Are you a ‘Work-Droid?’

by AuctionGuerilla 3 comments »

I can remember my first EVER experience with working online. A friend introduced me to eBay, and yes that’s how long ago it was, I didn’t even know about eBay. I was a ‘Work-Droid’ with my then employer and I was totally immersed in my career as a project manager in the printing industry and my world revolved around printing.

The first EVER listing I posted on eBay was oh so completely rubbish. I took a picture with the first mobile phone that had a camera function (That’s how bad the image was).

I listed at 99p and I can’t remember what I wrote in the item description but I’m sure it would have been a complete disaster.

And I can also remember some of the products I’ve purchased and new ideas I’ve been involved with that looking back – were a complete waste of time. I would get the new ebook or new ‘product’ and run with it, only to find it didn’t work out and that it only made the person I purchased it from richer!

But that was way back when I was a ‘Green Internet Marketer’ or what is known in the industry as a ‘Newbie’.

It’s a funny thing how you never stop learning as you ride the emotional roller coaster that internet marketing will inevitably force you to ride.

This is one of the reason’s I only produce products that I know work!

The days of Green newbie impulse buys are now behind me and the more you know, the more you can implement, but there comes a point where you can only implement so much. There are only so many hours in one day and even the most hardened steam train marketers will have to stop to refuel eventually – you become a ‘work-droid’ in your own business.

And that’s why I recently discovered how to actually have more than one of me. You might be thinking I’ve gone completely insane at this point but please bear with me, this is relevant.

I’ve hired virtual assistants and contractors to complete tasks for me before on Elance and Odesk but I recently discovered something with a radically different approach to outsourcing. It’s John Jonas’s Replace Myself system.

I’ve worked through it and I’m having some success at actually duplicating myself in my business.

If you find there’s not enough hours in the day to get everything done, I’d certainly recommend taking a look at ReplaceMyself it’s a bit pricey to join but even the free content is a real eye-opener.

Google Slap, Composure and the Big Fish

by AuctionGuerilla 2 comments »

I recently returned from a long awaited and well needed enjoyable three day break this weekend. I actually went on a road trip around Northern Thailand and into Laos, hey you can’t help but relax there since there is nothing else to do but relax and enjoy the outdoors, culture and fresh air – a contrast to the hustle for space in Bangkok City.

Whenever I take a break at the beach or to another country or to the countryside I always appreciate the break and the time out and I even look forward to returning home and to my work which is more or less my hobby..

So, I returned to my house in Bangkok this time only to find that within just three short days, lot’s of things can happen.

The first thing I noticed is that the foot long Gourami fish in the fish tank was gasping for air..

(I actually bought this fish originally as a small one inch fish to keep the other small fish in my humble little tank company, I bought it from an old lady in a pet store in an ancient looking street in Bangkok, a bit like that store in the film Gremlins where Gizmo was found in that ancient, forgotten store in China Town.. anyhow the old lady ensured me that ‘this fish would not grow any larger’, or maybe  not!)

I’m sure it’s now a potential record sized  foot long Giant pink eyed Gourami probably worth a hefty sum to someone – anyhow this fish was gulping for air at the top of the six foot tank I was forced to find just to house the sheer size of this so called small fish..

It turns out the air pump I purchased only about 8 months ago had taken it’s toil, routinely recycling the gallons of water that runs through it each day. The Big fish and the other surviving little fish around it were all gasping for air and survival.

The next thing I noticed as I returned to ‘home-sweet-home’ was a trickle of water that was leaking through the roof into the living room.. the house next door had been vacant ever since we moved in about 2 years previous and the new tenants had just moved in only to reveal the undiscovered leakage between their shower and our living room.

I had been driving for about 8 hours that day so I shoved the ‘quick fix’ bucket under the drip in the roof and poured fresh water into the Giant Guarami’s tank, and hit the sleep.

The next morning , ‘home sweet home’ I went out and bought a new pump for the fish tank and called in the maintenance guys to fix the leak in the roof. At this point things are looking better and I’m feeling good and looking forward to checking what’s been going on online and getting back to routine and enjoying my hobby/business..

Sound simple right..?

First you turn on the computer, then you turn on the modem..

Easy…

or Not!

The damned internet adsl light was down.. (This is Thailand after all and sometimes Stuff happens, although I must admit you do get a much quicker response to customer service than you would back in the UK or any other country I’ve lived in for that matter)

Anyway, I finally got the internet to work and I was logged on..

The good news was, whilst I’d been away for three days my businesses had grown a little and sales were ticking over and were just as good as if  not better than before I left..

GREAT..

However, like anyone who has an internet business/hobby/entrepreneurial mindset, I always have a few things going on in the background and have a few new up and coming things going on..

However, when I checked the new seedling projects I had planted, they had been trodden by the dreaded Google Slap!

All the new projects I had been investing time , energy and precious enthusiasm into had been halted by the Google Adwords Slap!

You could compare this to snuggling up with someone warm on a cold night, and being thrown over you a bucket of ice cold water with chunks of ice cubes bouncing off your head, spoiling your warm patch.

Hey, I can handle a basting now and again but this is my livelihood I’m talking about and the livelihood of my family, my employees and my affiliates.

Sometimes you just got to take it on the chin..

I recall a saying Dad used to say a lot, I don’t know who quoted this but i just know Dad said it a lot, that is..

‘What can go wrong, Will go wrong’..

So although I had enjoyed a well needed break away, I returned to put it bluntly a pile of crap!

I’s going to happen, it’s life..

It’s not what happens but how you react to it that is really important..

With the title of this post being ‘Google Slap’, maybe you expected to see groaning, moaning

and efforts to grovel to Google..

Well, if this has or does happen to you, the important thing is to keep your composure, because it’s not what happens to you,

but how you deal with it what really counts, keep your composure and you’ll be fine.

The Google machine is truly amazing, however it has some catching up if it is to meet the sophistication and experience of the human brain..

If you get slapped by Google, take it on the chin..

You just have to keep your composure, think it out and get around it..

Keep smiling and relax..

(By the way as I was just about to post this, there was a total blackout.. Not so normal for a metropolitan city or even Bangkok for that matter – as I post this there is power in my laptop battery and the sound of all sorts of animals outside you don’t normally hear, probably reacting to the power outage..)

It just goes to show, If it can happen It’s going to happen and I love the challenge..

I hope you do too..

To Your Success!

The Marketing Maze

by AuctionGuerilla No comments »

If you are a real human being, you will have probably received an email or seen an advert somewhere at some stage saying something along the lines that ‘making money on the internet is easy’, right?

Yesterday one of my suppliers called Graham asked me “John, you buy so much of these products from us but how do you actually sell them, your business is selling them on the internet isn’t it?”

I said yes that’s partly right.

I told him, “I actually use these products as ‘marketing widgets’ that lead customers towards my main business which is teaching people how to build and promote their own business on the internet” .

He looked back at me with a blank gaze and probably still none the wiser.

“Ah OK,” he replied..

“So, how do you actually sell these products then?”

In lay man’s terms I proceeded to explain to Graham how you can market widgets on the internet..

“Graham, you can sell your physical products using PPC, SEO, PPV, CPA, CSE’s, Facebook, Email, Blogging, Article Writing, Affiliate Marketing, E commerce Platforms, Video Marketing, Joint ventures,  etc”

He didn’t really understand what I meant so I told him the kinder garden version..

“If you want to start an online business selling something, the best way is to show your product to an already established market that’s easy and low risk, like the eBay marketplace. Once you have proof that there is a demand for your product and you have an offer that sells, you then proceed to expand your marketing efforts to all the other forms of internet marketing. ”

“Oh I see” Graham said, circling his head whilst almost nodding..

“And then Graham, you use..

Pay Per Click Search Marketing (PPC) – This is when you display your ad to a group of people who are actively seeking your product and when they click your ad you pay a fee.

Search Engine Marketing (SEO) – This is where you optimize and increase your websites popularity using on page optimization and link building techniques to get higher organic search engine rankings.

PPV – This is where your ad is displayed and you pay a fee for a fixed number of times your ad has been displayed.

Facebook – This is where you display your ad to a finely tuned demographic and then pay a fee once your ad is clicked on, a bit like PPC.

Email Marketing – This is when you send emails to people who have requested more information about your product or services.

Blogging – This is when you write articles with interesting stories, providing good information about your products, services and your interests to your blogs reader.

Article Writing – This is simply when you write articles about your products and services and post to article directories and blogs.

Affiliate Marketing – This is where you pay other internet marketers a commission to promote and sell your products and services

E commerce Platforms – This is when you list your products on existing websites that are designed specifically to sell your products to potential buyers who are browsing the e commerce website.

Video Marketing – This is when you make videos to market and promote your products

Joint Ventures (JV’s) – This is when you team up with other internet marketers and you promote each others products and services for usually a mutual benefit.

Graham  says, “so it can be quite complicated then..”

I told him..

The best way to start is using one method and then grow your business from there whilst you are making money.

So, as you can see making money on the internet is easy.. (I hope you can see the sarcasm in that)

How many of these methods have you tried?

One method I’m experimenting with at the moment is PPV, and if you haven’t seen this yet I would highly recommend Jonathan Mizel’s course. Within a few hours of implementing this course I had several thousand targeted hits to one of my websites…

Internet marketing is a learning process and like anything else needs constant implementation of marketing strategies to constantly increase your business potential and it does take time to progress.

If you are starting with eBay and ecommerce, you can sign up for my newsletter and video series for lots of useful information you can implement right away..

Sign up for the Auction Guerilla Newsletter and Video Series here

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