The private label bottled drinking water is a growth industry with double digit growth and profit opportunities for the entrepreneur. But like most opportunities care must be taken to seek out and exploit the most profitable niche in the market.
A recent market study examined the growth and potential of the market for bottled water and concluded:
"The bottled water industry grew about 10% in 2005, while carbonated soft drinks revenue is essentially flat," says Gary Hemphill, marketing director of BMC. "There are a couple of things driving the market—sure, people like to have a tap water substitution, but it's really driven by people's demands for a healthier alternative to the wide array of beverages on the market."
Private label water is the fastest growing segment of the overall bottled water market and its future growth is considered by many to be “explosive”. .
Private label water combines the purity of refreshing drinking water with consumable advertising that is designed to an individual customer’s specification. The water is popular and the branding message, if designed properly, serves to promote business.
Almost every company in the United States can benefit from private label water with a custom branding message. The opportunities are huge, the market is largely untapped and the private label product is viewed by customers as a cost effective, power way to promote a brand message.
The bottled water industry consists of a number of interrelated parts including research and development, manufacturing, marketing and sales. Much of the business model however, requires significant amounts of capital and has high barriers to entry for most entrepreneurs.
Nevertheless, with the advent of the internet and e-commerce, an aggressive sales focused entrepreneur can develop a substantial profitable private label business through affiliate programs .
What Are Affiliate Programs?
Affiliate programs are revenue sharing programs between an entrepreneur and a company that manufactures and sells a product or service. Affiliates are rewarded with referral payments for sending customers to the manufacturer’s Web site. The process works as follows:
• The affiliate place links on its site to a particular manufacturer’s Web site.
• When a visitor clicks on the link and makes a purchase the affiliate earns a referral fee that is a percentage of the total sale.
• The best manufacturer sites have automatic payment mechanisms and real time accounting.
But an efficient affiliate site requires planning and work. Many affiliates believe they will be able to just put up a Web site, establish some affiliate links and sit back and wait for streams of cash to start coming in. Care must be taken however to be truly successful. Consider the following:
• What type of Web site should you have to make money through affiliate programs?
• What are the best programs for your site?
• How will you effectively market your site and the underlying product?
• How can you find niche markets?
Similar to other facets of developing a home business, careful planning is needed to map out a profitable strategy for building a home based business using affiliate programs - a strategy that will allow you to build income through content in a sustainable, month after month way.
The issue is – what are the steps required to develop an income producing web site using affiliate programs that generate consistent, substantial revenue?
Tip Number 1: Align With a Manufacturer That Produces A Quality Product With Unique Features and Manages a Robust Affiliate Program.
As any good sales person will tell you, a high quality product is mandatory for sales success. Look for a company that manufactures (resellers add little value) a quality product that is recognized as different in the marketplace. There are many types of water in the market but purified water is clearly recognized as the highest quality.
After identifying a manufacturer with a quality product offering, chose one with a robust, profitable affiliate program. This should include at a minimum:
• commitment to affiliate success
• commission plans that are substantial
• a website that allows for easy ordering and accrual and payment of commissions
• support for marketing, selling and booking of orders
Tip Number 2: Identify a Niche Market and Create a Plan to Penetrate That Niche Deeply
Avoid the tendency to mass market and “shoot at the flock”. Mass marketing is beyod the scope of most companies and entrepreneurs. There are many profitable niche markets that have significant growth potential. Identify a niche market, understand the buying patterns of that niche and penetrate the market. It takes time and work but done right this effort is very profitable.
Some examples of niche markets: hotels (small and large), health spas, golf courses, gyms, car dealerships, organizations and health clubs to name a few. Almost any organization is interested in promoting their brand and brand message in a cost effective way.
Tip Number 3: Create an Eye Catching Website With a link to The Manufacturer
One of the advantages of an affiliate program is that profitable business can be developed with only a nominal investment. Given today’s technical level of internet development expertise, creation of an attractive web site is easy and cost effective. The critical part of the website however is the creation of a focused message presented in an attractive manner.
Following the creation of the site, establish a banner link with the chosen manufacturing partner that will direct affiliate inquires to the site for order creation and booking of the affiliate commission.
The manufacturer’s site must be able to design and produce labels, provide powerful e-commerce facilities for order booking and shipment and include a facility for the booking and payment of commissions to the affiliate.
Tip Number 4: Create and Implement a Sales Strategy
A clear sales strategy is the most effective path to success and profits in the private label business. Identify in writing the target niche, strategy to penetrate that niche, buying patterns, target prospects and communication material (sales collateral) and tactics to sell targeted prospects. Then implement the strategy in an organized manner and make adjustments to the strategy as conditions change. Remember the old sales adage “Always Be Closing”.
Tip Number 5: Follow Up on All Orders and Provide Feedback to Customers
As part of any effective sales effort, follow up and feedback with and to customers is critical to maintaining good customer service and obtaining repeat orders. One of the most powerful aspects of private label water sales is that happy customers tend to be repeat customers. Creation of a long customer list with satisfied customers will generate a steady stream of repeat orders and significant cash flow.
5 Steps to Success in the Private Label Water Business - Affiliate Program Success for Profits and Wealth
Water Your Roots: Maximize Your Home Business Location
Trees need roots to grow. When a gardener plants a tree, he does not water the leaves or the branches. Instead, he sticks a hose near the roots and lets them soak up all the moisture they can hold. In the same way, whenever we begin a grass-roots business, whil we have the opportunity to expand, we must remember to maintain our roots: the community in which we live and work.
In the past the success of a home business relied large on its geographical location. Local farmer would sell their produce to local consumers. Basket weavers would weave their wares for the general public in their community. However, the growth of the internet has literally allowed local home businesses to explode into the global market place. As a result, many home businesses have lost touch with what once was the bread and butter of the home business world: the community.
Home businesses owners must recognize the unique customer base they have within their own community. These are the people they can see face to face, and thus the individuals that can recommend the home business products to others locally. Word of mouth is a powerful (and cheap) advertising tool, and thus home business owners must work hard to cater to the literal customer while serving the virtual customer as well.
Secondly, home business owners can use their particular geographic location to their advantage. Let's say you live in the sticks of the Midwestern United States. Your closest neighbor lives over a mile away, and the closest paved road is well over two miles away. You drive 30 miles one way to get groceries, and 60 miles one way to eat out at a restaurant that doesn't consider "hashbrowns" a legitimate side. You get the idea. You need the global customer, the virtual customer, to survive. So how can you take advantage of your geographical location? Two words: graphic design. If you live in a beautiful, unique part of the world, then use those images as a part of your business logo or website.
Finally, participate in the community. When the local school has their homecoming parade, enter a float for your home business. Join the local small business association, and participate in community activities under the auspice of your business. Contact the local school and see if you can contribute to the booster clubs and put your business name on a plaque as a result. Whenever you have the opportunity for advertising your business and building a positive image in the community, do it.
Just because the world has given us the opportunity to go global does not mean we can or should forget our neighbors. The home business began at home and relied solely on the goodness of those in its immediate vicinity. We should remember our roots when we start to grow, and continue to water them as we hope to reach the skies of prosperity.
Water - The 21st. Century Business!
We just can’t live without! But can we live with what we have?
With water quality at an all time low – the needs are great for a simple, effective solution for improved drinking water. With a general increase in awareness of health requirements and an immense demand for simple answers – the providers of this solution are set to become the next millionaires.
Prick up your ears because ‘The Wellness Revolution’ is here and, by all predictions, is set to become the next trillion dollar industry. You can see it everywhere, emerging as people wake from their state of slumber to regain their health and vitality after years of lethargy.
The ‘Baby Boomers’ have set the pace and are demanding a better, healthier, safer way to remain fit and live longer in a world of increased uncertainties and deepening toxicity.
We live in what has been described as a ‘toxic soup’ where our bodies are in a constant struggle to maintain health and stability. Chronic degenerative disease is becoming all too common and immune system problems are now the norm. People have had enough and are demanding better. So where do we start and where are the niches that aren’t being filled?
As a health consultant and entrepreneur, I have seen many fads and gimmicks come and go. The quick fix, the new diet, the amazing supplement –all offering much and supplying little. People are sick and tired of being sick and tired AND 'being taken to the cleaners’ with promises of ‘the perfect answer’.
Where it all starts and ends is with our water! Water is the basis of life, from which all life came and through which all life evolves. It is our essence and is 75% of our being. Without it we DIE fairly rapidly! Without ‘quality’ water, we die a little less rapidly. Water is the answer to many health issues and can return a person back to good health very rapidly.
Relying on the water from our taps is not the answer – the quality of this water has become so poor that in some cities plants actually wither and die when fed with it. Bottled water is also not the answer as this is now often sourced from areas of extreme toxicity and pollution.
Health and sports professionals have known this for years and have been striving to find a source of ‘quality’ water, full of essential nutrients, inexpensive and available to all. A water that will cleanse and feed us, enrich us with nutrition, de-acidify our toxic bodies and create healthier individuals.
Finally, the 21st Century is well upon us and new discoveries are being uncovered at an ever-increasing rate. Top research laboratories are providing the facts and supplying the evidence for all to see.
As with many ‘new’ discoveries, it is often a re-working and enhancing of a very old idea that produces a ‘super-product’, one that can change the lives of millions and bring wealth to the news-bringers.
For water, the time is NOW, the secrets have been cracked and the message is being released. Millions and millions of people are set to benefit from its properties as they are given back a means of improving their water simply and effectively.
For those ready to share this news with others – the rewards will be huge as the word spreads and the demand explodes.
The time is NOW, the new millionaires are waiting in the wings – ‘WATER’ is the word AND the answer. Be there at the beginning of something immense, something global and prosperity will follow. Are you ready to lead the way?