I manufacture health supplements. Introduction thread.

[healthsupps]

Hi all,

My name is Mike and I'm from Vancouver, BC Canada. I manufacture health supplements, and have a site where I sell them.

The domain is HealthSupplements dot com

I didn't know anything about manufacturing or running an ecommerce store before I started. I just knew that the supplement industry was extremely shady, and customers were getting screwed, so I decided to enter since I was able to solve a problem.

Here to network and join in the discussions.

Any feedback on my site would be appreciated as well.

Right now I'm experimenting with facebook ads / google adwords / media buys.

Facebook so far seems only good for branding, and not conversions into paying customers.
Adwords clicks are extremely expensive in this niche, so it isn't worth it.
Trying some banner spots currently on a few sites.


Nice to meet you all. Feel free to ask questions


-Mike

 

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[Envision]

Hey Mike,

Welcome. Ill give you some feedback, you entered one of the most saturated markets in the world. I used to work at bodybuilding.com and to compete in this niche you need to come at it from a different angle.

First - get your product in front of people, this means going with amazon and sponsoring people who have followings.

Second - Differentiate your product and bring a unique aspect to it. Hittsupps does a great job with their branding.

Third - Go retail if you want to last, you need to build word of mouth loyalty to your brand if you are going to last.

Fourth - Sponsor someone with a massive following and pay them for commission sales.

Fifth - Go for charity and listen to this podcast - http://lewishowes.com/podcast/josh-bezoni/

Good luck, there are companies getting started everyday in sport nutrition and it is nearly impossible to stand out against marketing giants like Bodybuilding.com and companies like them without finding niches that you can go deep and exploit to stand out.

You have a good domain though and hopefully you can start to see some traction on Amazon and other means.

 

[Envision]

Edit: I would ditch google ads till you start to convert on Amazon to cover your costs on another sales channel.

 

[healthsupps]

Hey Mike,

Welcome. Ill give you some feedback, you entered one of the most saturated markets in the world. I used to work at bodybuilding.com and to compete in this niche you need to come at it from a different angle.

First - get your product in front of people, this means going with amazon and sponsoring people who have followings.

Second - Differentiate your product and bring a unique aspect to it. Hittsupps does a great job with their branding.

Third - Go retail if you want to last, you need to build word of mouth loyalty to your brand if you are going to last.

Fourth - Sponsor someone with a massive following and pay them for commission sales.

Fifth - Go for charity and listen to this podcast - http://lewishowes.com/podcast/josh-bezoni/

Good luck, there are companies getting started everyday in sport nutrition and it is nearly impossible to stand out against marketing giants like Bodybuilding.com and companies like them without finding niches that you can go deep and exploit to stand out.

You have a good domain though and hopefully you can start to see some traction on Amazon and other means.

Hey man,

I really appreciate the time you took to reply.

1. I've been considering amazon. I even signed up and made a sellers account. Part of the reason I signed up here was because I wanted to see peoples opinion on Amazon. So it's recommended?

2. The way I want to differentiate is on price while still having top quality

3. I am going to go retail starting January. I have 40,000 bags that are being held at customs for inspection (container got picked for secondary screening). Once those are in, me and a friend are going to hit every supplement store. I also have some gyms on board to take it. I'm thinking of having a stand made so it's easier to display.

4. I've been trying to find influencers in the industry. It's kind of hard because I need Canadian influencers, and most of the tools online (ninjaoutreach) for finding influencers don't work well for Canada. Do you have any suggestions, or just scour instagram and DM people?

5. Will check this out

 

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[Blue1214]

I'm surprised that domain was available, did you have to buy it off someone?

 

[healthsupps]

I'm surprised that domain was available

If only I could be so lucky

 

[Envision]

Hey man,

I really appreciate the time you took to reply.

1. I've been considering amazon. I even signed up and made a sellers account. Part of the reason I signed up here was because I wanted to see peoples opinion on Amazon. So it's recommended?

2. The way I want to differentiate is on price while still having top quality

3. I am going to go retail starting January. I have 40,000 bags that are being held at customs for inspection (container got picked for secondary screening). Once those are in, me and a friend are going to hit every supplement store. I also have some gyms on board to take it. I'm thinking of having a stand made so it's easier to display.

4. I've been trying to find influencers in the industry. It's kind of hard because I need Canadian influencers, and most of the tools online (ninjaoutreach) for finding influencers don't work well for Canada. Do you have any suggestions, or just scour instagram and DM people?

5. Will check this out

Dude honestly, I would direct your whole brands mission to creating the healthiest, most organic products on the market and get them on Amazon asap, start the application now because health and personal care requires approval. Yeah Amazon works, but the window for effectiveness closes everyday with more and more people getting on there.

I would go through fitness athletes and DM them and offer to send them products and have them rep it and over time get them contracted as a brand athlete. That's what I do with my fitness apparel.

 

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[healthsupps]

Dude honestly, I would direct your whole brands mission to creating the healthiest, most organic products on the market and get them on Amazon asap, start the application now because health and personal care requires approval. Yeah Amazon works, but the window for effectiveness closes everyday with more and more people getting on there.

I would go through fitness athletes and DM them and offer to send them products and have them rep it and over time get them contracted as a brand athlete. That's what I do with my fitness apparel.

I just applied to the brand registry, and once that is done I'll sign up to the product category approval stuff. It appears you need to be registered with brand registry before you can request approval for the health section.

Thanks for the tips man

What's your company called btw? Just curious

 

[sWALK90]

just scour instagram and DM people?

All social networks....bodybuilding blogs..forums....you name it..

.i mean its free! what do you have to lose besides......
yea i could'nt think of anything..

Make a IG page and post some pics then pay big pages to give you shout outs...

social media can really help if used correctly.

 

[healthsupps]

All social networks....bodybuilding blogs..forums....you name it..

.i mean its free! what do you have to lose besides......
yea i could'nt think of anything..

Make a IG page and post some pics then pay big pages to give you shout outs...

social media can really help if used correctly.

Yeah, a problem is a lot of the big sites bb.com /r/fitness etc ban on sight if you mention your company/site.

I think i'll stick to contacting people on IG and twitter. Not too many canadian fitness blogs with decent sized followings.

I've been building up my instagram also. At 2000 followers right now

 

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[TJPB]

All social networks....bodybuilding blogs..forums....you name it..

.i mean its free! what do you have to lose besides......
yea i could'nt think of anything..

Make a IG page and post some pics then pay big pages to give you shout outs...

social media can really help if used correctly.

I'm sorry but this post made me laugh. If only it were so easy man.

@healthsupps Welcome to the forum and to our industry. Sounds like you have drive...and you need that to get anywhere. Keep at it.

 

[healthsupps]

I'm sorry but this post made me laugh. If only it were so easy man.

@healthsupps Welcome to the forum and to our industry. Sounds like you have drive...and you need that to get anywhere. Keep at it.

Thank you! I appreciate it

I also love your brand. Took a look at your instagram and site and I love the look/feel.

The gear looks great too!

 

[SenGracic]

I like it it's simple, very good domain and good looking products.

 

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[Adeel Kothiwala]

I'm from Vancouver too! Welcome to the forum

 

[ThinkDifferent]

Hi all,

My name is Mike and I'm from Vancouver, BC Canada. I manufacture health supplements, and have a site where I sell them.

The domain is HealthSupplements dot com

I didn't know anything about manufacturing or running an ecommerce store before I started. I just knew that the supplement industry was extremely shady, and customers were getting screwed, so I decided to enter since I was able to solve a problem.

Here to network and join in the discussions.

Any feedback on my site would be appreciated as well.

Right now I'm experimenting with facebook ads / google adwords / media buys.

Facebook so far seems only good for branding, and not conversions into paying customers.
Adwords clicks are extremely expensive in this niche, so it isn't worth it.
Trying some banner spots currently on a few sites.


Nice to meet you all. Feel free to ask questions


-Mike

Hey Mike,

Welcome on the Forum. I love your domain name and the way your product looks. By reading your posts I think you will do well.
You are on the right track, just keep pushing and pushing hard.

Try to make loyal customers. Connect them on FB and other social media.
Write a perfect looking ad and spam it everywhere. Amazon, Ebay, other websites that have traffic. I believe in Canada you have KIJIJI.ca that is excellent. Spam hard and try to get them to rebuy. The fact that you have the domain name on your packaging is genius.

make deals with personal trainers and other celebs that have huge followings. You need to convince one person and you reach many customersm + the % they are happy with is nothing compared to your margins (they are non business people LOLOLOL).

Try to go retail. Maybe it will work really well, maybe you should stay online. Check what works. It's really hard to know what is the best path, often a side path becomes the main path.

You can also look for other people to sell for you whom you can call "partners" for example people in Toronto or Quebec, or in the states. Pay them a fair share for their sales, they will do all the work and u only need to send them your product (very little work). + they r giving you free promo.

Make a good promo video for the website, FB etc.

Find a good USP, now u arent showing enough why your Whey powder is better than others.

Most important thing is that you work hard like a mafaka and keep going. Im pretty sure you will do well

Good luck

 

[healthsupps]

Hey Mike,

Welcome on the Forum. I love your domain name and the way your product looks. By reading your posts I think you will do well.
You are on the right track, just keep pushing and pushing hard.

Try to make loyal customers. Connect them on FB and other social media.
Write a perfect looking ad and spam it everywhere. Amazon, Ebay, other websites that have traffic. I believe in Canada you have KIJIJI.ca that is excellent. Spam hard and try to get them to rebuy. The fact that you have the domain name on your packaging is genius.

make deals with personal trainers and other celebs that have huge followings. You need to convince one person and you reach many customersm + the % they are happy with is nothing compared to your margins (they are non business people LOLOLOL).

Try to go retail. Maybe it will work really well, maybe you should stay online. Check what works. It's really hard to know what is the best path, often a side path becomes the main path.

You can also look for other people to sell for you whom you can call "partners" for example people in Toronto or Quebec, or in the states. Pay them a fair share for their sales, they will do all the work and u only need to send them your product (very little work). + they r giving you free promo.

Make a good promo video for the website, FB etc.

Find a good USP, now u arent showing enough why your Whey powder is better than others.

Most important thing is that you work hard like a mafaka and keep going. Im pretty sure you will do well

Good luck

Thanks for all the love guys. Added some more motivation to grind hard

 

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[selfmadebm]

Hey Mike

Thanks for mentioning my tool (NinjaOutreach) and welcome to the forums. I do recognize that we don't have the best tool for Canadian influencers in the fitness industry, but I would encourage you to think about US based influencers regardless.

Influence is a general term, and frankly, if you can get it it will spill over to where you want it. If you can get US based influencers working with you, mentioning you, sharing your articles, or being featured on your blog it WILL lead to more Canadian traffic, just as a result of the site gaining more authority.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks
Dave

 

[Mcfroggin]

Just protein? Why not vitamins and other supplements?

 

[stepstone]

Hey man,

I really appreciate the time you took to reply.

1. I've been considering amazon. I even signed up and made a sellers account. Part of the reason I signed up here was because I wanted to see peoples opinion on Amazon. So it's recommended?

2. The way I want to differentiate is on price while still having top quality

3. I am going to go retail starting January. I have 40,000 bags that are being held at customs for inspection (container got picked for secondary screening). Once those are in, me and a friend are going to hit every supplement store. I also have some gyms on board to take it. I'm thinking of having a stand made so it's easier to display.

4. I've been trying to find influencers in the industry. It's kind of hard because I need Canadian influencers, and most of the tools online (ninjaoutreach) for finding influencers don't work well for Canada. Do you have any suggestions, or just scour instagram and DM people?

5. Will check this out

So you manufacture your product abroad? Would that add a lot cost in transportation and duty?

 

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[Nubiwan]

Mike - I too live in Canada. In the past couple of months I have bought supplements like NAC, Vit B and C, and Milk Thistle - all online. Perhaps not what you sell, but I am getting to a point here, so please bare with me. As you can appreciate, with the a$$ falling out of the Canadian dollar, many online shoppers in Canada will be looking for a North of the Border supplier for nearly everything they consider buying online. I personally used to be a big eBay shopper, but with the recent introduction of duty charges couple with some extortionate US shipping costs, and the exchange cost of the US dollar, I find I am ever looking for better options. Amazon, even Aliexpress have won some of my business. Nonetheless, I still scour google for competitive suppliers of 'stuff' I am looking to buy.

Now, this is my first ever post on the Fastlane forum so I stand the chance of being ridiculed for my ignorance, by an expert on SEO and web design, but here goes:

Since I am a potential customer of yours, the very first thing you need to do is make sure that I can even find you. That you even exist. I simply searched Health Supplements then for Health Supplements Canada on Google.ca, and because of your domain name, expected you might at least appear on the very first page of my search. You did not come up at all. Is there no way you can take advantage of the domain name with SEO? With my limited, albeit 3-4 year old knowledge of SEO, I am/was of the belief that domain names were among some of the important factors in a google search. Perhaps someone on here can verify this claim. Got the feeling it might not be as crucial any more as it once might have been.

Doesn't really matter if I am right or wrong about your domain name. The truth is, no matter what combination of searches I put in to google to try and find you, it was difficult for me to get your company website to pop up. Even searched a product on your landing page 'pea protein isolate' with a bunch of variations and geographic helpers, and nothing came back. Indeed, the only way I found your website atop the google search, was by asking for your domain name dot com.

If I am wrong, then my apologies, but if correct, something to consider. At the very least, have someone check out your web site and optimize as best as possible for your very competitive market place. My point is that you should at least be able rank highly for people that search you in Canada, if not the US. That is of course, if you are planning to sell online, which your nicely designed website would imply.

As an addendum

When I bought NAC, I searched for abbreviation, and the full name N-Acetyl-Cysteine in google. There are numerous places that sell it and many sellers on Amazon ranked highly, as I recall. Something you might consider as a sales avenue. My feeling is (and it might not be accurate) that Amazon would provide a little more after sale security if, for any reason, I never received the product. They also claim to fulfill many orders, but I am sure there are suppliers just like you. It is something that was put to the test only once, when I bought product, through amazon, delivered from China. The product was never shipped, but amazon expedited it ( a large item) at their expense, within days.

Anyway, I suggest getting someone do some basic SEO on your site. I live here in Canada, and could not find even with your great domain name. That's my first pone and dusted.

 

[Tallphil]

Hi Mike,

I'm also entering the natural supplement industry in Canada.

First of all, you have a really good domain name and your packaging looks great!

It might be difficult for you to have customers buy multiple items off your site as you only offer protein powder. Since shipping is only free above 100$, this might turn some customers off as shipping is expensive.

A solution to this with your current inventory could be to increase the price of your products. But to offer what appears to be big discounts when you sell your products in bundles (1 SKU x3)... Offering a flat rate fee for shipping offering free shipping would be a very good idea.

Another solution would be to diversify your product range and offer "packages". For exemple a: protein powder, fish-oil, multi-v, higher-end shaker bottle etc.

I have no idea of the volume you are selling online and shipping within Canada, but you should really check what these guys have to offer: google ( cfib-fcei) and you'll see that it's a membership (around 300$) that offers huge savings for small businesses in Canada. This allows to save up to 40% on domestic shipping in some cases! It really puts the small business program by Canada Post to shame.

Also, if you are planning on selling via amazon.com make sure to check our their forum on canadian's selling on amazon.com to know what you're getting yourself into.

Best of luck,

Phil

 

[m1kesta]

Mike - I too live in Canada. In the past couple of months I have bought supplements like NAC, Vit B and C, and Milk Thistle - all online. Perhaps not what you sell, but I am getting to a point here, so please bare with me. As you can appreciate, with the a$$ falling out of the Canadian dollar, many online shoppers in Canada will be looking for a North of the Border supplier for nearly everything they consider buying online. I personally used to be a big eBay shopper, but with the recent introduction of duty charges couple with some extortionate US shipping costs, and the exchange cost of the US dollar, I find I am ever looking for better options. Amazon, even Aliexpress have won some of my business. Nonetheless, I still scour google for competitive suppliers of 'stuff' I am looking to buy.

Now, this is my first ever post on the Fastlane forum so I stand the chance of being ridiculed for my ignorance, by an expert on SEO and web design, but here goes:

Since I am a potential customer of yours, the very first thing you need to do is make sure that I can even find you. That you even exist. I simply searched Health Supplements then for Health Supplements Canada on Google.ca, and because of your domain name, expected you might at least appear on the very first page of my search. You did not come up at all. Is there no way you can take advantage of the domain name with SEO? With my limited, albeit 3-4 year old knowledge of SEO, I am/was of the belief that domain names were among some of the important factors in a google search. Perhaps someone on here can verify this claim. Got the feeling it might not be as crucial any more as it once might have been.

Doesn't really matter if I am right or wrong about your domain name. The truth is, no matter what combination of searches I put in to google to try and find you, it was difficult for me to get your company website to pop up. Even searched a product on your landing page 'pea protein isolate' with a bunch of variations and geographic helpers, and nothing came back. Indeed, the only way I found your website atop the google search, was by asking for your domain name dot com.

If I am wrong, then my apologies, but if correct, something to consider. At the very least, have someone check out your web site and optimize as best as possible for your very competitive market place. My point is that you should at least be able rank highly for people that search you in Canada, if not the US. That is of course, if you are planning to sell online, which your nicely designed website would imply.

As an addendum

When I bought NAC, I searched for abbreviation, and the full name N-Acetyl-Cysteine in google. There are numerous places that sell it and many sellers on Amazon ranked highly, as I recall. Something you might consider as a sales avenue. My feeling is (and it might not be accurate) that Amazon would provide a little more after sale security if, for any reason, I never received the product. They also claim to fulfill many orders, but I am sure there are suppliers just like you. It is something that was put to the test only once, when I bought product, through amazon, delivered from China. The product was never shipped, but amazon expedited it ( a large item) at their expense, within days.

Anyway, I suggest getting someone do some basic SEO on your site. I live here in Canada, and could not find even with your great domain name. That's my first pone and dusted.

This is a good point, but should fall in line with the overall strategy of the business.

Mike mentioned his current plan was PPC, media buys and banner ads. However, PPC was expensive as it's a competitive niche. This would leave SEO as a natural solution, but given that this is a competitive niche, SEO can also be competitive and if you aren't doing your own SEO, it can also get expensive while taking longer than traditional PPC. I would suggest identifying your advertising avenues, PPC, SEO, physical retailers, brand ambassadors and seeing which one hasn't been saturated by the market yet. Who knows, it could be that most people selling online haven't really penetrated the physical retailer market in Canada. You do have a great looking product already. Some creative display may just be the trick to converting in-store sales.

 

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[Chris Veal]

Hi all,

My name is Mike and I'm from Vancouver, BC Canada. I manufacture health supplements, and have a site where I sell them.

The domain is HealthSupplements dot com

I didn't know anything about manufacturing or running an ecommerce store before I started. I just knew that the supplement industry was extremely shady, and customers were getting screwed, so I decided to enter since I was able to solve a problem.

Here to network and join in the discussions.

Any feedback on my site would be appreciated as well.

Right now I'm experimenting with facebook ads / google adwords / media buys.

Facebook so far seems only good for branding, and not conversions into paying customers.
Adwords clicks are extremely expensive in this niche, so it isn't worth it.
Trying some banner spots currently on a few sites.


Nice to meet you all. Feel free to ask questions


-Mike

Hello, Mike

Welcome to the Fastlane forum. I really like your website. Looks really good. I am a copywriter and write ads for Facebook, Bing as well as web and email copy and sales letters. Let me know if you need any help.

One thing I would do, if you haven't already, is setup a facebook page and post something on it everyday. Promote it to get as many likes as you can.

Then over the next few months you should see your fb page rank on google as people search for reviews for your website. This is a great way to leverage and piggyback on the big, bad SEO monster facebook.

You can then run ads for Health Supplements on Facebook and target health conscious consumers. I think this is a real advantage on FB is there ability to target specific audiences by behavior, interests, etc.


In the meantime, I will study your website further and provide some feedback.

 

[Chris Veal]

Hey Mike,

Welcome on the Forum. I love your domain name and the way your product looks. By reading your posts I think you will do well.
You are on the right track, just keep pushing and pushing hard.

Try to make loyal customers. Connect them on FB and other social media.
Write a perfect looking ad and spam it everywhere. Amazon, Ebay, other websites that have traffic. I believe in Canada you have KIJIJI.ca that is excellent. Spam hard and try to get them to rebuy. The fact that you have the domain name on your packaging is genius.

make deals with personal trainers and other celebs that have huge followings. You need to convince one person and you reach many customersm + the % they are happy with is nothing compared to your margins (they are non business people LOLOLOL).

Try to go retail. Maybe it will work really well, maybe you should stay online. Check what works. It's really hard to know what is the best path, often a side path becomes the main path.

You can also look for other people to sell for you whom you can call "partners" for example people in Toronto or Quebec, or in the states. Pay them a fair share for their sales, they will do all the work and u only need to send them your product (very little work). + they r giving you free promo.

Make a good promo video for the website, FB etc.

Find a good USP, now u arent showing enough why your Whey powder is better than others.

Most important thing is that you work hard like a mafaka and keep going. Im pretty sure you will do well

Good luck

The USP is definitely very important. Set yourself apart.

 

[Aaron W]

I don't know much about packaging.

But if I was trying to look between two different ones on a shelf, I wouldn't know what the benefit of yours would be from the front.


I would look in to developing your packaging for your next order and retail.

Check out this:

 

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