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What is the Best Business Model to get into in 2017?

In this video I cover Amazon FBA, Drop Shipping, Digital Products, Affiliate Marketing and Ecommerce Stores.

Amazon FBA

Amazon FBA is a service by Amazon that stores your products at their warehouses, picks, packs and ships and provides customer service.
 
Pros:
  • If selling thru Amazon you will get the Buy Box more
  • “Send and Forget It” – Amazon handles picking, packing,shipping,customer serviced returns
  • Volume – You don’t have to worry about warehousing product
  • Sale Increase
  • You don’t have to worry about shipping product to other International markets
  • Product Protection – If the product gets lost, damaged you get reimbursed.
  • You can focus on selling instead of fulfilment
Cons:
  • You need capital to start importing – $3000 to $10,000
  • You need knowledge of importing – you can learn
  • You need to know if product is going to sell before investing in buying the product
  • Higher Risk if cannot sell you product you may lose money
  • Takes Time: 1 to 3 months from importing to selling
  • Lack of Control – You can be banned, fees can go up. You have to follow their rules
  • Shipping Delays to Amazons Warehouse
  • Tax Requirements
  • Returns will increase
  • Fees for everything and it’s not getting cheaper
  • Delayed Payments
  • Ruthless Amazon competitors
 

Digital/Info Products

Digital products are intangible products sold in digital form. Examples are ebooks, webinars, fonts, graphics, software, interviews, courses, themes.
 

Pros:

  • Minimal Storage Cost
  • No Inventory Problems
  • No Shipping Problems
  • Instant Delivery
  • Extremely High Margins
 
Cons:
  • Technical Support – Servers, Technology
  • Competition
  • Easily Copied
  • Takes time/money to create a product
  • Marketing digital products are more difficult than physical products
 

Drop Shipping

A method whereby the seller does not stock inventory and transfers orders to a manufacturer, wholesaler or another retailer, who then ships the product directly to the customer.
 
Pros:
  • No Inventory
  • No Upfront Risk
  • Easy to Setup
 
Cons:
  • Lower Margins
  • Rely completely on your drop shipper to fulfil orders
  • Lack of control over product quality, time to process orders, shipment errors
  • If drop shipper makes mistake, you still need to make it right with your customer
  • Additional costs, fees and underhanded tactics
 
 

Affilate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is a form of revenue sharing. Commissions are paid for referring business.
 
Pros:
  • Easy
  • No Upfront Costs
  • Low Risk
  • Passive Income
  • Work Anywhere
 
Cons:
  • You don’t own the customer unless they are your customer first
  • You don’t control the offers and fulfilment
  • You may not get paid your commissions
  • Competitors may hijack your affiliate commissions
  • Paid Advertising is costly if you are not converting sales
 

Ecommerce Store

Having your own store on your own domain.
 
Pros:
  • Easy to Start
  • Low Risk
  • Does not have the costs of traditional “Bricks and Mortar” stores
  • Your store is an asset and can be sold
  • You can incorporate drop shipping, Amazon FBA, Digital/Info Products and Affiliate Marketing methods into your own store
 
Cons:
  • If you carry stock you will need capital to purchase inventory and storage for products
  • If you fulfil orders you will need someone to pick, pack and ship orders
  • Competition from Amazon, other marketplaces and other sellers
  • You must know how to get traffic to your store