The story behind my dropshipping store
I’m not sure if anyone is even interested but here’s the story on how my dropshipping store came together. It’s been a very intense learning journey.
First up I spent a bit of time researching webhosts because not all hosts are the same. For example, because I am opening an online store I needed an SSL certificate for the security and trust purposes. After searching around I learned that many webhosts don’t offer one under a standard hosting plan, you have to pay an extra fee. Well that ain’t gunna work for me. If you don’t gotta pay extra why would you?
I finally found a webhost that includes one.
*Boost of confidence kicks in* Yeeeww, I got this… I’m a webhost wizard…
Well…. turns out, not so much.
How the hell did I manage to sign up and pay with the wrong email… ?
an email address that I cannot access…
SHIT
*Confidence shatters instantly*
It’s ok, It’s ok…Take a few deep breaths….Ahh haa, I’ve got an idea…
*boost of confidence kicks back in*
I can sign up with my correct email and since I’m still signed in the the host I can grant access to the account with my correct email…
Ha I’m a genius…
HMM, No I’m not a genius…
I go to click the add user to add my correct email…
[Cannot grant access without verifying email]
*Confidence confidently gallops off into the distance*
SIGH
this isn’t getting off to good start… what am I supposed to do now?
I emailed support and went to bed…
This problem went on for the next week back and forth with the support team, I eventually got it sorted after I had to provide them proof of the card I made payment with… phew
Ok So now that’s sorted I can move on to the next thing.
Hosting = Sorted
Now domain name, I managed to score a free domain in a deal that came with the hosting service. The name I chose is quite broad meaning it could be associated with many niches which gives me the option to change products and pivot quickly if needed.
Ok, domain name is now sorted.
Next now I needed to build the site… When I first had this idea I was intending to go the standard Shopify route. When it came to the crunch I realised its not going to happen. I just seem to have a problem with relying on subscription platforms. So I ended up going with WordPress and Woocommere, I am using the Themify Theme. So I spent the next week after work installing the plugins and building the site. It’s pretty basic stuff.
Now here is where I started to wade deeper into the waters, I had to find a dropshipping supplier… hmm.
Now I know most people go to Aliexpress etc… I had a look, It was quite confusing to figure out. I found a site called CJ Dropshipping. (anyone know if they are good) I decided to use CJ Dropshipping to start out, I can always change if needed.
Next thing I did was setup the CJ Dropship account.
Now to find a product…
This is where It got super tricky for me, because I saw so many products that I think have potential… I couldn’t decide… arrrghh. Maybe its my star sign. Go on take a guess, what star sign do you think I am based on the fact that it’s literally impossible for me to actually make a decision…?
A long time later…
Product picked, let’s do this!
Cj Dropshipping makes it super easy to list products which is kind of good but they are very standard listings so they had to be modified to fit my purpose plus the photos weren’t the best for what I needed to do so I had to take my own photos which ment I had to have to order a sample of the product. I mean I should probably do that anyway for quality purposes…
Sample ordered, I got one of every colour. let’s hope they turn out to be ok. In the meantime I worked on the rest of the website, about page, track order page, privacy policy, shipping policy and terms and conditions etc… Nice this is coming along nicely I thought. Everything was working out. A bit of confidence mixed with a few spoons of delusion kicks in, I’m going to be a millionaire soon I thought… muahahaha.
Well it turns out that confidence didn’t last very long once I turned the Ads on. Does anybody need some Dunning Kruger?
I fumbled my way through setting them up with absolutely no clue what I was doing whilst scared shitless of committing to a set budget and handing over my payment details. I can prove how scared I was with this screenshot.
I spent $14.73 for 3.44k impressions and 66 clicks and no conversions and the measly 3 days that the ads were running was absolutely terrifying… I don’t know why, I think knowing I had no clue what I was doing and then knowing my lack of clue was now linked to my bank account might of had something to do with it.
This is where I realised I needed some help. This is also when I had the brilliant thought to start this blog and document my learning so that I had something to measure my success with and maybe at least this blog will help me become more accountable. Feel free to follow along if this what you like. I’ll be sharing all my experience here.
