Here’s a great way to may money online. Come check out what I’m doing.
Ok, I get it… this is not a typical post for me.
That’s because this is my first ecommerce store and I am taking you along for the ride.
I can’t write an article on how to build it until I’ve done it, so that’s why I titled this post the way I did.
But don’t let that deter you, this is still a SUPER valuable post.
You see, like just about everyone else around the world, I am self-quarantined in the midst of this crazy pandemic.
So I decided to see if I can create an online business that requires zero interaction with other people. Something I can do while in quarantine.
The business had to be automated and require very little startup cost.
I was originally thinking about Amazon. After all, Amazon is the largest retailer in the world and has a great selling platform.
Since I required zero interaction, shipping product myself was out of the question.
Amazon FBA seemed to be a good solution.
FBA stands for “fulfillment by Amazon”. That’s where you can send your products to Amazon’s fulfillment warehouses and Amazon takes care of the packaging and shipping once a sale is made.
I began searching for a high-demand, low-competition product on Alibaba that can be sent directly to Amazon.
Alibaba is a wholesale marketplace where you can buy just about anything (or even have just about anything made for you).
Ironically, Alibaba is based out of China.
I wasn’t too worried about the source of the product, but just as I was honing in on a few products that would work, Amazon announced (to their sellers) that they would not be permitting any “non-essential” products to be sent to their fulfillment centers until further notice.
That was Amazon’s way of helping move essential products amidst this crisis.
For me, that was devastating, after spending over a week to find a salable product to fulfill and sell through Amazon.
Back to the drawing board.
I still wanted to sell on Amazon, but I now needed to find an outside company that does fulfillment. That’s because I can still sell on Amazon, I just could not use their fulfillment service until this pandemic has passed (unless I was selling essential items).
So now I was looking for a fulfillment and warehousing company where I can send Alibaba products.
I found something I liked even better!
It’s called “print on demand”.
Print on demand (or POD) is a service where I can purchase products one at a time.
Upon order, the product is produced, fulfilled, and shipped.
This is cool because I can build a store and when a customer makes a purchase, the production, fulfillment, and shipping is handled automatically.
How cool is that?
Now you may be thinking “print”… that means books.
Well, yes… books can be printed on demand, but that’s not what I am talking about. I’m talking about shirts, and hats, and mugs, and bags, and a whole lot of other cool things!
So let me tell you where I am so far… (for reference, today is April 13, 2020)
There are a whole bunch of really good POD services, but I am going to start with Printful.
I’ve chosen Shopify to host my store.
As of today, I have created a niche, made a logo, chosen colors, opened my Shopify account, opened my Printful account, and built out my store.
I’m just getting started making products. I’m choosing to design my own, but you don’t have to.
I’m expecting to get this thing launched sometime this week.
I will keep you posted!
I am writing this because I know some of you are interested in fun ways to make money from home. Especially during this Coronavirus pandemic.
May as well keep busy creating a business that will continue to serve you after this pandemic blows over.
If you found this post valuable or something of interest, please share it.
Check out the follow-up post: My Ecommerce Story Part 2 – Launching
Also, if you have any questions, please let me know. I will answer right away.
Resources
Pro Blogger Resources
- Pro Blogger Training (all-inclusive)
- Self-hosted blog platform for bloggers (with Bluehost)
- Bloggers best email list management (with ConvertKit)
- My Ecommerce Story Part 2 – Launching - April 28, 2020
- I’m Building An Ecommerce Store – Part 1 - April 13, 2020
- What Is A Self-Hosted Blog? - November 15, 2019