Issue # 75, 23-Mar-2004
ISSN 1447-4956
Copyright 2004 Jason Anderson. All rights
reserved worldwide
http://www.achievenetprofits.com/
Welcome to this weeks issue of the Achieve
Net Profits Letter. I hope you find it both
interesting and useful.
This week I had one of those "d'oh!" moments
that you get every now and then, when you
realize something obvious that was right in
front of you.
What was my d'oh moment? Simple really - I'd
forgotten how much I like programming.
Heck, I even have a computer science degree
(not that that necessarily means anything about
how much a person knows about computers -
believe me, I saw my classmates ;-) )
Why was this a d'oh moment? Simple. All this
time, I'd been forgetting that I have knowledge
and skill that a) I enjoyed doing, and b) I
could leverage in some way in my business.
The problem we all face when starting online
is deciding what we want to do in our
business.
The mistake a lot of us (me included) make is
to focus on the "making money" crowd. After all,
that's were you hear the big success stories,
with a single emails generating tens of
thousands of dollars.
The odd thing is, for the longest time I'd
been trying to resist that market, and instead
focus on my programming. Then in a moment of
insanity I started this newsletter. 18 months
later, here we are :-)
So why don't I stop publishing this
newsletter? For two reasons - I love doing the
interviews, and I enjoy replying to the emails I
get from people.
There is a third reason. While I enjoy
programming, I don't want to make it the *core*
of my business. Use it as an advantage over
competitors - yes. Rely on it as the source of
my income - no.
Basically, I want to keep programming as
something I do because I want to - not because I
have to.
My question to you is this - if you are in
the "making money" niche, do you honestly enjoy
it?
If not, I'd suggest that you try and find a
niche that you do enjoy. Or at the very least,
see if you have a skill you enjoy using that you
can incorporate in your current efforts.
Many niches are still ripe for the picking,
with very little competition from people who
understand Internet marketing.
(Which if you've been in the "make money"
niche for a while, is you. You *have* been
reading what you're selling, haven't you?)
So if you choose the right niche, you should
be able to put together a info product, or web
site, or some other "product" you can use to
earn you money.
Now the topic of finding your niche can
easily fill several books (and has already).
Finding a *profitable* niche is even harder
(believe me I know - my last experiment has
proven a failure so far).
But I believe if you at least look at what
you like and enjoy doing as a starting point,
you should be in a good position.
Speaking of niches, a popular one that
doesn't get the attention it deserves at times
is eBay. Quite a lot of people make a full time
living from eBay, buying and selling items. Many
more earn a decent "extra" income from their
efforts.
(And who here wouldn't mind an extra
income?)
But like everything, if you don't know the
basics, you will struggle. You can either spend
ages learning everything yourself, or you can
find out from someone who's been there, done
that.
You should know which method I prefer by now
;-)
This week I had the pleasure of interviewing
Karol Gajda (his first name is pronounced Karl,
not Carol). Karol has been selling on eBay for 4
years now, and needless to say he's learned what
works and what doesn't!
Karol has passed on some fantastic
information in his interview. The tip I have for
you this week the three most common mistakes he
sees people new to selling via online auctions
make, and what they should be doing instead.
This is easy. In no particular
order...
1. They don't use pictures or they use
really poor quality pictures. With the cheap
prices of decent digital cameras these days,
this is inexcusable.
2. They don't test. You've gotta test
everything: your titles, descriptions,
pictures, listing enhancements, ending days
and times, and anything else you can think
of.
3. They don't learn basic marketing
strategies. I've seen titles as bad as "Black
Sabbath" for a Black Sabbath CD. Come on...
at least tell me that it's a CD... and
exactly what CD! Check out my free eBay
selling course at http://www.auctionsuccessguide.com.
One of the topics I cover is writing
headlines.
-- Karol Gajda, http://www.auctionsuccessguide.com
(To read the full interview you need to
be a member of the Achieve Net Profits
membership site. You can join now by visiting
http://www.achievenetprofits.com
).
Before I go, I wanted to mention about Louis
Allport's Info Profits Talk forum.
Louis has put together a great forum where
quite a few knowledgeable people can help you.
The focus of the forum is on information
products (ebooks being an obvious example, but
ecourses, software and even web sites also
count). But to be honest anything related to
online business is on topic.
And if you have a look at the moderators for
the forum, you'll spot a familiar name listed
there :-)
Its not a super busy forum (which I think is
a good thing), so you won't get overwhelmed by
posts. But you will find good solid information
there. Take a look, and if anything is on your
mind, feel free to post!
http://www.achievenetprofits.com/infoprofitstalk
Till next week, I wish you all the best with
your online business.
Cheers,
Jason
"Dreams come a size too big so that we can
grow into them." -- Josie Bisset
Legal Stuff
Copyright 2004 Jason Anderson. All rights
reserved.
We accept no responsibility whatsoever for
the content, profitability or legality of any
published articles or advertisements contained
within Achieve Net Profits.
And, although all of the articles have been
selected for their content, the publishing of
such articles within this newsletter does NOT
constitute a recommendation of the products or
services mentioned or advertised within those
articles.
Be responsible! Always do your own Due
Diligence before responding to any offer.
