… in order to start testing the methods that are open to us as information product sellers, to allow you to re-start your business in the most profitable manner.

It’s all good being advised to do things one way, but unless testing and measuring of results is REALLY done, then you could quite literally be throwing your money away – and from any businesses’ point of view, this is a huge NO-NO.

Remember, I want YOU to succeed – so this is vitally important for me. I want to be sure that you CAN easily follow and duplicate what I do, in order to make money for yourself, which is the whole point of being in the internet marketing business in the first place!

So, over the next month I am going to do these 2 tasks specific to my eBay sales:

1. Produce My OWN Physical Products: For which I create the burnt CD – DVD, the case, sleeve artwork, disc graphic, purchase the cases, postage and ship them myself.

2. Outsource My Physical Products: I will use a fulfilment company, to create the CD – DVD, the disc graphic, the cases, and dropship the products to my customers.

As physical products (much like home study courses you receive in the mail) can command MUCH higher prices than simple eBooks, it is vitally important that they are presented as such. 

I have many different home study courses, from Butterfly Marketing to Product Launch Formula and I know personally I paid up to $1497.00 for what is basically a well presented photocopied booklet and 5 DVD’s or CD’s (which COULD have EASILY fit onto the one disk!) Are they REALLY worth that much no matter HOW GOOD the information within? - of COURSE not!

However, perceived value is what makes the physical product business tick, so think of this new angle of information-selling as a way to maximise profits on the front end with a much higher probability of converting your customer to buying your “upsells” on the backend.

I have priced and ordered all of my stock and here is what you will need:

1. CD-R Discs to burn your products onto

2. Padded Envelopes (for CD/DVD’s to fit into)

3. A Lightscribe External CD Drive – to professionally etch your graphics to your disc.

4. DVD/CD Jewel Cases – to package your discs.

5. A Graphics solution for your DVD/CD case graphics.

6. CD Burner Software (Like NERO)

Remember people, I am a wheelchair bound marketing guy! Although I admit this major policy change by eBay was and still is a major pain in the butt for me, and I’ll admit I needed some guidance… I learned a lot from Dave Nicholson’s video guide Digital Media Solutions.

If you don’t know Dave, he is a friend my friend John Thornhill. He has put together a fantastic video guide for just $27.00. The following lines I quote from John:

# You will be shown how to place all of your contents onto CD/DVD. (Ray Recommends)

# You will be shown how to structure your CD/DVD to optimize the
simplicity and quality of your product. (Ray Recommends)

# You will be shown how to make a simple menu system that will link
to your CD/DVD products. (Ray Recommends)

# You will be provided with 5 CD/DVD menu templates for your auto-run
disc navigation, complete with PSD source file so you can edit if you
require and a ready to go HTML menu system. (Ray Recommends)

# You will be shown how to make your CD/DVD automatically run once
inserted, giving it that high quality professional look. (Ray Recommends)

Here is my receipt…

Check Out Dave’s Site For Yourself HERE

Look, there is no excuse for you, it just takes a little bit more “elbow-grease” as there is not the automation there once was with eBay eBook sales. However, the possibilites and benefits are far greater – so I’m going for it. If I can do this you can too!

I am off now to get going, then I can share some of the results I get with you. So in the meantime – start getting your head together, and take action – order the goods you need (or at least look into pricing things up) .

I am sure you’ll start profiting like crazy from physical products – you’ll be glad you took action. Remember, most of your backend sales are from your own websites, which can still provide digital downloads, so only those items sold through eBay need to be sold on CD.

eBay’s digital download ban could just be the best thing that has ever happened…

I’ll keep you posted.

As always, your comments are appreciated, please leave them below.

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The policy change by eBay came out of the blue as eBay gave no prior official warning, and gave all sellers INCLUDING the legitimate ones like myself, just 1 week’s notice to “shut up shop”, but all REALLY IS NOT lost!

eBay is STILL a traffic monster and the ONLY area of your existing ebook business that will be affected would be the delivery method of the eBooks. I have been speaking with John Thornhill via email today to try and bounce-ideas and if any more prevail – you’ll be the first to know.

I am trying to stay positive, as we all need to move forward together, and with me as your guide I ask you to let me tweak my business to accomodate the changes and I shall share ALL with you.

Don’t despair though – as I am already putting together the brand NEW version of “Build Your eBay Empire” to cover the recent changes and make the transition as fast and painless as possible for you. No stone will be left unturned, as I go back to the “stone-age” to show you how you can profit bigger than ever before, by selling eBooks the simple way.

You’ll hear about it soon… prior to D-Day on eBay on the 31st March.

So right now… I AM HOLDING MYSELF 100% ACCOUNTABLE TO YOU ALL READING THIS BLOG RIGHT NOW! I AM GOING TO WORK AS HARD AS I CAN TO GET THE NEW VERSION OUT!

Am I the only one to take massive action for my subscribers? YES I think I am right now… so please try to understand that I am doing this for YOUR benefit. If you are a member of my list, you’ll ALL get a FREE copy on me, and a FREE BRANDABLE COPY of the “Leaked Chapter” to give away on your website(s).

I am revamping ALL my affiliate programmes, Clickbank, my websites, my optin pages… and you’ll see the all new look real soon so please bear with me.

In my life, I have had a LOT more to deal with than a decision like this – so tag along and share some of my positivity, you’ll be glad you did

As always, please leave your comments below regarding the policy change by eBay. As always, your time is appreciated.

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As you’ll probably know I have been real busy so far this year, setting up my business to achieve the goals I set out for you, as a valued reader, customer and member of mine (you can see those goals on my Newsletter)

I haven’t really had time to use eBay too much this year because of taking on new outsourced staff, building new websites, membership sites, preparing content, interviews and joint ventures…

As some of you may know, I was eBay’s Silver Powerseller record holder, moving up to Gold, a few short weeks after.

I decided to have a browse on eBay today, mainly because it is the half-term week here in the UK and my 4 kids go into “Can we have this” mode!

So, I logged into eBay only to find…

I had lost Powerseller status!

Yes, it’s true… I don’t know whether or not to quit this whole Internet Marketing game – I mean if I am not a Powerseller, whats the point? :) JOKE JOKE!

Listen, it really isn’t all that bad. You see, people who are NOT yet Powersellers on eBay think that in order to become one, you actually need to be a “Power-Seller” – this just couldn’t be further from the truth…

eBay, being the hugely profitable business that it is, has set up the Powerseller system, to maximise their revenue from listing items – simple as that, because I didn’t list items for a couple of weeks I am banished from the ‘Powerseller Community’ – how’s that for gratitude?

Here are the requirements:

To qualify, members must:

• Uphold the eBay community values, including honesty, timeliness and mutual respect
• From 20th February, be registered as a business on eBay
• Sell on average a minimum of £750 (or Euro exchange rate equivalent) or 100 items per month, for three consecutive months. In order to qualify you need to maintain a minimum average of 4 monthly listings for the past 3 months
• Achieve an overall Feedback rating of 100, of which 98% or more is positive
• Have been an active member for 90 days
• Have an account in good financial standing
• Not breach any severe policies in a 60-day period

PowerSeller programme eligibility is reviewed every month. To remain PowerSellers, members must:

• Uphold eBay community values, including honesty, timeliness, and mutual respect
• Maintain the minimum average monthly sales amount for your PowerSeller level
• Maintain a 98% positive total Feedback rating
• Maintain an account in good financial standing
• Comply with all eBay listing and marketplace policies, not breach any severe policies in a 60-day period and not breach three or more of any eBay policies in a 60-day period

OK, OK there are a few more criteria you must meet – but none of these matter unless you actively give eBay listing fees. In my case – hundreds of pounds in listing fees per month – for what?

As you may be interested in eBay, and selling information products on eBay, keep an eye on my account and shortly I’ll show you how simple it is to become a powerseller all over again..

I felt you needed to know the truth – so the next time you hear someone tell you that they have “revealed” their ebay Powerseller I.D. you’ll be one step ahead, and know that it really means nothing – becoming a Powerseller is easy as ABC… and losing the status is just as easy too!

Until next time – stay safe…

Ray

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2 posts in one day is NOT normal for me – but I am SO pumped up! I simply have to get this off my chest. I have just finished a phone call with one of my list members, after they visited another popular blog today… In a nutshell, they asked if it was legal to…

STEAL someone else’s internet marketing product – and sell it as their own – Now, although I don’t advise it, because you CAN get into hot water - it IS entirely possible to “borrow” (for a better word) other marketers work and ideas, and use them to your advantage.

When I’m either on the telephone, or Skype, MSN or whatever with my members, and they STILL say they have not yet taken action on their businesses as they don’t know where to start!

Many people think that online business is difficult to begin, and even more difficult to constantly reinvent ideas for products and services. Not so! Many authors of eBooks have released PLR rights to their works, and yet many people are scared to take advantage of that fact!

Go take a look at some of my sites to draw inspiration, look at my newsletter (which the layout is similar to my friend John Thornhill’s – and he knows it) – look at my blog that you are reading now… Or if not mine – others and GO AND CREATE YOUR OWN!

My buddy Alex Jeffreys has documented the fact the some of his viral eBooks on eBay are PLR, John does it, geez (I do it – from time to time!) – Every marketer does it.

As long as you do not COPY, everything is OK.

John Thornhill suddenly created a blog – with a similar layout to this one, he also registered a domain name relevant to coaching on the 8th January 2008… – is he copying me? HECK NO!

So here is my advice…

If you want to go to the next level, and get your own INSTANT eBay Automated eBook Business PLUS your very own INSTANT high-value product to sell – with some incredible bonuses to boot:

GO HERE RIGHT NOW

Take massive action this year – and you WILL reap the rewards. Remember this important saying:

“You don’t have to get it right – you just have to get it going…”

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The online marketplace that will get the lion’s share of that increase, being the largest marketplace in the world, is Ebay.  That is why you need to be on Ebay right now.

December is the biggest shopping month of the year.  This is the time there are more buyers on Ebay, with their wallets and credit cards out ready to buy, than any other time of the year.  With 110 million registered Ebay users online at any given time and more being added every minute, you should take advantage of the largest marketplace in the world and get your share of those sales and profits.

You could start an Ebay business literally minutes from now.  You can sell literally anything but the easiest way to make money on Ebay is by selling Ebooks.  No inventory, no product storage no shipping cost and the ability to set it up to run on autopilot make Ebooks the perfect item for Ebay.

According to Terapeak research, in the last seven days 18,558 Ebooks were sold on Ebay. 47 percent of all the Ebooks listed sold. This is great news for anyone involved in the ebay ebook business.

That is more than two thousand Ebooks per day!

Also according to Terapeak research, in the last 30 days 88,443 Ebooks sold.  Again, during that 30 day period, 47 percent of all Ebooks listed were sold.  1,867 of those books sold for $8.00 or more.  6,306 of those Ebooks sold for between $2.00 and $8.00. 

Remember, Ebooks are a no cost item, so other than some small Ebay fees, almost all of those sales dollars end up in your pocket. 

If you made $1.00 to $2.00 per Ebook, how many times would you want to do it?  Of course, you want to repeat it as many times as you could.  That’s the beauty of selling Ebooks, you have an inexhaustible supply of products that you can keep selling again and again.

The best way to get up and running the fastest and to do it right without having to learn by trial and error is to find out how the best and most successful marketers run their Ebay businesses and then duplicate everything that they do.  If you start with a successful system from the beginning you are in the best position to succeed immediately, so the answer is – it is ALWAYS a good time to start selling eBooks on eBay…

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No matter what anyone might say it is a thriving business to get involved in. With hundreds of new e-sellers creating businesses daily online, and profiting instantly – it is not difficult to see why. However, I have a question that I need your help in answering which is crucial to my business, so please read on…

So I digress, as Google.com’s No.1 Ranked eBay eBook business seller, would you still buy an eBook business from me even though I am currently no longer registered with eBay?

This eBay suspension has learned me a valuable lesson and given me a whole NEW angle to rejuvenate from. I can STILL operate an eBook business myself without using eBay, as is is simply the medium through which traffic is funnelled to gather targeted leads to sell to – but the damage sustained to my long term plans could be unrecoverable…

Myself and my staff at The Ray Johnson Group have been knuckling down to create the sequel to Build Your eBay Empire – “Build Your eBay Empire 2 – The eBook Revolution” and the suspension of my accounts has potentially damaged my credibility…

But I’ll be frank with you… Would YOU buy from me?

I have seen it all, done it all, and made hundreds of thousands by using the power of eBooks to viralise and self promote my businesses… but in YOUR opinion – would you choose to buy – or not to buy… that is the question!

Your comments on this post would be seriously appreciated, and the best reader comment will receive a FREE copy of “Build Your eBay Empire” valued at $49.95.

I’ll keep you updated on how my suspensions go, my solicitor is liaising with eBay and Paypal as I write!

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I heard about digital products such as eBooks and was intruiged due to their high profit, low cost nature. I wanted to know more. I began researching the information products section and was astonished at what I saw. Hundreds of sellers all competing for a slice of the info-product pie. I did a little more digging and found that the eBook market was worth over $800 million per year, and it soon became clear why there were so many sellers in the market.

I realised that as a new eBay seller at the time, I would need some credibility to help my business grow, so I started by buying a few resale rights eBooks on eBay to build my feedback. When I reached the acceptable level to become a seller, I quickly opened my eBay seller account and Paypal account.

I then compiled a business plan. One that enabled me not only to setup an eBook business that ran itself, 100% on autopilot, but one that could be replicated by others, to allow them to get a piece of this pie.

I knew in doing this I would become an authority figure on eBay eventually, as I had my own product to offer others with a need to make simple income.

I began painstaking piecing together every single step I took, from registering my eBay and Paypal accounts correctly, to creating powerful sales adverts and listing an eBook on eBay. I then remembered from my sales days – I used to use Outlook Express to create autoreply messages to customers and quickly utilised this power to automate delivery of eBooks to my customers.

I became a profitable eBay Powerseller very quickly in just 42 days from scratch and now make a fabulous living, purely selling eBooks on eBay, and my own information products all over the web.

Now 3 years on, I am proud to say my business has helped thousands of people create an extra income, and have even sold my rights to my automated eBook business guide to some of the biggest information publishers on the internet and have mentored some of the biggest sellers on eBay today.

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It is the perfect time to write an ebook. What the publishing world requires are new
thinkers who can make the leap into the millennium and figure out how to solve old problems in a new way.

Ebooks are a powerful tool for original thinkers with fresh ideas to distribute information to the millions of people who are struggling to figure out how to complete many different tasks, or solve particular problems. 

So, you have a brilliant idea, and the knowledge to back it up that will enable you to write
an fantastic ebook. You may be sitting at your computer staring at a blank screen thinking, “Why?”

Why should I go through all the trouble of writing my ebook when it’s so impossible to get anything published these days?

Well, let me assure you that publishing an ebook is entirely different than publishing a normal book. Let’s look at the specifics of how the print and cyber publishing industry differ, and the many reasons why you should write your own eBook…

Let’s say you already have an Internet business with a quality website and a quality product. An ebook is one of the most powerful ways to promote your business
while educating people with the knowledge you already possess as a business owner of a specific product or service.

Lets make an example here. Just say you have been bodybuilding for the last 10 years or more and now you’re ready to share your knowledge and experience. An ebook is the perfect way to reach the largest audience of bodybuilding enthusiasts.

Ebooks will not only promote your business – they will help you brand your name online and give you expert status in your field. You may even find that you have enough to say to warrant a series of ebooks. Niche businesses can often be perfect examples of this, where more than a single published ebook needs to be released to tell the full story.

Perhaps your goals are more finely tuned in terms of the ebook scene. You may want to build a whole business around writing and publishing ebooks. Essentially, you want to start an e-business. You are thinking of setting up a website to promote and market
your ebooks. Maybe you’re even thinking of producing an ezine.

One of the most prevalent reasons people read ebooks is to find information about how to turn their Internet businesses into a profit-making machine. And these people are looking to the writers of ebooks to provide them with new ideas and strategies because
writers of ebooks are usually people who understand the new cyberspace world we now live in. Ebook writersmare experts in Internet marketing campaigns and the
strategies of promoting and distributing ebooks. The cyberspace community needs its ebooks to be successful so that more and more ebooks will be written.

You may want to create affiliate programs that will also market your ebook. Affiliates can be people or businesses worldwide that will all be working to sell your ebooks. Think about this? Do you see a formula for success here?

Figure out what your subject matter is, and then narrow it down. Your goal is to aim for specificity. Research what’s out there already, and try to find a avoid that your ebook might fill.

What about an ebook about a wedding cake business? Or an ebook about caring for elderly pets? How about the fine points of collecting ancient pottery?

You don’t have to have three masters degrees to write about your subject. People need advice that is easy to read and easily understood. Parents need advice for
dealing with their teenagers. College students need to learn good study skills – quickly. The possibilities are endless.

After you’ve writtten your ebook…

Getting your ebook out is going to be your focus once you’ve finished writing it, just as it is with print books. People will hesitate to buy any book from an author they’ve never heard of. Wouldn’t you?

The answer is simple: give it away! You will see profits in the form of promoting your own business and getting your name out. You will find affiliates who will ask you to place their links within your ebook, and these affiliates will in turn go out and make your
name known. Almost every single famous ebook author has started out this way, using viral marketing techniques to grow their reputation and business.

Another powerful tool to attract people to your ebook is to make it interactive. Involve people and they will take action, which is the ultimate goal as an online eBook publisher. Involving your customers and providing the means for them to purchase your eBook means that they will do just that.

When people interact with books, they become a part of the world of that book. The fact is just as true for books in print as it is for ebooks.

When I wrote my Google.com No.1 Ranked eBook business guide, I soon had over 500 active members of my online forum, building their OWN online e-Businesses.

That’s why ebooks are so essential. They provide a forum for people to learn and make sense of their own thoughts, and also serve to promote your business at the same time.

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Opening an eBay Store is the best way to help dedicated sellers maximize their online business and is a must for any serious eBay Seller. An eBay store is available on a trial basis for 30 days, risk  free. A Basic eBay Store costs just $15 or £7 approximately. An eBay Store is the best way to help dedicated sellers maximise their business on eBay and the Internet, it is basically the same as opening a offline business store as it serves the same purpose of getting visitors to browse, ultimately spending money with you.

I often get asked if owning an eBay store is worth the expense, and in my honesty, if you cannot make a profit every single month, the online business is not for you. Period. My ebay store is an important part of my business, as it helps with the authority aspect of my business, differenciating myself from other eBook sellers.

Anyone who tells you that an eBay store is not a lot of hard work hasn’ t ever managed an eBay store.

The process of opening an eBay store is almost as simple as setting up your initial User ID, the entire process is dealt with by eBay themselves, and can be setup with a couple of clicks.

A well-run eBay Store is worth every penny, and can add considerably to your profitability. Many times your eBay store is your customers’ first impression of you, our business and your products, so a clean design with easy navigation is essential to gain and retain customers. There are a lot of other factors, but these are the first equirements you must adhere to when setting up your eBay Store.

When your eBay store is stocked and ready for sales you need customers. Marketing your eBay store is not any different. You can add your eBay Store link into signatures in online forums, write articles, use pay-per-click advertising, and use viral methods. Another way to generate visitors to your eBay store is through sending email to your list of subscribers.
 
 One of the most powerful aspects of having an eBay Store is that you automatically have a huge client base right at your doorstep. eBay has over 181 million worldwide registered users and rising daily Creating a blog to promote your eBay auctions or eBay store is an excellent way to attract additional bidders which equates to higher ending prices.

Another major value of an eBay store is that it gives you a way to increase your inventory turnover.

Your About ME page in your eBay store is extremely important, as you can provide external links to your other websites – automatically increasing traffic, but the most valuable aspect of your ME page is, it allows you to build a list of subscribers or “followers” who are interested in your products or services. You can use a simple webform to capture prospective clients from Aweber, and backend offers directly to this list once a rapport has been built.
 
The bottom line is – having an eBay Store is essential for any eBay merchant.

Ray Johnson trades on eBay under the username e.z.sell_ebooks.
For more advice on how to succeed on eBay with information products visit:

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/e-z-sell-ebooks

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The PDF eBook market is becoming a hugely competitive field, with many new eBayers realising the profit potential of selling eBooks on eBay, due to their high profit – no or low cost nature, but is far from a becoming a saturated market – due to people’s everlasting need for information. If you play on this need you can make even more money by giving your customers something a little sweeter in the form of additional free bonuses.

Just think about it, if you were selling ebooks, and two of your competitors giving away a free eBook with every eBook purchased, who who reap the bulk of the sales? The competition of course! So always try to offer an ebook FREE with every eBook you have for sale, as long as this eBook is related to the eBook sold. Certain eBooks over time can lose popularity and not sell so well on eBay, and these are the eBooks you give away as bonusues.

You can also offer FREE information reports, which I recommend highly. You can write a simple report or simply hire a ghost writer to write the report for you. This report should provide real value to your customer, and allow you to appear as an authority in your chosen field. This will increase sales and refer many more customers your way. Within my reports I like to embed affiliate links for which I receive commissions – long after the report has been given away.

I highly recommend that you allow your customer to give away the same report as a free bonus too, multiplying the chances of generating further passive commissions for you.

Giving an eBook or report – or in fact, anything away for FREE may sound counterproductive in the initial term, although, this really is not the case. Using a free giveaway tool will bring in multiple benefits such as additional eBook sales, affiliate commission sales, subscribers and added trust between you and your customer. Your auction may stand out more, give an additional reason to buyers to make their purchase with you, and even provide additional revenue through the use of affiliate links within the free item.

To sum up, it is easy to see why many eBay PDF eBook sellers are using FREE giveaways to increase profitability to their eBook business. I highly suggest that if possible, this system should be used at every opportunity to sell eBooks on eBay successfully.

Ray Johnson trades on eBay under the username e.z.sell_ebooks. For more advice on how to succeed on eBay with information products visit: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/e-z-sell-ebooks

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