Drop Shipping Niche Selection — Selling Generic Products Versus Niche Products | TBS #304

Let’s take umbrellas for example.

Umbrellas are generic items that we use on a regular basis. Everyone probably owns an umbrella, but we aren’t passionate about them.

It’s an item that we use, but we’re not irrationally passionate about it.

Hence, there are no fan communities on Facebook and other social media platforms. There are no “I Love My Umbrella” fan pages with millions of likes, there are no influencers or celebrities with huge followings sharing tips about how to use umbrellas correctly.

The bottom line is:

Umbrella users are not easy to reach with advertising. At the end of the day, the entire world’s population is your potential audience.

You could target all of the United Kingdom or Switzerland because it rains there a lot. Can you see how broad this is? Your targeting would have to be generic because there’s no other criteria for the targeting.

Your marketing message would have to speak to everyone.

And when you speak to everyone, nobody listens.

Because “everyone” doesn’t exist. It’s not a real type of person. It’s an abstract concept. There are no tangible interests, hobbies, topics, passions or demographics you could use in your targeting. So your entire marketing and advertising will be washed out and ineffective.

Instead, you should niche down and look for products for which there’s an existing audience that can be easily reached through advertising, influencer marketing or other ways of promotion.

Remember, 95% of drop shipping success comes from selling the right item to the right people. And that’s impossible when selling generic items. There’s a few exceptions to this, but for most people, selling niche products is a much better way to get started online.

Start a general store, but sell niche products on that store. The worst scenario is having a general store that sells generic products. That’s a sure-fire way to loose money, end up with no sales and be frustrated.