 |  |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Net Auction Masters... an intensive 5-Day e-mail course
on how to join the Net Auction Game and WIN!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have a friend who would benefit from taking this
course, please pass this on.Or tell that person to receive
the 5-day course by sending a blank e-mail to...
tnamsalliesunme@sitesell.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Refer to this course over and over again as you grow your
Net auction business.Print each e-mail out, pour yourself
a beverage of choice, bring along a pen to jot down some
ideas, and take it all to your favorite sofa. This is
serious -- you want your first actions to be effective.Go
for best learning results -- get comfortable. :-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<<TODAY>> Net Auction Masters 202
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome back!
Looks like you might be running a bit of a fever.But don't
sweat it! (sorry, I couldn't resist)It's the best kind of
contagious fever to catch...
... you are getting Auction Fever! :-)
Yesterday in DAY 1 of the Auction Masters course,you
examined some of the who-what-and-whys of a Net auction
business and the importance of FOCUS to maximize success.
Today, DAY 2, the spotlight is on PRODUCT and TRAFFIC, two
key components of an auction e-biz... ANY profitable
business, for that matter.Combine a great product
with high targeted traffic and your sales will EXPLODE!
Tomorrow, in DAY 3, we will look at the glue that binds
product and traffic together -- the auction listing or
ad. (For other types of e-commerce, it's the Web site.)
----SIDEBAR----
Make Your Site SELL! is the comprehensive guide to
developing the "Big Three" for success on the Web. They are
all are directly under YOUR control...
1) Sell a great product.
2) Write a Web site that sells with deadly effectiveness.
3) Attract targeted traffic.
http://myss.sitesell.com
The same three variables apply to an auction business.The
good news -- no, the fabulous news -- is that Net auctions
are so much simpler than selling through your own Web site!
And MYNAS! makes it even easier, providing all the information
and resources you need to accomplish the "Big Three."
http://mynas.sitesell.com
----SIDEBAR---
OK, ready for some more heat?Let's make that temperature
rise...
--
The first thing that all Net auction sellers worry about
when they are just starting up is...
..."What should I sell"?
Your attic/basement/closet's treasures can get your toe in
the door but why settle for that?You want to walk through
that door and run with this incredible e-commerce
opportunity.Think long term.
The best way to answer THE question is to look at what's
already selling well on the auction sites.Identify DEMAND.
An auction is the purest kind of market in existence.You
make an offering and either somebody wants it or they
don't.
You can't be absolutely sure about anything.So take the
time to do your due diligence.Do the research.
Auction sites don't just jumble everything together.
Instead, they divide all their items for sale into
categories.
So the first thing you need to do is investigate some
categories.By doing this, you will learn what is "hot",
what price it's bringing and how to maximize your profits.
Research in advance saves you time and money.
This installment of the Auction Masters course will
highlight two great strategies to get you off and running.
MYNAS! deals with PRODUCT extensively, providing can-do
strategies, creative ideas and inspiring role models to help
build your business and your confidence.
http://mynas.sitesell.com
Without further delay, put on your Auction Detective Hat,
open your browser and go to...
http://www.ebay.com/
----SIDEBAR----
There are dozens, even hundreds, of auction sites.MYNAS!
shows you how to evaluate and choose the "best fit" for you.
But for this exercise, we will use eBay.Because it's the
biggest and most popular auction site, most sellers begin
their business with eBay.
----SIDEBAR----
If you have a passion already, that's great!You will be
able to zoom into a category rather quickly.If you don't,
there's no rush.You will figure it out as you go along.
An open mind will make the difference in your search.
One tip... if you are undecided and feel no particular
frenzy for anything, a great choice for a category would be
*collectibles*.They are definitely the hottest selling
auction items and they offer a great profit potential.
The term,"collectibles," is very broad.Go to...
http://pages.ebay.com/catindex/collectibles.html
and you will see all the awesome, incredible opportunities.
In addition, lots of the flea markets (and other sources)
stock more collectibles than anything else, so they are
very, very easy to obtain.(How to SOURCE goods/merchandise
is the topic for DAY 4 of the Auction Masters course).
The better your auction detective skills are, the better you
will be able to determine VALUE.
One of the most immediate lessons as a new seller is that
all those Price/Reference Guides that claim to know value
may be true in some venues -- but not necessarily in the
Internet Auction. Instead, the best place to learn value is
ON the auction sites themselves.
This is not only easy to do, it's a lot of FUN.
--
OK.You're at eBay?
On the left side of the home page, you will see two
sections:Specialties and Categories.For now, ignore the
Specialties section, it's for more advanced usage.(MYNAS!
gets you to that level very quickly.)
http://mynas.sitesell.com
----SIDEBAR----
At the bottom of the page you will see the millions of items
for sale and the countries that have their own eBay
division.This gives you an idea of the scope and size of
this gigantic auction game!
----SIDEBAR----
Let's use the category of books for this exercise.Click on
the "Books" section.This takes you to a page with listings
in 17 subcategories.
----SIDEBAR----
That is today on eBay.Like all things on the Internet,
there is constant change.By the time you read this, the
subcategories may be slightly different.
----SIDEBAR----
Now click on "First Editions", which has two categories of
"General" and "Signed".Directly below the heading of First
Editions is a section that says "Current", with four choices
next to it...
o New Today -- lists books that have been listed in the last
24 hours.This is moderately interesting, and possibly
worth looking at if you are very interested in your subject.
o Ending Today -- contains books have been for sale for
several days, usually at least a week and their bids.
o Completed -- are books that go back two to three days.
o Going, going, gone -- indicate auctions which end in five
hours.
Your detective work begins at this point.Each of these
sections offer information that you need.Use a notebook to
record your observations (for this example, that would be
title, edition, anything unusual or outstanding about the
book, sale price, number of bids, etc.)
This type of organization lets you see the big picture
around demand, price and value at a glance.This is
important knowledge no matter where you are in your business
life cycle, start-up or growth phase.
--
There is a second strategy that is just as effective.
Decide what kind of profit you want to make on an item. Some
beginners are content with any kind of profit.Other
sellers, especially those with experience, define their
needs within a particular range.
(For our research example below, you have decided that books
under $100 dollars do not provide enough profit potential.)
Ready?Go back to the home page of eBay.
See the icon at the top of the page that says, "Search."
Click on it.Your screen should say, "Smart Search,"
followed with "By Item Number," "By Seller," "By Bidder,"
"Completed Items," "International Search".
Fill in your screen this way...
o Search Title -- "first edition." The quotation marks will
give a more exact result.
o Search Title and Description -- check that box.
o All of These Words, Any of These Words, Exact Phrase -- I
choose Exact Phrase because these are fairly common words
o Words to Exclude -- none
o Price Range -- Insert $100 and leave the top range
blank
o Payment -- Leave blank.Unnecessary for research.
o Search in Categories -- Choose "BOOKS".
o Item location -- All of eBay
Click.Once the selections are displayed, you can then
further refine your search, if you wish, by clicking
"highest priced first".
--
These two strategies will open your mind to lots of
possibilities and help you define your niche.Try several
categories and then narrow your choice down to two or three
that are the most interesting to you.
After you have followed the listings for a few weeks, you
will begin to get a very good feel for profitable
merchandise.Basically, you are doing a product feasibility
study -- the easy and inexpensive way, by clicking and
recording your observations.
Continue to get an accurate picture of what's "hot" by
checking back frequently.Ongoing research is critical to
long-term success.
One word of caution -- the item has to be "hot" for you,
too.Choose items that match your interests or passion.It
will make your research more enjoyable and deeper because
YOU want to know more about the items.
You will be *playing* not working!
--
Now for the second most frequently asked question by
newcomers to the Net auction business world...
... "Where do I find customers?"
After all, if you are selling water from the Fountain of
Youth -- and no one knows about it -- how much money will
you make?;-)
This is where the Net auction shines!The auction sites
have already spent THEIR time and THEIR money to attract
millions of customers.
Take advantage of their hard work.They have the traffic
and the buyers -- all you have to do is show up with a great
product at a great price.
It's just that simple.
How much interest (which translates into traffic) is there
for Net auctions?Consider this information...
o Out of the top 20 Web players (spring of 2001), nine of
these have auction sites -- Yahoo, Microsoft, Lycos, Excite
eBay, nbci,Softseek, Amazon and cnet.
o eBay alone has at least 200 million page views each month.
o 15% of the hundreds of millions of Internet users have at
least looked at auctions.
o eBay has sites in 12 countries and is targeting South
America and the Pacific Rim while Yahoo! auctions in 19
countries.This makes international selling a real
possibility for the small home business owner.You can sell
your products in France or Australia as easily as you can in
Kansas.
And not only that...
*Great traffic is very AFFORDABLE!*
Out of the 9 giant sites mentioned above, only three of them
charge any money to list items (eBay, Yahoo and Amazon).
And their fees are very modest.
Even the most expensive site, eBay, charges a maximum $3.30
to list items, excluding a listing a house or a car. They
have their own insertion fee structure which is outlined in
MYNAS!.
http://mynas.sitesell.com
Other fees apply only if you sell your widget which means your
operating risk is virtually zero.
AND, the fee doesn't vary, no matter how many buyers look at
your merchandise.
With banner advertising or Pay-Per-Click Search Engines, you
pay for each person who looks at your listing.Surfers with
idle curiosity, school kids doing research or the
everything-for-free junkies may be clicking on your ads --
and you pay for each click, whether they are truly
interested or not.
On the auctions, you pay the SAME amount whether 10 people, or
10,000 people, check out your sale items.
Best of all ...
*Whatever traffic you get is TARGETED*!
If you are selling computer parts, buyers interested in
sports autographs won't be looking at your sale items.
And isn't that exactly what you want?
Trying to sell to people who aren't interested is an
exercise in futility and a total waste of your time.
On the auction sites, your customers target themselves.You
don't have to figure out if a particular group is a logical
candidate for your product or service.The buyer will make
that decision for herself.
Bottom line... Net auctions attract a huge volume of
targeted customers who are actively searching for the
products or services they want.
There is no e-biz that is easier or more affordable than
auctions for the small or home business owner!
----SIDEBAR----
The sweet taste of success from Net auctions may sooner or
later lead you to build your own Web site to sell products
or services -- and create another profitable income stream.
(Of course, you have to create a site that SELLS! and
MYSS! will guide you flawlessly through the process.)
http://myss.sitesell.com
Once again, take advantage of Net auctions' awesome traffic
to promote your site.
Turbo-boost sales by moving targeted traffic in two
directions...
... TO and FROM your auction listing.
For example, highlight an auction item and by providing a
link from the main sales site to the auction listing.And
then pull traffic in the other direction.Add a link from
the listing to the main site.This encourages customers to
visit your site for more information or to see your other
products.
----SIDEBAR----
There are, literally, millions of buyers on the auction
sites.But there is COMPETITION, too.
So to attract all those hungry buyers to your treasures,
you will need to write an auction listing that sells and
SELLS!
And that's exactly what's on the agenda tomorrow.In fact,
you want to go beyond just selling, you will want to create
the most desirable state of all... the bidding war, where
your selling price rockets up and up.Now that's HOT!
Here's your assignment for today.Go on a mini-treasure
hunt in your home.Choose five items that you would be
willing to sell. It will be easier to write a listing
tomorrow if you already have a solid image in your mind...
and in front of you.
Good luck with the hunt!Actually, you're not really
hunting per se, you're doing STOCK INVENTORY for your new
Net auction business.;-)
Until then,
Sydney and Ken
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TO UNSUBSCRIBE
To unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail to...
unsubscribetnams@sitesell.net
NOTE: You must send it from the same e-mail address that is
subscribed to this 5-day course.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contact info:E-mail us at support@sitesell.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Written by Sydney Johnston
Author of Make Your Net Auction Sell!
And...
Ken Evoy, M.D.
President, SiteSell Inc.
(c) copyright 2001 SiteSell.com Inc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Make Your Net Auction Sell!" TM SiteSell.com Inc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<<<--- Previous Lesson Next Lesson --->>> Return to Success Training HERE! | | |
©Copyright Business Success Experts.com
A Division of The Workplace Moxie Network - All Worldwide Rights Reserved
| | |
