If you are a new online marketer, it's a great time to contemplate what kind of busieness you might want to put together and try out yourself - if you're not sure how or where to begin, then reading over my newsletter archive will help point you in the right direction.
As the year draws to a close, I'm always excited about what lies in the new year ahead.
After Christmas is an excellent time for niche marketers to go out and pick up some bargain inventory to re-sell again on their website, eBay store or online auctions.
Maybe you still need some technical advice on how to pursue your dream or need some help with an issue you're having a hard time implementing or just not sure about? Then, you should contact me and I'd be happy to discuss it with you and help you with some coaching. Let's set an appointment today!
Wishing you, your family and friends a very Merry Christmas,
Coach Danny
danny@dannycroft.com
LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
IN THE DECEMBER ISSUE
- Four Simple Tools That Website Owners Should Be Aware Of
- HOW TO DRIVE BIDDERS FROM EBAY TO YOUR WEBSITE
- Some Ideas About Niche Marketing Strategies on eBay
- Why You Need A Fully Enabled Website
- JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
"If you don't know where
you are going, how can you
expect to get there?"
-Basil S. Walsh
TOOL OF THE MONTH
Four Simple Tools That All Website Owners Should Be Aware Of
This month, you don't get just one tool, but a whole entire arsenal of four you can
use together to help boost your traffic, as well as your search engine rankings!
a) Alexa.com, most of our readers may know about this, but in case you don’t, it’s a tool bar that will enable you to go internally into a site and can provide you with traffic and link information.
Many times you will want to check traffic if someone is selling a $39.00 product,
they should have a lot of traffic. If you are selling a $2,000 product, you don’t need as much traffic. It will also show you addresses of sites that are linking in, the contact phone number, the e-mail address of a site owner and search engine ranking.
Would you want to purchase a traffic tool from a site with no traffic?
b) The next thing to help with your SEO (Search Engine Optimization/ranking) is to
check and see if your webdesigner (I do this constantly with the websites I build for my clients) has got your META tags entered properly.
There are lots of variables here and the robots change their parameters all the time. You can go to this site and it will run a free analysis. Then, it will also let you regenerate the code the way it should be.
Drive higher quality traffic to your website.
Check out websitesubmit.hypermart.net/metataganalysis.
c)We all know about link exchanges. They help with getting you traffic and most
importantly they help your search engine ranking. Link exchanges work by websites
trading links or advertising each other's site. It's as simple as contacting a website owner and asking, "I'll place a link on my site to your site, if you would
do the same for me."
There are many free systems you can install on your site. The one I've used for my
clients is cplinks.com/cpdynalinks. We like it because it's automated and your link
partners can set up their link without you spending a lot of time.
You want activity on your site (traffic). SEO robots visit your site more when there are changes. It’s like, would you read the Wall Street Journal if it said the same thing everyday?
Also this serves as a way to advertise your site free on other sites. When helping
students achieve higher rankings on the Google search engine, we've found this to be
one of the most powerful ways to get your site to appear near the top on the first
page. After you have about 40-60 links pointed at your site, watch your ranking
skyrocket to the top!
d) Next, you need link partners. This site lets you select the categories you are
looking for link partners in and it sends a request to all members inviting them to
link with you.
It’s a super tool and again, it's free. You need links. Not just any links, but
high-quality, relevant ones.Go to value-exchange.sitesell.com.
More about SEO strategies in future newsletters...
TOP AUCTION TOOLS
HOW TO DRIVE BIDDERS FROM EBAY TO YOUR WEB SITE
by Skip McGrath
Awhile ago, eBay implemented a new policy to keep sellers from linking from
the auction description to a web site or shopping portal where they could sell an
item directly without waiting for the auction to end.
Shortly after, eBay introduced eBay Stores, which would seem to accomplish the same
thing. Still, sellers wanted to get visitors to their web site in the hopes of selling them something else or making an immediate sale. The advantages are obvious. First you can sell to many people who just won't bother placing a bid and waiting for an auction to end. Secondly, you avoid paying the eBay listing and selling (final value) fees.
As to the second item, fee avoidance, I can see eBay's point. They are in business
to make money. But so are we. After all, we are paying eBay a listing fee (and
feature fees). This is no more than an advertising fee. eBay isn't really losing any money. If the website links work (and they do) eBay will miss some small final
value fees, but they will make up for this in listing fees because sellers will place
more listings.
Here is eBay's current links policy: "The eBay item page can only be used to
describe, promote and facilitate the sale of the listed eBay item - it cannot refer
to or promote the seller's individual website, off eBay sales or other businesses.
The eBay About Me page is a place where the seller can promote their individual
website or business. The eBay Sell Your Item page can not contain URLs or links to,
or promotional information about, any off eBay webpage, including websites of the
seller or any third party."
There are 2 basic exceptions to this general rule - the Sell Your Item page may
contain a link to information related specifically to that item that:
"Gives acknowledgement to a company that provided services related to that listing
(such as counters, auction management tools, or payment and mediation services).
This acknowledgement may contain both a logo (88 x 33 pixels) and up to 10 words of text (HTML font size 3) but only one of those may be clickable.
Points interested buyers to another Internet page that contains only more
information (such as pictures, product specifications or detailed terms and
conditions) about eBay items listed by that seller.
Links from the eBay Item page that interfere in any way with the eBay bidding
process, or solicit any eBay user information, are not allowed. Links from the eBay
Item page to pages that promote off eBay sales in any way are forbidden, though
such pages may generally themselves contain discrete links to other commercial web
pages."
So how do we work with these rules? Here are some ideas.
Notice the sections. The first one states: "The eBay About Me page is a place where
the seller can promote their individual web site or business."
The second reference says: "Links from the eBay Item page to pages that promote off
eBay sales in any way are forbidden, though such pages may generally themselves
contain discrete links to other commercial web pages."
The key words in this section are "discrete links."
If you have an AboutMe Page there will be a "ME" symbol next to you user name.
Some people do click on this to read about you.
A better way is to invite them to view your AboutMe Page right in the text of your
item description.
Make sure to create a hyperlink to make it easy.
Here is an example with the HTML code:
http://cgi3.ebay.com/ ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=xxxxxx
Just replace the XXXXXXX with your eBay username to create the link.
I have been collecting and selling Beatles memorabilia for over 20 years. Please
visit my AboutMe page to learn more about Beatles collectibles and our business.
Once readers arrive at your AboutMe page you can then direct them to your website
with a live hyperlink.
eBay also allows you to provide links to purely informational pages with information
(including more photos) about the item you are selling.
We used to sell amber jewelry. Each of our auctions contained a link to a free
article entitled "All About Amber." That page contained an interesting article about
amber, how it was formed, where it came from, and so on. However, that page also
contained a link to our storefront web site where people could purchase amber
jewelry items directly.
The trick to driving bidders from eBay to your web site is to:
1. Follow the rules
2. Use the rules to your advantage by finding
clever loopholes.
The AboutMe Page is still your best bet for promoting your website. The best
strategy is to point sellers to your AboutMe page in your auction description and
give them a reason for visiting it.
Good luck on eBay!
eBay AboutMe Overview
eBay Links Policy
Ideas About Niche Marketing Strategies on eBay
Excerpt from "Niche Marketing Strategies on eBay"
by Skip McGrath
What denotes a niche market?
A category is not a niche. For example, if you sell all kinds of toys, you are a
toy vendor. If, however, you only sell action figures, then that is a niche.
Benefits of Niche Marketing...
There are two primary benefits of niche marketing:
- Sourcing
- Selling
Let's look at sourcing first. The more time you spend in a market or product
category, you will learn all the sources of supply for that market. The more you
know about a product the better you will be able to buy it.
Remember our adage on pricing: You make money when you buy - not when you sell.
When you decide to specialize in a niche of any kind the first thing you want
to do is become expert in that area. Learn and read everything you can about it.
Study the history of the product. Get to know the companies that manufacturer the
product and their distributors. The more you know the better you will be able to buy.
The other benefit of niche marketing is selling. The very fact that you are selling
in a narrow market segment means you will have less competition and therefore you
can command higher margins. The other factor is that people prefer to buy from
someone who is knowledgeable.
(Another) selling advantage of niche marketing is the ability to accurately
describe products in your auction descriptions. The added knowledge you have from
being a specialist allows you to add more data and "insider" information that
someone else can not. A potential bidder looking at your auction will have more
confidence and perhaps bid more liberally than otherwise.
Finding The Right Niche...
Finding your niche is a matter of research and brainstorming.
Work is always more fun and usually more profitable if you are doing something you
like. If, for example, you enjoy computers, this is a great area to start your
search for a niche.
Almost any broad category on eBay has sub-categories, some of which are small
enough to qualify as a niche and others in which you can find a niche. The key is
that the niche you find be active enough to generate large sales and not be crowded
by hundreds of other sellers.
Remember you do not have to totally "own" your niche to be successful, but you
will need to be one of the handful of major players to have consistent, predictable
and long-term success.
Why You Need A Fully Enabled Website
Why you need a fully eCommerce enabled website if your in the auction business and
do you own your site?
Over 50% of the students that have enrolled with us have had a website that they
think they own.
In reality, it’s either one of the free sites that are given away as virtual
toys or your web developer owns it. Maybe you own the domain name, but many
developers keep all other information away from you so you have to use them every
time you have to make a change.
We had one student that spent $30,000.00 on her web site in 3 years before she
came to us only to have it taken down when she ran into some brief financial
hardship.
We profess that you should own your site and learn how to make changes. Some student sites are built based on modified open source osCommerce shopping cart code that gives the online store owner a variety of features. You will see all over the
internet people selling using modified osCommerce sites (one of the best shopping
carts on the internet today).
The osCommerce shopping cart features include a link exchange built into the store
admin that checks reciprocal links for you, individual shipping per product (great
for drop shipping or multiple vendors), free shipping per product option, a fully
customizable store template that is easy to edit and cut ‘n paste HTML into (this
is necessary, to edit yourself or just add affiliates to the side columns and many
shopping cart templates are not easy to edit), multiple newsletters and more!
PayPal also let's members easily create Buy Now Buttons that lead a customer to a
shopping cart. Check under Merchant Tools in your PayPal account dashboard. All you need to do is enter your pricing information, copy the generated code and paste it
on your product description page.
Students websites also use RSS feeds on the side (I can help you choose appropriate
RSS feeds for your website so you always have fresh content). We’ll help you sign up
for affiliates like Linkshare, ClickBank, Google AdSense and place relevant affiliates on your website.
My webdesign service can also optimize your site for search engines with valid META
tags, robots.txt file and an HTML splash page. A splash page is a plain HTML page before your cart that is search engine friendly.
Search engines cannot see Flash or other animated features. The search engines will
only recognize animations as a flat image with no readable information for ranking.
Your website is built to be your headquarters and owned by you! Let me also teach
you how to make changes easily, so you are not paying everytime you call a
developer trying to figure out why your system is charging $45.00 to ship a $1.00
item.
However you proceed alone or with a guide, you should include the above items in
your web spec sheet. It’s the old saying: teach a man to fish and he can
eat forever...
I invite you to view my webdesign portfolio at dannycroft.com
Coming Soon: Changes to eBay Item Specifics
We plan to update the following eBay Item Specifics in early January:
- Cell Phone Accessories, "Chargers, Cradle Chargers" will change to "Chargers.”
- Gift Certificates, Lodging, Cruises, Vacation Packages and Airline – Year values will be updated.
- BMX Bikes, Mountain Bikes and Road Bikes – Model Year and Brands will be updated and Model changed from a pre-set selection to a text-entry field.
- Coins, Certification numbers added via Item Specifics will be partially masked on the item page.
Item Information is completely optional, and gives sellers an easy way to add basic, standard information to their listing. Examples include brands, models, colors, and stock photos. Using Pre-Filled Item Information can help save sellers time, and provides buyers with helpful information when searching for items to purchase.
Note: Sellers who use a 3rd party listing service (ChannelAdvisor, etc.), should contact them to verify that they will offer the Pre-filled Item Information capabilities in the categories listed above.
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Subscribe by providing your email address to danny@dannycroft.com
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LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
The leaves are turning red and gold and it's time toget ready for the Holiday Rush!
This month I've included a few more tools you can use for free to help spruce up your ads. It's important to make your advertising stand out from the rest. Especially if you are competing with lots of other sellers at online auction sites like eBay.
You can edit your photos by removing any background clutter or maybe just add some color to the text and background of your ad?
Have a Happy Thanksgiving,
IN THE NOVEMBER ISSUE
- Find, edit and share your photos the easy way
- Create professional-looking listings
- Create your own web pages & auction descriptions
- Ready to become your own publisher?
- UPS Rate Change Takes Effect December 31, 2007
- JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
We will often find compensation if we think more of what life has given us and less about what life has taken away.
-William Barclay
TOOL OF THE MONTH
Picasa Image Editor
Find, edit and share your photos the easy way.
Picasa is a free software download from Google that
helps you:
- Locate and organize all the photos on your computer.
- Edit and add effects to your photos with a few
simple clicks.
- Share your photos with others through email, prints
and on the web: it’s fast, easy and free.
Download Picasa here.
TOP AUCTION TOOLS
List multiple items and upload to eBay in bulk!
eBay's Turbo Lister is a FREE listing tool to help you create professional-looking listings, as well as upload and edit items in bulk.
Try the latest version of Turbo Lister that makes listing on eBay easier than ever.
- Easy bulk listing and editing capability
- Search tools to find items fast
- Toolbar and special views for better control of your listings
Turbo_Lister
ONLINE RESOURCE OF THE MONTH
Google's Page Creator for Auction Description
Create your own web pages, quickly and easily.
Google Page Creator is a free online tool that makes it
easy for anyone to create and publish useful, attractive
web pages in just minutes.
- No technical knowledge required.
Build high-quality web pages without having to learn HTML
or use complex software.
- What you see is what you'll get.
Edit your pages right in your browser, seeing exactly how
your finished product will look every step along the way.
- Don't worry about hosting.
Your web pages will live on your own site at
http://yoursitename.googlepages.com
- Sign in to Google Page Creator with your
Google eMail Account.
Google Page Creator
No Gmail Account? Sign up
View my sample Auction Ad Template here.
(Left-Click your mouse and Save Target As... to download as text file.)
Starting A Blog
Ready to become your own publisher?
In last month's newsletter we discussed why you might want
to start a blog. Listed here are some various resources where
you can go and start your own blog with various options
available to choose from.
These blogging sites can help you make your mark on the Web.
AOL Journals:
You don't have to be an AOL subscriber to use AOL's blogging
service, AOL Journals. You only need to register and walk
through a quick creation process for a basic blog. AOL
Journals may suit AOL instant messaging users especially
well, since you can post blog entries via AIM.
On the downside, AOL runs banner ads along the top of your
blog, and the look of the blog isn't highly customizable.
So while it's acceptable for, say, family blogs, AOL
Journals is not a smart choice for a small business owner.
AskJeeves Bloglines:
If you can't get enough of reading other people's blogs,
check out Bloglines. This free news aggregator service
delivers a customized news page that you design. You
choose a group of blogs to which you'll subscribe, then
Bloglines grabs content from them when it's updated.
You can use Bloglines for any news offered via RSS
(Really Simple Syndication), an option you'll see at most
major news sites and many blogs.
You'll also find a blog-creation tool here, for sharing
blog clips with friends, but it isn't very intuitive.
Blogger.com:
Run by search-engine king Google, Blogger.com helps you
step through creating and publishing a blog in just a
few minutes. You can't beat the price: It's free. And
you'll find good-looking design options and cool features
like AudioBlogger, which lets you call in by phone to
leave a message that's posted on your blog in MP3 format.
Blogger has new features including a photo Slideshow and
a Poll option by Adding Page Elements. You can also make
a Blogger publicly available as anonymous, to Gmail users
only, or to registered Blooger users only.
On the downside, you can't password-protect your blog using
this service. Still, Blogger.com is a good way to try on
blogging for size.
LiveJournal:
LiveJournal is an open-source blogging service that's free
to join but costs $25 a year to enjoy some of the most
high-end features, such as embedded polls and surveys,
custom themes, online photo storage, and phone posting.
When you pay, you can also receive new posts via e-mail or
text message.
The service--which was recently acquired by Six Apart,
the company that brings you TypePad (see below)
--is very community-oriented. You can aggregate your
friends' most recent blog posts in one place or create
a community blog where several people with shared
interests can post on a certain topic.
MSN Spaces:
MSN's free blogging service offers a bit more flexibility
than Blogger.com. MSN Spaces boasts a quick setup process,
good templates, and easy-to-use editing tools, plus the
ability to post entries via cell phone. You can also share
music playlists with friends. And you can make an MSN Space
blog publicly available to everyone, to a small group of
people, or to no one.
TypePad.com:
The TypePad service isn't free, but it's a good value,
starting at $4.95 per month for a personal weblog with
one author. (PC World named it Best Blogging Tool in
the magazine's 2005 World Class Awards.) TypePad offers
a really understandable interface, classy templates,
and a text editor that makes it simple to jazz up the
look of your blog.
TypePad also expertly guides you through tasks such as
password protecting blogs, sharing online photo albums
and setting up pages that blend text, photos, video and
audio using the company's unique Mixed Media templates.
All in all, TypePad will make your blog more
sophisticated, for a reasonable price.
Yahoo 360:
Yahoo's free service, still in beta testing, shows users
how to write and publish blogs, as well as share content
like music, post pictures, all while keeping control
over who can visit the site.
UPS Rate Change Takes Effect December 31, 2007
Hi everyone. This is Kristina Klausen from eBay's Shipping
team. I would like to remind buyers and sellers that UPS
rates will be changing effective Monday, December 31, 2007.
The new rates will be reflected in the eBay Shipping
Calculator and the PayPal Label Printing Solution early in
the morning, December 31, 2007.
Sellers who are listing items with UPS shipping services
that are expected to ship on or after Monday, December 31,
2007 should take the rate change into account at the time of
the listing.
Further information about the rate change is available at
www.ups.com/rates.
Sincerely,
Kristina Klausen
eBay Shipping Team
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and have the next issue of here and NOW sent to your Inbox
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LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
It is with great excitement and anticipation for a world of success to you that I created this newsletter for!
Since coaching others on how to begin or improve their online marketing using websites or just listing auctions on eBay, I have wanted to be able to share my knowledge and have it available in one place that is easily accessable.
This month's issue is dedicated to the beginning online marketer wanting to try out selling their item on ebay armed with some basic information to help make their first sale as profitable as possible.
I'm including some of my tried and true basics for figuring out the best time to list and end an auction as well as few other those "tricks the Powersellers use."
There no real tricks - just doing a little research can pay off BIG!
Have a safe Halloween,
Coach Danny
IN THE OCTOBER ISSUE
- Create An eBook With PDF995
- When Is the Best Day to List an Auction?
- Find Auctions With NO Bidders
- Why Start A blog?
- Where To Aquire Wholesale Products
There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the same.
-Chinese Proverb
TOOL OF THE MONTH
Create An eBook With PDF995
Pdf995 makes it easy and affordable to create professional-quality documents in the popular PDF file format.
Its easy-to-use interface helps you to create PDF files by simply selecting the "print" command from any application (MS Word, etc...), creating documents which can be viewed on any computer with a PDF viewer.
How To Sell eBooks on eBay:
1. Download the ebooks you wish to sell onto your hard drive.
2. Open the ebook and see what parameters it uses for viewing (i.e. pdf file that requires Adobe Acrobat Reader or if it's a self-extracting .exe file that has the viewer with it.) This should be stated in the ad to avoid unnecessary emails with questions.
3. If the eBook has specific system requirements, make a note of that. This will normally be a little pop-up screen just after you click on the eBook. It is not on all eBooks. It is against eBay rules for you to put any of the ebooks onto a CD and mail it to your customer.
4. If your computer has a program that will capture/copy the opening page or book cover contained in the eBook, get that picture into a jpg so you have something to put in the picture area of your auction. Or just create one with a Word Processing program.
5. Skim through at least the first few pages of the eBook to get a feel for what it contains and use some of the phrases or keywords in your ad.
6. Do a general search on eBay for ebooks to see what others within that general topic are selling for and set your opening bid price. This pricing is totally up to you!
7. Be sure to list in the auction your method of delivery for the eBook (i.e. as a file attachment -- be sure to specify the file size! Some providers have a limit to file attachment size). It is best if you put EBOOK either in your auction title or in a prominent position in the Auction Description. This will help forstall any confusion.
8. State clearly what methods of payment you will accept and any time factors involved with delivery of the product (i.e. PayPal same-day email w/attachment or Money Order next day email w/attachment and so forth).
9. Please be CERTAIN that you include the following text with eBay ebook auctions:
"I own resale rights to this ebook. You are NOT purchasing resale rights, but the actual eBook. This auction is listed in accordance with eBay's Media rules."
10. List your auction(s) as you normally would.
Pdf995
TOP AUCTION TOOLS
When Is the Best Day to List an Auction?
Search millions of eBay's closed listings. Find out theTop Selling Listing Recommendations like Keywords used in Title, Pricing and the Best Time to End. See what the market is (or ISN'T) for your item for the past 30 days.
Get everything you need to make the best deals online for FREE without buying a program with the same information.
Mpire Researcher
Mpire.com/Research
ONLINE RESOURCE OF THE MONTH
AuctionIntelligence - get what you want for less.
Who Else Wants To Know How To Find, In 4 Easy Steps, Every Misspelled or Mistyped Listing On eBay, Which Cannot Be Found By Using Any Normal Search Tool, Therefore Attracting Very Few Bids By The End Of The Auction?
auctionintelligence.com
Why Start A Blog?
This writer has some useful information about Blogs. Blogs may not be for everyone, but for many they are becoming a powerful marketing tool.
If you need a website, you can start with creating a blog and then register your custom domain web name and point it to your blogging site.
More on this subject in coming newsletters!
What the Heck is a Blog?
By Andy Wibbels
Everybody is talking about blogs. They are everywhere: on the TV, in the newspapers, and all over the internet. With the number of blogs doubling every five months, there is no stopping the power of blogs.
But what the heck is a blog? For the elegant simplicity and beauty that blogs create, they certainly have an ugly, ungainly name. Blawg sounds like some kind of gurgling sound your cat makes before coughing up a hairball.
A blog, short for weblog, is often described as an online diary. The most recent entries (called posts) - appear on the homepage of the blog with links to archives of older posts. Archives are organized by date and often categorized by topic. Often, each post will have a form for readers to add their own comments and to give their opinion or reaction to the post's content.
But that's just what a blog looks like - it doesn't really tell you why a blog is different from a conventional website. The real genius in blogs appears in the process of how they are written.
You can update your blog instantly from any internet connection on any computer anywhere in the world - even from your summer home in Tahiti (as you sip an ice-cold island cocktail). Blogs are designed for people who don't want to learn (or don't have the time to learn) HTML or web design. You use a special type of blogging software (called a blog tool) to create and update your weblog. You type your latest post into a simple online form. You click "Publish" and it is instantly available online for the whole world to see. It's super-easy. If you can send an email, you can publish a weblog. So my updated description of a weblog is:
A blog is an easy, instantly and frequently updated website, focused around a topic, industry or personality.
One big reason businesses (especially small businesses and entrepeneurs) flock to blogs is because they reduce dependencyon a web design team to get ideas and announcements online. Developing a website for your business can take weeks, sometimes months, from shopping for a designer and doing project negotiation phase to getting the final site launched. Developing a website can be not only costly, but time consuming.
Many of my clients have found blogs a great way to start out online while they are building their business with the eventual goal to move towards a more robust web design solution. Others have moved all of their web sites into a blog format and have vowed to never look back.
You can create a blog and have a website in less than fifteen minutes, for less than $10, with hosting and software included- and, all without having to know anything about web design. With a blog there's ten thousand less decisions to make.
Blogging is the fastest, cheapest, easiest way to build a website in the time it takes to watch a sitcom.
Andy Wibbels is a blogging evangelist and creator of the Easy Bake Weblogs seminar that has helped hundreds of small businesses all over the world leverage blogs and RSS news feeds to increase profits and save time. You can download his free special report on business and blogs at easybakeweblogs.com
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Sign up and learn more about how blogs work at Blogger
Where To Aquire Wholesale Products
OK! Let's get started with some helpful tips.
Here are some websites where you acquire products at deep discounts so you can make big profits. Many times your supplier will ship directly to your customers and you don't pay for the product until you have collected the money.
The following will provide you with a few great resources.
For product acquisitions you can go to:
Alibaba.com
Liquidation.com
ThomasNet.com
I recommend that you use the above avenues to acquire products. I always want my students to develop their own Product Niche. That is what I want you to do - folks do this whether you work with me as new student or you do this on your own - Just Do It!
I always like to utilize the repetitive selling process. Where we sell the same item over and over because we have a quantity of that product. When this automated machine is humming it is almost like a license to print money, could you imagine having a license to print money?
OK, now one of the things that I always look for when acquiring product is a direct source for the product where we get the product at or below 25% of retail and resell 50% or retail or more. You have to remember that most of the people that shop on eBay, Overstock.com, Yahoo Auctions and the hundreds of other auction sites out there, including your own website are looking for bargains.
That is why I always recommend that you stay away from the wholesale buying clubs and drop ship clubs. Typically they have thousands of members all selling the same product and then nobody makes any money. If you learn to bypass the middleman and get direct to the source to buy overstocks, closeouts and discontinued type items you will not only outsell your competition you will make much more profit.
I also only sell product that will sell above $25 to $50 or more. It is just as easy to make $50 on a sale as it is to make $2.00 This would take 25 sales to earn $50 So let's keep it simple. By having multiples of the same product that meet this criteria we can take one set of photographs, one product description, one auction ad and use the same ad over and over again and use multiple distribution channels. Because, when I work with a student to develop a specific product line I like to look for a Niche that either has good up sell potential for other related products or services.
