I felt compelled to write this, as I am still contacted by CBD and Vape businesses every single day that have just spent their first month throwing a DIY eCommerce store together, adding all the products they can find and slapping the first payment gateway on it that will accept their application. Only to find that their payment gets pulled once the provider sees the whole range of products they want sell, and then they find that they’re unable to promote the website and products due to world-wide advertising restrictions… Its generally at that point, people reach out to a digital agency like us…
STOP!!!
The CBD and Vape industries are thriving, but this does not mean that starting a business in one of these sectors is going to be an easy ride for everyone.
I encourage anyone thinking about entering into these worlds, to bear in mind these 5 key points before trying to start a CBD or Vape business online in 2022…
- Focus your efforts – Don’t try and be a master of everything and sell every CBD or Vape product your dropshipper/supplier has to offer – be specific, focus on a small range and try and think of an angle that will make you stand out.
- Pick a lane – Well-being focused, sleep deprived, fitness recovery, etc – many people buy and use CBD or Vape products for a multitude of reasons, but trying to market your products to “everyone” is like fishing in the ocean with a fishing rod. You won’t catch many. Choose your pond wisely.
- You can’t use PayPal – Also stripe, sagepay, worldpay, etc etc… You will be refused an account with most payment providers – and even some of the companies that will accept your application, may still refuse you an account due to one or two products you sell. Sort this once you have decided on the exact product range you will be listing. If you struggle, try here.
- You can’t boost ads on Facebook – Yup, very few paid advertising platforms support CBD or Vape businesses, which makes marketing VERY difficult!
- You can’t sell on Amazon – Thats right, not only are you unable to use traditional payment methods, nor can you use paid ad platforms – you also can’t sell or advertise our vape or CBD products on any of the large marketplaces such as eBay or Amazon either!
So what should you do?
- The first thing you should do is work out why you are trying to enter this market. If you have a story around your initial inspiration to enter the world of CBD or Vape – then tell your story. Make your story the basis of your entire brand and the initial message you deliver to your website visitors.
- Secondly, think carefully about what you are selling – so many people come to us with Shopify stores (dont use shopify btw!!!) filled with 1000’s of products pulled down from a popular CBD and Vape wholesalers dropship plugin, and then wonder why they get traffic but dont sell anything. Be specific, limit your product range, dont overwhelm your website visitors.
- And lastly, seek professional help. Companies like dijitul have decades of experience in building websites and providing organic marketing services – what could take you a week may only take us 2 hours – what is is your time best spent on?
Book your free, no obligation chat now and lets discuss how we can work together to help you successfully launch your CBD or Vape startup in 2022.
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