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Just got my 1,000th Order!!! 2 Years Dropshipping, half a million in sales.
https://www.johnnyfd.com/2015/04/just-got-my-1000th-order-2-years.html
Almost exactly two years today I decided to give this whole dropshipping thing a try. I didn't know anyone who was successful with it besides Anton who I had just met and decided to trust him enough to sign up for his course. Today I woke up with my 1,000th sale. It's almost a bit hard to comprehend, as I've never met any of my customers in person, and have only spoken to a few of them over the phone but somehow I've sent one thousand packages through FedEx to one thousand different addresses (minus the repeat customers of course).
I first heard about drop shipping in April or May of 2013 and it took almost 2 months of working on my store without any financial reward or any sales before I made my first. Now I know who most people aren't in business for themselves...imagine working your ass off everyday for two months without a paycheck. But then again...imagine it paying off and you waking up one day realizing what you've accomplished.
The craziest thing is that my average order is $500 so that's been a lot of cash just magically transferred through the internet. The best feeling in the world is knowing that 99.9% of my customers are truly happy. Since I drop ship everything directly from the manufacture, it's pretty much the same as them ordering straight though Ethan Allen or whoever makes the item I'm selling, expect they get free shipping and I pass on some of my wholesale discount.
I wonder how my customers would react if I told them after they ordered that I was sitting on a beach resort in Thailand forwarding their order to the manufacture in the U.S. to fulfill it for me. I wonder if they would even care as they got a great price and exactly what they wanted.
But what really excites me is knowing how many other people in the world are now part of the same course I signed up for and started talking about openly after I shared my success. It was honestly a big mental debate as I knew if I had kept it to myself, I would have less competition, and quite frankly more time to work on my own stores instead of always helping other people get started with theirs.
The decision came down to asking myself if I would have wished someone else would have helped me out when I was lost on what to do, and the answer was yes. I could have had a scarcity mentality and kept my success to myself, but instead, I chose abundance. I chose to dedicate part of my day to helping others, even course members who I've never met.
I now have 681 posts on the private member forums of Anton's course, and have answered just as many questions through my inbox. But seeing posts like this make it all worth it.
From Inside the Private Member Forums:
In these past two years of sharing what has worked and what hasn't, I've created a few copy cats who tried to compete with me in my niche (which is why I don't openly talk about what I sell) and have encouraged a ton of people to start their own stores, claiming potential niches that I could have started another store in, but I've also created an army of people who support me, keep me motivated, and it has forced me to stay ahead of the pack, find ways to make my stores stand out and be better, and has forced myself to be better.
It's tempting for me to open more and more stores, I've actually thought about hiring a full time employee just to run them all. But at the end of the day, my life has always been about balance, and I honestly enjoy teaching and motivating others more than anything.
Keep an eye out in the next couple months for some really big things coming. My goal I set when I first wrote 12 Weeks in Thailand was to make $600 a month online so I could continue to travel and enjoy my passions. Then in Life Changes Quick it was to make enough so I could save up $30,000 in cash so I could have a buffer and know I was going to be okay. I don't know if I'll ever write a 3rd book, but if I do, it'll be when I'm a U.S. dollar Millionaire.
Johnny
I first heard about drop shipping in April or May of 2013 and it took almost 2 months of working on my store without any financial reward or any sales before I made my first. Now I know who most people aren't in business for themselves...imagine working your ass off everyday for two months without a paycheck. But then again...imagine it paying off and you waking up one day realizing what you've accomplished.
 |
| Woohoo, lucky 1,000! |
The craziest thing is that my average order is $500 so that's been a lot of cash just magically transferred through the internet. The best feeling in the world is knowing that 99.9% of my customers are truly happy. Since I drop ship everything directly from the manufacture, it's pretty much the same as them ordering straight though Ethan Allen or whoever makes the item I'm selling, expect they get free shipping and I pass on some of my wholesale discount.
I wonder how my customers would react if I told them after they ordered that I was sitting on a beach resort in Thailand forwarding their order to the manufacture in the U.S. to fulfill it for me. I wonder if they would even care as they got a great price and exactly what they wanted.
A Peek at My Sales Dashboard:
 |
| Two years, half a million in sales and 1,000 orders! |
But what really excites me is knowing how many other people in the world are now part of the same course I signed up for and started talking about openly after I shared my success. It was honestly a big mental debate as I knew if I had kept it to myself, I would have less competition, and quite frankly more time to work on my own stores instead of always helping other people get started with theirs.
The decision came down to asking myself if I would have wished someone else would have helped me out when I was lost on what to do, and the answer was yes. I could have had a scarcity mentality and kept my success to myself, but instead, I chose abundance. I chose to dedicate part of my day to helping others, even course members who I've never met.
I now have 681 posts on the private member forums of Anton's course, and have answered just as many questions through my inbox. But seeing posts like this make it all worth it.
From Inside the Private Member Forums:
In these past two years of sharing what has worked and what hasn't, I've created a few copy cats who tried to compete with me in my niche (which is why I don't openly talk about what I sell) and have encouraged a ton of people to start their own stores, claiming potential niches that I could have started another store in, but I've also created an army of people who support me, keep me motivated, and it has forced me to stay ahead of the pack, find ways to make my stores stand out and be better, and has forced myself to be better.
At the end of the day, even if I share everything I know and exactly how to do it yourself, most people come up with excuses, put things off, or simply don't implement their ideas. If you have a great idea, it's not yours until you take action and actually do something about it.
What's next?
It's tempting for me to open more and more stores, I've actually thought about hiring a full time employee just to run them all. But at the end of the day, my life has always been about balance, and I honestly enjoy teaching and motivating others more than anything.
Keep an eye out in the next couple months for some really big things coming. My goal I set when I first wrote 12 Weeks in Thailand was to make $600 a month online so I could continue to travel and enjoy my passions. Then in Life Changes Quick it was to make enough so I could save up $30,000 in cash so I could have a buffer and know I was going to be okay. I don't know if I'll ever write a 3rd book, but if I do, it'll be when I'm a U.S. dollar Millionaire.
Resources Mentioned in this post:
My first book: 12 Weeks in Thailand: The Good Life on the Cheap
The dropshipping course: AntonMethod.com
Warm Regards,
dude, that's awesome! congrats!
ReplyDeleteI'm not active on the forum and I'm not proud of that all. well, that changes today!
you're a huge inspiration and you deserve all the success. keep rockin!
Hey Anant, today is a great day to start! See you in the forums buddy!
DeleteHi Johnny,
ReplyDeleteWow, wunderbar! Congratulations. Your writing and 4HWW have convinced me to give eCommerce a try.
In your last podcast you mentioned that orders had slowed down but it was mainly because you had devoted yourself to developing new membership site. At the two year mark do you still see your stores as steady long-term investments? Has the market changed at all?
Grüsse,
-Johannes, Berlin
Hey Johannes, really glad that my blog and the 4-hour workweek has inspired you to start your own store. I 100% believe that eCommerce as a whole will keep going up and dropshipping is just as valid today as it was 2 years ago but everything in life you either improve and more forward or it falls behind.
DeleteThe market changes all of the time, it's up to you if you stay ahead of the pack or leave it in cruise control. But the real lesson is, the best investment is one made 20 years ago, or even 2 years ago, the second best time to do it is today.
I personally think it's a good long term investment, but either way, even if it isn't, it's still income today.
This is fantastic Johnny! You are and have been a major source of inspiration! I haven't been very active on the forums either but from today on, it's full steam head on forward with building my first store. Thanks for the continuous inspiration buddy! I'll see you in CM this summer!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Payman.
Hey Payman, really glad to be a source of inspiration, hope to see you both on the forums and in Chiang Mai!
DeleteHappy for you Johnny! Wishing you more success
ReplyDeleteHey thanks Anton Actus! I appreciate it! FYI, i've also played Amazon Roulette before -)
DeleteHey bro, big time reader and I have purchased both books. I think you should commit to the idea of becoming a USD millionaire. It's obviously a goal you have in the back of your mind or you wouldn't have mentioned it! You can realistically value your dropshipping sites at 20-25x monthly revenue based on empireflippers valuation methods + add your equity holdings, so it should be possible within the next few years for you. Cheers bro and keep up the hard work
ReplyDeleteHey thanks so much, I wish you used your name so I could personally thank you for following the journey, reading the books and the kudos. I never thought that I would even attempt a goal this big, but you're right...it's on my mind now and I'm going to figure out a way to do it. Keep in touch and i'll be sure to share my ups and downs...hopefully more ups!
DeleteAwesome post, so cool to watch your life evolve over the past 3 years.
ReplyDeleteHey Adam, it's been a fun past three years and I'm glad we got to share some of those memories together buddy! You'll always be episode #1 of the Podcast!
DeleteHi Johnny
ReplyDeleteJust a heads up the link to "My first book" is showing a 404 error :(
Cheers Paul
Thanks for the heads up Paul, I just fixed it.
DeleteWatching your testimonial sold me on the drop ship course. I've been trying on-and-off for two years to cobble together some sort of import/export business and it's so hard to find the info and put together the framework to make it happen...but now that I've discovered this course, I can't wait! -chicmagnifique
ReplyDeleteHey Chic, really glad you decided to sign up for Anton's course after watching my testimonial videos. I genuinely believe that dropshipping is the best first step into ecommerce and is something you should do before you get into importing. If you use my link in the resources page or use www.AntonMethod.com you'll get a free bonus when signing up.
DeleteSee you in the course!
Thanks Johnny! After a couple of failed affiliate websites try outs I needed the inspiration and some good ideas from a winner!
ReplyDeleteHey Raf - glad I can help inspire you to have a winning idea and make it happen!
DeleteHi Johnny ive just finished reading your "Life Changes Quick" Ebook and even when i expected a little more detail in how you got into things i gotta say i totally identified with a lot of sensations and goal drivers that are very similar to me such as be in shape and be the owner and master of your own life, and how clean eating and excercise becomes a healthy lifecycle that only attracts good things, im a living proof of that, not that into the pursue of love, im more a "SteppenWolf" kind of person. Anyways I wanted you to give me your insights about getting into this business model from Mexico, i understand much of your suppliers listings are located in the USA or the rest of the world. I i already have 3 different niches and 3 different suppliers from friends of my own and i just help them to sell their exclusive products online, do you think this will work? Also what are your thoughts about the saturation of the market in this business model. Really appreciate and just to let you know i heard from you on Business Insider. Keep it up! Regards
ReplyDeleteHey Abraham, glad you enjoyed the book! I'm slowly updating the book to go into a bit more detail but the first version was definitely more of an overview.
DeleteIf you have suppliers already, that's already 50% of the work so as long as it's a product that people want to buy, put them up on your site, get traffic (through ads) and see how it goes!
In Mexico the market is 0% saturated. In the US there are Tens of Thousands of dropshipping sites, but there are also 67 million possible consumers.