Q&A WITH LHS STUDENT BETH S.
Why did you decide to start your ecommerce business using the Low Hanging System?
I was looking for a way to make some money online and be able to be in different locations. I do a fair amount of traveling so I needed a way to make some income wherever I was on that day. I am a big fan of Tom Woods, so I started checking some of the things he was pushing. After watching a few webinars, the LHS seems crystal clear on how to do it and how everyone wins. I find myself questioning why the program creator would be offering this program. The price was reasonable, the idea of not having to buy inventory and keep it in stock, and being able to do it wherever I am, made me take the leap.
Where are you from?
Southeastern Michigan and Northeastern Indiana (Angola) Depending on the day.
What were you doing to earn money just prior to getting started with LHS?
I was working as an organic farmer in Michigan then I fell in love and moved to Angola, IN. So I was in need of a new way to make some cash and did not want to do market gardening on my own.
What made you sign up for the Low Hanging System in the first place?
Well, I was looking around for something to do online that I could do while moving around a little bit, traveling a little bit, not being tied to a job that I had hours to go into. I had quit my job and moved in with my boyfriend, and so I wanted to be able to have some more flexibility, but I wanted to still make a little bit of money.
I just started searching around. I watched a lot of webinars on different programs and the Low Hanging System just seemed to be the one that made the most sense. Like it was win-win all the way around for everybody. I could understand why Rachel would be offering that kind of system.
I was like, “Oh, I can see how she’s going to profit from this.” But in the same sense, I see how I could profit as well and I could understand; it made a lot of sense. There were a lot of webinars I watched and I was like, “Wait, this doesn’t sound like a good deal for me.”
Had you tried other business models in the past, or this was kind of your first go at the online stuff?
Yeah, this was my first real go. I mean, like I’d said, I’d watched, try this one, try that one, but I hadn’t really, I hadn’t bitten on any of them before that. So, yeah, the first one I went with.
Once you signed up for the Low Hanging System, did you get started right away? Was there any confusion, hesitation, or did you just dive right in?
I just dove right in. I mean, the only thing I had done before that was set up a website, just a simple WordPress, nothing fancy. But I had done that, and so then I already had a business email I could use, you know what I mean? Instead of using my own personal email.
But then no, other than that, it was just simply going through the training and getting started. And I did that right away. I knew what I wanted. I was looking for something, so it wasn’t like, “A good time will come.” It was like, “Now is the time.”
How many designs you had up for sale before you made your very first sale?
I had to think about that. I know my first sale was kind of cheating. Because I had Rachel critique a mug on one of the phone calls [group coaching calls, part of the advanced LHS Jumpstart], and one of the fellow students loved it and bought it.
So, it is a legitimate first sale, I know, but it wasn’t like it got out there and it got searched and everything. It’s the only time that mug has actually sold. So, that was a sale, but I think it was probably, I would say I’m going to guess the end of May. I guess I started February, end of May.
How many listings I had? Oh, I don’t know. Probably over a hundred…It was a couple of months before I got my first sale.
Around how many designs do you have now?
I had to look that up. So, I mean that’s kind of a funny question. I know everyone asks that question. So, I looked at my stats, and I have 925 sayings, images, designs, but almost every single one of those is on at least three. So, white mug, black mug, travel. So, on Amazon, my listing is 3,862.
But do you know what I mean? They count an 11 ounce and a 15 ounce mug as separate listings and the same goes for the black and the white versions of the same design. So I would say with actual unique designs—I’m almost to a thousand.
And what product do you sell the most of?
Black mugs and travel mugs.
How do you feel about the results that you’ve had so far?
The results, I’m pretty pleased. If you work the system, I think the system works. I find myself struggling with me actually working the system and doing what I want to do. I think listing every day, three to five listings a day really does help. I find when I do that, my sales pick up, and when I drop off and I don’t get there, my sales drop. So, I mean, not huge. I’m still not doing huge, huge numbers in any way. But I do notice the more I list, the better things go.
How much time would you say that you spend doing LHS related things each day or each week—on average?
I’m going to guess about three to five hours, probably four, sometimes five days a week. I don’t have another full-time job that’s pulling me away, and I also don’t really want to be putting 40 or 50 hours into it.
So, that’s about right. And actually if I can nail that, if I can do four hours a day five days a week, then I feel really good about that. I’m pleased and I feel like I’m meeting my goals. That’s what I aim for. But there are many days when it’s not that many. But then again, there’s also been hundreds of times when I’ve been sitting at dinner, or I’ve been shopping for groceries, and I come up with an idea, and I’m constantly creating those ideas in my head.
What has been the best resource for you when you have questions or problems?
Carl [the moderator of the LHS Facebook group] is by far the best resource. The Facebook group, or just simply emailing either CustomHappy or GearBubble.
For people who are having trouble getting started, whether they just aren’t motivated or they’re confused or hesitating for whatever reason, what advice would you give to them?
Take a deep breath and just read through the training, and just go step by step. I saw a lot of people struggling with setting up integration in their Amazon store, and I think it’s just like, okay, you have to use your brain a little bit, but the steps are there, and to just slowly go through it.
Does this make sense? Is this right? Okay. Yes. Okay. Next step, next step. And just take it step by step, and then once you get your integration in your store up, you’ll be good to go, and you can just move forward from there. But just take that slow, but keep moving through it.
To anybody who’s thinking of giving up, what would you say?
Well, maybe it’s not for them. I don’t know. I guess the question is to ask, why are you doing this? Do you really actually want to do it? And if you hate it, stop. It’s okay. Like, hey, leave your store up and maybe you’ll get random sales here and there, but you don’t have to do anymore.
I think if you are like, no, I really do want to do this, but I’m just feeling stuck. I will find, just randomly shopping Etsy and Amazon, looking at different people’s ideas and mugs and you know, like stealing ideas from people, or just spinning off on things you see, will often get my creative juices going.
[editor note: I of course don’t recommend actually “stealing” ideas from anyone, but certainly using others’ ideas to prompt your own designs is a great idea!]
And then I’m like, “Oh, I want to make this, and this, and this, and this, and all of a sudden I have 20 designs, and then I’m excited, and I want to make those right now, and get this listed, and then that gets me back into the flow.
So, I think, figure out how, where you can, if there’s something about the program that gets you really excited and you really like, spend a little bit more time there, and that might boost your motivation and get you moving again.
Results are not typical. Ecommerce sellers’ results will vary based on effort and skill, etc.
