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A super safe business idea to follow
publication date: Aug 15, 2007
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- Safety and a Secure Business for You and Your
Customers
- When Is A Print A Print, and When Is It a Shabby Piece of
Paper Instead?
- Hire Business Report
***
Hi,
Last week I promised an update to an earlier item I created
about starting a hire business based on hiring out items you
buy inexpensively on eBay. That report is included towards
the end of this eZine. I hope it works well for you.
But first...
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Safety and a Secure Business for You and Your Customers
***
Home and personal safety and security is big business
worldwide, including on eBay, representing an immensely
responsive niche market with plentiful sub-categories. As a
result, both on and off eBay, you'll find traders specialising in
safety and security products and services per se, and
others targeting specific products and particular markets,
such as pet security tags, kiddies' jewellery with location
monitoring devices, house alarm and fire detection devices,
and much more besides.
Demand is usually high all year round for goods and
services to protect loved ones and property, but the business
can be competitive, though there are several ways to raise
your profits above the norm and help you achieve a lion's
share of the business. Very sadly, the most profitable ways
tend to centre round actual tragedy and almost invariably
represent a kind of Wake Up call to potential customers.
As a friend selling house and fire alarms tells me, there is a
major problem confronting most people selling safety and
security products, in that the business rarely works well just
waiting for customers to call to buy your products.This is
especially so for firms working online only, without customer
access off the Internet. In all cases, especially online, as
on eBay, you really need to create awareness for your
products and tell people what they stand to lose by not
taking proper care of loved ones and property.
This is because most people don't think tragedy will ever
strike them, so they are blasé about life-saving equipment
like home fire alarms and sandbags until fire strikes and
people die or, as happened just recently, children go
missing, pets are stolen, rivers overflow and destroy lives
and property.
It's a sad tale for the victims, sad for onlookers too, and
while I'd never advocate making money from other people's
misery, I think there are countless business opportunities
waiting here with a ready made captive audience, and
advertisers as keen as mustard to market your product to
millions of people, all in one go, completely free of charge.
Namely the media!
That friend mentioned earlier told me his very best selling
times always came in the aftermath of local house fires that
had claimed several lives, especially young children and
adults.
'You must take a pro-active approach to business', he told
me, 'and you must always consider your role one of saving
lives, not reacting to other people's misery!
When tragedy strikes or problems appear that affect huge
numbers of people, the press (and television and radio) goes
on a rampage looking for news to keep their audience
ratings high. This is also the time when savvy marketers
reach out for millions of pounds worth of free advertising for
whatever products and services they have to relieve the
problems of many thousands of people. This free publicity is
usually achieved by sending out product reviews or press
releases highlighting the product concerned and inviting
editors and broadcasters to get in touch for more information
and preferably to interview the seller!
There are many ways that firms already in business can
enjoy a massive swell in orders based on free prime-time
advertising to an audience of millions, and the concept works
equally well no matter where you are based, on the high
street for example, or online, possibly on eBay. But,
thankfully, you don't have to wait for disaster to strike
before you put these ideas into practice.To show how
effective this free advertising can be:
* When the world went crazy about a young child going
missing in Portugal a Cumbrian Internet company went on
television to reveal a range of jewellery and accessories for
children and pets, which not only looked good but also
included tiny tracking devices linked to a central computer
that could be accessed to reveal the exact location of the
tracking device and the individual wearing it. This product
has been around for many years, I interviewed the people
myself long ago as part of an article I was writing about the
security business. I contacted them again today, to keep in
touch, and to check how the television programme had
affected their business. The reply went something like
'Snowed under' and I learned the television people had
contacted my friend, not vice versa, to air details of a
product that might help stop other families falling victim
to similar tragedy.
* It must have felt like all his birthdays had come together
when sudden strange events led to a Yorkshire man
appearing on television and in newspaper and radio
programmes all over northern England. He was selling
'sandbags', the very thing hundreds of thousands of people
were desperate to have to prevent rain and overflowing
drains destroying their homes and business properties. But
these were not your typical sandbags, they weren't heavy,
they didn't even contain sand, and they did not belong to the
person called upon to demonstrate the product. Unlike your
average sandbag, these could be stored in a tiny space and
assembled in seconds to begin saving lives and property.
The product comprised flat bags with a thin bubble layer
inside, a bit like padded bags used for posting delicate items.
Once immersed in water, though, or hit by heavy rain,
chemicals caused the bubbles to swell and the bag to inflate
to about the size of a pillow case but twice as deep and very
sturdy. The man was an import agent, working from home,
his stock came from China, and these were just samples he
had obtained to test market the product in the UK. Sadly, all
too late on this occasion for him to profit from a captive
audience and mountains of free publicity. Better luck next
time!
And next time there will almost certainly be, because
children going missing, family pets being kidnapped, drains
and rivers overflowing, are not rare events. They're about as
predictable as the sun rising and setting each day!
And that's what makes safety and security such a safe
business to follow.
***
Introducing: Dirty Postcards!
***
"Thanks to DIRTY POSTCARDS I can make a laughably
easy £100-£200 a -day eBay part-time income...
How much will YOU make copying me exactly, now I've
turned this untapped vintage market into the latest eBay
cash-cow?"
Find out here
***
When Is A Print A Print, and When Is It a Shabby Piece of
Paper Instead?
***
A few weeks back a really argumentative woman emailed
me to say the word 'print' has nothing to do with book plates
and pictures such as I sell on eBay and which I encourage
others to sell via various of my own books and articles about
making money on eBay.
I realise she was probably saying the same thing other
people might be thinking, only others may not be quite so
rude as this person. So I decided to investigate, primarily to
allow me to reply to this woman without retaliating and
without resorting to rudeness myself.
Her 'problem' centred around the fact I use the word 'print' in
my writing and in my eBay listings to mean book plates and
picture pages from books and magazines, and most people
agree with my definition, and to date only three people have
disagreed.
But only a few people get quite so nasty as this woman, and
she is one of very few people who actually do think only rare
loose low volume printed items can be sold under the
umbrella of 'print' and these people also expect the reverse
to be blank on the item being sold.
I have sympathy sometimes in this latter respect and I
always mention in my listing that because my item came
from a rare and popular book there may be other illustrations
or text on the reverse of the item which does not show
through to the printed side.
And naturally I make sure the reverse does not impinge on
the front or else I simply don't list the item!
But the word 'print' works well for me, and it will work for you
to call these items 'prints' as do most eBay sellers of similar
items. 'Book plate / print' is another reliable description.
But I decided to check my definition just to be sure the word
'print' still means the same as it did when I began selling
paper items almost forty years ago, at which time it
described items from various sources including, books.
I checked web sites of some of the world's biggest sellers of
vintage and antiquarian prints and found all used the word
'print' to refer to illustrations taken from books and, like me
and other eBayers selling these items, those sites invariably
reveal the name of the book from which the items being sold
actually came.
Sites I checked where you will also find lots of information
about presenting and pricing vintage prints, and which also
prove my own and other eBay sellers' definition of the word
'print' as also being a picture page removed from a book,
include the following (notice how their wording proves my
point regarding definition):
Baseball - Boston Champions - From Harpers Weekly:
June 27, 1874
They tells us they sell 'Antique Ski Prints from Punch
Magazine' !!!!
On one page they tell us they sell 'Prints from King Albert's
Book' !!
I've gone to a bit of trouble explaining this common
misconception of what a print happens to be. This is
because I frequently encounter problems from people who
really do think they know it all, and these are the people who
will make your life hell on eBay. I suggest you keep this
article handy and feel free to give it away to any of your own
problem contacts who really do expect to get an original
drawing, hand signed by Picasso, for a few quid on eBay.
Believe me those people do exist!
***
Part Two of Hire Business Report
***
Things you can hire out include:
Land
Land isn't cheap, I know! But it's one of the very best and
most profitable things to hire out, even if that land isn't your
own. Land can be hired out for a variety of uses, including
space for caravan and camping clubs, markets and car boot
sales, nurseries and garden workshops, as grazing and
stabling for horses and goats, and as room for others to
grow and cut turf, flowers and vegetables. Advertise your
land, or other people's land, in appropriate places up market
county magazines for grazing and stabling purposes, in local
newspapers and freesheets for garden uses, in market
traders' and organisers' magazines for land being offered for
car boot sales and markets.
Tents and Camping Equipment
Marquees and tents are popular for a variety of reasons,
including auctions and outdoor sales, pop festivals,
weddings and other celebrations with large guest lists.
Tents are also popular for camping holidays, not the kind of
break most people want every year. Consequently, not
everyone wants to have their own tents, not only for the cost,
but also because room is needed to store the equipment
until next time it's needed.
You can buy stock new or second hand. Look in the sales
columns of local and regional newspapers; look for surplus
and government clearance stock in Exchange and Mart.
Advertise your service in local newspapers, magazines and
newsheets. Inform wedding organisers and caterers,
photographers and dress hire specialists. Offer a
commission on all work passed your way.
Boots
Boots can be offered which people need only rarely,
including hiking and walking boots, riding boots, skating and
roller boots. Advertise in sports magazines and on notice
boards in leisure centres, sports centres, libraries, schools,
colleges and community centres. Purchase good quality
second hand stock from 'for sale' columns of local
magazines and newspapers. Make a point of keeping boots
visibly and hygienically clean.
Bicycles, Large and Small
Not everyone will want your bikes for more than a few hours
at a time, and perhaps only on a few rare occasions. Most
holiday villages, for instance, have huge deposits of bicycles
and tricycles which clients can borrow for their entire stay.
Charges are usually relatively low and a deposit is taken and
handed back when the bike is returned. It works well.
There's nothing to suggest that bicycle hire wouldn't work
equally well on a local level, especially where a primarily
youthful population exists. Children grow out of bicycles
very quickly, very quickly indeed.
Styles change, too. All makes for financial upheaval for
parents who might very well turn instead to your bicycle
warehouse, where, for a sizable deposit and monthly rate,
children can call to select their bikes, obtain a larger size,
different design, and so on.
There's also scope for bikes of a different kind - exercise
cycles. Not everyone needs them for more than a few
weeks, not everyone finds their initial enthusiasm for diet
and exercise lasts beyond the first few weeks, or days. It's
very expensive to buy something you suddenly find you don't
need.
Advertise in local newspapers and freesheets, leisure
centres and sports clubs, schools and colleges, and so on.
Children's Hardware
One of the most popular and profitable options of all, there
are countless customers who would appreciate someone to
lend them costly pieces of equipment every parent needs,
but not always for long. Cots, prams, high chairs, and so on,
could form your starting range. Later you might add large
toys, carrycots, bicycles, dolls houses, and so on. Look for
suitable stock in the 'for sales' columns in local newspapers
and freesheets. Target prospective customers through the
same publications, as well as from leaflets delivered door to
door, posters placed in shop and post office windows, and
advertising leaflets pinned to notice boards in mother and
toddler clubs, libraries, maternity clinics, health centres,
leisure and sports centres, and so on. Charge a basic
deposit and a set amount for each month the item is on hire.
Remember to take great care over safety standards at all
times, but particularly where children's equipment is
concerned.
Large Items of Play Equipment
Here, include garden swings and slides, indoor slides, cars,
tricycles, Wendy tents and playhouses, go-karts, and so on.
Advertise in much the same places as for children's
hardware.
Party Equipment
Into this category go all of those things most of us need at
some point in time, but rarely need to have our own supply
of. Hundreds of glasses and plates, mountains of cutlery,
large kettles and boilers, huge teapots and massive
saucepans for group feed-ins. But, if you have these items
available, you'll find a ready audience from special interest
groups, local societies, function halls and caterers, dance
and party organisers, entertainments managers, and so on.
Advertise locally in newspapers, freesheets, shop and post
office windows, and don't forget to mailshot local groups.
Advertisements should be pinned to notice boards in
libraries, schools, brownie and scout halls, community
centres, leisure and sports centres, etc.
Scaffolding and DIY Items
These are among the most popular hire items of all,
sometimes because most people have very infrequent need
for them, often because they're very expensive to buy,
usually because they need so much space to store them
until they're next needed.
Items here include scaffolding, cement mixers, ladders, tree
cutting equipment, industrial saws, and so on. Advertise
locally in newspapers and freesheets, leave leaflets and
business cards wherever possible, mailshot homes and
businesses.
Clothes
Popular items here include wedding outfits and high-class
celebration outfits. A number of firms operate very
successfully with designer clothing, sometimes children's
clothing only. Clothing can be purchased second-hand,
cleaned and repaired accordingly.
Advertise for stock in quality magazines and newspapers.
Advertise your own service virtually anywhere. Remember,
if you deal in wedding outfits, ask caterers, florists,
photographers, and wedding car operators, to pass on news
of your service to future brides and grooms. Offer a
commission on all business passed your way.
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