Some BIG Ticket Resources I Use

I had planned to post a great article I found for you today but I am waiting for permission from the author before I do.

So instead, I decided to share some resources that I find useful in my marketing business.  I think you may find them useful too.

First, make sure you read a lot and read from lots of different sources.  You get great ideas that you can apply to your own business even if they were used in a completely different area.

Recently, I was reading the October 17th, 2005 issue of Fortune magazine.  I really like this magazine because it combines articles on business with articles on big money players.  You can check it out online at http://www.fortune.com.

This issue had a sub theme of “The Big Money World of Leisure”.

One article that attracted my eye was “The Man With The Golden Gut” (page 156)

I probably got interested because I just got back from playing in an ice hockey tournament in Las Vegas.  We lost but had a great time :-)

Anyway, the article is about Sheldon Adelson who is trying to help build the next Las Vegas in Macau.  Macau sits just off the southern edge of China and is not far from Hong Kong.

Basically, the article says that Macau is going to surpass Las Vegas in terms of the amount of gambling and hotel revenue generated.

Gambling is a huge business and there is a lot of interest in it online.  e.g. I searched for gambling at the overture keyword search tool at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion. 

Here are the top 10 results for September 2005:

Searches done in September 2005
Count	Search Term
907255	gambling
695371	online gambling
103419	virtual gambling
93960	gambling site
91934	online virtual gambling
84479	internet gambling
66856	football gambling
63270	casino gambling
60245	offshore gambling
54015	gambling card
45409	online casino gambling

That’s 907,255 searches for gambling followed by 695,371 searches for online gambling.  And that’s only for one month!

This got me thinking about some possibilities for Big Ticket items:

1. Gambling vacations to Macau
2. Shopping/Vacation getaways to Macau and surrounding areas like Hong Kong (for gamblers families)
3. Complete Package on How to Start a Business in Macau (laws, language, culture are all different)

There may be some items like this out there already but since this seems like an area with extreme interest and it is only now being developed, it could be worth further investigation.

Also in this issue of Fortune, there was an insert called Power Tools.  Here are just a few of the items included:

1. Power Timepiece – The Calatrava 5296 wrist watch from Patak Phillippe at http://www.patek.com. $17,400!!
2. Power Carryall – Alexander McQueen’s signature purse called the Novak Bag at http//:www.alexandermcqueen.com. $13,270!!
3. Power Chat – Signature stainless steel Cell Phone with 18 -karat yellow-gold buttons from Vertu at http://www.vertu.com. $11,700!!

Now, I have no idea if these retailers have affiliate programs, BUT imagine if they did? You wouldn’t have to make too many sales to make a bunch of money. Find articles like these, in demand by people with the money to spend, and you have a ready made Big Ticket Niche Market.

Also, in the same issue of Fortune, there was another article called “The 4,000,000 Plymouth” (page 192). This article talks about the renewed interest in “muscle cars”. Muscle cars are cars from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s which were of intermediate size and large big block engines.  Think Chevy Camaro SS or Z28.  Also, Chevy Chevelle SS and Pontiac GTO.

A quick look on Overture shows a lot of searches done in that area.

Here are the top 10 results:

Searches done in September 2005
Count	Search Term
71805	car muscle
15288	car muscle sale
4656	car classic muscle
4611	american car muscle
3638	car muscle picture
1837	car classic muscle sale
1616	car muscle part
1464	car muscle wallpaper
1414	car chevy muscle
1311	car muscle pic

So what could you do around that?

Some possibilities for Big Ticket items:

1. Sell Muscle Cars on EBay (people already sell cars on EBay today… I don’t know if anyone has a muscle car niche)
2. Become a Joint Venture Broker for Muscle Car Buyers and Sellers
3. Create A Forum for Muscle Car Fans and Charge a Monthly Fee

Anyway, enough from Fortune.

Another magazine I like and read regularly is Business 2.0.  You can find them online here http://www.business2.com.

The reason I like this magazine is that it most of the articles are pretty short.  Some are 1/2 page or less.  The feature articles are longer.  But it is an interesting mix of business, investing, high tech, people bios and marketing.

Many times my ideas for articles come from some short article I’ve read in Business 2.0.  For example I wrote one on Infomercials based on an article I read there.

And because Business 2.0 looks at current trends as well, its a great stimulator for business ideas you could launch, including Big Ticket businesses.  You’ll still have to do a bunch more research, but the magazine is a great idea generator.

 

And speaking of trends, I also like the http://www.trendwatching.com and http://www.springwise.com newsletters.

I signed up for their newsletters so that I can receive them in email. 

Trendwatching.com has the tag-line “Global consumer trends, ideas and insights”.

Springwise.com has the tag-line “Instant inspiration from the world’s best new business ideas.

They have an irritating habit of making up their own names for the trends they are watching but other than that the quality and information are great and a real kick-start for ideas.

In the latest issue of the Trendwatching.com newsletter they talk about a trend they call UBER Premium.  Here is the definition they used:

“UBER PREMIUM is all about status-craving consumers hunting down the next wave in uber-exclusive goods, services and experiences that are truly out of reach for 99.9% of the MASS CLASS. Not an easy feat, given that the rapid proliferation of MASSCLUSIVITY (exclusivity for the masses) has, over the last few years, commoditized all but the most luxurious products on this earth.”

These folks are the massively rich.  The newsletter talks about exclusive resort and real estate properties that appeal to people with way too much money. The Vertu cell phone I mentioned above is also mentioned in the newsletter.  Another was Private Jet Services.

 

To summarize I have given you 3 good resources for Big Ticket Ideas (and trends):

Fortune Magazine
Business 2.0 Magazine
Trendwatching.com and Springwise.com Ezines

I hope you can put them to good use.

If you have resources you use and want to post them to help others, please leave a comment on this blog.

Thanks

-Chuck