How to Develop A Worldwide Distributor Network: Get Others to Sell for You

By DeAnna Troupe

When you select a product, your choice should be based upon your knowledge of how and to whom you’re going to sell. You may have the greatest bargain in the world, but it will be of no value to you if you don’t know who’s going to buy it, or how you are going to get the word out about it.

The first rule of achievement of a fortune is to produce or buy your product for pennies and sell for dollars. So after preliminary market research to determine who’ll buy your product, the next question to answer is: How munch will the majority of this market be willing to pay for your product?

For the sake of our discussion, let’s say that you’ve written a “How TO” manual on how to make $100,000 a year compiling and selling mailing lists. You check with a number of printers and get a production cost of $1.50 per book in lots of 1,000. You figure that with sharp advertising, you can “sell a million” of these books at $10 per copy, but that advertising will cost you $1.50 per book. Thus far, the basic cost of your book is $3 per copy.

Even though you will probably be the one selling most of your books, you must realize that it will take you an awfully long time to move out a million copies of this book. It will keep you busy 25 hours a day, 8 days a week to do it all by yourself. So the thing to do is recruit as many other people as you can to help do the selling. This means setting up a dealer distributor network.

To do this, you must make it worthwhile for other people to sell your product. You offer a percentage of the sales price to each book they sell for you. Generally, this is about 50% for each single copy sold; 60% when purchased in quantity lots of 25 to 99 copies; and 75% when purchased in lots of 100 copies or more. The important thing is to shave your profits to a minimum when you have other people doing the work for you.

Let’s use, the, our example of a $10 book that costs you $1.50 to produce in lots of 1,000. For people who buy from you in lots of 100 copies, you could cut your profit to $1 per book, sell it to them for $2.50 per book, and let them do all the advertising, as well as the selling. Don’t offer more than 50% on single copy dropship sales, because you’ll have to furnish this type of dealer with selling materials, and continue to do most of the advertising yourself.

Setting up your distributor program will require advertising and a sales kit for the sellers. Thus, you should make up a series of “Dealers Wanted” ads and place them in as many different publications as you can.

The national “opportunity” magazines are the best place to place your advertising for dealers. Remember, the ad should be a call for dealers, distributors and independent extra income seekers. Do not try to sell your product in this ad. Use it only to enlist or recruit people to sell for you. Remember too, the more you run your dealers wanted ad, and the more different publications you run it in, the more people you’ll get to sell your product for you. The easiest way to go is with “Dealers Wanted” advertisements in as many worldwide publications as possible.

You’ll lose your shirt attempting to recruit sales people via direct mail, and you’ll never make any headway with just a “Dealers Wanted insert” in each book you sell. If you want sales people, you must advertise for them.

To actually get these interested opportunity seekers to sell your product for you, you’ll need a dynamic sales letter and seller’s kit to send out in response to the replies to your advertising. This kind of sales letter is usually four pages in length, printed on 11 by 17 inch paper, to sell the prospect on the idea of selling for you, use the amount of space and paper that’s necessary.

If you’ve written sales letter properly, that’s all there is to it. Some people charge an “up-front” dealer’s registration fee. We don’t recommend this, for a number of reasons–mainly because it immediately eliminates a great many people who might want to least try to sell the product for you, but are not willing to “pay” to sell for you.

Some sellers charge $1 to $5 for details and complete dealership set-up to offset the cost of the initial seller’s kit and postage. This is what we recommend at the start. If you offer your program for nothing, you’ll get as many responses from curiosity seekers and opportunity collectors as from bona fide prospects.

If you charge for the dealership set-up, you should include a sample of your product. For the more elaborate sales kits and expensive products, most people ask for deposit, which is refunded after a certain number of sales are made by the dealer. Any charges more than $5 should not be mentioned in your “Dealers Wanted” advertisements, but held over and fully explained in your sales.

This is how you set up a dealer/distributor network: Get other people to sell your product for you! You can, and should be prepared from the start, before you place your first dealers wanted ad, and proceed only as you can afford the advertising costs from the profits of sales of your product.

It’s simple, and it’s easy, and, it can make your rich! You had to have real interest to have ordered this report. We hope that it has motivated you with the entrepreneurial spirit, and that you act on it!

Copyright 2004 by DeAnna Spencer

This article may be reproduced freely on the Internet as long as the resource box remains intact.

DeAnna Spencer is a virtual assistant that helps entrepreneurs run a successful business by providing affordable administrative help. She also publishes a blog for small business owners. Visit this small business resource today.

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I read a lot of questions on how to do this, and if you ask enough people you will get a lot of different answers.  I think the key in determining what kind of business you should start should start with what kind of questions you should ask yourself first.  One of the key aspects is starting a business that has some sort of system to operate it under.  A lot of time developing that system is where most of your time is spent.  People that buy franchises have the luxury (or pay for that) of having the system already thought out.

It’s not the business you are in, but the way you do business that makes the difference.  Every business has a formula for making money. You need the determination to figure out the formula for your particular business.  This is where the rubber meets the road.

If you are going to manufacturer an item, you have to think, “How do I create and maintain a constant supply of product for my market” This is very important and often overlooked.  A lot of times outsourcing certain parts of this process is one of the best answers and helps determine your formula.

If you decide you want to resell a product you also need a formula to know at what price point you should sell your product at and what is the market selling that product or a similar product for.  Avoid the “paralysis of analysis” is key here but you have to do some sort of planning in order to be ready to even start.  Most people fail in the planning stage because they do not look hard enough at the plan and the formula for reselling.

Here are some items that are often overlooked for both manufacturing and reselling.

Manufacturing

• Did I factor in my assembly time into the product price?
• What is the final size of the product and will it fit into a standard box so that I do not have to special order one?
• Do I need separate rooms to complete all stages of manufacturing?  For example, a cutting room (dirty) verses a clean room (paint)
• Can I make video and take good pictures to help persuade my buyers that they need the item I am selling?
• Are they similar products out there and what do they sell for?  If there are, is there a 900 lb gorilla that is going to determine my price point (Amazon, Wal-Mart)

Reselling

• Is the product being sold by other vendors on the Internet?
• Is the price the manufacturing offering you give you a good margin?
• If they supply you a sample margin, do they sell it online for less and thus compete with you?
• Is their margin based on the list price (like the MRSP on a car) or on the normal retail price?  Most inflate the margin by calculating it on the MSRP price which is full retail.  Most customers are pretty savvy these days and will not pay full retail on a regular basis.
• Can I use social media to promote this product?

Last year I included two trade shows into my calender and learned some really valuable lessons.  I attended shows that were related to my niche and accomplished several things.  These included

• Meet a lot of people and competitors in my field
• Find new products that I could carry on my website
• Take lots of pictures that I could use to blog fresh content onto my blogs
• Get my creative juices flowing

I did all these things and both shows were a huge success for me.  I met a lot of people and added a lot of product to my sites.  Not only was everyone that was anyone in the industry at these shows, but I also made a lot of contacts from others that attended.  One of my biggest takeaways was that a lot of the vendors that displayed at the shows had signs up that stated “vendors or distributors wanted”  This was like a holding bait out and I was eager to bite.  Some of these vendors I had been trying to get the attention of for a very long time.  Here they were looking for me.

That got me thinking, I am putting together a plan for next year to work even smarter.  Why not become one of those vendors and display my items at that show and find a few people to sell my items, much like an affiliate program?  This is very easy to do, but you have to be prepared.

Look Good

One of the things I noticed is that some booths looked better than others, some were very elaborate.  Professional graphics make all the difference here and you have to be ready.  You need tables and chairs and tablecloths too.  Have really nice Trades how displays makes a big difference.  These types of displays can be used over and over again and are a great investment.  A lot of booths also have Vinyl banners.

Whatever you do, you have to be prepared to follow up with your potential new customers.  Thinking through the details makes all the differences.  I was most impressed with companies that did this.  The good ones had dealer packets ready to hand out with all the details you would want to ask about.  This saved you the conversation of asking the same thing over and over again.

Distance

If the tradeshow you want to work is far away from your office or home location, then the real challenge is getting your gear to the show.  I was fortunate enough to be able to plan a small rental van into the plans.  This holds all our tables, and displays and the small amount of stock I would be using for demonstrations.  This can be a great way to gain exposure and explode growth in your custom products.

In order to be truly interactive, we really should have put this post out long ago.  So we are doing it now with a call for comments and questions.  What kind of help do you need?  We are prepared to tailor special sections, articles, video, or what ever it takes to get your questions answered and get you moving on your way.  To help you with this please refer to the following sections and include that in your reply or comment.

E-commerce

• Product Ideas
• Store front platforms
• Building the site
• Hosting the site
• Finding products after I get selling my own
• How to produce my own product locally

Importing

• Where to find product
• More information
• Where to find a sourcing agent
• Importing and selling on Ebay
• How to deal with customs.

Blogging

• What topic to blog about
• Where to set up my site
• Costs
• How can I make money at blogging?
• Differences between services
• How fast can I start

Ebay

• How to get started
• Where to host pictures
• Paypal

Information Products

• Where to get them made
• What topics do I pick
• I can’t write, now what?

So now comes the fun part, if you have signed up for our newsletter, take it a step further and ask us a question.  You can email us directly at our email address.  We are all about helping you get going, especially in today’s economy.  It really helps your state of mind when you know you have something going and can constantly work on it.

If you are thinking about getting started with an online or home based business.  You can easily get overloaded with a ton of responses from all sorts of people in the business.  Most will say that their business is the best or most profitable.  A lot of time that is because they think its the best because it is the field they are in.  This is similar to someone saying the pizza is best from their home town just because its what they know and what they like.

What you need is the basic facts to get started, a place to learn the basics.  When you have those basics, then you can go on and start to sift out the gems from the rocks.  There are a lot of rocks out there.  We have found a site that is a video site and it teaches you how to get started in your home based business.  It gives you the basic dynamics of what to look for and explains some very important facts.

Buy a business on Ebay?

If you think a good idea is to buy a premade or existing business for sale on Ebay, then you really need to look at this site too since they really focus on it.  There is a lot of garbage out there and if you do not know what to look for, you will get separated from your hard earned cash.  The site includes a membership and you can easily get through all the material without having to sign up for another month.  The best part is the checklist that you can take with you (print) and use a valuable reference in whatever site you choose to buy (or create).

You can find all this information plus a bunch of free stuff in their guest section.

http://www.internetbusinessnavigator.com

This one I highly recommend.

Where to go with your Budget

Here is a quick and dirty list of what you should at least consider when building your budget.  If you are in the website/ecommerce/blogging type game already, this is a familiar list.  IF you are not, you need to do your homework and learn how to implement these.  If you don’t, you will waste your money. These are not listed in any particular order.

1. Blog
2. Article Marketing
3. Social Bookmarking
4. Social Marketing
5. Forum Postings
6. Web 2.0 sites
7. Wiki’s
8. RSS Feeds
9. Directory Listings
10. Blog commenting

In summary I would like to leave you with some advice that is pretty much straight and to the point.  It is not meant to degrade or discourage anyone.  In fact if you are as bullheaded as I am, it may spur you on to make something happen.  When I was growing up, we had chores to do around the house.  Like any kid I tried to do as little as possible and cut corners where I could so I could go and do what I really wanted to do.  My father would say, “Why do it half as….”  Who wants to be known for that?  Anyone can do a mediocre job, why lump yourself in with that?  Since then I have added to that with these little morsels of learning.

1. Why be “just another _____” (fill in the blank)
2. Most people want to do things the easy way.
3. Being successful online is hard work and not easy.
4. If it was not hard, everyone would do it.
5. Easy, Guaranteed, Simple, Quick, “make big money”, “monster profits” and “fabulous opportunities” are terms for suckers.
6. Never put your success in someone else’s hands.
7. No one is as motivated as you are.
8. There is a time to outsource and time to do it yourself, but most of the time, you need to outsource it.
9. Try very hard not to “work in your business” “working on your business is much smarter.
10. Don’t just sit there, do it.

Looking for part one of The website Misnomer?

By Jeff Smith

Are you wrestling with the type of business you will operate online?

You may have your goals, even have a market in mind but confused
about the online business model you can use to earn both short-term
dollars as well grow future profits?

It’s true, you have the opportunity to:

- Create Your Own Products

- License Products

- Market a service

- Earn commissions through affiliate marketing

In fact, you could combine one or more of these to reach your goals.

FIRST – GOALS BEYOND DOLLARS

In my mind, you should set some goals in your life that go beyond just
money – then figure out how much you would need to achieve to reach
those goals.

For instance, if you want to experience the freedom of giving up your
current job – that’s your goal, and to fulfill that goal, you may
want to earn 80% of current income within X months.

In my case, I wanted to replace a six-figure corporate income and
did that a couple of years ago.

If you have ever worked for a large company, you’ll appreciate it
when I say that I never wanted to be spending more time in meetings
than producing results again.

Having a reason, deep within you, gives earning your financial
goals meaning resulting in an inexplicable, often magic ability to
achieve the unimagineable.

So, you have your purpose, now is it product, service or affiliate
marketing that will get you there?

THERE’S ONLY ONE RULE THAT COUNTS

In my case, it was a mix of products, services and affiliate
marketing, but…

It all started with the product.

I know many successful online business owners who use different
combinations of products, services and affiliate marketing.

Let’s not pretend that there is any set formula for mixing each of
these EXCEPT…leading with your own products is the single best
way to ensure you get the highest return for the least effort in
all 3 business models.

Here’s the important thing…

1. Having your own products will draw far more business options TO you
instead of you having to chase service or affiliate business.

2. Having your own product increases your credibility and perceived
value to your market (assuming your product is relevant and is good),
which allows you to get more for your services and get better
conversions on your affiliate marketing.

3. Creating or licensing a product gives you leveraged income. In
other words, you create (or license) once and it generates passive
revenue for you for months (even years) to come. My own income split
started at approx 1/3 for each of product, service and affiliate
marketing – now is much more like 65% product, 25% affiliate marketing
and 10% services (I have purposefuly limited them)

Think about it, you spend a few weeks developing your own information
product, another week or two in your launch while you continue to
build sales as long as you continue to expose it to your market.

Even your marketing can be fully automated by building your own
army of affiliates and joint venture partners. With a few months
work launching and marketing your product, you can literally sit
back and collect a check for years.

With your own book, ebook, report, course, workshop, audio or video
products out on the market, you’re business will grow fast. Of
course,
you need to make sure your product tackles a real challenge in your
market and presents you as the ultimate solution.

If you get the feeling that your business is stuck in rush hour
traffic, it’s taking far too much time and effort to squeak out an
inch of progress, then it’s time to clear a certain path toward
success by leading with your own product.

Become A High Paid Information Publising Entrepreneur Using the
System That Experts Agree, Will Put You On the Fast-Track To
Releasing and Profiting From High-Demand Infoproducts. Find it here:
http://www.infoproductcreator.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeff_Smith
http://EzineArticles.com/?Monster-Online-Business-Model-That-Really-Pays-Off&id=96641

This is probably the $64,000 question that I get asked frequently. So we have made a video to help you answer this question. It really does take research and some creativity to figure out what you would like to venture into. Get a pen and some paper and write down all your ideas after watching this video. The video has some key points in it and will help you to determine in which direction to go next. We will also list some references that you can check to get the job done. Don’t forget, there is a lot of reference material here on this site. It’s not all about manufacturing a product but more about manufacturing yourself as a business. That is whether you sell product, sell a service or sell knowledge. It all starts here.

Click To Play

Click To Play

Blog reference in the video

Forums

http://www.smallbusinessforums.org/

http://www.homebusinessonline.com/community/forum/

http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/index.jspa

Article

http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Kind-of-Business-Should-I-Start?&id=57316

I do a lot of reading in forums lately. My favorite (this week) is a small business forum that attracts a lot of people looking for start up information. I notice that many people want to get start up business ideas, but do not really care about what type of business that it is. As long as it makes money seems to be the general thought pattern. That may be a thought pattern that could come back to haunt you later on down the line. For example my good friend Blanche joined an well known MLM program with the lure of making big money. When I asked her how it was going, she told me that it was a lot of work. It seems like you have to work your rear end off and everyone ends up fighting over a quarter. When it is all said and done, you really do not own anything of value.

I myself run several sites, one being a very busy ecommerce site. While I am happy my hard work is paying off, it also is a lot of work. However I am building a real and sellable business in the asset. It is important to know that when you are involved in the customer service part of business, it can be somewhat draining, depending on your product. The reason why is customers. The bottom line is, some customers are painful to deal with. It would seem that there will always be a small amount of people that make the most trouble. This brings me to my mental health outlook. If you are going to start a new business, or look for business ideas, why not choose something that causes the least amount of mental havoc? If you do not have thick skin, you may not want to be involved with the general public on a sales basis. The reason is, no matter how good your product is, there will be that one idiot that you cannot make happy for all the money in the world. If you are not use to that, it can stress you out and cause you to lose sleep.

So what do you choose?

There are several online ventures that can keep your blood pressure down. Blogs are a good example since you are creating most of the content yourself and the interaction with most readers is civil. If you sell products on your site, they would be mostly affiliate products in which the manufacture would have to deal with returns and other issues.

Information sites rely on people clicking ads to generate revenue and can be very profitable and satisfying. Information products are also very good and good for your mental health. If you are good at something, writing a course or Ebook can be profitable as well. Video is all the rage on the Internet today and making them and marketing them can help you stay sane in your quest for alternative income.

So why the sanity buzz?

Chances are that most people that are starting an online business are either unsatisfied with their current job, or they have recently become unemployed. Some want to have a good alternative plan for worst case scenarios. I think that is a good idea since no one should have to rely on someone else to make sure they have enough income for retirement. If you pick something that you may be doing for a while, it might as well be something that does not stress you out. We are finding out how important stress plays a role in our lives every day. Do yourself a favor, look ahead five years when you are thinking about an online business. Knowing what your weaknesses are now will certainly save you some grief and aggravation later.

Forum

http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/index.jspa