Building Products and Sell Them via E-Commerce [Progress Thread]

[NIK4658]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to take a moment to share my journey in building my own e-commerce business, where I design, develop, and create products that are born out of my passion.

I’m a 22-year-old about to graduate in Computer Science and Engineering here in Italy.

I've always been fascinated by a niche that's particularly popular in my region.
Over time a virtual sub-niche emerged within this niche and I gradually immersed myself in it.
Fuelled by personal interest, I began to inform myself, sketch out ideas, and embark on ambitious projects related to this world, purely for the joy of engineering and constructing professional products with the resources at my disposal.
For years, friends, classmates, and acquaintances had been telling me that I have a talent for what I do, and that my products are of high quality, professional, and could deliver significant value to people. Despite this encouragement, I never took any real action.

It was only after reading "The Millionaire Fastlane " last summer that I embraced a new mindset, realizing that a slow lane existence was not what I wanted for my life.

In January of this year, with no prior knowledge of running an e-commerce business or how to design and build products for sale online, I took the plunge.
I invested over €400 in electronics and materials to start the creation of my products for enthusiasts of this sub-niche. This financial commitment, although a monetary investment, was more importantly a mental click, a commitment to taking initiative.

I started developing my products, building the website, and learning about WordPress, web design, electronics like PCBs, Ads, SEO, Marketing, etc., without any prior knowledge of these areas. What I did have was a 3D modeling skill I had acquired over the years (not highly advanced), 3D printing skills, and the desire to create a brand that offers high-quality products and aligns with the CENTS framework.
All of this while navigating through the final year of my undergraduate studies in Computer Science and Engineering.

Time passed, numerous products were born, and I managed to sell a few, although very little, exclusively to people I already knew, like friends, etc.

During the past summer, I explored Google Ads, investing around €200 not just for running campaigns but primarily to LEARN this skill, recognizing its importance in the e-commerce context. (PS, a big thank you to Andy for his helpful course!)
However, the results were not as expected—no sales, just a lot of clicks leading nowhere.
It took me a while to grasp how it all worked, so a portion of the budget was essentially "used for learning" how to effectively use ads.
Feeling a bit demoralized by spending over €200 on ads without a single sale, I decided to stop all the advertising campaigns.

This led to a period where I took a step back from the e-commerce world for a while. I wasn't sure how to proceed, and I was even contemplating the idea of shutting down the business, thinking that my products might not provide enough value.

In this period, I also attempted to develop another e-commerce store for digital products, using Google Ads again but without success. I quickly closed that store.

Several months passed, and one day, I received a notification—a genuine, organic order for my e-commerce store. I was overjoyed and incredulous. I had no idea how this was possible.
Then i realized that my site had started to be indexed well for certain keywords, resulting in a very small daily traffic that, by sheer luck, led to an organic sale—my first one.
This changed everything. If I could sell one of my products to someone, it meant that my product provides value, and I could replicate this for others; I just needed to show my products to many more people.

I treated that organic customer as if he was my own child, guiding them through every step to fully use and appreciate his new product.

In these last few months, I've continued working on the business, making various improvements, considering SEO, purchasing better hosting, enhancing some products, etc.

However, the revenue is still fluctuating towards zero, except for occasional orders from people I know as friends.

I want to change this situation now more than ever.

I'm in the process of developing new high-ticket products that can bring even more value to my customers.
Recently, I invested in a second 3D printer to enhance the quality of my products and speed up the printing times.

I've created this thread to share my progress, moves, and mistakes, in case anyone can benefit from them.

Thank you to those who've read my story until the end. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Congrats #1: Taking consistent action!
Congrats #2: Getting your first sale!

 

[GideonEkasi]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to take a moment to share my journey in building my own e-commerce business, where I design, develop, and create products that are born out of my passion.

I’m a 22-year-old about to graduate in Computer Science and Engineering here in Italy.

I've always been fascinated by a niche that's particularly popular in my region.
Over time a virtual sub-niche emerged within this niche and I gradually immersed myself in it.
Fuelled by personal interest, I began to inform myself, sketch out ideas, and embark on ambitious projects related to this world, purely for the joy of engineering and constructing professional products with the resources at my disposal.
For years, friends, classmates, and acquaintances had been telling me that I have a talent for what I do, and that my products are of high quality, professional, and could deliver significant value to people. Despite this encouragement, I never took any real action.

It was only after reading "The Millionaire Fastlane " last summer that I embraced a new mindset, realizing that a slow lane existence was not what I wanted for my life.

In January of this year, with no prior knowledge of running an e-commerce business or how to design and build products for sale online, I took the plunge.
I invested over €400 in electronics and materials to start the creation of my products for enthusiasts of this sub-niche. This financial commitment, although a monetary investment, was more importantly a mental click, a commitment to taking initiative.

I started developing my products, building the website, and learning about WordPress, web design, electronics like PCBs, Ads, SEO, Marketing, etc., without any prior knowledge of these areas. What I did have was a 3D modeling skill I had acquired over the years (not highly advanced), 3D printing skills, and the desire to create a brand that offers high-quality products and aligns with the CENTS framework.
All of this while navigating through the final year of my undergraduate studies in Computer Science and Engineering.

Time passed, numerous products were born, and I managed to sell a few, although very little, exclusively to people I already knew, like friends, etc.

During the past summer, I explored Google Ads, investing around €200 not just for running campaigns but primarily to LEARN this skill, recognizing its importance in the e-commerce context. (PS, a big thank you to Andy for his helpful course!)
However, the results were not as expected—no sales, just a lot of clicks leading nowhere.
It took me a while to grasp how it all worked, so a portion of the budget was essentially "used for learning" how to effectively use ads.
Feeling a bit demoralized by spending over €200 on ads without a single sale, I decided to stop all the advertising campaigns.

This led to a period where I took a step back from the e-commerce world for a while. I wasn't sure how to proceed, and I was even contemplating the idea of shutting down the business, thinking that my products might not provide enough value.

In this period, I also attempted to develop another e-commerce store for digital products, using Google Ads again but without success. I quickly closed that store.

Several months passed, and one day, I received a notification—a genuine, organic order for my e-commerce store. I was overjoyed and incredulous. I had no idea how this was possible.
Then i realized that my site had started to be indexed well for certain keywords, resulting in a very small daily traffic that, by sheer luck, led to an organic sale—my first one.
This changed everything. If I could sell one of my products to someone, it meant that my product provides value, and I could replicate this for others; I just needed to show my products to many more people.

I treated that organic customer as if he was my own child, guiding them through every step to fully use and appreciate his new product.

In these last few months, I've continued working on the business, making various improvements, considering SEO, purchasing better hosting, enhancing some products, etc.

However, the revenue is still fluctuating towards zero, except for occasional orders from people I know as friends.

I want to change this situation now more than ever.

I'm in the process of developing new high-ticket products that can bring even more value to my customers.
Recently, I invested in a second 3D printer to enhance the quality of my products and speed up the printing times.

I've created this thread to share my progress, moves, and mistakes, in case anyone can benefit from them.

Thank you to those who've read my story until the end. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Hey Nik, the main issue for you was running ads, I understand how this may feel, because the world of digital marketing as a whole isn't something you just learn once, try a couple times and hope for the best, no. I'd personally recommend for someone who has no prior knowledge or experience running ad campaigns, that if they have some sort of budget then they should reach out to a good social media marketing agency to handle that for them. I really enjoyed this story by the way, I'd love to connect with you if you're open it.

 

[Spenny]

This is awesome to see we've got another inventor on here. I have some questions:

1. Have you considered making videos for TikTok/Instagram relating to your products?
2. Have you thought about looking at search volume for Etsy/Amazon? You could list these websites and get traffic looking for your direct solution.
3. What sort of audience are you appealing to? (don't need to disclose this if you're uncomfortable doing so)

Again, well done. I'll be popping in from time to time.

 

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[NIK4658]

Hey Nik, the main issue for you was running ads, I understand how this may feel, because the world of digital marketing as a whole isn't something you just learn once, try a couple times and hope for the best, no. I'd personally recommend for someone who has no prior knowledge or experience running ad campaigns, that if they have some sort of budget then they should reach out to a good social media marketing agency to handle that for them. I really enjoyed this story by the way, I'd love to connect with you if you're open it.

Hey, thank you so much for your point of view!

I understand what you're saying, but I wanted to try Google Ads mostly because I wanted to learn the skills and fully understand how they work so I can improve as a business owner. I had a very low budget, so a marketing agency wasn't an option.

I'm very happy that you liked my story, if you want write to me whenever you want!

 

[NIK4658]

This is awesome to see we've got another inventor on here. I have some questions:

1. Have you considered making videos for TikTok/Instagram relating to your products?
2. Have you thought about looking at search volume for Etsy/Amazon? You could list these websites and get traffic looking for your direct solution.
3. What sort of audience are you appealing to? (don't need to disclose this if you're uncomfortable doing so)

Again, well done. I'll be popping in from time to time.

Thank you so much Spenny!

1: Yes, creating videos related to my products and sharing them on social media is a task on my to-do list, but I haven't taken consistent action yet.

I've created an Instagram account and posted some images of my products (essentially the same ones on my e-commerce site) just to establish a social presence for the brand. However, I haven't maintained consistent posting there. I was thinking of starting a TikTok account and posting a lot of similar videos there and learning how to improve them using some split tests like Facebook ads so I can take full advantage of the algorithm and hope that a video can reach a high number of views, something like that

2. If you mean to check what the search volume is for my sub-niche on portals like Etsy and Amazon yes.

I haven't checked well in terms of precise numbers, but I know that products similar to mine are highly sought after and sold on Etsy, perhaps a little less on Amazon, probably because it has a higher Entry barrier.
What precisely do you mean by “You could list these websites and get traffic looking for your direct solution”?

3. I would prefer not to specify exactly the sub-niche in question, but I can give you an example:

Just think about the fishing niche, and imagine having a "virtual" sub-niche like things related to fishing videogames might be.
I hope I made the reasoning clear


Anyway, I'm happy that you're interested in my journey and I'm very happy to continue updating you with my posts!

 

[Spenny]

Yes, creating videos related to my products and sharing them on social media is a task on my to-do list, but I haven't taken consistent action yet.

Usually these sites want daily content in order for you to be picked up, 3-5 tends to be the right amount

You could list these websites and get traffic looking for your direct solution”

I meant listing on the websites - people may search something like "fishing tackle gift" on something like Etsy, and you can capture orders that way. It's almost like a passive ticking by of orders.

Just think about the fishing niche, and imagine having a "virtual" sub-niche like things related to fishing videogames might be.

That's all I need man, no more than that - you could always expand into other related niches too for your inventions. That's always something great to expand out addressable market.

 

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[NIK4658]

Usually these sites want daily content in order for you to be picked up, 3-5 tends to be the right amount

Yes, this is the consistency I'm missing right now, but I'll aim for when I go 100% on Tiktok or Instagram Reels

I meant listing on the websites - people may search something like "fishing tackle gift" on something like Etsy, and you can capture orders that way. It's almost like a passive ticking by of orders.

I haven't listed my products on websites like Etsy or something similar because I don't think the "brand" can exploit it.
The idea behind it is the same as listing "Gucci" clothes for sale on Amazon, it's just not profitable for the brand.
Maybe these are just some excuses, because I am absolutely not in the same position as "Gucci", I should aim to maximize orders to be able to iterate the feedback loop as much as possible, a second point of view from this forum could help for sure.

Maybe I could get more views and therefore more orders using Etsy or similar platforms

I haven't used sites like Etsy also because I want complete control over my orders and my customers, to avoid future problems. That's why I only use my main website.

That's all I need man, no more than that - you could always expand into other related niches too for your inventions. That's always something great to expand out addressable market.

Yes, with my hard-learned skills (3D modeling, building electronics, etc.) I can easily shape and produce some products for other related niches

 

[kensuna tayeng]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to take a moment to share my journey in building my own e-commerce business, where I design, develop, and create products that are born out of my passion.

I’m a 22-year-old about to graduate in Computer Science and Engineering here in Italy.

I've always been fascinated by a niche that's particularly popular in my region.
Over time a virtual sub-niche emerged within this niche and I gradually immersed myself in it.
Fuelled by personal interest, I began to inform myself, sketch out ideas, and embark on ambitious projects related to this world, purely for the joy of engineering and constructing professional products with the resources at my disposal.
For years, friends, classmates, and acquaintances had been telling me that I have a talent for what I do, and that my products are of high quality, professional, and could deliver significant value to people. Despite this encouragement, I never took any real action.

It was only after reading "The Millionaire Fastlane " last summer that I embraced a new mindset, realizing that a slow lane existence was not what I wanted for my life.

In January of this year, with no prior knowledge of running an e-commerce business or how to design and build products for sale online, I took the plunge.
I invested over €400 in electronics and materials to start the creation of my products for enthusiasts of this sub-niche. This financial commitment, although a monetary investment, was more importantly a mental click, a commitment to taking initiative.

I started developing my products, building the website, and learning about WordPress, web design, electronics like PCBs, Ads, SEO, Marketing, etc., without any prior knowledge of these areas. What I did have was a 3D modeling skill I had acquired over the years (not highly advanced), 3D printing skills, and the desire to create a brand that offers high-quality products and aligns with the CENTS framework.
All of this while navigating through the final year of my undergraduate studies in Computer Science and Engineering.

Time passed, numerous products were born, and I managed to sell a few, although very little, exclusively to people I already knew, like friends, etc.

During the past summer, I explored Google Ads, investing around €200 not just for running campaigns but primarily to LEARN this skill, recognizing its importance in the e-commerce context. (PS, a big thank you to Andy for his helpful course!)
However, the results were not as expected—no sales, just a lot of clicks leading nowhere.
It took me a while to grasp how it all worked, so a portion of the budget was essentially "used for learning" how to effectively use ads.
Feeling a bit demoralized by spending over €200 on ads without a single sale, I decided to stop all the advertising campaigns.

This led to a period where I took a step back from the e-commerce world for a while. I wasn't sure how to proceed, and I was even contemplating the idea of shutting down the business, thinking that my products might not provide enough value.

In this period, I also attempted to develop another e-commerce store for digital products, using Google Ads again but without success. I quickly closed that store.

Several months passed, and one day, I received a notification—a genuine, organic order for my e-commerce store. I was overjoyed and incredulous. I had no idea how this was possible.
Then i realized that my site had started to be indexed well for certain keywords, resulting in a very small daily traffic that, by sheer luck, led to an organic sale—my first one.
This changed everything. If I could sell one of my products to someone, it meant that my product provides value, and I could replicate this for others; I just needed to show my products to many more people.

I treated that organic customer as if he was my own child, guiding them through every step to fully use and appreciate his new product.

In these last few months, I've continued working on the business, making various improvements, considering SEO, purchasing better hosting, enhancing some products, etc.

However, the revenue is still fluctuating towards zero, except for occasional orders from people I know as friends.

I want to change this situation now more than ever.

I'm in the process of developing new high-ticket products that can bring even more value to my customers.
Recently, I invested in a second 3D printer to enhance the quality of my products and speed up the printing times.

I've created this thread to share my progress, moves, and mistakes, in case anyone can benefit from them.

Thank you to those who've read my story until the end. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Have you succeeded yet?

 

[NIK4658]

Have you succeeded yet?

Well no.
I am far from being successful.

I've written my story so far and will use this thread as a progress thread until I make something real

 

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[Spenny]

The idea behind it is the same as listing "Gucci" clothes for sale on Amazon, it's just not profitable for the brand.

hat's a fair stance to take, but what I care about is that my customers get all the opportunities to buy my product - as a result, I get more sales as you said.

I know you don't want to be in the bargain bucket, but I don't think customers will see it that way.

I haven't used sites like Etsy also because I want complete control over my orders and my customers, to avoid future problems. That's why I only use my main website.

Fair point, but you're sacrificing revenues potentially. Plus, it doesn't mean to say that you can't slip in a flyer to tell them about how your website is cheaper because you don't have to push fees.

 

[NIK4658]

hat's a fair stance to take, but what I care about is that my customers get all the opportunities to buy my product - as a result, I get more sales as you said.

I know you don't want to be in the bargain bucket, but I don't think customers will see it that way.

Like I said, it's probably just an excuse not to be out there, I can start to think about it, also because the cash flow at the moment is very, very low
Maybe I can list the products at a higher price than what I have on the official website (for fees) and use etsy ads to gain visibility, what do you think?

Fair point, but you're sacrificing revenues potentially. Plus, it doesn't mean to say that you can't slip in a flyer to tell them about how your website is cheaper because you don't have to push fees.

Yes, it might be a good idea


Anyway, thanks for opening my mind with this

 

[biophase]

Like I said, it's probably just an excuse not to be out there, I can start to think about it, also because the cash flow at the moment is very, very low
Maybe I can list the products at a higher price than what I have on the official website (for fees) and use etsy ads to gain visibility, what do you think?



Yes, it might be a good idea


Anyway, thanks for opening my mind with this

No reason to not be selling on Etsy. You’re worried about your brand, a brand that has one sale, is no brand at all.

What you need is exposure and traffic.

 

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[NIK4658]

No reason to not be selling on Etsy. You’re worried about your brand, a brand that has one sale, is no brand at all.

What you need is exposure and traffic.

What you're saying is true, I can't deny it.

Selling on other platforms could be another way to introduce my brand to the world and be able to acquire more customers

 

[kensuna tayeng]

Well no.
I am far from being successful.

I've written my story so far and will use this thread as a progress thread until I make something real

are you available for business partnership? Can i get your Instagram?

 

[NIK4658]

are you available for business partnership? Can i get your Instagram?

No

 

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[NIK4658]

Hi everyone!
This is the first progress post in this thread and I'm very happy to write it.

I've been pretty busy as I graduated this week and am now officially a Doctor of Engineering and Computer Science.
With all the events surrounding UNI I haven't had much time to work on my business, but I've still managed to make some progress and do some brainstorming on what to do since I've been losing focus lately due to the hard work required for the UNI thesis.

Anyway, this is the progress I made this week:

• I upgraded my old 3D printer with a new one that is much better, faster and can produce high quality parts.
  The big plus is that it is practically flawless and I can use it from wherever I want just from my laptop, this is a game changer for me as 3D printed parts were a bottleneck for creating my products.

• I was able to search and find a great CNC factory that I can leverage to outsource parts for my products at a very cheap price. I used to make small pieces of plexiglass or something by hand, but with a little money invested I have now "earned" myself the time needed to produce those pieces.

• A friend of mine asked me to make him a custom product which I have never worked on before but I have the skills to do it.
  I can use this project and his help to understand from him his needs and problems to solve and to build his product as if it were a first prototype. Thanks to this I will be able to use it as a basis to create a complete and more precise product to sell on my e-commerce.

In the future I should be able to optimize my time and be able to produce more results, but I still feel satisfied with this week

I also did some brainstorming to better understand the best moves to make for my e-commerce and I will write about it in the next post.

 

[NIK4658]

And now this is what I wrote as I brainstormed ideas

Keep in mind that my current problem with my e-commerce is the lack of traffic and engagement with leads that can improve the feedback loop and bring in monthly cash flow.

This is what I wrote today:

Facebook Ads​

I've never used Facebook ads directly but I've watched some courses and read some books about it, I think it's time to really learn how to use them by taking action.
Learning how to use Facebook ads correctly is a skill I can use for a lifetime.
This can help acquire good leads that I can easily turn into customers if I do everything correctly, but it won't be easy.
I can even study the behaviors of many people who enter my shop thanks to Google Analytics already installed.
I should therefore work to be able to edit the videos and create beautiful creatives to be able to publish them as advertisements.
I can easily edit the videos and record them at home trying to be as professional as possible, then I could use artificial intelligence to generate the voiceover for my videos in different languages.
I know that Split testing is crucial when working with Facebook Ads, so I need to implement this technique.
The problem is that the budget is low, around 150-200 euros to start, but I am willing to spend more if I see positive signals from people/customers.

Etsy Store​

I can work on opening an Etsy shop to improve the visibility of my e-commerce
I can see it as a one-time effort since I can let it work without any maintenance costs (other than orders).
I can simply reuse the same assets like images that I used in my main e-commerce and use a slightly higher price to pay the Etsy commission with the same profit margins.
Eventually I will be able (and perhaps I will have to) also work on Etsy Ads to improve the visibility of my products.

SEO​

I can start actively working on SEO to build a "stable" traffic source.
I don't know if this is the correct route, but I know it could increase traffic if I can do a good job.
I've never worked on SEO but I'm technical enough to learn it.
I know that SEO is a long-term solution but also that once you figure out how to set everything up correctly, the "maintenance" isn't that high, especially when compared to paid ads.
But how deep should I go down the rabbit hole?

Social media presence: Tiktok​

Building a TikTok page and constantly uploading videos to it can be a great solution when the need is to create an audience and then lead them to my e-commerce.
I can constantly post different creatives showcasing my products and study which ones work best.
I don't want to just "hope" that the algorithm kicks in and one of my videos goes viral, but this can be a financially free long-term solution to my problem with low traffic on my site.
I might use the same creative I made for the Facebook ads during the Split test and see which one is better.
The problem is that although it is free in money, it is time consuming.
I don't know of any AI tools yet that can help me create similar creatives, but I know there are some solutions to this.

Then I also did some brainstorming on what products I should work on next:​

I should improve my PCB creation skills and be able to model electronic boards with components already installed so that I can take advantage of assembly directly from the factory instead of manually installing each component
This is more costly in monetary terms but less costly in terms of future time.

I have two main directions regarding future products:​

• Continuing to work on some high quality high ticket products that I started working on a few weeks ago already having most of the main components.
  • The main concept of the product is common, but I will work on 4 different variations.
  • Developing and starting to sell this type of product can be a big step forward for my business.
  • The "problem" is that it will take me some time to actually develop the first prototype and finalize the projects, maybe a couple of months.
• Working on the project I started for my friend, a custom prototype (another type of product) that will be used as the foundation for future products.
  • I will then have to model and create the final products that I will sell on my e-commerce site.
  • This type of product can be sold as high ticket but it is not necessary, I can come up with some variation that can be offered for a few different price ranges.
  • This is also time consuming as I have to create many variations of it.
  • I don't have all the electrical components ready and I should also do some research to buy the best on the market

That's all, that's what came out of today's brainstorm.
I still haven't chosen exactly what to do and I don't want to let the forum choose for me, but perhaps some advice and second opinions can certainly help.

Thanks for reading this!

 

[Spenny]

I have some thoughts.

I should therefore work to be able to edit the videos and create beautiful creatives to be able to publish them as advertisements.
I can easily edit the videos and record them at home trying to be as professional as possible, then I could use artificial intelligence to generate the voiceover for my videos in different languages.

This is good, but do not pay people for now. You need to figure out the format - what works, what doesn't work, and what increases engagement. Getting a marketing studio to do it for you is burning money, as it'll likely give you a subpar return compared to just running ads or costing you so much that your margins are dead.

My personal experience is that the "professional" videos don't catch on as well as something engaging & entertaining that just so happens to be demonstrating the product. Zoomers hate ads & pitches and will immediately skip them.

Side note - Virality is a game of compound effect - do not split yourself by making ten different videos on the same thing. Make a video with MINIMAL English, and communicate with nonverbal speech. TEMU is superb at this; watch this video to see what I mean. The video also demonstrates the product.

Etsy Store​

I can work on opening an Etsy shop to improve the visibility of my e-commerce
I can see it as a one-time effort since I can let it work without any maintenance costs (other than orders).
I can simply reuse the same assets like images that I used in my main e-commerce and use a slightly higher price to pay the Etsy commission with the same profit margins.
Eventually I will be able (and perhaps I will have to) also work on Etsy Ads to improve the visibility of my products.

I've had great success with this - if I were you, I'd look at what the passive traffic of people searching is (look up a search volume tool), times the searchers by 0.03 (3% assumed sale conversion), and you'll get a figure of how many people will buy when they click on you.

I've never worked on SEO but I'm technical enough to learn it.

Make sure you're specific. Don't go and read ten books on this and say, "I'm ready". Learn on the job, track where your leads are coming from, and when & where people click off. Not my words. I credit that to @Andy Black [thank you! ]

But how deep should I go down the rabbit hole?

I don't know, just start, lol—none of these mysterious quotes. Get started. There are people to help.

I don't want to just "hope" that the algorithm kicks in and one of my videos goes viral, but this can be a financially free long-term solution to my problem with low traffic on my site.

You're not hoping. You are tinkering. A video is like any other product you consume. The value you get is people handing over their time (engagement), and you give entertainment & engaging content.

- and the "algorithm" means "people". Replace that word. There isn't a mysterious entity that draws names out of a hat. It's if the video ENGAGES (Likes, comments, retention rate).

The problem is that although it is free in money, it is time consuming.

The problem is that the budget is low, around 150-200 euros to start, but I am willing to spend more if I see positive signals from people/customers.

So what's it going to be? Money or time? These are the two variables everyone wishes they have more of.

I'd opt for time-consuming at this stage. Here is why.

• You have no idea what you'd tell a marketing agency to make a video viral for your customer.
• You can learn an awful lot from direct customer engagement (I've had product ideas from this)
• You can move SO MUCH FASTER. Run tests, tweak a feature, try a new format. You can pump out three videos by finding a replicable format.

Throwing money at it is like kindling without a fire starter. It would be best if you initially had embers to build a roaring flame, then you add the wood. Not the other way around. Interestingly enough, once you know how to start the fire, you can do it repeatedly—multiple fires.

From my experience, I've been burned (pun intended) when I try to outsource it ASAP, as I don't even know what is best because I haven't explored it. I was lazy.

Thoughts?

 

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[NIK4658]

Hi Spenny, nice to see you again!

This is good, but do not pay people for now. You need to figure out the format - what works, what doesn't work, and what increases engagement. Getting a marketing studio to do it for you is burning money, as it'll likely give you a subpar return compared to just running ads or costing you so much that your margins are dead.

My personal experience is that the "professional" videos don't catch on as well as something engaging & entertaining that just so happens to be demonstrating the product. Zoomers hate ads & pitches and will immediately skip them.

Side note - Virality is a game of compound effect - do not split yourself by making ten different videos on the same thing. Make a video with MINIMAL English, and communicate with nonverbal speech. TEMU is superb at this; watch this video to see what I mean. The video also demonstrates the product.

Sorry if we didn't understand each other well. I used the term "professional" incorrectly. By professional videos I simply mean filming, editing and publishing high-quality videos that don't look like just low-quality amateur videos. I have no intention of using agencies or services to generate videos. I don't intend to use the budget I have right now for these things, for now I intend to do everything myself.

I've had great success with this - if I were you, I'd look at what the passive traffic of people searching is (look up a search volume tool), times the searchers by 0.03 (3% assumed sale conversion), and you'll get a figure of how many people will buy when they click on you.

Thanks, I will consider creating an etsy store and I will analyze the market also thanks to the research volumes.

Make sure you're specific. Don't go and read ten books on this and say, "I'm ready". Learn on the job, track where your leads are coming from, and when & where people click off.

Obviously I'll be specific, I'm already analyzing how people behave within my site. With more traffic I can be more precise and better understand where to improve.

You're not hoping. You are tinkering. A video is like any other product you consume. The value you get is people handing over their time (engagement), and you give entertainment & engaging content.

- and the "algorithm" means "people". Replace that word. There isn't a mysterious entity that draws names out of a hat. It's if the video ENGAGES (Likes, comments, retention rate).

Yes, you're right, I need to switch my perspective from an algorithm to real people. I will work on producing my videos that can be enjoyed with pleasure by my potential audience. Thank you very much

So what's it going to be? Money or time?

Well, that's the choice in front of me that I have to make, I'm not just hoping to have it both ways.
As you said, everyone hopes to have a lot of both.
I'm just trying to evaluate what is the best ""investment"" to make at this time.
This is a choice I will make in the very short term.
I will probably opt to invest some time as the budget for now is negligible.


Thank you very much for your time and your thoughts Spenny!

 

[NIK4658]

Here is another weekly progress post!

This week was very productive and I manged to complete many tasks.
Thanks to the initial brainstorming I was more focused and also aligned in the right direction.

In short, this is what I did LAST WEEK:

Logo and Favicon:​

I started the week with the design of a "new" logo and favicon for the Brand and the ecommerce since the previous one wasn't very nice looking.
This doesn't take me a lot of time and the outcome was very nice.
I'm happy with what I've done and I didn't spent any budget on that since I have some design / photoshop skills by myself.

Etsy Store​

I created and Opened an Etsy store, learned how the platform works and also studied a bit how the Etsy ads works.
I created two different listings with two of my best products.
Didn't start Etsy Ads since now I'm more focused on Facebook Ads, but still the Etsy shop is "ready".

Facebook Ads​

I started looking at Facebook ads to improve my website traffic and increase conversions.
I was extremely surprised at how cheap FB Ads are compared to Google Ads.
I still have to think about the creative, the strategy, about split testing and target audience.
I simply explored the platform, created the business account and the brand's Facebook page

Discord Server​

I created a Discord server for my brand where I could use it to increase engagement with my customers and maybe increase feedback / questions from them. I could also use it as customer service if needed. I still have to set up the channels and publish it.

​

Custom Client Prototype:​

I spoke with the Client about his Custom Prototype.
We spoke about his need and requirements, thanks to this I will be able to think for a solution and be able to design a great product for him that I will use as a foundation for the public final products.
I still have some time to design and produce this prototype as the client is not in a rush.

Built products​

I wanted to work on building some of my products as I wanted to keep them ready for a possible sale and also because I wanted to use a nice looking one for recording the creative for Facebook Ads.
I realized how slow I am and how many problems arise when I develop the electronics of my projects by soldering each piece individually. In fact, I only managed to complete one project out of 3 as the other two encountered technical problems in assembly. This is why I designed and ordered control units with the components already assembled to reduce the construction time of my products.
However, I managed to 3D print all the components necessary to assemble numerous products.

THE BIGGEST RESULT OF THIS WEEK:​

Designed and ordered a new version of the PCB of one of my best products with electrical components so as to have them assembled directly from the factory that produces the electronic boards.​

This took nearly 3-4 full days of work.
As already mentioned, I managed to develop the project for a new version of the electronic board for one of my projects including electronic components that will be assembled directly from the factory.
I am very proud that I was able to complete this task as I wanted to solve all the problems I had in assembling my products as it was very time consuming and this bothered me a lot. Furthermore, spending even a whole day to assemble MAX two products was really frustrating, now thanks to these new electronic boards I will be able to do everything much faster.
I am happy also because I have managed to increase my skillset now that I am also able to produce assembled boards.
I will use this skill for my next high ticket project that I will develop over the next few weeks.
They will take a little longer to arrive as I placed the right order yesterday.


That's all for now, if you have some ideas, questions, proposals or thoughts about it, feel free to ask anything you want!

 

[BRIANDAVE]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to take a moment to share my journey in building my own e-commerce business, where I design, develop, and create products that are born out of my passion.

I’m a 22-year-old about to graduate in Computer Science and Engineering here in Italy.

I've always been fascinated by a niche that's particularly popular in my region.
Over time a virtual sub-niche emerged within this niche and I gradually immersed myself in it.
Fuelled by personal interest, I began to inform myself, sketch out ideas, and embark on ambitious projects related to this world, purely for the joy of engineering and constructing professional products with the resources at my disposal.
For years, friends, classmates, and acquaintances had been telling me that I have a talent for what I do, and that my products are of high quality, professional, and could deliver significant value to people. Despite this encouragement, I never took any real action.

It was only after reading "The Millionaire Fastlane " last summer that I embraced a new mindset, realizing that a slow lane existence was not what I wanted for my life.

In January of this year, with no prior knowledge of running an e-commerce business or how to design and build products for sale online, I took the plunge.
I invested over €400 in electronics and materials to start the creation of my products for enthusiasts of this sub-niche. This financial commitment, although a monetary investment, was more importantly a mental click, a commitment to taking initiative.

I started developing my products, building the website, and learning about WordPress, web design, electronics like PCBs, Ads, SEO, Marketing, etc., without any prior knowledge of these areas. What I did have was a 3D modeling skill I had acquired over the years (not highly advanced), 3D printing skills, and the desire to create a brand that offers high-quality products and aligns with the CENTS framework.
All of this while navigating through the final year of my undergraduate studies in Computer Science and Engineering.

Time passed, numerous products were born, and I managed to sell a few, although very little, exclusively to people I already knew, like friends, etc.

During the past summer, I explored Google Ads, investing around €200 not just for running campaigns but primarily to LEARN this skill, recognizing its importance in the e-commerce context. (PS, a big thank you to Andy for his helpful course!)
However, the results were not as expected—no sales, just a lot of clicks leading nowhere.
It took me a while to grasp how it all worked, so a portion of the budget was essentially "used for learning" how to effectively use ads.
Feeling a bit demoralized by spending over €200 on ads without a single sale, I decided to stop all the advertising campaigns.

This led to a period where I took a step back from the e-commerce world for a while. I wasn't sure how to proceed, and I was even contemplating the idea of shutting down the business, thinking that my products might not provide enough value.

In this period, I also attempted to develop another e-commerce store for digital products, using Google Ads again but without success. I quickly closed that store.

Several months passed, and one day, I received a notification—a genuine, organic order for my e-commerce store. I was overjoyed and incredulous. I had no idea how this was possible.
Then i realized that my site had started to be indexed well for certain keywords, resulting in a very small daily traffic that, by sheer luck, led to an organic sale—my first one.
This changed everything. If I could sell one of my products to someone, it meant that my product provides value, and I could replicate this for others; I just needed to show my products to many more people.

I treated that organic customer as if he was my own child, guiding them through every step to fully use and appreciate his new product.

In these last few months, I've continued working on the business, making various improvements, considering SEO, purchasing better hosting, enhancing some products, etc.

However, the revenue is still fluctuating towards zero, except for occasional orders from people I know as friends.

I want to change this situation now more than ever.

I'm in the process of developing new high-ticket products that can bring even more value to my customers.
Recently, I invested in a second 3D printer to enhance the quality of my products and speed up the printing times.

I've created this thread to share my progress, moves, and mistakes, in case anyone can benefit from them.

Thank you to those who've read my story until the end. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

i really enjoyed reading this thread, i really admire the effort

 

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[BRIANDAVE]

@Spenny I understand the part where you emphasized on the need to only spend time learning an immediate problem, rather than future problems.

What's your thought on if @NIK4658 is to take a course that could teach him how to get things rolling much faster for his store (i don't mean a dropshipping course, but a proper ecommerce course).

is it something worth trying out as well, especially if it's proven to have worked for the tutor?

 

[Spenny]

What's your thought on if @NIK4658 is to take a course that could teach him how to get things rolling much faster for his store (i don't mean a dropshipping course, but a proper ecommerce course).

I haven't taken a single course on:

• E-commerce
• TikTok Marketing
• Editing & filming videos.

The only thing I've done is ask YouTube questions (e.g. "How do I make an e-commerce woo-commerce store on WordPress?" "How do I introduce x feature?").

I've been able to bring an idea to market by just asking questions & thinking about my customers - A LOT.

So, course or no course? It's the approach that is different.

A) I ask what I need to do for a function. It's direct.

B) Courses spoon-feed you stuff you may not have known otherwise. It's general.

The latter is best when you've got the ball rolling but want to improve your presentation & general understanding. All you need for the essentials is some intuition & asking questions. For example, I took a CAD Fusion 360 course to better my knowledge of its features. Did it solve a problem I had? No. Did it improve my confidence & general knowledge? Yes

This is not just for business but for anything in life. An example I'm doing is researching a neglected disease as a part of my degree. I'm making molecules to see if I can combat it. I may take a course on neglected tropical diseases to understand the context, but the real work is done when I search databases, ask questions & do experiments. Business is similar.

-----

My summarised answer? Here is how to get the ball rolling faster.

Shut up. Sit down. Go through what you need to do & implement. When things need to be done to get a sale, a course is an action fake.

 

[NIK4658]

Shut up. Sit down. Go through what you need to do & implement. When these things need to be done, a course is an action fake.

Yes, I can confirm.

My current approach is like @Spenny said and it's the simple reason I was able to produce most of my progress so far.

I don't ask myself what I could learn and what I can CONSUME by watching some courses.
I RESEARCH, LEARN and PRODUCE my own way to be able to complete what I want to complete, implement what I want to implement, fix what I want to fix or design what I want to design etc.

 

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[NIK4658]

New little weekly progress post.

Unfortunately this week I didn't produce many, if any, concrete results for my business and projects.

My goals for this week were to at least complete the design of the 3D model of the high-ticket product I want to build and begin the design of its PCB.
I also wanted to produce some different creatives and start leveraging and testing Facebook Ads.

I didn't produce real results because I "wasted" time on other tasks, some of which were superficial.
The main ones have been packing my things for a week's holiday in Europe (this week) and doing a side job as a hotel reservations manager since I'm in a very touristy city in Italy.
Note: I'm doing this part-time job remotely to learn some skills and increase the budget for my current business

Like I said, I won't be home this week as I'm on holiday so physical progress will be next to zero, maybe I can spend this time thinking about some design ideas or something, although I know real ideas come when you act and do the work.

Thanks for reading

 

[NIK4658]

Another little weekly progress post.

As I said, I produced little results this week as I was on vacation.
In fact it went as I imagined, I didn't produce any kind of real results other than a bit of brainstorming and a bit of research in my free time regarding ideas to implement in my products.
Even the Christmas period didn't help me since I spent a lot with relatives.

The general situation is still the same, I need and intend to work on new projects and products (high ticket) that can be of great quality and can be seen as something of great value for buyers in my niche, but at the same time I need to bring traffic to my site as both daily visitors and cash flow are approaching zero.

 

[NIK4658]

Weekly Progress Post!

There are interesting news to say despite having spent this week with my family and away from home, not being able to work much on my tasks to do.
Unfortunately in general, between Christmas holidays and personal commitments (I haven't been home for most of the week), I was not able to produce very significant results but despite this I managed to maintain consistency and still make small progress.

Some pieces that I outsourced to an external company have finally arrived so as to increase the quality of my products and reduce the time spent creating them.
These pieces are fundamental for me as it is the first time I have had pieces made to measure instead of making them by hand.
Thanks to this I was able to reduce the time needed to create a single product and at the same time increase the structural quality of the latter. Furthermore, I am now aware that I can also rely on this company for future pieces.

Another important news is that the new PCBs that I developed a few weeks ago have also been delivered, which are also fundamental for increasing the quality of one of my products and facilitating its production as all the components are already assembled on the electronic board.
I haven't tested them yet but I think they all work fine, I'll try them this week.

I also managed to make a call with the customer I talked about a few posts ago and I drew up a list of features that he is interested in having in his product. Thanks to this I was able to model a first prototype of this custom product, which will act as the base for a final product for my e-commerce.

The most important news though is that I received a new organic order from the Etsy Store!!!!

I'm very happy because I'm not yet taking advantage of any type of ads, all the traffic I receive (albeit very little) is completely organic. I'm really happy also because for now the Etsy store and its ads regarding my products are not fully optimized.
Furthermore, being a new profile, I don't have any type of review and therefore if I managed to sell a product it means that I can only improve!
I will use this opportunity to gain a new customer and be able to demonstrate that my products are really worth a lot.

That's all for this week!

 

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[Spenny]

The most important news though is that I received a new organic order from the Etsy Store!!!!

This is huge. Be sure to get a 5-star review from this, as that little bit of social proof will kick some more sales your way.

 

[NIK4658]

This is huge. Be sure to get a 5-star review from this, as that little bit of social proof will kick some more sales your way.

I sent the package today after notifying the customer of any updates via message.
I sincerely hope he leaves me a positive review so I can have social proof like you said!