FINDING AND EVALUATING PRODUCTS TO SELL ONLINE

Coming up with a great idea for a product to sell online will occasionally strike when you least expect it. Many times though, its something you need to be proactively on the lookout for. The internet contains a wealth of ideas and inspiration, but as a new entrepreneur, where do you begin? Aimlessly searching online will only get you so far so we have compiled a list of the best resources to give you direction and get you started.

As you go through all the resources listed in this post, its vital to keep two things in mind:

1. While searching for new product ideas, make sure to look beyond the products themselves. It may sound cliche but as we learned in the , there is heavy competition in the most common and popular product categories. Choosing a different or unique angle can be instrumental to your success. Try not to just look at products, rather look for potential in the product category. Consider new markets, new features and new ways to use the products.
2. Don't be afraid to look at smaller product categories and niches. Even though a niche is a smaller subset of a larger category with less potential customers, it makes up for that by way of less competitors and a more targeted audience. Less competition makes it easier to get to the top of Google, and is usually more cost effective and efficient to advertise to your customers.

In this post we will go into detail about the best places to look for product inspiration and ideas. Well start with some broad ideas to get your head in the right space to start your search and then get into more specific resources closer to the end of the post.

Lets get started.

Make a List

As you go through this post and the list of resources, its best to capture all of your ideas on paper. Once you have all of your brainstormed ideas recorded, you will be able to return to them later and evaluate them for viability and potential.

1. Start With What You Have

Before you begin searching the depths of the internet and the ends of the earth for product and niche ideas, its always best to start with the ideas you already have. Maybe its a product or idea you have had for years. Maybe it exists in a half written business plan sitting in a folder somewhere on your computer. Even if youve discounted it at some point prior, its worth taking a fresh look at it. At one point you thought it was a great idea right?

Here are a few questions to consider when making your list:

• What products, niches or industry you are particularly passionate about or interested in?
• What products, niches or industries are your friends passionate about?
• What pain points do you have in your own life?

2. Local Community

Sometimes, you dont need a new idea at all. Traditional brick and mortar businesses have been around much longer than their ecommerce counterparts. Paying attention to trends in brick and mortar retail and adapting them to ecommerce can be just the ticket you need to create a profitable and unique business. Look around your community and take note of what new or interesting retail concepts people are talking about. Your local newspapers can also be a great resource for this type of news and information.

3. Online Consumer Trend Publications

A great place to start your search for product ideas is to look at some top consumer product trend publications. Following trend publications is great way to begin getting a sense of the direction consumer products are going and the ideas other entrepreneurs are introducing to the market. Following these publications can also expose you to new product categories and industries that you previously didnt know about. Following whats trending can help you to dream up new goods, services and experiences for your online business.

There are several popular trend publications online including, but not limited to:

- Trend Watching is an independent trend firm that scans the globe for the most promising consumer trends and insights. Trend Watching has a team of thirty professionals in locations like London, New York, So Paulo, Singapore, Sydney and Lagos all looking for a reporting on worldwide trends.

- Trend Hunter is the world's largest, most popular trend community. Fuelled by a global network of 137,000 members and 3,000,000 fans, Trend Hunter is a source of inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs and the insatiably curious.

Jeremy, the founder of Trend Hunter says, "Like many of us, I was an entrepreneur at heart, but I didn't know what idea I wanted to pursue. I chose careers that I thought would lead me to my business idea... but after years of searching, I was still hunting for inspiration. It was then that I started Trend Hunter - a place for insatiably curious people to share ideas and get inspired."

- There are millions of business ideas spanning the globe that operate in a specific way, have their own style, and market in a unique fashion. Its not always possible to travel the world searching for these ideas to bring home though. Thats where Springwise comes in. Sources such as Springwise travel the world for you, on the search for new entrepreneurial ideas, trends, and stories.

4. Industry Leaders

If you know the industry or niche you would like to be in you can use various tools to discover the influencers in the industry. Following the right people on social media can help inspire new ideas via a constant stream of carefully curated content from the people in the know. Its up to you to uncover the opportunities.

There are several online tools you can use to discover the influencers online for a particular industry or niche

5. Product and Trend Discovery Review Sites

Product review and discovery sites can also be a fantastic source of ideas and inspiration. Sites like Uncrate (mens products) and Outblush (womens products) are great ways to see new curated product trends daily. What better way to get inspired than to get a daily glimpse into the new and interesting products other entrepreneurs are bringing to the market.

Dont just look at the big and popular sites but explore niche reviews sites as well. Consider what types of products and niches you're particularly interested in and search for consumer product review blogs in those niches.

6. Social Curation Sites

Pinterest and other similar image curation sites can be a goldmine for product and niche ideas. Many of the images contain interesting, new and trending consumer products. Using the built in social signals you can sometimes get a sense almost immediately of their popularity. This could be your first clue if there is a market for the product or niche.

Several of the larger social curations sites are:

• - Pinterest is the fastest growing social network with over 50 million monthly users. Dont forget to check out the for whats trending.
• - Polyvore is a new way to discover and shop for things you love. Polyvore's global community has created over 80 million collage-like sets that are shared across the web.
• - Fancy describes themselves as part store, magazine and wish list. Use Fancy to find a gift for any occasion and share your favorite discoveries with all your friends.
• - Wanelo (Want - Need - Love) describes itself as a community for all of the worlds shopping, bringing together products and stores in a Pinterest like product posting format. You can start by checkout out .

7. B2B Wholesale Marketplaces

What better way to get product ideas than right from the source. This has been a popular option amongst ecommerce entrepreneurs for a while and this list wouldnt be complete without it. Wholesale and manufacturer sourcing sites like Alibaba exposes you to thousands of potential products and ideas. It can be easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer amount of product available so take it slow.

8. Online Consumer Marketplaces

Another rich source for product ideas are online consumer marketplaces. Million of products is probably an understatement so you may want to begin your search with some of the popular and trending items and branch out into other interesting categories that catch your eye from there:

- eBay is the largest online consumer auction site.
- A list of some of the most popular product categories on .

Amazon - Amazon is the largest internet retailer.
- Amazon's most popular products based on sales. Updated hourly.
- Amazon's biggest gainers in sales rank over the past 24 hours. Updated hourly.

9. Social Forum Communities

is the largest social media news aggregator. It describes itself as the front page of the internet and is enormously influential. Reddit has thousands of which are sub-sections or niches that cater to different topics and and areas of interest. Its within these subreddits that you can find lots of inspiration for your next product or business idea.

If you have an idea for a particular industry, niche or product category, its worth doing a search and finding a suitable subreddit community to join and actively become a part of.

There are also many product focused subreddits that are packed with ideas.

If you're active on Reddit and pay close attention, occasionally you have come across interesting posts like these:

No matter which approach you take, Reddit is has been and continues to be a valuable source of entrepreneurial ideas and inspiration, coupled with a great and .

10. Instagram

isnt just pictures of food and dogs, it is also an interesting option for inspiring product ideas. Because its photo based, it makes it easy to scan through many ideas and photos quickly.

There are a few ways you can use Instagram to search for product and niche ideas:

• Hashtag - Once again, if you have a particular interest in a product category or industry, you can try searching for applicable hashtags. Another great option is to do a search on Instagram for applicable hashtags that insinuate buyer interest and intent like #want and #buy.