How To Make A Living From Online Auctions and Ebay From The Experts

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In response to questions about starting a business on Ebay I thought I would share my own experiences and finding with you. About a year ago I was making plans to move home I decided for a complete clearout of all the things I was cramming away into storage and was never going to use the stiff again. In he past I would have just given away items to he local charity shop but now we have Ebay. I couldn’t resist the idea of selling my junk to anyone that would have it for a few cents. Besides I wouldn’t have to put a classified ad in the paper, giving out my telephone number and allowing complete strangers into my home. Yeh, Ebay took this hassle and risk away.

Don’t get me wrong I still had bag loads of clothes in relatively good condition to send to the charity shop but there were a few electrical items and PC equipment that I wanted to test out for Ebay [no electrical items accepted].

Would you believe that I sold every single item that I listed?

Absolutely brilliant!

I also dabble with a few more sales as a paintball and boys toys such as remote controlled Hummers and stuff people are really keen on for their kids and themselves. The trouble was I was only doing it for fun and didn’t have the time to do more. I did get some excellent tips from some very experienced Ebay merchants through Mike Enos who sells a hoard of products on Ebay and earn a very nice six figure sum as an Ebay Platinum Power Seller. Mike has also been on several seminars including the ‘Ebay Live’ amongst others and he really knows his stuff. You should read his newsletter or should I say listen to his newsletter as he has an audio file with every publication.

As for wholesalers I used Wholesale Directory. Mike uses them and I can confirm that they do have a grand supply of wholesalers to help you find good supplier for your Ebay niche market. You will also get an understanding of how to find out what people are looking for, as opposed to what you think may be a good idea.

My paintball idea was good BUT the competition was fierce and I wasn’t serious enough to carry it on. Although I was happy to loose a few pounds of excess belongings and have reduced the clutter in my home. So if you want to get started on Ebay do plenty of research first to find the best mentors and most profitable markets for your Ebay business ventures.

Don’t forget to try the DropShip Source Directory as well as the Wholesale Directory for some great suppliers. I also recommend that you read Robert Tungett’s ‘Auction Riches‘ ezine for more up to the minute Ebay tips and resources.

How To Drive Laser-Targeted Traffic To Your Affiliate Programs

By Nancy P Redford, [c] All rights reserved

An affiliate marketer may have all the things needed for him
to be able to succeed in a business such as affiliate marketing. 

He may have the necessary drive, diligence and perseverance to
be able to understand how the system works. He may have all
the tools necessary in maintaining the business, including a
really unique and interesting website which could earn him a
fortune if only the whole world could see it. However, all
these would prove useless if he does not know how to drive
traffic to his website. His business would sink into oblivion
together with all the sales, fortune and dreams that he might
have realized if he only knew how to do this particular task.

Getting people who matter to see one’s website is a difficult
undertaking if he tries to consider the fact that there are
rivals everywhere waiting to pin him down. The immensity of
the internet as well as the affiliate marketing world has
given birth to the fierce competition between affiliate
marketers, each of whom has his own great product to offer.

With all the websites piling on top of each other, how would
one be able to stand out? 

The seven best ways to drive laser-targeted traffic to one’s
own website would help those who are bent on sticking it
out with this business wherever it is bound to take them.

The first step in driving traffic to one’s website is by
relying on search engines and what they can do for the
affiliate marketer concerned. Because they are popular for
driving free targeted traffic, they should not be ignored
by all means. Having top search engine rankings is vital
in building popularity links, and the use of the right
keywords are important in attaining this goal. Once a website
is on top of the list, it is easily accessible to anyone
who wants to see it for himself.

The second way in driving traffic to one’s website is by
contacting other webmasters for a possible link exchange
partnership. Locating websites that are related to one’s
own website is the primary task.  Once there, he should
be able to establish communication by personalizing
everything as much as possible.  It is then possible to
make reciprocal link exchanges between webmasters
whichever way the affiliate marketer prefers.

Sometimes the most important aspects of a subject are not
immediately obvious. Keep reading to get the complete picture.

The third way is through writing one’s own articles. This is
an effective way in promoting a website, because good content
that are appreciated by readers will lead them to visit the
writer’s very own website out of sheer interest.

Hopefully the information presented so far has been applicable.
You might also want to consider the following:

The fourth way is through joint venture marketing. This is one
of the most effective ways of promoting a product or a service.
Having a partner through ad swap or link exchange is beneficial
 to both parties as it allows them to reach a wide customer
base in a short amount of time.

The fifth is through joining affiliate programs. Having affiliates
to do the work means allowing them to bring tons of traffic to
a website. Skyrocketing sales would be realized as a result,
and both the affiliate and the website owner will benefit from
the situation.

The sixth is by having a list of subscribers that one can refer
to every so often, because they are those which would prove to
be valuable assets for the marketer concerned. The use of
autoresponders and personalized newsletters is one way of
keeping track of them all, and holding on to them by letting
them know about new products and services is an essential task
that should be done by the affiliate marketer concerned.

The seventh is by knowing one’s market through and through. It
is important for traffic to be targeted to those who might have
a special interest in the theme or topic of one’s website. This
way, a solid customer base is going to be created. Once a
potential customer shows an interest in a particular website
by paying it a visit, one must not waste time in trying to
show him that his effort is worth it.

Traffic generating strategies are important in trying to make
one’s affiliate marketing career inch forward. It is always
advantageous to plan one’s moves in any business that he might
undertake.  This is particularly so in affiliate marketing.
If one knows how to get people to see what he has to offer,
then he is on the right track.

Is there really any information about affiliates that is nonessential?

We all see things from different angles, so something relatively
insignificant to one may be crucial to another.

Knowing enough about affiliates to make solid, informed choices
cuts down on the fear factor. If you apply what you’ve just
learned about affiliates, you should have nothing to worry about.

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Nancy P Redford shows you how to Take Online Payments
for any web site without a costly merchant account.
Stay safe on the Internet by getting wise to Online Scams
and Shams. Plus get some of the best business tools and
resources for your home-based business here at:
http://www.miriadz.com

Feel free to reprint this article as content for your web site and newsletters. You may join our Miriadz Affiliate Program for free to replace "Take Online Payments" and "Online Scams and Shams" with your affiliate links. No other links, words or the resource box may be changed without express permission from the copyright owner, author, me, Nancy P Redford. Join our affiliate program here…

Are You Throwing Away Your Affiliate Commissions?

Everyone who promotes other people’s products for a commission should make sure they receive their affiliate payments right?

 

Well I almost lost out on my check once over the Christmas period and just a few days ago. I normally hold all affiliate checks during the holiday season so that I have no problems with mail delivery delays and any possibility of them getting lost in the post. However last Christmas 2005 my ClickBank check came through about a few days before the ‘last mail’ until the New Year. Now this was a nice surprise but the envelope was tampered with and the seal was unashamedly ripped open. My only guess is because the check was issued in US Dollars and not Pounds Sterling that whoever was so bold to do this couldn’t be bothered with the hassle of currency exchanges.

I’m adding another clause to holiday season mail and that it put on hold due to suspected fraud by temporary holiday season staff. I don’t know about you but I have had several incidences with mail being tampered with during these times. I’ve written to ClickBank about the possibility of ACH payments direct to a bank or at least to remove the ‘ClickBank’ from the envelope window to make it more inconspicuous.

 The last thing I want is for some crook to steal my hard earned affiliate checks.

 The second problem was due to my own absent mindedness - I did not update my payment details for one affiliate program. I was very fortunate to receive an email with the subject:

 "unable to process your affiliate payment"

 At first I thought it was Spam until I looked through the email from my server. After downloading to my email client I found that I had not updated my payment preferences. I was so glad to get everything updated and soon received a confirmation email with the subject:

 "Payment Notification: Affiliate ID…"

 Now that’s more like it!

So the moral of this story is double check your account details and keep a log of all of your active affiliate programs you promote. You will need to go through them if you change your address or banking and other payment info. Thankfully the vendor contacted me and all was resolved.

If you move to a new address do your really trust the new occupier at your old address forward your mail for you indefinitely?

Better to pay for redirection service for a few months and get all of your new data updated in the meantime.

Good old human error strikes again,

Here’s to a better memory,
Nancy

 

Free Amazing Formula Birthday Party Teleconference On March 14th

The Amazing Formula Teleconference

I’ve been given details of a free teleconference call held by Marlon Sanders who you may have heard about for his wide range of marketing products such as The Amazing Formula. Marlon is hosting the call with a host of guest speakers from the online marketing industry. Marlon’s Amazing Formula has been doing business for 7 years to date and that achievement is a good cause for a celebration. Many people have found success and have seen their profits skyrocket. You don’t have to take my word for it; the proof is in the page after page of testimonials from satisfied customers.

Each guest speaker will be giving away their own valuable products such as ‘Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula‘ which has helped to catapult the sales of Mike Filesaimes’s ‘Butterfly Marketing‘, Craig Perrine’s List Profits Secrets and many product launches.

The call is set for two time schedules, one in the morning 11:00 AM CST and the second in the evening 8:00 PM CST.

You can expect a lot of surprises and special gifts at Marlon’s Free Teleconference that is not publicly available at the registration form. One thing I do know is that you will get a sneak preview of a leaked chapter from ‘The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy’ instantly after registration. So sign up and register here and don’t miss this call!

Top Recommendation:

Click here to sign up for free

New Release by Joel Comm’s Adsense Secrets Version 3.0

Adsense Secrets 3.0

How does he do it?

Joel Comm has released a brand new installment in his series of Adsense Secrets ebook. In this new edition Joel has included a very special bonus valued at $194. For the very first ime you will get two months free access to his ‘AdSense Premier Coaching Club’. You get a full guarantee with your order so there’s no risk. Get your Adsense sites into gear and help increase your Adsense revenue for 2006.

Good luck all,
Nancy

Has Your Site Been Banned From Adsense?

There is are so many ways to make a residual profit from your web site through advertising programs such as Google Adsense, Yahoo and many other ad networks. But there is nothing worse than not making money from your web site tan being banned from displaying contextual ads from the Adsense program.

Jensense highlights some key factors to help webmasters determine whether a site they own or have recently purchased may be banned from the Adsense program. In her post she recommends the ‘Way Back Machine’ web site where you can check whether a site may have ranking issues within the major search engines. I recommend all webmasters to bookmark the site as you will no doubt need to use their services in the near future.

Adsense and other ad programs should be a benefit to your site content as well as helping webmasters to earn a passive residual income. You do not want to jeopardize your account because of a misunderstanding or after purchasing a banned domain that is no longer authorized to display Adsense.

Top Tips to Avoid Being Banned

The best way forward for current Adsense publishers is to always check the terms. Do not make assumptions or second guess on any matter or concern. For any information you need further clarification on you should go to the Adsense policy and terms web pages for FULL details.

Free Zipper Software Programs

Ever wanted to skip paying for a zippper software to compress and decompress files such as can be found at WinZip.com?

Well I’ve put together some sites providing a completely free download for zipper software. I personally use a program called ZIPPR which was available online a while ago but that site is no longer active. It works like a gem every time and is so easy to use.

Try the following sites for Flip Zip and Zip Genius for your own free zipper utility and remember to store it on your computer. You’ll be surprised how many times you will need it to compress large files and of course to quickly decompress files downloaded on your computer.

You will also use the zipper software to share files with your subscribers. Compressed files are much easier to store multiple files into a single zip file. Making the file easier to download. You can also use zipped files to enable your web site visitors and mailing list prospects to download files stored on your web space or send as an email attachment. However I would not recommend attachments because many people do not trust these types of files as virus and Trojan programs are usually sent out this way.

There are also many free software programs and trial offers available from sites such as Download.com.

If you know of other free zipper software sites fell free to share it with us on the comments form.

Special 10th Birthday Gifts With Resale Rights

Birthday Gift Pack With Resale Rights

After tucking into lots of delicious chocolate covered, chocolate filled, triple chocolate birthday cake I thought it would be nice to share the joy of my son’s 10th birthday by offering up some surprise gifts. Check out this special link to see what I’ve set up for you. By the way if you haven’t guessed ‘I Love Chocolate’.

 

 

Blog Status Report

Whoah!

What a whirlwind of fun I’ve been having with my site transfers. I hope you haven’t been too affected by the technical issues. Hopefully all is fully functional now and I will resume blogging as usual.

To celebrate my son’s 10th birthday I’ll be sending out a special gift for you guys so stay tuned.

Have a good evening,
Nancy  

Domain Name Prices Could SkyRocket If Versign Gets Their Way

I was reading the latest GoDaddy newsletter to find the following article.

"Go Daddy opposes ICANN-VeriSign agreement

Yesterday, February 28, ICANN announced that its Board of Directors met and approved the pending deal with VeriSign for the .COM registry. The agreement will let VeriSign raise registration fees by 7% annually in four of the next six years. It will also give VeriSign control of the .COM registry indefinitely, as it extends VeriSign’s "presumptive renewal" right when this agreement ends in 2012.

The deal was approved by a majority vote, with nine voting in favor and five voting against. One director abstained. Vinton Cerf, who is the Chairman of ICANN and also now an employee of Google®, voted in favor of the give-away.

Following the vote, Credit Suisse increased the price target on VeriSign stock. Their analyst describes the .COM registry as VeriSign’s highest margin business (before any price increases). He goes on to say that the compounding effect of just the price increases could represent a net present value of $4 to $5 per share for VeriSign, or 1 to 1.25 billion dollars. The price increases will start in 2007.

Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons is voicing strong disapproval of this agreement. "The agreement is a bad deal for our customers and the Internet community as a whole," said Parsons.

"The fact that this deal was approved is a loud signal that major changes are needed at ICANN. If we don’t step up and overhaul ICANN, and leave the Internet largely under the control of this incredibly inept organization, this will go a long way in providing the United Nations with the ammunition it needs to start taking control of the Internet that must never happen."

From here, before the deal becomes final, the U.S. Department of Commerce will still need to approve it. If you are disappointed with this recent decision, consider writing a letter to your Senator and Congressperson. You can find the email address of your representatives at the following two Websites:
For the Senate:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
For the House:
http://www.house.gov/writerep
For more information about the agreement, please visit Bob Parsons’ blog Hot Points! at http://www.bobparsons.com "

I hope that this will never happen. I thought you were supposed to make big money on domain names when you sell sites not when you are just starting out. Too many big fishes wanting a huge slice of the Internet pie without a care who they step on. I’ve heard rumors about this but thought it would never get approved. Now I’m not so sure!

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