Thousands of YouTube vids will try and tell you how to become rich overnight by selling online, going from 0 to $1000 in daily sales. But not all videos are alike. We have collected expert tips from top eCom entrepreneurs who share their wisdom on how to deliver a successful eCommerce project. Read on to discover hot straight-from-the-eCom-oven tips from:

• Gretta Van Riel [Forbes, IG, Crunchbase]
• Neil Patel [NeilPatel, YouTube, Entrepreneur]
• Trevor Chapman [Trevor Chapman, Podcast]
• Sebastian Ghiorghiu [YouTube]

Ready to hear no-BS tips from veterans who are tried and tested in the field? Get your pen and paper out to note all that expertise.

Neil Patel: The basics of eCommerce

Neil is one of the top digital entrepreneurs in the world and his middle name is SEO, or so we hear. He is so good at what he does, that if you search for him on Google, you will see only his proprietary resources on the first page – no Forbes or Entrepreneur with all their domain authority can outrank his own channels.

Neil believes in the power of these fundamental levers of success for managing a successful store online:

Persuasive copy

Well-written copy has the power to bridge the gap between offline and online channels. Even though you don't have a shop assistant who can jump in and recommend a suitable product online, persuasive text can fulfill those functions.

Emphasize the solution to a problem and benefits to a user

Articulating benefits is essential. If you accompany that with catchy copy and a review – your chances of success are bullet-proof. Neil improvises as he comes up with a toilet paper example (you see why he is such a popular speaker): “Ultra soft toilet paper. It will make you feel like your bum is sitting on clouds”.

Pictures speak a thousand words

Showcase your product with a lot of high-quality images, using different angles of the product and maybe even a 360-degree shot.

The power of social proof and genuine reviews

There’s no cheating of the systems and algorithms, so you have to be authentic. Allow genuine reviews onto your website – if positive or negative – they create trust in your website.

Provide detailed descriptions of your product

The more detailed you go with your description, the more objections you will have provided reasoning against. A user feels advised and informed with sufficient information on size, color, technical parameters, materials, etc.

While those recommendations may seem somewhat basic, they are indeed fundamental to your eCommerce business success. If you are lacking any of those features, success is far from guaranteed. From the guru of digital promotion, let’s check out the experience of a relative newb in the art of online selling and learn from his mistakes and learnings while they are still fresh: Please welcome, ladies and gentlemen:

Sebastian Ghiorghiu: Model from the best, persist, test, & it will be given to you

While not an exact quote by Sebastian, this is an important part of the formula for his o̶v̶e̶r̶n̶i̶g̶h̶t overmonth success. This daring teenager had his failures and quickly pivoted from what didn't work. And he never gave up. His major learnings will come in handy for all the daring, newly-converted devotees of dropshipping.

Be ready to give up if something doesn’t work

His first attempt at creating an eCommerce store was a gift shop with silly things, like a towel that makes you look like you are naked. He quickly moved away from it.

Brain pick on YouTube eCom gurus

Sebastian got his direction corrected after watching a YouTube video of other bloggers, who shared their wisdom on dropshipping topic channels. They advised creating a niche store.

Niche stores work

Niche store was the next step on his path of trial and error. He created a men’s watch store and it did work after all.

It’s OK to model from the best

In terms of colors, layout, and design of the store, Sebastian looked up to a few of his top competitors and implemented something of the same kind. If he feels like buying from them, his potential clients might be happy to buy from him if he created something similar. He was right, it turns out.

Use micro-influencers

Another mistake was to ask for a promotion from one of the top bloggers in the men's fashion category. He later understood that they are way too saturated and opted for micro-influencers instead. It worked like magic.

Keep testing every pixel and letter for the best conversion

Another practice that helped his conversions was his persistence in testing everything on his website and his advertising. He would create multiple images and text copies and see which ones perform best.

Persist and perfect

Devotion to succeed and try every little trick in the book is the final advice from this stubborn young gentleman. Talking about books – he actually had one full of notes on the best and worst-performing influencers.

Are you inspired yet to kickstart your own eCommerce or ready for another hero of online sales? Please welcome:

Trevor Chapman: Razor-focused on conversion

From Entrepreneur’s YouTube series with successful eCommerce business owners called “$0 to $1000,” we introduce Trevor Chapman, who sold one of his $200-initial capital companies for over $10 million.

Create a website for conversion, not just a nice website

Trevor is a great believer in creating websites that are wired for conversion. They have to be designed in a way that directs users through the conversion channel:

“...For them to buy the product and the messaging needs to resonate with them, for them to share the product and the messaging needs to reinforce their identity. When you convert you have 2 conversion goals. The first conversion is to get people to buy, the second one is to use that as a catalyst for other people to buy. A word of mouth.”

Trevor Chapman

Facebook pixel

Facebook pixel is capable of providing tons of data on users, so this tool is a must-have for any budding businessperson trying their hand at online sales.

Upsell right after conversion

The perfect time for upselling is right after conversion. As in RIGHT after that. Who can resist a good offer of 30% discount for buying 2 of what you have a proven record of buying?

Get hands-on with your potential customers' email addresses

Get their email. If you have to offer a $10 credit today against any purchase – so be it. Not only will you have overcome the initial shyness of the first purchase, but you will also have grown your email list – and that is currency in its own right.

Keep an eye on your metrics to fine-tune

No website is perfect. No website is perfect at the first iteration. Keep checking the analytics to fine tune your strategies. All the time.

The last and the most detailed of insights into how to deliver a successful eCommerce project comes from a serial entrepreneur, who generously shares her practical tips based on 4 multi-million-dollar eCommerce brands.

Gretta Van Riel: eCommerce Marketing Tips that’ll make it for you too

We only keep Gretta for last because we don't think that people with the attention span of a goldfish deserve to be millionaires. This is very highly likely the effect of absorbing and implementing the tips provided by this savvy etailer. Sharp as the best of Japanese knives, Gretta shares detailed tips on how to set up an online store that’s groomed for success. While we recommend to anyone who sets their mind on creating an online store that they watch all of her extensive YouTube eCommerce tutorials, here is an extract of her “top 10 eCommerce marketing tips” that sum up her triumphant experience in the domain of online selling:

Focus on organic social (Gretta’s 3Cs: content, collaboration, consistency)

• Content: provide quality content that’s original, informative, engaging, and visual
• Collaboration: influencer marketing and cross-pollination within niche work well
• Consistency: be predictable for algorithms and followers alike

Build an email list

Gretta calls email marketing a low-hanging fruit. She uses tools like JustUno and SumoMe for popups that offer a deal in exchange for an email: "Enter your email and Get a free ebook / get a discount.”

Use email blasts and consequences

Emailing once a week is not too spammy and will allow you to keep your deliverability rate high due to a healthy email database. There are at least 3 sets of email messages she recommends every online store marketing team should create from the get-go:

• welcome email sequence
• abandoned cart sequence
• product sequence (updates on top products)

Keep the focus on the average bill and LTV

Family packs, bundles, and upsells all help drive the average bill and LTV. Offering them during check out with a discount is a good idea.

Make use of micro-influencers (Gretta’s 3 Rs: Reach, Relevancy, Relationship)

Just like Sebastian from the abstract above, Gretta believes in the power of micro-influencers, who have a better command of their audience, engage with them more often, and feel more like a good friend. She recommends working with people whose reach is under 50K, content is relevant to your niche, and who have a close relationship with their audience.

Use the power of social proof

Allow your users to share their views on your product. Genuine user reviews are a great conversion and credibility booster. Loox works great to request reviews from customers and embed them into your store. Sending a post-purchase email sequence requesting their opinion on the product helps drive that engagement. We are not going to go through all 10 tips by Gretta, as you must watch it anyway (as well as other tutorials by this no BS eCommerce mentor)

Successful eCommerce Projects: A Steep but Rewarding Path

eCommerce is no longer a get-rich-quick scheme and requires a lot of effort. With enough wisdom from successful etailers, your chances of setting up and running a neat online store increase proportionately. While we tried to pick the best from each of these guru’s vids, we highly recommend you watch them all. Gretta Von Riel is our fave no-BS-highly-practical content creator when it comes to eCom. As a software development company specializing in retail and eCommerce, Zoolatech creates a lot of insightful content on how to succeed in this niche. Check out these pieces for better immersion into the topic for novice entrepreneurs: Choosing a Technology Stack for eCommerce Development How to Design an SEO Friendly eCommerce Website in 2020: Guide The Best 14 Retail Software Solutions for Retailers and Etailers in 2020 Give us a shout if you need help with developing a custom online store of software for the retail industry! We combine Silicon Valley expertise with Kyiv's more compelling hourly rates!