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thoughts on my Shopify + Facebook process (15)

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so I am testing out the ecommerce waters after finally scratching together some funds for testing and I just wanted to get some opinions on the process of testing out different products.

So essentially for this first test all I have done is follow a guide posted on here a couple weeks ago and setup a very simple Shopify store:

• 3 pages only - Homepage, Products page, Checkout .. I didn't want to waste time making it look nice before I knew whether or not the product would sell
• Simple page post advertisement on Facebook - $10/day, 850k audience
• So far $3.60 spent and no conversions - not surprised as this is my first time using Facebook

Some Questions:

1. Is it good practice to spend time building a brand around the product? i.e social media accounts with posts, spending time making a robust store, email lists, etc...
2. Is my testing strategy ok? I wanted to do something barebones that wouldn't take much time so that I could test ASAP and get info on whether or not I should move on to a different product.

Thanks in advance!!

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1. Yes, of course. Building a brand is one of the main end games for most people (I assume)
2. I don't have much experience with FB and Shopify, but I replied because I wanted to say the first point.

Good luck!

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"3 pages only - Homepage, Products page, Checkout .. I didn't want to waste time making it look nice before I knew whether or not the product would sell"

I think you underestimate the impact of a "half" website, when it comes to conversion rates. Trustworthiness is key when you aren't established yet with your brand I think. Unless your products are so unique/niche, people don't care and buy anyway.

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I know quite a few huge store owners that do 8 figures in Shopify. They all confirm margins are razor thin these days as overhead eats up most of the potential profits.

There has been an explosion in Shopify gurus many that made money and no longer can so they teach instead and flash old screenshots or results etc.




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I'm part of the Clickfunnels official Facebook group. Highly suggest eavesdropping! Lot's of good success stories (with FB Ads) and Shopify owners.

- Brian, Dir of Network Distribution

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surely there are people making money with it.. in fact I think in the guide that was released on this forum of what's working in 2018, ecommerce was the number one suggestion.

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Thanks! I started thinking about it earlier today and came to the conclusion that there are many things relating to the actual website that act as levers for conversion rates. Examples I thought of include:

- site design
- product descriptions
- social media presence (my store currently has 0 facebook likes lmao)
- etc.

Would you say that it is a more effective route to try and build a brand, rather than not?

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If gurus were REALLY making money, they wouldn't bother creating a product about how to make money, they'd be busy making money. Let's be honest and forget about the "I made it and now want to give back" speech. C'mon lets be honest guys, I can snap a screen of an aff network driving 100k revenue in the last 3-6 months. Do they show ad spend? No. Do they know that margins are potentially 10-30%? No. Are they aware of tracker/server/outsourcing fees? No. Of wire transfer fees, US currency exchange, and bank and credit card exchange fees? No.

No they are not.

Can you make money with Shopify and dropshipping, or any other CPA model type campaigns nowadays? Yes of course.

But no one bothers to show you the small details that add up at the end of the day.

They show you wins. And in affiliate marketing, wins dont exist every single day.

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It depends a bit on the product. If it's a unique product which is scarce or very niche, you can build an ugly website with horrible check-out, people will still buy it.
There is not story to sell, the product itself does.

But if the products are common and not unique, yes try to act as a fancy brand in that category. Sell a story, not that shitty product.

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Yes, but I think most people understand this

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100%
I've definitely made purchases of unique products on sites that look like they were built with MS Frontpage.

- Brian

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No most dont
Gurus teach how to scale

They have no idea about the little things that make money. Look at sebastian gomez course

Renowned youtube superguru.

He videos everything step by step up until camp creation.

When it comes time to review data he switched to screenshots and slideshows. LoL

Because u can test 1000 products and 999 will have zero sales after $100 spend. Even if you flex target the supposed “most passionate” Audience.




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alright not interested in arguing, just interested in making money, not what gurus are doing. I haven't been following any of them to begin with.

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Others are right about brand building.

But don't let that stop you from doing something today

Test -> Measure -> Learn.

When I started, I didn't brother to do the home page of the website.

There is no rule on these kind things.

Try it, If works, continue with it, if doesn't switch.

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There are quite a few things that matter as a basis:

- Get an investor mindset rather than winning offer mindset

You want to invest in your site, so it starts working for you. That beats getting one winner, not knowing why and having to hunt for the next one.

So build a solid site, which is very easy these days. And mainly invest in quality, like a good story of why you exist. This will help you with all your branding, as all you need to do is execute on your story

Example: we started this because we thought the quality of the products was shit. Because we saw they broke quickly, which is why etc.

Once you position yourself this way, you know which people you'll attract, which products you want to add etc.


That's my way of doing this ecom stuff, but there's nothing wrong with building and flipping, but only if that's your strategy.

- Focus on learning

We will do about 1 million om Amazon this year. In 2 countries.

Up from 200 K last year and nothing before.

How?

I know my niche, have built up the volume in the regular business, found the right source for each product (all branded products) and focused on what works.

Hypothesis -> test -> scale or kill

Sounds simple, which it is when you know customers, products and the marketplace.

Very, very difficult to execute on and keep consistent if you are just betting on a lucky find.


As for gurus...

Like it was pointed out above, they make money from selling courses / training and joint ventures.

Not saying there's no value, but this week it's facebook, next week it's youtube, then it's chatbots. Then it's pitching a JV product from Grant Cardone etc.
Always sounds great, but they keep you getting out your credit card and jumping from one thing to the other.

I'd try to get a mentor if I was starting out. A guy who has done what you want to do (go from zero to 1 million, or scale from 1 to 5 million)
This forum is great as a start, but a mentor can take you to the next level quick.

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