“Is drop shipping dead?” - so many blog posts in 2018
We’ve recently encountered a paradox of sorts.
If you type “is drop shipping dead” in a Google search bar and hit enter, you’ll notice that the first page is chockfull of blog posts with that exact same title. This could only mean that people are catching on the thought that the drop shipping business model is pretty much in a bubble, and if it hasn’t already burst, it’s most certainly about to.
The arguments on those blog posts against the merits of drop shipping echo our own. That is why we focus on a business model that is sustainable and won’t go anywhere anytime soon—building a brand through private labeling.
Then Dave stumbled upon something interesting while doing some research for a blog post. He found that the average monthly Google searches for “drop shipping” was about 400k in 2016 when drop shipping was at its most successful. Come January 2018, and the searches for the same phrase was at a whopping 1.2 million. If blog posts are questioning the merits of drop shipping, why is there an increased interest in drop shipping?
This issue caught even more of our attention when someone from a site selling drop shipping courses reached out to us asking to come on the podcast. If this site is earning more than $3 million dollars, is drop shipping, in fact, not dead?
Interestingly, Dave and I have different opinions about this. I believe that drop shipping is not sustainable with very razor thin margins and is not worth it. Dave, however, thinks that there is still some opportunity left.
So we decided to take it to the recording studio and have a debate about whether or not drop shipping is dead, and if private labeling is definitely the way to go. This episode is the result of that debate.
Some conversation points:
This has been an insightful and fun episode. Dave does’t come on the podcast enough, but when he does come, we usually debate about something we have different opinions on.
This episode will hopefully give you an insight to the two sides of the coin. In the end, the choice will be yours. What’s important is that you know what you’re getting into, and that you don’t buy into the hype simply because of the hype.
Resources mentioned:
MyEcomCrew
State of the Merchant report
CB Radios
Trollingmotors.net
Survivalfood.com
E121: How Ezra Firestone Spends Money Growing His Businesses
Global Sources Summit
EcomCrew Hong Kong Mastermind
Thanks for listening to this episode. Until next week, happy selling!
If you've been listening to the podcast for the better part of the quarter, then my 10 million dollar goal by the end of the year should be pretty familiar to you. Let me tell you something though, our forecast does not actually point to $10 million, it's actually $9.7 million to be specific. But... $10 million sounds a lot nicer :)
But how did we come up with $10 million in the first place? Was it because it sounded nice? Well, a little bit of yes...and no. Over the past couple of years we noticed a trend in our business: we've been constantly in growth mode, usually doubling in revenue every year. So we thought it natural for our business to double again, and since we ended 2017 at $5 million in revenue, we're on track to get to the $10 million mark this year.
But we realized that going from $5 million to $10 million requires so much more effort and resources than it did going from $2.5 million to $5 million. That means we need to make changes and do things we haven't done ever before. That also means our target revenue is still pretty arbitrary. At this point we realized the truth of a quote I like to attribute to Dave:
"Ambiguous goals lead to ambiguous outcomes."
So our COO Jaqueline and I sat down to examine if we can get to that revenue at all, and if so, how. After thoroughly inspecting all aspects of our business, we finally got to a revenue number that's not just pulled out of thin air and is backed by deep research: $9.7 million. Close enough.
In this episode I discuss exactly how we got to that number (down to the penny). But as a sneak peak, here are 3 key areas of improvement from which we derived that number:
Forecasting is a long and arduous process, but it gives you an idea if your goals are at all possible and if so, how do you get there. With our forecast, we were able to find out exactly what we need to do every quarter, every month, and every day to get where want to be. And if we don't hit that revenue goal, we'll know exactly where we went wrong and how to correct our course next year.
Resources mentioned:
MyEcomCrew
Interview with our New Director of Ecommerce
My 2018 Goals
Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
Splitly
How about you? What's your revenue forecast this year, or do you have one at all? Share in the comments below!
As always, thanks for listening. Until the next one, happy selling!
During last week's episode Matt and I talked about the lowest hanging fruit he can take advantage of as he transitions from a mixed B2B and B2C model to completely B2C.
Matt owns Angle 33, selling wine thermals, beer chillers, and other cool housewares made of concrete. The nature of Matt's products make it quite difficult to optimize areas like PPC ads, but its uniqueness definitely makes it stand out from the hordes of Amazon products in the same category.
In this episode we continue to talk about the low-hanging fruit he can easily pluck in his transition. We talk about how he can use the uniqueness of his products to his advantage and get around the advertising problem.
Specifically, we talk about the following:
We'd like to thank Matt again for coming on to the podcast and talking about his business. Don't forget to check out his cool concrete wine thermals and beer chillers at Angle 33.
If you want to be featured on your own Under the Hood episode, just sign up here.
Resources mentioned:
Angle 33
MyEcomCrew
E102: Amazon Product Launch Strategy for 2018
How I Develop and Launch Dozens of New Products a Year
Under the Hood
Thanks for listening! Until next week, happy selling!
"How do you pick the perfect ecommerce product?"
This is one of the questions I get asked the most. It's understandable--with hordes of products to choose from and a wide array of Amazon categories, choosing just the right product is overwhelming. If your business is bootstrapped and your products are not selling well, you are pretty much doomed. In this case it's not just overwhelming--it's downright scary.
So in today's episode I will share with you the method I use when picking the perfect products to sell. Before we begin though, let me just clarify that "perfect" is relative--what works for me might be something you don't like at all. But if you'd like see just how I chose my current home-runs and why, then this episode is for you.
Potential products must go through a checklist before I consider selling them. I developed this product selection criteria out of frustrations I encountered with the products I used to sell in my old business. Those headaches gave me a clear understanding of what a headache-free perfect product should be, which would be the following:
I explain each point and why I came up with them in more detail in the podcast. As you can see, some things might not work for you (electronics might be something you're passionate about). But if you're just starting and have absolutely no idea what products to choose, the checklist is a good place to start.
Resources mentioned:
MyEcomCrew
Treadmill.com
EcomCrew course
How Ezra Firestone Spends Money Growing His Businesses
Thanks for listening to this episode. Until the next one, happy selling!
In today's supply chain, manufacturers often get the thinnest slice of the margin pie. With customers shopping globally and demanding better pricing, retailers compress margins to stay afloat, which puts pressure on their distributors, which in turn passes the pressure along to manufacturers. With margins squeezed the hardest, it's no wonder manufacturers are looking beyond the traditional supply chain and want to reach out to customers directly, capturing profits that their distributors and retailers make.
This is the case with today's Under the Hood episode guest. Matt Baack sells wine thermals, beer chillers, and other house ware accessories made of concrete. He used to operate solely as a B2B manufacturer, but has now begun selling direct to consumers via his online site, Angle 33. Matt makes a good profit margin in the B2C area and wants to transition completely to B2C.
In this episode we talk about how he can make this transition as smooth as possible. We look at the low-hanging fruit--the options that can move the needle as fast as possible without spending a ton of money. For Part 1 of our conversation, we talk about the following, among others:
This is just Part 1. We get to more of this in Part 2 which is coming out next week, so stay tuned for that.
In the meantime, if you are looking for awesome, totally unique wine thermals, coasters or beer chillers, head over to Angle 33. I can already think of a couple of people in my life who would love his products.
Resources mentioned:
MyEcomCrew
Angle 33
Jungle Scout
Famebit
Houzz
Thanks for listening to this episode. If you want to be featured on your own episode and get free business advice from us, just sign up here. Until next week, happy selling!
If you've been listening to the EcomCrew Podcast for quite some time, you'll know that I'm a big believer of masterminds. The company of people who understand your struggles as an entrepreneur and offer guidance on your growth is invaluable. In the words of Napoleon Hill:
"Deliberately seek the company of people who influence you to think and act on building the life you desire."
I recently joined a mastermind with mid- to high-seven figure entrepreneurs and I just came back from an in-person retreat with them. I just literally landed and went right away to record the podcast, because the retreat had such a profound impact on me that I had to record while everything is still fresh on my mind.
While the entire weekend had been absolutely beneficial to me and everyone who was at the retreat, let me share with you one of the most impactful activities we had. Each of us answered one of the following questions, which I think everyone needs to be asked at some point:
1. Describe your relationship with your father from his point of view.
2. What was the last conflict you had with your spouse?
3. What was the lowest point leading your company?
4. What is something you're most ashamed of about your life?
5. What is the best thing you ever did?
6. Tell about a decision that you made that you regret.
7. What is your most public failure?
8. When did you most recently feel self-doubt?
9. How do you manage your ego?
10. What are not doing, that you need to be doing, and you want to do before you die?
11. What are you doing right now that you know you absolutely must do?
12. What is one thing you want to do before you die?
13. What is the most questionable thing you've done this year?
14. Do you think that cheating is natural?
15. What are you most afraid of?
16. Tell a recent time where you lacked integrity.
As you can see from the questions, this mastermind weekend is pretty emotional for me. It's easy for me to nerd out about business, but opening up about personal things is a challenge for me. This mastermind retreat helped me get over that hump, and made me reflect on the big picture and see what actually matters to me in the long run.
Resources mentioned:
MyEcomCrew
E109: My 2018 Goals
Thanks for listening to this episode. Until the next one, happy selling!
Going to trade shows is by far our favorite method of sourcing. I can tell you so many reasons right now why we prefer it over everything else, but I'd be getting ahead of myself.
Some of the trade shows I absolutely love going to are those hosted by Global Sources. Much like Alibaba, Global Sources is a frequented supplier directory on the internet. However, unlike Alibaba, Global Sources is usually thought of as having higher quality, vetted suppliers. Global Sources also runs a conference, the Global Sources Summit, which is one of the biggest events geared towards ecommerce sellers importing from China.
Our guest for today's episode is Meghla Bhardwaj, Head of Content Marketing of Global Sources and organizer of the summit. Meghla is no stranger to the podcast; she has been a guest on Episode 63 and Dave interviewed her last year, which you can read about here.
Our conversation revolves around two topics: results of a survey carried out by Global Sources on trade show attendees and tips and best practices on how to improve sourcing.
The summit will run from April 18th-20th in Hong Kong, overlapping with the trade show that runs from the 18th to the 21st. You can reserve your spot here, and use the special EcomCrew discount code ECC100 to get $100 off your ticket price.
The summit will also have the following events:
Dave and I will both be speaking at the Global Sources Summit and we are definitely looking forward to it. We'd love to see you there and connect; don't forget to use ECC100 when you purchase your ticket to get a $100 discount.
We will also be hosting our very first EcomCrew mastermind in Hong Kong. If you'll be in Asia around this time, sign up for our mastermind here. We'd love to meet up and talk shop with you.
MyEcomCrew
Global Sources Summit
Episode 63
Episode 86
Interview with Meghla
Thanks for listening to this episode! Until next week, happy selling.
Amazon sellers' forums and groups were alive with the sound of panic last week.
On February 26th, Amazon sent emails to hundreds and maybe even thousands of sellers containing the following:
Hello,
We are contacting you because you appear to have violated the policies of “Misuse of ratings, feedback, or reviews”, “Misuse of sales rank”, “Misuse of Search and Browse” on our site... If this conduct continues, you will not be eligible to sell on Amazon.com.
It's needless to say that when you rely on Amazon for 50%+ of your revenue, you need to follow their rules, or face serious consequences--the most serious being getting suspended and losing 50%+ of your revenue. As basic as that sounds, it's very surprising to see so many sellers try to game Amazon's system for a bump in ranking and sales, praying to never get caught.
While we see some posts claiming that the email is just due to a glitch on Amazon's side (since it seems to be sent en masse), it was still enough to give those playing with fire a pretty good scare. Forums exploded with people not knowing what to do, fearing they could lose their accounts at any moment.
This is a situation I go out of my way to avoid. Lessons with Google's SEO have made me realize that I am dependent on these big platforms to succeed, and that it's a no-brainer that I have to follow their policy. We have recently adopted a successful product launch process that will get us on Amazon's good side and cater to what they ultimately want: truly good products and service that customers will enjoy.
Thankfully, we did not get the email. I hope you didn't, too.
Resources mentioned:
MyEcomCrew
2018 Amazon Product Launch Strategy
How I Develop and Launch Dozens of New Products a Year
Amazon Policy Change for Reviews
How to Get Amazon Product Reviews in 2018
Amazon Horror Stories from Real Sellers
Million Dollar Sellers Group
This episode is dedicated to Bobby, our beloved German Shepherd who passed away last week. He's been with us for 12 years and if you have a pet you know how difficult this is. He gave us companionship, protection, and joy from the day we adopted him to the day he passed away.
To Bobby, this is for you buddy.
On Monday’s episode, Rob and I discussed how to effectively manage Filipino VAs and foster a long-lasting working relationship with them. Now that we’ve got that covered, we move on to the second part of Rob’s problem: scaling his business.
This is a topic we are well-versed in for two reasons: we managed to double our revenue last year, and we are actively trying to replicate that growth this year. We’ve revamped our systems and put simpler processes in place to try and achieve that growth.
In this episode Rob and I talk about how he can do the same for his business. Some conversation points:
We’d like to thank Rob for joining us in this episode, and I definitely had a blast talking to him. If you want to be featured on your own episode and get free business advice from us, sign up to be an Under the Hood guest here.
Resources mentioned:
EcomCrew courses
Under the Hood
Our product launch process (PDF)
Product launch process worksheet (Excel)
Thanks for listening to this episode. Until next week, happy selling!