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January 30, 2006
Gucci Mania Offers Items To Sell On eBay
There is a mania in our culture for brand names and like George Orwell says in Animal Farm, "Some names are more equal than others". (OK, OK ... I know you've got to have read the book for that reference to make any sense!).
Anyway, some designer names have fashion-conscious people drooling on themselves and Gucci is one of those. To understand the designer market, we checked out a lot of Gucci products, including this "$3450 GUCCI 'S ALEXANDER MCQUEEN SUIT".
The kinds of designer products with a strong market on eBay are truly amazing. There are:
* Gucci suits for both men and women like the $3450 suit available for $898
* Gucci purses and discounted Gucci handbags that sell for half off - or more - on eBay
* Naturally, your feet must be well shod in (most high heeled ... groan) Gucci boots
* Even the kids and the teen set get into the act with Gucci backpacks and Gucci cell phone faceplates. I have to figure, though, that the adults prefer the faceplates. Surely the kids like jazzier and more colorful ones?
At any rate, there is a strong buyer's market for any seller who is interested in pursuing the designer market and who has found suppliers for these products.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 5:20 PM
January 28, 2006
More On The Million Dollar Homepage
On January 16, I had an entry on the Million Dollar Homepage and its auction of the last 1,000 pixels for $38,000. I thought that the sale price was amazing and a not-so-great purchase for the buyer. What I didn't know is that the owner, Alex Tew, was disappointed!
It seems that lots of bids were much higher, but either they were withdrawn or they were fakes.
I don't really feel sorry for the owner because the prices were vastly inflated beyond their real value, IMHO. But it's tough to expect a bigger payday and be disappointed.
Bid history:
Ebay ID llatentauthor: bid $153,000.00 - retracted his bid because "Seller changed the description of the item". (Do you believe that excuse?)
lost.river.trader: $160,000.00 - entered wrong amount
ast1155td: $175,000 - entered wrong amount
$25,000,000: fake bid
$6,000,000: fake bid
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 11:13 AM
January 27, 2006
Internet Sales Tax Efforts Getting Serious
The Internet sales tax has reared its ugly head again! The off-line retailers claim their grievances about the lack of a Net tax, but they have advantages that we web sellers don't have. For instance, buyers are much more likely to walk out of the store with a purchase if they can actually touch and see a sweater or set of towels.
I also think the government might get a shock when this thing is finally passed. The Internet is thriving and one of the healthiest parts of our already-weak economy. A sales tax will definitely damage the economic health of the US.
It's just a matter of time, though. When has a government ever not had its hand out for more money?
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 3:09 PM
January 25, 2006
Discount Memory Foam Mattress = Good eBay Seller
The diiscount memory foam mattress that is in every magazine and on the TV shopping channels and informercials not surprisingly is a strong seller on eBay. And along with the memory foam mattress are all kinds of discounted accessories like pillows and mattress pads:
Memory foam is made of a special type of foam called visco-elastic. The claims for this material are fantastic: it will support your body better, reduce pressure on certain body-points like knees and shoulders, ease or eliminate back pain and in general provide a more restful and deeper night's sleep. No wonder it's popular!
On the down side, I am uncomfortable with the chemicals in foams and prefer bedding that is as natural and organic as possible. Still, I know that I am in a minority and as an eBay seller, my goal has to give customers what they want, rather than what I want. By that standard, the discount memory foam mattress is a definite winner.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 11:46 AM
January 23, 2006
Auction Genius Student Blogs His Progress!
In a 'first' for the Auction Genius Course, one of the class members is blogging his way through the system. Brilliant and funny Mark McClean is working with his wife Janet to become an eBay superstar. In his most hilarious entry yet, Mark discusses his Cloak Of Power:
And yes, it's very funny, but there is a lot of truth to what he is saying.
"So this is my recommendation to my entire fellow Auction Genius Class. Cut the humble pie, admit you need some extra confidence and if you don’t have one go out and buy a CLOAK OF POWER, I mean Topcoat for yourself. Wear it when you feel shy or intimidated by those mean old Suppliers looking to take advantage of you.
Women may I suggest a CAPE OF POWER."
Symbols have been important to humans since we were crawling around in caves (if you don't believe that, check out some of the cave art.) So if a cloak or cape - or whatever - adds to our personal confidence, it's definitely worth having. Hey, even Superman likes his cloak!
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 12:14 PM
January 21, 2006
Bushnell Digital Camera Binoculars Are A Revelation
Jeez, I am so out of it! Bushnell digital camera binoculars are a complete revelation to me. I had no idea there was such a gizmo on the market!
First let’s explain what Bushnell digital camera binoculars are: they’re gadgets that let you film exactly what you’re looking at using binoculars. They combine two different things – binoculars and a digital camera. The user won’t need to switch from one to another, losing precious occasions for taking a picture only because they were using binoculars instead of a camera at that moment.
Who would want such a thing? I can think of a few off the top of my head:
1. Bird watchers
2. Event watchers, like concerts, plays
3. Sports fans
Obviously, they're a niche market and won't appeal to the general public who doesn't need them. And besides, they're not cheap. But isn't a niche market EXACTLY what we're all looking for?
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 11:55 AM
January 20, 2006
Advantages To Problem Solving Techniques
There are lots of advantages to problem solving techniques. That is, a specific, formalized, "ritualized" way to approach problem solving. What I'm talking about is a method that you can use each and every time you have a problem to solve, or some critical thinking to undertake. I'm always looking for "systems", for methodical ways to approach anything and everything in my business and life. Otherwise, every time we have a problem we have to start over, in terms of finding answers. I am 100% positive that's NOT necessary.
No one is more adept at explaining and stirring up your thought juices than Paul Myers. No matter what I'm doing, when I see an email from Paul, I read it. The gem below has all kinds of problem solving treasures, so even though it's long, read it carefully. You are certain to benefit from it. Take it away Paul!
- - -
One of the most common expressions we hear in modern life is the old cliche, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade."
That means, of course, that you should look for ways to turn problems into advantages.
Lovely thought. But most people haven't a clue how to do it in anything like a consistent fashion. I'm going to show you how, and make it easy in the process.
Ready?
....
I'll give you two examples to get you started.
The first happened recently. Someone we'll call Jerry emailed me with a question. It boiled down to a common enough situation.
Jerry had done a lot of work for a client in creating a web site and promotional materials, along with search engine pages that were ranking pretty well.
The client, whether through malice or misunderstanding, didn't want to pay for the work. Jerry wanted to know how to go about collecting from the client, and whether he was being unreasonable in how he was looking at the situation.
I looked at the emails from the client, and it was immediately clear that there was no sense talking to him any further. For whatever reason, he had stopped listening and was in repetitive redundancy mode. Same response, no matter what was said to him.
That's a huge Clue: Dump the client.
Be nice if possible, be rude if necessary, but dump the client.
The only real exceptions to that rule are cases where you can wake the client up (unlikely) or where there's a lot of money involved, you have a good lawyer, a clear and unbeatable signed contract, and you don't mind losing huge amounts of time to win a Pyrrhic victory.
Way too little money invested to be worth it in this case.
....
So, I asked myself: Can this content be used by Jerry or sold to someone else?
Selling to someone else would have been problematic, for a number of reasons. But...
I thought about it for a few minutes, looked at the competition for the original client, and spotted two different
ways that Jerry could make a lot more for his time investment than the client would ever have paid him.
The first was to have the product duplicated and use the existing copy to sell a new version. That didn't present a
challenge, as the original was based on open source code that anyone can use, and it is not an unusual or original product.
The cost to create a better product would have been $200 or less. The residual income would be more on a monthly basis than the total investment in both marketing collateral and product development.
Not a bad deal.
The second was to spend an hour or so lightly editing the content and using it to promote a simple and effective
affiliate product. I'd estimate that the monthly residual income from using the site and pages that way would be more than the one-time income from creating it.
Also not a bad deal.
Both methods could make Jerry's lemon into some sweet, not to mention self-refilling, lemonade.
....
Here is the de-mystified process for turning lemons into lemonade. Ask two questions:
1. What assets exist in this situation?
2. How can those assets be used in different and more productive ways than originally planned?
Yeah. It's that simple.
....
So, how do you recognize the assets in a situation? Virtual assets are one of three Cs:
Content, contacts or capabilities.
That's it.
Content is whatever the visitor can see in a browser or download to their computer.
Contacts include people the project gives you existing and/or probable access to. That means known individuals, traffic, and leads or subscribers likely to be generated by the work.
It also means affiliate programs that are appropriate to use within the context of the site or other content.
Capabilities are usually a function of software or bandwidth. Autoresponders, graphic rendering, audio streaming, product delivery, etc.
It can be very easy to miss things when considering what assets are available. Use that list to help jog your memory.
....
Let's look at a different kind of lemon: Marketing approaches that are questionable, whether because of real ethical problems or simply perceptions you don't want to create.
Here's one that happened recently.
An author was doing a promotion for his new book on lead generation. He's the one who offered 0ver $52,000 in "free gifts" (207 of them) for buying his $14.95 paperback book through Amazon. The proceeds are going to Habitat for Humanity.
Before I get started here, I should mention that I don't think the people running the promotion have anything but honest intentions, and I absolutely believe that the money raised will go to Habitat.
You can read about the offer at:
http://www.theultimateleadgenerationplan.com/
That said, there are some real problems with this campaign.
The first is the requirement that people sign up for another list for most of the "free gifts." Yes, there are a lot of marketers who will say that's to be expected. The problem is, it's not stated up front.
It's also not something most people would expect when they hear that gifts have been donated to help a charity. In fact, the page says:
"The partners that have provided these bonuses have learned what you will learn in 'The Ultimate Lead Generation Plan' and are excited to share this gifts without cost or obligation when you order at least one copy of this amazing book."
That copy specifically says "or obligation." When I looked at the list of gifts and checked the links, a big percentage required a subscription.
That is an obligation. Not a huge one for any one gift, but an obligation nonetheless. And if someone wanted to take advantage of all they'd been promised, they'd have had to sign up for a
whole lot of lists.
I was rather surprised at the number of people who simply made their offers available without sign-up, and asked for the subscription separately. I had an interesting reaction to that. It made them look better, and the ones who didn't live up to the promise look worse, at the same time.
All that would have been necessary to prevent the "looking worse" would have been to mention the requirements up front.
Or leave them out.
....
The page also claims this to be "the largest online book launch in history." I don't know quite what they base that claim on, but it seems a little premature, given that it was made before the launch started.
That's not really serious, as it has nothing to do with the offer made to the visitor. It just struck me as... odd.
....
Then there are the "gifts" themselves. I saw several there that I'm pretty sure never sold for what the claimed "value" is, if they were sold at all. Not something I can prove, but it did create an unpleasant impression of the people offering them.
The "gifts" cover just about every subject you can imagine that could relate to business. And a few that relate only in the most indirect ways. It's a hodge-podge of topics and suppliers.
....
If you already see the problems with this, the next question is, how do you use the same promotional strategy without getting caught up in the challenges that exist here?
You'd use the same process you'd apply to adapt a promotional system from another industry, or to fix one that's become outdated or less effective in your own.
1. Define your purpose.
2. Clarify the situation.
a. Identify the goal of each section of the process.
b. Identify the problems that keep it from being what you want.
c. Determine what needs to be changed (tweaked).
3. Sharpen the contrast between the resulting process and the flawed one it came from.
4. Fine-tune and roll it out.
Now, let's apply this formula to the "Amazon Best Seller" process that was used in the promotion I described earlier and see what we come up with.
....
First, the purpose.
The "best seller" label was clearly one of them, as evidenced by this tagline from the end of one of the emails I got as a result of buying the book:
#1 Best Selling Author (...Because of you)
... and, from another email:
#1 Best Selling Author of... The Ultimate Lead Generation Plan
I haven't yet seen anything pointing toward this being an affiliate recruiting process. I haven't seen any back end offers, but they're almost certainly in the wings waiting.
So, we'll assume the author's purpose is to get the "best seller" label, raise money for Habitat, and build a list for future offers.
The money for Habitat is a Good Thing. No problem there.
The "best seller" label is problematic. It is misleading when viewed by anyone who assumes it to have been achieved according to normal standards.
Building a list of customers is good, but you have to wonder if it will be as responsive if the buyers feel the same way I did when they see what's involved in the "free gifts."
That potential reaction could well be amplified by the fact that a charity was involved. People may feel that the charity was only used to get them in the door, so the author and the partners offering "gifts" could get exposure to more people.
I have no way of knowing if that's going to be a large problem or not. The author doesn't, either, since so few people will usually be annoyed enough by these things to say much about it.
Thing is, it doesn't have to be even a potential problem.
More on that later.
....
For the contributors, the purpose is almost certainly to get more leads.
The way this thing is set up, it encourages people to whoop and holler to get the attention of visitors to the download page. After all, they're competing with 206 other people to get the sign-ups before the visitor decides they've had enough.
That creates pressure to exaggerate, while needing to keep the descriptions short. The main way that manifests is in large "retail value" statements. Those lead to inflated expectations, untargeted sign-ups, and unnecessary skepticism.
This situation also encourages people to use throw-away email addresses. Mailboxes that exist only to grab what they can from such promotions, without having to read the stuff they don't
really want.
It also makes it tough for the visitor to find the things they're really interested in. That doesn't help anyone, and results in leads that are much less targeted than they might otherwise be.
And, since they're liable to end up signing up for things that aren't very targeted, the partners are likely to encounter the effects of lead exhaustion even if they don't themselves over-mail them.
This is... less than optimal.
....
Okay. We know the purposes and the problems. Now what?
That's the trick after all, innit?
First, the changes I'd make to the back end.
I'd organize the bonuses by category, so people could choose things that better fit their interests. I'd forbid any reference to retail pricing at all, and suggest that partners write up a strong benefit statement instead. Tell them what they'll get from the bonus, in clear terms that actually fit what's being offered.
Have an idea in mind of how each category fits with the product you're promoting.
If you have the technical capability, I'd suggest wiring it in to the notifications you receive from your payment processor. Send a password to the email address used for the order, and tie it in to that address. If that's beyond your technical chops, let them create the username and password after ordering, but again, make sure it's tied to the email address.
The idea behind using the address they give when they order is simple: It avoids the problem of throw-away addresses.
When they request any bonus, an email should be sent to the list they're signing up for, and they should have to confirm the subscription to get the download link. (Don't worry. We'll tell them up front they're going to be subscribing.)
Tell them what will be getting sent to them, and how often. Before they subscribe.
Limit the number of bonuses they can get with each order. A maximum of 10 is a nice number for this. Make them choose and everyone will end up with much better leads.
If it's a charity thing, it might be a nice touch to have a counter showing approximately how much money has been raised over how long a period of time.
Starting to see where I'm going with this?
....
Okay. Now for the front end.
The landing page for the promotion is going to sell the offer. That's where you set the expectations for your prospective customers. If you want the offer to be a success for you AND your partners, it's a good idea to put more effort into it than just, "Buy my book (it's great) and we'll give you a Zillion Bucks worth of free stuff!"
It doesn't have to be 40 pages, but it should be a real sales letter.
The book is going to be inexpensive in most cases, usually under $20 for this sort of promotion. A few paragraphs of well-written copy and some endorsements is enough.
Think about it... Do you really need much more than that to buy a $20 hard-copy book in a bookstore?
....
Next, you tell them you're going to give them cool extra stuff for buying on the day of the promotion. Or through whatever link you want. Whatever your requirements are.
Immediately tell them why.
Tell them what's in it for you. For example:
"I bet my brother-in-law a case of beer that I could sell 1000 copies of my book in the first (day|week|whatever). He's a pain in the butt, and always hassling my wife about my business. We do well, but he's got her forever worried. I intend to shut him up for good."
You could just as easily say, "I want to kick this book off right, so I got some friends to help me out."
Any reason will work, as long as it's true and believable.
It helps somewhat if the audience can empathize with your goal. People with online businesses all know someone like the brother-in-law in the example above. ;)
....
Now you tell them why your partners are helping you promote the book. One approach to this might be:
"My book provides the basis for helping a lot of businesses. I want to make sure you get as much as possible out of your purchase, so I approached some folks I know who can provide more specialized information, no matter what field you're in.
"I put together a collection of 207 products that you can choose from. But we all know that the folks who need the information the most will grab as much as they can, and will get confused by that much stuff sitting on their hard drives. What you really need is a good start and ongoing expert training.
"So, we've set it up so you can pick any 10 of the bonuses. Along with each of them, you'll get updates on the topic, in the form of a newsletter from each person whose work you find relevant to what you need to learn most to build your business.
"The bonuses include..."
Then give a solid outline of the categories and some of the actual bonuses.
The sample copy above is rough, but it makes the point.
It creates scarcity for a very real and believable reason. It makes the subscriptions sound like what they (hopefully) are - ongoing help toward success.
It makes the whole deal much clearer, and gets rid of any possible feelings of having been misled.
It does something else that's pretty handy, too.
....
If you want to raise money for a charity with your roll-out, you can do that. But what about later?
Well, if you can arrange bonuses that are available on an ongoing basis, you can use the "create your own bonus package" as a tool for affiliates.
This is especially powerful if you can get the partners to create or offer bonuses that really aren't available elsewhere.
Why would they do that? Well, think about it...
Anyone grabbing those bonuses through your page is someone they know spends money online and has a strong enough interest in the topic to choose them over the 200 other people offering stuff.
That's not a bad thing, right?
I'll take those leads. All day long.
How about you?
....
Some people will suggest that it might be harder to get people to contribute bonuses if they don't think they're going to get a high percentage of the people buying your book to subscribe to their lists.
Maybe. Depends on how you approach them. If you tell them how you're going to arrange the offer, the smart ones will realize that they're going to get highly targeted prospects who actually buy things related to their fields.
If you let them know you're planning on keeping the offer open for everyone who ever buys your book online, the ones who would have done it for a one-shot deal would be silly to refuse.
But wait... there's more!
....
If you have a book on something with wide appeal like, say, lead generation, this adds significantly to your affiliate marketing power. You could create special landing pages focusing on how your book could help people in XYZ field, and highlight the additional bonuses available that would appeal to people in that market.
By the way, if you sell general market products, there's a serious pointer in that last paragraph... ;)
....
There's a lot more I could add to this, but I've already gone on for almost 3000 words.
That's how you fix broken or less than optimal processes. If you don't think this applies to you, take a few minutes and re- read this with your own business in mind. There is nothing here that can't be applied to virtually every business that operates online. And most of the ones offline, too.
There ya go. Paul's secret recipe for lemonade.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 9:17 AM
January 19, 2006
Considering the Outsourcing Option?
Are you considering the outsourcing option? We started outsourcing some work several months ago and can report that our experience has been overwhelming positive!
I have heard some horror stories abut outsourcing, but we have obviously been very fortunate because we found two great people on our first try and would like to introduce you to ... (drum roll) ... Bartosz and Anna!
Our most desperate need has been for someone to write articles for our sites. We first found Bartosz, who lives in Poland. We are very pleased with the quality of the articles he writes for us and the speed with which he turns them out. In fact, it's hard to keep up with him in getting them all posted on our sites. (nice 'problem' to have! :-)
As we have worked together, Bartosz has understood what we want and the articles are better and better. We are very pleased with his writing.
He also introduced us to Anna, his fiance, who has gotten links for us and edited books.
As a business grows, owners are faced with the necessity of getting some help. Ooutsourcing can solve two problems:
1. There simply aren't enough hours in the day to do everything yourself.
2. No one can be an expert in everything. That is why some companies outsource such efforts as search engine optimization or graphic art.
We have a graphic artist that we used several times on an outsource basis and our experience has been 100% positive with her, too. She provides occasional assistance, while Bartosz is our ongoing writer. We hope he will remain with us as long as we're in business. One of the most amazing things about Bartosz and Anna is how well they speak English. Writing articles in the language of another country shows an amazing mastery. I'm ashamed to admit that I couldn't say a single word if I were in Poland.
We can heartily recommend the outsourcing option, and if you have had a bad experience, persist until you find some wonderful people, as we have done. They're out there.
Bartosz and Anna are getting married in July and we sincerely wish them decades of happiness together.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 11:37 AM
January 17, 2006
Genuine Vintage Chanel Jewelry In Short Supply
Genuine vintage Chanel jewelry is in short supply on eBay, yet the demand does exist for the authentic stuff. That is, if you want to sell it, you'd better be able to prove its authenticity.
Chanel died decades ago and there is a surviving Chanel company that constantly churns out new pieces and clothing, etc. But the jewelry that Chanel herself created has the really pricey tag. Of course, like any vintage market, inventory is the biggest problem. After all, there's no #800 for antiques, collectibles and the like. Still, for those who love this kind of market, it's a lucrative one.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 12:08 PM
January 16, 2006
Selling On eBay Auction Reaches Frantic Heights
Check out this truly amazing auction. I have to say the seller is an expert at selling on eBay, even though I have serious doubts about the wisdom of buying what he has to offer.
Here's the deal: the seller has a site named MillionDollarHomepage.com. He started a trend by selling pixel space on this page. According to him, his site has been mentioned on CNN, Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, MSNBC, ABC News, Fox News, BBC, MSN, Yahoo. He's sold 999,000 (obviously, he had one million pixels on the page) and has been selling the last 1,000 pixels on eBay.
The amazing thing is that he started the auction at $1, and with 99 bids it reached the amazing price of $38,100.00.
The interest this auction has generated is truly amazing:
What I can't figure out, though, is what USE this is to a web owner? This page is nothing but a curiosity, I would think. Also, the 1,000 pixels represent 1,000 links, but they're pretty useless from a search engine point of view. No SE is going to give a site credit for 1,000 links all from the same page.
Am I missing something here?
And if I were the buyer of the auction goodies I would be nervous. The seller "guarantees" the site will be up for at least five years. But I tried to log on this morning and got a 404 page. If I were the buyer, I would be pretty darned nervous.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 10:59 AM
January 15, 2006
Land Survey Equipment Ideal eBay Niche
Land survey equipment is a small, but ideal niche on eBay. Not well known, it offers great potential to sellers who can find a source for the appropriate equipment:
Why is it an ideal niche? Because ...
1. It's small but the equipment is expensive
2. There is virtually no competition
3. There isn't likely to BE much competition because it's so unknown and unheard of
4. It's a market for a specialist
In short: land survey equipment is the perfect eBay niche. The kind people always rave about but rarely find.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 11:54 AM
January 13, 2006
Clean Solar Energy In Australia
It is obvious that we need clean energy on this planet! With holes in the ozone, global warming and increasing ferocious weather, how can we humans be so blind as to go on in the same old, same old? A fascinating project in Australia offers an alternative.
The Solar Mission Project will produce an energy output approximately equivalent to a small nuclear power station - without damaging the environment and without all the risks of nuclear energy. Fascinating and certainly worthwhile.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 11:19 AM
January 12, 2006
Bushnell Scopes, Leupold Scopes and Swarovski Rifle Scopes Great eBay Sellers
Bushnell, Leupold and Swarovski rifle scopes are a great market on eBay. There are a couple of reasons for this:
First, demand is strong for hunting equipment. Personally, I'm very sorry about this and the argument that we humans are ''saving'' the deer by killing them has always seemed absurd to me. But nevertheless, there are a lot of avid hunters and they will spend Big Bucks on their hobby.
Secondly, there are a lot of regulations about selling guns on the Net. Rifles scopes don't fall under those rules so it's a much easier market.
As often on eBay and other Internet stores, there is more money in accessories than the actual equipment itself.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 11:01 AM
January 10, 2006
Review of the Miracle Foot Acupuncture Machine
I recently used the "Miracle Foot Acupuncture" machine at the home of a friend and was horrified with the experience. I am absolutely sold on products from the alternative medicine field and was delighted to try out a new one.
The Miracle Foot Acupuncture machine claims to be 12 years in the making and to "stimulate 36 points of acupressure on each foot, this product, without pain, and for 5-min. a day, will assuage 72 different 21st century adult bodily health problem areas". Not!
Honestly, the pain was rather intense and I saw no results. In fact, as far as my experience goes, it doesn't live up to a single claim. So much for selling this contraption on eBay! Don't do it!
To read my review, go here:
Miracle Foot Acupuncture Review
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 12:58 PM
January 9, 2006
Prada Laptop Bag Sales Boon To Buyers
A Prada laptop bag auction is not only a great niche for sellers, but it's really a boon to buyers.
When my kids were young enough to haul a backpack to school every day, I bought inexpensive ones at WalMart and similar places. But I was constantly replacing the darned things because they didn't last long. So one year I actually paid the money for two really high quality ones from American Eagle. Those bags lasted for years and were, in the end, a much better buy than all the cheap ones.
If you carry your laptop everywhere, a Prada bag won't disintegrate in no time the way the so-called bargains do. But what a pricetag! Up to $600 for those goodies. So eBay is a real boon to buyers, but the demand is very, very strong so sellers can profit, too. The best of both worlds. How sweet it is.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 1:47 PM
January 8, 2006
Your Home Business Career
Naturally, any home business career includes work. There is more to work, though, than just what you do. So, I started a Home Business Career blog to share my ideas on this subject.
Obviously, the first place to start is to figure out exactly what "work" is. Checking the dictionary I discovered the following synonyms:
* chore
* daily grind
* donkeywork
* drudge
* drudgery
* elbow grease
* grind
* grindstone
* moil
* muscle
* obligation
* pains
* rat race
* salt mines
* scutwork
* servitude
* slavery
* slogging
* stress
* striving
* struggle
* sweat
* toil
* travail
* trial
* trouble
"Holy Hannah, Batman!" That's a pretty negative set of words. No wonder 'work' has such a bad rep. I would like to propose an alternate definition from my mentor Tim Gallwey, author of the Inner Game Of Work. Tim suggests that work has three components:
1. Achievement
2. Learning
3. Fun
In our society, we're focused almost exclusively on #1, getting things done. Learning comes in a grudging second, only because it's necessary to achieve #1. And as for fun ...
Yet, for some of us, enjoying what we do has a high priority. In fact, that was the entire motivation behind my personal decision to become an entrepreneur. That is, what I was doing didn't resonate with me anymore.
I have lots more ideas on this subject, so if you'd like to comment, feel free.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 1:37 PM
January 6, 2006
Coach Boots Big eBay Sellers ... But Comfort???
I've recently been studying a lot of designer auctions, since they're quite good sellers, in addition to being good deals for their buyers. And, especially in this cold season, Coach boots are hot, hot, hot. I certainly am happy for both parties in a successful transaction, but I have to wonder why women torture their feet by wearing some of today's styles:
Of course, since I only wear clogs, which are socially acceptable bedroom slippers, it's obvious that I'm not a candidate for this kind of footwear. I'm sure it's almost exclusively young women who wear these. If they could see the steady stream of customers to the local chiropractor's office, perhaps they would rethink their choices.
Fortunately, all Coach boots aren't that miserable and they're a good seller market on eBay.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 12:39 PM
January 5, 2006
New Auction Genius Course Begins Saturday, January 7
This Satuday, January 7, we begin our 18th live Auction Genius Course. It's hard to believe that we've already done this 17 times, but 'tis true. We began back in June of 2001, which on the Net, is an eon ago.
Recently, we added a challenge to our readers. One of our jobs is to get out students out of the mindset of seeing eBay as just a giant flea market. It has many other uses. So see if you can rise to the challenge ...
This is an enormously profitable online store for us ... eBay is a HUGE part of the reason. See if you can figure out how we're using eBay to build this store:
This eBook sells for only 99 cents and all the profits go to the Boys & Girls Club Of America. In other words, I make $0 directly from these auctions. Yet ...
1. There are THREE separate income streams
2. We've never made less than $500/month - and often thousands of dollars
3. The auctions don't cost us a single, solitary cent
4. We haven't spent even five minutes on these since they started selling in February, 2005
Do you see?
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 12:05 PM
January 3, 2006
Avoid eBay Fraud With Simple Safeguards
In the past holiday season, the largest purchases were in the clothing industry, and designer clothes are always glittering, enticing favorites. Naturally, we all want bargain prices on our clothing and so millions turn to eBay. But how, if you want to avoid eBay fraud, can you be sure that you're not buying replicas, instead of the real thing?
I did some research on this using authentic Chanel purses and handbags, just to figure out what to look for to avoid fakes. The good news is that there are definitely clues, like this Chanel serial number:
I've never had a Chanel handbag and will never have one because I'm not interested in that sort of purchase. But, if I were going to invest the money, I would certainly take the time to gather the facts before putting out any money. It certainly wasn't hard to find what Chanel does to its handbags to make them distinctive. So, anyone investing in a major purchase should take the time to do the same, rather than relying on a website to keep you safe from the bad guys.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 1:46 PM