We’re proud to introduce Chris Filgertshofer, a 19-year-old German entrepreneur who owns the largest German eCommerce Youtube channel, several eCommerce businesses and a social media agency. With a background as a successful gaming creator, he made the transition and has found even greater success in the eCommerce space. 

Hi Chris thanks for joining us today! So, how did you get into dropshipping?

I have worked with many eCommerce brands in my time as a gaming creator and always wanted to try it out myself. As I wanted to do something else besides social media and already had some knowledge with marketing on social media, I jumped on the train.

What was your background before eCommerce?

I grew up in a small city near Munich, now I live in Berlin, but I’m travelling most of the time. My entrepreneurial journey began in 1st class with reselling trading cards. It expanded with buying other things from eBay and selling it in school. I always had the drive to earn my own money and be independent and “free” to some extent. When I was 11 years old, I started my first gaming YouTube channel, but I just uploaded every now and then, until I was about 15. That changed when I randomly found my friend’s YouTube channel, which had about 10,000 subscribers at the time. I was suddenly super motivated to upload more and more video as I thought, I’m a better player than my friend and it should be very easy to get subscribers. 

That wasn’t the case, for a couple of months, I uploaded super consistently (every day) and still didn’t get any subscribers. But one day, one of my videos suddenly went viral, I gained a couple of thousand subscribers and was even more motivated. I continued to upload every day and amassed a following of about 230k subscribers (YouTube: Mitch) when I was 16 years old. Later I stopped YouTube as I wasn’t interested in gaming any more and started doing dropshipping. Now I have multiple eCommerce stores, the biggest eCommerce/marketing YouTube channel in Germany and an agency which helps businesses to use social media the right way.

How did you get your first sales?

I was in a restaurant with a couple of friends of mine and suddenly I heard this ka-ching sound out of my pocket. I took my phone out and saw my very first Shopify sale notification.

I used Google ads in the beginning but it didn’t work. So I switched to influencers, which again didn’t really work. Next, I tried Facebook ads, but again those seemed to be a failure. Finally, after multiple attempts, the first sale came through with a Facebook ad. It was about 2.5 weeks after launching my first store.

How did you learn about dropshipping?

I found a YouTube video about the concept.

What’s the most revenue you’ve generated in a day?

About 5,000€ with one dropshipping store 

What is your best marketing tactic?

Generally speaking, there’s no best marketing tactic. It heavily depends on the product and its niche. But for me, I love performance marketing (FB, IG, Pinterest, Snapchat, Google). Another big thing is influencer marketing & PR, as you can really use it to tell long-form stories around products.

If you were starting today, what would you do differently?

I think I would do about the same. Maybe look for someone experienced who can help me, as I wasted way too much money in the beginning. 

Why did you succeed where others have failed?

I think it’s about persistence. So most people give up after their first 5 ad campaigns have failed, but I continue to test new things.

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned through dropshipping?

That you can really sell everything, you just need to find the right marketing angle.

If you could give one piece of advice to new eCommerce entrepreneurs, what would it be?

Don’t give up. If your ad doesn’t work, try a new one. If the product is crap, test a new one. If your store doesn’t convert, build a new one. Make mistakes and learn from them.

What are your plans for the future?

To further build up my personal brand, build great eCommerce brands and inspire more young entrepreneurs to start their journey.

Chris dropped some serious knowledge in this interview, particularly about trying new things and finding new ways to make things work. 

Key takeaways: 

• Age is not a barrier. People at any age can make their business a success.
• Try new things and find ways to make your business work. 
• If something is not working, then try a different approach. 
• You can sell anything with the right marketing angle. 
• PR and influencers can help you establish a long-form story around your product. 
• Always match your marketing strategy to the product and niche. 
• Persistence is key. 
• Always be planning the next step. Alex is focused on building his personal brand, and building brands for his next ventures. 

If you found this interview useful and speak German you can learn more about Chris and his approaches here → Chris Fil YouTube