Febuary 2005

I've been in the Internet marketing business for about 6 years now. I started my first online business in 1998 and consider myself a student of experience. In those six years, I've heard a lot of success stories. Some Internet marketers make millions. Some make hundreds of thousands. But far more end up in the red, disillusioned with the idea of making an honest living online.

Through personal experiences and having heard several stories from both sides of the fence, I feel like I've started to come to an understanding about what makes successful people successful, and why the unsuccessful remain so.

I could write an entire book on this subject, but in the interest of keeping things manageable, I'll simply get straight to the point and spit it out:

• "Successful people do the things that unsuccessful people won't."

That's a quote from Paul Mitchell, cofounder of the Paul Mitchell hair care company. I heard him say it several years ago when he appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

When I talk to our support team and ask them to tell me what the biggest member complaints are, I get a pretty decent earful. However, one complaint that keeps coming through that has no need to is, "I can't make this work because [insert excuse here]."

At that point, I often take a look at the numbers for our top performing members. I point to the screen and say, "Look, this member is doing over $15,000 per month in sales! This member is doing over $10,000 per month! This person has only been a member for three months and is already doing over $9,000 per month! This person has done over $10,000 per month for six months straight! Why are they so successful while others complain that it's 'impossible' to make any kind of profit at all?"

I'm reminded of the time when I decided to listen in on a phone call from one of our customer service reps. This particular caller was an eBay seller and complained that he was having a hard time selling anything for a profit on eBay. The customer service rep pulled out a list of about 4 dozen items from our various warehouses that had sold for profit over the last few weeks. One item in particular had sold for a $50 profit.

After giving the member the example, the member promptly replied, "I can't sell that!"

"I CAN'T!"

No wonder he wasn't experiencing success.

Reality check: No successful business got there the easy way. Want easy? I've got a great pyramid scheme for you. Just send me $5 and I'll put your name at the top of the list. True, the only return you'll get is a lesson in life; but hey, it's easy!

If you want to be successful, you will need to work. This doesn't mean that if you fail you're just too lazy and didn't put forth the effort, nor does it mean that if you give it your all, you won't fail.

For at least three years, I worked my (many different) Internet businesses up to 60 hours per week. I've had at least half a dozen businesses fail. When I finally did succeed however, it was the result of my ability to keep getting back up every time I failed.

At my peak, I made $800 with about 10 minutes of actual work. I was able to duplicate similar results almost at will. Believe me; I was glad that I never succumbed to the depression and disillusionment that often accompanies failure.

So again, what is it that separates the successful from the unsuccessful? In my experience, the majority factor is ATTITUDE.

Can you succeed? Of course you can! Will you succeed? That's for you to decide.

by: Stuart Lisonbee

At long last, we've come to the final article in the Turn On Your Customers' "Buy Now" Switch series. I've dragged this on long enough, and it's time to move on.

Most of the articles in the series talked about psychological switches that have been shown to result in consumers becoming more likely to buy. The tips and tricks I've talked about can be applied to nearly any form of advertising. But being that most of you are "netpreneurs" (those who run web based businesses), I've assumed for the most part that you will be applying this to written ad copy.

The written word is a powerful thing. It can make people happy. It can make people sad. It can even make people spend money. Being that you are (presumably) in the business of making money, you should use that power to your advantage.

I'm a firm believer that there isn't a single product or service imaginable that can't be successfully sold. All it requires is the skills of a master marketer. It's certainly helpful to have a targeted audience, but I'm sure you've heard the saying from some of the greatest salespeople in the world: "I can sell snow to an Eskimo!"

Let me get zen on you for a moment. I believe that it's this extraordinary confidence that results in a person's ability to succed where all others fail.

Believe it or not, scientists have actually done studies on "luck". They found that there are clearly "lucky" and "unlucky" people. Some people always seem to hit every red light in a city while others hit every green light.

Having run a computer business in the past, I can attest that there are people that can destroy a computer simply by being near it. These are the same people that many would consider to be "unlucky" in life.

I have a brother-in-law who, everytime he passes through Las Vegas, loses several hundred dollars. He can't help but lose, unless he happens to be with his older brother.

It's not the fact that he's with his older brother that makes him lucky, but the effect of just being in the presence of his older brother. He acts differently, he feels differently, he plays the slots differently.

When he's with his older brother, he "knows" that he's going to win because he knows that his older brother always wins. Without even knowing it, my brother-in-law changes his attitude from that of "the slots are impossible to beat so I'm just here to have a little fun and lose a little money" to "the slots always payout so I'm here to have a little fun and make some money while I'm at it".

When you're writing ad copy, make sure you're in a positive frame of mind. Have an attitude that says, "I KNOW this ad will bring me sales!" With that attitude in mind, you can't help but write an ad so influential it will turn "lookieloos" and window shoppers into buyers.

Keep in mind what I've taught these last 12 months. No doubt it helps to have common business sense when running a business, but the power of smart advertising is what can make the difference between having a business you're satisfied with and a business that the whole world will envy.

Starting February 18, eBay will put into effect a change to their fee structure. Most sellers will only be lightly affected. The new fee changes are not "across the board", affecting only particular categories, as well as eBay Stores. Buy-it-now fees will also be restructured.

You can take a detailed look at the new structure from eBay's help pages.

As always occurs during a fee change, this has caused quite an uproar in the eBay community. While increased fees may seem like it can only have a negative effect, there are some positives to consider.

Many sellers have threatened to leave eBay. Hopefully those making the threats will actually make good on them this time and leave, resulting in less competition for you.

The fact is, most eBay sellers will analyze their eBay business and realize that it's still worthwhile to stay with eBay, being that there isn't anyplace a seller can get better exposure, and therefore more sales.

However, if you decide to go looking for alternatives, there are a couple new players in the game. So far, things look promising.

First is Overstock.com. They've already made quite a splash. Also new on the block is OnlineAuctions.com, founded by a former eBay PowerSeller.

OnlineAuctions.com has settled the fee problem by simply getting rid of them all. No more listing fees, no more final-value fees. All a seller pays is a monthly membership fee which gives them the right to list as much as they want.

The newest player, Wagglepop, is set to launch within the next few weeks as well.

Based on past experience, my advice would be to stick it out with eBay. You may have to do a little restructuring yourself, but in the end I think you'll find that it's well worth it to stick around.