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It has been almost a full month since I last blogged here!  eeks!

One of the cardinal rules of having a blog is to post to it consistently (once a day, once a week…etc.).

Even though I haven’t posted anything in a while, I have no shortage of posts that I want to publish here.  Every day I learn more and more about internet marketing and every day I am applying what I learn to various projects that I have going.

One thing I want to make sure I do on this blog is share with you internet marketing strategies that have truly worked for me – and also tell you about ones that I wasn’t as successful with.

In the past month I have been diving into many strategies and implementing them on a few sites.  I have worked hard to stay focused on one project at a time and that has increased my success a lot.

In the coming days/weeks I will be posting about the Ebay Partner Network (EPN) and the changes that are occurring, building tiny niche sites, article marketing and, of course, using public domain content.

So stay tuned…

I have created products before – ones that I am currently making money off of.  But THIS particular new product I am working on is my first “How to make money” product.  You see, I’ve been doing it myself for a while now and would like to show you one of the things that has worked for me.

It involves using the Public Domain – a topic near and dear to my heart.  Stay tuned, I’ll be sharing more details shortly.

Be the first to know all the details by signing up for my newsletter:

I’m doing some spring cleaning in the middle of summer

Over the past couple of years I have acquired numerous URLs – I don’t even know just how many there are.  I’d get a “GREAT” idea and then purchase a domain name to use “some day”.  Often times these “great ideas” fizzled before I even started them.

In an effort to rid my life of stuff that doesn’t suit me any longer, I will be getting rid of these particular sites.

If the site doesn’t currently provide good valuable unique content to visitors I will no longer be holding on to it.  I’m going to take a look at each one and see if the topic of the site is one that I want to continue with.  If I want to keep it (because I truly like the topic), but the content isn’t up to snuff, I’ll add it to my “future projects” list   And I’ll give myself a time limit to work on any sites I’m sprucing up – if I don’t do anything with them by the end of 2009, they’re GONE! If I don’t want to be bothered with it…it’ll go much sooner.

Now the question becomes….just what do I do with those domains that I no longer want?  Here are what I see as my options:

• just sell the URL itself
  • this is probably the easiest of the options, but also potentially the least profitable so I’ll have to weigh the pros/cons
• build the site up to something useful and then sell the entire site
  • looks great on paper   but I don’t know if I want to be bothered.  I’d rather focus my energies on the sites that REALLY peak my interest (like this one
  • I don’t know the first thing about selling a site, let alone how to transfer one.  I know I could learn how to do this – but do I really want to spend the time doing it?
• just keep ‘em hanging around until the registration expires.
  • I’ll have to make sure that none of them are on auto-renewal
  • THIS one is actually the simplest option – but definitely ZERO profit.
• I just had a wacky idea – I could give the URLs away to folks who visit my site
  • This could be interesting.  I could give away 1 or 2 each month to people who subscribe to my newsletter.
  • Will anyone actually want them is the question.
  • Perhaps they’ll be good for people first starting out on the internet – it would be a site they can practice on.

Do you have any other nifty ideas for what I should do with them?

I’ve always heard that if you want to truly make money on the internet you should have your OWN product.  That is SO true.  Re-hashing the same ‘ol thing can bring in money – but having your OWN UNIQUE product that truly adds value to your niche can be virtually priceless.

I finally got this through my thick skull and have been mulling over the idea in my head for a while now.

BUT just WHAT could I – lil o’ me – create that someone would find useful?  That someone would just HAVE to HAVE?

What I finally did was:

• I made a conscious effort to become an “expert” of sorts on my chosen niche.
• My chosen niche is something that I TRULY enjoy learning about and helping others with.
• I found a unique twist on the niche that other marketers in this niche usually gloss over.
• I found a way to share my enthusiasm and talents in this niche with others.

Of course you need to do all of the usual preliminary work before you set out to create your masterpiece:

• Research the #’s, the stats, the hits…etc. (I personally HATE this part – but without it I’d might as well go back to a regular J-O-B)
• Look at your competition – who are they, what are they selling, is their product selling?
• IS there a market for your potential product in your chosen niche?  (translated:  are there actually real live humans out there in cyber-space who would be interested in your product?)

Then, the next steps:

• What can YOU do better than your competition does?  (I L-O-V-E this part !!!)
• If needed, do some testing to see if your product will drum up some interest.
• GO ON….CREATE YOUR MASTERPIECE!

Yes, I know, who in the world would CHOOSE to lay themselves off?  Apparently – ME!

I’ve known for a long time that what I wanted to do was make money online.  Specifically, I was in search of my FREEDOM.

Freedom to:

• let my day flow the way I see fit
• choose to work on things that I find truly fulfilling
• share myself and my ideas with others in an attempt to make this world a better place
• spend more time with family and friends
• work outside on sunny days
• not trade dollars for hours
• not have to play “dress up” every day (ie. “business casual” – WTH IS that anyway !?!?)
• wake up every morning filled with enthusiasm for the day ahead

This freedom is something I had been longing for over the past 10+ years.  The twinge would come and go.  I’d be all psyched up about the idea of being an internet entrepreneur, then inevitably I would fall back into “reality” and become a lemming again (and that “reality* is a bunch of baloney by the way).  I guess perhaps I was lacking the self-confidence to REALLY go for it.  It is tough when you are surrounded by people who, when you mention your aspiration to be an internet entrepreneur, they smile at you with a “well, isn’t that nice” and think you’re full of it.

Sure, I found folks online who share my vision.  And Thank God for them!  At least I had found some people who didn’t think I was nuts!  So I spent years reading about Internet Marketing, trying this and that, learning all that I could and every once in a while I would take a leap forward.

This is where I learned just how powerful focusing on what you truly want can be.

A few months ago I couldn’t take the 9-to-5 J-O-B anymore.  I had just had it.  It was killing me to sit in a cube for 8 hours a day and commute 2 hours.  This was NOT how I wanted to spend my time on this journey through life.  I didn’t want to get to the end (when that would be we never know) and have regrets – would have, could have, should have.

There were number of weird coincidences that all came to a head earlier this year and facilitated my leaving the J-O-B.  It was as if I was being pushed in a certain direction – one that I was both scared and excited to go in.  I call it “The Path Less Taken” (ala Robert Frost).

And quite honestly, it hasn’t been all roses – I’ve gotten stuck with thorns, some dug very deep.  But I have grown and learned SO much both about Internet Marketing AND myself.  And the wounds have healed In recent months I’ve figured out how to successfully meld the two so that my Internet Marketing endeavors become a reflection of ME instead of just the same ‘ol re-hashed stuff a lot of folks do.

If you attempt to truly know yourself and use that as a guideline for what you do online then the sky is the limit!

Two people who have been the biggest inspiration to me are Jim Cockrum and John Thornhill.  The overwhelming MAJORITY of the information that these two share with people is wonderful.  Of course there are always some things that I perosnally filter out – stuff that just isn’t for me – but that doesn’t mean that it won’t resonate with someone else.

Both Jim and John share gobs of free information online that can help you proceed down the “Path Less Taken”.

Check them out here:  www.JimCockrum.com and  here:  www.PlanetSMSblog.com

Enjoy!

As you may no from previous posts, I just put up this site recently.

I had been real apprehensive about doing this, but now that it is up – I really like it.  And this theme I chose puts my name in REALLY BIG letters (in case you didn’t notice…lol).  I feel like I have my name up on a movie marque   Who knows…maybe it will be someday.  I don’t have any aspirations to be an actress – but – I wouldn’t mind speaking at some conferences – or *gasp* putting together my OWN conference in the future.

Well, there it is, I put it out there – I could inspire others to do Internet Marketing With a Conscience   Wouldn’t that be a nice addition to a conference focused on Internet Marketing?  I definitely think so.  If you do to….feel free to Contact Me about speaking with your group, or perhaps doing a few “guest posts” on your blog.

Just had another thought….wouldn’t it be neat to find a web site that made putting your name “in lights” easy to do?  Kinda like using Photoshop to put your kid’s picture on a box of Wheaties or your friend’s picture on the cover of Time magazine.  I know I “could” sit down and fiddle with Photoshop, get some public domain picture of a movie marque and alter it to put my name on it – but that’s not how I want to spend my time right now.  If you know of a easy-as-pie, point and click, no special talent needed way to do this…please let me know

Ok – enough of the ego stuff.  I seriously am working hard on squelching that a bit.  It’s having the opportunity to share with people my message that is much more important than getting the ego boost….and MUCH more rewarding too.

On a slightly (very slight) related thing…check out this site www.icanhascheezburger.com for some laughs.  Folks upload pictures and add funny captions to them – but watch out! This site can suck you in for quite a while if you let it.

Enjoy!

Well, today is the day….I FINALLY bought a URL with my Name in it

I had avoided doing this for a long, long time.  But now the time is right.  I believe that I have a lot of truly useful information to share with you.  As well as humorous ramblings from time to time.

I just moved over some old blog posts from my old site that primarily focused on eBay.  That site is going to be gone soon.  I wonder if I’m going to get a slap from Google for copying my own content?  LOL.

Off I go to install plug-ins, tweak some things and continue with setting up BethSawickie.com

It’s been a while since eBay introduced those lovely DSR ratings and a few months since they changed some of the “rules” (again).  The majority of the comments I hear about DSR ratings are definitely not cheerful.  Yes, I agree, they are a pain in the rear – especially if you are a Power Seller who has suddenly felt the sting of not having the correct DSR ratings.

Instead of focusing on the negative (low DSR ratings), let’s focus on the postive for a bit – getting all of those buyers who have GREAT transactions with you to leave you GREAT feedback and DSR ratings.

I’m not saying that you should beg for feedback and high DSRs.  You should gently nudge your buyer in the direction of leaving you high DSRs.

One way to do this is to include something with your shipment that mentions your “5 star service” and asks them to contact you with any questions/concerns before leaving you 5 star feedback.  Hand write a note on the packing slip, print it out on flourescent pink paper with purple polka-dots – whatever works – just put it out there!  This gives you the opportunity to gently remind the seller to leave you glowing feedback and a high DSR rating – and – helps to avoid getting any negative ratings by encouraging them to contact you with any problems.

I have built up various income streams both online and off that easily replace my J-O-B salary AND provide enough money for me to purchase my own decent health insurance.  My debt is paid off and I have several months of living expenses in the bank.

So that’s it, I’m done.  Sayonara, adios – good-bye!  I put in my resignation letter – 2 weeks notice (wish it could’ve been 2 hours).  I no longer need to trade 40 hours/week + 2 hours in the car each day for a pay check.  I don’t have to get dressed up   I don’t have to sit at my desk doing the same thing I’ve done every year.  I don’t have to live life based on the standard 9-5 ’till your 65 (or 75+).

Enough focusing on all the things I no longer have to do……let’s focus on what I now get to do:

Choose how I spend my time – Including those 11 hours a day Mon-Fri that were spent devoted to the J-O-B & commuting.  ELEVEN HOURS A DAY!!  Oh my!!

Create more balance in my life.  If I decide to go to Yoga at 2 in the afternoon I can do that.  If I decide to attend a seminar in the middle of the week – I can do that without having to get approval for a vacation day.

I get to spend more time with family and friends.  I can meet up with my Mom for lunch in the middle of the week.  When my best-friend is visiting from out-of-state I can take time to hang out with her for the day.

For my business I can focus on what I am best at doing and out-source the rest.

I get to put energy into working smarter and having me, myself and I reep the benefits!

~-~-~-~-~-~-  End DREAM sequence  ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Back to reality…I still have that 40-hour a week J-O-B.  I was just seeing what it would be like to announce to the world that I finally took the leap away from the day job.  It was kind of a power of positive thinking exercise a “the secret” type of thing.  What you think about you will create.  Put it out there to the Universe/God/Spirit and if it is meant to be, then it will happen.

And I KNOW it will happen.  I have overcome some large hurdles to get this far (self-created hurdles by the way).

Hey…don’t  knock it.  It has worked for me in the past with little things (like making ALL the lights) and big things (getting a J-O-B that I wanted).