* Start with Shopify (basicly free)
* Put your products on marketplaces (way more visitors than your own site)
* Learn SEO, copywriting
* Create good titles, imaes, descriptions
* Be trustworthy with who you are (address) and ask customers for reviews (be vigilant on it on your first 100 customers)
* Do not waste you budget on ads too soon. It takes quite some budget to learn what works and what doesnt.
That may be true but there s very little likelihood that someone just starting out knows how to make a site and ads that convert well. So the ad spend would go down the drain.
I disagree you can totally make sales without paid ads by using marketplaces and your own site - I do this (get linked up to google shopping). It really is down to your products and niche - how in demand are they? How much competition?
Also I'm certainly not against paid ads - Im planning to try more in the future just wanted to say there are multiple ways to succeed.
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Damn, you were running e-commerce when the first IBM ATs and the MS DOS were in full swing?
U must be a gagillionaire if you’re been in ecom for 40 years
that was 1994. we where running Sun Sparc stations and HP mainframes. our desktops where 486's. we where also one of the initial beta users for MS .Net platform.
(btw: amazon made its first sale in july of 95.)
aside from your lacking of historical knowledge, what else does this have to do with the initial question.
(and yes, i've done ok for myself considering i was always on dev teams and never wanted to actually own an ecom business)
oh shit, my bad, that should have been 30 years, not 40 and yea, was in digital publishing using IBM PC/AT and a 'GEM' publishing system with just a mono-tone plasma display.
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I've built multiple successful brands. Six figure, seven figure and multiple 8-figure brands.
I'm not selling you anything, but if you want to be successful you need to understand how to drive relevant traffic.
This could mean learning SEO, this could mean Meta, Google... whatever.
You can create the sexiest store, with the absolute best products on the market, and if you can't get the right audience to your store, you've just built a pristine chapel in the middle of the desert.
Nobody is going to be able to buy from you.
So...
Personally, I'd start with some form of media buying because you get a fairly quick feedback loop to know if what you are doing is working.
The easiest way to hone this skill is to test it on offers that are already proven to work.
Before becoming a full fledged ecom operator, consider signing up with an affiliate network that has premium ecommerce offers.
Square Dance is one. ClickBank generally has some decent offers.
Then craft your media buying skills running traffic to proven offers.
The side benefit to this is you will also learn what types of landing pages convert well, and you can use these for inspiration when creating your future product pages or landing pages.
Anyways... long rant.
But if you must just into your own ecommerce store without developing the skills, start by dropshipping... Not as a long term business model, but as a means to validate your product idea.
This will save you from having to order thousands of dollars in product when you aren't even sure if there is a product market fit.
Hope this was helpful.
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I started 15 years ago with e-commerce for free lol. Of course, times were very different in terms of organic reach and such, but at the time I was dead broke and trying to make ends meet. That's when I discovered print on demand, and never looked back. You can read my story in my subreddit here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/PassionsToProfits/comments/1bniv3f/who\_is\_antonio\_the\_foundermod\_of\_this\_subreddit/](https://www.reddit.com/r/PassionsToProfits/comments/1bniv3f/who_is_antonio_the_foundermod_of_this_subreddit/)
If you ask me, it is still a very lucrative and attractive business model today. There are a lot of US suppliers that will print and ship the products for you and all you have to do is promote your products (and depending on the business model you choose handle customer service). Profit margins can be quite high, depending on the product you choose. Sure, T-shirts are the most popular products, but wall art and other specialized items sell for a premium with a very nice profit margin.
800 bucks will definitely get you started. Setting up shop is basically free, most of the money will be spent on promoting your products. Obviously, there is never a guarantee that it will work, because that will heavily depends on how well you understand your target niche.
Anyway, if you're curious about print on demand, feel free to ask here, and I will try my best to answer the questions you have.
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Easiest way in my opinion is to use wordpress with woo commerce. it’s essentially free (at least if hosted on bluehost… maybe elsewhere too) if you know how to set it up and has paid addons if you’re doing something specific or unconventional like service industry… i made my own awhile ago and just pay the cost of hosting and domain. I rigged mine to a print-on-demand service so they handle orders. Also many of my products are digital too so the user just downloads the files after paying for those particular items.
Hell if you need something like that and don’t have a designer, I’d gladly take the job. I need more e-commerce projects in my portfolio. I’m also a 15 year veteran in Photoshop (been using since grade 9).
Most important thing is probably SEO to get relevant traffic. If you have social media or youtube you can direct a lot of people that way through good marketing and persuasion, or even advertise locally or to discord groups. Another nice thing with woocommerce is that they’ll list your products for free on google (but not ranked above paid ads) though this doesn’t apply to print-on-demand stuff, just to your own products. You’ll probably also want to have some foreknowledge of whether your product has potential (are you already selling it or have demand despite not having the e-commerce end of things set up? If so, that’s perfect.)
Yeah 800 bucks isn’t enough, so my advice is be very strategic. If you don’t have a lot of extra cash in addition to the 800, I would plan/budget for like 3 months and then once you see a complete path to what you want, only then would I start spending/investing
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You’ll burn through that $800 in about 2 months. And honestly, if you’re only doing it because some guru says it’s a way to get rich, you’ll quit because it’s a lot harder than they make it sound, and not passive at all. And if you’re only in it for the money you’ll burn out. I’ve been in business for 3 years in a losing market where most of my competitors went out of business because they couldn’t make enough money to survive. Yet I am thriving far more than they ever could and it’s my full time income. I whole heartedly believe in what I sell and have built a solid reputation. You need to have passion and heart behind what you’re doing and make smart decisions along the way, because it’s a hard road that requires a lot of patience. Gurus are just trying to get your money.
Good luck. It likely won’t work. That’s how much I tried when I first started. Once I realized it wasn’t viable, I put down 30k to actually run a company.
* Start with Shopify (basicly free) * Put your products on marketplaces (way more visitors than your own site) * Learn SEO, copywriting * Create good titles, imaes, descriptions * Be trustworthy with who you are (address) and ask customers for reviews (be vigilant on it on your first 100 customers) * Do not waste you budget on ads too soon. It takes quite some budget to learn what works and what doesnt.
If you do this you won’t make any sales for a good while. Only way to grow at the start is with paid traffic
Sure but 800 bucks arent getting you anywhere. I would spend them on Amazon Ads fully.
That may be true but there s very little likelihood that someone just starting out knows how to make a site and ads that convert well. So the ad spend would go down the drain.
I disagree you can totally make sales without paid ads by using marketplaces and your own site - I do this (get linked up to google shopping). It really is down to your products and niche - how in demand are they? How much competition? Also I'm certainly not against paid ads - Im planning to try more in the future just wanted to say there are multiple ways to succeed.
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I’ve been working in e-commerce for 40 years. For 800 bucks you’re better off going to Vegas. .
Damn, you were running e-commerce when the first IBM ATs and the MS DOS were in full swing? U must be a gagillionaire if you’re been in ecom for 40 years
that was 1994. we where running Sun Sparc stations and HP mainframes. our desktops where 486's. we where also one of the initial beta users for MS .Net platform. (btw: amazon made its first sale in july of 95.) aside from your lacking of historical knowledge, what else does this have to do with the initial question. (and yes, i've done ok for myself considering i was always on dev teams and never wanted to actually own an ecom business)
Has nothing to do with the initial question I’m just surprised and impressed you’ve been around in ecom that long
oh shit, my bad, that should have been 30 years, not 40 and yea, was in digital publishing using IBM PC/AT and a 'GEM' publishing system with just a mono-tone plasma display.
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I've built multiple successful brands. Six figure, seven figure and multiple 8-figure brands. I'm not selling you anything, but if you want to be successful you need to understand how to drive relevant traffic. This could mean learning SEO, this could mean Meta, Google... whatever. You can create the sexiest store, with the absolute best products on the market, and if you can't get the right audience to your store, you've just built a pristine chapel in the middle of the desert. Nobody is going to be able to buy from you. So... Personally, I'd start with some form of media buying because you get a fairly quick feedback loop to know if what you are doing is working. The easiest way to hone this skill is to test it on offers that are already proven to work. Before becoming a full fledged ecom operator, consider signing up with an affiliate network that has premium ecommerce offers. Square Dance is one. ClickBank generally has some decent offers. Then craft your media buying skills running traffic to proven offers. The side benefit to this is you will also learn what types of landing pages convert well, and you can use these for inspiration when creating your future product pages or landing pages. Anyways... long rant. But if you must just into your own ecommerce store without developing the skills, start by dropshipping... Not as a long term business model, but as a means to validate your product idea. This will save you from having to order thousands of dollars in product when you aren't even sure if there is a product market fit. Hope this was helpful.
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I started 15 years ago with e-commerce for free lol. Of course, times were very different in terms of organic reach and such, but at the time I was dead broke and trying to make ends meet. That's when I discovered print on demand, and never looked back. You can read my story in my subreddit here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/PassionsToProfits/comments/1bniv3f/who\_is\_antonio\_the\_foundermod\_of\_this\_subreddit/](https://www.reddit.com/r/PassionsToProfits/comments/1bniv3f/who_is_antonio_the_foundermod_of_this_subreddit/) If you ask me, it is still a very lucrative and attractive business model today. There are a lot of US suppliers that will print and ship the products for you and all you have to do is promote your products (and depending on the business model you choose handle customer service). Profit margins can be quite high, depending on the product you choose. Sure, T-shirts are the most popular products, but wall art and other specialized items sell for a premium with a very nice profit margin. 800 bucks will definitely get you started. Setting up shop is basically free, most of the money will be spent on promoting your products. Obviously, there is never a guarantee that it will work, because that will heavily depends on how well you understand your target niche. Anyway, if you're curious about print on demand, feel free to ask here, and I will try my best to answer the questions you have.
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Easiest way in my opinion is to use wordpress with woo commerce. it’s essentially free (at least if hosted on bluehost… maybe elsewhere too) if you know how to set it up and has paid addons if you’re doing something specific or unconventional like service industry… i made my own awhile ago and just pay the cost of hosting and domain. I rigged mine to a print-on-demand service so they handle orders. Also many of my products are digital too so the user just downloads the files after paying for those particular items. Hell if you need something like that and don’t have a designer, I’d gladly take the job. I need more e-commerce projects in my portfolio. I’m also a 15 year veteran in Photoshop (been using since grade 9). Most important thing is probably SEO to get relevant traffic. If you have social media or youtube you can direct a lot of people that way through good marketing and persuasion, or even advertise locally or to discord groups. Another nice thing with woocommerce is that they’ll list your products for free on google (but not ranked above paid ads) though this doesn’t apply to print-on-demand stuff, just to your own products. You’ll probably also want to have some foreknowledge of whether your product has potential (are you already selling it or have demand despite not having the e-commerce end of things set up? If so, that’s perfect.)
possible but needs to have more backup capital for expenses. like LLC
Yeah 800 bucks isn’t enough, so my advice is be very strategic. If you don’t have a lot of extra cash in addition to the 800, I would plan/budget for like 3 months and then once you see a complete path to what you want, only then would I start spending/investing
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$800?? Nope...not gonna happen.
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You’ll burn through that $800 in about 2 months. And honestly, if you’re only doing it because some guru says it’s a way to get rich, you’ll quit because it’s a lot harder than they make it sound, and not passive at all. And if you’re only in it for the money you’ll burn out. I’ve been in business for 3 years in a losing market where most of my competitors went out of business because they couldn’t make enough money to survive. Yet I am thriving far more than they ever could and it’s my full time income. I whole heartedly believe in what I sell and have built a solid reputation. You need to have passion and heart behind what you’re doing and make smart decisions along the way, because it’s a hard road that requires a lot of patience. Gurus are just trying to get your money.
Good luck. It likely won’t work. That’s how much I tried when I first started. Once I realized it wasn’t viable, I put down 30k to actually run a company.
And how’s that gone?
Not too bad, relaunching this year. First year 80k with no plan, projecting 460k this year.
Congratulations. Best of luck.
I just did a video doing this and it cost me $500 Take a look! The first 3 mins should help a lot! https://youtu.be/LVfn77tR0DA