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In order to be truly interactive, we really should have put this post out long ago.  So we are doing it now with a call for comments and questions.  What kind of help do you need?  We are prepared to tailor special sections, articles, video, or what ever it takes to get your questions answered and get you moving on your way.  To help you with this please refer to the following sections and include that in your reply or comment.

E-commerce

• Product Ideas
• Store front platforms
• Building the site
• Hosting the site
• Finding products after I get selling my own
• How to produce my own product locally

Importing

• Where to find product
• More information
• Where to find a sourcing agent
• Importing and selling on Ebay
• How to deal with customs.

Blogging

• What topic to blog about
• Where to set up my site
• Costs
• How can I make money at blogging?
• Differences between services
• How fast can I start

Ebay

• How to get started
• Where to host pictures
• Paypal

Information Products

• Where to get them made
• What topics do I pick
• I can’t write, now what?

So now comes the fun part, if you have signed up for our newsletter, take it a step further and ask us a question.  You can email us directly at our email address.  We are all about helping you get going, especially in today’s economy.  It really helps your state of mind when you know you have something going and can constantly work on it.

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• Raising Ecommerce Revenue, Amazing Results

If you are thinking about getting started with an online or home based business.  You can easily get overloaded with a ton of responses from all sorts of people in the business.  Most will say that their business is the best or most profitable.  A lot of time that is because they think its the best because it is the field they are in.  This is similar to someone saying the pizza is best from their home town just because its what they know and what they like.

What you need is the basic facts to get started, a place to learn the basics.  When you have those basics, then you can go on and start to sift out the gems from the rocks.  There are a lot of rocks out there.  We have found a site that is a video site and it teaches you how to get started in your home based business.  It gives you the basic dynamics of what to look for and explains some very important facts.

Buy a business on Ebay?

If you think a good idea is to buy a premade or existing business for sale on Ebay, then you really need to look at this site too since they really focus on it.  There is a lot of garbage out there and if you do not know what to look for, you will get separated from your hard earned cash.  The site includes a membership and you can easily get through all the material without having to sign up for another month.  The best part is the checklist that you can take with you (print) and use a valuable reference in whatever site you choose to buy (or create).

You can find all this information plus a bunch of free stuff in their guest section.

http://www.internetbusinessnavigator.com

This one I highly recommend.

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• Raising Ecommerce Revenue, Amazing Results

Where to go with your Budget

Here is a quick and dirty list of what you should at least consider when building your budget.  If you are in the website/ecommerce/blogging type game already, this is a familiar list.  IF you are not, you need to do your homework and learn how to implement these.  If you don’t, you will waste your money. These are not listed in any particular order.

1. Blog
2. Article Marketing
3. Social Bookmarking
4. Social Marketing
5. Forum Postings
6. Web 2.0 sites
7. Wiki’s
8. RSS Feeds
9. Directory Listings
10. Blog commenting

In summary I would like to leave you with some advice that is pretty much straight and to the point.  It is not meant to degrade or discourage anyone.  In fact if you are as bullheaded as I am, it may spur you on to make something happen.  When I was growing up, we had chores to do around the house.  Like any kid I tried to do as little as possible and cut corners where I could so I could go and do what I really wanted to do.  My father would say, “Why do it half as….”  Who wants to be known for that?  Anyone can do a mediocre job, why lump yourself in with that?  Since then I have added to that with these little morsels of learning.

1. Why be “just another _____” (fill in the blank)
2. Most people want to do things the easy way.
3. Being successful online is hard work and not easy.
4. If it was not hard, everyone would do it.
5. Easy, Guaranteed, Simple, Quick, “make big money”, “monster profits” and “fabulous opportunities” are terms for suckers.
6. Never put your success in someone else’s hands.
7. No one is as motivated as you are.
8. There is a time to outsource and time to do it yourself, but most of the time, you need to outsource it.
9. Try very hard not to “work in your business” “working on your business is much smarter.
10. Don’t just sit there, do it.

Looking for part one of The website Misnomer?

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By Jeff Smith

Are you wrestling with the type of business you will operate online?

You may have your goals, even have a market in mind but confused
about the online business model you can use to earn both short-term
dollars as well grow future profits?

It’s true, you have the opportunity to:

- Create Your Own Products

- License Products

- Market a service

- Earn commissions through affiliate marketing

In fact, you could combine one or more of these to reach your goals.

FIRST – GOALS BEYOND DOLLARS

In my mind, you should set some goals in your life that go beyond just
money – then figure out how much you would need to achieve to reach
those goals.

For instance, if you want to experience the freedom of giving up your
current job – that’s your goal, and to fulfill that goal, you may
want to earn 80% of current income within X months.

In my case, I wanted to replace a six-figure corporate income and
did that a couple of years ago.

If you have ever worked for a large company, you’ll appreciate it
when I say that I never wanted to be spending more time in meetings
than producing results again.

Having a reason, deep within you, gives earning your financial
goals meaning resulting in an inexplicable, often magic ability to
achieve the unimagineable.

So, you have your purpose, now is it product, service or affiliate
marketing that will get you there?

THERE’S ONLY ONE RULE THAT COUNTS

In my case, it was a mix of products, services and affiliate
marketing, but…

It all started with the product.

I know many successful online business owners who use different
combinations of products, services and affiliate marketing.

Let’s not pretend that there is any set formula for mixing each of
these EXCEPT…leading with your own products is the single best
way to ensure you get the highest return for the least effort in
all 3 business models.

Here’s the important thing…

1. Having your own products will draw far more business options TO you
instead of you having to chase service or affiliate business.

2. Having your own product increases your credibility and perceived
value to your market (assuming your product is relevant and is good),
which allows you to get more for your services and get better
conversions on your affiliate marketing.

3. Creating or licensing a product gives you leveraged income. In
other words, you create (or license) once and it generates passive
revenue for you for months (even years) to come. My own income split
started at approx 1/3 for each of product, service and affiliate
marketing – now is much more like 65% product, 25% affiliate marketing
and 10% services (I have purposefuly limited them)

Think about it, you spend a few weeks developing your own information
product, another week or two in your launch while you continue to
build sales as long as you continue to expose it to your market.

Even your marketing can be fully automated by building your own
army of affiliates and joint venture partners. With a few months
work launching and marketing your product, you can literally sit
back and collect a check for years.

With your own book, ebook, report, course, workshop, audio or video
products out on the market, you’re business will grow fast. Of
course,
you need to make sure your product tackles a real challenge in your
market and presents you as the ultimate solution.

If you get the feeling that your business is stuck in rush hour
traffic, it’s taking far too much time and effort to squeak out an
inch of progress, then it’s time to clear a certain path toward
success by leading with your own product.

Become A High Paid Information Publising Entrepreneur Using the
System That Experts Agree, Will Put You On the Fast-Track To
Releasing and Profiting From High-Demand Infoproducts. Find it here:
http://www.infoproductcreator.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeff_Smith
http://EzineArticles.com/?Monster-Online-Business-Model-That-Really-Pays-Off&id=96641

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This is probably the $64,000 question that I get asked frequently. So we have made a video to help you answer this question. It really does take research and some creativity to figure out what you would like to venture into. Get a pen and some paper and write down all your ideas after watching this video. The video has some key points in it and will help you to determine in which direction to go next. We will also list some references that you can check to get the job done. Don’t forget, there is a lot of reference material here on this site. It’s not all about manufacturing a product but more about manufacturing yourself as a business. That is whether you sell product, sell a service or sell knowledge. It all starts here.

Click To Play

Click To Play

Blog reference in the video

Forums

http://www.smallbusinessforums.org/

http://www.homebusinessonline.com/community/forum/

http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/index.jspa

Article

http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Kind-of-Business-Should-I-Start?&id=57316

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I do a lot of reading in forums lately. My favorite (this week) is a small business forum that attracts a lot of people looking for start up information. I notice that many people want to get start up business ideas, but do not really care about what type of business that it is. As long as it makes money seems to be the general thought pattern. That may be a thought pattern that could come back to haunt you later on down the line. For example my good friend Blanche joined an well known MLM program with the lure of making big money. When I asked her how it was going, she told me that it was a lot of work. It seems like you have to work your rear end off and everyone ends up fighting over a quarter. When it is all said and done, you really do not own anything of value.

I myself run several sites, one being a very busy ecommerce site. While I am happy my hard work is paying off, it also is a lot of work. However I am building a real and sellable business in the asset. It is important to know that when you are involved in the customer service part of business, it can be somewhat draining, depending on your product. The reason why is customers. The bottom line is, some customers are painful to deal with. It would seem that there will always be a small amount of people that make the most trouble. This brings me to my mental health outlook. If you are going to start a new business, or look for business ideas, why not choose something that causes the least amount of mental havoc? If you do not have thick skin, you may not want to be involved with the general public on a sales basis. The reason is, no matter how good your product is, there will be that one idiot that you cannot make happy for all the money in the world. If you are not use to that, it can stress you out and cause you to lose sleep.

So what do you choose?

There are several online ventures that can keep your blood pressure down. Blogs are a good example since you are creating most of the content yourself and the interaction with most readers is civil. If you sell products on your site, they would be mostly affiliate products in which the manufacture would have to deal with returns and other issues.

Information sites rely on people clicking ads to generate revenue and can be very profitable and satisfying. Information products are also very good and good for your mental health. If you are good at something, writing a course or Ebook can be profitable as well. Video is all the rage on the Internet today and making them and marketing them can help you stay sane in your quest for alternative income.

So why the sanity buzz?

Chances are that most people that are starting an online business are either unsatisfied with their current job, or they have recently become unemployed. Some want to have a good alternative plan for worst case scenarios. I think that is a good idea since no one should have to rely on someone else to make sure they have enough income for retirement. If you pick something that you may be doing for a while, it might as well be something that does not stress you out. We are finding out how important stress plays a role in our lives every day. Do yourself a favor, look ahead five years when you are thinking about an online business. Knowing what your weaknesses are now will certainly save you some grief and aggravation later.

Forum

http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/index.jspa

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I divide my time into what I call “high value” and “low value” activities. High value generate cash and low value does not. Certain things in the day have to be done whether they are low value or not, such as answer or read email. Here is my order, hopefully someone can get some value out of it.

1. Plan my goals for the day
2. Assign the goals in order that will generate cash. For example, on my ecommerce site, I want to add new products or improve my descriptions, so that I can sell more. This leads to more sales.
3. Promote and market said products by my marketing plan. My plan consists of a mix of SEO tactics such as bookmarking, article marketing and video marketing. These three give me the best results and thus land in the    high value category. this also includes managing anyone that I have outsourced to do some of these plans.
4. Ship or prep product, since I sold it, it needs to go out. This is sometimes outsourced by employee or anyone I can pawn it off on.
5. Add a new post to one of my blogs. This keeps things moving and i am big on moving projects forward.
6. Fix Problems, could be a customer service thing or other assorted pains.
7. Answer emails or phone calls.
8. Clean off my desk. ( I hate this)
9. Clean up my office. ( I hate this more, but if I get to absorbed into promotion my workspace gets trashed and then i cant work)
10. Plan for tomorrow. I am a list maker, if I can get something down on paper and hang it on clip boards or on my white board, this helps me tremendeously. I have four clip boards that I label. One is called “problems” the second is ‘warehouse”, third is “projects” and the fourth is “misc” I also have a huge white board in which I track a lot of progress and think outloud on.

I hope this helps someone.  The Plan changes a lot, but I use this basic outline.
Ken

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Getting started and getting organized can be a very daunting task. This video overview shows a Microsoft product that we thought worth adding. It really does help small business get some foothold on all the task that you need to do when starting a business. Any software that helps you make a to do list ranks high on my list. This is great for generating ideas.

Watch Startup Starting Line – Microsoft Small Business in Technology |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

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If you elected to build a website, you know there is never a shortage of things to do.  So how do you get them all done?  Getting help seems to be a logical conclusion but it usually boils down to the dreaded bottom line … money.  Money is more or less the item that gets in the way of most peoples success.  You don’t want to spend the money because you figure you can do it yourself.  You have to take an excessive amount of time to learn what you need and end up hurting your site because you are taking longer than expected.  Spending money on some key items is not only smart but it will help you in the long run.

Duh …

Anything you outsource or pay someone to do is a tax deductible expense that will benefit you at tax time.  I always say that I really benefit from all my concepts and strategies at the end of the year.  It kind of gives Christmas a new meaning (not to take away from God!)  But spending money on talent can be one of your best investments if you think of it as just that … an investment.

Examples

A great example of outsourcing is getting some help with the SEO or your website.  If you said to your self what is SEO, then you really need help.  SEO stands for search engine optimization and can be a full time job when it comes to your website.  If you have a large website you have to make sure that each page is optimized so that Google can find it and index it.  Google ranks web pages not sites, so each page has its own marketing code that you have to develop to get people to come to your page.

Link Building

Links are very important in the Google formula for ranking.  Finding someone who understands that is very important as well.  Creating a link building program needs to be a smart part of your advertising budget.  If you want to become an authority on your subject matter you will need a good supply of one way direct links to your site and select pages in your site.  This takes planning, man hours, dedication and brainstorming.  This is extremely important if you plan on ranking for any particular keywords.

Virtual Assistants

Virtual assistants are all the rage today because people can accomplish more by having people working for them but not necessarily being in the same office space as you are.  Microsoft knows how important this concept is
that they are not incorporating the whole virtual assistant concept into their
professional software.

The Key

The key to all this is to really sit down and do some planning in regards to outsourcing.  Face the fact that if you want to be successful, you need to surround yourself with people that have more talent than you.  If you embrace this fact, the sky is the limit.

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So What’s Vendio?

Vendio is auction management software.

Why do you need it?

Well you don’t need it, but you will want it when you find out how simple it can make your life.

The Old Way:

Go to eBay to list your item.  First you have to find a place to upload your pictures.  That means you have to have a place where you can store all your pictures online and then plug that link into the eBay listings.  Next you start the listing process by filling in the template and writing all the text for your item.

You would next link those items to your pictures and fine tune the listing.  If eBay burps or you make some mistakes you could lose all your content and have to start over again (grrrr).

The Vendio Way

Go to Vendio and sign up for free.  Instead of finding a place to host your pictures, you can load them up on Vendio.  They are all in one spot, its super easy to do, and you can keep everything organized.

Next you want to launch an auction.  You choose the auction template you like, fill in the blanks like you did on eBay, attach the photos and save.  Now when you save it, it’s saved and you can simply copy it again if you want to run constant auctions with the same item.  This gives you the ability to tweak your ad and constantly adjust.  The best part is if you are running another auction it takes you about 10 seconds to launch one since all your text is prefilled in.

They also have a variety of listing templates so you can give your auctions a professional look.  Why not tip the scales in your favor?

Now here is the greatest part.  Vendio is a database, so your items are organized by month, date, year etc.  If you want to see what sold the best in March of last year, you simply look it up.  If you want a bottom line figure to do your taxes, it’s all there.  If you want to watch your auctions as they run and track how many people look at your auction, you can do that too.  The possibilities are endless which is what makes it a great tool.  You can automate your checkout for auctions and even remind people to leave you feedback.  Vendio has it all and is very robust.  The cost to use it is 1% of your final sale price and .10 per listing.  To me it’s like having a personal manager track and organize my activity and the 1% is always worth it.  Besides it’s tax deductible.

All the features can be seen here, this short article cannot possibly do all their features justice.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

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Trying to choose which of your great business ideas to pursue?  Finding a niche market is where the challenge lies.  You don’t want to start out your online venture selling something everyone else is selling.  Most likely if a seller specializes in something; they will bury you in a price war.  When too many sellers get in on a market it ultimately drives the price down.  This is basic economics when the number of suppliers increases for a fixed amount of buyers.  What you need to do is to find a little place to call your own.  You may not have the market totally to yourself but you have to make it your own.  Our table and chairs sets are a good example.  We have a signature accessory that we put on our tables that make them unique.  Also our artwork is totally our own and that’s what makes people take notice.  It’s the attention to detail.

A lot of people are drawn to homemade items.  Look at the popularity of craft shows.  There is one in Florida that I know of that draws over 200,000 people to it.  That’s a lot of people, and the goods are all handmade.  In fact in mostshows if you show up with something mass-produced, you will be asked to leave.  That tells you about the power and draw of handmade items, especially if you’re talented.

How?

So how do you find your niche?  You cruise the market.  Yes here comes the research word again.  First you need to find something you know about and are good at.  Then research it to death.  My favorite place to start is Ebay.  I always look the item up in the search box and see how many are on that particular week.  This by itself does not give you the complete story.  When you have the item opened, go to the left margin and you will see “completed
items”.  By clicking that you will go to that item’s auction’s that have already
sold.  Now you can look at what the going price of that particular item has been.  Keep in mind that if an item does not look like it sold very well, look at
their ad.  A lot of times people write terrible ads, you have to promote your
product the best you can.  A poorly written ad can affect sales, always keep
this in mind.

Another great way to find out what is selling well is to see what the eBay
Power sellers are selling a lot of.  You can buy these lists on eBay, I recommend this particular one.  http://www.powersellerpower.com/ I am not saying find out what sells, and then sell that too, but it will give you some data that will generate some ideas for you.

Also keep in mind what market is saturated.  If you’re really into computers and have your heart set on selling them online, you will be disappointed.  There are a ton of computers and electronic vendors online.  Some are great and some are really bad.  I am not saying there is not room for more, but you would have to have something that would set you apart and that something would NOT be price.  There are screaming good deals out there.  My general rule of thumb is that you can buy something online (auction) for about 75% to 80% of the retail price (new item).

With the online auction price in mind you would next turn to a general internet search.  I use Google and put in my keyword or search word.  Think of every possible word that could be used to describe an item.  If you were looking up a car, you would not put “car” into the search engine.  Nor would you would put 1988 Ford either.  You would want to narrow your search down as far as you could to get the best results.  When you have finally picked a product or product line, you have to think how your customer is going to find your item.

Picking the right keywords to submit to the search engines is big part of the
challenge.  Try to be specific, the more specific you are the better your search results will be.

Just using auctions to identify what items sell well is not enough, you need to look around a lot to find out what regular online vendors are selling.  Traditional brick and mortar stores are setting up websites and making additional sales.  Look at Wal-Mart for example, they are a powerful retailer.  Now they have added a way online to increase their sales margins.  Wal-Mart already can buy goods at very good prices; they will do extremely well online.

You do not want to try and compete with them.  They have much more advantages that you do not have.  Pick a product that Wal-Mart does not have, your chances of success are much better.  Chances are you already
have a good idea of what to sell online.

The Power of a Deal

I have noticed a trend online lately that actually has very deep roots in history.  Name me one person who does not want to get a good deal.  In fact look at the traditional garage sale and notice how people flock to them to find a bargain.  You can always find a bargain at a garage sale or yard sale because the sellers usually are cleaning out the garage or moving.  The same goes with online sales, especially eBay.  eBay is like the biggest garage sale on the planet and people are looking for a deal.  Here is the concept of the
power of a deal.  I have seen sellers tap into that power and offer products
based on the fact that people are always looking for the BBB (the bigger and better deal)  Some sellers buy or produce items in a larger quantity knowing
that someone out there will want to buy a larger amount in search of reselling them for a profit.  And in fact that very thing happens.  There are many people out there who sell their items at “wholesale” and cater to that market.  The power of a deal concept does not really revolve around becoming a wholesaler.  It comes from thinking about offering a product based on the desire of people wanting to get a deal.  If someone thinks they are getting a good deal they will bend over backwards to obtain your items.

Keep in mind not to offer some specialty items in larger quantities.  Some items don’t do well offered in larger quantities.  Also keep in mind if you sellonline, sell something bundled.  If you sell a toy or a tool, bundle it with something else and the buyer feels like they are getting a lot for their money. Computer manufacturers bundle tons of software on their computers to attract more buyers for the same reason.

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Basic Philosophy

Why are long term plans so important?  I truly believe that making some long term plans not only simplifies your life but also increase your sales.  Increasing sales and simplicity is a good thing.  No one wants to try and reinvent a plan every week or every month   You can easily change your whole scope of organization and inventory management by changing the way you look at a product.

First off, realize that you cannot be in a hurry to get your product out there on the market.  If you do some planning and then stick to the plan it will give you a lot of peace of mind.  Here is the concept.  Take each product that you have and develop a detailed plan for its marketing, purchase, inventory or manufacturing.  This is what will set you apart from other businesses and allow  you to spend time on how to make your product better rather than running around putting out fires.

Ideally you need to choose one product and decide a plan around a one year goal or a five year goal.  Actually, you can use any length of time you need considering your product and the way you purchase it.  I will use the 5 year plan because the results are particularly encouraging to see. So let’s take this step by step and figure out how to make your life simple.  Follow this template of steps with each product you plan on and you will quickly become organized and sell more items.

Here are the steps and we will break them down each item at a time:

1. Choose product
2. Choose timeframe
3. Identify acquisition
4. Identify its marketing
5. Automate it
6. Create the paperwork
7. Keep track of it
8. Tweak

Choosing Product

This is the easiest part since you have already done the homework and research in what product you want to carry earlier in this book.  Choose one of your products and let’s work out its plan.  Write the product name on the
worksheet.

Choose Timeframe

Again very easy,  insert the timeframe into the worksheet.  Try to stay away from a one time item.  This whole worksheet will not work for a one time sale.  It’s mostly slated for an item that you have a large amount of.  Again for example we will use a 5 year time frame.

Identify Acquisition

This is a pretty fancy way of saying “where do you get these items?”    If you
manufacture the item you need to work through the manufacture worksheet.  If you import this item, write in the quantity of goods you get per purchase and how long it takes to get to you from the initial order time.  Why do we do this?  If you’re manufacturing or importing, you have to know how to consistently have your product available to meet the market plan.

Identify the Marketing

This is the “meat and potatoes” of the project.  You have to think through this part and decide how you want to market a particular product.  If you going to market your product solely by online auction you need to note that.  But you also need to decide which online auctions you are going to use.  Is eBay your only choice or is there some other alternative that can help your bottom line?  For example eBay is the clear runaway leader in online auctions.  However, Yahoo should not be ignored.  For example if you planned to sell 10 units a month using eBay and then added a goal of an additional 2 units on Yahoo, that would increase your monthly sales by 20%.  That may not seem like much now, but if you look at the final number 5 years down the road, the results are staggering.

Other avenues of a particular marketing strategies always need to be looked at and evaluated.  You will love the results as your track your progress.

Now if your chosen marketing strategy is retail, you  also  want to figure in some additional strategies to supplement your sales.  For example, say you’re selling some children’s items to targeted boutiques in New York city.  Getting into stores is generally time consuming and takes a lot of patience.  It is definitely achievable.  However if you make a plan to augment your retail plan with an online auction plan you can increase the amount of product leaving your inventory.  This is covered in more detail in the tweaking section as well.  The worksheet is more designed to help you choose one or two strategies to market your product and think more outside the box.

If you’re considering getting financing for your small business, banks love detailed plans that give them some reassurance of how you operate and how you plan.  A good plan allows you some peace of mind in selling.  That gives you plenty of time to put out fires and deal with problems that always arise when you’re in business.

Automate It

This is one of the neatest parts of this whole worksheet.  What you want to do is to be able to develop a plan that allows you not have to rethink a  marketing strategy every week.  Let’s use an online auction as an example.  The first thing you would want to do is to write a very good and well thought out ad complete with pictures.  You want to use this ad over and over again so it has to be clear, concise and well thought out.  Then when you launch your ad you want to set your auction software to automatically renew this auction either weekly or each time the unit sells.  What does this do for you?  Well it takes one less decision making event out of your life.  If you automate your ad, you will never forget to start an auction and will always have a consistent presence online.  If you use multiple online auction sites, automate all of them and use your time to monitor the statistics of how they are doing.  Books about statistics in selling are available in great quantities to help you tweak your plan.

Selling it is not where the planning ends.  How are you going to ship it?  Do you have a ready supply of boxes and shipping material ready to go?  Is your shipping account ready and organized?  Do you have a good idea of what it costs to ship this item to each part of the country?  I always order my boxes in advance and have them ready to go before the first auction hits the internet.  Shipping quickly and effectively makes you a hero to your future customers.

Another part of automating your product applies to manufacturing.  If you make a product such as jewelry, a certain amount of your time has to be spent in the construction process.  Figuring out how much time needs to be spent in assembly and what parts to make and what time should be factored into your automation plan.  For example I know in order to sell a certain amount of chairs in a month that I need to spend two hours a day making each part of that chair so that I have everything I need for final assembly.

Create the Paperwork

Following this section is a worksheet to help you pull all this information
together.  Each item that you sell should have its own separate worksheet.
This way you can look at the worksheet and have all your information in one
spot.  This is a very powerful tool and will help you from being scattered and
trying to figure out what to do next.  Copy a bunch of these worksheets and
have them ready to go.

Next are the instructions on how to fill it out and a sample to see how the
information works.

Instructions

Product: Insert the product name or product line.

Timeframe: Choose (circle) your desired timeframe.

Acquisition: Write in or circle the way you are going to obtain your product.  If you have the company name print it as well.  This is particularly helpful if you’re importing and have looked at a lot of different companies.

Marketing: Choose the desired marketing plan.  Include any details that you need to help you such as names or companies.

Automate: Fill in the appropriate blanks.  Take your time in deciding now
how to automate will save you tons of time later.

Tweak: After you have sold some items go  back to this worksheet and figure out ways to tweak the sales by 5% to 10%.  List them here.  Every month you can look at these for ideas and adjust accordingly.

Related posts:

• Raising Ecommerce Revenue, Amazing Results

Nothing is worse than trying to get a hold of eBay’s customer service if you have a problem.  I understand the fact that if where easy to contact them, they would be overwhelmed with requests considering their client base.  Included are some links to take away some of the headaches.  This comes from experience and lots of patience.

One of the best ways to reach someone at ebay is to use their live help.  Live help connects you via a chat window to an eBay customer service representative.  Then you can usually get immediate attention and solve whatever problem you might have.  Yahoo has a much better interface and answers their email very quickly.

Non paying bidder policy (if you get a person who won’t pay after he/she won your auction):

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/bidders_overview.html?ssPageName=STRK:MEARL:007

Non paying bidders FAQ:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/basics/f-npb.html

Contacting Ebay for help:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/contact_inline/index.html

eBay University, learning how to eBay (the basics):

http://pages.ebay.com/university/index.html

Ebay seller’s policies, all the rules on what and what not:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-ov.html

Problems:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/basics/select-support.html

Related posts:

• Links

Ability is what you’re capable of doing.  Motivation determines what you do.  Attitude determines how well you do it. — Lou Holtz

I believe in diversity. Because Diversity leads to niche.  I know that sounds weird and almost contradicting, but you are in the research phase and in that phase you have to have a wide angle lens on your vision.   The reason I believe in diversity is because at certain times some items sell better than others.  I like having all my bases covered so that there is always income coming in.   I have a product that targets women of the 18 to 40 bracket.   I carry some items for children as well as some tools for men. This mix allows me to cover several different brackets.   When one area starts to slack, another will be doing well.  By diversifying, I take away the chance that I won’t be dead in the water and have a lousy sales month.  There is a drawback,   it’s sometimes difficult to find a niche market in one area much less two or three.  But it certainly can be done with a little….you guessed it,
research.

Having several directions also is a lot more work.  You have to stay on top of your game in more than one area.  The most advantageous area this would be in is in used goods.

I know of a couple that all they do is cruise garage and yard sales every day of the week.  They are professional bargain hunters and they do well.  But they know their product and have become  experts in a lot of different items.  They take a room of their home and devote it simply to garage sale finds and process them there.  A lot of time the mark up is very small counting on turning larger volumes for profit.  It would depend on what your expectations are.  If you’re looking to make an extra $100 a week to save for a vacation, then it’s very attainable.

If you’re looking for steady income to rely on then your location is going to be a big factor.  If you live in Florida or the warmer states you can certainly work year round.  If you’re in the colder climates it definitely will limit you more.  I would advise starting this on the side and building it up.  You can become an expert quickly when you are not pressured to rely on the income.  This can be great fun as a couple or as a family.

If you’re going to try and sell more than one product, be sure you have a core product.  Make it something that you really understand and can become your bread and butter product.  The temptation to sell a lot of things can be very great.  There is many a time when I want to carry something new just because it’s something new.  Stick with two or three things that you know and the diversity factor will work for you, anything more than that will stretch yourself too thin.  Remember you not only have to research the product, but you also have to market it, keep the books and do all the shipping.  All these odd jobs and different hats you wear take time.  It can be easy to get overwhelmed.

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Customers are your lifelines; they are the blood that keeps you alive.  This world is declining in customer service, and there is no reason for it.  If I walk into a place and get treated rudely or without care, I’m gone.  I am convinced of that more and more as I get older.  There is too much competition not to care. 

Table Sets

It was two weeks before Christmas and I was selling a gorgeous table set.  In fact it was probably the nicest one to come out of the shop yet.  I did not notice until the day it closed that I forgot to put a reserve price on the auction.  So it closed for $81 when it should have sold for $150.  Ok so I swallowed my pride and stuck with the integrity issue.  After all, people come to eBay for deals and everybody gets lucky once in a while.  So this turns out to be a gift for a man’s children and off the set goes to Texas.

A couple of days later I get an email stating that Fed EX smashed the chairs boxes and they both needed to be replaced.  I sat and thought about that for a moment.  Generally the opinion exists that once it leaves here (insured) its up to the customer to get a claim filed with the shipper.  After all, the customer pays for the shipping and it’s the seller’s good faith to make arrangements to get it shipped.  The man said in his email that he wanted me to replace the chairs immediately and that it’s basically my problem.  I think he was stressing a little.  I know a lot of sellers that would tell this guy that it is now their problem.

But I was thinking about the little girls’ Christmas (violins please).  So I made a huge effort and built two more and shipped them out in time for Christmas.  I filed a claim with Fed EX and the two new chairs arrived safely.  So now I paid for those additional chairs and I said I would file the claim with the shipper.  To make a long story short, it took three months to get Fed Ex to pay up (they are really bad about that) and I basically made zero on the table set.  What’s my point?  The guy thinks I am the next best thing to sliced bread.  You can bet I will get his referrals.  How many companies do you know that will take care of you?  Not many we would bet, especially online.

Tool Accessories

I sold a part of a router table and it was a smooth transaction.  The only problem is the USPS lost the package  (it will happen).   Instead of emailing me with the dilemma, my buyer files a Paypal complaint.  So now Paypal is involved.  This particular time I forgot to get a tracking number (always always get one!!!).  We had just had a major snowstorm on the east coast, so I emailed the buyer to give it another day or two.

Still no package, so I sent him another part right away.  I really wanted to smack this guy or at least tell him that he is a clueless bozo.  You don’t file the complaint then ask for help, you ask for help first.  A couple of days later he got his part and withdrew the complaint, the transaction was now over.  The point here is sometimes it does not go smoothly, and not everyone thinks clearly.

The key to success in the customer service department is having a plan for failures.  Think through what you’re going to do when the US Mail loses your stuff.  Think through the shipping company that smashes a box.  Think through a customer that is not satisfied with their purchase.   These things will happen.

When they do happen, have some resources handy to make it as easy as possible.  I will say right off the bat that if you need to contact eBay, it’s a very frustrating event.  eBay’s site is so large and expansive that it can be difficult to find exactly where you’re suppose to go to contact them.  Just think if everyone could ask Ebay any type of question or present every type of problem to them on a daily basis.  They would be swamped.  Still they have a lousy interface to make it simple to find out what to do.  I have found a couple of simpler solutions to it.

eBay uses an interface called Safe Harbor.  It allows you to solve some problems and attempts to give you some basic answers.   Here is the link.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/index_popup.html?policies=topics.

html&ssPageName=STRK:SRVC:029

This is under the “Services” tab, which you must click first and then scroll down.  I have gone there and been unable to just click to a link to contact eBay.  I found an easier solution.  Ebay advertises “Live Help” chat interface that you can access a live person via chat box.  I think they designed it for beginners questions such as registering or common questions.  I have found them to be the most helpful, giving quick links in what to do.  You would be amazed at how much aggravation they can save you.  There is more detailed information in the Ebay links section of this manual.

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The absolute hardest part of starting your own business is setting up your business right.  I cannot over emphasize the importance of doing it right.  Don’t worry that you don’t know what to do.  Just follow this guide and you will have the bases covered.  I said it before and I will say it again, nothing worthwhile is easy.  So you have to do a little legwork.  Being legitimate says volumes about yourself and to your customers.

You need to be legal when you’re doing your taxes so you can benefit from all the tax benefits.  For example, you can write off the room in which you use as an office.  If you have a workshop that makes two rooms you can write off.  For example, say you have a 6-room house with a mortgage of $1200.  If you use two rooms you’re entitled to write off $400 towards your taxes.  But you have to be legal; see where I am going here?

1. Go to your local township or city and get a business license.  Tell them you want a reseller’s license or you can characterize yourself as a manufacture if you feel that applies. In almost every state you are required to have a resale certificate.  Some states call it Sales and Use Tax certificate or Tax ID (see item #3) Business licenses are very cheap.  Go make 20 copies of the license.
2. Go to the bank and open a commercial checking account.  Again this is easy, deposit some working capital.
3. Go online and get yourself a Sales Tax ID Number.  This allows you to buy your materials tax-free.  It also gives you the authority to charge sales tax if your customer lives in the same state as you.  Most states are getting it together and have their own web sites.  Usually its www.yourstate.com, be sure to insert your state name after the three www (this is not a link).
4. If you’re going to write letters, use Microsoft Word to create a simple letterhead.  You don’t have to pay for expensive stationery.  If you do most of your dealings online, you probably won’t use it much.
5. Go to Ebay and sign up as a new user if you have not done so already.  Register as a seller.
6. Go to www.paypal.com and sign up for a new account  (standard plan).  This is free and gives you some great flexibility.   (I highly recommend this.)  Make sure you use the same user id as eBay.  This greatly simplifies things.  PayPal allows you to accept credit cards without going through thehassle of opening a merchant account.  Paypal charges a small fee foreach transaction, believe me it’s worth it and very worthwhile.
7. Register with Yahoo as a seller.
8. Get a separate folder and write down all your passwords and user id’s to separate websites you will join and use.  Having them all in one notebook will help you keep organized as well keep things secure
9. You don’t need to incorporate your business unless you want to.  You can simply operate as a DBA (doing business as) and use your social security number as your ID number.  If you incorporate you should get aFederal ID tax number.  All this information is available online.

That’s all there is to starting your business.  If you’re a mover and a shaker you could do it all in one day.  Now when you make contacts you have what you need to legitimize yourself.  Don’t let the paperwork stop you.  Make sure you check your state’s requirements, some are different.

Tax Time

If you’re like me, you don’t love tax time.  There are some great services out there to help with your tax workload.  I really love using Turbo-Tax Home and Business for my taxes.  However there is another service out there that can be an invaluable service to your small business.  The company is called the tax club and you can find them at www.thetaxclub.com.  Their phone number is 877-829-2582.  They are a small business that specializes in taxes for new and small businesses.  They work with you one on one.  They offer free evaluations to determine the correct strategies and deductions for you.
They are a serious professional service, they charge you a monthly fee to
manage the tax portion of your business.

If you can afford to start your business off right away by using a professional service, your mind will be relieved of one less headache thus allowing you to concentrate on products and ideas.

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There’s no labor a man can do that’s undignified — if he does it right.  — Bill Cosby

A Definite Must!

Here is a great practical.  I am a bit unorganized with the stuff I don’t like to do.  Keeping records is one of those things I don’t like.  I tried to pawn it off on my wife but she is too smart.  I would recommend getting a manila folder and copy about 100 of these auction organization sheets and put it into a file cabinet.  Then get another folder and label it ‘current auctions.” Anytime you start a new auction, grab a fresh sheet from your file cabinet and fill it out.  This comes in handy when you start to get a lot of questions about items you’re selling.  You can simply reach over, grab the sheet according to Title and item number and everything is ready for you.

After the sale is over it also serves as an excellent place to put all your
information about the auction.  Even after that it contains all the information for your finances so you can figure out what you actually made
and what, if any, taxes you owe.

I will go through this sheet line by line, although it is pretty straightforward.

Practical #2

Get an accordion filing system and make sure it has the months of the year on them.  Anytime you complete an auction, put the sheet into the appropriate month.  I also put all my receipts incurred during that month in as well.  When its tax time you will be all ready to go.  This makes life much easier.

If you like the idea of the filing cabinet better go with that route.  Included in our system are the files you already need labeled and ready to go.  You would be amazed at how many people really do not want to sit down and set up the details end of selling online (myself included).  It is much more fun to just jump in and start selling.

You really need to start thinking long term and what your job will be like when it is time to do your taxes.  Save yourself the headache now and you will be much better off in the long run.  Remember planning is what separates the rookies from the pros.

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Choosing your products can be the hardest or the easiest chore you have.  In any business, the product is the core of the business.  I believe in diversifying myself so that I never have to rely on one thing.  This can be an excellent strategy since some things are cyclical on eBay.  For example; one week I sold a cabinet and it received moderate hits and a small number of bids.  The item ended up closing without the reserve being made.  I relisted the item a couple of weeks later and had a lot more action and eventually sold it.  Why?  Because the same people are not on Ebay every week.

Tools

If you decide you want to carry tools on eBay here a few things you should know.  Do your research.  Find out who is selling what and for how much.  I use the completed items search on eBay to find out how much items actually sold for.  Next realize there are certain sellers that do all their business on eBay and buy their tools in large quantities.  Unless you can buy large quantities and beat their prices, you might just frustrate yourself.  The best way is to find something that is not for sale on eBay.  If you know anything about business, you certainly have heard this before. So how do you do it?

I think the best way is to find something you like or that you enjoy working
with.  Then start looking to find out if it’s something that will sell well online.  Keep in mind; a lot of the really good ideas are already taken, but ideas evolve.  To buy tools, you have to find someone who will sell them to you for a price good enough that you can increase it to make a profit.  This is the classic economic dilemma of most businesses today.  So how do you do it?  Here are some different ways that can inspire your own ideas.

1. Become a distributor for a certain manufacturer or brand name you like.
2. Buy wholesale from wholesale distributors.
3. Buy distressed goods or closeout goods from closeout companies.
4. Tap into regional sources indicative to your area.
5. Import goods from another country.
6. Buy items through classifieds in your local area.

Let’s look at each of these items in detail.

Distributorship

This is a great idea.  It does take some legwork however.  I found the best way is to contact the company by email (the quickest response) and inquire of becoming a distributor of their goods.  I keep a blank letter filled out in my computer and plug in the names of the companies.  The only roadblock you can run into is that larger companies have a minimum ordering quantity.  Sometimes the number is a big one like 5000 units or a value such as $10,000.  This can be no problem if you have the cash, but can hinder you if you’re strapped.  It can be a great opportunity if you have some money to invest and you should treat it as an investment.  There are some great tools out there that are sold in brick and mortar stores but not online.  Keep in mind the size of  tools your buying and shipping information.  Just because you can buy a tool or other item for a great price you still have to figure in the price of getting it to you!  This particular method takes more time to set up and it is wise to develop this distributorship idea while you have other things going online.

Regional Sources

I live in steel country.  There are a many parts, tooling, and manufacturing companies in this area.  If I am inventing a part that’s metal or plastic, finding a local company that can help make my part is a good start.  Mills are good sources for wood at discount prices.  I access aluminum companies that are local to make certain jig materials that I use in my shop.  Most companies have very flexible quantities and you can usually buy items by the piece.  Look for opportunities that are indigenous to your area.  My town also is host to Antiques.  There are more antique shops than you can shake a stick at here.  Each one has their specialty items and they can tell you what hot sellers are. Knowing what is hot in an area is important.  While visiting a consignment shop I asked the women why they had so many pieces of wood furniture with dark stain and “fruit” graphic art. She said that they sold really well in this area.  (Personally I found it repulsive).

Also look at opportunities your geographic area can provide.  Areas saturated with industry can give you a local advantage of picking goods up for resale.  The cost of shipping things motor freight can be extremely high, thus making this unappealing.  I once found a tremendous opportunity on some wood that I wanted to have for my table set operation.  The wood was precut into the sizes and dimensions that would save me considerable amounts of time.  I could also market some of the wood as a separate item.  However the wood was located in Montana and the shipping cost prohibited me from bringing it in.  It just did not make good sense.

Importing

See the entire page on the site.  Good stuff!

Classified Ad Items

Personally I think this is a great way to make a little extra money selling online.  I love looking through the paper and finding something I know I can sell online for a profit.  I do it all the time.  It’s a great way to feel out a product line that you might be interested in creating yourself.

• The main disadvantage of this idea is that it is not a good way to build inventory.  Good enough deals that can give you a decent profit don’t come along that often.
• Smaller towns usually have better deals.  A lot of times people that have not embraced the online potential of selling don’t know they can reach a larger target audience online.  Or       they may just not care to put any additional effort into it.
• If you stay with the idea that it is more for fun or additional money, you will have more luck with it.  Relying on it for a steady source of income is not recommended.

Original Items

Custom woodworking and crafting is a great outlet and very popular online.  Try and stay away from traditional woodworking items such as breadboards, spice cabinets, and shelves, they are bound to do poorly.  However if you find out what is a little more popular you can change that.  For instance, take an entertainment center or old hutch and focus on finishing that item into today’s hot colors or finish styles.  Those are items people see on Home and Garden TV or read in magazines and want to purchase.  Keeping in style will definitely help sales.

I recently designed a simple table that is fun to build and easy to manufacture.  What makes someone buy mine verses the “cheapy” at K-Mart?  First of all consider the finish.  I take the opportunity to experiment with faux finishes or antique finishes that people cannot find in the store. Painted finishes right now are the hot commodity.   Perhaps you have already made something already that can be tweaked and adjusted for sale.  Think through the design, can you manufacture them easy enough?  Do you have the tools need?  Do you have the time to make them in quantities enough to make it worthwhile?  Remember when making items, the first (prototype) is always the hardest and takes the longest.

By now you probably already have an idea on what you want to carry.   I will give you a couple of examples of my thought process when I try and decide to carry an item online.

Example 1

Let’s work through a practical example.  Instead of saying a “widget” I will pick a power tool to sell on eBay.  I will use the example of a router table to illustrate the process.

• First I decide that I like to build router tables and know the features that I like.
• Second I do the research and find out that there are number of other companies that sell router tables, so I decide that it would probably not do me very well to be just another guy with router tables.  However in this example we will pretend there is not a lot of people selling them and move forward.
• Next I break down the components and find out I need a 1 ½” thick top made of MDF. Then I need a miter track, a fence, a dust port, a table insert and the tools to make all of them.  The Top (MDF) needs to be laminated so I need some laminate skills and some special tools (router, flush trim bit, laminate roller, laminate cutter, contact cement and most important a laminate source).
• I find sources for all these parts to assemble my router table.  Chances are I have to buy them in larger quantities to make the job worthwhile.  So instead of making 5, I really need to make 50 to take advantage of the price break on buying my parts.  Some parts you may have to actually buy retail if you can’t find a good source for them.  Remember, if you don’t have all the parts, you’re done before you have started.

So here is the breakdown:

The Total is $129 but is really less since your MDF makes three so you re-figure for three units and that comes to $78.00 per unit.  Now these are not the exact prices you may find, but it gives you a starting point on how to figure this out.  (See the Formula page for more details.)

Now you look at the cost of $78 and then find out you could buy a router tabletop for $99 retail.   To get your costs down to compete effectively and make a decent return, you have to get the cost of all your parts lower.  Now you’re talking about investing more money to get a better price on your parts.  I plug everything into my formula sheet.  Not only does it tell me how much it will cost me to build the item but how much money I am going to make per unit and how many units I would have to sell a month to make it worth my while.

Starting to get the picture?

Example 2

I, like many other guys, like sports.  Ok I love sports.  I use to work in a sporting goods department and probably know a little more than the average sports enthusiast.  I understand that sporting goods are great sellers on eBay.  In fact they are very good.

• So I think through this one with some of the lessons I have learned.  I know I can’t possibly carry all sporting goods because they would be too broad of a product spectrum, so I need to specialize (niche).
• So I pick fishing. (I like it and I know it)  So fishing supplies interests me and I start my research.
• The next thing I do is find out what sells well on eBay and go from there.
• Let’s say its artificial lures.  Now I have to find someone who makes them and figure out how to get them.  I go to the Internet and look up lure companies and contact them about being either a distributor or buying their goods wholesale.  I find out that their minimum order is $5000 (which is $5000 more than I have), so I eliminate that one, but just for now (think later down the road).
• I need a smaller source, someone who is willing to work with me.  So I go to the local bait shops and talk with all the owners who are looking to improve business a bit.  After a while I find one who is willing to give me a discount if I buy in bulk.  I don’t have to buy thousands, but it’s a start.  I also stumble on a small kit that allows you to learn how to mold your own fishing lures!  So I think that through and try it out.
• Sure enough I need to test my creation, so I have to go fishing (this is getting better and better).  After a while of testing, I find something that actually works and I can make…Bullseye!!  Combine that with the items you get from a local shop and you have enough for awebsite AFTER you start on eBay.
• After you build up some capital you can think about the larger companies with the minimum orders.  Now you also think about importing some Chinese fishing lures since you read an article that they are getting good at making them  (see importing section).

This is just two small examples of how to get things started.  I will share with you another of my philosophies that I did not include in the beginning.

Never let price get in the way of figuring something out.  Sit down and decide if you can do it, then figure out how to make it happen.

I really hate it when people look at my idea and then announce it can’t be done before really investigating it.  I really believe you can do anything you put your mind to.  At first I used to let the negativity discourage me.  Now I use it as a tool to fuel my desire to make it happen.  I believe a mind change makes all the difference in the world here.  I remember seeing a movie about Billy the Kid, I can’t actually remember the title but the scene is clear in my mind.  At one point Billy and his band of outlaws are holed up in a house surrounded by the law.  Then as they are peeking out the windows the Calvary rides in.  Billy turns to one of his outlaw friends and says, “I like these odds.” One would probably think they are doomed but he thought more positively, even though he was a criminal.

Positive thinking and determination make the difference in choosing your products.    There is a lot to be said for tenacity.

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It’s discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit. — Noel Coward

Scams

There are tons of people out there trying to get your cash with wild-eyed promises.  Here is a perfect example.  There is a person who claims you can make $439,000 per month connecting you with specific buyers and selling their wares on the Internet.  First of all, that’s 5.2 million dollars a year.  The cost of his program is a whopping $10.  Let me ask you, if you were making 5.2 million dollars a year with a successful Internet business, would you be selling some cheesy $10 software to increase your competition?  Of course not.  $10 is chump change for someone making over five million.  So what’s the deal?  The deal is he does not make that much money. He is only selling you the potential to make that kind of money.  You can potentially make 5 million doing anything you want.  I could potentially make 5 million selling vacuums door to door.  Will I?  Probably not.  However I can do whatever I put my mind to.

Nowhere are the scams more abundant than on Ebay.  They are everywhere.  Some sound so honest and real it’s hard to tell the difference.  Because of this, I treat every potential deal with a great deal of caution.

Here is a good website to review http://homeparents.about.com/od/avoidscams/ and http://www.scambusters.org/work-at-home.html

Email

Any incredible deal coming to you by way of email is most likely garbage.  You get what you pay for.  Look out for the two newest scams out today.  There are very clever people who disguise themselves as eBay or PayPal and say they need to update their databases.  They give you a link that will take where you can re enter your eBay financial information and credit card or bank information.  In a matter of minutes you will be broke.  Quickly erase them or better yet forward them to the appropriate companies.  I always forward the eBay ones right to eBay at spoof@ebay.com .   eBay will then send you a confirmation email saying they got your concern and are investigating.  I send the other stuff right to the US Governments Federal Trade Commission at UCE@FTC.gov

So far I never heard from them whether or not they are removing these people but it feels good to at least help out.

eBay has a good fraud policy in place and you can learn more about it on their website.  It covers everything from a deadbeat bidder, to downright fraud on the system.  Remember they cannot catch everyone so be careful.

Educate yourself on what MLM programs are and what plans are really get rich schemes.  MLMprograms are really multi level tiers which rely on you getting someone else to become an affiliate of the same program.  They in turn go out and recruit others and it becomes a giant pyramid of potential dollars.  The problem it is usually only potential and does not generate any real money in your pocket.  The get rich quick schemes are usually easy to spot as well.  That is why I will never tell you that you can get rich quickly using this manual or this system.  These are only tools that spur you on to your own victories.  Research is work; hard work is what pays off.  Anyone telling you that there is an easy shortcut obviously thinks there is a free lunch.

On eBay Auctions

If you go to the business and industrial section on Ebay, under Websites for sale, you will see a ton of websites that are offered for sale.  Many look very impressive, but lack giving you the complete story.  I will show you what to look for and what to look out for.  You may find 1 out of 1000 that would meet any criteria worth thinking about.

If you were to buy a website made from someone, it would have to meet some of the following criteria:

Unique: Most of these sites are made from templates, which means if you had some experience you could spit one out in about 20 minutes.  However after a while, you run out of ideas and then you start making the same thing over and over again.  Sure they say its unique, then you buy it, and they make another one with a different template.  If you buy a site it needs to be proven and not the same thing you get everywhere else.

Old: The older the site, the better.  New sites have zero credibility.

Administrator: Most will advertise that you can easily learn the administration portion of the site and it’s easy to learn.  They never reveal what program they wrote the program in or where it’s hosted.  Chances are you would need a high end program to manage the site and maintenance could be difficult to learn if you have no experience.

Tagged: Most of these sites have zero meta tags programmed into them.  Without the tags, Google or Yahoo cannot find you.  This gets you nowhere.  Its like having a for sale sign in your back yard and you live 40 miles out of town on a road with no traffic except the mailman.  You will get no visitors unless you tag it correctly.

Linked: If you feel you absolutely must inquire about a site, find out how many links the site has.  If the seller has no idea, run for the hills.  Links are essential in the search engine world, you must have them to rank naturally in Google.  The more the better, and you will spend the greater part of your search optimization efforts in getting links.

Priced: If you can buy the thing for $20, and its such a hot commodity, its a red flag.

Easy: Anyone that says this business is super easy to operate and takes no time, is an idiot.

Amazing: If it was that amazing, they would keep it for themselves and run it as a profit.

Stupid Promo Pictures: If the site has a picture advertised that is not relevant to the business, they are trying to catch your eye with a cheap marketing trick.  Chances are high that is has very little substance.  There is a couple of mortgage sites for sale with a bikini clad model advertise how great the business is, avoid this.

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