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Skills Who Needs Skills?

March 22, 2009 By Robert Corrigan 7 Comments

We all do, and what’s more millions of people each year are prepared to pay for them. We pay to have our cars serviced or repaired, we pay to have our gardens done, our houses redecorated or extended, kitchens fitted, we pay others for child care, we pay for cleaning services etc. For every problem there is a skills solution. It maybe that we do not have the skills ourselves or we do not have the time or inclination to do the job ourselves. Case in point Myself, I am a skilled tradesman who has completely renovated 2 three bed roomed houses and 2 flats. I gutted these properties and replaced all fixtures and fittings, but there is one job I will not do. That is to paint doors, door frames and skirting boards. To me it’s like watching paint dry, actually come to think of it, it is watching paint dry.

 

For these tasks I employ my friend Mario who is a top professional decorator to solve this problem for me. I am more than happy to pay him for his services. Is there a skill that you have that you could market? No? Really? You may be amazed at the following true story. I worked a few years ago with a lady who moved house; she had to do extensive work on the property which included the use of lots of skilled trade’s people. After the work was completed she was continually asked for the phone number of her trade’s people by friends and relatives to do work on their own properties. That was the genesis of her idea, the eureka moment. She soon realised the most precious asset we have each day is our time, we simply do not have the time to do all these important things, and if we do have the time we may lack the skills.

 

If someone could do these important jobs for us would we be prepared to pay for it? So she setup a company to do just that. I am glad to say she was a success for she had tapped into a market that we can all make use of from time to time check it out at http://www.timesprecious.net. All this from one little spark of an idea. Look at the range of services on offer from dropping off or picking up laundry, office moves, corporate events etc. all great time wasters in our lives, get that time back by paying someone else to do it for you.

 

We don’t have to be master builders or financial experts (are there any left, have there ever been any?) to have marketable skills? We all have something we can offer that someone is prepared to pay for; it’s only a question of finding out what it is.

 

Give it a thought.

Rob 

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Filed Under: Business Advice

Beware The Smiling Assassin!

March 18, 2009 By Robert Corrigan 6 Comments

Do you love the tax man? Rather a silly question really. This most hated figure in the modern world, the object of fear and derision, this night gaunt ghoul who inhabits the nightmares of us all. This person’s only purpose in life is focused in sucking you dry of every penny you earn, can actually be your best friend. Oh yeah! Yeah! How is it possible that this modern day fiscal vampire can be tolerated and even liked? Read on. Well, it’s very simple, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs are there to help you. Put quite simply for everything that you want to know about taxation and tax allowances the tax office have a leaflet. I first learnt this by reading Duncan Bannatyne’s (he of Dragons Den fame) autobiography. When setting up his own businesses Duncan always the canny Scotsman found that he could save a fortune on “professional fees” simply be reading the free literature available from the Inland Revenue.

 

There is a leaflet for everything that allows you to pay only the tax that you legally owe. This should be of note to every eBayer and Amazonian (have I just coined a phrase here!!) who are buying products for resale. You are required by law to register this with Her Majesties Revenue and Customs within 3 month of starting trading. There is a fine of £100 for not declaring this within the 3 month period. Tell them before they find you out as the penalties are rather more severe! Registering can sound rather scary, complicated and nerve racking, just thinking of all those ghouls waiting to pounce and rob you of every cent, penny of other item of small change you may have. The forms are very simple to complete, they are available via the internet, e-mail or by making a simple phone call. Information available at www.hmrc.gov.uk

 

Once completed you will receive an information pack called “Working for Yourself The Guide” with advice on how to best run your business, details on running your business on a tax efficient basis, how to claim tax allowances and obtaining further information on growth. It is also worth buying a book on how to setup a business; I have found “Starting a Business for Dummies to be very good”.

 

After April 5th comes the dreaded tax form, in the past a source of endless anxieties and sleepless nights. Although it is a substantial document only part of it will be relevant to your business. The tax form comes with a substantial and informative document to help you fill it in and claim all the allowances you are entitled to. You could get an accountant to fill this in for you but at the early stages of running a business it is fairly straight forward.

 

You can also file your tax form online which is the preferred method by the HMR&C, who are pushing this very hard at the moment, you also get an additional 3 months before you need to file your tax return. This means that you can hold on to your hard earned for longer and take advantage of the generous 0.01% interest rates available at the bank! One word of warning don’t, repeat don’t, try to con the tax man, (they may be a bit more cuddly than in years past) it will not work they have hundred of years of practice over you and you will lose.

 

Beware the smiling assassin!

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Don’t Tell Alistair Darling!

March 15, 2009 By Robert Corrigan 9 Comments

About what you may ask? Well last week I made 35 cents! No I’m not trying to avoid paying tax on it. I know it’s hardly headline news, but it’s something that Alistair might want to consider. Ok, I haven’t gone mad (well not yet anyway). The 35 cents is what I have made using Google Adsence on my blog. If many streams make a river, many trickles make a stream. How did I make it?

 

Well I signed up for John Thornhills Masterclass. Impressed is not the word, well it is without consulting my thesaurus. The video training content and the support documentation is superb. Well presented throughout, carefully structured to ensure steady progress, just long enough to cover each topic and packed with relevant content. The great part is that you can view the task several times to gain an understanding of each task. Pause the video and perform each little task before moving on to the next stage. It just like having John looking over your shoulder and teaching you step by step.

 

Part of the program in week 6 is to visit all the other blogs to see how these are progressing and to get some ideas for content for my own blog. I have been amazed at how different each of these look; the graphics are fantastic, well done Steve. There is brilliant content on these sites, if you haven’t checked these out yet please do.  I have had some traffic to my blog this week with some very kind and helpful comments left, thanks guys. The post that has had the biggest reaction so far is one I titled in Italian. So the papers have it right, an eye catching or unusual headline does catch the eye. Hmm just thought of an idea for another post, man this is becoming addictive! Cheers John looking forward to the product creation phase.

 

Sorry, what was that Alistair? Can I show you how to save the British economy using Google Adsence? Not a chance mate, sign up with John, he will sort it for you…

 

Bye for now.

Rob

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Filed Under: John Thornhills Masterclass

LEI PARLA ITALIANO

March 12, 2009 By Robert Corrigan 9 Comments

Hi Guys

 

Ever thought of selling items on other eBay sites but dona speaka da lingo?

 

It’s easy on eBay.com and ebay.au etc as I am informed that English is widely spoken there. But what about elsewhere? One of the knock on effects of the current exchange rates is the GBP to Euro exchange rate which is very advantageous to buyers in the euro zone. This opens up the opportunity to sell on other European sites. If you have a HOT selling product in the UK it will often sell well in other parts of the world. Only problem they do not speak English. You can get your listing translated, there are plenty of programs and website on the internet that will translate you copy into the most commonly spoken languages. Some are very good some not so, I always use Google translate to answer questions sent to me in foreign languages (I also used it for the title of this post). It is often good enough for this purpose but I would not use it to translate my sales copy.

 

You will need to make the sales copy on a foreign site as professional as it looks on an English language site. Now the services of a professional translator make sound like an expensive option…. But there are other solutions. Try using www.elance.com this is a service that allows e-services to be put out to tender. It works by letting you post a job and people will bid to for the job, it’s a bit like eBay in reverse, the bids often reduce in cost. You can check out each bidder’s satisfaction rating and see sample of their work before agreeing a price for the translation. Use the translation to list on the foreign websites

 

If you have lots of sales copy to translate get this done as one job as it will work out cheaper, some translators work on a fixed fee for every hundred words. Elance have many different services so it’s worth checking out the website and having a look at what’s on offer. As an alternative there is a UK website called www.studentgems.com that also offer a much wider range of services including translation, drop by the website its well worth a look you may see some ideas or services you can use in the future. 

 

Addio per ora

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Filed Under: eBay

Procrastination the thief of time.

March 11, 2009 By Robert Corrigan 8 Comments

Sometimes a great idea will come to you. Sometimes you will see it in action, sometimes it will almost be thrust upon you and sometimes it will appear from the most inconsequential beginnings. So what to do with the idea when it happens.

 

Let me illustrate! Some years ago my self and my then girlfriend visited York for the weekend. We had a great time. Amidst all the history, fantastic places and interesting things to see, one thing stood out. It stands out for two reasons, it was fantastic entertainment and it was my biggest lost opportunity ever. It was very simple; we went on one of York’s many ghost walks or tours.

 

From the first instance we knew we were in for a good time. The actor conducting the tour arrived in Victorian costume ringing a bell to beckon the assembled to follow him. There followed a hour of first class story telling and top comedy whilst giving an insight to the supernatural side of York the most haunted city in Britain. After the tour we joined the actor in one of the local pubs for a further hour of excellent story telling. An amazing night out that still sticks in the memory.

 

On a business footing rather than an emotional one, our host pocketed in my estimation over £350 for one hours work! My mind was racing; I decided that I would put together a ghost walk in my home city of Liverpool. Liverpool has more than enough spooky stories to construct an evening of top class entertainment and in so doing make large amounts of cash. So what did I do about it? Nothing, diddly squat that’s what. I thought about it for years, I did nothing, not even some basic planning or research. Great idea no action, then came the stab to the heart. I picked up a leaflet advertising Liverpool’s only ghost walk. Someone had beaten me to it, called it Shiverpool and make a very good living out of it. Good luck to them they took action and I did not, a classic case of not acting immediately.

 

So you may think I never made another error! Next the mistake I made that cost me thousands.

Rob

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Credit Crunch Baby Boom Part 6

March 9, 2009 By Robert Corrigan 1 Comment

The most important step

 

The last posts have outlined how to setup, source, list and sell baby and children’s clothing. The same basic blueprint is applicable to almost any product and business idea. It is important to follow and understand each step. I have left the most important step until last. This is the ACTION STEP.

 

Without this step nothing will ever happen. This step is entirely down to YOU. It is no good knowing something on a theoretical level if you do not apply that knowledge. You can spend thousands on business plans, blueprints, coaching programs, DVD sets this in itself will not make you any money. The most important thing is to take action, NOW! Let’s say that again NOW! It’s no good doing it next week, or tomorrow as we all know that tomorrow never comes. Take action before you are ready. You can spend months or years planning, getting everything just so, making lists etc. Time moves on and you will be left behind or you will never start.

 

“Once begun the jobs half done” it’s about making a start.

 

What if I make mistakes? You will. It’s all part of the learning process. During my apprenticeship I was given some wise words which I have never forgotten. I had been working on a project and I had made a big error. I was mortified; my boss pulled me aside and instead of the rollicking I was expecting he simply said “Robert the man who never made a mistake never made anything, learn from the experience”. Mistakes are part of the learning process.

 

Excuses for not starting. How long have we got? It is possible to find an excuse or alibi for every situation. Here are some to start you with.

  • Too old
  • Too young
  • Haven’t got any money (see my posts on making your seed capital)
  • Don’t know how
  • Wrong time of the year
  • Will do it next week
  • No time
  • Have got kids
  • Etc……

No amount of coaching courses, blueprints, business books DVD sets will help unless you have the desire to succeed. Save your money for unless there is desire there is no motivation. So make a start now, today. Switch off the TV do some research, work out what you can sell to make the seed capital (don’t go spending it or you will be back at square one). See my posts during February about eBay and sourcing stock from charity shops. Use the seed capital to buy in a product or products. Test it small see if it works, do it again and again. If not try something else. Persistence is the key you will find a winner.

 

More next time

Rob

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Credit Crunch Baby Boom Part 5

March 7, 2009 By Robert Corrigan Leave a Comment

Listing strategies.

 

Back on track, how to get your auctions seen.

 

  • Write a good title that will catch the eye. Look at the titles of power sellers selling the same or similar products. Look for the key words they are using. Take the lead from them not the title. Play around with the word order; use the thesaurus (not all of them died out at the end of the cretaceous).
  • DON’T CAPITALISE ALL THE WORDS IN THE TITLE it looks unprofessional, don’t you agree?
  • A good clear photo. Take your own photos, digital cameras are cheap these days and the quality of cameras on mobile phones are excellent. Don’t be tempted to use photos off other trader’s listings, or off suppliers or manufacturers websites unless you have express permission to do so. This is copyright theft and you will have your listings removed. You may even have your account suspended.
  • Include more than one photo. But don’t use eBay’s own service this will cost you and it is designed to make eBay even more money. I use a service which I have mentioned before called auctiva. Auctiva is a listing tool with templates, auction scheduling and it allows you to include as many photos as you like all for free. Get an account at www.auctiva.com
  • Write a good listing; again look at the power sellers selling the same or similar items. Depending on what you are selling there are a number of options on the listings page. Size, material, new, used BNWT (brand new with tags) BNWT (brand new without tags) etc. Make good use of these as it give the buyer information instantly without having to read further. This is your second opportunity to hook them, your title being the first.

 

Things to include in the description: 

 

  • Brand new (only if it is).
  • Carefully describe any used item accurately e.g. cleaned to a high standard.
  • From a smoke free home (only if it is).
  • From a pet free home (only if it is).

 

Clearly state your returns and refund policy in the box provided on the listing template. Distance selling regulations do not apply to auctions only BINs.

 

More in part 6.

Rob

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Credit Crunch Baby Boom Part 4

March 4, 2009 By Robert Corrigan Leave a Comment

Listing strategies.

 

Firstly if you are listing on auction format then you have an advantage over the beginner who is listing on BIN. Auction listings finish in chronological order unlike BINs. Eventually your listing makes its way to the top of the page, this is not the case for bins. Have a look at the listing finish times you will notice that some listings are close to the top of the page although they may have many days to go before they expire. If you examine the sales you will notice that that listing has sold a large quantity of items with a great customer satisfaction rating. It is also likely to have been relisted several times.

 

Why is this case? On September 24th 2008 eBay introduced new rules including its “best fit” policy.  The upshot of this is that eBay rates the seller on customer satisfaction, number of items sold etc. Now this is great if you are already an established trader who sells large volumes, you will do rather better. If you are a beginner stating to trade and hence have no history of selling a particular product, you may well struggle to get your item seen with BINs and therefore no or poor sales.

 

This has certainly been my experience when I have introduced new products recently, this is why it is increasing important in my opinion to find and specialise in the smaller niche markets where there is less competition and the margins are better. I cannot compete with the high volume traders and platinum and titanium powersellers. They can buy in bulk and discount accordingly, they also get massive discounts on final value fees.

 

Why did eBay introduce this policy? Only one reason, to make more money by attracting high street names to trade on the site and rid it of its “flea market” image. This seems to have backfired rather badly as lots of traders have started to trade on or have completely taken their business to Amazon. Amazons market place is growing at a remarkable rate. Amazon has now overtaken eBay.

 

Trading figure for the last quarter of 2008 show that eBay suffered a downturn in business of 18%, credit crunch etc. However in the same quarter Amazons sales showed an increase of 18%. As our American cousins would say “go figure”. Just noticed I have wandered off the point!! That’s my problem so easily tempted off the straight and narrow.

 

Promise next time I will return to listing strategies.

Rob

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Credit Crunch Baby Boom Part 3

March 2, 2009 By Robert Corrigan Leave a Comment

Finding a niche market.

 

I recently visited some wholesalers who specialise in the sale of baby and children’s ware. The reason: my friend and his wife were interested in an eBay business selling baby and children’s clothing. They had had some success in selling unwanted items or items that were now too small. They believed that they had also found a gap in the baby market that was not being fulfilled properly.

 

As they explained the idea to me I could see the potential in the idea. We brainstormed the idea, even came up with the name for an eBay shop that reflected the service. It sounded great, was instantly memorable and described the service perfectly. Next step research. As far as baby ware is concerned this I know from nothing. So using yell.com we found a number of local suppliers and paid them a visit.

 

Most were very welcoming and some a bit suspicious, I simply mentioned that I was already trading on eBay and that we were looking at setting up a joint venture which my friend was going to run. Doors open, what are you looking for sir? In the last wholesalers we visited we were talking about how we intended setting up this business, when the wholesaler started to explain his business model. Some years ago in order to differentiate himself from the other traders he started to specialise in the christening market and then diversified into selling formal ware such as suits and dresses for children. Aiming at the special occasion market enabled him to grow the business as a specialist rather than a generalist. Niche market again. The quality of his merchandise was excellent as was the price, after looking on eBay we found very few traders specialising in this market, but there was also a very high level of sales, this looks like a market fit to be plundered.

 

At the time of writing my friends have not yet taken action on either of these business ideas. You can have the formal ware one with my blessing, the other idea I’m keeping to myself as I may well use myself.

 

Next time how to list children’s ware.

Rob

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Credit Crunch Baby Boom Part 2

February 28, 2009 By Robert Corrigan Leave a Comment

In the previous post I mentioned the advantages of using a local wholesaler in sourcing stock. However, there are some other alternatives.

 

You can also use magazines such as The Trader; many of the advertisers will have their own website. Disadvantages are that until you have the goods in your hands you will not be able to check the quality of the items. You may know someone who has dealt with the suppliers but if you are just starting out this is unlikely. You could ask to see samples first, but this is likely to be refused, suppliers get many such requests unfortunately most requests are not from legitimate traders.

 

So unless you have good reason, always choice the local wholesaler first. You may find in this day and age that the wholesaler will be reluctant to extend credit terms until you are an established customer. They will want to be paid on a proforma basis. Pay cash or use a debit card if you can, credit cards typically are subject to surcharge of about 2 ½ % which although it does not sound a lot, eats into your profit as does VAT and carriage charges should you have to pay them.

 

Things to factor in your costs. VAT, postage fees, packaging fees, eBay listing fees, final value fees, pay pal fees. Only then will you get paid. So finding some means of reducing costs is a good idea. Padded bags can be bought cheaply from the 99p or £1 shops and offers a good source of supply to get started with. Vast savings can be made by buying in bulk from specialist packaging suppliers, again try local suppliers. Alternatively use the internet or eBay itself, you will often find that the big suppliers have there own websites where substantial savings can be made even over eBay prices.

 

More next time.

Rob

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