If you have at least average marketing skills, and are looking for a product to sell, but just don't know where to look and don't have a lot of money to buy the resale rights to any products you've seen, then listen to this: One thing I like to do during "down times" -- when things get slow around the office and I have some extra time on my hands -- is browse through ebay. I like to type in words like "seminar" or "business for sale" and I like to see what's available. Why do I do this? Because more often than not, by doing this I come across ebay sellers who are selling a great product or business or something like that, but their marketing basically sucks. They have no idea what they are doing. There is this huge market but these sellers are doing a terrible job selling their stuff to them. And so, I like to make joint ventures with ebay sellers and secure the rights to sell their stuff. For example, I found a guy selling a patented invention he made. He had a nice little business going with it but wanted to sell it. Just didn't have the time to babysit it anymore. So I emailed him, we then agreed to talk on the phone and I asked if he'd give me 6 months to try to sell it on my own. And so I got the instant rights to sell his invention without paying any license or resale rights fees. My point? This is a very simple, and very effective "instant business" model anyone with even a speck of marketing and/or copywriting skill can use to make money. If you are looking for something to sell, go to ebay, find big ticket items that should be selling but aren't, make a deal with the owner, and try to sell it yourself cheap on ebay for five or ten dollars, or even offline via direct mail if you want. Today, there is simply no excuse not to have a product to sell. And this simple ebay idea is proof of it. |
