Being a Vendor or Affilaite? (Part 1) 2 Ex-Plumbers know the answer!
We have all heard of these stories online talking about people who have cracked it big online starting up their enterprises and making big dosh using products they either own and have the rights to or products they have made with their own hands. If these stories are true I have the utmost of admiration for people like that; as it takes a huge amount of work to not only design and make a product from scratch but also be able to market and sell the product or service you're offering. I know I'm still a part-time vendor myself. I mean, you might think the product or service is the best thing ever, but how does the market view it and also getting it out there can be a real challenge and very expensive (in a vendor sense, not in an affiliate sense - that's a completely different ball game, espeically here at WA).
There was one guy I knew in my business class in 2019 (top guy too) who was excellent with blacksmithing, welding and fabrication. Self-taught but his work was truly excellent, he made garden statues and statues for hallways and just generally amazing works of art. He enlisted expert help with all the marketing mediums including paid social media, PPC, Google Ads, you name it he did it. I'll bet he made a lot of money I hear you say....nope. Guess what he was pulling in a month? 200 to 300 bucks. Fuel, burger and chips money I call that. Honestly, I felt sorry for him. Don't get me wrong, an excellent effort to build something from scratch and his craftsmanship was superb. But over 4 years and still making barely part-time revenue; life changing, hardly...
Now let's take a look at the other end of the online spectrum. Lets go from struggle street to bold and the beautiful California. Most of us know about the dating site Plenty of Fish right? I haven't used it personally but it is owned (or at least used to be owned) by an ex-plumber of all people. Guess what his revenue was in the first 3-4 years of the site? Many, many millions of dollars (he didn't give an exact amount, not surprised, the dating niche is huge and growing by the day). The guy dosen't even give a toss about online dating (he met his wife in a bar!) and scoffed at reports on how he treats his staff, which by the way is single digits last time I checked as he's too cheap to pay too many wages, after all it might send the poor man broke.
I did some small business training (Cert IV back in 2019) that covered the basics of small business and what you need to do get something off the ground. There was another guy that one of the class participants knew of who was doing really well. Yep, another ex-plumber (what is it with these plumbers?!) He went completely and utterly left field and I mean left field, not selling tools or power equipment or Harley Davidson's, cars or anything like that as you might expect from a tradesman but wait for it......... selling women's intimate apparel! Lol. His income after about 8 months exploded to about 10k a month and growing by the day.
My reaction, honestly, I burst out laughing when my classmate told me this and I also didn't buy it for one new york second. In fact the whole class erupted with laughter. Gary, the participant in question was not too amused and said you guys can laugh but I'll show you what he's made in a month. You'll be crying instead of laughing, he said. And to my surprise he got up and wrote on the whiteboard the phone number of this guy and showed us his website and after catching up for a coffee with this actual person (I HAD to meet the man and his wife, not just the revenue the husband was making but also the highly unusual niche he picked) he proceeded to send me his sales history, which he verified with Amazon (I'm throwing out niche ideas here guys). That floored me to say the least.
Just goes to show what can happen if you think outside the square and apply a little original thought to something. I'm not suggesting going that far left unless you're comfortable; I personally would not be comfortable with that sort of niche (yes, I'm being honest!). He also did confess he had help from wifey on what to do and what not to do! But it makes the point that if you follow the affiliate marketing model and follow a well-trodden path (as these two ex-plumber dudes have) and do it well, a fortune is waiting to be claimed, totally ethical and totally legal. Kyle made a good point the other day and that is you don't have to be an expert in a particular niche but rather you can become one, great point.
And on that rather unconventional note I'll finish for the day....part 2 coming of this post and have a great and productive week. Matt
Recent Comments
5
Good information and something I hear again and again related to your friend who tried selling garden statues.
Another similar example is wood crafters/furniture makers who want to make "custom" high-end art and sell each piece for big bucks... yeah good luck with that.
There once was a little company called This End Up (still exists but NOT the same original company or people) which took the other end of the spectrum and got rich doing it.
They made what people WANTED and were willing to pay for... sturdy, simple, and affordable crate style furniture.
The point is this - nobody cares what you think (or what I think or anyone else thinks either...) they care about what THEY WANT and that determines what they are willing to pay for and what they won't.
The key (there are keys but there are no secrets...) to success is finding out what other people want, then finding SYSTEMATIC scalable ways to provide it to them for a profit.
Yet most people are too busy trying to force what they like upon other people - because they like it they think everyone else will too - and it simply doesn't work like that in real life with real people who have real money to spend.
Your example with the lingerie guy is a great example - he (and his wife) found something (a niche/nitch) that people wanted and a way to give it to them for a profit...
Great story and a great example.
Have a great day and make it count.
Best regards,
L.D. Sewell
Hi and thanks for the excellent reply. Some great points you make as well. And the end of the day its about your customer and what they need and want and the business owners interests need to run a very close parallel to that. Have a great day.
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Interesting perspective. With a limited market for the high-end customized products, it's true that the mass marketing offers higher income potential in many cases.
Great post!
Diane
Hi Diane thanks and yes thats right the market for bespoke handmade products is unfortunately very small. At the end of the day whats more important - putting food on the table or slaving away on a passion that few people are interested or can afford.
Either way, also working toward your future goals!
All the best-
Diane