Welcome to my hot dog stand. This post has nothing to do with real estate, but for me it has everything to do with real estate and everything else that we buy or sell. The real estate weenie has it’s own unique brand, with the hot dog motif and all.
A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine was proud of himself because he found a 58mm snap on lens cap for $11.50. Wow! that seems like a lot of money to spend for 50 cents worth of plastic but a guy has to have a lens cap. I like to lose them so I try to buy a few at a time. Here is what the $11.50 Lens cap looks like:
I bought the same lens cap for the same size lens and I paid $6.50 for it. Still outrageous for 50 cents worth of plastic but not as outrageous as $11.50. The cap is made of the same material and is the same size, and design and looks like this:
If you have hung in there with me this far I thank you and I will get to my point. I decided that if a guy or maybe even a gal would pay almost twice as much for a lens cap if it were branded they would pay even more for my lens cap. I made a prototype and put it on the internet and said that they could be purchased for $15.00 each. The lens cap is the same size and made out of the same 50 cents worth of plastic. A few seconds after I posted my prototype lens cap I got a message that said: “I’ll take four”. Here is a picture of the lens cap:
Branding IS everything. Anyone who doesn’t believe it can just bite me.
Are you offering affiliate opportunities to push this new lens cap? I know several folks who’d be happy to help spread the word.
Kathy – I am not sure what to do with the cap. It is a case of accidental entrepreneurship via twitter late at night.
Are you going to expand your Bite Me line? You’d be a success in the food vertical (bananas are a no brainer), punk clothing and accessories seem like a natural match as well. But I’d love to see you get into the real estate vertical with this brand…
Bite Me Brokers
bitemeproperties.com
If you don’t like this listing, Bite Me.
Teresa – My mom used to work in a factory that made filled bottles and tubes of various products. Toothpaste was a big one they did. They run a shift of the big names in toothpaste (Colgate, Crest, Aquafresh, etc.), an alarm would sound and they’d stop the machines and replace the materials in the packaging machine. They were suddenly filling a generic tube with the same toothpaste. The brand name cost a lot more, but it was the same recipe from the same vat as the generic. Branding truly is everything.
Brad – Where do I apply for a position at Bite Me Brokers? Your advertising caught my eye right away – “If you don’t like this listing, Bite Me.” Is Teresa setting up franchising opportunities? I’d like to own the first Texas Bite Me Brokers, give me another year or so and I’ll have my broker’s license.