The Truth About E-Commerce - Drop Shipping, Marketing, Traffic

Ok, let me start by saying I am not an expert......I just have experience!
I have been building, marketing, and running my own e-commerce websites for over 15 years. I have tried a lot of different things, lost a lot of money, made a lot of money, and I am still doing it today.
Why I am writing this? I feel that some truth needs to be shared for newbies as well as some of you that have been hanging in there for the last few years with your e-commerce businesses still trying to boost traffic and sales. There are way too many offers out there.......offers to buy traffic, get social followers, get on email lists, etc. The problem, is that most of these will never do anything for you! It seems like an awesome deal......because lets face it, 10,000 targeted visitors for under twenty is super cheap. And if your are like most e-commerce start-ups or mid-level marketers, you will continue to try these methods for years to come. But the fact is, is that there are tons of free methods as well as some paid methods that do work, you just have to know where to look and what to do! So I am sharing a basic 'not to do' and 'to do' list that I believe if followed could in time turn your e-commerce website from 'a joke' to a 'profitable business'.

WHAT NOT TO DO

• Don't pay for visitors - targeted or not - they almost never turn results that matter!
• Don't Buy Social Followers - Most won't be real or won't be vested in what your about!
• Don't do solo ads (through services) - Only do your own opt-in email lists!
• Don't start an e-commerce store and think customers and sales will come. It does involve some work.

WHAT TO DO

• Don't pay a fortune to start an e-commerce website! Many companies spent thousands and years later still were not selling much if anything! There are great free options to get you started, and many can grow you to a 6 digit + business! Open Cart and Woocommerce (works with wordpress) are just a few of some great options.
• Make sure you have good suppliers you can trust! If you are dropshipping.....I would avoid any websites that make you pay for a membership! Most websites like that do not give you enough margin to make enough money after the fees you pay, and most are not true wholesalers! Search hard and try to find actual manufacturers or distributors that are willing to work directly with you. Real wholesalers will normally request your sellers permit and/or other business credentials.
• Make sure your website, categories, pages, and products have unique and seo optimized listings!
• Update your main page often! New products, sales, and blog posts are great things to update on your main page. It will keep search engines coming back because your website is always changing. This will help your search ranking as well.
• Find other websites (blogs in your niche, coupon and shopping websites/forums) that you can post guest blogs or info on sales or coupons you are offering. Run sales often!
• Deal & Coupon Forums can boost targeted traffic and sales! Most are free to post (though most of the real popular ones do not allow self promotion)
• Start an email list! There are some great services that can start you for free and are still affordable when you grow bigger! I recommend 'Mail Chimp'!
• Google and Bing Ads work! You must start with a small budget and choose keywords that aren't generic or over used (by bigger companies with more money than we will ever see) and be patient. Try different keywords and campaign ads. As you start to grow, you can increase your marketing budget!

If you have an e-commerce store in the United States, feel free to check out my latest offers here on WF where I am offering Warrior members 50% off some great real services! - My Personal Dropshipping list, deal promotion, and much more! Just Search for: wf-exclusive-50-off-web-business-marketing-services

*If you don't have a marketing budget and are interested in a little help for free, I have something that will at least give you a decent backlink and could generate some good targeted 'shoppers' traffic - long term! - Just message me or comment on this post!