Direct Talk On What Produces SalesWritten by Joe Bingham
I am now going to speak frankly and directly about what it takes to make money in an Internet business. Traditionally, that is not done, but I've pretty much had it with some of 'traditions' of online business. Many times during my first months on Internet, I started to doubt whether I would ever make any money at it. Every time I felt I was doing something that should get results, I'd learn another hard lesson about why what I was doing was NOT working. It took about 4 months before I saw my first dollars, and even then they came few and far between. It took until my 7th month online before I actually turned a profit for month. Since, I've maintained a profitable business. Still, I have further goals to achieve before reaching kind of money we all dream of making. However, looking back now I can see just how much I have grown and learned. I was so stupid in my early days. It's no wonder I got little sales. Looking back at what I was offering, I wouldn't buy from me either! I don't claim to be a 'guru' yet by any means, but I do now know a definite truth about way Internet works. To make money, especially consistent money with repeat buyers, you must have a UNIQUE WORTH. You have to offer what no one else offers or offer a similar but BETTER product or service than what others offer. That sounds oversimplified perhaps, but think about it. When you make a purchase, you want to KNOW you are getting best available, or at least best available for price. That's how you treat other businesses because that's how you have always treated other businesses. You DEMAND a good product or service for a good price, AND you like to get it from where you know you can REGULARLY find best product or service for a good price. That's way you are as a consumer. That's way ALL consumers are. So, just because you got on Internet and heard promises of huge, instant riches, do you really think your business is going to be treated any differently? No! You are just another business in an over crowded setting where regular consumers will blow right by you in search of something familiar with a good product at a good price. UNLESS, you take hold of your business, PERSONALIZE it to stand out among crowd, add extra features, group other
| | One Short Story, Three Very Important LessonsWritten by Joe Chapuis
I buy a lot of books online. So many, in fact, that I built my own website (Booku.com) which searches big online stores and locates best prices for me. It's nothing fancy, but it does trick.The other day, I received an inquiry from someone representing another online book retailer, requesting that I add their store to my roster. So I checked them out. My first impression was, "Ah, yes, I remember them". I had been there before but had departed after several seconds, without venturing past home page. I couldn't remember why. I investigated, and here's what I discovered this time: On top left, there's a button that says "Save on Christian Books, Music, and Bibles". The top right says something about "Desecration". I also noticed word "FaithPoint" mentioned a few times. After a quick view of site I jumped to this conclusion: It's a bookstore specializing in Christian books and religious products. Perfect, if only I had a hankering for, let's say, an audio version of Bible on CD. But, upon further investigation, I discovered something fantastic: They actually had a great inventory of all kinds of books - not just religious titles. New books, used books, and hard-to-find books. (Who would have known? Why did they hide it? Did they even KNOW they were hiding it?) But, here's kicker... Every title I searched was at least 10% cheaper than could be found at Amazon.com (you get extra discount when you purchase a $5 membership - but I think it's worth it.) In addition, they had titles I had previously searched at Amazon, but couldn't find. They even offered something I have yet to see online: ability to order individual issues of magazines (not just subscriptions). I decided to go shopping. After filling up my cart with five magazines and a wee tiny book, I was a bit surprised to see total price considerably higher than I expected. When I got to bottom of list, I saw shipping charge for UPS ground service (3-7 business days - ugh) was almost ten bucks ($3.25 plus $.99 per item). For what? A few magazines and a book? These items would probably fit in a USPS flat rate envelope for three and change.
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