Drop Ship Lifestyle Course Overview
Introduction to Anton
I have to mention that Anton Kraly is featured in Forbes. Not just in passing, but a full article was written about his online successes back in May of 2017.
His drop shipping business made $3,68 million in revenue in three years before he sold it. Since then it seems he has been solely focused on the course, Drop Ship Lifestyle, which brought in $3,5 million in 2016 alone...
That's pretty impressive.
On his personal blog, Anton states that he has been making a full time income online for the past eight years while being 100% location independent.
This means he truly lives the laptop lifestyle, where he is not bound by an office and can work from virtually anywhere (as long as you have a wifi signal).
Anton made money online by creating eCommerce stores, running Amazon Affiliate Stores, promoting for Affiliate Networks and by creating Digital Products.
FIRST AND FOREMOST: MY DISCLAIMER:
What to Expect in this Course
You won’t find an introduction video to the course inside the course itself. In order to get some background on what the DSL drop shipping business model is, you need to go to the course home page and watch Anton’s introduction video.
(It’s under the heading “Why Drop Ship Lifestyle®? What is the Difference Between Traditional Dropshipping and The Drop Ship Lifestyle® System?”)
And that’s exactly how Anton lures you in. He describes Drop Ship Lifestyle as being very different and very unique, as opposed to traditional drop shipping methods.
In my opinion (and based on my own drop shipping experience), that's just not going to happen! Yes, you can virtually work from anywhere, BUT, you still have to work at it. And when it comes to drop shipping - you have to work at it a lot. Remember that Anton doesn't make his money from drop shipping anymore... He makes money by selling COURSES...
Just think about that for a second before you read the rest of my review...
On paper it already appears impressive, right? It definitively sounds like an alternative to the "traditional" dropshipping model.
Let's offer you some more bait...uhm, I mean info.
This is how Drop Ship Lifestyle works:
Okay. So it all SOUNDS pretty impressive.
Lets dig a little deeper into the course to see if all the fuss and claims are warranted.
The Drop Ship Lifestyle Course Breakdown
- Drop Ship Blueprint
- Adwords PPC Course
- Paid Social Traffic Course
- Events
Section 01 - Drop Ship Blueprint
- Niche and Product Selection,
- Market Research,
- Creating Your Website,
- Finding Suppliers,
- Optimizing for Conversions,
- Getting Traffic and
- Automation of Your Site.
Section 02 - Adwords PPC
Section 03 - Paid Social Traffic
Top Tips:
- how to create a campaign mapping spreadsheet (a template would have been nice, but it's not difficult to set up).
- you're shown how to set up your Facebook Business Manager and FB Ads Manager Accounts
- how to install the FB Pixel, a product catalog and a Pixel for Dynamic Product Ads
- you're shown how to set up the Product Catalog Tool and a Product Feed (used to create Dynamic Product Ads.)
In this very short 5 minute module, Michael shows you how to set your Instagram Ad Campaigns up in Facebook. It's super easy and not rocket science.
In this module, Michael shows you the different types of Pinterest Ads and how to open a Pinterest Business Account.
He also offers advice on what works on Pinterest and then shows you how create Pinterest Ad Campaigns and how to track them. Good advice!
Michael starts by explaining the theory behind Twitter Targeting Methods, Ad Types, and Strategy.
Finally, Michael shows you to analyze Results on Twitter.
This short module serves as a recap for the preceding modules on advertising on Social Media.
Michael reiterates that you need to keep the golden 3 x R's rule in mind for every single ad you run, regardless of the platform:
Target the Right Person, with the Right Offer, at the Right Time.
Michael also gives some valuable advice on when to use retargeting ads and the he reminds you that you have be active during your campaign. Ads campaigns that are set and left can never be successful.
Section 4 - Events
- Stalking Prospective Buyers on Facebook,
- Selling your Online Store,
- How to balance Work, Life and Family (and joining groups and VAs),
- Influencer marketing,
- Building a Brand,
- Alternative Traffic Sources, and
- Content Marketing
Before I get down to my review overview of the course, here are some FAQs I've come across regarding the DSL course and Anton Kraly:
FAQ's about Drop Ship Lifestyle
- There's the Drop Ship Lifestyle dropshipping course,
- The Drop Ship Lifestyle private Facebook Group
- The Drop Ship Lifestyle YouTube channel (which anyone can subscribe to) - it is one of the most active dropshipping course channels available. Anton posts new videos
on a regular basis . Anton hit 100 videos in October 2019! - The Drop Ship Lifestyle FREE Webinar (you can find it here) - this includes an "
In Depth Guide on How To Build A Highly Profitable, Semi-Automated Drop Shipping Store in 21 Days."The Webinar is also referred to as the Drop Ship Lifestyle mini course. - The Drop Ship Lifestyle Blog - a blog with useful posts about dropshipping. You can access it here.
- The Drop Ship Lifestyle Retreat - every year, Anton hosts a "mastermind" seminar in an exotic location where members can meet and network, and guest speakers host talks on dropshipping-related matters.
Drop Ship Lifestyle has been a successful business since 2014, so it is definitely a legitimate business. Anton has many successful students
Whether it is the best
This question gets asked
Drop Ship Lifestyle is one of the most expensive dropshipping courses, which is why people want to know about refund options. Go to the Drop Ship Lifestyle course website and you won't find any mention of refunds on the main page.
Unlike Franklin Hatchett's
You can find info about DSL Refunds here. There is no DSL Refund Policy document
Is it a worthwhile course?
- You don't waste time constantly looking for new products!
- You don't constantly scavenge for new trending products!
- You don't use suppliers/manufacturers from China!
- You don't have to worry about delivery times from China!
The big question is:
Is Drop Ship Lifestyle's take on dropshipping a good business model?
- It's great that Anton's team will do some research and tell you if you have a winning niche.
- The support that you enjoy from the DSL group is great.
- You focus on only one niche and specialize in it.
- There's no need to constantly look for new trending products - this saves an enormous amount of time AND
- you don't need to employ yet anther VA to do product research on an ongoing basis. So you save money as well AND have more control over your business.
It sounds great and is definitely worth considering if you really have to go into drop shipping. For some people it works.
For others, they find it MORE difficult, sometimes near impossible to find local suppliers, willing to fulfill the orders and shipping for you.
Problem though: It is still drop shipping.
It still had it's ups and downs and most of my success was dependent on my advertising campaigns. I've made some money and I've lost some money. It's not consistent enough for me, though. And the drop shipping competition is only getting more intense as time goes by.
In my opinion, it is not the best online business.
And the DSL course?
It's not my favorite drop shipping course, simply because it is very theory based.
I love that the business model is different to every other drop shipping course out there, but I have to wonder why Anton is purely concentrating on his online courses nowadays, rather than the business model he advocates...
I'm one for facts and figures. All the other drop ship coaches boast about the turnover of their online stores. Anton doesn't. Why..?
Can the Drop Ship Lifestyle method work though? It has in the past. Is it still possible to repeat those successes?
Yes. I am sure it can. With the right amount of commitment and perseverance, advertising budget, support, suppliers, time, marketing savvy and luck, it is definitely possible.
So? What's the bottom line?
Will you be well-enough equipped to be an online e-commerce success after this course? In 2020...I personally found it very challenging.
What Truly Creates Long-term Success in Dropshipping
Overtime I've come to realize that the only true dropshipping businesses that can stay profitable long-term are ones where the actual product is pretty unique & even ground breaking, that causes those ads to be share worthy.
Bold claims but it sure does grab your attention. They've also spent the money to create such new products and all the marketing content around it.
These products has the potential to go viral.
And that's the key to creating sustained longterm results in selling e-commerce with Facebook ads.
Otherwise if its just any regular product, most people will opt to going to Amazon.com.
With Facebook ads, people must feel like its such a unique product that they aren't gonna find anywhere else, and if they don't buy now, they may never find that product again, once the ad disappears from their news feed.
The problem is, this is VERY difficult to create for a beginner in e-commerce.
Review Conclusion
If you want a different spin on drop shipping, then this is most definitely the course for you!
Instead of cheap trending products that are mass produced in China, you sell "evergreen" higher end products (Anton suggest a minimum price of $200, but you should really aim for more than $700...).
It's easier to sell one $1000 product, than 1000 x $1 products...
You also don't get suppliers or manufacturers form China, but rather source them "locally". And you only approach and apply to suppliers who enforce Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) policies.
And that's where the problems start - this takes a lot more effort than simply getting a supplier on AliExpress. And you can't set the minimum price. And you only target the Upper Middle Class.
You may also need to spend a lot more money to create a unique spin on a product so that it stands out when you run Facebook ads with it.
None of them are real deal breakers, but this form of drop shipping definitely involves a lot more initial work than the other dropshipping modules, so be warned.
Okay, so that takes care of the business model. What about the course?
In my opinion, other drop shipping courses offer a lot more content and practical examples on how it is implemented. There's a lot of theory in the course and you're not actually shown how to implement all the theory. Theory always sounds great, but I am interested in the practical, in the facts - I want to see achievable results of a business, not just hear about it...
Anton did prove back in 2015 that this method works. But since then..?
What I like:
What I didn't like:
Drop shipping. Yay or nay?
- DS01: Advertise trending products and sell them through your online store. The suppliers in China handle delivery.
- DS02: Advertise high-end products that are not prone to being influenced by trends (or seasons). Locally sourced suppliers handle delivery.
Both models have their pros and cons.
DS01: Trendy Products
- You have to quickly jump on the bandwagon or guess what the next trending product will be.
- You're constantly looking for new "hot" products
- There's a lot of quick money to be made IF you are willing to take big risks on advertising...
- Competition is stiff
DS02: Evergreen, high-end products
- You specialize in one niche selling only high-end products - some say this is an advantage, others a disadvantage. You be the judge...
- It takes much longer to find suppliers (there's a chance you might not find any and then you have to start all over again).
- There's a lot more scope where targeted audience advertising is concerned. Being able to use Google Ads is a big plus.
- Competition is not so stiff but your target markets are much, much smaller.
As a whole, drop shipping as a business model is very hit and miss to me. I have tried it (both high-end and trending products) with mixed results.
I won't go into the details, you can read about it here, but the bottom line was this:
My best month made $48k! $48k in 30 days? Whoa! Not, bad right?
Wrong. All these drop shippers tell you they have 6 and 7 figure stores, but they don't tell you what profit they make/made on those big numbers...
On my $50k, I made only $3000. For all that time and effort...
And that was my best month...
What is the alternative?
There are many online business models out there to choose from. Anton even proved that you can change an existing business model into something else.
The four most succesful online business ventures that you can get into today, are:
- Digital Marketing
- Amazon FBA
- Dropshipping
- Affiliate Marketing
With a lot of dedication and hard work, your chances at success are much better than the guys who just want to make a quick buck. So if you really go balls-to-the-walls, all-in, with a succeed-or-die-trying attitude, then you can make some money from all four of them. (Some more than others though...)
- That you are not looking for a get rich quick scheme, pie-in-the-sky business model that is not sustainable.
- You want to change your life. Permanently.
- The goal is to work smarter, not harder.
Perhaps you've heard of it?
I've been involved in EVERY possible online business you can think of.
Each business model has its own pros and cons. Some have more than others though...
DROP- SHIPPING | LOCAL LEAD GENERATION |
|---|---|
Requires CONSTANT attention Finding new products, running, checking, killing or scaling ads, managing shipping to customers etc. | Hard work at the start You put in all the effort in the beginning. Once you've ranked the site and you're getting leads, your job is basically done. |
Marketing budget You need to run FB Ads and Google Ads and probably Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest &/ Snapchat... | Marketing budget? What's that? You rely on FREE organic traffic. You don't pay a cent for advertising! EVER! |
Competition Cloning Usually competition is good, but with dropshipping, ANYONE can steal your entire business (your website, your products, your ads) within a few hours. | Competition? Once you've ranked your site, no one can steal your business. Why? Because you have to be an EXPERT in order to rank organically. |
Product sales With dropshipping you're selling trending / hot / seasonal products. It changes all the time... | You sell a highly sought after SERVICE Lead gen is not dependent on a fad, or craze. It's a service that businesses constantly need. |
Longevity? Dropshipping is a short-term business model. Trending products reach a saturation point within months. You need to constantly start a-new... | Longevity? Definitely! It's an evergreen service that EVERY local business requires. It's not going to go out of style or disappear. As long as there are businesses, they will require LEADS. If you do lead gen, you're in it FOREVER... |
Income With dropshipping, you never know what you're going to get from month to month. Your success depends on a lot of variables, such as your products, advertising, and competition. | The Golden Ticket: PASSIVE INCOME Yip, it's that elusive goose that lays the golden eggs! With lead gen you get a PASSIVE income EVERY single month... |
This site has been making me $2000 per month on auto-pilot since 2015.
DSL is ok for beginners, but a lot of his content is lacking actual real-world case studies and actual things that work. His niche selection module doesn’t give you what you actually need to start, he just tells you to ask your friends, check your credit card statement and brainstorm ideas… wow, thanks Anton! Another thing his that his shopify theme is not very well optimized for conversions, you have to do a lot of work to make that theme convert well, and it loads slowly… its basically a modified version of the Shopify supply theme. The google shopping course isn’t even taught by him but his friend who owns an agency, and its missing key steps for profitability which I figured out on my own and through communication with other high-performing ecommerce store owners through masterminds. The automation module just has “ideas” not actual actionable how to tutorial videos like you would be led to believe. Then, you’re left on your own to either purchase coaching from a group of coaches in which half aren’t even doing high-ticket drop shipping anymore but amazon fba… and their forum is just endless amounts of beginner confusion… their top contributors aren’t even successful… you might be able to launch a store using this course, but most people who do aren’t successful unfortunately. I decided to create a way better, more in-depth course so people could actually get what they need to succeed with high ticket drop shipping, and even though I was a partner with Anton and an affiliate with him at the time, he decided to kick me out of his course completely claiming I copied his course, and he also kicked me out of the other courses i bought from him, thousands of dollars worth, with no communication besides sending me a copy of his privacy policy. he is a shady guy even though he looks super friendly on his youtube channel. he is buddy-buddy with Johnny FD! he has had him at almost every retreat he has done. Johnny is also known as pick up artist Johnny Wolf (readers can just search that on reddit to read all about that guy’s shady past taking advantage of women). It’s just a group of people you should stay away from and my goal here is to warn people out there who you are deciding to learn from and associate with… Unfortunately, he was one of the only guys with a good-enough course on this stuff up until about a year ago when just about every one of his successful coaches and students left the DSL tribe because of Antons big falling out with all of his coaches, and start their own courses and tribes and groups. So now you have lots of choices for better training and better people to work with. unfortunately for most people, anton is really good at running a webinar and selling via email, so for now he will most likely still convince a lot of people to sign up with him. beware of someone who is really good at running webinars and selling but doesn’t have any real world examples of successful drop shipping stores he runs himself…