I have to be honest, I sometimes join Facebook Groups that are filled with people who are the complete antithesis of myself just so I can see what they are doing so that I can not mistakenly behave like them. I also get some amazing email topics and talking points out of those groups as well so that’s a plus.
Today’s blog post is about how you can show utter contempt and disdain for your customers in the most selfish way imaginable.
I was in a group today composed of people who are basically trying to game the entire Amazon dropshipping model.
If you’re not familiar with this, here’s the basic rundown:
These folks find product categories on Amazon where someone is selling a product successful but maybe doesn’t have much competition and they go to Alibaba, buy a cheap knockoff version of the product, ship it to Amazon and get the Amazon fulfilment services to deliver for them.
They run ads and stuff on Facebook to try and generate interest to lift their product in Amazon search results so that they can take over the top spot.
Many of these people are the same folks who a year ago were creating crappy t-shirts on Teespring before Facebook shut the door on all ads to that platform.
In simple terms, it is a parasitic business model that is purely about arbitrage and short-term success.
So today I was in this Facebook Group dedicated to these people and one of them was talking about his success and how he’s made $50,000 in six months on turnover about $300,000. He shared “the secret” which was, and I kid you not, don’t worry about the quality of the product. His advice was to focus on getting it as cheaply as you can, getting your FB ads right, making sure your remarketing pixels were set up correctly and trying to establish a brand to, and I quote, “overcome the shortfalls in your product”.
Once you were onto a winner, then you could go back and find a supplier in China that was “hungry for the business” who would make the product at a loss to just get the work.
In this particular group, he was lauded for his results and thanked profusely for sharing valuable information. Just one single solitary young lady pointed out that perhaps selling knockoff garbage wasn’t a great long-term business strategy. Some “heavy hitter” guy in the group that they all look up to then mansplained to her that she clearly didn’t understand the model – it was not about guessing winners, it was about (and I kid you not, he actually said this) “spreading your seed to see how many healthy babies you could make”.
It is pretty rare that someone writes something that leaves me at an entire loss for words and forces me to close Facebook and have a little moment in the timeout corner, but that thread managed it.
Put aside the insanity of that conversation for a moment and step back, what these folks are actually saying is that the quality of the product you are selling to customers doesn’t really matter. It is more important to create a “brand” which is generally nothing more than a name and logo then it is to have a good product. They are saying that it’s ok to sell an inferior product if you can get Facebook ads to convert at a positive ROI for you.
Don’t be these people. They are douchebags of the highest order.
In everything I’ve ever done, I’ve always made a serious effort to deliver the highest quality product and outcomes for my customers that I could. Does this mean that I sometimes leave money on the table? Sure. Do I occasionally move slower getting things done because quality takes time? Absolutely.
But you know what? That attention to detail and being focused on quality outcomes ends up saving you time in the long and giving you a better overall return. Creating good things results in few customer complaints and more repeat business and referrals.
Repeat business and referrals are 100% ROI, you can’t get that from a dodgy Facebook ad.
Most importantly though, I get to be proud of what I do. I measure my success in the outcomes of what I do, not in “how fat my stack” is or what my cost per click is for some terrible ad that’s effectively trying to trick someone into buying a rubbish product.
Business is about getting a positive financial return and building an asset, I understand that entirely, but you also need to feel good about yourself and the customers you serve that the exchange of value is fair and equitable. That’s the sign of a good business.