JJ Resnick, an expert in working with brands to help them succeed online, shares his tested and proved 8-step blueprint for building a successful eCommerce business.
The blueprint encompasses the exact process that JJ and his team have followed to create each of their 7 and 8 figure brands.
If you are serious about building a brand that resonates with your audience and one that they will get to know and trust then read on and follow each of the steps for a successful business.
Phase One - The game plan
Regardless of what you are trying to accomplish you must always start with researching and creating a solid game plan.
First, come up with a niche product idea that you are going to build.
There is no shortage of ideas of things you can sell - you just need to do the research. Use tools like Helium 10 for researching a product or if you want to come up with new ideas check out Amazon bestseller list and sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter.
Phase Two - Choosing a name for the business
Once you have your idea you move onto phase two, which is coming up with a name for the business.
JJ suggests writing out all the base keywords and adjectives that describe the products or the emotions that you are trying to evoke. Tools like NameMesh and Lean Domain Search can prove to be really helpful.
Join keywords together and bounce ideas around the team until you settle on one. Be sure to do trademark searches so that you aren’t infringing on any other business.
Phase Three - Legal
If you know little about taxes make sure to get a legal team to cover all the legal aspects. If you understand all there is to know about taxes make sure you are covering all your bases.
Particularly the structure of corporations. This becomes really important when you set up shop across the borders. For example company structures in the US are vastly different to those in the UK. How you get set up will depend on the territory you are in and the territory that you want to sell to.
A good local legal team will be instrumental in getting you set up.
Phase Four - Finding our raving fans
Once you or your legal team have your legal structure in place you can begin to build an audience around your chosen niche.
Begin to publish content around your product. You can begin to find keywords that people are already searching for and then write content around those keywords. Tools like Helium 10 and Ahrefs are useful for finding high ranking keywords, identifying trends and keeping your SEO healthy.
Getting a head start on your SEO strategy is well worth it because it can take three to six months for your articles to rank in which time your products can be prepped and ready for sale.
Another way to find your raving fans is to set up social media accounts and build your online store. Set up quiz funnels, lead magnets, tripwires and begin split tests.
Phase Five - Product creation
The process of creating the product can be broken down into four stages: research, plan, prototype and manufacture.
>Research.
Before you start production you will need to validate your idea.
Spend time looking at competitors and reading reviews to understand commonly used phrases. You will get an understanding for what your potential customers are primarily buying. This will help you create the product and market it.
By doing your research you are figuring out the biggest pain points and what people like and don’t like about the product.
While you are in the research process you could “launch a ‘coming soon’ page on your website to gauge the interest of your audience by collecting email opt-ins and even pre-orders." (JJ Resnick)
>Plan.
Planning is essential to ensure product development is as uncomplicated as possible.
First, make sketches of what you want your product to look like. Take pictures of similar products and sketch in the different aspects that are going to differentiate the product.
Second, start looking for the right manufacturer.
When you’ve been doing this for years you will have built up a great supply chain or trustworthy manufacturers. But in the beginning it can be very hard.
JJ recommends that you aim to get samples sent out from at least three different suppliers and to negotiate the price without fighting. If you push too much for a lower price you run the risk of the manufacturer using sub-par materials or not delivering on time. Instead, aim for a fair price that allows you to stay in business and compete.
>Prototype.
Generally, if you are creating something completely from scratch you will do more prototyping. If you’re creating a private label product that you're changing something slightly on you might not be doing as much prototyping before moving onto production.
Allow time for this stage so that you can get your prototype right before you go to mass production. It probably won't be perfect on the first attempt.
>Manufacture.
With a completed prototype, production can begin.
Phase Six - Complete website
You already started your building your website - you have a blog, a ‘coming soon’ page, ‘about us’ page etc.
What you don’t have and now need to do is create a product page with all the details and content that your audience will need.
If you generate a lot of interest, you could also add a pre-order page. There is always a chance that the product may arrive damaged and in which case you will have unhappy customers. Many people tend not to go this route in case they end up with a large inventory of damaged products that will cost more money.
But if you do run into problems like this, apologise to the customer and do whatever it takes to satisfy them. If you're upfront with people and just communicate you’ll find that most people are quite understanding.
When you’re a new business you need your customers to write reviews. Treat them right to get that data out of them.
Phase Seven - The launch
It is critical to repeatedly test every aspect of your website before you launch it. The more you test it the more bugs you’ll catch and the more bugs you catch, the better your launch experience will be.
If you don’t have a big team then use your family and friends to test the website on their computers and handheld devices. Check on Safari, Chrome, Firefox. If your site isn’t optimised for every version of Internet Explorer then put a note on your site to say what it is optimised for.
Let your audience know ahead of time what they can expect and you will have less complaints.
Once your product has arrived and you’ve tested every aspect of the website repeatedly you are ready to launch.
After you’ve launched, focus your efforts on growing your brand all the way until you choose to exit the business.
To grow your brand, ramp up your testing - test your ads, split testing, different landing pages, different copy.
Your aim is to start driving as much traffic as possible so that you can see what’s working and what isn’t. Then do more of what is working so you can keep growing.
Phase Eight - The Exit
“Selling your business is one of the most overlooked aspects of running an online business.” JJ Resnick
Preparing to exit your business right from the start is one of the most important things that you can do.
>Keep your accounting in perfect order so that when a buyer comes along you don’t have to spend huge amounts of money to hire accountants to figure everything out.
>Set up analytics and track your metrics because buyers want to see as much information about the business as possible. More data means they can glean more insights.
Position your business in a way that is going to be attractive to a buyer. It needs to have turnover and profit but equally, proper accounting and proper data and analytics.
JJ is now working with new entrepreneurs looking to build their own brands. Check out this special link that JJ Resnick and his team have created for our listeners - www.buildmybrand.xyz/kuriosity.
Connect with JJ Resnick
Website:www.buildmybrand.xyz
Email:jj@jjresnick.com
JJ Resnick’s other Businesses
Website:www.moscowmule.com
Website:www.moscowcopper.com
Recommended Online Tools
Helium 10 www.helium10.com
AH Refswww.ahrefs.com
NameMeshwww.namemesh.com
Lean Domain Searchwww.leandomainsearch.com