# Marketing My Product



## edub (Apr 10, 2012)

I own a small manufacturing business in the US and I think my product would do well in Mexico. Assuming I could import the product, what is involved with selling it in Mexico? Anyone have any knowledge in this area?


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## jlms (May 15, 2008)

I would approach your local chamber of commerce.

Also the Mexican embassies and consulates have information about this.


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## RPBHaas (Dec 21, 2011)

edub said:


> I own a small manufacturing business in the US and I think my product would do well in Mexico. Assuming I could import the product, what is involved with selling it in Mexico? Anyone have any knowledge in this area?


Yes. Have you enabled private messaging?


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## edub (Apr 10, 2012)

I'm not sure if I can IM. I could possibly even manufacture in Mexico. I'm sure that wouldn't hurt my cause.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

RPBHaas said:


> Yes. Have you enabled private messaging?


why not share the info freely on the forum?

after all - that's what the forum is all about


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## RPBHaas (Dec 21, 2011)

xabiachica said:


> why not share the info freely on the forum?
> 
> after all - that's what the forum is all about


I have no problem sharing information freely. Some of the information is proprietary when discussing business. I deal with Mexican accounting and taxes on a daily basis.
My question to edub is;
What product do you manufacture? How would you propose distributing the product here in Mexico?
Establishing a company in Mexico is quite different than in the US. It requires more than just registering with the State.


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## edub (Apr 10, 2012)

It's an energy drink for bars that we manufacture here in the US.

WildCat? Energy Drink | Home | Metro-Detroit's Best-Tasting Energy Drink


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## Detailman (Aug 27, 2011)

edub said:


> It's an energy drink for bars that we manufacture here in the US.
> 
> WildCat? Energy Drink | Home | Metro-Detroit's Best-Tasting Energy Drink


Sorry for some of my earlier comments on another thread. You sound like the real deal!

Looks like a good product.

And I agree that you have the right to look for a wife in any country you choose.


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## RPBHaas (Dec 21, 2011)

edub said:


> It's an energy drink for bars that we manufacture here in the US.
> 
> WildCat? Energy Drink | Home | Metro-Detroit's Best-Tasting Energy Drink


If you are interested, I have some contacts in the beverage industry here in Mexico and in the southeastern USA. Do you have email?


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## edub (Apr 10, 2012)

RPBHaas said:


> If you are interested, I have some contacts in the beverage industry here in Mexico and in the southeastern USA. Do you have email?


Sure, you can find it on my website. Thank you.


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

edub said:


> Sure, you can find it on my website. Thank you.


Just out of curiosity and the plethora of time one has all of a sudden during early retirement - do you have distributors in the Balt-DC-Phila areas? The product seems to have an appeal, if marketing can convince consumers that your product from a gun, is just as good as the stuff from a can. Do you sell through major liquor distributors or rely on independents, one-on-one sales?


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

I looked at the web site. It looks to me like what is called an MLM, multi-level marketing scheme. Some of these are quite legitimate and make money for both the franchisers and the franchisees. Other MLMs are people who make their money selling the franchises, i.e. the license, to someone who is then supposed to recoup their expense and make money selling the product. Often, in these cases, the only people who make money are the people in at the beginning. They are legal versions of a Ponzi scheme. I hope the OP knows what he is doing and is not one of those being exploited by some MLM operator.


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

TundraGreen said:


> I looked at the web site. It looks to me like what is called an MLM, multi-level marketing scheme...I hope the OP knows what he is doing and is not one of those being exploited by some MLM operator.


Yep - more people have lost more money that way. But, TG, the product looks good, wonder how legit it is - college towns would be excellent markets, maybe even the club scenes in the resort areas of Mexico. No, I do not want to get back in the rat race, just some idle musing on a Sunday afternoon.


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## edub (Apr 10, 2012)

I'm not multi-level. We are a small company in Detroit. We are a full service beverage company and this is our own product we provide to our contract bars. There is a link to the parent company.

The product tastes exactly like Red Bull.


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## edub (Apr 10, 2012)

Oh, and I'm not selling franchises. If one wanted to distribute they would need to learn how to deal with the equipment and then they would just buy the product and sell it at a markup. It's just like being a small produce distributor.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

edub said:


> The product tastes exactly like Red Bull.


Red Bull sponsors a lot of surfing events on the west coast here ... and they have Formula One cars ... so must be making some money. Personally I don't get it. Only time I tried it was like 'taking my medicine' and I didn't finish it as much as I tried to think *Energy*


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

I had to use 'Google' to discover what Red Bull was; it must be a generational thing. Why would anyone drink it?


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## conorkilleen (Apr 28, 2010)

Its a generation thing. I am not saying the majority expat posting here is old, just possibly out of touch with what some of todays youth are considering.

I think his drink would go over well in Puerto Escondido. Red Bull is a BIG name and draws a lot of money. Would be tough to break that sponsorship. Take it from someone that is in the business of advertising and marketing....globally.


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## Lann1011 (Feb 11, 2012)

RVGRINGO said:


> I had to use 'Google' to discover what Red Bull was; it must be a generational thing. Why would anyone drink it?


Red Bull is awesome  The Sugar Free is the best.. lots of energy, low in calories... and you can mix it with vodka as well, it is a popular bar drink.


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

Lann1011 said:


> Red Bull is awesome  The Sugar Free is the best.. lots of energy, low in calories... and you can mix it with vodka as well, it is a popular bar drink.


Yeah, and us older coots like RV and me, that combination can be fatal. Yep, Curmudgeon, they are a different animal, these darn young un's hope we can trust the world to 'em. 

I actually had several Red Bulls and vodka on a pub crawl in the islands a couple of years ago. MsFHBOY stopped that after a couple of rounds, seemed that while she wanted to take the round the world cruise with Rudolfo the Chauffeur, watching me try this stuff was getting her nervous. BTW: I noticed no difference: physical or mental. Hmmmm?

Time for my 5-Hour Energy drink! :boom:


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

FHBOY said:


> Yeah, and us older coots like RV and me, that combination can be fatal. Yep, Curmudgeon, they are a different animal, these darn young un's hope we can trust the world to 'em.
> 
> I actually had several Red Bulls and vodka on a pub crawl in the islands a couple of years ago. MsFHBOY stopped that after a couple of rounds, seemed that while she wanted to take the round the world cruise with Rudolfo the Chauffeur, watching me try this stuff was getting her nervous. BTW: I noticed no difference: physical or mental. Hmmmm?
> 
> Time for my 5-Hour Energy drink! :boom:


I know you are kidding. But OH! That stuff is so bad for you. The Red Bull, too.

I'm all about energy, and I drink a lot of tea. When we were younger, there were ways for people to get excess energy, as well. Legal, even. But I avoided them, just as more young people than not avoid Red Bull and its brethren.

But why try to sell something that is harmful? If you have the wherewithal and the knowledge to create something that is marketable, why not market something that's good for people? 

If you make it desirable to your cohort, then the fact that it's good for them might be sen as ironic to the more jaded, and a benefit, to those with sense.


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

mickisue1 said:


> I know you are kidding. But OH! That stuff is so bad for you. The Red Bull, too... and a benefit, to those with sense.


LONG POST - SORRY!
Just because I have the time, I'd like to propose a hypothesis: At some point, time got faster and our ability to adjust to it became a part of living. Those of the Red Bull/5-Hour energy Drink generation (I'm generalizing) are doing what they can to keep up with the compression of time and the too many ways the things we/they have to do in the time allotted exceeds the time. What I am saying is that people on the way up, socially, careerwise and family wise, now have too much to do in the same anount of hours we always have had. To cope, they have to find a way for their bodies and minds to keep up.

In my working days, pre-computers, I did that with a cup of coffee on my way in to work. But then, I didn't carry my Blackberry with me, had to update the report while I was commuting, and needed the response to my boss before I hung my coat up. In an age where instant information (and gratification) is predominant, how would you keep up unless you had a way to make your body/mind speed up? [Exercise comes to mind, but that just takes more time - a Rashomon situation]

The Red Bull people have so much they want to/have to do in the 24 hours of a day that they can't pull away. They are also in a very competitive world, socially and economically. There will always be someone younger, smarter, prettier, yes, and cheaper to take their place, so they have got to have an "edge" to stay where they are. The days of 30 years and a gold watch, keeping your income on a general upward curve as your seniority grew is not what the modern workforce sees. They see that as a 40 year old IT guy/gal, making $XXX,XXX/year, behind them is a 20 something IT guy/girl who will do the same thing that they are doing, using more modern techniques, and will do it for 15-25% less than they are. Wouldn't you grab at any edge to keep your place, even if that means after your ten-twelve hour day, you need to go to school to keep up, and then add to it your family responsibilities and everything? 

It is no wonder that the morning cup of coffee is not enough.

Now I am generalizing here, and there are many holes to be knocked in my theory, but the simple way to say it is where the older generation of Greatest Generation and Boomers had time to get things done, from Gen X on, their time fell apart, and the competition to succeed widened as the world, through the advent of the internet, expanded to include competition the Greatest Gen and Boomers never anticipated.

Even in their social life, time has compressed. "Social Media" makes going to the bathroom an event and you "have to let your Friends know" what you are doing, instead of just being able to do it. There is "speed" everything: speed dating, Google searching, speed job fairs, and how do you keep up with it: find a way to speed yourself along. No, I am not talking methamphetimines, but those stimulants that make you glib, attractive and alert and are legal (if still harmful).

This is taking way too much time - but the topic of time compression has interested me as I watched it as a business owner. The Red Bull people are just trying to cope with a faster paced, more competitive world. One day they will burn out, one day their bodies and/or minds will say, "You can't do this to us any more." But until that happens...they...not us retired people...will do what they have to do.

Me? I'm still waiting for my first cup of coffee this morning.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

Hmmmm. There are some good ideas there, but the issue that I see with it all is that much of this is perception, and much more is a lack of critical thinking.

It may, indeed, be necessary to have that report to the boss before you hang up your coat. But it's NOT necessary to let your friends know that you are on the way to work and working on the report. Part of that time stress is the belief, not the FACT, that we owe others the minutiae of our lives.

One of the issues that the whole 99% movement was attempting to address was the increased pressure on workers to produce more for less, while their bosses got more and more for the same amount of effort. 

The answer is not to drive oneself into the ground. It's to find a way to say no to what doesn't move you forward toward your goals, and stick to the no.

That no may be, as it was for me, a no to checking my Facebook account, to stop tweeting and to interact with people on a one to one basis as much as possible. A forum like this, where one's communications are not limited to a handful of characters, is my exception to that rule.

The ability to think critically is not limited to those over 50, nor do all of them have it. My mother in law has FB "friends" who she absolutely does not know. And can't figure out why blabbing my life's information to those utter strangers might be offensive to me.

Or posting my picture, for that matter.

The answer for young adults is not to run faster, but to really work at figuring out where they are running, and why. 

If they can't do that, then shame on us, for not having had those conversations with them, already.


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## conorkilleen (Apr 28, 2010)

mickisue1 said:


> I know you are kidding. But OH! That stuff is so bad for you. The Red Bull, too.
> 
> I'm all about energy, and I drink a lot of tea. When we were younger, there were ways for people to get excess energy, as well. Legal, even. But I avoided them, just as more young people than not avoid Red Bull and its brethren.
> 
> ...


The great part about it is that you don't have to drink it if you don't want to. What makes you think its harmful?


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

conorkilleen said:


> The great part about it is that you don't have to drink it if you don't want to. What makes you think its harmful?


It's mostly caffeine and sugar. How could it possibly be bad for you.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

conorkilleen said:


> The great part about it is that you don't have to drink it if you don't want to. What makes you think its harmful?


Here's the wikipedia article about Red Bull: Red Bull - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Scroll down to the "health effects" section.

And here's a snip from the wikipedia article about 5 Hour Energy:

"Caffeine
An October 2010 analysis by ConsumerLab.com found the caffeine content of a full bottle of 5-Hour Energy is 207 mg,[6]. The maker claims the product "contains caffeine comparable to a cup of the leading premium coffee." The directions on the 5-Hour bottle recommend taking half of the contents (103 mg of caffeine) for regular use, and the whole bottle for extra energy. A regular cup of coffee has less than 100mg/250 ml cup).[7] The Mayo Clinic recommends daily caffeine intake remain below 200-300 mg a day and suggests that consumption over 500-600 mg a day can lead to nervousness, restlessness, irregular heartbeats and insomnia. [8]"

Combine the high levels of caffeine with the extremely low amount of liquid, and you have a dangerous combination. Not only because of the nervous system's response to that much caffeine, but because caffeine is a diuretic, and that amount will lead you to excrete your body's water, without you having replaced it in drinking the stuff.

People who drink Red Bull and 5 Hour Energy tend NOT to have just one, however. As FHBoy noted, he downed 5 Red Bulls over the course of an evening. He may be one of many for whom caffeine is paradoxically not a stimulant. His wife, however, became anxious on just two.

The amount of caffeine in a 5 Hour is the same as the amount in 3 Red Bulls.

Outside the issues of the caffeine, products that are regulated as food are not highly regulated in the US. I can't speak for MX. The more complex the ingredients, the more processed the product, the higher the likelihood of contaminants being included. Unless you know that the manufacturer follows extremely high standards on their own, you have no idea whether the product is safe. 

And, of course, you are unlikely to know that; the ones who are only as careful as they're required to be, which isn't that careful, don't exactly trumpet that fact.


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## conorkilleen (Apr 28, 2010)

Then lets all stop drinking coffee and anything with sugar in it. That will teach'em


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

mickisue1 said:


> Hmmmm. There are some good ideas there, but the issue that I see with it all is that much of this is perception...,If they can't do that, then shame on us, for not having had those conversations with them, already.


_What do you mean by critical thinking? I believe you are referring to the actions described rather than the shaky hypothesis._

_Could the need to tell your "friends" what you are doing comes from the awareness that the world is so big, so massive, that one has a need to scream, "HEY, HERE I AM. THIS IS WHAT I'M DOING, I NEED SOMEONE TO BE INTERESTED IN IT", has celebrity become a Holy Grail - My son has a bumper sticker he has made. It is in Facebook color and style and reads: "1,000 Friends - STILL A LOSER" Is that what we are afraid of, not being noticed any more?_

_In your mother's case it could be lonliness, depending on her age. As my mother aged she watched her friends die. She was not a Facebook person, couldn't even email well, but she began to lose people. This Facebook for Seniors is a way for them to remember that there are still people out their to whom "trivial" stuff is important, and bragging about one's daughter is always important! You see, in my mother's world, she lived in the same house for over 65 years, her friends were on the block, or around the corner, they met a religious functions. Too many of our seniors now live not where ther infrastructure was formed, but in strange communities, and they want that one-to-one they had on the front step. If that front step is Facebook, it is their place to go. 

Last thought, I worked in a non-profit instituion a greater part of my life. The seniors would come through my office, even if I had nothing to do with them, just to sit and talk. It drove my staff nuts, but I told them these are people who are looking for someone to talk to, and yes complain to - your job is to be there and listen. If Facebook, Twitter does it - good for them. But I find no need to tell you that I'm leaving my volunteer work here in half and hour, driving to the car wash, stopping at the library then going home be take a nap before I go out to pick up MsFHBOY from work and cook the hamburgers I am having for dinner, with mushrooms and onions which I will send you pictures of. THAT IS NUTS!_

_I agree with you 100% - somewhere in our time with them, we needed to set goals on living - not succeeding - but living. Perhaps me being a Boomer I never did it too well, but me as a former Hippie, did - "Teach the children well..." - CS&N_


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

conorkilleen said:


> Then lets all stop drinking coffee and anything with sugar in it. That will teach'em


I'll stop drinking my morning coffee when you pry the mug out of my cold, dead hands!


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Some thoughts on the comparative merits of coffee and Red Bull:

Coffee with or without sugar has a wonderful flavor and aroma, apart from its energy-giving qualities. What does Red Bull taste and smell like? The name Red Bull has such an aggressive, macho quality to it: I wonder if it's more popular among young guys than young women. One final comment: keep in mind that coffee is usually sipped while I imagine that Red Bull is chugged.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

FHboy, I never was a "true" hippie, despite my bell bottoms and my homemade halter tops. 

I think, though, that your vision of young people who feel the need to announce their every move is part and parcel of that ability to think critically.

Critical thinking can't start without a sense of self. And those with a sense of self are ok with being anonymous to the vast majority of other humans. When you get to the point where you realize that what matters is not how many people know what you are doing, but how many people's lives you have made better, you want, not so much for them to know you, but for you to know them.

Hence, your listening to the seniors, not talking at them.

You could be right about my mother in law's motivations (not my mom). But that lack of critical thinking has been present in her for as long as I have known her. Not picking on her, it's just that that LOOK AT ME that you have described so vividly has been present for the 23 years we've been acquainted.

I have a friend and mentor who has a nutrition club in a suburb of LA. It's packed, all the time, with young people. The noise and the goofiness get to her, sometimes. But what keeps them coming isn't the tea and the smoothies, even though that's what brought them in in the first place.

It's that they are recognized, not just as a source of income, but as responsible adults. The fact that she has so many of them on the staff, and gives them responsibility that they may never have had before, means everything to them.

I was there for a day in the fall. There was a 19 year kid sweeping the floor after the club closed. Honestly, he put more serious thought into getting that floor clean than many people do into an entire day of work. But it was HIS nutrition club, and he wanted it to be the best one it could be.

Maybe that's the issue: not enough responsibility, and not enough ownership of the fruits of one's labors.


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

mickisue1 said:


> FHboy, I never was a "true" hippie, despite my bell bottoms and my homemade halter tops.
> But it was HIS nutrition club, and he wanted it to be the best one it could be...Maybe that's the issue: not enough responsibility, and not enough ownership of the fruits of one's labors.


This theme seems to run through your post: responsibility, for self, for others, for property, for propriety. It is an issue that transcends age or social standing. One of the more responsible people I worked with was a "boy" who was old enough to be my son - hence "boy". He built a business with a stake from his grandfather after graduating college, not a high tech - a limousine service, by being responsible not only to his clients but his staff. After about 20 years, he is still at it. Nothing that happened in his company was not his responsibility, and by example he spread that ethic to everyone, down to the car cleaners and drivers.

Yet, it seems recently that too many people deny responsibility for many things. It, too, is cross generational and knows no calendar. In my COO position in non-profits I called meeting to start at 8:00 pm, and then those who arrived at 8:00 were invariably penalized for showing up on time - others felt no responsibility to be there. Can this assigned to the younger generation only? No way. while we are more critical of them at times, their social behaviors had to be learned somewhere, and in the position I had, I found they had learned it from their parents.

As to social skills, some of my best conversations were with people older than I and some younger than I, although the latter is a smaller group. Again, it is societal, briefly the communication the Gen X and younger people have had has been one way as the idea of "family dinner" is a thing of the past. They communicated with TV, then with cell phones, then texting, etc. The vocal social kills were no longer needed as much. Like your friend in LA, once you get past the generational prejudices, so many of them are very erudite, have a lot to say but have no idea that people will spend the time to listen to them. Their world is 140 characters, non threatening and detached from interactions.

So, with all this what have I hijacked the thread for? The Red Bull people, no matter what their age, have way too many things fighting for their immediate attention that they need a Red Bull additive just to keep up. Until we learn to control the out of control flood of information, it can only get more difficult.

IF THERE IS ONE: :focus:


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## Lann1011 (Feb 11, 2012)

FHBOY said:


> Yeah, and us older coots like RV and me, that combination can be fatal. Yep, Curmudgeon, they are a different animal, these darn young un's hope we can trust the world to 'em.
> 
> I actually had several Red Bulls and vodka on a pub crawl in the islands a couple of years ago. MsFHBOY stopped that after a couple of rounds, seemed that while she wanted to take the round the world cruise with Rudolfo the Chauffeur, watching me try this stuff was getting her nervous. BTW: I noticed no difference: physical or mental. Hmmmm?
> 
> Time for my 5-Hour Energy drink! :boom:



Well i would definitely suggest no more than one vodka and redbull.. I would not say I am young... almost 42. I always feel the redbull counteracts the depressant effect of the vodka.Sort of like a buttery nipple in a cup of coffee... Of course I only drink a few things.. tequila with light beer chaser, bloody mary or a rum and diet coke.. Everything else has way too many calories. 


On a cross country drive I took a 5 hour energy, nothing.. nada so i took a 2nd... I had an upset stomach and was still falling asleep.. so my next fla to az run *26 hours straight* I just stuck to coffee and lots of it..


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