How Can You Market a Dropshipping Business?

Friday, December 6th

How Can You Market a Dropshipping Business?

By now, you have everything in order for your new online retail business meaning you:

Are a legal business with a name and a business plan
Have an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
Have a state sales tax identification number if one is needed
Have an extremely reliable Internet connection, excellent computer hardware and software and the skills to use them
Have a line of products ready to offer over the Internet to a niche market
Have a business agreement with at least two wholesale drop shipping suppliers for each product you offer for sale
Have a pleasing-to-look-at, professional-style website filled with information about your products, product pricing information, shipping information, you, your expertise in your niche market, and vows you have sworn to regarding the stellar customer service you will provide, before, during and after the sale. In addition to all this, the website you have created should not take longer than four seconds to load because your potential customer will click away if it takes a second or two longer than that to get down to the business of business.

At this point, you have spent some money, possibly less than $1,000, and a chunk of that was spent on legal/government paperwork. If you have been very frugal and doing all of the website creation work yourself, probably somewhat less that amount (not counting computer hardware, software and internet connection). What you have spent to this point is oodles and oodles of hours. And you will spend at least that many more hours marketing your business.

Some of the marketing you can do yourself. Here's that word again - research. Let's look at the other good word you have used a great deal so far - free.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is something you can work on yourself if want to put in the time. If you are eager to get the project off your computer screen and onto a customer's computer screen, it is also something you can pay a service to do for you.

According to Wikipedia "Search Engine Optimization is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine's 'natural' or un-paid (organic) search results." It's a lot like having your name come up in conversation often and in a nice way.

Use a search engine to hunt for key word results that show up often in your website copy. Make notes. Use a search engine to find three-word phrases using those recurring keywords which are used to your website copy. Make notes. Rewrite your website copy to use the heavily used three-word key phrases in it as often as you reasonably can without making the narrative sound clunky. The outcome, if done correctly, will cause your business to come up higher in the ranking of results when using a search engine to hunt for a retailer of your particular product.

Writing a blog about your area of expertise which brought you to wanting to be an online retailer, will help your business rise in the search results rankings as well. Again, this is free.

Just about every other kind of marketing will cost you money. These include:

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Wholesale Dropshipper reviews

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Wholesale Dropshipper FAQ

What is dropshipping?

Dropshipping is a way of selling goods without having to personally maintain them in inventory. You act as a liaison between customers and products, passing along orders to the supplier(s) who then ship the products directly from their warehouses to your buyers.

Why would I want to start a dropshipping business?

There are lots of benefits to wholesale dropshipping. You don't have to lease a warehouse or storefront, which automatically means your operating costs are lower. It's a less risky option than many other sales models available today.

How do I get started?

The easiest way is to select a wholesale dropshipping partner. These services do most of the legwork to source products for you to sell and generally help you advertise your "inventory" on various marketplaces and platforms online. You'll still need to do some work to spread the word, through social media buzz and targeted ads, if you want to maximize your profits.

Are dropshipping services expensive?

Sometimes. You'll find services that charge a one-time fee of a few hundred dollars, and others that have monthly fees ranging from $30 to almost $400. Typically, the higher the monthly costs, the more advertising and automation features you get. These fees are in addition to your business costs of setting up a website, advertising, and so forth.

Are there any legal requirements for setting up a dropshipping business?

Yes. Once you start to make sales, you'll need to take out a business license according to the requirements where you live. Most payment providers will require proof of those credentials before passing along your profits.

What if a customer wants to return a product?

That is one of the trickier aspects of running a dropshipping business. Your customers see you as the business, and so they'll expect you to handle refunds or replacements. Every supplier has different terms for returns - which means you could be out of pocket on the refund until the supplier fixes the situation on their side. Some dropshipping experts recommend that you order product samples for yourself, to decide what to carry in your store and make sure that it's quality merchandise.

Are dropshipping services trustworthy?

In all frankness, there are some dropshippers that are 100% above-board, and many others that are little more than a thinly-veiled scam. Do your due diligence before committing to a dropshipper: find the service's rating with the Better Business Bureau, see what other clients have said about using the platform, and determine how long the company has been in operation. There are trustworthy dropshippers out there, but choose carefully.

What if I'm not happy with the dropshipping service?

Most dropshippers have a free trial period, so you can see how well the service works for you. You could have as long as 60 days to request a refund, depending on the terms of the dropshipper's satisfaction guarantee. Again, it's important to check the reputation of the service you're considering - because all of the guarantees in the world only count if the company actually honors it (and there are some that don't do a very good job of that).