I’ve been through a lot of the “how to make money online” ideas, and I’ve found my fair share of things that didn’t live up to the hype.
Most of the ideas have no chance of working for a normal person, or the instruction is so complicated it’s like teaching someone how to swim in the midst of a hurricane.
But importing is different.
I’ve found that sourcing products cheaply overseas, using the distribution channels you laid out very clearly in your program… and then selling them for profit online is a doable business model for any person with a laptop and an internet connection.
For import/export success, you need to determine just three things:
1. What to sell: Find something people are currently buying. Your program did an excellent job of walking me through this.
2. Who to sell it to: How can you get your product in front of potential buyers? You have a few options, and I’ll tell you what worked best for me below.
3. And finally, HOW to sell it to them: You need an online storefront and luckily this has gotten a lot easier with companies like Shopify who basically do all the hard work for you.
Facebook has been my best source of advertising — bar none.
I don’t advertise on my own page. I never recommend doing that. Instead, I buy ad space using Facebook’s marketing tools.
With the tools already built into Facebook, you can target groups of people who are interested in specific magazines, blogs, products, and other interests and display an ad to those groups of people with links to your store.
One product I sell, for example, is a chakra kit — a bracelet, necklace, and e-book about chakra yoga and meditation.
I know chakra is a big thing right now. More and more people are learning the value of meditation and aligning energy in their body, so I used your distributors to find stores overseas who are making chakra beads cheaper than what I can find them for in stores here in the U.S.
I bought the bracelet from one distributor, the necklace and e-book from another, and I bundled them all together to make a unique product.
I then came up with a price that included a profit for my time and energy. And I created a Shopify store to take orders (this costs around $20). I then bought ad space on Facebook and targeted certain groups who are interested in this type of yoga and meditation.
And that’s it.
It sounds simple and it really is.
The key is in identifying certain niches of people who buy certain types of products. Then finding those products on the cheap and bundling them together in Facebook ads. This is my model.
I have the chakra store as well as three others. All told, my earnings are about $12,000 a month right now, and I’m always looking for new ideas.
Importing Fortunes suggests bundling iPhone accessories, pet gear, and a few other things. No matter which niche you choose, you can be up and running in less than a month with your first Shopify store. And from there, it’s just about experimenting with prices and ads and more store ideas.
There are people who make a lot more money than me, I’m sure. But the other great thing about this business is that it’s scalable to the amount of time you want to spend, and the amount of money you hope to earn.
I’m putting in about 3-4 hours of work per week and that’s about all I want to do. The beauty is that if you want more, you can have it. You just need to get started.
My story is just one of many though. Read about Reed and Riley’s watch business here.
