| WDS E-Zine - The E-Commerce Edition A Weisbrod Digest Of Seminar Publication Carl Weisbrod, Ph.D. Vol. 6 No. 42 ~ ISSN 1537-2820 ~ July 2006 |
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From Honolulu, I'm
Carl Weisbrod and
this is the E-Commerce E-Zine - #42
For the HTML version, here are the links to important places: >FastScroll< The best way to find me is to go to my website: www.wdslibrary.com There, you'll find email links all over the place. You can subscribe to all six e-zines here:  I. Rantings & Ravings (editorial) II. WDS Topics for the Internet Biz III. Products & Services That Sell IV. AskCarl's FAQs & Two-Value Tricks V. E-Commerce Hardware VI. Payment & Collection Systems VII. E-Mail vs Internet Advertising VIII. The Truth about Promotional Tools IX. The Entrepreneur's Enemies X. Rip-off of the Week XI. A WDS Bedtime Story ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I. Rantings & Ravings (e) I get kinda mad at the tactics used by the developers of some programs. One ruse is to razzle-dazzle potential customers with "free stuff." They offer stuff like letter heads, business cards, a link to a gee-whiz website, sometimes a template website of your very own, and the list of goodies goes on and on. In reality, all the stuff they offer is available all over the place also free or for very little money. It's usually worn out software that no longer commands a market. I've even seen this tactic by large the service providers such as AOL and NetZero. They list e-mail connections, pop-up blockers, and a bunch of stuff that is always included with all ISP programs. It'd be the same as an auto manufacturer advertising the latest model coming with four free rubber tires. A selling angle I really hate is the thinly disguised multi-level marketing scam. They talk about the wonderful list of potential buyers you will receive if you join their group. Later on, you can count on pressure to offer this "great deal" to your family and friends --and pressure their family and friends to do the same. It's called virus marketing. Guess what? That's where they get their lists of potential buyers. Here's the end result. With these get-rich programs, you really end up doing a more work for them than they do for you. If you're lucky they may return a few crumbs for your efforts. Who do you think gets the best deal? These companies get some of your money, a list of potential buyers, and free promotion. You will most likely end up with broken dreams. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ II. WDS Topics for the Internet Biz (e) So far the best thing I've seen on the internet is podcasting. Podcasting allows you to get up-close and personal with listeners. Dave Winer's development of RSS 2.0 allowed podcasters to list their podcast shows in such a way that subscribers would be notified whenever a new show was added. They could listen immediately right from their feed reader or tuck it away on a iPod-like devise to listen at their convenience. Like almost everything, there is a downside. Podcasts are usually recorded in an MP3 format, and the content is not searched by Google, Yahoo, et al. I've produced well over 100 podcast shows and my exposure is a fraction of what it would have been had I produced the same content in text/HTML format. I suppose one solution would be to publish the show notes, but I don't find that very appealing. I would rather get back into e-zine writing and blogging. And of course this is what I'm doing as we speak. :) That isn't to say that I'm going to cut down on my podcasting schedule. If you would like to check that out, here's the link: >click< For my Yahoo readers: www.wdslibrary.com and click the Podcast Index box. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ III. Products & Services That Sell (e) I'm not sure, but I think eBay is the most lucrative program available. I've put many programs and services on eBay and I haven't made any serious money. People that study the eBay system seem to do pretty well--it takes a huge amount of work and study. eBay, however, has very little direct customer support. If, for example, you violate some company policy (or some eBay software makes an error) you can be dumped from the system without recourse... and your eBay income will drop immediately to zero. This makes it dangerous to depend on eBay for your entire income. Of course, it's not unlike working for a company that lays you off without warning. If I was going to go the eBay route, I would purchase every book (eBook) I could find on the subject and read them all. I'd be looking for common patterns that bring success. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ IV. AskCarl's FAQs & Two-Value Tricks (e) Question: How are two-value tricks used in eCommerce--or are they? A. H, Medford, Oregon AskCarl: Hey, AH. Thanks. Your question lets me cover both parts of this topic heading at the same time. :) I read a lot of on-line sales letters and they all "imply" that if you "take advantage" of the offer you will end up on the inside track... (on side of the two value equation) but if you don't (the other side) you will miss an opportunity that will not come your way again. I've never seen one of these programs that let anyone in on any kind of "inside track." Some of these programs are good (some aren't) but there is no such thing as an "inside track" ...at least not for prices such as $79.95. If someone could show you how to quickly make $5,000 a month, what kind of price could that demand? Sandwich shop franchises sell for six figures, for heavensakes. The person that developed the knowledge for the book put years of hard work into the process and drew on the knowledge of others that did the same. These eBooks and courses are aids and references -- nothing more. ~ ~ ~
Continued
on the
right column above >click<
IV-a. Two-Valued Tricks (e)
The eBook, Obnoxious Two-Value Tricks is available free by going to www.wdslibrary.com and clicking in the FreeStuff box. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ V. E-Commerce Hardware (e) Wireless and Wi-Fi I suppose the obvious difference is traditionally computer connections flowed through wires or cables. Wireless connections are enable by packet radio, spread spectrum, cellular technology, satellites, and microwave towers. |
Continued from Lower-Left Column Fixed
wireless are used by hardware in
fixed locations, such as an office or home, as opposed to devices that
are mobile, such as cell phones.
The US lags behind other countries in the adoption of wireless partly due to politics and corporate battles, and the inability to agree upon a transmission protocol standard. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ VI. Payment & Collection Systems (e) Here's some of the message from my catalog. I have only one fee. Would you like an eBook? If it's not a free copy, it's $30. That may seem a bit pricey for one eBook, but included in the $30 are links to relevant podcasts, sometimes supplementary eBooks, and a telephone or messenger consultation--all included. Additional sessions are also $30, which may include MP3 recordings, another eBook, and always another consultation. Would you like a website? What's the fee for that? It's $30 to begin the process. Additional sessions are available at your discretion. There is never an automatic PayPal or credit card deduction, and there is no pressure to continue with additional sessions. Payment can be made using your credit card or your PayPal account. If you have a business or e-business and would either like a website or want one that actually does something, I suggest you do one session with me and see if you get your money's worth--we can then go from there. The same holds true with other evolved programs, such as weight control, cigarette smoking, developing an exercise program, the home-based business... any program listed in the catalog above. Why this $30 thing? Sadly, many folks don't trust programs found on the internet--there are so many rip-offs. Because of this, I initiated this unusual fee structure. Weight control, websites building, smoking elimination...all programs listed on this webpage start (and sometimes end) with a $30 program--paid through the PayPal system. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
VII. E-Mail vs Internet Advertising (e) E-mail is great and it's here to stay. There are probably better systems, but with nearly a billion people that cut their digital teeth with e-mail, it won't disappear--at least in my lifetime. On the other hand, as a promotional tool, or even a way to send attachments, e-mail is dead. I haven't sent an e-mail attachment in such a long time, I've almost forgotten how it's done. I prefer to use html files as a way to send anything complex. If I want to send pictures or snapshots, I put it on my computer's monitor and take a screen shot. It takes a couple of minutes to covert the BMP file a jpeg or gif file... so all that is necessary is to send the URL. If it's a temporary thing, I can delete it whenever. Here's an example of some of my screen shots: http://www.askcarl.net/ScreenShots.html ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ VIII. The Truth about Promotional Tools (e) When I was having problems either increasing reader and listener numbers or figuring out some confusing system, such as Technorati, I would contact some of the guru's whose witting I admired. I always made it clear that I would be happy to pay a fee for some help. You would think they would jump at the chance to make a few hundred bucks and I would consider it a bargain if I could save days of confusion and frustration. Win/win, donchaknow. The fact is, though, I got very little response from my requests--beyond pitching another book or course. I now think I understand why my offer was (so far) always rejected. For one thing, it's a lot easier to sell a pre-packaged program that can be sent to a client with a couple of mouse clicks. *bing* goes the money goes into a PayPal account, and *click*click* off goes the course or eBook to the grateful client. Another reason is something I've experienced myself. As authors, our books are smarter then we are. When I re-read some of my eBooks, I realize I had forgotten quite a bit of what I had put in the book or eBook. So gurus don't want to deal with getting on a phone or a SKYPE connection and unable to produce the very stuff they once claimed as brain-dead simple. How embarrassing is that? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ IX. The Entrepreneur's Enemies (e) For this I'm going to encore a few lines for an article I did in the original e-zine. ...then pay particular attention to the internet. It's a place where individual abilities and innovation reign supreme. The internet is certainly very rough around the edges, full of rip-offs and debauchery, but it appears to be self-policing and (for now) remains relatively free of bureaucratic meddling. We can't let the politicians get a foot-in-the-door to the internet through legislation...any legislation. If they do get some stuff passed, which could happen, it would probably be analogous of the dog that chased cars until one day he caught one. Vol. 9 No. 105 July 2006 Here's the link/URL to that e-zine: http://www.askcarl.net/WDS_E-ZineOrig.html Scroll to: VIII. Bureaucratic Bamboozling ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ X. Rip-off of the Week (e) I always save this 'till last. My thinking is that something will come up that I want to whine and snivel about. but I've had my nose stuck in the screen to the point that nothing came up. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ XI. The WDS Bedtime Story (an allegory) (e)
I gotta hold off on these stories. I'll send my mind off in that direction before too long.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The End ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ So with that, the work of this
E-Commerce
edition of the WDS E-Zine #42 is now done.
Carl Weisbrod
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