Starting any business is a big step particularly if it is your first. How often have you spoken to or heard of people who have gone ahead into business without any real experience or a definite plan? They just think of an idea and do it, not many of these ventures succeed.

No matter how much we research an idea, spend months planning and preparing there really is no substitute for experience. The information, insight and advice you can get from someone who has been there and done that is invaluable. I guess what I am saying here is that if you are serious about making money whether online or offline you need a mentor to show you the way. Someone who will teach you the skills you need to learn, tell you how to avoid the pitfalls.

Last year I decided to look for a mentor, you see I already had a highly successful eBay business selling physical products which runs on complete autopilot. A chance remark from a friend who I helped with his now very successful eBay business set me thinking.

“Why don’t you write a book and show people how they can setup their own business?” This sparked a thought, so I set to writing it but after a few weeks it had stalled, I did not have a clue how to write it or lay it out. That is when I got an e-mail from John Thornhill about the launch of his Masterclass program. I had known of John for several years and had bought a few of his eBay products. John has an enviable reputation amongst marketers for his honesty can commitment to his customers. These sorts of things go a very long way in inspiring confidence.

I read Johns program outline, it was exactly what I was looking for to help me write and sell my book. I signed up for the 36 week course (which is now at week 42! with more to come). As ever John over delivered  both in content and duration. Read my review of the 2009 program HERE.

Johns 20101 program has just launched and already a third of the places have been taken. If you want this year to be the year you make the change and the break through then to find out more click the link and see the unique bonus that I am offering to any of my subscribers that sign up for the Masterclass through my link. http://robert-corrigan.com/masterclass_bonus/

My dad used to say you cannot buy experience, he was wrong you can you just need to choose the righ mentor.

I wanted to let you know today about a Self Improvement site that will allow you to download 100’s of self help gifts. And the best part is that it is absolutely FREE!

If you’ve had enough of plodding along year after year and you want to improve yourself to make 2010 your BEST ever year, then you need to go HERE

Self Improvement 4 will be open only for a VERY LIMITED TIME from January 5th to January 19th 2010. When you go there you’ll find a multitude of products – all FREE – provided by Self Improvement and Internet Marketing experts from all over the world. Here is just a small sample of what you will find:

    * Personal Development Tips – Paul Klein

    * NLP – Love Your Physical Self – Elizabeth Benson

    * Dynamic Personality – Alex Perez Pratt

    * Transformational Fitness – Amy Lundberg

    * Anger Management – Giovanni Farotto

    * Managing Stress – Heather Step

    * How to Stay Focused – Piet Venter

    * Unlimited Abundance – Gary L Glasscock

    * 110 Self Help Super Tips – Jack Brown

    * Outrageous Health – Charly Leetham

    * Secrets of the Subconscious – Alvin Huang

    * Law of Attraction – Dechen Lau

    * How to Reinvent Yourself at Midlife – Iyabo Asani

    * Peak Performance – Frank Bauer

    * Personal Transformation – Tony Dovale

    * Easy Meditation – Esdee Penn

 Get all of these and 100’s more HERE!

The organizers of the event are Stephanie Mulac, Rodger Hyatt and Gary Simpson.

Just briefly, this is Stephanie’s 4th Self Improvement Giveaway. Stephanie started this style of event in 2006. It’s in the form of a “Giveaway” which is sort of like a giant electronic trade fair where 100’s of experts offer their products free to the public.

Because it has become so popular, this year Stephanie has enlisted the services of Rodger Hyatt, a very experienced internet marketer, and Gary Simpson who has a copyrighting and self improvement background of some 20 years.

You only have to walk into any book store in any country to see how popular the subjects of self improvement, self awareness and personal development are. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry churning out hundreds of new books, audios, CD’s and other paraphernalia every year.

These can be very expensive but HERE you can pick this information up completely FREE.

With 2010 upon us, what better time is there than right NOW to set yourself and your business up for future success? This event is a life-changing experience for those who take it.

Come and join Stephanie, Rodger, Gary and me and see for yourself.

If you want to grab the largest collection of self improvement and internet marketing products you’ll find ANYWHERE – all FREE – then go to

 NOW!! And claim your bounty!

Watch out for the Naked giveaway starting on Mon 11th Jan!! 

Rob

Build your list with Giveaway Events

What is the best way of building your list? Well there are many ways and the savvy marketer will have many tools in their armoury to help them do this. One of them is the free giveaway events, its premise is very simple you add a free gift to the event organisers website, in return for an optin to your list you offer a free gift of (and this is important) value to your subscriber.

 The great part of this apart from list building is the information that you can download as much free stuff as you wish in exchange for signing up to the contributors list. In my last blog post I mentioned 2 of these events; the first one went live yesterday the 5^th Jan.

So what is it like? Well I have been massively impressed with the number of gifts on offer nearly 500 at the time of writing, but the most impressive part has been the sheer quality of the gifts on offer. Yes I admit it I have downloaded a fair few of these; I can see where I can use some of this information to expand my own business and improve my websites. 

Its not too late to contribute a gift to the event, but hurry as it closes on Tuesday Jan 19^th click the banner to find out more about the event.

If you think that you cannot get a gift ready in time then there is also the Naked Giveaway event which runs from Jan 11^th until Jan 25^th. Get in early and setup your own gift. Even though the gift you offer is free offer excellent value. I am offering my own directory of wholesale sources that I use to source stock for my own eBay/Amazon business. Click the banner to find out more.

John Thornhill would say “The Money Is In The List” Or as Captain Picard would say “Make It So”

See you soon

Rob

Have you ever taken part in a Joint Venture? Not sure what one is? There are many different types and these are often very varied in how the Joint Venture is managed.

There are several different types. The most straight forward type of Joint Venture (JV) is where you promote another persons product in exchange for an affiliate income, this is often set by the owner of the product and is typically 50% of the sale price of the product.

It is possible to promote other persons products by a simple e-mail approach, you may get no response but all you have lost is the time to compose an e-mail. On the other hand your proposition may be welcome and you can engage in a profitable JV partnership which may well last longer than the promotion that you start with.

There is another type of JV which is banner exchange, here you exchange banners for each others websites which promote each others products.

Another type is the giveaway event which is a way of promoting your product by giving away a gift or gifts in return for an optin to your mailing list. This type of venture is an easy way of getting your product noticed in the market place. Each giveaway has different rules and there are many such events that run during the year, so that you will have to take note of the specific requirements for each one.

Today I want to promote giveaway events that will take place in January 2010 (it’s nearer than you think!). In essence you need some form of gift or gifts to giveaway; it can be eBooks, video, and audio whatever. Make sure that it is useful; I always try to give incredible value. In return you get to capture the e-mail address of whoever wants to download your gift.

If your gift is an eBook you can put in your own affiliate links and/or make the book rebrandable. Rather than got into any more detail why not click the banner and read all about it for yourself?

I am giving away some of my products in two giveaways, you can get the information by clicking the banner links. The first one is Self Improvement Gifts which runs from Jan 5th until Jan 19th 2010

The second one is called the Naked Giveaway and runs from Mon 11th Jan until 25th Jan 2010

Try them out and reach a wider market for your products

Rob

Don’t you get really upset when your inbox gets clogged up on a daily basis with someone you have never heard of trying to sell you something. If you are like me you get drawn into checking it out, really you don’t know anything about the product or the author. Well this is different! This is very different, this product shows you how you can make money from Private Label Rights (PLR) materials that you already own.

Finally an eBook that does what it says on the tin!

Finally an eBook containing only the facts and that get’s straight to the heart of how a resale rights and PLR business should be set up.

I for too long have been reading 100+ page eBooks promising to show me the way forward to starting my own online business using resale rights and PLR only to be miss-sold a load of re-hashed rubbish that has been repeated over and over again!

Build your eBiz with Resale Rights and PLR could not be more different. For starters the eBook is a very comfortable 31 pages long which makes it quick and easy to read and is only full of essential facts and tips to starting, maintaining and enhancing an eBusiness.

Not only that, it also includes an audio version of the written eBook so I could comfortably listen to its contents anytime I pleased. The videos included also made it so easy for me to watch, pause, learn and implement the ideas Steve was showing me on how to make a residual income for life.

It’s been a long time since I had such pleasure in reading a resale rights and PLR eBook and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who wishes to start their very own online enterprise.

Resale rights products are so hot at the moment and thanks to Build your eBiz with Resale Rights and PLR, you too can create your own HOT new products in no time at all and join me making a residual income for years to come.

Build your eBiz with Resale Rights and PLR has shown me the key to resale rights and PLR success! I suggest you get onboard with me and kick start your very own online business opportunity today! This is a fantastic product, I read it when it was just the eBook, but since then Steve has added an astonishing 29 video that take you step by step through the whole process. It is an awesome piece of work talk about over delivering!

Want a sneak preview? Ok its your’s, Steve has prepared a very special report which is FREE to my subscribers just click the link to download HERE

Or why not check out the full product HERE. In just a few days you could have your own eBiz up and running just like Steve has done.

See you soon

Rob

Here is Part 2 of The 10 Most Common Mistakes by eBayers

1. Poor description: The length of your description will vary depending on the item you are selling. Look for similar items that have sold using the eBay completed listings function and adapt the description for successful for successful listings.
2. Expecting items to sell the first time: This is again part of the eBay mythos, put it up, it will sell. If you use the advanced search facility for your item you may well be shocked at how many similar items you are listing fail to sell. This could be down to a number of factors, such as the as the starting price, the time it was listed, the type of listing used and the category it was listed in. You may have to list it several times before it sells. Always use the relist facility on eBay.
3. Choosing the best time to list: This is a bit nebulous as it depends on what it is that is selling. If you are selling into a big market with lots of sellers, then listing several times a day with the auction ending at different times is probably the correct strategy. If you are working in much smaller niche areas (which I recommend) then having you listing finishing at 8-9 in the evening may well be the key to success. Choosing the best time to list is crucial to you auction success but it can only be gained by experience.
4. Research: If you want to make a business from eBay then the most important thing is to research what you intend to sell, this may seem obvious but its great to have a fantastic idea of what it is you want to sell and then go about trying to sell it. The three most important tasks are RESEARCH, RESEARCH and RESEACH. It is only through research that we can find out what is truly selling. From that we can work out if our idea is worth a punt, so research your ideas first, second and third.
5. Obtain your stock at the right price: If you wish to make a business of your eBaying then you will need to obtain stock on a consistent basis at the right price to make a profit. You need to sell the same stock at the right price in order to make a profit. Local wholesalers are a good start for finding stock to make a start, they are very good for sourcing non branded stock. You can also find stock that is similar to branded stock, your buy in should be quite modest but your margins should be excellent.
6. Lack of persistence: This is the biggest killer bar none. How often have your heard “I tried it once but it didn’t work”. It took me nearly a year for my business to kick in; it was 8 months before I gained Powerseller status and make real profits. Only 5% of eBayers obtain Powerseller status. The ones that have persistence will find the rewards.

Last week I launched Plugin Auction Profits, this week I am giving away a free report based on the full product. It is a 20 page no fluff, no padding no filler report. A step by step outline for trading on eBay, Amazon and beyond.

You may do whatever you like with the report, you can sell it on eBay (or anywhere else) and keep 100% of the profits for yourself, you can give it away, and you can include it on membership sites you can give it away as a bonus. All I ask is the content remains unchanged.

Better still you can rebrand the report so that you receive a massive 50% commission on all sales of the full product made through the links in your rebranded copy of the report. I have provided all the tools you will need to rebrand and sell it, I have provided the rebranding tool, and the instruction on how to do it (drag and drop your copy of the report into the rebranding window and enter your clickbank ID). There is a copy of the graphics as well as sales copy and e-mails to help you on your way.

Grab your report from the following link

http://robert-corrigan.com/downloads/plugin_auction_profits_report.zip

You can get a clickbank ID by clicking HERE.

 See you soon

Rob

Plugin Auction Profits, my first information product is live on clickbank. I gained approval late on Friday evening, made my payment on Saturday morning. It takes about 24 hours to go live.

Check out the sales page by visiting

http://www.pluginauctionprofits.com/

The product consists of 3 Modules (over 120 pages), a ride along workbook, A Secret Sources Revealed e-Book which gives a comprehensive list of suppliers that the Powersellers use to buy their stock. These are the suppliers I use in my own business.

What you will find:

• How to start your business with next to nothing in the way of cash (no its not drop shipping)
• Where and how the eBay Powersellers obtain their stock
• I will reveal the exact recession proof markets ready for you to plunder
• How to expand your eBay business to Powerseller level and join the eBay elite
• The EXACT emails and strategies I use to source stock for resale on eBay, Amazon and beyond
• The simple strategy that will explode your sales, 99% of eBayers fail to use this simple method.
• How to compete with the major Powersellers without competing with them
• How to expand your business beyond eBay, most eBay traders fail to make the money that they should do because they fail to do use this simple strategy

There are 19 step by step videos that cover selling on eBay, Amazon and sourcing stock for resale, plus an audio interview with a Powerseller all for an introductory price of $27. I am also offering free updates for life.

http://www.pluginauctionprofits.com/

I will have available later in the week a 20 page special report; this will be available FREE to my subscribers. You can sell it, give it away, include it in membership sites anything as long as its content remains unchanged.

Look for my email later this week.

Rob

This often amounts to classical errors and misconceptions. eBay with its cleaver advertising and it’s high media profile has lead too many people to believe (incorrectly) that all you have to do is to list an item on eBay to make money from it. Well I don’t want to burst any bubbles but this is simply not true, it does not work like that.

To give an example a shop opened very close to me over a year ago, part of the eBay partner network; it was approved by eBay, and proudly displayed the eBay logo as the partners had gained sanction from eBay and had done the training and gained the accreditation required.

I dropped in to the shop incognito to suss out the competition so to speak. The way it works is this; the company list your item for you and take a percentage of the selling price. As a customer you agree not to sell the item in the interim. Does it work as a business model? Again it depends on what is being sold. If it is an auction, unless you have set a reserve price the item may well sell at the starting price no matter how low this may be.

The simple formula put it on eBay, sell it make, money, does not work unless you have a desirable item. I am sorry to report that the business did not succeed it closed within 3 months, due to the low quality of items presented for resale and the ability to sell the item on eBay yourself. This should be a warning about buying into the eBay mythos. So what are the 10 classic errors about eBay selling and how can we avoid them. Well they are:

1. Making money instantly: Not everything will sell remember that. Now that’s ok when you are selling your own possessions to make a few dollars here and there. We are often just recouping money we have already spent and would otherwise be money that would have remained dormant. My own eBay business took 8 month before it showed a clear profit. So do not expect instant results from each product you try to sell.
2. Thinking any old rubbish will sell: Think of the example earlier, or this example. I visited an open market recently; one of the stalls was selling old fashioned second hand watches at $40-$50. As I looked at them the seller told me that they sold on eBay at $75-$100 each. Now why was he selling these at the market?
3. Poor titles: The point of the title is to grab the attention of a prospective buyer. Have a look at on eBay in any category, how many of the titles fail to do this? Answer lots, use keywords in your title, look at the other seller’s titles who are selling the same or similar items to yourself. Use the same keywords, but do not, repeat do not copy the title. Rewrite the title of a particularly successful listing.
4. Poor picture: Your pictures are the second big opportunity to sell your item (some would say the first). So make the picture as good as it can be. Digital cameras are very affordable these days and most cell phone have an excellent camera as standard so getting a good picture should not be a problem. There are a number of free image manipulation packages to crop your photo and improve its presentation. Make sure that the item is in focus and that the lighting is good, the whole purpose of the picture is to show off the item for sale to its best advantage. Would you buy an item from a listing in which you could not see the item clearly?

More next time.

Rob

Over the past few months I have been compiling an eBook on the best dozen start up home businesses for under $100, I have read report upon report on all manner of start ups including Affiliate Marketing. My email inbox is clogged up on a daily basis with links to reports I can download so having seen literally dozens of reports I did not think I would see anything new or different.

So when I first looked at this eBook I said to myself oh no, not another Affiliate Marketing eBook but to my complete surprise this eBook actually got my attention. Anyway as I sat back and read Affiliate Marketing Know How I found myself drawn into the eBook soaking up all the information it was providing.

This information is common knowledge to most people and pretty basic information.  However it was the in depth explanations, the how’s and the why these ways worked so well that I found truly unbelievable. Already I had so many ideas flowing through my head.

After reading on I found the information provided very helpful. I also found it so easy to visualize applying it to my business. You will find in this eBook a great step by step guide to learning how to become an Affiliate Marketer, where to find the best programmes, what the best types of products are and then how to sell them and how to keep your customer happy and coming back to you time and time again.

Affiliate Marketing Know How does not stop there either. Once you have started to sell you will learn how to make yourself more successful by knowing all about your numbers and what you can do with this information. All for a measly $10! Check it out HERE and it cmes with a full 60 Day money back gaurentee

Affiliate Marketing Know How has officially earned itself a place on my printed book shelf with pages bookmarked and pages highlighted for future projects to come.

Excellent eBook Mandy & Steve!  Well done on a fantastic product. I also know that Mandy and Steve will not receive a cent on this product! They will be donating the entire profits from this product to a very worthy cause world of whispers visit the site to see the work being done here. You can also give a donation to support the cause.

Thank you for reading,

Rob

Here is the link again. Click HERE