Pavel Lenshin - 10 April 2003

USP

According to economic theories we live in the world of monopoly competition. That term shouldn't confuse you, as the meaning behind implies competition between many small or middle-size "monopolies", that are not monopolies in their direct meaning, as they don't control some particular sector of economy, rather then they are the prime sources of their unique propositions of services or products. That fact makes them to be a so-called monopolies of their own services or products, despite the fact that a lot of other companies offering very close, in terms of features and benefits, services or products to the market.

That is why it is obvious that the more unique benefits and features your proposition can offer to the market, the more "open-minded" market will be towards that proposition of yours.

Since we are usually involved in activity, which is not related to raw resources and materials, where uniqueness is very difficult to reach, due to the nature of the product like wheat, we are capable to offer a product and/or service that brings new "way of thinking". While it sounds too expressive, the core idea behind is to be new, at least, in something.

Now let us speak more minutely about online e-business strategies you may and should apply online.

1. PRODUCT.

The product/service your will offer is 100% responsible for your long-term success. While it's possible to get some profit from useless goods, owing to the professionalism of the marketing experts, it won't last long. The "word of mouth" marketing is the most reliable long-term marketing tool ever existed. That is why it's better to make a product you will be proud of, and even having mediocre marketing abilities, due to lack of funds, experts etc. your product would still have a profitable future, of course if, as we stated, it perfectly solves some problems, brings joy and so forth.

How to do it

Research, analyze and develop it. That is your e-business foundation.
The best idea that I can give you about what product/service to create is that it should be the one you will be the most happy to use or utilize by yourself, in other words, the product that e-market lacks and you feel a great need in. Make it more beneficial by having substantially lower price or substantially more benefits, features, new way of solving old problems, new service in order to make it faster, cheaper, easier, deliver more pleasure to deal with. Do you see the point?

2. THIRD PARTY PRODUCT. License techniques.

Nowadays, we all hear about resell, reprint or master resell rights.

In short, by acquiring resell rights you are able to resell the product you bought for the specified price. So you pay license fee and then buy a desired number of products at a massive discount (more then wholesale).

Reprint & redistribution rights are the same as above with the only difference - your business entity may solely
reprint and redistribute the product in specified quantities, without any necessity to buy them from the licenser. The one who bought the license (licensee) is also have a right to customize or brand that product before retails, if other is not stipulated in license agreement. Sometimes you receive a right to become a licenser and offer
resell rights to you clients, whereas you keep all the generated profits.

Master resell rights entitles you to enjoy all the benefits mentioned above plus the right to resell reprint and
redistribute rights and sometimes the master resell rights themselves. That is truly fantastic opportunity as you
actually acquire a complete business of the licenser. The only priority the licenser has is that he may change and develop his product further, where your power is limited by customization only, i. e. you are not allowed to change the "nature" of the product or service, if other is not stipulated in license agreement.

When we speak about Internet and info (intangible) products one thing should be stressed here. Taking into account unlimited supply and the way info products are being copied, with a press of a button, it is difficult, if not impossible, to control their further distribution. Therefore resell rights that coming with info products are accepted to possess free redistribution rights as an additional feature of reprint & redistribution rights. The thing that still makes a difference between these rights is customization or branding.

To sum up, let us say that, concerning info products, any rights you acquire allow you to distribute, but
customization of the product is allowed only under reprint & redistribution or master resell license agreement, if other is not mentioned. That is why, they are sometimes called customization rights instead of reprint & redistribution.

You can also order at wholesale prices before retailing, but if your intentions to establish long-term partnership are serious, acquiring license is more advisable as you will be able to save substantial amount of resources (usually financial), brand the product (if poses reprint or master resell rights) and generate new income streams by offering license certificates to your clients.

How to do it

The product/service you choose to license should meet the following criteria:

* Satisfy high market demand;
* Be innovative (strong USP);
* Have an acceptable benefits/price ratio;
* Reflect your business "likes";
* Reflect your long-term business strategy and marketing potential.

You should take your hand on the pulse of economy development in order to proper track the trends. It doesn't
matter what economy sector or market demand these trends belong to, what does matter is how you track and analyze these trends in a sphere or scope of activity you work in.

If you are like me, an info business operator, the main priority to you in searching for license deals is to
anticipate the possible high future demands. That is also true when you are developing your own product/service. If you find a product that perfectly suits your current business and meets criteria mentioned above, then chose what license to acquire and go for it, or contact the owner and offer him to acquire a license or have a discussion about considering new terms of license agreement, no problem should arise in that case.

3. PACKAGE.

Other front you can strike from is to bundle products/services into another unique offer. Don't think that it's too easy. This way demands much more financial investments and even more time on market research.
Your "package" of products or services is nothing more then a number of third party's products/services, which were licensed by you, accompanied or not with your own offer(s) into some new product that is implied to offer complete solution.

How to do it

Here is a brief example that shows, which direction you should move.

Let assume that you are running a web-site selling dietary supplement capsules and quite often you get emails from thankful customers asking you to solve their other health problems or provide them with a recipe of healthy diets to lose weight etc.

What you can do is partner with fellow marketer, who is successfully offering brochures and other materials on the best diets to lose weight as well as with another e-business owner who promotes ebooks on how to solve minor health problems indoors. You can even acquire a license to resell some light sport trainers, just reassure via independent research that these offers are reliable and beneficial for your customers and not frustrate and ruin your positive image.

So by setting up these deals, you are not only answering the question - what health food should be, but also starting to provide a complete package of products and services on how to keep everyone's body in good shape. That's it.

CONCLUSION

The way you choose is yours and yours only. Make yourself feel comfortable with it, let your business and your future plans be comfortable with it. And never forget about the market - as a place where you develop your business. You should follow the market, anticipate it and satisfy it in the best possible way.

This is the only attitude that may almost guarantee your success, unless you are still looking for new
"revolutionary" matrix schemes, super "breakthrough" offers of the next 22 century, or these fake last-chance programs like "jump-in-today-get-rich-automatically-tomorrow" or "all-job-is-done-for-you-just-pay-now" :0) You may continue that list.

copyright 2002 Pavel Lenshin

About the author.

Pavel Lenshin is publisher and web-designer, who offers: + Powerful package on how to run Private Info Business + Free subscription to the unique NET Business Magazine + Free Optimization Report of your Website InfoAlchemist.com

:To contact online see details below.

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