Hello!
So many times I've been thinking about getting into the CBD industry, but I didn't know how to source the product. All I could find was some shady Chinese suppliers on aliexpress and I couldn't stand pushing low quality product.
But three weeks ago I finally found the best CBD source ever. There's a guy who lives deep in Polish wilderness and he has been learning about CBD extraction for the last ten years in many different countries. He's very low profile, a spiritual person, not especially business oriented - he's more of an artist. They use quality Italian hemp, it's a small family business, and they only sell to 3 people right now.
Last two weeks I've been learning a lot about the topic and here's what I found:
[ Barrier of entry and my advantage ]
*Most (like 99%) of CBD products on the market are pure crap. They CAN'T even work because :
1) In US, most products marketed as CBD is not even CBD. CBD is not allowed on Amazon, but if you look it up you will get many results. Most of that BS is hemp oil (you're practically buying 500% more expensive olive oil, grats), or hemp seed extract. It doesn't even contain CBD. It doesn't do anything other than maybe treating your skin a little if you apply it externally, but that's it.
2) Even if we only focus on "real" CBD products, the concentration is always too low. 150 mg of CBD? 500? 1000? Are they kidding? Mine is 3000 mg. I tried full spectrum 1000 mg and it was somehow working, but it can't even compare to what I have. There are a few very well known and established companies. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to list their names here. Anyway, at the first glance it looks like their oils (tinctures) are very potent and cheap. But if you look closer, you will see that they are weaker and also sometimes more expensive than the oil that I have access to.
Example? There's one company selling 3000 mg concentration oil. Appears to be powerful. But it's 3000 mg in 60 ml. Mine is 3000 mg in 10 ml. So in their product, you're basically paying for the oil they use to dilute it, hemp oil or seed oil that doesn't do anything but costs you money.
And it looks good. Wow, such a big bottle! But you have to take more drops and end up paying more for less. Marketing. And I'm talking about the big players here, with their own plantations etc.
3) Even if the concentration is right, they usually extract it with CO2 extraction method, and that's how you get rid of the most precious substances in the oil. You're losing most of its healing properties. My guy is using a totally different extraction method that is much slower, but it's truly a full healing spectrum.
4) Most products are the so called isolate. It only contains CBD, the amount of other substances is super limited. My product contains full spectrum of substances, but when I say full spectrum, it's about 3-4 more than other products marketed as "full spectrum". I did my research.
5) Most of products are the so called 'golden oil'. Extracted with CO2 method, isolates, weak . They look like tea, or honey, golden and transparent. My oil is almost black, as tar. It's 2-3 stronger than the strongest "full spectrum CO2" CBD oils out there.
And also, most people are just drop-shippers who source the product from some unknown crappy Chinese factories. In the US they often don't even have reliable lab results and certificates.
Most people don't even feel anything from taking it.
6) I already have the source, I know the guy, I have access to lab tests and certificates, I already have the product that's in high demand, the CBD market is exploding right now and I came up with a nice name, now I just need to start selling it.
7) I'm excited about it, somehow. It's great to help people get healthier, less stressed out, get rid of pain and also make money.
8) The source's capacity is up to 500 bottles a month, but he could probably increase the production if I was able to sell that much. By then we would both be already rich.
[ Now the "hard" part ]
-Price. The price I buy it from him is already high, almost high as the most expensive CBD's on European and the US market (which are total crap by the way, most of them). The source price is already 290 USD, so I should be selling it at at least 369 to 399 USD so it makes sense to me. I was even thinking about a much bigger price.
That's a lot for a 10 ml bottle for an average Joe. Of course, it's not about the bottle size, it's about the potency of what's inside and the quality. You could buy a 1 liter bottle of crap, or 60 ml of diluted "popular brand XYZ" CBD, and then you have to take 4x-8x the dose for the same result, for example, and also pay more for a ml.
But people don't necessarily know that, it's not visible if you don'd do your research, especially after all the marketing tricks there companies do. It's psychological. "160% more for something so small? Phew! I will buy one at walmart!"). Also, the poor quality products are already expensive.
My friend was shocked that 10 ml of poor quality CBD costs 80 USD, and he makes lots of money.. so he bought it and felt nothing. Anyway, that's a problem to overcome or at least in my mind, because I have never sold anything high ticket.
-The big companies are both the source and the distributor. They don't have to buy the product first, they produce it. So their margin is way bigger than mine could be, probably. And the big companies surely have money for marketing that I don't now have.
-So my idea is to make it more low profile, exclusive, high ticket, "posh" almost. Think about a hand manufacture of the highest quality chocolate from Switzerland, not a cheap chocolate bar from Walmart. An exotic sports car. A Stradivarius violin. An expensive watch.
I want to aim it at people who have lots of money and they don't think that 399 - 499 USD is a big price for health (I mean, compare it to doctor appointments, long treatments, hospital stays, shrinks, chill pills, drugs and all the alcohol or cigarettes that stressed out people with money spend money on).
My target is probably: entrepreneurs (hi guys! 😀), corpo world, sport pros, public speakers, coaches, biohackers, people with chronic diseases, maybe even open minded doctors. Any other environment where both money and stress are plenty and so there's health problems or performance problems (did you know that stress is the #1 biggest killer in the US? Yeah. and the situation is probably not very different in the EU).
-It's forbidden to market CBD on Facebook and Google with PPC (as far as I know) because of the mess in the US law. So my options would be organic traffic (I would then probably start selling my oil in 2039 😀), or influencer marketing (that sounds better), or Instagram but without paid ads (just regular posting etc). But do people with money use instagram that much? Hmmm... Also reddit, pinterest etc. That's just some ideas. And of course, the offline world. Events, shops, etc. I already have an entire big list, but the thing is I hate going from place to place and selling, especially in a country I just moved in to (I now live in Cyprus).
-Since most companies sell total crap that just can't work and also ask high prices for it, many people are already discouraged about CBD. Some think it's a scam and snake oil business.
-Another problem: I'm just one supplier away from getting out of the biz. But he's doing it with his wife, so even if he dies or gets taken by aliens, there probably still be a production a capacity. Also, If I can establish my brand and fame in the next few years, I could find another source or invest in the production lab. But I don't want to (over)think too much into the future now, let's focus on the basics.
[Traditional ways vs. whisper marketing / mafia model ]
So I talked to my mentor (mindset coach) and he gave me this idea: I could go about it the traditional way: create a logo, brand, website, find a labeling company (it's now just clean bottle, no name), then find a CBD marketing company, be active on social media, forums maybe, approach influences etc. But then you have to push through the crowd, and the market is already over saturated (with crap that doesn't work, but still).
I could also wholesale to the biggest supplement companies, pharmacies etc in Europe, but then I would have to offer a lower price and would make the product less exclusive, more common. I would just be an intermediary. But money first, prestige later. That's still an idea that I could follow. Just sell it to them and let them make the rest - take care of the label, name, distribution, while just making money.
But then he told me about whisper marketing and his idea was to totally invert the sales model:
Selling only by recommendation or invitation (like gmail in the old days), using whisper marketing. Send it to some people who have connections, let them test it at the source price - then offer them my usual price once they see the difference in their health, mood and overall performance.
Practically almost a drug dealer/mafia model - if you want to buy it, you have to be trusted. You have to wait in the line, because my stuff it's so rare, so precious and so good. It's hand made. It's a gem. Maybe even put a password on the online shop, so only referred people can buy. So a totally counter intuitive approach, but it could work.
So now I already ordered 26 bottles and want to sell them. The sooner the better, as it will give me feedback and tons of motivation. I now make a living from Online Publishing and it's good money and relatively passive income, but I'm down to Amazon and don't like it. I could be out of business tomorrow.
Anyway,
How would you go about it?
Will a great quality product defend itself?
So many times I've been thinking about getting into the CBD industry, but I didn't know how to source the product. All I could find was some shady Chinese suppliers on aliexpress and I couldn't stand pushing low quality product.
But three weeks ago I finally found the best CBD source ever. There's a guy who lives deep in Polish wilderness and he has been learning about CBD extraction for the last ten years in many different countries. He's very low profile, a spiritual person, not especially business oriented - he's more of an artist. They use quality Italian hemp, it's a small family business, and they only sell to 3 people right now.
Last two weeks I've been learning a lot about the topic and here's what I found:
[ Barrier of entry and my advantage ]
*Most (like 99%) of CBD products on the market are pure crap. They CAN'T even work because :
1) In US, most products marketed as CBD is not even CBD. CBD is not allowed on Amazon, but if you look it up you will get many results. Most of that BS is hemp oil (you're practically buying 500% more expensive olive oil, grats), or hemp seed extract. It doesn't even contain CBD. It doesn't do anything other than maybe treating your skin a little if you apply it externally, but that's it.
2) Even if we only focus on "real" CBD products, the concentration is always too low. 150 mg of CBD? 500? 1000? Are they kidding? Mine is 3000 mg. I tried full spectrum 1000 mg and it was somehow working, but it can't even compare to what I have. There are a few very well known and established companies. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to list their names here. Anyway, at the first glance it looks like their oils (tinctures) are very potent and cheap. But if you look closer, you will see that they are weaker and also sometimes more expensive than the oil that I have access to.
Example? There's one company selling 3000 mg concentration oil. Appears to be powerful. But it's 3000 mg in 60 ml. Mine is 3000 mg in 10 ml. So in their product, you're basically paying for the oil they use to dilute it, hemp oil or seed oil that doesn't do anything but costs you money.
And it looks good. Wow, such a big bottle! But you have to take more drops and end up paying more for less. Marketing. And I'm talking about the big players here, with their own plantations etc.
3) Even if the concentration is right, they usually extract it with CO2 extraction method, and that's how you get rid of the most precious substances in the oil. You're losing most of its healing properties. My guy is using a totally different extraction method that is much slower, but it's truly a full healing spectrum.
4) Most products are the so called isolate. It only contains CBD, the amount of other substances is super limited. My product contains full spectrum of substances, but when I say full spectrum, it's about 3-4 more than other products marketed as "full spectrum". I did my research.
5) Most of products are the so called 'golden oil'. Extracted with CO2 method, isolates, weak . They look like tea, or honey, golden and transparent. My oil is almost black, as tar. It's 2-3 stronger than the strongest "full spectrum CO2" CBD oils out there.
And also, most people are just drop-shippers who source the product from some unknown crappy Chinese factories. In the US they often don't even have reliable lab results and certificates.
Most people don't even feel anything from taking it.
6) I already have the source, I know the guy, I have access to lab tests and certificates, I already have the product that's in high demand, the CBD market is exploding right now and I came up with a nice name, now I just need to start selling it.
7) I'm excited about it, somehow. It's great to help people get healthier, less stressed out, get rid of pain and also make money.
8) The source's capacity is up to 500 bottles a month, but he could probably increase the production if I was able to sell that much. By then we would both be already rich.
[ Now the "hard" part ]
-Price. The price I buy it from him is already high, almost high as the most expensive CBD's on European and the US market (which are total crap by the way, most of them). The source price is already 290 USD, so I should be selling it at at least 369 to 399 USD so it makes sense to me. I was even thinking about a much bigger price.
That's a lot for a 10 ml bottle for an average Joe. Of course, it's not about the bottle size, it's about the potency of what's inside and the quality. You could buy a 1 liter bottle of crap, or 60 ml of diluted "popular brand XYZ" CBD, and then you have to take 4x-8x the dose for the same result, for example, and also pay more for a ml.
But people don't necessarily know that, it's not visible if you don'd do your research, especially after all the marketing tricks there companies do. It's psychological. "160% more for something so small? Phew! I will buy one at walmart!"). Also, the poor quality products are already expensive.
My friend was shocked that 10 ml of poor quality CBD costs 80 USD, and he makes lots of money.. so he bought it and felt nothing. Anyway, that's a problem to overcome or at least in my mind, because I have never sold anything high ticket.
-The big companies are both the source and the distributor. They don't have to buy the product first, they produce it. So their margin is way bigger than mine could be, probably. And the big companies surely have money for marketing that I don't now have.
-So my idea is to make it more low profile, exclusive, high ticket, "posh" almost. Think about a hand manufacture of the highest quality chocolate from Switzerland, not a cheap chocolate bar from Walmart. An exotic sports car. A Stradivarius violin. An expensive watch.
I want to aim it at people who have lots of money and they don't think that 399 - 499 USD is a big price for health (I mean, compare it to doctor appointments, long treatments, hospital stays, shrinks, chill pills, drugs and all the alcohol or cigarettes that stressed out people with money spend money on).
My target is probably: entrepreneurs (hi guys! 😀), corpo world, sport pros, public speakers, coaches, biohackers, people with chronic diseases, maybe even open minded doctors. Any other environment where both money and stress are plenty and so there's health problems or performance problems (did you know that stress is the #1 biggest killer in the US? Yeah. and the situation is probably not very different in the EU).
-It's forbidden to market CBD on Facebook and Google with PPC (as far as I know) because of the mess in the US law. So my options would be organic traffic (I would then probably start selling my oil in 2039 😀), or influencer marketing (that sounds better), or Instagram but without paid ads (just regular posting etc). But do people with money use instagram that much? Hmmm... Also reddit, pinterest etc. That's just some ideas. And of course, the offline world. Events, shops, etc. I already have an entire big list, but the thing is I hate going from place to place and selling, especially in a country I just moved in to (I now live in Cyprus).
-Since most companies sell total crap that just can't work and also ask high prices for it, many people are already discouraged about CBD. Some think it's a scam and snake oil business.
-Another problem: I'm just one supplier away from getting out of the biz. But he's doing it with his wife, so even if he dies or gets taken by aliens, there probably still be a production a capacity. Also, If I can establish my brand and fame in the next few years, I could find another source or invest in the production lab. But I don't want to (over)think too much into the future now, let's focus on the basics.
[Traditional ways vs. whisper marketing / mafia model ]
So I talked to my mentor (mindset coach) and he gave me this idea: I could go about it the traditional way: create a logo, brand, website, find a labeling company (it's now just clean bottle, no name), then find a CBD marketing company, be active on social media, forums maybe, approach influences etc. But then you have to push through the crowd, and the market is already over saturated (with crap that doesn't work, but still).
I could also wholesale to the biggest supplement companies, pharmacies etc in Europe, but then I would have to offer a lower price and would make the product less exclusive, more common. I would just be an intermediary. But money first, prestige later. That's still an idea that I could follow. Just sell it to them and let them make the rest - take care of the label, name, distribution, while just making money.
But then he told me about whisper marketing and his idea was to totally invert the sales model:
Selling only by recommendation or invitation (like gmail in the old days), using whisper marketing. Send it to some people who have connections, let them test it at the source price - then offer them my usual price once they see the difference in their health, mood and overall performance.
Practically almost a drug dealer/mafia model - if you want to buy it, you have to be trusted. You have to wait in the line, because my stuff it's so rare, so precious and so good. It's hand made. It's a gem. Maybe even put a password on the online shop, so only referred people can buy. So a totally counter intuitive approach, but it could work.
So now I already ordered 26 bottles and want to sell them. The sooner the better, as it will give me feedback and tons of motivation. I now make a living from Online Publishing and it's good money and relatively passive income, but I'm down to Amazon and don't like it. I could be out of business tomorrow.
Anyway,
How would you go about it?
Will a great quality product defend itself?
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