Today, we’re sharing the story of Alvaro – an online marketer and SEO specialist who decided to start his own dropshipping journey and is currently running about 20 webstores.

Alvaro, born and raised in Chile, relocated to Israel around 10 years ago. His dropshipping business started with the niche that Alvaro knows from A to Z.

Disclaimer: this story is based on an interview with Alvaro. Please note: Alvaro had years of experience in online marketing and SEO, as well as 20 years of offline experience in his niche, before he started dropshipping. His results are not typical. Individual results vary and depend on the work you put in.

The beginning of Alvaro’s eCommerce journey

Having a university degree in Mathematics & Physics, Alvaro built a career in online marketing with a special focus on search engine optimisation. As he puts it, he gained “an extensive experience doing business online”, but at the same time, he had never run any type of eCommerce venture.

It all changed when, out of curiosity, Alvaro tried the AliExpress affiliate program. He launched one affiliate webstore and based it on a niche he’s proficient in: actually, by the moment of this business launch, he had “20 years’ experience in it, but 100% offline”.

Still, even with his niche knowledge, he realised that the affiliate business model wasn’t the right fit for him. Even with 2 stores of this kind, Alvaro wasn’t fully satisfied with the results.

So, while looking for other online business models, Alvaro, as a frequent forum user, came across a popular thread describing an AliExpress dropshipping journey.

And it caught his interest immediately.

The road to an eCommerce business

Alvaro decided to try eCommerce and started exploring the new business area.

Starting with the dropshipping business, I had no idea of payment methods, WooCommerce, or anything related to eCommerce websites.

To make up for the lack of industry-specific knowledge, he made the most of his strength area and used the SEO skills he had accumulated throughout the years of online marketing practice.

I never used any other methods to promote the website besides SEO.

In Alvaro’s opinion, a large part of the business success is the right domain name. He bought EMDs, or Exact Match Domains, for each and every one of his stores.

To put it simply, an EMD is a domain that solely consists of the store’s target keyword. As an SEO expert, Alvaro believes that a domain name of this type helps achieve high rankings. He admits that the results are not seen immediately: in his experience, with this strategy, it takes a store from 3 to 6 months to start bringing results.

How Alvaro’s stores perform

Today, Alvaro has about 20 eCommerce stores. To get a general idea about their growth cycle, take a look at the screenshot below: here, the performance of an almost 3-months-old website is pictured.

Now, compare it to the results of a 7-months-old webstore.

And here, you can see a well-established store that, according to Alvaro, has been bringing him a $1,200 monthly profit for 4 years.

*Individual results vary and depend on the work you put in.

As Alvaro says, the noticeable spike in sales here is the result of the recent rankings improvement.

Speaking of his total monthly dropshipping profit across about 20 stores, Alvaro says it reaches around $14,000.

*Individual results vary and depend on the work you put in. Alvaro’s results reflect years of SEO experience and are not typical.

Running the business

Alvaro registered his business officially in the United States. According to him, it helps with customer support and with integrating a wider range of buyer-friendly payment gateways into his stores.

When it comes to clients’ support, Alvaro says, it’s not always as easy as it might seem.

I think I’ve had all the bad experiences that a dropshipper can have.

Still, he continues, there are “no bad experiences worth to mention yet”: most typically, these are either scammers’ actions, or negotiations with the clients “that are asking for the tracking number the next day after placing the order”. Alvaro says he handles disputes with patience and a professional approach, trying to provide good customer service even in the toughest cases.

Thanks to Alvaro for sharing his story! His experience shows how much his SEO skills, niche knowledge, and patience shaped his business. Want to learn more about how to start your own dropshipping journey?

*Individual results vary and depend on the work you put in.