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New Store Update #2 - WHEWW! First Week Finished.
https://www.johnnyfd.com/2014/11/new-store-update-2-wheww-first-week.html
We're exhausted. Waking up at 6:30am everyday to work on our new store together, Larissa and powered through our first week of our #30DayChallenge and got more done than possibly imaginable. We're ahead of schedule, rested and ready to begin week #2.
One thing that is a bit scary is the niche we've chosen in completely untested, extremely expensive and there aren't any other dropshippers in the category which makes it a huge gamble. We haven't asked anyone about the niche as we decided to go full force and give it a shot either way, so not even Anton has seen the store or the niche yet, but it fits all of his niche selection criteria so we have hope that it could be a success. At the same time it feels like we're doing this completely on our own.
Here's what we've done so far, how much we've spent and what we still need to do.
Larissa wrote us an awesome about us page complete with photos, a backstory on our experience with the products and why we decided to start a business selling in this niche. A lot of online stores have generic text only pages, but we wanted to stand out as it helps not only with customer trust but also getting approved by suppliers.
We received our new logo from Fiverr and the good news is the seller we went through actually made 5 different variations which allowed us to have a pick of all of them. Unfortunately none of them were that great. One trick when you get started is to purchase two different logos from two different sellers/designers, which will give you a selection of which one to end up, and will still only cost you $11.
To spruce up our design for our store, I created a nice front page as even though when we're live most customers will come directly to the product page, it is important for customers who click "home" or for potential suppliers who directly type in our web address to see a nice home page.
We didn't actually need to do this as shopify comes with visitor data built in and google tracking isn't important until we're actually live and running, but it only took me a minute so I decided why not do it now before I forget.
The nice thing about using Anton's course is that he gives you templates for all of these random pages that you need on your website to keep your ass covered but wouldn't normally know how to write. Before getting approved by suppliers you can just copy and paste exactly what he's given you but you'll eventually want to rewrite them a bit to make them unique and fit your store and return policy better.
NEXT: Update #3: 30 Day Challenge
Warm Regards,
Johnny
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One thing that is a bit scary is the niche we've chosen in completely untested, extremely expensive and there aren't any other dropshippers in the category which makes it a huge gamble. We haven't asked anyone about the niche as we decided to go full force and give it a shot either way, so not even Anton has seen the store or the niche yet, but it fits all of his niche selection criteria so we have hope that it could be a success. At the same time it feels like we're doing this completely on our own.
Here's what we've done so far, how much we've spent and what we still need to do.
About Us Page:
Larissa wrote us an awesome about us page complete with photos, a backstory on our experience with the products and why we decided to start a business selling in this niche. A lot of online stores have generic text only pages, but we wanted to stand out as it helps not only with customer trust but also getting approved by suppliers.
Here is one of the examples we followed for a great story.
New logo revision:
We received our new logo from Fiverr and the good news is the seller we went through actually made 5 different variations which allowed us to have a pick of all of them. Unfortunately none of them were that great. One trick when you get started is to purchase two different logos from two different sellers/designers, which will give you a selection of which one to end up, and will still only cost you $11.
Good news is after a simple revision we got one that fits our store and looks decently professional. All for $5.50. What a bargain!
Added demo products:
We put up a bunch of demo products in our store as Anton talks about in his course and this time around, I did it in a few hours instead of what most people do and spend a few days on this.
Static image for front page:
To spruce up our design for our store, I created a nice front page as even though when we're live most customers will come directly to the product page, it is important for customers who click "home" or for potential suppliers who directly type in our web address to see a nice home page.
Installed google analytics:
We didn't actually need to do this as shopify comes with visitor data built in and google tracking isn't important until we're actually live and running, but it only took me a minute so I decided why not do it now before I forget.
Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, Price Guarantee, Shipping and Returns:
The nice thing about using Anton's course is that he gives you templates for all of these random pages that you need on your website to keep your ass covered but wouldn't normally know how to write. Before getting approved by suppliers you can just copy and paste exactly what he's given you but you'll eventually want to rewrite them a bit to make them unique and fit your store and return policy better.
New Phone Number:
I also finished setting up the options and forwarding for our new store phone number, I still need to record a professional sounding voicemail though. We're using Grasshopper's $100 free credit, so it hasn't cost anything yet.
To Do Next:
- Finish our master list of suppliers to call.
- Pick a plan on Shopify to get our store live.
- Apply for an EIN (Employee Identification Number) instead of using my Social Security number as my business number.
- Apply for a new California Sales Permit, or get our Wyoming LLC approved.
- Start calling suppliers!
NEXT: Update #3: 30 Day Challenge
Warm Regards,
Johnny
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