Greg Bastin
New Contributor
I thought I'd start a progress thread for my latest venture to provide updates and learn from others. I'm starting a tea / nutritional supplement / healthy lifestyle business. I've started this from scratch because I was disgusted with most of the products currently out there. I'm offering high quality products with complete transparency (powder blends). I tell customers exactly what I put in my products and why.
My USP: I only use the highest quality ingredients based upon the latest research. This makes it easy to get the nutrients needed most without any unnecessary and potentially harmful additives. I offer a 100% money back guarantee within 60 days.
DONE (but always still tweaking/trying to improve):
1 - Research - I built a database of of supplements listing the benefits and risks for specific products. I first looked at what the current health industry "experts" are recommending and using. Then I complied studies from Examine.com Cochrane.org and Pubmed to provide support for the benefits.
2 - Custom Formulation - I mixed and sampled a ton of different combinations of ingredients until I got the right flavor, effects and balance.
3 - Get Product Made - Research and choose a supplement manufacturer to make the product. This wasn't easy as I contacted probably 30 different companies. Most are horrible with communication and don't respond in a timely fashion. My first product took 2x as long as the initial 7-8 week estimate to manufacture. In the end it came out great but it was very stressful / worrying. I've gotten assurances re-orders will be quicker (6 weeks) but we will have to see... I'm not ordering in huge quantities (500 bottles) so I am most likely not a top priority to the manufacturer I choose as they do much larger orders.
I hired several designers for the label and went through 3-4 versions before I found one I liked. This applies to most of the images / design of the website. fiverr.com was a great help for not spending much on cheap design mockups.
4 - Build Website - I hired a marketing/copywriting firm to build a new website and refine my message/story. It should be ready in 1-2 months (May-June 2014)
First I built a website myself using squarespace. It's my first one so naturally it started out pretty rough but has gotten better every day. Im open for sales but not getting much traffic. I'm shipping/warehousing some of the product myself using stamps.com.
I've done little SEO and haven't bought Ads driving traffic to the site. I'm still thinking about the best plan of attack for this and am open to suggestions.
5 - List on Amazon - I created a listing and have set up amazon fulfillment for 1/4 of my initial order. I'd like to fully outsource fulfillment in the future and amazon is the largest and most well known sales platform today. Plus I get on the Prime program.
6 - Get Testimonials / Influence Influencers - I sent free tea to key influencers in the health and fitness space. A few athletes, coaches, bloggers, and podcast hosts. I'm hoping to get some great testimonials. I've offered these influencers free giveaways for their audience or affiliate relationships for 10% of sales.
TO DO:
1 - Follow up with Influencers - A lot of these people are really busy. I'm going to follow up at several intervals to see how they enjoyed the product and offering to help make them more money with very little work on their part.
2 - Work on 2nd product - I've sent in my second blend to the manufacturer to make. I'm just about done with the label for this and am hoping it is much quicker than my first product.
3 - Continually refine my message / expand my brand - Starting everything from scratch is a lot more work than I thought it would be. I'm also not great at producing amazing content on my first try. I usually type out a bunch of garbage then carefully refine it over the course of several days. I need to get much better at this. (I hired a marketing firm to help as of 4/11)
4 - Get the right type of traffic/eyeballs - If you build it they won't just come. My products are not for everyone. They are focused on people who want the highest quality ingredients for health and are unwilling to compromise. The people who guzzle gallons of sugary soda or 500 calorie starbucks "dessert" coffees don't care much about what they put in their body. I'm marketing to the people who look at the labels of Red Bull/Monster or 5 Hour Energy and wonder what those chemicals really are. I want to focus on people who actively take an interest in their health as my product is on the expensive side for tea but very reasonable for a supplement.
Wish me luck... I'm open to hearing all comments and feedback so please let me know what you think.
My USP: I only use the highest quality ingredients based upon the latest research. This makes it easy to get the nutrients needed most without any unnecessary and potentially harmful additives. I offer a 100% money back guarantee within 60 days.
DONE (but always still tweaking/trying to improve):
1 - Research - I built a database of of supplements listing the benefits and risks for specific products. I first looked at what the current health industry "experts" are recommending and using. Then I complied studies from Examine.com Cochrane.org and Pubmed to provide support for the benefits.
2 - Custom Formulation - I mixed and sampled a ton of different combinations of ingredients until I got the right flavor, effects and balance.
3 - Get Product Made - Research and choose a supplement manufacturer to make the product. This wasn't easy as I contacted probably 30 different companies. Most are horrible with communication and don't respond in a timely fashion. My first product took 2x as long as the initial 7-8 week estimate to manufacture. In the end it came out great but it was very stressful / worrying. I've gotten assurances re-orders will be quicker (6 weeks) but we will have to see... I'm not ordering in huge quantities (500 bottles) so I am most likely not a top priority to the manufacturer I choose as they do much larger orders.
I hired several designers for the label and went through 3-4 versions before I found one I liked. This applies to most of the images / design of the website. fiverr.com was a great help for not spending much on cheap design mockups.
4 - Build Website - I hired a marketing/copywriting firm to build a new website and refine my message/story. It should be ready in 1-2 months (May-June 2014)
First I built a website myself using squarespace. It's my first one so naturally it started out pretty rough but has gotten better every day. Im open for sales but not getting much traffic. I'm shipping/warehousing some of the product myself using stamps.com.
I've done little SEO and haven't bought Ads driving traffic to the site. I'm still thinking about the best plan of attack for this and am open to suggestions.
5 - List on Amazon - I created a listing and have set up amazon fulfillment for 1/4 of my initial order. I'd like to fully outsource fulfillment in the future and amazon is the largest and most well known sales platform today. Plus I get on the Prime program.
6 - Get Testimonials / Influence Influencers - I sent free tea to key influencers in the health and fitness space. A few athletes, coaches, bloggers, and podcast hosts. I'm hoping to get some great testimonials. I've offered these influencers free giveaways for their audience or affiliate relationships for 10% of sales.
TO DO:
1 - Follow up with Influencers - A lot of these people are really busy. I'm going to follow up at several intervals to see how they enjoyed the product and offering to help make them more money with very little work on their part.
2 - Work on 2nd product - I've sent in my second blend to the manufacturer to make. I'm just about done with the label for this and am hoping it is much quicker than my first product.
3 - Continually refine my message / expand my brand - Starting everything from scratch is a lot more work than I thought it would be. I'm also not great at producing amazing content on my first try. I usually type out a bunch of garbage then carefully refine it over the course of several days. I need to get much better at this. (I hired a marketing firm to help as of 4/11)
4 - Get the right type of traffic/eyeballs - If you build it they won't just come. My products are not for everyone. They are focused on people who want the highest quality ingredients for health and are unwilling to compromise. The people who guzzle gallons of sugary soda or 500 calorie starbucks "dessert" coffees don't care much about what they put in their body. I'm marketing to the people who look at the labels of Red Bull/Monster or 5 Hour Energy and wonder what those chemicals really are. I want to focus on people who actively take an interest in their health as my product is on the expensive side for tea but very reasonable for a supplement.
Wish me luck... I'm open to hearing all comments and feedback so please let me know what you think.
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