Hey FLFers!
I decided to make a thread on this because I'm getting a lot of the same questions on private messages. For those of you who don't know, I've been working on a few e-commerce stores since June 2015 and business is doing well. Here are my top tips:
Just remember. If it was easy. We'd all be millionaires.
Good luck.
I decided to make a thread on this because I'm getting a lot of the same questions on private messages. For those of you who don't know, I've been working on a few e-commerce stores since June 2015 and business is doing well. Here are my top tips:
- Start with an market or industry that you know well. It's always easier to work with the knowledge and experience you have gained since you have enough data to get going.
- Make sure the market is big enough to sell. Niches can be misleading and they can send you down the wrong path. Selling to 30,000 people might seem "untapped" but there's a reason for that. It's just not scalable. I look for audiences/markets of at least 1m before I consider jumping in.
- If you're not sure where to start, aim for a generic store. This store can sell pretty much anything and you can find everything you need over at Alibaba or Aliexpress. I don't dropship from China now. I use suppliers and vendors from the US but this is more advanced. Also, find local suppliers and merchants. You'll be surprised what's on your doorstep. Go see them and build up a relationship. I've done it.
- Look for trending or "evergreen" products. You can use the Google Keyword Tool. Look at which searches are getting the highest results (this is gold for us), hang out in Reddit and look at what people want or what they're looking to buy in future. There's also Amazon - look at the deals of the day or find best sellers in your niche. Look at customer reviews, videos and cross reference with the Keyword Tool. All this information is out there and it's FREE. Don't get lazy and skip this step!
- Drive traffic! I think this is as much as 50% of the business decisions you will make going forward. This is a separate thread on it's own because traffic is a beast and integral to your success. I use mostly FB ads now but there's Adwords, Instagram shoutouts or paid ads, Pinterest ads etc to investigate. If you don't want to manage ads, you can look at sponsored forums posts, newsletters, fliers (still works!), paid ad in your niche magazine etc etc etc. I know it sounds wholly but honestly - we can talk about traffic sources until the cows come home. There isn't a single magic bullet solution since our businesses, customers and products all vary. You need to sit down and think about where your audience hangs out and how much you're willing to pay to acquire that customer. Sales isn't easy but it's not impossible either. Take time to invest in yourself and the sales platforms. You can buy books, watch YouTube videos or invest in some Udemy courses. Every resource you need is out there and available in seconds.
Just remember. If it was easy. We'd all be millionaires.
Good luck.
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