subject: Dropshipping: How Much Should You Know About What You Sell? [print this page] The usual view on drop shipping is that it is not necessary to know anything about your product or your niche in order to start up in business. This is true.
But you will need to learn.
Research shows that stores which make it easy to ask questions (and get answers) find it easier to make sales. A toll free number shows that the shop is 'real' and that if you have cause for complaint there is someone to answer it. At first you will have few calls, you may never have many, but you do need to display the number. How will you answer if you know nothing about your product? If you employ someone else to take the calls, how will they find the answer?
Most drop shippers supply descriptions for their products as well as pictures to allow you to add these to your store. It is good practice to rewrite these descriptions, making them into original text. One result is that customers will find it more difficult to search for the same item on the web and check out prices. The other result is that you will find as you rewrite that you have questions yourself. Get the answers from your drop shipper and include them on your web pages, the more information you supply about the product the more likely it is that you will make the sale.
But knowledge of your product doesn't stop with the description. The more you know about what you sell, the more you know about the problem it solves for your customers. This helps you understand its worth and understand how best to promote it. You'll also understand when the customer actually needs something else which you can search for and then supply.
When it comes to the promotion of your website, every method (other than pay per click ads) requires some knowledge of the product and how it can be used. Articles and videos both require this type of knowledge, in fact a product where there is a lot to know, as for example with a tool, a piece of kitchen equipment or something used for a hobby, is easier to promote since you can produce 'how to' articles and 'how to' videos, all linking back to your site where the item can be bought. You can also create extensive 'how to' pages on your website itself, on a blog and in the form of Squidoo and HubPages.
This is why it is actually much easier to sell something you know about, something you would buy yourself, something you have an interest in, even though, using the drop shipping model you don't supply the goods yourself.
However, remember that not all customers buy for the same reasons. You might be a big fan of your product for one reason, others may feel differently, so if you are selling something you know well, it can be even more important to use surveys, blogs and a newsletter to build a dialogue and find out what reasons other people have for buying the product. Once you have a full picture you will find it much easier to find new stuff to sell, as well as new versions of old products and to expand you online business.
by: Kirsty Hale
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