How To Go From $0-$100k In eCommerce with Alison Prince

Alison Prince: 00:00 I sold cupcake liners. I sold colorful tape. I sold necklaces. Nothing was a Shark Tank idea. I watched one of my students sell rocks. I'm not kidding. She sold rocks and had over $13,000. It's really not about the product. It's totally about the process, learning how to do it.

Eric Beer: 00:22 I spent the last 17 years building my eight-figure performance business without using any of my own money working with some of the most brilliant direct response marketers in the world today. Now I'm looking for entrepreneurs to join my affiliate army built on ethics, transparency, and good old hard work. Join me to change the perception of how people view the greatest business in the world, affiliate marketing and follow along as I learn, apply and share performance marketing strategies, working with some of the brightest people on the planet. My name is Eric Beer and welcome to the Performance Marketer Podcast.

Eric Beer: 01:04 Let's get going. First off, thank you again for coming. I really appreciate it. It's awesome. Everything I've watched so far and listened. I really like you. I like what you're about. I can see the spirit and it just comes out from you, you're a good person, you're awesome, you're good. And I can see you're managing from, you know, being a wife, a mother and a businesswoman is, is really awesome. That's sexy. And you know, people want to be you and find out how to do it. So my first question for you is, what jumped out at me is you were a junior high teacher and somehow came from being a junior high teacher to this... Building a four different businesses in the $4 million range. Like, how did that all happen? What did you teach?

Alison Prince: 01:50 So I taught math and science and I went the whole route that we were told you have to go to college, you have to get a degree so that you can be financially secure. Right? So when I graduated, I worked my first month as a school teacher. Got there early, stayed late, and then when they handed me my first paycheck, they said I qualified for government assistance. And I was like, wait a second, someone's been lying to me because government assistance and financial security just don't typically go in the same sentence. Right. And so I had to figure out what to do and being able to apply for government assistance meant I couldn't go out and buy books. So I had to go the library. I didn't even have a cell phone back then. There was no way I could afford a cell phone. And so I just started learning and reading and found out that online was where I wanted to go.

Alison Prince: 02:45 I started having babies and my husband was going to school and so I knew I'd be moving. And so to get a job where you have to work up the ladder or open up a store, like I knew it just wasn't gonna work for. And so the online space was perfect. I could work in my pajamas, my kids could be at my feet, I could work during nap time. And so fast forward a few years, I started a blog with some friends, which is still going now. It's got, uh, just over 2 million Facebook followers. And when we first started, we pitched in $125 and that was like diaper money. We were scraping the bottom of the barrel to get that. And we look back and laugh at it now how that was just such a great investment. But when you start a blog, usually you don't make money for years.

Alison Prince: 03:33 Like it is a long-term plan. And so we were making, I don't know, I actually think we were paying like 5 cents an hour tour because nothing was happening, right? And so I started reading about e-commerce, selling products online and I was like, well, why don't I start that? You get money instantly. But then I looked around my makeshift office that I had and I didn't have products to sell, I didn't have money to go buy products. So I found some leftover crafting supplies. And that was my very first product online. And so I sold it and I was super excited and then realized, Oh, I don't have anything else to sell. So the next day I found another product from a leftover kid's party, but that up online. And it actually didn't sell out. And I was like, okay, 50-50 we're still good here. And then the third day I tried it again and I didn't sell.

Alison Prince: 04:24 And so I almost walked away. But I had that feeling of, Alison, don't stop, don't stop. So put up another product, I don't even remember what it was that fourth day. And we ended up selling out. So it was at that moment that I had to decide if I was going to sit in the roller coaster ride or if I was going to stand on the sideline. So I got in and then within by that, the first year we'd hit a million and not even the second year we were in multiple millions of dollars just by selling, starting bites, selling with products that I had that were literally headed to the trashcan. And it's all about just being resourceful, using what you have, dusting off some stuff that you haven't used in a long time and selling it to get started. So when people are like, I don't have the money to do it, we're in an age of abundance.

Alison Prince: 05:14 We've got stuff everywhere where we can go to the local secondhand store and get stuff for a penny or dollars, right? And then turn it into cash. We have the resources to be able to start creating money. So that's where it started. And then about eight years later I ended up selling that business and then started teaching. And that's where I'm at now. And it's my happy, I have so much fun watching other people do it. And that started out by, I taught my girls how to sell online and they when they were 10 and 13 years old, and I think it goes back a little bit to when you start something, you kind of second guess yourself and you're like, was a height tie skill. It was high, one hit wonder. And so I took that same strategy and I gave it to my daughters. I mean like junior high in elementary, they hadn't even set foot in high school and they took that strategy and they went on to build their first six figures before it happened in nine months.

Alison Prince: 06:14 And so I'm like, yo, this process really works. So then I started teaching my sister and my friends and they were all replicating the process. And then I was like, Whoa, I've got to start teaching more people. And then that's when I started to teach online. And the results are phenomenal because it's not about products anymore. It's, you know, this is about the process, right? It's about getting it out. It's about speeding up your journey. It's about getting it in front of the right audience. And so same thing we just taught it and it was, it's been a wild ride. I'm not gonna lie.

Eric Beer: 06:49 So exciting. I love, I love the story about your kids. That's, that hit home that, you know, it reminds me of, um, the commercial when the iPad came out and, uh, you'd see a three year old playing with the iPad and you know, that's what was just an adult would look at it and be like, okay, if a three year old can play with this thing and I can do it. And it was such a great message and it's just, you have the ability to show people that an 11 and a 13 year old was able to, in less than a year, make $100,000. And now you have all these people out in the world that are just, they maybe didn't grow up with the internet. Maybe they don't understand it. They're intimidated by it and it's not that hard, right? It's just going through that process and finding the right people and hanging out with the right people that have found success and you know, you know the path. It just has to consume your content. And um, you know what I mean? It ain’t easy. It's hard work, right? But you're learning something that you can use forever.

Alison Prince: 07:48 It, it's totally true. And it's finding those secrets. A lot of people will come back and say, Alison did like, where did they come up with the idea? They have this new Shark Tank idea. I'm like, why would they need a Shark Tank idea? You just sell what's already selling. Don't go the hard route and hope that you're like invest money, your retirement or your kids' college saving and hope that something sells. Totally sell something that is already selling. So

Eric Beer: 08:14 you, it's funny you mentioned that because I was, I was just recently talking about that in my challenge and talking to my group. And do you know what the number one selling product on Shark Tank is all time? No clue. It's a sponge. It's a sponge. Right too. So to your point, it's not about recreating a wheel. Someone took a sponge, you know the sponge with the happy face. Uh, I forgot what it's called, but uh, you literally, they just took what was working and tweaked it and fix some of the issues that people had, the objections that people had about the sponge immediate, a little bit better. And it's the highest grossing product on Shark Tank. Yeah.

Alison Prince: 09:01 Yay

Eric Beer: 09:03 To your point - you don't have to recreate the wheel. You don't have to be somebody that's an invention or you just have to go and find what's working and then find the people that want to buy it. Right.

Alison Prince: 09:14 That's exactly it. And it saves you a lot of time. It saves you a lot of money. It saves you a lot of gray hair, it saves you a lot of wrinkles. I sold cupcake liners, I sold colorful tape, I sold necklaces and nothing was a Shark Tank idea. I watched one of my students sell rocks. I'm not kidding. She sold rocks and it over $13,000 it's really not about the product. It's totally about the process and people get so stuck on the product and I'm like, no, it's the process. It's learning how to do it.

Eric Beer: 09:47 Yeah. I think if, if one thing I would ask you that I think the audience would want to know is cause the selling part is, I think is the easy part. I think it's the insecurity of putting yourself on the internet and creating your tribe because you're creating a relationship with your customers. And when you do that, they trust you and when they trust you, they're going to buy from you. Right? So the process of if somebody's afraid to do that, what would you recommend to them?

Alison Prince: 10:17 So this is why I love e-commerce so much. It's a naturally I'm an introvert. And so putting my face out there, I would have never done that 10 years ago. That's just not me. And so I actually could hide behind my computer screen and not have my face out there. So if they're like, yeah, listen, your cupcake liners live in a blur. I was like, Oh, that's the cupcake liners fault, not my fault. So I was able to kind of separate from it and of course I would look at my product and be like, okay, are they just having a hard day and taking it out on my cup quick liners or whatever the product was, right? Or does my product need to be improved? And so that's why I love e-commerce so much, especially for newbies, is you can kind of hide behind your product until you start to build that confidence.

Alison Prince: 11:02 Like taco bell. Think about taco bell. Do they have an actual face that comes in? No, it's taco bells. Tacos with personalities, right? Yup. And so I being able to have a product to, I dunno, it's like a comfort blanket, like likenesses blanket and peanuts, right? Like that was his comfort. When you're getting into the online world, your product can be your, your safety blanket until you're ready to put your face out there. And I've got people that never want to put their face out there. Like my girls, I didn't want them on Instagram or Facebook. No way. They were too young. It was, it just wasn't the right time for me as a mom to have to start monitoring their accounts. And so they didn't, they weren't there. Yeah. They had pictures of themselves scarves. Right. But they weren't seeing a whole side of social media. That can be so scary, especially as a mom. Right. Monitor your kids when it's first coming out. I understand that you don't ha, you don't, literally, your face does not have to be on anywhere on your sites.

Eric Beer: 12:10 Yeah. That's cool. So you have this $0 to a $100K training. Tell us a little bit about that. And tell us about your, uh, your, Because I Can clan.

Alison Prince: 12:22 All right, so a $0 to a $100K right? So when I taught my daughters how to do it and then my sister and then my friends and I had this feeling, Alison, okay, you ruin it so many times that not only you can do it but the other people can do it as well. Uh, I was like, well what can I call it? What if I call it the zero to a million program? I don't know if people believe it. Right? And my girls didn't do that. They were super happy with six figures. Like what? 10 year old? Right? Cause me, she can't even comprehend that much money. So we actually just hit it and it's a savings account for her. She, we had to compare it to babysitting hours and then she's like, Oh, that would be a lot of diaper changes. Right? So like that was such a big number four.

Alison Prince: 13:10 And I'm like, okay, if they're feeling that way, I bet other people are feeling that way. So let me just help build their confidence. Let me show them that they can go from zero to their first dollar. And then we actually celebrate it because you know, have you ever worked through something and you've put a lot of energy and effort into it and then you go tell your best friend and your best friend looks at you cross-eyed and you're like, they're like, seriously, whatever. Especially if you're like, I just made my first dollar online. They're like, Ooh, you got a long way to go before you get rich. And they don't see all the mind games that you had to play with yourself or the vulnerability or the accountability or the waking up at 5:00 AM to start your website before you went to work or took your kids to school or whatever it may be, right?

Alison Prince: 13:55 They don't see all that work. And so I've created a family of entrepreneurs that are starting where we can come in and celebrate. So we always celebrate you on your first dollar. We celebrate you on your $10,000, your 50,000 then when you get to your a hundred and then I've had lots of people go on and get their million and we are just screaming from the rooftops there. So I wanted to come on line and show people that it is believable because it is showing. And that's my personality, is not to like go lay on a Lamborghini and you know, like I'm laying on my minivan picking up Cheerios. Like that's my line. And that connects with people more because it's more of a mom's reality, right? So I wanted people to believe in themselves. Again, they could get this with the mini wins to build their confidence to go after those big wins. When I started, I was, I think I made about $200 and I was like, this is amazing. And so that built my confidence, right? That those little tiny wins...

Eric Beer: 15:03 That first, that first sale is amazing. It's like, Oh my God, someone bought something. Woo. Yes.

Alison Prince: 15:07 Dancing around the house and me your family's looking at you like what is going on?

Eric Beer: 15:16 " I made $3, woo!"

Alison Prince: 15:18 But that's the first $3 that's going to lead you to your million. Right? So it's my job, it's my mission to not only show people how to do it, but to give them the expectations, like the real expectations. Right? Of let me help you get in, make that first dollar great. You made the first dollar and let's start automating it so it can start compounding over and over to get you to your first hundred. Then when you eat your first hundred, then let's talk the millions because that's when, if you can get your first hundred then millions is more believable. Sure. So that's why I call it to the zero to a hundred K and then our community is called the, Because I Can, why? Because we can do this, like our generation now is living like we've already basically won the lottery. We're carrying around our cell phones that are moneymakers. We have all the information ever. Like we don't even have to go get the big encyclopedias down from off the bookshelf anymore. Right? We just flip to a YouTube and just start learning totally and consuming. And then we have to take that information and start implementing and you can set up, you can sell stuff on Facebook right off your phone with the camera. And so we just have all these resources. So why can we do this? Because we can.

Eric Beer: 16:39 That's awesome. That's awesome. And to your point, it's, it's, it's not just the result on the outside, it's the internal transformation of you actually realizing it's possible and that's what's so powerful and what's really cool is that you've created this community that is just not necessarily you, but there's support everywhere. There's people that are just talking to one another and collaborating and giving ideas to one another if someone needs help. Right. And that's, that's the power in people and, and you know, just being able to avoid mistakes and, and, and see success and move forward. Right.

Alison Prince: 17:14 Are you, are you in the Facebook group? Have you seen it?

Eric Beer: 17:17 I just joined the Facebook group so I'm going to start checking it out.

Alison Prince: 17:21 That Facebook group is, when I started, I wanted to create something that I wish I would have had when I got started. And it's a sounding board and we have, we just looked at 2019 numbers. We have a 95% activity rate.

Eric Beer: 17:36 Wow. That's, that's serious. That's not engagement.

Alison Prince: 17:40 Yeah. Cause people can like it is there are people come in and like, what do you think about this logo? Or Hey I have this cell and it's not quite doing very well. Can you give me some feedback? And then people give feedback and then people are like, Hey, I'm kind of scared about opening this bank account here. Is this the right bank account? They're like, no, this is the right bank account over here. And so it's just a place to ask questions to give you the extra level of comfort that you are. You're not alone in this journey. You don't have to sit on that roller coaster by yourself. You got a friend and the next seat it's screaming up and down right along with you.

Eric Beer: 18:16 And that's the coolest thing is that you could do that anywhere in the world, right? We're in the world is sitting on a beach talking to your community and everybody's there helping one another. And it's, you could be a mom who's taking care of your kids or you could be a traveler who's just roaming the world and you know, live in life and live in free. But one of mine is the internet has created this opportunity and people are lucky that you chose to start teaching you what you know to the world. So that's awesome. So if you had to give any advice to the people listening here how to get started, what would that be?

Alison Prince: 18:50 So here's my biggest piece of advice. Okay. So it actually started when I started working out and I got up at five 5:30 in the morning. Like I don't even know why 5:30 in the morning exists. Like it shouldn't, right? We should all be sleeping. We should all be comfortable. But to get an workout in, I know I've got to get up at five 30 I know I want to be healthy. I know I want to... You don't want to get old, be able to play with grandkids. And I know it starts now to live this long healthy life, right? And so I had made a decision, all right, I'm going to go to the gym and I'm going to be healthy so when I get up in the morning, my brain is like, Alison, if you walk across the street to the gym, you could get hit by a car.

Alison Prince: 19:33 You probably should stay in bed, Alison. If you get out of bed, you could probably slip and fall down the stairs and die, right? Your brain starts going haywire to try and convince you to stay in your nice, comfortable, warm bed that's familiar, doesn't want you to get out there and grow and live your dreams. I want you to stay comfortable. So my biggest tip, my biggest, if I could push this on as many people, and it sounds so opposite because I am a teacher, but I tell them after they've decided - stop thinking. Because your brain is going to try and talk you out of it. When you are about to go and put your first product out into the world, you are going to think of every single excuse. Your brain is just going to start going a million miles a minute to say, "Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it." And you have to say, "Brain - silence! I'm moving forward." And the more times that you are silencing those thoughts that are not helping you get to your goal, the better you get at it. So now I'm getting up at 5:30 in the morning. I don't think I'm like, Oh, I'm at the gym. Okay, here we go. Here we go. You learn to silence that, uh, the part of your brain that tries to talk you out of improving your life. So that's my biggest tip is - stop thinking. I know it sounds crazy...

Eric Beer: 20:58 No. It’s great. I think there's a lot to be said about that. And um, listen, if anybody's, uh, feeling it, go check Alison out is $0 to $100K in nine months from an 11 and 13 year old. So if they can do it, there's no reason why you can't do it. That's awesome. Well, listen, I really appreciate you coming on today. It was so much so cool. You got so many cool things going on. So, uh, good luck with everything else and uh, I guess I'll see you at Funnel Hacking Live in a few weeks, right front and center. Cool. All right. Take care.

Alison Prince: 21:34 Thanks, Eric.

Eric Beer: 21:36 Would you like to learn how I built my business using other people's money? If so, can go join my 21-day challenge at performancemarketerssecrets.com I look forward to meeting you and welcome you into our family. And remember. Results don't lie, but the people who don't have any tier. Thanks for listening.