Secret Sauce #4: Items of Value

Account Health, Supplies, Shipping, Credit

Back in the day, I had an acting coach in NYC (47th Street) named Bob Luke who said (I’m paraphrasing), “I’ve never seen someone crash an audition with a box of Krispy Kreme donuts and not get an opportunity to read.”

This seems like common sense, but so few have it. Sometimes you can create your breaks by just showing up with value. You may not be right at that moment, but people will remember you and, should opportunities arise that you are right for, you’ll develop a reputation as being generous and they’ll invite you back. Hollywood is a business dependent on favors. Oftentimes one pilot gets made over another due to a favor owed, not due to the quality of the pilot. This is the current state of human nature, something that can be unfortunate for people who’d rather live in a merit-based society, but something that must be accounted for in our time in all industries.

I became a realtor in 2006, back in the day when Facebook was just transitioning away from being used by college kids, Twitter (now X) didn’t exist yet, and My Space was the dominant social media platform. I don’t know if this still works, but one of the ways you could meet people and earn them as clients or earn their referrals is to show up to a neighborhood (that you wanted to tap into) with comparative market analysis and go knocking door-to-door (I know this is intimidating for those of you who didn’t exist before social media made everyone antisocial), and when the owner answered, you’d introduce yourself and let them know what everything in their neighborhood sold for and what they can expect the current value of their house to be. Who wouldn’t want to be up-to-date without having to pay thousands of dollars for an appraisal? This is an item of value that takes almost no time to prepare, and even though it initially feels like you’re disturbing them, they get familiar with you (hopefully you are presentable and respectful), and you have all your contact info on the item of value, which they are now grateful for, so when a related question or concern arises at a future date, they give you a call or email. If you’re smart, you’d have an email list and could include them in your drip campaigns should they sign up.

What’s the point of these stories? It’s to remind you that if you show up with value, you become irresistible. Interactions that would normally feel awkward or like you’re pestering someone, or being a distraction, are now beneficial to whomever you approach, regardless of industry or social circumstances. This makes you confident and gives you frame because now you’re the prize and anyone who turns you down misses out on your item of value, which would be their loss. If you don’t have something profitable to offer, the item of value could simply be a sincere compliment or an expression of gratitude for the work they’ve done. You could make a friend just by showering him or her with authentic praise based on something they do or maybe you like their taste in clothing, cars, or motorcycles, etc.

You’d be amazed at how few people are used to this recognition. Men never receive compliments from women because women don’t give compliments or praise, because most men take it as a social cue that the woman is interested in them and it turns into an awkward situation, so women will not compliment or praise you unless they really like you. You, as a woman, need to be tactful if you reach out to someone. You, as a man, must be cautious with outreach as well because you don’t want to send the wrong signal. If you come across as a salesman, a hustler, a taker, an exploiter, or any other obnoxious stereotype, most people will block you. That’s why an item of value that is financially beneficial to the person you reach out to is much better.

In regards to the subject matter of the Secret Sauce posts, one of the ways that you can expedite the process of learning and becoming profitable is to network with other sellers and share items of value. Something I do, since I don’t have much value to offer yet, in terms of my experience in this new endeavor, is to offer a profitable item when I reach out to someone in exchange for him or her answering my question. If he or she is honorable, he or she will see that I bring something to the table and am not just a taker. If he or she buys and sells that item, I just helped him or her source profit and he or she will remember me. It’s a win/win exchange. All I do is take a screenshot and send it to him or her, along with the link to the store it’s available at. I would not normally send something like this because there’s no buy-box option on it, but that was the root of my particular question. The data is great, i.e., sub-100k BSR (Best Seller Rank), over 25% profit, over 30% ROI, and low competition (which could be a red flag, but the seller wasn’t Amaze-one or Private Label), but unfortunately the sizes didn’t match, and since I’m merely a reseller, it’s not my place to create variations to the listing (as far as I can tell). Here’s an example of a possible opportunity (there were 10 of these left, so if the item had a history in the size available, which you can check by using the variation wizard at Seller Central, then it’d be a great buy):

However, I can’t find this ASIN on any of the 12 pages of search results, so, unless I’ve made a mistake, this item was not a good buy like it originally appeared to be at Kohl’s (but if the Slides were size 13 like the available ones at Amaze-one, then it’d be an instant buy and an easy $430 profit):

I wanted to share this concept with my readers because most interactions these days are lopsided, and most people look for handouts while bringing nothing to the table. Even if you’re inexperienced, if you can bring value to any interaction, then you’ll be considered high-value by others. It’s simple, but few people do this, and we needn’t delve into why that is.

Another item of value I’d like to share is from Corey Ganim. One of the things that takes getting used to is the abbreviations that sellers use in their interactions, whether in social media posts or on livestreams. This is an invaluable list to reference so you don’t waste their time asking what it means.

Become a member to access the rest of this article and learn more about account health, supplies, shipping, useful credit cards, and more. If you do become a member for the purposes of learning online arbitrage, make sure you start at Secret Sauce #1:

See you on the other side!