discover a niche and sell it online docx

• How to discover a profitable niche • How to find suppliers for your product • How and where to sell your product • Best ways to accept payments • How to promote your products and websi

written by Jeannie Pitt

author, designer, entrepreneur Copyright © 2011 Published by Jeannie Pitt at Smashwords All rights reserved No part of this material may be sold, duplicated, distributed, used on other websites, incorporated in commercial documents or products, photocopied or used for promotional

purposes without written permission from the copyright holder.

Discover a Niche Product and Sell It Online!

You know there are ways to earn a living online, working from your living room You’ve heard the success stories and your gut says ‘I can do this!’

But after some research, you’ve found that there’s a huge learning curve and you might be left wondering if you have what it takes to make it

The answer is YES! There are so many ways to earn a living online You may never go from broke to millions overnight, but there are hundreds of thousands

of people who are earning a comfortable monthly income by selling products and information online You can easily be one of them It’s not difficult, and these days there are plenty of tools to help you along The best part… most of what you need is free!

Many of the tasks necessary for online selling can be automated so that you can spend more time doing what you love Depending on the direction you decide to take, you could set up your online store and sit back as the orders begin to

come in Others will ship your products or your online storefront will

automatically deliver your digital goods Your job can be virtually hands free All you’d need to do is collect money and make sure your customers are satisfied

Imagine hanging out at the beach for a weekend and getting paid!

All this is entirely possible and this ebook, Discover a Niche Product and Sell

It Online! will show you the way Inside, I’ll outline how to discover a niche

product, how to get it online and how to promote while gaining visitors from all over the world

I wish you the best of luck with your entrepreneurial endeavors I’ve been doing this kind of work for almost 15 years and I’ve learned a lot in that time It is my sincere hope that you will find information contained in this ebook that positively changes your current situation with finances and time Working from home can provide you with freedom and peace of mind, while adding ample financial

support for you and your family This is my wish for you

Best Regards,

Jeannie Pitt

Introduction

There are two types of entrepreneurs in the world There are people who dream

up the creative ideas and there are people who know how to implement those ideas Maybe you’re lucky and you have the skills to do both!

If you’re like the rest of us, you don’t have enough time in a day to dream, learn, implement and profit from everything you’d like to do Ideas come and go and years down the road you discover that someone else has cashed in on

something you thought of 5 years ago

The internet has changed so many things about the way we do business We buy differently and we have the opportunity to sell differently An average person with little education, few skills and minimal computer knowledge can easily earn

a comfortable living online I aim to show you several ways to accomplish this by providing the steps you’ll need to get from A to Z, plus pointing out some very helpful free and low-cost tools and resources to get you going

In this ebook we’ll cover many points I hope to provide you the information

you’ll need, from start to finish, to get you online and selling products We’ll

discuss the following:

• What is a niche product?

• How to discover a profitable niche

• How to find suppliers for your product

• How and where to sell your product

• Best ways to accept payments

• How to promote your products and website

• How to hire people, for minimal cost, to help you make all this happen

This really is an exciting subject Never before could anyone just decide to start

a business and get it going in under a week Now, this is precisely what I’d like

to show you how to do

Before We Begin

Before we begin, I’d like to point you to a few things that will be vital no matter what niche you choose to sell and how you plan to sell your products

• Sign up for Paypal

If you don’t already have a Paypal account, go and sign up now Paypal is the most popular way to accept money online and it’s safe and reliable Paypal is free to join and integrates with most of the top shopping carts They also provide simple pay and donate buttons for you to integrate into blog sites Many of the websites that allow you to sell from a personal storefront also require a Paypal account for accepting royalties and paying listing or monthly subscription fees Paypal is a popular solution and you’ll find that having an account with them is very important for your business

• Sign up for Google Adsense

Google Adsense is also vital to your online business ventures If you’ll be

choosing to sell products using your own website or blog, you’ll have the

opportunity to further monetize your pages by posting Google Adsense code This program is fairly straightforward and a crucial way to earn additional

monthly revenue If you don’t already have a Google Adsense account, go and sign up now It’s free as well

• Decide on Time vs Money

Once you have a successful website up and running, hopefully you’ll have an abundance of both time and money At this point, however, you’ve likely got more of one than the other (though probably not much more!)

If you’ve got more time than money, you might benefit from taking that time to perfect certain areas of your business You’ll need to spend time researching, learning and tinkering to get the best results There’s a bit of a learning curve with topics like keyword research, SEO and shopping cart implementation

Taking the time up front to learn about these topics will serve you well in the near future

If you’ve got a bit more money than time, I suggest you look into hiring freelance

personnel to do some of your work for you There are millions of people online who are building their reputations and will complete any work you need done for

a very reasonable price Check the resources at the end of this book for the best websites to hire a freelancer

Niche Products: What Are They and How to Find the Profitable Ones

What is a Niche?

A niche market is an area of business that’s virtually untapped or very small, specialized and profitable For example, a very small market of people might be looking for an item that’s hard to find If you can get access to that item or create

it yourself, you’re in business! It may seem counter-intuitive to market to a very small group of people, but in reality, this is exactly what you want to try to do There may be too much competition in larger markets and that means it will be harder for you to get attention to your business and products

Example: Selling iPhones vs selling Pinup Girls iPhone cases

We all know that iPhones are extremely popular You might think that getting into the business of selling iPhones would be perfect Since so many people are buying them, where could you go wrong?

The Problem

The problem comes with competition There are so many high-profile

businesses out there already selling iPhones that you’d have a very difficult time getting noticed Unless you have some tactics up your sleeve, your brand new iPhone business would likely never be discovered by the random internet

browser

On the other hand, if you decided to specialize in iPhone cases with pictures of Pinup Girls from the 30s, 40s and 50s, you’d be in a much better position to make sales There may not be nearly as many people looking for such a thing, but if you’ve specialized in this type of product, your chances of being found are much greater This results in more traffic and more sales

Specialize Your Market

Another reason offering Pinup Girls iPhone cases would be much more effective

is because it’s specialized You might have some success selling iPhone cases

in general, but customers will be more likely to find you amongst the billions of

other websites if your site specializes around one theme It could be Pinup Girls, military or insects, etc Maybe only 30 people per month search for an iPhone case with a bumblebee image, but if you’re the one selling it, you’re more likely

to bring in that sale

The example of Pinup Girl iPhone cases is purely for the purpose of

demonstrating how to succeed with a niche There are many untapped markets out there and if you haven’t yet discovered one, now is the time to start

brainstorming

Finding Niche Products

Finding niche products is not always an easy thing Much of the process takes serious thought, research and discovery If you’re new-agey, you could even meditate for answers! This may seem as far from business practice as you can get, but the truth is, if niche products and niche markets were easy to uncover, they would no longer be niches Put a lot of thought into what types of products may be sought after by a very small, niche market Think outside the box Do a mind map, try some free association writing, research keywords and pay

attention to what people are looking for online Also keep in mind that you’ll

enjoy selling products that interest you personally Start brainstorming with

products that you need or enjoy using in your own life, or centralize your

products around an idea that interests you

The Benefits of Finding Niche Products

Finding niche products to sell to a very small market gives you the opportunity to

be the ‘go to’ person or website for that particular product Especially if the

product is spendy, you have a very good chance of cornering this market and earning a great deal of money If a buyer has limited choices for making a

purchase, and your business is one of them, you’ll earn much more money than

if you’re selling the same products that can be found in any Wal-mart Selling blenders won’t get you much attention or profit, but selling products that can help a left-handed golfer better his game might be the ticket!

Ideas for Niche Products

Finding ideas for niche products can be done with keyword research, market research or good old-fashioned gut feelings If you’re lucky, you’ll find the most profitable niche products and market right off the bat, but generally this won’t be the case It will take time and persistence to discover products that will earn you

substantial profit You may even need to discover a few niche markets to bring in the big bucks The successful Internet marketers always say, ‘Find something that works and duplicate it.’

And speaking of the big boys, Mark Ling of Affilorama offers some amazing tools

to help you with keyword and market research In fact, you’ll gain tons of

knowledge and information by checking out his free tools and browsing the free forum This is an invaluable resource if you’re looking for ideas for a profitable niche

Some Examples of Niche Products

The left-handed golfer scenario is used by many Internet marketers as the

example for niche products and niche market There are thousands of niche products waiting to be discovered and offered by you to your customers Here are some examples:

• Plus Size Shoes – maybe even girl shoes for boys??

• Plus Size Maternity Clothes – maternity clothes that are fashionable are hard to find!

• Military Items – all kinds of possibilities here for selling to collectors and veterans

• Antique items – you can find many niche products in the antique market

• Organic and Holistic items – this market is growing fast, but many areas are still virtually untapped (this is where meditation comes in!!)

Finding Suppliers for Your Niche Products

Finding niche products that are readily available might prove to be challenging, but it may not be the hardest part when trying to set up a successful online

business Once you’ve dreamed up, located and discovered a product that you think will make a great niche, you need to be sure that product is readily

available Here are 5 ways to find niche products that are always readily

available for your customers

Make, Craft or Manufacture Niche Products Yourself

If you’re handy, crafty, artistic or creative, you can create your own products for your niche market, and there are a number of ways to sell your own products, too We’ll discuss those in the next chapter

Use your natural born talents to draw, paint, sculpt or arrange something that could catch the eye of your visitors Are you good at graphic design? You could supply your customers with logos or custom Wordpress themes Are you

amazing at wood carving, knitting or mosaic art? Think of everything you’re good

at and see if your skills may have value to others

Craigslist, Thrift Stores and Antique Malls for Niche Products

If your niche products are vintage or collectible, you could make it a habit to begin searching your local thrift stores, antique malls and garage sales

Craigslist also has lots of collectible items at reasonable prices You might even follow suit from the television show Storage Wars and score big from buying abandoned storage units

Vintage items are often highly collectible, since production of these items has usually been discontinued Old dolls, metal cars, sports cards and antique

glassware are a few areas that come to mind

Research online to discover the value and popularity of items that you regularly see A nice profit can be made by reselling older, gently used items Many

people will also buy brand name clothing that is in good condition or rare record albums by once popular artists The possibilities really are endless

Join a Dropshipping Service With Access to Niche Products

Dropshipping services provide you with access to suppliers around the world who offer a huge selection of niche products No matter if you’re looking for

certain types of electronics, clothing for babies or pets, fancy shoelaces or

custom iPhone cases, there are a number of dropshipping services that can get you instant access to sell these products online Compare dropshipping services like Salehoo, Doba and Worldwide Brands to start you off A review of these three dropshipping services will be discussed in the next section

Contact Manufacturers of Niche Products

You have the option of doing a little more of the dirty work and making direct contact with manufacturers of the niche products you’re interested in selling In this case, you’d locate the type of product you’d like to sell and contact the

company that makes it Discuss options with them for you to purchase bulk

quantities and store in your own space, like a warehouse or storage unit, or ask about dropshipping options Often companies will entertain the idea of you

becoming a reseller for their products, but success with this will depend on a number of things

Open an Online Consignment Shop for Niche Products

If you’re neither creative, nor business savvy, all is not lost Design your website

to allow other people who already sell certain niche products to list their items

on your site People who design their own craft items or artistic projects are always on the lookout for new avenues to get their names and brands in front of the public You could specify the types of niche products you’re looking for and get the word out for others to supply your store Offer them a commission or royalties on sales and you’ll be good to go

What is Dropshipping?

You’ve heard the success stories and you’ve heard about the scams You

understand that in order to make serious money online, you need a product; something to sell It’s not always easy to find wholesale products to offer to your customers and that’s where dropshipping comes in

When you decide to use a dropshipping service, you’ll act as the middleman between the company offering wholesale goods and the customer looking to buy those goods For this service, you’ll get to keep the profit or markup on each item

Not only do dropshippers offer millions of products at wholesale prices, but they also agree to ship the products directly to your customers Your customers will place orders through your website or mailing list or on your eBay store or

auctions and you’ll collect the payment This payment will include any markup that you and your customers deem worthy You’ll then place the order through your dropshipper for the wholesale cost The drop shipper sends the order

directly to the customer

The benefits to you when using dropshipping wholesale suppliers are endless:

1 No inventory – you won’t need to store products in a large warehouse, storage facility or your own living room!

2 Savings – you’ll likely get better shipping rates than if you toted packages

to your local post office, plus you won’t need to hire employees to fill all those orders!

3. Millions of products – many drop shippers have access to millions of

products in hundreds of categories This means you get to choose which products to sell and you can probably find a dropshipping service that offers just about anything your customers are looking for

4. No minimum quantity orders – generally, dropship suppliers understand your need for ordering products in small quantities, since this is the whole purpose of the industry You can place orders for 1 product at a time,

shipped directly to your customers No minimum quantity orders of

hundreds or thousands of the same product

5. Online access – you’ll be able to access your accounts 24/7 via the

internet Keep up with order tracking, fulfillment, inventory control and payments right online

6. Wholesale pricing – find competitive wholesale rates on millions of

products Keep the profit when you offer products to your customers at retail price

Using a dropshipping wholesale supplier can bring you positive cash-flow while saving you money in other areas of your business With the ease today of

setting up a website (no technical skills required) you can have an online

business in minutes, without the hassle of inventory on hand Earn significant monthly income with dropshipping

Now that you understand a little more about what dropshipping is, you can begin

to research which dropshipping suppliers are right for you The next three

sections describe three of the top dropshipping services available now

Salehoo

Salehoo is an online directory of suppliers and wholesalers that dropship

products in every category imaginable Salehoo provides a community of over 75,000 members who participate in forum discussions and offer advice to you as

an online supplier of dropshipped goods

Benefits of Dropshipping with Salehoo

You can benefit from using the Salehoo dropship directory if you are:

• an eBay seller

• an online storefront owner

• a website owner

• an online trader

• a traditional retailer

• a flea market vendor

• a work at home mom or dad

What You’ll Get From Salehoo

One major benefit of selecting Salehoo as your direct link to dropshipping

wholesalers and services is that the website not only provides access to

thousands of dropshipping suppliers, but it also gives you access to many, many tools for education and training Here is what you’ll get for joining Salehoo:

• Access to a wholesale directory with over 8,000 verified suppliers in more than 100 different countries

• Business education and training, including business setup, wholesale product sourcing and eBay selling

• Software for market research to analyze eBay niches

• A forum where you can learn about the business and discuss dropshipping topics with over 75,000 members

• Comprehensive review system for helping you to avoid dropshipping

scams and shady wholesale suppliers

Benefits of Doba Dropshipping Membership

You can signup for Doba Dropshipping with a free trial and benefits of joining Doba include the following:

• Access to more than 1 million products from a single website

• Search suppliers and wholesale products by keyword, category, supplier, brand and price

• Order placement and tracking within a single system

• Watch lists available to keep track of products you are interested in selling

• Automated sales tools with popular sales and social sites like Facebook, eBay and ProStores

• Inventory alerts for notification when certain dropshippers are running low

on products you are selling

• Access to Doba Deals

• Access to research tools and monthly educational reports

• eCommerce training

• Scam and fraud protection

• Lowest drop ship price guarantee

• Advanced features such as an API for integration into your shopping cart software

Doba’s Free Trial Information

Doba allows you to review their system, website and dropshipping partners with

a risk-free 14-day free trial Get instant access to more than 300 suppliers, more than 8,000 brands and over 1.5 million products Try out the product search and order tracking system to see if it fits with your business ideals Access an entire library of free tour libraries and learn about Doba, the dropshipping industry and wholesale supplier business Check out how Doba came to be one of the first eBay Certified Service Providers and contact the customer service team with any questions you may have

Worldwide Brands

Worldwide Brands is a dropshipping directory that provides direct access to over

8 million wholesale products, but that’s not all Not only do they provide detailed information on their company, the philosophy and their top team employees, Wholesale Brands also provides a plethora of dropshipping and wholesale

product sourcing education, tips, articles and research tools If you’re looking to get into dropshipping for your company or business, there is a wealth of training and information provided on the site

Benefits of Worldwide Brands Dropshipping Membership

Get a free preview of the Worldwide Brands directory and review for yourself the following benefits:

• Direct access to over 8 million wholesale products

• Access to dropshippers, as well as import and liquidation products

• Instant market and product research

• Business reports and resources

• 19 different video courses to jumpstart your business with dropshipping

• 19 workbooks to assist you in learning the best ways to conduct your eBay

or website sales business

• Videos teaching you the most effective ways to sell on eBay, Amazon and Yahoo

• Advanced product sourcing research

• The Whole Sale Profits forum, allowing you to converse with other

members who can answer questions, give advice and steer you clear of scams and fraud

Worldwide Brands Free Preview Information

Worldwide brands offers a free preview of their internal system Here you can conduct wholesale product searches, see updates and company

announcements and get access to thousands of hours of video tutorials and article resources Get help deciding what to sell, starting an online store, buying

a domain, securing the right web hosting, search engine optimization for your site, safety and scam prevention, eBay and other auction resources, legal

resources and more

Where and How to Sell Your Niche Products

So you’ve decided on the product and you’ve found the perfect supplier or

dropshipper that can fulfill all your needs Now you’ll want to figure out the best way to sell this product You have several options:

• Create a profile and use online tools to design and sell products

• Open a storefront on an existing website

• Start your own website

There are advantages and disadvantages to each one of these options First let’s discuss how to create a profile on an existing website and use online tools

to create your own products

Create Your Own Products Online

There are several online sites that offer tools to design and create your own products and sell them for a royalty These websites generally provide you with

a personal profile page to promote and all the tools necessary to make money with your creative and artistic abilities If you’re planning to make your own products, one or all of these websites may provide you with a perfect outlet for earning money online

Zazzle is a platform for the creation and sale of quality custom products

Individuals, professional artists, and even major brands, like Disney and Star Wars, use the Zazzle technology to create and offer billions of unique products for customers worldwide Zazzle's product base includes t-shirts, business

cards, invitations, shoes, iPhone cases, jewelry and so much more

Using the easy online tools, you can use your own photos and designs to create products that are instantly and accurately visualized on the site and offered in the Zazzle marketplace When ordered, each product is made on-demand, typically within 24 hours

Take a look at the Zazzle Marketplace and you will find a zillion products for sale, and the option to create a zillion more! If you are a professional artist, or amateur designer, or even just someone 13 or older who has a super funny saying for a bumper sticker, this is your site!

It's really easy to create a free account, upload images or create text to display

on one of hundreds of products that Zazzle offers Make money online by

promoting these products with Zazzle's promotion tools such as URL, referral links, embedded flash windows, code for blogs and even an integrated online store for your own website

With their extensive help system, and Zazzle University, if you're serious about making money online, you'll be able to pull it off with the help of the Zazzle site You can earn royalties off your own products, plus commissions on referrals to yours and others' products Get creative, download free graphic design

software, or start writing down snippets of humor Create postage from royalty free images, photos from your own collection or sell other people's creations for

a commission

Click here to check out Zazzle

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