What sells on the Internet?

What Sells On The Internet

(c) Wanda Loskot

People ask me that question all the time. Often they are just curious, but quite often they ask because they want to figure out how they could also embark on a successful internet marketing journey.

Usually they are surprised when I answer. Because the truth is that EVERY product and service sells, and everything *can* do very well on the Internet. Airline tickets, books, diamonds, wedding services, horses, stock options, steel, consulting, dating services, medical equipment, grocery, steel, art, even bull semen (yes, I *am* serious :-)

However, "what sells?" is not the most important question to ask. Because it is not the product that determines whether or not you will be successful as a small business owner.

So what is the question you should ask?
"Who can I sell TO?"

I promised to share more impressions from the Billion Dollar Internet Summit in LA - that awesome gathering organized by Jay Abraham and the Netrageous team. (participants paid $5,000 per person to be there -- I was invited to be on the team as a web site reviewer!)

Here is another highlight, this time from the encounter with Corey Rudl. In case you don't know him, consider this: his website gets over 2 million visitors, does 5.2 million dollars in sales per year and he personally makes hundreds of thousands of dollars from his online businesses... all from his one small office. You can visit Corey's famous site here

He has a simple, 4-step formula for Internet success - it goes like this:

See? It is not the product.
It's the market first, THEN the product second.

Don't look for a product to sell or for the *thing* your can produce easily and inexpensively. Look first for a *market* and then for a product people in that market want.

Corey said even more during that presentation: "If you have a product and no easy to reach market for it - dump it! Dump it and get over it!"

Wow!
Brief and powerful.
So many people get stuck with the product or service that is too difficult to launch. Don't get attached to you own ideas!

Now, of course, some products are simply better equipped than others to be sold automatically in large quantities. Software for example - because of the instant availability - and any other kind of information product. But instant portability is not the most important factor in building your successful Internet based business.

You might come up with a revolutionary product or service, easy to order, easy to ship, and with a worldwide market needs.... Sounds great, but if you can't reach a high number of potential buyers with your marketing message easily and inexpensively, you are doomed to fail.