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NOW REVEALED! How eCommerce Stores Make Millions By Ditching The Traditional Storefront

Black_Dragon43

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Inside this FREE 20-page report you’ll learn the secret selling system a few eCommerce sellers have discovered which earns HUGE PROFITS, even if you’re in a niche with small conversion rates.

The report reveals that one of the three biggest problems for eCommerce businesses in 2020 is that everyone is running a traditional storefront… and that means, for example, that on Shopify, the average conversion rate is just 1.6%.

To say that the market is oversaturated would be an understatement. The truth is that it’s hard to make money on that conversion rate when you run a traditional storefront.

Your customers get distracted by all the product options, all the links they can click on, and the entire complexity of the purchase experience. Indeed, close to 70% of customers desire a simpler, more personalized experience.

And C0VlD-19 has only accelerated this trend. More and more sellers are pouring into eCommerce by the day, as traditional brick and mortar stores get shut down. This means that conversion rates on traditional storefronts will decrease even more.

Fortunately, it is not all doom and gloom. Some eCommerce businesses found a way to win…

They’ve ditched the storefront for a new sales model that enables them to make giant profits despite low conversion rates… and on top of that, offer their customers a greater degree of personalization compared to traditional storefronts.

Have a look at their numbers:

1.png
2.png
3.png

These sellers are riding high on this new (and highly profitable!) trend. And the fact is that by 2040, 95% of all purchases are predicted to be done online. Combine this with the rapid shift to online business that COVID has caused and the result is clear:

eCommerce is on the verge of creating the fastest wealth creation possibility of the next 20 years. The only question is if you’ll have the knowledge required to make a fortune, OR you’ll drown out in a bloody ocean of competition.

Click here to get your free copy of the report:
  • Discover the exact sales system smart eCommerce sellers are using to make these massive profits;
  • Learn the biggest dangers & opportunities facing the eCommerce industry in the post-COVID world;
  • Find out how to position your eCommerce business to gain the lion’s share of the COVID expansion, while avoiding the competition;
  • Discover how to leave your competition wondering how you’re making killer profits while they’re losing money on the same conversion rates;
  • Learn The Information You Need To Build a Winning Store in 2021 and beyond;
  • And much more!


May your cash register ring with millions of dollars…

Tudor,
Founder & CEO
eComTrends.org

P.S. The information you will find inside the report is ground-breaking and based entirely on facts – which you will be able to read and understand for yourself, including the sources. There is no hype, fluff or BS inside, all the data has been compiled by my team and I from the most reliable sources. The fact is that there is a massive golden opportunity in eCommerce, but not all businesses will be able to take advantage of it. The data inside the report shows you exactly what is going on and how you can use it to grow your own eCommerce empire.

Disclaimer
The purpose of this communication is to show you strategies & techniques that have worked for my agency in terms of growing our business and growing the businesses of our clients. Each situation and each company is different, so none of the techniques presented in this report guarantee any positive results in your business performance whatsoever. All the information contained herein is strictly for informational purposes, and you accept that you will be using it at your own risk if you decide to implement it. There is no guarantee that you will increase or maintain your sales by using the techniques described in this report. The information contained inside is not to be interpreted as a guarantee or promise of earnings. Results will vary from individual to individual and from business to business. Your level of success will depend upon the particularities of your business, industry, advertising budget, background, work ethic, knowledge, skills, understanding, as well as other factors. I make no guarantee whatsoever that you will be successful in applying the strategies found inside. Any business endeavor entails risks, and if you're not willing to accept that, then you should NOT use the procedures recommended in this report. We do not intend to render any legal, accounting, financial, or business advice in this report. The information shared is part of the system that we apply for our clients. The sales figures and results stated inside are our own. We do NOT suggest that you can replicate these results. In fact, our results are NOT typical, and we're not suggesting that you can obtain similar (or any) results by applying the techniques shared with you inside. In fact, the average business or person who follows the strategies outlined here will get little or no results. The results referred to here are references, for example purposes only.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Approved, good luck.
 

Tourmaline

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That was quite an interesting read!

Basically, just having a website isn't sufficient anymore.

Which I've learned the hard way haha.

How would you say funnels adhere to the CENTS commandments?

Is it better to forgo using any 3rd party software or websites for more control?
 

mbjay40

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Interesting read !
Being on Amazon is only good for a short period of time. Launch your product, get some reviews and confirmation and then move on to have your own store where you 100% own the data from your customers.
So many horror stories of people having their accounts banned in a matter of minutes just because some Chinese sellers put fake reviews on their listings.
Not to talk about how Amazon uses data from each sellers to identify profitable products and enjoy reaping the benefits from your hard work by providing cheaper products and promoting themselves in the listings !

With regards to funnels I think they are a good idea if you are able to take your customer on a meaningful sales journey where it doesn't feel spammy or scammy (too many sales funnels out there sells you crap :( )
 
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Raja

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How is this a guest post as its coming from active member?
 

Black_Dragon43

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That was quite an interesting read!

Basically, just having a website isn't sufficient anymore.

Which I've learned the hard way haha.
Thanks!

Yeah, you are absolutely right. Most people still compete via traditional stores, and eCommerce is pretty much getting impossible that way. There is little to no differentiation. Hence no way to make money. Which is why they’re not getting anywhere.

I think funnels as introduced inside the report definitely adhere to CENTS and can help you meet several key tenets of the Unscripted life.

I’m curious, what has been your experience so far?

And other people are also free to chime in… Anyone with their own store or personalized eCom funnel got some input on this? It would be greatly appreciated.

How would you say funnels adhere to the CENTS commandments?

To start with, you are creating value, by providing your customers with a more personalized shopping experience that is more meaningful to their direct needs. That’s the core of it, and why the new model allows you to increase your conversion rates, average order value, and re-order potential – the three keys to growing your business as Jay Abraham puts it.

With regards to the CENTS commandments more specifically, based on my work in my business, with clients, and people in eCommerce that I’ve helped, I can say as follows (I will go commandment by commandment so I can be more detailed):

CONTROL
When you sell via a 3rd party platform like Amazon or Alibaba or whatever it is, even the more niche and local ones, you lose control. Many people have built very large Amazon businesses, scaling to $1,000,000 and beyond, only to find out that their Seller Central Account got banned – as you saw from the report, in a single day.

So all that revenue went to 0.

To answer your other question here “Is it better to forgo using any 3rd party software or websites for more control?”, I can say that yes – that is definitely better, and the reason why the model inside sets you on a Fastlane path.

By ditching third-party platforms and generating your own traffic & customers, you OWN your buyer’s data. You have full control. And you end up, over time, not even being reliant on advertising, because you have your own customer data base. On Amazon, you never even know the emails of your customers – effectively, you are building Amazon’s business, not your own. With the model shared inside, you TAKE BACK CONTROL… you learn to generate your own traffic, and build your own client list.

ENTRY
As everyone knows, starting a regular Shopify storefront (or Amazon FBA biz) is easy. That’s why everyone is doing it, and conversion rates are decreasing by the day. The barriers to entry are almost non-existent. The ocean is bloody already… too much competition. On the other hand, the new model is harder and more complex. Most people don’t know about it. And if they do, they lack the skills to implement it properly. That’s why it satisfies the entry commandment.

NEED
The biggest thing when it comes to satisfying the commandment on Need with eCommerce is choosing the right product for the right market. The new model will give you a bigger and louder megaphone, allowing you to amplify the need your product solves. Furthermore, as mentioned before, you make the buying process easier for your customers and more personalized, which solves the additional needs of making online shopping easier. And this is true regardless of what you choose to sell.

TIME
As you know from TMF , a real business doesn’t just give you wealth, but it also gives you FREEDOM (or time). This model is fully automated – you don’t need to be present day and night once you have created all the systems. You pretty much need a fulfillment system, and a distribution system. And with the new model both can work, once set up, with a minimum of personal time involvement – giving you FREEDOM, and detaching your sales from your time.

SCALE
And finally, in eCommerce, if you have the right sales system that provides value, and you don’t rely on 3rd parties, there is nothing that stops you from scaling to millions. This new system shows you how. In fact, check the first screenshot in the OP above… that is from a guy who got Clickfunnel’s award for scaling to 7-figures and beyond! And I’ve worked with several others who have scaled eCommerce businesses, across multiple niches, to 7-figures.

So that is my opinion – anyway, if anyone else has practical experiences in eCom, your perspectives would be super interesting to bring to the table here.
 

MJ DeMarco

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How is this a guest post as its coming from active member?

Because the post is of a self-promotive nature, otherwise it wouldn't be allowed.
 
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Black_Dragon43

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Interesting read !
Being on Amazon is only good for a short period of time. Launch your product, get some reviews and confirmation and then move on to have your own store where you 100% own the data from your customers.
So many horror stories of people having their accounts banned in a matter of minutes just because some Chinese sellers put fake reviews on their listings.
Not to talk about how Amazon uses data from each sellers to identify profitable products and enjoy reaping the benefits from your hard work by providing cheaper products and promoting themselves in the listings !

With regards to funnels I think they are a good idea if you are able to take your customer on a meaningful sales journey where it doesn't feel spammy or scammy (too many sales funnels out there sells you crap :( )
Wow it seems you have quite a bit of experience with this. I'd love to hear your story, I think a lot of people can benefit from it if they understand the dangers better from the get-go... as in understanding what you're getting yourself into.

I can say I've definitely had clients whose stores were temporarily (or even permanently in some cases) suspended due to review bombs or bank issues or even bugs on the platform - or simply Amazon decided they violated some terms and they never found out what they did wrong.

The truth is that Control is a big issue and sales funnels help you regain it, which is why I see it as the future of eCom. You don't need to join these 3rd party Goliaths to get access to traffic... you can get your own, and build on a stronger foundation.
 

mbjay40

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Wow it seems you have quite a bit of experience with this. I'd love to hear your story, I think a lot of people can benefit from it if they understand the dangers better from the get-go... as in understanding what you're getting yourself into.

I can say I've definitely had clients whose stores were temporarily (or even permanently in some cases) suspended due to review bombs or bank issues or even bugs on the platform - or simply Amazon decided they violated some terms and they never found out what they did wrong.

The truth is that Control is a big issue and sales funnels help you regain it, which is why I see it as the future of eCom. You don't need to join these 3rd party Goliaths to get access to traffic... you can get your own, and build on a stronger foundation.
I have been involved in many Facebook groups that dealt with Amazon FBA and seen too many sellers losing their listings over some stupid things.

In marketplaces such as the UK or the EU (France, Spain, Germany), the competition isn't as fierce as it is in the US. Now the problem, in all those marketplaces, is that, we, sellers, most of the time, are getting the products from Chinese suppliers.
You often see that those same suppliers are selling the exact same product for a much cheaper price. And more often than not, they charge you a ridiculous amount of money when you buy it from them in the first place. Double win for them.
Unless you have a good chunk of money to start with (I mean $5000 + is the bare minimum) to be able to request significant changes to a product, then it will be very difficult.

Lately in the Amazon FBA world, the mindset of growing a brand has be stronger and stronger. It is no longer possible to bring a product from China, stick your logo on it and sell it. Now you need to build a brand, gather a strong following around that and have raving fans.
And there comes your funnel where you can build the interest, take them through the sales journey and enjoy the $$$.
And to do this, well it takes time, effort and money in most cases :)

Here you gain access to more aspects of the CENTS approach, where you have control over the customers, the level of entry is much higher as many people are not willing to put the effort in to build a brand and all the things that go with that and you get to address the need of those customers. Scale and Time are something I'm not too familiar with but yeah you get the point !
 

Black_Dragon43

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have been involved in many Facebook groups that dealt with Amazon FBA and seen too many sellers losing their listings over some stupid things.

In marketplaces such as the UK or the EU (France, Spain, Germany), the competition isn't as fierce as it is in the US. Now the problem, in all those marketplaces, is that, we, sellers, most of the time, are getting the products from Chinese suppliers.
You often see that those same suppliers are selling the exact same product for a much cheaper price. And more often than not, they charge you a ridiculous amount of money when you buy it from them in the first place. Double win for them.
Unless you have a good chunk of money to start with (I mean $5000 + is the bare minimum) to be able to request significant changes to a product, then it will be very difficult.
Alright I see where you’re coming from. I’ve seen the same for many of my clients, Amazon is very fickle… you never have the destiny of your business in your own hands. I guess you’ve probably seen this many many times if you’re part of Amazon-related groups.

And as you say, being able to source the right product, negotiate with the manufacturer, and have some startup capital is critical.

Lately in the Amazon FBA world, the mindset of growing a brand has be stronger and stronger. It is no longer possible to bring a product from China, stick your logo on it and sell it. Now you need to build a brand, gather a strong following around that and have raving fans.
And there comes your funnel where you can build the interest, take them through the sales journey and enjoy the $$$.
And to do this, well it takes time, effort and money in most cases :)
Yes! Selling via Amazon without a brand is very difficult and it’s also unreliable in the long term. You’re usually better off going off it from the very beginning and bring your own traffic via funnels, without Amazon. This way you take control back, and put yourself on a solid CENTS foundation.

Scale and Time are something I'm not too familiar with but yeah you get the point !
To go in a bit more detail on those, based on what I’ve seen from other, and also what I’ve seen from my clients…

The two, SCALE & TIME, tend to go together. If you don’t spend time to set the right systems, you use your TIME to solve problems, which means you can’t SCALE effectively.

Scaling is all about creating systems. So you have your fulfilment system, inventory management system, and distribution system. Scaling is all about getting those three different systems to work together smoothly.

If you run out of stock, you need to turn ads off or delay shipment. That causes problems in your other two systems. If you turn ads off, it takes time and money to scale the back up again, you can’t just turn them back on and expect the same results. If you delay shipment, you get unhappy customers, refund requests, and bad reviews.

Obviously scaling is all about working ON your business , rather than in it. For each one of the three functions, you have to bring in money & time (as you say) initially to set them up. Once you have a repeatable process that works, you can take yourself OUT, and free up your time, and have it run without you.

Your distribution system, which includes marketing & advertising, is the key to scaling BIG and scaling FAST. Once you have it set up, you can scale efficiently till you hit a roadblock, like demographic limitations, or growing competition.

The key point here is that instead of constantly investing time just in business upkeep, you have a periodic investment of figuring out how to get past the next roadblock and then a minimal investment in making sure the growth is going steady

And as your systems are ready, the process involves delegation, or elimination of unnecessary tasks to save yourself TIME. This allows you to spend MORE time refining your system, and SCALING further. So those two commandments of CENTS are mutually reinforcing in eCom.

I can give you many examples from my clients… I often have clients that need help with the entire launching process for a new product or series of products. And it takes TIME & MONEY to get the necessary funnel built and tested, so that they can scale to 6 figures and beyond with that product(s).

It’s a long-drawn out process – so even the most complex funnel can usually be designed and set up in 1 month, but then you have to go through and actually start running traffic to it and testing. You only have a solid system in place once you have ironed out the kinks and made sure that you’re efficient at every step of the way.

Once this distribution system is fully set up, scaling to 6, and even 7-figures and beyond isn’t a problem.

I know we have a few people here working on eCommerce, so I’m sure people would have more to share about this. I know I’ve read in @Strm ‘s thread that he’s been struggling to scale outside of his country, mainly due to product choice. @Sanj Modha has been building an ecom brand as mentioned in this thread. He relies on Shopify (the OLD model), and as you can see from the numbers, it’s hard to be competitive. @eTox also tried the Shopify model without much success as mentioned in his Insiders thread (I've been a member for some time, and can highly recommend joining INSIDERS to everyone - you pretty much can't find the info there on the outside). @Phikey and @biophase have built multiple successful eCom businesses to 7-figure+, so they may have a lot of value to share here too.

And if others also have valuable experiences to share, feel free! If there are any questions I can help anyone with, I’d be more than happy, and I’d love to read everyone’s perspective on eCommerce, funnels and scaling in the post-Covid environment.
 
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Ivan2BAlive

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This is an interesting and great info.,

Being a partial owner of a website on Shopify it gave me good info. and tools on how to attract customers (paying) and interest. I did the old fashioned way, buying $100's of dollars from Vista Print and stomping the ground. Went from door-to-door passing out flyers hoping I would get a response, but to no avail, didn't get a bite. I'll give the sales funnel a shot to increase conversion rates and hopefully lower my acquisition costs.

Learning about AR (augmented reality) app is also a great idea that I can add to my website as well.

Thanks.
 

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Inside this FREE 20-page report you’ll learn the secret selling system a few eCommerce sellers have discovered which earns HUGE PROFITS, even if you’re in a niche with small conversion rates.

The report reveals that one of the three biggest problems for eCommerce businesses in 2020 is that everyone is running a traditional storefront… and that means, for example, that on Shopify, the average conversion rate is just 1.6%.

To say that the market is oversaturated would be an understatement. The truth is that it’s hard to make money on that conversion rate when you run a traditional storefront.

Your customers get distracted by all the product options, all the links they can click on, and the entire complexity of the purchase experience. Indeed, close to 70% of customers desire a simpler, more personalized experience.

And C0VlD-19 has only accelerated this trend. More and more sellers are pouring into eCommerce by the day, as traditional brick and mortar stores get shut down. This means that conversion rates on traditional storefronts will decrease even more.

Fortunately, it is not all doom and gloom. Some eCommerce businesses found a way to win…

They’ve ditched the storefront for a new sales model that enables them to make giant profits despite low conversion rates… and on top of that, offer their customers a greater degree of personalization compared to traditional storefronts.

Have a look at their numbers:


These sellers are riding high on this new (and highly profitable!) trend. And the fact is that by 2040, 95% of all purchases are predicted to be done online. Combine this with the rapid shift to online business that COVID has caused and the result is clear:

eCommerce is on the verge of creating the fastest wealth creation possibility of the next 20 years. The only question is if you’ll have the knowledge required to make a fortune, OR you’ll drown out in a bloody ocean of competition.

Click here to get your free copy of the report:
  • Discover the exact sales system smart eCommerce sellers are using to make these massive profits;
  • Learn the biggest dangers & opportunities facing the eCommerce industry in the post-COVID world;
  • Find out how to position your eCommerce business to gain the lion’s share of the COVID expansion, while avoiding the competition;
  • Discover how to leave your competition wondering how you’re making killer profits while they’re losing money on the same conversion rates;
  • Learn The Information You Need To Build a Winning Store in 2021 and beyond;
  • And much more!


May your cash register ring with millions of dollars…

Tudor,
Founder & CEO
eComTrends.org

P.S. The information you will find inside the report is ground-breaking and based entirely on facts – which you will be able to read and understand for yourself, including the sources. There is no hype, fluff or BS inside, all the data has been compiled by my team and I from the most reliable sources. The fact is that there is a massive golden opportunity in eCommerce, but not all businesses will be able to take advantage of it. The data inside the report shows you exactly what is going on and how you can use it to grow your own eCommerce empire.

Disclaimer
The purpose of this communication is to show you strategies & techniques that have worked for my agency in terms of growing our business and growing the businesses of our clients. Each situation and each company is different, so none of the techniques presented in this report guarantee any positive results in your business performance whatsoever. All the information contained herein is strictly for informational purposes, and you accept that you will be using it at your own risk if you decide to implement it. There is no guarantee that you will increase or maintain your sales by using the techniques described in this report. The information contained inside is not to be interpreted as a guarantee or promise of earnings. Results will vary from individual to individual and from business to business. Your level of success will depend upon the particularities of your business, industry, advertising budget, background, work ethic, knowledge, skills, understanding, as well as other factors. I make no guarantee whatsoever that you will be successful in applying the strategies found inside. Any business endeavor entails risks, and if you're not willing to accept that, then you should NOT use the procedures recommended in this report. We do not intend to render any legal, accounting, financial, or business advice in this report. The information shared is part of the system that we apply for our clients. The sales figures and results stated inside are our own. We do NOT suggest that you can replicate these results. In fact, our results are NOT typical, and we're not suggesting that you can obtain similar (or any) results by applying the techniques shared with you inside. In fact, the average business or person who follows the strategies outlined here will get little or no results. The results referred to here are references, for example purposes only.
I switched us from Shopify to SamCart back in March and it has changed the game.

No order bumps or OTOs yet, just getting customers acquinted with a 1-page website after being used to the traditional model for so long.
 
D

Deleted87795

Guest
I read over the report and I have to give it a huge thumbs up. I've been considering the ecom route for a bit now, though admittedly I've yet to actually execute due to the idea of having to hand-pick products. That said, the information was amazing! Thanks for the share :).
 
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Senecal

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Inside this FREE 20-page report you’ll learn the secret selling system a few eCommerce sellers have discovered which earns HUGE PROFITS, even if you’re in a niche with small conversion rates.

The report reveals that one of the three biggest problems for eCommerce businesses in 2020 is that everyone is running a traditional storefront… and that means, for example, that on Shopify, the average conversion rate is just 1.6%.

To say that the market is oversaturated would be an understatement. The truth is that it’s hard to make money on that conversion rate when you run a traditional storefront.

Your customers get distracted by all the product options, all the links they can click on, and the entire complexity of the purchase experience. Indeed, close to 70% of customers desire a simpler, more personalized experience.

And C0VlD-19 has only accelerated this trend. More and more sellers are pouring into eCommerce by the day, as traditional brick and mortar stores get shut down. This means that conversion rates on traditional storefronts will decrease even more.

Fortunately, it is not all doom and gloom. Some eCommerce businesses found a way to win…

They’ve ditched the storefront for a new sales model that enables them to make giant profits despite low conversion rates… and on top of that, offer their customers a greater degree of personalization compared to traditional storefronts.

Have a look at their numbers:


These sellers are riding high on this new (and highly profitable!) trend. And the fact is that by 2040, 95% of all purchases are predicted to be done online. Combine this with the rapid shift to online business that COVID has caused and the result is clear:

eCommerce is on the verge of creating the fastest wealth creation possibility of the next 20 years. The only question is if you’ll have the knowledge required to make a fortune, OR you’ll drown out in a bloody ocean of competition.

Click here to get your free copy of the report:
  • Discover the exact sales system smart eCommerce sellers are using to make these massive profits;
  • Learn the biggest dangers & opportunities facing the eCommerce industry in the post-COVID world;
  • Find out how to position your eCommerce business to gain the lion’s share of the COVID expansion, while avoiding the competition;
  • Discover how to leave your competition wondering how you’re making killer profits while they’re losing money on the same conversion rates;
  • Learn The Information You Need To Build a Winning Store in 2021 and beyond;
  • And much more!


May your cash register ring with millions of dollars…

Tudor,
Founder & CEO
eComTrends.org

P.S. The information you will find inside the report is ground-breaking and based entirely on facts – which you will be able to read and understand for yourself, including the sources. There is no hype, fluff or BS inside, all the data has been compiled by my team and I from the most reliable sources. The fact is that there is a massive golden opportunity in eCommerce, but not all businesses will be able to take advantage of it. The data inside the report shows you exactly what is going on and how you can use it to grow your own eCommerce empire.

Disclaimer
The purpose of this communication is to show you strategies & techniques that have worked for my agency in terms of growing our business and growing the businesses of our clients. Each situation and each company is different, so none of the techniques presented in this report guarantee any positive results in your business performance whatsoever. All the information contained herein is strictly for informational purposes, and you accept that you will be using it at your own risk if you decide to implement it. There is no guarantee that you will increase or maintain your sales by using the techniques described in this report. The information contained inside is not to be interpreted as a guarantee or promise of earnings. Results will vary from individual to individual and from business to business. Your level of success will depend upon the particularities of your business, industry, advertising budget, background, work ethic, knowledge, skills, understanding, as well as other factors. I make no guarantee whatsoever that you will be successful in applying the strategies found inside. Any business endeavor entails risks, and if you're not willing to accept that, then you should NOT use the procedures recommended in this report. We do not intend to render any legal, accounting, financial, or business advice in this report. The information shared is part of the system that we apply for our clients. The sales figures and results stated inside are our own. We do NOT suggest that you can replicate these results. In fact, our results are NOT typical, and we're not suggesting that you can obtain similar (or any) results by applying the techniques shared with you inside. In fact, the average business or person who follows the strategies outlined here will get little or no results. The results referred to here are references, for example purposes only.

This is really interesting and important especially post-Covid.

One challenging aspect of ecommerce is increasing conversion rates. How do you go about this?

And what do you think is the best resource to learn the basics of CRO?

Thanks!
 

jpcoder

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Good report. Question though. Thinking of this with an Unscripted and a multi-product brand mindset, what happens when you get past product #1? You now expand to product #2, #3. etc under the same brand. How do you manage creating a productocracy at that point without having a single website that can be shared that shows all your products? This would seem to break your single path purchase flow. Or, would you have a shareable funnel for each product and that would be the only way to get to them?
 

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Appreciate everyone's feedback so far, it's great to hear you've all been getting value out of it! :)

If you have any questions for me, by all means let me know.

I switched us from Shopify to SamCart back in March and it has changed the game.

No order bumps or OTOs yet, just getting customers acquinted with a 1-page website after being used to the traditional model for so long.
That's very cool. Do you mind sharing how things have changed after switching over? What are the biggest differences that you've seen, in terms of conversion rates, and also ROI? And any advice that you'd have for other about the process of switching from Shopify to SamCart would be great - I know it can be difficult to move the content over, etc.

One challenging aspect of ecommerce is increasing conversion rates. How do you go about this?
Thank you for your question! :)

So, I think we're all tempted to ask "how can I increase conversion rates?" and forget to explore the other ways to increase ROI.

This can lead to just focusing on conversion rates, and the truth is that there's only so much you can do to increase them. Largely, they are a function of how competitive your niche is, how differentiated your offer is, the value provided and how well this is communicated. One factor here, the competitiveness of your niche, is not under your control at all, and quite arguably it's the most important factor.

C0VlD-19 means that a lot of B&M stores are closing, and many are switching over to eCommerce - the trend towards eCommerce has accelerated by 5 years already, as the report reveals.

What does this mean?

It means that competition across the board has increased massively. And the market is saturated of seeing the same storefronts, with the same thousands of irrelevant links, and pushy products etc. That's why the downward trend in average conversion rates is expected to continue...

So rather than fight over conversion rates, it may be better to shift your attention to increasing Lifetime Value. It's formed of two key factors:
1) Increasing average order value
&
2) Increasing the number of repeat buyers

And sales funnels, at least as outlined in the report, can help you massively improve those two factors. How? Very briefly since the report covers this, (1) by allowing you to show relevant upsells/cross-sells to a buyer before he reaches order-confirmation that he can purchase with a single click without entering credit card details again and (2) by allowing you to build a relationship with your buyer over time so that you show them relevant offers that will get them to buy again and again.

This means that you have a much smaller cost of retention to get repeat buyers, than to acquire new buyers. It also means that you'll be making MORE for every prospect you convert -> which means that you can PAY more to acquire buyers in the first place.

So take the following example...

Store A and B compete in the same market. A uses a regular storefront, and pays $5 to acquire buyers with LTV of $20. Their growth is controlled by getting more and more buyers. Store B on the other hand uses sales funnels... they sell to the same buyers, but they understand them better and the funnel structure enables them to raise LTV to $400. Do you see what happens now? B can afford to pay much more than A to acquire customers at the SAME conversion rate, which effectively drives A out of business... Which is what's going on with many stores now.

Like the report says, sales funnels allow you to bypass the problem of low conversion rates.

But that's not all!

In my agency work for my clients, I've noticed something else. Because customers are hungry about a smoother shopping experience that is more personalized to their needs, funnels - by helping you set up a structure of consecutive pages that addresses the exact needs of a specific niche without distraction + such things as 1-click purchases - makes the shopping experience MORE personalized, and also easier. So I've noticed that sales funnels ALSO improve conversion rates - and they do so through greater personalization to the needs of each segment and a smoother, distraction-free shopping experience.

And what do you think is the best resource to learn the basics of CRO?
Well, I think the basics are what I've mentioned above and what the report details... higher personalization, elimination of distractions, easier shopping experience, helping customers be successful with their purchases (however they define said success), and learning to communicate effectively with them to build trust and make your value clear (copywriting).

If you want to go into more depth on these topics, there is a lot of content that you can find out there, spread out in many places. For some reputable resources where you can bits and pieces, I can recommend Russell Brunson's DotCom Secrets, Jay Abraham's Getting Everythign You Can Out of All You've Got, and No B.S. Direct Response Marketing by Dan Kennedy (esp. for copywriting & general communication principles). If you're looking to have these step by step, in one place, which is relevant for eCommerce and business development I've been building a course on these topics for over a year now that has helped many people transition their store through the pandemic and scale their business. It's basically the same stuff that I implement in my agency for eCommerce clients. You can find more info on it in my signature. But if you have any other particular questions I'm happy to answer further on here or by PM.
 
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biophase

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ENTRY
As everyone knows, starting a regular Shopify storefront (or Amazon FBA biz) is easy. That’s why everyone is doing it, and conversion rates are decreasing by the day. The barriers to entry are almost non-existent. The ocean is bloody already… too much competition. On the other hand, the new model is harder and more complex. Most people don’t know about it. And if they do, they lack the skills to implement it properly. That’s why it satisfies the entry commandment.

I'd disagree with this assessment. You are basically moving the ENTRY goalposts back by making the marketing or strategy the entry. But entry is just setting up a Shopify store or listing on Amazon if we go with MJ's definition.

Else, I could argue that my 100% Amazon FBA business meets the entry criteria because I know how to run FB ads and PPC very efficiently.
 

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I haven't downloaded your report, but based on the replies, I assume that it is about email marketing and setting up funnels to get people to your brand.

Me and a group of my close friends who are very successful at ecommerce do almost no email marketing at all. None of us have ever had a funnel or a landing page. And we don't go to conferences either. We are playing on a different field because we never knew there was another field to be on.

When I used to go to ecommerce meetups and conferences back around 2011-2013, most of the people there were always talking about their email marketing and funnels and backend upsells. I was the only person at the table sending all my repeat traffic to Amazon. Everyone thought I was crazy, and I didn't know better.

I was also making Google PPC ads aiming for 0% conversion rate. Everyone thought I was crazy for that too.

My thought process was that if I keep all my customers going to Amazon, even after they purchased from my website, I would keep my sales on Amazon up and rank better. Everyone else was doing the opposite, so I stayed #1 on Amazon for many keywords.

For the Google PPC, I wanted to people to see my brand on the corners of their webpages. So I made large image ads with just my logo (kind of like when you see a Nike billboard, it's just a swoosh), no call to action or text. I was going for the 7 touches, figuring if people got used to see my logo, the next time they wanted to buy something they would subconsciously think of my brand. And best of all, this strategy didn't cost a dime!

I do think allot business strategies and paths depend on who you hang out with or who your teachers are. For example, if someone in your group gets on Shark Tank. It exponentially increases the chances of you getting on because now you know a few secrets and tricks. That may become your main goal for the next 2 years, vs. building an email list.

I have grown my business doing the opposite of most internet marketers and I didn't even know that's what I was doing. LOL
 

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How is 30k a month in revenue considered so impressive to you that you added 5 exclamation points? For all we know the profit could be 1k.

I know people doing millions per month in sales and profiting around 30% with a plain looking Shopify store and decent understanding of Facebook ads.

Sure, there's a lot more Shopify stores than there were a few years ago, but 99% of them have always been complete garbage so it doesn't change much for the 1%.

Pretty much everything you're talking about is related to conversion rate optimization. 99% don't need to optimize their conversion rate, they need to source/produce a great product.

A shit store with mediocre ads and creative BUT great product will still sell pretty well, which would naturally lead you to work on the CRO. A very well-designed store with the most optimized ads and creative but mediocre product will not.
 
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These are great questions @jpcoder, and also, since this is your first post, a warm welcome to the forum! :) What made you join TFL if you don't mind me asking?

Will answer below:
Thinking of this with an Unscripted and a multi-product brand mindset, what happens when you get past product #1?
So your funnel structure is a more efficient way of acquiring customers on the front-end. The way it works is that you'd string a series of products/offers that are relevant for the same vertical one after each other and eliminate distractions. You could for example have a landing page with special offer -> 1-Click Upsell 1 -> 1-Click Upsell 2 -> (Downsell) -> Order Confirmation.

The funnel becomes a very efficient way of satisfying the needs of that vertical and initiating a relationship with them. Instead of selling just the special offer, you'll also sell some of the upsells/downsells. So instead of breaking even or maybe even losing money to acquire a customer, you'd be making a much bigger profit... which means that you can scale exponentially because you can also reinvest your profit into acquiring more customers directly. The mathematics of this beats out the other approach.

To go back to your question: when you launch a new product, is it going to address the needs of the same vertical, or a slightly different one? Is it related to the series of products in your first funnel? If yes, then the first thing you can do is use your back-end to market the product to your existing list, and see how they appreciate it before scaling. You can also use this approach to ask them for improvements, and communicate with your audience to improve the product before you launch it to a wider audience.

If no, and the product addresses a different vertical, then you'll need another funnel. So I've worked with clients who, for example, worked in the toy niche, and they'd have a different funnel to launch different products based on the vertical they were addressing. So say some products were aimed at baby boy toddlers -> they'd have their own funnel. Others were aimed at pre-school girls, and again the funnel was different. Obviously, you're marketing to the parents, but they have different needs that they're trying to address at each stage, so those become different verticals.

How do you manage creating a productocracy at that point without having a single website that can be shared that shows all your products?
Right :) This is an important point. Nothing stops you from using your funnel to drive traffic to a storefront on your backend. Typically what I do for my clients is that I'd have the funnels to bring new customers and launch new products or niches/verticals, and the storefront for backend promotions that may go out to part of the list or the entire list. That way customers will typically be marketed some products, and then based on what they view, and what they do inside your store, they can be taken in different directions through your backend.

If you ever get contacted by Amazon it's because they promote tangential products to the one you've shown interest in and they get you to someone's storefront. Then their entire website is designed in such a way to get you to buy more stuff (related products) from the same or similar stores. So what you'd do is what Amazon does but for just your own store and products (or affiliated products).

Over time what happens is that customers get familiar with your brand, and will look for different tangential products with you, not with the competition. They'll also tell their friends... "did you hear about special offer X with Y, special offer X of course being the start of the funnel. Which creates word of mouth.

So funnels are really about an effective way to build a relationship with your customers. Hopefully that answers your questions, let me know if you have any followups!
 

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Over here, over there.
I haven't downloaded your report, but based on the replies, I assume that it is about email marketing and setting up funnels to get people to your brand.
I've read it and it's mostly factual insight and statistical data type of stuff with a look over sales funnels as a general concept at the end. I'll get into my takeaways in a bit. The report actually doesn't go into email at all, and it shouldn't really, because it's called The State of eCommerce haha.

Of course, email is still king, but you've got "the next big thing" in the form of SMS marketing and social media chatbots that can serve parts of a funnel just as well.

Your insights probably mirror those of the report, since you've been involved in eCommerce for so long and you've seen things first-hand. Care sharing your broader feeling about the industry? For example one bit of analysis is Nasdaq's prediction that by 2040, 95% of all purchases will be done via eCommerce. Ambitious, but with Covid waking people up (and bankrupting most other retailers), I guess not a big leap.

I was also making Google PPC ads aiming for 0% conversion rate.

That's really smart. Free impressions and brand awareness. Internet marketers sometimes sleep on the more brand-based strategies since they're not easy to track and optimize, but a lot of them have good RoI at large scale (there's a reason Coca Cola and Nike use them) and great RoI in some cases. Definitely worth looking into.

With that being said... I can see why you might get a wrong idea as the discussion is definitely going more around the practical consequences and implementation of the info from the report. I guess that's what people care about more :D

But here's what I care about.

First of all, thanks for the research and all the great info on sales funnels @Black_Dragon43 . There are lots of good questions as well and value being thrown around.

The report mentions an increase in advertising revenue for Amazon and the ad giants... that implies increased competitiveness in media buying and more demand for copywriting.

Furthermore... it mentions a great lack of personalized engagement with conventional stores, despite a positive market desire for it.

Hey, that's what copy is for! Sounds to me like this is a great time to be a copywriter in this niche :D

Any copywriters here focus specifically on eCommerce? Have you noticed these trends directly in your business or your clients?

Also, one bit of info I want to add to all this from my perspective... It's never (just) about CTR, CR, OR, or whatever other acronyms you fancy. The only indicator that matters is SALES, and, ultimately, PROFIT. As any niche gets more and more people copying each other and fulfilling the same needs in the same way... their value proposition gets diluted. Less value created = less profit. Simple as.

And it's important to realize, there are many ways of implementing funnels, not just acquisition, sell, sell, upsell, crosssell, downsell, bla bla. It's not just through email. If you just do the same thing as everyone else (Amazon has a funnel, too!) then you're not doing anything to differentiate yourself and you'll fall in the same pitfalls you're trying to avoid.

The point of it is to relate with your prospect and guide them from introduction through conversion and eventually expansion in your own way. By building relationships. That idea works in every niche I've worked in, whether it's B2B, B2C, service-based, product-based, physical, digital, whatever. As long as you're guiding people in pain to a valuable solution to that pain, and you do it in a direct, personal way, the details sort themselves out. The skill comes in learning how.

Of course that doesn't mean you can't be successful with more indirect forms of marketing, as @biophase and many others have proven.

It's just that staying off the beaten path has a competitive edge ;)
 

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I'd disagree with this assessment. You are basically moving the ENTRY goalposts back by making the marketing or strategy the entry. But entry is just setting up a Shopify store or listing on Amazon if we go with MJ's definition.

Else, I could argue that my 100% Amazon FBA business meets the entry criteria because I know how to run FB ads and PPC very efficiently.
I agree that this doesn't completely "solve" the Commandment of Entry, but then I don't think anything apart from a government-backed monopoly does lol... I think the Commandment of Entry should be looked at as a continuous spectrum of more or less, rather than a discrete yes/no. MJ writes in TMF , in the chapter on the Commandment of Entry: "Want to know if your business violates entry? The answer is simple: Is getting into business an event or a process? Real business startups are processes, not events."

Take the example of a dropshipper vs someone who arranges to have their own branded products made with modifications and shipped to their warehouse. They are in the same industry, an industry with low barriers of entry overall. However, since the second guy who makes his own product does something that is harder to replicate, he satisfies the Commandment of Entry more than the dropshipper.

So that's a barrier to entry on the production side. There are also barriers to entry on the MARKETING & DISTRIBUTION side. Someone with a regular storefront is akin to the dropshipper in the example above. He has a very simple marketing & distribution model, that is very easy to copy. Setting it up is really an event, not a process.

Whereas creating a solid funnel, and perfecting it (as everyone knows, the real value comes from the testing), is much more of a process, and much harder to replicate. Hence it satisfies the Commandment of Entry to a greater degree.

I haven't downloaded your report, but based on the replies, I assume that it is about email marketing and setting up funnels to get people to your brand.
I highly encourage you to download it if you wish to participate in the discussion, since the report is an overview of the eCommerce industry, future challenges, and current trends - only the last part covers potential solutions. You would be wrong if you thought this is just about email marketing. I know people who have set up funnels without any email marketing and have scaled them to hundreds of thousands, and even millions - even by dropshipping just on the frontend.

It's not about email marketing, or even funnels, but about a new business model that solves certain problems: problems of distractions on the page, problems of customer lifetime value, and helps provide a solution to businesses who struggle with low conversion rates (ie, STOP focusing on conversion rates!).

Is it the only way to be successful in eCommerce? Absolutely not, but it is a great way.
Me and a group of my close friends who are very successful at ecommerce do almost no email marketing at all. None of us have ever had a funnel or a landing page. And we don't go to conferences either. We are playing on a different field because we never knew there was another field to be on.

When I used to go to ecommerce meetups and conferences back around 2011-2013, most of the people there were always talking about their email marketing and funnels and backend upsells. I was the only person at the table sending all my repeat traffic to Amazon. Everyone thought I was crazy, and I didn't know better.
That's cool haha! It must have been fun going to those meetups and conferences and seeing that you're so different from everyone around, but still highly successful. What was your biggest takeaway from finding out that you're actually going about it a completely different way from the other people at the conferences?
I was also making Google PPC ads aiming for 0% conversion rate. Everyone thought I was crazy for that too.

My thought process was that if I keep all my customers going to Amazon, even after they purchased from my website, I would keep my sales on Amazon up and rank better. Everyone else was doing the opposite, so I stayed #1 on Amazon for many keywords.

For the Google PPC, I wanted to people to see my brand on the corners of their webpages. So I made large image ads with just my logo (kind of like when you see a Nike billboard, it's just a swoosh), no call to action or text. I was going for the 7 touches, figuring if people got used to see my logo, the next time they wanted to buy something they would subconsciously think of my brand. And best of all, this strategy didn't cost a dime!
Yeah this is genius! Thanks for sharing that, I think such strategies can help a lot of people. Because you were buying CPC, and you made ads with just your logo so they wouldn't get clicked, you got a ton of free impressions. Not sure if Google ever catches up to that, but it's a great strategy for anyone to try. Have you noticed, at that time, a change in traffic due to the campaign?

I do think allot business strategies and paths depend on who you hang out with or who your teachers are. For example, if someone in your group gets on Shark Tank. It exponentially increases the chances of you getting on because now you know a few secrets and tricks. That may become your main goal for the next 2 years, vs. building an email list.
Yes, who you learn from is absolutely important, and there are a lot of people that you can get different knowledge from that may be helpful in your journey. However, let's not disparage building an email list. When you sell your eCommerce store, and most people building stores are usually looking for an exit sooner or later, your email list will be one of the most valuable assets that you have, especially if you're looking to interest a strategic buyer into buying your company (they pay much more). They want a list of your customers that they can use to expand and grow their business - that is one of the most important assets you can have. Especially if you're able to show that your list is well-groomed, well-kept and very responsive.

Pretty much everything you're talking about is related to conversion rate optimization. 99% don't need to optimize their conversion rate, they need to source/produce a great product.
Right so I talked about conversion rate optimization in my post above because that's what someone asked about. However, the report makes the same point you're making, with which I agree... that 99% don't need to optimize their conversion rate, and there's only so much you can do to optimize it. And you actually need to focus on other factors - specifically in this case increasing the lifetime value of your customers, rather than optimizing conversions.

How is 30k a month in revenue considered so impressive to you that you added 5 exclamation points?
Haha maybe it's not that impressive! :p Depends on who you ask I guess :rofl:

But you're right with the point that you can have a lot of revenue and low profits, and that conversion rates don't exactly matter. You can be profitable with low conversion rates, and unprofitable with big ones. That's why the right business model helps you more than being focused on optimizing conversions.

A shit store with mediocre ads and creative BUT great product will still sell pretty well, which would naturally lead you to work on the CRO. A very well-designed store with the most optimized ads and creative but mediocre product will not.
I agree with your sentiment that the product you have when doing eCommerce is very important, no doubt. It's probably one of the most important factors in your success. I would just add that your business model is equally important. It makes a big difference if you dropship the product vs if you sell a branded product, and so on. Going back to the CENTS Commandments, your business model can make or break many of them. As an eCommerce store, you're not just solving the needs that your product solves for your customers... you're also solving needs that have to do with communication, being able to shop and place orders easily, without significant effort, seeing offers that are meaningful and personalized for users, eliminating distractions, and so on. These are not valueless, even though they don't have to do with production, but rather with marketing. So value can be skewed both with the product, but also with your marketing - and I'm not talking about deception here, but rather making the shopping experience more pleasant, convenient and meaningful for your customers. Storefronts are getting outdated, precisely because they are so easy to set up, and just as MJ says in TMF , this makes it hypercompetitive, and drives profits down.
 
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I agree that this doesn't completely "solve" the Commandment of Entry, but then I don't think anything apart from a government-backed monopoly does lol... I think the Commandment of Entry should be looked at as a continuous spectrum of more or less, rather than a discrete yes/no. MJ writes in TMF , in the chapter on the Commandment of Entry: "Want to know if your business violates entry? The answer is simple: Is getting into business an event or a process? Real business startups are processes, not events."

Take the example of a dropshipper vs someone who arranges to have their own branded products made with modifications and shipped to their warehouse.

That's cool haha! It must have been fun going to those meetups and conferences and seeing that you're so different from everyone around, but still highly successful. What was your biggest takeaway from finding out that you're actually going about it a completely different way from the other people at the conferences?

However, let's not disparage building an email list.

I think the entry question comes down to where the entry point is. So if I decide to sell electric cars on Shopify. You can look at it two ways.

1) I am building a new electric car - Hence entry commandment is satisfied.
2) I am dropshipping Teslas - Hence entry commandment is not satisfied.

But I can also see the other side.

1) I am dropshipping Teslas by using PPC, Ads, etc... like everyone else - Hence entry commandment is not satisfied.
2) I am dropshipping Teslas by starting a Electric Car Race series event - Hence entry commandment is satisfied?
3) I am dropshipping Teslas but I offer lifetime warranty and 50% credit on a new Tesla in 5 years - - Hence entry commandment is satisfied. And I say this, because entry means to me, how difficult is your business for someone else to copy.

I think you can increase the entry point of any product or niche by creative business thinking.

My biggest takeaway from going to the events was that most people seemed to care about their sales numbers and making money. I totally get them wanting to make money and increasing customer life time value. Or seeing that their cart average went from $25 to $29 with an upsell. They were squeezing out percentage points in conversion rates by tweaking and A/B testing.

None of that resonated with me. I just really wasn't interested in that kind of stuff. I just wanted to make good products and sell them.

It also felt like everyone was doing the same thing. Like minds just think alike eventually.

I'm not disparaging the email list. I have a small list of 18,000 right now that I send 3-4 emails a month as just a touch point. Each email does bring in revenue. But I don't have any onboarding sequence or win back campaign. I just type an email whenever I have something to say and send it, even if it sends at 2am. :)
 

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These are great questions @jpcoder, and also, since this is your first post, a warm welcome to the forum! :) What made you join TFL if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks for the reply and the welcome. I've been lurking around for a while. Have read (well listened to) MFL and Unscripted several times now. I'm currently co-leading a book study of MFL with some adult men and a teenager. My goal would be to do these studies with other teens in the future because I think the info in these books are great to learn at that age (although I'm just learning these things as well so good at any age :) ).
 

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I think the entry question comes down to where the entry point is. So if I decide to sell electric cars on Shopify. You can look at it two ways.

1) I am building a new electric car - Hence entry commandment is satisfied.
2) I am dropshipping Teslas - Hence entry commandment is not satisfied.

But I can also see the other side.

1) I am dropshipping Teslas by using PPC, Ads, etc... like everyone else - Hence entry commandment is not satisfied.
2) I am dropshipping Teslas by starting a Electric Car Race series event - Hence entry commandment is satisfied?
3) I am dropshipping Teslas but I offer lifetime warranty and 50% credit on a new Tesla in 5 years - - Hence entry commandment is satisfied. And I say this, because entry means to me, how difficult is your business for someone else to copy.

I think you can increase the entry point of any product or niche by creative business thinking.
Yeah, I agree. So I tend to look at entry not as a discrete yes/no answer, but as a more continuous more or less answer. So we can look at different business models and say that one satisfies entry more than another, rather than a black/white answer.

And you're definitely right about creative business thinking. When you've nailed the basics, it's the creativity and trying new stuff that really differentiates you. I tell people that I've coached that once you nail the basics, you have to follow the data and be creative... The data will tell you where you need to go next. So testing becomes vitally important, and not getting stuck on a beaten path that says this is the ONLY way to do it. Keeping your eyes open, always looking for a better way. Nevertheless, nailing the basics is still hugely important.

My biggest takeaway from going to the events was that most people seemed to care about their sales numbers and making money. I totally get them wanting to make money and increasing customer life time value. Or seeing that their cart average went from $25 to $29 with an upsell. They were squeezing out percentage points in conversion rates by tweaking and A/B testing.

None of that resonated with me. I just really wasn't interested in that kind of stuff. I just wanted to make good products and sell them.
So what metrics would you then use to judge if and how successful you were? One key that I've found with high performers generally is that everyone measures results in one way or another, and uses that for accountability.

I think many people look at sales numbers and money as useful metrics to judge their success. Obviously, those are not end-all, be-all metrics since the trap that you'll make decisions based on those numbers which are good in the short term, but harmful in the long-term does exist. So you need to consciously take a long-term approach and include more factors when you think about the business, including intuition, not just the numbers.

It also felt like everyone was doing the same thing. Like minds just think alike eventually.
Right, I agree. The way I see it, the way you distinguish yourself is by testing and innovating. Doing what the most successful are doing is a good strategy when you're first getting started and you have a lot to learn. Trying to innovate from scratch is imo very very difficult, and really a very scattershot approach. Sometimes it can work, but many times it can lead to failure, especially when you don't have a lot of starting capital. But as you start making money, you must reinvest in testing and creative strategies that can differentiate you.

And of course, by differentiating yourself, you can really work towards building a sustainable productocracy.

I'm not disparaging the email list. I have a small list of 18,000 right now that I send 3-4 emails a month as just a touch point. Each email does bring in revenue. But I don't have any onboarding sequence or win back campaign. I just type an email whenever I have something to say and send it, even if it sends at 2am. :)
That's good, so since this is eCommerce, obviously your email marketing won't be as extensive as someone who is a personal coach and intends to build a personal relationship with their audience for example. But you're still keeping your list engaged there, and growing it, which matters!
 
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Black_Dragon43

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Thanks for the reply and the welcome. I've been lurking around for a while. Have read (well listened to) MFL and Unscripted several times now. I'm currently co-leading a book study of MFL with some adult men and a teenager. My goal would be to do these studies with other teens in the future because I think the info in these books are great to learn at that age (although I'm just learning these things as well so good at any age :) ).
Oh nice - helping others is great. It's also a way for you to deepen your understanding. I'm sorry for my late reply, I must have missed your post, it looks like we actually posted at the same time haha!

MJ's first book TMF was definitely life-changing the first time I read it, and its lessons have extended in much of the work I've done for others. Specifically when it comes to eCommerce, I have found the CENTS Commandments to be essential to creating a sustainable business - you have to take them into account.

Indeed, the entire funnel framework that I share inside the report is something that I have developed based on the CENTS Commandments when applied to the marketing side of eCommerce businesses. I apply the exact same teachings for clients, with outstanding results. I've had clients make as much as $50,000 in a single day, on Black Friday. So this stuff works.

Just out of curiosity, do you currently own an eCommerce business or what drew you to the report? :)
 

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Just out of curiosity, do you currently own an eCommerce business or what drew you to the report? :)

I've owned a brand that sold well on Amazon previously but due to competition there in that niche I have gotten out of that for now. I've been a software developer for 20+ years so I'm looking more now at starting some sort of business that I can utilize those skills, although I'm not locked into software being the main component.
 

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So what metrics would you then use to judge if and how successful you were? One key that I've found with high performers generally is that everyone measures results in one way or another, and uses that for accountability.
I judge it by how happy I am, day to day. Once I started feeling like my business is a chore, I change it up. And every single time I've put profits before my lifestyle, the business didn't do as well. I've also found that too much of one lifestyle will swing me back to the median.

For example, if I traveled for most of a year, I'd get tired of travel and then work on my business the next year until I get tired of that, and then I'd travel.

I am actually all traveled out right now. Even if there wasn't covid, the thought of traveling abroad is kind of repels me now. So I'm swung over to the side of working on my business all day and I like it. It doesn't burn me out at all. But maybe 1-2 years from now, I'll hate working on business and travel the world again.

Because of this, my business grows in spurts. But that's ok. I would have rather done everything that I wanted to do in the last 5 years and gone from $1M to $3M, than just grind and sacrifice what I wanted to do and gone from $1M to $10M.
I think many people look at sales numbers and money as useful metrics to judge their success. Obviously, those are not end-all, be-all metrics since the trap that you'll make decisions based on those numbers which are good in the short term, but harmful in the long-term does exist. So you need to consciously take a long-term approach and include more factors when you think about the business, including intuition, not just the numbers.
I know a handful of people that were doing way more in sales and profit than me many years ago. But they didn't invest or save for the long term. Like MJ, I saved up most of my money that I've made. Unlike MJ, I've dumped it all into real estate. But the key is that we both saved, so my net worth has gone up and up. Now that I have that solid net worth foundation. Maximizing how much I can make isn't my main goal. It's more about living a stress free life.
 
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Black_Dragon43

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I've owned a brand that sold well on Amazon previously but due to competition there in that niche I have gotten out of that for now. I've been a software developer for 20+ years so I'm looking more now at starting some sort of business that I can utilize those skills, although I'm not locked into software being the main component.
Oh nice! I've been a bit swamped by work, hence the delayed response. I think there is a lot of potential value in your story for eCommerce business owners. Personally, I'm curious how exactly competition affected your business there... did it result in lower rankings? People carefully assessing the alternatives? More expensive traffic? Unfair competitive practices (fake reviews, etc.)? And also, when you look back, what could an Amazon seller do to prevent, or at least adapt to the possibility of growing competition? In my experience, it's best to always work to set up a business outside of Amazon even while you're making revenue off Amazon. That way you get back some control, and don't put all your eggs in one basket. Over time you can also try to funnel customers outside of Amazon.

Maybe if you're interested, you could find a way to bridge both eCommerce and software with your new venture. I mean since you've run an Amazon business, you must have an in-depth understanding of the kind of problems sellers deal with that could be solved using software. This type of industry-specific knowledge, and personal experience is wonderful when it comes to starting a productocracy. It also saves you a ton of market research and investigation.

By the way, as another very relevant example from the forum of what we were talking about before, I found this post by @JAJT in another thread:
Re-designed the product with the manufacturer, excluding the aspects that the competitor made proprietary.

I spun it as an upgrade to customers.

Cost me maybe 2 months of downtime though during the process and I had to run my existing stock dry on Amazon before I could send in the new version because I had to edit the listing with the new information and I didn't want two different types of stock under one listing because that's a fast track to 1-star city if customers don't get what your listing shows/promises, obviously.

Had to also get new photos done, of course. And test the new product myself to see if it would work.

The competitor ultimately won though - because even after all that they reported all my listings as a HAZMAT violation due to a firestarter (magnesium rod) that was part of the product. I fought with amazon for months over the issue because this competitor (and Amazon themselves!!!) had hundreds of listings using the SAME firestarter but Amazon didn't care.

Had to "fire sale" the entire product line, which was my most successful at the time.

I got really jaded about Amazon after that.
A LOT of Amazon business owners got burned because of giving up control to Amazon. So maybe @JAJT has something to add here for all of us about the importance of keeping control, and trying to funnel customers outside of Amazon as well...

I judge it by how happy I am, day to day. Once I started feeling like my business is a chore, I change it up. And every single time I've put profits before my lifestyle, the business didn't do as well.
That's an interesting take on things. It goes back to what MJ was saying in TMF about you (the vehicle) being critical on the road trip to wealth. So would you say that your business did worse because you'd lose in productivity & motivation? Or what was the real factor that led to decreasing results, even though your main focus was actually on results?

For example, if I traveled for most of a year, I'd get tired of travel and then work on my business the next year until I get tired of that, and then I'd travel.

I am actually all traveled out right now. Even if there wasn't covid, the thought of traveling abroad is kind of repels me now. So I'm swung over to the side of working on my business all day and I like it. It doesn't burn me out at all. But maybe 1-2 years from now, I'll hate working on business and travel the world again.
Yeah, I am the same as well, I tend to work in spurts. I think a lot of people who work at high intensities are like this, because high intensity is not sustainable... unless you're Elon Musk :p

I know a handful of people that were doing way more in sales and profit than me many years ago. But they didn't invest or save for the long term. Like MJ, I saved up most of my money that I've made. Unlike MJ, I've dumped it all into real estate. But the key is that we both saved, so my net worth has gone up and up. Now that I have that solid net worth foundation. Maximizing how much I can make isn't my main goal. It's more about living a stress free life.
Right, so clearly freedom is your most important value here, and that comes above and beyond profit. So naturally you've mobilised your whole effort around it. Congrats! :)
 

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I hate being the party pooper who douses everyone at the party with cold, icy water after they've had 5 glasses of tequila and 6 bottles of cheap beer, but the reality is the vast majority of people who are successful in eCommerce does at least one of the following:

1) Sells an exclusive product (in other words, acts like some kind of exclusive online distributorship/wholesaler for the manufacturer)
2) Sells a very expensive/niche B2B product that involves a lot of haggling, sales, phone calls, etc.
3) Latches onto a trend like 10 ton opposing magnets, thus earning 40% margins over a short period of time, before moving onto "the next big hottest thing"

Then there's a bonus/secret option:

4) Be Amazon and use analytics to steal the best profit margin products from your downstream sellers and label the product as your own brand (if you're posting on this forum, 99.999% this door will remain closed for you)

That is it. These are your options. The idea you are going to make $250K+ per year in cash flow with something resembling "passive" income (min. requirement for my standards to be considered a legitimate CENTS business) in eCommerce without applying one of the following is so ludicrous you'd more likely die from being crushed by a flying piano.
 

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