After much thought and evaluation of my business model, this morning I called John Thornhill via Skype and recorded the whole conversation. We speak about the changes implemented by eBay and the changes we have to make as eBay digital item sellers to coincide with these changes.

There has been a lot of blog and forum posting about this subject. So I hope we can shed a little light on the subject and hopefully create a light at the end of the tunnel for guys with digital businesses.

You can read the Audio HERE:
(Click or Right Click – Save As)

Hope you find it informative

Thank you.

Over the last two days all we have been hearing about is how eBay is cancelling all non physical digital items provided via download. Ok now the whole panic is over and we are all thinking about how to make our businesses work rather than just thinking “it’s over, all over” The ideas are all flowing from many blogs across the internet.
The problem is obvious to us all. How are we going to deliver our items without increasing the workload. Well the answer is obvious too. We can’t so I would say get used to it if you are going to continue selling eBooks on eBay.

What needs to be done is a little evaluation and a good look at the options:

1, We can sell items on eBay UK which has not cancelled digital delivery items yet.

• Not a good idea in as they will soon follow suit and we have all in the past had issues with copyrights. This may work for a short time but will not last.

2, Continue selling items across the world with manual delivery.

• This does seem to be the only option we have at the moment so is it a good idea or should we just quit! Of course not!

John Thornhill recently wrote in his Blog “First of all I know the automation side of things disappear, I know you can use fulfillment services but for me personally I wouldn’t do it. I need to be in full control of my eBay business.”

Dan Thompson Recently wrote in his Blog “I’ve used www.swiftcd.com in the past for a number of different projects, you simply upload the “Master” CD to them via their website, and then each time someone purchases your item, you just log onto the website, fill out the delivery form with the buyers name and address, and hey-presto, SwiftCD burn, print and ship your CD to the end user.”

Well to be honest I am going to agree with both of these solutions and both John and Dan are correct. However I would like full control over what I sell and deliver but I would also like to automate as much of my business as I possibly can, this is why I run this business in the first place, so I will be watching the outcomes of these two methods very closely.

I know I will Start selling eBooks from CD, I know I will start shipping from the UK to the UK at first to test the process, I know I will be packaging, Burning and shipping myself for a while, again to test the process. When I have my Cycle in place I will then start to use an On Demand Shipping service as the competition will really hot up as the eBook CD market grows and cheap outsourced delivery will be readily available.

I feel it is like we are going back to basics again, and looking back to 2005 I remember when the eBook market was a lucrative place around 5000 items worldwide for the search term eBooks (try it now it’s around 16k). I used to see resale rights eBooks sell for £5 ($10) each now they are selling for $1, just for the traffic alone.

This change from eBay is a drastic one, but I feel now that it has happened we will see a lot better content and the market will pick back up again. With less eBook sellers and less competition we now have the opportunity to drive the prices up in the information marketing section, the $1 eBook will now become the $5 eBook again No more 1p 1 page eBooks only good content from the guys who are willing to stick it out and roll with the changes.

Change stirs up the system and sifts out the old and replaces it with the new. This is a good thing for future eBook sellers who are willing to change.
Thanks For reading

Update:

What did I say  “I will then start to use an On Demand Shipping service as the competition will really hot up as the eBook CD market grows and cheap outsourced delivery will be readily available.” There are offers coming in left right and center some as low as $3. I will let you know when I find a good one:)

Thanks again.

What I am going to talk about today does not really have any relevance to marketing, however I feel it is an important issue for me personally and writing about it makes me put things into perspective, which makes me feel better.

Friday the 14 th of March 2008 was a big reality check for me. I was on my way home in my car when whoosh, the next thing I am spinning backward through some trees, colliding with a telegraph pole, breaking it clean in half and heading for the road front end first with no wheels actually connected to the ground. At this point in time I recall thinking “this is it” it’s all over for me.

To my surprise I found myself getting out of the car with no more than some minor scratches, a head ache and some muscular pain in my back. As I walked away from my car I turned around and looked at the wreck in front of me and thought to myself ‘”how the hell did I get out of that!” the car was a complete wreck.

When the police arrived, one police man said to me “I have seen dead people in lesser car wrecks than that mate” it was at this point I realised what I could actually lose, which was everything! My life, my wife, my unborn child, my family, my friends, everything that I loved! It was at this point I felt like the luckiest man alive!

Over the next few days the feeling has never left me, I’m not skipping down the street like Gene Kelly in singing in the rain by all means, but I constantly look back at that moment and think how things could have been completely different and what a mess things could have been for the people in my life, and how their lives could have changed in that split second when I span from the road.

Is there a lesson to be learned from what happened? Was there anything I could do to stop the accident? Maybe I could have been going a little slower or maybe I could have been driving a different car with better traction. All I can do is remember how lucky I am and be thankful for what I have. Good fortune smiles down on us all in different ways from time to time, and sometimes I think we forget how fortunate some of us really are.

Take a look at some of the pictures of my BMW Z3 below

I will post pictures of my new car when I get one. I would say that it’s not going to be another two seater nor is it going to have a 3.0 engine. I think a nice sensible family car or maybe a 4×4 with plenty of traction this time.

Thanks for reading.

Over the past few months I have been involved in a new product creation. The product is called Multi Profit Websites (you will find nothing at the URL yet so no peeking) this product is in my opinion one of the best websites I have seen in a long time. It is more than a website really, it is a gateway to your eBay store, your auctions, Clickbank, your very own content, affiliate sites, Google AdSense, and much much more. However it is not the website I want to speak about today, it is the guys who were actually involved in it.

When we first started creating MPW (Multi Profit Websites) I realised something, the need for a team and what the team could produce when we got our heads together. The team consisted of Myself John Thornhill and Dave Nicholson (Planet-Divinity). There was no way on this earth I could produce a product so vast and complex in nature, but so simple and easy to use. Yeah granted I have a college education and know a thing or two about web design and so on, but the ideas that were generated between us were phenomenal. The sort of ideas that you would never think of alone come bounding out in conversation, we were bouncing ideas off one another like I have never seen before, it was really unbelievable.

This is what leads me to say get your own team! Yeah ok you may be thinking “yeah right Dan, how do I do this?” Well here is how you can do it, ask yourself this, are you a member of any forums? Do you know anyone in the same business as you? Have any of your friends, associates, forum buddies got the same business interests or drive as you? There must be one of these options available to you, which you can use to create a joint product venture.

Take forums for instance, the www.warriorforum.com is full of marketers waiting for opportunities like this, newer forums like John Thornhill’s Powerseller Forum is also an excellent place to find product partners too. You do not need to go it alone anymore, you can use each of your team members to spur each other on, get a good 2 or 3 way team product out there, one which you could never achieve alone and you are in business.

Not only do you have better ideas and better input, you also have the chance to make more money from a single product. Your team product can be sent out to 3 different mailing lists, and placed on 3 different auto responders creating more revenue. Between your team, you can easily generate more JV partners, one guy in your team may know a big marketer who is willing to promote the product , where the rest of the team may not.

Using these methods and working together with partners is just another form of income for all the members in your team. Nothing is too hard to accomplish with the right guys on board with you, you can achieve even the hardest tasks. Why don’t you give it a go if you have an idea to share

Until next time:)

This Months Review is:

Sales Letter ABC

Next to getting visitors to our web pages, I think we all know how important our sales pages are!

In fact – that’s probably why so many copywriters charge thousands to write a winning sales page.

The problem is affording them when you’re just getting started. Some guys spend thousands on sales pages to get them perfect for maximum conversion. However what if you cannot afford thousands or even hundreds for that matter.

You simply search and search for a product that will simply explain the process to get you started. I bet you found nothing cheap. So you had a go writing your sales page yourself and found that it is not that easy to write a good sales letter after all.

‘Am I right? Yes I am. We have all done it!’

You do have to remember, your winning product is nothing without a good sales letter and a winning sales letter is the one thing between your potential buyer and a sale!
So it stands to reason, that a great sales page is a must have.

Randy Smith has lifted the curtain on that now…

With the release of SalesLetterABC – he has put writing killer copy sales letters within reach of ‘normal’ marketers like you and me.

An eBook where you don’t need a degree to understand, just a great simple to follow as ABC product!

SalesLetterABC is a simple 10 Step Solution to writing effective copy, complete with a template to paste it into….

You can literally have your expert sales letter written within hours of downloading this report.

Imagine how many extra sales you’ll get,by having a copywriter walk you through the whole process in an easy and simple manner – making you understand exactly what you’re doing and why..

I’m sure Randy will answer any of your questions, when you have finished your sales letter too!

I really can highly recommend you grabbing this and putting it straight to use.

Sales Letter ABC

I forgot to mention, Randy has priced this well under what you’d expect to pay… AND will give a 100% money back guarantee if you are not happy with it.

Thank You for Reading.

This Months Review is:

Operation eBook I have secured a massive discount for you too!

Is it really surgery for your eBook problems! Let’s find out.

Let me first introduce you to Paula Brett, UK based Internet Marketer and professional forum moderator. Paula started her Internet Marketing career like quite a lot of marketers I know, eBay! Yes the old favourite. Ebay could be perceived by some as the gateway to a digital product supermarket and the entrance to the Internet Marketing world. Like Me Paula found this to be true and like me, Paula stills sells eBooks on eBay today. Not only does she sell eBooks, she devotes her time to helping new guys and providing a personal mentoring service to guys who ask for it.

This mentoring service is what made her decide to produce “Operation eBook “.

At first glance I found the eBook to be creative, however the contents menu does become a little confusing, due to the medical analogies you find when you glance through them. However, once you get into the first chapter, you soon see the analogies are a perfect contrast to what you are reading!

You really can see the Professional Mentor oozing out of the pages when Pauls talks you through from start to finish. Paula pushes you to feel confident about creating your own product, giving you ideas and the ability to overcome the problems that, 90% of guys today have. Some of these issues are:

I do not know what to write about
How do I create my own product
Why would anyone read what I have to say

I have no expertise

All of these issues and more are covered. Not only does Paula provide you with her expertise and knowledge of product creation start to finish, she provides you with 4 worksheets to print and work from. These work sheets really will help you get your product off the ground from paper to a fully fledged product.

Operation eBook really is emergency surgery for you guys who lack a little confidence in writing your own eBook.

I give this eBook a 5 Star recommended read!

Thank you for reading

Take a look at it HERE