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An Aussie Battler's Journey Begins Today

by JakeThePeg
9 replies
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I have been toying with the idea of setting up a drop-shipping site for years and years and years.

I have always had a voice in the back of my mind telling me that drop shipping won't work in Australia, because the market is relatively small. Actually, there's also a skeptic in me that says drop-shipping might be a revenue-generating myth all together.

But being the curious create that I am, I figured the only way to find out was to roll up my sleeves, get my hands dirty and give it a crack....behold, here is the fruits of my labour:
Mr Wedding Ring

Somewhat disappointingly, I haven't made a sale yet. According to Google Analytics, I have had 13 sessions, all Direct traffic. In other words, it's only me that has visited the site so far, despite Webmaster Tools telling me that all 68 pages are indexed are ready to be exposed to the 15,000+ searches for 'mens wedding rings' that Google Keyword Planner tells me occur each and every month.

I guess what I am saying is...I've done the hard yards in finding a niche, I've found a supplier for my products, I've done hard yards in building a website using best practices and all the right plugins.

And only now am I realising that the hard work is yet to come.

I'm not whinging....it's just, getting to this point alone took a lot of work in addition to my day job, commuting 3 hrs each day, and juggling a young family. I keep wondering whether I am better off just hanging with the kids in the spare hours I have at home, rather than working late nights on this kind of stuff.

I don't want to give up....at least, not yet. Maybe this will work, and provide me with some extra income go towards holidays with the kids or the mortgage....or dare I say a shiny new motorcycle!

But I do feel a bit disenchanted, and I need some encouragement and advice to get back on track, if I'm going to give this project a real chance of succeeding. I'm really looking to you for bit of inspiration, no matter how big or small.
#aussie #battler #begins #journey #today
  • Profile picture of the author violet0176
    No one is going to find your site if it isn't marketed properly. All major Social Media platforms should be utilized, especially Instagram & Facebook where images are everything.

    I hope that you have thoroughly researched your niche to ascertain that it's profitable.
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  • Profile picture of the author violet0176
    On an aesthetic note, the site is a bit blah.
    If you're going for the minimalist look you might want to magnify the items to give more weight to the shop's appearance.

    Similar to this Mens Wedding Rings at Robbins Brothers

    You also might want to find a Supplier of higher quality rings -gold, silver, tungsten, etc...I don't know any married men with a stainless steel wedding band. They all have sterling or karat gold. It's a matter of quality.

    Good luck in your venture! With the right design and marketing you can gain success.
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  • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
    Jake,

    If you got into this expecting traffic to just start happening someone led you astray.

    Marketing is without a doubt the hardest part of eCommerce. Picking the right niche and getting good suppliers setup are important but without marketing all your initial work doesn't do anything.

    So - the bad news first: you've got nothing on your site or blog that'll make you stand out SEO-wise. Your site, despite being a few months old, isn't registering in either of the research programs I ran it through which suggests you don't have a single link (even from a social page that you setup). These two things together mean for the moment don't expect any organic traffic to happen.

    The good news: you've taken the step that most people don't and actually have a functional store built. It's not pretty and it'll take some work to make it profitable, but you're leaps ahead of most people who want to get into eCommerce. Marketing can be learned, or you could simply hire a trustworthy agency to do some paid ads to drive traffic.

    Hope things work out for you.
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    • Profile picture of the author Staggerlee666
      Originally Posted by dave_hermansen View Post

      Jake,

      If you got into this expecting traffic to just start happening someone led you astray.

      Marketing is without a doubt the hardest part of eCommerce. Picking the right niche and getting good suppliers setup are important but without marketing all your initial work doesn't do anything.

      So - the bad news first: you've got nothing on your site or blog that'll make you stand out SEO-wise. Your site, despite being a few months old, isn't registering in either of the research programs I ran it through which suggests you don't have a single link (even from a social page that you setup). These two things together mean for the moment don't expect any organic traffic to happen.

      The good news: you've taken the step that most people don't and actually have a functional store built. It's not pretty and it'll take some work to make it profitable, but you're leaps ahead of most people who want to get into eCommerce. Marketing can be learned, or you could simply hire a trustworthy agency to do some paid ads to drive traffic.

      Hope things work out for you.
      Dave,

      Thank you for being such a great resource on here and through your website. Quick question - I picked a niche where products happen to be big and bulky and I am finding out (after a few orders) that my suppliers are out of stock on a lot of these items. I've already had to refund customers or ask them to be patient as their unit is on a container nowhere in the Pacific.

      Have you dealt with such stocking issues from suppliers? Other than being pissed off and eating the costs because they failed to update you on inventory is there anyway to determine if you are going to have such issues before signing on with a new supplier? I am seriously thinking of dropping these two companies, but I am afraid a lot of other suppliers in the niche are going to have similar issues.

      Thanks in advance!
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      • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
        Originally Posted by Staggerlee666 View Post

        Dave,

        Thank you for being such a great resource on here and through your website. Quick question - I picked a niche where products happen to be big and bulky and I am finding out (after a few orders) that my suppliers are out of stock on a lot of these items. I've already had to refund customers or ask them to be patient as their unit is on a container nowhere in the Pacific.

        Have you dealt with such stocking issues from suppliers? Other than being pissed off and eating the costs because they failed to update you on inventory is there anyway to determine if you are going to have such issues before signing on with a new supplier? I am seriously thinking of dropping these two companies, but I am afraid a lot of other suppliers in the niche are going to have similar issues.

        Thanks in advance!
        There's really no way to be certain of a supplier before you start working with them. It's always a good idea to place a couple orders after setting up a relationship - that allows you to see the quality of the packaging, the shipping times, and how they label their products.

        As for what to do now - one possible work around is to do some stock and shipping (but this isn't such a great option for bulky items). Aside from that - it may be worth looking into other suppliers. The fact that you've got a site moving products already can be a great asset to setting up relationships with distributors or each manufactures that might not have been willing to work with you otherwise. If it seems like the new supplier is working out better you can decide whether to keep the existing ones (as backups in the case of a matching product, or to have a wider selection in the case of different ones) or let them go.

        Hope that helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author violet0176
    Most legitimate distributors offer CSV file inventory updates daily, if not hourly. Find reliable suppliers.
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    • Profile picture of the author Staggerlee666
      That's what I am finding out as well.
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      • Profile picture of the author KFlash
        Hey MrWeddingRing. Good luck.

        One thing I noticed: When I open your website, I don't see any product/the products are not in the focus. You should slim down the header and probably put a single product like "the most wanted ring" right there (or the "best offer we have").
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  • Profile picture of the author Oziboomer
    Originally Posted by JakeThePeg View Post

    Somewhat disappointingly, I haven't made a sale yet. According to Google Analytics, I have had 13 sessions, all Direct traffic. In other words, it's only me that has visited the site so far, despite Webmaster Tools telling me that all 68 pages are indexed are ready to be exposed to the 15,000+ searches for 'mens wedding rings' that Google Keyword Planner tells me occur each and every month.

    But I do feel a bit disenchanted, and I need some encouragement and advice to get back on track, if I'm going to give this project a real chance of succeeding. I'm really looking to you for bit of inspiration, no matter how big or small.
    In Australia Google is the dominant search tool of choice and you should consider sending some adwords traffic to your site to see if you can convert traffic into sales.

    I would suggest keep improving the site and when you do decide to send paid traffic ensure you have good landing pages to send the visitors to.

    You already have the right privacy policies in place to meet Google's guidelines so if you are not sending paid traffic already you should.

    Everytime I've launched a new site and once it is ready to process orders I've set up paid campaigns and then you get a pretty quick idea of whether it will work or not.

    You should add much more depth to the range and make sure you cover all bases in regards to styles and price points.

    Oh...and as an aside...perhaps a new handle on the forum might be better given the Rolf Harris conviction....especially if you have links that could affect the perspective from a female point of view given that most wedding rings for men are in fact chosen...or influenced by the bride in the equation....just a thought.

    Good luck,

    Ozi
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