0:01 If you're using AI to build your drop
0:02 shipping store right now, you're
0:04 basically guaranteeing you'll fail. And
0:05 I know that sounds backwards, right?
0:06 Because everyone's telling you AI is
0:08 this massive advantage. Use Tract 5D for
0:10 your copy. Use AI tools to find
0:12 products. Let AI build your store. But
0:14 here's what nobody's talking about. When
0:16 everyone has access to the same
0:17 advantage, it's not an advantage
0:19 anymore. Think about it. Right now,
0:21 there are thousands of people using the
0:22 exact same product research tools as
0:24 you. They're building stores with the
0:25 same templates. They're writing copy
0:28 with the same chat prompts. So, you end
0:29 up in this weird situation where the
0:31 easier it gets to start, the harder it
0:33 gets to actually succeed because you're
0:34 not competing with other entrepreneurs
0:36 anymore. You're competing with an army
0:39 of people who all look exactly like you.
0:40 Same [music] products, same stores, same
0:42 everything. Now, look, I'm not saying
0:44 don't use AI. That's not the point. What
0:46 I'm saying is that there's a completely
0:48 different way to think about this that
0:49 most people are missing. And the brands
0:51 that are actually making money right
0:52 now, they're doing something AI
0:54 literally cannot do. So, in this video,
0:56 I'm going to show you what that is and
0:58 how to actually build it. So, let's get
0:59 into it. So, first thing is pretty
1:01 obvious once you see it. AI made it so
1:03 easy to do the basics that now the
1:04 basics aren't enough anymore. Think
1:06 about it. Take product research tools
1:08 for instance. I use them constantly.
1:09 They're great. But the problem is that
1:11 everyone else has access to them as
1:14 well. So, everyone's seeing the same
1:16 trending products at the same time. Same
1:18 thing with store builders. You can
1:19 pretty much throw together a
1:21 professional looking store in less than
1:22 10 minutes right now. clean template,
1:25 good layout, everything works, but so
1:27 can everyone else. So now every store
1:29 kind of looks the same. Chipd can write
1:30 solid product descriptions. It can
1:33 generate ad angles. It can do all the
1:35 stuff pretty well actually. But again,
1:37 everyone's using it. So if you're
1:38 prompting it the same way everyone else
1:40 is, you're getting the same output. So
1:43 what happens? These tools used to be
1:45 real advantages. Like if you had access
1:46 to good product research tools a few
1:48 years ago, that was huge. That was
1:50 amazing. But now they're just table
1:52 stakes. everyone has access to the same
1:54 research methods. Everyone can build a
1:55 decent store. Everyone can generate
1:57 solid copy. Which means if that's all
1:59 you're doing, if you're just using these
2:00 tools and stopping there, you're
2:02 identical to your competition. And when
2:04 you're identical, the only thing left to
2:06 compete on is price. That's problem
2:07 number one. It's not that these tools
2:09 are bad. They're not. They're actually
2:11 really helpful. It's that they're not
2:12 enough anymore. Now, here's where it
2:14 gets worse. AI didn't just make everyone
2:16 look the same. It made it so easy to
2:18 start that everyone actually did start.
2:21 Like it used to take someone weeks to
2:22 build a decent looking store between
2:24 designing it, writing copy, getting
2:26 everything set up. It was an entire
2:26 process. [music]
2:29 Now you can go from zero to fully
2:30 functional store in less than like 20
2:32 minutes. And that sounds great until you
2:34 realize if it only takes 20 minutes for
2:37 you, it takes only 20 minutes for
2:39 thousands of other people as well. So
2:41 what used to be maybe a hundred people
2:43 testing a product over a few months is
2:45 now thousands of people launching that
2:47 same product in a single week. And I'm
2:49 not exaggerating. A product can go from
2:50 brand new opportunity to completely
2:52 saturated within a matter of weeks. And
2:54 when that happens, what do you think
2:56 happens to ad cost? They skyrocket
2:58 because now you got thousands of people
3:00 all bidding on the same audiences for
3:01 the same product. So your cost per
3:03 purchase goes up, your margins
3:04 disappear, and you're basically working
3:06 for free just to compete. That's problem
3:07 number two. But honestly, the third one
3:09 might be the biggest problem of them
3:11 all. And most people aren't even talking
3:13 about this yet. AI destroyed customer
3:15 trust. And here's what I mean. Right
3:17 now, the internet is flooded with AI
3:19 generated content, fake product reviews,
3:21 fake testimonials, AI influencers that
3:23 don't even exist promoting products.
3:24 There are literally tools right now that
3:27 will generate a fake UGC video of
3:28 someone using your product. The person
3:30 isn't real. The video isn't real, but it
3:33 looks real. And I proved anyone can do
3:34 it in this video right here. And with
3:36 tools like Sora coming out, you
3:37 literally can't [music] tell what's real
3:39 anymore. We're at the point where the
3:41 only way to know if something's AI
3:43 generated is checking for a soror
3:45 watermark. That's how we determine
3:47 reality now. And here's the crazy part.
3:49 That's only going to get worse. Like a
3:51 few years from now, it's going to be
3:52 completely impossible to tell the
3:54 difference between what's real and
3:55 what's AI generated. Which means
3:57 customers are only going to get more
3:58 skeptical from here on. So right now, if
4:00 someone lands on your store, they're
4:02 already looking for any sign that you're
4:04 just another generic drop shipping site.
4:05 If your product descriptions look like
4:08 they came from ChachiBT with the dashes
4:10 and you know so on, they're gone. If
4:12 your photos look ultra polished up
4:14 models with the product in their hand,
4:16 it just looks very perfect, they're
4:17 going to be gone. If anything feels
4:20 slightly off or generic, they're not
4:21 going to take the risk. And even if your
4:23 store is actually legit, you're paying
4:25 the price for everyone else flooding the
4:26 market with AI generated garbage. So
4:29 customers don't trust anyone anymore,
4:30 which means that they're less likely to
4:33 buy from a store they've never heard of.
4:34 And if they don't trust you, nothing
4:36 else matters. They're just going to
4:38 bounce. So AI made everyone identical,
4:40 flooded the market, and killed trust.
4:42 That is the bad news. Here's the good
4:44 news. If you understand what just
4:45 happened, you can actually use this
4:47 towards your advantage. Because while
4:49 everyone else is trying to be a
4:51 retailer, so finding products and then
4:53 flipping them, the real opportunity is
4:55 positioning yourself as a middleman. And
4:56 you can think about it. Amazon [music]
4:59 doesn't make products. Uber doesn't own
5:01 cars. Airbnb doesn't own properties.
5:04 They are all middlemen. They simply
5:05 connect supply and demand and they've
5:07 built billion-dollar businesses doing
5:08 it. So instead of competing with
5:10 thousands of other stores selling the
5:12 exact same product, you become the
5:14 connection between the manufacturers and
5:15 the customers. You control the
5:17 relationship on both sides. That is how
5:19 you build something that actually lasts
5:21 and compounds over time. And this shows
5:24 up in two specific places. First, how
5:25 you're sourcing products and fulfilling
5:27 orders. And that is what middlemen do.
5:28 They go direct to the source instead of
5:29 going through another middleman. Most
5:30 people are using AliExpress for
5:32 everything. And look, I get it. It's
5:34 easy. You know how it works. But here's
5:35 the problem. If you're sourcing from
5:37 AliExpress, you're getting these same
5:39 products, the same pricing, the same
5:42 slow shipping as everyone else. So, you
5:43 can't compete on selection. You can't
5:46 compete on price. You can't compete on
5:47 shipping. The only thing left is ad
5:49 spend. And if your margins are already
5:51 terrible, you can't afford to outbid
5:53 your competitors. Plus, your customers
5:54 are waiting 3 weeks for a generic
5:56 product in a white bag with Chinese
5:57 writing on it. They're never going to
5:59 come back. That's the trap. Whether
6:01 you're using AliExpress directly or some
6:03 fulfillment service that's basically
6:05 just marking up the same suppliers. Now,
6:07 here's what you need instead. Direct
6:10 access to Chinese domestic markets like
6:13 for example 1688 or Taba. These are the
6:15 China wholesale platforms meant for
6:17 Chinese buyers. So, the pricing is much
6:19 much better. And here's the thing, it's
6:21 basically all the listings that you see
6:24 on AliExpress. those sellers are buying
6:27 from 1688 or Tao and just selling it to
6:28 you for a markup because you're paying
6:30 extra for pretty much nothing.
6:32 AliExpress is just marking it up and
6:34 then reselling to you. So instead of
6:35 being the customer buying from a
6:38 middleman, you want to be the middleman
6:40 going direct to the source or at least
6:41 as close to the source as possible. And
6:44 we're talking anywhere from 30 to 40%
6:46 better pricing for the exact same
6:47 product. Better margins means that you
6:49 can outspend competitors and stay
6:51 profitable. Plus, you get access to
6:52 unique products. they literally can't
6:53 get. And when you scale, you can do
6:55 custom packaging, white label, all that
6:57 stuff that makes you look like a real
6:59 brand. That's where you build your MOAB.
7:00 Now, the thing is, most people don't
7:03 know how to access 1688 or Taoba because
7:04 everything's in Chinese. There's
7:05 currency conversions. There's a lot of
7:07 friction. You don't know what suppliers
7:09 are reliable. So, there's this platform
7:11 called Team Drop that I've been recently
7:14 using. It's absolutely amazing. And it's
7:16 completely free to start. They're not
7:17 going to charge you anything, and they
7:19 give you direct access to both
7:21 platforms. Now, what's really cool is
7:23 they assign you a dedicated agent. So,
7:24 an actual person that's managing your
7:26 account that you can contact over
7:27 WhatsApp right here. So, if you hover
7:29 over the WhatsApp button, you can get in
7:31 direct communication with your own
7:34 dedicated agent that is assigned to your
7:35 account. So, I can simply just say, "Hi,
7:37 my name's Andy. This is the product I
7:39 would like to sell." So on and so forth.
7:40 And if something goes wrong, for
7:42 example, a loss package, quality issue,
7:44 whatever it may be, your agent is going
7:46 to be there to handle any issues that
7:47 might arise. So, I've spoken a lot about
7:49 how important it is to have your own
7:51 private agent. The fact that we can have
7:53 an integrated into this platform is just
7:55 crazy. All right, let's just say, for
7:56 example, I wanted to sell this product
7:58 right here. So, I'm just going to use a
8:01 basic image. Search, drag and drop, and
8:02 then it's going to find listings that
8:04 are similar. So, we'll go into this one.
8:06 The best part about this platform are
8:08 the shipping lines. Let's just pick a
8:10 random color, 300 mil. And if we look at
8:12 the shipping lines, we can drop down
8:14 these shipping times from, you know,
8:18 normal 3 weeks to 5 to 8 days, which is
8:20 insane. So you have Uni Express, which
8:21 is one of the most reliable, the fastest
8:23 lines coming from China. And if you need
8:25 to get a package out to a customer
8:26 really quickly, you have the option to
8:29 do so. To get the product itself process
8:31 is anywhere from 1 to 3 days. And to get
8:33 it to the customer is 5 to 8 days. Total
8:36 shipping fee of $8.90. So yeah, you can
8:38 choose if you want to do uni express, if
8:40 you want it to be much faster, or you
8:42 can go with a cheaper line if you're
8:44 just trying to save on the cost, but
8:46 you're not locked into one option. So
8:48 this platform is basically like having
8:52 your own sourcing agent built in to this
8:54 website that's built into your store. So
8:55 it's way less friction. And as you
8:58 scale, your agent is going to be able to
9:00 help you with custom packaging,
9:02 connecting with potential manufacturers,
9:03 all that jazz. You're going to be
9:06 getting better pricing from day one,
9:07 multiple shipping options, and someone
9:10 actually helping you manage all this.
9:11 So, I'm going to drop a link to this
9:13 platform in the description for you guys
9:16 to sign up for free and get access to
9:17 all these benefits. I haven't seen too
9:18 many people talk about it because it's
9:20 entirely new platform to the space. Now,
9:22 really quickly, here is why all this
9:24 matters. So, when you've got better
9:27 margins, you can outbid competitors and
9:29 stay profitable. When you have unique
9:31 products, you're not competing with 50
9:32 other stores selling the same thing. And
9:34 here's where it gets extremely powerful
9:36 is that custom packaging once you're
9:38 doing consistent volume. I recommend
9:41 anywhere like 200 plus orders a month.
9:43 You can work with your agent to do basic
9:45 branding. So the agent that is attached
9:47 to your account, you can speak with her,
9:49 you know, add your logo on the box,
9:51 brand insert, so on and so forth.
9:53 Something that shows that this came from
9:54 an actual company. Another thing, Team
9:57 Drop, they don't uh send any products
9:59 with Chinese lettering or just make it
10:01 seem like it came from China. So you're
10:02 good on that end. Now, if you want to go
10:04 to the extra extent as you scale, you
10:06 can go the ultra premium option, meaning
10:09 that you go on the side, whether it's
10:10 Fiverr or whatever platform you use,
10:13 Upwork, and you hire a 3D designer to
10:15 create proper renders of your packaging.
10:17 So, for example, custom printed boxes,
10:19 aesthetic, unique packaging, the whole
10:22 experience, making it look professional
10:24 before you even produce it. Because when
10:26 people get a package that feels really
10:28 premium, what do they do? They post
10:30 about it. They film unboxing. They put
10:32 this entire story together and that kind
10:34 of content is absolute gold for us. Real
10:36 people showing your real product with
10:38 your real branding. It's not AI
10:41 generated garbage, real customers with
10:44 their real reactions to the unboxing. So
10:46 your competitors, they can't fake that.
10:48 They can copy your product. They can
10:49 steal your store design, whatever it may
10:52 be, but they can't manufacture authentic
10:54 customer content showing branded
10:56 packaging. At least right now, AI is not
10:57 that good. And here's the crazy part.
10:59 This stuff, it takes time to build.
11:01 Whether you're using a fulfillment
11:02 platform or going direct to
11:03 manufacturers, you're building
11:05 relationships, proving that you can move
11:07 volume, becoming someone suppliers
11:09 actually want to work with. Your
11:10 competitors, again, they can't copy
11:12 that. They have to start from scratch,
11:13 and that takes months. So, while
11:15 everyone else is stuck on AliExpress
11:16 with terrible margins and slow shipping,
11:18 you're already operating at a completely
11:20 different level. That's your MOA. And
11:22 that's exactly how middlemen build
11:23 defensible businesses. They control both
11:25 the supply and the customer
11:26 relationship. Now, look, I know some of
11:28 you are probably thinking, "Okay, I get
11:29 the concept. better suppliers, custom
11:31 packaging, all that makes sense. But
11:33 here's where most people get stuck
11:35 actually executing on all this. When I
11:37 was starting, I understood the strategy,
11:39 but when it came time to launch, I would
11:41 freeze up, second guess everything, or
11:43 I'd be running ads with no idea if the
11:45 numbers were good or if I was bleeding
11:48 money away. That's why I built my
11:49 mentorship program, my one-on-one
11:50 mentorship program. Me and my team
11:53 basically become your eyes on this. You
11:55 show us your product, we will tell you
11:56 if it's worth testing. You show us to
11:58 your store. We catch what's going to
11:59 hurt conversions before you spend a
12:01 single dollar. You're running your
12:02 campaigns. We're making the calls with
12:04 you in real time. We run it like it's
12:06 our own store because we only make money
12:08 if you make money. So, we're actually
12:10 incentivized to get you results. There
12:11 are currently spots open right now. And
12:13 if you are serious about this, you can
12:15 apply below. And the second place this
12:16 shows up is your content. Because
12:18 middlemen don't just sell products, they
12:20 build trust with both sides of the
12:21 transaction. So, with all the trust
12:23 gone, how do you actually prove you're
12:25 legit? It's not about having perfect
12:27 product photos or better descriptions.
12:29 It's about showing real people getting
12:32 real results with your actual product.
12:34 And the key word here is real. Because
12:36 when someone sees a person that they can
12:38 relate to, not some polished up
12:41 influencer, just a regular person
12:42 actually using your product and solving
12:44 their problem, that's when their guard
12:45 comes down. That's when they think,
12:47 "Okay, maybe this is legit." So, here's
12:49 how you can actually make this happen.
12:50 You need people creating content who
12:52 feel like they could be your customer's
12:54 friend, not someone reading a script,
12:55 someone who genuinely uses stuff like
12:58 this and talks about it the normal way
13:01 people do. This is why Tik Tok shop has
13:02 been doing so well. It's because it's
13:04 literally just normal people talking
13:06 about the product and giving an honest
13:07 opinion about it. Now, finding these
13:10 people is pretty straightforward. First
13:11 option is X. I'll go on there and I'll
13:13 search for people who are already doing
13:14 this for a living. So, for example,
13:16 let's just say that I'm in the fitness
13:17 niche or let's just say the yoga niche.
13:19 I'll literally just type in yoga UGC
13:21 creator into the search and what comes
13:23 up are people who are specifically
13:25 creating content for brands within
13:26 [music] this space. Now, the reason this
13:28 works better than just finding random
13:30 people with followers is these creators
13:31 already know how to make content that
13:33 converts. They understand the pacing.
13:35 They know how to hook attention. They've
13:36 done this before. So, you're not
13:37 teaching someone how to make content
13:38 from scratch. You're working with
13:40 someone who gets it. Second option is
13:42 Fiverr. You can just search up UGC
13:44 creator and you'll find tons of listings
13:46 with portfolios and uh the pricing up
13:47 front. So, honestly, this is a lot
13:49 easier if you're just starting out and
13:50 you want to see everything kind of laid
13:52 out on a platform. Either way, here's
13:54 what you're vetting for. Do they post
13:56 about your niche organically? So,
13:58 someone who genuinely cares about
14:00 fitness or yoga is way more valuable
14:02 than a generic creator will make content
14:04 about anything. So, check their
14:06 portfolio. Does their style feel natural
14:08 or does it feel too polished? If it
14:10 looks like every other ad, it won't
14:12 build trust. So, when I find [music]
14:14 someone whose vibe matches what I'm
14:16 looking for, I'll DM them and I'll be
14:19 very specific about what I actually saw.
14:21 Something like, "Hey, saw your content
14:23 for insert the brand. The way you broke
14:25 down can insert a specific thing. Felt
14:27 really natural. We've got a product I
14:29 think would fit your style." So, being
14:30 specific gets way more responsive. It
14:32 shows that you actually looked at the
14:33 work. Now, when it comes to working with
14:34 them, here's where most people mess up.
14:37 They send this five-page chache created
14:39 brief with the exact words to say,
14:41 specific shots, film, all this rigid
14:42 structure. And what happens, the content
14:44 comes back feeling stiff, overproduced,
14:46 and overall fake in my opinion. So, what
14:49 I do instead is give them the outcome,
14:50 not the script. So, I'll say something
14:52 like, "Show what it's like to use this
14:54 for the first time. Film the unboxing.
14:56 React naturally. That's it." And just
14:58 copy and paste that. I'm trusting them
15:00 to figure it out with their own voice.
15:02 That's literally what I'm paying them
15:03 for. Now, look, if you want these
15:05 prompts that I just went over and a
15:07 bunch more to just copy and paste when
15:08 reaching out, I put together a free
15:10 notion document for you guys to get
15:12 access to. So, I've got DM templates,
15:14 content briefs, and a simple tracker so
15:16 you don't lose track of who you
15:18 contacted through like a pipeline, and
15:19 I'll leave a link to that in the
15:20 description for you guys to easily
15:22 duplicate for yourself. Now, here's the
15:23 thing about cost. If you're going
15:24 through X, you're looking at anywhere
15:28 from $150 to $500 per video, depending
15:29 on their experience and portfolio
15:31 quality. On Fiverr, you're usually going
15:34 to find creators for cheaper, anywhere
15:36 from $100 to $200 per video. Either way
15:37 works. The main difference is Fiverr is
15:39 easier to browse and see pricing up
15:41 front. X usually gets you more niche
15:44 specific creators with more experience.
15:45 But here's what you're actually paying
15:47 for. You own the content. You run it as
15:49 ads. You post it on your page. You use
15:51 it on your product pages, whatever you
15:53 want. And if one video brings in 10
15:55 sales, it already paid for itself. So,
15:57 the mistake people make is thinking
15:59 that, oh, $200 for a video, that's way
16:01 too expensive, but they'll spend $200
16:03 testing random ad creatives that don't
16:05 convert. So, you're losing money anyway.
16:06 This is the same budget. You're just
16:08 spending it way smarter. And here's what
16:10 makes this really powerful. Once you
16:12 find two or three creators whose content
16:14 actually performs, you run it as ads and
16:16 it converts. You find more people with
16:18 that same energy and you're not guessing
16:20 anymore. You know what style works for
16:22 your audience. So, you just replicate it
16:23 with different faces, different angles,
16:25 same core messaging. And suddenly you
16:27 got this constant flow of authentic
16:28 content that doesn't feel like ads. And
16:30 you can look at a brand for example like
16:32 Circle. They basically sell flavored
16:34 water bottles. You can go to their Tik
16:36 Tok right now and you'll see hundreds of
16:37 different creators making content for
16:38 them. All different people, different
16:40 angles, same message. That's what this
16:42 looks like at Skill because successful
16:44 middlemen don't just connect supply and
16:46 demand. They build trust on both ends.
16:48 And that is what makes this model work.
16:49 And here's where that custom packaging
16:51 we talked about earlier comes back in.
16:52 When these creators unbox your product
16:53 and it's got your branding, your custom
16:56 packaging, that thank you card, they're
16:58 filming all of that. That content shows
16:59 you're a real brand and your competitors
17:01 can't recreate it because they don't
17:03 have your packaging or your creator
17:05 relationships. And even if they did post
17:07 about your packaging with your videos,
17:09 they'd just be promoting you. That's
17:11 when the trust starts building. That's
17:12 when people stop questioning if you're
17:14 legit because they keep seeing real
17:15 people, different people using your
17:17 product and talking about it naturally.
17:19 So, while everyone else is scrambling to
17:21 figure out what content works, you're
17:22 already three steps ahead. That's
17:24 advantage. So, look, most people are
17:26 going to keep doing what's easy, same
17:27 supplier, same generic approach, same
17:29 wondering why nothing works. But if you
17:31 actually get what we just covered today,
17:33 building real infrastructure that takes
17:35 time, you're in a completely different
17:37 ballgame. Better margins, unique
17:39 products, content people actually trust.
17:40 That's not something that you can just
17:42 copy. That's what lets you scale. So,
17:44 this was helpful. Drop a like. Comment
17:46 what you're working on. go through all
17:48 these comments and I try and help where
17:50 I can. Either way, I appreciate you guys
17:52 for watching. I will see you in the next one.
