Business Startup's/Affiliate Marketing/Learning curve

Hi Folks,
New to the game and interested in other sellers experiences about online selling and sales, especially when they were starting out.

From what I am reading here and elsewhere, as with anything worth pursuing, fortitude, persistence and willingness to think outside the box and to allow for failures along the way are keys to online success, I would be interested in the thinking and timeline horizon other members have in their business models.

Everything for me is still very abstract and I am still trying to systematize and prioritize the process of starting a business. Any thoughts from other members as far as process, priorities and pitfalls about general business startups, including on the bean counter side would be greatly appreciated.

Even with all the disclaimers about drop shipping it is presently my means of entering this world so personnel stories about members drop shipping startups would be greatly appreciated.
Best,
Dave

Hi Dave,


I have been selling online, in flea markets and via retail fronts for more than a decade, and have wholesale experience going back almost two decades. The best drop shipping-related advice that I can offer you I have reiterated on this board at least twice a year for as long as I've been a member: don't.

If costs of entry and/or learning curve are keeping you out of the liquidation or wholesale market range, you are far better off finding the niche product(s) you want to promote and approaching them from the standpoint of being an affiliate. While you will miss some of the experience to be garnered from operating on a selling platform (eg. eBay online, or flea markets offline, etc.) your startup costs will be even lower than going the dropshipping route, you can pick from virtually any product or service imaginable (vs. the largely bottom-of-the-barrell stuff that most dropshippers seem to offer) and you can get a real feel for that product's target market, the sort of ad copy to which they respond, and other aspects. You're not pushing the same stuff at the same price at the same venue as 10,000 other people, which is also a big plus.

Seriously, and this is not in any way a jab, but is serious considered advice, if you are wanting to get into this business with the minimum financial risk, finding your target market and going after it as an affiliate first is the far smarter choice than going for drop shippers. There are a couple of exceptional companies in the dropship market, but their service and price are generally offset by the fact that their product offerings are crap. And most of the ones with hot products and great service have terrible prices. And the ones with great selection and great prices, well ... they're the ones who take the money and run lol.


Frank

...entry and/or learning curve are keeping you out of the liquidation or wholesale market range, you are far better off finding the niche product(s) you want to promote and approaching them from the standpoint of being an affiliate. While you will miss some of the experience to be garnered from operating on a selling platform (eg. eBay online, or flea markets offline, etc.) your startup costs will be even lower than going the dropshipping route, you can pick from virtually any product or service imaginable

Frank, great advice, I have always looked at my marketing strategy as a full spectrum approach anyways, if one channel fails the other avenues (hopefully) thrives. I have been looking at the affiliate market, and yes, there seems many ways of approaching it, from social media/blogs, your own website, google adwords and so on.

Anyone have any experience with affiliate marketing?

Dave