[Journey] Build a profitable e-commerce brand in 120 days

naz10101

naz10101

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I am building a Jewellery brand and I want it to be profitable. I aim to get this done in 120 days. I am creating this thread for accountability

Previously, I tried doing dropshipping where I made a little profit as per the link below:

https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/dropshipping-journey-to-a-consistent-100-per-day.1240841/
For the subsequent year and half, I dipped my toes in ecommerce and dropshipping various times with various levels of success and failure. Will this be the time I succeed, I don't know - but lets see what happens and if I have learnt any lessons.
 
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Day 1

Drafted up a Product Research Plan to help guide how I will be conducting my product research, researching competitors and and products. The reason for the plan is to create an intention behind what I am doing. I don't want to get lost in a zillion products and lose the purpose / time. This what I had learnt from my previous experiences.

Next Steps for Day 2 and 3:
  • Complete Product Research Plan
  • Commence Product Research
-
 
Good luck and lots of success.

I've worked with a couple of jewellery brands a few years back and its a really tough market.

You need strong social ads, as well as good influencer ideas to scale. Back then we went for a micro influencer push. Basically send free jewellery (it was more on the cheap side) to them so they would create content, but it took some time to really have an impact.

Depending on your price point and competition you might also want to target competitors with search ads to gain some early awareness if you can afford.
 
frankygoldberg said:
Good luck and lots of success.

I've worked with a couple of jewellery brands a few years back and its a really tough market.

You need strong social ads, as well as good influencer ideas to scale. Back then we went for a micro influencer push. Basically send free jewellery (it was more on the cheap side) to them so they would create content, but it took some time to really have an impact.

Depending on your price point and competition you might also want to target competitors with search ads to gain some early awareness if you can afford.
Click to expand...
Thanks mate. How did you pick the micro influencers? Is there anything I should watch out for?

When you say create content, was this for the purpose of having them direct traffic to your site or using their content to post on your social media?

What do you mean target competitors with search ads?


At the moment, I'm looking to build a brand around a audience and then target the audience with a lead magnet and bring them to my network. Ie. Follows, contact details etc. As part of an early awareness campaign.
 
Day 2

Completed my Product Research Plan and have commenced product research. It's pretty intimidating at the moment. The competitors seems to have covered the most basic products quite well, so I will need to be looking for something with a twist to differentiate myself. I can start to feel myself mentally doubt myself. This always happens when I compare myself to competition.... but whatever, I will beat this mental doubt and go on.


Next Steps for Day 3:
  • Continue Product Research (Target Completion by Day 8)
 
Day 3 and 4:
Product Research has continued. Nothing Significant to Report at this stage. On track to have this completed by Day 8.

Next Steps for Day 5:
  • Continue Product Research (Target Completion by Day 8)
 
QuizMachine said:
What end of the market are you aiming for?
Click to expand...
I am keeping it open ended at this stage as this is part of product research. I know the low end will be mostly competing on price, so im hoping I can get around mid-market, depending on the quality of the items that I can source. If I were to do high end, I would have to figure out how to validate the product on the market prior to purchase because high end will obviously mean increased cost

At first, I may start with low end products on Ali Express, for the purpose of experimenting with branding, building audience and marketing to get things moving. But I don't see Ali Express as end goal unless I stumble upon a an absolute gem
 
naz10101 said:
I am keeping it open ended at this stage as this is part of product research. I know the low end will be mostly competing on price, so im hoping I can get around mid-market, depending on the quality of the items that I can source. If I were to do high end, I would have to figure out how to validate the product on the market prior to purchase because high end will obviously mean increased cost

At first, I may start with low end products on Ali Express, for the purpose of experimenting with branding, building audience and marketing to get things moving. But I don't see Ali Express as end goal unless I stumble upon a an absolute gem
Click to expand...
A little bit of advice I would offer is to look at the whole customer package. I was involved in a similar business years ago and what helped us to stand out was out packaging. The items we bought were 925 silver from China but we then repackaged them. A nice box, padding, a paper bag, a cleaning kit and some instructions to look after your jewellery.

It all helped to up the perceived value of what we were offering. Look at Tiffany unboxing videos and you will see a similar thing, that first impression of the goods really matter especially as you look to increase price. Again compare the Tiffany unboxing to your normal AliExpress parcel that arrives.

Don’t get caught in a race to the bottom.
 
How are you going to market it? paid ads or organic?
I am planning to launch a ecom niche brand myself.
 
QuizMachine said:
A little bit of advice I would offer is to look at the whole customer package. I was involved in a similar business years ago and what helped us to stand out was out packaging. The items we bought were 925 silver from China but we then repackaged them. A nice box, padding, a paper bag, a cleaning kit and some instructions to look after your jewellery.

It all helped to up the perceived value of what we were offering. Look at Tiffany unboxing videos and you will see a similar thing, that first impression of the goods really matter especially as you look to increase price. Again compare the Tiffany unboxing to your normal AliExpress parcel that arrives.

Don’t get caught in a race to the bottom.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this - this really is gold! What ended up happening to the business? Is it still running? It reminds me of a skin care beauty company that adds a complimentary chocolate as part of their packaging. A lot of people know this company as the ones that provide free candy, which is a solid way to build a brand via word of mouth alone.

The race to the bottom is one of the things that is part of my lessons learnt from dropshipping, so hopefully I can execute this one a lot better.
 
RK said:
How are you going to market it? paid ads or organic?
I am planning to launch a ecom niche brand myself.
Click to expand...
I haven't thought about it at detail yet, but at a summary level - it will be both.

Oh sweet, let me know how you go!
 
Day 5:

The information gathering is mostly complete. I have basically researched a niche of products. So far on track to finish by Day 8.

Next Steps for Day 6:
Assess how I will use this information and see if there are any gaps / questionmarks / concerns with research
 
Quick question man!

What is your budget for this project?
 
naz10101 said:
Thanks for this - this really is gold! What ended up happening to the business? Is it still running? It reminds me of a skin care beauty company that adds a complimentary chocolate as part of their packaging. A lot of people know this company as the ones that provide free candy, which is a solid way to build a brand via word of mouth alone.

The race to the bottom is one of the things that is part of my lessons learnt from dropshipping, so hopefully I can execute this one a lot better.
Click to expand...
The business is still going and doing well but I am no longer involved with it.
 
Day 6:
Some aspects of product research is taking a bit longer, so Day 7 and 8 may need me to work a bit harder. I am starting to get an idea of potential story telling / brand ideas that I can go with. I really want the products to go in hand with content creation, so that I can attract a particular niche of an audience. ie. funnel them through content, rather than going through a hard sale first up.

Next Steps for Day 7:
Finish up the research
Start to look at validating thesis
 
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