Need a little extra cash for the holidays?

Published on December 4, 2008 in Articles. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

There seems to be a lot of people these days that are doing without some things for Christmas when in years’ past, those things were plentiful.  Whether there’s just not enough on the paycheck this month or whether people have wised up and haven’t gone into debt as much this year, I’m not sure why people don’t have as much.  Of course there are a lot of things that we can do without.  But we want it!

Well, if there’s not as much in your wallet or on your paycheck this year,  why not find cash value in some things that are lying around your home, in your basement or garage.  I have been doing exactly that and, if you’re a ‘newbie’ on the internet then I’ll show you how to turn that stuff into cash.

The easiest way to do that is to sell your stuff on auction websites or classified websites.  eBay and Craigslist are the first ones that come to mind.  eBay is great for selling things that are easier to ship because most likely the buyer won’t live close to you and you’ll have to ship it.  Craigslist is great for those items that are heavier, larger, or just plain akward to ship.  Expect to pay some fees if you sell it on eBay.  Craigslist is free for selling stuff.

eBay >> You can see what I have been listing for sale on eBay by clicking on the link below.

Visit my Auctiva Store!

Auctiva is a third-party company that helps you organize your auctions and they offer free tools that are very beneficial to eBay sellers.  Find out more at: www.auctiva.com.

Craigslist >> Who’s list? Craigslist!  If you haven’t heard of Craigslist, then you better start from the beginning – of the internet, that is!  (Don’t ask me what that means.)  Craigslist is one of the most popular websites in the world.  Pretty impressive for how they started out.  (On a side note, I always love hearing stories about how these most popular websites got started.)  Anyway, back on track.

Advantages of Craigslist over eBay.

  • Sell stuff locally.
  • It’s free.
  • Create’s great exposure for your stuff.

Craigslist and eBay are both very good for making a little extra cash over the holidays.

I will be putting out some tutorials on eBay.  Both for beginners (newbies) and also some more advanced tutorials.  How to sell more effectively on eBay…

For more on Craigslist and using Craigslist as an affiliate marketer, check this out.

Start selling like the “Gurus” do!

Published on November 26, 2008 in Articles. 0 Comments Tags: , .

I have compiled a report called “The Ultimate Guide to Secret Marketing Strategies”.  These are tips and techniques that internet marketing professionals use to create a feeding frenzy with any product.

This is a 489-page report that contains 1500 online marketing techniques that you can use to increase your conversion rates in your online sales efforts.  You can use these if you write your own sales letters for your info products, or whether you use Craigslist or eBay to sell your products.  These tips work well with information products as well as physical products or services.

Strategy #270: The “Next Success Story” Strategy

The “when you become our next success story you will get free publicity…” strategy tells your prospects they could become famous and get their own business or message in front of all your prospects, visitors and customers. This will really persuade people that have similar businesses or have non-profit organizations to promote your product.

 

Use the discount code: december to get 50% off.

 

Here’s where you can get the report.

 

 

Keyword Research – Back2Basics

Published on November 21, 2008 in Articles. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

When beginning any online business, it is important to do your homework before diving in head first.  Keyword research is a necessary step to a successful online business.

  • Decide on niche.
  • Find keywords that identify and relate to your niche.
  • Implement those keywords within your website and blog.  
  • Continue using those keywords with your content often.
Why is keyword research so important?  The majority of your website traffic should come from search engines because that means that people are searching for what you have to offer them instead of you seeking out your customers.  Keywords are as equally important for pay-per-click (ppc) campaigns as well as natural (or organic) search engine rankings.
Basic keyword research steps:
  1. Visit Google’s Keyword Tool.
  2. Type in your keywords.  Google will display a number of results and… most recently have starting displaying the search volume in numbers instead of a little graph that doesn’t really tell you anything.
  3. In this list, you are looking for the Approx Avg Search Volume.  That is an approximate number that tells you how many searches are done each month.  That gives you an idea of the demand of that keyword.
  4. Start a spreadsheet to track your results and put your keywords in your list.
  5. Now we need to find out what the supply of that keyword is.  I do this with Google.  Visit Google.  I use the allintitle:”______________” search method that tells me how many other webpages Google says has that exact keyword phrase in the title of the webpage.
Step 3
Step 5
There are no set rules on how much competition vs. search volume (supply vs. demand) makes a keyword ‘saturated’ but i like to follow the 30/20 Rule.  The average monthly search volume should  be more than 900 per month (average 30 searches per day) and the allintitle:”___” search results should be less than 20,000.  Obviously. the less the supply and the more the demand – the better.
This blog post is more for me than anyone else.  I titled this post, “Back2Basics” because lately, when I have started a new internet project I often times fail to do the proper keyword research and, even more so, fail to properly use the keywords for maximum benefits.  I know how to do it but I don’t always to it myself.

Commission Blueprint – The Pitch

Published on November 20, 2008 in Articles. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Most of the time I won’t shamelessly promote a Clickbank product directly on this blog but this isn’t one of those times.  This is the approved affiliate “email pitch” from Commission Blueprint.  I will be actually testing it out and giving an unbiased review of the product so stay tuned for updates.  If you have ordered this product then let me know what you thought about it.

Continue reading ‘Commission Blueprint – The Pitch’

Extra domain names? Why park it?

Published on November 16, 2008 in All and Articles. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

If you’re like me then you have registered domain names for internet business projects that you think are awesome and you want to develop that online business idea.  If that is the case then you have domain names registered that you’re not doing anything with so what are your options?

  1. Park your domain name with RevenueDirect.com.  Earn a little bit of revenue with by ‘parking’ your domain name with several parking service providers and they will put ads on that domain that you could earn some revenue from.  For an example of a parked domain, go to www.seattlestuff.net.
  2. But Why Park your domain when you can quickly and easily turn it into a full website filled with automatically updated content and articles.  This is exactly what you can do with an account at WhyPark.com and earn revenue though text ads and adsense.  Go to www.woodworkerreview.com
  3. Sell your domain name.  If you have scrapped your online business project and you have a good domain name then get it professionally appraised so you know what it’s worth then see what you can do about selling it.  Sell your domain with Sedo.com, GoDaddy Auctions, or even on eBay!  Let someone else use the domain name if you know that you’re not going to.
So now that you know what you can do with those domain names that are just lying around.  You may want to try your luck with purchasing up some domain names then using them for adsense, articles, or try ‘flipping’ them by putting them up for auction.
I’ve been using DomainsBot.com to help me find some awesome domain names.  It is a domain name search engine that also makes some automated suggestions for available domain names based on your ‘keywords’.
To finish up, here is a list of a few domain names that I’ve purchased in the past and decided not to do anything with them (as of now.)  If you are interested in any of these then leave a note in the comments section.
  • www.seattlestuff.net
  • www.woodworkerreview.com
  • www.collegebox.net
  • www.freelancepros.net
  • www.jeepads.net
  • www.prizemonkey.net
  • www.project-jeep.com
  • www.scriptpros.net
  • www.turnkeypros.net
  • www.utah-events.net
  • www.utahautos.net
  • www.utahjobfinder.net
  • www.utahstuff.net

Internet Marketing “Gurus” Snubbed Me!

Published on November 11, 2008 in All and Articles. 0 Comments Tags: , .

The title of this blog post says it all!  I consider myself an “underground” internet marketer.  I have not yet branded myself as a well-known internet marketer.  This week, I am launching a ‘new’ website, Lifetime Internet Coaching.  This is going to be a website for complete online business and internet marketing education for those that want to learn how to create multiple streams of revenue on the internet.  So I was going through some pre-launch marketing last week and I contacted some “mainstream” internet marketing gurus to see if they would be willing to help promote this new website.  I probably contacted a dozen of them through email and some even on Facebook that accepted to ‘be my friend’.  I did not hear back from any of them.  One of them did have their assistant reply to my email saying that “his plate was full and couldn’t take on any more projects.”  I guess they’re not interested so I’m going at the marketing alone, at least for now.  When the website gains popularity then I might be contacted by them (emphasis on “might”).

At first it really irritated me that these “gurus” that make money telling people how to make money online won’t help an internet marketer like me make money online.  I do want to clarify that a Joint Venture Partnership with me on this website project would be just as beneficial for them as it would be for my business.  It still bothers me a little bit but I can’t dwell on it.  I have failed plenty of times when it comes to making money online (a few years back).  I have learned a lot since then and one of the most important lessons is, you can’t count on anyone else but yourself when it comes to this type of business.  I wouldn’t mind getting into the “mainstream” internet marketing sphere because I think that it really helps your credibility when trying to convince someone to buy your ‘system’ because you can consistently make “$50,000 per month” and so on and so forth.

Another “secret” that internet marketing “gurus” don’t want you to know.  For a long time, there really hasn’t been any new, revolutionary technique to making money online.  

It all comes down to selling.

  • Selling your products (ecommerce)
  • Selling information (information marketing)
  • Selling other people’s products (affiliate marketing)

There are new methods for the main types of an online business.  In my opinion, the best method to sell in any of these business models is through your own opt-in email list.  We’ll talk about building a list later.

I want to wrap up now by saying that I sort of expected the lack of acknowledgement from those internet marketing “gurus” and I don’t blame them because I know what it’s like to have a lot of projects to work on.  If you’re reading this and you want to get involved in Lifetime Internet Coaching then please leave a comment on this blog or visit this page to find out more.

Pajama Saturday

Published on October 18, 2008 in All and Articles. 0 Comments Tags: , .

I am an entrepreneur and I love what I do.  I have a lot of internet projects going on right now and they have kept me quite busy recently.  Today is Saturday and I have been in my pajamas all day!  I don’t have anywhere to go.  This, by any means, doesn’t mean that I’m lazy, it just means that I like to be comfortable.

I have been spending a lot of time recently promoting several niche products from Clickbank.com using the Craigslist Blackhat System that I’ve recently seen.  I know that this Craigslist System has been out for a few months but just recently, I am spending more time with free classified ads and I’m finding Craigslist to be a good source of finding leads for your opt-in list or affiliate products.

Craigslist is a great system to use if you know how to use it and the Craigslist Blackhat System is an awesome resource to use.  I am really excited to continue using this System to promote affiliate products and my own opt-in lists.  I will keep you updated as to my progress and the success that I am having with this System.

Finding Your Niche

Published on September 23, 2008 in All and Articles. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Today was a particular interesting day.  I went to lunch with one of my brothers.  We went to lunch at Wendy’s; probably because those annoying commercials on television had a subliminal affect on me.  But that’s beside the point.

I don’t go to lunch too often with this particular brother only because he lives away and was in town only for a few days.  He is a great guy and is an internet business newbie.   I was able to chat with him about making money online and the great benefits of setting up and running an online business.  He is quite a bit older than me and somehow missed the huge craze a few years back about using the internet to generate multiple streams of revenue.  We talked about something that would interest him as far as earning a living online.  After the conversation was all said and done, he said something that stuck in my mind the rest of the day.  He said, “I just need to find my niche.”

That was it!  That is the missing piece of the puzzle for most people when they want to get started with an online business.  I have some experience with this topic and I want to share the information that I have with all of you.

When starting to think of a niche or something to center your online business around, you need to focus your thoughts on what you’re interested in or something that you could become interested in.  Asked yourself these few questions.

  1. What are your interests and hobbies?
  2. What professional experience do you have?
  3. When someone asks you for advice; what do they ask you and how do you answer them.
Also, when deciding on a niche, you need to think about what type of online business that you want to focus on.  Briefly, here are the few different types of online businesses.
  1. Online Retail: Selling physical or tangible products through the internet.
  2. Affiliate Business: Earning an income by promoting other people’s products.
  3. Information Based Business: Selling information products or digital goods.
These are the main types of businesses conducted over the internet.  Some niches work better with some internet business models than others.  Find what fits you –  both the internet business model as well as the right niche.
Always remember the old adage: “Do what you love and love what you do.”  This certainly applies to an online business as well.     

 

 

eBay: Everyone’s Doin’ It!

Published on August 22, 2008 in All and Articles. 1 Comment Tags: , .

Listen to the Podcast

Today, I’m going to talk a little bit about having an eBay business online.  eBay is a great way to start if you are just beginning your online business.  This is so for two reasons – First, eBay already has a system in place.  A system of selling online through eBay’s marketplace.  This makes it easy to get setup with an online selling platform.  Secondly, eBay is popular and attracts millions of people per day to find items and products at great prices.  So many of those people could be your potential customers if your online business has a presence on eBay.
A lot of you listening to this podcast episode may already be very familiar with eBay for one reason or another but I hope that this podcast episode proves to be a great refresher or reminder to the advantages of eBay for your online business.
I’m going to spend the next few minutes going through an eBay overview and talking about “eBay economics”

1 – eBay is primarily an auction website. The auction format is such that the more interested parties that you have in any particular product, the more bids that you will receive for that product.  So the ‘product demand’ is what drives the price up.  Makes sense doesn’t it?  You will be the most successful on eBay if you offer for auction the products that are in ‘demand’.  Beware of doing this though because the more demand that a product has, the higher that the competition will be.  That is business basics.  Other sellers see that any particular product is selling well and they want a piece of the action.  That creates more competition for that product.  Let’s take the Apple iPod for example.  It’s a very hot selling item.  So many people think that they can get rich quick just being able to sell the iPod.  But how many other places on the internet can a consumer purchase an iPod?  eBay is such a successful online marketplace because it offers consumers “great deals” on consumer goods and products.

2 – eBay is an eCommerce platform. An eBay store can be your own online store.  The eBay store can be the center of your online sales efforts.  An eBay store can work a little differently than regular eBay auctions.  First of all, an eBay store can carry your inventory for 30 days then can be automatically updated instead of the regular eBay auctions lasting up to 10 days.  Other differences include selling your products at a fixed price instead of an auction format.  Regular eBay listings can be set to run as a “fixed price” or a Buy-It-Now listing.


3 – eBay is an online community. eBay has a feedback rating system that is designed to offer credibility to eBay’s users.  eBay also has the eBay MyWorld which is the center of eBay’s online community.  MyWorld includes a blogging platform, article directory (Reviews and Guides), social networking (Neighborhoods).  Participating the eBay’s online community can help you establish credibility and promote products in your eBay store.

Basic eBay Tools:

**This is only Part 1 of a multiple part Series on eBay.

Extra Cash in your garage and basement?!

Published on April 28, 2008 in All and Articles. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

It has been a few weeks since my last post on this blog.  Today we are going to talk about this time of year.  I love Spring and everything that Spring represents.  Spring is a common time that people are getting out all of the junk in their garage and either donate it to a thrift store they have a yard sale.  If you are one of those people that goes through your garage or basement in this fashion just to give items away or sell them for super cheap at a yard sale then why not list those items for sale online.  Specifically, eBay or Craigslist!  It will take a little bit of time to list those items on eBay but you could have some extra cash laying around that you could sell online and make some extra cash.  I know of someone that sold a first edition of The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling on eBay for over $100!  These same people was able to sell over 20 other items that they had laying around their home and they made over $700!  Not bad for stuff that’s just filling up your basement or garage.

On the other side of the fence, if you are a barterer and a yard sale junkie then you can buy things for really cheap and list those items to resell online.  Be a bargain hunter and frequently visit those yard sales and thrift stores.  That just might turn into a regular additional stream of revenue.