May 22nd 2003 Hi Folks! One thing at a time... One of the biggest mistakes that new online entrepreneurs make is trying to do too much at once. The problem is that the Internet is so full of opportunity that it is easy to start a project and then find something that appears to be better a few hours/days later - the first project gets shoved in a drawer and you make a start on the new project. Only trouble is that the next day you find something even better and the cycle repeats itself. I have a friend who tried to get started online and when I spoke to him on the Monday he was building a website for his new business. By Tuesday, he was doing something completely different and by Friday both of these ideas were in the pan and he was doing something else altogether. This went on for a few weeks and in the end he just gave up, announcing that it was impossible to make money online (even though he knew that this is exactly what my business does!) One of the best pieces of advice I can give any 'newbie' is to focus on one thing. Get one website/idea/project/eBook or whatever, up and running and then move onto the next. Don't stop and start or you will never get anywhere. I know how hard it is - I get side-tracked myself all the time (and I should know better!). I try and control the urges to drop everything and fly off in another direction by making a note on a 'Post-It' pad every time I come up with an idea. I keep all of these notes and when I finish one project, I pick a new one. I also review the ideas every few weeks to see if I still think they are 'winners'. Often I have changed my mind and can simply throw the note away - instantly saving me hours of potentially wasted time :-) Now my system isn't foolproof and occasionally I do decide that an idea is so good that I must do it right now, but I am much more controlled than I was when I first started out - back then, I was trying to do everything because I figured that the more I did, the more chance I had of making some money. Remember, regardless of how many great ideas you may have, it is unlikely that you will be able to put them all into effect - it takes time to develop a website and a business. Stick to one idea, get it working and then move on. You have much more chance of being a success if you build your business step by step, in a methodical fashion, rather than rushing to do everything at the same time. ***************************************** Sit back, relax, and get paid for what you think!! Get paid to take online surveys - $5 to $75 per survey! Get paid to participate in online focus groups $50 to $150 per hour! Get paid to try new products - keep the products and get paid too! Get paid to preview movie trailers $4 to $25 per hour! http://www.thetraderonline.com/survey.html ***************************************** Selling on eBay? Get the edge with 'Seebay' As my regular readers will know, one of the things that really gives me a 'buzz' is when a subscriber contacts me to tell me that they have set up a website or written an eBook or done something that is going to get them started at working online. Gary Lewis is one such subscriber and he contacted me a couple of weeks ago about a piece of software that he has written. 'Seebay' is a data extraction tool that allows the user to pull useful information from the databases of eBay.com. There are several features to the software, but the two that I like the most are a facility to extract the search words that eBay users are looking for on the auction (if you know what people are looking for, it gives you the edge in knowing what to sell) and an easy way of listing all of the current 'Hot' auctions. Whilst there are similar products on the market already, these are pretty expensive and can cost up to $200 (125). Because this is a new product and because Gary is keen to get some feedback from users, he has agreed to offer subscribers to this newsletter not only a free trial of the software, but also a discount on the normal price if you decide to buy. To find out more and to download a free trial, visit: http://www.thetraderonline.com/seebay.html Until next time.... |
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