Ultra Niche Product Marketing

I read probably 50 blogs on a regular basis. I’m an info junky, mainly because the more info I get into my brain, the more business concepts and ideas I can generate from all the info.

Today I was reading instapundit. Glenn Reynold’s (Mr. Instapundit) link to fundrace.org’s map of contributions, mapping out what counties gave how much to which candidate. The map alone is worth a look-see. (I’m a map fanatic… had them all over my walls when I was a kid. My wife won’t go for it now, though!)

But they also allow you to search in a neighborhood or even by name for who has given to a candidate (or party) and how much they gave. What amazed me was the fact that they list the ENTIRE name and address of the donor.

OH MY GOD!

This is a dream come true for an entrepreneur with an eye towards micro-niche marketing.

I’m sure you can find a way to capitalize on this (since my readers are so adept at entrepreneurial thinking.) But here’s one I immediately came up with.

First, pick a last name that will return hundreds of results. Have someone program an automated address grabbing piece of software (designed specifically for fundrace.org) by posting your need at Elance Online. Once you have a last name, post another project on Elance Online for a graphic artist to design a Bush/Cheney 2004 logo (like the real one) but with Cheney’s last name removed and this last name you’ve chosen put in its place. So, in my case, the logo would read Bush/Sherman 2004 or whatever. (Of course, you could do the same for the John/John ticket, as well. But I’ll be using my side of the aisle for this example, if you don’t mind.)

Then go to cafepress or Zazzle and create a t-shirt with this new image placed on it. Get the artist to make it so its compatible with their graphic requirements. Also, get a print version of the graphic (pictured on a t-shirt) for your postcard.

Then send a postcard with this image on it to all those people on the list with the last name of “Sherman” (or whatever name you’ve chosen). Cafepress will also allow you to sell other items with that same logo on it. You can price them at whatever price you want to sell them at and you get the difference between their minimum price and what you price it at. Since it’s a niche item, people will gladly pay a premium for the item.

This is such a unique product I believe it’ll get a GREAT response rate. Do it once and if it’s profitable, pick another name and do it again. Before November comes along, you could make quite a bit of money. Once the graphic is made, it’s just a matter of inputing a new name in the “vice president” slot and reuse the image over and over and over.

If you use Zazzle, be sure to join their affiliate program so you can get an even bigger return when the visitor arrives there for a purchase. You’ll want to purchase a domain to list on the postcard (redirected to the t-shirt sales page) so they can go directly to the t-shirt page without having to type the entire URL to the sales page.

What idea can you come up with the capitalize on the election season (fired up one at that) and this awesome source of customers?