Why it’s important to separate the ‘hot’ from the ‘not’

by | Jan 26, 2018

There are 3 very basic, but very important rules you must remember if you are to source hot selling products

Ok, let’s get one thing crystal clear when it comes to sourcing products for your online business.

You cannot and should not simply walk into a wholesale premises and leave with an armful of random items. This applies online too – please refrain from filling your shopping cart with ‘stuff’ that ‘looks like it might sell’.

It’s actually highly likely you won’t be able to sell those goods because they are unresearched. The key is to look deep into a niche to separate the ‘hot’ from the ‘not’.

You want to make money from your products, right? Right. So, with this in mind there are a couple of important factors you should know about products and markets that will allow you to make money in your online business.

There are 3 very basic, but very important rules you must remember if you are to source hot selling products – stick with these and everything will instantly become easier:

  1. Your products should solve a problem or fulfil a great need or desire.
  2. You must have a good stock of related products that people need to solve their problem, need or desire at the exact time they require it, in other words, right now!
  3. Always refer to rules 1 and 2 – never go off track.

I think all of us, including myself, have been in a situation at some point in our lives where we have decided that we want something and we just can’t wait! That spoilt brat syndrome is inside us and comes to the fore because we are now a nation of impatient people – I need a new pair of shoes (to go with the other 43 pairs), I need the latest coffee machine (because my friend next door has got one and the coffee tastes delicious), I need the latest smartphone (because I can’t be seen with an ‘old’ model) – you know the kind of impatience I mean.

I’m sure you’ll agree that shoes and coffee and smartphones are pretty insignificant problems in the great scheme of things. Sometimes though, people have a problem that stops them from going about their normal everyday lives, that makes them unhappy or feel inferior. And this is how other people’s problems can work positively to your advantage.

For example;

  • The elderly lady who hasn’t had a full night’s sleep for a week because her dog yaps and whines all night long.
  • The teenager who can’t get a date because of an embarrassing acne problem
  • The guy who has such bad breath that his workmates avoid him
  • The exhausted parent who can’t get the new baby to sleep through the night
  • The keen fisherperson who is struggling to land a bite
  • The boyfriend who can’t decide on a suitable gift for his girlfriend for an important anniversary
  • The teenager whose friends all have the latest gadgets…and he doesn’t
  • The overweight woman who wants to start exercising
  • The collector who is looking for a limited-edition piece

I could go on but you get the idea. Some of these problems are not nice for the people concerned and others are just everyday needs, however these are all prime examples of how you can source and supply products that can solve a problem for others, and you can make a profit by doing so.

You could source a ‘stop barking’ collar, a new acne cream, a spray that totally eliminates bad breath, a colic remedy, a fish finding gadget, unique gifts for special occasions…. 

There is always a product you can match to a problem. These are all products that you can source and sell successfully because they solve some kind of problem and people are prepared to pay you for that because you will be solving their problem or need for them.

So, the bottom line is that obvious as it may seem, to be successful, it’s vital to research and source products to resell that will actually make you a profit through your business. For any business, this will be pivotal to your success. What’s more, these products mustn’t just sell once, I’m not talking about a one-off sale here, but a product or set of products that sell over and over, on a continual basis to an infinite stream of people.

So, what’s the secret formula? To be honest, it’s not really a secret!

  • Decide on a niche
  • Research a hot market
  • Identify an in-demand product
  • Uncover a reliable, quality supplier for that product
  • Sell your goods

It’s just a simple series of steps, but from experience I know that often it’s not actually finding a supplier that’s the difficult part, more so knowing what’s hot and deciding what to sell, especially if you are a newbie.

The message here is simple. Don’t jump straight in and buy stock that ‘you think will sell’ just because you ‘like the look of it’ or ‘it was cheap’. Research is key and is the first step to uncovering a viable product.