Time to Add some Value

[mrc89]

Hey there

Been on the forum for a while but never really posted much before. Read TMF about 18 months ago and currently reading Unscripted . After reading Unscripted I realised I still have a long journey ahead of me and some of my past attempts at entrepreneurship missed the mark.

For the last few months I have been working on a review site that focuses on courses that teach business and entrepreneurial skills. My aim for this was to generate income by getting instructors to pay for the privilege of having their course reviewed or later releasing an EBook on what I had learned from taking all these courses. As things stand i have less than 50 subscribers and barely 10 visitors to the site each day. I think this idea clearly violates both the need and entry principles from TMF so going to start looking for something else.

In the meantime I am also going to try and raise some funds through flipping items inspired by this thread $20,170 Flip Challange.

Lets see where this goes

 

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[mike24601]

Are you marketing your site effectively with ads and SEO strategies? It can take months just to rank on Google search so maybe don't write off your idea yet. If you're not an established entrepreneur or have some sort of credentials, people will be reluctant to pay you money to evaluate their courses.

 

[Chromozone]

Hi Marc!

50 subscribers and 10 regular visitors a day is a pretty good start in my opinion!

Have you contacted your regular visitors and asked them what keeps them coming back and what other features / content they would like? Ask them if they are willing to pay for this content. (Then perhaps you can go to content makers and give them a small percentage of your income?).

Have you thought about really digging into a niche as well? For example, doctors have to undergo regular learning and training (in England we call these CPD points). A lot of doctors in the UK would pay (a lot!) for a service that would provide them with 50 hours teaching a year via video/articles etc....

Just thoughts to think about! Don't give up on your idea before you've explored all avenues!

 

[JWelch]

Hey there

Been on the forum for a while but never really posted much before. Read TMF about 18 months ago and currently reading Unscripted . After reading Unscripted I realised I still have a long journey ahead of me and some of my past attempts at entrepreneurship missed the mark.

For the last few months I have been working on a review site that focuses on courses that teach business and entrepreneurial skills. My aim for this was to generate income by getting instructors to pay for the privilege of having their course reviewed or later releasing an EBook on what I had learned from taking all these courses. As things stand i have less than 50 subscribers and barely 10 visitors to the site each day. I think this idea clearly violates both the need and entry principles from TMF so going to start looking for something else.

In the meantime I am also going to try and raise some funds through flipping items inspired by this thread $20,170 Flip Challange.

Lets see where this goes

IMHO you have not worked hard enough for long enough on your site to have a true idea on where it's going to go. These things don't all skyrocket to the top in 6 weeks. Sometimes it takes a little time and patience and hard work to develop the idea.

 

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[Sean Kaye]

Ask yourself this question...

"Why would someone PAY you to review their course?"

What's in it for them? What's your special sauce that makes your opinion valuable?

And your secondary monetization idea is to create an eBook about stuff you learned being paid to review people's courses. Think about it - what qualifies you to review these products and if that's questionable, then why would your synthesis of their ideas into an eBook be of any value?

Not crapping on your idea, but I just don't see what value you're bringing to the table that will excite the market.

 

[mrc89]

Thanks for the replies all definitely provided some food for thought. Will try and address each of your points and explain a bit more about my approach.

Hi Marc!

50 subscribers and 10 regular visitors a day is a pretty good start in my opinion!

Have you contacted your regular visitors and asked them what keeps them coming back and what other features / content they would like? Ask them if they are willing to pay for this content. (Then perhaps you can go to content makers and give them a small percentage of your income?).

Have you thought about really digging into a niche as well? For example, doctors have to undergo regular learning and training (in England we call these CPD points). A lot of doctors in the UK would pay (a lot!) for a service that would provide them with 50 hours teaching a year via video/articles etc....

Just thoughts to think about! Don't give up on your idea before you've explored all avenues!

Thanks for the reply you definitely raise some good points. I do regularly send round emails to my current subscribers that include details of my latest reviews and if there are any specific courses they would like me to review for them but I have received little back in terms of replies.

I have also not given up on the idea just taking some time to think of a better approach to my idea.

 

[mrc89]

Ask yourself this question...

"Why would someone PAY you to review their course?"

What's in it for them? What's your special sauce that makes your opinion valuable?

And your secondary monetization idea is to create an eBook about stuff you learned being paid to review people's courses. Think about it - what qualifies you to review these products and if that's questionable, then why would your synthesis of their ideas into an eBook be of any value?

Not crapping on your idea, but I just don't see what value you're bringing to the table that will excite the market.

Hi Sean

I have thought about both your points in the past but felt like one way to build my credibility was to review a number of courses and post them on my site and as my readership grows I can decide how best to monetise my service, in the same way that some people review books and then post affiliate links.

I may have been quite naive when I started but I felt i could add value by removing a pain point for people who are considering paying for an online course. There are a lot of business courses that charge a lot and teach very little like the hundreds that say they can help you start a drop shipping business in just three hours. My idea was simply to take courses I enjoyed so I was learning new skills at the same time and then post honest reviews so that anyone else could get more information about whether a course would be right for them in advance.

I had hoped that after doing this for a while eventually I would be seen as a respected reviewer and so could approach people who are trying to sell their courses and post reviews on my site for a fee.

I do agree though that i need to put some more thought into how I am providing value to my readers.

 

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[Sean Kaye]

Right... The affiliate model makes sense and can be quite lucrative.

You have to be a bit careful about how you disclose that affiliate relationship - there are obviously legal and ethical implications.

The problem you end up having is that being honest becomes bad for business because you're not clear on who you're serving.

If you're serving potential customers of the courses by providing honest reviews then some of the course creators aren't going to let you join their affiliate program because they don't know what you'll say about their products. And following on from that, they certainly won't pay you to review it unless you guarantee it will be a good review - they'll see you as a marketing channel.

I have some interesting experience with this recently.

I send daily emails to my email list. I read a lot of books, so I thought it would be interesting to do like a weekly book review for them. I had a few PR people contact me offering free books and stuff to review, but my rule was, "only Audible".

Anyway, back before Christmas when it first came out, I published a review on "The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck" on my site and to my email list. I said the first half of the book was interesting but the second half was "meh". The back half was just rehashed stuff from his blog and because the book was released by a major publishing house, it was like he padded it out just to get the page count up.

My review is on the first page of Google when you search for that book title "review". It's one of the best selling books on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and Audible formats. My review is honest, but not flattering.

Interestingly, as my review climbed up Google and got to the first page, suddenly the PR people stopped contacting me. The fact that I nearly rank on page one for "Grit" by Angela Duckworth, which is an AWESOME book and I said so, doesn't matter. Same with books like the Power of Habit or Simple Rules.

Once you become a person who isn't controllable, they don't want to reach out to you anymore because no PR muppet wants to be the guy who sends the book to a reviewer who pans it.

Give that a bit of thought - you can totally be successful with the whole "expert reviewer" strategy, but it's a long game and you need to become an "expert" for it to work.

 

[mrc89]

Time for a quick update have changed my approach with the site slightly and have put in a decent amount of time trying to raise it's profile. Have also finally got my profile approved on Upwork and have started applying for roles to start making money on the side in addition to starting buying and selling on Ebay with stuff I try to pick up cheap elsewhere.

 

[mrc89]

Been nearly a month since my last update time really does fly. Moving house and got a new job in marketing which I am hoping to use as a learning opportunity while still working on site in my spare time.

I have added several new posts this month and have focused on trying to make them high quality and the type of thing I would enjoy reading but I am not getting much back in terms of engagement. I have got a few new subscribers but I dont seem to be able to get much feedback about what they do and dont like about the site. I think I need to reach out to some influencers in the niche to try to grow my following as the forums on Reddit and the like dont have many regular contributors.

On the plus side have been making a bit of money on the side selling unwanted stuff on Ebay and Im using this to try and find other items to flip which is going ok so far.

Hopefully next update will be more positive...

 

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[mrc89]

Website side of things has been a bit slow but have moved house and job recently so only just got back into posting new articles.

On the other hand EBay has been going well or more specifically flipping items on Ebay. Obvious point and one that gets raised on the forum a lot but it is only once you start taking action that more opportunities and profitable situations start appearing. If you just sit on the sidelines it often seems like everyone is behaving rationally and nothing is available for any sort of discount but with experience you get a better idea of what sells and for what price and which items are randomly more popular than others.

So I guess im just saying stick with it and everything starts to become clearer...

 

[BrooklynHustle]

Website side of things has been a bit slow but have moved house and job recently so only just got back into posting new articles.

On the other hand EBay has been going well or more specifically flipping items on Ebay. Obvious point and one that gets raised on the forum a lot but it is only once you start taking action that more opportunities and profitable situations start appearing. If you just sit on the sidelines it often seems like everyone is behaving rationally and nothing is available for any sort of discount but with experience you get a better idea of what sells and for what price and which items are randomly more popular than others.

So I guess im just saying stick with it and everything starts to become clearer...

Keep moving forward

 

[mrc89]

Another month done and results have been mixed. Have finally sold most of my stuff that I hardly used and have used the money from that to start buying stuff to resell. Think I have ended up paying slightly over the odds for a couple of items and have quite a few listings that arent getting much interest. This is all good feedback on prices for the future and knowing better which products do sell. On the bright side bought a set of antique books for £40 that if they sell anywhere near the prices on Amazon will make over £300.

Also as a tip to anyone starting when negotiating price if you receive a counter offer that you dont think is worth it in the online world I have had a lot of success when i reply with something like this: Ok thanks for replying and let me know if you change your mind in future... People just hate losing a potential sale

 

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[mrc89]

Still doing well on Ebay though at the moment I have run out of space to store my stuff as I am in the process of moving so instead I have been trying to earn on Upwork. After months of not really getting anywhere I finally got my first job on the site. It wasn't a particularly high paying role but just wanted to say thanks to everyone on here especially those who have posted lots about Upwork as they have been really helpful.

 

[mrc89]

Been way too long since my last update but you will be pleased to know I have been taking action. After being busy in October and November I have been putting in the hours flipping and selling old stuff I had around the house. Hopefully if I can keep this interesting I will post monthly updates on what I sold and how things are going.

Inspired by this thread which i would recommend you all to read I am going to see if I can get to 10K.

Ok so in January so far I have made around £170 give or take and have about £25 worth of inventory still to sell. This month i bought a collection of non fiction books for about £40 and have sold most of them for about £80. This was a good lesson as I originally just checked prices on Amazon and thought I would have made about £300 but books take a long time to sell and the prices are way higher than anyone will actually pay for them.

Also bought a Dungeons and Dragons Game for £25 which then sold for £60 and a motorhome cover bought for £50 and then sold for £90. This one I didnt even have I just posted a listing on Ebay to see if it would sell and then contacted seller on Gumtree once i received some interest. Was kind of risky so not sure I would recommend trying that again though.
Going to start trying to reinvest my profits and hopefully next month I can find some things with higher margins.

 

[mrc89]

Also just wanted to get some ideas for anyone else doing the same sort of thing. At the moment I have noticed that I panic a bit with items even though I have done the research beforehand to check they will sell. At the moment my ROI after taking into account fees and postage is 11% which seems on the low side. Today for example I sold the same item twice as I made a mistake with postage the first time around and then had to relist it for collection instead. Considering it sold twice in a day at my price for a fairly niche product I am thinking i should have listed it for way more.

 

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[mrc89]

Bit late with a February update but month was a bit slow in terms of sales and had a few unexpected expenses that depleted my resources a bit. Not complaining though and I have managed to start March well.

1st tip if you have just started reselling is pay attention to stores closing down especially independent ones as they have crazy sales where you can cheaply acquire loads of stuck. Managed to buy a bunch of vinyl for £5 that instantly sold for £50 even though most of it was nothing special.

So far in March I have spent around £20 and already got about £170 worth coming back once these items sell and thats a fairly conservative estimate. One thing that does keep tripping me up is buying thing just because they have previously sold for a lot more on Ebay without checking the frequency of sales. Otherwise you end up getting stuck with items you have to either sell cheaper or get stuck with for months on end.

Aiming to rebuild funds in March and then can start moving on to flipping higher priced items.