So How To Find Top Selling Products To Sell?

Here's my usual take on Things which can be incorporated into Everyone else's ideas...

Works Great on Competitive Intelligence...

Competitive Intelligence - Get Smart!

(A few years back but some good points)
http://www.fastcompany.com/online/14/intelligence.html

Make sure you have a good understanding of Keyword research...

Here's a Free Keyword Research Guide and a good place to start...
http://learn.wordtracker.com/workspa...arch-guide.pdf

Learn to read Multiple news sites Using Niche keywords & phrases...

Keep your Eyes open for Trends, New Products, Fresh and re-worked business ideas etc. etc...

Great Mega news resource...
http://www.drudgereport.com/

Some Excellent mostly Free info and amazing Spy tools...
http://www.associateprograms.com/art...titor-research
http://googspy.com/
http://www.spyfu.com/

Once you've perfected the above Find & Use the Best Search tools and methods...
http://www.turboscout.com/
http://www.google.com/help/basics.html
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en
http://www.google.com/alerts
http://www.google.com/sponsoredlinks

Phil

Michael,

Thanks for starting this thread.

I'll add another Method for finding something to sell - someone to sell to. I wrote a Work and sent it to Dien back in 2001, after we chatted about something on the phone. It's a work I've not released, but now. Anyway. Let me quote a few things from that work...

===

"Okay, here's the basis of getting to your financial dreams...

Find an income stream and go stand in it.

That's it. Simple, isn't.

See, you've got to realize that money flows. It flows from one person to another person. Usually it flows from someone who wants/needs somethig to someone who can fulfill that want/need.

When a lot of people want/need the same something a lot of money flows. And just like a stream, many small trickles add up to be a torrent.

What you have to do is identify a stream of money that's already flowing and go and stand in it.

...

identify a possible business to get into is to pick a general market you know spends money. Then think about what they spend money on.

E.g. The market is, Dentists. Now list everything you think a Dentist needs to spend money on to stay in business. Your list might look like this...

Drills
Drill Repairs
Work Chairs
Sinks
Mouthwash
Office Cleaning
Bibs
Delivery

So that one market, Dentists, has many little streams of money radiating out. You pick one with repeat sales and stand in it.

...

Write down a list of as many businesses as you can think of. Then break down that list ..., the sublist should contain items you think the business spends money on to stay in business.

===

I wrote the above in 2001. But note that Richard Branson takes this idea to the extreme.

Whatever YOU spend money on is also a Market. Branson realised His Business spent money on things. So he created businesses that provided the items his other business spent money on.

Some music companies in Aust realised they all delivered to the same music stores. So they joined forces to create a Delivery Company that would deliver their music, instead of each of them Paying to have a different company deliver it. They then let other people know this company existed and it now makes a profit in its own right.

Next...

Yellow Pages. Following on from what you mentioned in reply to Duane... slowly flip through it and you will see the largest sections - most ads. Hints to being the largest markets. Join them, or do the Breakdown as I mention above and provide the items you know they buy.

Michael Ross

I'll randomly post methods that I consider to be very effective when it comes to "uncovering" top-selling products that can be either sold by you or maybe even "knocked off" and improved upon giving you your very own product thus potentially creating a "toll-position" for yourself.

Obviously it's easier to sell someone else's product first then as you become more familiar with the product and the market you're serving you can as turn it "up a notch!" Everyone's goal should be to have their own product at some point for a myriad of reasons that I can get more into at a future date...

But right now it's just about uncovering methods to "find" products that you could consider selling yourself.

Hey, we all know that most products out there aren't going to make you money by being a reseller. You need to think "80/20". You need a method or methods of finding those top 20% of the items that are representing 80% of the sales.

Trust me... you'll work five-times as hard trying to selling a product that really no one wants than you will selling something that there already is demand for. I've been there I know!

I read the posts on this site and others from people lamenting the fact they can't seem to sell anything or enough of anything to make a reasonable amount of money.

And I don't care how good of a marketer you are if you're stuck with a product no one wants you'll die broke...

It was Eugene Swartz who said, "Copywriters can not create demand for a product-- the demand HAS TO ALREADY EXIST!" Now sometimes the prospect doesn't KNOW they need that product and that's where good copywriting and a well done marketing plan come into play but the fact remains that the demand has to be there already in some manner. Even the great copywriters fail (quite often) when it comes to trying to sell a product that there is little or no demand for. Don't fall into that trap and don't fall "in love" with your product. Which is another problem I see exposed on many of these posts that start with, "How can I sell more of xyz. I get a lot of traffic to my site and no one buys." HELLO!

Listen buddy that's the world telling you that you've got a "dog" of a product. Do what needs to be done and dump it! Life's too short. Focus on selling stuff people want. And use your copywriting skills to "out-sell" the competition. I have found that to be a much easier way of making money rather than trying to sell snow to Eskimos!

Anyway here's my first method of uncovering top-selling products...

Many, many websites that sell a variety of products all on one site (think of a web-based catalog if you will) will tell you EXACTLY what their top-sellers are! What do I mean by this? Easy! "Top-10" or "Top-sellers" lists that many websites offer to the people visiting. Geez I see these all the top on all sorts of websites selling all sorts of products. Talk about making your job easy!

And I don't think this is a "How to split the atom" revelation but you show me a multi-product site where each product has to "share" space with other products and I would just about guarantee that if you built a site around this one product that you'll sell more of that one product.

Here are the simple steps:
1. Find a site with products that interest you that also has a "Top 10" or a "Top Seller's" list.
2. Take the top seller and find a source for it.
3. Build a website dedicated to this one product. A site that includes dynamite sales copy and wonderful content to help get you natural SE rankings.

It's that simple.

And as stated earlier in this post you could sell the product of awhile and then after you've gained some confidence you could then "tweak" it a bit and create your own product.

Michael,

Thanks for showing us the Simple Method. GREAT stuff!!!

It reminds me of Halbert and Info products...

Look at the NON-Fiction best seller list. If there is a book which is top for many weeks, then it means the Topic is HOT. So what you do is... get out half a dozen books from the library on the same topic, read them all, summarise and paraphrase the information using Your Own Words, and create your own Special Report.

For added value, Read the report onto some tapes and sell it as a Report & Audio Package Deal.

Michael Ross

And another one...

We can Thank the Search Engine Overture for this one.

1: Go to their Keyword Selector / Suggestion Tool. http://inventory.overture.com/d/sear...ry/suggestion/

2: Enter the Word / Phrase you are thinking of and click the Arrow Icon

3: Read the results to find out how many Times that word or word combo was searched on Overture.

Using the above I see Rust Repair was searched for 638 times the last Month but that there were also some different Versions of the search like Rust Repair Panel, Auto Body Rust Repair and so on.

If I then go to Overture and do a Search, on the page that comes up in the top right corner is a link "View Advertisers' Max Bids". When clicked on it Used to show how much Per Click each advertiser was spending. But just double checking it now, when Clicked a pop up tells you the service is Gone - either a glitch or truly gone.

Anyway. The Keyword Tool is one way of finding which terms are searched on more than others, in comparison to each other. Say if you have a few different terms you want to compare.

Michael Ross

Ankesh,

Thanks for mentioning the SRDS.

A few words about using them...

While it is great for finding what people bought, and thus letting you know a market Does exist, the catch is, almost always you cannot market a similar product to the same people.

E.g. You see a list of people who bought a Special Interest Video on Great Bicycle Tracks of New York. You Think, based on this knowledge, that you'll rent the list and sell them a Part 2 version of the same, or slightly different version of Family Bicycle Tracks. The Problem is, Your Product is Similar to what was sold and so the original seller will not allow you to rent their list.

E.g. 2. My Celtic Jewelry catalog will not be allowed to be mailed to a list of buyers of any jewelry - be it Mexican Jewelry, General Jewelry, Hand Crafter Jewelry and so on.

So even though the SRDS let me in on something of value I cannot market my Similar Product to the same people.

Michael Ross

Aloha Michael,

I think the Halbert method you just outlined yields consistent results. You might not hit a homerun with the product, but you almost always hit a double or triple, and move players around the bases.

I like to add a little something that I learned from J. Gordon on one of his tapes. I visit WalMart and Target, and walk down the book aisle.

Every book there is guaranteed to be a bestseller, because the vendor that brings in the product has to pay RENT for the shelf-space and guarantee a certain number of sales.

Nothing languishes -- so if I see it there time and time again, I know there is a huge demand.

Although Walmart and Target are not everywhere yet, their website have books listed. And Walmart lists their 50 top-sellers which is convenient!

A third twist to put on this is to outsource the main part of the product creation. Hiring someone in the Philippines or India is cheap, cheap, cheap!

Aloha,

Jason Cain

Thanks for this Michael...

[ E.g. You see a list of people who bought a Special Interest Video on Great Bicycle Tracks of New York. You Think, based on this knowledge, that you'll rent the list and sell them a Part 2 version of the same, or slightly different version of Family Bicycle Tracks. The Problem is, Your Product is Similar to what was sold and so the original seller will not allow you to rent their list.]

One has to be creative on this....given the above example we know that these people are probably outdoors people, believe in healthy exercise, interested in health and fitness,etc.

One creates a product around one of these areas of interest, rents the list, offers the product for free with such great copy they can't resist but only after becoming a free member of the site you have built for it.

Then once they are members of your site you add another section to the site, and then you can create your "new" product for the bicycle track list that are now your members.

C.

If my memory serves me correctly, for a given list the SRDS will tell you the number of units sold, the average price of a sale, and how the sales were generated (i.e., direct mail, TV advertising, etc.). If it were possible to research and find the actual advertising that the markerter used to get those sales, perhaps one could successfully emulate their marketing campaign. At least it seems that having that information would increase your chances of success. One could also get on the other marketer's mailing list if their campaign is still active.

Just a thought.

BTW, Michael, I thought of you when I heard this: "Guns kill people like knives spread peanut butter on bread".

---- Hugh

Ankesh,

Thanks for Touching on magazines.

Here's a couple of ways mags can be used.

Ads: You briefly mentioned this. But there is More Depth to it.

Bill Myers used Ads as a way to Figure Out if something related to the product advertised was viable. And in his case it was newsletters. That is, if he saw a consistently run ad he figured you could write a Newsletter based on the product sold.

In his case it was a Greenhouse. And so he started the Greenhouse Gardeners Journal. The idea being, the product (Greenhouses) has a following as proven by the longevity of the ads which sold them. And those who bought the product would Want Additional Information to Help them with their product. Problem solving, tips, etc.

As the subscriber base would be rather niche, then advertising could be accepted from companies who wanted to target that niche.

He ran Workshops to teach these concepts to people. All attendees started newsletters - but - as far as I know, None were able to keep one going for any length of time. Bill blamed this on Bad Topic Choice, and not his advice which was followed to come up with the topic.

His advice might have some validity for creating a single product or small product range to Ride Along with the advertised product. But being able to create a newsletter around it is more difficult - not impossible, but difficult, and your success would be more due to happenstance than good management.

Going back to the Greenhouse... A book on Making The Most Of Your Greenhouse would have been a better product to create. Less time and effort needed. And could be done using the Halbert Technique I mentioned elsewhere in the thread.

Of course, Bill's Market Identification Technique is mentioned by Jim in one of his reports - Mailorder, maybe - but with the advice to Still tread lightly. Because not all ad running means the product is selling.

Another point to be Aware of is, running ads do not tell you much about the State of the publication - Paid Subscribers, Bought Circulation not just Distributed Circulation, ad so on. Just because a publication is being published does not mean its readership is not Declining.

Articles: Generally speaking, people buy magazines for the Content and not the ads - even if they do enjoy Looking at the ads. The content (articles inside) is Often advertised on the front page by use of headers. To entice Newsstand Browsers to pick up the magazine and buy it. Because I'd imagine that the hardest thing with magazines, as with books, is getting the customer to pick up the items off the shelf in the first place. Which is why Time is spent on the Front Cover Teasers.

The idea then is, create a product based around the Main Articles within the publication - people read the publication because of the articles and are interested in those topics, so maybe they would like Additional Stuff (information or goods) on those same topics.

This is Close to the Ebay idea of...

People who are shopping on ebay for _______, might also be interested in (and be willing to pay for) Instant Information on _________.

E.g. People who are shopping on ebay for silk flowers might be interested in (and be willing to pay for) instant information on how to make a flower arrangement.

That Same Approach could be used with any Product advertised. However, this doesn't mean you have found a Good product To Sell - as this thread is leaning towards - but how to find something people might have an interest in and be willing to spend money on. They BUY the mag because of the Articles (in a sense they are buying the articles) and so it could stand to reason those readers might also be willing to buy more articles or information.

Any Examples pop into your head when you think of the Sentence above "people who are shopping on ebay for..."??

Michael Ross