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started a shopify store 3 days ago. 4 sales already

Deionatrix

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Three days ago I started a shopify store so that I had something to do while my app is being developed. It's been three days since I started, and I've made four sales already - even though I don't even have a proper logo yet, and the only marketing I've done is posting my product images on instagram - making me quite excited about the potential of the store.

Here's how to do it:

1. Set up a store using shopify (or any other ecom service)
2. Quickly build your brand by buying your own domain and creating an extremely quick logo (I made my logo in 10 minutes and it's just black text in lowercase)
3. Get products onto your store (my store sells t-shirts, so I had to contact my designers via behance/dribbble/facebook/instagram/email to get the designs, and then use a fulfillment service that dropships whenever someone buys)
4. Get your products seen (I've only posted on Instagram so far, buy I'll be branching out to other sites too.)

Thanks, thought I'd write this on my trip to work. I'll be happy to answer any questions for anyone wanting to start.



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T-K

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This is really good, and a good reminder to the action-faking "businessmen" who try to find a logo first, instead of the first sale.
 

Deionatrix

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This is really good, and a good reminder to the action-faking "businessmen" who try to find a logo first, instead of the first sale.
I think that I've been a bit too lax in that area as of now :D it's been a week and I've yet to make a proper logo and relevant brand name. Better hurry as my followers are building up quick

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iTrader

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Do you have any other tips on advertising? I also sell my products on Shopify, and have had one sale since opening 5 days ago.
 

T-K

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I think that I've been a bit too lax in that area as of now :D it's been a week and I've yet to make a proper logo and relevant brand name. Better hurry as my followers are building up quick

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How many sales so far?

By the way your t-shirt designs look really cool. No wonder how people got interested in such a short time.
 

Deionatrix

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around 25 so far - which i think it's pretty good for a week and a bit :D However, I'm going to either a) sell other related anime items or b) design my own designs from scratch as I've realised that I'm potentially going against copyright laws with these current designs. when i started i kind of thought that since qwertee and teefury sell anime /game /movie designs i'd be all right, but I've realised that most of their designs (not all) are parodies of sorts.

so yea, I'm really tempted to do my own designs, but that would probably be at the cost of losing the 500+ followers i gained in the past few days as personally, my style isn't anime.

having learned what I've learned this past week, either way is definitely possible. if anyone wants help /advice with shopify or instagram, let me know and I'll answer it whenever I'm online :)



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T-K

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around 25 so far - which i think it's pretty good for a week and a bit :D However, I'm going to either a) sell other related anime items or b) design my own designs from scratch as I've realised that I'm potentially going against copyright laws with these current designs. when i started i kind of thought that since qwertee and teefury sell anime /game /movie designs i'd be all right, but I've realised that most of their designs (not all) are parodies of sorts.

so yea, I'm really tempted to do my own designs, but that would probably be at the cost of losing the 500+ followers i gained in the past few days as personally, my style isn't anime.

having learned what I've learned this past week, either way is definitely possible. if anyone wants help /advice with shopify or instagram, let me know and I'll answer it whenever I'm online :)



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Thank you! I will probably start an e-commerce in the future, I will keep your name in mind.

By the way it is really good you made that much sales, but you are also right about the copyright laws tho, I'd say lay low brother :D
 

PTP

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having learned what I've learned this past week, either way is definitely possible. if anyone wants help /advice with shopify or instagram, let me know and I'll answer it whenever I'm online :)

You actually inspired me to start advertising through instagram. I started about 1 week ago and so far ive reached over 1000+ followers. So thank you very much for that.

Ive been researching how to convert people over to buyers. For example, I have been updating the link in my bio to go to a specific product as opposed to going to the main page in hopes that less steps would mean a higher likelihood a purchasing and item. I post regularly 1 picture a day some are repsots and some are original pictures. However, no one has added a product to their cart, much less bought anything.

Ill keep trying what I researched on google but I was just interested to know how you are getting people to convert from instagram to shopify?
 
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The-J

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Waw is that EZ?! Ho-lee SHIT man, no way. Can u gib me EXACT Instagrum accounts that you posted on? What's your niche and product and supplier? What's your mother's maiden name and your 7th grade crush's name? Oh man pls to help.

In all seriousness I'm looking forward to a progress thread. Good stuff, man. Here's some Rep money
 

PTP

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Waw is that EZ?! Ho-lee SHIT man, no way. Can u gib me EXACT Instagrum accounts that you posted on? What's your niche and product and supplier? What's your mother's maiden name and your 7th grade crush's name? Oh man pls to help.

In all seriousness I'm looking forward to a progress thread. Good stuff, man. Here's some Rep money

Not my intention to sound as though I was asking for a step by step guide to success. He offered advice and I just wanted to take him up on his offer.
 

The-J

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Not my intention to sound as though I was asking for a step by step guide to success. He offered advice and I just wanted to take him up on his offer.

I didn't even read your post LOL

OK now I did... I see nothing bad in it, but I could probably answer your question for OP:

Match the offer in the Insta post with the landing page you're sending them to.

Landing page doesn't refer to a style but rather the first page someone sees when they click a link.

Easy relevance: Get 20% off a pair of awesome knickknacks with coupon code: THEJ

They click on the page, it lets them know that THEJ has been applied and it shows a price decrease from $100 to $80 on "Awesome Knickknacks".

That's one thing you can do, but the main idea is that what they see HAS to be what they WANT.

There are a lot of people that you won't convert on the first go, but never fear! We have something called remarketing pixels that you can easily put on your site. Remarketing pixels work with Facebook, Google ads (both Search and Display iirc, someone correct me if I'm wrong), and many more platforms. This way, you're following the user around the Net.

Hope that helps a bit.
 
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PTP

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I didn't even read your post LOL

OK now I did... I see nothing bad in it, but I could probably answer your question for OP:

Match the offer in the Insta post with the landing page you're sending them to.

Landing page doesn't refer to a style but rather the first page someone sees when they click a link.

Easy relevance: Get 20% off a pair of awesome knickknacks with coupon code: THEJ

They click on the page, it lets them know that THEJ has been applied and it shows a price decrease from $100 to $80 on "Awesome Knickknacks".

That's one thing you can do, but the main idea is that what they see HAS to be what they WANT.

There are a lot of people that you won't convert on the first go, but never fear! We have something called remarketing pixels that you can easily put on your site. Remarketing pixels work with Facebook, Google ads (both Search and Display iirc, someone correct me if I'm wrong), and many more platforms. This way, you're following the user around the Net.

Hope that helps a bit.

Wow do I feel dumb! :wacky: But you can never be to careful on this forum...

Anyway thanks for the help. I definitely see how having the price drop down could cause someone to be more inclined to buy. Also ive never heard of remarketing pixels. Ive got some research to do!

Thanks again!:tiphat:
 

nradam123

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Im watching this thread for progress updates :)
 

king156

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around 25 so far - which i think it's pretty good for a week and a bit :D However, I'm going to either a) sell other related anime items or b) design my own designs from scratch as I've realised that I'm potentially going against copyright laws with these current designs. when i started i kind of thought that since qwertee and teefury sell anime /game /movie designs i'd be all right, but I've realised that most of their designs (not all) are parodies of sorts.

so yea, I'm really tempted to do my own designs, but that would probably be at the cost of losing the 500+ followers i gained in the past few days as personally, my style isn't anime.

having learned what I've learned this past week, either way is definitely possible. if anyone wants help /advice with shopify or instagram, let me know and I'll answer it whenever I'm online :)



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Whats your insta so I can take a look? Really like your thread watching ;)
 
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ShadowX

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Hi congrats on your sales, what fuflillment service do you use. Just curious :p.
 

Christian949

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This is what I'm planning on doing within the next few weeks.

Tried the ecommerce with more of technology based things, waayyyyy over board cost for shipping.

Cant wait for updates with your gig.
 

6FiguresKenny

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Thanks for sharing your success my man. Awesome work, Good job! :)
Where did you fulfill all your t-shirts order? I tried TeeSpring but people have to wait until the deadline is over only then they will send out the shirts lol.

Thanks again
 
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Deionatrix

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Thanks for giving some good advice on my behalf while I've been away. Here's an update on what I've been working on:

After testing different business models and niches, I have decided to go with a logo-based direction, rather than building a store with lots of different graphic t-shirts.

I spent some time trying to find the best typography artist I could find. Once found, I contacted him to see if he wanted to work with me in creating the base design.

It took him about three weeks to a month to provide me with the final design. I'm now in the process of deciding whether I want to use the original design, or the alternative version.

Once I've decided, I'll then create a logomark, set up the store, and then send products from the black/white collections out to models so that I can get some proper product images.

Covert Psycho.png
Covert Psycho Dashed.png
 
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SmilingFrog

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Thanks for giving some good advice on my behalf while I've been away. Here's an update on what I've been working on:

After testing different business models and niches, I have decided to go with a logo-based direction, rather than building a store with lots of different graphic t-shirts.

I spent some time trying to find the best typography artist I could find. Once found, I contacted him to see if he wanted to work with me in creating the base design.

It took him about three weeks to a month to provide me with the final design. I'm now in the process of deciding whether I want to use the original design, or the alternative version.

Once I've decided, I'll then create a logomark, set up the store, and then send products from the black/white collections out to models so that I can get some proper product images.

The site is at covertpsycho.com and is in a draft-stage at the moment from where I've transferred from the previous store.
View attachment 12683
View attachment 12684

This is really good, well done. What do your costs look like? How much do you make per shirt?
 
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Deionatrix

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This is really good, well done. What do your costs look like? How much do you make per shirt?
I've increased the prices since the last time. If I sell a t-shirt for $28.99, I will be making $20.49 per shirt (If I charge $4.00 for shipping and It is sold to a customer in the USA.) Costs vary depending on the customer's location
 

SmilingFrog

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I've increased the prices since the last time. If I sell a t-shirt for $28.99, I will be making $20.49 per shirt (If I charge $4.00 for shipping and It is sold to a customer in the USA.) Costs vary depending on the customer's location
Thanks, and what kind of fulfilment service do you use? I've been trying to set up Printful on a site, but not sure if it is the way to go
 

JokerCrazyBeatz

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I'd say 85% of being a entrepreneur is DOING THE WORK , you can think and plot and plan all you want but once u get the product and put it out there then you're on the right path
 
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Raoul Duke

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ZMan26

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I've increased the prices since the last time. If I sell a t-shirt for $28.99, I will be making $20.49 per shirt (If I charge $4.00 for shipping and It is sold to a customer in the USA.) Costs vary depending on the customer's location

Great thread brother, quick question, did you try facebook ads ? IMO itll boost your sales if you use em the right way.
 

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Hey man great post, really interessting to see your progress.
As already asked, what fullfillmint service do you use?
Do you ship worldwide ?
Did you automate your insta account or are doing it manual ?

Edit: One more question, with how much differant designs did you start ?
 
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ZMan26

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Just use teespring guys why yall got stuck on the fullfilment part ? if I were to use this model I know a guy at the local mall that prints shirts, I could go to him and offer him something... don't get stuck on the small things
 

Emporio

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Custom merchandise can be a huge business if you do it correctly.

Find something that people are passionate about, and learn how to market it to them.

Think of careers, fire fighters, police, union workers, anything that has a sense of brotherhood. These are huge, and you can create designs yourself.

You're looking for ideas that people want to display on their chest. Are you a dog lover? What kind of dog do you have and how can you create a design that will speak to your audience? This can be applied to any animal you can think of.

Not every design is going to be a hit, so you need to diversity. Cast a wide net and keep the winners and discard the losers.

Let's make a design for pipe fitters; you're going to need a phase.

"Pipefitter
Because badass isn't an official job title"

Combine that with a graphic, or find a creative way to display that with nothing else and you could potentially be making easy sales.

This is also an example of rebrandable phrases. If you find that this phrase has good feedback or sales, you can apply this to literally hundreds of other jobs, just replace Pipefitter.

So maybe you find that this phrase works and you want to create some more designs. No Photoshop skills? No problem, there are many people on Fiverr who can create t-shirt designs for like $10, so there really is no excuse.

And why stop at t-shirts? Once you find that passionate audience you can branch out. Coffee mugs, hoodies, keychains, necklaces, rings, the possibilities are endless.

Create a brand that offers more. Build a website and find related items on Aliexpress that add value.

Learn how to advertise of Facebook. Run 5-7 ads @ $5/day and cut the losers.

If you have no ideas, look around, test the market and scale the winners.
 

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