Making Money with Internationalised Products

13. Jun 2008 | 20 Comments

So I’ve been pretty busy lately, at lot of my own projects have been brushed aside for the time being. But because I’ve been so pushed for time I’ve been forced to look for easier & quicker ways to grow my affiliate income stream.

I came across an interesting article not long ago about how one affiliate managed to dominate the Australian Ugg Boots market just as they were becoming popular (I can’t find the article off hand but if you know it kindly post it in the comments). I put this theory to the test by searching for similar items that had an international appeal but no-one was capatilising on yet.

Now there’s two ways that you can approach this method:

Look for a product that’s in demand in your own country but no-one is really selling it, then look for someone who’s selling it abroad. You can either set up a relationship with the supplier/distributer or even see if they have an affiliate program. Problems with going down the affiliate route is that the shipping will be a good deal more. I’ve had good success with the affiliate route even though the shipping is pricey provided I’m about 40% cheaper overall than anyone who’s selling the product locally.
Look for a product that’s in demand abroad & is already well established in your country. The above scenario applies to this too & if the product is well established it’ll probably have an affiliate program.

If you’ve done your research correctly you should already know a few things:

What the international competition is like
Whether or not you’re beating their prices
How they format their PPC Ads (I use the Google Global Firefox Extension for this)

You want to make sure that you can provide the same product cheaper than they can get it locally (including shipping). This will be your selling point. For example I sell one product locally that you can only buy in Australia for around $99 (excl shipping), however abroad I can bring it for around $59 (excl shipping). Which one do you think will appeal more in a PPC Ad?

Now create a minisite dedicated to the product, the site should contain general product information (including variations) & most importantly a review about the product.

I now create a very targeted PPC Campaign using branded terms & other very targeted terms I think will convert well. I know the brand terms will convert & the rest of the terms I’ll constantly test (including tweaking the review landing page) until I’m happy I have a set of 10-20 keywords that’ll convert for a minimal spend. The nature of these campaigns will attract a high CTR on the ads (since they’re so targeted) so you should be able to bring the CPC down gradually & maintain a decent position.

I’ll put this example into perspective for you. Take the Iphone, it’s only just being launched in Australia after being around for quite some time. However, tens of thousands of people in Australia “Already have one.” Now imagine getting on that train in the beginning (I admit that is probably a once in a lifetime product). But you get the idea.

Now sit back, monitor & move onto the next one.

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20 Comments on "Making Money with Internationalised Products"

pingo 14. Jun 2008, 12:00 am

I aggree, its a global world. so play it.

We still have success in the 40 countries that pingo mobile phone card affiliate program works in.

good luck to the world of affiliates

Feng Shui Advice 15. Jun 2008, 7:44 pm

Where to find affiliate programmes? Off the top of my head I’d say CJ or the actual company site (but they probably won’t let you register domains using their trademarks)…

AMiRU 24. Jun 2008, 6:07 pm

Thanks for this tips Stuart,
affiliate is always a good way to earn some money.

Good luck with your current projects.

Ranked Hard 25. Jun 2008, 7:07 am

Nice tips. It’s always beneficial to get into markets early, just as we got into the now booming SEO comic market early. Well, maybe I’m twisting the definition of booming a little.

Blackhat Boot Camp Blog 06. Jul 2008, 12:33 pm

Really good thinking on this one and now is the time to gear up for Christmas!

ho ho ho

move that product!

Bompa

Get Rich With PPC Coach 11. Jul 2008, 1:37 am

Nice tips Stuart.

FWIW, I’ve found the Australian PPC market very tough for anything that requires a credit card/sale. UK and Canada have always converted pretty me well for me though.

Heaps of potential:)

al 13. Jul 2008, 1:39 am

it is useful to have this website it learns me a lot.
thanks.

Ghillie Suit Guy 17. Jul 2008, 5:09 pm

Over a month without an update? I really like this blog.

Ghillie Suit Guy 17. Jul 2008, 5:11 pm

BTW, I wanted to mention that I have looked into exactly what you mention in this post. The biggest problem is shipping costs overseas now. It’s just not cost effective unless I can get someone to warehouse my products overseas.

don 26. Jul 2008, 11:50 pm

Great Idea Stu. May have to get into this affiliate marketing racket

gm 09. Aug 2008, 8:10 am

I like this idea and with the weak dollar, you can choose from various products. Of course there’s the shipping…So here is an idea, how about digital products/services, no shipping involved…

Link Building Blog 24. Aug 2008, 12:37 pm

Great article mate! I’ve been selling Acai Berry related stuff locally as it has been blowing up like crazy! And speaking of footwear, those “roman” style shoes are very popular so look into that folks.

Will 10. Sep 2008, 5:30 am

Have you abandoned this blog?

Stuart 15. Sep 2008, 12:45 pm

Not quite, just got a lot on my plate at the moment.

Thanks for asking though.

Stu

Frank Merlott 18. Oct 2008, 3:04 am

Where do I get the theme you are using? If it is a free Wordpress theme I would love to know its name or the link where to get it, I think it is great! And your posts too of course it just needs a little more updating thats all

Mike 19. Oct 2008, 12:46 pm

Great info, just have to be careful and do a lot of research on the product you choose or you will spend fortune on ppc if it is a highly competitive market.

Aaron 23. Oct 2008, 3:31 am

Stuart, why have you not posted in nearly three months? Are you still alive? Missing your ozzie affiliate tips bro stop slacking off! Wanna sell your blog?

Dan Gregory 28. Oct 2008, 9:05 am

I’ve been facing a conundrum with this. I recently found a huge demand Asian product that young kids are into and nobody is really selling it here in the US yet. There’s spotty availability on eBay or amazon sometimes but no really clean distribution channel here in the US. And based on what all the parents I know are telling me all the kids are demanding this item for Xmas this year. So I’m not sure how to get these things to the customers. It’s too late to take physical inventory and distribute myself because I won’t have time before the holidays. And throwing up some simple affiliate pages won’t necessarily work because the availability of these items at third party sites is very spotty. So anyway, this process of researching this niche has really opened my mind to international markets - not just what is selling in other countries, but what people want HERE that is only available abroad. Still need to wrap my head around it all.

Thanks!
Dan

George 30. Oct 2008, 5:40 am

Very interesting idea. I haven’t done in targeted to markets outside the US, but I should definitely consider it in the future. I will have to test this out in the coming months. Great post… stumbled…

srinivas 12. Nov 2008, 11:55 pm

Stuart where are you?It is almost 5 months since your last post ,we are eagerly waiting for your wonderful tips gets updated?