkungfu.com
What is one business lesson you would tell a startup founder?
It’s probably going to take twice as much money and twice as much time as you think it will. Just find a way to keep going and it’ll work out. Most people quit way too early because they need the money from doing something else.
