Robert Chenery’s Blog

If you are thinking about setting up an Internet or eBay business but haven’t done so yet here are some good reasons to do so.

You have probably heard on the news about the hard times ahead, lots of talk about the credit crunch and people holding on to their money etc.

Well if you have an Internet or eBay business this isn’t all bad news for you.

The reasons for this is that to every down side there is an upside and while many countries may be going through hard times there will be other countries that may not be affected as much.

What tends to happen is that manufacturers and businesses in the heaviest hit countries will lower their prices to help survive the recession.

This is one way that you can make money via an Internet or eBay business. As eBay and the Internet are global you can purchase from the countries that are reducing their prices and then resell to the countries that are less harshly affected. So in effect you are buying low and selling high.

A typical person in a nine to five job will look at the recession differently to someone who owns his or her own business. Employees of a company will hope that the company that they work for will survive the recession and not make staff cutbacks.

Employees are reliant on the company that they work for and if that company makes losses it will look at cutting back on unnecessary outgoings. This could mean that there will be job losses. These employees are dependant on their income from their employers to fund their lifestyle. If they lose their job their life is turned upside down.

A shrewd business owner will try and think how they could use the recession to their advantage. Such as buying stock from different places or perhaps they could make small changes to their business model. Maybe even trade in different products or they could look at dealing in second hand goods.

The other positive about eBay and Internet businesses is that if you are thinking about taking this route these types of businesses can be started whilst you are still working as an employee for a company.

Many a successful online business has been started in people’s spare time from a bedroom or kitchen table.

An online business can be started with very little capital. To set up this type of business many households already have the main tools to enable them to do it. These main tools are a personal computer and an Internet connection.

If you don’t already own a PC you can probably pick up a reasonable second hand one now for very little money. Even new PC’s have come down a lot in price.

In these uncertain times you have to be prepared for change and an eBay or Internet business are businesses that are quite easily adapted to change with what is going on in the world.

Unlike a brick and mortar shop that has a relatively small customer base, which is limited to the town or city that it is based in an eBay or Internet business has a possible worldwide customer base.

I hope you found this article helpful

Regards

Rob Chenery

Hi

I hope you are all keeping well.

First of all I would like to apologise for not posting here for a while and the reason for this is that I have been busy creating my new ebook.

After much research and writing the book is now finally ready. The title is  “Online Auctions Explained” and it is a step-by-step user guide to eBay.

I have created this book for people that are new to eBay or are thinking about getting started on eBay.

Inside this book you will learn about the following.

1.    Getting started on eBay

2.    How to bid for your item

3.    Completing your purchase

4.    Sniper systems

5.    Watching an auction

6.    Tools of the trade

7.    Types of products to sell

8.    Sourcing products

9.    Selling your first item

10.    eBay fees

And much more…

Inside I have included colour screen shots so that when I explain something you can actually see what I am talking about. As you follow the step by step process you know that you are in the right place when setting up your eBay account etc. This is all done to make your life much easier when working through the explanations.

I have created this especially for those of you that are new to eBay or if you are thinking about trading on eBay. I remember when I first set out on my eBay adventures how overwhelming eBay can be as it is such a huge website. So I retraced everything I have done to help you get started on eBay in this step-by-step illustrated guide.

For further details visit

www.onlineauctionsexplained.com 

I hope you like it

Regards

Rob Chenery

Well you may have read many sales letters over the years.  Some will have really caught your eye but others may have done nothing to capture your attention.  This can be down to the way in which it has been written.  This way of writing is called Copywriting and there are many gurus out there who are masters of the written word.

With the different seminars I have attended there has normally been a Copywriter as one of the speakers.  It is amazing to see how they can hype up the audience with their enthusiasm.  Their command for the English word is fantastic and they can change a few words or even just one word in a sentence to capture your attention to read on.

Well I have been writing my own eBook and with that you have to write a sales page.  I have been lucky enough to come across a Copywriter called Randolf Smith and he has written an eBook called ‘Sales Letter ABC’.  When I purchased this eBook I was also offered the opportunity to purchase his swipe file called ‘Randy Smith’s – Headline Heist’.

Firstly let me tell you about the ‘Sales Letter ABC’ eBook.  With this eBook you are given a free Sales Letter Template which Randolf talks you through step-by-step.  I am new at writing sales pages and I have found this eBook to be invaluable.

He goes through what a sales letter is: ‘All it’s about – is having Your Salesman do his presentation to your visitor.  And as there cannot be the interaction of a two way conversation, - the sales letter must be an effective and persuasive presentation incorporating everything needed to lead the reader to a decision.’

Randolf explains the different layouts, fonts, graphics and use of words etc.  He takes you by the hand and leads you through the process of getting your Sales Letter written in the most effective way.

To help you with the wording - as this is the most important aspect of your Sales Letter. Randolf has also written a book called a swipe file ‘Randy Smith’s – Headline Heist’.

Now you maybe asking what is a swipe file.  The best way I can describe it is that it is a collection of past successful Sales Letters.  From these you can read and get ideas from but you should not copy it word for word.  You can however adapt it to your product by rewording their phrases etc.

In Randolf’s swipe file it is a collection of successful headlines that will help your grab your readers’ attention.  These headlines can help you to brainstorm ideas for your own Sales Letter.  These can also be great for helping you create your sub-headlines as well.

I have found that with the help of these two eBooks I have been able to write a decent Sales Letter for my up and coming eBook.

I would like to thank Randolf for writing these two books as it has given me the inspiration to write my own Sales Letter which was one of my main concerns when embarking on selling on the internet.

For more information click on the link  Sales Letter ABC 

Regards
Robert Chenery

Hi Everyone

I just wanted to let you know some really exciting news.  I am currently in the process of writing a step-by-step eBook.  It is a guide about getting you started on eBay.  I am very close to finishing it and it will be for sale within the next few weeks.

I am very proud of this product and I will keep you informed of when it is ready for you to look at.  I will be updating my Blog when this product is ready for sale.

Regards
Robert Chenery

Have you ever wondered why people sell cheap eBooks on eBay?  I am sure you have seen a lot of cheap eBooks being sold on eBay for very low prices some as little as 99p or even 1p. Do you wonder how these people are making money off them after paying their eBay fees etc.

Now up until recently information products such as eBooks have been sold on eBay and sent automatically as a download file to the buyer of the product.  Unfortunately eBay has now put a stop to this process.  Now if you want to sell information products like an eBooks on eBay you have to transfer the file onto a physical CD or DVD and send it via the post to your buyer.

Following this change in eBay’s rules it will have made the eBooks a little more expensive.  This is due to the extra work involved such as the added cost of the CD/DVD plus postage and packaging costs etc. However some of these eBooks are still relatively cheap so just how do sellers make money from them.

Well the answer is in what they call the back end sales. Within these eBooks there will be hyperlinks i.e. the blue text you see underlined.  If you click on the text it will take you to another web page. Here is an example: if you click on the highlighted text at the end of this line it will take you to my eBook Website www.ebookabode.com.

What happens is that these links will lead the reader to other products that the owner of the eBook has created, or they will lead them to another website for a product that they are promoting as an affiliate. An affiliate is where you can sell someone else’s product and get paid a percentage of the sale price as a commission.  Either way if the reader clicks on any of these links and makes a purchase the eBook creator will be paid for the sale.

It is not always the eBook creator that can make a sale after the eBook has been sold. some eBooks come with what are called resale rights. If a person buys an ebook with resale rights the creator of the eBook gives the new owner the rights to resell the book and keep all of the profits.

In some cases you can get what is called a brandable eBook. This is where the creator of the eBook lets the person selling the eBook on their behalf insert some of their own links - these again can be affiliate links. This then gives the reseller of the eBook an extra incentive to sell the  eBook as not only do they make a bit on the initial sale of the eBook they can also make some sales after the eBook is sold from the links that they have added inside the book.

Normally the cheaper eBooks do have decent content in them about the subject that they are about they are not all about making a sale. I have quite often seen what they call a leaked chapter turned into a small lower priced eBook. This type of eBook will give you an inside preview to the full version of the eBook.  There is normally a link to the website where you can purchase the full version if you liked what you read.

I hope that this has given you an insight into how money is made from these cheaper eBooks being sold on eBay. If you are interested in selling eBooks on eBay check out John Thornhill’s Ninety Day Powerseller  website - I can highly recommend it.

Regards

Rob Chenery

Over the past few years I have done my fair share of trading over the internet & one of the main sources I have used is eBay. Whilst trading I have picked up some good tips and information that have helped me along the way so I thought I would share some of them with you here.

•   Be very careful of the items that you sell make sure that you don’t sell any fake goods as this will get you into trouble with eBay

•   Before deciding on a product that you are going to sell have a think about how you would ship the product. Things you should think about are the size of your product, would you be able to use normal postage or would it have to go via a courier in which case this could also restrict you to where you could send the product to. Is the product fragile could it break in the post nothing more disappointing than waiting for a parcel to turn up & when you receive it the object is damaged. I personally try to steer clear of fragile products.       

•   Be aware of certain countries laws some items that you may be allowed to sell in one country you cannot sell to in another country if you are in doubt contact eBay to make sure before listing you product. I can speak from personal experience here as I had one of my auctions taken down by eBay for this very reason. Once I contacted eBay I was allowed to re-list my product but was not allowed to post it to certain countries I initially said I would send my parcel worldwide but I had to restrict the countries where I would post to.

•   Some people buy and sell on eBay & it has been known that some traders actually purchase some of their stock on eBay to then resell on eBay for a higher price. If you are interested in doing this I would suggest that you set up two eBay accounts one account for purchasing only & the other one for selling only. This way a prospective customer can’t look through your sellers account to see that you originally purchased you stock from eBay & from whom.

•   The customer is always right. One thing that you must do on eBay to become a successful seller is to keep your customers happy especially now that eBay has changed the feedback rules. The new feedback rules now state that a seller can now no longer leave a negative feedback for a buyer. But even before this rule change I have always tried to keep my customers happy if ever there was a problem or one of my customers wasn’t happy I would try to resolve the situation by either offering a refund or perhaps a reduction in price I always work on keeping my customers happy. Also make sure that you post your parcel out in good time & just generally have a good communication with them. If they email you about something always try to reply as soon as possible. I find that if a customer isn’t happy just resolve the problem as quick as possible & then you can move on.

I hope you find these tips helpful

Regards 

Rob Chenery
 

  I have attended various seminars & conferences whilst working on my internet business & have come across many wealthy internet marketers on stage & also among the audiences. One thing that they all have in common & they will all tell you this and that is that successful people think differently to normal people.
 
 Whilst on my journey to find success on the internet I have come across various books that I have read and think are very relevant to helping in succeeding not only on the internet but also in any sort of business that you find yourself in they also help you to understand the way that successful people think.. Below is a list of some of my favourites that I recommend.

• THINK & GROW RICH by Napoleon Hill (book & audio book)

  After interviewing over 500 of the most wealthy men & women of his time Napoleon Hill discovered the secret to great wealth based on the concept that if we can learn to think like the rich we can discover wealth & success. He developed a simple but powerful 13-step formula to help you get there.

• RICH DAD POOR DAD by Robert Kiyosaki (book & audio book)

  I really loved this book it is easy to read and there are some very valuable lessons to be learned from it. The book is about Robert Kiyosaki’s two dads one is rich the other is not. Robert’s real dad is his poor dad & his friend’s dad is his rich dad. Throughout the book Robert describes the various lessons that he was taught from both dads and the way that these lessons affected his life. This book is a classic example of the way that successful people think compared to normal people.

• THE SECRET by Rhonda Byrne (book, audio book & DVD)

 The Secret I would say is a modern day version of Think & Grow Rich & is produced so that it is a little bit easier to understand in my opinion. The information inside the Secret is all based around something called the Law Of Attraction & is very interesting & easy to read or listen to depending on what format you buy it in.

As I said I have personally read the above books and can highly recommend them all. I hope that you find them as interesting & as helpful as I have.

Regards

Rob Chenery
           

  Today I am going to talk about finding a mentor. I have been studying internet marketing pretty much on my own for a while. Apart from attending some seminars & courses when I am at home I pretty much work alone. I have joined various internet marketing forums to ask for help & also to try & help others where I can.

  Now I have tried my hand at quite a few things some with greater success than others & one of my ventures was to sell on eBay. I initially started out selling some unwanted items & then progressed to walking round bootfairs to see what I could pick up to make a profit. I also started to import some items & sell them on eBay.

  I soon became a bit tired of this as although I was making a profit it seemed quite hard work. The products I was importing were electrical items. I would have to check each item before sending it out as when the goods arrived to me from china some of them would be damaged or just plain not working & I would have to decide weather it was cost effective to ship the items back to China for replacement ones as I would have to pay the shipping cost again. So I gradually got tired of this.

  Anyway whilst trading on eBay I would also do some research for new items etc that were selling well and whilst doing this I came across an eBay seller who was selling information products. I noticed that on one of his auctions he was offering to set you up with your own ebook business so I decided to have a look. I promptly joined up & now I have my very own ebook website at www.ebookabode.com

  The name of this ebay seller who is now my mentor is John Thornhill not only does John help you to set up your very own website he also teaches you how to sell digital information products on ebay & the most valuable thing when you join up is the forum where if you have any problems there are plenty of people who have been through or are going through the process and all are really very helpful. If you are interested in selling information products or having your own ebook website you can take a look at John’s web site ninetyday powerseller I highly recommend it.

  I think that having a mentor is very important because you can follow the instructions of someone that has already been successful they have achieved & know the strategies how to get you where you want to be.

  John also has a couple of other sites that I have signed up to one is his Digital Mentorship Monthly site this offers you video tutorials of various aspects of internet marketing every month. The other one is his personal coaching programme of which I am doing now. It is with the help of John’s personal coaching programme that I now have this blog set up. I can’t say too much about what John is teaching us at the moment as this wouldn’t be fair to John or all the other students that have paid for the course. But as of writing this post I am only on the second week & I have already learned so much. John’s personal coaching programme is 16 weeks long & he has only taken on 50 students to tutor at the moment. When we have finished he will be reopening the course to another limited amount of students.

  The thing I like about John Thornhill is that he personaly likes to answer any emails that are sent to him and he is so very helpful & explains things very clearly. If you are interested in getting on John’s coaching programme here is the link to John’s personal coaching programme website. Take a look and remember he only takes on a limited number of students each time as he personally likes to be available to help you if you need it. I highly recommend John Thornhill as a mentor as he has taught me & many others so much in such a short amount of time. Even if you don’t go with my mentor find someone that is successful in their field & learn from them as this can save you a lot of time in the long run.

I wish you every success in your ventures

Rob Chenery

   I am writing this short post today because I felt a bit sad this morning, I will come to that a bit later. 

   I would just like to give you a bit of background information about myself first. This is my typical weekday. I wake up at 5.30am do the usual things before going to work, cup of tea, breakfast etc. I then sit down at my computer for an hour or so either trying to learn something about Internet marketing or teaching myself something new. Maybe how to do something new with my html editor or something else. I then leave for a full days work in the building industry. At the end of the day when I get indoors I get cleaned up then go up to my PC & continue on where I left off in the morning. I am constantly trying to make an income on the Internet or learn something new. I very rarely watch TV and the only time I stop is to have my dinner.

  I am very lucky as I have a partner who believes in what I am doing & understands that I have a dream. I am constantly working on it to make our lives better.

  Something happened this morning that made me feel quite sad but is also one of the main reasons that gives me the motivation to succeed. I haven’t told you yet but I have baby girl and at the time I am writing this post she is ten months old.

  Now what made me feel sad this morning is that I saw her when she was awake and this is quite unusual as she is normally asleep when I go to work & most of the time she is in bed when I get home. The main time I get to see her when she is awake is on the weekend.

  When she saw me this morning she instantly wanted to have a cuddle with me which I really loved but when it came time for me to go to work she was quite upset. This made me feel sad as I don’t get to see her when she is awake very much. My little girl among other issues is one of the reasons I keep on learning & trying to make a success as an Internet marketer.

  My dream is to be able to work from home or my laptop, this will enable me see my little girl grow up & go to her school sports days etc. For me Internet marketing is not only about the money it is about the freedom & quality of life that it can bring you and your family.

  When I get frustrated when things are not going right or I am tired I try to think of all the reasons why I am doing this & it helps me to keep on going. I hope that you can take something from this post that will help you to keep motivated on your path to success.

Regards

Rob Chenery

  At the end of June 2008 I attended Andrew Reynolds Entrepreneurs Bootcamp down in Brighton.  I also went last year before to his Bootcamp down in Bournemouth.

 Over the years I have attended many different seminars to do with internet marketing.  There are some obvious reasons for attending these seminars such as picking up tips & strategies on internet marketing.  Some other great things in attending seminars is that you get to meet like minded people and you also get a chance to talk to some of the well known and respected internet marketers.

  There is a real buzz in the air at seminars and everyone is so approachable.  I quite often find that people often like to talk about themselves and their ventures.

  During the breaks I always try to talk to other people from the audience as well as the marketers.  Although you may find that some of the attendees are less knowledgeable than yourself, you will find people who are more advanced.  You can learn quite a bit from people that are in the audience.

  Not only that but it is just so nice to have a gathering of like-minded people all in one place.  It can be a solitary job when working at home on your own and you get comments from the people around you who think you are crazy for trying to make an online business.

  Not only do I try to learn when I am at these seminars I also try to give something back to people that are less knowledgeable than myself.  You get a real sense of satisfaction when you have been able to help someone. I also find that these seminars can be quite long, some last 3 days, so below I have listed a few helpful hints and tips for attending seminars and courses:

• Take a bag e.g. briefcase or backpack.  This is very useful for holding your notebook and pens plus all the other information you may collect at the seminar/course.

• Always take a note pad.  I find a spiral bound hardback notepad the best.  The reason for this is some of the larger seminars I have attended you don’t have a table in front of you and it can be quite tightly seated. I find that with a hard back spiral bound notebook you always have a hard surface to write on but you can totally fold the notepad back on itself so you are not holding the notepad wide open whilst trying to balance it on your knee & write at the same time.

• Take a fleece top with you for two reasons 1) it can get cold with air conditioning and 2) it doubles up as a cushion because you can be sitting down for a long periods of time and you can end up with a numb bum.

• Take a few light snacks in with you to keep your sugar levels up whilst concentrating & also a bottle of water.

• A lot of seminars/courses are recorded and you get the option of purchasing them on CD and/or DVD.  I strongly suggest that if you can afford it you do purchase them.  There are a couple of reasons for this 1) they are good reference material and 2) sometimes the speakers can go a little fast when you want to take notes so if you have the recordings you can always go back over the material again.

• If you meet some interesting people see if you can exchange email addresses so you can stay in contact and perhaps help each other out after the event.

Well that’s about all I have to say at the moment. I hope that you have found these little snippets helpful for when you attend your next seminar or course.

Regards

Rob Chenery