Dropshipping is a product delivery technique where the seller is the
one who accepts the payment, but the client gets the product straight
from the manufacturer. The profit of the seller in this transaction
comes from the difference between the retail price of the item that
was sold and the wholesale. This type of process comes with benefits
for both manufacturers and retailers, but it is not fit for every
product or seller. If you intend to develop an online business based
on dropshipping, then you should be aware of the following things:
Select the Dropship Product You Wish to Sell
This is actually the first and most important step. You need a product
that is highly searched in Google each month, but which has a low
level of competition. I don't think you want to sell items of $10/$20,
because and you will have to answer dozens of calls and your customer
care will suffer. What you want is to sell $50-200 products, but in
smaller amounts. You should search for products that have a profit
margin of minimum 30-40%.
Don't go towards the flooded niches that have a lot of competition.
You don't want to compete with Amazon or I other type of big store
when you know you will have no shot. You should avoid products like
health supplies, electronics, clothing or appliances.
Discover the Proper Dropship Supplier
When you know what type of product you wish to sell, then you should
search for a dropship supplier that can respond to your needs. The
easiest manner to do that is to search on Google for product
suppliers. For instance, if you wish to sell kids toys then you should
search for 'kids toys suppliers' or 'kids toys dropshippers'. Be
careful because not all the wholesalers can offer dropshipping. In
this case it is better to make a list of 5-10 suppliers and then phone
them asking about their offers. Don't forget to ask about billing
terms, pricing, returns, shipping procedures, etc. Don't get alarmed
if a supplier doesn't agree to work with you right away. There are big
companies that have rules on the people they work with. Maybe it would
be a good idea to start with smaller suppliers and work your way to
the top.
One piece of advice: don't get involved with dropshippers from China
or those who offer 'all-in-one' solutions. Use those suppliers who
have warehouses in the same place as your clients.
Developing Your Site
There are multiple ways you can approach this step. Let's assume that
you have no experience whatsoever in terms of web development. I would
suggest you use any type of commerce software which has a shopping
cart, emails, admin and analytics or credit card processing. This type
of sites can also work with already made templates.
When you have managed to design and launch your database, you should
search for a way to optimize it for the search engines. You have to be
sure that all products, categories and the homepage have a certain
amount of content that is related to the terms you want to rank for.
In addition to this, you have to match your content with your
keywords, title, header and description tags.
This might be just some brief SEO information, but too much might
confuse people. The best way is to get the opinion of a professional
consultant who has years of training and great results.
After this, try to write paragraphs which include the terms that
you're looking for. 'Long tail' keywords are perfect here because they
can help you rank for different combinations of searches with colors,
sizes, brands, etc.
Advertising and Marketing
I've tried different types of advertising forms and most of them were
complete failures. So here are 2 elements that have proven to be
consistent when working for sites:
The Pay Per Click method is excellent for products. You have the
possibility to purchase the phrases which can convert into sales right
from Google or Bing. Display your ad each time someone searches for
'kids toys on Google and pay just when a person actually clicks on it.
I have selected niches that are not quite competitive and I get the
majority of clicks for 0.5-0.8 cents.
Another great resource for businesses is Twitter. This brings me huge
amounts of traffic/sales for my marketing campaigns. This option will
provide you with help from persons who actually know what they are
doing. If you combine PPC, Twitter and SEO then you are good to go.
Companies who offer email lists, pop-ups or ads might sound
attractive, but don't fall for that.
Client Service
From my experience I can say that you won't receive as many calls as
you might want. Personally I get just one call for 15 orders that get
placed. Lots of clients order online and get their confirmation
through email. After this, you just send the tracking numbers and that
is all!
It's a great idea also to offer live chat when you are online and most
people prefer that rather than calling. Make sure you offer your
clients emails that are noticeable on all pages. Clients might not use
contact info, but if they see phone numbers or emails on all pages
then they might make you seem more credible and win their loyalty.
Not sure where to go to get good advice about dropshipping? Visit
wholesale2b.com to learn more about dropship products and other
aspects involved in this type of business!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karina_Popa
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