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How to make money with ecommerce? That’s the question that bugs every newcomer to online business. Will the effort be worth it? Can this side hustle turn into a reliable source of extra income? What can the owner do to multiply the earnings?…
Today, we’re talking to Chris, a long-time online entrepreneur and a highly experienced ecommerce market player. What was his journey to success like? And what’s his advice for like-minded online store owners? Let’s find out together!
Hi, please introduce yourself!
Hi, my name’s Chris, I’m a Greek Cypriot living in Cyprus. I am a very active dropshipper, but also a graphic web designer and a programmer.
My life is really busy and I want to separate my business life from my personal one, so no more private details, sorry!
Sure! Let’s talk about your ecommerce background, then!
I’ve been working as a web developer for almost 2 decades. I did my first design project 23 years ago 
At the age of 17, I helped with a school project, a design for a flyer of our local supermarket. I got “paid” in discount coupons from this store, and that gave me the idea to start following this career. That’s how I began studying graphic web design and got my master’s in digital marketing.
When I first met WordPress it was a revelation for me – easy, fast to learn and compatible with so many plugins you really can do everything now. I still remember how difficult it was to build websites with Dreamweaver, even though it helped me understand WordPress way better!
That’s a long journey! But what is your online business like these days?
Now I am down to 5 WooCommerce and WordPress stores. At some point of time I used to run 11 stores in total, but I didn’t have the time to handle them correctly. And when you don’t manage them properly, that’s not how you make money with ecommerce!
That’s why I have a virtual assistant now who helps me manage my smaller stores – the only store I run all by myself is my biggest one that makes $3,600+/week.
I am also currently working on my other passion that is building unique websites for my clients and helping them reach their personal goals. I provide mentorship to many of my customers who have ordered dropshipping website creation from me. What I do is design individual marketing strategies for them and explain how to make money with ecommerce through their stores.
And on top of that, I do affiliate marketing as well.
Can you tell us more about your affiliate efforts? Maybe, share some tips?
I have joined multiple affiliate programs from Sellvia, AliDropship, Themeforest, Elementor, and I believe by September, I will also become an Amazon affiliate.
I can say my average affiliate marketing monthly profit is around $1,500-$2,000.
Ecommerce business is a long-time investment. To gain their first referrals, affiliates should learn what they are promoting. If they don’t know their products and just wish someone to buy them, this is just not gonna happen. It’s the will you put in yourself to be successful and your own ability to take the information you are given to the max.
Interesting! How much are you making with all your ecommerce activities combined?
With all of my customers and stores revenue considered, my personal average clear revenue after tax is around $26,000-$29,000 monthly.
In November 2021, I made $15,400 with a completely new AliDropship Woo store in the first month of it running – the full story is here if you’re interested to follow my steps.
That’s impressive! How are you promoting your stores, exactly?
I always start with paid promotion. My main goal is to collect as many email addresses as possible and I created a personal way to do it… But the main idea is very basic: collect emails, then use these addresses for your email marketing.
My email marketing strategy brings almost 40%-45% of all of my profit, and I’m always trying to find ways to make it even more efficient. When a customer buys from me, I make sure they come back again and again. Using their emails for my marketing campaigns is the key. Never lose a customer no matter what! I have set up automatic emails and I keep clients engaged for months after they subscribe or buy something from me.
So, I am down to this now: making 45% from email marketing, 30% from paid ads, 25% from organic traffic (that includes free social media traffic like from sharing in groups).
Can you share some beginner-friendly tips on how to make money with ecommerce?
Don’t get many orders? Ask yourself a simple question: did I try everything I must for having sales?
If you feel your business isn’t moving anywhere, start with a review of yourself:
- Do I have a fast and responsive website that loads quickly and doesn’t have an extra element here and there?
- Am I writing a weekly blog article for higher engagement and better SEO?
- Have I found the right audience narrowed down to a specific customer segment?
- Am I using my paid ads correctly?
- Did I submit my products on Google Merchant center?
- Am I giving something in exchange for the customers’ emails like discount coupons, ebooks, tutorials?
- Do I have social proof? (Like, does your social media have enough likes and followers?)
The customers don’t know our service and products. We can’t afford having any errors in the visual elements and broken links. Put yourself into the customer’s place: if you see this or that ad image, will you buy? Or, will you ever buy from an online store that has 10 likes on its Facebook page?
So, what can you do to fix that?
- Have some money for your marketing strategy
- Find the target audience and plan your ads the right way
- Research what is trendy in the area you’d like to target (you can use Google Trends for that)
- Read everything you find about your business model
- But first, learn. Learn to earn!
The reason I am so positive in this business model is because I see many people with little to no experience, but with the will to learn to become successful.
Fascinating! As an online business owner, what can you tell about your Sellvia experience?
I powered some of my websites with AliDropship plugin and Sellvia combined. First, I imported Sellvia products, then went to AliExpress and connected the link to my Sellvia products. So, if a customer places an order from the US, he is gonna have it from Sellvia, and if he is from somewhere else, the product will be shipped from AliExpress through AliDropship plugin. As a result, I have amazing-looking product pages that can sell worldwide!
What I like the most about the Sellvia ecosystem is the knowledge. I love learning and Sellvia offers me this. I’ve been in this business for so many years and I am still learning day after day. Sellvia and AliDropship have tons of ecommerce information in the blogs, there are even help centers for Sellvia and AliDropship with so many details that I am really impressed. I have read and seen so many tutorials on that, but the Sellvia Academy is the only one that is 99% accurate – and is the best so far. I believe with the correct guidelines and support Sellvia provides us with, almost all of us can be successful in dropshipping.
This means so much for us! What’s your main goal in your ecommerce journey?
My goal is just that passive income. Right now, I have a very high-income job but it requires me to run the business almost 24/7. I sleep max 5 hour per day and I don’t really have time for my family. My goal for the new year is to generate enough with my passive income to cover my busy lifestyle.
That would be a major milestone – we’re looking forward to Chris achieving it like a champ! We’re so thankful for his time and all the priceless tips on how to make money with ecommerce – we hope they’ll prove to be valuable to our readers, too!
The post How To Make Money With Ecommerce? Chris’ Journey From 0 To $29K/Mo appeared first on Sellvia.
