Review: Fast Turn Coaching with Duane Malek
The first time I heard Duane Malek speak was when he got interviewed in the Thrifting for Profit podcast. He shared some insights about making nice and steady profits by buying fast selling products in the store just off the shelf at full price. And that over and over again. I was hooked and decided to buy his coaching class that also gave me access to his exclusive Facebook Group “Fast Turn Coaching“. Here’s my personal review…
Who’s Duane Malek?
Duane Malek has been actively selling on Amazon since January 2013 and quickly made a name for himself as Mr. Fast Turn. That means he prefers to invest in fast moving products that fly off the Amazon shelves. Duane quit is day job at AT&T to sell on Amazon full time in March of 2013, because he saw the huge potential of this business model. He developed strong ties with Chris Green and is involved in some of the ScanPower coaching. Therefore his network of big Amazon sellers and coaches is constantly growing. He is also a strong proponent of Dave Ramsey and applies that to his Amazon business, avoiding any kind of debts such as the use of credit cards.
Duane’s Coaching Style
Duane is the most down-to-earth Amazon coach that I know and talking to him is like talking to a good friend. That’s exactly what makes his coaching so valuable. He is approachable and always willing to give advice. His response time is outstanding and if he happens not to be near his computer or phone when you have questions, there are plenty of other sellers in his Facebook group who are eager to help out.
The training materials might not be as slick as other more expensive courses, but Duane’s coaching style totally makes up for that. I especially like his frequent live Zoom casts and brainstorming sessions where you get to ask him questions and receive an immediate and straight forward answer. He’s also one of the few coaches who’s taking you directly into his own seller account to share numbers and the progress he’s making with his Amazon business. Of course, he cannot share the exact products that he buys with you. There are too many copycats out there and it would hurt his own business if he would start doing that.
Duane also likes to explore new tools, features and sourcing channels to work the Amazon business and shares his progress on every single one of them. For example going international, buying wholesale, getting ungated in new product categories, attending online seller events, using repricers or various Amazon features.
Facebook Group
This is the hub of Duane’s course and the main reason why I decided to join. I was looking for a private Facebook group of FBA sellers with only a few hundred members and a good dynamic. Duane has a lot of successful and experienced online sellers in his Fast Turn Coaching group, that are always willing to help newbies out with answers. Sometimes you get an answer within minutes from either Duane himself or other members of this group. After going through Duane’s coaching material and videos I still had a lot of questions along the way and this group has been outstanding with answering every single one of them. It’s also fun to give back and help other new sellers in return. It’s the only Facebook group that I check daily.
Weekly Zoom and Youtube
Every Wednesday at 8pm EST, Duane is hosting a live Zoom cast for everybody who is interested to join. You don’t even have to be a paid member of his coaching to participate and ask questions. Just join his public Facebook group Fast Turn Radio and look for the Zoom announcement on Wednesday afternoon.
During the Zoom Duane talks about news for Amazon sellers, new experiences, tests and even mistakes that he made. He goes through his sales of the past week and sometimes has guests that bring new ideas and insights to the table. And if he’s in a really good mood he might even share a BOLO with the audience. A BOLO is a product that you should be on the lookout for in the stores, because it’s selling very well with good profit.
Brainstorming Sessions
A few times a year there’s a national holiday or a season coming up, that comes with plenty of sales potential if you have the right sourcing strategy. Duane won’t hesitate to do an exclusive Zoom cast about topics like “Back to School”, Easter or Graduation to brainstorm with members of his coaching group. He’s going to brainstorm with you about what to source, how to find products and what items to combine and make bundles with it. Every one of these brainstorming sessions will make your mind spin and give you a million different ideas on how to take total advantage of these seasons and holidays.
Availability
Duane is keeping a close eye on his Facebook group, which should be the first channel to reach out to him if you have questions or run into any issues. You can add a new question to the wall or just direct message him and he’s usually going to respond within hours, sometimes minutes if he happens to be online. He may even share his phone number, so that you can call or text him with questions, when needed. However, you should probably not abuse his generosity and his time and keep phone calls to a minimum out of respect of his time. Every week he’s available through his live zoom cast and answers all questions that come through. I haven’t seen a single episode yet where he wasn’t able to respond to all questions, so this is a great channel to get immediate answers plus some feedback from the group as well.
Information and Resources
The way his videos and information is laid out is a bit confusing at first. His Facebook group is the hub of all resources and links to various YouTube coaching videos. It’s also good to subscribe to his YouTube channel to catch the replays of his weekly Zoom cast in case you missed it. Brainstorming sessions or any exclusive member content however won’t be publicly shared in his YouTube channel. You would have to check his FB group for that.
Cost/Value
Duane’s coaching is currently at $297 (one-time-fee!). His connections to other coaches, his accessibility and the quality of his Facebook group members makes it one of the most valuable coaching groups you can currently sign up for. It’s the only coaching group that I check daily and that I’m actively a part of ever since I became a member.
The video coaching modules are broken up as follows:
1. Off-The-Shelf Replenishables
2. Bundles, Multi-Packs, Parent/Child Listings
3. Know your Numbers
4. Advanced Sourcing
The modules are the basic video training, however you’ll get even more out of the Facebook group and brainstorming sessions.
Is this Coaching for you?
If you already dipped your toes into selling on Amazon and want to explore Retail Arbitrage, Online Arbitrage and Wholesale further, this is the group for you. Duane will help you to raise your sales numbers and optimize your sourcing strategy. If you want to learn more about Thrifting, Private Labeling or selling internationally, this is probably not the right group for you. However, there are several group members with experience in these fields as well.
Where to sign up for Fast Turn Coaching?
Ready to join and learn from this awesome group of sellers? Go to the Online Empire Academy site* for more information about Duane’s coaching and to sign up.
Hope to see you in his coaching group soon!
(*asterisk denotes affiliate link)
