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Wondering What (or What Else) to Sell Online?

Guest post by: Lisa Suttora

Article Overview: It's time to inject some life back into your business! There’s an art and a science that go into living the Product Sourcing Mindset, and anyone can use and benefit from this process – from beginning sellers to established etailers.

Wondering What (or What Else) to Sell Online?

Are you stuck in a product line rut? Selling the same things over and over again, but seeing little growth or expansion in your business? Are your product offerings stale and ho hum? Then it's time to inject some life back into your business! There are thousands of new products coming into the marketplace each year, yet all too often people find themselves at a loss for how to expand their business.

And without having the products buyers want... all the marketing, selling strategies and customer service in the world won't sell items people aren't interested in. Without enough inventory to sell, you won't see the revenue growth you desire.

So how do you figure out what to sell or what else to sell?

It all starts with getting into the Product Sourcing Mindset^TM. When you are in the Product Sourcing Mindset^TM you always have your radar turned on, looking outward, scanning the landscape for the next products you'll sell. The Product Sourcing Mindset^TM is a process I've taught to thousands of sellers over the past decade, and one that has radically changed the course of online businesses in every niche.

The key benefit to mastering the Product Sourcing Mindset^TM is that it automates the process of product selection and product sourcing. It's conscious product sourcing that you do as you go through your normal daily activities. And when you do that, you'll find yourself becoming aware of new products to sell every day.

There's an art and a science that go into living the Product Sourcing Mindset, and anyone can use and benefit from this process - from beginning sellers to established etailers.

1. Understand your customer first, then look at what they want to buy. When you understand who your customer is, answering the question of what to sell or what else to sell becomes much easier. Unfortunately, many sellers see their customers as "buyers" rather than people who have a reason behind every purchase they make. Taking the time to know your customer will go a long way in helping you figure out what else to sell. For example, are your customers moms who are snapping up everything they can for their newborns? What are their favorite brands? What colors do they like? What new products are they reading about in the parenting magazines? What are they talking about?

It's the answers to these questions that will help you decide what to sell next. Keep in mind that these questions apply to every market! Whether you sell baby products or bongos, you need to know who your customers are.

2. Live in the world your buyers live in. Read what they're reading; hang out where they hang out online. I call these Idea Hotspots^TM. Can you name the top consumer publications in your industry? Online or offline, your customers read magazines, websites and blogs on a daily basis. Are you there too? This is where shoppers are getting ideas of products to buy next. Can you list the top blogs or discussion groups that cover your niche market? That's where your customers are talking about their problems, wants and needs. Where they're discussing the latest gadgets and gizmos they want to buy. A client of mine, who sells in the boating niche, gets 80% of his business and his ideas for products to sell by participating in a top recreational boating Yahoo Group.

3. What products are they searching for? As online retailers, we live in a search driven world. Fortunately the answer to what products are your customers searching for can be found for free and is as close as the Google Keywords Tool. Do a Broad Match and Phrase Match search for your primary keywords and watch as hundreds of related keywords come up. Products you have never thought about selling will suddenly be displayed right before your eyes!

You can also leverage the marketplaces. Want to know what people are buying? Spend some time looking on eBay and Amazon when you're in the Product Sourcing Mindset^TM and you'll find yourself with more ideas for products to sell than time to sell them!

4. Make it your business to be on top of industry trends. Staying on top of industry trends is a fun and exciting process and will infuse your business with ideas for products to sell. Unfortunately, it's one that I find etailers often neglect. Do you know about the latest and greatest new products in your market? Are you on top of what's new before your customer is? Do you spend time each week reading industry publications, consumer magazines, and talking to your suppliers about what's hot? Do you attend industry trade shows? It's here that you'll get a plethora of ideas or products to sell and find out what's destined to be the next hot product!

5. Listen to your customers. How often have you received an email from your customer asking if you carry a particular product? Many people might just say "No, sorry, we don't carry that." and move on. But paying attention to what customers are asking for can be a clue into what you should carry next. A client of mine gets some of his best product ideas from his customers. "They often tell me what they want to buy. Then it's my job to then go and source it for them."

6. Get insights with Google insights. One of my favorite tools for figuring out what to sell next is Google Insights. Google Insights is a free tool that shows you what products are trending upwards and which are trending down. Making the decision of what to sell or what not to sell is making an informed business decision.

7. Test! Test! Test! Before you invest your inventory capital in unproven products, you'll want to test-market new inventory in small quantities. This will allow you to quickly distinguish the winners from the losers. A lot of people source products seasonally. But product sourcing isn't something you can do once a month.

Discover how to get into the Product Sourcing Mindset, you'll have a constant stream of ideas for in-demand products to sell online every day.

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Article Tags: ebay, Ecommerce, ecommerce strategy, internet marketing, online business, what to sell online
Referred by: http://www.themarketingmindset.com



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