Sure you can.
But let’s back up for a minute and talk about Anton. He is a drop shipping and eCom guru that’s been in the space for well over a decade now. After having success with his online business he launched Drop Ship Lifestyle (DSL) in 2013.
DSL is a course that teaches you how to start and maintain an eCommerce business by utilizing the Shopify store platform and it was rated the best eCom program by Shopify in 2019.
Not only is Anton an experienced drop shipper and online businessman but he does a great job with maintaining and updating his program on a consistent basis. Him and his team are always adding new things to the course for existing members and newcomers to his program.
This is extremely important for the health and longevity of any course. I would know because my mentor and the guy who got me into online business (local lead generation) has done a fantastic job of updating content. It brings value to the members and creates a community.
That’s why it should come as no surprise that the online reviews for Anton’s course glow with positives. When you combine his level of experience with a love for the community, there is no reason for members not to enjoy his course.
Anton’s experience level is key because it sets him apart from all of the so-called “online business gurus” that strut their stuff across your news feed every single day. He’s been there, he’s done it.
That’s the reason I was drawn to the local lead gen model that’s changed my life. You can click here for more on that.
When I first met my mentor, I knew he was the real deal. He oozes confidence and he’s a guy that you want to follow into battle. I want to surround myself with people like him and Anton.
I know you’ll appreciate my approach toward this review as I will give you my pros and cons. I’ve been in drop shipping. I’ve run a paid advertising/marketing agency. I’ve done local lead gen and marketing (which is what I do now).
I’ll give you some firsthand reviews of this business model and hopefully answer some questions like…
Is life in the drop shipping business for me?
Pros and cons of this life?
What are the challenges?
What has to be done to see success?
Is Anton’s course legit?
Is drop shipping better than other online models?
Dropship Lifestyle Course Layout
Right up front the important thing to understand about drop shipping is that you’ll be selling physical products using the internet.
You’ll be selecting a product, finding a supplier, setting up your own website and optimizing it, doing paid ads, etc.
Here’s a brief layout of the training:
- Module 1: Niche Selection
- Module 2: Market Research
- Module 3: Web Design
- Module 4: Supplier Selection & Approvals
- Module 5: Optimization for Conversions
- Module 6: Get Traffic (learn paid ad strategies)
- Module 7: Automation
It will take you a handful of hours to get through this course. Like we talked about before, he is constantly updating and adding more information to the program so expect more to be added.
He does a good job of making sure his students understand that the product they choose to sell must make sense. By that I mean that you want it to be a product that is on the expensive side. Ideally around $1000 or so per sale.
The fact that there are no upsells in the course is just fantastic. Every damn guru out there nowadays is trying to make another $100 off of prospective students. NO UPSELLS HERE.
I like that he’s consistently adding to the training and bringing more value to existing and new students alike. That’s been huge for me in my own lead gen business. Value is key.
How Do You Succeed In This eCommerce Business?
Please understand that this business model requires a lot of work. You must be prepared to do daily maintenance and take time to work on your store daily.
This is not a build it and leave it type of thing like the lead gen model that makes money for me every day with almost zero upkeep.
There are two sides to running an eCom business. Not only do you have to become a great digital marketer but you also have to understand how to run a store.
That is what you’ll be doing. You’re taking the idea of a physical store like Lowe’s or Home Depot and you’re putting it in the web space. You’re the CEO, the cashier, the stock boy or stock girl and the marketing whiz.
You’ll need to ask yourself if you can balance that or if you need an online business model that can maintain itself. For me, it was the latter.
Let’s look at the crucial elements that go into running this drop ship business.
- Niche selection
- This is the most important step in almost any digital business. If you don’t pick a great niche, you struggle
- Research the market extensively
- Study your competition
- Locate suppliers that will give you the best products and deals
- Set up an attractive website that people will be drawn to
- You must be able to talk/sell to suppliers to get the best deal possible
- Understand how to optimize yourself and maximize possibility for conversions
- Driving the correct traffic to your site
- Dealing with the needs of this traffic and tracking how they’re interacting with your site
- Utilize the modern live chat system
- Potential customers need assistance 24/7 so provide them with it
- Always be prepared to answer the phone calls. Customer service is key.
- Follow up to all emails and missed calls ASAP
- Be ready to take on complaints and returns and understand how to deal with it
I hope you can see by now how much actual work it takes to run this on a daily basis. I’ve only outlined a handful of the things you’ll need to be prepared for.
With the way the internet evolves on a daily basis you’ll have to be ready for new curveballs to be thrown your way all the time.
Not only that, but selling a physical product online is a competitive space. You’ll be going up against massive companies like Amazon and other well-known stores depending on the niche and market you decide to enter.
I promise you that Amazon will have the brand advantage on you so you better do everything in your power to make sure that every other aspect of your business is tip top notch. Don’t overlook anything.
I want to make it clear that I’m not trying to dismiss drop shipping as a viable model. There are plenty of extremely successful case studies out there of people making millions with it. It cannot be discredited.
With that said, can we all admit that just those handful of reasons that I listed seem like a lot of work? Do you really want to be dealing with customer service all day long? My lead gen business doesn’t require any of this stuff.
You’re suppose to be living the laptop lifestyle baby! We both know that’s why you’re looking into this course anyway. We all want to be relaxing on a white beach somewhere while making money doing it.
It’s difficult to accomplish that while selling physical products. Unless you have a lengthy list of employees under you.
But let’s face it. That creates another list of potential issues as well.
Pros & Cons of the Dropshipping Business
I’m a positive guy so let’s go with the pros first:
- Tons of products that you can find success with
- You own the store/brand, you have more control versus selling on Amazon FBA
- High potential to grow the business once you’ve get through the initial bumps in the road
- Collect all of your own information about your
customers
- You can’t do this with Amazon FBA because Amazon essentially owns everything you do
- This increases the prospects of you making it a long-term business
- Don’t worry about controlling the inventory. Customer orders from you and product is sent from supplier straight to the consumer
- The web designing process is made very simple and very user-friendly on the Shopify platform
- The products sell themselves meaning there is little to no contact with human life needed
Now the negatives:
- Profit margins! One thing that every business owner is worried about is their profits. Duh. You can expect to see no more than 20% margins here and I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sit well with me. It’s important to remember that you’ll see margins this small in a business that requires continuous effort, unlike the local lead generation model that I follow. Set it and forget it!
- Completing your orders will become increasingly more time consuming when your business begins to grow
- Competition can be extremely high. Never mind the big branded Amazon, even other drop shippers selling high-cost products like you do.
- Like I said before, niche selection is key. You need to find a product to sell with a sweet spot. It needs to be high-price but also lower competition.
- A lot of ongoing work! The more scaling you do, the more your work load will increase.
Final Thoughts on Drop Ship Lifestyle (DSL)
While many people have and will continue to find success using this course and model of business, it absolutely has it’s downfalls. You need to get very clear with yourself on what you can and can’t tolerate.
If you’re a busy person and want to be consumed by the business you run, then great.
If you want to constantly be on the move, travel, try new things then maybe the eCom side of things just isn’t right for you.
In my life, I like to always experience new things. I like to travel to new places, go to different locations for sporting events and go out with friends on a Tuesday night if I really want to.
This is a huge reason why I decided to go in a different direction when deciding which online business model to run full-time.
If you’re not like me and you love the idea of working IN your business all day every day then by all means go find yourself a teach. eCommerce can be great if you find the correct mentor. Trust me when I tell you, go save yourself some money and find a mentor. I think Anton would be a solid choice.
He can get you to where you want to be if the eCom Lifestyle is right for you.
Why I Turned My Focus to Local Lead Gen
This business completely changed my life. Not only was it the business, it was the mentorship. After only two months I quit my job and committed myself to local marketing and SEO.
What drew me to it and why I’m so confident in it (enough to have quit my job):
- All of the traffic is free! Once I get a site ranked and it’s generating income for me, I can essentially put it on auto-pilot
- Damn near 100% profit margins. Need I say more?
- Lower level of competition. I only have to compete with 5-20 other sites for business and most of them don’t know shit about the digital space.
- I don’t have to be concerned with products, customer complaints or returns.
- I can do business in any city or state
- I can increase my income level on a daily basis
Check out my pool site below as an example. This site has been paying me $650/mo for a couple of years now. And I haven’t touched it.
I’ve given myself the pleasure of doing something that I love to do. I love working behind my laptop every day and changing my schedule around whenever I want to.
I have five vacations planned this year and my business won’t fall apart because of it.
The best part is I could pack up tomorrow and go on a trip. The only thing I need to do is check my laptop and phone every couple of days to make sure everything is going well.
The local lead gen biz is by far my favorite business model I’ve ever done.
I owe my freedom to this. I no longer wake up dreading going into work. Instead I’m excited on Monday morning because I’m given the opportunity to increase my income level daily.
It feels amazing when people look at me weird after I tell them I don’t have a job. They get all concerned about my livelihood but in reality I make more than they do and my income potential dwarves theirs.
It feels incredible to know that I was able to change my life with the help of others. I’m now part of a growing community of entrepreneurs and freedom fighters.
If you’d like to regain your freedom then maybe you should check out our coaching course. We can teach you the exact model and techniques that I’ve used to give myself a true laptop lifestyle.
Come take care of business. Take back your life. Put your mind to it and you can’t fail. I’m an average every day guy and I did it. Why can’t you?