Last month We Built A Profitable Shopify Store From The Groud Up.
If you’re new to FSO we build businesses from scratch every 30 days…
The Bizathon Challenge!
Last month was a huge success, not just for our team, but for many.
Because of this, we’re continuing with Shopify as the focus for Bizathon4.
This month we’ll scale our Shopify income by utilizing pro-level tactics.
Enjoy the video as Rito reveals your long term Shopify business plan:
This is the final episode for Bizathon 4!
We are going to recap the last month and a half.
We’ve covered so many topics:
- First Sale Series
- Black Friday
- Cyber Monday
- Shout Marketing
- Niche Stores
- Hybrid Stores
- Life of A Drop-shipper
It’s been an exiting month.
On behalf of the entire FSO team, I’d like to extend our sincerest gratitude for taking this journey with us.
You’ve all been incredibly supportive.
Ok, enough gushing, let’s get to it!
Implement This Long Term Plan
The goal of this finale post is to modify your mindset to ensure success in the long run.
You’ve got to be prepared and willing to invest in yourself and your business.
Understanding Products vs Buyers
The eCommerce business model is fairly simple to grasp.
Find winning products and put them in front of buyers.
Easy enough, right?
If either your product or your prospect isn’t right, then the entire model fails.
We’ve got to make sure our products are awesome and sought after.
And we’ve also got to make sure we identify the people who are willing to buy.
BIZATHON 4 RECAP
This month we scaled our Shopify store!
We enhanced our product listings with seductive copy and beautiful graphics.
Duplicated, optimized and grew our winning (converting) Facebook ads.
And we even got other people to promote our products for us.
We also built upon advanced concepts like high quality product selection, print on demand and the art of automation.
No to recap the past month and a half of Bizathon 4!
Episode 1 – Getting Your First Shopify Sale
Although most of our subscribers followed the last Bizathon perfectly, applying every strategy, a vast majority are beginners and still not fully grasping some key concepts.
We noticed the same small problems frequently popping up.Issues like random logo design, ugly font selections, poor color selections etc, which resulted in people not taking their stores seriously. Things like:
- Brandable Store Name
- Aesthectic Color Scheme
- Pricing Structure
- Professional Logo
- Clean Website Design
- Shipping & Billing Settings
- Prominently Displayed Policy Pages
Episode 2 – Identifying Winning Products
All it takes is one winning product to begin earning a respectable income. With a single product you can literally earn five figures a month. There are several methods of identifying winning products…
- Find A Popular Shopify Store & Copy Their Best Sellers
- Take Advantage Of AliExpress
- Implement AliExpress Category Drilling
- Utilize Facebook Search Data
- Use Commerce Inspector Chrome Extension
- Make Wanelo Do The Work For You
Episode 3 – Launch Your First Facebook Ads
In the first episode we focused on Setting Up Your Store. The second episode was all about Choosing Winning Products. Now we’ll show you exactly what to do once you’ve found winning (Converting) products to promote. Finding great products means nothing if you don’t have traffic flowing to them. No traffic, no sales. First things first…
- Open A Facebook Business Account
- Install Your First Facebook Pixel
- Make A FB Page For Your Shopify Store
- Create Dark Posts To Promote
- Build Your First Facebook Ads
Episode 4 – Implement Influencer Marketing
This is a unique strategy for those who already have other means of traffic generation in place, such as Facebook and solo ads. You’ll be getting Instagram influencers to shoutout your brand, product or service. While we’ll be utilizing high profile people on Instagram, people that have between 10k and 1Million followers. Here’s how:
- Create An Instagram Account For Your Store
- Follow Influencers & Negotiate Promotions
- Properly Track Your Promotions
- Follow Regular Account Too
- Regularly Like, Comment & Shoutout Other Profiles
- Remain Consistently Active
Episode 5 – Identify Ideal Influencers
The main thing to ensure prior to contacting anybody is that your product is unique and the Influencer is trusted. Here’s how to go about it…
- Manually Search For Authentic Influencer Accounts
- Use Hyprbrands For Real Time Influencer Analysis
- Utilize SocialBlade To Reveal Social Stats
- Integrate Snapppt With Instagram
- Partner With Influencers Via Direct Message
Episode 6 – Shopify Holiday Marketing Strategy
Many Shopify stores get the majority of their annual sales between Thanksgiving and January 1st. You can utilize this same strategy to keep sales going strong through the entire season, into the new year. We call it our three-pronged holiday strategy. Follow this method closely and you should see some hefty sales! Let’s dive in…
- Completely Setup Your Shopify Store
- Implement Holiday Hype Emails
- Get Your Ads Dialed In
Episode 7 – Cyber Monday Strategy
On top of Cyber Monday, we’re going to discuss the Christmas Deal Deadline.People are purchasing all month with the intention of gifting. If you don’t deliver their items on time, they definitely won’t be purchasing from you in the future. Here’s how to ensure a happy holiday for your business and customers alike:
- Add A Cyber Monday Deadline Notice To Your Website & Emails
- Setup An Autoresponder Email Series
- Launch Your Cyber Monday Ads
Episode 8 – Automate Influencer Marketing
Upon review of our Influencer Marketing episodes, we decided the strategy could be better explained… And the process automated! A strong brand connects with consumers on a personal level establishing trust and continuity. One of the best ways achieve this is by leveraging the authority of influencers…
- Promote Low Priced Products
- Use High Impact Images & Video For Ad Creatives
- Automate Influencer Marketing With ShoutCart
- Track Every Influencer Promotion
Episode 9 – The Only 12 Shopify Apps You Need
Many don’t put much thought into their Shopify apps. Installing whichever shiny new app captures their eye. If you don’t need it, don’t use it. If you’re just starting, meaning you haven’t earned a sale, you don’t need apps. With the exception of ZeroUp, your Shopify Apps list should grow as your business grows. These are the only 12 apps you’ll ever need:
- Abandonment Protector Plus
- Crush.Pics
- CustomCat
- Frequently Bought Together Upsell
- In Cart Upsell
- Snappt
- Kit
- Lucky Orange
- MailChimp For Shopify
- Orderly Emails
- Wheelio
- ZeroUp
Episode 10 – Signs The Dropshipping Life Is For You
Thanks to Shopify and savvy marketing tactics, we’ve built and scaled a drop shipping business – publicly. And now enjoy the accompanying lifestyle. Keep reading to discover if the self employed, dropshipping life is for you too. Here are the signs:
- You Enjoy Sleeping In
- Commuting Just Isn’t For You
- Passive Income Is More Than A Pipe Dream
- You’ve Always Been The Boss
- Creativity Is Best Served On Your Terms
- You’re Self Disciplined & Motivated
Episode 11 – Top 11 Shopify Problems Solved
These were the most commonly occurring questions through the first ten episodes:
Q) How Many Influencers Should I Utilize?
A) Begin With 1 At A Time
Q) Why Has My EPC Dropped So Much?
A) Holidays Cause A Spike In Everybody’s Promos
Q) What Are The Best Tips For Ad Copywriting
A) Don’t Just Describe What An Item Does
Q) Where Do You Source Your Products?
A) We Source Most Of Our Products From China
Q) When Will You Next Visit The United States?
A) Team FSO Will Return To America In 2018
Q) Why Do I Feel Like There’s More To Implement?
A) There Always Is!
Q) Which Shopify Theme Do You Use?
A) We Use Shopify Booster Theme
Q) Where Has All Of Your Shopify Traffic Come From?
A) Facebook Ads!
Q) Is It Ok To Have Text On Video Ads?
A) Yes and no.
Q) Should My Ads Always Target Engaged Shoppers?
A) No, Not Always.
Q) Is It Ok For Products To Include Manufacturer Info?
A) Yes, That’s Fine.
Episode 12 – How To Avoid Common PayPal Issue
No payment provider is particularly thrilled about the drop-shipping model. Especially not PayPal. In fact it’s considered “High Risk” by the company. Once you’re doing high volume, you will have account reviews and a reserve applied. An account reserves takes and holds a percentage of every sale for 30 days as an insurance policy.
- Once Your Account Is Seeing Transactions It Will Be Put On Hold
- You have Got Yourself A Mandatory Review
- Be Honest & Transparent When Reviewed
Episode 13 – Hybrid Shopify Store Strategy
Hybrid stores offer your existing customer a more diverse shopping experience.While allowing you to expand to a more diverse customer base altogether. Increase traffic and revenue to your store by implementing the following tactics…
- Print On Demand
- Mix Up Product Sources
- Use 3PL
Episode 14 – Print On Demand Strategy
Print On Demand has limitless scaling opportunities.You find popular designs currently working for other stores, similar to how we find winning products. Then offer to have them printed on t-shirts, hoodies, dog-tags, coffee mugs etc. Simply upload a design to your Shopify store, offer variations on the designs then outsource the work from third party companies. Here’s how:
- Find Design Inspiration
- Create Your Version
- Launch With The Help Of Apps
- Run FB Ads To Determine Winning Designs
- Scale The Winning Ads
- Repeat The Above Steps
Episode 15 – Use CustomCat For P.O.D. FulFillment
This Shopify app prints your products and ships them to your customers for you. CustomCat handles all your merchandise and physical product fulfillment needs. They offer over 550 styles of t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, cell phone cases, embroidered hats, bags and more!
- First Get Your Designs Created On Upwork, EasyOutsource Or eComLibrary.
- Add New Designs To Your CustomCat Integrated Store
- CustomCat Automatically Fulfills The Orders
Episode 16 – The Only Reason To Create A Niche Store
With a general store, Facebook gathers data for ALL products you’ve published. If you sell LED products and power tools, Facebook pools that data. The problem with this, is our audiences become convoluted and less targeted. Always start a general store first! The general store identifies which specific product converts for you. Once you have a winning product, build a Niche store around that product type.
This is how to go about it:
- Create A New Shopify Store (Domain name, hosting, logo etc).
- Open A New Facebook Ads Account
- Begin Advertising Your Winning Product With Your New Ad Account
- Identify 2-3 New Winning Products Per Week
- Create Your Niche Specific Autoresponder Sequences
Episode 17 – Print On Demand Success Blueprint
The concept remains the same with POD. You’re still drop-shipping, using Facebook ads and identifying winning products. This is the only print on demand you’ll need to achieve substantial results. Just follow these steps:
- Get Your Designs Made
- Add The Designs To Your Store
- Run Your Facebook Ads
Episode 18 – Top 11 Print On Demand Questions Answered
Print-on-demand (POD) is a process in which printable products aren’t printed until an order is received. A product that can have a design added to it can be used for POD. That means anything from books to aprons, can be sold via Print On Demand. These were you most frequently asked questions regarding Shopify & POD:
Q) Is There A POD App That Allows Custom Colors?
A) Yes, CustomCat Shopify App allows this
Q) How Can I Make My First Sell?
A) Utilize Our First-Sale Series
Q) Which Apps Allow Custom T-Shirt Labels?
A) You’re Overthinking This Business Model
Q) How Can I Scale My Facebook Ads?
A) By Using Our Free Step-By-Step Tutorials
Q) How Do I Implement Facebook Retargeting Ads?
A) Target Audiences Who Viewed Without Buying
Q) When Are You Starting Your Next Shopify Store?
A) We’ve Already Started Other Shops
Q) What If An Item Isn’t As Expected?
A) Give Them An Immediate Refund
Q) Offer Refunds If Customers Change Their Minds?
A) Yes, But We Require Them To Pay Return Shipping
Q) How Can I Target Broad Products On Facebook?
A) Use Engagement As Your Objective
Q) How Many Sales Are Needed Before Creating Lookalike Audiences?
A) We Suggest A Minimum Of 100 Sales
Q) How Do You Make Video Ads?
A) We Use Screenflow, iMovie and / or Clipman
That’ll do it for Bizathon4 – Great work!
Questions, comments or just want to say hi?
We love hearing from you in the comments section below!
Success by choice, not by chance,
-David Aston
P.S.
If you’re not kept in the loop via our #Bizathon definitely sign up today.
