Sell Underwear....

I agree with you whole-heartedly. I've been working online for 3 years, and whenever I meet a businessperson, I can't help but feel like I've wasted all that time for nothing. In a much shorter amount of time, they've grown their company into a big, reputable one, and here I am trying to sell e-books for $7 each

You are quite right Mike. Well thought out comments and for those who can do it that is where the real money is. Of course in Australia we also have the mining industry paying big bucks.

in my humble but semi-educated opinion...the internet, the real world, this country, or another...everyone always thinks the grass is greener on the other side. The truth is, you can make as much money as you'd like anywhere, as long as you have a detailed plan on how to do it, and implement it. Again, just my opinon.

If you don't want to immediately buy up boxes of underwear at wholesale, you can do the next best thing: help local underwear sellers make more money: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...-its-free.html

Why so? What about Google and Youtube?

Also, there is still competition offline, and info products aren't the only way to make money online.

Offline, you can be constricted by your overheads and location. Online, I have a business which is at work 24/7 with customers in all parts of the world. Many offline businesses are looking to websites for extra cash.

I think it isn't all black and white. True riches come from a sound plan that takes in to account both offline and online avenues.

Cheers,

Hamish

thats awesome

Amazing post, and it's so true.

I think a lot of people are forgetting that there is a limit to how much money you can make through IM.

Where as in the offline world the sky's the limit...to be ultra successful you need to love what you do in the offline world and be smart and market it well in the online world.

Just my thoughts...
Zach

I'm not wearing any underwear. LOL

Good post. I mentioned in another post that physical products and offline deals usually have a much higher retention rate and produce more dependable income.

You can apply the same skills you use to compete with thousands of affiliates promoting "FatLoss4Idiots" and make a killing with real products.

Two of my favorite Internet businesses are blacksocks.com and whitesocks.com

That's all they sell - and they sell millions.

I think Black Socks was the first, and I believe they have also recently added one new product to their line - but both of these sites and businesses show the power of being focussed!

I'm sure there are zillions of other similar sites out there like this, but it was a news story about a year ago that caught my attention about the black socks website.

As quoted from the Black Socks website: BLACKSOCKS has acquired 40,000 customers worldwide - 40,000 people who live a life free of sock stress.

My goal has always been to build up my product list both physical and digital thanks to the help of online companies such as lulu.com, urbanload.com, cafepress.com, and other similar companies. Once I have things selling pretty good online, I will use the money made to buy in bulk of my produts at wholesale prices and sell in my brick and mortar store(or local stores who will promote products for me).
It all takes time and patience as well as some good concrete marketing. But having a plan to incorporate both online and offline has helped me stay focused.

I forgot to mention in my previous post that I discovered the works of Harvey Brody a while back, and have gained extremely valuable, and highly profitable information by reading some of his works. (Recently an out-of-print book by him sold for over $1000 on eBay.)

Harvey expounds on his theory of finding a profitable "Toll Position" product to build your financial empire around. And yes, underwear can be that product if you work it according to Harvey's techniques.

I've uploaded a Harvey Brody document with public distribution rights. if anyone would like to read it go to:

http://shoprenfrewcounty.com/harveyb...llposition.pdf

Oops - I had the wrong url - just corrected it now and will retry the link. Seems to be working now - download pdf ile size is 84Kb

lol what a funny thing to sell =x

Mike,

I've made serious money from both offline and online businesses.

Even though my current venture really combines both, I'm going to boldly play devil's advocate with you on this and see where the discussion goes.

In theory your argument holds up very well. In practice however I just don't see it. The individual who is able to make millions as a supplier to the shoe store is the exception, not the rule. As I see it they are the .001% club.

Here's the reality about selling physical goods offline, particularly staple type goods like the ones you mentioned.

1) There are MANY stores and companies constantly trying to sell staple goods. This makes competition high and thus drives prices (and as a result, profit margins) down.

Online - in my experience it's WAY easier to sell to the smaller customer base who actively buys online products (particularly information products). Sure there are less customers of online products, but they are rabid and they buy consistently. Not to mention that online buyers are growing in number by leaps and bounds.

2) The ability to maintain effective positioning offline is much harder in my experience. This is mainly because the number of companies competing offline is much more massive compared to online.

Yes in theory there are many more available customers offline, this is true. However the ability to get yourself seen by those customers, let alone gain their patronage, is extremely difficult in most cases.

Online - I've found that creating effective positioning is easier because online media are 1) cheaper and 2) easier to access and manage than offline media.

That doesn't mean online and offline media can't be used in combination. But when comparing the two as an either/or scenario offline doesn't hold a candle to online - again, in my personal experience.

3) To create and maintain effective positioning, offline businesses usually require much higher overhead costs. This could be retail space, signage, inventory, whatever it might be.

Online - if I've had one major problem online it's been that I can't find enough expenses to deduct! My overhead online is so low that it's been a problem for my CPA to deal with. Admittedly I'd rather have this problem than the opposite one.

____________________________________


I'm eager for folks who are successful offline - not in theory but in practice - to chime in and enlighten the heck out of me and others. I know there's incredible power in offline business, I just haven't tapped it yet.

Ken

Hi,
I've been selling a phsical product for years now. Yes it is more work but I hardly ever have anyone request a refund and since the customer is actually receiving a phsical product I think they get more satisfaction. Plus you can still build a list and sell back end products.
Thanks,
Jim

Just because everyone buys underwear doesn't mean it's easier to sell and make money with compared to making money from internet marketing. You'll have tons of competition. As with everything. There's tons of competition in IM too but it also has it's advantages.

There is no limit in earning online, there are people making millions in just a few days with their product launches. That's because they can. It may not be easy but it's very possible.

Thanks
Adam

Heck I'm not saying selling offline goods are any easier to get rich with. It isn't! Not my point at all. And I'm also no expert in selling offline goods so please don't everyone ask me for my "expertise" in the matter.

But I must say I'm intrigued with the concept and it's something I aspire to do one day successfully. I think it is a greater challenge than online business, and concurrently the rewards are even greater for those who overcome the challenge.


Someone asked how you would compete with Walmart. I think the goal would be not to compete with Walmart, but to SUPPLY Walmart. So just like online we look where they are already buying. And while Walmart is famous for selling they are also one of the biggest buyers on the planet. They don't make any of their own stuff.

I would like to be in that .001% that breaks in one day. I just sit and wonder sometimes...I'm making it work online, but could I do it offline too? Am I a REAL entrepreneur? Could I make it as the small fish in the BIG pond? I don't know if other people have these thoughts but I constantly like to challenge myself.