May 2004

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If you're selling (or thinking of selling) hard goods online, then you probably understand how difficult and how much work setting up an online store is.

There are all sorts of issues that need to be addressed such as shopping cart integration, database management, payment processing, site usability and navigation, and so much more! It can get to be quite a harrowing experience.

And if you've ever looked into having somebody else take care of that for you, you probably went into sticker shock.

But now, thanks to the partnership Wholesale Marketer has negotiated with WebIncome.Biz, getting a fully operational store setup online has never been easier!

To start off, WebIncome.Biz has 50 professionally designed website templates to choose from. And you'll love the shopping cart system, which is fully integrated with all 50,000+ products from the Wholesale Marketer warehouses!

WebIncome.Biz has made adding products to your store incredibly easy. Simply select the item you wish to add from their store builder, click the "Add" button, and the item is immediately added to your store's inventory, ready to be sold!

In fact, WebIncome.Biz is so confident that you'll be absolutely thrilled with their service that they're offering a 10-day free trial!

And if you do decide to stay on, current Wholesale Marketer members receive $50 off the initial setup fee. Get your discount by logging in to your Wholesale Marketer Account and visiting the Resource Center. This can be done by clicking the "Resource Center" link found on the right side of the "member's only" navigation bar. From there, simply click the WebIncome.Biz logo that appears in the left-hand column.

If you're not a Wholesale Marketer member, sign up is quick and easy. Simply visit the Wholesale Marketer homepage and click the "Join Now" link.

- by: Stuart Lisonbee

Last month we talked about the need consumers have to make their lives easier and to reduce suffering. This month, we'll get into another reason people spend money:

- The desire to be popular and respected of their peers and potential (or current) mates.

These needs are closely related to the basic human desire to be loved. Humans are ever trying to improve themselves to earn the respect and adoration of others.

Have you ever not asked a question when you had one because you were afraid of "looking dumb"? Why didn't you ask the question? Very simple: because you were afraid of losing the respect of those around you.

Shoes that insinuate they'll make you jump higher or run faster, golf clubs that hit harder and balls that fly farther, and tobacco products that make you look "cool" to your peers. This is all marketing strategy aimed directly at the natural human desire to be loved and respected.

Does anybody really need a 60" plasma screen TV, or a 400 horsepower sports car than can travel a ¼ mile in under 12 seconds? Do you really need an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny bikini to go swimming? What purpose do these products serve in a person's life? Once you understand that, you can then begin to effectively market those products.

Beer commercials are sometimes harshly criticized for their portrayal of men and women. Beer commercials are also well known for having the strangest and wackiest commercials.

The fact is, beer companies understand their market better than most. Their commercials reflect who and what they think their target market likes to see. Life in a beer commercial is great, isn't it? Do you see how they help consumers escape the real world?

And what of tobacco companies? It is now well known that their earlier marketing tactics targeted underage youth by making it seem like everybody was smoking, or at least the "cool" people were.

Understand that I by no means condone that type of marketing. But, as a case study, it's fascinating to see how the cigarette companies were able to so successfully sell a product that everybody knew was extremely bad for them!

The desire to attract a mate is animalistic in a sense. I hesitate to call us humans animals, but you have to admit, after watching people in a singles bar for a while you would likely agree with me that their behavior is reminiscent of what you might see on The Animal Channel during mating season.

The desire to love and be loved is a human instinct that we simply cannot turn off. Something like this should be viewed as a marketers dream! You now have something to target in your audience that your potential customers have little control over.

Even I am not immune to this. My old home computer is two years old. It does everything I need it to do. Well, everything that is except give me 100 frames per second in my favorite video games!

As a result, I once went out and spent $350 on a video card -- just one small part of my new computer! I also spent even more money on a new processor, motherboard, and a full gigabyte of RAM. Now what the heck am I going to do with a gigabyte of RAM? I have no idea. All I know is I've always had the most powerful computers compared to my friends and neighbors.

I need that 100 frames per second despite the fact that the human eye really can't tell the difference once frame rates are greater than 30 per second. Why do I "need" to have such an unnecessarily powerful computer system?

I enjoy it when my friends come over and drool over the incredible power of my new system. I have a reputation to keep! Sure all the prices on my computer parts will be cut in half within a few months, but for now, I've got the best system out of anybody I know.

Despite the fact that I know this marketing tactic, and I know it's completely illogical for me to have a gigabyte of RAM, I bought a gig of RAM anyway. I really have very little control over my desire to gain respect from my fellow computer geeks.

If I was your customer, how would you market to me to ensure that I would continue my desire to "keep up with the Jones'", or better yet, one up the Jones'?