25: Affiliate vs Drop Shipping | Gary Leland

Have you had problems getting affiliates for your podcasts by chance?  I’ve had a beast of a time developing affiliate relationships with companies for a multitude of reasons.  One main thing is, as a Colorado resident, I can’t be an Amazon Associate.  So that knocks off one of the largest stores in the world.

I’ve also been disappointed by the low percentage in affiliate commissions that I’ve wondered if there’s a better way.

Pair that with the fascination of buying and selling products over the years… I’ve asked – what if we could sell relevant products to our listeners rather than just recommending an affiliate link?  If it’s possible, then HOW do we do it?

Enter Gary Leland!  He’s, not only a veteran podcaster, but he’s been buying and selling online since 1996.  He’s made the majority of his money selling products to his listeners that are relevant and actually add value.

Gary has some PHENOMENAL advice and tips on whether or not drop shipping and selling products would be a good move for your podcast or not.

I also do a quick review of the past 5 1/2 months of Profitcast and some thoughts on presentation and quality of our podcasts and ask a VERY important and pivotal question:

Do you want more info about how to master the presentation of your podcast in order to set yourself up for success and profit?  OR  Do you want to stay on the actual step-by-step strategies on how to grow and monetize your podcast? CLICK HERE to contact me!

Gary Leland

Gary’s online world began in 1996.  He built his first online store back then and by 2005 one of his websites was listed in Time Magazine’s list of “50 Coolest Websites”.

Today Gary has 25 websites, most of which sell a product of some kind or another.

He is the past National Director of Social Media for the 3.7 million member strong United States Specialty Sports Association.

Later he moved into the world of media with his Fastpitch TV Network.  The network consist of videos, podcasts, apps, blogs, books, and even a monthly magazine.  Gary also created and runs Podertainment Magazine, which is becoming a huge publication (and is fantastic by the way)!  :)

The Pitch

• Best way to make money on a podcast is to have a product to sell and use your podcast to advertise the product… or service
• Review show – review certain products that you can sell
• Doesn’t believe in affiliates – TOO small of margins
• Definitely believes in drop shipping
  • Problem with drop shipping – once a decent business is established – if the products are from multiple companies – the customer gets charged multiple shipping charges
  • Therefore, you’d need to eventually stock the products
  • Make money off of shipping
• If I wanted to sell the Heil PR40… start with with drop shipping
  • If I started selling a LOT of mics, then I’d want to start stocking them myself
  • Build inventory up slowly
• How to get started with drop shipping
  • “I’m opening a store” (don’t mention that I’m doing an “online store”)
  • Contact Heil – or contact a distributor
  • Persistence
• How to take a podcast to the next step
  • Worked social media REALLY hard
    • Posts 4-5 things a day on FB, Twitter, and Instagram, etc.
    • Advertises for his sites as well
  • Mixes up social media posts
    • Remembering that new people never saw older posts – remember to recycle
  • FB groups – HUGE
  • Gary puts commercials into his podcast – saying “Buy from my website” – if they like the show and need the product – they’ll buy
  • Twitter
    • Use a Twitter handle for your podcast rather than a personal one
  • Question of the day on the FB Group
    • Put out an eBook about – community answering your questions of the day (entire ebook on the “family” answering the questions)
• The #1 strategies:
  • Grow your audience – SOCIAL MEDIA!
  • Monetize – find a product to sell that resonates with your audience and SELL
    • Sell one product at a time – do a review on it and sell it and then add an additional product, etc.
  • Drop shipping – find a company that will allow you to drop ship a product IMMEDIATELY

Action Steps

1. CHECK OUT THE LINKS BELOW
2. Please check out Gary’s website and podcasts! (LINKS BELOW)
3. Question this week:
   1. Do you want more info about how to master the presentation of your podcast in order to set yourself up for success and profit?  OR  Do you want to stay on the actual step-by-step strategies on how to grow and monetize your podcast?
4. Give me your feedback on today’s episode of Profitcast!