February 17, 2006
This subject of how to fail applies to all businesses, but in the case of an online business, it is especially appropriate.
Whether it is an information product or some type of widget, there is a way to do things that can really keep you from wasting your valuable time.
Here’s the way a number of online marketers do it:
What you do is before you even put your info product together, offer the product for sale at a discounted price and then tell your customers that they won’t get the product for a couple of months, but if they order now they would receive it at half price.
Then you simply wait and see how many pre-orders come in. If enough come in where it makes it worthwhile to continue the project, then go full-steam ahead. If not, just send a response back to those who sent you money explaining that things may be delayed and if they get back on track, you’ll get back to them at the half-off price. But for now you are returning them their money.
What’s great about this strategy is that it can quickly eliminate the products that are simply not what your customers want. Even after a lot of research, there is no company or person in the world that can know for sure what it is that will sale great.
This same strategy can be applied to physical products and services also. For example if the opportunity comes to purchase some products at real good prices and you believe you can offer them to your customers in a way that will be very profitable, simply put some copy together, offer it to them and see if the orders come in. If they come in to the point where your costs are covered on a minimum order, roll it out to all your customers, if not, again, just offer them a refund. This way those products that sell well make you profits even before you order from your supplier.
This is a great way to protect yourself also as we’ve probably heard of a lot of people that have garages full of unsalable products.
