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GordonJ
April 21, 2009, 09:43 PM
Have you read any good books on the subject that helped you take action?



To all interested in TOLL Positions.

TOLLS, toll booth marketing, TOLL Gates...all concepts you'll hear a lot about this coming year from a wide variety of sources...most of whom know little to nothing about real TOLL Positions, but, hey, a good marketer cashes in on the latest buzz.

There are people who are not as willing as Bob to share their TOLL adventures but I've told them all, if they do 10, they will get to a winner.

Some have had more "help" and guidance than others, but in the end, it comes down to what you are doing. There are PLENTY of products.

Use the many patent searches and patents for sale sites...look in old magazines for products that were introduced but faded away. Look locally to see if someone OWNS a product in your area.

No ONE I've conferred with has had a problem locating PRODUCTS.

The PROCESS is or can be tricky, you have to set the tables from the get go, say the wrong thing and the owner will be gone and done with you.

The ONE thing all these product owners want is DISTRIBUTION. That is the secret. BUT, even good and great products, and we've handled a few of these...may have built in disadvantages. For example a product may be bulky, and storage and shipping and handling become an issue.

It could be a very useful product, but it is too costly for eithe shelf space or for shipping and still maintain a high enough profit margin.

NOW, low cost products, like Bob has, need to have either RETAIL distribution and preferably PRIVATE LABEL ability for a market that is big enough to warrant the costs of private labeling.

What is the IDEAL product to find to try to get a TOLL POSITION on? Actually, we've encountered a few of them, but then we run into problems, and that is part and parcel of the game.

The IDEAL products are:

1) Consumables that have a market. Chemicals and formulas are great. These can be anything from Cosmetics, Household Supplies, Industrial Use products. These get used up and reordered again, again and again.

Think PROCTOR & GAMBLE...and you have the idea of a perfect consumable product. (Billy Mays has done pretty well pitching OXICLEAN, for example).

The good thing is that a small one man band can compete against P&G with a new product Directly Marketed to the Consumer. A few examples:

Supplements, skin care, weight loss foods, home cleaning products, pain relief (Blue Relief), etc.

2) High Value Specialty Products. Here you have the 2, 3 and up to 500 dollar products such as the high cost vacuum cleaners. This is a household item the consumer is going to buy ONE time, although, if it has a continuity to it (like vacuum bags, filters, disposables) then you have something to sell to people who buy the high priced specialty products. Some of the HOT ones are heaters, air conditioners, air filters, water purifiers, kitchen appliances (like SET IT AND FORGET IT). If the product has a high demonstration factor, all the better. NuWave oven as example.

There are thousands of products that have been brought to market and have been UNDER marketed. This is one of the last things the "inventor" thinks of after pumping thousand of dollars into their creative ventures, then they get the BUZZARDS and the hypsters coming in promising to distribute their products for 10 to 25,000 dollars and many inventors have been burned by these guys...making your job harder, but not impossible.

There are products that have only been sold for a short while and then are abandon. Like Bob, and others, no ONE that I know of has put any money out of their pocket for these potential TOLL Positions.

What I look for first, is a product I can write a promotion on, a direct response promotion. IF the product has the necessary mark up (think 5 times and you'll be within most of the ball parks) so if you can get it for 1 dollar and it sells for 5 dollars then you stand a chance.

The smaller items that will go into Lowes and Home Depot will be handled by manufacturer's reps or distributors, so you'll want to start looking and learning about these guys too.

There are many ways to go with a TOLL Position, but the objective is the same, once you have it set up, it pays you for decades to come. The best bet is a consumable that gets used over and over or a higher priced specialty item where a major marketing company can take it it into the stratosphere in sales and you collect a royalty for each unit sold. There are guys we've worked with that are making over 7 figures a year with their TOLL Positions and once the TOLL Booth is set up...it is beyond a doubt, (In my opinion), the very best business activity to pursue.

I don't know of anyone who has spent hundreds of hours, maybe Bob has...but even with some continuous PART TIME effort looking and beating the bushes for Stored Value, and DOING the deals...screwing up as you go along is OK...there are plenty of them out there...IF you will do 10, you will get ONE winner and be like the man with a TOLL BOOTH on a very busy highway...you'll be set for life.

I don't know of ANYONE that has done one a month this past year. If someone sets a goal to do one deal a month...or at least interact with a potential TOLL position, then there are great rewards available.

You have to talk to people. YOU need to understand AGREEMENTS, you have to look for the right potential...but anything to get started and for your education is going to be of benefit to you...and you'll learn each time you set the thing in motion.

AND, if you have either a high priced specialty product with potential, or a CONSUMABLE product you think has potential...I stand ready to assist you.

Gordon Jay Alexander

PS. I have a nice article ready for next week's SeedZine on this subject, so make sure to keep an eye out for it.


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