This idea occurred in my head today.
I was brought up buying and using only quality (and often stylish) products. I'm from middle class, central Europe, therefore me and my parents would always buy only well-thought products that would last very long and serve very well.
But to the point. Let's consider these facts:
1. For every 90% crap products, there are 10% well-thought products and about 3-4% of them actually represent quality. There is so much crap in today's stores (think about electronics and little gadgets) that it gets harder and harder to determine which products will actually serve you and which will only serve producer's bank account.
2. For every accessory/item/gadget/device I buy, I look for detailed opinions and reviews on (often niche) forums. Then I find myself getting educated about every single detail and specification of a product. That happened with bike lights for me, just a few days ago. If I didn't spend few hours educating, I would purchase a poorly manufactured light (which appeared very professional and quality on a website). But how many people are willing to dive deep into specifications for (almost) every product they buy?
3. There is just so much wrongness in consumer's minds nowadays. Throwing away goods just after 0.5/1/2/3 year of usage seems completely normal while 50 years ago you would expect the same things last ten times longer. Take classic, well made leather dress shoes. If you took care of them, they would last 30 years easily. Try this with today's sports/casual shoes. It's the same with so many things. Of course we are not considering products where the technology changes significantly (phones, computers).
4. There is so much wrongness in producer's minds nowadays. The key is to appear professional and shiny while in the store, but when brought home and to daily usage, items reveal their cheapness.
My friend bought today a keyboard. While it appeared all good in the store (he tried out the keys), at his home it came to him that the keyboard was a total POS. Some buttons press harder and some softer, take the backspace/enter/space keys - for every 3 square centimeters, actually only 1 sq centimeter will press the key.
And there is the description on the bottom side of the box:
"Very comfortable, pleasant i touch wired USB keyboard. Elegant appearance makes it easy to match to other computer accessories. Ergonomic shape and very good keys elasticity prevent wrists tired while typing. Letters and symbols are printed with the newest UV scratch resistant technology. High quality anti-electrostatic materials used during production defends electromagnetism interference"
Why the hell would you need the newest UV scratch resistant technology and some anti-electrostatic BS while the keyboard doesn't require it's main purpose and is totally rubbish to write and use? Not to mention that the whole rest of the description doesn't match reality at all. He said his wrists were hurting just after 15 minutes of usage. After he went back to the store to make a return, they rejected it. What a waste!
To me, this is the essence of today's manufacturing and selling policy. Yeah, yeah, professional ultra high tech description, photos and appearance in the store, but after all, it's just another piece of poorly casted cheap plastic.
Witch leads to...
5. I'm really pissed off with how things are nowadays. I'm not going to change people's buying habits and show them how crappy the products they're obtaining are, but I do know that there are some people out there who value quality, who take care of their material belongings, who expect a long and fine usage without repairing or modifications. Who are not slaves to consumerism.
I also know that I've developed some kind of sense that helps me find these (often) rare and the best quality products.
So the solution is (I'm brainstorming right now):
-To start a website that's going to promote and recommend only checked (by myself in the beginning) products
-To promote via website the quality lifestyle (quality usage of your time, quality food choices, etc)
-To promote the idea of possessing the least amount of things but the most quality and best serving ones (perhaps a blog)
-By the time it goes viral, it will develop a well trusted brand
-Before that, I could do some licensing, assuming that some specific brand or celebrity would add to the quality of perceiving my website and the products I recommend (yeah, thread by Viligante got me inspired)
I've used the term 'product' heavily, because this idea frame can be implemented in many, many branches. I thought of electronic/personal gadgets, little tools, life simplifiers, bicycle solutions (I'm familiar with this one), but the case is completely open.
I could start with the wide range of product types or I could start with some specific niche and grow from there. But the latter kinda denies the purpose of promoting the general quality/minimalist lifestyle on the same website (which I would like to do).
Disclaimer: I'm not even thinking about it in terms of affiliate marketing by itself. I'm not going to recommend something I didn't have in my hands and have used for a while. This is the real deal. To reward the producers that put in quality and to give the other producers a nice middle finger. To help the consumers that value quality things and don't get bothered by trends or some stupid things like that.
What do you think? Any ideas where I could start?
I was brought up buying and using only quality (and often stylish) products. I'm from middle class, central Europe, therefore me and my parents would always buy only well-thought products that would last very long and serve very well.
But to the point. Let's consider these facts:
1. For every 90% crap products, there are 10% well-thought products and about 3-4% of them actually represent quality. There is so much crap in today's stores (think about electronics and little gadgets) that it gets harder and harder to determine which products will actually serve you and which will only serve producer's bank account.
2. For every accessory/item/gadget/device I buy, I look for detailed opinions and reviews on (often niche) forums. Then I find myself getting educated about every single detail and specification of a product. That happened with bike lights for me, just a few days ago. If I didn't spend few hours educating, I would purchase a poorly manufactured light (which appeared very professional and quality on a website). But how many people are willing to dive deep into specifications for (almost) every product they buy?
3. There is just so much wrongness in consumer's minds nowadays. Throwing away goods just after 0.5/1/2/3 year of usage seems completely normal while 50 years ago you would expect the same things last ten times longer. Take classic, well made leather dress shoes. If you took care of them, they would last 30 years easily. Try this with today's sports/casual shoes. It's the same with so many things. Of course we are not considering products where the technology changes significantly (phones, computers).
4. There is so much wrongness in producer's minds nowadays. The key is to appear professional and shiny while in the store, but when brought home and to daily usage, items reveal their cheapness.
My friend bought today a keyboard. While it appeared all good in the store (he tried out the keys), at his home it came to him that the keyboard was a total POS. Some buttons press harder and some softer, take the backspace/enter/space keys - for every 3 square centimeters, actually only 1 sq centimeter will press the key.
And there is the description on the bottom side of the box:
"Very comfortable, pleasant i touch wired USB keyboard. Elegant appearance makes it easy to match to other computer accessories. Ergonomic shape and very good keys elasticity prevent wrists tired while typing. Letters and symbols are printed with the newest UV scratch resistant technology. High quality anti-electrostatic materials used during production defends electromagnetism interference"
Why the hell would you need the newest UV scratch resistant technology and some anti-electrostatic BS while the keyboard doesn't require it's main purpose and is totally rubbish to write and use? Not to mention that the whole rest of the description doesn't match reality at all. He said his wrists were hurting just after 15 minutes of usage. After he went back to the store to make a return, they rejected it. What a waste!
To me, this is the essence of today's manufacturing and selling policy. Yeah, yeah, professional ultra high tech description, photos and appearance in the store, but after all, it's just another piece of poorly casted cheap plastic.
Witch leads to...
5. I'm really pissed off with how things are nowadays. I'm not going to change people's buying habits and show them how crappy the products they're obtaining are, but I do know that there are some people out there who value quality, who take care of their material belongings, who expect a long and fine usage without repairing or modifications. Who are not slaves to consumerism.
I also know that I've developed some kind of sense that helps me find these (often) rare and the best quality products.
So the solution is (I'm brainstorming right now):
-To start a website that's going to promote and recommend only checked (by myself in the beginning) products
-To promote via website the quality lifestyle (quality usage of your time, quality food choices, etc)
-To promote the idea of possessing the least amount of things but the most quality and best serving ones (perhaps a blog)
-By the time it goes viral, it will develop a well trusted brand
-Before that, I could do some licensing, assuming that some specific brand or celebrity would add to the quality of perceiving my website and the products I recommend (yeah, thread by Viligante got me inspired)
I've used the term 'product' heavily, because this idea frame can be implemented in many, many branches. I thought of electronic/personal gadgets, little tools, life simplifiers, bicycle solutions (I'm familiar with this one), but the case is completely open.
I could start with the wide range of product types or I could start with some specific niche and grow from there. But the latter kinda denies the purpose of promoting the general quality/minimalist lifestyle on the same website (which I would like to do).
Disclaimer: I'm not even thinking about it in terms of affiliate marketing by itself. I'm not going to recommend something I didn't have in my hands and have used for a while. This is the real deal. To reward the producers that put in quality and to give the other producers a nice middle finger. To help the consumers that value quality things and don't get bothered by trends or some stupid things like that.
What do you think? Any ideas where I could start?
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