In this newsletter:
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1. Selling thin air on eBay
2. Class clown hits Amazon business top seller list
3. Network Marketing Comes to eBay?
4. Quick tips:
- No iphone for me
- Final value fees going down?
Read my most recent thoughts and updates on Exponent Trading - click here
Exponent Trading has launched! And despite the rumors IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT CONSIGNMENT SELLING, there are no PayPal violations in their business model, I’m not being paid to endorse it, and I’m excited to be part of it! I believe this will spread just like PayPal did when it launched. After careful consideration I also was honored to take an advisory role with Exponent. They don’t take all my advice, but they value the feedback I give them which is primarily based on the feedback I’m getting from the many Exponent members that are a part of my membership site.
To Join now and get in on my team go to:
www.exponenttrading.com/JimCockrum
The executive team that is building this company is excellent. Jan Johnson (my sponsor) is a former CFO for IBM and the all time leading female performer in Excel Telecommunications history. She’s also a founding expert in the company. You’ll want to have excellent leaders above you in this venture and I think you’ll have a tough time finding a better team to join.
Here’s a link to a great interview session I just did with Jan. Listen in and make your own decision about the potential of this idea:
http://www.jimcockrum.com/JANandJIMexponentInterview.wav
I welcome all feedback! Let me know your thoughts by clicking the comment link below. Also, I did another blog post about Exponent more recently - click here to read it. It will give you several reasons why you SHOULD NOT JOIN Exponent along with WHO SHOULD JOIN.
I’ve also done a more recent call with the CEO of Exponent, Jan and Skip McGrath posted on the main Exponent Trading website: http://www.ExponentTrading.com/JimCockrum)
Exponent Trading is a new company launching Midnight Sunday June 24th 2007. They have a very impressive marketing model and from what I can tell a very qualified executive staff. I’m typically very anti-network marketing, but I keep finding more and more I like about this company. They’ve integrated with eBay to pull off a pretty impressive product that makes it easy for anyone to get started selling on eBay.
I suggest you get in NOW if you can. Use this link to view a video about the company and the opportunity:
exponenttrading.com/JimCockrum
I’ve turned down hundreds of invitations to join other “network marketing” companies because the program didn’t benefit the “new guy” from day one. For example - we all know of vitamin companies that charge $90 per month for $20 vitamins just so the upline can profit. Not so with Exponente…
With Exponent Trading the new guy gets access to an amazing and growing collection of video and personal training about eBay and online success so it’s worth the price of admission from DAY ONE.
Stay tuned for more info…
Many of you met Ron and I at eBay Live last week in Boston. Ron is my right hand man and the webmaster for MySilentTeam.com. Before traveling to Boston we took a trip to Ron’s favorite place on earth…Maine! Ron even has a website about vacationing in Maine http://www.MaineTrip.net 
We got to take along my two oldest boys Chase and Trey. Here’s a pic of them enjoying a stunning view near a cliff in Acadia state park. We had a great time - it was truly beautiful.
Here’s another cool pic that Ron snapped of yours truly - I love the great timing with a wave crashing up in the background…pretty cool!
Here’s a rare photo of the elusive Ron…too bad he was bored. ;0)
Once we got to eBay live I met many long time subscribers to the “creative eBay selling” newsletter (subscribe free in the left hand column of this page) as well as MANY members of MySilentTeam.com.
We had some great conversations and got great feedback from all of you - I loved hearing about the success stories and big plans so many of you have for your Internet businesses. If you took pics please send them! I didn’t take nearly enough pictures. I met around 25 or so of you…what an honor to see you in person and get live feedback!
I’ll be sending you updates and the ideas I got from eBay live in upcoming newsletters. I just wanted to throw out a few pics of the great week we had last week.
As I mentioned in the last newsletter I’ve been invited to be a monthly columnist for Online Marketing Monthly - the new print magazine for Internet marketers. Below is my first article that will be in the first issue. To get a free issue mailed to your house visit:http://www.jimcockrum.com/omm.html
Traffic Alert: Google Is Quietly Embracing eBay
For Internet entrepreneurs web traffic is a currency. It’s the lifeblood and fuel of an entire industry.The holy grail of course is cheap or free targeted traffic.One source of targeted traffic that many overlook is the 233 million member ecommerce site eBay.com. The common misconception about eBay is that it is only a giant online yard sale and has no use as a serious source of traffic or opt-in subscribers.
A closer look at eBay reveals some amazing potential though. The fact is, many creative users of eBay are being rewarded for their unusual approach with a steady flow of new customers and newsletter opt-ins.
One such opportunity can be traced back to the quite agreement that is currently in place between eBay.com and Google.com. Many of the most savvy marketers and eBay users are not aware of this arrangement, but Google has embraced eBay in its search results. As evidence of this agreement you may have noticed many eBay auction listings are showing up ranked VERY high in the Google search engine.
Many eBay sellers are now tapping into this new traffic source by lengthening the amount of time their eBay listings remain active in order to get maximum Google exposure.
(To get some proof of this new phenomenon do an experiment and visit eBay. Find any unusual item and copy a few keywords from the title. Next use those keywords to do a Google search and witness the magic firsthand.)
Taking this knowledge another step can generate a targeted traffic stream from eBay to any website.
Here’s how:
There is a relatively new feature on eBay that isn’t widely advertised or even understood yet by the vast majority of eBay sellers. It’s called eBay “classified ads”. These ads are specifically intended to be used as lead generation tools for businesses that want to get multiple leads from a single eBay listing instead of selling just one item at a time.
Using the new eBay classified ad listing feature a seller can list an ad on eBay for 30, 60, or 90 days and get some great overnight Google search engine ranking for any chosen title keywords.
The next logical question is: Does this mean eBay users are allowed to link to their own website from within an eBay listing?
As of early June 2007 eBay has NO POLICY that disallows the inclusion of a hyperlink to an external website from within a classified ad. That very question was posed to the V.P. of the eBay Trust & Safety department and in his own words, “there is no policy in place”. To include such a link inside a traditional auction has been prohibited for years and remains a violation of eBay policy, but clearly no such policy exists for eBay classified ads.
The potential is massive.
When getting creative with eBay there are a few rules to learn. Keep in mind that eBay does not like to be treated as a sign post (meaning they want their piece of the pie), but it is worth your time to learn the strategies that work.
An introduction:
Over the course of the last several years I’ve been helping thousands of others see eBay through a new lens and I was excited to be invited to join the team at ‘Online Marketing Monthly’.
My Mission: Convince you of the huge potential of both conventional and unusual Internet and eBay marketing strategies.
What makes me such an expert?
According to Danish Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr, “An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field”.
Using Niels definition we’ll proceed with me as your “expert” guide to some creative uses of eBay and other unusual marketing strategies.
I’ve been on eBay since April of 1999 and have been making a full time living online since 2002. To make a very long story very short I now have about 95,000 opt-in subscribers reading my weekly free ezine that is dedicated to creative Internet income strategies.
I’ve also surrounded myself with about 30 of the most creative users of eBay on the planet and we’ve started a membership site you should check out at MySilentTeam.com. If you visit you’ll meet creative people that, in most cases, work very few hours weekly on eBay (in some cases 100% automation is occurring), but they are achieving amazing results.
Some examples of my MySilentTeam.com members and experts:
-John is running a mid-six figure eBay business selling ebooks and special reports on eBay as a great lead generation technique. He’s grown a massive mailing list and has become a top affiliate of many Internet Marketers. His business is 95% automated.
-Young Paul is making around $1,000 per day profit on eBay selling mainly “Public domain” material on eBay and using some stealthy but legal strategies to grow huge opt-in mailing lists.
-Nancy filmed herself making home made decorative wreaths and now sells the wreaths and the highly profitable “how to” videos on eBay. She’s turned her hobby into a thriving eBay business with a growing loyal following.
-Terrance uses his inexpensive video camera to film events (for example car shows) and then burns copies and sells the barely edited DVDs on eBay for HUGE profits. His loyal customers don’t mind the “home made” feel of it all.
When it comes to eBay I’ve seen and tried it all and now I literally make a living testing, experimenting, and often failing with eBay and other creative marketing ideas. I’m excited to share what works with you in this column.
I’m currently recording a video series that will be a step by step guide to some of the most creative eBay and Internet ideas I’ve ever used or seen. What would you like to see in these videos? Are there topics that you’d like me to cover? Leave your feedback and we’ll try to include your ideas!
If you’ve been to MySilentTeam.com lately or if you’ve been paying attention to the top creative eBay minds of our time for very long you’ve heard of Terry Gibbs. Sadly, Terry recently lost his father to cancer and now he’s wanting to fight back with your help. Terry has put together a collection of some of the best products he’s ever written and he’s giving them to everyone that agrees to make a donation to The American Cancer Society in his father’s name. There is no tracking of your donation. This is the honor system - here’s the link to help out:
How many hours per week do you work?I’m a big fan of the 20 hour work week myself. I used to
work 50 or so per week.If you’ve been reading this newsletter very long or if
you’ve heard me speak in person you may have heard me half
brag about the “20 hour work week” I enjoy with my
family.
I’ve long been a fan of the 20 hour work week. I’ve been
made fun of, called lazy, told I must be lying, etc.
Some of my friends in this industry work 50,60 or even 80
hours per week. I often challenge them to slow down and only
do the really “important stuff”. Do the 20% of the tasks
that get you 80% of your results. Ignore the rest and free
up your time to think and focus on the important stuff.
They always tell me I’m right, but few ever change.
Because of a book I recently read I’m now convinced that
I’m wrong about working 20 hours per week. I’ve adjusted
my goal. (The book is titled “The 4-hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris)
I now want to work only 10 hours per week instead of 20.
I’m not going to earn less, but more as a result. What do
you think of my plan? I want your feedback?
*******Continue reading from the newsletter*******
That’s what happened the last time I cut my hours in half!
Eventually I hope to chop that down to 5 hours per week and
make even more. I want to ONLY do the things that matter
with the vast majority of my time.
The “accomplish more by doing less” philosophy is a
concept that every successful Internet entrepreneur must
embrace. If you ignore this principle you’ll simply replace
your 9-5 dead end job with a 50-80 hour per week Internet
business that kills you even faster…and for what in the
end? Missing the best days of your life?
The Internet and eBay represent this type of freedom to me.
I sincerely believe that and as the testimonials continue to
pour in from people that are using the ideas I’ve taught
them to free themselves I’m growing bolder and raising the
bar on my definition of Internet success.
Most tasks that you do in your day to day life could be
outsourced to free up your time. Nearly all Internet tasks
can be outsourced. Why aren’t we doing more of this?
EXAMPLE: Who is more successful in your eyes?
The guy who earns $100,000 annually working 10 hours per
week on his eBay/Internet biz or the guy who earns $200,000
annually working 50 hours per week as a full-time
professional or business owner?
The first guy earns more per hour of effort and has a lot
more LIVING in his life.
The first guy has the chance to experiment with other ideas
and launch other autopilot businesses.
The first guy can do the things that are truly important to
him with each day.
The second guy only has retirement to look forward to when
he’s too old to enjoy it.
I’m going to be blunt today because I’m in the mood.
If you can see my point about the guy working 10 hours per
week in the example above get over to MySilentTeam.com and
join us right now. If you are a member start applying the
stuff you are learning.
I promise you’ll never have the chance to surround yourself
with a more down to earth, creative, successful group of
people in your life. No soft sell today - I don’t have time
for it. I’m taking the rest of the day off.
Jim Cockrum
PROUD FOUNDER of: http://www.MySilentTeam.com
My Best Seller: http://www.silentsalesmachine.com
