Bright Ideas for eCommerce Entrepreneurs
For the last few years, and in countless episodes of my podcast, I have focused on teaching people how to grow a marketing consulting business; primarily because that was the kind of business that I was focused on building for myself.
My agency has been a steady cash flow generator for a few years now and that is all well and good….but to be honest, it’s not a business that I want to grow that much bigger. Primarily because its a service business and the larger it gets, the more staff I will have to hire, train, and manage.
As a result, staring today, the Bright Ideas blog is making a major pivot. Going forward all the content on this blog & podcast is going to be focused on the ins and outs of building an eCommerce business.
Listen to the Audio
Why eCommerce?
There are a number of reasons why I have decided to make this pivot.
Reason #1: It’s the business I’m getting into
For my entire career as an entrepreneur, I have been involved with B2B service businesses; and while service businesses have served me well so far, one of the major challenges is that they don’t scale very well.
Plus, clients can be a challenge to work with! (one of the major reasons we have been uber choosy about the clients we accept)
With a product business, on the other hand, I don’t ever have to talk to my customer to make the sale. They either come to my site, or go to Amazon, and “add to cart”. Soooo pleasantly simple.
Approximately two months ago, I reconnected with a friend that I hadn’t spoken with in a while and he told me about some mutual acquaintances and how well they were doing with eCommerce.
As a result, I decided to started conducting some tests to see if I could replicate what they were doing. My initial test results were positive so I decided to take a few more baby steps and “leaked” some of what I was up to on my Facebook page.
If you missed out, don’t worry, I will be publishing detailed accounts of these tests and their results in the coming weeks. If you don’t want to miss anything, be sure and subscribe.
Reason #2: Anyone can start an eCommerce business
There are a LOT of information marketers out there who are all trying to convince aspiring entrepreneurs that they can all get rich selling information products. Sadly, the reality is that the vast majority of these guru’s only make money online by teaching other people how to make money online. It’s kind of a pyramid…and that’s not something that I have ever wanted to be a part of.
Whereas with eCommerce, you don’t need to be a guru and you don’t have to create your own products. ANYONE can log onto Alibaba, find products, import them, and sell them on Amazon and/or their own website…and thousands of people are already doing it.
If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, replacing your job by starting an eCommerce business in your spare time is totally doable (though it will likely take you a year or so). In the months ahead, via my podcast, I will share with you the stories of many people (including myself) who have done just that.
Reason #3: eCommerce is growing
According to Engadget, Amazon just announced its financial results for Q4 of 2015, and one of the big trends the company highlighted was the continuing strength of Amazon Prime, a service that has its roots in free two-day shipping but is now becoming a catch-all for a host of free media the company provides for subscribers. Amidst the many highlights are some notes on pretty major Prime growth: Amazon says that worldwide Prime memberships increased 51 percent in 2015 compared to the year before. Growth in the US came in at 47 percent, which means things picked up even faster internationally.
But you probably didn’t need me to link you to a news story for you to agree that in the coming years, more products are going to be purchased online than they are today, right?
It’s kind of a no-brainer.
So now that you know my top 3 reasons for pivoting my own business (and this blog)…you are probably wondering….
What Can You Expect From Me In the Future?
My goal is to have this blog become your #1 trusted source for eCommerce strategies that actually work.
In the weeks and months ahead, you can expect me to:
- Share details about how I’m growing my own eCommerce business (good and bad)
- Publish interviews with other eCommerce entrepreneurs
- Provide answers to your questions about eCommerce
How Can You Help?
There are two things that you can do to help me achieve my goal is making this blog a #1 trusted source for eCommerce strategies that work:
- Ask questions
- Share my posts on your social media
That’s all that I ask. Thanks in advance for helping~
~Trent
Have a Comment?
In an effort to make discussion more social, I’ve moved comments onto Facebook. If you have a comment or question, please click the button below to be taken directly to the Facebook post.
