Archive for February 7th, 2010
Increasing Return On Investment
February 7th, 2010 | 
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Many new business owners and investors believe that profits depends on the price of the product, and the number that are sold. Whether the product is a house, a course, an investment product, or an ebook, profit and loss is dependent on more than the price of the product and the number that you sell. ROI Return On Investment, the ROI, refers to the amount of profit you earn on every dollar spent. Two businesses may sell product A for $100 each. Company A may have an ROI of $40. Company B has an ROI of $20. Both of these companies sell the same product, for the same price, but company A is better organized, has fewer expenses, and sells more products for the same cost. A low ROI can be the result of poor office management, or a poor sale’s record. There are several different factors that may lower the ROI. But, in short, the ROI is based on the number of sales you can generate on your yearly operating budget. The more sales you generate, the higher your ROI. There are several ways to increase your ROI. The first is to take a close look at the cost of operating your business. Many businesses operate under a lot of waste. They hire a full time secretary when outsourcing would be sufficient. The second method is to tighten up the company’s sale’s network. This may involve spending money on research. It may require and investment in time to learn what your consumers want, need, and what problems draw them to your product or service. Two-Way Marketing Most companies that have a low ROI also lack a two-way marketing plan. They may do market research, or run some surveys, but they also lack of two way communication between the company and the consumer. Many high-profile companies believe that courses, convention weekends, and marketing surveys are good substitutes for two-way communication between the company and the consumer. Unfortunately, all of these types of marketing are one way. They keep the company in control of the information control. The consumer has only two choices. They may respond to the company representative or agent, or they may remain quiet. Two-way marketing allows customers the opportunity to voice their opinions, concerns, and write their own content. Then the company collects the information and uses it for marketing, even if it contradicts their current target marketing efforts. Television companies do this. They consider that 1 response to a program is worth 1000 responses. So, a company that has 10 responses that suggest a new problem, or concern, can represent another 9000 or 90 000 people who did not take the time to respond. This type of marketing is not an inconvenience to overlook. It is a powerful marketing tool that can be used to find secondary markets or products that might increase your ROI. For example, let’s say that you sell a ‘how to start a business course.’ However, your course package offers a mentorship program that includes 1 hour a month with a certified Success coach. This not only sells a business to consumers, but it sells problem solving. Profit Increasing ROI will also increase the profit. There are a thousand methods of increasing an ROI. The easiest to understand, and cheapest, is to build two-way marketing between the consumer and the company.
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How EBay PowerSellers Source Products – A PowerSeller Shares His Secrets
If you want to know how to succeed at something, it’s a good idea to talk to someone who already has. Renowned eBay PowerSeller Skip McGrath offers some helpful insights on how you can find product sources for your online business. Once you’ve determined what you’re selling — where do you go to get the goods? Sourcing with a Pro According to McGrath, one of the best sources for products is local distributors because they’re easy to find. Go to http://smartpages.com and you can search by type. Just enter the word “wholesale” and your zip code and you’ll get a list of manufacturers and wholesalers within 100 miles of that zip code. And under the company name, you’ll see the kind of products they carry. For traditional wholesale suppliers, like gift and merchandise manufacturers and overstock distributors, McGrath recommends several online sources: • http://Liquidxs.com helps you find surplus branded merchandise and collectibles • http://Liquidation.com sells goods by the pallet load • http://SurplusSourcing.com offers closeout items at steep discounts BEFORE you use any company, research them to make sure they are genuine wholesalers and not middlemen. States McGrath, “The rule in wholesaling is the closer you can get to the manufacturer of a product, the better your price is going to be.” If you don’t have time to do the research, check out OneSource at http://WorldwideBrands.com for genuine, pre-qualified wholesalers who will work with E-Biz owners, or try the wholesale search engine at http://SkipMcGrath.com. Alternative Sources Nearly every medium and large city in the U.S. has a merchandise mart or gift mart. They’re like indoor malls where product manufacturers have their showrooms. You can see the products and pricing and place orders. Once you’ve registered at a mart in person, some even have online sites where you can shop the market. These marts aren’t open to the public, and neither are the tradeshows that come to your area. So to get in, you’ll need the following: • A sales tax number or a resale certificate • A business card or letterhead that shows you’re a company • A commercial checking account — they may want to see a check in the business name The good news is once you’re registered with these marts, you’ll likely get an invitation and tickets in the mail when tradeshows come to your area — which saves you the trouble of registering for those. Close to Home A rather surprising source of resale merchandise is eBay itself. McGrath confides, “On eBay and all of the other online auction sites out there you can often find tremendous bargains.” Sometimes other sellers don’t recognize the value of their goods, or they don’t photograph them well or write a good title or description. If you know your product market and take the time to present it well, you can turn over some amazing deals in your own backyard.
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Posted in web | 
Tags: AUCTION, EBAY, ebiz, ecommerce, estore, home ebiz, internet store, online store, products, sell, wholesalers | 
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