Two of the fear factors mentioned above are partially behind why people choose to ignore the Ebay Business Opportunity. Not knowing how to run a business and worry about start up costs can be put to the back of your mind right now if you crave financial freedom. This is definitely a win win situation if you want it to be.

There are no large amounts of money to hand over to start up and as for knowledge – well you learn as you go along. This is exactly how other Ebay entrepreneurs began and are still reaping in the rewards
The Ebay Business Opportunity is not just for the hungry who have decided enough is enough and wants out of the rat race – it is also a second income for many people on a budget.

Remember the Ebay Business Opportunity is a risk free venture so what are you waiting for – all that is required from you is sheer determination and a little time. Any knowledge on how to run your Ebay business can be found through the Ebay support system or from fellow Ebayers. Beginners gather information by visiting the forums. You will find many Ebay entrepreneurs willing to share what they know with you but remember if you are competition for them then you may not get the help you need. The internet is larger than life so what you need to know can be found elsewhere online.

If you are new to the Ebay Business Opportunity and money is your biggest worry then fret not – have a trial run selling second hand goods that you may have stored in the loft, attic or garage. What you see as trash will bring in cash. So before you go discarding any old items for the refuse man think on how it may be of use to someone else.

The cost to list items on Ebay can vary thus depending on the size of the item you are selling – for example if it be a car then expect to pay more than that of a salt and pepper set. Your dummy run at selling for the first time can include book sales even an e-book on a hobby of yours – the list is endless as to what you can sell. The Ebay Business Opportunity will have restrictions and guidelines on certain articles or items they allow to be sold on the auctions – as in i.e. offensive materials etc.

What other business besides the Ebay Business Opportunity gives you the chance to change the way you live without taking away your second income if you are already holding down a couple of jobs to make ends meet.

Ebay Business Opportunity – Man or Mouse – Get out of the RAT RACE is a post from: egodrivendevelopment.com

Easy Ways To Make Money Right Now

- Go get a job. Or just work more hours at your present job. Starting a business or learning to invest successfully isn’t easy. A job is easier. To be able to go to work and get a paycheck every week or two guaranteed – that’s easy!

- Sell things. An easy way to make money quickly is to sell whatever you don’t need. Get rid of the second car, the boat you never use, etc.

- Reduce expenses. Stop smoking, and learn how to spend less for all the things you buy. If you can spend $14 less each day on unimportant things, you save over $5,000 per year. That’s like making $7,000 more (you have to earn that much to have $5,000 after taxes).

Easy Ways To Make Money – Eventually

The job is easier than a business, but really only in the near-term. If you define easy as “the most money over time for the least effort,” you need to invest or start a business, or both. I’ve got two stories to demonstrate that idea.

I bought my first home in my twenties, and it was just a mobile home on real estate, but I discovered that I could easily rent rooms. I was soon living for free as well as banking some of the money. This wasn’t a “get rich quick” scheme, but I made as much as $7,000 per year extra from my investment. I had to work to pay off the mortgage, but in the end I was working much less than my friends were.

My second story has to do with this internet business. I spend a lot of time writing these articles now, and distributing them. People read them, click through to my web sites from the link at the bottom, and maybe buy a product that I get a commission on, or I get paid for the advertising clicks. Really, it is pretty easy now, but that’s not how it started.

I worked full time from the start. Six months into it, I was making a net profit of about $2 per day. It was a bit discouraging. I had a lot to learn. Fortunately, I learned my lessons, and as it turns out, I was making something closer to $30 per hour for my time. I just wouldn’t be paid for the first year. Now the business pumps out the money I made from those earlier efforts, and keeps doing so even when I am on vacation.

That’s the way it is with money. If you want more money than a job will provide, you have to invest or start a business. That may mean you work for a dollar per hour to start, so that you can easily collect $100 per hour, years down the road. If that sounds too discouraging, then maybe there are no easy ways to make money.

Easy Ways To Make Money is a post from: egodrivendevelopment.com

Wild Game Carrier

Deer hunters regularly die of heart attacks while carrying their bucks out of the woods. The invention here would solve that problem. It would have an inflatable wheel, using coated nylon that won’t puncture easily. Once you get your deer, blow up the wheel, and using the clamps on either side, you attach two poles or sticks that you cut on site. Attach the simple nylon sling between the sticks, and you have a wheel-barrow-like device that will carry a deer over even rough trails. Probably weighing no more than two pounds, it could be carried easily in a day pack.

Helium Kites

Perhaps its been done, but I haven’t seen them sold yet. With some lift from the helium, these kites could be flown in any amount of wind. Properly designed, they would still fly something like a kite, and with some maneuverability if designed like a stunt kite. A first prototype could be a kite with a small helium balloon attached. That’s an easy invention.

Ad Kites

This is more of a marketing idea than an invention. Have advertisements on kites and get paid to fly them at the beach or during big outdoor events. In my former small-town home they paid for planes to drag ads around during festivals, so the market might be there.

Disposable Clothing

If dollar stores can keep putting t-shirts on the shelves, we know they are getting cheap to make. So how about a line of shirts that are low-quality, but good enough to use, and cost very little to manufacture? You sell them in boxes of 12, as “disposable clothing.” Where’s the market? Maybe people who want less laundry to do on long trips. I set aside old clothes for just that purpose, which is where the idea came from. Also, some people might want to have some cheap things to wear for doing dirty jobs.

Kayak Shoes

Imagine this: You are wearing two little “kayaks” on your feet. Two more smaller ones at the end of two ski-poles help you balance as you walk across the nearest lake. At 8 feet long and 8 inches around, they would hold about 170 pounds each, by the way. To try this one, remember that to figure the volume of a cylindrical object, you multiply pi (3.14) times the radius squared times the length. Oh, and each cubic foot of air will support about 64 pounds.

Wind Tents

An easy invention idea from childhood. Me and my brothers spent summers at the beach, on Lake Michigan. Many nights, the wind blew steady off the water, and we discovered that we could make a “wind tent” out of an old blanket. With three sides pinned down, using rocks and sand, the wind held the “tent” open. We camped out in these tents, although when the wind died, the tent did. Maybe someone could make and market a plastic version. A colorful square of plastic – this is one of the easiest of the easy invention ideas.

Easy Invention Ideas is a post from: egodrivendevelopment.com

After having their first car of ore shipped to a smelter, they discovered they had hit one of the richest bodies of gold in Colorado. Excitedly, they continued digging, but the ore vein disappeared.

They kept digging in the hopes of finding the vein again, but when they didn’t get the results they were hoping for, they packed it in and sold off their machinery.

The man who bought the machinery realized random digging was not the best way to find the vein. He called in a mining engineer and had him make some calculations.

What contributed to the failure of Darby and his uncle was their lack of knowledge about “fault lines” and their neglect to consider alternatives. With his expert knowledge, the engineer was able to predict that the vein of gold could be found three feet from where the Darby’s quit digging, and that’s exactly where it was.

Millions of dollars worth of gold were pulled from the mine by the man who decided to not accept easy defeat, and to bring in someone else who had specialized knowledge he didn’t.

The lesson here is that success is often just beyond what seems to be your greatest obstacle. Welcome failure and use it as a measuring stick. When you’re defeated, look for the lesson. What do you need to change in your approach, your mindset, your environment?

Using a modern day example, I’ve been working with a personal trainer for several months. During our first few sessions, she was asking me to do what I thought was completely unrealistic.

I was pushing mediocre weights and because I’m a small build, I thought “small results” were the best I could expect to create. When she asked me to lift 50 pounds doing calf raises, I grunted and groaned and told her it wasn’t possible. After four reps I wanted to stop and she said, “If you can do four, you can do six … two more!”

With the leg press, my first week she had me up to 100 pounds. I thought I was going to pop all the veins in my head and asked her if she went to sadistic school.

She eventually stopped telling me what weight she was setting the machines at and continued to increase the weights and the reps. I didn’t have a clue and said to her after two weeks, “Ha! 50 pound calf raises are a piece of cake, let’s up that weight.”

She then said to me, “Laurie, you’ve been lifting 80 pounds for the last two sessions.”

She also had me leg pressing 180 pounds in the third week without my knowing.

By the fourth week I had doubled my calf raise weight to 100 pounds and leg press to 200. She had done the same with my upper body exercises and I was lifting weights I never would have allowed myself to attempt.

I would have allowed temporary defeat and a limited mindset keep me at the level I had set for myself. She thought bigger and taught me techniques that allowed me to push harder, lift heavier and grow stronger.

I translated this lesson across to my business thinking and ask that you consider it as well.

The only limits are those you create in your mind. Defeat is merely a produced result. Measure the result, change your approach and continue in your efforts.

2006 © Laurie Hayes – The HBB Source

Don’t Stop Short of The Gold is a post from: egodrivendevelopment.com

Franchise owners benefit from what has been learned of people that have given many hours of their lives creating a successful business organization. When you start a business on your own with no help you can only guess at the difficulties ahead, but if you decide to buy a franchise instead of going it all alone, the problems that entrepreneurs run into have already been worked through by the franchisor. Often said in franchise Opp commercials is that you go into business “for yourself, not by yourself,” and nothing can be truer.

From the franchise company you also get the best training in the business world. A common way to learn a skill is from a master, but how often are you able to get to the very best? If you buy a franchise opportunity you get educational training from the most skilled people in your franchise industry; a group that has done it all and know how to handle the rough times. The educational methods for every franchising opportunity diverge, however. Many include training on the best methods for good sales of the product or service, finding the best employees, bookkeeping and inventorying, and all other techniques needed for running a profitable franchise. Excellent franchisors will send human support to instruct and support you as you get everything in place to open your new business and will remain by your side until you are comfortable managing the day to day tasks without constant help. The franchisor wants you to succeed just as much as you do so any franchise will have an excellent training program.

One important advantage of owning a franchise business is that you get help in the marketing area, so that you don’t have to become a marketing expert. When you own your own business you need to keep up with the day to day affairs of the business, so you don’t have to be a marketing expert because the franchise opportunity takes care of it for you. A portion of the fees you pay as a franchisee go towards marketing. That doesn’t mean that you still can’t be a student of marketing. In fact, a lot franchise opportunities help out with plenty of free market research and info to the franchise owners and a lot of how to information from your franchise education and from then on out. A benefit of owning a franchise is the marketing assistance. Don’t forget that as you consider a franchise.

The economy is adapting and no matter how much a company appreciates their employees the bosses can’t guarantee a future. The only way to secure your destiny is to grab life by the horns. After you own a franchise the hard work you do is realized in your profits. When owning a business franchise you create a future for the ones you love that will be appreciated for generations. A franchise is the way toward success, so don’t let the financial instability keep you from becoming one of those that have beat fear and found business ownership.

Don’t Let Your Fear Stand in the Way of Franchise Ownership is a post from: egodrivendevelopment.com

Because if you do, I’m going to tell you how.

You MAY not want to read what I’m about to write because it WILL remove excuses you have. In fact, after this very simple tip, you will no longer have the ready-made excuse that perhaps you’ve used in the past. I will strip it away like Dad rips off the warm covers on a winter morning.

The most common excuses that I hear folks offer for not getting off their duffs and starting their investment careers are (1) time and (2) knowledge. (The number one unspoken excuse is fear.) For this article, I am REMOVING the time and knowledge excuses. I’ll get to the fear part…briefly.

Okay, if you’re still reading, here goes…but I warn you. You may not like it.

Turn off the stinkin’ TV!

I mean, avoid it like the plague! It’s robbing you blind. To be precise, it’s costing you tens of thousands of dollars per year if you are like most Americans and tune into TV or watch movies for 1-3 hours a day.

What a country we are. The average American buys a TV and then that TV costs many times more than the cost of the set per year in opportunity loss. We buy, bring it into our homes, and give it a place of prominence, and let it steal from us!

As many of you already know, I boldly say you and I can make an extra $10,000-$50,000 per year on a mere 10 hours a week by rehabbing real estate. I know this because I do it.

A little math…let’s say you watch TV a mere 1.5 hours a day on weekdays, and sports on the weekend at 2.5 hours a day. If you give up all TV, that’s 12 and a half hours a week.

In other words, you can watch a game on the weekends and STILL have 10 hours a week to devote to a real estate investing career.

Let’s say you are someone who is on the LOW end of American TV watching habits and you watch an average of 1 hour of TV a day. (Which means you probably don’t watch sports.) In that case, turning it off means you need to invest a mere 3 hours a week. Do you have 3 hours a week if it pays $10,000-$50,000 per week?

Reality check. If you watch football, you probably watch a college game on Saturday, a pro game on Sunday, and Monday Night football. In that case, that’s a minimum of 7 hours per week of the 5-month season…gone! Many football fans watch more!

So what could you do with that time? Get the knowledge you need to start with. How many books or courses can you work through if you honestly devote 10 hours a week? Since the process of rehabbing real estate isn’t rocket science, it’s a process that must be learned, it isn’t going to take many weeks to be flush with knowledge and ready to put a business plan into action.

There will be a few reading this that don’t watch much TV at all. (You are rare indeed!) Examine your habits and see where you time is going. There is often time sinks that you can capitalize on by changing your habits. Do you surf the net for hours on end? Do you spend 2 hours a day pumping iron.

Or…oh, this one might hit close to home…do you sleep 10-12 hours a day?

Chances are there is a way to eek out some hours by a relatively minor change in habits.

I can hear it already…GIVE UP TV?! That’s not a minor adjustment!

Baloney.

Let’s see how important TV really is to you. There are two ways to think about this.

Approach number 1:

Let’s say I knock on your door and wave ten thousand dollars in front of your face. All you have to do to get it is give me your TV for a year. Would you go for it? What if I offered you twenty grand?

Approach number 2:

Let’s look at what giving up TV would mean to you.

- You wouldn’t be able to talk about what happened on TV last night at the water cooler at work. I mean you could, but you would not have watched it.

- You would miss seeing first hand who beat who to a pulp on the field, or on the court.

- Shows will come and go, and you will have never have seem them.

Perish the thought! You’d miss stuff on TV, but the sun will continue to come up, the Earth spins, and your financial picture gets a lot rosier!

Is the time you spend in front of the TV really worth what it’s costing you? $10,000 or $20,000, or even $30,000 or more…every year?

I’ll go a step further. You could stop watching all your favorite programs and guess what, your life would be unchanged. If you did something positive with that time you spent watching them, your life will be changed for the better.

For you sports fans…Let’s say “your” team wins the championship this year. Does that change your life in any way? Do you get a raise? Do you move into a better house? Does it really change anything that matters? Sure, you get to tell folks that they are “your” team even when they aren’t and nobody on the team knows you from Adam. In fact, if “your” team wins you will probably be even more into them, spend more time watching TV, so the cost to you goes up!

I don’t mean to sound like I’m on my soap box, but there are many folks who need a wake up call. Capturing TV time and using it to your financial benefit is a relatively minor habit adjustment that can result is some serious financial gain. Spend a month learning, then put a plan into action. That’s how things get changed.

My close friends and family know that I rarely turn on my TV. Years ago, I made the commitment to use my time better and since I have improved my life immensely by doing so. So, I want you to know that I am living my own advice. While it’s true that I’ve never seen a minute of “reality” TV, and I prefer to see my sports live, my life is quite different now! I’ll never look at TV the same again!

You can do the same. This minor habit adjustment can mean you take the reigns of your financial future and drive it where you want to go.

I knew some of you would not like it, but there it is…the formula to free up a LOT of time and how to gain the knowledge you need to make this coming year the most profitable yet. Will you do it?

Now, what about the fear part? This article is getting kind a bit long, but I have written a six part set of articles to help in that combat fear. I encourage you to click through to my website and click on the “Nothing Held Back” newsletter. There you will find out how to get the articles, or mini-course I call it, at no cost.

Do You Really Want to Change Your Life in the Coming Year? is a post from: egodrivendevelopment.com

“Have you capital to start with?”

“No, but I am going to have it.”

“How are you going to get it?”

“I will tell you confidentially; I have a wealthy old aunt, and she will die pretty soon; but if she does not, I expect to find some rich old man who will lend me a few thousands to give me a start. If I only get the money to start with I will do well.”

There is no greater mistake than when a young man believes he will succeed with borrowed money. Why? Because every man’s experience coincides with that of Mr. Astor, who said, “it was more difficult for him to accumulate his first thousand dollars, than all the succeeding millions that made up his colossal fortune.” Money is good for nothing unless you know the value of it by experience. Give a boy twenty thousand dollars and put him in business, and the chances are that he will lose every dollar of it before he is a year older. Like buying a ticket in the lottery; and drawing a prize, it is “easy come, easy go.”

He does not know the value of it; nothing is worth anything, unless it costs effort. Without self-denial and economy; patience and perseverance, and commencing with capital which you have not earned, you are not sure to succeed in accumulating. Young men, instead of “waiting for dead men’s shoes,” should be up and doing, for there is no class of persons who are so unaccommodating in regard to dying as these rich old people, and it is fortunate for the expectant heirs that it is so.

Nine out of ten of the rich men of our country to-day, started out in life as poor boys, with determined wills, industry, perseverance, economy and good habits. They went on gradually, made their own money and saved it; and this is the best way to acquire a fortune. Stephen Girard started life as a poor cabin boy, and died worth nine million dollars. A.T.

Stewart was a poor Irish boy; and he paid taxes on a million and a half dollars of income, per year. John Jacob Astor was a poor farmer boy, and died worth twenty millions. Cornelius Vanderbilt began life rowing a boat from Staten Island to New York; he presented our government with a steamship worth a million of dollars, and died worth fifty million.
“There is no royal road to learning,” says the proverb, and I may say it is equally true, “there is no royal road to wealth.” But I think there is a royal road to both. The road to learning is a royal one; the road that enables the student to expand his intellect and add every day to his stock of knowledge, until, in the pleasant process of intellectual growth, he is able to solve the most profound problems, to count the stars, to analyze every atom of the globe, and to measure the firmament this is a regal highway, and it is the only road worth traveling.

So in regard to wealth. Go on in confidence, study the rules, and above all things, study human nature; for “the proper study of mankind is man,” and you will find that while expanding the intellect and the muscles, your enlarged experience will enable you every day to accumulate more and more principal, which will increase itself by interest and otherwise, until you arrive at a state of independence. You will find, as a general thing, that the poor boys get rich and the rich boys get poor. For instance, a rich man at his decease, leaves a large estate to his family. His eldest sons, who have helped him earn his
fortune, know by experience the value of money; and they take their inheritance and add to it. The separate portions of the young children are placed at interest, and the little fellows are patted on the head, and told a dozen times a day, “you are rich; you will never have to work, you can always have whatever you wish, for you were born with a golden spoon in your mouth.”

The young heir soon finds out what that means; he has the finest dresses and playthings; he is crammed with sugar candies and almost “killed with kindness,” and he passes from school to school, petted and flattered. He becomes arrogant and self-conceited, abuses his teachers, and carries everything with a high hand. He knows nothing of the real value of money, having never earned any; but he knows all about the “golden spoon” business.
At college, he invites his poor fellow-students to his room, where he “wines and dines” them. He is cajoled and caressed, and called a glorious good follow, because he is so lavish of his money. He gives his game suppers, drives his fast horses, invites his chums to fetes and parties, determined to
have lots of “good times.” He spends the night in frolics and debauchery, and leads off his companions with the familiar song, “we won’t go home till morning.” He gets them to join him in pulling down signs, taking gates from their hinges and throwing them into back yards and horse-ponds. If the police arrest them, he knocks them down, is taken to the lockup, and joyfully foots the bills.

“Ah! my boys,” he cries, “what is the use of being rich, if you can’t enjoy yourself?”

He might more truly say, “if you can’t make a fool of yourself;” but he is “fast,” hates slow things, and doesn’t “see it.” Young men loaded down with other people’s money are almost sure to lose all they inherit, and they acquire all sorts of bad habits which, in the majority of cases, ruin them in health, purse and character. In this country, one generation follows another, and the poor of to-day are rich in the next generation, or the third. Their experience leads them on, and they become rich, and they leave vast riches to their young children. These children, having been reared in luxury, are inexperienced and get poor; and after long experience another generation comes on and gathers up riches again in turn. And thus “history repeats itself,” and happy is he who by listening to the experience of others avoids the rocks and shoals on which so many have been wrecked.

“In England, the business makes the man.” If a man in that country is a mechanic or working-man, he is not recognized as a gentleman. On the occasion of my first appearance before Queen Victoria, the Duke of Wellington asked me what sphere in life General Tom Thumb’s parents were in.

“His father is a carpenter,” I replied.

“Oh! I had heard he was a gentleman,” was the response of His Grace.

In this Republican country, the man makes the business. No matter whether he is a blacksmith, a shoemaker, a farmer, banker or lawyer, so long as his business is legitimate, he may be a gentleman. So any “legitimate” business is a double blessing it helps the man engaged in it, and also helps others. The Farmer supports his own family, but he also benefits the merchant or mechanic who needs the products of his farm. The tailor not only makes a living by his trade, but he also benefits the farmer, the clergyman and others who cannot make their own clothing. But all these classes often may be gentlemen.

The great ambition should be to excel all others engaged in the same occupation.

The college-student who was about graduating, said to an old lawyer:

“I have not yet decided which profession I will follow. Is your profession full?”

“The basement is much crowded, but there is plenty of room up-stairs,” was the witty and truthful reply.

No profession, trade, or calling, is overcrowded in the upper story. Wherever you find the most honest and intelligent merchant or banker, or the best lawyer, the best doctor, the best clergyman, the best shoemaker, carpenter, or anything else, that man is most sought for, and has always enough to do. As a nation, Americans are too superficial– they are striving to get rich quickly, and do not generally do their business as substantially and thoroughly as they should, but whoever excels all others in his own line, if his habits are good and his integrity undoubted, cannot fail to secure abundant patronage, and the wealth that naturally follows. Let your motto then always be “Excelsior,” for by living up to it there is no such word as fail.

Do Not Get Above Your Business is a post from: egodrivendevelopment.com

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Super Affiliate! Corny, but “super affiliate” is the new buzzword for affiliates who are both ambitious and successful at affiliate marketing. There are wild claims online about affiliate marketing: Make Millions Overnight! Never Work Again! Unfortunately, these claims are usually false. To go from being a plain affiliate to super affiliate takes a lot of work. In short, you need to be an affiliate of steel.

The vast majority of affiliate marketing sites online are run by people who have no great interest in turning a huge profit. For example, you’ll find thousands of blogs where people put up a few Amazon listings and/or Google links on the off chance that a passing browser will click on them. That’s all well and good, but this is no way to make a dent in the affiliate marketing game. To be a super affiliate, you need to treat affiliate marketing as a job, not just something that you do on the side to put a couple of bucks in your pocket.

There is a misconception that affiliate marketing is not a real business. After all, the affiliate is not putting out a product. This is patently false. Even though an affiliate marketer is not manufacturing a product, he or she is still offering the product up for sale. An affiliate marketer still needs to be in charge of search engine optimization, custom content, quality web design, financial management, and everything else that goes into running a successful e-business. As with any business, an affiliate marketing plan is only as strong as the amount of work you put into it.

A super affiliate will be able to turn as hefty a profit as a standard business—several sales a day on a number of different fronts. Remember, successful affiliate marketers don’t necessarily stop at one site. They set up a variety of affiliate sites with a good web address, quality web design, and lucrative affiliate marketing opportunities. Additionally, once you start selling at an accelerated rate, some affiliate programs will promote you from regular affiliate to super affiliate. If you start sending sales and traffic to a business, they will reward you with better terms.

This isn’t an easy proposition, but it is possible. Make sure that an affiliate program has a corresponding super affiliate program in place—better terms for more sales. Even if they don’t, an affiliate with good terms up front can really pay off if you’re able to make a several sales a month. Affiliate programs with great terms are also sometimes referred to as super affiliates. Find these and you know you’ll have a good marketing in place at the start.

For more information visit: http://www.joebucks.com/?aid=937817

Difference Between An Affiliate & Super Affiliate is a post from: egodrivendevelopment.com

The internet and modern technology makes it possible for anyone to offer that little something extra that nobody else does, and usually at no additional cost.

Why: First, let’s look at why this is a good business practice.

It’s a good thing to do because you will make more money!

What: Now let’s look at what value adding is!

Value adding is giving surprise high quality and useful gifts.
It’s giving something that your competitors aren’t offering.
It’s promising the world and delivering the universe.
It’s taking care of your clients and always providing something that your clients need and want, when and where they want it.

How: Now let’s look at the different ways we can do this.

If you receive a free gift from someone when you don’t expect it, do you remember that person?
Answer; yes usually.
How can we do this?
Look at the example below for an idea!

If you subscribe to a news letter or ezine, what do you expect?
You expect to get what you subscribed for, right?
Now imagine that you subscribed for a newsletter that distributes information about Poodle breading in France, and when you open the conformation email you find you’ve also received a free ebook containing 20 poodle grooming tips and Grandmas secret poodle pampering techniques. (a book that normally sells for $29)
Wouldn’t that make you more likely to open and read the next issue and the next etc?
That’s one simple example, but where do you get the ebook from? You make it! If you are distributing a poodle breeding newsletter, you might know something about grooming, or know some people that could help you put together the necessary information. Then you can wrap that up in an ebook cover and then send it around to a variety of sites that will post it for you for free and you can sell on your own site, if you have one. (I can see that there are several more articles just on making e-books, posting them on other people’s sites, and setting up a shop front.)

Back to the Poodles! So you can see that by offering this free gift you have achieved several things.
1. You have developed a product (at no cost to you) that you can sell and make a profit on.
2. You have used that product to increase the chances of your new subscriber opening your next email.
3. You have promoted you site/service to other internet marketers that you may wish to do a joint venture with at some time. (see my article on Joint ventures)

Another way to add value for less effort is to offer a 110 percent guarantee instead of a 100 percent.

Another is to make your 20 tips into 30 or more etc, get the idea? It’s all just a matter of finding ways that you can give more.

The more you give the more you will receive.

I sincerely wish you good luck and happiness

Bill Boyd

Dare To Be Different! is a post from: egodrivendevelopment.com

What is the primary reason your customers or clients come to you? Or purchase your product or service? What is the Number One problem you solve for them? Do you know? Are you certain? If you don’t, your marketing could be missing the mark, and you could be missing out on sales.

Uncovering Your “Key Selling Point”

This is the Single Marketing Message that is the central message in all of your communications about your business, product or service. It can be difficult for small business owners to determine what their single marketing message should be. Why? Because they are too close to their business. And, because they are viewing their business from their side of the desk.

Keeping your marketing customer-focused can be a challenge

Even if we know we should be looking at our business from our customers’ perspective, it’s often easier said than done. As a result, it is easy to get caught up in all the amazing features of our product or service and the reasons we THINK our clients are attracted or are buying.

But sometimes our vantage point is clouded by our own perceptions and beliefs. And those perceptions and beliefs may be inaccurate. So how do you pinpoint the real reason customers are attracted to your product or service and the true reasons they are choosing to buy?

There is an easy way to stay on track

Very simply, YOU ASK THEM! Okay, I know it seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how often we don’t think of the obvious.

Your prospects and customers (and yes, even your rejecters — those who visit but don’t buy) can provide great insights about the benefits they value most in your product or service and why they chose to buy.

Whether you have a lot of customers or only a few

You don’t have to have a large customer or prospect base to do some research to see if you are on track. Even if you only have a handful of clients or customers, contact them and ask them what they like most about your product or service.

Talk to your Clients or Customers

(1) What is the one thing that got them to purchase?

(2) Have you delivered on that promise?

(3) What do they like least about your product or service?

(4) How could you improve your product or service?

(5) What else (in your business category) do they have a need for?

(6) How else could you help them be successful, be happier, or solve whatever problem your product or service solves for them?

Talk to your Rejecters

If you choose to survey rejecters (which I have done very successfully for years for one of my clients) find out why they DIDN’T buy.

(1) Ask them what product or service they bought instead of yours? And why?

(2) Ask them what that competing product or service offered that yours did not?

(3) Ask if there is anything you could do to get their business in the future? Product or service changes, additions, deletions?

Talk to your Prospects

Do you have a list of prospects — those who have expressed an interest in your product or service but have not yet purchased? Perhaps they have subscribed to your newsletter or ezine.

(1) Ask them for feedback on your newsletter or ezine content.

(2) What topics are they interested in learning more about?

(3) How can you help them to be more successful, happier, etc?

(4) Find out what they want and who they are

And in all three cases — Clients/Customers, Rejecters, and Prospects — if it seems appropriate, ask for a little information about who they are. Age, gender, profession, where they live, how much they typically spend in your product or service category.

This will help you get a better understanding of your target audience and you’ll know if you’re attracting the kind of people you thought would be interested in your product or service. And if you need to change your marketing strategy to reach a different audience, or to perhaps change your target audience.

It will help you better serve them

The more you can learn about your prospects and customers the better you can serve them. And the more effectively you can market to them.

You may be in for a surprise

I’ve had clients tell me they thought they knew why people were buying from them until they asked. And what they heard surprised and shocked them.

Very often what you hear can help you zero-in on a Unique Selling Proposition that you never thought of. And because it came from the mouths of your customers you know it is compelling and effective.

Don’t change everything based on a few opinions

My only caution is if you only have a handful of customers or prospects to survey, don’t make any major changes or decisions until you are able to validate your findings among a larger group of people.

Or at least test any changes you do make before making a final decision to overhaul your entire business or marketing plan. Common sense is the rule here. Just use your own good judgment and don’t over-react to comments made by only a handful of people.

You can ask in a number or ways – Choose what works for you

There are any number of ways to collect research from your prospects and customers. You can telephone them, email them, mail them a written questionnaire, or you can meet with them in a group (called a focus group) to collect their opinions.

You can be as formal or informal as you feel comfortable. Typically the larger number of clients you survey, the more formal the survey. If you have only a handful of people to talk to, simply pick up the phone and call them.

Don’t be afraid to ASK

Don’t be afraid to ask for opinions on your products or services or how you can serve your clients better. What you find out could be extremely valuable in helping you to build and grow your business.

Don’t forget to say “thank you”

You will also want to consider offering an incentive to encourage your prospects and clients to participate or respond. A bonus, such as a special report, or a discount on a future purchase is a nice way to show your appreciation for them taking the time to respond to your survey.

(C) 2005 Debbie LaChusa

Customers: The Key To Successful Marketing is a post from: egodrivendevelopment.com