The Real Reason Your Competitors Are Outselling You on Etsy/Shopify
What they know that you don’t — and the subtle ways you can stay ahead without being copied.
Recently, I was doom-scrolling on Amazon, when I came across this lil’ nugget:
And seeing this glorious marketing tidbit ⬆️ made me realize: it’s getting hard out there.
What’s the difference between two business that start at the same time…But one takes off and the other stays stagnant?
I sat down and thought about my coaching clients, and I looked at who’s doing well, and who’s doing…not so well.
So today, I want to bring you the *brutally honest* breakdown on why your competition is doing better than you:
#1 — You are worried about the WRONG thing (Hint: it’s money).
99% of us go into this to make money online. DUH.
Why would you put in all this energy if it doesn’t PAY you?? ⬇️
“I wanna make money” will only get you so far.
Customers aren’t stupid. They can tell when you’re just uploading products to make money.
When I shop for a product online, all I care about is these three things:
🤔 What will it do for me? 🤔 Why should I buy from this person? 🤔 Is there any reason I need to buy NOW or can I wait?
Translation: EVERYONE ON THE INTERNET WANTS MY MONEY. Why should I give it to you??!?
I’m not thinking *for one single second* about YOUR bank account.
💣 Brutal Honesty Bomb: Customers don’t care about your problems, or why you’re online.
The key to making big-girl pants sales is THINKING LIKE YOUR CUSTOMER.
And when you only think about your bank account, you’re *NOT* thinking like your customer.
Bottom Line:
All that matters to your customer is WHAT your product will do for them.
This thought should take up 80% of your day.
If you’re only thinking about your bank account, that’s gonna reflect in everything you do.
Spend your time blowing customers’ expectations out of the water. You don’t get to $100k per month with a run-of-the-mill product.
Spend your time showing off what your product can do — and make sure everyone knows why you’re different. (Customers don’t know everything about your product. You have to TELL THEM!)
Here’s a simple example of how a big seller does this ⬇️
To start, it can be this simple ⬆️.
But the more BENEFITS you create for your customer, the more you need to show them off.
Customers have no idea why you’re any different than the next brand.
Friggin’ TELL THEM, SHOW THEM, and SHOUT IT from the rooftops!
#2 — You lost sight of reality.
When I have a client who says, “my competitor is making $500k per year. So that’s what I want to make…”
They always fail.
Wait — what?!? What’s that about?
Turns out, it’s a mindset thing.
If you come in thinking you DESERVE money just for doing something that already exists online…You’re already destined to fail.
This one really ties into #2 — there’s no inherent benefit to ANOTHER store selling [insert product here].
And, like, I just gotta say… REALITY CHECK:
You don’t *DESERVE* to make money for anything unless you give other people VALUE.
Working hard doesn’t make any difference.
Creating VALUE is the only thing that matters.
Top sellers don’t come into this process like, “I’m gonna make absurd money”.
They come in like “What do people need that isn’t quite right? How can I make it better?”
This is what we call THINKING BIG. And it doesn’t come easily to most people.
Most of us are busy overanalyzing the crap out of every little detail…
We’re too busy freaking out to think big.
So, how do you switch over to thinking big??
I said it once, and I’ll say it again–
80% of your time needs to be spent thinking about benefits for your customer and how you can improve their lives.
Bottom Line:
You don’t DESERVE money just for existing online.
Create legit VALUE for your customers, or expect to stay small forever.
#3 — Succeeding overnight is a CURSE, not a blessing.
Do you know what happens when shops suddenly explode overnight?
First of all — it’s usually got *NOTHING* to do with luck.
While it may seem like they got lucky…
The REALITY is that they’ve been doing the work for quite some time, and it just so happens all that effort made an impact at once.
Usually, effort creates change gradually, over time.
Sort of like a investment account — you add to it now, and in 10 years it’s much bigger.
But in the case of these “one-in-a-million” sellers, the circumstances were just right for their work to pay off at once.
You may be thinking, “OMG I wanna be like them!” ⬇️ ⬇️
But — REALITY CHECK: do you know how to run a business 2x bigger than your current one?
😮 What if your current workload TRIPLED? 😖 What if you didn’t have any time to hire help? 😵💫 What if all your systems started to fail just as the money starts rolling in?
⬆️ This is what an overnight success ACTUALLY looks like.
Yes, it’s super cool if it happens to you.
But then, you’re cleaning up the residual mess for the rest of the year.
Bottom Line:
Stop waiting for your business to “make it big”.
Grow into your business ON YOUR OWN TERMS.
#4 — Are you *ACTUALLY* prepared to do what it takes?
I recently coached a seller with a brand new shop.
She came to me and said, “here’s my direct competitor. They’re making $500k/month. I want to be where they are in 90 days.”
LOL.
Even if this seller did somehow MIRACULOUSLY get to $500k/mo in 90 days (spoiler alert: she did NOT) 😂
…Would she KNOW how to *properly* run a $500k/mo business?
Everyone just sees dollar signs, and no one actually thinks about the WORKLOAD of a big business.
Let’s see what that workload *REALLY* looks like ⬇️
Here’s what her $500k/mo competitor was doing:
✅ They had a custom made website with an incredibly simple, uncomplicated marketing message…That they had clearly honed with tons of Facebook ad testing.
✅ They were running $40,000+ of ads PER MONTH.
✅ They had an active email list they grew to 100k, and they sent an email PER DAY.
✅ They had a big Tik Tok presence and posted there 5x per DAY.
✅ They had extremely responsive (5 minutes or less) live chat and customer support running on their site.
Our seller had a website with an unclear message, no email list, no social presence, and she didn’t understand how to run ads.
Everyone always says, “well, I’ll just hire out those tasks!”
omg. MORE LOL.
If you think it’s EASY to find high-quality contractors that will care enough about your business to do a better job than you…
I have news for you: ⬇️
You wouldn’t buy a house just to give someone else your front door keys.
You gotta LEARN to do the things that run your business.
The DIY part **is not a skippable step** if you want big success.
So back to our seller, and her *LACK* of ability to run a $500k/mo business:
She would need to get *GREAT* (like world-renowned) at 5+ major business skills to hit her goal.
…Which would all have to happen, according to her, in 90 days. 😂
It’s not gonna happen.
Especially not with the mindset that she “deserves” to make $500k/mo.
The only people who “deserve” to make $500k/mo are the people who kept working until they made 500k/mo.
And she wanted to skip all those steps.
If you’re doing this for results in 90 days, then I have news for you:
You’re going to be severely disappointed.
This is a marathon, not a sprint. ⬇️
⛔ If you were in college, would you expect to graduate in a week and get a job?
⛔ If you were trying to get a 6 pack, would you expect to go to the gym once and get results?
We all know ⬆️ those things are UNREALISTIC.
Then why do we think that BUILDING A BUSINESS — aka a thing that will FUND your retirement and keep you employed for 20+ years — why do we think we have to rush thru the “build your business” process??!?
If I wanted to work for a crappy, slapped-together workplace…I’d walk into literally any building.
I can get a messy-ass DISASTER workplace anywhere.
WHY would you go out of your way to build one of these FOR YOURSELF?!? 🤨
Bottom Line:
Stop skipping steps and speeding through everything.
This is not some competition where you win a prize for checking the most crap off your checklist.
This is a REAL BUSINESS with the ability to change your life forever.
Stop treating it like another item on your list.
Hi👋 I’m Jenni — I’m an e-commerce coach for top sellers 😊
Whether you know it or not, your business can grow as big as you want it. I see it daily, but you’re probably there, alone…Wondering if you’re crazy… I’m here to be a regular reminder that YOU’RE NOT. 🚀
🛍️ Slap that “Follow” button to get shop-specific advice (and make me your secret cheerleader!) 💌 Get my *slightly snarky* ideas delivered straight to your inbox
If you wanna straight up SEE what my sellers making $100,000/month are doing, I literally tell you in the articles linked below ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️
