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Web-Based Firms Do the Heavy
Lifting for Your Business Idea
Teena Rose is a columnist, personal branding expert,
public speaker, and career-marketing guru.
She’s author of a book on "How
to Start a Resume Writing Business,"
entitled "Starting a Home- or Office-based Resume Business"
... the
only major tool you'll need to start, operate, and profit from a
resume service. The book covers all the "nuggets" you'll need to
learn about during the start-up and daily operations of your
business.
The drive for self-expression is what
motivates many business ideas. Now, combine a person’s need to
express their original thoughts and feelings with the backing of a
company to execute those ideas, and you have one of the latest
business models on the Web.
For anybody who has ever had that can’t-miss idea or sudden
brainstorm but didn’t have the time, financial backing or motivation
to market the product, Web firms have come along to offer a stage
for the business of self-expression. Two companies leading the pack
are CafePress.com and Zazzle.com, who are helping individuals turn
their designs and creations into products that can be sold over the
Web.
If you’re a small company or just an individual with a bright idea,
using these services just might be the way to go. The two Web firms,
in exchange for a share of the proceeds, will assemble and ship
products like T-shirts, posters, stickers, mouse pads and pretty
much anything you can put a slogan or artistic creation on. Café
Press and Zazzle have taken these items which would have normally
been sold outside of sporting arenas or in flee markets and given
them access to millions of potential buyers. And the brightest
business star in all of this: no overhead.
“There’s this large trend … which is to have users really express,
offer and market their own content, their own persona, their
identity,” John Doerr, the legendary venture capitalist and investor
in Zazzle, recently told BusinessWeek magazine. “I don’t mean
identity as in credit cards. I mean like apparel is a way to express
our identity, how we dress, the music we listen to.”
Café Press and Zazzle have been music to the ears of the young
entrepreneur who has little time or desire to cover every component
of marketing a product from beginning to end. Once a seller sends
the image to Café Press or Zazzle, these firms take over by creating
a listing page and manufacturing the product whether it’s printing a
T-shirt of putting a logo on a mouse pad. They will also handle
billing, ship the product and handle any returns as well.
You don’t even have to have your own idea to use these services.
They both have a collection of online digital images for customizing
whatever you want. For example, you can go to Zazzle and pick from
several T-shirt cuts, think of your team name or some clever saying,
even “Our Team Doesn’t Stink,” and have the shirts delivered within
24 hours.
The payout is different for each company. Zazzle pays a 10%
commission to sellers in their “public gallery” when their products
are sold. A commission is also given to sellers who direct traffic
to the site. Café Press, meanwhile, has a simpler payout structure,
taking a base fee for each item and giving the seller the remainder
of the proceeds. |