457: Exactly How I’d Build A New Ecommerce Business Today From Scratch – Family First Friday

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You’re listening to the My Wife Could Her Job podcast, where I teach you how to start a business or side hustle from the perspective of a father with two kids. Welcome to a new segment to the show, which I’m calling Family First Fridays in honor of my book, The Family First Entrepreneur. If you haven’t picked up the book yet, you can get over $690 in free bonuses for pre-ordering the hard copy over at thefamilyfirstentrepreneur.com. And in these solo episodes, I will be presenting to you my personal thoughts about family

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entrepreneurship, business, and life, and we’ll talk about a wide variety of topics. Today, we’re gonna talk about exactly what I would do if I were to start an e-commerce business today. Now, if you’re thinking about starting an e-commerce business this year, it’s important to have a plan in place to ensure that you are successful, because the world of e-commerce is constantly changing, and in this episode, I’m gonna walk you through the exact steps that I would take if I were to start an online store this year. Now, first off, you gotta choose a business model.

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Now, if you’re on YouTube or Facebook, you’ve probably seen ads for drop shipping or retail arbitrage or Amazon wholesale. And in the current landscape, I would not do any of those business models because it’s short term thinking. Sure, you might be able to make a couple bucks here and there, but it’s not going to be a business with longevity. I’ve been running my e-commerce store over at Bumblebee Linens for 17 years now, and it’s still going strong because I own my own brand and my products. And you got to think long term. For example,

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Drop shipping has largely been nerfed by Amazon. And back in the day, brands wanted drop shippers in order to increase their sales force without hiring. But today, Amazon owns over 50 % of e-commerce, and it’s super easy for any brand to list their products on Amazon and keep all the profit. Why give a 50 % discount to an online retailer and handle shipping and fulfillment when you can just leave it up to Amazon? When it comes to selling wholesale, you are selling other people’s products

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which means that there are many other vendors selling the exact same thing. And this always leads to price erosion. Now the way to be successful in e-commerce today is to own your own brand and have full control. This is why I would only consider doing private label today. Now that’s not to say that you can’t start out drop shipping or doing wholesale, but it should only be a stepping stone to private label. All right, let’s go through the steps now on what I would do. Step one, you got to find a product.

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And obviously you can’t get started unless you have something to sell. And the best way to do this is by looking at your own everyday problems and just find products that solve them. By identifying a problem that you or people around you have and finding a product that solves that problem, you can be sure that there’s any market for that product. For example, we started selling handkerchiefs online because we couldn’t find them anywhere. My friend started selling decorative pill holders because she wanted one.

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I run a class of over 5,000 students and the most successful students focus on products that leverage their specific skills or based on areas where they have knowledge. For example, Amanda Wittenborn makes millions selling custom-designed party supplies because that’s what she’s good at. My friend Rob sells an attachment for drone remotes because he’s into drones. If you’re completely clueless about what to sell, you can leverage tools like Jungle Scout that can help you find products that have high demand but low competition.

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Tools like Jungle Scout will allow you to do market research on Amazon to find out how much money every listing makes and allow you to gauge the level of competition. You can also do research with tools like Ahrefs to see what people are searching for on Google or Terapeak to see what’s selling on eBay. By the way, if you want more information on how to find profitable products to sell, make sure you sign up for my free six day mini course over at mywifequitterjob.com slash free. Step two, got to find a supplier and the goal

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is to find a supplier who can provide you with the product you want at a price that allows you to make a profit. Now when it comes to private label, your goal is to be able to achieve at least a 66 % gross margin on your sales. This means that if you sell something for $9, you get to keep $6. There are a few different ways you can go about finding a supplier. One popular method is to use a website like Alibaba to search for manufacturers of the product you want to sell, and you can filter your search by location.

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price and other parameters to find the best supplier for your needs. Another option is to attend trade shows or fairs that are related to your product. And this can be a great way to meet manufacturers and suppliers in person. And it’s also an opportunity to see their products up close. That before COVID, I used to go to the Canton fair every other year. You can also consider hiring a sourcing agent who can help you find a supplier that meets your needs. And they’re just experts in finding and vetting suppliers. And they can save you lot of time and effort at a cost of

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When you find a supplier that you’re interested in working with, be sure to communicate your expectations and ask for samples. Make sure you’re happy with the quality. Check for the minimum order quantity and the pricing of your product. And if you’re happy with what you receive, you can then proceed to order a small batch of products to test the market. And then move on to larger orders once you’ve validated that your product is in demand. Now it’s important to note when working with a supplier to make sure that you have a clear and written agreement about the terms of the deal

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including delivery times, payment methods, returns and guarantees on quality. So for example, when we order linens, we expect a defect ratio of less than 3%. It’s also important to keep open communication with your supplier to ensure that everything runs smoothly. And we have all of our vendors on WhatsApp and WeChat. Step three is to validate your product. Once you have samples, your goal is to validate the demand for your product before making a large investment on inventory. And you got to try to sell them to gauge how well the product will sell.

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There’s a couple different ways you can go about selling your samples. One way is to join Facebook groups that are related to your product and start promoting your product there. You can also reach out to group admins to see if you can post your product in their group. For example, when we first started selling wedding handkerchiefs, I started posting in the wedding forms. I didn’t try to sell anything. I would just ask questions like, hey, I’m looking for a hanky where I can put my initials on it. Do you guys know where I can find such a thing? And then later I would say something like, hey, I finally found a place online, but I had to buy a bunch.

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If any of you want my extras, let me know. Another option is to list your product on eBay. This can be a great way to validate demand for your product as well as test different pricing strategies. You can also list your product on other online marketplaces like Amazon or Etsy. You can also use Jungle Scout to see how Amazon’s sales are for that product, do some competitive analysis and check which brands are doing well in the market and how much they are selling it for. Now it’s important to note that in this step, you don’t have to make a big investment yet.

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Just sell a couple samples and test the waters. And in this way, you can see if people are willing to pay for your product. You can also get great feedback from your early adopters. And from this, you can then make adjustments to your product and pricing before making a large investment in inventory. The next step is to list your product on Amazon. Now, one thing that I do differently from other e-commerce business owners is that I always test my products on Amazon first. Amazon owns 50 % of e-commerce. They have a large built-in audience of buyers.

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Now takes some work to launch a website, so the easiest way to generate sales quickly is to sell on Amazon. But remember, the end goal is to own your own branded website. If your stuff sells well on Amazon, then you should start working on your website immediately. Here’s a brief list of steps to get started on Amazon. And by the way, I cover Amazon pretty extensively in my course. Just do a search on mywifequitterjob.com and I actually cover everything for free. Now you got to list your product. To list your product on Amazon,

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you’ll need to set up an Amazon seller account. And once you have an account, you can list your product by creating a listing on Amazon’s Marketplace and make sure your listing follows Amazon’s guidelines, is well optimized and has great images and a description. You also want to run Amazon PPC ads. Amazon’s pay-per-click advertising program can be a great way to generate sales for your product. And by running these ads, your product will show up at the top of the search results for relevant keywords, increasing the chances that customers will find it.

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And to get the most out of your Amazon listing, you should make sure to follow all the best practices for Amazon optimization. This includes optimizing your product title, your bullet points, and your description with relevant keywords, making sure you have high quality images of your product, and pricing your product competitively. And if you want more information, you can just sign up for my Amazon mini course found on mywifequitterjob.com. Now, by listing your product on Amazon, you can reach a large customer base and generate cash flow

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while you work on building your own website and brand. And keep in mind that selling on Amazon can be competitive and cutthroat. So my long-term strategy is to validate on Amazon and then focus on your own website. Use your Amazon earnings to fund your brand. Step number five is to start your own website. Now, if your initial samples or small order sells out, you should then order a larger batch and start your own website. And the goal is to establish your own brand and control the customer experience by building a property that you own.

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And depending on your technical expertise, here are the shopping carts that I recommend. Now, if you’re not tech savvy, you have the budget, and you want the best supported platform, then just go with Shopify. Shopify is user-friendly and easy to use, and it allows you to set up your own online store quickly and easily. And Shopify has by far the best third-party ecosystem, and you can find plugins that do almost anything. Now, if you’re on a budget, you can use Shift for Shop or WooCommerce, which are free to use. Now, the main downside,

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is that they aren’t as user friendly as Shopify, but they are just as powerful. And then finally, you can also go with BigCommerce, which is Shopify-like, but cheaper. And what I like about BigCommerce is that you don’t get nickel and diamond with apps. Most of the functionality you need comes out of the box. Now, once you’ve chosen your platform, you can then start customizing your website by choosing a theme, adding pages and products, creating categories, and setting up payment and shipping options. You’ll want to make sure that you incorporate your value proposition.

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and why you are different on your website and display it prominently on top of the fold. This will help visitors to understand why your brand is unique and why they should choose you over your competitors. And the goal of your website is to establish your own brand, control the customer experience, and differentiate yourself from your competitors. You’ll be able to build a loyal customer base that you can then market over time through email marketing, SMS marketing, and other strategies. Step number six, implement email marketing.

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Now the average conversion rate for an online store is only 2%, which means that 98 % of your customers will visit and leave your site without buying anything. And the goal with email marketing is to retain customers and encourage repeat business by sending targeted automated email campaigns. Here are the four automated email flows that you should implement. The first email campaign you should set up is for abandoned carts. And these are triggered when a customer adds them to their cart but doesn’t complete the purchase. By sending them an email,

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reminding them of their items in their cart, and possibly including a special offer, you can encourage them to return to your website and complete the purchase. Another campaign you should set up is a pre-purchase sequence. These are a series of automated emails that are sent to customers who have shown interest in your products but haven’t bought yet. And the purpose of these emails is to build trust and educate the customer about your product and why they should buy it. Once a customer makes a purchase, you can then set up a post-purchase campaign

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to thank them for their purchase and encourage them to leave a review or make a repeat purchase. And for customers who haven’t made a purchase in a while, you can set up a WinBack campaign to re-engage them and encourage them to make another purchase. Now, to get people to sign up for your email list, you must set up a lead magnet email sign-up form. You can offer free shipping or a discount code as an incentive for them to sign up. And by implementing email marketing and automating these campaigns,

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you can effectively communicate with your customers and encourage repeat business on autopilot. And the same philosophy is true with SMS or text message marketing. Now like email, the goal with sending texts is to engage customers in real time and increase conversion rates by sending messages that customers get directly on their phone. By the way, I use Klaviyo for email and Postscript for SMS. Step number seven is content creation. Now let’s shift gears now and just talk about customer acquisition.

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I like to use a three-prong attack. The first prong is content. With content, the goal is to generate free organic traffic to your website by producing valuable and informative content that attracts your target audience. And one way to create content is through blogging. By creating a blog on your website, you can share helpful tips, industry news, product reviews, or behind-the-scenes information about your business. And you can also include calls to action within your blog post to encourage visitors to explore your website further.

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Our blog and search engine optimization generates about 25 % of our sales for free. Another way to create content is through YouTube. By creating videos that are related to your product or industry, you can attract a large audience, establish your brand as an authority, and drive more traffic to your website. My YouTube channel over at MyWifeQuitterJob makes $300,000 a year just on ads alone. Podcasting is another way to create content and reach a large audience. By creating audio content on a regular basis,

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you can establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry and attract a dedicated following. Now this podcast is a top 25 show on all of Apple podcasts in the marketing category. And yet you’re listening right now. And obviously if you’re listening to it, it must have affected you in some way. can also create content for social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And by regularly posting engaging and informative content, you can attract a large following and drive more traffic to your website. Now in order to make content work,

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You have to be consistent and that requires that you put yourself on a content schedule. This could be one post or video per week or whatever schedule works best for your business. And by consistently creating valuable and informative content, you can attract a large and engaged audience, establish your brand as an authority and drive more traffic to your website. And this will also help you to attract customers who are likely to be interested in your products and will increase the chances of them converting into buyers. Step number eight is advertising.

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This next prong is paid advertising and the goal is to generate immediate sales to reach your target audience on platforms like Amazon, Google, Facebook and Instagram. Facebook ads are a powerful tool for reaching your target audience and driving sales. And by creating highly targeted ads that are relevant to your target audience, you can increase the chances they will click through to your website and make a purchase. Google ads is another powerful advertising platform you can use to drive sales. If your product has high search intent, you can create ads that are triggered

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by relevant keywords and appear at the top of Google search results. Now, the exact methodology for running ads is beyond the scope of this episode, but feel free to browse my YouTube channel or my blog for more videos and content on how to run ads. Anyway, by advertising on Facebook and Google, you can generate immediate sales and reach a large audience quickly, but just keep in mind that these ads can be expensive. So it’s important to track your results, make adjustments as needed.

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Step number nine is to focus on your best customers. Most people focus all their efforts on getting new customers, but the bread and butter for any business is repeat business. After all, it’s much easier to convert someone who has already bought. And the goal with this step is to identify and nurture relationships with your best customers in order to drive more sales and increase customer loyalty. Now to identify your best customers, you can just start by looking at metrics such as lifetime value, purchase frequency, and average order value.

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Customers who have a high lifetime value, purchase frequently and have a high order value are likely to be your best customers and should be a priority for your business. Once you’ve identified your best customers, you can start building relationships with them by providing them with excellent customer service, special offers and discounts, or exclusive access to new products or services. Here’s what we do. We go up all of our best customers of phone call, offer them a special discount that can be used at any time,

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and a dedicated rep to handle their orders. Most of our big customers are wedding and event planners who buy in bulk from us, and they represent a large part of our business, so we make them feel special. You can also create a special Facebook group where your best customers can make suggestions and give feedback on products, and this will help you improve your products and services as well. And by focusing on your best customers, you can increase customer loyalty, drive more sales, and improve your overall customer experience. And by identifying the most valuable customers,

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You can allocate resources and energy on keeping them happy and engaged and this will help to increase customer lifetime value and drive a lot more large repeat purchases. Now I’ve said a lot in this episode, so let’s put it all together. Once you find a product and a supplier, you want to first validate your product on platforms like eBay and Amazon to make sure that they’re going to sell. Then you want to start working on your own e-commerce website as soon as possible.

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Implement automated flows to retain your visitors and focus on your best customers. And if you do all that, I guarantee that over time, you will have a successful e-commerce business. By the way, if you’ve enjoyed this particular episode, make sure you sign up for my free six day mini course over at mywifequitterjob.com slash free. And just make sure you pre-order my book, The Family First Entrepreneur over at thefamilyfirstentrepreneur.com.

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and make sure on that page you redeem your $690 in free bonuses.