This week was very interesting and I learned a lot about some of the behind the scenes of business. We started the week off by learning about wholesalers and international brokers as ways of getting product at low prices. One of the best things was we learned how to “quantify and compare” each method to objectively make a comparison of the two. When you quantify and compare methods its important to:
- Choose objective criteria
- Rate each option based on the criteria
- Create weights for which criteria is most or least important
- Total up each options scores with the weight adjustment
I found this to be a very interesting way to think of decision making. I’d never thought about creating an actual system of rating different options and this will definitely come in handy in the future. We also used this method when learning about the difference between affiliate marketing and drop shipping.
Affiliate marketing is when you add links to your website that leads potential customers to your affiliate site. You earn a percentage of whatever they purchase from the affiliate site when they click and buy something using your link.
Drop shipping is when you create a website and sell products from another company. When something is purchased, your drop shipping partner will ship that product directly to your customer. You don’t have to have inventory of any of the items, but you do end up paying that company a certain fee for their services.
Both methods were brand new to me and it was amazing how many well established businesses have affiliate marketing programs available. I wonder how many of the websites that I visit are actually using these methods. Affiliate marketing is definitely the safer route of the two, but you can see profits a lot more quickly from drop shipping.
