If you’ve ever dreamt or thought of starting your own e-commerce business, 2022 is the best thing that could’ve happened to you. Sounds pretty controversial, doesn’t it?
What if I said you can have your own e-store, with 0 technical skills (website/graphic deigning, marketing, ads, SEO) or even a PRODUCT. Controversial again? Allow me to explain.
So, the virus shut the world down. That means supermarkets, malls and even local shops aren’t functional.
But, did we stop eating, shopping, and getting things we needed? No. We’re blessed with this thing called “Internet” and we started ordering things online, didn’t we?
Did you know that the average everyday products saw an increase in sales of over 277% in 2022? Point being, the world is shopping online, and, you can have a slice of that pie by creating your own e-commerce store.
Maybe you already had the idea but not the skills? Maybe you have the skills but not the time? Maybe you have “some” of the skills but not the others?
Whatever be the case, if e-commerce is what you need, that’s exactly what this guide is all about. (I suggest you keep reading even if you aren’t into e-commerce yet, you may change your mind.)
Why you should read this article-
- You’ll be able to have your own e-commerce store which generated revenue on automation.
- You don’t need to have any “computer skills” (you’re already overqualified if you’ve been able to find and are currently reading this article.)
- You don’t even need to have your own product! (Ahoy dropshipping!)
- You’ll get everything covered, including the graphic design, customer service, SEO, marketing, ads, and everything in between.
- You’ll probably make quite a bit of money.
Table of Contents
- What you’ll need to create your own e-commerce business?
- What is Fiverr and how can it help start or scale your e-commerce business?
- Step 1: You need a website
- Step 2: Get yourself a product (or, don’t)
- Step 3: Inventory and listing
- Step 4: Marketing
- Finding freelancers manually
- Are Fiverr “experts” truly experts?
- You already have a store? You can Fiverr-scale it!
- Wrap up
What you’ll need to create your own e-commerce business?
Sure, it sounds a lot more complicated when you see Jeff Bezos making billions with Amazon. However, creating your own e-commerce website is surprisingly easy. All you need is:
- An e-commerce website.
- A product (optional, truly).
- Marketing (social media, search engines, Youtube etc.)
- Customer service.
But, you don’t have any of these, right?
What if you can get the best professionals do it for you? Now you’re thinking you’ll have to talk to so many people, on so many different platforms to cover all the bases.
It also seems very expensive, doesn’t it? How about this-
“A fully functional e-commerce store, on full automation, for less than your 6-month lunch budget”
In simpler words- Fiverr.
What is Fiverr and how can it help start or scale your e-commerce business?
I doubt you haven’t already heard of Fiverr. It’s a platform which connects people like you (who need something done) to people who can do what you need done.
It’s a 10-year old company which is publicly traded. In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Fiverr probably is “the” best and leading freelancing platform on the planet.
When it comes to e-commerce, Fiverr has really streamlined the process into one very desirable package.
There’s this dedicated Dropshipping module Fiverr has created. It takes care of everything from the website design, to finding the right products, marketing and even customer support!
This allows you to trim your budget, and only hire people for the skills you need. You don’t need to get help for everything. You only pay for selective tasks!
Also, it’s cheaper when you get it done from experts on Fiverr. How so? Well, first of all, learning to setup your own shop, running ads, graphic design and social media management is a mammoth price in terms of “time”.
Secondly, you’d probably burn through 4-5x your “Fiverr price” when learning ads alone. And even then this isn’t guaranteed. Isn’t it just cheaper committing X amount of money towards the project, and benefiting from years of experience the person brings to the table?
The Fiverr advantage
Fiverr is more practical due to its “transparency”. Before you hire someone, Fiverr gives you an insight into the person’s professional history.
You’ll know the number of sales the freelancer has made, their total ratings, and there are even special tags which highlight special talent.
In most seller profiles, you can also get a list of their previous work. This helps you get first-hand experience of the potential the freelancer holds.
It also shows the joining date of the seller, the last date the seller delivered a project, average response time.
Moreover, there are real reviews, from real users who’ve worked with these freelancers. The ratings are even categorized for a much better understanding of the individual.
And finally, there are no scams whatsoever. Fiverr acts as an Escrow service and only pays the seller once the project has been delivered.
How about we go through the steps? Forget everything I’ve said so far. How about starting your e-commerce journey right now?
Well, yes, without the website, the product or even the plan to do it, let’s just start (jump off the cliff and build a plane on the way down).
Step 1: You need a website
The very first step? You need your website. Now, imagine having an A.I assistant (just like Iron Man did) who did everything for you. Well, that’s what Fiverr will feel like in the next few seconds.
So, Fiver has this 7-click website building process. You only need 7 clicks to choose your requirements. The process takes less than 5minutes at best!
You’ll be shown multiple options, just choose the option best-suited to you:
At the end of the 7 answers, Fiverr will show you 1 freelancer who’s best-suited for your job. This selection is based on your answers and is always within your budget.
Because Fiverr A.I picked the person, certain things are guaranteed. First, you just saved dozens of hours of manually picking the right guy (or girl) for the job.
Second, this person will almost certainly have over 100s of orders, the best reviews, and an established repute. This means you’re in the best hands.
Get a website you've always wanted
Step 2: Get yourself a product (or, don’t)
You’ll get your website done in a few days. Now, you need a product to sell, don’t you? This ofcourse is for those who don’t already have their own products.
If you already have a product to sell, you can just skip to the next section. What if you don’t have a product to begin with? Well, you can still “dropship”, right?
If you’re totally lost here, dropshipping is when you build an e-commerce website and sell someone else’s products.
Visitors place the orders on your website, however, the orders are then automatically forwarded to your source (the product manufacturer/owner). You do not have to stock or ship the products.
Does it work?
“Dropshipping can make millions, here’s proof”
Now, you can go out there, spend hours finding the right product, which isn’t saturated, is in demand, priced rationally and of quality. This may take weeks and you may still come up with a product which may not work.
Or, you can go to Fiverr’s dropshipping page and simply hire a product-expert!
These are individuals who have the in-depth knowledge required for finding a winning product. They know what metrics to look for, what works and what doesn’t, what’s the future potential and everything else.
If you look at the pricing, even the top-rated sellers charge less than $50.00. Given these are the “best” people for the job, wouldn’t you agree that’s a very reasonable one-time price?
Step 3: Inventory and listing
If you have your products, you’ll need to add them to your website, right?
Now, a lot factors in when it comes to product-inventory. You can’t just pop your iPhone out, capture photos, and write “This is the best ice cream maker, buy it”. Sure, you can, but will it sell? That’s debatable.
So, that’s where Fiverr comes to the rescue again. Again, on the Dropshipping page, you’ll find a section for product management.
This will cover:
- Descriptions for the product
- Professional product photography
- Explanatory, marketable videos
- Editing
- Support staff for live-chat and email responses.
You may hire people for all, or some of these tasks.
Step 4: Marketing
By now, you should have your website, your products, and inventory listings done for your website.
Now, it’s time to start selling. Only if it was that easy, isn’t it? Without proper marketing, even the best of products will fail, won’t they?
Now, you may be a tech-whiz, and/or a skilled designer. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you can market as well, does it?
Again, Fiverr has specialists or atleast people of experience who can help with:
- Marketing strategies
- Social media marketing
- Podcast ads
- Video ads and a lot more.
Again, you’ll find them on the Dropshiping page. Check the reviews & ratings, find someone who fits your budget, and there you go.
If you’re reading this line, it clearly means you’ve an idea of how to get your website, products, professional listing and a marketing plan. Doesn’t that cover it all.
Finding freelancers manually
Let’s say for some reason you aren’t using the dedicated e-commerce page on Shopify.
You can still simply use the Fiverr search bar. You only have to type “e-commerce/dropshipping/ online selling” or something related.
Fiverr then shows you everyone who can help, and a plethora of filters to customize your search.
E.g. you can choose exactly which field of your e-commerce business you need help with-
Then you can even choose the core-platform, additional plugins (payment integrations, shipping, chat, inventory) etc.
Even seller level, country, language, the budget for the project and expected delivery time can be specified.
All in all, regardless of your previous experience or skills, you can find someone to help with your e-commerce business.
Are Fiverr “experts” truly experts?
Hey, I’ll be honest. Any John Dash from around the corner can create a Fiverr profile. So, should you even trust your dream project to one of these guys?
That’s where the Fiverr transparency is of help. As mentioned earlier, you can check sellers’ level, previous sales and customer reviews before hiring them.
However, there’s also something called “Pro services”. These are tags awarded only to the most successful, reputed and established freelancers in their fields.
These sellers are more expensive than the others on Fiverr, however, these are the most skilled freelancers on the platform.
In a nutshell, yes, Fiverr has enough indicators which tell us which of the freelancers are truly skilled and which are new.
You already have a store? You can Fiverr-scale it!
Not everyone reading this is new to e-commerce, right? Maybe you already own an e-commerce website. You just aren’t seeing enough sales, is that the case?
Now, Fiverr has a range of services which can help you “scale” your marketplace as well.
Simply go to the Fiverr homepage, and select e-commerce development on the left-sidebar.
Your problem may be aesthetic (looks/layout/design), technical (speed/bugs), service (customer support) or anything else. Fortunately, Fiverr seems to cover everything.
Even if you don’t have a problem yet, you can still scale it using Fiverr, can’t you? E.g. you can try a new form of advertising, e.g. video ads maybe? Social media? Something else?
Wrap up
So, can you own an e-commerce business? Totally. In fact, if you start right away, in less than a week you can have a fully functional e-commerce generating passive income for you on automation.
As mentioned earlier, contrary to how it looks, Fiverr is actually cheaper than doing it all yourself. Not just financially, you also save all that time which you can use for whatever you like.
Now, E-commerce isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Sure, you may not be the next Amazon. However, there’s an ever-growing demand of products which creates a market for you (especially due to the pandemic.)
That’s enough reading, click here and get busy. See where exactly you’d need help and then get someone to help you out.