Hello

[louise]

Hi, my name is louise and i am a stay at home mum of five, i had been looking into dropshifting for a while and last week after what i thought was plenty of research i paid a lot of money to a company and well lets just say it was the equivalent to throwing the cash away

I am basically looking at something to keep me mentally stimulated and bring in some much needed extra cash, something i can do at quite moments during the day or evenings.

I was particularly keen on the dropshipping as it was a lot less outlay to start with, however i am really struggling to find any dropshifters that have pretty good ratings and after losing a lot of money on what i thought was a good thing i am fairly wary now, does anyone have any good hints or tips on how i can start something like this small so that once my little ones go to school i have built something up that means i can be there for school plays and such like.

Any help would be greatly valued.

kind regards

Louise

[DropshipForum]

Hi Louise,

Welcome to Dropship Forum.

Sorry to read about your loss. It is a common misconception that dropshipping will make you money because it is easy to set up. The laws of market economics are the exact opposite. The easier it is to do something, the harder it will be for anyone involved to make any money from it.

Which brings us to the most important element of dropshipping.

IF you want dropshipping to work, you must first identify something unique, and then figure out how to reach cost effectively those buyers that are interested in the product. Either a unique product, or a popular product sold in a unique way. There are many products that sell in volume and at a premium simply because they are presented in the right manner, in the right location, context, and using words and images that perfectly reflect the needs of the target buyer.

Therefore, to summarize:

1. Dropshipping puts you at an immediate disadvantage vs those resellers who can buy in bulk and therefore at cheaper prices.
2. Business isn't easy. Especially if you are selling online, competition is very fierce. You must do something unique if you want to make money.

The next question is, are you unique? Please do not take this the wrong way, it's a question you need to ask yourself. Are you unique? And in which way? Figure out what you enjoy in life. This is very important because, before you can sell a product online, you MUST be able to write about it, talk about it enthusiastically, and convey that enthusiasm to your buyers.

The web is about content. Offline you would make sales if you obtain a shop in a key position, like a shopping mall or on a busy street. Online positioning is determined by content. By your ability to create content and involve people that are interested in your products. Therefore, if you enjoy a product, you will automatically be able to involve your potential customers, find like-minded people on social networks, expand your network of partnerships and sales channels, create leverage to decrease costs and grow sales.

Therefore, before you jump on any out-of-the-box dropshipping package, think about what you enjoy most. Then review some of the most popular content management packages, like WordPress (which is free), forum software (some free, some paid), and start writing about the topics that you have identified interest you most.

Once you start doing this, you will be surprised at how many ideas you will be able to brainstorm. You will also have a direct interaction with potential customers, understand their needs, and identify solutions to their problems, possibly before anyone else.

This is the key to dropshipping:

1. Identify your niche, something you enjoy and that makes up your uniqueness as a person;
2. Talk about it on the web, by setting up your own blog or forum;
3. Identify needs, and start identifying potential suppliers;
4. Approach suppliers, showing them that you have an active community or social network of buyers that listen to you, and that can make the supplier's brand a main stream success, or more in general increase their market share.

Hope this helps.