Secret Tophatter Marketing By Kimberly Holmes
Getting Started on Tophatter.com You’ve probably heard about how much money can be made on this live auction site. With dreams of quick riches and easy money, you are probably ready to jump in with both feet – right now! The best thing you can do if you are serious about making money right away, however, is to slow down. In fact, just stop for a minute. Don’t rush straight in. Take your time, and do it right.
Tophatter has many members and users. Think about that number for just a minute or two. When you get your profile set up, that is how big your customer base will be – instantly. Thousands of people who are just waiting for you to get set up and running so that they can throw money at you!
Well, not quite. It is true that there are thousands of members, but at this point, they don’t know that you exist. In fact, no matter how well you do, most of them will never know that you exist.
The most successful sellers started out as buyers – and you should too. This will give you a sense of how everything works. It will also show you how things are from the buyer’s side of the fence. Let’s call this period of time ‘consumer research.
You are literally studying how the site works, from a customer’s point of view. You may not realize this, but this buyer experience will actually make you a much better seller – right from the very start. Really pay attention to the customer service you receive from the buyer. Think about how you want to be treated as a buyer, and take notes. Take your time during this process. Interact with the sellers. Get involved in hot auctions to see what they are like. In your spare time, start making notes about the hot items that you see. These notes will come in handy later.
Live auctions work just like any other business. You have to determine what people want to buy before you can hope to be successful. There are very specific items that sell really well online – you just have to figure out what those items are. There are many resources for finding out this information. Start with online lessons and tutorials. Try purchasing some items yourself as a buyer. This is the next step in the process. After you have had the buyer experience, it is time to learn how to be an online seller.
Read articles and blogs and gather all of your useful resources before you start setting up your first auction By reading through all of the resources, you will avoid making numerous mistakes that so many before you have made. This is another step towards building a successful enterprise and an online seller. Once you’ve made it through the learning process, you should know everything you need to know to get started with a money making profit center of your very own.
Chapter 2: Why You Should Become an EBay Seller
Are you currently looking for ways to make money online? If you are, you may have come across many websites that allow you to sell your own designs and creations. Tophatter is known as an online auction website. What is nice about this is that just about anyone can become a seller, including you. What does this mean for you? Essentially, it means that if you have items to sell, you can do so while making money at the same time. So, if you are currently looking for ways to make money online, you are urged to examine becoming an online auction seller, as there are a number of reasons as to why you should.
Perhaps, the greatest reason as to why you should become a seller is because there are no minimum auction requirements. For you, this means that you could just test the waters if you wanted to. If you were unsure as to whether or not you should rely on auctioning products to make money, you may want to sell a few items that you no longer need and see how it goes.
Should you like the live auction selling experience, you could continue on. However, if you were not satisfied with the results, you could stop selling online right away. Internet marketing is flexible to all sellers, particularly those just getting started. Speaking of the items that you want to sell on, you will find that you can sell just about anything online, within reason. There are only a few restrictions, which include inappropriate content and such. Despite a few restrictions, there are a large number of items that can be sold on most online market places These items include books, jewelry accessories, crating supplies and edibles. Whether you are looking to sell that you made as a craft project or, something you bought from a yard sale or a thrift store you can build your inventory gradually and get more experience as you learn.
The ability to make a profit is another one of the many reasons as to why you should become an online seller. What is nice about Tophatter.com is that they let you set your own price for your auctions.
In fact, if you would rather outright sell your products, instead of selling them in a bidding auction, you may have to list items on several different websites to have more flexibility. The ability to set your own prices is one the many reasons why you should check tophatter.com. Having the ability to set your own prices increases your chances of being able to make a profit online. If you would like to become an live auction seller, and as previously mentioned there are a number of reasons as to why you should, you will want to register for a free account. Although your account is free, it will cost a small amount of money to sell items online and some. Your selling fees will all depend on how much you list your items for, as well as how much they sell for. Despite having to pay small fees, selling is more than worth your time.
The least that you should do is give it a shot. As previously mentioned, if your online selling experience doesn’t go as well as you had originally hoped for, you can stop and look for other online money making opportunities. Online auctioning and selling is a business anyway you look at it. Sure, it is a great deal of fun for both the buyers and sellers, but when you look at it from another view point, you will see that it is a business from the seller’s point of view, the buyer’s point of view, and Tophatter.com point of view. 40 million dollars a day travels through their site .Selling items online successfully is an art, and there are plenty of sites that offer many different forms of Data and Research to ensure that you are selling the right items, to the right people, in the right way.
Some of the data and research is not free, but much of it is. The available resources include hot items by category, merchandising calendar, sales reports, marketplace research, buyer behavioral report, and a solutions directory. These tools are quite easy to use, and the information that can be gleaned from them is extremely valuable.
Find resource information on other marketing websites like craigslist and Terakpeak for sellers they will have detailed reports on how the most popular items are selling online and you can do this to see if your item is competitive in the marketplace.
Items that are regulated by the state or federal government are forbidden to be sold online. These items include alcoholic beverages, weapons and firearms, all tobacco products, and both prescription and illegal drugs. There are small exceptions to this rule, however. If you have a collectable, such as a tin that contains tobacco, you may sell that item if the package has never been opened, and if you state the contents of the package are not meant for consumption. There are other conditions that must be met as well when selling these types of collectables.
Any type or breed of animal or reptile may not be sold through an auction. This includes animals that were once living, and are now stuffed and mounted. This rule may also apply to items that are taken from endangered species, such as Ivory. When it comes to these types of items, when in doubt, don’t.
How to Avoid Failure on Your online Auctions
Many first time sellers have one thing in common – they fail. Many of them fail time and time again, never understanding what is going wrong. They do hours of research looking for the perfect item to sell, get the auction set up, and wait for the bidding to begin. Hours go by and no bids are placed. Days go by, and there are still no bids – or there are very low bids. Finally the auction ends, and it turns out to be a total failure. Considering the huge number of sellers who run eBay auctions, there are specific things you must do, and specific things you must not do if you are to be successful.
There are many reasons why auctions fail. The most common reason is that the item is not in high demand. This problem can be avoided by doing the necessary research to determine which items sell well, and which items should be avoided. This research takes a great deal of time – but in the end, you will find that it is time well spent.
Another reason for failure is pricing. No matter what your reserve price is, your opening bid price should never be more than $50 or so. This is how you will attract potential bidders to your auction. If you set that opening bid too high, most people won’t even click the link to read the description for your item.
Another pricing problem is lack of research. Before you set your reserve price, you must determine what the item is really worth, and the price similar items have sold for in past auctions. Poorly written descriptions are another cause of failed auctions. Poor grammar and misspelled words drive people away. Failing to post a picture of the item will also keep people from visiting your auction page. Make sure that your description is well written. This is essentially your ‘sales copy.’
Shipping prices scare people away from auctions if they are too high. Find the lowest shipping prices that you can find, and consider paying for the shipping yourself if it won’t cut into your profits too much. Do not charge handling fees.
Offer great ‘customer service’ for all of your auctions, and ask your buyers to give you feedback. If the items that you sell are everything that you said they would be, and you offer great customer service, you can expect wonderful feedback –
And this feedback will help a great deal in your future auctions.
How to Sell Expensive Items online Selling expensive items online is really no different than selling low cost items. Essentially, no matter what you are selling, it all comes down to how you market the item. This doesn’t mean you have to surf around the Internet placing ads here and there – when it comes to live auctions, the marketing is all done by the individual. Basically, when you set up your auction, you are setting up an automated marketing campaign.
Set your personal best price, and then set your opening bid price lower than $50 – no matter how high your price is. This is a marketing tactic. It will be hard to attract potential buyers to an auction for an item selling for more than the actual value or even the perceived value if it is overpriced.
Work hard on the description for your listing. Use words that really describe your item well. Provide as many details as possible, including details that prove the authenticity of collectible items. Include pictures of the item as well. Do not try to deceive potential buyers! If the item has marks or scratches, simply be honest about it, and make sure that the pictures convey this as well. State how the item will be packed and shipped. Also let potential buyers know that shipping insurance must be purchased as well–in case the item is damaged once it leaves your possession.
For higher priced items, most buyers feel more comfortable using a service that offers consumer protections line an escrow service. . Offer this as an option in your auction, with the understanding that the buyer must pay for the service. This protects both parties from fraud, and it makes many buyers more open to spending the money to obtain the item. Some sites has partnered with an escrow service that is commonly used for high ticket items.
Are you looking to become an online live auction seller? If you are interested in making money online, possibly even enough to support yourself, you just may be. Over the past few year statistics have revealed where just about anyone, including you, can make money.
Although it is relatively easy to make money selling in auctions, as an online seller, there are a number of important factors that come into play. For instance, you will want to have good, quality items to sell, detailed descriptions of those items, as well as easy to see pictures. Perhaps, those are some of the most important components of becoming a successful auction seller, but there is something else that can be just as important, your accepted methods of payment. For the best chance of success on, you will want to accept a wide range of payments, including personal checks, money orders, and PayPal.
Speaking of PayPal, PayPal is one of the most common methods of payment accepted on eBay. Despite being one of the most preferred ways to shop online, there are still a number of sellers who don’t accept PayPal as a form of payment. Most sites that allow people to buy and sell items at auction require that items be purchased through PayPal. If you have yet to setup your seller account, you will also want to take the time to set up a PayPal account.
Of course, you can still make money online without accepting PayPal as a method of payment, but your chances for success are higher when you do. That is why it is extremely important that you at least look into getting a PayPal account.
When it comes to getting a PayPal account, you will find that you can have a personal account or a business account. If you want to make the most out of PayPal, you will want to get a premium account, as it enables to you accept credits cards as a method of payment. The only difference between a business PayPal account and a personal PayPal account is the fees. The fees that you are charged will vary, but you will be charged a small fee each time someone, namely an eBay buyer, sends you a payment.
Although the PayPal fees may be a turnoff for you, you should let them be. By accepting PayPal, you are more likely to have more sales, as well as higher priced product sales, as more eBay buyers rely on PayPal to shop online. This will essentially make the fees seem minimal, as they easily pay for themselves overtime and you are still able to make a profit. In fact, your PayPal fees, from a business standpoint, can even be tax deductible.
One of the many reasons why buyers like to use PayPal is because it gives them a sense of security. When using PayPal to buy items on, buyers do not have to actually provide you with their bank account information or their credit or debit card numbers. This information is automatically stored in PayPal’s secure system.
Shipping Tips You can use the bubble wrap packages to ship small items like jewelry and watches. These envelopes are easier to handle, and usually cheaper to purchase. Furthermore, they often weigh just a little less than cardboard boxes do, which will save a bit of money on the postage. Purchase stamps and packing materials online. Not only will you save time, you will save money as well.
If you ship a lot of packages, purchasing your own set of postage scales will increase your efficiency – the expense will more than pay for itself. Other items you should invest in include a rubber stamp, label printing software, a good printer, and labels. Either use a stamp for the return label, or keep a large stock of pre-printed return labels. All you need is a plan and a little bit of organization to successfully ship your items.
How to Start Buying On tophatter.com are you interested in doing you’re online shopping there? If you are and if this is your first time using the live auction site, you may be a little bit nervous, as many first time buyers are. The good news, however, is that buying what you want online is a relatively easy process. To get you started on that process, you will want to read on.
The first thing that you will want to do is register on the website for a free account. Although you do not need an account to view all of the items that are currently available for sale, you do need an account to bid on items listed for sale there. When it comes to setting up a free account all you need to do is provide personal information about yourself. This information includes your address, your phone number, and your email address. You will also have to create a sign in name and a password for yourself. These items will be used to login to your account. Once your account has been verified by email, you should be able to start buying right away.
Speaking of buying your items; one of the reasons why online auctions are so popular is because they are large online marketplaces. Internet users are not only able to shop on auction sites, but they are also able to sell there as well. That is what has led to millions of items available for sale on auction sites, at any given time. While having a large selection of items to choose from is nice, it can make finding what
you want hard; however, there are ways that you can easily navigate the website, to find exactly what you were looking for, in a relatively quick way.
Perhaps, the easiest way to find exactly what you are looking for online is to perform a search. At the top of most pages you will see a search box. This is where you will want to key in what you are looking for. The more descriptive you can be, the more accurate your results will be. For instance, if you are interested in purchasing a ladies shirt, you will want to search with
“Ladies M shirt.” Incorporating the size or even a brand into your search is likely to eliminate purchases that aren’t want you want or need. You should also be able to perform an advanced search, which will let you enter in price ranges or only show items that are from a specific seller.
Whether you perform a standard search or an advanced one, you should be presented with a number of auction listings. In most cases, those listing are listed in order based on the time that is left. For example, online auction listings that are ending soon will likely be listed first; therefore, if you see something that you like at the top of your screen, you may want to act fast. You can also, easily, choose to have all auction listings listed in order based on the time each auction was started, current location of the item, as well as by price, including highest to lowest and vice versa.
When you see the auction listings outlined from your search, no matter which order you have them showing in, you should be able to see the current asking price, the cost of shipping, the amount of time that is left in the auction, a short description of the product being sold, and possibly even a picture. You can also tell what type of auction listing it is.
For instance, most sellers use the traditional auction listing format, where you and other buyers bid on their products, but some use other formats, which is where you can buy an item right away, without having to bid on it. To learn more about an item appearing on your screen, simply click on the short product description link. That link will take you to a detailed sales page, which should have product descriptions, pictures, information on shipping, information accepted methods of payment, as well as instructions on how to buy the item or items in question.
As you can see, getting started online is a relatively simple process. To start taking advantage of the many items listed on the auction sites just jump in and you will learn as you go along.
The Pros and Cons of Shopping online Are you a relatively new fan of online shopping? If you are, you may have not yet had the chance to examine eBay. Even if you have never shopped on some of the famous shopping sites, there is a good chance that you already know exactly what it is. EBay is an online auction website that allows internet users to sell items that they own, but no longer need or want to have. This is what makes eBay the largest online market place, as just about anyone can buy or sell there. However, with just about anything else you find online, shopping on eBay has its pros and it cons.
One of the biggest pros to shopping on eBay and other similar sites is the large selection of products that you will have to choose from. You can find just about anything on eBay, within reason of course. It is not uncommon to find cars for sale, baby toys, clothing, home dĂŠcor items, computers, gaming consoles, and much more. Items found on eBay can be purchased in either new or used conditions. It is also important to note that many eBay sellers end up selling the same or similar items. For you, this also enables you to compare prices; to get the best deals.
Another pro to shopping on eBay is that it is relatively easy to do. Once you have registered for a free account with eBay, you are able to start shopping on eBay. When shopping on eBay, you can easily find what you are looking for. In fact, that is another pro of shopping on eBay; the ease of finding what you want. With a simple eBay search or even an advanced search, you could find a number of products that fit the description as to what you are looking for. By viewing those items, you can then decide if you want to purchase them or not.
Speaking of making purchases on eBay, you will also find that it is easy to do. As stated above, eBay allows internet users to post items for sale that they no longer need or want. While still following eBay’s rules, these sellers have a little bit of flexibility, such as how much money they want to charge for their products, as well as what methods of payment they accept. Although some eBay sellers are limited on the methods of payment that they accept, you will find that most are fairly flexible. For instance, common forms of accepted payments of eBay include PayPal, money orders, and personal checks; making it easy and safe to buy on eBay.
Although there are a number of pros to shopping on eBay, it is also important to mention the cons, as there are some of those as well. One of the biggest cons or downsides to shopping on eBay is that eBay is home to a number of scammers. While eBay works hard to eliminate these scams and shield buyers, like you, from them, there are some that get past security. With that in mind, if you proceed with caution, you should be able to safely shop eBay, without any problems. The few eBay scams that you will want to be on the lookout for involves sellers that advertise they have products that they don’t really have, sellers who claim products are in excellent condition when they are not, and others along those lines.
In connection with eBay scams, another downside to eBay is that just about anyone can become an eBay seller. This means that someone who has every intention of taking your money, but not delivering a product can register for an account with eBay and start selling.
Of course, eBay catches onto these sellers pretty quickly and, most of the time, their accounts are disabled. With keeping that in mind, you just need to watch who you do business with. Be on the lookout for any sellers with a large number of negative feedback ratings or sellers who are new to eBay.
As you can see, there are a number of pros and cons to doing you’re shopping with eBay. For the most part, most eBay buyers have a positive experience with eBay. If you watch what you are doing, namely what you choose to buy and from whom, you should also be able to have a positive experience on eBay; one that will likely bring you back for more shopping.
I recently found a very nice site called tophatter.com where you can list your handmade jewelry and an assortment of homemade craft items for sale in a live auction format. I think that the pros strongly outweigh the cons and I have enjoyed selling my items there. That site is linked to PayPal also for payment and marketing can be achieved through social media sites like Facebook twitter and you tube.
How to find great deals on the auction sites Everyone loves a great deal! Many people spend quite a bit of time searching for good deals on the items that they want and need – and when they find those deals, they experience a certain amount of satisfaction. These people typically haunt garage sales, stores that are holding sales, wholesale warehouses, flea markets, and especially online and offline auctions. With the incredible number of
auctions that are constantly going on at the best websites, it can be difficult to find the items you want, at the price you want to pay. But it isn’t impossible to find great deals!
There are steps you can take to ensure that you are getting a great deal on the items you purchase at auction. In fact, these same steps will also help to protect you against fraud. Participating in online auctions is a great deal of fun, but you must use caution as well. This caution entails doing your research before you place any bids.
Start with the auction in question. Make sure that you read every word of the description and the auction details. You can never have too much information –
Especially if that information is about an individual that you may be doing business with. Pay special attention to what the description and auction details do not say. For instance, is a guarantee mentioned? Is the item new? Is it authentic? Is there proof of authenticity? Look for auctions that provide the right information – and the right amount of information. Avoid those that do not.
Who will pay the shipping and handling costs? Often, the buyer pays these costs, and sometimes, the seller tries to charge more than the actual shipping and handling costs are. Beware of high shipping costs, especially for items that will be auctioned off at a very low price. Also note when the item is supposed to ship after the bidding has ended. Depending on what you are trying to purchase the item for, it may not arrive in time.
Don’t make the mistake of bidding on an item simply because it is a ‘good deal.’ It is only a good deal for you if the item is something that you really want or need. Many people simply bid for the sake of bidding – or winning – without having any real need or desire for the item in question. Before bidding on items that you do want or need, check prices around the Internet and the prices available from offline sources as well. Just because it is on eBay does not guarantee that it is the cheapest price available!
Finally, learn more about the seller. Can you trust them? What is their rating? Read their feedback page! Failure to learn more about the seller can be costly. Not everyone is as honest as you are – and the seller may be trying to take advantage of people that simply don’t know enough to find out more about them. Sometimes scammers make their auctions sound like really great deals. Beware of prices that seem extremely low!
The Importance of checking Seller Feedback and Comments
As you likely already know, there are so many online auction websites; an online auction website that allows internet users to post items that they have in their possession, but no longer want or need, for sale. While this tends to give you a large number of products to choose from, it can make getting scammed online relatively easy; however, there is a way that you cannot fall victim to some of the most common eBay scams. That way involves checking feedback.
If this is your first time using live auctions, you may not necessarily know that buyers and sellers are able to leave each other feedback; in fact, they are encouraged to do so. Now, if another buyer, just like you, were to have a positive experience, like they got their item in a timely matter and it was what they expected, they would be likely to leave a positive feedback. Positive feedbacks are marked with green circles with plus signs in them. On the other hand, if an eBay buyer has a negative experience, like they never received their item or it was in poor condition, a negative comment may be left. Negative comments are market by red circles with negative signs in them. In addition to positive or negative comments, eBay buyers are also able to leave neutral comments, which are commonly used when a problem arose, but the seller in question fixed it in a timely matter. Also, next to the positive, negative, or neutral markings, buyers can also leave comments.
Although you might not necessarily think about it, the feedback that an online seller has can give your insight into the type of service that you may receive. As a way, this feedback serves as reputation for an eBay seller. When shopping at a traditional retail store, there is a good chance that you wouldn’t shop at a store that is known for selling poor quality products or a store that has poor customer service. The same thinking should be applied when using any shopping site. You don’t want to business with a seller that has a number of poor feedback ratings, as it is a sign of what may come.
If you are interested in examining the feedback of a seller, you can easily do so. When visiting an online auction listing page, say a listing for a necklace or bracelet, in the right hand corner there should be a “contact the seller,” section. That section has information on the seller’s feedback, as well as a link that you can click to see each individual feedback rating.
You are urged to click that link. When examining a seller’s feedback, you need to remember that it is not uncommon for a seller to deal with disgruntled customers; customers that may leave negative feedback for no reason at all. That is why it is not uncommon to see a few negative feedback ratings; however, be on the lookout for any seller who has an excessive number of them or a new seller that has a large number of negative feedback ratings, as they are someone you should try and avoid.
In short, examining the feedback ratings or comments of an online seller will only take a few minutes of your time, but it may end up saving you a considerable amount of money. When shopping on the auction sites it is advised that you use your best judgment. A number of negative feedback ratings may be a sure sign that an eBay seller may be out to scam you, in one way or another.
Common Scams to be on the Lookout For
If you have never used a shopping site before, you may not necessarily know that it is relatively easy to fall victim to a scam. While most sites are considered a safe place to shop online, there are a number of scams that you should be on the lookout for. Knowing what these scams are, before you start shopping on eBay, will help to reduce or completely eliminate your chances of becoming a victim.
Before we start to examine some of the most common scams that you should be on the lookout for, it is important to mention why those scams exist. Sites like eBay and Etsy are considered an online market place or an online auction website. Just about anyone with an internet connection and an account can start selling auctions. This is what makes it possible for scammers to trap innocent shoppers like you. While does work to combat these scams and eliminate the individuals behind them, there are some people who slip through the cracks. That is why you will always want to be on the lookout for scams. Speaking of common scams to be on the lookout for, one of the most common scams involves selling a product that the seller actually doesn’t have. This type of scam is sometimes difficult to spot, but there are signs that you should look for. When posting auction, a seller should have pictures of the item or items that they are selling or at least accurate descriptions. With some items, such as books, CDs, or movies; sellers are given the option of using a stock photo; all other items should have a genuine photo, taken by the seller. If not, you may want to refrain from making the purchase, as it may mean that the seller isn’t even in possession of the item or items that they are trying to sell you.
In addition to selling items that they don’t even have available, another common scam involves lying about the items that they do have. For instance, there are some eBay sellers, although a small number of them, who claim that they have an item, like a car radio, which is in brand new condition, but it isn’t always. It is not uncommon for some eBay seller to outright lie or strength the truth a little bit. Unless you have a watchful eye, you may not find out until it is too late. That is why it is advised that you not only purchase items from eBay that are accompanied by pictures, but that you also examine those pictures. You will want to try and see if something really does look new or if it is in “like new,” condition.
Another common scam that you will want to look for involves those who want your personal information. This type of scam is implemented in two different ways. First, there are a small number of sellers who tell you that they need your credit card information, but they shouldn’t. Whether you pay by PayPal, personal check, or money order, you shouldn’t give out any personal information to any sellers, even if you are buying an item from them. If you are not using PayPal, just send a check or money order to the address given to you, nothing else needs to be done.
Outsourcing to Marketing Success
It is not very difficult to earn a nice living online. It’s enough that it’s our only form of income for my family of four and it gives me the ability to travel and the freedom to do as I please. (I’ve been around awhile and am doing well – not some fly by night scammer. It is very possible to outsource many of your daily tasks in your online auction business. At any given time in my own business, I may have upwards of 15 contractors working for me. The types of jobs they do vary from graphics to customer support and everything in between. I’ve had some of the same helpers working for me since 2006 – so I must be doing something right. (I live this stuff.) I outsource tasks in my personal life that are not business-related. Because I view my time as very valuable, I outsource my lawn care, my pool care, my house cleaning, as well as some of my meals. I tell you these things, not to brag, but to give you an idea of my qualifications so you can better decide whether or not you’d like to listen to me and trust what I have to say. I think you should know a bit about any teacher before you decide to follow their advice. Don’t you? The biggest thing I want to say up front is that I'm not the typical outsourcer. I won't teach you how to low-ball or to find crummy workers who you can pay peanuts and will do crummy work. I'll teach you how to do as I've done and build your online auction selling business to a constant stream of income.
So let’s get started discussing “5 of the Biggest Mistakes that you can make when Outsourcing AND How to avoid them“. Outsourcing Mistake #1: Waiting Too Long to Outsource. “I’ll outsource later. I can’t afford it yet. Plus, I wouldn't even know where to start!”
Do you find yourself saying that? I can totally understand. I waited too long to start outsourcing, too, and I didn’t think that I could afford it, either. It's very logical and practical to wait until you can afford to outsource, but that logic can cause two big problems, depending on the success you achieve.
Or, you could be like I was, and find yourself managing to be in both predicaments at the same time. Scenario #1: Waiting too long to Outsource — and sabotaging your Chances of Success.
I find this happening all the time, especially with people new to internet marketing. It's best illustrated with a story of two marketers. We'll call them Mary & Marina.Marketer. #1: Mary Mary knows she needs a domain and hosting. She spends two months trying to figure out how and where to get those and how to set them up.
Then, she knows she needs a website of some sort, so she asks around and is told that a Word Press blog is the best options for her, so she spends another few months figuring out DNS, installation, and RSS and plugins and widgets.
But then she doesn’t like the header or the font size or style or… or… or…
So, she ends up spending another month messing around in her blog, trying to figure out how to make her blog pretty and continues to get more and more jaded about this whole “making money online” thing.
She realizes that she has spent at least four months working on her “online business” and hasn’t even posted one blog post, let alone figured out how to monetize the darned thing. And, after all those months, she doesn’t even like the look of her blog, plus, there are some weird errors, and the RSS doesn’t work.
She’s ready to throw in the towel and hasn’t even gotten out of the gate. Meanwhile, she’s spent over $150 on eBooks that haven’t helped one bit!
Marketer #2: Marina
Marina decides to start an online business. She hires a coach right away to ask questions instead of trying to figure everything out herself.
Her coach sends her to a hosting company that she recommends, and helps her choose a domain name and sign up. Her coach then guides her to an affordable designer who sets up the blog, installs all of the plugins and makes it look just like she’d envisioned.
In the meantime, the coach has guided Marina to start writing and recording a podcast. In under a month, Marina is already starting to build momentum in her online business – and is amazed at how easy and affordable this “making money online” thing is.
Now, in these examples, you can replace Word Press with A member or an Auto responder or setting up your shopping cart or whatever. The fact is that you don’t NEED to learn how to set up everything yourself, especially if it’s something that you’ll only ever do once.
Don’t believe me?
I have nearly 100 websites, and I’ve never once installed Word Press myself. I know that I could figure it out pretty quickly, but I don’t need the mental clutter, honestly. I just go to ReliableWebs.com and they install one for free. Then, I go to my designer and she does the rest for under $200. Easy peasy. Why on earth would I give myself a stomach ache over all that work? I’d rather be at the beach.
Scenario #2: Waiting too long to Outsource – and then finding yourself Too Successful.
I can talk about this mistake, too, because I did it, too! After crawling my way up the learning curve with bloody little fingers to earn a full time income, I realized that I was now in a different pickle. I was actually successful! Yay, me! But, uh, oh. I had another problem.
With more websites, more customers, more affiliates, more traffic, more everything… you have more work. More hosting and domains to keep up with, more WordPress blogs and plugins to update, more marketing to do, more customer support, more email lists, more stats to track, more everything.
I had created a full-time job for myself, just maintaining everything that I had built. I had no time for growth and I was stuck trying to keep up with everything that I had created.
YUCK. I quickly realized that the more successful I got, the more miserable I would be, unless I made some changes – and quickly. So, if you plan to be successful, P.L.A.N. to be successful. Prepare Prepare yourself by learning more about outsourcing from the start. Don’t wait until you need it. You can study my course at Outsource Weekly, or find another one that resonates more with you.
However, the more prepared you are, the less you’ll panic or put off outsourcing – or make costly mistakes. Look Look around at sites like Shelancers.com to see what Virtual Assistants have to offer, what prices Ghostwriters charge, and where you can find a Designer for a reasonable fee.
Assess Assess your business tasks. First of all, what tasks make your business special? Compare that list to a list of tasks that you dread doing. Take a good look at that list and you’ll find some pretty glaring areas where you can be to outsource very minor tasks while learning more about how to outsource effectively.
Network Ask your friends for recommendations. What do they outsource? Who do they use? Are they happy with their work?
Well, goodness, that got long. And, that’s only one of the five common mistakes that I’ll be covering.
In Outsource Weekly, you'll learn a new task to outsource every week for 52 weeks straight. But, there's a glitch. I can't teach you how to outsource a tactic until I can explain what it is, the benefits of the strategy, and how to know how it's done right.
Otherwise, you'd be throwing money into the wind by outsourcing things that you may not need to be doing, or outsourcing them to people who don't know what they're doing!
So, each week, you'll learn about a new internet marketing activity, like article marketing, Twitter, and Podcasting, as well as how to outsource it. If that sounds like something that can help your business to grow, I'd love to have you in class. Just go to www.OutsourceWeekly.com to check it out. Outsourcing Mistake #2: Overcomplicating Things
It actually cracks me up how freaked out and over-analytical people get when they start thinking about outsourcing. You already outsource all the time and don’t even realize it.
Think about it for a moment.• You probably don’t drive your own garbage to the dump.• I’m guessing you don’t cut your own hair.• Most people don’t fix their own brakes in their cars.
• I’m hoping you wouldn’t fill your own cavity or take out your own appendix. When my roof blew off after Hurricane Ivan, I didn’t climb up and try to reroof it all by myself. Want to guess what I did instead? Yes, I hired Roofers.
See? You already know a bit about outsourcing. The roofers came and put on a new roof in 2 days, including pulling off the FEMA blue tarp, fixing the boards underneath that had water damage, and add all the details like the soffits (who knew?!).
If my husband and I had tried to do it ourselves? It probably would still not be done years later, and it would have cost me a whole bunch in marriage counseling afterwards.
So, why do we overcomplicate outsourcing in our busineses? Is it because outsourcing isn’t as obvious in online businses as it is in real life?
When you have your roof missing and water pouring into your bedroom, I guess it’s pretty clear what should be outsourced and it’s kind of timely that you make it happen.
However, in our online businesses, we face overwhelm and get all frazzled trying to figure out what to do and who to trust and how to hire them and … and… and… So, we put it off.
Let me break it down for you. If you have a roadblock that is standing between you and money –> Outsource whatever it is that’s currently standing in your way. • Installing software.• Transcribing Audio.• Creating Videos.• Recruiting Affiliates.
Contacting potential JV partners.• If you don’t know what’s standing between you and profit –> Hire a coach to tell you what to do.
If you’ve got a stream of income and you love making money –> Hire support staff to take some pressure off yourself so you can make more.
If you’re a creative type but hate that yucky “marketing” -> CREATE. Hire an affiliate manager or marketing assistant to help you to make more sales.
Guys, it’s common sense stuff here. Stop making it harder than it has to be. Do what you love. Outsource the rest.
Otherwise, you’ll continue to either struggle with or put off the other stuff. Have you ever heard the expression “You’re only as good as your weakest link?” It’s a saying regarding a chain. Think about it. You can have a huge chain like the type that holds an anchor off the side of a ship, or you can have a thin chain like would be in your toilet tank.
If even ONE link on either chain is broken, it’s not going to hold on very long, is it? So, take a minute to look at what’s “broken” in your business. Start your outsourcing journey right there.
Of course, if you like what I have to say here about Outsourcing, I invite you to check out Outsource Weekly as I have a whole lot more where this came from. You can get info about everything from “Getting Traffic from Social Media — or Outsourcing It” to “Getting FREE Help from JV Partners, Affiliates, Interns, and Your Kids”.
Outsourcing Mistakes #3: Outsourcing vs. Automating
Let’s say you need to pay your cable or phone bill every month (who doesn’t) and it’s an annoying task that you oftentimes forget and then end up with late fees.
Would you outsource that task by hiring someone to drive to your house, open your cable bill, write a check, lick a stamp, and drop it in the mail every month?
Of course not. You’d sign up for online bill pay or find out if they have an auto-pay service at the company. That way it’s handed. Free. Why pay someone for something that can be done automatically by a computer?
Yet, I see people making this outsourcing mistake all the time. Paying someone to approve their Twitter followers. Paying someone to sort through spam comments on their blog.
Those are just two of the thousands of ways that you might be outsourcing a task that can be done completely FREE for you by a computer.
The main area that I see this mistake happening is in blogging. There are now WordPress plugins that can pretty much do anything for you. All it requires is a one-time nominal payment to have the plugin installed if you don’t want to do it yourself. Otherwise, it’s totally free.
So, which sounds better to you? Paying a helper every month to weed through your blog comments or automatically having most of the spam completely disappear?
Me? If the results are nearly the same, I’ll usually choose free outsourcing every time over paid outsourcing. Wouldn’t you?
Disclaimer: Of course, I’m not talking about using automation software that would take a step towards the dark or scummy side. I hope that’s obvious, but just in case, I’ve said it.
The other option, of course, is combining outsourcing with automation. Make sure your helpers are on top of all of the best tools for the job so they’re as efficient as possible.
For instance, when submitting articles, you can set up an account at an article submission service like Isnare.com and train your Virtual Assistant to submit your articles there. When submitting videos, you can find a Virtual Assistant who uses a video submission service like Traffic Geyser so that her job is more efficient and effective.
You wouldn’t use a toothbrush to clean your carpet, would you?
Use the right tool when you’re working in your online business, too. It’ll keep your workload manageable – and decrease your outsourcing bill at the same time!
Outsourcing Mistake #4: Outsourcing the Wrong Things
I’m going to throw a curve ball at you today. Not everyone needs to write articles, post to a blog, or write an ebook. Now, I love to write, so I do those things. But, that’s because I enjoy it.
Here’s where I see a common mistake. An online marketer hears that she should write and submit articles. She also is told that she should outsource the article-writing if she’s a poor writer or doesn’t enjoy writing.
So, she invests her money into a ghostwriter to write articles and a Virtual Assistant to submit them.
She receives the articles – but the content doesn’t reflect her dynamic personality or her experiences. Yet, this is what she she was told that she “should” do, so she continues to spend her money, all the while feeling odd that words are floating around cyberspace and they aren’t hers. (You see, she’s a bit of a celebrity.)
So, then, she hires the same Ghostwriter to pen an eBook for her so that she has an infoproduct to sell. She gets the ebook back and it’s quite good, but it just doesn’t feel quite right. So, the ebook sits on her hard-drive and she is then soured by outsourcing and figures she’s just stuck doing everything herself.
Now, this is in no way a statement that Ghostwriters aren’t wonderful. I know better than to say that. Heck, I use them myself for my niche sites. Ghostwriters have written some of the best non-fiction books around.
My point instead is that someone like the wonderful woman that I’m talking about (who is a real person, by the way) – is a charismatic speaker and interviewer. So, why on earth would she choose to focus on using the written word to market herself?
The internet is all about content. However, if you’re a rock star when you’ve got a microphone in front of you, then don’t force the writing part. And, certainly, unless you need to, don’t hire someone to write for you if you’re working hard to establish yourself as an expert.
Instead – record your audios and then hire a transcriptionist to transcribe them.
Turn them into professional-looking .pdfs (or have your helper do this, too). Then… have your Virtual Assistant get them into circulation.• Submit them to free ebook sites. Send them to your lists.• • Give them to your customers as bonuses.
• Allow others to brand them/customize them with their URL and send them out.• Offer Resale Rights to the audios and the pdfs together. Honestly, there are a million and ten ways you can use these pdfs
to get you more exposure. In fact, I go into much more depth in Outsource Weekly – where you can get a checklist of how I get my pdfs into the hands of thousands of people. However, you can see examples of audios, videos and transcripts that are incentivized at Brandable Stuff Outsourcing Mistake #5: Not Understanding Motivation
Now, I certainly don’t want to scare you away from outsourcing by discussing these common mistakes, but I also don’t want you to think that there are only 5 mistakes that are commonly made. There are many, many more.
That’s why continually learning how to be an effective manager/CEO is essential.
It’s important to learn the ins and outs of the technical and marketing aspects of your business, but the #1 skill that you can learn is that of a people manager. You can always find highly-skilled workers who you can leverage to grow your business – if you are a motivating and inspiring manager. In fact, I try to hire helpers who are my peers — or are hopefully smarter than I am. (And, why wouldn’t I? I prefer to be surrounded by my own mastermind group, not a reenactment of Dumb and Dumber.)
On that note, let’s look at our final lesson in this series… Mistake #5: Not Understanding Motivation
People work for more than money. In fact money is but one of many rewards.• There are many things that I would never do, no matter how much money you offered me.• There are many things that I would willingly do for free.
Find out what motivates your helpers and give it to them.• If your VA loves working on projects, assign projects to her.• If your helper prefers the solace of working alone, give them peace.• The option of a flexible schedule? Make it happen.• Mentoring to grow their own business? Sure. Why not.• If it’s praise — praise them, every time they deserve it.
Of course, there’s still the money aspect, but you can sure get a lot better work from people by keeping them happy than you can by throwing cash at them while making them miserable.
For instance, now when I bring a new person on board, I pick up the phone and hold a serious interview. It’s not an interview to see if I want to hire the person. I’ve already determined at that point that I do. The goal of the discussion is to help me properly place the person on my team. And, I try to re-evaluate on a yearly basis.
I ask several questions, including “What is at the bottom of your own to-do list?” That immediately tells me where I should NOT place that person on my team.
By asking other questions, I can easily determine if that person thrives with challenging projects, or by knowing exactly what to expect on a daily basis. It also helps me to see if the helper enjoys interacting with others or just wants to be left alone. Does she like to creative or is she more analytical? After chatting with my new helper, I can structure her tasks accordingly to ensure that she gets up in the morning and runs to her computer, looking forward to doing her work with me.
Would you want anything else? I wouldn’t.
These discussions have also benefited me in another way. Oftentimes, I’ve discovered hidden talents that I did not realize my new team member possessed. She may have marketed herself as a “customer support” person, but, after chatting with her a bit, I might find out that she’s also incredibly talented at SEO.
So, in order to avoid this mistake, be sure to keep the lines of communication open, and understand exactly the assets that you have available. This will ensure that you can keep your helpers motivated — and that you appreciate their skills.
On that note, I will wrap up. I hope that you’ve enjoyed it. I surely have.
Kimberly Holmes- Internet Marketer