What Can I Sell?

Q. I'm just starting to think about an online business. I don't have any products. I've read that infoproducts are a cheap way to make some money but I don't even really know what I would write about. I just know that I'm tired of making someone else's dream come true at the cost of my own. What can I sell so I can get started?

This question was asked recently at a marketing seminar I attended. It's a great question. What can I sell when I don't have any products of my own? The answer - someone else's products! How is this possible? There are a couple of different methods.

My particular favorite is called "affiliate marketing." In affiliate marketing, you sell a product for someone else and receive a commission for everything you sell. Most of these programs are free to join and many even provide you with a website to help you market. I happen to be an affiliate marketer myself for several programs. They each bring me a nice little sum of money every month. Take a look at my sites, and you'll see what I mean. I'm an affiliate for Site Build It! (http://buildit.sitesell.com/wealthtogether.html). I'm also an affiliate for Magnetic Sponsoring http://mwhiteley.magneticsponsoringonline.com/. And in addition to being one of his biggest fans, I'm also an affiliate for all of Derek Gehl's products http://www.internetmarketing.com/2009-goals/1155.

If you're interested in exploring affiliate marketing further, there are several resources available to match you up with tons of affiliate programs. I use (and I'm an affiliate for) Affiliate Showcase run by my friend Ken McArthur http://www.AffiliateShowcase.com/?46035. Ken has put together a site where you can access hundreds of programs that will pay you commissions of 50% or more.

Another great source of products is Clickbank (http://www.clickbank.com/). Some other sites you may want to look at as well are:

http://www.cj.com/

http://www.linkshare.com/

Another source of products that is different from affiliate marketing is called drop shipping. In drop shipping, the products you sell are maintained by the source company. When you make a sale, you provide the customer's order information to the drop shipper and they ship the product directly for you. Your profit is the difference between the cost of the product from the wholesaler and your selling price. As with anything, there are pros and cons and scams involved with drop shipping. I personally have never tried it. But there is a great article that explains it in detail at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop_shipping. And one of the best known and most highly recommended drop shippers is Doba (www.Doba.com). Their website has some great information on how drop shipping works as well.

If you have any type of graphic work available to you, there is another source of products for you. CafePress is a virtual storefront that actually provides part of the product for you. They have a wide variety of apparel, housewares, gift items and other merchandise. All you do is add your own graphic design and you have an instant product. I use CafePress for the "Travels with Bob" products. Check it out at www.cafepress.com/travelwithbob.

Whichever route you decide to take to finding your products, make sure you research the company thoroughly to be sure their products will meet your customers' standards. You want to do business with a company that is reliable and guarantees their products. Of course the best thing to sell is your own product. Use these other options to help you build an online presence and some marketing skill while you develop a product that uniquely yours.

What Can I Sell?

My daughter has FINALLY seen the benefits of having her own internet business. So she has decided to start a couple of her own. She went through the steps listed in my last post and came up with two areas she is absolutely passionate about - crafts and photography. She decided to use blogs as her way of creating a space on the internet since she can't afford a web designer and she doesn't think she knows how to do it herself. Then she emails me: "Mom, until I decide what type of product or service I am going to create of my own, where can I find some of those affiliate products you are always talking about?"

Good question! Where DO you find affiliate programs that are in your market niche? I have some recommendations. First, check out Affiliate Showcase, run by my friend Ken McArthur http://www.AffiliateShowcase.com/?46035. Ken has put together a site where you can access hundreds of programs that will pay you commissions of 50% or more. You can even be an affiliate for Affiliate Showcase (I am!). I did some research for my daughter and found 10 good products here that she can promote.

Another great source of products is Clickbank (http://www.clickbank.com/). Checking here, I found another 29 products she could promote.

Some other sites you may want to look at as well are:
http://www.cj.com/

http://www.linkshare.com/

Each of these had additional products in her areas of interest. So I'm going to email her back and tell her to check out each of these sights for ideas. I'm sure she'll get right back to me with another question - how does she know which affiliate programs are best. On Affiliate Showcase, Ken has actually ranked and recommended programs. But with Clickbank and the others it's not quite so easy. But there is a way - and that's a post for another day!

One last thing - one that is very important to me. I just found out about this event where millions of people around the world are joining together to make a statement about climate change by turning their lights off for an hour. It's called Earth Hour and I just signed-up to participate-I thought it might be something you'd want to sign up for too. Earth Hour is on March 29 from 8 - 9 p.m. local time, and it looks like it's going to be really big. So far 25 cities around the world are taking part, including Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco in the U.S.Sign up for Earth Hour by visiting www.earthhour.org/sign-up and join the movement with me. And remember - Lights Out on March 29!