In this article, we explore other elements that help in discovering that ideal product you can sell to make money online.
Sell what sells, not what you like
Amateurs are usually advised to start with selling what they know and like. While doing this would make it easier to get started, this may not necessarily be the right thing to do.
Selling a product that you are familiar with does not necessarily mean that there is a market for it. Although you may be an expert in your product, you won't make any money if no one is interested, or if no one is willing to pay you for it.
With this, you need to first discover what people are buying on line before you decide on something. Refer to Part 1 of this article for some ideas on determining product demand.
Should you produce your own product, or should you sell someone else's?
There are many benefits to selling other people's product - you won't have to spend time and money producing your own, you don't need as much expertise in the subject matter and you can easily sell a wide range of products. On the other hand, selling other people's products mean that you won't have control over quality, your profit margins are lower and you'll have to consistently look hard for a good product to sell.
One way to approach this is to start by selling other people's products when you are just starting out. Once you have learnt the ropes, you are then in a better position to evaluate the products in the marketing. You will discover why customers dislike certain products; learn how they make their choice, why some products seem to generate less interest than others in the same genre, and the improvements you can make for your own product later.
With all the information at hand, you are then in a better position to create your own product, and leverage on the customer base you have already built. In addition, you transition from being an affiliate to a publisher, and are now able to recruit other affiliates to sell your product for you.
Look for uniqueness, or ways you can make your product unique
The marketplace is filled with competing products, all vying for the attention of the customer. The only way to beat the competition is to make your product unique. How can you do this?
Of course, you could examine your competitor's product to find loopholes you can fill. Another way would be to analyze product reviews and pick out product weaknesses from the opinion of others. Brainstorm and ask questions on how you can position your product to be unique. Think along the lines of ways you can brand your product. What would it be known for? Why would others choose your product over your competitors'? What do you have that others don't?
If you are selling an information product, you need to learn how to make your landing page unique, captivating, attention grabbing and effective. This is especially true if you are using Google Adwords to advertise your site. As the quality of your landing site affects your Quality Score, you'd end up paying more per click on top of a low ranking just because your landing page is not up to Google's standards.
With a unique product, you are then able to ask for a higher selling price amidst demand for your product. Otherwise, you'd be caught in the middle of a price war for products that aren't unique. Good examples of this would be electronic products at eBay.com. While there is high demand for items such as MP3 players, digital cameras and gaming consoles, there are also many sellers selling the same thing. At the end of the day, only the seller with the lowest price (and also the lowest cost) wins. Thus, if you want to sell such products, you need to source for these products at rock-bottom prices. Places such as Globalsources.com or Alibaba.com are potential sources for suppliers. Of course, as minimal order quantities are required by wholesalers and manufacturers, you have to be prepared to invest a significant amount of money here to jumpstart your online business.
Exploring product reviews - objectively
One way to evaluate products is to go through reviews about it. Of course, there are many biased reviews out there. These are usually from affiliates or sellers who are indirectly promoting a product. Thus, pay attention to reviews that give you an objective opinion. Reviews that are fair tend to list out the pros and cons of the product. No product is perfect, and there are always weaknesses to be addressed.
At the end of the day, the best evaluator would be you yourself. If you can afford to "invest" in a product, before you sell it, then you should first try it out on your own. Once you are convinced that a product meets your needs, you will then gain the confidence to sell it to others.
Are you attracting the right type of visitors? Do you know where to look for them?
A few months ago, I had the opportunity to sell a litter of Beagle puppies. Obviously there were 3 ways I could promote them - the local pet store, the local newspaper and the Internet. Guess what worked best?
There was inadequate interested buyer traffic at the pet store. While my beagle puppies were all beautiful and were from excellent breed lines, not many people got to know about them at the pet store. After a few days, I decided to withdraw them from the pet store and instead promote them on my own.
I also advertised in the local newspaper. This got more attention. The problem was the newspaper was going out to everyone - people who wanted to buy a puppy, people who just wanted more information about Beagles, and people who weren't looking. Many of the responders to the newspaper ad were either calling for advice, or who wanted to buy a puppy at a bargain.
In the end, I advertised at a site entirely dedicated to dog and puppy enthusiasts. The response here was excellent, and targeted. Most of the callers were genuinely interested, and all six puppies were sold within a month. The difference in response and effectiveness was vastly different from the other two conventional sales channels I had used.
Similarly, in finding out what sells online, you need to know where to look for qualified buyers. If you are using Pay Per Click advertising, selecting the right keywords is crucial to target the right customers. Otherwise, you'd just be wasting your money promoting your product to the wrong crowd.
Tags: traffic, marketing, time and money, elements, profit margins, ropes, subject matter, amateurs, genre, improvements