Wow. Time flies, or at least in my world of blogging it does. Since my earlier post on Applying What Affiliate Masters Course Taught Me I've been continuing to read the reference material I'll be using with my website creation. Having just recently completed this step, I'm now venturing on with a quick study of the SBI Action Guide. Basically this is the guide that you receive when you buy your website package from SBI. Of course, the tools that come with the site aren't activated, but it's a good opportunity to see what to expect. Since I like to read, I chose the printed guide, but they do offer the SBI Action Guide Video for those who prefer to "see" the information.
As it stands now, I'm planning to purchase my website package no later than June 9th, 2009. Why then? As you can read about in one of my first blog posts: Auctions For Income, June 9th will mark the 1 year date of when I first began my fore into Internet Marketing. Having a goal is one thing, but having a bonafide reason for a particular date is very inspiring for me.
Here's to living life in the slow lane. It might be taking a while, but I'm still moving towards my goal of an honest way to make money online!
Showing posts with label Auctions For Income. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Auctions For Income. Show all posts
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
What About Dropshipping?
In the last post, before the "Ike Interruption", I wrote about Looking to Yesterday to Find Tomorrow. Well, shortly after experiencing the "feeling good" that resulted from gaining a more clear perspective about who I was, where I had been, and where I wanted to go, I still couldn't help, at the same time, but to begin feeling a bit low and frustrated at my inability to connect with a way to make money on the internet. My husband was aware that I was trying to find my own niche, and one morning we started doing a little brain storming on this subject. Knowing I have a special love and connection to a certain "interest", we started discussing how I might focus on that area in a way I could build a business online. Now, we both agreed that the key that would best fit our lifestyle would be to find a way to not have to deal with physically pre-purchasing inventory, or, if avoidable, even personally being involved in the shipping of tangible products. So, our thoughts drifted towards the idea of dropshipping. In theory it sounded promising. Sell products, send orders to the wholesaler, and then have them to drop the order directly to the consumer. It could work. Hailing back to some of what I had learned in the Auctions For Income program, I headed to the computer to find what companies carried the specific types of products I would want to sell, and more importantly, which ones dropshipped.
To do my research, I began to check out the dropshipping companies I had bookmarked that had been suggested in the Auctions For Income course. A few had some products that fell under the category I was researching, but the quality and style was not at all what I had in mind. Also, the prices did not strike me as being anywhere close to what I thought would be wholesale. The more I looked, the more I began to suspect that many of these "dropshippers" suggested by the Auctions For Income program were probably people who had put together their own "dropshipping" store of products sold by other dropshippers…for not only did the higher prices make me think this, but also because the same products were showing up over and over from one vender to the other. Ok, so with my initial list of dropshipping companies exhausted (and removed from my computer bookmarks) the next step was to start looking at the specific products that I wanted to represent and see if I could deal directly with the manufacturer.
After a day of research and finding who to contact then sending e-mails to see if the companies did dropship, I began thinking about the fact that to do this, I would need to build a website. This website would have to be able to take orders, so I'd need a shopping cart program. The question of sales tax tugged at me…who would collect it and pay it? Where should I host my site? How will I drive traffic to this site? Oh yeah, how would I successfully build this wonderful website dedicated to my very special purpose when I'm not a web designer? Ok, no pressure. (Right!) About this same time my husband and I had been seeing a TV commercial advertising a company selling pre-constructed websites. They were promoted as "ready to go money-making sites". You would get some pre-built, and others you could fill with content of your choosing. Well, highly suspecting this offer would turn out to be nothing but a bunch of malarkey, I decided to finish off any speculations by calling the number. The pre-recorded message was such a hard sell "give us your credit card number now", without any live person to talk to or even a website to go to (yet remember, they are selling websites), I was very motivated to check them out on the internet and see if they had been reported to RipOffReport.com . Not only did I find they had already been reported, but I was able to find a few "scam" reviews of the company as well.
I really wasn't that bothered that the company came out to be as much a scam as we suspected it would be, but, I was a bit disheartened that I felt like I finally had an original idea (my special interest "niche") and really didn't know how I was going to do anything with it! Oh, and after checking my e-mails, I found that most of my ideal manufacturers did not dropship, though a few did. One even mentioned something called their "affiliate program", but since I had no idea what they were talking about I didn't dig into it any further. Before I contacted any more companies, I wanted to figure out how I would be able to build and promote my business. The last thing I wanted to do was create some good business contacts then let them grow cold because I was not prepared, educated or knowledgeable about how to proceed and actually do business.
Since my mind was "warmed up" to be searching online, I started researching for any and all pieces of information relating to building an online business or for work at home opportunities I could find. Oh my stars, what a minefield. Have you ever just sat down and searched online for terms like "work from home", “make money online", "how to make money online"? If you try it, you'd be wise to put yourself and your computer on high ground first, for you will be flooded with a sea of opportunities…mind you, I didn't say good opportunities. With all the results that reeked of hype, get rich quick schemes, and shady looking sites, I decided that a bit more fine tuning of what I wanted to find was in need. Instead of continuing to wade through all this waste water (just to stay in line with my little analogy I have going on!), I decided to go offline, and think. What did I want to achieve? What was it I was really searching for online? In order to keep myself from falling victim to a poor choice or worse yet, a scam, I had to have a well defined idea of what it was I was seeking to obtain at this point of trying to build my online business.
There were two points I was clear on:
1. I had a solid idea on what I wanted to build my business around.
2. I accepted that I had little to no knowledge on how to get started building my online business.
What I was seeking online:
1. I wanted a program that would teach me how to build an online business.
i. The program would have to offer me true knowledge, details, explanations, examples and instructions.
2. I wanted a program that was honest.
With my goals clearly defined, I set out to find my teacher.
To do my research, I began to check out the dropshipping companies I had bookmarked that had been suggested in the Auctions For Income course. A few had some products that fell under the category I was researching, but the quality and style was not at all what I had in mind. Also, the prices did not strike me as being anywhere close to what I thought would be wholesale. The more I looked, the more I began to suspect that many of these "dropshippers" suggested by the Auctions For Income program were probably people who had put together their own "dropshipping" store of products sold by other dropshippers…for not only did the higher prices make me think this, but also because the same products were showing up over and over from one vender to the other. Ok, so with my initial list of dropshipping companies exhausted (and removed from my computer bookmarks) the next step was to start looking at the specific products that I wanted to represent and see if I could deal directly with the manufacturer.
After a day of research and finding who to contact then sending e-mails to see if the companies did dropship, I began thinking about the fact that to do this, I would need to build a website. This website would have to be able to take orders, so I'd need a shopping cart program. The question of sales tax tugged at me…who would collect it and pay it? Where should I host my site? How will I drive traffic to this site? Oh yeah, how would I successfully build this wonderful website dedicated to my very special purpose when I'm not a web designer? Ok, no pressure. (Right!) About this same time my husband and I had been seeing a TV commercial advertising a company selling pre-constructed websites. They were promoted as "ready to go money-making sites". You would get some pre-built, and others you could fill with content of your choosing. Well, highly suspecting this offer would turn out to be nothing but a bunch of malarkey, I decided to finish off any speculations by calling the number. The pre-recorded message was such a hard sell "give us your credit card number now", without any live person to talk to or even a website to go to (yet remember, they are selling websites), I was very motivated to check them out on the internet and see if they had been reported to RipOffReport.com . Not only did I find they had already been reported, but I was able to find a few "scam" reviews of the company as well.
I really wasn't that bothered that the company came out to be as much a scam as we suspected it would be, but, I was a bit disheartened that I felt like I finally had an original idea (my special interest "niche") and really didn't know how I was going to do anything with it! Oh, and after checking my e-mails, I found that most of my ideal manufacturers did not dropship, though a few did. One even mentioned something called their "affiliate program", but since I had no idea what they were talking about I didn't dig into it any further. Before I contacted any more companies, I wanted to figure out how I would be able to build and promote my business. The last thing I wanted to do was create some good business contacts then let them grow cold because I was not prepared, educated or knowledgeable about how to proceed and actually do business.
Since my mind was "warmed up" to be searching online, I started researching for any and all pieces of information relating to building an online business or for work at home opportunities I could find. Oh my stars, what a minefield. Have you ever just sat down and searched online for terms like "work from home", “make money online", "how to make money online"? If you try it, you'd be wise to put yourself and your computer on high ground first, for you will be flooded with a sea of opportunities…mind you, I didn't say good opportunities. With all the results that reeked of hype, get rich quick schemes, and shady looking sites, I decided that a bit more fine tuning of what I wanted to find was in need. Instead of continuing to wade through all this waste water (just to stay in line with my little analogy I have going on!), I decided to go offline, and think. What did I want to achieve? What was it I was really searching for online? In order to keep myself from falling victim to a poor choice or worse yet, a scam, I had to have a well defined idea of what it was I was seeking to obtain at this point of trying to build my online business.
There were two points I was clear on:
1. I had a solid idea on what I wanted to build my business around.
2. I accepted that I had little to no knowledge on how to get started building my online business.
What I was seeking online:
1. I wanted a program that would teach me how to build an online business.
i. The program would have to offer me true knowledge, details, explanations, examples and instructions.
2. I wanted a program that was honest.
With my goals clearly defined, I set out to find my teacher.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Auctions For Income
Well, on June 9, 2008, my husband presented me with a surprise. Knowing how much I had wanted to try my hand at selling on EBay, but not knowing how to get started, he had purchased a program that promised to teach me just how to achieve these goals. The program was called Auctions For Income, and the kit consisted of several books, a quick start CD and a web address for assistance and coaching. I was really excited, and began looking over the information right away. The topics of the books ranged on how to get familiar with EBay, selling your personal household items, how and where to purchase items for resale, and even how to find drop-ship companies to buy products from. Oh, one book was devoted to finding items through foreclosure and government seizures. All the possibilities outlined in the books sounded interesting, but before getting into all that, the first thing I wanted to do was get going and sell at least one thing that I already owned!
Having this program was really helpful in that I had something I could look at in the book and follow along with while I was simultaneously seeing the same thing live on the EBay site. Sort of like a "tutor". Within a short time I had a better feeling for how to navigate and do research on EBay, look for past performance on auctions for products I was considering selling, strategy for setting prices and even how to research the "hot" items that were in demand. The tips on writing effective ad copy were helpful, as well as knowing that there are better times of day and days of the week to start and end the auction.
Within 6 days I was ready to post my first auction item! Wanting to make my first auction as likely to be a success as I could, the item I chose was of the type that research had shown had a really high likelihood of selling: Brand new Antivirus software. We had gotten the software with the purchase of another product, but did not need it, so, never opened it. It seems people are always on the lookout for this type of item, at a good price. My first auction was set to open June 15th and run for a week. Of course it was enticing to check out the listing and see how many views it had and how many bids, if any. It really did not surprise me that the bids were slow to start, for most people who have participated in auctions have figured out not to drive the price up with early bidding. When I saw that I had 2 people "watching" the product, I was pleased! On the last day of the auction, about 3 hours before the ending time, bidding began, and by the end there were 5 people bidding. The final sales price was a nice surprise, and setting up to receive payment through Pay Pal made receiving my money effortless. All in all, I felt gratified to have finally made the leap from wanting to sell on EBay to selling on EBay.
Nothing like being successful to get the ball rolling, so I decided on a 2nd item to set for auction and began the preparations. As far as the Auctions For Income program, I spent a little more time reading through the various books. The deeper I read, and the more I thought about what it would entail to really build up sources of products to sell in auction, I began questioning if following this program, beyond just selling some of my household items, was really for me. Having made that first bit of money online convinced me that I really wanted to find a way of creating a business using my computer online, but, I wasn't convinced that either Auctions for Income or EBay would be the main way I would do this.
Having this program was really helpful in that I had something I could look at in the book and follow along with while I was simultaneously seeing the same thing live on the EBay site. Sort of like a "tutor". Within a short time I had a better feeling for how to navigate and do research on EBay, look for past performance on auctions for products I was considering selling, strategy for setting prices and even how to research the "hot" items that were in demand. The tips on writing effective ad copy were helpful, as well as knowing that there are better times of day and days of the week to start and end the auction.
Within 6 days I was ready to post my first auction item! Wanting to make my first auction as likely to be a success as I could, the item I chose was of the type that research had shown had a really high likelihood of selling: Brand new Antivirus software. We had gotten the software with the purchase of another product, but did not need it, so, never opened it. It seems people are always on the lookout for this type of item, at a good price. My first auction was set to open June 15th and run for a week. Of course it was enticing to check out the listing and see how many views it had and how many bids, if any. It really did not surprise me that the bids were slow to start, for most people who have participated in auctions have figured out not to drive the price up with early bidding. When I saw that I had 2 people "watching" the product, I was pleased! On the last day of the auction, about 3 hours before the ending time, bidding began, and by the end there were 5 people bidding. The final sales price was a nice surprise, and setting up to receive payment through Pay Pal made receiving my money effortless. All in all, I felt gratified to have finally made the leap from wanting to sell on EBay to selling on EBay.
Nothing like being successful to get the ball rolling, so I decided on a 2nd item to set for auction and began the preparations. As far as the Auctions For Income program, I spent a little more time reading through the various books. The deeper I read, and the more I thought about what it would entail to really build up sources of products to sell in auction, I began questioning if following this program, beyond just selling some of my household items, was really for me. Having made that first bit of money online convinced me that I really wanted to find a way of creating a business using my computer online, but, I wasn't convinced that either Auctions for Income or EBay would be the main way I would do this.
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