Have you ever wished you had a clear-cut path to earning passive income? Mark Tilbury, a self-made millionaire and entrepreneur, said he has the answer. In a recent YouTube video, Tilbury said dropshipping is a great way to grow your wealth with minimal effort.
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Of course, like any other passive income stream, dropshipping has pros and cons. Tilbury broke it down so that you can decide for yourself if dropshipping is right for you.
What Is Dropshipping?
A dropshipper acts as a middleman between a supplier and a purchaser. Customers make purchases through the dropshipper’s online store. The dropshipper passes those orders along to the supplier, who sends them to the customer.
Dropshipping is a viable business model for individuals with strong marketing skills who know how to drive consumers to their online store. If you’re interested in dropshipping, it also helps to have strong customer service skills and a knack for managing complex logistics.
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Getting Started as a Dropshipper
According to Mark Tilbury, dropshipping is a straightforward process, and the setup typically takes less than an hour. The cost of getting started? A dollar at most.
Step 1: Choose the Right AI Tool
Today’s AI tools make setting up a dropshipping business easier than ever. The right one can design your website as an attractive, user-friendly store that customers will enjoy visiting.
Tilbury recommended the AI tool Auto DS and its built-in Build Your Store tool, but others are also available.
Step 2: Identify Your Niche
A good store has a clear, well-defined specialty, which is the best way to attract and retain customers. Tilbury suggested taking some time to think about your niche.
Don’t just choose something you’re interested in. Approach the question “with a business mind” and look for a niche with a large market.
At the same time, it’s a good idea to pick a niche that you know at least something about. Tilbury, for example, set up a store to sell fitness products. Thanks to his son, a sports and wellness fanatic, Tilbury is already familiar with some popular trends in the fitness niche. That puts him in a good position to identify products that will appeal to customers.
So, when you’re choosing your niche, look for something that checks all of your boxes: It should have plenty of market share but also something you’re fairly familiar with.
Step 3: Build Your Store
Tilbury recommended setting up a Shopify account and using the free trial option. When the free trial is over, you can take advantage of Shopify’s introductory offer: just $1 a month.
After setting up your Spotify account, install Auto DS or another AI tool. The tool will automatically suggest an inventory based on your niche, but you can override its suggestions, like changing the pricing.
Step 4: Market Your Store
Marketing is a crucial step for building and maintaining your dropshipping business. That’s how you drive business to your store and build an income.
Tilbury recommended hiring micro-influencers to promote your products. They have thousands of followers who trust their recommendations, but they’re not as expensive or as exclusive as macro-influencers.
Use common sense in selecting your micro-influencers. If you’re trying to sell fitness products, for example, hire one who already has credibility within that niche. You’ll drive traffic to your store while getting a positive endorsement from a popular figure.
The Pros and Cons of Dropshipping
Tilbury focuses on the many benefits of dropshipping: It’s fast and easy to set up, and you can earn a sizeable amount per month. Done right, it’s a great passive income stream.
It does come with some potential downsides, though. Marketing, fielding customer queries and overseeing shipping logistics can all take a lot of time and energy. There’s no guarantee that your products will sell, especially as you compete against other dropshippers.
The bottom line? Dropshipping has the potential to deliver a good income, but like everything else in life, it carries some risk.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Self-Made Millionaire Reveals How He Built This Passive Income Stream From Scratch
