In the world of business there are the big guys and there are the little guys. The big guys like Home Depot and Lowes are the muti-million dollar stores that carry everything and have an inventory greater than the payroll of many small U.S. cities. The amount of "shrinkage" these big guys have every month would probably allow me to live very comfortable the rest of my life.
The little neighborhood guy on the other hand, is scratching his ass every week just to meet his payroll. They are however, making a decent living. Only because they have been around for so long. That longevity has helped them build a loyal customer base.
Those loyal customers know damn well that they are going to pay a little more for certain items, but they go to the little guy because it's close to where they live, and the service they receive is outstanding.
The little guy carries pretty much the same product as the big guy, but the price is of course higher. The little guy can't buy the quantity that the big guy can. So the price has to be higher because his margin is lower.
The big suppliers, like Toro are now selling to the big guys because the big guys can buy more and sell them at a lower price, which leads to more sales for the Toro's and other big names of that industry. The little guy has to rely on the service he gives his customers and not the quantity. The big guys don't offer much service or knowledge anymore.
It's the same for any one doing business online. The big guy with the big mailing list has a greater advantage then the little guy with only 300 or less subscribers. The big guy can set a much higher price for his ads because he can expose your ad to a much larger audience.
The little guy practically gives away the ads in his newsletter because he cannot offer the same exposure for your ad that the big guy does. Any person trying to sell their service or product will be more likely to spend $50.00 to have their ad seen by 45,000 readers, than pay $9.00 to be exposed to 300 pairs of eyes.
So the little guy newsletter and ezines must offer better service than the big fat cat publisher with a subscriber base reaching 100,000 plus.This means more hours of searching for new and informative things. Hours that you don't have because you're working a 40 hour job because you don't have a huge subscriber base to which you can charge big bucks for advertising so you don't have to work a 40 hour job . See the Catch 22?
Unlike the litle guy local store, you can become a big guy publsher. All you need is money to purchase leads, there are many places to do that on line today. Then you need the time to cultivate those leads, and turn them into subscribers. Over time you too can be a big guy publisher. The more money you have to buy leads, and more time you have to cultivate them, the quicker you get to charge big dollars to advertise in your ezine or newsletter.
Your second choice is to remain a little guy. Making little or no profit by charging $1.50 to expose your customers ads to all of your 300 readers. But take satisfaction in knowing that every week, week after, sore fingers from typing, week. You put out the best damn newsletter or ezine that you can possibly publish. And you do all of that month after month for one reason and one reason only. Because even though you don't realize it..........deep down inside you really love doing it, and you kind of like being a little guy.
Jim Schulte
Creator of the
Internet Marketing Junkie Mouse Pad http://www.imjpads.com
Editor/Publisher The I.M.J. Newsletter http://www.imjpads.com/mycustompage0013.htm
Creator of the Internet Marketing Junkie Mouse Pad. Editor/Publisher of the Internet Marketing Junkie Newsletter. Designed his own website and has written several articles, sll of which, are not related to online marketing.