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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" ... a major tool you'll need to start, operate, and profit from a resume service. The book covers all the "nuggets" you'll need during the start-up and daily operations of a resume writing 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. Cafe 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."
Cafe 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 Cafe 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. Cafe Press, meanwhile, has a simpler payout structure, taking a base fee for each item and giving the seller the remainder of the proceeds.
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