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Spoony's eCommerce Progress Thread

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

Spoony

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Hello all,

I am a 21 year old University Student from the West Coast in the USA.

Just read the fastlane, despite having purchased the book in 2014. I decided I would like to try my hand at eCommerce--already have a market targeted--and am going to track my progress here.

Let's do this!!
 
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Spoony

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Website currently under construction... should be launched by mid next week, if not sooner.

I have found the products I am going to sell, got a logo made, and will be taking product photos two days from now.

I've been spending the rest of my time studying eCommerce in general--learning how facebook ads work, google analytics, shopify--and have a lot of faith in my project!
 

Spoony

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Website is complete and online, and products are up!

Almost cannot believe I am actually doing this!

Two things to do at this point:
1) Learn and research how to do effective marketing
2) Figure out if I should configure the pricing of my items

Random thoughts:
I live in Seattle, and the weather affects my mood significantly--I need to move once I am able ASAP so I can keep my positivity at an all-time high while I work entrepreneurial projects. But this will not be possible for another year or two unfortunately.

I heard a quote in a business podcast recently as well that really spoke to me--

"If you don't stop until it works, it will work"
 
Last edited:

tommyh

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Website is complete and online, and products are up!

Almost cannot believe I am actually doing this!

Two things to do at this point:
1) Learn and research how to do effective marketing
2) Figure out if I should configure the pricing of my items

Random thoughts:
I live in Seattle, and the weather affects my mood significantly--I need to move once I am able ASAP so I can keep my positivity at an all-time high while I work entrepreneurial projects. But this will not be possible for another year or two unfortunately.

I heard a quote in a business podcast recently as well that really spoke to me--

"If you don't stop until it works, it will work"
Hey man, I live in Seattle also and I have the opposite problem! I can't get anything done when it's sunny out (like today). I was planning on being productive today, and then I went paddle-boarding instead. Oh well, I'll have 9 months of crappy weather to help me focus fairly soon.

Good luck with your website btw!
 
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DuncDad

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Learn to embrace the weather... Get the right clothes in and get out in it. I have walked my dogs and ice formed on my eyelashes and also had summers where I hosed down a shaded wall of my house and steam came off. No such thing as bad weather. Change that paradigm and you will be so much better off


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oimate

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Hey man, I live in Seattle also and I have the opposite problem! I can't get anything done when it's sunny out (like today). I was planning on being productive today, and then I went paddle-boarding instead. Oh well, I'll have 9 months of crappy weather to help me focus fairly soon.

Good luck with your website btw!
If any of you guys fancy a life swap you're more than welcome to come sample Ireland's summers lol
 

Scot

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Spoony

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Despite everything you guys are saying--I still hate Seattle's weather, lol.

Scot thank you for the adwords post, something like that is exactly what I needed.

And I finally made my first sale!! It happened yesterday.

Thoughts up until this point:
I feel like I have finally gotten a grip on how to use every aspect of shopify, MailCheat(Chimp), and several other services.
With that said, I now think I will be able to set up future projects very quickly following the same framework.
 

Spoony

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Well the momentum from the first sale seems to have been short-lived--no more additional sales.

Traffic has been steadily increasing however.
 

Esoteric Wealth

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Funny because I live in Florida, and I hate sunny weather and the heat. I feel like it drains me. I'd trade places with you in a heartbeat. The cold invigorates me, and I find wet, overcast days more aesthetically pleasing than the blazing sun.
 
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Spoony

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Ended up making two more additional sales two days ago.

Key take away: Building trust with your current traffic will result in more sales than simply attempting to gain traffic.

I also installed a social media account automation tool on a facebook, instagram, pinterest, and twitter account that are all linked to my website. The bot has been running for only about a week or so and has gained about 20-30 followers across all accounts.
 

Spoony

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Still Progressing. I purchased a Skype Phone number with an area code near Seattle (Everett - 425) and pasted it right on the front page of my site next to the contact area with my business email address. I then went ahead and got a voice mail message recorded on Fiverr for $15--it sounds great!--and this has made a world of difference.

I still have had only a total of 3 sales, but I am getting there. Putting the phone number there has increased my conversion rate dramatically.

Where before only 3/100 visitors would add something to their cart and maybe 1 every few days reaches checkout, now, around 15/100 visitors add something to their cart and 5/100 reach check out.

The main issue is people are still not checking out (obviously) but I am STILL making progress!!
 

JokerCrazyBeatz

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I love this ! Seeing someone taking action . We need more of this ! Keep it pushing man !
 
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DuncDad

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Awesome. I am onto a similar path with Dialpad instead of Skype. I actually ended up with a number in Sydney, Australia, as well as major regional area and I live 6hrs drive away so have a 'rural' office as well. Phone numbers count, get the right one for your business


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Spoony

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I found a social media automation tool here: https://socialrabbitplugin.com/
It is awesome!

As I am currently using Shopify for my site, I purchased another domain with the same name but a .net rather than a .com.
I then installed Wordpress onto this site and uploaded the program, and then changed the option to have my .net site always redirect to my shopify site.

So far so good. The plugin has been increased the likes on my Facebook page to 3-4 per day instead of the usual 1 in a matter of days. I am impressed.
 
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Niptuck MD

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Still Progressing. I purchased a Skype Phone number with an area code near Seattle (Everett - 425) and pasted it right on the front page of my site next to the contact area with my business email address. I then went ahead and got a voice mail message recorded on Fiverr for $15--it sounds great!--and this has made a world of difference.

I still have had only a total of 3 sales, but I am getting there. Putting the phone number there has increased my conversion rate dramatically.

Where before only 3/100 visitors would add something to their cart and maybe 1 every few days reaches checkout, now, around 15/100 visitors add something to their cart and 5/100 reach check out.

The main issue is people are still not checking out (obviously) but I am STILL making progress!!
do you recommend skype phone number service?
 

Spoony

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Thank you everyone for the comments and support. I am glad my journey is inspiring.

@Arun Siva Yes I recommend a skype number for several reasons.
-1) It adds legitimacy to your company. My business is in Seattle and my area code on my number is for Everett (425).
-2) It adds more humanity to your business--someone is on the line that can speak to customers. This greatly builds trust.
-3) With the skype number you can record a professional voice mail message alongside having the program notify you via email if someone calls

It is well worth it in my opinion. After posting the number it increased my conversation rote considerably.

Update on my business:

I realized a drastic mistake I was making. My current focus was on niche products which I was marketing incorrectly. I know now that I should have been having a larger authority site that the niche products are on.

Likewise, I believe I have stumbled upon a hole in the eCommerce community--realized this about two days ago.

With the market I am in I have found two main competitors. As I was examining their sites I went through all the negative customer reviews and it dawned on me that focusing on fixing all of these problems are KEY to my success. I found it odd that my competitors have not done so despite having been around for years.

Anyways, I went ahead and ditched focusing on the niche products and moved over to a larger focus--I still carry the niche products. In other words, my site is no longer only selling niche products, rather, it carries them as well as everything else in the sector. I am now utilizing drop-shipping as well.

Here is my traffic TWO days after making this change (the screenshot). I still only spend money on one $5 fb add and plan on contacting affiliates shortly. Keep in mind prior to this I was only receiving ~100 visitors today earlier.

My facebook page has racked up another 60 likes in the past two days as well, so I wholeheartedly believe I am now on the road to success here. I believe my rising social proof will be crucial to finally hitting those sales.

Thank you again for the supportive comments/following this thread!
 

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Donna_Lee

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Wow! Good for you!
I have an 800 number that I had someone set up for me, and I can't figure out how to retrieve messages, so I will look into getting a Skype number.
Does your Skype rings if someone is trying to call you and you are online?
I have an e commerce site, and an Etsy store, and I also sell niche products that I created and have manufactured. I'm practically useless on a computer, so I struggle.
I would love to sell on Amazon, so if you know anyone who I could hire to set up the store for me, please let me know.

Cheers,
Donna
 

Spoony

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Spoony

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Well friends I've never been as excited as I am now in my entire life. I've had my first two sales in the past 3 or 4 hours after adjusting my niche, and after examining the analytics, my facebook page and traffic are still growing exponentially.
 

katana

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I have found the products I am going to sell, got a logo made, and will be taking product photos two days from now.
How (if you did) did you validate your product prior to setting up the website and spending the time and money for the rest?

I am currently averaging about two sales per day now!! The ball is in motion.

Nice!
 

Spoony

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Thank you friends!

I have been extremely busy so I will not be giving a full update at the moment, but without going into too much detail I am still maintaining at two-three sales per day, which I see will steadily climb as time goes on. My social media presence has been playing a huge role in creating social proof.
 
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Spoony

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How (if you did) did you validate your product prior to setting up the website and spending the time and money for the rest?


Nice!

I am not quite sure what you mean. Do you mean how did I go around determining whether my product was of good quality?

Could you go into more detail?

Thanks!
 

Spoony

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Still nothing significant to add. I have been busy with school work (midterms) the past week or so, so I have not been keeping up with my work. My primary focus at the moment is marketing!
 

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