Greetings from a 21 year old advertising student from Brazil!

[Thiago Machado]

Hello everyone, my name is Thiago. I am a 21 year old advertising student from Brazil, however I was born and raised in New York. I look forward to working, socializing, networking and meeting new people on this forum during my "journey" to obtain financial wealth.

Hopefully I can be of help and assistance to many of you guys and vice versa.

I dream big, however I like to take things one step at a time.

My current goal is to be able to earn at least $2500.00 USD per month. This amount alone will be more than enough for me to carry out a "comfortable" lifestyle in my country, allow myself to become self - employed, and be able to obtain one of the most important assets we have in our lives: time.

However, I would like to know if this sum is achievable and an estimate of how long it would take me to accomplish this goal.

In order to obtain this amount of money per month, I plan on carrying out the following activities.

* Copywriting
* Translation
* Graphic design
* English lessons

(These are the skills in which I feel confident and comfortable with in order to apply them as "tools" to make money.)


Once again, I look forward to meeting all of guys and I wish the best of luck for all!

- Thiago

 

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[tincho1492]

Welcome Thiago.

 

[Franky Neizer]

Thiago, the above sum is achievable especially since you are a big dreamer and already outlined what you need to do to achieve it. It will depend how much you intend charging a client per service and also if there are people willing to pay your charge! Good luck anyway, you'll achieve your target...!!

 

[Tiago]

Welcome Thiago!

Where in Brazil are you from? I've arrived yesterday and I'm traveling it for a month, to see if I want to move back here. Maybe we could meet up!

 

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[bane]

Oi Thiago! Tudo bom?

Welcome man!

It's great you've got a goal. Next create the system that will eventually output that goal!

Simple Example:
Goal = Gain 10,000 Organic Unique Visitors to my blog
System = Post at least 1 new blog post per week

Result: At some point in time, my system will eventually output my goals!

So just make sure, that what you are doing, is really going to be able to lead you to your goals.
Then, execute your system as fast as possible so you can achieve your goal asap!

Valeu

 

[Thiago Machado]

Welcome Thiago!

Where in Brazil are you from? I've arrived yesterday and I'm traveling it for a month, to see if I want to move back here. Maybe we could meet up!

Hey thiago, I'm from the state of Minas Gerais, what about you? Aside from the government corruption, and deficiencies in Brazil's political system, it is a great place to live. Warm weather, beautiful people, and so much to do, I'm sure you'll enjoy it here!

 

[Thiago Machado]

Welcome Thiago.

Thank you tincho1492!

 

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[Thiago Machado]

Oi Thiago! Tudo bom?

Welcome man!

It's great you've got a goal. Next create the system that will eventually output that goal!

Simple Example:
Goal = Gain 10,000 Organic Unique Visitors to my blog
System = Post at least 1 new blog post per week

Result: At some point in time, my system will eventually output my goals!

So just make sure, that what you are doing, is really going to be able to lead you to your goals.
Then, execute your system as fast as possible so you can achieve your goal asap!

Valeu

Hey Bane, fala portugues?

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it!

 

[Thiago Machado]

Thiago, the above sum is achievable especially since you are a big dreamer and already outlined what you need to do to achieve it. It will depend how much you intend charging a client per service and also if there are people willing to pay your charge! Good luck anyway, you'll achieve your target...!!

Thanks Franky Neizer!

 

[Phones]

Bem Vindo Thiago,

Welcome

 

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[bane]

Bane, fala portugues?
Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it!

eu falo um pouco de portugues! rsrs

I spent one month in Brasil last Septemeber training Jiu Jitsu in Rio and some other places.
So my portugues isn't that great haha. nao muito bom!

 

[Phones]

@Thiago Machado , A question for you How do you think the average Brazilian costumer feels about ordering things from European/International Websites?

In a way, I feel that we, Portuguese and Brazilian, are always looking for International things because we see them as more valuable than national (If a Portuguese could choose whether to buy a Portuguese or american brand, he would go with the american one). But then there's the problem of customs and taxes, what is holding me back from creating a Brazilian targeted web-store is the 60% import tax. My shipments are really small and are sent as a Person not company, so many of them could go pass with-out taxing, but many would stop at the customs.

I would figure this would stop most Brazilians from importing stuff, yet I see a lot of Brazilian foruns flooded of people buying stuff from Aliexpress and other more expensive stores. What are your thoughts on this? Do you think a European brand would stand a chance? I though of offering a "No-Tax" scheme, where the value paid on taxes could be used on the next order.

Sorry to hijack your thread, but hey, this is TMF

Cheers

 

[Tiago]

The tax thing is very important. Prices here are absolutely mental. If you do venture in the Brazilian market, make sure people can pay in 12x or 24x times. They don't have the money to pay full price.

 

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[Phones]

The tax thing is very important. Prices here are absolutely mental. If you do venture in the Brazilian market, make sure people can pay in 12x or 24x times. They don't have the money to pay full price.

My products are around 40-60€, the industry average price is almost two times that. From what I've seen, many accept in 2 or 3 payments, but since I'm on <60€, I don't know if It would be necessary. Just the option to accept Boleto Bancário is pricey, let alone finding a credit card gateway that accepts Parcelamento to an international company.

Do you think on that price range people would choose not to buy because they can't pay in parcels?

 

[RSN]

Bem Vindo Thiago!

Welcome on board!

Just the opposite over here lol, I am a Brazilian from Minas living in the US. What part of the state are you from?

I am in Boston area and I will visit Brazil in December.

I am studying copywriting as well and I am part of a copywriting challenge going on right now in this forum, The "Gary Halbert 30 Day Challenge Copywriting Group". Maybe it will interest you too.

Good luck on your plans, you can do it!

 

[RSN]

If you do venture in the Brazilian market, make sure people can pay in 12x or 24x times. They don't have the money to pay full price.

This is also part of the country's culture and even people who have the money to pay in full prefer to pay in parcels, as brands like Armani, LV and and Tiffany have figured out.

Do you think on that price range people would choose not to buy because they can't pay in parcels?

If you have a competitive price many people will buy(right now people fly to Miami to buy goods at brands outlet stores, pay airlines thickets and still save money!), assuming you can figure out the whole tax situation, guarantee delivery and build trust around your brand.

That's the good news.

The bad is, the Brazilian government DOES NOT like it.I know people who have been shut down. If they fell they're losing money they might look for ways to penalize you. Brazil is not as interventionist as Argentina( maybe because with such high taxes they don't have to be) but it's less friendly towards importation than many other Latin American countries.

Bottom line: There's a great and growing market hungry for cheaper imported goods. Fortunes have been and are continually being made in those lines, but you give up a great deal of control if you decide to do it.

 

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[Thiago Machado]

Honestly, If you are not going to be able to give people the option to make their payments in monthly installments ( example: 3x, 6x, etc..) You are probably going to lose out on a lot of customers. Like one of the guys said before me, "It's a cultural thing".

As for the aliexpress comparison... The only reason people buy from ali express is because it is RIDICULOUSLY inexpensive. Most of the things people buy from ali express are consumer electronics or replica brand named products ( hats, sunglasses, etc.)

Brasil is a country in which many people are still skeptical in purchasing goods online and actually avoid this.

Taxes are ridiculous as well.

From my point of view, developing a website to sell products that are going to be shipped from a european country to brazil is not such a good ideia.

Just my two cents.

 

[Thiago Machado]

Bem Vindo Thiago!

Welcome on board!

Just the opposite over here lol, I am a Brazilian from Minas living in the US. What part of the state are you from?

I am in Boston area and I will visit Brazil in December.

I am studying copywriting as well and I am part of a copywriting challenge going on right now in this forum, The "Gary Halbert 30 Day Challenge Copywriting Group". Maybe it will interest you too.

Good luck on your plans, you can do it!

Obrigado! Eu sou da regiao sul de minas. I used to live in New York, however I moved back down here! haha!

 

[Tiago]

My products are around 40-60€, the industry average price is almost two times that. From what I've seen, many accept in 2 or 3 payments, but since I'm on <60€, I don't know if It would be necessary. Just the option to accept Boleto Bancário is pricey, let alone finding a credit card gateway that accepts Parcelamento to an international company.

Do you think on that price range people would choose not to buy because they can't pay in parcels?

It depends who your target audience is. Who pays in parcels? Poor people that don't have the money to buy it up front.

 

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[Thiago Machado]

It depends who your target audience is. Who pays in parcels? Poor people that don't have the money to buy it up front.

Agree. Not to mention that the monthly wages in Brasil are low. So in my opinion it's not just the poor people. ANother thing is that if somebody needs a product, cant purchase it immediately, and does not enough discipline to just save up until they have the cash, they would rather pay through these monthly installments.

I just think this whole "name brand import business" is good, very good actually, but government intervenence just ruins everything.

But hey... I'm sure there are people doing this right now and succeeding.

If you ever want to get into this business and need help with the communication conflicts (translation, copywriting in another language, content in another language etc.) feel free to contact me at any time.

 

[Phones]

Taxes are ridiculous as well.
From my point of view, developing a website to sell products that are going to be shipped from a european country to brazil is not such a good ideia.

Shipping from Portugal is inexpensive by regular Airmail, I can send in a small box, with my name and no logos. I sent an e-mail to a competitor using Airmail to Brazil (from Portugal) and he confirmed that it is rare for a package to get taxed.

As for the website, I wouldn't be actually developing it just to sell to Brazil, the ecommerce store is already running and working in the portuguese market, it would just need some new payment methods to fit the brazilean market and some PT-PT to PT-BR translation.
I have figured out to accept payments in parcels, but to withdraw the money from mercadopago they only accept Brazilian bank accounts. Do you know any company that can exchange this for a decent fee?

I like Brazil because it wouldn't require much change in my website (it's already in Portuguese), and I can access a market 20 times the size of the Portuguese one. Also, my price range is great in terms of price/quality, the industry average is way higher.

Btw, my name is Tiago ahah

 

[Tiago]

Tiago's and Thiagos dominating this thread! I'm still 3 weeks here in Brazil, if you want to know anything specific, just hit me up.

 

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[Thiago Machado]

Shipping from Portugal is inexpensive by regular Airmail, I can send in a small box, with my name and no logos. I sent an e-mail to a competitor using Airmail to Brazil (from Portugal) and he confirmed that it is rare for a package to get taxed.

As for the website, I wouldn't be actually developing it just to sell to Brazil, the ecommerce store is already running and working in the portuguese market, it would just need some new payment methods to fit the brazilean market and some PT-PT to PT-BR translation.
I have figured out to accept payments in parcels, but to withdraw the money from mercadopago they only accept Brazilian bank accounts. Do you know any company that can exchange this for a decent fee?

I like Brazil because it wouldn't require much change in my website (it's already in Portuguese), and I can access a market 20 times the size of the Portuguese one. Also, my price range is great in terms of price/quality, the industry average is way higher.

Btw, my name is Tiago ahah

Haha, I've seen about three Tiago's on the forum already. Pretty rare thing to see ( Not such a common name outside of Brazil.)

Wow, sounds good then. Doesn't seem like there should be much of a problem. Go for it!

As for the withdrawal from mercadopago, I have yet to know of any alternative ways to withdraw money from a bank account other than a Brazilian one. (Sorry).

I am currently starting up an English to Portugues / Portuguese to English online translation service specializing in diverse areas ( academic translation, web content, corporate translation, apps, and much more). If you ever need some translation work done, or know of anyone that needs it, I would be very greatful if you could help me out (My "foot in the door" on the road to the fastlane haha.)

BTW what is it that you actually sell? I know that the most popular imported products being sold here on a regular basis are mainly name brand clothing.

 

[RSN]

I have figured out to accept payments in parcels, but to withdraw the money from mercadopago they only accept Brazilian bank accounts. Do you know any company that can exchange this for a decent fee?

Maybe if you use a bank present in both countries like Santander or Banco do Brasil you can have an account in Brazil to accept payments but control it locally. I don't know if it would be cheaper to send money out of Brazil this way, but it crossed my mind.

 

[Evelio]

I get a lot of requests for my supplement/vitamin products from Brazil but when we try to ship we always run into issues with the Brazilian customs department... Packages get delayed and sometimes are never delivered.

I'm wondering if there is a way around this...

Welcome to the forums

 

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[Thiago Machado]

I get a lot of requests for my supplement/vitamin products from Brazil but when we try to ship we always run into issues with the Brazilian customs department... Packages get delayed and sometimes are never delivered.

I'm wondering if there is a way around this...

Welcome to the forums

Bodybuilding and Fitness is a huge trend now in Brazil. The best products for these specific hobbies are always the imported ones, however, importing these products (when you can get around customs) is cheaper than buying it Brazil. I'm guessing that the reason you receive so many orders is because you must have a lower price than your competitors. One of the problems is that it is very hard to get around customs. They are really strict here. However, I believe tehre is a new law that states, that if a product is purchased outside of Brazil online for less than 100$USD, the buyer is exempt from paying import taxes.

You might want to look into that

 

[Tiago]

I was just checking that yesterday. A tub of Optimum Nutrition Gold Whey costs 373 Reais = 166 US$ here. Prices are crazy.

 

[Phones]

I get a lot of requests for my supplement/vitamin products from Brazil but when we try to ship we always run into issues with the Brazilian customs department... Packages get delayed and sometimes are never delivered.

I'm wondering if there is a way around this...

Welcome to the forums

Do you send with the company name or personal name? Small or big package? Plain cartoon box or with company logo?

Best option to avoid the customs is personal name, small packages and no logos. Use a lot of duct tape so it seems hard to open .

 

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