The Beginner’s Ultra Guide to Making Money Online

Part #2

Dropshipping /eCommerce Stores

Tasos Perte Tzortzis

Tasos Perte Tzortzis

Business Organisation & Administration, Marketing Consultant, Creator of the "7 Ideals" Methodology

Although doing traditional business offline since 1992, I fell in love with online marketing in late 2014 and have helped hundreds of brands sell more of their products and services. Founder of WebMarketSupport, Muvimag, Summer Dream.

Reading, arts, science, chess, coffee, tea, swimming, Audi, and family comes first.

Dropshipping

What it is: Dropshipping is a method to sell products in the retail market without having to open a physical store or to buy inventory.

You open an online store, you advertise products, and when you make sales you purchase products from a 3rd party wholesaler or distributor who handles the packaging and shipping to the final customers.

You don’t touch the products you sell, you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to get started, and you don’t have to stock inventory in warehouses.

You buy at low-cost (wholesale price) and re-sell at higher rates (retail price) to make a profit.

It may seem an easy method, but it’s not. Although you only setup a store and list products you have to take care of the marketing, sell effectively and deal with customer problems. 

This is a risky model and there are some things where you have no control.

Pros 

  • Less capital is required compared to a retail store.
  • You make a sale, getting paid and then you purchase the products and let the dropshipping company do the rest
  • No need for a warehouse, packaging, shipping, returns, stock level
  • You can work from home, your office, or anywhere else
  • Wide selection of products
  • Easy to scale

Cons 

  • Low-profit margins
  • Inventory issues may arise
  • Shipping complexity and costs may vary as you co-operate with multiple suppliers
  • Supplier errors
  • High competition
  • Deal with customer problems, complaints, returns

Resume: 

Although Dropshipping is not a stress-free method to sell products online and it’s therefore risky, there are benefits compared to retail offline stores and franchise-based businesses. 

It’s a method used by thousands of entrepreneurs and it can be turned into a full-time business.

How to Get Started

 

     

    • Choose a direction (niche)
    • Identify products people already buy. Check the Amazon best-seller lists, eBay top products list, Alibaba best-sellers list, and visit sites like TrendHunter, SpringWise, UnCrate, CoolMaterial, Lazada, LightintheBox, the Oberlo catalog, PolyVore, Wanelo, Google hot trends.
    • You can alternatively choose less popular products, there are many people that follow this road because the competition is lower.
    • In any case, try starting with one product with the least expenses, to check if things go well
    • Check social platforms like Fancy, the Pinterest popular category, Facebook trending, Twitter trending.
    • Watch the news and discuss with friends, partners, and bloggers to get ideas.
    • Spy on relative to your niche stores and track influencers behavior in your respective niche.
    • Verify trends for each product you find interesting using the Google Trends tool. Reject products with decreasing demand graphs.
    • Now it’s time to select wholesalers or distributors. Before you co-operate with any wholesaler you have to check their services as a customer yourself. You need to check the quality of the product before you sell it, how long it takes to deliver, how the supplier deals with problems that might occur. Choose only products that you would purchase yourself. Some of the suppliers may send you samples of products at wholesale price but others won’t.
    • Where to find dropshipping suppliers? Dropshipping directories like Salehoo, AliExpress, DropshipDirect, WholesaleCentral, Doba, WorldWideBrands will help you track distributors.
    • Will it be easy to communicate with them? Will they ship the order on time? What shipping methods they use? Do they provide a tracking system so that you know the orders data at any given time? Many customers may ask for this service
    • When you finally finish the supplier tests it’s time to list your product(s) on your e-store.
    • It’s OK to start your quest listing only 1 high-quality product so that you test this business model
    • If you manage to sell effectively and make a profit, re-invest money into your store to sell more products.
    • Now you need people to visit your store, traffic. You need to attract people and for that matter, you need to learn the basics of online marketing, keyword research, and SEO (search engine optimization techniques) to receive free (organic) traffic.
    • Another method to bring traffic is spending money on paid ads (pay-per-click marketing) either on search engines, platforms, or social media.
    • You have to make connections and be active on social networks which is another source of traffic.
    • Video marketing, email marketing, blogging are additional methods you should use in order to increase traffic to your store.
    • The more content you create for your store, the more authority, the more visibility, the more traffic.
    • It’s crucial to build a brand name and continue networking all along.
    • Don’t forget to check your suppliers frequently, refresh your listings, update with new products in demand, and expand on new niches in the future.

    Dropshipping Platforms

    Shopify

    shopify

    Slogan: Sell online with Shopify, trusted by over 500,000 businesses worldwide

    What it is: A complete eCommerce solution allowing members to set up their online stores in order to sell products. You can organize, customize your storefront, accept credit card payments, track and respond to orders easily.

    You don’t have to worry about creating a site or web hosting or maintenance, Shopify does everything for you. You can add an existing domain to Shopify or use a Shopify sub-domain.

    Shopify can be used to sell just about anything! From physical items such as clothes or furniture to services and digital products including educational courses and software applications.

    You add products, upload photos, set stock levels and more to build out your e-commerce website’s inventory.

    Shopify lets you use almost any possible payment gateway available. The list is endless.

    It’s very easy to set up a Shopify store without having any design experience. There are pre-made templates and you can start working immediately with the drag and drop store builder.

    You can even use Shopify as a blog, publish articles, and interact with customers via comments.

    Additionally, there is a community which you can use to ask for help. The help center also provides guides and tutorials.

    Your store is fully compatible with social media sites, they give you credits for Google Adwords (pay per click advertising), and can be integrated with the MailChimp email service.

    The dashboard is very powerful with analytics and there is a 24/7 support system in place.

    Shopify has a free 14-day trial but then you have to pay a monthly fee.

    Pricing plans:

    Lite $9/month, Basic $29/month, Shopify $79/month, Advanced $299/month, and there’s the Plus plan but you have to contact the customer support to get a price.

    Dropshipping with Shopify

    You can find products to sell on Shopify with Oberlo. This way you don’t have to worry about shipping, packaging, or holding inventory.

    Oberlo helps you find products and add them directly to your store. Oberlo will do the packaging and shipping for you and they are responsible for holding inventory.

    Doba

    doba

    Slogan: Drop Shipping. Simplified. Discover new products more efficiently, streamline your order management, and leave shipping to the supplier so that you can spend more time growing your sales.

    How it works: They enlist hundreds of qualified manufacturers and suppliers to their marketplace. You find products, export the listings to your store, sell to the customers, then buy the products from Doba. The supplier ships the products to the customer, repeat the process.

    Doba has a sister company, Made-In-China.com. They claim unique, high-quality products at great prices.

    Doba Enterprise enables full automation of inventory updates and order management.

    Hot product categories: Apparel, automotive, books, electronics, entertainment, health, home, kids, sports.

    As with Shopify, Doba has a 14-day free trial to check their services.

    Pricing plans:

    Basic #29/month, Advanced #69/month, Pro $249/month, Enterprise you have to contact them directly for a price

    Salehoo

    salehoo

    Slogan: Find your perfect supplier. The complete dropship and wholesale solution trusted by 137,000 people like you. Since 2005, Salehoo has helped customers successfully start online businesses on eBay, Amazon, and their own online stores.

    How it works: You find trusted suppliers of brand name products you can sell on Amazon, eBay, and your own store. They mention over 1,000 trusted dropshippers (no scams), no application fees, worldwide shipping. Moreover, they enlist over 8,000 hand-picked, vetted, and trusted wholesale suppliers.

    They have a market research tool in place to search and compare over 1.6 million products.

    Additionally, they have a large database of online training guides and lessons.

    There is also an active forum where you can interact with fellow entrepreneurs.

    The Salehoo stores come with 15 design templates and built-in marketing tools.

    Pricing plans:

    Basic $27/month, Standard $47/month, Premium $97/month.

    Other platforms to build a dropshipping business

    • eBay – Rules that apply, and a directory of dropshipping companies
    • Amazon
    • Integrate the WooCommerce plugin on your own WordPress site and sell products. The plugin is free (retail store), however, the dropshipping extension is premium and costs $49/year for one site.

    Alternative Method to Sell Products on Amazon

     

     

     

    Amazon FBA: Fulfillment by Amazon

    Slogan: Help boost your sales with Amazon’s world-class fulfillment. Let Amazon pick, pack, and ship your orders. You sell it, we ship it. 

    Amazon has created one of the most advanced fulfillment networks in the world, and your business can benefit from their expertise. With FBA, you store your products in Amazon’s fulfillment centers, and they pick, pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. FBA can help you scale your business and reach more customers.

    Your products are eligible for Amazon Prime Free 2-day shipping, free shipping, and other benefits. Trusted customer service and returns. There’s no minimum in the number of units you must send.

    With multi-channel fulfillment, you can fulfill orders from other sales channels using your inventory to streamline your operations. It’s a cost-effective method and simple as you pay as you go, you are charged for storage space and the orders Amazon fulfills. The cost of shipping is included in the fees.

    How it works:

    • Setup and FBA account
    • Create your products listings, one at a time, in bulk, or by integrating your inventory management software with Amazon’s API. 
    • Make sure your products are eCommerce ready, so they can be safely and securely transported all the way to the customer. If you need supplies get Amazon’s preferred prep and shipping supplies delivered to your door.
    • Create your shipping plans, engage discounted partner carriers, ship, and track your shipments to FBA centers. Online tools can help you
    • Customers order products, Amazon picks, packs, and ships them They provide customer support on products you sell

    Related Training to Enhance your Dropshipping Career

    • Oberlo – online stsores, Facebook ads, marketing channels, eCommerce
    • Salehoo – guides and videos. Selling on eBay, Amazon, drophipping, setup stores, importing & shipping, sourcing products
    • Take the Free Digital Business Roadmap training in order to create a store that can stand out from the competition and learn the ropes of online marketing, how to decide your perfect niche, identify opportunities, keyword research, and more. This way you can enhance your dropshipping performance by attracting multiple potential clients from all over the world instantly.

    Dropshipping Model – Final Words

    Dropshipping is a business model that is being used by more and more entrepreneurs lately. It’s risky as you have no control over some of the sales channels but is a scalable business that can be turned into a full-time income.

    Your suppliers might run out of stock, or they might send damaged or bad-quality products to your customers. It’s crucial to co-operate with top manufacturers with a good reputation.

    Try to co-operate with distributors that use API automation for their supplies. Your shopping cart should be updated automatically if possible to reflect the distributors’ changes.

    As a dropshipper, you might not get the lowest price possible like wholesalers get because the suppliers will have to deal with smaller quantities and multiple deliveries.

    Many manufacturers and distributors end up opening stores on Amazon, on other platforms, or their own stores, and you might be competing with them.

    You are responsible for the delivery of the product and you will deal with customers if something goes wrong.

    But every business model has pros and cons. If you have a vision, there are always solutions to problems.

    The key thing is to get traffic to your store and create a fan base. From there you need to update your listings frequently and carefully, seek new suppliers and new products with a higher profit margin to expand your portfolio.

    Start with a low profile, invest in some products or just one, get traffic, make sales, and repeat the process.

    eCommerce Store

    This method is very straightforward. You open up an online store, you buy products, and sell them. You can even create your own products to sell, and have in mind, that handmade products are in demand.

    But you have to pay up-front for the products and you might end up stocking up a warehouse if you can’t sell effectively.

    It’s a model with high-profit margins, though. Risky, but very rewarding in the long-term.

    Unlike traditional brick & mortar businesses, an online store expands your brand’s visibility worldwide. But reaching out to customers is hard, and you might spend hundreds of dollars on advertising (if you don’t know how to get customers with other methods).

    You can create a custom online store (expensive solution), or use other platforms/builders to create a store in just a few minutes.

    A similar method to Dropshipping, though in this case, you buy and stock up inventory. You have control of the delivery process, you set your own prices, but you risk a lot of money.

    As with Dropshipping you need reliable partners to co-operate so that the products arrive on time to your warehouse. You need to offer top-quality products, excellent customer service, and of course, you have to be able to bring traffic to your store.

    It’s a scalable business model but it requires a lot of hard work and you will be competing with eCommerce giants like Amazon or Walmart.

    You need to differentiate your store and your value proposition in the marketplace.

    How to Get Started

     

    • Choose a direction (niche)
    • Identify profitable eCommerce opportunities in order to break through the high competition. I would not get started with very popular products from well-known brands. These products are being sold massively on platforms like Amazon. I would hunt down handmade, unique products to offer something different to my audience. From there, you can expand on popular items.
    • Try to spot products that solve a problem, or trending, or those that can be integrated into your brand’s name.
    • As with dropshipping, you can get ideas from the Amazon best-seller lists, eBay top products list, Alibaba best-sellers list, and visit sites like TrendHunter, SpringWise, UnCrate, CoolMaterial, Lazada, LightintheBox, the Oberlo catalog, PolyVore, Wanelo, Google hot trends.
    • Check social platforms like Fancy, the Pinterest popular categoryFacebook trendingTwitter trending but this time try to identify obscure niche products in order to differentiate your store.
    • A platform for handmade items is Etsy and they cover categories like jewelry & accessories, clothing & shoes, home & living, wedding & party, toys & entertainment, art & collectibles, craft supplies, tools, and vintage. You can buy items in bulk as a wholesaler from artists around the world in order to create a unique and appealing store.
    • Watch the news and discuss with friends, partners, and bloggers to get ideas. Ask for their opinion on your brand new ideas and use this feedback to adjust and improve.
    • Spy on the competition to identify untapped opportunities.
    • Verify trends for each product you find interesting using the Google Trends tool. Reject products with decreasing demand graphs.
    • Search for suppliers in places like WholesaleCentralWorldWideBrands, Alibaba.
    • Now you need people to visit your store, traffic. You need to attract people and for that matter, you need to learn the basics of online marketing, keyword research, and SEO (search engine optimization techniques) to receive free (organic) traffic.
    • Another method is spending money on paid ads (pay-per-click marketing) either on search engines, platforms, or social media. 
    • You have to make connections and be active on social networks which is another source of free traffic. 
    • Video marketing, email marketing, blogging are additional methods you should use in order to increase traffic to your store. 
    • The more content you create for your store, the more authority, the more visibility, the more traffic. 
    • It’s crucial to build a brand name that is memorable and continue networking all along. 
    • Offer unique packaging for all your products. Include handmade greeting cards to the packages with your signature and your URL in order to create a fan base.
    • Don’t forget to check your suppliers frequently, refresh your listings, update with new products in demand, and expand on new niches in the future.

    eCommerce Platforms

    Etsy

    etsy

    Slogan: where retailers connect with independent designers, trustworthy sellers, world-class security, purchase protection, more than a marketplace.

    They say…” People make Etsy possible. We provide a meaningful space for sellers to turn their creative passions into opportunity. We enable buyers to discover unique items made with care. And we treat our employees and our community with respect. We’re here because the world needs less of the same and more of the special.

    Dedication to our mission is at the core of our identity. It guides our day-to-day decisions while inspiring us to think big for the long term. It reflects what makes our marketplace so special and our commitment to having a positive social, economic, and environmental impact”.

    You can open up a store using the Etsy platform.

    Features:

    • Low 3.5% transactional fees (no monthly fees, automatic deposits, secure transactions, seller protection)
    • €0.16 fees per listing, Listings are active for four months or until they sell. Once purchased, there is a small commission fee and a standard payment processing fee (4% + €0.30 payment processing)
    • Powerful tools (app, management, analysis, optimization, custom website, custom domain, beautiful designs)
    • Support and education (an always updating seller handbook, newsletter, forum).

    BigCommerce

    bigcommerce

    Slogan: build your online store with BigCommerce, customize your site, manage shipping and payments, and list your products on Amazon, eBay, and Facebook with the #1 eCommerce platform. Try it free, no credit card required.

    With BigCommerce you can build beautiful stores in minutes and their dashboard is practical, full of great features:

    • Design templates
    • Bulk product import/export or a dedicated in-house catalog transfer team for expert help moving your store
    • Comprehensive CMS to effortlessly manage products and categories, add and edit pages, or launch a blog with no additional software needed. Seamlessly offer customers product options, each with its own SKU, prices, and images.
    • Search engine optimization friendly out of the box, enabling you to increase organic traffic and spend your marketing dollars elsewhere. Integrations with email providers, Google Shopping, and other marketing channels help you reach more shoppers with less effort — and engage the 30% of online shoppers who buy weekly
    • Customize any aspect of your business or integrate any third-party tool using their powerful APIs
    • 24/7 support via phone, email, and chat

    BigCommerce can help you sell directly on Amazon. The platform lets you list products directly from the control panel, with centralized inventory and order processing and fulfillment.

    You can sell on Facebook. A store with built-in checkout, connect your catalog with Facebook and dynamic advertising with the Facebook ad extension.

    There is a 15-day free trial plan to discover the platform.

    Pricing:

    Standard $29.95/month, Plus $79.95/month, Pro $249.95/month, Enterprise you have to contact them for a price.

    Volusion

    volusion

    Slogan: The All-in-One eCommerce solution. Shoppers spent more than $28 billion and placed over 185 million orders on Volusion eCommerce websites. Try it for free, no credit card required, cancel anytime.

    Features:

    • Smart themes, beautiful sites, site editing tools, drag & drop builder
    • Inventory management, add products in a flash
    • Payment collection, reporting
    • Unlimited product options
    • Dozens of apps and integrations
    • Built-in SEO management
    • Newsletters
    • CRM
    • 24/7 support (web designers, marketing specialists, blog, guides)

    There is a 14-day free trial period to check the features.

    Pricing plans:

    Mini $15/month, Plus $35/month, Pro $75/month, Premium $135/month.

    BigCartel

    bigcartel

    Slogan: Join nearly a million makers, designers, musicians, and other artists using Big Cartel to build a unique online store and run a creative business.

    Departments:

    • Store builder with pre-made themes
    • Statistics, SEO, order management, promotional tools

    Pricing plans:

    Gold Free (up to 5 products list), Platinum $9.99/month (25 products), Diamond $19.99/month (100 products), Titanium $29.99/month (300 products)

    Ideal for artists and handmade products. The free plan is a great option to check the features of this program.

    Big Cartel full review

    Other eCommerce platforms/solutions 

    • Weebly
    • Wix
    • ShopSite
    • Magento
    • Amazon
    • eBay
    • Facebook store, business pages
    • Google Shopping
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Email campaigns
    • Pay per click campaigns (search engines, social media)
    • Integrate the WooCommerce plugin on your own WordPress site and sell products. The plugin is free (retail store)
    • You custom online store

    Alternative Methods to Sell Things on eBay

    eBay Consignment:

    You can sell products you already own without having to do any selling at all. You just choose any of the eBay expert sellers and they do the rest. You collect the money when the items are sold.

    Slogan: Sellers do the selling, you get paid

    How it works:

    • Choose from a list of highly trusted industry experts (sellers) to find the best for you.
    • Partner with the seller: ship your items to the consignment seller after discussing the terms and logistics of your sale.
    • Sit back, wait to get paid: watch the item sell on eBay

    Categories: comics, sports, memorabilia, sports cards, jewelry, watches, coins, stamps, art pottery

    The eBay consignment center is the perfect way to achieve a great price for your unique collectible items. The consignment sellers are industry experts who are selected by eBay staff. You will benefit from their industry knowledge and selling experience.

    Your consignment seller can estimate your item’s value and you can also check what’s it worth on eBay

    It all depends on your negotiation with the consignment seller. Consignment fees may vary by item type, category, consignment seller and whether the consignment seller consigns or buys your item outright.

    You will have to discuss payment terms with the consignment seller. In general, you will be paid after the item sells on eBay, but there may be times when you will get paid up front.

    eBay Valet:

    How it works:

    • Find things in your house you want to sell and earn some easy cash. Clothes, electronics, or collectibles, musical instruments, shoes, handbags.
    • Ship it out for free: Mail eBay your items with the USPS prepaid shipping label or drop them off at a FedEx Office location. 
    • Sit back and relax: Your work is done. Valets are experienced sellers and will do everything they can to sell your stuff on eBay
    • Get paid: when your items sell, you’ll get up to 80% of the earnings. The more your things are worth, the more money you’ll make

    Related training to enhance your eCommerce career

    • BigCommerce blog
    • Volusion guides
    • Take the Free Digital Business Roadmap training in order to create a store that can stand out from the competition and learn the ropes of online marketing, how to decide your perfect niche, identify opportunities, keyword research, and more. This way you can enhance your eCommerce visibility, credibility, and overall status online by discovering and targeting only those who are potential clients

    eCommerce Model – Final Words

    eCommerce is a risky business model but it can be very rewarding in the long run. It’s scalable, with high profit margins, and can be turned into a full-time income.

    You need to find unique, even obscure, trending products to differentiate your store. You need top suppliers and you have to provide excellent customer service, be prepared for refunds, and deal with complaints.

    You pay up-front for the products and you might consider buying large quantities in order to decrease the cost per item.

    There are many platforms that ease the pain of creating a store with affordable monthly fees and you simply can use any of the social sites to get started with the least expenses to experiment before you build your own online space.

    Many manufacturers and distributors end up opening stores on Amazon, on other platforms, or their own stores, and you might be competing with them.

    But every business model has pros and cons. If you have a vision, there are always solutions to problems.

    The key thing is to get traffic to your store and create a fan base. From there you need to update your listings frequently and carefully, seek new suppliers and new products with a higher profit margin to expand your portfolio.

    Start with a low profile, invest in some products or just one, get traffic, make sales, and repeat the process

    Social Media Exposure

    You can not go without being social. The more you appear online the more people trust you. Social channels offer you an opportunity to spread your message, create fans and connections.

    Every network has its own rules and terms but one thing is in common. People hate being spammed and bombarded with irrelevant ads.

    You can create personal or business profiles and pages, and create or join related groups.

    On your personal profiles, you want to make connections with people related to your work but also with people that share common interests. The more you share other people’s content, the more your content will be shared by others in return. Try to be polite, and don’t use a personal account only to talk about your work. People will ignore you.

    On business profiles and pages you can display your work and use them as a magnet for potential clients. Share the latest artwork with your audience, giveaway bonuses, create polls, quizzes, questionnaires.

    Join groups. Some of these groups are open to everyone, some are private and require invitations. You can spot several places to discuss with like-minded people and expand your online presence and knowledge. Everybody contributes to these groups by sharing tips, presenting small portfolios and by asking questions.

    You have to carefully read the group’s rules and terms of service and act in a decent and appropriate manner. You have to be professional and follow these teams to expand your horizons. 

    The main objective for you is to create connections and reach a wider audience. Let the communities know about your interests and share valuable insights.

    When you gain some momentum with your business pages move to next level and create a group on your own.

    You can even create special chat rooms where you invite social followers to participate in private discussions. Answer questions politely and entertain people. It’s OK to partner with competitors and other entrepreneurs on that matter.

    Here are a few ideas to leverage on social media:

    Independent campaigns/ads

    Promote your products and services usually in the form of banners with catchy headlines. Send people to landing pages on your website to signup with their email addresses (more on that later).

    can be used to raise brand awareness. People ask questions on these platforms so if you can enter a conversation showcasing your expertise you’ll gain valuable followers. Do not only post business stuff that has to do with selling. On social media people enjoy various types of content.

    Create boards on Pinterest and Flipboard.

    Create business boards and boards on various topics beyond the design world. You can add boards about your personal preferences, interests, anything that could make people interested in you as a person. Remember, on social you’re not trying to sell directly, rather than interacting and educating.

    pinterest tasos perte

    Answer questions on Quora

    Quora is very popular and it’s a great place to showcase your expertise and redirect people to your website, landing pages, or offers. Share useful content, advice, link to your guides. Participate and comment on various threads to gain insights into the community.

    Surveys, quizzes, polls

    Our goal here is to create a buzz about our brand, and people enjoy this kind of interactive media. Redirect people to your landing pages and start collecting email addresses. Ask questions that will help you understand what people are looking for in your respective niche.

    Business pages

    Google+, Twitter, and Facebook can be used to create pages strictly for business. Here, we want to create a loyal fan base. We do that by educating people about our products and services. 

    We use lead magnets in the form of discounts, promos, and special offers that only members of our pages can enjoy. We want them to feel special for being our loyal members on social.

    On business pages, do not share other brands’ content, like you do with your personal profiles

    Public or Private Groups and Chatrooms

    Our goal is to gather business people in our niche, to share ideas and opinions on hot topics. In the case of public groups, people will see the interaction in the group and they’ll be interested in joining, to learn more about the design industry. With these boards, we try to network with other alike entrepreneurs. These public groups act as a magnet for potential customers. Suddenly, you’re not alone, you’re not one company trying to sell to people, you are a group of companies that interact with each other

    Broadcast live/video streaming

    Content Formats

    You can publish any type of content you want on social media, just like you do on your site:

    Posts, articles, news, lists, reviews, comparisons, guides, research, case studies, landing pages, polls, quizzes, contests, testimonials, galleries, infographics, charts, maps, audio, podcasts, interviews, videos, webinars, presentations

    Video Marketing and Channels

    video marketing

    YouTube, Facebook live, Vimeo and so many other video hosting services offer an opportunity to attract people with your valuable content. Just like with email marketing you want to educate your prospects on the quality of your products and how your products are going to change their lives for the better.

    You can earn trust immediately if you show up as a real person in front of the camera. People want to do business with real people, and not with commercial or impersonal brands.

    Additionally, you can consider creating video commercials to advertise your store or dropshipping business.

    Have in mind that You-Tube videos get rankings in the search engines with ease, as You-Tube is part of Google. Videos get viewed, you receive traffic, and can be used as a magnet for leads/email subscribers, thus building a fan base.

    Podcasting

    podcasting

    Podcasting is a superb medium and underutilized and can boost your visibility online faster than the other channels mentioned above. Minimum costs, instant credibility, bond with listeners, relationships with ‘Icons’ and influencers, lead and sales.

    You can run your own podcasting show and appear on other people’s shows as well.

    To maximize this opportunity, use these 5 core engagement strategies:

    • Informing
    • Teaching
    • Entertaining
    • Intriguing
    • Challenging

    To make people enroll in your offers, programs, and services use these enrollment strategies:

    • Website/pixels
    • Social media
    • Lead magnets
    • Exploration sessions

    To be able to make money you can utilize these methods:

    • Merchandise
    • Online courses
    • Membership programs
    • Live events
    • Coaching

    Related Training & Resources

    Guerilla Marketing

    Guerilla or Outbound marketing is marketing that aims to interrupt people, usually masses of people. Companies use those so-called ‘cold’ techniques in order to bring people in front of their work no matter if those people are interested or not.

    Use these methods to spread the word about your dropshipping business or eCommerce store.

    In that category, you can find techniques like cold calling, emails to random people or companies (spam), phone call promotions, and interruptive media. Other companies use trade shows, seminar series, billboard ads, direct mail, TV and radio ads, listings in newspapers, magazines, brochures that are delivered to your door.

    This type of marketing includes unconventional, unusual ways to market products in the market. Again, companies and entrepreneurs use interruptive strategies to push their message in front of random people. In most of the cases, they try to keep the budget low

    The concept here involves the marketer’s imagination, energy, and ambitions. These tactics are usually applied in public, crowded places to get the attention of the masses. Guerrilla marketers hope to create a buzz around a company so that the message will spread with the word of mouth from people exposed to the campaign to their friends.

    The media in this section could be anything from flyers you leave in a bus station, under doors, inside of mailboxes, and any idea you can come up with. You can even share your business cards with strangers, buy someone a coffee, print messages in public toilets.

    Or even create graffiti on the walls, ads on taxis, buses, public transportation, posters on the streets, at stations, airports, and all this crazy stuff.

    If you want to get found, you have to make it happen!

    Other Tools & Resources

    Business Organisation & Operations, Multimedia, Marketplaces, Education, Networks

    BizHub the ultimate resource catalog for ambitious brands banner 728x90

    SERVICES

    Marketing & Advertising

    Website Development

    Private Training Workshops (marketing and business training via private live video-calls for brands, teams, and solo entrepreneurs)

    Custom Videos (coming soon)

    The Beginner’s Ultra Guide to Making Money Online

    Quick Navigation

    #1 – Click on a tab to open it up

    #2 – Click "Read More"

    Make Money Online Chapters

    Introduction

    Freelancer/Virtual Assistant

    eCommerce

    Selling Arts & Multimedia

    Designer

    Vlogging

    PTC-GPT-Surveys

    Build a Website

    Affiliate Marketing

    Information Products

    Public Speaking

    Launching Products Like a Pro

    Some of the links on this page are "sponsored". For more information, I refer you to the Disclaimer page

    2 Comments

    1. Alex

      I really enjoyed your blog Thanks for sharing such an informative post.

      Reply
      • Tasos

        Hi Alex

        I’m so glad you enjoyed this resource. Check back again soon!

        Reply

    Submit a Comment

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    7ID StoryX

     

    Get access to storytelling resources, the upcoming workshop with exclusive insights only for attendees, and the WMS membership with additional guides for serious entrepreneurship.

    Plus, unlock the "Story Odyssey" experience. 

    Story Odyssey is part of the 7ID StoryX (storytelling framework) info-book, which you will get during the workshop. This info-book will not be available once the workshop has ended. 

    The "Story Odyssey" is designed to lead you through the essential phases of storytelling, equipping you with the tools, insights and exercises to uncover and share your unique narrative. Each phase builds upon the last, guiding you step by step toward mastering the art of storytelling for your business and beyond.

    You have Successfully Subscribed!

    Pin It on Pinterest

    Share This