Money-making Niches!

I firmly believe there is more ways to make money than there ever have been. And while we may bemoan the fact we can't find a profitable product (or service) to sell the fact remains there are a great many people getting rich or at least making money from any number of different niches or target audiences. Here is a brief sample of some different catalog concepts that have proven to be moneymakers. And in some cases...a lot of money!

Duane Abbajay co-owns "Just for Redheads" with his wife, Paula Pennypacker. This Arizona based catalog sells a variety of skin-care, beauty and health products targeted at, you guessed it! Redheads, to the tune of well over $1,000,000 per year based on a catalog circulation of 150,000.

Debbie Ducommun is the owner of the California based "The Rat-alog" a catalog of gifts for of all things...rat lovers! She does $40,000 per year in sales on a circulation base of 4,000.

Philip Cushway of San Francisco started "Artrock" a rock-memorabilia catalog that has an annual circulation of 1,000,000 and does millions per year in sales.

Jason Mischel is in a very competitive market, pet supplies, but his catalog "Great Companions" still manages to do about $5,000,000 in sales per year based on a catalog circulation of 2,000,000.

Anne Marcus is the president of AnneMail, a Hot Springs, AZ-based cataloger/retailer of specialty toys. Her annual catalog circulation is only 20,000 but racks up sales of about 1/2 million dollars.

Eleanor Edmondson owns the Atlanta based catalog "Bas Blue" which sells books, literary accessories and gifts. Her annual sales are about $9,000,000.

Stacey Small owns "Botanical Animal" which provides natural and herbal homeopathic products for horses, cats, and dogs. It has annual sales of about $500,000 based on a circulation of 100,000.

Jack Kawaky of the catalog, "Captain Jacks" sells a variety of nautical software and other products for mariners. Annual sales are more than $5,000,000 per year with a circulation of 500,000.

Mary Going of Freeport, Maine, has a catalog called "Firegirl" which sells hot-sauces. Her annual sales are about 100,000 and her circulation is less than 10,000.

This is not to say the success these people have had has come easy. Eleanor Edmondson of "Bas Blue" explains:

"Before I started Bas Bleu, I did as much research and planning as I could. But soon it became clear that the time had come just to take a deep breath and jump in. We planned an initial mailing of 50,000; large enough to give us results we could analyze but not so big that it would break the bank. The sales results for that first catalog were not inspiring, but the emotional reaction from potential customers, such as enthusiastic letters, faxes, and phone calls with the 'I'll buy something next time' refrain, let us know we were on to something."

"We started analyzing and fine-tuning what we were doing, in terms of merchandise, lists, paper, printing, production, and mailing. It was very important to be able to stick with it to buy the time to figure out what was working and what was not, and to know what to change and what to retain."

I personally have heard this same story over and over again, both in a retail and mail order/catalog environment. Finally, the person stops studying and jumps in with both feet, using the best information available to them. Mistakes are made along the way...but if you go small and test you'll have the opportunity in the long run to make things right.

Take care,

Mike Winicki

Located in New Zealand (total population under 4 million). Some of those figures you give for circulation sizes had me salivating. With such a small total population base to work with here, niche marketing becomes a tricky proposition. My field is weather instruments. I know from looking around that there is no one else on the internet who covers quite the angle I do. It is very frustrating to look at the US market, and my log files, and not be able to tap into such a huge pool of customers. I know what I offer is of interest, I just cant supply over the distance and make it worthwhile.
Actually when talking about businesses like these, of far more interest than turnover is the breakeven or profit potential. Most product based businesses need a turnover of at least $250,000 PA just to keep one person fed and watered.
Lets face it, a lot of us gear our businesses more towards personal comfort levels rather than marketplace realities. I bet the Ratalog owner is mad about rats, rather than money.
> I firmly believe there is more ways to make
> money than there ever have been. And while
> we may bemoan the fact we can't find a
> profitable product (or service) to sell the
> fact remains there are a great many people
> getting rich or at least making money from
> any number of different niches or target
> audiences. Here is a brief sample of some
> different catalog concepts that have proven
> to be moneymakers. And in some cases...a lot
> of money!

> Duane Abbajay co-owns "Just for
> Redheads" with his wife, Paula
> Pennypacker. This Arizona based catalog
> sells a variety of skin-care, beauty and
> health products targeted at, you guessed it!
> Redheads, to the tune of well over
> $1,000,000 per year based on a catalog
> circulation of 150,000.

> Debbie Ducommun is the owner of the
> California based "The Rat-alog" a
> catalog of gifts for of all things...rat
> lovers! She does $40,000 per year in sales
> on a circulation base of 4,000.

> Philip Cushway of San Francisco started
> "Artrock" a rock-memorabilia
> catalog that has an annual circulation of
> 1,000,000 and does millions per year in
> sales.

> Jason Mischel is in a very competitive
> market, pet supplies, but his catalog
> "Great Companions" still manages
> to do about $5,000,000 in sales per year
> based on a catalog circulation of 2,000,000.

> Anne Marcus is the president of AnneMail, a
> Hot Springs, AZ-based cataloger/retailer of
> specialty toys. Her annual catalog
> circulation is only 20,000 but racks up
> sales of about 1/2 million dollars.

> Eleanor Edmondson owns the Atlanta based
> catalog "Bas Blue" which sells
> books, literary accessories and gifts. Her
> annual sales are about $9,000,000.

> Stacey Small owns "Botanical
> Animal" which provides natural and
> herbal homeopathic products for horses,
> cats, and dogs. It has annual sales of about
> $500,000 based on a circulation of 100,000.

> Jack Kawaky of the catalog, "Captain
> Jacks" sells a variety of nautical
> software and other products for mariners.
> Annual sales are more than $5,000,000 per
> year with a circulation of 500,000.

> Mary Going of Freeport, Maine, has a catalog
> called "Firegirl" which sells
> hot-sauces. Her annual sales are about
> 100,000 and her circulation is less than
> 10,000.

> This is not to say the success these people
> have had has come easy. Eleanor Edmondson of
> "Bas Blue" explains:

> "Before I started Bas Bleu, I did as
> much research and planning as I could. But
> soon it became clear that the time had come
> just to take a deep breath and jump in. We
> planned an initial mailing of 50,000; large
> enough to give us results we could analyze
> but not so big that it would break the bank.
> The sales results for that first catalog
> were not inspiring, but the emotional
> reaction from potential customers, such as
> enthusiastic letters, faxes, and phone calls
> with the 'I'll buy something next time'
> refrain, let us know we were on to
> something."

> "We started analyzing and fine-tuning
> what we were doing, in terms of merchandise,
> lists, paper, printing, production, and
> mailing. It was very important to be able to
> stick with it to buy the time to figure out
> what was working and what was not, and to
> know what to change and what to
> retain."

> I personally have heard this same story over
> and over again, both in a retail and mail
> order/catalog environment. Finally, the
> person stops studying and jumps in with both
> feet, using the best information available
> to them. Mistakes are made along the
> way...but if you go small and test you'll
> have the opportunity in the long run to make
> things right.

> Take care,

> Mike Winicki




Weathereye

My
I
> know what I offer is of interest, I just
> cant supply over the distance and make it
> worthwhile.

Could you explain why it is hard to supply
over distance? perhaps one of the experts
can help you come up with some marketing
strategies...think positive: there must be
some way you can tap into a market overseas
with profitable payoffs...Perhaps someone
can help you think "outside of the box"(if
that's what you want) ...

For instance do you know of barometer collectors?
It seems like people who own boats etc might
be interested in what you have to offer...

I read an article recently about some movie
stars here in New York who started a trend
in wearing "ovesize watches"...It's taking New
York by a storm...Just a couple of visible
movie stars talked about their love of
watches and now everyone wants one....

Intuitively, I think there is must be hidden
markets for barometers...For some reason I
could envision people using them in their
decor ...(barometers seem to go with nautica,
wine cellars, watch collectors)

Have you considered brainstorming online and
finding out how you can think outside the
box and attract other markets?

Hi Sandy,

> Intuitively, I think there is must be hidden
> markets for barometers...For some reason I
> could envision people using them in their
> decor ...(barometers seem to go with
> nautica, wine cellars, watch collectors)

Wow, Sandy, that's a good idea.... :)

Now that you mention it, I remember that my best friend in high school used to have a barometer in his house. They kept it hanging on the wall, just between the kitchen and their living room area.

My friend's parents were Dutch immigrants, so I don't know if that had anything to do with it. :)

(I thought their barometer was kind of cool....)

Thanks Sandy, I had forgotten about this!

- Dien Rice

Being highly attuned to such things, I always notice in TV programs there is always a fine old barometer hanging on the wall. I think its one of things that goes up automatically when the props department is told to dress a set.
When I had a retail store, a radio station convinced me to "sponsor" the weather for some horrific price, on the premise that "everyone is interested in the weather." While it is true, the interest does not seem to reach as far as their pockets. The best customers are those that use instruments to obtain information that will profit them.

Of a problem product from my point of view. First off, the market you suggest is quite well covered by a couple of US web sites, but really my expertise is in utilitarian everyday instruments that farmers, industry and research use.
1.) The best collectors barometers contain mercury. In order to ship we need a hazardous certificate, or have them filled at the point of use. Either way adds (big) costs.
2.) Buying a barometer is a "touchy feely" event. I sell ten times the number of barometers over the counter than what I can sell by mail order. when I do sell by mail, they sell to industry type users who value accuracy over appearance.
3.) Barometers need to be set by the customer. A gauranteed recipe for returns, telephone support and problems.

Just on the topic of freight, the internet has not made it any cheaper to move actual things around the planet. Most of my goods come from Europe. By the time I land them, they contain an extra cost of 25% for freight and customs. Sending to the US by post will add more costs as well as aggravation complying with US postal regulations. Couriers will relieve the aggravations, but at a high cost. As an experiment I suggest you check how much it would cost to fedex say a laptop to New Zealand.

Did a quick research on markets interested
in barometers; here is a website...please
note barometers being used by interior
decorators...
Here is the website:
http://boatbuilding.com/Furnishing_and_Fitting/

I really think you have an interesting product
and with some P.R and unique "out of the box"
approaches I think you might be a resource
for other markets interested in "barometers etc"..
I went to your website and it seems you know
a lot about barometers and since you were definitive you have the best barometers around...
I think with some marketing you could turn your
barometer interest and passion into a more
profitable and fun venture...what do you think?
are you willing to look at the barometer business
in a different way?....

Located in New Zealand (total population
> under 4 million). Some of those figures you
> give for circulation sizes had me
> salivating. With such a small total
> population base to work with here, niche
> marketing becomes a tricky proposition. My
> field is weather instruments. I know from
> looking around that there is no one else on
> the internet who covers quite the angle I
> do. It is very frustrating to look at the US
> market, and my log files, and not be able to
> tap into such a huge pool of customers. I
> know what I offer is of interest, I just
> cant supply over the distance and make it
> worthwhile.
> Actually when talking about businesses like
> these, of far more interest than turnover is
> the breakeven or profit potential. Most
> product based businesses need a turnover of
> at least $250,000 PA just to keep one person
> fed and watered.
> Lets face it, a lot of us gear our
> businesses more towards personal comfort
> levels rather than marketplace realities. I
> bet the Ratalog owner is mad about rats,
> rather than money.