raw reality of building an ecom brand
spent 1.5 years building a brand i launched 7 days ago. put a year into r&d - took 5 samples to get final product.
the best formula on the market serving a 1.4 billion dollar industry. top-notch ugc, landing page, packaging design, etc.
day 1 of launch - no sales
day 7- still no sales
the product is too ahead of its time and the audience is too cold and uninformed to confidently incorporate this into their daily routine.
i couldn't sleep at night for a year thinking about the possibilities of this brand and we are 10 days in, about $500 in ad spend, but not a single sale.
the $100 cpms in us don't help either lol.
atc's are slowly picking up though and the first sale will come this week. the budget is still fairly low, just $50 daily.
it's discouraging, but i'm going harder than ever. i spent so much time and money putting the product first, so i have no doubt we will build a loyal customer base of thousands of users. this is an ltv and rcr play - once that first customer gets this product in hand they are never going back to other alternatives.
to summarize, good things take time. people love to flaunt the good days, but very few talk about the raw reality of ecom and building a proprietary brand.
onward and upward. can't wait to quote this a year from now.
I'm looking to bring on an AI growth engineer for my e-commerce brands.
Landing page generation
Creative ideation - research - scripts - pipelines
Ad account KPI monitoring
And most likely a million other things, lol.
Full-time hire. If you're offshore and interested, DM me with your portfolio or background.
@bowtiedblock I'd highly recommend getting a 3PL asap. You need to be pulling bigger levers then fulfillment. I had a private label brand probably 5 years ago that ultimately fizzled off cause I spent too much time on fulfillment and not in the business itself.
My v5 update will cover animated product ads.
I made this in 1 hour for a client.
This isn’t “Seedance” or anything people can be lazy with. It’s smart prompting, scripting & brand/story alignment.
Real high converting ads require attention to detail. Don’t believe the BS.
SELL LIGHT PRODUCTS
One of my stores has fairly heavy products, which makes it a logistical headache. I just checked my carrier fees for 2025 and almost threw up.
@wesstaa21 So true, my best friend is an electrician. There is something refreshing about surrounding yourself with non business owners/online money guys in your free time.
Here's something that can help big time in seasonal or sale periods: Change your main product photo, making it offer-oriented and having the words "Black Friday Sale" in it. This CVR is literally 99% new customers.
The longer I’m in ecom, the more I realize how insane our skill stack actually is.
Media buying. CRO. Creative systems/iteration. Landing pages. Retention. Email/SMS. Lean ops. You’re forced to learn everything or your business could die.
And lately I keep asking myself:
What happens if you take that skillset into a service business?
Because acquisition-wise… The gap between an ecom operator and a service operator is NIGHT AND DAY.
I’ve seen ecom people pivot and become top 1% in completely different industries very quickly.
And the kicker? They’re not stuck banging their head against the wall for 15% margins anymore.
I’m staying in ecom forever. But I’m curious about building something on the side. It doesn't have to be HVAC, plumbing, or anything like that. It can be as simple as group dog trainings or niche services with a lot of money in them.
If you’ve made this pivot, I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Am I the only one who's thought about this?
Years ago, I ordered a pair of pants from a brand called Birddogs.
To my surprise, they threw in a free t-shirt with my order.
The shirt probably cost them $2–3 to make…
But it left a massive impression on me.
I’ll never forget that unboxing.
It felt personal, unexpected, and thoughtful.
I ended up going back and spending a few hundred more dollars with them. All because of a $3 shirt.
Most brands add “free gifts” in their offer.
But the real power comes when it’s unexpected.
If you run a brand with repeat customers, try this:
Find a high perceived-value item under $1 (Alibaba, low MOQ)
Make it branded so it stays top-of-mind
Add a packaging card from the founder saying it’s a gift of appreciation.
This is a tiny gesture with a massive LTV impact.