“People don’t trust your store. But they trust influencers.” 🚚
At Affiliate World Asia, I talked with e-commerce expert Van Oakes, who runs paid acquisition for DieselSellerz, the store from the Discovery Channel show Diesel Brothers. 🎙️
📊 In this episode, we unpacked:
- 🚪 From door-to-door sales to e-commerce
- 📦 Shipping times make or break you
- 🧪 His tools, apps and theme
- 🌟 Influencers give instant trust
- 🤝 Why conferences matter
🎥 Watch the full episode:
🚪 From Door-to-Door Sales to E-commerce
Van taught himself. He sold alarm systems door to door and loved it, but traveled so much he missed his second daughter’s first steps. He told his wife he’d learn to make money online so he could be home. 🚪
A friend showed him affiliate marketing. After a month or two, he saw how much advertisers made and became one for two years. Then he figured, why pay for traffic when I can run it myself? DieselSellerz reached out, and he now runs all their paid acquisition. For another affiliate-to-ecom story, read Alex Micol’s interview. 🔗
📦 Shipping Times Make or Break You
You don’t need much money to start dropshipping, but shipping times are everything. A 21-day wait upsets customers, and Facebook demotes you for bad experiences. 📦
Buyers are excited when they pay. Make them wait three weeks and the excitement turns into buyer’s remorse. Switching to local fulfillment, with delivery in four or five days, was the biggest change in their business. For more on customer experience, read Earnest Epps’s interview. 🔗
🧪 His Tools, Apps and Theme
He split tests his pages with VWO: “The ad doesn’t convert. Your page converts.” For buy-one-get-one promos, he uses Ultimate Special Offers. His favorite Shopify theme is Brooklyn: clean and easy to customize. 🧪
Both Facebook and Instagram work for his brand. Instagram swipe-up stories were fantastic, so he ran separate campaigns just for them. For niches, go smaller: find a passionate group you can micro-target, ideally something you care about, and don’t copy everyone else.
🌟 Influencers Give Instant Trust
Nobody knows your store. But an influencer’s followers trust them, so if they represent your brand, that trust transfers instantly. 🌟
He reaches out personally to about 90% of his influencers, since he knows the people in his space, though tools exist to find them. He prefers revenue share deals, and discount codes make sales easy to track. His formula for a new product: give it to an influencer, take a picture with their face and run that as your Facebook ad. Dropshipping isn’t dead, it’s adapting to faster shipping. For more on influencers, read Depesh Mandalia’s interview. 🔗
🤝 Why Conferences Matter
For Van, networking is the most important part of events. He met all his mentors at conferences and still talks with them daily. “You’ll find somebody you make money with in the future.” 🤝
He’d love to visit India, if filming obligations for the TV show allow. For more from AWA, read Tim Burd’s interview. 🔗
📝 Key Takeaways From the Van Oakes Interview
- 📦 Cut shipping times with local fulfillment
- 🧪 Split test your landing pages
- 🎯 Pick small, passionate niches
- 🌟 Use influencers for instant trust
- 🤝 Network at every conference
❓ FAQs About Van Oakes
Who is Van Oakes?
An e-commerce performance marketer who runs paid acquisition for DieselSellerz, the store from Diesel Brothers.
Why do shipping times matter in dropshipping?
Long waits cause buyer’s remorse and bad experiences, and Facebook demotes stores with poor feedback.
How does Van Oakes pay influencers?
He prefers revenue share deals and uses discount codes to track sales.
🎙️ More Inside A Hustler’s Brain Interviews You’ll Love
- Jason Hunt Merged Media Cofounder Interview At DMIEXPO Israel 2019
- Akram Hamam : Mastering the Art of Affiliate Marketing From 7-Figure Millionaire
- Alex CMO of Adplexity Explains How Adplexity Can Help You in Spying
- Oli Gardner Unbounce Co-Founder Shares Best Landing Page Optimization Tricks
Would you build your store around influencers? Tell me in the comments. 💬
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Jitendra Vaswani is a well-known expert in SEO and AI-driven digital marketing. He has spoken at international events and founded Digiexe, a digital marketing agency, and AffiliateBooster, WordPress plugin designed specifically for affiliate marketers. With over 10 years of experience, Jitendra has helped many businesses succeed online. His bestselling book, Inside A Hustler’s Brain: In Pursuit of Financial Freedom, with over 20,000 copies sold globally, underscores his influence and commitment to empowering digital marketers.