Philip ~
The concept has much merit. What you are most likely referring to I believe, is a project Bill Myers operated when he was "retired" and living in New Zealand.
From NZ Bill purchased small classified ads in the States, maybe even some small display ads too, prompting people to send their payment to an address in the States. From his end, he secured, bundled and shipped the local guides back to a partner in the States, who fulfilled the orders.
Can't recall exactly why he quit, although he ended up coming back to Arkansas and starting up again with his product development.
Another more recent example of this happened maybe two years ago or so. A fellow who went by the name Shawn C was on every forum cross-posting, asking the same basic questions over and over to the point almost everyone was sick of him! He received the same good answers over and over but kept asking the same question a week or so later! He was flamed, lambasted and basically beat up until his posts just sat there, with no one hardly ever responding.
Michael Ross and/or Steve Johnson should remember this chap vividly!
From what I understand, Shawn C began doing something very similar by shipping local island information back to the Lower 48. He was making barely enough to make ends meet with it, but apparently it was a financial boost to him. Shawn had joined about every MLM and online scam if memory serves me correctly and lost a ton of money doing so. This pretty much kept him afloat until he found something else.
To this day I still find ads for "40 Acres in Wyoming, Montana and Colorado", "Buy Government Land Cheap!", "Land For $7.00 An Acre!" and similar ads in Mother Earth, different hunting magazines, Outside Magazine, Men's Journal and other 'rags catering to guys.
For awhile I had even thought about running a series of classifieds in the Saturday issue of the USA Today paper. They have a real estate section there. My idea was to 'showcase' Montana and Wyoming ranch properties which were for sale. Basically using a technique much like Myers had used successfully.
Don't relegate the concept to just land either. Alm has posted in the past about selling a video guide, and/or info-product on steelhead fishing in his area. This is a great idea and could work here where I now live. The out-of-state fly fishermen come into town and spend an ungodly amount of money at our local Orvis Shop.
(A high-end store catering to fly fishing. $1,0000+ fly rods, $85 fishing shirts, $100+ fly fishing vests, etc.)
Without a doubt these fly-guys would pay good money for a solid, locally crafted fly fishing guide. Think about it, instead of a mass produced book on "Fishing Wyoming" for $37.95 at your local Barnes & Noble. They could buy a LOCAL fishing guide - authored by a LOCAL - with UPDATED LAST MINUTE information - on where to go, what to use and what to bring, right here in 'base camp' leading up into the mountains!
"Top Ten Guaranteed Hotspots for Cutthroat Trout in the Bighorns!"by local fishing guide Mike Rodman
(Got a nice ring to it, eh???)
You could even include GPS Waypoints, topographic maps with trails only known to the locals!
I know if I was steelhead fishing in Oregon, and wanted a great experience , an extra $25-$30 for HOT information written by a local would be a drop in the bucket. Hey! I'd trade the price of a tank of gasoline for a GREAT afternoon or weekend fishing any day! Wouldn't you???
Back to your original concept...Yes it has "legs"!!!
You could even use the Internet to organize your information into an eBook for a Give Away or Bonus to joining a newsletter. Then pound them with offers of hard copy products
(Free real estate guides from your area) for a price. People LOVE to GET STUFF IN THE MAIL!!!!
People look to move to the country for a myriad of reasons. Escape the rat race, peace and quiet, become independent, solitude, run a home business, garden, or just plain ol' retire!
My USA Today idea stemmed around the wealthy people and celeb's buying up all the private land in our area as their own private little resorts!
(Now they're wanting to save every animal including the Prebe Mouse! Putting ranchers out of business no less! Celebrities.... Sheesh...)
Yeah Philip... She has "legs"! Now all you need to do is to get her "running"!!!!
Success and Regards... Mike
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