Just as you wouldn’t go out and purchase the first car or computer you come across, without doing some research, you shouldn’t go out and purchase the first fitness wearable tech you come across solely because you like the style of it.
In this article, we are going to cover the things to consider before investing in fitness wearable tech …
Price
While many tech brands are trying to drag the price of their devices down, majority of consumers are still unwilling to invest on a gadget over $300. Determine how much you are ready to spend for a particular device. Of course, price usually goes hand-in-hand with how useful a gadget is to your specific situation. Will it be able to save your life? Can it help you lose weight? Would it organize your daily tasks? Could it simplify communications?
Brand and model
Many wearable devices fall under the category “fitness tracker,” but each one offers different features. For instance, the FitBit Charge HR is known for its heart rate monitoring, while the Jawbone UP3 has one of the best sleep-tracking feature of all current devices. If you check out FitBit Alta, this stylish bracelet-like device only has basic fitness-tracking features without heart rate monitoring.
Design/Wearability
Design is an important factor because you will be wearing majority of these gadgets daily. Generally, the wearable device has to be comfortable. Most watch-type fitness wearables are made from a type of rubber and have either a strap or clasp to adjust the band. Others are designed to look like any ordinary watch, jewelry, or wristband.
Battery Life
It is important to determine how long a wearable device can go before it needs to be recharged. This is particularly important if you’re going on a long run or hike. Be aware that maintaining a gadget’s battery can become a task in the long-term.
Are you willing to add another device to charge daily, along with your smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc.? Fitness trackers often last for months, such as Fitbit Zip (up to 6 months) and Garmin Vivofit (over a year), while smartwatches like Samsung Gear can last up to 24 hours.
Data Security
One of the most important things to consider is how secured your personal data will be once you connect a device to a third-party website or app. Brands take full responsibility with the security of every personal information you provide, so it is best to choose popular brands that are known for continuously testing their products.
Compatibility with other devices
Determine if the wearable device you plan to buy is compatible with your existing devices. Generally, the Apple Watch requires iPhone 5 or newer, while Android-based smartwatches won’t work on any iPhone. Are you willing to replace some of your existing devices for a wearable?
These 6 important considerations will help you decide if a wearable device is appropriate for your situation or not, or ensure you buy the best one to fit your needs.
If you are selling products through a dropshipping business on eBay or if you’re selling a digital product as an affiliate, then it is absolutely crucial that you build a relationship with your potential customers before you try and sell to them.
This is something that a lot of sellers and marketers just don’t understand and ultimately it is to their detriment as they end up missing out on the opportunity to sell. Read on to see exactly what this means and why it is so important…
An Analogy…
The best way to explain this is with an analogy, or two. Imagine for a moment that you see an attractive lady or man at a bar and you want to get to know them a little better. So what you do, is you go up and you ask if they’re come home with you tonight.
What do you think happens next? Most likely you get a firm slap in the face – and this is more than fair enough!
The problem with this approach is that the person doesn’t know you yet. They don’t know what you’re like and if they’re likely to have a good time with you and more importantly – they don’t know if they can trust you! You might be dangerous as far as they’re concerned!
Another scenario is someone trying to sell a watch. Imagine they come up to you in the street holding a watch and ask if you want to buy it for $2,000. What do you say? Again, you’ll probably turn and run. No one would spend that much money on something without knowing anything about it and without having any form of ‘come back’ in case the deal turns sour.
How Businesses Make This Mistake All the Time
Both these examples probably seem absurd to you but this is essentially what many businesses are doing all the time. If you have a website that tries to sell a product as soon as anyone lands on it, then you’re going to drive people away before they have even had a chance to read your site.
They may well be interested in what you’re selling but if they don’t know your brand and they don’t know your product, then they won’t want to buy right away. And if all you’re interested in doing is selling to them with tons of pop?up ads, then you’re going to drive them off – it will look like spam!
Now consider the alternative approach: they land on your website and they find tons of great content that’s well written, free and informative. This allows the visitor to form a positive opinion of your business and hopefully to become interested in the products you’re mentioning.
And as a result, they’re much more likely to want to buy from you in future. So instead of focussing on making a sale, focus on making a fan. Push them toward a mailing list instead and invite them to come back. That way, the sales will come to you!
No business model is quite perfect. The best model is always going to depend on the goals of the company of course, of your industry and of your resources.
But while this is true, there are certainly some business models out there that come pretty close to being perfect. And probably the best example of this of all is dropshipping. Why is dropshipping so special? Let’s find out…
The Problem With Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is the route that most internet marketers will take when trying to make money from a blog or a social media channel/mailing list. The idea is simple: they promote someone else’s product and then they get a profit.
The problem is that these products are almost always digital products. In order to get the biggest money, that’s what you need to sell.
While this has big advantages for the manufacturer, it has some significant downsides for you. For starters, the appeal of a digital product is much smaller than that of a physical product. Try and sell a digital product to your Grandma for instance and you won’t likely have much luck. The same goes for trying to sell digital products to your Mum. Probably your Dad. Probably even your friends!
The other big issue with digital products is that you’re sending customers away from your site. They’ll be more likely to remember the company that sold them the product versus the blog that sent them there! And this prevents them from buying multiple items through you.
The Problem With Selling Your Own Product or Reselling
So you could sell your own product, sure. But then you have to manufacture it, spending thousands of dollars and potentially wasting your money if the product isn’t a hit. Many of us don’t have the money or the knowhow to go this route.
So you can resell instead… only this way you still need to take a big risk by spending lots of money on inventory. Then you have to find a way to store all that product and then you have to deliver it and worry about whether it arrives on time or not. It’s a huge amount of admin and not much fun…
Enter Dropshipping
But with dropshipping, what you’re doing is selling a product through your own store as though it were your own item and then letting the wholesaler worry about fulfilment and delivery – as though it were an affiliate product.
This has all the benefits of selling an affiliate product because you can sit back and let the orders roll in without having to do anything. But it also has all the benefits of selling a real product as a reseller or manufacturer – you get to keep your customers on your site and improve your brand awareness, while also selling real, useful products.
Best of all, some companies will even offer ‘white label’ dropshipping services. This means you can actually print your logo on the product and claim it as your own!
Selling a physical product has a ton of advantages over selling digital ones. While digital products have their benefits and have their place, nothing quite beats the broad appeal of selling something tangible that people can actually hold in their hands and use.
The problem is that selling a physical product often requires a little more thought than going digital. In this post then, we’ll take a look at some surprisingly easy ways to start a business selling something physical.
Let’s get physical!
Selling Crafts
One option is to sell crafts. If you have the ability to paint, to make jewelry, or to sculpt with clay, then you can turn that hobby into a money making venture – and if you’ve seen the Penny Blossom episode of Big Bang Theory then you’ll already know how this works.
Simply create your product, take some photos for eBay or Etsy, and then sell them! It really is that easy – but make sure that the product you choose is something you can easily make in volume and that doesn’t have high CoGS (Cost of Goods Sold).
Reselling
Reselling is the oldest business model in the book. All you’re doing here is ordering large volumes of something at a relatively low price (this is called wholesale) and then selling those items off individually at a profit. Reselling is a very effective way to make money but involves a small amount of risk because you have to buy inventory. If you start small though, you can reinvest your profit and thereby create a fairly reliable business model.
Affiliate Marketing
Yes, you can sell physical products as an affiliate. And most people reading this will already know that that means getting commission on sales. The best place to find physical products to sell this way is to go to Amazon, where you can sell pretty much anything you can think of – and through a site that most shoppers will already trust.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is what many people consider to be the ‘ideal’ business model. This basically means you’re buying through wholesalers but you don’t have to put in bulk orders. Better yet, you don’t need to worry about fulfilment because the company will do that for you! All you need to do is to sell the products and then pass the details onto the wholesaler that will sell the product. Best of all, some companies will even stay quiet and allow you to take credit for the manufacturing!
Selling Your Own Product
Finally, you can sell your own mass?produced product. For most people, this will mean coming up with an idea, creating a 3D model and then going to manufacturers in order to get it made.
There are different options today though. For example, how about creating your own book with POD (Print On Demand) publishing? Or you could use a 3D printer and print out simple plastic items this way.
Today, it’s easier than ever to sell your own physical products. So what are you waiting for?
Finding a dropshipping wholesaler is one of the very best forms of business model for those looking to make easy money.
Essentially, dropshipping means that you are selling products and then passing on the details of those sales to wholesalers. They then ship the items out to the people who bought them through you and you share the profit.
This is a nearly flawless system because it means you don’t need to worry about storing the products, about fulfilment or about manufacturing. There’s not even an up?front investment! At the same time though, the company you’re selling your items through will remain quiet and unseen and you’ll get all the credit for selling the items through your own store.
But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing that can go wrong. And it doesn’t mean you should abandon all caution. Here are some tips that will help you ensure your new business venture goes smoothly…
Be Wary of Fake Dropshipping Businesses
There are some companies out there posing as dropshipping companies that aren’t the real deal. These companies will often buy the products from wholesalers and then dropship them to you! That means that you’re paying an inflated price which will hurt your bottom line as well as your turnover.
One thing to be careful of is companies that also sell to the general public. Another warning sign is that the company is asking for a recurring monthly fee. Real companies don’t do this!
Know What to Expect.
That said, you may still have to jump through some hoops when setting up with a legitimate partner. One issue is that they might require proof that you’re really a reseller – otherwise they might be worried you’re just a commercial customer looking for the best possible deal.
Something else they might require is a minimum preorder. This is to avoid time?wasting companies that will do a lot of talking but then never pass on any significant business. This isn’t great if you’re trying to avoid upfront investment but it may be a necessary evil. To avoid having lots of inventory lying around though, ask them if they can use it to set up some credit with their store.
Check the Quality
Never sell products from your site blind! Not only will your customers be unhappy but it can also damage your reputation and prevent them from buying from you again in future. Always ask to see at least one example of the product first that you can check over and speak to a representative about what quality control measures they have in place to avoid problems!
Choose the Right Product
Of course it’s also rather important that you buy the right stock! This will vary depending on your industry of course but a good place to start is by looking for something that solves a simple and concise problem that your customers have. This will be easy for you to communicate and explain, which makes it an ideal place to start if you’re opening up a new store!
Image from: Amazon.com