Ricky Hayes eCom Lifestyle University Review: Global Profits

eCom Lifestyle University Review

Intro.

Another eCommerce training program has caught my attention lately, it’s called eCom Lifestyle University. The course is run by a guy named Ricky Hayes, and certainly looks good value from the outside.

I’ve been privileged to have access to this course, so I can give you my honest eCom Lifestyle University review. This is an updated review since Ricky has transferred his course to a new platform. Not only that, he’s been working hard to improve the resources and overall experience of eCom Lifestyle University. I must say, I’ve been really impressed with the updated edition.

So let’s dive in, and see what eCom Lifestyle University can offer you.

Updated Review 14 September 2019

Quick Navigation

What is eCom Lifestyle University
eCom Lifestyle University From The Inside
The Best of eCom Lifestyle University
What Puts Me Off eCom Lifestyle University
Is eCommerce For You

What is eCom Lifestyle University

If you’re considering learning how to setup an eCommerce store through Shopify, then eCom Lifestyle University is certainly one course you should consider. I’ve reviewed several eCom courses, including 8 Hour eCommerce Profits, Momentum Marketing Tribe and Ecom Alphas. Some of these are better than others, with Adrian Morrison’s eCom Success Academy being the top of the range model. Adrian Morrison does know how to charge though, and you get what you pay for.

However, Ricky Hayes course eCom Lifestyle University is extremely good, especially for the cost of the program. I’m impressed with Ricky’s knowledge, and the short video format that’s used.

So, lets dive in and see what this course can offer you.

eCom Lifestyle University From The Inside

I’ve been privileged to have access to the eCom Lifestyle University course, so I can give you a brief rundown of the education, tools and resources you’ll find on the inside.

#1 Education Review

Module 1 – Welcome to The Course From Ricky Hayes – A brief video that will welcome you to the course.

Module 2 – Revealing My Own Store Live Case Study –  Here, you’re going to get a brilliant insight into one of Ricky’s own successful eCommerce stores.  This is a store that sold over $75K is sales. What I really like about this presentation, is that Ricky tells us about the failings of the store. Not everything always goes to plan, and you’re going to get a handle on what parts worked well, and what didn’t work.

Ricky will run you through 6 separate videos here, including the apps he used, how he found the products to add to this site and various Facebook and Google ad strategies and results.

This module is to give you an overview of what can be achieved. The videos are in-depth, and show you all the monetary and statistical data from the ad campaigns used.

Just one thing to note, Ricky may use some terms that you may be unfamiliar with if you’re a beginner, such as ‘LLA’ (Lookalike Audiences) when talking about Facebook ads, or Conversion tracking in Google ads. Don’t concern yourself about this though, because you will learn what these are later in the course.

Module 3 – Shopify Store Setup A-to-Z – You may not get much out of module 1, but module 2 is chock full of information. 33 videos in fact, that will give you great insight into how Ricky sets up his Shopify stores. You’ll learn all the tools and apps that Ricky uses to make automation easier, which is a critical aspect of any online business, especially eCom.

You’ll also get a handle on branding for your store, and additional things that can help your store get more engagement. Ricky does use many apps for his stores, this can slow down your site. For this reason, Ricky does provide information for quickening up your website. Here’s a brief list of just some of the apps and training you’ll find in this module:

• Fulfilment processing
• Currency Conversion
• Sales Notifications
• Abandonded Cart Recovery
• Bulk Order Discounts
• SEO Search
• Managing Customer Reviews
• Exit Intent
• Image Compression & Editing
• Theme and Logo Configuration
• Pagespeed Optimization
• Printing on Demand
• Determining if You’re Profitable
• Order Tracking

This is just a sample size, there’s loads more that is compiled into this module, so you can set up your Shopify store with no dramas at all.

Module 4 – Ultimate Guide To Product Research – As we all know (or maybe you don’t), Ali Express is the main store dropshippers use to source their products. Ricky will also explain how to use Amazon and Shopify Stores to help with your product research. You’ll be taught the top 5 niches, and finding the best products that fall under these categories.

Learn about a website that will show you how to find the top Shopify stores in the world, which you can leverage of to find trending products. Facebook is also another platform to find trending products, and you’ll learn what wording to search for on Facebook to find these products. Ricky is going to show you another 4 domains that can help with product research.

I remember from when I used to run a Shopify store, finding products on Ali Express with ePacket is the preferred option, because it gives you free shipping. Ricky explains this also, and how it will help with other shipping issues.

Another great tip that Ricky suggests, is to do your research on mobile devices. As he says, 95% of sales on Facebook are from mobile, so why wouldn’t you leverage this to search for trending products.

All in all, you’re going to get 13 information videos on how to search for the ideal products to sell on your Shopify store.

Module 5 – Facebook And Instagram Influencer Marketing – This module will teach you how you should implement a branding strategy, and Ricky will provide a case study of a large successful store. This displays the formula that works, and you should be attempting to emulate the same process.

Ricky will explain why Pinterest should be linked to your store, and how Instagram and Pinterest are so helpful when it comes to branding. As an additional tip, I’d recommend using Tailwind for Pinterest posting. It will save you loads of time). Facebook is also part of your brand strategy, and you’ll learn to connect a sales channel, build up your likes and how to hide particular words from your Facebook fan page feed. This is critical because you don’t just want people discrediting you on your fan page.

Module 6 – Facebook A-to-Z Marketing Mastery – Your main form of paid advertising that you’ll be using is Facebook ads. This is what all the eCom presenters teach, because it’s the most effective form of traffic, when you cannot get organic search results.

This module includes 19 videos which encompass a detailed explanation of Facebook advertising. You’ll learn when the right time to scale your ads are, along with the best form of ad copy and creative.

Facebook advertising can take a bit of trial and error, and split testing to get better results. That’s why this module is fairly long, so you can get a handle on all aspects.

Get to grips with many Facebook advert tips and strategies including:

• Interest targeting
• Ad Copy
• Single Budget Adset Testing
• Dynamic Product Remarketing
• Look-A-Like Audiences
• Advanced Facebook Scaling
• Increasing Repeat Customers
• Creating High-Converting Videos
• Sequential Remarketing
• Killing Underperforming Ads
• Manual Bidding Strategy
• Custom Conversions
• Automated Facebook Rules
• Advanced Placement Strategy

This module is so broad, and is critical to your promotional activities.

Module 7 – Team Management – This is where you’re going to require some help with your business. In the beginning, you’ll be doing all the customer service issues such as responding to reviews, comments, emails, live chat, complaints, refunds etc.

However, there will be a point when you’ll require external help. Ricky shows you how to post a job on Upwork, including the questions you should ask prospective employees.

Slack is a team management application that can help with sharing team tasks. You’ll get to grips with the Slack interface, and how the program can help when you get to the stage of outsourcing tasks. Ricky also uses Trello for daily management and checklists, which seamlessly integrates with Slack.

Module 8 – Google A-to-Z Marketing Mastery – This is one of the modules that have been revamped with some excellent information. The collection in this module used to comprise 12 videos. This has been expanded to 28, and now includes location targeting, Merchant Centre tutorials, Google Shopping strategies and my favourite, keywords and SEO.

I was a little disappointed there wasn’t more keyword analysis in this course originally, but this seems to have been rectified. There’s nothing like free website traffic.

Included as part of this 28 video module dedicated to Google, are tools that can help when you get to a higher level. This includes setting up a custom dashboard in your Google Analytics, so you can configure it to help with the specific data you require.

There’s videos that teach you to create Google adverts, with ad variations which will help with your click through ratio. You’ll also get a handle on the Google guidelines so that you don’t get banned from Google when running ads. Part of this includes having a virtual US address. If you don’t live in the US, Ricky will show you where to get a virtual US address for free.

Module 9 – Messenger Marketing Mastery – It’s become really popular to include a chat section on your store website. Ricky uses an app called ManyChat, which allows you to create automated responses to questions that visitors may ask. This is a fairly long video of 45 minutes, that explains how ManyChat can be setup.

Another aspect of ManyChat, is to link Zapier so you can capture email addresses of your chat messages. You’ll learn how to integrate Zapier to ManyChat, and get a feel for what questions should be asked to capture email addresses.

Module 10 – Youtube A-to-Z Marketing Mastery – Ricky obviously understands the importance of using YouTube as a marketing source for an eCommerce store. At the time of writing this revised review, Ricky has created an significant introductory video (11 minutes), which explains the approach required in YouTube.

I believe there will be a lot more information and videos about YouTube optimization included in this course as time goes on, which will be a great addition.

Course Conclusion(MUST WATCH) – In conclusion, Ricky provides a conclusion video which explains what’s still to come in future releases of the eCom Lifestyle University course. He encourages you to join his Facebook Group (and so would I), and also suggests getting 1 on 1 training from Ricky if you would like to accelerate your learning.

#2 Tools Review

When mentioning about tools in a Shopify course, we’re basically talking about Shopify Apps. Unlike apps or plugins that you’d import into a WordPress website for one single fee, Shopify apps have a monthly payment.

Now, Ricky does suggest a load of apps, which can cost you a fair amount should you implement all of them. I do like that he presents these apps though, and shows how they are to be implemented.

#3 Support Review

You’ll certainly find support with eCom Lifestyle University, with a Facebook Group and internal contact details.

#4 The Cost

At $997, the cost of this course is certainly attainable. This is an extremely good course, and the information provided in this course will get you on the road to a successful eCommerce store.

Having reviewed other courses that cost into the thousands, you’ll definitely get your money’s worth here.

The Best of eCom Lifestyle University

#1 Knowledge

When I begin any review, I’m often unsure what to expect in terms of the course presenter. I was pleasantly surprised when I watched this course, with the knowledge that Ricky possesses.

It’s obvious that Ricky Hayes has been a Shopify dropshipping store owner for some time, and he’s legitimate in the knowledge he passes on.

#2 Video Length

Nothing frustrates me more than sitting through videos that last an hour or more. I’ve come across several courses that do this, making it extremely difficult if you want to go back and find specific information within a long video.

Ricky has the course structure right, and the length of videos are ideal at between 6-12 minutes in general. Some videos may slightly exceed this length, but only because the information in the video is relevant.

#3 No Fluff in This Course

Another thing I like about this course, is that Ricky tells it like it is. There’s no beating around the bush. His style is to present the information in a reasonably quick manner. Some people may find this a little too fast, but you can always pause the video and replay them.

Some course presenters can be hard to listen too, even boring. Not Ricky, he’s constantly got something to say.

#4 Well Priced

In my opinion, the cost of this course is exceptional. Maybe even slightly underpriced for the value offered. ECommerce can be a tricky business if you’re just starting out, and while I still think eCom Success Academy is the best course out there, Ricky’s course is not only better value, but not too far behind.

#5 Global Setup

While most course presenters are in the USA, there’s loads of people outside of the USA that become confused when it comes to setting up the payment gateway information and currency defaults.

Because Ricky is from Australia, he’s familiar with setting all this information up, and passes on his expert knowledge in this area.

#6 Course Platform

Just quickly, I’d like to mention that the new platform that eCom Lifestyle University is hosted on is very user friendly. The course structure is laid out nicely, and easy to navigate.

What Puts Me Off eCom Lifestyle University

To be honest, there not much that puts me off the eCom Lifestyle University course. If I’m nit-picking, that apps can get a bit out of hand.

#1 Tools/Features

While Ricky does provide some great information in regards to the Shopify Apps, if you chose to use all of them, you’d be paying a huge amount per month.  That’s not Ricky fault! While most of the apps are in the range of $5-$15 per month, he does suggest some very expensive apps. One being InstantSearch+, which will set you back $250 per month! Another, CartHook (a funnel system) is $300 per month and Ordermetrics at $99 per month.

Now I don’t believe Ricky intends for you to use these straight up as a beginner, and he does suggest that you need to be getting a good amount of sales before using these apps.

As far as the other apps go, there’s about 18 apps which will set you back over $300 per month in total. I agree that all these apps are extremely useful, and will lead to more sales and automation, but you’ll want to make sure you’re getting good sales after the first couple of months.

Would I Recommend eCom Lifestyle University

Absolutely. I would recommend this course, especially to those wanting to setup a drop shipping eCommerce course from outside the USA. The global type setup is a good initiative that those presenters within the USA may be more unfamiliar with.

Is There a Better Option

In my opinion, eCom Success Academy is still the number 1 eCommerce course, because it covers just about every area. However, eCom Lifestyle University is a brilliant course that covers a lot of what eCom Success Academy does.

Is eCommerce For You

I’d like to make mention of what an eCommerce business can hold for you. Loads of people enter this type of venture, without having thought about the hard work behind it. Only a handful of people out of every hundred become very successful at online store ownership because of a few factors.

Setting up a store is not cheap, which means you’ve basically got to make sales from day 1. Not only do you need to pay Shopify for hosting your store, you have monthly app payments to keep up with. Often you’ll be using over 10 apps to help with store automation, each with a $5-$15 monthly payment.

On top of this, all eCommerce presenters will explain how you’ll create Facebook adverts. This is because you require website traffic to make any sales. So obviously, this is another cost that is all part of the process. Now, you really need to learn how to get your targeting right, otherwise you’ll be targeting people that have no interest in what your promoting.

Other things to consider when running an online store apart from the cost, is customer service issues, returns, invoices, taxes, shipping etc. Whilst much of this can be automated through the apps you’ll be paying for, you still need to have a human element. Don’t you hate it when online stores don’t communicate with you.

So, I’d urge you to weigh up the pro’s and con’s of running an online drop shipping store. Sure, the profits are much better than say affiliate marketing, but you need to be prepared for more heartache in my opinion. I know this, because I tried it before settling on an affiliate marketing career. Online store ownership is not for everyone, and takes a lot of hard work.

Final Thoughts

In summation of eCom Lifestyle University, I believe it’s a great course to get you started with an eCommerce store. As I’ve stated, make sure this is the online solution that you’re after. If you’d prefer a much cheaper option for making money online, you could consider affiliate marketing.

I chose affiliate marketing because it allowed me the time to become a success, without pumping more money into my online business. I joined a program that hosted my website, and taught me everything about affiliate marketing. An all inclusive solution as you will. That way I only had one monthly fee, and I could build my business around that.

If you’d like to learn more about affiliate marketing, click the button above, or read on below.