My success using Shopify!
Work can be hard and draining. I’ve been there! Business can be risky but in the long run it is worth it. Most businesses fail but out of all those failures you learned lessons to help you get closer to success for the next time. Some people are afraid to start a business because of many reasons. Some of the reasons are, you may not have the time, you are scared, you are afraid to take risk, you talked to someone or too many people about your dream and they have planted in your mind that it is not going to work or its unrealistic, you may feel like other people are more lucky than you or that they made it because they were rich or from a rich family, or they made it because they had help.
Regardless of what you told yourself, those thoughts will keep you stagnant and unsuccessful. I have been told all those things and had absolutely nothing and no one to help me. I had some advice here and there, but I have done tons of research and started many businesses in the past 20 years. The moment I was ready to give up in business is when it all paid off and worked out.
In 2015 I have discovered Shopify. I have done my research and was impressed by all the apps it had to help my business grow. Shopify is an eCommerce website, with integrations and apps to help boost your sales, and connect you with social media platforms to make marketing easier. Shopify has 24 hour support and depending on the plan you choose it can give you your stats about your website activity to help you make decisions when it comes to scaling your business. You will know what state and country visits you the most and customers’ activity on your website. It will show you your top sellers to sort out what’s working and not working. It will also suggest things that can help you with your store. There are so many apps to choose from! To name a few you can download email marketing apps, a FREE virtual assistant called Kit, and a social proof app that shows new visitors who bought from your store previously to gain trust amongst new customers. You can customize your look with free and paid Shopify themes, and more!
At the time I wanted to sell my art on clothing. I was working on my website on Shopify for 20 hours a day. Paying a membership fee for months while trying to perfect it. I didn’t have no help with setting up my shop, and I heard about Facebook ads but the thought of running them burned me out!
While working on my website I have done tons of free advertising using Facebook and Facebook groups. I was advertising my artwork and creating a buzz that I am opening up my own online store. I used other platforms like Wix in the past, but I was sold by the great success stories I heard about Shopify. I imagined things taking off slowly, because all I heard was nothing happens overnight. I guess it was my 20 years of lost and failure I was going to get paid back for. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t prepared for what I encountered in 2016.
It took me months to find a few manufacturers that can make my designs come to life. I wanted to put my art on bags for women and skirts. I figured if canvas art is hard to sell, people can carry my artwork and wear it. I tried to create a need.
June 16th, 2016 I launched my website Tiffantasy.com which is now called Kingdomofmel.com.
I got my first order from the UK from someone who has been watching me for a while on Facebook. She owns a art gallery, she bought $400 worth of my skirts with my paintings on them. I was happy and overwhelmed with joy and finally I felt I had hope once again in business. I had to figure out how to keep the sales going. So I designed more things. It wasn’t until I started my Kente collection in July 2016 that things started to take off. To make a long story short, in august 2016 I posted a pair of Kente shoes in my art group I was in, a very bad picture by surprise… Next thing I know I went viral! This was my 4th time in a year going viral for my work on Facebook, but this was my first time going viral and actually making a lot of money!
I made $25,000 the first 3 days, it was so unreal. I never imagined my dreams actually coming true at such a fast rate! I started to get nervous while the money was rolling in. I thought to myself, when will the sales stop rolling in? How do I keep them going?
I started a Facebook campaign by boosting my post of a viral video of the shoes, it had over 1 million views. The sales died down but was still on average 1k a day for about a year. The problem was I was seeking help with marking for the majority of my time. I was overwhelmed especially on days the sales dropped. I learned that sales are up and down. I also learned that you need a team. I had tons of orders to fulfill, and it took me a long time to complete each order while answering emails. My biggest lesson I learned while running kingdom of Mel is to know where your money is going and to have a strategy in place. You can buy my strategy to help you with your dropship eCommerce store and tweak it to help you.
Thanks to Shopify I had the chance to succeed and I know for a fact I can do it again but better!
Like I said previously I have made many mistakes running this business that I have learned hard lessons from and hopefully I can help someone else avoid those lessons. I might make a whole new blog about the tough lessons I have learned. I now understand what it takes to run a store online and I am still learning. Entrepreneurship is a never ending learning experience because the market is always changing, trends comes and go, and you can never know everything. All I know is Kingdom of Mel made over 700k in 3 years, and now I am ready to teach you how to start your own eCommerce business using Shopify, and social media. I am ready to help you avoid mistakes I have made so you can succeed and make money. I want to help you build a legacy for your family with my knowledge. Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself and your future. You are your most valuable asset. Most people hide their failures and pretend to be perfect, that is unrealistic, and it discourages people who are trying to make it from taking risk, it discourages people who are alone in this business world and make them feel they are doing something wrong while everyone else is succeeding. I want to let you know, it may not be easy running a business, but it is definitely worth it! The trial and errors, the restless nights, the lost and winnings, and the knowledge you gain on your journey that is the most valuable!
I have sold to thousands of customers, and even had celebrities purchase and support my brand! You can do it too and hopefully more! Start your Shopify store today and sign up for the courses or a one on one coaching session. Follow my baby, my brand @kingdom_of_mel (www.kingdomofmel.com) on Instagram and follow my new business Instagram page, @Manifestmybrand
Click here to start your store today! If you are unsure what type of store to start subscribe to my YouTube channel for business ideas, or sign up for one of my courses. The Drop shipping course (coming soon) or BYOB (Be your own boss) will be perfect for you to give you a better idea on what type of business to start!