What I learned so far....more help needed

I've been trying to sell online for about 2 or 3 years now.... I was so excited to hear about the prospect of dropshipping online so I dove in with some products that I really liked (without research and not being a part of Salehoo yet) and put a big website of these products up - only to find that the market place was oversaturated...not to mention the fact that after taking the time to put up well thought out descriptions for SEO purposes and images, the products were out of stock with usually no clear time of when and if they would ever be back in stock. I was so dejected and distraught... All that work over an almost 2 year period of figuring out how to make my site look nice for all these products that no body wanted!

So, not to be deterred - I'm thinking "there are people online that make a living or at least make some kind of supplemental income. I want to be one of them..."

Now I'm thinking about low minimum wholesalers. But not sure of how to proceed. I know I should proceed slow with low minimums. But what if it doesn't sell? It's a little scary. I've even considered putting up products on my new site from a good, stable wholesaler - with not a lot of turnover of products and see what kind of interest I get. When a product sells, order it from them...but that has other problems associated with it...

I guess I should just buy 2 or 3 pieces of products and see if they sell and go from there.... (after doing the research on them of course :)

Am I going the right way on this and can anyone give me further insight on this... There seems to be no clear middle ground...

Thanks so much!
Leah

If you have experience putting together a site, and are still spinning your wheels after all this time, why not consider building a site monetised via affiliate links rather than direct sales? You can gather data about what your traffic is interested in, possibly make some commissions (with zero stock outlay, customer service or other hassles) and -- probably the biggest advantage of affiliate marketing vs. dropshipping -- the best prices and selection on the internet is available to you, without having to constantly dig and compare only to be undercut by eBay.

Building a decent site that garners traffic, and possibly sales and commissions, is an excellent first step for expanding that site. Mix in some items you can find from droshippers that go with the rest of the site, a few odds and ends you have found from a wholesaler, etc. and just scale it up gradually as you build your traffic.


Frank

Hi Frank....

Thanks so much for your reply...

I, at one point, had considered Affiliate Marketing but it seemed so involved - I actually had saved some good info in my Bookmarks menu, but my computer crashed. Do you know of any good comprehensive websites that explain to newbie's like me step by step on how to accomplish this.... :)

Thanks so much Again....
Leah

Affiliorama.com, Salehoo's sister site, has some good info, and they have a free membership (I do not spend a lot of time there, but it does seem to have a lot of stuff geared towards newbies.)

Really, very little that you learn about selling online cannot be applied to affiliate marketing, especially if you're focusing on products to sell.


Frank

Hi Leah,

I would have suggested the same site as Frank - Link hidden: Login to view, to help you learn the basics of affiliate marketing.

To help you with your SEO and PCC needs you might also want to take our very own SEO software for a spin - Link hidden: Login to view

I also recommend using our Link hidden: Login to view to help you find products that really sell! So should you choose to re-open your site and start selling again this time you will be selling competitive products :)

Personally, I admire your perseverance! You really need to persevere to succeed online especially with all the competition.

All the best! Do let us know if there is anything we can do to help you out.