Category: business

One of the biggest challenges marketers face when doing dropshipping is finding a winning product. While many products may look good, ultimately, the market will decide if they like a product or not.

Until then, it’s a matter of trial and error for the marketer. While this sounds straightforward, it’s actually a test of patience because you’ll need to spend money on advertising and tweaking your ads until you find a winning ad.

But a winning ad can only work if you have a winning product. This is what you need to look out for…

Does it solve a problem?

The hottest selling dropshipping products solve an immediate problem. For example, posture correctors, pet care gadgets, etc.

A product that solves an immediate need tends to often be an impulse buy. Your ads will convert better when the prospective customer immediately realizes that the product will make their life easier.

Which brings us to the next point…

Mass market appeal

Since most marketers tend to use Facebook ads which are displayed to a wide audience, the more mass appeal your product has the higher the conversions will be.

If a product is too ‘specific’, most people will not click on the ad or buy the product.

Competition

This is another important factor to be aware of. Sometimes when a product is trending, every marketer and his neighbor tries to get in on the action. The end result is that there’s overexposure and most people who would want to buy the product have already bought it.

Sales will decline and if you get in too late, you’ll miss out on most of the profits. So it’s imperative that you choose a product that’s growing in popularity… and ride that wave upwards instead of choosing the product when the market is already saturated.

How unique is the product?

Generally, the product should NOT be available in big stores like Walmart, Amazon, etc. If the customer can buy the product from these places, they’ll probably not buy it from you.

Furthermore, the uniqueness of the product must make price less of an issue. For example, a roll of sticky tape which can hold up bricks and seal leaks is unique. You can’t really figure out the price.

The dropshipper who is able to source the product for $2.50 a roll will be able to sell it for $15. The consumer who’s unable to guess the price of the product will willingly pay $15 because of the perceived value of the product – and the fact that it’s not available in stores.

Minimal customization

Every extra step that a potential customer has to take will inevitably lead to a lower conversion rate. Your product should be simple to purchase and have very few options to customize or none at all.

You want a seamless buying process. Dropshipping products such as pet gadgets, car accessories, etc. are easier to sell.

Clothing and other products that require one to choose their size, look at sizing tables, choose the color, etc. require more mental energy… and many people will just click off the website than go through the buying process. So that’s something to be aware of.

Other factors

Besides the main pointers above, you should also take into account shipping times, product reviews, the demand for the product and the profit margin.
Do your due research and it’ll take a while – but this is time well-spent. Choosing a winning product to sell is one of the cornerstones of successful dropshipping. Then it’s just a matter of getting your advertising right.

Starting a dropshipping business can seem like an exciting undertaking. You’ve heard about the ‘juicy profits’ to be made and the whole idea of not creating or shipping products but still making money with barely any work seems too good to resist.

While the business model on the surface does seem that way, let’s just say that reality is quite another story.

There are several important points you MUST be aware of before even buying a domain for your ecommerce store. Let’s see what they are!

Budget

Ideally, you should have about 2k-5k before you begin a dropshipping business. It’ll take you time to find a good product to sell and finding the right creatives for your ad will require trial and error.

During this time, you’ll be losing money on ads until you can find both a winning product and a winning ad. This magical combination in most cases, will only be discovered with testing and tweaking.

Whatever the case, you’ll be losing money during this process. Marketers often like to sugar coat it by saying that they’re ‘buying data’. While this is true, losing money still can make you feel the pinch.

So you’ll need to have some cash reserves to tide you through the testing phase and approach the process with logic and not emotion. Once you find a winning product, you’ll be able to scale up and your profits will cover any earlier losses you made and you earn much more than you initially invested.

Platforms and themes

You’ll need to decide if you’re going to use Woocommerce or Shopify. Or if you’ll use Facebook ads or Google ads. Or AliExpress or U.S. suppliers to dropshippers.

Even the theme you use for your dropshipping store will matter. You want a store that looks attractive and legitimate.

There are many decisions to be made when choosing the different platforms. Do your research and pick what suits you best. Nothing is perfect and there are pros and cons to all the different options. Ultimately, which one you choose will depend on your preferences.

Time frame

No matter how intelligent and capable you are, if you’re new to dropshipping, you’ll need to go through a learning curve – which will take time. So don’t be too quick to quit the day job.

Work at your day job while working on your ecommerce business. Once your online business takes off and you’re earning double than what you make at your day job, you may quit and focus solely on your business.

Domain and type of store

You’ll need to think of a good domain name for you store and decide if it will be a niche store or a general store. If you’re a beginner, you’ll definitely want to go with a niche store. For example, a store that sells mini art sculptures.

Picking a general store and trying to be like Amazon is difficult and requires a much bigger budget. A more conservative approach is better here and focusing on one niche will improve your conversions too.

In conclusion, you’ll want to enter this business with both eyes wide open. Unlike affiliate marketing or other business models which require a lower cash outlay, dropshipping can rack up your bills because of the advertising costs.

So you have to be alert and learn the business well… and proceed cautiously. If you persist and keep testing and tweaking your actions, you’ll discover what works for you and have a 6-figure dropshipping income.