The internet marketing journey for me has been a varied one. Initially having my success with simple affiliate marketing websites, I then created my own coaching products sharing this knowledge. After this I ventured into lead generation websites and had considerable success, however the journey soon progressed into my first ecommerce store.
Along the way I’ve learned a great deal, from the success and also the failures. The most recent projects I’ve been focusing on and that have been taking up a considerable amount of my time, are creating my own brands. I now have my own brand here in New Zealand that I sell locally and I’m working on a new one that I’ll be selling in the USA soon.
In this post I want to share with you some of the things I learned about doing this and provide practical tips for folks who may be interested in doing a similar thing. I also want to add that I still do affiliate marketing, lead generation websites andYouTube videos, and they make me great money, so if you’re doing these kind of sites then that’s great, I encourage you to keep doing that, YouTube is a great way to market at that moment. However this post might also spark some ideas for future projects for you to undertake.
Developing an Idea
The first thing you need to do if you want to develop and sell your own brand of product, is come up with the idea. As I mentioned in my last post, the easiest way to establish your own brand is through private labeling, if you haven’t read that post I encourage you to do that. Private labelling is where your source a product from a manufacturer who allows you to brand the product yourself. This way you don’t have to make the product, and means you can have your own product instantly.
I am for products to be sold in the $20-70 range myself, as that’s where I feel comfortable and what most private label products will be suitable for.
I’ve done this for over a year now and it works well. You can source products from over seas via the website Alibaba. Its a little tricky to get your head around how to use this site at first, but once you have some practice you’ll soon get the hang of it. Spend some time researching potential products to sell.
You MUST think through HOW you intend to be different from the current products in the market. It might be that you can do a cheaper price, or you can do a slightly different version of a product that currently isn’t available, either way make sure you think it through.
Know Your Customers
One thing I’ve learned over the past 12 months especially is that you NEED to know what the customers in the niche market think and what they want. If you’re already a customer in the niche, then you’re in a good position, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that you want exactly what all the other customers want.
You really must research the market. For physical goods Amazon is a great place to visit, because they have their review system, where you can read good and bad reviews about a product. This information is really useful as it helps you to know what customers like and what they don’t like about a product. By doing this you’ll be able to uncover potential opportunities for what will make your product different.
For example if a particular product gets a lot of bad reviews because it doesn’t have a handle on it perhaps, then you might possibly be able to make a product that does have one!
Know Your Market
You absolutely need to know what’s happening in the market currently. One way to do this is to survey customers in the market and find out. If you create your own branded product with intention to sell wholesale, then an smart thing to do is call up current retailers of a similar product and ‘pick their brains’.
Find out what they like about the current suppliers and what they don’t like. Find out what they wish they could have but currently isn’t available. The more research you do BEFORE you start, the higher the chance of success.
YouTube, Facebook and forums and also great places to find information about what customers in a market want.
Know Your Competition
Once you know your market and your customer reasonably well, your next step is to know your competition. Analyze them and work what their strengths are and also their weaknesses. You need to know what products they sell and what price. Find out what customers say about them. Find out how they do their marketing. You’re essentially looking for ways to outsmart them and take market share away from them quickly. I would avoid entering a market if there are dozen of strong competitors already, unless there is a really clear gap in the market that you can fill.
Designing Your Brand
A huge part of your product brand is the design element. You don’t have to spend 10’s of 1000’s of dollars to get a decent brand. You can get great logos created for under $500, on sites like Design Crowd and 99 Designs. Once you have a good logo, the rest of the design comes out of that. Make sure that the packaging you choose also matches the theme of the niche, so that your products look and feel resonates with your target market.
Have a Solid Plan
Once you have an idea of a product you could private label, and you know your customers and the market, and you’ve also assessed your competition, you need to create a business plan so that you don’t forget this stuff and so you can develop your plan of attack and stick to it. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail! Its very easy to get side tracked by a new idea, which may well be great, but if its not inline with your original plan it can slow your progress. I’ve experience this a few times already, and learned the hard way!
Selling Your Product
When you have your own brand there are many avenues you can take to sell it. One simple one is selling it on your own ecommerce store. Other possibilities are Ebay, Amazon, or of course approaching retailers and selling it to them wholesale. Plan out your traffic strategies well. These might includes retail stores, Google Adwords, YouTube, SEO, Ebay and Amazon etc….
My final note to leave you with is this….don’t be afraid to have a go, the fear of failure robs people of success, so don’t let it do this to you. If you want a successful business you have to take some calculated risks sometimes!
All the best.
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Thanks Matt,
I’ve been wondering where to go with one of my ‘early mistake’ affiliate sites lately.
I’m dominating a niche but it’s a small one with a low cost product.
Amazon simply doesn’t pay enough but, if I create my own brand it could well end up profitable and, the seo work is already done.
It’s always interesting to see what direction your heading in.
Mark.
I think white labelling is good idea, as there are so many unbranded items out there already. The only thing is finding a product that is different and unique that you can actually white label. Sites like alibaba are great and I use them, but it can be hard to find that one product that would be worth white labelling. And when you do decide to white label, costs can be high as suppliers minimum orders can be very large. If you have enough money it is worth the risk as long as you do all the relevant research you have mentioned above.
great post matt, this is where i am heading too, Build my own brand. To be honest is not easy but i knew its risk. I am willing to take the challenge.
Good luck Matt.
Matt,
I agreed with your move. I also do e-commerce on my own country and quite reap huge success. However, I sell a very strong brand from USA.
I would like to make private label from local supplier and want to sell them to overseas. Now, I am still on the preliminary stages…
rgs,
This is a good post but it could use a little more information such as; is there a particular dollar amount that you like to put your brand to and what kind of products do you recommend, and are the products of good quality???, What legal liability do you have in branding a product, and does that determine what you put your brand to??? Do you do the shipping of the product and how do you actually get your brand or logo on that product???
Gees I just reviewed these questions I asked you and I can see it coming, another product we are going to have to buy,
and I have to tell you this gets really old after awhile. Paul
Thank you Matt. I feel as if I can trust you. You are successful in marketing online which makes a huge difference when giving out advice. I am glad you are willing to share some of the in’s and out’s of internet marketing.
Matt,
Your story is very inspiring. I am following your footstep though I am only at step one right now. I bought your video commission formula and I can tell that it works! I build 2 videos and using your system, it still ranked on page 1 nowadays.
Thanks for the inspiration and keep them coming!
Sherry
Great Post Matt!
I and my partner are looking to start our own brand of products in the health niche too. Since I have been an affiliate here for a decade now, I know the market well. Plus, I already have many affiliates I can contact to help me promote my own brand of products. I think this is great way for us to go. Something for us all to lead up to online…
Keep up the great work here on your blog mate. You give out some real value here and we all appreciate it!
As a follow up to what i just said – you can start your own affiliate program for your brand. So you train an army of affiliates to also promote your products. That is the true power of leverage that we all can tap in to with our marketing online.
Food for thought…
Great Blog post.
Thanks for always providing quality posts containing quality information. And super practical.
Dewan
Hi Matt, I also read your previous post along with this one. I like the idea, but is their any good course regarding branding you know of that one can follow.
Yes increasingly this approach is essential to success.
I’m not at this stage yet but this is definitely the way to go on the long run.
Great post! I have been interested in creating my own brand for a niche that I am very interested in right now. This article was very helpful. I always love your view on internet marketing. Creating a business plan is one of the things that I am not so sure about, but like you mention at the end of this article, I can’t let fear hold me back!
You are so right when you day “don’t be afraid to have a go, the fear of failure robs people of success” . However there is a condition that I have read about and that is simply called…:”fear of success”. It stems from an early age within the home. Very difficult to break but not impossible. So many are scared to take that next step when they are so close to making it in a chosen field, then they back off. They can do it, but the lack of confidence and/or many other mental conditions prevent them to make that next move to success.
They have to remember that this compounds itself through out life and one just saying that you have to believe in your self is not enough.
These people are good hard working people that NEED good HONEST mentors to guide them…once that spell of fear of success has been broken…well the world as they say is theirs to be successful in all walks of life.
Matt Carter Reply:
April 26th, 2013 at 5:57 am
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That’s brilliant Jason!!!!
This is such great advice and solid information! I’m great full to have stumbled upon your site and will use your knowledge to further my career on the Internet. Keep up the good work! Thank you.
Thanks again Matt, always a pleasure to get one of your well thought out and honest emails about your journey.
It’s almost like the changes in the net are too fast for us all to keep up- from the information highway to the recommedation highway – you need to be THE EXPERT the best of the best experts to be noticed now.
The thing I like most about what you share is the inspiration to embrace and keep abreast of the changes – which of course means you can profit with the tide and as she ebbs something related will flow back in from the flotsam.. that something is often a small sidestep to something we have already created, so no need to be overly concerned with it.
Thanks for being you Matt, your calm and steady approach is really appreciated, Jade.
Thanks Matt for again great help. In the internet system today lots of things seem to be needed. I have an account with Alibaba so I will look at it through different eyes.
Hi Matt,
Love the post and I have been working on your lead generation for the past few months and all good info but a little frustrated with the lack of ability to get more information and develop example your own brand “How” this post is great but for anyone trying to get started with limited funds, its a challenge that the majority wont achieve without good mentoring, any ideas?
Fan of your work
Patric
Hey Matt
Have been on your list for a few years now and have really enjoyed the way you have evolved over time. It is a natural progression I think and is certainly in line with the way the internet is changing. It is good that you are continually willing to share your change with us.
Always enjoy you posts mate. Ta.
Thanks for another great email Matt.
I bought your lead gen course which was really interesting.
Will you be creating a course for this anytime soon?
Regards,
Doug..
Hi Matt,
Is the niche your in got something to do with Squash? I know you CHCH boys are into it, so was just wondering.
But is your brand in a sport? or hobby. Or household product?
This is what I want to get into myself, ecommerce in general. Have a youtube channel, Facebook group with thousands of passionate followers and a unique offering sold via website.
But, I just don’t want some ecommerce thing cause I can make money from it, tired of that shit, I want to be passionate about it too. Life is too short. That is the hard thing for me. Deciding on what to focus on. Sports are good, as people that are really into them are addicted to them. Returning customers for you, if you treat them well.
Branding, so do you mean that you have a specific product with your unique brand on it, or is your brand your website name + on packaging.
Another good website which is a little brother of Alibaba is aliexpress dot com, which allows you to buy in smaller quanties and many offer free shipping.
Thanks so much for the post as I think many people will find it useful. I think the most important point is developing an idea. Not every idea is great but it can be if developed properly.
Keep up the great work and I am excited for future posts!