Get ‘social power’, get your products seen and increase your profits
So, here we are eleven whole days in to 2014 already, and so I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very happy and successful year ahead.
I hope you’ve recovered by now from the New Year’s Eve festivities and are ready and raring to go. Normal service has resumed and I will once again have time to think!
New Year’s Day is always very significant to me because it’s the very day, 8 years ago, that I decided to make some big changes in my life. If I hadn’t made the decision to go for it and start my own eBay business, I wouldn’t be sat here writing this to you now.
In fact, what I would probably be doing would be still working for someone else, seeing even less of my family and generally plodding from one day to the next in a state of limbo.
But because I took action and made that decision, the last 8 years have been an awakening for me. I have made many, many mistakes along the way of course, but have absolutely no regrets, which is why I urge you to push on with your dreams of a comfortable, flexible lifestyle and make this year, the year that you embrace change just like I did.
What’s in store in 2014?
Well, apart from some very exciting news coming later this month from me (keep your eyes on your inbox for further details) and after another exceptionally busy Christmas reported as far as online sales are concerned, setting up and selling products online, on eBay, Amazon or from your own website, will definitely remain one of the very best and importantly, the easiest place for you to start your own business in 2014.
eBay in particular is the ideal place to get started with very little capital, low overheads, minimal risk and literally thousands upon thousands of ready made visitors from all over the world.
You might be worried about the amount of competition on eBay and of course there is that. No business is without competition but it doesn’t mean that you can’t get in there and achieve success yourself – even if you are starting from scratch. And to prove it, I want to tell you a little story today.
A close friend of mine – I won’t mention names, so lets just call her Kate – recently left her part-time receptionist job because she was fed up doing a job that didn’t give her any satisfaction and generally being taken for granted. On October 10th last year she worked her very last day, said her goodbyes, then literally went home, sat down and set up her own eBay business.
She had been thinking about it for some time before she decided to take the plunge and whilst a few good friends and myself knew she was going to do this she hadn’t told anyone else what her plan was… “Incase I fail” she said.
‘You won’t fail” I said – and I knew she wouldn’t.
So, Kate’s aim to start with was simply to earn the same amount she was earning in her previous employment – so around £500 per month. Not huge riches – she didn’t want to suddenly become a millionairess. She just wanted to be secure, happy in her job and flexible so that she could spend time with her young family.
Anyway, Kate had sold a few items on eBay before, but only personal bits and bobs. So she opened a brand new eBay account and started literally from zero.
And I’ll tell you this; I have never seen grit and determination like it! Kate researched, sourced, listed, researched, sourced, listed and within three weeks her profits were pretty much matching her previous wage – yet now she is working from home, for herself!
I offered some advice along the way but to be honest she did all the hard work on her own – she just got her head down and got on with it. Kate realized very early on that the key to making profit from products online is to research hard, find the right products and list them using every relevant keyword she can think of. And it worked.
I am extremely proud of Kate because she has shown what can be achieved in a very short time with determination, positive thought, organization and small goals that can be built on. She is now looking at expanding to Amazon and building her business further.
And there is no reason why you can’t do this too.
Start with eBay, just like Kate did, then move on to Amazon because expansion is also an important point here for further down the line.
eBay is certainly a venue where you will make fantastic profits but you should also sell your products through other online venues because multiple income streams equal multiple profits and that’s what you should be aiming for.
You can discover more about how to sell successfully on eBay and Amazon (including exactly what to sell!) over at my Source Report membership site. If you haven’t popped over to have a look yet, you can do so here:
So talking of expansion let me kick off the New Year with a little piece of information I’d like to share with you regarding both the eBay and Amazon sites. They both have a feature that will ultimately help you get your products further out there, get them noticed and get new people looking at them and spreading the word.
If you are a social media user (and you should be if you really want your business to grow) you can share your eBay and Amazon product listings with your Facebook friends and also your Twitter followers with just a couple of easy clicks.
Here’s how it works…
First with Amazon. When you create a listing using the ‘Sell Yours Here’ button on an Amazon product detail page, or you create or update a listing using the Manage Inventory tool in your seller account, a pair of Facebook and Twitter icons will appear on your ‘Listing Success’ page in the “Tell your friends about this listing” section.
This is the section you should pay attention to and then it’s really simple. To share your listing on Facebook, simply click the Facebook icon. A pop-up window will appear asking you to log in to your Facebook account. So go ahead and do that. Don’t worry if you haven’t got a Facebook or Twitter account yet – they are both simple to set up. Just visit twitter and facebook to register.
Once you have logged in, a description of your listing will appear. If you would like to, you can add a note to your post then when you’re ready, click the ‘Share Link’ button, and the post will appear on your Facebook wall! Hey presto, all your friends will be able to see your products giving you an instant opportunity for your items to be spread through word of mouth via your friends, their friends and so on!
It’s a very similar process for Twitter. To share your Amazon listings simply click the Twitter icon. A popup window will appear asking you to sign in to your Twitter account. When you sign in, you’ll see a pre-prepared tweet about your listing – don’t worry; you can edit this if you want to. Finally, you click the ‘Tweet’ button to publish your tweet to Twitter as you would normally.
Remember that each ‘tweet’ is like a mini blog post and will not only appear to all your followers immediately, but will also get picked up by Google and appear in Google searches – what an opportunity to reach loads of new buyers!
Over on eBay, it’s very similar. Simply click the Facebook icon on the top right of any of your product listing pages and a link to your product will appear on your Facebook page, ready to be shared.
Slowly, slowly catchy monkey!
So, by building up your eBay inventory, expanding your sales reach via other channels such as Amazon and as I’ve explained above, by using social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook your online sales get the chance to steadily increase
But of course I’m not suggesting you go full steam ahead and try and do everything at once. I realise that you might feel overwhelmed with the list of things you need to do to forge ahead and make a real success of your business and as I write this I totally understand that you might be wondering exactly how you can do all these things and finally achieve your goals, but as I have always promised, I am here to help you on your journey throughout 2014 and beyond so that you’ll find things easier to manage.
I want to ensure that you know exactly how to get the best out of your online business because as I have often said, I genuinely want you to succeed.
Remember, I have been in the very position you might be in right now so I know what it’s like – the frustrations, the excitement, the mistakes and the sheer euphoria when you get something absolutely right and the orders come flying in.
I am constantly researching new strategies, techniques and suppliers – and as you’ll know by now, I don’t keep useful information to myself for too long!
During 2014 I will carry on helping you with your online venture and I’ll also continue to show you how to expand your business and make even more profit using other venues and ventures too.
There are exciting times ahead and I sincerely hope that you will be by my side this year so that you can be part of everything that’s to come, including that very exciting development that I will be revealing to you very shortly…
Here’s to a successful new year!