What One Billion-Dollar Business Did to Maximize LTV

If you’re looking for a winning strategy to implement in your dropshipping business, there are certain lessons to be learned from some of the giants in the ecommerce industry. Here we’re going to look at what a billion-dollar business did to excel and how you can some of these strategies to maximize LTV. Specifically, the business we’ll be examining is GoDaddy.

Some might question how a prominent brand in an unrelated business can help their dropshipping store excel. But the fact is that the principles behind these businesses are essentially the same as any company that sells online, whether a small single-product Shopify store or a corporate giant.

What GoDaddy Does Right

One of the reasons GoDaddy is a favorite example of an online business is the fact that they hit on every single note perfectly. Their process is exceptional when covering everything that they need to maximize LTV, including:

  • Reoccurring purchases
  • Order bumps
  • Upsells

There isn’t a clearly identifiable weakness in GoDaddy’s strategy, and automatically upselling customers is how they stay profitable.

The biggest takeaway that we want for you to gain from GoDaddy is that they are willing to lose money to sell domains. The fact is that GoDaddy actually loses money with every domain sale they make. However, they make all of that money back in many ways, which we’ll cover here.

GoDaddy’s Winning Approach to Product Pages

Let’s use an example to illustrate what all GoDaddy does well. Searching for a domain like “empirestartsnow.com,” which is available, leads us to a product page telling us that this domain will cost us $11.99 for the first year. 

From here, we can see their understanding of the sales process at work.

The Inclusion of a Smart Order Bump

Screen grab of GoDaddy upsell analysis

Below the price on the page, GoDaddy includes an order bump. It offers a discount on the domain “empirestartsnow.us” for one dollar. GoDaddy knows that not a lot of people will be likely to follow through on that order bump. But they still have a chance of making a profit on at least one in every ten orders. The order bump further clarifies that the customer gets the domain for $1 for the first year if they sign on for a two-year subscription, and for the second year, they’ll pay $20.

This illustrates how GoDaddy has probably learned that the average customer stays with them for at least two years after buying a domain. If they can encourage the customer to stay with them, GoDaddy will profit in the long run and maximize the lifetime value (LTV) of that customer.

Pushing Additional Offers

In addition to the subtle order bump, GoDaddy’s page features another offer just below it. This second point encourages customers to purchase three additional domains (e.g., .NET, .ORG) for $19.99, saving them 69%. 

Again, this may look like they’re basically throwing money away, and a majority of customers may not make these purchases. But GoDaddy is more likely to profit over a longer stretch than they would without these offers.

Giving Customers Even More Choices to Look Through

Below those offers, GoDaddy further encourages more purchases, and this is a great strategy for increasing the value of every sale. They do so by listing a bunch of other domains for sale. Some are as cheap as a few dollars, and others are as expensive as $21,000. These may not attract many additional sales, but all of these offers maximize LTV.

A Shopping Cart That Adds More Offers

Once we hit that “add to cart” button for “empirestartsnow.com,” we’re taken to a cart page that’s another example of top-notch design.

Utilizing Post-Purchase Upsells

Screen grab of GoDaddy automatic upsell analysis with pre-checked options

The page is rich with post-purchase upsells that perfectly complement those pre-purchase upsells on the product page. Those post-purchase upsells reward customers after they make a purchase, which further inspires them to buy the product.

These post-purchase upsells include privacy protection for $9.99 and a package that includes both privacy and security for $14.99. The first offer is automatically checked to highlight it. Below these offers, they have “Start your website for FREE” automatically checked, too. It offers the chance for customers to host their website for free right from GoDaddy. This latter offer can help keep customers loyal to GoDaddy and subsequently increase their chances of making repeat purchases.

Customers can also choose to create a support email that’s connected to the domain.

A Highly Profitable Checkout Page

After selecting the various offers on that shopping cart page, customers are then taken to the shopping cart page to finalize their purchase.

Here, customers may be thrown off by the final price at the top. Instead of the $11.99 price advertised for “empirestartsnow.com,” the price now says $21.99. But the page is quick to clarify that this is the price for two years. Customers must choose “1 year” from the dropdown below if they want that initial price. 

They also offer a quantity break with a small discount if customers choose to buy the domain for three years or longer. This illustrates how important it is to offer quantity break discounts at the point of sale (POS) to maximize LTV and profits. This is a practice we always encourage if you want to boost sales significantly. 

At the same time, the rest of the page is very simple and neat. It encourages the customer to follow through on their purchase without simply abandoning the cart. 

We’d like to take note of how GoDaddy makes use of that auto-select of the two-year option. This is something we practice at Ecommerce Empire Builders. We also encourage the use of best-seller highlights and quantity break discounts on our order forms. Implementing this strategy here alone can make a customer worth more than a day’s worth of ad spend.

Below these quantity break discounts, GoDaddy also includes an order bump to easily add domain privacy for $5.99 per year with one click. 

Use GoDaddy’s Strategies to Your Advantage to Maximize LTV

happy customer purchasing add-ons and upsells

As you can see, GoDaddy certainly seems to know what it’s doing to attract customers and maximize profits. While GoDaddy might lose money with domain sales, all of these pre- and post-purchase upsells, along with other order bumps and quantity break discounts, go a long way in helping GoDaddy remain on top of its game. Applying these strategies to your dropshipping business can be invaluable in helping you grow and maximize LTV.

To find out more about how to build a leading dropshipping business, check out our free Ecommerce Empire Builders Master Class. This webinar will show you how to create a dropshipping business with ease and maximize profits like GoDaddy and other billion-dollar companies.

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Clickfunnels or Shopify: Should You Build a Sales Funnel or a Store in 2020?

If you own a dropshipping business, every detail matters. You may be wondering whether it’s best to use Clickfunnels or Shopify. In other words, you’re contemplating whether to build a sales funnel or build a whole store. You might even be tempted to try both. But don’t overcomplicate your ecommerce empire — I recommend the sales funnel. Let’s discuss why.

Don’t Build an Online Store with Too Many Options

What’s one of the problems with relying on stores like Shopify alone? It’s difficult to make a profit on cold traffic from basic ad campaigns. For example, you might be selling a pet product and lure people to your store with ads. When people get onto your landing page, they’re likely to encounter multiple sizing and color options for the product. The problem with offering too many options without any instructive advice on what to get is that the customer may have too many questions. Remember, confused customers never buy.

screen grab of a confusing online store with too many shopping options

Take our pet product example again. It could be a chew toy that’s available in small or large sizes, but the customer may consider one size to be too inconvenient to carry with them to the dog park. At the same time, the other is possibly too small for larger dogs. Giving customers too much of a headache around the buying decision can lead them to simply turn away from your store

As the owner of a Shopify store, you may see this activity in the form of plenty of “at the cart” statuses that end right there. We’ll discuss this more later.

Another potential issue is that prospects may see too many suggested products that don’t seem relevant to the product they’re currently viewing. That confusion alone can lead to mistrust — and, again, they’ll leave your store without making a purchase. 

The key is narrowing down your focus on specific products and mastering that category. Whether you prefer Clickfunnels or Shopify, focus is essential.

What Should You Do Instead? Choose a Single Profitable Niche

A big mistake that many Shopify store owners make is adding too many products to their store. Then the store doesn’t seem to have a clear focus and merely exists to generate sales for random products. It’s best to spend your energy on a particular niche. Start learning the ins and outs of it, and focus on creating offers that fit within that niche. You can even focus on selling just a single product for your whole business (which I dive into here).

Shopping Carts Can Let Customers Leave Your Store

frustrated customer who is shopping at a poorly designed online store

As we mentioned, a general store with products offering too many options could lead many people to add products to their cart. But the process of actually making a purchase could also be too daunting.

For instance, customers might have to choose specific options for a product before even adding it to their cart. That’s a barrier. Even once they finally click that button and move on to the next screen, they land on the cart page. Many people don’t like cart pages, and that means they reduce the odds of people making a purchase through cold traffic. 

At the cart page, the customer may begin to experience what’s known as buyer’s remorse. In the process, they may regret their decision when faced with the total cost. Maybe they’ll remove multiple items from the cart. Maybe they’ll decide to leave altogether. This reason alone is why the average Shopify store has a conversion rate of under two percent. When you’re choosing between Clickfunnels or Shopify, Shopify is a little underwhelming for sellers and overwhelming for buyers.

Even if the customer gets past the cart page, they’re then faced with a third page to complete the checkout process. Checking out also involves entering shipping and billing information, resulting in more unnecessary clicks that draw out the buying process. By that point, there is a myriad of holes in the funnel that makes it clear why so many people leave the store without buying.

While Shopify can still help you earn the profits you want, the key is selling smart. Keep in mind that many people who visit your store are just visiting you for the first time. They don’t know if they can trust the merchant or their products at this point, which can give them some doubts that lead them to the door without spending a dollar.

Why You Need an Effective Sales Funnel in Place

For cold traffic, you should always have a sales funnel that helps improve conversion with a proven process. Clickfunnels can help.

What first happens with a sales funnel for cold traffic is this:

When a person clicks on your ad, he or she will be redirected to what you may refer to as a squeeze page. This is also called a landing page or a sales page. The point of these pages is to highlight one particular product and show why your product is worth buying. You may include benefits, features, testimonials, reviews, and other information that convinces the customer that the product is right for them before simply leading them to your store.

After the customer has had a chance to review the page and the product it’s advertising, you can ask them to simply provide their email address to begin buying the product. At this point, in lieu of a traditional checkout page, you would lead the customer to an order form that’s simple and to the point. Without all the complexities of a general Shopify cart and that opportunity to experience buyer’s remorse, the customer will be more engaged and be more likely to make a purchase.

An effective sales page boosts the perceived value of your product among your audience. You’ll have a much better chance of increasing sales for that product. 

Our “1, 2, 4, 6, 8” Philosophy

screen grab of an order form to highlight the choice between Clickfunnels or Shopify

There’s even a great strategy to increase sales for a product in the sales funnel through your order form/ It’s what we call the “1, 2, 4, 6, 8.” This entails listing various quantities of the product in a dropdown going from one to eight by an increment of two, which highlights how much they can save if they order multiple quantities of a product at once. Showing a person how to get the best value is more likely to get them to buy more of your product in a single sale. In turn, this can give you more money to spend on ads for that product and expand your reach through reinvestment in your business.

You can further boost sales by leading customers to an upsell page after the initial purchase with a discount. This can encourage people to buy even more with the understanding that they’ll continue to save. If you can show the value of your products and the purchase, you can include as many upsells as you want without worrying about the customer simply leaving — we recommend using around three to four, but feel free to experiment.

Using Both Clickfunnels and Shopify

In the end, it’s best to have a Clickfunnels sales funnel at the front end of the sales process. By using a sales funnel, you can build a list of nonbuyers and prospective customers. Then, you can sell them premium versions of your products. At the same time, you could have a simple niche-specific Shopify store that you use to sell a premium-priced product to existing customers or ones who are more likely to buy. This is generally a better strategy than relying on sales through cold traffic.

Take all of these aspects into consideration when choosing between Clickfunnels or Shopify.

Consult With the Pros 

At Ecommerce Empire Builders, we can help you determine which steps you need to take to maximize sales and ROI. To learn more about how to build your dropshipping business with ease, reserve your seat at our free Ecommerce masterclass. You’ll find out how to earn a full-time income online without the need to build a website or even touch the products you’ll be selling. Also, keep your sales strategies sharp by watching our videos on YouTube.

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How to Make Millions With Dropshipping Through Shopify and Clickfunnels in 2020

Empire builders, are you ready to take your dropshipping business to the seven-figure level in 2020? You can make millions with dropshipping. This may seem like a daunting task or maybe an unachievable goal, especially for those who are just getting started with ecommerce. But once you understand the systems and processes that go into creating a winning Shopify or Clickfunnels operation, anything is possible. 

Learning these processes takes a great deal of time and effort. There is definitely a learning curve when it comes to the dropshipping industry. But I’m here to help cut your learning time in half. You don’t have to keep spinning your wheels, trying to figure out the secrets behind profitable dropshipping stores. Read on to learn more about the systems and processes I use to create seven-figure funnels consistently. 

Lead Your Customers to Your Product

The three most essential elements of all dropshipping stores are ads, sale pages, and order forms. These are the three elements that you must perfect to create a profitable dropshipping business. Everything else is truly just icing on the cake. So, how do you perfect these three elements? Well, it all comes down to understanding your customers. 

The bottom line is that customers need to be led. This is where many dropshippers simply get things wrong. Many dropshippers that use Shopify or WooCommerce have general storefronts or landing pages that simply have too much going on. There are too many options to choose from, and customers, especially new customers, feel overwhelmed. 

As humans, we silently like to be led. It makes everything a bit easier. When creating your landing page, you want a select few products on the page. You also need to tell customers what each of these products can do for them. Think simplicity when it comes to your landing page. Ultimately, a confused mind never buys. 

Drive Your Ad Traffic to the Right Location  

example of a clear sales page

Now don’t get me wrong, you do need a landing page or storefront. Landing pages are especially great for returning customers. However, they’re not so great for your new customers. These first-timers need a bit more guidance when they come to your store, and here’s why. 

Every ecommerce store sees a drop off from the add to cart page to the end of the purchase process. However, the stores that take the time to learn their data systems and customer behaviors are the ones that minimize this drop off rate. When you analyze your data, you come to see that how you interact with new customers is vital to your success. 

Most of you are already using ads if you’re in the industry, as you should be. However, most of you are not utilizing your ads correctly. A vast majority of dropshippers use ads to drive traffic to their storefront page when, in reality, they should be using their ads to drive traffic to a sales page.  

1. What’s a Storefront Page?

Your storefront page or landing page is where you show off the products you have to offer. This is great for returning customers. They have already formed a relationship and a level of trust with your store. They know what your products are, what they can do for them, and which products they like best. 

However, this is not an excellent space for first-time customers. When you use your ads to send traffic to your storefront, new customers are bombarded with many products. There is simply too many options and not enough direction. That is why in order to convert clicks to sales, you must use your ads to drive traffic to a sales page and not your storefront page. 

2. What’s a Sales Page?

Creating great sales pages is how you convert new customers into loyal customers. A sales page only highlights one specific product. There are no distractions on this page. You’re giving customers one option to focus on and telling them what his specific product can do for them. On your sales page, you want to have elements like testimonials, reviews, and guarantees. These are new customers that know nothing about your business. You want them to feel as welcome and comfortable as possible. Creating this atmosphere on your sales page will ultimately lead to higher conversion rates for your business. 

Optimize Your Order Form 

After customers add products to their cart, they reach the order form. To minimize the drop off from cart to purchase, you have to optimize your order form layout. Simplicity is always key. The first step in optimizing your order form is to keep it to a single page. You don’t want customers to have to jump through hoops just to get your product in their hands. Make sure your order form asks for billing and shipping information all on a single page. 

While keeping the order form simple, you also need to utilize simple ways to increase the customer cart revenue easily. This can be done by offering order bumps and quantity break discounts right on the order form. 

Keep your order bump products complementary to the product they are buying. If they’re buying a toothbrush, offer toothpaste as a simple order bump. 

With the quantity break discounts, offer a “buy two get 20% off” deal. You always need to be looking for simple ways to add revenue to a single customer’s order. You will reap many benefits when you can perfect this technique. 

Perfect the Funnel 

new dropshipper trying to perfect her sales funnel

Ultimately, to create a seven-figure ecommerce business, you must perfect the funnel. In the Shopify world, the funnel is simply too long. This creates friction. With Clickfunnels, the funnel is much tighter. 

A tighter funnel converts to more sales for your business. 

The hardest aspect to overcome in dropshipping is that first sale. You want those first sales to be as frictionless as possible, by getting customers to purchase in as little as three clicks. That is why you must direct your ad traffic to simple sales pages that lead them to optimized order forms. This is the recipe for success when it comes to perfecting the funnel. Once you get your first sale, you can reach hundreds of dollars in sales in the first few days and keep building your momentum.

Keep in mind, creating the perfect funnel won’t happen overnight. You will have to put the time and effort into conducting market research and analyzing your existing data to create a funnel that converts at the highest rate. 

As a closing piece of advice, always look to maximize the total revenue a first-time customer spends with your business. This is best maximized through:

  • Opt-Ins
  • Order Bumps
  • Quantity Breaks
  • Upsell Offers

Remember, research and diligence are what separates the seven-figure stores from the rest.

Consult With the Pros 

Are you ready to make millions with dropshipping? At Ecommerce Empire Builders, we can help you build, launch, and scale your very own profitable ecommerce business today. Attend our exclusive free webinar today to get started on your dropshipping journey. 

We can set you up with all the tools you need to be successful in this industry. Don’t forget to check our YouTube channel for more valuable tips and insight into the ecommerce industry. 

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