 by: Mal Keenan | Copyright 2005 Mal Keenan
Every business need products or services to sell and without these you DO NOT have a businesss. Makes sense, right?
If you are thinking of starting an online business you need to decide whether you want to sell your own products or whether you want to do as I do and sell other peoples' for commissions.
I have been making a full-time income from home as an Affiliate Marketer since 2004. I sell other people products and services.
If you are new to online marketing you may not believe it is possible to sell without ones own products. I was convinced when the company checks started rolling in.
Let us first look at some ideas for creating your own product.
Discovering what people need and want is tantamount to finding a lucrative market for your work at home business. There are three things you should look for in determining the profitability of a particular market:
1. How great is the demand? 2. How scarce is the supply? Or restated, how much competition will you encounter? 3. Will you be able to provide for this demand?
If the answer to all the three considerations above are favorable, then you have for yourself a good market that your online home business can cater to.
Of course, there are some tricks and tactics that you could use to find ideal markets. Here are some of them:
* Go to www.inventory.overture.com or www.nichebot.com and type in the type of business you wish to pursue. The results will show how many searches were made, direct or related, for that particular subject over the past few weeks.
* Make a search for the same business type in any of the search engines. These results will show how abundant or scarce your competition will be.
* From time to time, there are special reports that are published which enumerate hot niches waiting to be exploited. Niches, of course, are highly specialized markets that most businesses tend to overlook.
Once you find a market, it's time to come up with a product. Information products, ie. E-books, are the most ideal for your online home business. They can be digitally delivered, and they don't require physical space for stocking.
There are four popular ways by which you could come up with an information product for your online home business:
* You could create these products yourself. Maybe you are an expert in a certain area? Could you write a special report? Don't forget to check out if there is a demand for the info as outlined above.
* You could hire someone to create them for you. Elance.com is a favourite for online marketers to have products created and I have used them on quite a few occasions myself.
* You could use existing products that have been created by others, through the purchase of their resale rights.
Mike Hill is an expert on using Public Domain Works for this purpose. You can check out his site here: http://www.malkeenan.com/offers/publicdomainworks.html
Then there is Affiliate Marketing.....
You can join affiliate programs in 1000s of different markets in almost any topic imaginable and choose to pre-sell any of the products they have to offer. As mentioned above this is my preferred method.
When choosing affiliate products you want something of quality which also offers high commissions. Most quality affiliate programs will also offer tools in the form of graphics and pre-written ad copy to help you make your money.
Some affiliate programs will offer 75% commission to you for selling their service online. I would be looking for at least 50%, especially for low priced products like e-books.
For high priced items, marketing seminars, marketing course etc. I would expect 30-50%.
The benefits of selling affiliate products is that you don't have to worry about payment processors nor product support, which can be a nightmare.
Selling affiliate products frees up a lot of my time. The way I see it, there is no point working at home unless it allows me more freedom to do the things I like to do.
Whether you choose your own product or to go the affiliate route there is a lot of money to be made, IF you do the right things.
I am here to make your decision easier and give you whatever help and advice I can to enable you to proceed.
Contact me anytime for ideas and advice.
I genuinely want to help.
About the author:
Mal Keenan is publisher of Home Business Tips newsletter:http://www.home-business-tips-newsletter.comCheck out his work at home opportunities website:http://www.workathomebiz.info/
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