Article by Charlie Wright
I like things that are sage…
For instance, a really warming winter sausage casserole, or a sage & onion stuffing.
But I also like advice that is sage.
As in wise. As opposed to herby.
Especially when the advice comes from people whose home businesses are just taking off. Because these are the people who know the difficulties, the frustrations and the pitfalls that face everyone trying to get on in the Biz Opp Jungle.
They’re also more honest about where they went wrong (you’ve probably heard the nonsense from gurus who pretend they turn everything into gold from their beach-side villas!).
Take today’s brilliant message advice from Dan Thorley. He asks a very good question…
“Where on earth do you start with all this biz opp stuff?”
And he reveals how he let a money making opportunity slip through his fingers when he was younger.
You may recognise his plight!
Take it away, Dan….
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Are You Staring a Money Making Opportunity In the Face?
By Dan Thorley
So, you want to make some extra money on the side, perhaps even go the whole hog and set up your own full time business?
Well there’s possibly more choice now than there’s ever been before, and I’m not just talking online here. Where on earth do you start?
Online marketing, Direct marketing, Property, Stock market, Spread betting, Betting systems, Forex trading, EBay and Amazon, Traditional retailing, Futures, Options, Butcher, Baker Candlestick maker….arrgghh…..Deep breath, and relax.
Over the years I have had my fair share of business successes and failures, but if there’s one thing I’ve learnt it’s this; Opportunities are around us all the time.
But how do you know one when you see one?
Trouble is we hardly ever notice opportunities until they’re long gone. I should know. Years ago I had one of those coulda, shoulda chances and didn’t take it….
How I accidentally stumbled into a Joint Venture
For a time, back in the 1980s through to early 2000, I was completely obsessed with weight training, and particularly bodybuilding.
Much of my time and money was spent on courses, books and attending seminars at the other end of the country, costing anything from £200 – £500 every month.
I bought all my own protein powder and various other supplements at a discount from suppliers found in bodybuilding magazines, this was pre internet. To begin with I only purchased what I myself was going to use over the next month or so.
Eventually I realised my training partner and other gym goers used similar products and paid more for them because they bought theirs from the high street at a mark up.
That’s when I realised…
A tasty profit could be made by buying in bulk at a discount… then selling onto my fellow gym users… for less than they paid in the shops… and still leaving a little profit on top!
Alright, so it wouldn’t exactly make me a millionaire… but it got me thinking more about making money from my hobby…
Then my training partner said something that caught my attention…
When I asked him why he didn’t come with me to the expensive training seminars he said “It’s too far, and anyway I don’t need to I’ll just copy whatever you do”.
And he was right. There was probably a market there for bodybuilders who wanted to copy the techniques, but didn’t want to travel to big events.
Was this a business opportunity?
Looking back on it – YES!
For a start not all the bodybuilding seminars were filmed… I could have done a deal to go in and film. I could have negotiated the rights.
And even if the event WAS filmed, I could have offered to market the film as a commercial product for the body-building niche.
I could have advertised the videos it in the same magazines I bought my protein powder from… remember this was before the days of the internet so offline marketing strategies like classified ads were the only real option!
These days of course I would launch a free bodybuilding e-letter first as the core of my business, then create products to promote such as the DVDs from the seminars etc.
Did I do any of this?
Apart from selling protein powder, I’m afraid not.
It’s that old hindsight thing again. At the time I was far more interested in the gym than any marketing business.
My point is, there are so many opportunities around you. The secret is to recognise them and take the necessary action before it’s too late.
Dan has put together a complimentary report on search engine optimisation that will help you solve the problem of traffic generation. Download it here
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Thanks for the story Dan.
If you have stories of pitfalls, missed opportunities, great ideas and inspiring events that you want to share, please leave a comment below.