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-   -   Your Secret Tips on how to find and choose Products to sell (http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3431)

Max March 16, 2003 07:00 PM

Your Secret Tips on how to find and choose Products to sell
 
Hi, for you kind hearted people who would share their secret tips, I would so much be appreciate it. I am learning some marketing, but I need the hard core secrets from the old school guys who can advise me on the secret places to go.

Please post here or email me about secret tips on how you find and choose niche products that will sell and make you a good living, and where you go to find these things, and also what makes you decide if you should choose the product for you to sell in the end?

Have a good day,
Max

Michael S. Winicki March 16, 2003 09:35 PM

Re: Your Secret Tips on how to find and choose Products to sell
 
There are any number of ways to find good products. One very good way that I've used is to find a group of consumers that is underserved by their current suppliers, then create or modify a product or service to better meet their needs.

A real life example from a client I'm working with:

The U.S. is filled with quilters...millions of them. But there is a limited number of people supplying quilt racks. And most of those are low-end, somewhat cheesy quilt racks.

Anyway my client is now building a highend quilt rack for people that don't just want a basic quilt rack made out of pine or some other inexpensive wood but one made out of the finest New York State hard woods. And for those of you that don't know it, New York State has some of the finest hard woods on the planet.

My client researched the market and found a underserved group of consumers that would pay good money for a quality quilt rack.

There are millions of opportunities out there similar to this.

What I would suggest is don't do what others are doing. Don't settle for selling reprint rights type products or products dealing with ebay (unless it is distinctly unique) or Internet marketing. Don't deal with MLM's or companies like SMC. Not that all MLM's or SMC are bad companies, because they're not. But those business models greatly limit your upside potential for making money. Again, if you can identify more than one person or group selling the same products or services to the same core of customers you want to sell to find another opportunity.

Nothing drives down profits like competitors. If you can't be #1 or #2 in a market then don't do it (just a suggestion).

Take care,

Mike Winicki-Business Specialist and Strategic Planner.

Dennis Bevers March 17, 2003 12:08 AM

My market is b2b promotional advertising
 
This is an $18 Billion market with clients ranging from Fortune 500 to Mom and Pop, small manufacturers and employers to city, county, state, and federal government offices and agencies.

As an independent agent/dealer for Kaeser and Blair, I have access to 3800+ suppliers, offering over 750,000 different products, and competitive prices through K & B's leadership position in this industry.

This 109-year-old, family owned and managed corporation sells through their dealers only. They don't compete with an in-house sales department.

Their dealerships are free, as they don't believe anyone should have to pay in order to sell for them.

No capital investment required.

No quotas. Work full or part-time at you option.

No territory to limit who or where you sell, anywhere in the US, online, offline, or both.

No order too large for K & B to handle the credit, billing, sales taxes, etc.

I don't know what products I'll sell tomorrow or even who the next order will come from, but I know my source for almost anything that can carry a customer's name and logo.

Dennis Bevers




Consider a K & B dealership for income for life!

Mel. White March 17, 2003 10:17 AM

Re: Your Secret Tips on how to find and choose Products to sell
 
What are you interested in?

Things that you have a real interest in (collecting baseball cards, books, rocketry, photography, etc) are the natural choices for finding things to sell. You already know what people enjoying these hobbies are interested in and what appeals to them.

That's where you start.

Don't get involved in an area you know nothing about. That's a quick way to failure.


The 5 minute mentor

Michael S. Winicki March 17, 2003 11:06 AM

A slightly different point of view...
 
> Don't get involved in an area you know
> nothing about. That's a quick way to
> failure.

There are a myriad of success stories out there about people that have succeeded in industries where they had little or no knowledge like Richard Branson, J. Peterman, Lillian Vernon, and from my own personal experience Johnny Berguson, owner of Kindom Inc.

Granted knowledge about "something" who intend on selling is helpful but that knowledge can quite often be learned very quickly. Read a couple books on any hobby and you can acquire enough superficial knowledge about the hobby to put forth some sort of product for resale.

But more important is an understanding of how business works. If you have a good understanding of direct marketing you can probably sell millions of products that you have very little knowledge of. All you have to do is be bright enough to find (or create) a Unique Selling Proposition concerning a product or service and then market that product or service.

Many times I think a novice in a particular business/hobby/industry actually has an advantage because they have a "fresh" outlook on how things could and should be done. They haven't learned all the bad habits nor do they know what they are about to sell can't be sold (or done). And low and behold they prove the whole industry wrong. They create a new paradigm for that business/hobby/industry, which results in a huge windfall for them (and rightfully so).

I personally think the "working knowledge" needed to successfully sell any product or service is generally overated...and the need for "general business knowledge" underated.

Take care,

Mike Winicki-Business Specialist and Strategic Planner

Boyd Stone March 17, 2003 01:15 PM

Keeping abreast of profitable product ideas ...
 
Hi,

Here's how one 29 year old entrepreneur became a multi-millionaire:

"The GGW core audience is heterosexual men 18 to 25, who have bought 4.5 million tapes/DVDs worth $90 million-plus. The tapes/DVDs are sold on the GGW Web site and through TV informercials and late-night cable ads. There's a staff of 90 employees at the GGW headquarters in Santa Monica."

Read more at the link below.

Best,

- Boyd


Keeping abreast of profitable product ideas ...

Harvey Segal March 19, 2003 05:51 PM

The secret place is . . .
 
. . . right here.

> I need the hard core secrets from the
> old school guys who can advise me on the
> secret places to go.

On this or any other forum.

This is where you will find what people
are looking for.

My free book shows you how.

Harvey Segal
http://www.supertips.com




Forum SuperTips
http://www.supertips.com/cgi-bin/b/t.cgi?forumspic_sw1


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