Thought a lot about when would be the best time to start this execution thread. I thought about after I started raking in lots of money but then a lot of people would miss out the smaller steps it took me to get to that point. So I just decided to start it today.
Currently running my own Shopify store, very niche centered store. When first starting this store at the end of December I was faced with a few problems. The main one being capital, everyone usually does the routine place order from China, sell on Amazon and its a hit or miss. I was in talks with a supplier on Alibaba and was so close to forking over $400 USD for inventory in a different niche but noticed that the sellers on amazon inventory never moved. It was always at 999 four days straight, so I passed.
Then I thought, well dropshipping? It's not dead..if someone told you it was dead they are really saying they can't see why people would order your product and wait 2-3 weeks for it to come when they can just use Amazon or virtually any other store and get it in 1-3 days.
So I came to the conclusion that I don't like the idea of having customers wait so long for a product it just doesn't feel right to me but if they are okay with it I'll give it a shot. Loaded up products from AliExpress posted on IG, found influences etc...less than 4 sales. None complained about shipping time but I assume that's why many didn't buy.
Fast forward a few days, realized I hated this business model and thought if I can just find a winner through dropshipping I would order in bulk to decrease shipping times, but I did something better.
I found a US Supplier that allows me to dropship their products for FREE and they ship products within 3 days in the US.
Hmmmm, this is where it gets easy and I rake in all the profits right? WRONG, not YET.
So I browse but obviously the selection is limited compared to the big boys like Alibaba and Aliexpress, and the worst part is their prices are NEARLY retail, so it causes me to have prices that are slightly above market. Which would be fine if I was a big brand that created a cult following, but I'm the new kid on the block.
So far I've done Facebook advertising, Bing Ads, Adwords, Influencer Marketing, and a little Pinterest ads(I know..), with my main focus being on FB ads.
So far FB Ad spend is about $350 USD, seems like every other week FB is having an "algorithm" change and this affects stats. Lately the traffic has been better but I am failing to really convert said traffic, meaning they are interested in products but landing page is not doing its job.
I'm in the hole around $420 USD, with most being from the Almighty Facebook. I haven't done the math but if I had to take a guess this number would be pretty close.
Short Term Goals
- Turn A Profit lol
- Find a winner, scale it then import it.
- Stop sucking at FB ads
Currently, I have a FB campaign running two different ad sets and monitoring them closely and always looking at my suppliers inventory for better products. I will say this is a very passionate niche, and they spend a lot of money. So I just need to get better.
Currently running my own Shopify store, very niche centered store. When first starting this store at the end of December I was faced with a few problems. The main one being capital, everyone usually does the routine place order from China, sell on Amazon and its a hit or miss. I was in talks with a supplier on Alibaba and was so close to forking over $400 USD for inventory in a different niche but noticed that the sellers on amazon inventory never moved. It was always at 999 four days straight, so I passed.
Then I thought, well dropshipping? It's not dead..if someone told you it was dead they are really saying they can't see why people would order your product and wait 2-3 weeks for it to come when they can just use Amazon or virtually any other store and get it in 1-3 days.
So I came to the conclusion that I don't like the idea of having customers wait so long for a product it just doesn't feel right to me but if they are okay with it I'll give it a shot. Loaded up products from AliExpress posted on IG, found influences etc...less than 4 sales. None complained about shipping time but I assume that's why many didn't buy.
Fast forward a few days, realized I hated this business model and thought if I can just find a winner through dropshipping I would order in bulk to decrease shipping times, but I did something better.
I found a US Supplier that allows me to dropship their products for FREE and they ship products within 3 days in the US.
Hmmmm, this is where it gets easy and I rake in all the profits right? WRONG, not YET.
So I browse but obviously the selection is limited compared to the big boys like Alibaba and Aliexpress, and the worst part is their prices are NEARLY retail, so it causes me to have prices that are slightly above market. Which would be fine if I was a big brand that created a cult following, but I'm the new kid on the block.
So far I've done Facebook advertising, Bing Ads, Adwords, Influencer Marketing, and a little Pinterest ads(I know..), with my main focus being on FB ads.
So far FB Ad spend is about $350 USD, seems like every other week FB is having an "algorithm" change and this affects stats. Lately the traffic has been better but I am failing to really convert said traffic, meaning they are interested in products but landing page is not doing its job.
I'm in the hole around $420 USD, with most being from the Almighty Facebook. I haven't done the math but if I had to take a guess this number would be pretty close.
Short Term Goals
- Turn A Profit lol
- Find a winner, scale it then import it.
- Stop sucking at FB ads
Currently, I have a FB campaign running two different ad sets and monitoring them closely and always looking at my suppliers inventory for better products. I will say this is a very passionate niche, and they spend a lot of money. So I just need to get better.
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