I don’t know how I discovered the Fourthwall ecommerce platform, but I gotta say, I’m so glad I did! Not only is it FREE to sign up and use, but it’s also very easy to use and manage. Plus, it has some nifty features. And I’ve already made online sales!
Today, I’d like to share more about my experience and what I’ve learned so far from launching four websites on Fourthwall, especially because so many of you ask how we make money as we travel.
Overview
Fourthwall provides you with the opportunity to sell Made on Demand, dropshipped products through its partnership with Printful. You can also sell digital products and memberships, offer special perks and tiers for customers, and write posts with this platform. They even create a mobile app for your website’s members.
I’ll provide a snapshot of some important considerations.
Pricing
There are two pricing plans for Fourthwall: FREE and PRO ($19/month). As with any free plan, there are a few benefits you don’t get if you were going paid, but for this platform and what I get, that’s not a problem. At this moment, I don’t want or need the extras they offer, with the biggest factor being digital storage space and 24/7 priority support.
Design Capabilities
Out of the box, I really love the simplicity, yet effectiveness of their UX and UI. You can begin with a template (basic but good) and then customize the entire brand and appearance without any coding, in addition to rearranging or adding sections as needed. You can also create and save your own theme, which could be a valuable service or a source of passive income.
In my opinion, you have everything you need here to build your brand and it certainly compares with Shopify’s design features.
Promotions
It’s easy to add special promos, including product discounts, free shipping, membership discounts, gift cards, and giveaway links for freebies. These are all benefits that are important to customers and it’s easy to set up.
Memberships
This is where it gets really cool, especially since it’s included in the free plan and membership websites can be expensive to invest in. You can chat with members via the app, upload videos for everyone or members only, write posts for everyone or members only, create custom badges (we don’t need no stinking badges 😝), offer membership tiers and upsells, and protect certain offerings.
The only thing I don’t like about this post feature for articles. It’s clunky and unattractive, and not a good UX.
SEO
Search Engine Optimization seems to be shit these days, particularly with Google, which seems to play god with our livelihoods. I spent a decade building traffic to certain online properties only for it to be wiped out by updates and AI. That said.
Fourthwall provides basic options to improve your SEO, and with very little investment on my part, I’ve managed to rank in the top positions for certain product keywords and earn a handful of sales with NO promotion. If I spent more time on these properties, I think I could increase sales, which I plan on doing soon.
You can also add Google Analytics and tracking pixels into the mix.
Social Media Integration
While I personally hate social media and choose to spend very little time on these apps - which also likely hurts potential sales - you can connect to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, YouTube Shopping, Spotify, and more.
At first glance, these features seem like a great opportunity to build your brand, especially if you already have an established online audience. Who knows? Maybe I’ll try harder with social media, see how it goes, and do an update.
Professional Opinion about Fourthwall
In the last 20 years, I’ve used almost every platform for building websites and e-commerce websites — WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, Squarespace, Wishlist Member, Udemy, and so on. Every platform has its pros and cons. Some excel in specific areas, while others do not. Some are free for basic features, and others require money up front.
In my experience, the best solutions are designed to make your life easier and earn you money as quickly as possible. They are easy to use out of the box, help you build your brand, and reduce friction for you and your audience.
Fourthwall does all of this!
With minimal effort on my part, I’ve launched four websites to test the features I’m most interested in. Each website probably took me a couple of hours to set up, customize, add products, and launch. I’ve made money and spent nothing, without dicking around with dumb stuff or frustration.
So is it worth it? 100% YES!!!
There are people who doubt the on-demand and dropshipping business model, yet businesses like House of Chingasos have become million-dollar businesses using it.
The problem is that most people don’t think through their brand or products. They don’t put in the work to make it a success. They load a few ideas, hope to make money online, and get mad when it doesn’t happen that way. You gotta work it, baby!
I was skeptical about using Fourthwall at first because I’ve made great money using Shopify and WooCommerce in the past, but honestly, I’d start with this platform. Test your product ideas, play around with your messaging and offerings, and see where it goes. Maybe you’ll make a million bucks, too.
My plan for these four websites (and a few other ideas) is to build and grow them and potentially sell a couple to someone interested in them over the next year.
Additionally, I’ll start offering consulting and design services to those who want to build their own online brand with Fourthwall but don’t have the time or expertise to do it themselves. Because why not? We all gotta make a living.
If you have questions or need help, let me know.
Now it’s time for me to go make some more money!
Check out my current projects at:
Will Work for Beer!
James writes best when he has something to whet his whistle. Show your love and support by buying him a beer.