Sorry this has taken so long but I have been busy over the past 6 months with my new offline business.  Anyway folks, following on from my first article on the subject of using eBay to get your online business started – here is Part 2.

SIGN UP

The first thing you need to do is sign up for an eBay account.  It’s FREE and easy, and it’s a good idea to sign up for a PayPal account at the same time.  This is because 99.99% of buyers on eBay now use PayPal to pay for their purchases.

Go to the eBay home page for your Country, and at the top left you should see a small Welcome! next to the EBAY LOGO.  Click on ‘register’ to sign up for a new account.  Just fill in all of the details that you’re asked for, and that’s really all there is to it.  Once you’ve created your eBay account, do the same for PayPal.

FEEDBACK

What is feedback?  Feedback is very important on eBay, ESPECIALLY for sellers.  When you buy, or sell, something on eBay, each party involved in the transaction, (the buyer & the seller), has an opportunity to leave comments on how the transaction went.  As a seller you want to keep your feedback rating at 100%, (or as near as possible), at all times.

Buyers can leave Positive, Neutral or Negative feedback for a transaction.  Under eBay’s rules, sellers cannot leave negative feedback for buyers.  It is very important to describe the item/s that you are selling very accurately to avoid getting negative, (or neutral), feedback.  If your item has dings, dents, scratches, parts missing, bits not working etc – be sure to point these out in your description.

SHIPPING

Make sure that you cover your postage/packaging costs in full, (a trap many new sellers on eBay fall into).  If you quote a postage price & then discover that you didn’t charge enough, your buyer will not appreciate your email telling them that you have not charged enough for postage, and they need to pay more.  This will almost certainly result in a cancelled sale AND the buyer leaving negative feedback for you.  Buy a decent set of digital scales, so that you can work out your shipping costs accurately.

WHAT TO SELL

Well, at first just sell miscellaneous items from around your home, garage, loft etc – just to get a feel for how eBay works.  When you know your way around, and you have some positive feedback ratings, it’s time to think about selling on a regular basis.  I won’t go into too much detail here, but I’ll give you a few general insights.

1. Consider your buying budget! – if you only have a small amount to invest, don’t spend it all on 1 or 2 large items, start off small and buy a lot of smaller items.  This way you can have a lot of listings instead of just a lonely 1 or 2.

2. Don’t try to compete in the biggest markets such as clothing or electronics – you will not be able to offer the prices that long time ‘Power Sellers’ can.

3. Research any wholesalers you’re thinking of using thoroughly before parting with your money.  Make sure they are reputable, have a good line of stock and their prices allow you to make a profit.  There is a common misconception amongst new sellers that wholesalers offer prices 70% or more less than retail.  This is NOT true – if you can get an average of between 25-30% markup then you’re doing okay.

NICHES

What is a niche?  A niche can be a particular group of people, or a group of related items.  Targeting a niche is much more effective than targeting an entire market.  For example; let’s say you want to sell video games & accessories – this is a very competetive market.  To cover it all you would have to stock games and accessories for Xbox, PS3, Wii etc, and this would be expensive and doomed to failure.

You WILL fail because you will be drawn into pricing wars with other larger sellers who have more buying power than you.  They will be able to buy games at a much better price in bulk than you can afford.  What you could do is dig deeper into this market and target a smaller, more specific audience, with less competition.  You could for instance just sell stuff for ONE console, such as the Nintendo Wii.

This is still a very large market though, so you could dig deeper still, say, just sell WAR games such as Black Ops, Metal Gear Solid etc.  There will be many gamers who mostly only play these types of games – so do you see where I’m going with this?

You could even drill down further and just sell ONE single WAR game, AND associated merchandise.  So you could just sell Metal Gear Solid games, accessories & promotional products like tee-shirts, mugs, mouse mats etc – all featuring printed graphics from this one single game.

Niches are everywhere – just think about it and have a look around !

Here are just a few examples:

Young mothers
Anglers
Football fans       – these are all niche groups
Musicians
Dieters
Astronomers
Gamers

Computers
Games Consoles
Shoes
Guitars              – these are all niche products
Antiques
Books
Kids toys

You get the idea now – niches are VERY GOOD things to watch out for.  A great niche has BIG demand and LITTLE competition.

A FEW SUGGESTIONS

Some good selling niches to research more deeply and get you started.

Baby products
Ladies/Gents plus-size fashion
Pet products
Jewellery
Maternity products

There is plenty here to get started with – IF you put in the hours to research and dig out those elusive, but profitable niches.

Until next time…………

Of course there are numerous ways to make money online – article writing, blogging, paid adverts, Google adsense, promoting affiliate products, paid surveys, building websites, membership sites, CPA networking etc, etc.

But if you’re new to all of this, and just starting out, it can be a nightmare of information overload, and that could be enough to put you off the idea of building your own online business, before you’ve even begun. Well a very good place to start is eBay.

WHY EBAY?

Without doubt, eBay is one of the easiest places to get started making money online, or to a least dip a toe in the water before you dive in head first.

You see, with eBay, you’re virtually guaranteed masses of people will see the products which you have for sale, there is no need to have your own domain name, web hosting or website, (although there are many advantages to having these), and you can start off small
and grow at your own pace.  Also, you do not have to worry about SEO, PPC, PPV, CPA, CPC, which is lucky because, as a newbie, you probably don’t have a clue about what any of these acronyms stand for right?

Now, I’m not saying that it’s easy to make a living on eBay because it isn’t, there is a lot of competition these days, but it is still achievable with the right knowledge and tools at your disposal.  And, just like any other real business it will take time, effort, determination and hard work on your part.

Please believe me when I say there really is no “one click” magic piece of software which will make you super rich overnight, without having to actually do any work at all.  The self-styled “guru’s” that try to sell you this kind of hype are to be avoided at all costs.

TEN TOP TIPS FOR EBAY BEGINNERS

1. Sign up – it’s completely free and takes just a couple of minutes
2. Also sign up for a Paypal account at the same time, you will need it on ebay
3. Before you try to sell anything, buy a few cheap items to see how ebay works and to start building your feedback profile
4. If you have little money to buy stuff to resell, try looking in your attic, or garage etc, for unwanted items to sell
5. If you really are flat broke and have no unwanted items, look for free ebooks, or other information products, and sell these
6. When you’ve got some money to invest, don’t just buy anything, pick a niche, for example ‘Baby Clothes’, and just sell these
7. Do not try to compete with big sellers in very hot markets such as laptops, or iPhones
8. Write a good title for your auction containing keywords
9. Write an accurate description of the item you are selling
10. Take at least 3 great photos of the item you are selling

SUMMARY

I hope I’ve given you some food for thought here, because selling on eBay is really not that difficult at all, and can still be quite profitable.  Remember, eBay is growing in size every single day, and there are still many more buyers than there are sellers.

Keep in mind also, that if you do well on eBay, it is the perfect platform from which to further expand your online business, and launch it into the stratosphere.

Keep an eye out for my next post which will go into more a bit more detail, and reveal one of my own top recommendations to build your own online business, not just by using eBay, but in many other ways too.

You have to remember that the world wide web is a vast network, that now contains billions of individual web pages, so getting ‘seen in the crowd’ is what it’s all about – these days more than ever.

Yes, there are more people with web sites, blogs, articles etc, than ever today, but there are also vastly more people spending huge sums of money online.  In fact online retailing is growing more rapidly than any other form of retailing right now.

This in turn means that more and more people are looking to set up an online presence, to service the colossal demands of the online consumer.  People all around the world are still struggling, trying to figure out a way of making money from the internet.  It really is not that difficult if you have the right tools and training.

The real problem is that unfortunately there are so many poor quality products, and scammers online, that it is very difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff.  There are thousands of products available which promise vast riches for little to no work, but let me tell you right now, ANYONE who believes this hype is seriously deluded.  Such a program, product or piece of software does not exist – it never has and it never will.

The bottom line is that you can still make a very decent income online, but it takes hard work and effort – there, I said it ! – you have to put the effort in.  Of course there is work involved, but the good news is, once you get over that first hurdle – the steep learning curve – it’s going to start getting a whole lot easier for you.

The true beauty of working online is that, although you may not see results immediately, or even two or three months down the line, when you do start seeing them, it can be like the snowball effect, it just keeps on rolling under it’s own momentum – for months or even years to come.

Just imagine getting paid this week, or today even, for work that you did five months, six months, or a year ago.  This is what is meant by residual, or passive income, and it’s what internet marketers get so excited about, and why they love what they do – it’s what they live for.

Once you have a sound knowledge, and a proven system that works, you can then just clone that system, over and over and over again, to keep bringing in money, and each time you do it – it gets easier and easier with less effort required on your part.

So to sum up and answer my own question, NO internet marketing is far from dead.  In fact it will be around for years after I have shuffled off this mortal coil.  The only things you need to become successful online are the right tools, the right education and training.  Once you have that, all that is left for you to do is to take action and put what you have learned to good use.

You can find everything you need to get started in online marketing right here on this site.  Just explore some of the links on this page – and get ready to open your eyes to a whole new, more enjoyable way of life.

A Look Inside The F.A.S.T Income Plan

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Here are just some features of the Internet Income University F.A.S.T Income Plan:

• FREE lifetime membership to IIU.
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What is The F.A.S.T Income Plan?

The F.A.S.T Income Plan is at the very core of Internet Income University – it’s a simple, unique system, created by the Blues brothers, that is designed to level the playing field for people who want to establish an online presence and earn money on the internet.

You can get stared with as little as $100 – $200, and you can leverage their automated sales program to generate multiple streams of online income.  There is NO selling, NO cold calling, and you DON’T need to harass your friends or family in order to do this.

The acronym ‘F.A.S.T‘ represents the exact steps which need to be taken in order to create a successful internet business.  Beginning with a F-ast website setup…

Want A Free Income Generating Website?

One of the most outstanding features of Internet Income University is the income generating website they design for you just for creating your free account with them.

Having a website is crucial when it comes to making money online, and it’s vital to have it setup quickly.  When you join IIU, your free website is GUARANTEED to be installed within 24 hours or less, which is pretty incredible.

Web design companies could charge you anywhere from $297 to $1,997 for a similar website, and typically take 1 to 2 weeks for installation.

The Internet Income University Mastery Video Training Series

Another critical element of Internet Income University is their signature training program, the Internet Income Mastery Video Training Series.

This features detailed, easy-to-follow and step-by-step training videos.  Here Kevin & Darin show you the exact same strategies that they use every day to generate income.

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Internet Income University Summary

So then, if you’re looking for a great way to learn all of the required skills needed to generate an online income, a way that is totally legal and ethical, then you owe it to yourself to check this program out now -  Internet Income University.

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1. A highly lucrative income opportunity.
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Several online authorities have called MyWorldPLUS “The most POWERFUL discount membership program and home based business opportunity in the WORLD!”, and for good reason.

The income opportunity combines a nice blend of up-front retail commissions with a generous residual income as you grow your team and achieve higher rankings.

For the FIRST TIME EVER, MyWorldPLUS brings you a compensation plan that allows the average person to make money without any prior success or experience in the home based business industry!

MyWorldPLUS (Income Stream Highlights)

Key Product Benefits…

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Earn Commissions On…

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Genuinely UNDER-PRICED at $149, the Market Samurai Traffic Hunting Software is an absolute steal at $97.  This is simply a must have weapon in your software arsenal if you’re serious about generating a home based income.

You can have the best products and services in the world – but if you don’t have visitors heading to your website, then you won’t make any sales.  Market Samurai saves you endless hours of tedious work by helping you to target high-traffic, high-profit, low-competition markets with just a few mouse clicks.

Market Samurai – easy to use software that will help you to choose great keywords, check out your competition, and drive floods of traffic to your website.

Market Samurai (Income Stream Highlights)

Key Product Benefits…

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Earn Commissions On…

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Internet marketing without doing proper keyword research is simply just time wasted – YOUR TIME !

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Here’s why you need a domain name & web hosting, in plain english…

What Is A Domain Name? Your domain name is simply the name of your site on the internet. It’s what people type in to visit your website. Example, Yahoo.com- in order to pull up the Yahoo! search engine you type Yahoo.com in your browser and Yahoo! somehow magically appears. Without a domain name, it would be virtually impossible for anyone to find your site. A site without a domain name is like having a house with no street address.

What Is Web Hosting? Web hosting is a safe, secure and FAST place to store your website on the internet. If your domain name is your address, your web hosting account is the concrete foundation of your home. If you’ve ever built anything from the ground up, you know the foundation is the most important part of any structure. The most beautiful house in the world isn’t worth a dime if it’s on unstable ground. The same goes for your website. Web hosting is the concrete foundation for your website and Secure Online Hosting is a top-notch solution.

Choosing Your Domain Name (the fun part!!!) Now that you understand the importance of having your own domain name and hosting account, it’s time to unleash your creativity and have some fun. In selecting your domain name, we recommend you go one of two routes: 1) Your name. 2) Anything related to making money online.

Here are some ideas to spark your creative side:

• YourName.com (obviously replacing “your name” with your real name)
• MyLifeOnAutopilot.com
• AutomatedIncomePlan.com
• FastIncomeOnline.com
• HomeBusinessForMoms.com
• SimpleInternetBusiness.com
• EntrepreneursWanted.com

As you can see, the possibilities are endless
when it comes to choosing your domain name…

Don’t get discouraged if the first thing you come up with is already taken, just keep brainstorming and trying out new ideas until you find one that you’re happy with. Let your creativity run wild.

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