W7 - Post 6 - Google Ads

 This week has been all about creating the Google Ads plan for the next few weeks. I can’t say I’m looking forward to this part of the class, but only because I wish we weren’t rushing. This part of the class - web marketing - is what I’ve been looking forward to! 

I do wish we could replace some of the sections of this class with more relevant material. I’m getting my certificate in entrepreneurialism and this is the third time I've had to start a 4 week business for a class.  Why not try something new? Start a blog and use social media marketing to promote it? I think there are a lot of opportunities we’re missing by focusing on Google, and not on effective social media platforms like Twitter, TikTok, FaceBook, and Instagram. The algorithms used by those platforms are designed around identifying interests and pushing ads even when the potential clients aren’t actively shopping.  

Anyway, the Google Ads platform is a good way to advertise, provided your prospective clients are searching for products in Google or YouTube. The idea of keyword groups seems a little heavy if you’re only running one business, I can really see the value of those groups if you’re offering multiple product lines, etc. But I'm interested to learn more about them and how to use them effectively. I also want to see how Google's process is different from other web marketing platforms. I love that I’m going through this at Christmas time too.

I still haven’t heard anything back from Logitech on my affiliate marketing application and it’s been a few weeks. Every time I go to the Impact site, it says my application is still under review. If I have to change over to an advertising model and grab customers by writing reviews, I am capable of doing it, but I’m worried I won’t have the time.

On to week 8!

Week 6 - Post 5 - Legal Structure and Updates

 This is one of those weeks where my experiences have both helped and hindered my course work. From a legal structure vantage, I completely understand why most of the students in our class selected sole proprietorship. I read a few things that didn’t make a lot of sense like “I want to be the final decision”, which has nothing to do with SP’s, but that isn’t important. What’s important to understand is how being an LLC can protect a company that gets into financial or legal trouble.

I went ahead and set up an SP for this project, but if I decide to keep it going past this class, I’ll flip it over to an LLC. I just have too much to lose if this is going to be a long term option. I love the potential of the affiliate market model and I'm hoping to keep something going in this space, even if it isn’t keyboardkingdom.store. Actually, KwyboardKingdom.com is available, but a broker has it and set the price at $1995.00 to buy. If things look good, I’ll counter him at $500 and see where it goes. 

I’m not really sure any of the other legal structures fit this course. Like I said in my essay, I had an S corp years ago when I was doing SAP consulting. IT’s not bad, but the taxes were more than it was worth.

As far as the overall class is concerned, I think things are going well. I’m still waiting on Impact to finish the review of my affiliate marketing contract with Logitech. But the website links all direct to the Logitech site, I’m just waiting on the cookie from Logitech now. That will be interesting to see in action, I’ve never seen how it works.

That’s really the last piece, but I imagine I’ll try and create social media accounts and try and add a blog to the site. I only started with 3 keyboards and mice on the site because I didn’t know what kind of media kit I’d get once the affiliate agreement went through. But I think I’ll register with Razer, Red Dragon, Corsair, and TESmart to try and round out the site.

On to Week 7!

W5 - Post 4 - The Site

 As I think about websites that I have created in the past and sites that I shop from, there isn't a whole lot in common! I've never created a site that had to have e-commerce capabilities. This site will not be truly different, since it's an affiliate marketing site for computer accessories. 

That is a question I need to get sorted out. Do I need to be able to charge customers if all I'm doing is redirecting them to the manufacturers website? I'm not selling anything myself, I'm not sure why I need a way to process payments.

Anyway, I'm going to use everydaycarry.com as a guide of my website design, but with a different color scheme. I love the way it's all about the tools on that site. I also love how they engage the community by encouraging people to post their own  "Pocket dump". I think it's a genius move and people can be just as proud of their computer set up. Customer engagement is absolutely critical to an effective affiliate marketing campaign.

I still think this is a work in progress. Plus, I'm going to be very dependent on Social media marketing (I still think the Google Ads requirement is outdated) to get traffic to my site, especially since I have a non-standard top level domain (.Store - not - .Com) . This means I also need Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook marketing to direct people to my site. I'm hoping I can get media kits from Logitech and Red Dragon. I'm also think I need to expand to multiple other manufacturers like Razer and Altec. That way I'm not too specific in my product line.

On to Week 6!

W4 - Post 3 - The Product

 Well I think I’ve done it… I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. Not really, but I was surprised by my analysis results. I’ve decided to go with Affiliate Marketing and create a website using Logitech products. In order to do that correctly, I probably need to approach it from the angle of posting reviews and deals, and then use social media accounts on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, along with the required Google Ads, to try and draw eyes to the site. Christmas is coming up, which could help if I get creative, but how do you compete with Amazon for a regularly available product during the holidays? 

But it’s precisely those scenarios that are turning this class into my favorite so far. It’s the real world scenarios that I have to work through. I’m a little confused why I need to have an ecommerce shop available on my webpage to take payments if Affiliate marketing is an approved option. It’s not like I’m going to have inventory to sell myself. I might need to try and sell accessories or something.

Overall, I’m also a little concerned about the short duration of the project. I have a couple of business Ideas in mind that are longer term but there was no way to get things done in enough time to use them for this class. Mostly because it is a manufactured (at least - 3D printed) product that needs a bit of testing and redesign before it’s right. That’s one of the two the reasons why I chose affiliate marketing: It’s easy to set up and get going. The other reason is because I’m genuinely interested in the business model. 

All in all, regarding future businesses - I really like the idea of expanding into backups, cloud service consulting, and training. It could have both services (back ups), branded merchandise (external drives and computer accessories), and subscriptions for remote backups, support, video based training, etc. That is ultimately how I wanted to diversify my current company. With that in mind, I really think this class is good for me. No, it’s not a website development class, but it’s getting me thinking about competition, investment, and advertising.

On to week 5

W3 - Post 2 : Adventures in Product and Sourcing analysis

 Sourcing a product for a real world enterprise versus for a business I’ll open in this class are only slightly similar activities. For one thing, I’m not sure I have the ability to do the due diligence needed in order to get a product in the next 3 weeks. I’m just not sure there’s enough time to go through the process correctly. However, since it will most likely be a temporary business, where the experience is worth more than the profit earned, I don’t really think it matters what I select. My objective is to pick something in demand, that is immediately available, and that I can market online.

My issue is that I’m not yet where my decision matrix is applicable as a tool. I’m tweaking one to use to help me make a product choice, then plan to use it again for sourcing decisions. I’m a big fan of selecting the business model first and I’m pretty sure I’m going to go affiliate marketing. It’s a business model I haven’t tried before and it interests me a lot. But in order to do it well, I need to select a product category that I am capable of generating quality content for within a limited amount of time. It’s not like the rest of my commitments go on hold for the next 9 weeks.

I’m considering stocking stuffers since Christmas is coming up and I think the demand will be there. But there are a few other things that I’m more interested in like technology and books. A review site with active Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok for books might be fun, but I’m still brainstorming ideas.

All in all, I’m making progress towards selecting a product and looking forward to the sourcing process.

On to Week 4!