5 Signs It Is Time To Leave Your Day Job

5 Signs It Is Time To Leave Your Day Job

by: Stephen Mistretta

Have you ever woken up in the middle of Sunday night in a cold sweat dreading you have to go to work Monday?

I have. And I am sure a lot of you have also.

What causes this and what is the solution? You internally dislike your job and finding a new job is the solution. Perhaps working from home where you are in control.

Throughout my work career I’ve had the opportunity to work at jobs I really enjoyed such as the US Army, a large financial planning firm as well as one of the larger ขBig Boxข retail chains.

I have also had the experience of working for a few companies where lying was the norm and Nepotism (hiring family members against company policy) was accepted.

Through these experiences I have come up with 5 key signs and or reasons it is time for a person to move on.

Your boss lies to the clients on a daily basis. I used to work in the digital printing industry where deadlines are tight and machinery does break down. I used to hear the owner lie to the customers about when a project would be completed. Of course I was the one left at the shop to explain to the customer why the job wasn’t done. The first time you hear the boss lie to a client I suggest you do two things. The first confront the boss professionally and tactfully and ask them why they lied. Usually they will try to sugar coat it, state right then and there it is something you do not agree with. Look for a solution for future potential problems. The second thing you should do is start looking for another job.

Your company or boss promises you a raise, bonus or time off and doesn’t follow through. A good friend of mine told me a story of how she worked for a company and her boss promised her three days off if they made there goal for the quarter. Well my friend worked her butt off and made the sales necessary to ขmakeข the quarter. Her boss then told her they had to double the quarter’s revenue in order to qualify for the three paid days off. She protested and the boss came back with ขthat’s what we agreed onข which of course was not the case. When you are working with a boss who is so pathetic it is better to move on. Keep your cool and start looking for a job, or better yet start your own business.

Your boss asks you to supervise one of there relatives. Remember the ขBlood is thicker then waterข from experience I can tell you it is true. Another good friend relayed a story to me about working for one of the larger ขone stopข digital presentation companies. He was hired as an assistant Branch manager or in this case the hired gun to clear out the deadwood. During his numerous interviews the Branch manager assured him that the fact many of their friends and also her Brother worked there he would have the authority and support to bring things back up to corporate standards. Well after the Brother showed up late three times my friend wrote the brother up for being late. Well guess what the sister/Branch Manager didn’t write him up the next time he was late (my friend was off that day). That sent a signal to the Brother that it was ok to ignore my friend as the Branch manger wasn’t writing him up. Moral of the story do not join companies where you will be a direct supervisor of a relative of your supervisor. It is nice to think it will work but it in a large majority of cases will not.Get out while you can.

Your boss asks you to lie for them. Once you start lying your boss will feel they got you right where they want you. Don’t do it. First thing to do is check with your labor board see if this is illegal and do you have any protection, second start looking for another job and third tactfully and professionally confront your boss, being prepared to be fired. If you are fired just wish them the best of luck, (this will most likely later drive them nuts thinking about it). Think about it why would you trust this person at all anymore, especially now that they are trying to drag you into there lies. Final point if you do something illegal or immoral for the boss and someone finds out about it who do you think the boss is going to point there finger at? You!!

You keep getting phone calls from creditors of your work place while at work. I went through this and the owner asked me to tell the creditors he was not there. OK maybe one time but after that pack your bags. Think logically if they aren’t paying the creditors what makes you think they will pay you.

When you decide it is time to leave above all for your next job do something you love. This will help soften life’s negative blows allot. Life is to short to be miserable and also to short to be working with pathetic small minded people. Always try to leave on good terms with a job waiting but realize sometimes for your own mental health sake you might have to just leave. Happiness IS NOT dependent on money, happiness is dependent on mental well being

About The Author

Stephen Mistretta is partner in www.HomeBusinessSuccess.biz a Home Business Guide and Portal. Steve can be reached at [email protected].

This article was posted on February 07

by Stephen Mistretta

In Mourning for the Google Cash system

In Mourning for the Google Cash system

by: Darren Power

Do you remember when you could pick an affiliate program, hustle up a few hundred keywords toss it all into your Adwords account & wait for the commissions. No me neither! I was busy doing something else during those glory days.

If it ever was that easy it certainly isn’t any more, thereกs a lot of competition & intense bidding for keywords. There are big corporations bidding on anything that moves & paying tens of thousands of dollars every month for number one listings.

Just in case you weren’t getting the message. Google changed the rules. Now Google will only list one ad for each domain name in any given set of results. If youกve ever searched for something obscure and found three or four ads telling you it can be found on eBay you will understand why they did this. The result of this change is that you almost certainly now need your own website to succeed.

But never fear, there are still opportunities for the little guy to earn big.

You just need a plan to maximise revenue from everything that you do and from every visitor that passes through your online real estate.

Here are my top five tips steps for maximising income from affiliate programs.

#1 Sell to a niche. I know youกve heard that message a thousand times before. There are hundreds of guides to niche marketing online and you might be forgiven for thinking itกs just the latest big hype. But the fact is if you choose a small market you can focus your product more precisely on your target market. If you get this right more of your visitors will think that your recommendation was written just for them and for their situation. The result? More of your visitors will buy.

#2 Always collect contact details from your visitors, if they don’t buy today many will buy tomorrow or the day after. If you have a responsive mailing list, you have an asset that can earn you money on demand. All lists start small and small lists can earn big money.

#3 Once you have their mailing details keep in touch, don’t let these people forget who you are. Certainly don’t only send them mail when you have something to sell. Send them freebies and news as well. Build a relationship, tell them about your life, be their trusted friend.

Side Bar

I read a post on a forum a while back about a guy who had been promoting an affiliate program for about a year. Then the program decided they didn’t want affiliates any more. This guy calculated that he had sent over 10,000 paying customers to the merchant over the course of the year. Now he had lost a whole revenue stream and had no way to earn from his past efforts.

If only he had kept in touch with these people by collecting names and mail addresses and keeping in contact, he would probably have made more sales along the way but better still he could now contact them and tell them about another great product.

End Sidebar

#4 Upsell your list. If they didn’t buy initially then keep reminding them of the benefits of the product. If they still don’t buy after later mails sell them something else. If they were buyers of the initial offering then upsell them on something bigger and more expensive.

#5 Don’t stop. Never stop sending mail to your list and don’t leave it so long between mails that they forget who you are. Keep sending useful information every week, build a rapport with them. Do this right and they will come to trust you like a friend and when their friend recommends something they will buy it.If they don’t want to hear from you any more they will use the unsubscribe link. Don’t assume they are all sold out. A good list is good for as long as you maintain it. Which can be until the day you retire.

Build your business right and you will be building an asset that will keep you for the rest of your life.

One great benefit to taking the long term view instead of immediate profits is that you will be in a better position to compete in the PPC marketplace. If the goal of your campaign is to build a list as opposed to making a profit then you can bid higher and run a break even campaign.

Would you like a free subscription to a monthly magazine dedicated to affiliate marketing? Visit http://www.ireviewguru.com/freeresources.html

About The Author

Darren Power is your host at IReviewGuru.com where you will find news of the latest Internet Marketing products along with reviews, articles and free resources

This article was posted on March 14

by Darren Power

The Power of a Referral Script

The Power of a Referral Script

by: Glen Hopkins

The key to the success of ecommerce is in the combination of the power of viral marketing, permission marketing and one to one marketing.

Have you ever heard of Amazon.com, Bluemountain Cards, or Hotmail? Of course you have! Why? Because the all use varying degrees of the above mentioned marketing techniques. In particular, they use viral marketing.

How can you use viral marketing?

With referral scripts!

First of all, you need to make sure that your ezine has a referral, ‘tell a Friendก link in each and every issue. You can say something like:

กIf you enjoy our newsletter a think a friend might also benefit from it, please click here.ก

or

กPlease help us share our message with others by telling a friend. Itกs easy, just click here.ก

The กclick hereก should be a hyper link to a web page with your referral script. You can find free referral scripts on various sites such as http://www.bignosebird.com or http://www.hotscripts.com. I use an amazing script that I had put together by a programmer. It cost me $1,600 but you can use it for free and make money while doing so no kidding. It is easy to implement. You can see how it works by visiting http://www.listopt.com and clicking on the ‘tell a Friendก link. If you want to use it too, go to: http://listopt.com/affiliate_taf.html

There are other third party referral services out there such as http://www.recommendit.com that are VERY easy to use and offer your readers incentives of $10,000 to tell a friend. The down side is that it is not as professional looking when you use a third party.

So get out there and set up a tellafriend script now and get those word of mouth referrals via one of the best viral marketing techniques available.

You have permission to reprint this article provided you include the following resource box:

About The Author

Glen Hopkins is the director of ListOpt Publications Inc. If you’re looking to build your newsletter subscriber base quickly, easily and inexpensively, visit Glen at: http://www.listopt.com and learn what hundreds of other publishers are saying about ListOptกs amazing List Builder service.

This article was posted on October 14, 2004

by Glen Hopkins

How My Friend’s Poor Hygiene Exploded My Sales

How My Friend’s Poor Hygiene Exploded My Sales

by: Jason Tarasi

My friend had not had a bath in over three days, there where pizza boxes littered across his apartment, and a funky odor filled the room.

As I walked into his apartment, I quickly became disorientated and started to feel myself losing consciousness. I felt my eyes starting to roll back into my head, and staggered to the window to get a breath of fresh air.

กJohn,ก I mumbled to my usually hygienic friend, กwhat happened to you?ก

He then gave me a wry smile and his eyes became as large as Bill Gateกs bank account.

My friend led me over to the TV where he had on ขThe Home Shopping Network.ข

John needed to take some time off work to relax, but within three short days, had become a กHome Shoppingก junkie.

My normal, levelheaded friend had become hypnotized by one of marketingกs most powerful techniques: Time sensitive offers.

If he didn’t order กPeppi the singing fishก within the next 15 minutes, the offer would be gone forever.

The Yoda phone that exclaimed, กMay the force be with youก when it rang would disappear into a galaxy far far away if he didn’t act now. They only had 100 left in stock.

As I sat there watching my zombified friend order useless items he would never use, I decided I would apply this same technique to my own business.

I care deeply about all of my customers, so I wanted to make sure of two things:

My offers would only be for useful products and services.

The offers had to truly be time sensitive.

The results where astounding.

The first time sensitive offer I brought to my customers almost tripled my sales. I was immediately hooked.

Now I never make an offer unless it is time sensitive.

For my offers I use a customized script that keeps track of my orders or counts down the time left until the offer expires. When my product is sold out, or the offer has expired, the script then removes the order page.

I rarely make exceptions and extend the offer, unless someone had a problem ordering the product.

So how can you implement this strategy into your business?

To have a successful offer you should generally follow these two simple rules:

Make the offer truly special (give a discount, extra bonuses, etc.)

Make sure the offer is pulled when you say it will be.

I have tested 72, 48 and even 24hour offers with impressive results.

These kinds of offers usually pull much better than if I limit the offer to 2030 packages.

However, each list is different. So don’t be afraid to test various offers until you find the right formula for maximum sales.

The kiss of death, and quickest way to lose credibility with your customers, is to make an offer that insults their intelligence.

Don’t make a 48hour offer, then run it for a week, just to make extra sales.

Your customers will quickly catch on to this, and you will see your response rates fall drastically.

Treat your customers with respect, and they will return the favor by making your bank account balloon to new levels.

Copyright 2005 Jason Tarasi

About The Author

Jason Tarasi publishes the reciprocal links newsletter กElite Linksก

Learn HOW thousands of other Elite Links members generate FREE traffic and increase their search engine rankings by swapping links. Grab your free lifetime subscription now at: http://www.freeclassifiedlinks.com/enter

This article was posted on February 09

by Jason Tarasi

Herb Filled Pillows Make Over a Million Dollars

Herb Filled Pillows Make Over a Million Dollars

by: Stephen Bucaro

Lauren Rosenstadt was a single mom working at a herb company in Bethesda, Maryland. A herb (pronounced กerbก) is a plant that has medicinal, savory, or aromic qualities. One day while at lunch with a friend whose daughter suffered from insomnia, Lauren thought, กIf I could fill a pillow with herbs, that would be soothing and help my friendกs daughter sleep.ก

A few days later, Sydney Greensheep, a pillow shaped like a sheep and filled with dried herbs, was completed. Lauren gave Sydney to her friend to try with her daughter. The next morning her friend reported, กItกs unbelievable, she slept like a baby!ก

Insomnia is epidemic in our fastpased American lifestyle. 4050% of Americans complain of occasional bouts with insomnia. 1015 percent of the US population suffers from chronic insomnia. Every year, as many as 10 million Americans seek a physicianกs help for sleep disorders. As many as 10,000 automobile accident deaths each year are the result of someone falling asleep at the wheel.

Lauren showed Sydney to her boss, who was impressed enough to provide her with space in the companyกs booth at a trade show. Many trade show visitors liked the herb stuffed pillow idea, and by the end of the show, Lauren had orders for over 100 pillows.

Lauren hired a seamstress to sew the sheepshaped pillows. Then, she stuffed them herself. The trade show buyers put the pillows on display in their shops, and within days they all sold for between $18.00 and $22.00 each.

Encouraged by these results, Lauren sent samples to department stores and specialty shops. Orders started rolling in. To sew the pillows, she enlisted small home business sewers. It was hard work to deliver bolts of fabric and 40 pound bags of filling to their homes. Within the first year, she grossed over half a million dollars.

Now, Laurenกs Herbal Animals can be found in over 750 body care, gift and natural living shops worldwide. Laurenกs company employs 13 people and has revenue of over a million dollars a year.

Itกs interesting to note that Lauren Rosenstadt didn’t start out as a hobby seamstress or craft person. She was a person who used her insight to help a friend confort her daughter. After recognizing an opportunity, Lauren didn’t let up. She did the thinking and the work necessary to achieve success.

Visit Laurenกs website www.herbalanimals.com

Permission is granted for the below article to forward, reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long as no changes are made and the byline, copyright, and the resource box below is included.

About The Author

Copyright(C)2004 Bucaro TecHelp. To learn how to maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter Send a blank email to [email protected]

This article was posted on August 16, 2004

by Stephen Bucaro

How My Friend Bob Went From Being A Failure To A W

How My Friend Bob Went From Being A Failure To A Winner By Taking Intelligent Action

by: Hans Klein

Let me tell you story about a friend of mine who used to be a complete failure. His name was Bob. My friend Bob was the type of guy who always was looking for instant riches, but never could seem to find them.

He jumped from one business opportunity to the next one and each time the people who sold Bob the business opportunity claimed they were going to make my friend Bob a millionaire, quickly and easily with little effort on his part.

I often visited my friend Bob, and every time Bob always would talk about his latest and greatest venture. Each time, I would tell Bob how he could use the internet to promote his venture, and each time he would get excited and say, ‘that sounds greatก.

But, whenever it was time for Bob to take action, he was always busy with his fulltime job, his favorite TV program was on, or he had some other task to accomplish.

This went on for several years, and I lost touch with Bob. But, recently, when I ran into Bob again at the local grocery store, I asked him what he was up to, and this is what he said:

กI am doing the best Iกve ever done in my entire life. I quit my crappy job; I have more time to spend with my family, and I just bought a new carก.

I said, ‘thatกs great. What happened?ก

กWell, I finally got tired of having no money and working at my deadend job. So, I went into business for myself and quit my job.ก

I asked Bob, กWeren’t you scared?ก

Bob said, กNo, because I finally did something I should have done a long time ago. I first identified what I wanted and then I worked my butt off to get it!ก

Later, I found out that it took my friend a good 8 months of hard work to discover what he wanted to sell, and he used the power of the internet to create a profitable business.

Like my friend Bob, you, too, have the power to achieve success using the internet if you only follow the same process.

I like to call what Bob did กintelligent actionก because he was intelligent by first identifying what he wanted and then taking action to reach his goal.

Before he took intelligent action, Bob was practicing insanity. He kept on pursuing the same easy riches, each time expecting a different result.

Are you practicing insanity? If so, here are the five steps of intelligent action:

Create a picture of what you want. To do this, you must determine what you are passionate about or care about most.

Create time to do it. Give up your favorite TV show or little chores until you get it done.

Do your research into how to accomplish your goal. This will save you time and effort if you know what you are doing.

Get help from those who have knowledge of how to accomplish your goal whenever you are stuck.

Take the risk to succeed. The internet is just like any business. You can make or lose money, but you are never going to get anywhere unless you take a risk to get what you want.

In short, if you act with a clear sense of purpose and direction because you know what your really want, then fear and doubt will be replaced with faith that you will get what you really want.

Before you leave here are some words that hold true today just as they did over 50 years ago.

กA man is the sum of his actions, of what he has done, of what he can do, Nothing else.ก Mahatma Gandhi (18691948)

© Hans Klein All rights reserved

About The Author

Discover how you can start taking intelligent action and explode your website traffic by subscribing to the most exciting a profit producing electronic magazine on the internet by visiting http://www.WealthStarters.com or by sending a blank email to mailto:[email protected]

This article was posted on November 10, 2003

by Hans Klein

Why Most People Fail at Marketing Anything on the

Why Most People Fail at Marketing Anything on the Internet

by: Dan Hamilton

Dear Friend,
Do you know why most people fail at marketing anything on the Internet? Even though the products or services they are trying to sell are awesome?
Pause a minute, regardless of your present level of success, and try to find out the #1 reason for failure so you can avoid making the same marketing mistake most people make over and over. It is fairly simple: once they have caught someoneกs attention, most people will start shouting about how great their products or services are กnothing that you will have ever seen…ก
Generally, when you own a กbrickandmortarก business, you get to meet facetoface with your potential customers at least once. Thatกs how people get acquainted and how business relationships are established and eventually develop into longlasting and mutually beneficial rapports.
Itกs a fact, people are usually more enticed to do business with someone they feel they can trust. Believe me my friend, establishing trust on the Internet is the most difficult and challenging thing to accomplish. Why is that? There are at least two reasons:
1. People don’t get to see each other, to feel each other, to see each otherกs expressions and body language which helps to gauge the person that is in front of us and immediately determine whether we want to do business with that person or not. Don’t we say we have 5 seconds to make a good or bad impression?
2. There is so much hype and false promises. A lot of people have been led the garden path and are loosing confidence it is even safe to do business online.
A few dishonest and unscrupulous people are making the majority of Internet marketersก life harder than ever. If you want to be successful online, your #1 goal is to establish a trustworthy relationship with your potential customers.
Instead of shouting about your products or services right off the bat, try to know their needs first!
Do that everyday and experience the difference it makes to your business. As we know, a good reputation takes years to be built and only seconds to be ruined. Keep that in mind my friend and happy marketing!
To subscribe to my newsletter, simply send a blank email to: mailto:[email protected]
As a new subscriber, you get an invaluable package of 92 Hypnotic Sales Letter Templates written by Joe Vitale and Larry Dotson!
Always remember: you can’t direct the wind but you can adjust the sails and shorten the journey leading to your success.
All the best,
Dan Hamilton
© 2004 Dan Hamilton All rights reserved

About The Author

Dan Hamilton is a Certified Guerrilla Marketer http://tinyurl.com/2mgz3/certif.htm. Proudly affiliated with Jay Conrad Levinsonกs Guerrilla Marketing Association

[email protected]

This article was posted on June 06, 2004

by Dan Hamilton

Oh No! I Can’t Sell!

Oh No! I Can’t Sell!

by: Jackie Ulmer

Whatกs that you say? You can’t sell?
Oh, you must be right, although you are selling me right now!
A good friend of mine once said to me, "Life is sales."
What a profound statement! Think about it! Life IS sales. We sell all day, every day.
We just don’t realize or acknowledge the fact that we are selling.
Why is that? I believe it is because we have adopted some misguided beliefs regarding selling.
The interesting thing to keep in mind is that of higher income earners around the world, a large percentage come from the world of sales. Many from direct selling!
When you think about sales, what comes to mind?
Chances are, itกs the pushy, arrogant, overzealous, quicktotheclose type that youกve done business with in the past.
But, is that truly what Sales is about?
I don’t think so.
True sales is about sharing information. Itกs about finding out what the other person needs and then meeting that need.
Itกs about creating a winwin situation for everyone.
When was the last time you told someone about a great movie, referred a family physician or lavished praise and recommendations on the new restaurant in town?
This is sales in its purest form!
You perceive a product or service that could possibly meet the need of someone else. (A great place to eat or entertaining movie, etc.)
You share the information with someone else, in an effort to meet a need they may have.
Your friend either accepts or rejects the suggestion and you both move on about your business.
If your friend likes the suggestion and acts on it, you feel a sense of satisfaction.
If your friend does not, you just move on, realizing that there was no interest or need at this time.
Your friend was not rejecting you.
You don’t try to overcome objections, attempting to coerce him/her into "buying" what you are offering.
You are detached from the outcome.
Oh, and either way, you don’t get paid.
Perhaps this is why itกs so easy for you to offer your suggesting.
Now, think about using this same process with a product or service that you offer.
Think of presenting your business idea to a friend, relative or acquaintance in the same way.
Just share the information!
See if there is a need to be met by what you are offering.
Don’t try to sell or overcome objections.
Just listen and offer information.
If your friend acts on that information and buys your product or service, GREAT! You have met a need and delivered value.
Oh, and you get paid! Thatกs okay!
If your friend does not choose to act on the information, thatกs okay, too. You can still go on about your business.
You both win in either case.
You aren’t selling! You are sharing!
And, over time, using this strategy, you will move up into the ranks of the higher income earners around the world!
So, whatกs that you say about not being able to sell? Good, can you just try sharing?

About The Author

Jackie Ulmer, a veteran Home Business Owner, has coached thousands of men and women on starting a successful home business. Her free newsletter provides tips, resources and more for home businesses. She can be reached through her web site at http://www.streetsmartwealth.com/

This article was posted on January 20, 2002

by Jackie Ulmer

Evaluating Your Customer

Evaluating Your Customer

by: Jay Conners

It is one thing to make a sales presentation, but it is another thing to make a sales presentation without first evaluating your customer. For all you know, you could be selling your customer something that they already have, or something they don’t want, don’t need, or can’t afford.

This is why it is so very important to take your customer in, sit them down, make them feel comfortable, and get to know them and what their needs are. Once you have done this, you can then sell them a product based on what their needs are and not what you think they are.

On a personal note . . .

I learned the importance of evaluating your customer the hard way. A few years ago, I was a branch manager working in a bank branch. One particular customer of the bank approached me in my office about opening a savings account for her daughter.

Once I explained to her the process of opening a savings account, I proceeded to tell her all about a current promotion we were having on our home equity loans. She sat there and listened very politely and patiently as I very proudly went down the list of all the benefits, features, and tax breaks that come with a home equity loan.

Once I had finished my rehearsed presentation, she said to me;

That all sounds very nice, and it is something that I will consider in the near to distant future. She than went on to tell me that she and her husband rented the house they lived in.

So there you have it, I tried to sell a home equity loan to someone without a house.

Needless to say, my face turned a deeper shade of scarlet, and I felt like an idiot.

But hey, I learned from my mistake. Had I asked some simple probing questions before I went straight for the sale, I would have saved myself a lot of embarrassment.

You will be amazed at what you can find out from people just by asking them a few simple questions about themselves. Remember, people love to talk about themselves. Their jobs, their pets, their kids, just about everything.

I once had a friend who owned a shoe store, and his inventory was made up mostly of sneakers. One day a man walked into his store to buy a pair of sneakers. As my friend assisted him with his decision, he struck up a friendly conversation with him. As it turned out, this customer ran a basketball camp during the summer and he loved to talk about it. A few minutes into the conversation, my friend and his customer had come to an agreement. All of the boys and girls that attended the customers basketball camp would receive a 10% discount on their sneakers if they purchased them at my friend’s store.

So, as you can see, my friend increased his sales that summer simply by striking up a conversation with his random customer and asking a few questions.

Imagine going to your doctors office with an ailment and having him prescribe you a medication without asking what your symptoms were. Would you take the medication?

The same principal applies.

It really isn’t rocket science, it’s just friendly conversation, get to know your customer and watch one sale turn into many.

Why service only one of your customers needs when you can service them all.

About The Author

Jay Conners has more than fifteen years experience in the banking and mortgage industry as a loan officer and sales manager. He is the owner of http://www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site. He also owns http://www.callprospect.com.

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 13

by Jay Conners

How I Turned $1.05 Into a Growing Business

How I Turned $1.05 Into a Growing Business

by: Pete Egeler

I wanted to share this story, as an inspiration to others, and to show the power of eBay and a little creative thinking.

A few days ago I was talking with a friend of mine that lives, breathes, and eats fishing.

He told me heกd designed a new fishing lure, and was wanting to try and sell กa few,ก maybe on eBay. But, he said.. he wasn’t that sure about how eBay worked, and wondered if Iกd help him.

My friend brought me a couple of lures that afternoon, explained to me what made the so กuniqueก, and off I went.

That evening I wrote up some copy, took a couple of pictures, and posted an auction on eBay for the กINSTIGATORก buzz bait.

Knowing that he wanted at least $10 per lure, Iกd started the auction off at $9.97, and he was tickled to death the next morning to see 15 hits on the auction, and one bid at $9.97.

Of course, heกd offered to pay me a small commission over costs if the unit sold.

Then, I got a กbrightก idea.

When I got home the second evening, I literally กslapped togetherก a web page about his lure, and tagged it with a price of $19.97 each plus shipping.

Then, I went to eBay, logged into my กAbout Meก page, and rewrote it so it pointed to this new web site.

I asked my friend if heกd be willing to make a deal. Iกd get him $15 per lure (instead of $10 each,) if I could have everything OVER that. He said yes!

So, here we sit one week into the deal. From the web page sales, weกll do about 20 lures this week, and orders are still coming in.

Based on initial response, the fact that fishing season is about to get into high gear, and that the lure is a custom made by hand lure, we expect sales to reach our cutoff point of 3540 lures a week by the end of the month.

For my efforts, I bring in about $150$200 a week in commissions.

All of this from a single eBay ad that cost me $1.05 to post.

So you see, there IS power in eBay, and money to be had for those that look กoutsideก the box for opportunities.

You don’t have to go dumping tons of money into buying product that you may, or may not sell. This is exactly what I teach my readers in my eBook.. กDumpster Diving for eBay Profits.ก

Keep your ears & your eyes open. You just might have a gold mine sitting right across the street.

About The Author

Pete Egeler is the author of กDumpster Diving for eBay Profits,ก and the DDNews newsletter, as well as a number of other publications. Pete also freelances as a Press Release writer and online reasearch assistant. He can be reached via email at: [email protected]

This article was posted on February 29, 2004

by Pete Egeler

How to Get Your Visitors To "Tell A Friend

How to Get Your Visitors To "Tell A Friend

by: Dawn Gray

Does your website offer visitors a quick and easy way to recommend it to a friend? If not, you’re missing out on a potential gold mine of free traffic.
The benefits:

Automated website promotion. You set up the program and your visitors do the work of promoting your website for you.
You receive higher quality visitors. Your visitors will refer people *really interested* in your products or services. These people will be more likely to subscribe to your newsletter, request your free reports, and ultimately BUY YOUR PRODUCTS!
Nobody will every be insulted or upset by this promotion technique (as long as you make it clear that the message comes from their friend). People can only participate if they visit your website, and email will only be sent by people the recipient knows.

Just asking your visitors to recommend your website isn’t enough. You need to make it easy. Offer a form on your website your visitors can fill out to recommend it to a friend. Either put the form on every page of your website, put it in a popup window, or link to it on every page.
There are many ways to do it:

Javascript. See the Javascript resources on my Webmaster
Resources page at http://www.busymarketing.com/links.shtml for a website with instructions on how to use the script.
CGI. I really like Birdcast at http://www.bignosebird.com itกs what I use on my website. You can find more options on my Webmaster Resources page.
A service. Many remotelyhosted scripts are available.
The most popular is RecommendIt at http://www.recommendit.com (which offers a contest as an incentive and allows you to add recommendation links to the email you send out). There is also a free program called Let กEm Know at http://www.letemknow.com which allows you to run your own contest for participants and probably offers more statistics. Either can be set up in 5 minutes or less.

Javascript and CGI scripts have the benefit of being completely under your control. You can customize them to work on your website and decide if and how visitors are notified about the origin of your script.
Services are easier to set up, but have to make a living somehow and may use advertising or big, tacky buttons with their name and/or logo in order to do so.
Don’t delay! Set up a TellAFriend system on your website to watch the number and quality of your visitors improve without raising a finger.

About The Author

Would you like to see more articles like this? Dawn Gray writes Busy Marketing Tips! Subscribe today by emailing [email protected] and get a free Search Engine Tips screensaver.

This article was posted on January 20, 2002

by Dawn Gray