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A scenario for a 30 Day Challege type situation..

by Jeremy James
8 replies
Hey guys,

I have been doing the 30DC, but, am at the point of maybe having to choose another niche to get into. I am not really getting the traffic that I thought that I would, but, will probably continue this niche to see if maybe it gets better as the summer gets here, as it is a very specific, even time related, niche.

Anyway, on this new niche I am thinking about, I have a few questions. This new niche is in the arena of engraved bluetooth widgets (as an example.) It is actually a physical product that I want to create and market, and was hoping to use IM to help sell it. Anyway, in the 30DC, Ed suggests creating a link to Amazon or some other site to generate residual commission, to test the market, so to speak.

However, I was thinking instead of doing that, linking it to another website with my engraved bluetooth widgets, and selling those. How successful do you think that would be?

Also, is there a way to create a good looking website, that I could feature my bluetooth widgets on, as a market place, to sell? How would I set up ways for people to pay? Would I need a separate blog website, or could I do it all in one site?

Thanks.
#challege #day #scenario #situation #type
  • Profile picture of the author BradCarroll
    Why not try them both? It'll take a little extra effort but might be worth it.

    If you can only do one, the Amazon route is probably the safest. Amazon is big enough, and has been around long enough, to gain trust. More people are likely to feel secure buying from there than from www.yournamehere.com .

    On the other hand, if you can find enough niche demand for the engraving thing, you may hit the pot of gold. But you need to make sure there's a market for it before you set that up.

    WordPress is about the easiest way to set up a good-looking website. And yes, you can turn a WP site into an online store. This was ranked #1 for the term "Wordpress shopping cart":

    WordPress Shopping Cart: Fully Functional Market Theme

    I'm sure you can find more by searching for the same and similar key phrases.

    Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeremy James
    Oh yeah, I knew I forgot something.

    1. There really isn't a much product out there listed on Amazon now...

    and..if there were..

    2. Why would I want to advertise for competition to test the market, and then suddenly switch to me?
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeremy James
    Oh yeah, I knew I forgot something.

    1. There really isn't a much product out there listed on Amazon now...

    and..if there were..

    2. Why would I want to advertise for competition to test the market, and then suddenly switch to me?
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  • Profile picture of the author terrapurus
    Sounds like you are putting the cart before the horse ... ie talking about the product when you should be talking about the market research. What do the figures say? How many people are searching for what you want to offer?

    "Oh yeah, I knew I forgot something.

    1. There really isn't a much product out there listed on Amazon now..."

    Hmmm ... do you think it is good or bad that you dont have established competitors?
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeremy James
      Originally Posted by terrapurus View Post

      Sounds like you are putting the cart before the horse ... ie talking about the product when you should be talking about the market research. What do the figures say? How many people are searching for what you want to offer?

      "Oh yeah, I knew I forgot something.

      1. There really isn't a much product out there listed on Amazon now..."

      Hmmm ... do you think it is good or bad that you dont have established competitors?
      Well, I think that this is an established niche, but, it's kind of a personalized art form, and I don't think someone has capitalized on this EXACT niche wording. In other words, let's say my example is "engraved bluetooth widgets." There are plenty of searches for it, but, nothing devoted to that EXACT phrase. However, "personalized bluetooth widgets" is incredibly well marketed.

      There is a market, but, just my wording hasn't been used, or capitalized on, yet.

      Also, and I am just wondering aloud here, but, because this is a PERSONALIZED art form, I don't think that Amazon would be a good place to list it, because, it's more of a service related product, rather than just a product.

      Get my drift?

      Thanks.

      Jeremy
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  • Profile picture of the author terrapurus
    I get you now Jeremy. If you can taked a popular niche and create a new segment by personalising it, then sounds like a good plan to me.

    I dont have the pdf transcrits in front of me, but Ed did talk about how to apply these techniques to an existing business and it bypasses the Amazon testing phase. That is used to simply test an idea before going and spending weeks or months creating a product no one wants. If you already have the product, then some keyword research and then creating content would be the way to go. You could create video of you creating the product if you are the artist (or know the artist) if each item is personalised (ie creates some preownership and gives a concept of quality by watching it get made).

    Another idea - instead of doing the Amazon market test, could you put up an Ask campaign and gauge the market that way. What do they want. What is 80% of the market willing to pay?

    If you are using market samuri, go check out the vids the boys have been loading up lately. Some great market research ideas there.

    As for setting up an online store ... not my thing. So why not see what you competitors are doing. I would even set up a separate question in the warrior forum on this.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeremy James
      Originally Posted by terrapurus View Post

      I get you now Jeremy. If you can taked a popular niche and create a new segment by personalising it, then sounds like a good plan to me.

      I dont have the pdf transcrits in front of me, but Ed did talk about how to apply these techniques to an existing business and it bypasses the Amazon testing phase. That is used to simply test an idea before going and spending weeks or months creating a product no one wants. If you already have the product, then some keyword research and then creating content would be the way to go. You could create video of you creating the product if you are the artist (or know the artist) if each item is personalised (ie creates some preownership and gives a concept of quality by watching it get made).

      Another idea - instead of doing the Amazon market test, could you put up an Ask campaign and gauge the market that way. What do they want. What is 80% of the market willing to pay?

      If you are using market samuri, go check out the vids the boys have been loading up lately. Some great market research ideas there.

      As for setting up an online store ... not my thing. So why not see what you competitors are doing. I would even set up a separate question in the warrior forum on this.
      Hey, what is an "Ask campaign," and how do you run one?
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  • Profile picture of the author terrapurus
    By an ask campaign I meant literally ask people what they want. A lot of warrior members might screw up their noses of running a survey, but my 15 years of professional offline marketing experience tells me actually talking to your customers can be a powerful strategy. Try surveymonkey. Put up some questions about what you are thinking of doing and point some PPC traffic at it. You might need 30 or 40 responses and you might need a bonus as an incentive to get a reply from them. At worst you might lose $50-$100 on market research and no one replies. At best you may get some direction on your niche which looks very difficult to guage (as it is untapped).

    Of course you could try the ready, fire, aim philosphy and put the site up with no market research. There is a fair argument for putting in that $50-100 on PPC and see what real world testing does too. If you have one product (or can easily create one) in yoru hand right now, I would go with door number 2. If creating the product before testing involves a bit of investment (ie bulk orders etc) then door number 1.

    Just thinking out loud. Other opinions from other warrior members on how Jeremy can test his market are certainly welcome.
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