Which Path to Choose — or do I Choose Both?

byKLThayer

596 followers

1 year ago

I would like to share with you something I'm working on in my home business and niche, and then ask for some advice on my options moving forward.

A Little Background Information First

I'll try to be brief, as there's a lot to explain, but some background information is necessary to understand my situation, and the ultimate question I wish to pose.

My niche is screen printing from home, and I've written and posted a review on a screen printing machine which I've used for years in my own shop, and is a product I want to endorse, even though the machine is no longer being manufactured.

These machines are still being used by many people like myself, at least I believe they are, and they are still readily available for sale on eBay and other second-hand or classifieds-type websites.

As part of my WA training and my ultimate goals, I have become an affiliate for eBay, and I have a link to eBay where these machines are still available, however; this is not my primary, or only affiliate campaign, just one I believe still has an existing market.

The machine is a great product for home screen printers. However, due to faulty and expensive accessories that accompanied the machines and were sold by the manufacturer, sales for the machines ultimately plummeted, and the company ceased manufacturing them.

Nevertheless, there was a huge following of users, like myself, who found the machines worked great if used with certain aftermarket accessories that had become available through other, resourceful suppliers.

These aftermarket accessories included things like better quality ink and emulsion options, better squeegees, etc.

However, the most important aftermarket accessory was a more sturdy and reliable framed mesh screen designed specifically to fit these machines.

For years, I had known about the supplier who offered these specific aftermarket screens, and I had purchased and used several of them for my own operation. Likewise, I was very pleased with the results I'd achieved in using them over the years.

Additionally, I had also discovered many years ago that this company had an affiliate program available that I could join.

Even back then, I'd learned and experienced enough to know that affiliate marketing was the avenue I ultimately wanted to pursue, I just hadn't found the right platform and program at that point for doing so.

I ultimately intended to join their affiliate program and offer these aftermarket products - in particular the mesh screens - as an affiliate in my niche, once I'd learned how to be an affiliate marketer.

Turning Road Blocks Into Stepping Stones... Hopefully

Now we come to the point where I had joined WA and had learned how to, and successfully built my screen printing from home niche website.

After several other initial posts on my site, I finally wrote a lengthy and informative review for this particular machine and posted it on my site.

As I was going through my article setting up my affiliate links, etc., I discovered that the company I'd planned on becoming an affiliate for to sell the aftermarket products, not only doesn't sell the screens anymore, but they no longer have an affiliate program, either!

This discovery threw a major wrench in the works which I'd been planning for so long.

I was momentarily discouraged and considered abandoning this particular marketing campaign because those screens are an integral part of the proper functionality of these machines.

This is the point where my entrepreneur spirit and my subconscious desires began to coordinate in my mind, and an idea began to formulate.

After conducting extensive research to ensure that these aftermarket screens were not available from some other supplier and concluding that they were not, I began to consider the idea of manufacturing them in my own company!

I had used them for years, I had even built my own machine for stretching and replacing the mesh screen on the frames once it had been used too many times and needed replacement. (This is a common problem with screen printing screens as a whole, not something related to these particular screens.)

Because of my own experiences, I knew how to manufacture these screens myself, if I had a supplier for the metal frames I would need to produce them, but I had no idea how, or where to go about having them made for me.

Nevertheless, I boldly faced my fears, began to do some research on local metal working companies and asking if they could produce what I was looking for.

After finding a company that claimed they could produce the frames I desired, I had them figure an estimate for a specified number of frames using a material I believed to be adequate for the purpose.

After obtaining the estimate and doing the math to determine profitability, I went out on a limb and purchased a bunch of them, (under 50) and the equipment I would need to professionally attach the mesh myself, with the intention of marketing them as a product produced by my own company!

Where I am at Currently

At this time, I have successfully made a few screens using the new frames, and I have conducted adequate testing for quality control to ensure the product will endure and not have problems for those who purchase it.

I've also signed up to be not only an affiliate for Amazon, but a seller on Amazon as well.

In addition to these newly-produced screens, I have my line of humorous t-shirts which I recently realized I could be marketing, and profiting from, as well as better establishing my personal brand, by selling my products on Amazon, versus waiting to create my own website and building traffic to that site and selling my products in that manner.

The problem I face now is, while I've become both an affiliate and seller for Amazon, there's a LOT I still need to learn and I've barely begun to scratch the surface, so to speak. With my current responsibilities and obligations, selling on Amazon is going to take some time for me to learn and get everything set up.

On the other hand, I've been a seller on eBay for years, and I know full-well how to set up a campaign there, which won't require the learning curve that Amazon is obviously going to require.

This Brings me to my Question...

Should I just get started selling my aftermarket screens on eBay, and begin producing the much-needed profit to repay my investments in this campaign, or should I wait until I have learned how to sell on Amazon, and go that route?

Or should I do both?

For example, I have wondered if it would perhaps diminish the perceived quality of my product if it were being sold on a primarily "second-hand" site like eBay as opposed to being sold on Amazon?

And then there's the traffic aspect to consider, where Amazon, (I believe) would mean exposure to a much larger audience.

I have not yet posted my product on either site, as I'm awaiting some additional materials to produce more of them.

Nevertheless, I've been pondering these, and other related issues, and wanted to ask my Mastermind Group, (the WA community) for their input and advice on the matter.

I would like to get any advice, comments, wisdom, experience, etc. that the community is willing to share with me in this regard.

Thank you,

Kevin