Today, I just want to share a handful of things no one told me earlier! The things that I really wish I knew before I ever started dropshipping;
Rarely anyone will tell you their dropshipping trade secrets.
They will give you just enough information to get started but not so much as to out compete them. (Me inclusive, sorry).
There is a lot of information about making money easily around the internet but you never truly know how easy it is until you deep your foot in it.
Honestly, I have tried a bunch of online businesses and while I have failed more times than I count, I have been lucky to have a tiny few successes that have made the many failures only but a lesson.
So tell me why would I tell you my trade secret, knowing you can fiercely compete with me and win?
Think about it for a moment “why” anybody will tell you their trade secrets. Put yourself in the same shoes- why would you tell anyone your trade secret when it took you the mud and dust to get there?
I mean especially for a business like dropshipping! Where you don’t even own the proprietary rights! No trade mark rights, nothing!
People only tell you just enough to get started but never so much as to compete with them- except you’re their soulmate, lol.
So imagine all those courses around the internet telling you they’d teach you to make $100,000 a month if you bought their $1000 course?!
That does not happen to sit right because if they or if you knew how to make $100,000 a month, you’re going to keep your mouth quiet and never exchange that information publicly or literally advertise that to so many people, in exchange for what? $1000! Really?
Who on earth will invite a truck load of vicious competitors from around the globe for a fee that’s relatively “peanuts” to them?? That would never make sense.
Here is an “open secret” which you may already be fully aware of- things are easier said than done.
The realistic thing is that people (and I mean including myself) can confidently tell you the basic steps of how dropshipping can be done!
I can also honestly tell you how I carried out my research, or tweaked my ads or optimized my store because if you followed the way I did it- You would get your own ideas and I do hope you get good results from your ideas but I can’t disclose my specific active store, product or Standard of operation (SOP) because I don’t want a random copy paste of my hustle.
That’s the truth and so there is no way they’d realistically tell you exactly, how they made $100,000 a month. It’s ridiculous.
While I don’t doubt the possibility of earning hugely by dropshipping, I do know that there alot of variables to any business’s earning potential and no one has a straight answer as to how much you will earn.
At most, I can say what I have earned and what I think is very achievable if you set your goals and work on it but that’s as far as the predictions can go.
In any case, if you want to learn more about me.. you could read my about me page just to have a glimpse of who I am, why I created this blog and what I do with my time. Lol.
Okay that aside, back to the point, people will give you the blueprint but not tell you their trade secret and so they really can’t prophetically tell you how many 7 figures you’d be earning next month.
At most they can give you a realistic estimate of an earning potential based on the efforts! If they emphasize very little on the efforts you’d need to put in and they over hype the success rates then you should be wary that they may be trying to funnel you into buying a course or an ebook.
In that case, the course or ebook selling might be their actual online business and not dropshipping per say.
Other dropshipping hard truths I wish I knew earlier;
- You learn the most from your own experiences
- successful people test things to figure what works based on real data and not assumptions, so don’t be afraid to get started
- The game is always changing. Ad networks and Google keeps updating their algorithms so nobody knows 100% how these AI’s work.
- You just have to keep learning, keep experiencing and keep pushing.
- Niche research and store optimization can be the thin line between failure and success.
Finally;
Avoid paid dropshipping courses.
It’s never been worth it to me. Most of what you’d learn will come from your own experience and information which you can find for free on the internet and interaction with your peers.
I’m not trying to sound like a saint here. I’m just being as brutally honest as I can because I have been there.
I have once been very broke, determined to make it and had the focus to make something great out of myself.
However, looking back I think this made me the naive prey for most “wolves in sheep’s clothing” marketers.
So many ads, telling me that they just wanted to help me make 7 figures and they’d teach me for free. Once I got into their net and got stuck on their daily social media post.
I felt motivated learning something new- Dropshipping.
Then the pitches started to come in, they’d ask their followers (me, inclusive) to watch an educational video and I happily watched but few minutes into watching the video, It pauses and I’m prompted to pay a “fee” to continue watching.
In other cases, the video will have very little information and many mentions of their miraculous paid dropshipping course.
To be very frank, if I wasn’t $0 broke those days. I would have eagerly paid for the course and kept paying until frustrations probably pushed me to quit.
You know why? these courses were in segments! There was the “international payment gateway course” and the “complete Facebook ad course”. Looking back, it’s so funny!
My broke self decided to start practicing whatever I googled for free from the internet and when I encountered a hurdle and sent them a question.
I get a reply like “oh that, the answer is in the course, get the course, it answers that question”!
Anyways, I moved ahead to figuring things out for myself. I learnt from many free resources on the internet, by interaction with my peers and mostly from my own experience. It was worth it!
The truth is there are many free resources on the internet. For example, there are bloggers writing informational articles that are accessible for free on the internet and YouTubers creating free videos.
The information you need to know to start dropshipping is already out there, why pay for it?
Honestly, Youtubers earn money from ads and Affiliate commissions whether or not you buy any courses and bloggers (like myself) still earn money from ads and affiliates commision for tools we recommend whether or not you buy any courses.
To be clear, I’d only recommend a tool if it’s something I have used and I love.
This is why there are billions of freely accessible information out there on the internet already.
If free resources don’t already exist on the internet, then by all means, buying a paid course could be worthwhile! But since it’s already existing, many paid courses, especially for dropshipping, are simply selling you the same basic information with a spray of hype because the creators want to make money off you!
So except the courses offer some organizational bonuses like some clean A to Z template for dropshipping or some personal one on one coaching! It’s just best to save your funds.
So my advice is; get free information, test them out, always use your intuition, analyze the data, get your own experience. Lots of it! Interact with other dropshippers and most importantly stay focused and consistent.
I’m really not trying to kill your morals here, there is no doubt that you can make money dropshipping. I know this because it worked for me! I just want you not to get sold out by the fast cash overhype!
I want you to start dropshipping with a strategic mindset. I want you to be realistic. I want you to learn from others (myself inclusive) but trust your own intuition. I want you to prepare your mind to put in the work and hustle!
At the end of the day, online business or offline business, it’s still a business and you should treat it as one!
Good luck mate.
