Dominating Online Ecom. Starting A New Store From 0

[hughjasle]

Was inspired while sitting here at the airport reading some recent threads and decided to have a go at another "progress" thread.

My last one is here, when I first started getting into ecom: HERE

I learned a LOT while doing that and keeping a progress thread was a nice way of logging it so I want to do it again. This time I actually know what I'm doing, or at least more than I did before lol.

I have already started so I'm going to have to play catch up for a bit on this thread, but have yet to start making any money so you get to miss all the long boring parts and jump right into the fun part.

Just a quick recap of where I'm at with the store:

• Set up a new store on shopify (lol lots go into this step)
• Set up all the social media names/pages/etc
• loaded it up with product from various sources
• spoke with manufacturers (foreign and domestic) whose products fit the store's theme
• Currently, building up the FB page and audience via facebook posts and ads.

TBC..

 

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[hughjasle]

First why I'm building a new store. The last store is still up and running and bringing in profits. I have just learned there are better ways of doing things and it is harder to change things after they are already moving compared to just doing it right from the beginning. That and I want to expand beyond the theme/niche of the other store (one of those things that are hard to change once you begin. Think of how hard it would be for Toys-R-Us to start selling Guns, ammo, & hunting gear).

Some of the things I'm going to be focusing on with this store: Multiple streams of traffic (Facebook, Google, Native, Email, Amazon, Jane.com, etc.) My last store was almost purely based on Facebook traffic. I love facebook, but it can be brutal sometimes. Anyone who has been running any Facebook traffic the past couple months knows of the craziness you have to constantly deal with that makes consistent profits, not so consistent.

I am going to introduce some dropshipping for the first time. My main focus will still be importing and branding, but I will offer dropshipped items this time. Mostly to fill my store up with more goods as well as an easy way to test new items.

The focus this time will be building an audience around the theme of the store. My last store was started as community built around a single product. I have successfully added more and more products, but they are all related to that first single product/category as I mentioned earlier. I want a customer base that I can continually hit up for each new product, repeat buys etc. via emails and social group interactions. This is just free money when done right. You already paid to acquire these customers, so use them!! Increase that LTV of each customer. If you can do this, then you can afford to give away product at a loss, then things really start sky-rocketing.

I want note that I'm not doing this alone either. Way too much work to maintain other business interests and do all this properly. I have a partner who I have been with for a couple years now I think. He is a quiet member of this forum as well. We have spent a good amount of money this past year on paid masterminds and courses and building friendships with guys who dominate their fields. From guys who crush amazon in the 8 figure+ range to email savants who know how all the ins and outs of getting your emails read and customers back. This has been crucial in opening our eyes to how dumb we've been in the past lol. The friendships and knowledge we've gained well worth the price paid to attend these events.

 

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[hughjasle]

I'll try and update this when I can, but really there isn't much to report on at this point. Most of my time and days are spent hunting for new products, fine tuning the layout or flow of the site, funnels, etc.

I just spent 5 hours looking for products and only came out with ideas for 2-3 products. Lots of rubbish out there. I don't want things that everyone else can get. I like looking at existing products and seeing how I can put my own twist on it.

Sometimes ideas will flow to you left and right, sometimes it can take weeks to come up with just 1 good idea.

 

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[hughjasle]

Another day spent shuffling through products and speaking with manufacturers.

Regarding picking products:

Look for products that solve a problem. Products that are a must have.

If you are a digger and see this shovel that can dig by itself, that is a must have. A shovel with a gold handle is nice, but it's not a must have. Which is easier to sell?

I don't 100% avoid anything (yet), but I do caution myself against many things that I know are difficult to import/ship. Things like products that need any kind of regulation. Some products are worth all the hassle, most are not.

 

[hughjasle]

Build to sell.

A lot of what got this new project started was speaking with business brokers who specialize in online businesses. Hearing what they know and putting them on my team has helped us understand what we need to have to be able to sell well and for the highest multiple. Really it's just common sense stuff, but it's nice having it confirmed.

Here's a quick example. He sells amazon business all the time. A typical amazon business can get 2-3x their annual profits. HOWEVER, if that same business had a solid record of sales OFF amazon as well, that multiple would jump to 4-5x as those have a higher demand and rightfully so. Less points of possible failure for the future owner.

While amazon is not my main focus for this store, it is now on the map and I'm taking action to learn what I can about it from guys who know it and either directly adding them to the team or indirectly.

In this next month I have to start narrowing down and testing a lot of different product types to get the ball rolling. It took a lot of time and effort getting the backend properly set up. Much more complicated than just setting up a Shopify store like I was used to before. Glad it's about done and time for the fun stuff. Paid traffic and product selection

 

[hughjasle]

SUCCESS!
After days (or really weeks) of searching for good products/ideas, today it all started paying off. Found a site that lists off how many people "like" random viral products posted to there site. While searching through it and understanding which products gathered way more likes than others, multiple ideas for new products hit me left and right. I am confident I will have at least one new winner product out of the list I created today. Feels good to see progress like that.

Additionally spent a lot of time setting learning more tricks for Amazon and setting things up better there for the last site's products as we'll use that experience to launch hard and fast with our new store once we get products in.

The goal this week is to get 4 of these products up and listed on the site and create ads for them to test demand and get things moving.

 

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[Vigilante]

Marked notable

 

[hughjasle]

Been asked to update this.

The short story is took some time to reflect on everything. My wife gave birth to our third child. My business parter and his wife just had their first baby. We realized that starting a new store and all the time it would take away from our little families and our main store was probably not a good move. So we have basically put everything for this new store on hold.

Instead we are doubling down on our current shop, fixing everything we did wrong at the beginning and growing that one. I'll come back and try and write up all that has taken. I'll need to take some time to go through the site and remember all that was done to get it where it is now.

 

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[hughjasle]

100% read the book that Walter hay wrote. I'll edit and link this post to it when I'm back to a computer.

edit: Don't know the rules for outside links. So go to @Walter Hay 's profile or any of his posts and click on the link he has in his signature area under each post. That is where you can purchase his book. 100% worth it for anyone doing importing.

 

[JAJT]

I really love how you are taking a "team" and "knowledge based" approach to this.

You have a partner, you've paid for masterminds and courses, you've reached out to the folks you'll be working with in the future and figuring out what you need to get to where you want to go.

All amazing methodology. Sounds like you have very little reason not to succeed if you keep going this way.

Curious - are you planning to go the "with the crowd" on this and sell high demand, high competition products and play a ranking / traffic game, or are you going to follow something more like the "Biophase approach" who chooses extremely low competition products and builds out a quality brand worthy of people seeking it out?

 

[hughjasle]

What do your process of finding products look like? Any specific way of doing it you recommend over another?

Thank you for doing this by the way! Im currently a couple of pages into your old progress thread. Tons of value.

No right or wrong way. If I have nothing in mind and am looking for something from scratch, I just browse sites like alibaba, aliexpress, Jane.com, Amazon, wish, etc and look at their top sellers and other products to see if anything sparks my interest or if I see an obvious way I could make something better.

 

[hughjasle]

Do you improve the hot products too (make it better, different than the competition)? Or do you just make sure that it's of good quality? Thank you.

I'll let you know when I get there. Some products would be difficult to customize, like the ones I'm getting that are patented products. For those I'm working with the patent holder and white labeling through them so customizing beyond branding is out of the question. To be fair those aren't 'hot' products, but they are good quality products with no competition and within my business theme. BUT, if they did own a hot product, the same restrictions would apply.

The hot products are not the main business. They just bring in cash when they are around. Those who focus solely on hot products find themselves out of work every 2 months.

The real money is in building and turning those hot product chasers into returning customers to buy more and more from your store and grow the store year over year.

 

[hughjasle]

You mentioned earlier paid masterminds and courses. Can you suggest a few?

It really depends on what you are looking to get into. Ezra Firestone's stuff is pretty good. Really any meetup you go to will have value. The real value isn't about who speaks and what they say, it's about who you meet and build relationships with.

What does properly setting a backend up do differently than setting up a Shopify store? Where did you learn to do it?

Just setting up shopify is the bare basics. When I say backend I mean setting up email funnels, upsells, down sales, cross promotions, pixeling everything with Facebook, building actual presale pages, not just basic shopify product pages, creating content to draw people in, getting product rebranded professionally and matching the same design across all products and funnels and the entire site, setting up off site sources like Amazon, etc.

 

[Walter Hay]

It really depends on what you are looking to get into. Ezra Firestone's stuff is pretty good. Really any meetup you go to will have value. The real value isn't about who speaks and what they say, it's about who you meet and build relationships with.

Just setting up shopify is the bare basics. When I say backend I mean setting up email funnels, upsells, down sales, cross promotions, pixeling everything with Facebook, building actual presale pages, not just basic shopify product pages, creating content to draw people in, getting product rebranded professionally and matching the same design across all products and funnels and the entire site, setting up off site sources like Amazon, etc.

@hughjasle You have opened up a very important topic that is sadly neglected by most people who start off in private labeling.

Everything needs to be consistent if you want to establish a real and outstanding brand rather than just another ordinary product or niche name.

Even consistency in the use of fonts is important. People might not read everything you print, but consistency gives the impression of professionalism, stability, reliability, and permanence.

When it comes to design of labels, most tend to rely on a label printing company's design team (might be someone they hire on Fiverr), and in the process they relinquish control of the concept of the image they want to convey. They surrender their design control even to the choice of the label supplier's preferred label type as well as style.

OK if you want to use professional designers, but do they understand your product? Do they perceive what perceived image it is that you want to activate in the minds of the target consumer? If they can't perceive it, you can be sure the buyers won't either.

In my importing business, selling B2B I made a lot of use of direct mail, and color brochures played a big part in the success of the mail campaigns, but covering letters were vital, and I ensured that even in letters the style got the message across. Even the price lists had to maintain the image I had built for the business.

I never used professional designers or advertising agencies for the simple reason that none would take the trouble to gain an insight into the unusual niche I was in, or our position within that niche, where incidentally, my business gained a 90% market share in a major sub niche.

Walter

 

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[amp0193]

Just setting up shopify is the bare basics. When I say backend I mean setting up email funnels, upsells, down sales, cross promotions, pixeling everything with Facebook, building actual presale pages, not just basic shopify product pages, creating content to draw people in, getting product rebranded professionally and matching the same design across all products and funnels and the entire site, setting up off site sources like Amazon, etc.

 

[hughjasle]

Curious - are you planning to go the "with the crowd" on this and sell high demand, high competition products and play a ranking / traffic game, or are you going to follow something more like the "Biophase approach" who chooses extremely low competition products and builds out a quality brand worthy of people seeking it out?

It will be a mix of both. I did the mentoring with Biophase (amazing btw and worth it for anyone looking to do amazon), and found that doing so only opened up another new world of products.

Some products that don't fit the model that he tries to fill (low competition type stuff) work VERY well on paid traffic. And products that I wouldn't be able to profitably run paid traffic to work fantastic with his model.

As for what I'm running, it will be both hot products as well as low quantity products. Hot products bring loads cheap eyeballs to the store that turn into customers. A quality brand built by offering quality products, stellar customer service, and top notch marketing keeps those customers returning over and over.

 

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[hughjasle]

This. How do you go about testing products without buying inventory? Maybe I'm just not too familiar with importing.

I have good relationships with my manufacturers so I get LOTS of samples, more than I'd like honestly. But you don't even need that for testing a product. You can test without having any product. All you need for the test is a completed page where someone can buy your product and put up ads. Put up the page with generic images you can find online, usually directly from the manufacturers themselves, or pay someone on Fiverr to do up a quick 3d rendering of the product you want with your actual design and logo and test that. Put that product in the best light and deal you can do and drive traffic to it. If you get sales GREAT! Then you know you are onto something. Refund those people and let them know that you will reach out to them when your product is in stock and give them a special discount code as a "sorry". Some people don't like that method, but it's up to you to do what you are comfortable with. If you have the money, just import small tester products. That way you also get feedback on the product.

How would you recommend the Amazon course that comes with the importing book you have read and told us to read as-well? Really I'm more interested in Shopify/Infusion than Amazon, but, if testing product requires Amazon knowledge then I would jump on that course in the future. This way I can sharpen my entrepreneur skills and save up some cash and of course make peoples lives better.

I didn't do the amazon course pitched with the book so I can't comment on it. Honestly, I think there is MORE information and ppl willing to help you in Amazon on this forum that any course could ever offer. And no, testing products for online paid traffic has nothing to do with Amazon. You can use other people's amazon listings to fulfill your test orders if you want.

I just think for most people, Amazon is the low hanging fruit right now. Much easier to get into and make a solid income to get them out of their time consuming JOBS. Then they can focus (if they want) on other avenues. People are making money everywhere right now. Pick your poison.

 

[hughjasle]

Do you find that in order to add your own twist to a product that you need to order in high volumes? If not, how do you convince a manufacturer to custom make the item for smaller amounts?

I don't usually have a problem. If one manufacturer won't do it, another will. Just go into it knowing you cant get just one or two lol, you will have to order a fair amount.

 

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[hughjasle]

If I understand it correctly, you have selected a theme/category of the store beforehand and now you are looking for products to match the theme of the store? For you have selected women jewellery as the theme and you are looking for jewellery as products to sell..

This is correct. I knew what area I wanted to be in as I know how to reach and more so, how to relate to the audience so it is easier for me to create ads and know how to add value. I asking know that this audience is willing to spend money and buy things online and do impulse buying.

 

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[pds]

Looking forward to your progress @hughjasle. Your other thread was great, thanks for sharing! I'm going to be jumping back into ecommerce after being sidelined from my supplement business. You've motivated me to get back in the game. This time I'm going to focus on much simpler products.

Would you mind sharing the website you came across that showed how many people liked the viral products? Here's a few I came across that might be useful as well:

Canopy.co - A Curated Shop for Amazon
https://thieve.co/
Popular Right Now on Storenvy

 

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[hughjasle]

Would you mind sharing the website you came across that showed how many people liked the viral products?

I got a few PM's and messages on skype asking this same question so I'll answer here. No I won't give out my sources.

It wasn't the site that gave me the ideas. It was just that something I saw finally sparked an idea to life that wasn't even listed, which lead to another and other. Sometimes things just need that little spark to get the creative juices flowing.

As for the sites, I check everything I can find including amazon, ebay, jane, wish, etc. Check for completed listings, numbers of items sold, number of reviews etc. The goal is to get an idea of things that are currently selling a lot. After a while you should hopefully be able to get a better idea of what can sell a lot and what might be a good product, but sales will be smaller. Those good products that sell less are still good, but better for amazon.

 

[hughjasle]

Is there a customer pain point in the market for these products? Before you import, don't you think it's smart to test just a few out and be sure the market even wants them?

I'll answer the second question first as that is easier to simply answer, yes I do test before I go out and import almost anything.

I say almost because sometimes manufactures just send me sample products etc. Otherwise I'd never import in bulk something untested. Way too much risk.

The first question now, it all totally depends on the product. I'm not sure what products you think I'm running so it's hard for me to guess what you are guessing lol. But IMO not all products are purchased due to a pain point. Sometimes ppl consume for pleasure as well. Guess you could argue that the pain point in those cases are "not enough pleasure, fashion, etc in my life".

I'd like to find the people who's pain points are "too much money in my bank, must buy something over and over"

I commend you on taking action but I recommend you do some hardcore research on your competitors. Find a gap in the market or a weakness in your competitors. Adding products to a Shopify site and driving traffic is something anyone can do. Find a way be different - best of luck!

noted

I guess I should clarify for any future readers. I'm not building your typical BS Shopify site that sells the latest and greatest trending/trademarked/patented/knockoff crap from aliexpress and dropships it etc. Those are a dime a dozen. I'm building something that I can sell off that has happy customers that RETURN and buy more.

 

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[hughjasle]

how are things going?

Haven't been able to put the time in as much as I would have liked.

Family duties, tax time, and household springtime chores have been piling up for too long and had to take some time to catch up on those while performing main duties to keep everything else running. That meant not nearly as much forward work got done.

I have tested a few products and they have not worked like I had hoped. Those are planned for but still not fun. The theme of the site is all built out now complete with product. The only trick now is to find the products that bring the customers in. Once we have them coming in we can really dig into seeing which product lines sell the most, optimization and customer retention etc.

 

[mosdef]

I'll try and update this when I can, but really there isn't much to report on at this point. Most of my time and days are spent hunting for new products, fine tuning the layout or flow of the site, funnels, etc.

I just spent 5 hours looking for products and only came out with ideas for 2-3 products. Lots of rubbish out there. I don't want things that everyone else can get. I like looking at existing products and seeing how I can put my own twist on it.

Sometimes ideas will flow to you left and right, sometimes it can take weeks to come up with just 1 good idea.

this where i am now also. Spent 3.5h last night and didnt find much. Either you give up or you push through.

 

[100speed]

I'll try and update this when I can, but really there isn't much to report on at this point. Most of my time and days are spent hunting for new products, fine tuning the layout or flow of the site, funnels, etc.

I just spent 5 hours looking for products and only came out with ideas for 2-3 products. Lots of rubbish out there. I don't want things that everyone else can get. I like looking at existing products and seeing how I can put my own twist on it.

Sometimes ideas will flow to you left and right, sometimes it can take weeks to come up with just 1 good idea.

Really looking forward to seeing how this develops, I am currently heading down the same path - I have a site, that is based on a loyalty and passionate community of sorts - and am in the process of setting up a new set of sites to add to my network.
One way of advertising you may want to seriously consider as a stream of consistent income is Social Media, currently my entire sites revenue is based purely off of Instagram - if you can leverage it in certain ways, it can basically act as Facebook but with no charge. (On a new Instagram account, the first post received 64k organic likes with the help of a few techniques I use and thousands of visitors to my store - so it is not something to underestimate and is easily replicable if you know how.)
I am currently in the process of setting up another store which is less niche than my first and am interested in expanding into Facebook ads - if you are interested, perhaps we could skill share?
Looking forward to hearing from you.

 

[hughjasle]

What quantity do you think is fair/usually order?

Totally depends on the product and the change. If it's just a color print change on a piece of paper, then only 10 pieces, and no real additional fee. Maybe $50 for them to go out and get the color or something stupid.

If it is something that requires a new mold, then I wouldn't expect anything under $5-10k worth of product.

 

[hughjasle]

I got a new product and I know it will be fire

Nice!!

Any ideas on starting a new web base business . Any help will be good

lol, yea. Just keep reading this thread or any of the others like it. If you are already doing Ebay, get your new product up and running there then move to Amazon since they are very similar. Then move onto figuring out how to work with shopify (or whatever store system you use) and grow it

I just got back from Thailand and there is so much junk there I stopped looking

Can't ever stop. At least you did end up with a good product you think. If you don't have any direction its hard to get started. Never gets easier. Just have to keep pushing through.

But one good product can profit you enough to retire. It also becomes much easier to find new additional products to go along with the first product than it is to find something brand new.

Good luck!

 

[hughjasle]

Question, on Amazon do you ship yourself or do you send to them to ship

Both, at the moment I'd like to get all my Amazon products on FBA as I believe it helps with sales. I know I pick prime products over others...

So You said , Post on Ebay then Amazon then Shopify

Yes because you said you have experience in Ebay. Start with what you are most comfortable with and get the momentum rolling.

How about marketing on Facebook ?

I wouldn't mess with Facebook marketing until you have Amazon and your Shopify store set up. You can do with with just Amazon, but I have never done it. I have looked into it, but haven't done it yet.

 

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[hughjasle]

what price range are you guys looking for? What price to sell to customers?

I don't have a price range that I stay in. Just make sure there is enough margin to work with for that product. A really popular phone case might sell all day long and give a good ROI at just $9.99 sells price. Likewise, a custom gadget that costs you $25 and you sell for $300 might not make any sales even with all that room for margin. Another gadget with the same cost and selling point might kill it. You don't know till you test it.

BTW - I'm wrong more than I'm right. I just keep testing. I have fully custom products that I thought would be killer awesome, not sell at all. Mega bummer.

 

[hughjasle]

What systems/3rd parties/plugins are you using for the website funnels on your shopify store? Can you take me through a typical funnel you have in place?

Currently using Shopify, so..at the moment my funnels basically just consist of sending traffic from facebook directly to the product page. So not really any apps for that. None needed. If you want to go full funnel build you can set up clickfunnels as a subdomain and run your traffic there, or use apps such as Linear or One Click Upsell. I have done all three methods. Not sure which I really prefer. I'm looking to lock that down this time around with proper testing to see which method really works best.

Do you setup automatic follow up emails

Of course! Follow up post sale, follow up if they add to cart and bounce, etc.

If I have their email, I follow up.