Your online business, Part 1

Let us talk about your online affiliate businesses in context of non-cyberspace, offline business realities:

1. What we call an affiliate on line is usually a “dealership” or “Franchise” or even “Representative” offline. Dealerships/Franchises/Representatives are businesses. Dealerships can be very company or product specific. For example: Tupperware, Ford Auto Dealerships, BlockBuster Franchise, Avon, MaryKay, JiffyLub, GoodYear, Hallmark stores. In these cases you represent a very specific company and product.

Or, you can incorporate a lot of different companies, products and services under one roof: Mega Discount stores, your local grocery store, DollarStore, your local furniture store, combined Auto Dealerships representing more than just one company, your Insurance Agent, your Doctor, Lawyer, the florist. The list goes on and you see my point here. In each and every case, the business entity must have inventory, stock, goods and services in place to sell at retail. The need location, a building for business and all that goes with that. Advertising and marketing to bring in business. Good customer service to keep your customers coming back.

Look at something simple like Tupperware: in order to be a “hostess”/dealer you have to buy your basic product kit; sales literature; business stuff like order forms, credit card forms, etc; nifty case to carry it all in; the “goodies” you give away. Any advertising or promotions you do is up to you and on your budget. You pay for your own gas going to the parties, you pay for shipping, business cards and your time. If you become a “dealer” you pay for the office and warehouse space and employees to run the operation.

The same goes for each and every business you drive by on your way to work, home, while on vacation. The same goes for every business you patronize! The same goes for your grocery store, the Electric Company, even the company you work for.

Businesses purchase what they need wholesale or at group pricing, through their franchise or network. You make a profit from the difference of all your overhead and cost of goods. Why is WalMart, for example so successful? For many reasons, but one is that every store participates in the “Group” purchasing and distribution system. This is the one thing that Sam Walton brought to a fine art. Every single store gets group pricing no matter where they are located. And, the regional huge-mega WalMart distribution centers ensure each store, no matter where the heck it is, receives those products in a way to meet demand and maximize profits.

Then, you need to advertise. Yep, cannot live without it. Cannot prosper without it. Now, if you belong to a group, franchise and or etc, you buy into national and international advertising at group rates, if that is part of your business, to obtain customers. You purchase local advertising. You do what ever is needful to obtain customers and sales. These are well founded and common business factors you meet in the off-line world of commerce. Going back to WalMart again, besides their group purchasing and distribution centers, they have killer NATIONAL advertising that reaches into EVERY TINY COMMUNITY in the US. Every local Walmart store advertises in local newspapers, shoppers, and via radio and television via Corporate Advertising Rates. Tupperware and Avon have a nation-wide name recognition. As do Ford, Goodyear, JiffyLub. Mary Kay might be nation wide, might not. Actually Ford has international name recognition. The point being here, if you are a Ford or Tupperware representative, (you) and your product have instant name recognition due to massive advertising and promotional campaigns.

2. We are in cyber-commerce. The basic principles apply. Except we call our dealership/franchise/representative owners “affiliates”. Being online, we don’t have to fork over all the money for building or office space and all that goes with THAT! We wear a lot of hats so unless we have partners in our business we have no employee overhead. But what we do have are two things: 1. Cost of goods/services/products and 2. Marketing/advertising costs.

With me so far? Now, consider all the “opportunity” sites, product sales sites and etc you have ever seen and see today. What happens when you decide to go with that site?

Take your time and think on this, we will continue in the next article.

- Cherie Halliday
XtreamSurf
Xtream Submitter
Xtream SAL