Ultimate Emarketing &
Dropshippers Guide
Armand Melanson, Canadian


	NOTES

We still like the approach taken by Melanson, but there are better options available.

Cheap, with good advice and tools, but not the most innovative.

Markets to the U.S.

Not "ultimate"...

In the Trenches ...
The Nuts and Bolts of eMarketing

...[T]he key to...dropshipping...is to use a solid, repeatable process for picking and testing what you're going to sell. [That] means setting up with reliable dropshippers and testing their products quickly in order to establish the good sellers, one product at a time. It means uncovering niche markets and staying away from things that compete with 10 ton gorillas like WalMart. That's a big part of what I teach in the Ultimate Dropshipper. The good news is that there are millions of niche markets just waiting to be mined, and plenty of opportunity to make money.

Market to the United States?
Although an increasing number of drop shippers will ship to Canada and elsewhere internationally, Armand does not encourage this option "because shipping and international duties are prohibitive and can be a real pain". There are additional fees you must factor into your selling price - e.g., duty, brokerage, taxes. On the other hand, "[t]he consumer/industrial base in the US has made it the mecca for selling online using the dropship method. Most people selling successfully online (even those from outside the USA) are selling to US buyers using US suppliers." Most drop ship sources in the UEDG are in the United States.

But a steadily growing number of Canadian companies are now opting for the drop ship model. If you're specifically seeking Canadian companies, these will be included in the UEDG as the list of suppliers continues to expand.

"I can only describe this product as 'OUTSTANDING'! I have never come across anything that comes close to the quality of detailed information you have given. I can only relate it to an intensive and expensive training course at college. Apart from the extensive amount of very detailed information you provide, all relevant website addresses which are linked to the information are provided. You also project enthusiasm and confidence to get started. What you have given I find very rare these days."
Brian Edwards
Whitley Bay, England

...[P]eople use The Ultimate Dropshipper for alot more than just finding dropship suppliers. Besides finding products, they get real world and proven guidance on how to plan and setup their online business - from how to select what to sell to marketing to setting up a website or properly using ebay auctions...

Ultimate Emarketing & Dropshippers Guide

"I have purchased many internet marketing books. But none have come close to value you get with the Ultimate DropShipper. It touches on so many critical areas - truly the swiss army knife of internet marketing. In these days of fluff, this is a gem. What a deal!"
Alan Whistler
www.1st-in-selfhelp.com

"Tons of really good step by step information! Helped me a lot with some 'roadblocks' that I have come across. Instruction is very easy to follow - FANTASTIC!"
Sheila Mooberry
Bloomington, Illinois

Picking the right products
[test marketing potential products, how to deal with dropshippers, affiliate programs, setting up your own affiliate program]

Marketing 101
[direct marketing basics, direct marketing on the Internet, sales letter essentials, print advertising]

Order, payment & fulfillment
[taking orders, getting payment, delivering products, what to ask a drop shipper, what to ask a payment processor]

Customer support

Testing your market

Thinking beyond a single product
[opt-in email list, website pop-ups, email list management]

Why E-Books?
eBook authoring tools

Setting up your Web site
[picking a Web host, getting a domain name, authoring your site (html editors), uploading your website to the webhost, testing your website (screen sizes & browsers)]

Search engine basics
[regular search engines, pay per click engines, se submission links, Web Position Gold]

Getting more traffic
[setting up your own affiliate program, banner advertising that works, ezine advertising, have articles republished]

Traffic analysis & testing
[ad tracking]

What about the budget?

BONUS - Selling on Ebay

A note to people living outside the USA - if you bought this package thinking that you would find dropshippers in your country, I am sorry to tell you that there are very few. The consumer/industrial base in the US has made it the mecca for selling online using the dropship method. But don't let this discourage you. Most people selling successfully online (even those from outside the USA) are selling to US buyers using US suppliers. The consumer market in the US is huge so there is great opportunity to tap into it. There are a few dropshippers who will ship internationally. But I don't encourage this because shipping & international duties are prohibitive and can be a real pain to deal with.

Imagine the cost to ship a single item from New Jersey to Sydney Australia? Forget it... My advice is to focus on the US market until you are well established & have got some money rolling in. If you want to look at potential for a product in your country, do so once you have some success online. You want to start with the deck stacked in your favor not against you. Trying to sell outside the US market will be much more difficult especially if you have little or no experience selling online. So build on your success by looking at non-US markets later.

Exception Case: if you're in a non-US market & you have access to a region specific product ( e.g. something that only Aussie's seem to want or need ) or you have an idea for a targeted product/service, then you might want to look into it further. The key is specificity & how you will reach the market for the product. Everything in this book still applies to setting up, selecting/testing product & marketing your business. The only difference is that you'll have to find suppliers in your neck of the woods & negotiate with them. They might indeed dropship for you if you can show them how it is in their interest to do so. Or they may want you to start with bulk purchases in order to assess whether you will actually move some product. Either way, it's not impossible to setup a business that targets a non-US market, so I don't want you to throw out the idea. But the main obstacle will be testing products quickly - since you have no native dropshippers, it will take more time to access the products you want to test.

If you are not in the US, the process of getting setup with dropshippers is easy. All you have to do is email/fax a copy of your local business license to the supplier & they will set you up without hassle. And many won't even require that much.

I am in Canada so I just scanned a copy of my business license & saved it on my PC. Whenever I want to deal with a new dropshipper, I just email them telling them that I'm not in the US, but that I'd like to forward a copy of my business license so that they can setup my account. I've not had a supplier refuse to deal with me yet. So being outside the US is not a problem at all...

A note for sellers in Canada
Although it is tempting to want to sell to both Canada & the US markets, my advice is to stick with selling to the US only. Here's why - if you are using a US supplier to sell to buyers in Canada, you are going to run into a whole lot of problems with xborder issues. Customs, duties, clearance forms, etc... Yuk! Some products have duties while others don't. Shipping companies will try to extract customs brokerage fees from you or your buyers and you will have a pack of headaches.

If the supplier is not in Canada then decline any orders from Canada. There are a few suppliers in Canada, but you can count them on 2 hands. So unless you have a hot lead on a product you can get from a dropship supplier in Canada, stick with the bigger US market & access to the greatest number of options for products & dropshippers.

NOTE:
Most drop ship sources listed in the Directories, Guides and Service Solutions we review are located in the United States. Though they may drop ship to Canada and other countries, there are additional fees you may need to factor into your selling price - e.g., duty, brokerage, taxes. If you're Canadian, and you plan to drop ship product from the U.S. into Canada or are looking for Canadian suppliers who drop ship in Canada, see Drop Shipping in Canada.