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$300 A day business but no idea how to market it

12 points by easilydoable ↗ HN
Hi Folks. I am new here and I've spent the past couple of weeks just reading through all the insightful posts. The reason I am posting here is because I need help and I think you all are the right folks who can help me.

Two years ago, I created a balloon distribution business that was earning me upwards of $300 per day every day, but last November, I got into a terrible accident that has disabled me temporarily and I have not been able to do the work.

So I decided to write an 18 page report about my business and sell it on the Internet for a nominal price and also offered money back guarantee. I had someone setup a nice website that was linked to my paypal account and I placed ads on Google, Yahoo, and Facebook to attract customers. I spent $100 to advertise on each site and after my $300 was used up, I had received only 11 orders. Not only that but Google suspended my account for violating their terms of service.

Since then, I have tried various online marketing methods and sold over a 100 copies of my report but I feel like the amount of time I spend marketing the business simply does not justify the returns.

That's why I turn to you. For many people on this forum, marketing their skills and products online is a major part of how they earn their money so I am really hoping you all can shed some light.

Thanks -Samir

21 comments

[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 53.6 ms ] thread
BasilAwad
Hey Samir, what do you mean by balloon distribution business? Like big balloons that go on top of retail buildings, those get well balloons or just regular sized balloons.
easilydoable
Hi BasilAwad...these are simple balloons that you can carry in your hands, not the big ones that go on top of retail buildings.

thanks -Samir

BasilAwad
The reason I was asking was to see if there are any unique sites or online communities you could target yourself, but I'm still not sure which ones those would be. That type of advertisement costs money as well, but maybe there would be a higher click and buy rate.

Is there any way you could create a brand and make it a franchise? Then you could list it at franchise listing websites and maybe take a small royalty with a fixed payment.

If there any way you could structure your balloon selling expertise as a quasi employment/entrepreneurship opportunity, you could post job ads, which can be free (for example, my university job board is free). If this business is not very time consuming, maybe you could target college kids looking for good side money.

easilydoable
The idea is actually so simple, it would be difficult to turn it into a franchise or a quasi employment opportunity. The secret behind the business is What type of balloons to sell and which businesses to sell them to.
BasilAwad
I read your about page and it looks like you would be privy to such a solution but I still think people really value branding, deliverables and personal training because of risk-aversion. If the idea is so simple, that's perfect. You could decorate it a bit and sell your support. Your experience selling balloons is probably much deeper than two sentence that share why type to sell and which businesses to sell to. And I'm sure you can think of a number of conveniences and types of support you would have valued in the beginning. And you don't have to share your secret upfront. You could probably get a down payment higher than $10 and then share.

Just because you wouldn't take the franchise or quasi employment opportunity (you've been doing small businesses since college!) doesn't mean the vast majority of people are like that.

easilydoable
I was hoping to actually create a brand out of a whole bunch of "easilydoable" ideas but even with this being my most successful idea, I am having so much trouble marketing it that it's truly frustrating.
davidcann
I read just about everything on the website, but I still don't understand what kind of business it is. Is it basically a delivery service for birthday parties and to hospitals? or are you purposely hiding the concept?

I suggest giving as much detail as you can about the business and what kind of work is actually involved... i.e. driving around delivering stuff or standing on street corners selling to tourists?

easilydoable
Hi...good point. Some people may require a little more information before deciding whether this business is for them. Since you've brought up the question, I can tell you that the business is basically about delivering/selling a certain type of balloon to a certain type of business on wholesale. It does require driving within a 5 mile radius of your neighborhood.

Thanks -Samir

gallerytungsten
If your business really works that well, start hiring people to replicate versions of it in their local area. Most people say they want to start a business, but very few are actually risk-tolerant enough to do it. So expand by hiring employees, rather than selling the dream.
easilydoable
I tried hiring people and even paid them well but couldn't find reliable people with decent customer service skills and this is the type of business where a small mistake can cause you to lose your client.
3dFlatLander
You couldn't find any reliable people with decent customer service skills? Soemthing seems off about that. Maybe you should get someone to help with hiring. If the actual business made that much, then why not run it instead of selling the idea?
easilydoable
I definitely plan on running the business again as soon as I have recovered from my accident, but until then, I was hoping the ebook would help keep me busy and earn some income.
djb_hackernews
Not to offer any actionable advice, but $100 on adwords won't cut it for marketing campaigns and I suspect the same goes for Yahoo and Facebook.

If you can, I'd up your marketing budget.

Also, ebooks and the like really only work if you already have a reputation, either through blog followers, newsletters etc. There is a sea of how to make money on the internet type ebooks, so it's that much more difficult to market.

easilydoable
You're right, it's very difficult to market the 'make money' type of ebooks and it seems that offering a money back guarantee is not enough. I am a nobody on the Internet but my business is solid and I just need to figure out how to convince people that I have a real proven way of making money.
faz
Hi Samir. Saw your site just now and I have a few comments from my side:

1. I have seen many popular book/product sales sites and usually it is a one page site which pitches the idea and shows through testimonials what can be done. You could use a similar format for your site.

2. The copy writing on your site needs some work. It's a sales pitch so it's gotta be convincing.

3. As @djb_hackernews pointed out in his comment, ebooks usually work out for bloggers or 'celebrities' who already have a following. Perhaps you could start a blog about your ideas [since you mentioned you have worked on many other ideas before]. This way you would slowly but steadily get some regular readers. Also this would help in future ebooks you would like to sell.

4. You have displayed a couple of testimonials on your site. Maybe you could have some of your customers who have actually implemented the business to post some photos/videos talking about how your ebook helped them. This way your testimonials become engaging.

And BTW, the site definitely needs an overhaul.

easilydoable
Thanks for the pointers.

1. The design of the site was actually done by a well wisher/professional web developer.

2. I definitely need to work on the copy.

3. Blogging is definitely an option I am considering. I am also looking into providing a private forum to people who have purchased my ebook.

4. I had not thought about adding photo/video testimonials but that definitely sounds like it would be helpful.

Thanks for your suggestions! -Samir

CyberFonic
Looks like you've created a franchisable micro-biz. The book is in effect the "operations manual" (Ok, I haven't bought nor read it).

You could add value to the book and create a franchise. For example add starter stock, etc and sell the package for say $99.

You would need to identify the sorts of people who are most likely to be interested and motivated to run such a biz, maybe part-time and then target them specifically.

Or, you could sell a master-franchise to a balloon manufacturer or distributor as a way for them to increase their sales.

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easilydoable
I have been thinking about adding/selling a starter kit as it will definitely help me raise the price of the ebook and I also have a pretty good idea of the type of people to target but how to target them is the big challenge.