Debutify is one of the newest themes in the dropshipping business. It has the latest features any dropshipper would love to have in their store. Learn from Ricky Hayes, the CEO of Debutify, one of the leading Shopify themes.
Today, we are blessed to have Ricky Hayes, who has made more than $8 million in sales with his dropshipping business. He is also the co-founder of the Debutify theme and one of the few 7-figure e-commerce experts.
You may have encountered Ricky either through his highly rated dropshipping course and mentorship or via affiliate summits that he is invited to attend as a mentor on topics related to dropshipping and creating financial freedom.
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Hello Mr. Ricky Hayes, for those who don’t know you, would you kindly introduce yourself and tell me what you do?
Hey Sam, nice to meet you, mate. It’s a pleasure to be here. My name is Ricky Hayes. I’ve been drop shipping for two years and have sold over $8,000,000 to customers worldwide.
I have taught people via my course and mentoring programs to reach six—and seven-figure earnings, and just this year, my student surpassed me with eight figures in sales! Insane!
When did you realize drop shipping could work for you? (What’s your dropshipping journey?)
It took me six months to realize drop shipping could work for me, as I didn’t take it seriously and didn’t understand the essential part to success in dropshipping is your marketing campaigns.
Once I realized that and focused on my skills, everything else became far more comfortable.
Most dropshipping gurus make newbies feel that dropshipping is an overnight success. What’s your take on this?
This is just not true, at least not in 2020, anyway. Three or four years ago, that was true in many regards; now that everyone is trying to do it, competition is fierce, driving up expenses for everyone.
It is not an overnight success, and I have never promoted this and never will. Business is complex and always will be, so it is so rewarding.
Was there a time when you nearly dropped the dropshipping idea and decided to pursue a different venture?
Yes, in the first six months, I was hoping it would be more comfortable than it was and that it’d just work itself out,’ which never happened, and it was stupid of me to think that.
I was close to quitting and getting into merch by Amazon but decided to stick with it as I wanted my brand, not just a seller on a marketplace.
Talking of giving up on drop shipping, what were some of the failed niches or products you tried but never took off?
I failed to sell products in every niche, including baby, cosmetics, fashion, jewelry, outdoors, kitchen, and you name it. The product is king, and most products do not work or make you profit.
If you were to start over again today, what would you have done differently regarding product research, store design, and marketing in general?
Focus 100% on the product and its creative aspect. If the product is what people want/need, then focus entirely on that, as everything else will happen naturally.
Ever seen products go to the roof with a crap site, but they are getting sales? That is because the creative ticks with them, so 100% of the product is always innovative.
What are some myths about dropshipping you had to beat to be where you are today?
How did you find your first Dropshipping niche? Did it fail or worked out?
The central myth is that this is easy—that is a lie—it is a business, and business is never easy. The second is that Facebook was easy, which is also not true.
I found my first niche in the baby niche, which is a passionate niche. I sold $52,000 worth of my first ‘winner.’ It failed because I lost $2,000 after all expenses—lousy marketing.
In most cases, newcomers are stranded between choosing a niche, general, or one-product store. What’s your take on this?
One-product stores or niches work best. Focusing mainly on the product and building your store around it makes it quick and easy. For example, you can create your store in 5 minutes using Debutify and then focus on marketing.
What elements do you look at when choosing a niche or a product?
The niche has to be women 100%. Women buy more than men in eCommerce—go to your local marketplace, and you will see this and reflect it in the eCommerce space. Secondly, it has to be an evergreen niche, like cosmetics—women always need cosmetics.
The product has a WOW factor, is unique, has good margins($20 margins), and I can comfortably market it efficiently to a mass audience.
Kindly list niches or products you wouldn’t touch or add to your store and why.
I would never touch specific products that will get banned or are just riding a short-term trend, as they will die out just as quickly as their trends, and then you are stuck again.
As a dropshipper, we face many challenges regarding suppliers. What is the challenge you’ve ever faced with a supplier?
The supplier did not ship a single item of over $20,000 worth of purchases, which was a customer service nightmare.
Always have multiple suppliers and test them individually by sending the product to your product for quality, shipping, and handling timeframes.
What’s the best method of finding a hot-selling niche or product you can recommend?
Manually always works best. If you are marketing on Facebook, the best starting points are to find one with a WOW factor, a mass appeal, a recent winner, or someone already selling it successfully.
What’s the best way to price a product? Some should be X3 or X4; what has worked for you when pricing your products?
A three-times profit margin or a $15 margin minimum is required to be profitable unless the item is a high-ticket item, e.g., $50. In that case, you can sell it for $80 as you still have $30 of actual margin.
What’s an ideal product page for you? (What should it include or not have for conversion)
That is why I made Debutify create an ideal product page. Include quality images, videos, gifs, and descriptions, and be honest with customers.
Free shipping Vs. Paid Shipping: which one works magic in your case, and why?
Paid Shipping is necessary now to be profitable. You can offer free shipping for sale to existing customers.
Share your top 10 ‘must-have’ apps in your store and their importance.
Do you recommend free or paid apps more so when one just started dropshipping?
I recommend mainly free to get started, but down the line, always paid.
Refunds hurt businesses. How do you handle them? What is your history with PayPal limitations, chargebacks, and bans?
Refunds are a part of business and will always happen, so I never worry about them. I handle them with excellent customer service and use AfterShip for updates to reduce chargebacks.
I rarely get PayPal holds because of fast Shipping, quality products, and excellent customer service, and you are fine.
How do you keep your records in check, balancing profit and expenses?
I use XERO and a bookkeeper with my accountant.
Now that drop shippers likely fear PayPal due to its limitations and holding of funds, which payment gateway can you recommend for a drop shipper to have configured?
Paypal. Drop shippers should change how they operate their business, not Paypal. They are putting the customer first, and so should you.
Suppose a supplier tells you he is out of stock, yet you have orders to fulfill; how do you tackle this?
Find a different supplier immediately and notify my customer service team to notify customers and offer refunds for anyone outside the expected delivery timeframes. This solves it instantly.
How do you manage your income from your dropshipping business? Do you pay yourself a salary or chuck out cash?
I have a company and pay a salary accordingly for taxation benefits
You talked of running a profitable store and running on losses; when do you term a store profitable?
Three months of consistency, starting a business takes time, effort, and dedication, and profits come with it over time.
Initially, you will permanently lose because as you grow, you are reinvesting into yourself and the business.
How important is email marketing to you, and has it boosted your business?
Email marketing is essential and always will be. It is a marketing channel to help boost your business profits in any niche.
Free vs. Paid advertisement, what’s your take?
Both. It would be best if you always did a combination of both as a business, as you need to spend on ads and, sometimes, do not need to.
Which advertisement platforms do you recommend for running Ads?
In that order, there are YouTube ads, Google Ads, Bing Ads, and Facebook ads.
What’s your checklist before you launch Facebook ads?
Do I have a great product, offer, and creativity to get them to pull out their credit cards?
Video vs. Image Ads? Why?
Video generally works best as you can explain the product.
What’s the best practice for launching a Facebook ad on a new pixel?
Always launch as a website conversion and purchase at midnight for all placements, excluding desktops.
What scaling methods work for you?
CBO scaling, using automated rules, and split testing creatives.
When do you kill or keep an Ad?
Based on the individual metrics of your margins and what you are willing to spend. Whoever can spend the most to acquire a customer wins.
What’s your advice for newbies regarding running an effective converting ad?
Always understand the unique selling points of the product at all times.
What is dropshipping business-like in Canada?
Competitive and tough, but long-term yields high profits with consistency and quality.
What are the challenges you face in the dropshipping business in Canada?
Simply just competition.
What are some of the myths about dropshipping you came to learn were not true?
That one product will mean you are financially free.
Did the dropshipping business change in your life?
Yes, as Ricky Hayes, it did, very happily so.
If you were to choose again, would you prefer to drop ship over 9-5 jobs?
I choose always dropshipping over 9-5 for me. I like my freedom!
Tell us something about the Debutify theme.
It is a theme designed to help beginners, intermediate, and experts build a store quickly and easily that will help convert more of your traffic more often.
It is designed to take the stress off the individual so they can focus on the creative first and foremost.
What makes a good Shopify theme more so for dropshipping on Shopify?
To me, what makes a good theme is
- Easy to use
- It helps drive more sales
- 3. Excellent customer service
- 4. Regular updates
- 5. Feedback from the community.
What are the latest features in the Debutify theme?
We are introducing more add-ons to the theme, such as the skip add-to-cart page, to help with conversion rates.
Other new features are a help center full of help articles, enhancing our community feedback form, a dashboard to help for beginners, a quick start guide, with more course training coming, including Google, Bing, Youtube, Messenger, Facebook advanced training.
Where do you see the Debutfy theme five years from now?
With over 500 staff working worldwide, providing frequent updates, support, and an excellent experience for people making eCommerce businesses from video creation, product research, marketing support, and much more!
What motivated you to come up with the Debutify theme Idea?
I was sick of spending so much time trying to make the perfect store with themes that were always hard to navigate and frustrated me.
What makes Debutify theme stand out
I’d say it’s just its simplicity and support. We are wholly dedicated to our customers and ensuring people can quickly and easily build an online store.
What can we expect from the Debutify theme in the future?
Expect more updates to the theme, support, and massive growth through various marketing channels.
How can people reach you?
If you have any questions, you can reach me at ricky@debutify.com. You can also read a full, detailed review of the Debutify theme
Ricky Hayes Interview Conclusion:
Thank you so much, Ricky Hayes, for sharing the above information. Some of the information provided above is sold online packaged as a dropshipping course, having you freely opened up to share means a lot to us and the people reading this.
Guys, if you have any questions for Ricky Hayes concerning dropshipping or the above interview, please comment below. Thanks so much for reading.
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