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Seeking Advice and Guidance: New to Online Marketing, Your Insights Welcome!

by GrowthGuru
9 replies
Hello, I'm new here. I recently quit my job as a team leader at a delivery company to finally start working online. I opened a store on Shopify two years ago, but it only made one sale. I stopped at that point because I couldn't increase my budget for Facebook ads any further. I don't have a specific affinity for any particular field. I'm currently searching everywhere; there's a lot of information on the internet, and everyone promises to take you from 0 to 10k in order to sell you their course - affiliate marketing, dropshipping, local e-commerce. I don't know which field to choose. Knowing myself, if I find the right course or the right person to guide me, I can fully commit no matter what I'm working on. Unfortunately, I haven't yet found a job that I'm passionate about. Even in my studies, I was never interested in one specific subject; I tried to excel in everything and I earned my master's degree that way. But one thing is certain: I'm more productive when working independently than when someone is constantly overseeing me. I stumbled upon this blog through a YouTuber and I'm very pleased. Perhaps this could be a fresh start for me to find a profession that I'll enjoy, or at least to be self-sufficient. I can't seem to decide what to focus on; today it's affiliate marketing, tomorrow it's dropshipping, and the day after it's reselling sneakers. I'm really lost. I've spent tonight going through your posts, and there are people here who are very experienced and have managed to find their path. I hope you can help me find mine. I'm open to your suggestions and advice. Thank you.
#advice #guidance #insights #marketing #online #seeking
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    Welcome. First - this is not a blog - it is an internet marketing forum.


    Hold your cursor over your 'forum name' in the black toolbar above - you will see a gold ' box' in the dropdown menu that says either 'view classic' or 'view modern'. If it says 'view classic' click on that link (you may have to sign in again) so you are in the best forum mode to discuss your ideas and efforts.


    Your post very simply - doesn't make a lot of sense. You say you can fully commit and are more productive when working independently - but after two years had no success with an e-commerce store.

    everyone promises to take you from 0 to 10k in order to sell you their course - affiliate marketing, dropshipping, local e-commerce. I don't know which field to choose
    STOP reading sales pages. You are not ready to learn from anyone until YOU decide what you want to do. No one can do that for you. You recognize those are SELLERS trying to SELL you THEIR product. Walk away from the sales pages.

    Your post contains over two dozen instances of the word "I" and that's not even counting the 'my' and 'me' references. Success online (or in any business) has little to do with what you want or need - but is about what you can PROVIDE to others.

    What do you know how to do? What are you good at? How much work experience do you have? Do you have a monthly budget for starting an online business?

    Perhaps this could be a fresh start for me to find a profession that I'll enjoy, or at least to be self-sufficient. I can't seem to decide what to focus on; today it's affiliate marketing, tomorrow it's dropshipping, and the day after it's reselling sneakers.
    You can't do it all - and you don't have to. Two years ago - WHY did you choose Shopify? How much research did you do about what you were planning to sell and how to find people online who might want to buy what you were selling?

    You can get a lot of help here - but only you can focus and decide what type of online business you want and what you will sell - and who you will sell to.
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    Saving one dog will not change the world - but the world changes forever for that one dog
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    My ducks are absolutely not in a row. I don't even know where some of them are...
    ...and I'm pretty sure one of them is a pigeon.
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    • Profile picture of the author GrowthGuru
      Hello, I appreciate your response. You inquired about my strengths and to be candid, I'm still in the process of figuring that out. In terms of my professional background, I've worked as a salesperson in a cleaning and childcare company. Following that, I transitioned to a role as a logistics manager with Amazon, and subsequently served as a team leader for Amazon until the end of last month.

      Regarding Shopify, I initiated it two years ago alongside my other employment. I dedicated two to three weeks for training, drawing knowledge from a YouTuber's course and various YouTube tutorials to kickstart the process. I established a website for a beauty product sourced from AliExpress. I launched Facebook Ads campaigns, which resulted in site visits but no conversions. However, due to my recent employment, I was unable to allocate more resources as I hadn't yet seen a return on investment. Consequently, I maintained the site for only two months.

      Shopify was chosen for its user-friendly platform. To select a product, I used the ads library and opted for a product that was making sells in dropshipping.

      Regarding budget, I can allocate between 500 to 1000 euros per month.

      As of today, I'm still deliberating whether re-launching a Shopify website and collaborating with AliExpress remains the best course of action, considering there are potentially equally compelling avenues such as affiliate marketing, a field with which I wasn't particularly familiar until now.

      Reflecting on your insights, I recognize that achieving success in an online business, or any business for that matter, is not solely about my desires or needs, but rather, it revolves around what I can contribute to others. With this in mind, my primary focus moving forward will be dedicated to uncovering an online venture that not only prospers but also allows me to provide genuine value to people.
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      • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
        Originally Posted by GrowthGuru View Post

        As of today, I'm still deliberating whether re-launching a Shopify website and collaborating with AliExpress remains the best course of action, considering there are potentially equally compelling avenues such as affiliate marketing, a field with which I wasn't particularly familiar until now.
        If I were starting out, my first step would be to research an existing market that I could tap into cost-effectively. Without access to targeted prospects, I'd have to rely on expensive, trial-and-error advertising. It may well be that surveys list particular products as best-sellers, but that only tells me a part of the story - if I can't get that product in front of enough buyers, I don't have a business. That's why highly visited and trusted platforms like eBay are an excellent starting point for beginners as they provide what someone without an existing following desperately needs - traffic. Buying traffic, at that.

        Platforms like Shopify provide the structure and back office systems for processing sales, but not the buyers. Affiliate marketing won't work without traffic. Gaining any kind of traction from scratch requires an investment of time and/or money - as well as, in most cases, some means of differentiation.

        It's much easier to find your market first - then supply them with what they're already buying.
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        When I was offered the choice of any superpower, I chose the power of hindsight. Now that I come to think of it...

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  • Profile picture of the author Zadkeil
    Running an eBay store is a good online business for beginners. It is easy to learn and you can do it part-time,
    Start by selling pre-owned books. Download the eBay app and only buy books that are asking $15+ on Ebay.
    Experiment by adding different categories. A basic store will allow you to list up to 1000 items. You can scale your store to more items as you get more experience.
    There are a lot of inexpensive ebooks on how to get started on eBay
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    John Topping, Web Design and Marketing, Bribie Island
    https://blogdesign-bribieisland.com/

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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    zadkeil -


    You don't need to buy an ebay book - check out the step by step on this forum - written by someone who does exceptionally well on ebay. I doubt you will find a more detailed 'how to' anywhere.



    https://www.warriorforum.com/warrior...days-ebay.html


    I am not familiar with international shipping with ebay so the country of residence residence may not be an issue.
    Signature
    Saving one dog will not change the world - but the world changes forever for that one dog
    ***
    My ducks are absolutely not in a row. I don't even know where some of them are...
    ...and I'm pretty sure one of them is a pigeon.
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  • Profile picture of the author TobiMDD
    I can really understand you very well. my online story was relatively similar. mostly confusion and what exactly do I want to do now...
    and that resulted in me making heaps of investments in all kinds of things...

    so my simple tip would really be to first take a good look at yourself and your life and see what your passions are. what particular strengths you have that set you apart from most other people and then, once you've reflected on all that properly, you'll realize that there are usually at least one or two things that interest you or make you special, and from these you then choose something and turn it into an online presence and a topic, and everything else will automatically flow to you. all that matters is good old discipline.
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  • Profile picture of the author aduttonater
    Create a goal and objective figure out how to get it done. Keep working on new approaches until you find whatever works best for you. Master and duplicate.
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    http://newinnovativeenterprises.weebly.com
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  • Profile picture of the author Monetize
    Originally Posted by GrowthGuru View Post

    Hello, I'm new here. I recently quit my job as a team leader at a delivery company to finally start working online. I opened a store on Shopify two years ago, but it only made one sale. I stopped at that point because I couldn't increase my budget for Facebook ads any further. I don't have a specific affinity for any particular field. I'm currently searching everywhere; there's a lot of information on the internet, and everyone promises to take you from 0 to 10k in order to sell you their course - affiliate marketing, dropshipping, local e-commerce. I don't know which field to choose. Knowing myself, if I find the right course or the right person to guide me, I can fully commit no matter what I'm working on. Unfortunately, I haven't yet found a job that I'm passionate about. Even in my studies, I was never interested in one specific subject; I tried to excel in everything and I earned my master's degree that way. But one thing is certain: I'm more productive when working independently than when someone is constantly overseeing me. I stumbled upon this blog through a YouTuber and I'm very pleased. Perhaps this could be a fresh start for me to find a profession that I'll enjoy, or at least to be self-sufficient. I can't seem to decide what to focus on; today it's affiliate marketing, tomorrow it's dropshipping, and the day after it's reselling sneakers. I'm really lost. I've spent tonight going through your posts, and there are people here who are very experienced and have managed to find their path. I hope you can help me find mine. I'm open to your suggestions and advice. Thank you.

    I cannot believe that you are degreed and thought that
    the way to go was to quit your job when you don't have
    anything set up for income, unless you do and did not
    mention it, or have some lucrative nest egg stashed
    away to sustain you for a year or two.

    The good news is that it's about to be Christmas selling
    season and you might be able to make something of it
    if you hurry up and figure something out.

    But I doubt that will happen. This isn't the get rich quick
    method of making money. It's a business just like any
    other business that takes time to set up and get going.

    The reason that most people fail is because they do
    not treat it as a business, they just think they can set
    up ONE website, one book, one YouTube, one course,
    this that or the other thing, and start making bank.

    From my own experience and from what I have seen
    other online businesses, you need HUNDREDS of
    things. Especially now after lockdowns and millions
    of people are trying to be a WAHM, MMO, sell on
    eBay/Etsy/Shopify/Stan.store/Gumroad, etc.

    ICYMI my previous posts, there are 250+ ways to
    make money online, so all you have to do now is
    find something(s) that you have the skills to do that
    might replace your salary.

    I highly recommend that you stop being indecisive,
    assess any skills that can be used online, and start
    working on it like it's a full-time job.
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  • Profile picture of the author drmani
    This is something quite often faced by beginners to the online money making universe...

    Shiny New Thing syndrome!

    Everything looks appealing. And when you finally pick one, the other things seem easier, more promising, or faster to succeed at.

    From 25+ years of doing this stuff, let me dispel a myth.

    All of it is difficult. All of it is promising.

    You just need to focus on one thing. Grow really good at it. And learn how to leverage it to your greatest benefit, by playing to your strengths.

    For me, personally, this was email marketing. I created an email newsletter. Shared news and links. Quickly grew it to an audience of over 15k subscribers (back in 1996, it was easy to do this... not today)

    From there, things expanded in different directions. But always, one thing stayed constant. I had to focus on ONE area or thing at a time, get really good at it, and only then build in a different direction.

    So the real challenge for you, from what I can see from your post, is to focus laserlike on what's ideally suited to your interests, skills and expectations. Stop dabbling in everything. And zero in on your one choice. Then stick with it, and aim to become a master.

    Hope this helps.

    All success,
    Dr.Mani
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