…and I welcome them!
I’m honored to have been invited to take an “advisory” role with Exponent Trading. I’ve been on the phone several times now with the founder of Exponent Trading and each time I come away more excited. He’s a decisive leader that respects the input of proven experts. It’s an honor that he has taken the time to address the ideas I’ve sent his way.
I can assure you he has big plans that make perfect sense to me. That’s my honest assessment regardless of whatever bias you might think I have. I want this idea to succeed because I think it’s a great idea. Agreeing to be an adviser though doesn’t keep me from making honest observations and public suggestions. This post is a bit of both.
Admittedly, the company isn’t where I hope they will be in six months, but it’s easy to give them a little breathing room from my perspective. They just launched this week and many of the core leaders are pretty new to Internet Marketing. I remember being nervous about PayPal for about six months after they launched. Even eBay itself has plenty of “grey areas” that sneak up and bite even the most loyal of sellers from time to time. There are no perfect companies in this business, but here are some reasons I like Exponent. I’ll follow this list with some of the weaker aspects of Exponent that I’m advising them to address sooner rather than later.
The positives from my perspective:
1. Let’s start with how Exponent “fixes and improves” the eBay affiliate program (as currently run by commission junction at cj.com). Currently the eBay affiliate program pays out on one level. This means that if I refer someone to eBay and they start a business I do get paid a little sum, but that sum is NO WHERE NEAR ENOUGH to give me incentive to hand hold and assist my friend each step of the way. How many serious eBay sellers do you know that have time to hand hold EVERY PERSON IN THEIR LIFE that is interested in starting an eBay business? Especially the true newbie… This is one strength of Exponent.Not only do I get paid fairly well to help my friend get started, but I also get paid for anyone that my friend happens to turn on to eBay. Since eBay is such a proven opportunity (yes, it takes work, but it WORKS when you WORK!) we can all promote it with confidence. In effect, with Exponent Trading the eBay affiliate program becomes seven levels deep. Why shouldn’t I get a small reward for being part of launching a string of new eBay businesses?
2. It’s about time someone got personal with helping new sellers. Ask 20 new eBay sellers how committed eBay seems to be to helping them individually with the issues they have in starting and running their business and you’ll likely hear about 19 of them say that eBay lacks a personal touch in this area. Ask those same 20 sellers if they’d be willing to pay a couple hundreds bucks to get INDIVIDUAL ATTENTION from not only the person that referred them to eBay, but also experienced, talented, creative, successful sellers that are all sharing a small piece of the $200 in order to give them incentive to take the time to help you out. I would guess you’d have about 10 takers out of the 20. That is a win/win opportunity waiting to happen! I realize that some people will read what I just wrote and think the “newbie” should save some money and just go buy a book about eBay. In many cases that may well be enough, but I’ve helped enough people learn new skills to realize that there are at least 5 different learning styles and one of them is clearly the “please hold my hand step-by-step” type. These folks would be willing to pay a lot more than a couple hundred dollars for what Exponent has to offer. Exponent will be a world class membership site for everyone form eBay newbie to eBay pro within six months. A phone in center where members can get questions answered by A LIVE HUMAN is already in place. Who else does this? Answer: NO ONE.
3. It’s NOT JUST ABOUT CONSIGNMENT SELLING ON EBAY as some early opponents have accused. I can assure you that it’s about much more. The flash video that introduces the opportunity talks about consignment selling AND selling your own products. I think they made the marketing material heavy on “consignment” because that is where a lot of very successful eBay sellers start out. It’s low hanging fruit that builds confidence for most sellers. Most top eBay experts even have an “introductory level” book about consignment selling in order to tap into this market. Before I signed on to Exponent I made sure that I wouldn’t have to only sell items on consignment from others and I was assured by management that I could sell ANYTHING and be in the program. This was a huge relief for me because I rarely do any consignment on eBay.
What have I and others advised them to improve?
-The launcher tool. Make it world class …the sooner the better. Right now it is an impressive tracker that serves it’s assigned function quite well, but the obvious end user features it lacks (like an easy HTML feature, simple image management etc.) are all in the works. It will only get better with time I’ve been assured.
-The online experience of members is a little rough around the edges and can leave members feeling a bit isolated. A good forum for members will go a long way in helping with this. Members of exponent will soon have a user forum where everyone from world class eBay sellers to true newbies will gathers and share ideas, successes, technical issues, complaints and kudos. I can’t wait! Get that up and running!
-Go International ASAP. eBay is International and so should you be. This is coming but I’m not privy to a date.
-Clarify the policies. Consignment , using websites and blogs to promote the opp etc. are all points of confusion for some people still. Don’t rely on blogs like this to clear it up. We need communication straight from the top right on the Exponent website. I’ve been told this is coming as well - with good news on all issues of concern.
Again…I like to give week old companies a break, but the sooner the better.
And finally a note for the skeptic - I still love you and hope you’ll stick around even if you don’t agree with me. Surrounding yourself with only people that agree with you all the time is not only boring, it’s disastrous for your business plan.
Here’s my advice to you. Please don’t join Exponent Trading if…
-You are anti-network marketing to the core. I realize this is a lot of people and if that’s you let’s be friends that agree to disagree! I don’t think the little guy gets the shaft with Exponent - it’s actually just the opposite. That’s why I think the model works here and that’s why it’s the first time I’ve EVER promoted a network marketing model. It’s almost funny to me that I’ve been accused of just cashing in on an MLM because I have a big list. If that was the case I would be “cashing in” weekly. My reputation allowed me to grow my list to around 100,000 and keeping my reputation intact is how I’ll continue to grow it. I promise not to become Mr. “network marketing company of the week”. Odds are I’ll never promote another network marketing company the rest of my life.
-Don’t join if… You like to wait until all of the bugs are worked out. Exponent is undergoing changes daily. Improvements in the launcher tool, the support system, the website, the marketing tools, the policies etc. are all underway…but none of them are where they could be at this point. It’s all coming together though! It is rare that being on the “ground floor” of something is beneficial but, this is one of those times in my opinion.
- Don’t join if… You don’t “get it”. Wait until it makes perfect sense to you.
- Don’t join if the thought of investing a few hundred dollars scares the living daylights out of you. With any new venture comes risk. I don’t think any business risk is worth losing sleep over though. Wait until it has a “no brainer” feel to it for you.
When people ask me what I do for a living these days I tell them I’m a filter. I filter out the bad and keep the good. Better to make mistakes in blocking out a few good items than let through a few bad. That’s how I grow my business.
Exponent has made the cut. I’m in based on what I know. I’ll be hitting the marketing machine harder once a few small issues are addressed. For now I’m excited too see the “early adapter” jumping in with us - it’s going to be a great ride!
