How To ACTUALLY Succeed With Organic Dropshipping in 2024 Ep. 5

Welcome to the BSM Podcast

Introduction to the Podcast

• The hosts introduce the episode, emphasizing it as a unique organic drop-shipping podcast.

• They mention that they will be answering questions sourced from Instagram.

Balancing Work and Social Life

• A question arises about whether it's worth sacrificing social events for work; the response highlights a balance is necessary.

• The importance of enjoying youth is stressed, advising against skipping significant events like prom or homecoming.

• While focusing on online business initially is crucial, maintaining friendships and social experiences is also important.

• After establishing some success in business, it's encouraged to enjoy life and socialize more.

Competing with Experienced Dropshippers

• A question about competing with seasoned dropshippers leads to insights on time investment being key to improvement.

• Surrounding oneself with knowledgeable individuals can provide an edge over competitors who may lack certain insights.

• An analogy comparing dropshipping progress to bodybuilding emphasizes that consistent effort leads to eventual success.

Setting Up a Productive Environment

• Discussion shifts to personal workspace preferences; changing locations can help maintain productivity and prevent burnout.

• A clean environment is deemed essential for focus; working in different settings can refresh motivation.

• The hosts suggest setting specific time limits for focused work sessions as a way to enhance productivity.

Product Research and Social Media Strategies

Importance of Focused Workflow

• Emphasizes that a deep, focused workflow for three hours is more productive than a distracted ten-hour session. Many people engage in product research without genuine attention, leading to ineffective results.

YouTube Shorts Experience

• Discusses personal experiences with YouTube Shorts, noting limited success despite achieving up to 40k views. Highlights the importance of product suitability for different platforms, particularly emphasizing that entertaining products perform better on YouTube Shorts.

Platform Preferences and Future Trends

• Shares insights on posting strategies across various platforms, indicating a shift towards utilizing all available social media channels. Mentions TikTok and Instagram as primary focuses while acknowledging the potential of YouTube Shorts.

Meta Platforms as Key Players

• Argues that Facebook and other Meta platforms are advantageous due to their ability to go viral repeatedly. Stresses the longevity of accounts on these platforms as valuable assets for marketers.

Audience Demographics on Facebook

• Points out that Facebook's audience primarily consists of older demographics (35+), who generally have disposable income. This makes it an ideal platform for targeting certain products effectively.

Competing in Product Marketing

Copying Competitors' Success

• Suggests that initially copying successful competitors is crucial in organic marketing. Acknowledges this method constitutes about 90% of effective strategy before adding unique elements to differentiate from competitors.

Evolving Beyond Imitation

• After achieving initial virality through imitation, it's essential to innovate by adding personal twists or concepts to content. This helps establish a unique brand identity over time.

The Challenge of Originality

• Warns against solely relying on copying competitors; doing so keeps one perpetually behind them. Encourages finding ways to surpass competitors by integrating original ideas after establishing proof of concept.

Navigating Product Discovery Challenges

Common Frustrations in Product Research

• Expresses frustration regarding the difficulty in discovering new products despite extensive effort (40+ hours). Highlights that many users share similar challenges when searching for viable products online.

Misconceptions About Burners

• Clarifies misconceptions about needing new burner accounts for product discovery; emphasizes that effective scrolling requires genuine engagement rather than seeking dopamine hits from superficial interactions with content.

Product Testing and Analysis in Dropshipping

Importance of Product Testing

• Emphasizes the need to thoroughly analyze products instead of just scrolling through them. Taking time to evaluate can lead to discovering numerous viable products.

• Suggests that testing more products, even those deemed poor, helps in understanding what works and what doesn't, ultimately refining one's ability to identify good products.

Developing Skills in Product Research

• Highlights that frequent product testing builds intuition for identifying quality items. The speaker acknowledges their own initial struggles with product selection.

• Discusses lowering standards for testing new products as a strategy for skill development, indicating a shift towards exploring less conventional options.

Overcoming Analysis Paralysis

• Points out that many new dropshippers suffer from analysis paralysis, mistaking scrolling for productive work without genuine evaluation of potential products.

Teaching Creators Effectively

• Addresses challenges in managing creators who may not be performing well. Suggests providing constructive feedback based on their content.

• Describes a method of giving creators creative freedom while offering guidance through example videos and target audience insights.

Creator Support Structure

• Outlines the creation of a Discord community where creators can engage directly with mentors for personalized support and feedback on their projects.

• Explains the dual structure within Discord: one-on-one chats for direct questions and another section dedicated to video ideas and daily check-ins.

Financial Management Insights

• Shares experiences regarding financial literacy, emphasizing the importance of investments over frivolous spending.

• Reflects on the consequences of being scammed due to poor decision-making in financial transactions.

Personal Investment Strategies

• Discusses personal investment habits established early on, including regular contributions to stock and crypto portfolios as part of financial planning.

• Mentions prioritizing savings as capital for future business ventures rather than immediate consumption or luxury purchases.

This structured summary captures key discussions from the transcript while linking back to specific timestamps for further exploration.

Investing in the Future: Mindset and Strategies

Envisioning Your Future Self

• The speaker emphasizes the importance of visualizing the future version of oneself, whether it involves physical fitness, wealth, or lifestyle choices. This vision serves as a motivational tool.

• To achieve this envisioned self, one must reverse engineer daily habits and routines that align with that future identity, focusing on productive activities rather than distractions like video games or excessive leisure.

Choosing Suppliers for Business

• A discussion arises about selecting between CJ Zen drop and Auto DS for product fulfillment. The speaker recommends Zen drop due to its simplicity and efficiency in order processing.

• The speaker shares personal experiences with CJ Zen drop, describing it as complicated compared to Zen drop's straightforward integration with Shopify stores.

Understanding Supplier Relationships

• It is noted that private suppliers are more suitable for businesses generating consistent high sales; beginners should start with simpler options like Zen drop.

• The speaker warns against seeking private suppliers prematurely, stressing that they prioritize clients who demonstrate consistent sales volume.

Custom Product Development

• The speaker discusses working with a private supplier within Zendrop to design custom products. They highlight the ease of creating mock-ups and receiving samples quickly.

Managing Multiple Stores

• Currently managing two stores while testing additional products. New stores will only be created once products show viral potential through creator partnerships.

• There’s an emphasis on leveraging creators to test products without direct involvement from the speaker, allowing them to focus on strategy while creators handle execution.

This structured approach provides insights into mindset development for success and practical advice on business operations related to e-commerce and product management.

Content Creation and Q4 Challenges

Overcoming Obstacles in Q4

• The speaker discusses their strategy of repurposing content for Instagram, indicating a focus on maximizing engagement through existing videos.

• When asked about obstacles faced in the previous Q4, the speaker reflects that the main issue was not executing the right strategies rather than facing significant challenges.

• They mention being a beginner during last year's Q4, unaware of how product performance peaks during this period due to holiday shopping.

• The speaker recalls struggling with TikTok's algorithm changes, which negatively impacted visibility and engagement at that time.

• This year, they plan to test more products quickly and regain the initial drive they had when starting out in 2022.

Strategies for Success in Q4

• Emphasizing the importance of testing more products this quarter, the speaker encourages others to adopt a proactive approach to capitalize on potential sales opportunities.

• They express motivation by recalling their early enthusiasm for entrepreneurship and highlight that Q4 is a prime time for financial success.

• A call to action is made for viewers to join their community (BSM Discord), suggesting collaboration as a means to enhance learning and growth.