Quote: (02-07-2018 06:43 AM)WeekendCasanova Wrote:  

Quote: (02-01-2018 03:06 PM)DJ-Matt Wrote:  

Quote: (01-31-2018 01:53 PM)WeekendCasanova Wrote:  

Also - for those of you not wanting to hide your identity, I want to start an RVF Facebook group for making money online. Let me know if you're interested!

Would be something great for the private forum to keep prying eyes out.

Agreed.

I'll set this up.

Very interested, I already make a full-time income doing internet marketing but it'll be great to exchange ideas with like minded folks.

Quote: (02-06-2018 02:46 PM)Aviel Wrote:  

I really appreciate you sharing your work and methods here.

Can you please share how you target audiences? Lets say you’re selling T-shirts in the cat niche; what interests, behaviours, etc. would you use? What’s the optimum audience size? Keywords in your ad?

Is it better to test on etsy or with instagram influencers then move to FB ads if I generate some sales?

It seems most people are following those “gurus” on youtube but still not making sales or profit!!! What’s the secret honestly?

One more thing I wanted to mention about advertising. On Amazon Merch there's kind of a workaround that allows you to run PPC and sponsored listings with merch shirts. You basically need an Amazon AMS account and an Amazon Vendor account. The vendor account opens up the ability to have your shirt run alongside other peoples shirts and also can make you show up at the top of the page as a sponsored product.

Thank you Weekendcasanova and Jamaicabound, I have just sold my first T-shirt.

I know I would sell more if these instagram models would reply to my DMs/emails to wear my shirt. Anyways my first sale was on etsy, I don’t have a website yet as I’m testing designs.

I would love to start dropshipping tho, alot of guys are making bank!

Quote: (02-23-2018 07:23 AM)Aviel Wrote:  

Thank you Weekendcasanova and Jamaicabound, I have just sold my first T-shirt.

I know I would sell more if these instagram models would reply to my DMs/emails to wear my shirt. Anyways my first sale was on etsy, I don’t have a website yet as I’m testing designs.

I would love to start dropshipping tho, alot of guys are making bank!

Anyone with a decent following is probably gonna want a couple hundred bucks on top of a free shirt but there's probably some hot chicks with under 100k followers who may do it for a shirt or a shirt and $50

Yeah I should do that. I’ve been messaging girls with 400k+ followers and atleast 3% engagement rates. I guess I have to lower my standards now

Seems that Drop-shipping needs someone to master Facebook and Google Ads, I've seen general stores selling junk with over 1 million dollars in Revenue in 12 months and 20-40% profit margins and other other niche stores making the same or even more.

From my research I have found that niche stores are better grown by building a brand but general stores by just running ads on several platforms, correct me if I'm wrong.

Every single Dropshipping "GURU" keeps telling people to target US customers, and but I've found stores making over 5 or 6 figures a month targeting Germany, Australia, UK or France. I see so much potential there!

What do you guys think?

Another observation is that niches in fashion are the most profitable, for example accessories for women/men, yoga gear, watches, clothes for geeks/anime lovers, etc... I've even found stores selling Hip Hop chains making over 5 figures in revenue a month!!! this Dropshipping business model can honestly make a homeless person into a millionaire in a year, just gotta market that shit right.

^ I'm currently learning the ins & out of PPC Marketing... and it cannot not Help you in the long run. You have to mess around with so many keywords in crafting a campaign that you're Ad Copy skills will eventually make tou stand out. Definitely go for it. A fantastic ressource to learn from is Richard Stokes.

Currently studying about facebook ads for opening an online store. However, how am I able to run an online store from a different country? I want to sell in USA, but I live in Brazil. There is something more to do than just opening the store? Don't have a clue about it. Hope you guys can give me some help.

Quote: (02-27-2018 09:57 PM)Pump_IT Wrote:  

Currently studying about facebook ads for opening an online store. However, how am I able to run an online store from a different country? I want to sell in USA, but I live in Brazil. There is something more to do than just opening the store? Don't have a clue about it. Hope you guys can give me some help.

It all depends on where your manufacturing is occurring, the laws in each country about who can do business there and which currency you eventually want the profits to be in.

In the US, you would have three options. (1) Manufacture in the US (or use a manufacturing service that handles all the customs/importation issues for you, (2) ship directly from another country (and have the products go through customs as individual products), or (3) manufacture in another country and then import your products as a shipment (together) and store the product in the US and ship as necessary.

However, since you are talking about opening an online store, there is a 97% chance that you plan on selling t-shirts and doing manufacturing through a POD service that handles all the shipping for you, in which case, your only real concern would be moving earnings from USD to your currency of choice.

This shouldn't represent a significant challenge, you'd just have to work out the banking logistics based on whatever online payment processing service you plan to use.

How would you guys go about building a brand? I’ve been having problems with that. Can anyone share a list of things to do or a number of steps to follow.

I’m sick and tired of all these useless articles online full of words and lacking content. I would like something different from someone who has built a successful brand.

Well... if there was a definite answer to this... being an entrepreneur would be too easy First step is to establish who you are. As of right now, due to you being new, we don't have a grasp of who you are. Not having a profile pic doesn't help either! As for me, my profile pic is from a Martial Artist named Shogun Rua.

This right away let's you know I'm a Huge MMA Fan since this guy is a doorstep away from retirement. From My Bio signature... you'll read that I have a XXX blog where I aspire to join the business. From this you can assume I most likely love weight training... probably love bodybuilding & Pro Wrestling due to all these field being connected together (Ronda Rousey just joined WWE... and a lot of WWE Divas having being fitness bunnies & Pornstar - same on the Men's side)

Now if were the owner of Niche clothing company like Gym Shark for example... it would be crucial to tap into this market... especially the die hard bodybuilding fans! The useless article you've read... were probably a rehash of what I've just written above! That is it! What good is it to teach you how to set up a PPC campaign if you're not even sure of how you want to Brand Yourself?

And that's not a knock against you... since 90% of the population will never bother to ask themselves how to establish a Brand. It's simple... and simple ain't the same as easy! Establish who you are to yourself... and then the right step in order to establish YOUR BRAND will stand out... and you doing actions will be effortless!

Quote: (02-28-2018 01:48 AM)Captain Gh Wrote:  

Well... if there was a definite answer to this... being an entrepreneur would be too easy First step is to establish who you are. As of right now, due to you being new, we don't have a grasp of who you are. Not having a profile pic doesn't help either! As for me, my profile pic is from a Martial Artist named Shogun Rua.

This right away let's you know I'm a Huge MMA Fan since this guy is a doorstep away from retirement. From My Bio signature... you'll read that I have a XXX blog where I aspire to join the business. From this you can assume I most likely love weight training... probably love bodybuilding & Pro Wrestling due to all these field being connected together (Ronda Rousey just joined WWE... and a lot of WWE Divas having being fitness bunnies & Pornstar - same on the Men's side)

Now if were the owner of Niche clothing company like Gym Shark for example... it would be crucial to tap into this market... especially the die hard bodybuilding fans! The useless article you've read... were probably a rehash of what I've just written above! That is it! What good is it to teach you how to set up a PPC campaign if you're not even sure of how you want to Brand Yourself?

And that's not a knock against you... since 90% of the population will never bother to ask themselves how to establish a Brand. It's simple... and simple ain't the same as easy! Establish who you are to yourself... and then the right step in order to establish YOUR BRAND will stand out... and you doing actions will be effortless!

Thank you for your reply. I guess you're right about how to brand myself, I believe it's the hardest part.

I've tried many drop-shipping stores and not a single sale, except one T-Shirt on Etsy lol. I've spent a decent amount on ads but never seems to convert.

The Niches I tried: Men's fashion accessories, Yoga/Spiritual/Bohemian accessories, Vegans, Women's fashion accessories.

I'm thinking of starting a Lingerie website or Women's fashion clothing pieces or Yoga pants.

I would love to learn branding so later on I can make myself a brand and sell my own gear. However, I am getting better...

Nice blog btw, got a typo in your article "Guide to pick up some..." paragraph starts with "I like them mofos..." second sentence "damn to they know"

Quote: (02-27-2018 10:32 PM)Suits Wrote:  

Quote: (02-27-2018 09:57 PM)Pump_IT Wrote:  

Currently studying about facebook ads for opening an online store. However, how am I able to run an online store from a different country? I want to sell in USA, but I live in Brazil. There is something more to do than just opening the store? Don't have a clue about it. Hope you guys can give me some help.

It all depends on where your manufacturing is occurring, the laws in each country about who can do business there and which currency you eventually want the profits to be in.

In the US, you would have three options. (1) Manufacture in the US (or use a manufacturing service that handles all the customs/importation issues for you, (2) ship directly from another country (and have the products go through customs as individual products), or (3) manufacture in another country and then import your products as a shipment (together) and store the product in the US and ship as necessary.

However, since you are talking about opening an online store, there is a 97% chance that you plan on selling t-shirts and doing manufacturing through a POD service that handles all the shipping for you, in which case, your only real concern would be moving earnings from USD to your currency of choice.

This shouldn't represent a significant challenge, you'd just have to work out the banking logistics based on whatever online payment processing service you plan to use.

That's what I was looking for. Thanks man!

Quote: (02-28-2018 04:09 AM)Aviel Wrote:  

Quote: (02-28-2018 01:48 AM)Captain Gh Wrote:  

Well... if there was a definite answer to this... being an entrepreneur would be too easy First step is to establish who you are. As of right now, due to you being new, we don't have a grasp of who you are. Not having a profile pic doesn't help either! As for me, my profile pic is from a Martial Artist named Shogun Rua.

This right away let's you know I'm a Huge MMA Fan since this guy is a doorstep away from retirement. From My Bio signature... you'll read that I have a XXX blog where I aspire to join the business. From this you can assume I most likely love weight training... probably love bodybuilding & Pro Wrestling due to all these field being connected together (Ronda Rousey just joined WWE... and a lot of WWE Divas having being fitness bunnies & Pornstar - same on the Men's side)

Now if were the owner of Niche clothing company like Gym Shark for example... it would be crucial to tap into this market... especially the die hard bodybuilding fans! The useless article you've read... were probably a rehash of what I've just written above! That is it! What good is it to teach you how to set up a PPC campaign if you're not even sure of how you want to Brand Yourself?

And that's not a knock against you... since 90% of the population will never bother to ask themselves how to establish a Brand. It's simple... and simple ain't the same as easy! Establish who you are to yourself... and then the right step in order to establish YOUR BRAND will stand out... and you doing actions will be effortless!

Thank you for your reply. I guess you're right about how to brand myself, I believe it's the hardest part.

I've tried many drop-shipping stores and not a single sale, except one T-Shirt on Etsy lol. I've spent a decent amount on ads but never seems to convert.

The Niches I tried: Men's fashion accessories, Yoga/Spiritual/Bohemian accessories, Vegans, Women's fashion accessories.

I'm thinking of starting a Lingerie website or Women's fashion clothing pieces or Yoga pants.

I would love to learn branding so later on I can make myself a brand and sell my own gear. However, I am getting better...

Nice blog btw, got a typo in your article "Guide to pick up some..." paragraph starts with "I like them mofos..." second sentence "damn to they know"

Hehe thanks I'll be sure to correct it! Maybe this clip will help you out. There used to be the entire 17 part series online... but it's been removed now. I know Kevin Trudeau is mostly known as a snake oil salesman... but keep in mind he's hit many many homeruns from his Mega Memory Ad, to his book Natural Cures... and his organization named the Global Information Network.







Bottom line: The guy knows how to sell. You obviously have no problem with the doing... as you've been taking massive actions... and trying over and over again. Watch this video, and focus on listening to great speakers like him, and my new discovery, Billy Gene. There's a likeability factor you seem to be missing. Especially if you want to sell shirts, there's a certain emotional attachment you need to convey in order to sell a lot of them.

Thank you for sharing the video, helped alot.

I was wondering if anyone has a detailed guide on how to do effective FB ads targeting for POD.

Like number of interests? audience size? each ad should have 1 or several interests? should I focus on one country? should I also add behavior? etc..

Quote: (02-28-2018 01:05 AM)Aviel Wrote:  

How would you guys go about building a brand? I’ve been having problems with that. Can anyone share a list of things to do or a number of steps to follow.

I’m sick and tired of all these useless articles online full of words and lacking content. I would like something different from someone who has built a successful brand.

Find a brand in the same niche and copy them. If I wanted to make rolling papers I'd go to Raw's website see what they are doing on site, with social media, on their blog, and copy the hell out of it with my own twist and crafted for my brand.

Quote: (02-28-2018 04:09 AM)Aviel Wrote:  

Quote: (02-28-2018 01:48 AM)Captain Gh Wrote:  

Well... if there was a definite answer to this... being an entrepreneur would be too easy First step is to establish who you are. As of right now, due to you being new, we don't have a grasp of who you are. Not having a profile pic doesn't help either! As for me, my profile pic is from a Martial Artist named Shogun Rua.

This right away let's you know I'm a Huge MMA Fan since this guy is a doorstep away from retirement. From My Bio signature... you'll read that I have a XXX blog where I aspire to join the business. From this you can assume I most likely love weight training... probably love bodybuilding & Pro Wrestling due to all these field being connected together (Ronda Rousey just joined WWE... and a lot of WWE Divas having being fitness bunnies & Pornstar - same on the Men's side)

Now if were the owner of Niche clothing company like Gym Shark for example... it would be crucial to tap into this market... especially the die hard bodybuilding fans! The useless article you've read... were probably a rehash of what I've just written above! That is it! What good is it to teach you how to set up a PPC campaign if you're not even sure of how you want to Brand Yourself?

And that's not a knock against you... since 90% of the population will never bother to ask themselves how to establish a Brand. It's simple... and simple ain't the same as easy! Establish who you are to yourself... and then the right step in order to establish YOUR BRAND will stand out... and you doing actions will be effortless!

Thank you for your reply. I guess you're right about how to brand myself, I believe it's the hardest part.

I've tried many drop-shipping stores and not a single sale, except one T-Shirt on Etsy lol. I've spent a decent amount on ads but never seems to convert.

The Niches I tried: Men's fashion accessories, Yoga/Spiritual/Bohemian accessories, Vegans, Women's fashion accessories.

I'm thinking of starting a Lingerie website or Women's fashion clothing pieces or Yoga pants.

I would love to learn branding so later on I can make myself a brand and sell my own gear. However, I am getting better...

Nice blog btw, got a typo in your article "Guide to pick up some..." paragraph starts with "I like them mofos..." second sentence "damn to they know"

Every niche or idea you've mentioned is some of the most competitive and some may say saturated niches out there. Anything that is perceived as "cool" is gonna be saturated. Everyone wants to have a yoga brand so your competing for keywrods and buyers with a bunch of other people. Same with mens fashion accessories, you know how many Ali Express dropshippers there are out there selling money clips, wallets, belts and valet trays.

Unless you have a large online following or are an influencer in a particular niche or field its going to be a very longterm game for you unless you have money to throw behind paid ads and get good at it.

Her'es the tough thing about brand businesses. If you were selling swiffer pads, I need those to clean my house so I buy them. If your selling a yoga shirt, not really something I need so you really need to convinece me your brand is cool, the lifestyle or image behind it is cool and you need to make me make an impulse buy.

I can go buy a super nice soft target tee shirt for $10, whats gonna make me spend $25 on your POD shirt?

You do have a point but if I have a unique design then someone is going to pay 25$ for my POD shirt.

I only sold 2 T-Shirts on Etsy and my designs are not new but just better than others. I sold each T-Shirt for 26 USD plus 5 shipping and another one plus 10 shipping.

This means people are willing to pay money to buy my shirts, since I'm targeting a passionate niche.

I'm not planning on selling random yoga pants, but niche-related yoga pants. For example: Cat lovers yoga pants, Feminist yoga pants, Pro-Lesbians yoga pants, Wtvr yoga pants.

I've been following several owners of very successful POD businesses and some of them have sold over a million dollars worth of products.

Quote: (03-27-2018 03:23 PM)Aviel Wrote:  

You do have a point but if I have a unique design then someone is going to pay 25$ for my POD shirt.

I only sold 2 T-Shirts on Etsy and my designs are not new but just better than others. I sold each T-Shirt for 26 USD plus 5 shipping and another one plus 10 shipping.

This means people are willing to pay money to buy my shirts, since I'm targeting a passionate niche.

I'm not planning on selling random yoga pants, but niche-related yoga pants. For example: Cat lovers yoga pants, Feminist yoga pants, Pro-Lesbians yoga pants, Wtvr yoga pants.

I've been following several owners of very successful POD businesses and some of them have sold over a million dollars worth of products.

You are definitely on the right track with hitting multiple niches ie there's a ton of competition for Yoga and a ton for cats, but not really many products out there for yoga lovers who also love cats.

Starting on Etsy was a smart move, you basically prove the concept with the help of Etsys built in traffic. That said keep in mind when you move off to Shopify you have to drive your own traffic. You have to be very good at content marketing and social media to drive traffic when you don't have Etsy's built in traffic.

Some may disagree with me but personally I don't think running paid ads is feasible, the margins on POD are so slim and it's a lower price point item to begin with, unless your an ad master I see you spending majority of your profits on ads. I see a lot of POD gurus talk about doing a million in sales, I wouldn't be surprised if they are spending 700K on ads 250k is product cost and after all that they're making 50k, dont get me wrong 50k is good money for a side hustle but its peanuts when comparing it to a mill in sales.

I'm not saying no to do it but realize lifestyle type marketing is very tough

Quote: (03-27-2018 03:45 PM)jamaicabound Wrote:  

Some may disagree with me but personally I don't think running paid ads is feasible, the margins on POD are so slim and it's a lower price point item to begin with, unless your an ad master I see you spending majority of your profits on ads. I see a lot of POD gurus talk about doing a million in sales, I wouldn't be surprised if they are spending 700K on ads 250k is product cost and after all that they're making 50k, dont get me wrong 50k is good money for a side hustle but its peanuts when comparing it to a mill in sales.

I'm not saying no to do it but realize lifestyle type marketing is very tough

This baffles me.

I sell my POD shirts for $22.99, and they cost roughly $6 - $17 US profit right off the bat. EVEN accounting for a super low CPP at $10, I'm still making $7 (33%) per T-shirt sale.

And no, you don't need to be an ads master. An idiot could launch a targeted FB ad.

I believe the idea is to build a long email list, and make minimal profit at first. Then start advertising to previous customers for free, that's when the profit margins start to get better.

Ya I realized I suck at lifestyle type marketing, its been my biggest drawback. I'm reading a lot about it but I've never been the creative/artistic type of guy.

I'm trying to find a friend that would help me with this.

However, I still have to learn targeting on facebook and every video/book makes it seem so easy. I'm sure its all bullsht!

Gildan T-Shirts are 6 dollars on customcat. However, I prefer to sell to women, which T-Shirts do you use when targeting women?

Quote: (03-27-2018 03:53 PM)WeekendCasanova Wrote:  

Quote: (03-27-2018 03:45 PM)jamaicabound Wrote:  

Some may disagree with me but personally I don't think running paid ads is feasible, the margins on POD are so slim and it's a lower price point item to begin with, unless your an ad master I see you spending majority of your profits on ads. I see a lot of POD gurus talk about doing a million in sales, I wouldn't be surprised if they are spending 700K on ads 250k is product cost and after all that they're making 50k, dont get me wrong 50k is good money for a side hustle but its peanuts when comparing it to a mill in sales.

I'm not saying no to do it but realize lifestyle type marketing is very tough

This baffles me.

I sell my POD shirts for $22.99, and they cost roughly $6 - $17 US profit right off the bat. EVEN accounting for a super low CPP at $10, I'm still making $7 (33%) per T-shirt sale.

And no, you don't need to be an ads master. An idiot could launch a targeted FB ad.

Where are you getting POD shirts for $6? If you say custom cat the shirt quality is shit IMHO.

As far as an idiot running FB ads, checkout a subreddit like eCommerce or Printify and you'll see tons of people how come I spent $500 on FB ads and havn't made any sales?

In my experience any halfway decent POD shirt is gonna run $12 or $13 plus another $4 for shipping so that brings the total to $16 or $17 which on a $22 shirt leaves about $5.

Checkout PrintAura, the price is about 3x what your paying however shirt quality will be better but even better, if your trying to create a brand they do a lot to let you come across as a real brand and not just another POD seller. They let you do packins meaning if you want to get some cheap keychain or something made to include with the package you can do that. They can put your logo on the tag, they can do hangtags. Basically if your trying to create like a brand or a clothing line its a pretty nice option.

Honestly what I would recommend to most people, while this is technically against Amazon policy, put your shirts on Merch and use Merch as your dropshipper. Unless you get to super high volume it won't cause any problem. The free 2 day shiping is great and the shirt quality for a base price of $14 or so is pretty good, I personally preferred Anvil to Port and Company but whatever. Anyhow, this is probably the best quality at the best price you can get in terms of POD.

I guess it depends on what your doing. If your making novelty shirts I suppose a Gildan will do. If your actually trying to create a lifestyle brand I personally wouldn't want my brand associated with a Gildan shirt.

Quote: (03-27-2018 03:53 PM)Aviel Wrote:  

I believe the idea is to build a long email list, and make minimal profit at first. Then start advertising to previous customers for free, that's when the profit margins start to get better.

Ya I realized I suck at lifestyle type marketing, its been my biggest drawback. I'm reading a lot about it but I've never been the creative/artistic type of guy.

I'm trying to find a friend that would help me with this.

However, I still have to learn targeting on facebook and every video/book makes it seem so easy. I'm sure its all bullsht!

Just curious why are you wanting to start this business? You pretty much say your not creative and not really good at marketing and creating a lifestyle brand. I feel like too many people wanna start a POD business because it's a low barrier to entry and everyone else is doing it.

Some people are really passionate about marketing and about their niche for them the business is their lifestyle. For example maybe I live to go paddleboarding. I start a paddleboarding clothing line, I post pictures of myself paddleboarding, going on paddleboarding trips, etc. It's almost documenting my life as much as it is running a business. For this type of thing it makes sense.

If you don't have somethign like the above situation I would recommend getting on Amazon Merch and just cranking out designs for all types of stuff. Maybe that and a combination of Etsy.

If your not really a marketer and not passionate about cats and yoga I think this may not be the right business for you to get into.

I’m passionate about money. I try everything I can to make the most of it, that’s all.

I can learn marketing and stuff like that. I will try Amazon too but I also want to make a website and sell some T-Shirts.

The business model is too easy and very rewarding to not take the opportunity. It takes me about 1 hour of work a day, once I have my website might take me 3-6 but that’s still ok.