We all know the secret to saving big money when buying something in the off-line world is buying it wholesale. We know that the more hands an item passes through on the way to us, the more it's going to cost. Everybody involved in the process has to mark the item up in order to cover their expenses and give themselves a little profit.
Any layers that can be trimmed in the process of getting an item or service to the consumer lowers the final cost to the consumer. That's why I am a member of "Sam's Club." I can buy many items I use every day at near wholesale prices. I am a member of many other buying clubs for the same reason.
I'm sure many of you look at the cost of goods and services on-line and wonder if you can 't reduce the price by getting them wholesale too. You wonder if you can't cut out the middleman. The answer to that question is often yes, but the path is filled with dangers.
What is keeping you - and me - from buying more things wholesale on-line? When I look at a services such a domain registration or web hosting, the answer is either ignorance or fear. I'm very comfortable with my current web hosting arrangement for example. I get very dependable service and a price I am happy with. Yet, like many of you, I often wonder if I shouldn't be using a cheaper service.
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Actually, I know that I can host domains on my own dedicated server for as little as $1 each per month, and in some places for much less. I know this because I've been contacted by big web hosting wholesalers. However, this is not an area I want to venture into at this time. An acceptable reason for me right now is that I don't want to get involved in the technical end of things. I have a friend in the hosting business and he thinks it's a nightmare at times. All of the customer service calls for his bargain hosting drives him crazy.
If you are observant, you soon notice that you really could probably become a supplier rather than a consumer for just about any product or service that you regularly consume. There are "barriers to entry" but they are not that great. YOU actually could open your own company providing many of the services you use every day in your on-line business. If that interests you, it's just a matter of doing a little research. You also need a "little" capital to get started.
But what if you just want to feel more in control of your web business. What if you have that nagging feeling that if you knew a little more about the way things worked, you could cut your operating expenses by 50 - 70%? Is that possible? Yes, it is. You just need to know where to look to uncover the facts that your current suppliers certainly aren't going to encourage your to look for. You need to get over your fear of a little technology too, since cutting out the middlemen does often require you to understand how things work.
Why am I rambling on and on about how you can take charge of your business and cut out the middleman? Partly because I've recently started doing more and more of this. I also wanted to tell you about a workshop my friend Fred is conducting on this very topic. Fred has to be irritating a lot of people, because he teaches you exactly how to become your own web host, handle your own domain registrations, and generally take responsibility for the things that your business survival depends upon.
Take a moment now and read some of the things Fred shares with you! You'll probably discover a whole new world that you never gave much thought to. Don't miss out on this:
http://williecrawford.com/cgi-bin/tk.cgi?fred
It's virtually impossible for you not to benefit from having read this article and investigating Fred. That's because from this day forward, you will always wonder if you could, and if you should be getting a better price when you buy products on-line. Asking questions like this and then taking the appropriate action is one of the things that will allow you to break out of the "pack." At least realize today, that the on-line world really is no different than the off-line world, and that there are ways to buy the goods and services you need wholesale. Then your job becomes to discover how.
I've shown you one answer :-)
Copyright 2003 by Willie Crawford