If you don't have a product or service that you can offer yourself, use others. During your research and surfing, you will see many products and services. Try not to go to traditional wholesalers, yes some may be of value, but your best bet is finding companies who make and sell the product themselves. Try to buy direct rather than drop ship.

Drop shipping is where you charge the order but you have the merchant your buying from ship the order. Yeah, it's easier, but you are giving your customer information away, and the customer will see the merchants name, phone number etc. No big deal, but I prefer to buy, re-label, throw in my business card or letter with it. You'll get a better chance at repeat business that way.

Is it a product that you would consider buying. on the Internet?

Ok, we all know that you can find and buy pretty much anything on the Internet, but what are the smart products to get involved in. What would you consider buying? What would you not buy? Sounds simple but use yourself as a typical customer. Where do you live? If you live in New York City or Los Angeles, you can pretty much get anything you want right there. However, you have the world to consider. Can someone in Ohio get good Cigars, or a designer Golf Shirt? Don't assume everyone has the same resources you do. Much of the world does not have access to the same thing you do at your local shopping center. As you are viewing different sites, take note. Let's look at a few choices and see:

Clothes:

No, unless it's simple and very unique. Golf shirts with a logo or design that you know is not hanging at your local Macys store, but you think is really cool could work. Sports Jerseys, especially those that will put the persons last name on the back could work as well.

Basically clothing on the internet will sell if:

Customer can see a photo (obviously) Can check off Small, Medium, Large, etc. Wouldn't necessarily have to try it on (Jersey, golf shirt, hats) Unique enough that he doesn't see it in your basic clothing store Can be customized with names, logo's etc.

If it doesn't pass these tests, than it won't work. Wal-Mart, Caldor, Macys have web sites, but their clothing section is mainly used for window shopping. They hope that the viewer will look at some photos and go to the nearest Wal-Mart and buy it there. See what I mean? But again, if it's simple, unique and doesn't require a fitting room, then it could work. This should only be an affiliation re-sell arrangement. Do not produce clothing your self. It is a major hassle and expense. Find that little "out of the way" site where you see one guy producing pretty unique stuff, and ask him if you were to buy 30 of whatever, how much would it cost? Write it down, bookmark the site. Even if you don't pursue it now, get the info! You could always post a banner for each other later at least.

Food

No. Stay away. No exceptions.

Arts and Crafts

Yeah, it's not very professional sounding, but you'd be surprised. Type in some keywords, (crafts, designer crafts etc) you may see something you like. Get a price, Get a picture, and you may get some good things out of it. Anything unique, that is not on 100 different sites is your best bet. This deserves a look and some research. Again, it may not be your primary business, but if it peaks your interest, you could always link with each other or sell it as a side product on your site.

Designer Gifts

Sure. Clocks, engravings, corporate gifts. See who has some nice products.

Services Manufactured Items Books Tapes Outdoor Furniture Computer Supplies Financial and Mortgage

Type in anything. Let your mind go wild. GREAT TIP: go to amazon.com or other multi product sites. See what sells. Amazon ranks each item on sales volume. That will give you a good indication on what is selling out there. They also have customer reviews of the product as well. Search and read. If a product sells well, and has a lot of good reviews, go to their site. Do they have affiliate programs? Can you buy and re-sell? Always thinking, always learning.

Is the product priced where there is mark - up potential?

Mark up potential means, is there room for real profit. You don't want to be a reseller for $5 or $10 profit. We have to assume that our sites are not going to get thousands of "hits" right away. Although making and getting our site(s) up won't cost much, we have hosting, listing cost, and materials and shipping to consider.

Secondary sites could offer cheaper products, because we are also using our secondary sites for free advertising for our main site. If you are producing something on your own, then $10 products could work well, and we could adjust those prices should demand warrant it.

From runawebbusiness.com