Some jeeter flavors and services will always make you money. In this article, I’ll show you how to spot them instantly, and how to start getting all of the money you can out of them. The basics are easy enough: you constantly search for the products and services that provide the largest gap between the perceived value — which is what the purchasers think they’re getting — and your actual cost. That means you’re looking for items where the average prospect either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about your cost. In those situations, the actual cost can be dirt cheap, but that doesn’t matter as long as the item provides a high benefit level.
It’s not always easy to find such products and services. You need to understand that from the very beginning. You may end up doing a lot of experimentation before you hit on the right format, but it’s worth the effort. Most small business people are working way too hard for far too little money, partly because they’re misapplying this concept. They often sell products and services that are more like commodities, which typically offer very little profit. Worse, they’re selling products where it’s easy for the average prospect to determine what their cost is.
Let the giant corporations sell those types of things. Let them fight over the razor-thin profit margins. They can afford to. You need to look for products and services that have the highest possible profit margins and perceived value in the minds and hearts of the people you’re promoting those products and services to.
The ultimate high perceived value/low actual cost ratio is in information. Knowledge really is power — and you can usually buy cheap and sell dear. I challenge you to go to Google and search on the words “information marketing.” Do the same on YouTube. Spend a couple of hours watching videos and going to websites. The more you study information marketing, the more excited you’ll be. There are all kinds of ways to make money, and an endless number of information products and services you can sell.
Even if you sell traditional products, you can always add information services or products to your line-up. By providing these along with your original products, you can charge more money. People are getting a higher value when they receive these products or services, so they expect to pay more. It doesn’t matter one bit that it might cost you an insignificant amount to provide that information. As long as people perceive that the value is super-high in relation to the benefits you’re offering them, they don’t care what your actual cost is. You especially have an edge when you develop proprietary information products and services.
Here are just a few types of info-based products and services you can sell: newsletters, books, booklets, pamphlets, special reports, audio programs and their transcripts, video programs, workbooks, courses, CDs, DVDs — the list is huge. You can license out various aspects of your business. You can sell distributorships. You can provide consulting services and warranties. You can do seminars and workshops, and hold a variety of other events.
Even if you decide not to go the information marketing route, look for value-added services you can add to your product mix to boost sales. My wife runs a pet boutique. She sells all kinds of things, mostly for dog lovers: clothing and jewelry for dogs, gourmet treats and premium quality dog food, and of course everything possible that a dog can chew on or play with. But the big profits lie in dog grooming; that’s what keeps the customers coming back more than anything else. People hate to groom their own dogs, so that service drives that whole boutique. Take away that grooming, and suddenly you’re not giving people a reason to come back into the store. Originally, it was a value-added service to go along with the products she sells in her store — but ultimately, it drives business and generates profits.