Getting Unstuck: What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do October 16, 2020 bizadmin Once they start, entrepreneurs have a hard time stopping. But that doesn’t mean they never get stuck. For many business owners, it’s a familiar feeling. When you’re strapped for cash and have to build your business on a budget. When once-frequent sales suddenly become scarce. When a pandemic forces you to shutter your doors. When you feel like you’ve exhausted all your options and are running in one place. Building a business is like navigating a maze without a map. And every once in a while you are bound to hit a wall. The good news is that “feeling stuck” doesn’t mean staying stuck. In many ways, it’s what entrepreneurs do in these moments when they don’t know what to do—their resourcefulness—that defines them. What does “being resourceful” really mean? Everyone has their own personal definition of what it means to be resourceful, as we found when we asked what it meant to all of you. For many, resourcefulness means some version of making do with what’s available. But there’s a concept psychologists call “learned resourcefulness”, which refers to resourcefulness as a set of attainable skills and behaviors that help us control how we respond internally to adversity to put us in the right mind to find solutions. Early research into learned resourcefulness focused largely on forms of self-control: Engaging in positive self-talk. Negative self-talk leads to defeat before we even try. Many entrepreneurs you’ll meet are relentlessly optimistic people when it comes to their ambitions. Viewing problem solving as a process. The steps include clearly defining the problem, exploring potential solutions, evaluating and prioritizing each solution, and executing the best one. We often do this intuitively, but it’s a process we can also consciously invoke whenever we feel stuck. The willingness to delay gratification. Working towards a larger goal, like a profitable business, often requires you to put in a lot of work before you can taste the fruits of your labor. Depending on the scope of your vision, it can be months or even years before it materializes. That doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate the little wins and major milestones along the way. Self-efficacy. The belief that we have the ability to control ourselves, our environment, and our outcomes. Learned resourcefulness has since evolved to include “social resourcefulness” —not just our capacity to help ourselves when we’re stuck, but our ability to make connections and seek out help from others. From speaking to a dozen entrepreneurs about this topic, each of whom had at least one story about feeling stuck, getting unstuck meant embracing both of these forms of resourcefulness to find solutions. Strategies for when you’re feeling stuck, from entrepreneurs who’ve been there 1. Pause, zoom out, and find your north star 🔭 Many business owners find themselves in their first rut not when they’re building their business, but when they hit a ceiling on their sales. Hitting up against what feels like a limit can be frustrating, especially when you’re nowhere near where you would like to be. While action is one antidote during these moments, you may also need to take time to pause and look up from the work to take stock of what you’re doing and what you’ve done so far. Or, as Adam of N/A Stock Company puts it: Sometimes you need to spin your wheels in circles for a bit before you can figure out how to build a well-oiled machine. Getting stuck During the early stages, my business partner and I were pretty much planning on the fly for the first couple of years. We were making sales, creating new products, getting new opportunities, but on a very small scale. Eventually, it felt like we hit a wall. We had months with no new products and weeks with no sales—almost to a point where we thought that offering huge discounts was the only way for us to make sales. Getting unstuck It wasn’t until we set up goals for the entire year where we saw the biggest difference. We needed to go through that first phase so we could actually have a benchmark. This gave us time to look at what our customers wanted, what wasn’t working, what could be improved, and what a realistic sales goal was. We took our year goal and started project planning around those goals 6 weeks at a time. This change helped us take the business more seriously. We went from having too much inventory to having to do more restocks! Our sales tripled, our chemistry got better, the process got easier, and we started to have fun with it again. We were like a well-oiled machine. —Adam Libunao, N/A Stock Company Adam says that slowing down and rewriting his business plan, based on everything he’d learned, helped him gather his thoughts, focus his time and effort, and see the way forward through product launches. If this feels familiar, you can use our business plan template to think through every aspect of your business, from your mission to your place in the market, set ambitious-but-attainable goals, and work backwards on how to get there. Download business plan template Entrepreneurs may be known for bravely leaping first and “building the airplane on the way down”, but going through the process of planning—getting your thoughts on paper—can help you clarify your goals and prioritize the best path towards meeting them—whether it’s creating a more profitable pricing strategy, outsourcing to free up your time or securing new capital to grow. 2. Get good at Googling (problems are rarely unique) 🕵️♀️ When you think about it, in a world of over 7 billion people (more than a million building with Shopify), many of the obstacles we encounter are probably not one-of-a-kind. That can be reassuring. Our questions have likely been asked before and our obstacles have likely been overcome before. Answers and solutions are often a free Google search away. The world’s most popular search engine is a good place to start your quest for answers, but there are a few tricks that can help entrepreneurs in particular: Add “ ” around your query to force Google to filter for only exact matches of that keyword phrase (e.g. “holiday gift guide 2019” wellness to find out-of-date gift guides to pitch for your wellness products). Add site: before a URL to search for a topic or question on a specific site. You can use this to quickly search forums like Reddit or Quora for answers (site:reddit.com influencer marketing ecommerce). Don’t forget about YouTube, especially if you’re a visual learner. It’s not just a place for music videos and entertainment. “How to” and educational videos are some of the most popular videos on the platform. Certain keywords can enrich your search results, such as case study to find real examples to learn from (e.g. facebook ads case study beauty brand -facebook.com) or vs. to compare two solutions you’re unsure about (e.g. sms marketing vs email marketing). If your search is turning up irrelevant results, you can add a – before a specific keyword to exclude it from your search results. Search the Shopify app store for solutions. The Shopify app store is home to over a thousand solutions built specifically for entrepreneurs building on Shopify. For little challenges, like how to make a good-looking sizing chart, to larger problems, like improving your conversion rate, chances are there’s a free or paid Shopify app to solve it. 3. Find inspiration in your competition 👀 Comparison doesn’t have to be the thief of joy. It can also be a teacher. Looking at your competitors or at what others are doing in your market can inspire ideas for your own business, such as how to drive traffic, how to price your products, and how you can position your brand to stand out. There’s only so much you can glean from visiting a competitor’s website, however, so here are three ways you can peel back the curtain and see into the inner workings of other businesses for free. 1. Analyze their marketing strategy with Similar Web There are hundreds of ways to market a business and the best approaches will depend on your context. But one of the better places to start is by analyzing your competitors. SimilarWeb is a free tool that lets you plug in an established competitor’s website and see how they’re driving their traffic: what sources they’re relying on, what sites are linking to them, and other companies in the same space. All of this can be useful information for making your own decisions about where to invest your effort. 2. See what ads they’re running with Facebook Ad Library Coming up with ads you feel confident betting on can be tough if copywriting, marketing, and design aren’t your main strengths. Luckily, you can look up other companies using Facebook Ad Library to peak at what ads they’re currently running, for design and copywriting inspiration, or angles to help you differentiate yourself from your competition. 3. Peak at other email marketing strategies with MailCharts Email marketing is indispensable for most ecommerce businesses. But setting up your own email campaigns can come with a lot of questions. Beyond one-off promotional emails and newsletters, you can set up automated emails, like abandoned cart reminders and welcome emails for new subscribers, to drive value for your business in the background while you work on bringing in more traffic, subscribers, and customers. But because emails are restricted to the inbox, email marketing strategies can be pretty opaque. With MailCharts (free plan) you can actually see what emails a brand is sending to customers, along with the frequency, subject lines, and promotional mix to help inspire your own strategy. There’s also a gallery where you can filter by specific email types instead (order confirmation, Black Friday Cyber Monday, etc.), which are even graded based on effectiveness. A thorough competitive analysis can make comparison your friend, helping you get the lay of the land so you can chart your own way forward. You can get started with your own using our free competitive analysis template, which includes key points of comparison, from price to target audience, to note down while researching your competition. Get competitive analysis template 4. Don’t be afraid to ask for help 💚 Being resourceful may mean figuring it out, but it doesn’t mean figuring it out alone. Social resourcefulness is an often forgotten option because of the pressure to stand on our own. But seeking advice or support from others is a form of resourcefulness, not weakness. There are countless communities and resources online, many of them free, where you can connect with other entrepreneurs or helpful advisors. You can even form your own mastermind group comprised of like-minded friends embarking on similar journeys ready to support each other. Here are some ways you can embrace social resourcefulness for the moments when you get stuck: Take advantage of customer support. Most of the tools you use to run your business will have customer support reps who might be able to help you navigate your issues. Support calls for technical issues can end with solid business advice on what to do next. It doesn’t hurt to ask. Shopify Support Advisors are available 24/7 to talk about your business and selling with Shopify. Attend virtual meet-ups. Networking with other entrepreneurs can lead to some of the most valuable connections you’ll make in life. These are people like you who “get it”. Some of them have even been where you are now, or vice versa. Shopify Meetups regularly hosts virtual events that you can attend and connect with other like-minded entrepreneurs. Hire an expert. If you’re struggling with a critical area of your business, such as store design or paid marketing, you can hire an experienced Shopify Expert to help. You can also look for freelance help on platforms like Upwork. Ask around in forums for answers. People gather together in forums like Reddit and Quora around common interests and questions, making them a great place to find answers. Search to see if your question has already been asked. If not, you can pose it and hopefully find an answer. Shopify Community is our official forum for all things Shopify. Participate in online communities. There are dozens of engaged online communities you can join. Even if you mostly lurk, there’s value to be had in listening in. And whenever you have a question or want feedback on an idea, you can pose it to the group. Try searching through Facebook groups for a group that’s relevant to you. Community can be a lifelong resource for entrepreneurs if they can find it. For Lina, owner of Sooala, she found hers through an entrepreneurship bootcamp. Getting stuck The first time I felt really stuck, I was selling at my second flea market. My first attempt didn’t go that well, but this one was just before Christmas and I had high hopes for it. It ended with me making one sale, whereas the girl next to me selling jewelry was making hundreds of sales. I just completely shut down after that. I spent the next two weeks wondering, “Why am I even doing this?” It’s really harsh when you get this kind of feedback from customers so early on. Getting unstuck What got me unstuck was a shift in my mindset. I talked myself out of abandoning everything. “This is something that you really want to do. Two tries aren’t enough for you to say that you want to stop.” I needed to do something that would move me forward. So that was when I enrolled in this business bootcamp. I thought to myself, I need to be surrounded by my peers, by like-minded people. In that environment, I was able to learn and pivot my business idea into the business I am running today. I also connected with incredible entrepreneurs, some of whom I have even partnered with. We support each other in the down moments but also cheer each other on, and that just changed the whole journey for me and added to what keeps me going. —Lina Ravelojaona, Sooala Mentorship doesn’t need to come in the form of a wise mentor who takes you under their wing and teaches you how to fly. It can be found in a community of your peers, all of you figuring it out together. 5. Consider pivoting your business Things don’t always go according to plan. Sometimes a newer, better opportunity emerges that your business isn’t equipped to act on. Or, a key pillar that once supported your business vanishes overnight, leaving you teetering, trying to keep your balance. A pivot occurs when you make the decision to alter the very DNA of your business to help it thrive better in these circumstances. Some examples of pivots include: Turning your company’s attention to a different audience or opportunity to find new customers (e.g. Pizza Pilgrim, a pizza restaurant forced to close their doors, started selling pizza kits online). Changing your product or positioning to resonate more with a specific type of customer (e.g. PopSockets started as a headphone management accessory for smartphones before pivoting to stand out as a phone stand that’s fun to fidget with) Overhauling the technology powering your business to keep pace with your customers’ needs (e.g. Old World Kitchen switched from selling through a marketplace to selling in their own online store) Think of your favorite companies. Chances are they’ve undergone a significant pivot at least once in their history. Shopify started off selling snowboards and pivoted into a solution to help people sell their own “snowboards”. Such a drastic change to a business can be risky without the right market insight to back it. But for Lily of Lovelee Designs, a pivot was just what she needed when COVID-19 cancelled what would have been a big summer for her business. Getting stuck At the beginning of the pandemic, I was completely stuck. As a fashion designer who focuses on making custom designs for special occasions and events, I didn’t know how I would be able to continue making sales when the whole world was going to be on lockdown. With several fashion shows booked (even one overseas), I had planned for it to be a summer of opportunities. Unfortunately, because of the effects of COVID-19, I was not able to attend any of these events. I was actually questioning if I should go back to the corporate world and just work a regular 9-to-5, if being an entrepreneur was something I could actually maintain and sustain for the rest of my life. Getting unstuck I got unstuck when I realized that I should focus on the things that my market actually needed at that moment. With news that face masks would soon be mandatory I decided to learn how to make them. I was then able to focus on bringing new customers through my “fashionably safe face masks” and a new online store. And as a result I was able to start pulling in sales again and bringing many more new customers to my brand. —Lea-Asha ‘Lily’ Hibbert, Lovelee Designs Where there’s a will “There’s always a way” is the entrepreneur’s default when confronted with setbacks and challenges. But some obstacles can really throw you off your path. Feeling stuck sucks. But it can also be immensely fulfilling when you figure out how to move forward. These moments when you’re reaching for your goals and your resourcefulness is stretched can even serve as inspiration the next time you get stuck. About the author Braveen Kumar is part of the content team at Shopify where he develops resources to help aspiring entrepreneurs start and grow their own businesses. Oberlo Product Watch : Plant Hangers July 15, 2020 bizadmin Plant Hangers Google Trends This is Product Watch, where we highlight the hottest products for dropshippers. We explain why they’re great, and give you all the information you need to sell them yourself. Millennials are obsessed with plants. Bonzai, monstera, peace lilies… you name it, they love it. In fact, budding plant enthusiasts are known to spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars every year growing their plant collections. The problem though, is that lots of people who are interested in plants don’t always have the space to house them. They’re all fighting for sunshine (and love) which isn’t always easy to provide if you live in a relatively small space. That’s why this week on Product Watch we’re highlighting plant hangers – the perfect product for plant lovers. It’s a super simple product. They’re typically made out of rope, and you can attach them to the ceiling of your home and hang your plants from the ceiling. Perfect for that bohemian aesthetic that’s ever popular nowadays. Oh, and you won’t need to worry about them taking up too much space either. A quick glance at the Google Trends data for these products will show you that they’re seriously taking off this year, so there’s never been a better time to try selling them. Pricing As always with Product Watch, we try to recommend products that are affordable for our readers, and plant hangers are no different. You can source these products from suppliers for as cheap as $2, and they rise to around $5 depending on the style that you select. When you take into account that these products are typically sold from upwards of $15, it’s clear that there’s plenty of profit to be made. You can even find these products for $25 – $30 on marketplaces like Etsy, although we don’t recommend pricing them that high. Something in the region of $15 – $20 should work well. More good news – free shipping is available for these products to most major markets. We often recommend incorporating the price of shipping into your listed product prices, but as it’s free you’ll have more room to make profit (or spend on your marketing campaigns.) Speaking of marketing, let’s touch on the best ways to get eyeballs on these products. Pricing Stats Product Cost: $2 – $5 Recommended Retail Price: $15 – $20 Marketing Facebook is the go-to marketing channel for many dropshippers, and we recommend using Facebook Ads to promote plant hangers too. Both Facebook Photo and Video Ads will work well for these products because it’s really simple to show the value that these products will bring to potential customers. The key to success here will be using copy to convey exactly why they need these products. The visuals of your ads will grab the attention of people who are interested in plants, but copy that touches on the reasons that we mentioned earlier (that truly speak to your audience) like freeing up space in their apartments or houses will go a long way in generating sales. And, as always, it’s super important that you get these products in front of the right people. So, when it comes to targeting for your Facebook Ads you can try going for people in the US first. And, if you combine that location with some simple interest-based targeting using ‘Houseplants’ you’ll have a great starting point. As always, we leave an example Facebook target audience below that you can use – this is the one that we just mentioned, and you can use this to start marketing these products today. Facebook Ad Targeting Location: USA 🇺🇸 Age: 18 – 45 Gender: All People who match: Houseplant Devices: All Placements: Facebook News Feed, Instagram Feed, Instagram Stories 10 free online courses for entrepreneurs May 12, 2020 bizadmin When you’re starting your own online business, you need to be your own marketer, product photographer, and social media manager. Basically, you are a one-man show to get started due to limited budget. Taking an online course is one of the fastest ways to ramp-up the skills you need to succeed in every part of your online business. This will pave the way to further skills that you need to market your business effectively and not beat about the bush, trying to figure things out – all on your own. Instead of the trial and error method and learning through your own mistakes, it might be worth it to invest in courses and learn from the professionals who also started out as a noob. You can never try to save money from learning and investing in useful skills from the pros and coaches who have succeeded. [abc] Meanwhile, for others, instead of spending thousands to learn these skills, sign up for these free online courses and hold onto your savings for future Facebook ad campaigns (once you know how to run them)! By the end of this video, you’ll have a list of 10 free online courses that’ll teach you more about marketing, entrepreneurship, design, and productivity. Make sure to keep watching to see every video during this Covid-19 pandemic where the world is in lockdown and movement control order is practiced and regulated by the authorities. Break the rules and you are in for some questioning or even imprisonment at the harshest side. So, dear potential business owners and fellow bloggers, do practice social distancing too of at least 2 meters from one another to avoid getting infected with this treacherous novel corona-virus where there is no vaccine at the moment. Stay safe and stay at home as much as possible. Now your home is the safest place in the world during this mayhem caused by the unseen enemy, the virus. [abc] [abc] 10 of the Best Remote Jobs: What are They and How to Find Them April 16, 2020 bizadmin Remote jobs are a relatively new concept – even just a couple of decades ago, they would have seemed nearly impossible. But, with increased globalization and rapidly improving technology, these days, they’re becoming the new normal. Remote jobs allow you to have a fulfilling career, while also offering the chance to do that from wherever you want. These jobs are fantastic for those who live in areas without a lot of opportunities for their profession. They’re also a great solution if you want to remain in – or relocate to – a particular location, such as areas with more affordable housing. 😅😅😅 [abc] Remote jobs also frequently offer flexibility in how and when you complete your hours, which is a more manageable way to work for many people. If you have family obligations or other work that require some of your time, remote jobs may be the accommodating alternative you need. If you’re curious about the best work from home jobs, look no further. We’ve put together a list of best remote jobs to suit many different professions and skill sets. We’ve also included how to find a remote job and tips for how to work from home. Let’s take a look. See the video above to get enlightened how to work remotely and where to find such jobs online in this long lockdown of Covid-19 pandemic mayhem. 😘😍🥰 [abc] [abc] How to Choose the Perfect Name for Your Store January 27, 2020 bizadmin [abc] Coming up with a name for your online business might seem like a pretty simple task, but trust us, it isn’t always easy. In fact, it can take days to come up with a name for your business. That’s because most entrepreneurs have high expectations for their businesses. They want their business name to be instantly recognizable, and to leave a lasting memory on their shoppers. Essentially, they want their business name to be perfect. And perfection is rarely simple. But, seriously, choosing a name for your business is a lot easier when you’ve got some tips & tricks from experienced entrepreneurs who can guide you in the right direction. And that’s exactly why we’ve created this post – we’re going to show you exactly how to come up with the perfect name for your store. So grab your thinking hat and read through our list of the most important things to consider when you’re choosing a name for your online business. Let’s dive in. [abc] What Goes Into a Great Business Name? When it comes to naming your business, we can’t stress one thing enough; there isn’t an exact science or formula that you can use to come up with a great name. It’s a creative process, so you need to give yourself some time to think. That said, there are some pretty important points that you should take into consideration when you’re at the drawing board that’ll help you to avoid choosing a bad business name. And believe us, you can choose a bad business name. So, let’s take a look at how you can make sure that you’re choosing a stellar name for your business. Keep it Simple and Straightforward [abc] Generally speaking, when it comes to starting a business keeping things simple and straightforward is key. And that’s true when it comes to naming your business, too. Why? Well, when you’re looking for a memorable name for your business, you need to make it easy for people to remember. That’s especially true when you consider that it normally takes up to seven impressions – that’s seven times when shoppers see or interact with a brand – to actually remember your business name. That’s quite a lot. That’d be seven Facebook ads you’d need to run or seven Instagram posts. And, using a long, or complex business name in the first place is going to make it even tougher for your audience to recognize your brand in the first place. So, it’s no surprise that the names of some of the biggest brands in the world are usually just one word long. They keep it simple because they want to be remembered. Choose a Future Proof Name When you’re starting your business, you’re probably thinking about hitting milestones like launching your store, getting your first sale, or making your first $1,000. Now, there’s no doubt that those are pretty big, impressive milestones for somebody who is just starting their business. But, the idea is that you’ll hopefully be hitting much bigger milestones than that eventually – think $1,000+ in sales every single month. And that’s why you need to think big when you’re naming your business. You need to think of a business name that’ll work in the future as you grow, too. You could opt for a name like “Dog Bowl Emporium” – that might work while you’re running a small business. But, you could also opt for something like “Premium Pet Supplies” that’d offer you a business name that you can grow into. You might want to add more products to your business in the future as it grows, so keep your options open when you’re choosing a name for your business. Choose a Name That’s Available When you’re looking for a name for your business, it’s essential that you check your ideas are available. And when we say available, we’re talking about domain names specifically. We always recommend trying to secure the .com domain name for your brand – especially if you’re targeting your products to an English-speaking audience. Why? It’s simple, ‘.com’ domains are trusted so much more by the typical shopper. It’s because of the ‘.com’ domain is familiar. It’s been around since the start of the Internet, and most professional brands use this type of domain as well. If you’re looking for a tool to check domain names, you can do it on Shopify. You can search for domain names, check how much they cost, and buy/install them to your store too. And don’t forget to check that you can find social media handles related to your business name, too. Always try to secure a Facebook and Instagram account to go with your ‘.com’ domain too. BONUS: We recommend checking your business name on the U.S. Patent Searcher as well, it’s another great resource that you can use to check if your business name has already been taken by another company. Convey Meaning [abc] Once you’ve got your creative juices flowing, we recommend trying to convey meaning with your business name. Now, we’re not saying that you need to go super abstract with your business name, because most people probably won’t make the connection if you do that. Seriously, think about it. Most people don’t think about the Greek goddess of victory when they see the Nike logo, even though that’s the inspiration for the companies name. Equally, you can bet the average person doesn’t look at Nivea skin cream and think “Oh that’s white because it’s named after the Latin word Niveus, which means ‘snow white’”. We’re not saying you should dive down the rabbit hole of trying to find a deep meaning for your business name. But, try not to be super generic. Try to avoid business names like “Andrew’s Sports Store”. Instead, you could use words that are related to working out, like “Power Sports” or “Reflex Apparel”. These business names simply have more meaning – they evoke more emotion, which is going to go a long way in helping shoppers to remember your business. 5 Examples of Great Business Names Okay, now that we’ve gone through our top tips for coming up with a name for your business, it’s time to highlight some of our favorite store names. These are real-world examples of companies who’ve nailed their store names and hit on the points that we mentioned above. We’ll dive into the meanings behind these store names, so you can get a better idea of how successful brands think about naming their businesses. Bulletproof One of the first things that you see when you land on Bulletproof ’s homepage is “Health Upgrades”. And that copy is totally aligned with their brand message – Bulletproof sells products that are designed to make you feel bulletproof. They blend butter into their best-selling coffee products, which are meant to work to elongate the effects of their products and help you to avoid the usual crash that comes from caffeine. Essentially, they’re selling coffee products that are “more than your average latte.” And we love their business name. It’s simple yet effective. Every shopper has a clear idea of what they can expect from this business from the get-go, and it’s memorable too because most shoppers typically don’t associate the word ‘bulletproof’ with coffee. They’ve been able to branch out from their initial offerings of coffee too and expand into other health supplements, which underlines the beauty of coming up with a future proof business name. Colourpop Ultra successful makeup brand, Colourpop, landed on a fantastic name for their business. The LA-based beauty outfit is offering high-quality makeup products to shoppers who are looking to add a ‘pop of color’ to their routine at drug store prices. They’ve got a simple, straightforward business name that is undoubtedly futureproofed – under the Colourpop umbrella they could move into clothing or jewelry as well, and it’s fit perfectly into their brand. It’s a fun, playful business name, too, which is aligned with what their audience prefers. KITH Lifestyle brand KITH has quite the backstory for their business name. According to the founder of KITH, Ronnie Fieg, the business name originates from the term “Kith and Kin”, which is an old saying that means “Friends and Family”. And, according to Ronnie, he always wanted to build products for people like his friends, so he dropped the “Kin” part and named his business “Kith”. All in all, KITH is a unique business name with a lot of thought behind it. It’s clear, simple to remember, and works well to convey meaning. SuitSupply SuitSupply is a tailoring brand that prides itself on being “straight to the point”, which is definitely evident in their business name. This business name does a fantastic job of conveying exactly what they’re selling – suits. We love that this brand has used alliteration in their business name. Both of the words in their name start with the same letter, and this is a clever marketing tactic that can actually help people to remember your brand. If you can add some alliteration to your brand name, don’t hesitate – it can really work well, as shown by SuitSupply. Gymshark If you’re looking for inspiration when you’re naming your own fitness brand, Gymshark is a great example. The successful clothing & apparel brand came up with their name by cleverly blending two common words together. First off they used ‘Gym’, which is the bread and butter of their business. They exclusively create fitness apparel targeted towards gym-goers. [abc] Then, they added ‘Shark’, which is an animal that is often associated with power, and strength. Honestly, it’s a pretty simple name, but it’s also quite unique. Its simplicity is key here though – it’s super easy to remember, which is exactly what you want when you’re starting a new brand. Still, Stuck? Use a Business Name Generator If you’re still struggling to come up with a name for your business, worry not. You can always use a business name generator to point you in the right direction. If you’re wondering what a business name generator is, it’s pretty simple, actually. You can enter a word, or term, that you like into a business name generator, and it’ll provide you with dozens of examples that you can use for your business. Take a look at what happens when we enter ‘running’ into a business name generator: Pretty neat, right? Of course, there’s no guarantee that all of the names that the business name generator comes up with are available – you’ll need to check that yourself – but they’re great tools if you’re still struggling for ideas. Interested in using a business name generator? We’ve got just the thing for you – Oberlo’s Business Name Generator. It’s free, so take advantage of it when you’re naming your business. Now It’s Over to You Okay, now you’ve got all the tips, tricks, and tools that you need to come up with a great name for your online business. Now it’s time to use all the information that you’ve gleaned from this post and come up with the best name for your business Oh, and if you’ve got any questions about naming your business, or if you want feedback on your business name, leave it in the comments section below – we read them all! Andrew Roach Andrew Roach is a Content Marketer at Oberlo. He is passionate about eCommerce and creating insightful content to help entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses. [abc] Dates and Events to Use in Your 2020 E-commerce Ad Campaigns January 22, 2020 bizadmin With 2020 already well underway, it’s time to start thinking about all of the fantastic campaigns you can run throughout the year to get customers spending. When you think of days when consumers are willing to buy, your mind probably jumps to the big end-of-year holidays. But why wait until November to start all your big campaigns when you have so many other days you could capitalize on throughout the year. To get your 2020 marketing calendar started, we’ve put together a massive list of days and events that you could use for your store and get those sales happening. And, we’ve even included a downloadable calendar at the bottom of this article that will help you keep track of your dates. [abc] Spending Holidays We’re going to ease into things with a bunch of holidays that you should already have on your calendar – the big ones that are proven to generate sales. Although these shopping holidays are when most online stores run sales, because there’s so much money to spend during this time, there’s no reason they can’t be profitable for your store as well. Black Friday and Cyber Monday These two days bookend a massive weekend for commerce – and eCommerce in particular. In the US alone, shoppers spent over $7.4 billion online during Black Friday 2019 and went on to spend $9.4 billion on Cyber Monday. With that much cash changing hands, you’d be silly for not planning for a BFCM sale. This year Black Friday will be on November 27 and Cyber Monday on November 30. Singles’ Day Celebrated on November 11, Singles’ Day is an unofficial Chinese holiday for single people – but it has also become the most essential day for shipping in the world. In 2019 shoppers spent over $30 billion on Singles’ Day, and due to its popularity, Singles’ Day has become more internationally recognized in recent years – much like Black Friday. Because of this, it could be well worth jumping on the trend and adding Singles’ Day to your calendar. Halloween and Valentine’s Day These are two holidays that people love to spend on, so if you sell items in a complementary niche – think along the lines of decorations, costumes, supplies, and gifts – these are two days that should certainly go on your calendar. However, bear in mind that these are holidays can also be regional. While Halloween is enormous in the United States and Canada, it’s not as popular in Australia and New Zealand. Researching on local holidays will help you see where campaigns might have more impact. For example, for Commonwealth countries, December 26 – or Boxing Day – is a big shopping day. And, in Australia, June 30 is also a big shopping day, as it’s the end of the financial year. Weird Days and Months Did you know that January is Get Organized Month? Or that February 20 is Love Your Pet Day? What about International Plant Appreciation Day on April 13? If it seems like there’s a day or month for everything, it might be because there is. With so many fun, weird, and wacky dates, there are bound to be a few you could use as the basis for an excellent campaign for your products or store. [abc] For example, if you’re in the pet niche and selling products for dogs, you could run sales on March 23 for National Puppy Day. Or if you’re in the jewelry niche, Jewel Day on March 13 is for you. Although you can only use these campaigns for a short amount of time, tying your product to a relevant day will add urgency, stop potential customers in their tracks, and ideally lead to impulse purchases. Websites such as Holiday Insights and Days of the Year will help you find the perfect day or month for your campaign, and from there, you only need to write some snappy ad copy that will entice buyers to celebrate with a purchase from your store. And if you can’t find a day that suits your store or products? Well, you could always invent your own. Back in 2005, UK holiday company Sky Travel sent a press release designating the third Monday of January to be Blue Monday – a.k.a the most depressing day of the year. While they claimed academics calculated the day by taking into account Northern hemisphere weather conditions, in reality, it was all pseudoscience. Despite this, 15 years later, Blue Monday is still an annual event in the UK, so why not take a chance by creating a store-relevant day? Astrological Signs I know this might seem a little kooky or strange, but stick with me! You only need to make a quick search on Twitter or Instagram to see that astrology is enormous at the moment. Pinterest’s recent trend report even mentioned that space and astrology are going to be significant trends in 2020. With astrology so popular, it makes total sense to seize on the chance to use this in your campaigns. And with 12 different star signs, there’s the opportunity to target 12 different groups throughout the whole year. Looking at Facebook Audience Insights, the group that shows the most interest in astrology is overwhelming women, who make up 65 percent of the worldwide audience. And, diving even more in-depth, we can see that women between 25-34 (31 percent) and 35-44 (20 percent) are particularly interested. The best thing about using astrological signs as the basis for a campaign is that people who are interested in astrology love to feel as though they genuinely relate to their sign. You can use this to your advantage in the images and copy you use in your ads. For example, Scorpios are often described as brave, passionate, and loyal, while Pisces is intuitive, gentle, and wise. Incorporating these traits into your ads could be a fantastic way to appeal to potential buyers even further. And, because each astrological sign has a season of around 30 days, it gives you plenty of time to tinker with refining audiences, changing images, and copy to try and hook as many star sign enthusiasts as possible. Seasonal Changes Seasonal changes are a time of the year that businesses have been using in their sales campaigns forever, so really, you’d be silly not to use it as well. No matter what you’re selling, there’s a way that you can tie your product to a seasonal sale – even if it’s something as the classic “the temperature is dropping, and so are our prices!” You could even make it as simple as promoting free shipping for a season; this is ideal for a store selling more seasonal products like bikinis, Halloween costumes, or outdoor sportswear. Or why not add new products to that perfectly complement the season. However, seasonal sales come with a few things to think about, for example, targeting northern and southern hemisphere countries for different seasons. After all, there’s no point advertising summer sales to Australians in June or July when they’re in the middle of winter. It could also be worth researching when certain countries consider the season to have changed. For many countries, the seasons change on equinoxes and solstices – around the 20th of March, June, September, and December. However, Australia and New Zealand prefer to use meteorological seasons, so seasons begin on the 1st of March, June, September, and December. It’s a small detail, but it’s worth considering all the same. Sporting Events [abc] Everyone knows majoring sports events are big business, so why not try to grab some of that business for yourself by running campaigns during some of the notable competitions in 2020. Below we’ve named some of the bigger tournaments and games planned for 2020, but don’t limit yourself to the ones we’ve listed. Different sports are accessible in different parts of the world, so depending on the countries you’re targeting, you could find a whole different event that would be perfect to base a campaign around. Tokyo Olympics The Olympic games will captivate the world for more than two weeks this year as elite athletes descend on Tokyo to show off their skills. While the Olympics will officially run from July 24 until August 9, the hype will start weeks before the event, so it gives you plenty of time to run a campaign. Because the summer Olympics only come around every four years, this allows you to run campaigns that bounce off this idea. For example, you could create gigantic “once in four years” discounts, or promise free shipping for the duration of the games. Or, why not get super savvy and offer discounts based on the results of athletes or sports teams. Perhaps you could offer 1 percent off for each gold medal a country adds to their medal count – all it takes is some discount codes and geo-targeting to make this super-localized campaign a reality. Superbowl LIV [abc] The Superbowl has become so massive in recent years that it’s no longer just a big deal in the United States, it’s very much a worldwide event. The Superbowl is an incredibly commercial competition, with advertising airtime worth millions for mere seconds. Luckily it won’t cost you quite as much to run a Superbowl-centric ad, but you could score big. A flash sale for Superbowl day could be a fantastic way to catch the eye of potential customers, or why not target fans of the two teams playing and offer special discount codes. And depending on the products you sell, you could even start advertising well before the big game. For example, if your store has food or kitchen-related items, why not try and sell these items the month before the game, pitching them as the ideal products for a Superbowl party. Euro 2020 From one ball sport to another, the European football championship is also happening in 2020 in a tournament that will last from June 12 to July 12. With 12 countries competing in this event, it offers anyone targeting European countries the opportunity to create localized ads and woo customers. Or, if you’d prefer not to have to translate your ads into different languages, focus on advertising to the younger demographic who are more likely to speak English. Cultural Events If your store or products don’t exactly chime with sporting events, perhaps something in the cultural sphere could be more suited. This idea is a vast category, and I’ve used it to encompass things like entertainment, art, and music. But, as with sport, don’t take this list as an exhaustive one – there are thousands more big events out there. And, perhaps even more so than games, there will be cultural events that are huge news in some countries but might be relatively unheard of on an international scale. That said, as always, some things definitely have worldwide appeal, and you can very much use this to your advantage in your campaigns. Awards Season [abc] The glitz and glamor of awards season kick-off in January with the Golden Globes, Grammys, Academy Awards, and BAFTAs, to name just a few. If your store is related to entertainment, clothing, or jewelry, this could be the perfect time to target audiences already focussed on who’s attending the ceremonies and what they’re wearing. San Diego Comic-Con From July 23-26, over 130,000 people descend on the San Diego Convention Center to hear from their favorite TV and movie stars and to watch much-anticipated trailers for the first time. And aside from the thousands who gather in San Diego, millions more all over the world who follow the event on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube, waiting for exclusive SDCC footage and interviews to be released. If you sell items that are in any way related to fandoms or entertainment – projectors, wigs, costumes, accessories – comic con is the time to target these fans. TV Series, Game, and Movie Releases Piggybacking off of Comic-Con, TV, game, and movie releases are also great times for sales – especially for niche stores. If you sell products that complement TV shows – for instance, medieval-themed items work well with shows like The Witcher or Vikings – then be sure to keep track of when those series return. You can also think about when trailers are released when finales are to be scheduled, and when major plot points might send fans racing to the internet. These are all the perfect times for you to advertise your store. Music Festivals Festivals and concerts are incredibly location-dependent, but they can be smart to target if your store has items that would appeal to the festival-going crowd. Think jewelry, clothing, bags, sunglasses, and other accessories. Depending on the countries you’re targeting, you could advertise to the enormous crowds headed to mega-festivals like Coachella, Burning Man, or Glastonbury. Or maybe do some more research on festivals that are more locally known. Festivals aren’t cheap to attend, and most festival-goers will spend time planning their trip ahead of time. This idea gives you the chance to start advertising from the time of lineup announcements and early ticket sales. Wrapping Up and Things to Keep in Mind So there you have some of the most significant events and dates in 2020 that you could potentially use in your ads and campaigns. However, this is only a starting point, there is so much more happening than what is listed here, and that’s important to bear in mind when you plan your big sales in 2020. Find Your Opportunities [abc] Even though we’ve covered a lot of holidays, dates, and events, there will undoubtedly be a ton more that we could never predict, but would be great for campaigns – this is especially true for stores that sell very niche products. However, staying alert and seizing the opportunities when you see them will help. For example, if you enjoy the internet and pop culture, don’t be afraid to jump on trends or memes and use them in ads. While you can’t necessarily foresee what will become popular, if you’re willing to try new ads when you notice trends, it could yield significant returns. It could be something as simple as a word or phrase (think 2019’s “OK boomer” or the evolution of DoggoLingo) or a suitable meme format. Whatever it is, if it’s relevant to your products, why not try it out in an ad. Don’t Try and Force Something If It Doesn’t Fit Before you go off and start planning your eCommerce campaigns for 2020, staying mindful of your audience and product is critical. While it might be tempting to try and take advantage of certain days or events with sales and marketing, if it doesn’t fit with your products, then don’t try to force it. If you’re struggling to connect your items with the day, then your customers probably will too, and you’ll lose the wow factor in your campaign. Besides, with so many days out there, you’re bound to find some super relevant ones – concentrate on making those great. Design Your 2020 Calendar With all the inspiration on this list, you’re probably bursting with plenty of campaign ideas for your store. Take the opportunity to download our 2020 e-commerce calendar to help you remember some of the more significant dates as well as adding your store-relevant dates. We recommend printing it off and keeping it nearby, so you have it for reference for the whole year. What events are you planning to incorporate into your advertising, and why? Tell us in the comments below. Allanah Faherty Allanah Faherty is a content marketer at Oberlo. Allanah is passionate about empowering entrepreneurs through useful and engaging content, as well as movie trivia and cats. [abc] How to Deal With Returns and Refunds in 2020 | Oberlo Dropshipping January 18, 2020 bizadmin [abc] This is Jessica from Oberlo 101 that links to Shopify and AliExpress to source your winning product in a jiffy. Here she talks on how to deal with returns and refunds in 2020 as a drop shipper. Mind you, e-commerce is not easy, you have to blog, attract paid traffic via Facebook, Instagram social influencers, handle complaints and wait for sales in the beginning. It is tough work and you are hearing from someone who has tried and been there before. Since I cannot allocate my full attention to Shopify that charges USD 29 per month and only 2 sales for 8 long months, I decided to quit and cut my losses while continuing with my full-time job as an IT executive. But after all these precautions, if you think you have what it takes to start an e-commerce platform, then I would suggest using the free WooCommerce like WordPress. You need to experiment around and play with the main features available on WooCommerce. Al I know is that it is like WordPress and that is it. [abc] So good luck to any of you who are reading this article on the said video. There are many ways to make money, but you have to choose which method is most suitable for you to leverage the hard work you put in. As for me, I love writing and blogging, so I am going to concentrate on these. [abc] This Millennial Entrepreneur Is Carving Her Own Path to Success January 14, 2020 bizadmin Millennials, huh? Those avocado-toast-loving, Instagram-influencers, selfie-taking young’uns. They’re always too busy disrupting industries to get to the business of making themselves a proper career. Just kidding. You’re safe here in the knowledge that I, too, am planted firmly within the age range that defines me as a Millennial. And personally, I think we’re great. And as for traditional careers, who needs ‘em? Today, more and more Millennials are rejecting traditional career paths and stepping out on their own, and entrepreneurship has always been an appealing alternative. According to a study by the Kaufmann Foundation, 54% of Millennials want to start their own business or have already started one. With the promise of setting your own hours, not having to call anyone boss, and the satisfaction of watching something grow from the ground up, it’s easy to see why Millennials are drawn to the idea of starting their own businesses. Jenny Lei is proof that despite their age, Millennial entrepreneurs are ready to play in the big leagues. With no formal business training and a single internship on her resume, this self-taught entrepreneur has grown her e-commerce business to an enviable success. Her business, which sells handbags and accessories, has recently passed the $600,000 revenue mark despite launching less a year ago. I called her up at her apartment/office/temporary warehouse in New York City to talk to her about finding her feet as an entrepreneur, her biggest mistakes, and the little details that have made all the difference to her success. [abc] The First Steps as a Millennial Entrepreneur Jenny Lei is 22 years old, and brimming with energy and enthusiasm. She’s a self-described optimist, a trait she thinks is crucial to her success as an entrepreneur. “I’m a very positive person, I think that helps. You have to be optimistic when doing this because a lot of things are going to go wrong,” she says. Then after graduating college early in December 2017, she found herself out in the real world with the prospect of her entire career spanning before her. [abc] “This past year I was trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, and how I’m going to make money, so I was interviewing a lot,” she says. “But I realized that the jobs I was interviewing for, I wasn’t really interested in.” Unsatisfied with the idea of falling into an office job, she started to look for projects she could pick up to make some money to support herself. So in April 2018, in between interviews and job applications, she started dabbling in her e-commerce businesses. She’d tried running an e-commerce business before in college, selling avocado slicers to her Instagram followers. Her followers (all 800,000 of them) were part of a healthy recipe page she’d spent most of her high school years building. “I was thinking, I have a recipe Instagram page, and people love avocados! Let’s do this,” she says. In the end, the store made a few sales but didn’t take off in the way she’d hoped. But this time around, she went for a different approach. First came the clothing store. Then the jewelry store. Then the bangle store. Then the luggage cases. “My original goal was to start one store a month,” she says. While she had some success, most of the businesses didn’t amount to much. [abc] “I don’t remember how I stumbled on the idea of selling bags,” she says. “But it appealed to me, I collect handbags, so I thought it would be a good idea.” She quickly launched her store with Shopify and used Oberlo to source the product suppliers and help fulfill the orders. She chose to dropship the products from her supplier in China so that she wouldn’t have to buy inventory upfront. Then, once a customer had placed an order from her store her supplier would take care of the delivery of the items directly to her customers. In May 2018, she launched her handbag store. And her success was quick. After advertising a couple of the bags on her Instagram page, she scored her first sales. And once they started, they flooded in – she made $1,000 in sales in the first 24 hours. [abc] “I was with my boyfriend at the time and he was like, ‘Woah, what are you doing?’” she says. “He works in finance and works really long hours. He was like, ‘I’m sitting next to you and you haven’t done anything and you’re making money!’” “At that point, I told him that my ultimate goal was to get to $200,000 per month because that’s what I see all the YouTubers doing. He was like, ‘That’s impossible!’” she says. “Well, I got to that in November!” The Journey from $0 to $200,000 a month When it came to marketing her bags, she began with the area she knew best. “I started with Instagram influencers because that’s what I was doing during high school so I was familiar with that space,” she says. She paid influencers in the fashion space to promote her products by sending them samples to pose within photos. Then, she and offered them an affiliate code to incentivize them to promote the brand even more. [abc] “I dabbled in Facebook advertising in the beginning too. But in the first week I did it I’d be like, ‘Oh, I spent $10 and nobody has bought anything! I’m going to stop this ad, I’m losing money!’” she laughs. Eventually, she grew tired of constantly coordinating promotions with influencers, and was looking for a way to run marketing that could be automated to keep pulling in sales 24 hours a day. She thought back to some fatherly advice. “Like my Dad says, ‘You have to lose money to make money,’ so I thought I’d give it $200 to try Facebook ads properly.” (Click to expand) At first, she struggled to find a formula that worked. “In the beginning, I was doing my ads wrong, they looked really bad,” she says. “I was basically using the product description as the ad copy. Then I was scrolling through Instagram and I was like, ‘Hey! Nobody else does that, I’m going to stop doing that.’” Eventually, after tests upon tests upon tests, she found her winning format. A carousel ad showing a collection of her best-selling bags, with simple copy inspired by the ads of fashion retailer Revolve. “People say that video marketing is the best thing, but for me personally, my best ad has been a carousel post of different products. My best performing ad is the simplest,” she says. Then everything started to click. “My first $1,000 day was at the end of August, that happened on my Dad’s birthday. Then the first $2,000 day was a week after that! And then the first $10,000 was the day before Black Friday in November. These little milestones keep you going,” she says. Although Black Friday turned into the biggest weekend in her store’s history, Jenny says the weekend was, “actually kind of calm.” She had planned to be on a cruise with her boyfriend over the weekend of Black Friday, so she started planning early to make sure everything would be in place for the weekend. In September she hired two virtual assistants to help with customer service and order fulfillment, so she could focus on the marketing. [abc] “I didn’t do too much prep for Black Friday, but I had three different ads set up to run the day before Black Friday. Then we just kept the best running one and scaled that up for the following week.” On the day of Black Friday, as she was cruising around the Bahamas, she kept an eye on the Shopify app on her phone as the orders flooded in. Midway through the weekend, she realized that orders were coming in faster than she expected and she quickly hired another virtual assistant to help with the workload. In the end, the day was a huge success. “I did $18,000 on Black Friday, so that was our best day,” she says. The sales from Black Friday helped tip her revenue over the $200,000 mark for the month – the very amount she was told was impossible. “I think anything is possible now after the past few months. Because my boyfriend said that I could never get to $200,000, and I got there while we were on a cruise!” she says, grinning. What Makes Her Store Successful? So what makes this store, out of all the stores, stand out? For Jenny, the answer is in her dedication to the details. She knew from the beginning she wanted her store to feel premium, so she went looking for inspiration from some of the world’s best designer brands. “I went to Celine’s website and decided I want my website to look like that. So, in the end, it doesn’t look like that, but it was a good inspiration,” she says. Determined to make her website and products feel just as cohesive as the designer brands, she spent hours photoshopping all her product images to make them match perfectly. [abc] “If you’re selling a physical product, you need to have really good product images. Even better if they’re cohesive. You need to make all the images the same size, and you need to position all the bags at the same spot. So when you’re scrolling down all of the items you can see it’s consistent. You know when you click on it that it’s going to be the front, the side, the back, someone wearing it. That’s something that I think is very important. If I went to a website and all the images were different, I wouldn’t buy. The websites that I personally use are very easy to use, easy to navigate, the product images look beautiful. That’s a sign of trust to me.” [abc] The level of dedication to cohesion not only builds trust with her store, but it elevates the feel of the brand, allowing her to charge higher prices and make a healthy sales margin. The bags in her store cost $80 on average, with a sales margin of 66% thanks to the premium brand image she’s built. “In the beginning, it took a lot of time to write the product descriptions, but now I have a good idea of how to write them. I write a little blurb of what the bag is, and how to use it. Then I write what it’s made of, dimensions and suggestions of what you can fit in it.” But unlike designer brands that can come across as cold and clinical in the way they describe their products, she wanted her to feel more approachable. “There are some brands like Warby Parker, where you can imagine someone reading the product description to you, and you can imagine how it fits into your life. That’s the direction I’m going for,” she says. [abc] To make her products feel personal, she took the descriptions one step further. “I gave all of my bags names, so it will be something like the ‘Annie tote’ or the ‘Lauren bag’. I didn’t use to do that, it used to be like, ‘Round Circle Bag,’” she says. “I think that made a big difference too because people will say, ‘I like the Annie!’ or ‘Do you know when the Annie will be back in stock?’ I think that’s something worth considering doing, I noticed a difference after doing that.” Ignore Everyone’s Advice, Follow Your Gut Sure, Jenny’s success sounds exceptional, but I know from experience that it’s never smooth sailing to get to this point. “So, what were some of your biggest mistakes?” I ask her. “Oh let me count the ways!” she replies, laughing. Then she pulls out her phone, where she has compiled an actual list of the mistakes she’s made. She learned the hard way that there are good suppliers and bad suppliers and that choosing a good one is crucial to making your business a success (and reducing the amount of stress-induced freakouts you experience). “I learned that on AliExpress a lot of the suppliers carry the same items, but they’re not necessarily the same quality. The first batch of bags I had, some people said that they smelled bad and that the zippers broke a lot. So I ordered the same bag from five different suppliers to my house to compare, and then I picked the one that I thought was the best quality. There actually was a visible difference between the bags.” In the end, the situation turned into a positive one. By ordering samples of the products she was able to determine the best supplier in terms of quality and delivery service. “After that, I built up a relationship with this supplier and now he sources all of my bags for me,” she says. She’s gotten better at trusting her own instincts too. In the beginning, it was tempting to follow the advice of e-commerce gurus and experts, but she found that their suggestions often just didn’t feel right for her business. So she ignored them and went her own way. [abc] “Don’t listen to everything that people tell you,” she starts. “Do your research and follow your gut. Don’t do it unless you feel like it’s the right thing to do in your heart.” Why Dropshipping Works So Well for Millennial Entrepreneurs Because e-commerce businesses built with the dropshipping model are so lightweight, they’re flexible enough to let you start, stop, or change course if the direction of the business isn’t matching what you need from it. And for a Millennial entrepreneur who is still trying to figure out both business and adult life, that’s kind of perfect. Jenny’s the first to admit that if there’s one thing that’s certain about her life, it’s uncertainty. And she’s okay with that. “The idea of having a set career path is scary to me,” she says. “But someone like my boyfriend, he’s got a great job, and it’s a job he’s wanted since he was five. I’ve never been like that. I don’t buy plane tickets months in advance, I buy plane tickets a week before when I’m sure I want to go. Then I’ll buy a one-way ticket there because maybe I’ll want to stay a few extra days. I’m that kind of person. I don’t know what I’m going to be doing next week, let alone five years from now.” So she’s keeping her options open. This year, she’s headed to grad school to study information science and will keep running her business on the side. Thanks to the help of her team of virtual assistants, she’s been able to scale back her work on the business to only 5-10 hours per week. As for any other Millennial entrepreneurs thinking of following in her footsteps, she has one piece of advice: “Honestly, don’t give up. It’s not easy, but it’s also not as hard as people make it out to be. As long as you keep at it, you’re bound to succeed sometime. I succeeded on my seventh try or something. You’ll find a product that sticks.” [abc] Venetia Anderson Venetia Anderson is a content marketer at Oberlo. She’s passionate about discovering great stories from entrepreneurs, as well as plants and disco music. Follow Venetia on Twitter at @venetia__a. Posts navigation Older posts
Oberlo Product Watch : Plant Hangers July 15, 2020 bizadmin Plant Hangers Google Trends This is Product Watch, where we highlight the hottest products for dropshippers. We explain why they’re great, and give you all the information you need to sell them yourself. Millennials are obsessed with plants. Bonzai, monstera, peace lilies… you name it, they love it. In fact, budding plant enthusiasts are known to spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars every year growing their plant collections. The problem though, is that lots of people who are interested in plants don’t always have the space to house them. They’re all fighting for sunshine (and love) which isn’t always easy to provide if you live in a relatively small space. That’s why this week on Product Watch we’re highlighting plant hangers – the perfect product for plant lovers. It’s a super simple product. They’re typically made out of rope, and you can attach them to the ceiling of your home and hang your plants from the ceiling. Perfect for that bohemian aesthetic that’s ever popular nowadays. Oh, and you won’t need to worry about them taking up too much space either. A quick glance at the Google Trends data for these products will show you that they’re seriously taking off this year, so there’s never been a better time to try selling them. Pricing As always with Product Watch, we try to recommend products that are affordable for our readers, and plant hangers are no different. You can source these products from suppliers for as cheap as $2, and they rise to around $5 depending on the style that you select. When you take into account that these products are typically sold from upwards of $15, it’s clear that there’s plenty of profit to be made. You can even find these products for $25 – $30 on marketplaces like Etsy, although we don’t recommend pricing them that high. Something in the region of $15 – $20 should work well. More good news – free shipping is available for these products to most major markets. We often recommend incorporating the price of shipping into your listed product prices, but as it’s free you’ll have more room to make profit (or spend on your marketing campaigns.) Speaking of marketing, let’s touch on the best ways to get eyeballs on these products. Pricing Stats Product Cost: $2 – $5 Recommended Retail Price: $15 – $20 Marketing Facebook is the go-to marketing channel for many dropshippers, and we recommend using Facebook Ads to promote plant hangers too. Both Facebook Photo and Video Ads will work well for these products because it’s really simple to show the value that these products will bring to potential customers. The key to success here will be using copy to convey exactly why they need these products. The visuals of your ads will grab the attention of people who are interested in plants, but copy that touches on the reasons that we mentioned earlier (that truly speak to your audience) like freeing up space in their apartments or houses will go a long way in generating sales. And, as always, it’s super important that you get these products in front of the right people. So, when it comes to targeting for your Facebook Ads you can try going for people in the US first. And, if you combine that location with some simple interest-based targeting using ‘Houseplants’ you’ll have a great starting point. As always, we leave an example Facebook target audience below that you can use – this is the one that we just mentioned, and you can use this to start marketing these products today. Facebook Ad Targeting Location: USA 🇺🇸 Age: 18 – 45 Gender: All People who match: Houseplant Devices: All Placements: Facebook News Feed, Instagram Feed, Instagram Stories
10 free online courses for entrepreneurs May 12, 2020 bizadmin When you’re starting your own online business, you need to be your own marketer, product photographer, and social media manager. Basically, you are a one-man show to get started due to limited budget. Taking an online course is one of the fastest ways to ramp-up the skills you need to succeed in every part of your online business. This will pave the way to further skills that you need to market your business effectively and not beat about the bush, trying to figure things out – all on your own. Instead of the trial and error method and learning through your own mistakes, it might be worth it to invest in courses and learn from the professionals who also started out as a noob. You can never try to save money from learning and investing in useful skills from the pros and coaches who have succeeded. [abc] Meanwhile, for others, instead of spending thousands to learn these skills, sign up for these free online courses and hold onto your savings for future Facebook ad campaigns (once you know how to run them)! By the end of this video, you’ll have a list of 10 free online courses that’ll teach you more about marketing, entrepreneurship, design, and productivity. Make sure to keep watching to see every video during this Covid-19 pandemic where the world is in lockdown and movement control order is practiced and regulated by the authorities. Break the rules and you are in for some questioning or even imprisonment at the harshest side. So, dear potential business owners and fellow bloggers, do practice social distancing too of at least 2 meters from one another to avoid getting infected with this treacherous novel corona-virus where there is no vaccine at the moment. Stay safe and stay at home as much as possible. Now your home is the safest place in the world during this mayhem caused by the unseen enemy, the virus. [abc] [abc]
10 of the Best Remote Jobs: What are They and How to Find Them April 16, 2020 bizadmin Remote jobs are a relatively new concept – even just a couple of decades ago, they would have seemed nearly impossible. But, with increased globalization and rapidly improving technology, these days, they’re becoming the new normal. Remote jobs allow you to have a fulfilling career, while also offering the chance to do that from wherever you want. These jobs are fantastic for those who live in areas without a lot of opportunities for their profession. They’re also a great solution if you want to remain in – or relocate to – a particular location, such as areas with more affordable housing. 😅😅😅 [abc] Remote jobs also frequently offer flexibility in how and when you complete your hours, which is a more manageable way to work for many people. If you have family obligations or other work that require some of your time, remote jobs may be the accommodating alternative you need. If you’re curious about the best work from home jobs, look no further. We’ve put together a list of best remote jobs to suit many different professions and skill sets. We’ve also included how to find a remote job and tips for how to work from home. Let’s take a look. See the video above to get enlightened how to work remotely and where to find such jobs online in this long lockdown of Covid-19 pandemic mayhem. 😘😍🥰 [abc] [abc]
How to Choose the Perfect Name for Your Store January 27, 2020 bizadmin [abc] Coming up with a name for your online business might seem like a pretty simple task, but trust us, it isn’t always easy. In fact, it can take days to come up with a name for your business. That’s because most entrepreneurs have high expectations for their businesses. They want their business name to be instantly recognizable, and to leave a lasting memory on their shoppers. Essentially, they want their business name to be perfect. And perfection is rarely simple. But, seriously, choosing a name for your business is a lot easier when you’ve got some tips & tricks from experienced entrepreneurs who can guide you in the right direction. And that’s exactly why we’ve created this post – we’re going to show you exactly how to come up with the perfect name for your store. So grab your thinking hat and read through our list of the most important things to consider when you’re choosing a name for your online business. Let’s dive in. [abc] What Goes Into a Great Business Name? When it comes to naming your business, we can’t stress one thing enough; there isn’t an exact science or formula that you can use to come up with a great name. It’s a creative process, so you need to give yourself some time to think. That said, there are some pretty important points that you should take into consideration when you’re at the drawing board that’ll help you to avoid choosing a bad business name. And believe us, you can choose a bad business name. So, let’s take a look at how you can make sure that you’re choosing a stellar name for your business. Keep it Simple and Straightforward [abc] Generally speaking, when it comes to starting a business keeping things simple and straightforward is key. And that’s true when it comes to naming your business, too. Why? Well, when you’re looking for a memorable name for your business, you need to make it easy for people to remember. That’s especially true when you consider that it normally takes up to seven impressions – that’s seven times when shoppers see or interact with a brand – to actually remember your business name. That’s quite a lot. That’d be seven Facebook ads you’d need to run or seven Instagram posts. And, using a long, or complex business name in the first place is going to make it even tougher for your audience to recognize your brand in the first place. So, it’s no surprise that the names of some of the biggest brands in the world are usually just one word long. They keep it simple because they want to be remembered. Choose a Future Proof Name When you’re starting your business, you’re probably thinking about hitting milestones like launching your store, getting your first sale, or making your first $1,000. Now, there’s no doubt that those are pretty big, impressive milestones for somebody who is just starting their business. But, the idea is that you’ll hopefully be hitting much bigger milestones than that eventually – think $1,000+ in sales every single month. And that’s why you need to think big when you’re naming your business. You need to think of a business name that’ll work in the future as you grow, too. You could opt for a name like “Dog Bowl Emporium” – that might work while you’re running a small business. But, you could also opt for something like “Premium Pet Supplies” that’d offer you a business name that you can grow into. You might want to add more products to your business in the future as it grows, so keep your options open when you’re choosing a name for your business. Choose a Name That’s Available When you’re looking for a name for your business, it’s essential that you check your ideas are available. And when we say available, we’re talking about domain names specifically. We always recommend trying to secure the .com domain name for your brand – especially if you’re targeting your products to an English-speaking audience. Why? It’s simple, ‘.com’ domains are trusted so much more by the typical shopper. It’s because of the ‘.com’ domain is familiar. It’s been around since the start of the Internet, and most professional brands use this type of domain as well. If you’re looking for a tool to check domain names, you can do it on Shopify. You can search for domain names, check how much they cost, and buy/install them to your store too. And don’t forget to check that you can find social media handles related to your business name, too. Always try to secure a Facebook and Instagram account to go with your ‘.com’ domain too. BONUS: We recommend checking your business name on the U.S. Patent Searcher as well, it’s another great resource that you can use to check if your business name has already been taken by another company. Convey Meaning [abc] Once you’ve got your creative juices flowing, we recommend trying to convey meaning with your business name. Now, we’re not saying that you need to go super abstract with your business name, because most people probably won’t make the connection if you do that. Seriously, think about it. Most people don’t think about the Greek goddess of victory when they see the Nike logo, even though that’s the inspiration for the companies name. Equally, you can bet the average person doesn’t look at Nivea skin cream and think “Oh that’s white because it’s named after the Latin word Niveus, which means ‘snow white’”. We’re not saying you should dive down the rabbit hole of trying to find a deep meaning for your business name. But, try not to be super generic. Try to avoid business names like “Andrew’s Sports Store”. Instead, you could use words that are related to working out, like “Power Sports” or “Reflex Apparel”. These business names simply have more meaning – they evoke more emotion, which is going to go a long way in helping shoppers to remember your business. 5 Examples of Great Business Names Okay, now that we’ve gone through our top tips for coming up with a name for your business, it’s time to highlight some of our favorite store names. These are real-world examples of companies who’ve nailed their store names and hit on the points that we mentioned above. We’ll dive into the meanings behind these store names, so you can get a better idea of how successful brands think about naming their businesses. Bulletproof One of the first things that you see when you land on Bulletproof ’s homepage is “Health Upgrades”. And that copy is totally aligned with their brand message – Bulletproof sells products that are designed to make you feel bulletproof. They blend butter into their best-selling coffee products, which are meant to work to elongate the effects of their products and help you to avoid the usual crash that comes from caffeine. Essentially, they’re selling coffee products that are “more than your average latte.” And we love their business name. It’s simple yet effective. Every shopper has a clear idea of what they can expect from this business from the get-go, and it’s memorable too because most shoppers typically don’t associate the word ‘bulletproof’ with coffee. They’ve been able to branch out from their initial offerings of coffee too and expand into other health supplements, which underlines the beauty of coming up with a future proof business name. Colourpop Ultra successful makeup brand, Colourpop, landed on a fantastic name for their business. The LA-based beauty outfit is offering high-quality makeup products to shoppers who are looking to add a ‘pop of color’ to their routine at drug store prices. They’ve got a simple, straightforward business name that is undoubtedly futureproofed – under the Colourpop umbrella they could move into clothing or jewelry as well, and it’s fit perfectly into their brand. It’s a fun, playful business name, too, which is aligned with what their audience prefers. KITH Lifestyle brand KITH has quite the backstory for their business name. According to the founder of KITH, Ronnie Fieg, the business name originates from the term “Kith and Kin”, which is an old saying that means “Friends and Family”. And, according to Ronnie, he always wanted to build products for people like his friends, so he dropped the “Kin” part and named his business “Kith”. All in all, KITH is a unique business name with a lot of thought behind it. It’s clear, simple to remember, and works well to convey meaning. SuitSupply SuitSupply is a tailoring brand that prides itself on being “straight to the point”, which is definitely evident in their business name. This business name does a fantastic job of conveying exactly what they’re selling – suits. We love that this brand has used alliteration in their business name. Both of the words in their name start with the same letter, and this is a clever marketing tactic that can actually help people to remember your brand. If you can add some alliteration to your brand name, don’t hesitate – it can really work well, as shown by SuitSupply. Gymshark If you’re looking for inspiration when you’re naming your own fitness brand, Gymshark is a great example. The successful clothing & apparel brand came up with their name by cleverly blending two common words together. First off they used ‘Gym’, which is the bread and butter of their business. They exclusively create fitness apparel targeted towards gym-goers. [abc] Then, they added ‘Shark’, which is an animal that is often associated with power, and strength. Honestly, it’s a pretty simple name, but it’s also quite unique. Its simplicity is key here though – it’s super easy to remember, which is exactly what you want when you’re starting a new brand. Still, Stuck? Use a Business Name Generator If you’re still struggling to come up with a name for your business, worry not. You can always use a business name generator to point you in the right direction. If you’re wondering what a business name generator is, it’s pretty simple, actually. You can enter a word, or term, that you like into a business name generator, and it’ll provide you with dozens of examples that you can use for your business. Take a look at what happens when we enter ‘running’ into a business name generator: Pretty neat, right? Of course, there’s no guarantee that all of the names that the business name generator comes up with are available – you’ll need to check that yourself – but they’re great tools if you’re still struggling for ideas. Interested in using a business name generator? We’ve got just the thing for you – Oberlo’s Business Name Generator. It’s free, so take advantage of it when you’re naming your business. Now It’s Over to You Okay, now you’ve got all the tips, tricks, and tools that you need to come up with a great name for your online business. Now it’s time to use all the information that you’ve gleaned from this post and come up with the best name for your business Oh, and if you’ve got any questions about naming your business, or if you want feedback on your business name, leave it in the comments section below – we read them all! Andrew Roach Andrew Roach is a Content Marketer at Oberlo. He is passionate about eCommerce and creating insightful content to help entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses. [abc]
Dates and Events to Use in Your 2020 E-commerce Ad Campaigns January 22, 2020 bizadmin With 2020 already well underway, it’s time to start thinking about all of the fantastic campaigns you can run throughout the year to get customers spending. When you think of days when consumers are willing to buy, your mind probably jumps to the big end-of-year holidays. But why wait until November to start all your big campaigns when you have so many other days you could capitalize on throughout the year. To get your 2020 marketing calendar started, we’ve put together a massive list of days and events that you could use for your store and get those sales happening. And, we’ve even included a downloadable calendar at the bottom of this article that will help you keep track of your dates. [abc] Spending Holidays We’re going to ease into things with a bunch of holidays that you should already have on your calendar – the big ones that are proven to generate sales. Although these shopping holidays are when most online stores run sales, because there’s so much money to spend during this time, there’s no reason they can’t be profitable for your store as well. Black Friday and Cyber Monday These two days bookend a massive weekend for commerce – and eCommerce in particular. In the US alone, shoppers spent over $7.4 billion online during Black Friday 2019 and went on to spend $9.4 billion on Cyber Monday. With that much cash changing hands, you’d be silly for not planning for a BFCM sale. This year Black Friday will be on November 27 and Cyber Monday on November 30. Singles’ Day Celebrated on November 11, Singles’ Day is an unofficial Chinese holiday for single people – but it has also become the most essential day for shipping in the world. In 2019 shoppers spent over $30 billion on Singles’ Day, and due to its popularity, Singles’ Day has become more internationally recognized in recent years – much like Black Friday. Because of this, it could be well worth jumping on the trend and adding Singles’ Day to your calendar. Halloween and Valentine’s Day These are two holidays that people love to spend on, so if you sell items in a complementary niche – think along the lines of decorations, costumes, supplies, and gifts – these are two days that should certainly go on your calendar. However, bear in mind that these are holidays can also be regional. While Halloween is enormous in the United States and Canada, it’s not as popular in Australia and New Zealand. Researching on local holidays will help you see where campaigns might have more impact. For example, for Commonwealth countries, December 26 – or Boxing Day – is a big shopping day. And, in Australia, June 30 is also a big shopping day, as it’s the end of the financial year. Weird Days and Months Did you know that January is Get Organized Month? Or that February 20 is Love Your Pet Day? What about International Plant Appreciation Day on April 13? If it seems like there’s a day or month for everything, it might be because there is. With so many fun, weird, and wacky dates, there are bound to be a few you could use as the basis for an excellent campaign for your products or store. [abc] For example, if you’re in the pet niche and selling products for dogs, you could run sales on March 23 for National Puppy Day. Or if you’re in the jewelry niche, Jewel Day on March 13 is for you. Although you can only use these campaigns for a short amount of time, tying your product to a relevant day will add urgency, stop potential customers in their tracks, and ideally lead to impulse purchases. Websites such as Holiday Insights and Days of the Year will help you find the perfect day or month for your campaign, and from there, you only need to write some snappy ad copy that will entice buyers to celebrate with a purchase from your store. And if you can’t find a day that suits your store or products? Well, you could always invent your own. Back in 2005, UK holiday company Sky Travel sent a press release designating the third Monday of January to be Blue Monday – a.k.a the most depressing day of the year. While they claimed academics calculated the day by taking into account Northern hemisphere weather conditions, in reality, it was all pseudoscience. Despite this, 15 years later, Blue Monday is still an annual event in the UK, so why not take a chance by creating a store-relevant day? Astrological Signs I know this might seem a little kooky or strange, but stick with me! You only need to make a quick search on Twitter or Instagram to see that astrology is enormous at the moment. Pinterest’s recent trend report even mentioned that space and astrology are going to be significant trends in 2020. With astrology so popular, it makes total sense to seize on the chance to use this in your campaigns. And with 12 different star signs, there’s the opportunity to target 12 different groups throughout the whole year. Looking at Facebook Audience Insights, the group that shows the most interest in astrology is overwhelming women, who make up 65 percent of the worldwide audience. And, diving even more in-depth, we can see that women between 25-34 (31 percent) and 35-44 (20 percent) are particularly interested. The best thing about using astrological signs as the basis for a campaign is that people who are interested in astrology love to feel as though they genuinely relate to their sign. You can use this to your advantage in the images and copy you use in your ads. For example, Scorpios are often described as brave, passionate, and loyal, while Pisces is intuitive, gentle, and wise. Incorporating these traits into your ads could be a fantastic way to appeal to potential buyers even further. And, because each astrological sign has a season of around 30 days, it gives you plenty of time to tinker with refining audiences, changing images, and copy to try and hook as many star sign enthusiasts as possible. Seasonal Changes Seasonal changes are a time of the year that businesses have been using in their sales campaigns forever, so really, you’d be silly not to use it as well. No matter what you’re selling, there’s a way that you can tie your product to a seasonal sale – even if it’s something as the classic “the temperature is dropping, and so are our prices!” You could even make it as simple as promoting free shipping for a season; this is ideal for a store selling more seasonal products like bikinis, Halloween costumes, or outdoor sportswear. Or why not add new products to that perfectly complement the season. However, seasonal sales come with a few things to think about, for example, targeting northern and southern hemisphere countries for different seasons. After all, there’s no point advertising summer sales to Australians in June or July when they’re in the middle of winter. It could also be worth researching when certain countries consider the season to have changed. For many countries, the seasons change on equinoxes and solstices – around the 20th of March, June, September, and December. However, Australia and New Zealand prefer to use meteorological seasons, so seasons begin on the 1st of March, June, September, and December. It’s a small detail, but it’s worth considering all the same. Sporting Events [abc] Everyone knows majoring sports events are big business, so why not try to grab some of that business for yourself by running campaigns during some of the notable competitions in 2020. Below we’ve named some of the bigger tournaments and games planned for 2020, but don’t limit yourself to the ones we’ve listed. Different sports are accessible in different parts of the world, so depending on the countries you’re targeting, you could find a whole different event that would be perfect to base a campaign around. Tokyo Olympics The Olympic games will captivate the world for more than two weeks this year as elite athletes descend on Tokyo to show off their skills. While the Olympics will officially run from July 24 until August 9, the hype will start weeks before the event, so it gives you plenty of time to run a campaign. Because the summer Olympics only come around every four years, this allows you to run campaigns that bounce off this idea. For example, you could create gigantic “once in four years” discounts, or promise free shipping for the duration of the games. Or, why not get super savvy and offer discounts based on the results of athletes or sports teams. Perhaps you could offer 1 percent off for each gold medal a country adds to their medal count – all it takes is some discount codes and geo-targeting to make this super-localized campaign a reality. Superbowl LIV [abc] The Superbowl has become so massive in recent years that it’s no longer just a big deal in the United States, it’s very much a worldwide event. The Superbowl is an incredibly commercial competition, with advertising airtime worth millions for mere seconds. Luckily it won’t cost you quite as much to run a Superbowl-centric ad, but you could score big. A flash sale for Superbowl day could be a fantastic way to catch the eye of potential customers, or why not target fans of the two teams playing and offer special discount codes. And depending on the products you sell, you could even start advertising well before the big game. For example, if your store has food or kitchen-related items, why not try and sell these items the month before the game, pitching them as the ideal products for a Superbowl party. Euro 2020 From one ball sport to another, the European football championship is also happening in 2020 in a tournament that will last from June 12 to July 12. With 12 countries competing in this event, it offers anyone targeting European countries the opportunity to create localized ads and woo customers. Or, if you’d prefer not to have to translate your ads into different languages, focus on advertising to the younger demographic who are more likely to speak English. Cultural Events If your store or products don’t exactly chime with sporting events, perhaps something in the cultural sphere could be more suited. This idea is a vast category, and I’ve used it to encompass things like entertainment, art, and music. But, as with sport, don’t take this list as an exhaustive one – there are thousands more big events out there. And, perhaps even more so than games, there will be cultural events that are huge news in some countries but might be relatively unheard of on an international scale. That said, as always, some things definitely have worldwide appeal, and you can very much use this to your advantage in your campaigns. Awards Season [abc] The glitz and glamor of awards season kick-off in January with the Golden Globes, Grammys, Academy Awards, and BAFTAs, to name just a few. If your store is related to entertainment, clothing, or jewelry, this could be the perfect time to target audiences already focussed on who’s attending the ceremonies and what they’re wearing. San Diego Comic-Con From July 23-26, over 130,000 people descend on the San Diego Convention Center to hear from their favorite TV and movie stars and to watch much-anticipated trailers for the first time. And aside from the thousands who gather in San Diego, millions more all over the world who follow the event on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube, waiting for exclusive SDCC footage and interviews to be released. If you sell items that are in any way related to fandoms or entertainment – projectors, wigs, costumes, accessories – comic con is the time to target these fans. TV Series, Game, and Movie Releases Piggybacking off of Comic-Con, TV, game, and movie releases are also great times for sales – especially for niche stores. If you sell products that complement TV shows – for instance, medieval-themed items work well with shows like The Witcher or Vikings – then be sure to keep track of when those series return. You can also think about when trailers are released when finales are to be scheduled, and when major plot points might send fans racing to the internet. These are all the perfect times for you to advertise your store. Music Festivals Festivals and concerts are incredibly location-dependent, but they can be smart to target if your store has items that would appeal to the festival-going crowd. Think jewelry, clothing, bags, sunglasses, and other accessories. Depending on the countries you’re targeting, you could advertise to the enormous crowds headed to mega-festivals like Coachella, Burning Man, or Glastonbury. Or maybe do some more research on festivals that are more locally known. Festivals aren’t cheap to attend, and most festival-goers will spend time planning their trip ahead of time. This idea gives you the chance to start advertising from the time of lineup announcements and early ticket sales. Wrapping Up and Things to Keep in Mind So there you have some of the most significant events and dates in 2020 that you could potentially use in your ads and campaigns. However, this is only a starting point, there is so much more happening than what is listed here, and that’s important to bear in mind when you plan your big sales in 2020. Find Your Opportunities [abc] Even though we’ve covered a lot of holidays, dates, and events, there will undoubtedly be a ton more that we could never predict, but would be great for campaigns – this is especially true for stores that sell very niche products. However, staying alert and seizing the opportunities when you see them will help. For example, if you enjoy the internet and pop culture, don’t be afraid to jump on trends or memes and use them in ads. While you can’t necessarily foresee what will become popular, if you’re willing to try new ads when you notice trends, it could yield significant returns. It could be something as simple as a word or phrase (think 2019’s “OK boomer” or the evolution of DoggoLingo) or a suitable meme format. Whatever it is, if it’s relevant to your products, why not try it out in an ad. Don’t Try and Force Something If It Doesn’t Fit Before you go off and start planning your eCommerce campaigns for 2020, staying mindful of your audience and product is critical. While it might be tempting to try and take advantage of certain days or events with sales and marketing, if it doesn’t fit with your products, then don’t try to force it. If you’re struggling to connect your items with the day, then your customers probably will too, and you’ll lose the wow factor in your campaign. Besides, with so many days out there, you’re bound to find some super relevant ones – concentrate on making those great. Design Your 2020 Calendar With all the inspiration on this list, you’re probably bursting with plenty of campaign ideas for your store. Take the opportunity to download our 2020 e-commerce calendar to help you remember some of the more significant dates as well as adding your store-relevant dates. We recommend printing it off and keeping it nearby, so you have it for reference for the whole year. What events are you planning to incorporate into your advertising, and why? Tell us in the comments below. Allanah Faherty Allanah Faherty is a content marketer at Oberlo. Allanah is passionate about empowering entrepreneurs through useful and engaging content, as well as movie trivia and cats. [abc]
How to Deal With Returns and Refunds in 2020 | Oberlo Dropshipping January 18, 2020 bizadmin [abc] This is Jessica from Oberlo 101 that links to Shopify and AliExpress to source your winning product in a jiffy. Here she talks on how to deal with returns and refunds in 2020 as a drop shipper. Mind you, e-commerce is not easy, you have to blog, attract paid traffic via Facebook, Instagram social influencers, handle complaints and wait for sales in the beginning. It is tough work and you are hearing from someone who has tried and been there before. Since I cannot allocate my full attention to Shopify that charges USD 29 per month and only 2 sales for 8 long months, I decided to quit and cut my losses while continuing with my full-time job as an IT executive. But after all these precautions, if you think you have what it takes to start an e-commerce platform, then I would suggest using the free WooCommerce like WordPress. You need to experiment around and play with the main features available on WooCommerce. Al I know is that it is like WordPress and that is it. [abc] So good luck to any of you who are reading this article on the said video. There are many ways to make money, but you have to choose which method is most suitable for you to leverage the hard work you put in. As for me, I love writing and blogging, so I am going to concentrate on these. [abc]
This Millennial Entrepreneur Is Carving Her Own Path to Success January 14, 2020 bizadmin Millennials, huh? Those avocado-toast-loving, Instagram-influencers, selfie-taking young’uns. They’re always too busy disrupting industries to get to the business of making themselves a proper career. Just kidding. You’re safe here in the knowledge that I, too, am planted firmly within the age range that defines me as a Millennial. And personally, I think we’re great. And as for traditional careers, who needs ‘em? Today, more and more Millennials are rejecting traditional career paths and stepping out on their own, and entrepreneurship has always been an appealing alternative. According to a study by the Kaufmann Foundation, 54% of Millennials want to start their own business or have already started one. With the promise of setting your own hours, not having to call anyone boss, and the satisfaction of watching something grow from the ground up, it’s easy to see why Millennials are drawn to the idea of starting their own businesses. Jenny Lei is proof that despite their age, Millennial entrepreneurs are ready to play in the big leagues. With no formal business training and a single internship on her resume, this self-taught entrepreneur has grown her e-commerce business to an enviable success. Her business, which sells handbags and accessories, has recently passed the $600,000 revenue mark despite launching less a year ago. I called her up at her apartment/office/temporary warehouse in New York City to talk to her about finding her feet as an entrepreneur, her biggest mistakes, and the little details that have made all the difference to her success. [abc] The First Steps as a Millennial Entrepreneur Jenny Lei is 22 years old, and brimming with energy and enthusiasm. She’s a self-described optimist, a trait she thinks is crucial to her success as an entrepreneur. “I’m a very positive person, I think that helps. You have to be optimistic when doing this because a lot of things are going to go wrong,” she says. Then after graduating college early in December 2017, she found herself out in the real world with the prospect of her entire career spanning before her. [abc] “This past year I was trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, and how I’m going to make money, so I was interviewing a lot,” she says. “But I realized that the jobs I was interviewing for, I wasn’t really interested in.” Unsatisfied with the idea of falling into an office job, she started to look for projects she could pick up to make some money to support herself. So in April 2018, in between interviews and job applications, she started dabbling in her e-commerce businesses. She’d tried running an e-commerce business before in college, selling avocado slicers to her Instagram followers. Her followers (all 800,000 of them) were part of a healthy recipe page she’d spent most of her high school years building. “I was thinking, I have a recipe Instagram page, and people love avocados! Let’s do this,” she says. In the end, the store made a few sales but didn’t take off in the way she’d hoped. But this time around, she went for a different approach. First came the clothing store. Then the jewelry store. Then the bangle store. Then the luggage cases. “My original goal was to start one store a month,” she says. While she had some success, most of the businesses didn’t amount to much. [abc] “I don’t remember how I stumbled on the idea of selling bags,” she says. “But it appealed to me, I collect handbags, so I thought it would be a good idea.” She quickly launched her store with Shopify and used Oberlo to source the product suppliers and help fulfill the orders. She chose to dropship the products from her supplier in China so that she wouldn’t have to buy inventory upfront. Then, once a customer had placed an order from her store her supplier would take care of the delivery of the items directly to her customers. In May 2018, she launched her handbag store. And her success was quick. After advertising a couple of the bags on her Instagram page, she scored her first sales. And once they started, they flooded in – she made $1,000 in sales in the first 24 hours. [abc] “I was with my boyfriend at the time and he was like, ‘Woah, what are you doing?’” she says. “He works in finance and works really long hours. He was like, ‘I’m sitting next to you and you haven’t done anything and you’re making money!’” “At that point, I told him that my ultimate goal was to get to $200,000 per month because that’s what I see all the YouTubers doing. He was like, ‘That’s impossible!’” she says. “Well, I got to that in November!” The Journey from $0 to $200,000 a month When it came to marketing her bags, she began with the area she knew best. “I started with Instagram influencers because that’s what I was doing during high school so I was familiar with that space,” she says. She paid influencers in the fashion space to promote her products by sending them samples to pose within photos. Then, she and offered them an affiliate code to incentivize them to promote the brand even more. [abc] “I dabbled in Facebook advertising in the beginning too. But in the first week I did it I’d be like, ‘Oh, I spent $10 and nobody has bought anything! I’m going to stop this ad, I’m losing money!’” she laughs. Eventually, she grew tired of constantly coordinating promotions with influencers, and was looking for a way to run marketing that could be automated to keep pulling in sales 24 hours a day. She thought back to some fatherly advice. “Like my Dad says, ‘You have to lose money to make money,’ so I thought I’d give it $200 to try Facebook ads properly.” (Click to expand) At first, she struggled to find a formula that worked. “In the beginning, I was doing my ads wrong, they looked really bad,” she says. “I was basically using the product description as the ad copy. Then I was scrolling through Instagram and I was like, ‘Hey! Nobody else does that, I’m going to stop doing that.’” Eventually, after tests upon tests upon tests, she found her winning format. A carousel ad showing a collection of her best-selling bags, with simple copy inspired by the ads of fashion retailer Revolve. “People say that video marketing is the best thing, but for me personally, my best ad has been a carousel post of different products. My best performing ad is the simplest,” she says. Then everything started to click. “My first $1,000 day was at the end of August, that happened on my Dad’s birthday. Then the first $2,000 day was a week after that! And then the first $10,000 was the day before Black Friday in November. These little milestones keep you going,” she says. Although Black Friday turned into the biggest weekend in her store’s history, Jenny says the weekend was, “actually kind of calm.” She had planned to be on a cruise with her boyfriend over the weekend of Black Friday, so she started planning early to make sure everything would be in place for the weekend. In September she hired two virtual assistants to help with customer service and order fulfillment, so she could focus on the marketing. [abc] “I didn’t do too much prep for Black Friday, but I had three different ads set up to run the day before Black Friday. Then we just kept the best running one and scaled that up for the following week.” On the day of Black Friday, as she was cruising around the Bahamas, she kept an eye on the Shopify app on her phone as the orders flooded in. Midway through the weekend, she realized that orders were coming in faster than she expected and she quickly hired another virtual assistant to help with the workload. In the end, the day was a huge success. “I did $18,000 on Black Friday, so that was our best day,” she says. The sales from Black Friday helped tip her revenue over the $200,000 mark for the month – the very amount she was told was impossible. “I think anything is possible now after the past few months. Because my boyfriend said that I could never get to $200,000, and I got there while we were on a cruise!” she says, grinning. What Makes Her Store Successful? So what makes this store, out of all the stores, stand out? For Jenny, the answer is in her dedication to the details. She knew from the beginning she wanted her store to feel premium, so she went looking for inspiration from some of the world’s best designer brands. “I went to Celine’s website and decided I want my website to look like that. So, in the end, it doesn’t look like that, but it was a good inspiration,” she says. Determined to make her website and products feel just as cohesive as the designer brands, she spent hours photoshopping all her product images to make them match perfectly. [abc] “If you’re selling a physical product, you need to have really good product images. Even better if they’re cohesive. You need to make all the images the same size, and you need to position all the bags at the same spot. So when you’re scrolling down all of the items you can see it’s consistent. You know when you click on it that it’s going to be the front, the side, the back, someone wearing it. That’s something that I think is very important. If I went to a website and all the images were different, I wouldn’t buy. The websites that I personally use are very easy to use, easy to navigate, the product images look beautiful. That’s a sign of trust to me.” [abc] The level of dedication to cohesion not only builds trust with her store, but it elevates the feel of the brand, allowing her to charge higher prices and make a healthy sales margin. The bags in her store cost $80 on average, with a sales margin of 66% thanks to the premium brand image she’s built. “In the beginning, it took a lot of time to write the product descriptions, but now I have a good idea of how to write them. I write a little blurb of what the bag is, and how to use it. Then I write what it’s made of, dimensions and suggestions of what you can fit in it.” But unlike designer brands that can come across as cold and clinical in the way they describe their products, she wanted her to feel more approachable. “There are some brands like Warby Parker, where you can imagine someone reading the product description to you, and you can imagine how it fits into your life. That’s the direction I’m going for,” she says. [abc] To make her products feel personal, she took the descriptions one step further. “I gave all of my bags names, so it will be something like the ‘Annie tote’ or the ‘Lauren bag’. I didn’t use to do that, it used to be like, ‘Round Circle Bag,’” she says. “I think that made a big difference too because people will say, ‘I like the Annie!’ or ‘Do you know when the Annie will be back in stock?’ I think that’s something worth considering doing, I noticed a difference after doing that.” Ignore Everyone’s Advice, Follow Your Gut Sure, Jenny’s success sounds exceptional, but I know from experience that it’s never smooth sailing to get to this point. “So, what were some of your biggest mistakes?” I ask her. “Oh let me count the ways!” she replies, laughing. Then she pulls out her phone, where she has compiled an actual list of the mistakes she’s made. She learned the hard way that there are good suppliers and bad suppliers and that choosing a good one is crucial to making your business a success (and reducing the amount of stress-induced freakouts you experience). “I learned that on AliExpress a lot of the suppliers carry the same items, but they’re not necessarily the same quality. The first batch of bags I had, some people said that they smelled bad and that the zippers broke a lot. So I ordered the same bag from five different suppliers to my house to compare, and then I picked the one that I thought was the best quality. There actually was a visible difference between the bags.” In the end, the situation turned into a positive one. By ordering samples of the products she was able to determine the best supplier in terms of quality and delivery service. “After that, I built up a relationship with this supplier and now he sources all of my bags for me,” she says. She’s gotten better at trusting her own instincts too. In the beginning, it was tempting to follow the advice of e-commerce gurus and experts, but she found that their suggestions often just didn’t feel right for her business. So she ignored them and went her own way. [abc] “Don’t listen to everything that people tell you,” she starts. “Do your research and follow your gut. Don’t do it unless you feel like it’s the right thing to do in your heart.” Why Dropshipping Works So Well for Millennial Entrepreneurs Because e-commerce businesses built with the dropshipping model are so lightweight, they’re flexible enough to let you start, stop, or change course if the direction of the business isn’t matching what you need from it. And for a Millennial entrepreneur who is still trying to figure out both business and adult life, that’s kind of perfect. Jenny’s the first to admit that if there’s one thing that’s certain about her life, it’s uncertainty. And she’s okay with that. “The idea of having a set career path is scary to me,” she says. “But someone like my boyfriend, he’s got a great job, and it’s a job he’s wanted since he was five. I’ve never been like that. I don’t buy plane tickets months in advance, I buy plane tickets a week before when I’m sure I want to go. Then I’ll buy a one-way ticket there because maybe I’ll want to stay a few extra days. I’m that kind of person. I don’t know what I’m going to be doing next week, let alone five years from now.” So she’s keeping her options open. This year, she’s headed to grad school to study information science and will keep running her business on the side. Thanks to the help of her team of virtual assistants, she’s been able to scale back her work on the business to only 5-10 hours per week. As for any other Millennial entrepreneurs thinking of following in her footsteps, she has one piece of advice: “Honestly, don’t give up. It’s not easy, but it’s also not as hard as people make it out to be. As long as you keep at it, you’re bound to succeed sometime. I succeeded on my seventh try or something. You’ll find a product that sticks.” [abc] Venetia Anderson Venetia Anderson is a content marketer at Oberlo. She’s passionate about discovering great stories from entrepreneurs, as well as plants and disco music. Follow Venetia on Twitter at @venetia__a.