Cube Escape

Self Employment - Entrepreneur Lifestyle - Business Tips and Tricks

Pursing the Entrepreneurial Dream

A couple of years ago, I decide that my pursuit of climbing the corporate ladder was fruitless. It wasn't for me...not what I wanted. I craved freedom. I've learned a lot about becoming an entrepreneur, and I'll share what I've learned with you. Getting control of your life again isn't a pipe dream. Financial, professional, and creative freedom can be yours.

Direct Response Marketing

Direct response marketing is simply an advertisement that asks for an immediate response. It doesn’t ask the prospect to sit around for a month. The letter specifically asks the prospect to do something right then, as soon as they are finished reading or watching the ad.

It seems to me that the majority of direct response advertising out there is in two arenas: Infomercials and Sales Letters. Not everyone is up at 3:00am watching infomercials, but everyone gets “junk mail” delievered to their door.

Sales letters make up a pretty big industry. And with the widespread use of the interenet and email over the last decade, the industry just seems to be getting bigger (Look up the Direct Marketing Association for stats). I’ve decided to give it a go myself.

Yesterday I initiated a little test campaign for my direct response marketing skills. I wrote an email that will be mailed out to quite a few prospects off of a targeted, opt-in list. The email asks the prospect to click through to my site, Education Finder, and find information on a school or program that interests them. It doesn’t just say that I have a site, but rather asks them to visit it right away.

The mailing will go out during this next week, and I’m quite eager to see the results. I know that my sales letter skills are pretty weak right now, but they’ll get better with time.

A bonus to this type of marketing is that I will know exactly how many people clicked through. I will be able to count exactly how many propects responed to my email, and how many of them converted on my site. Exact numbers. That’s just good data.

. 03 Aug 07 | Business, Marketing, Sales | Read on | Comments (0)

The Holiday Season…

Whatever you call this season, it all boils down to one thing: presents. Well, I know that there’s more to it than that and the meaning runs deeper, but this is what we see all around us. The Christmas rush…everyone trying to buy as much as possible for as many people as possible.

So, in step with the season, I’m increasing all of my efforts. Not only am I running a bunch of sales experiments on eBay, I’m also more actively advertising my online shop as well as increasing the size of its catalog. I’m hoping to have a decent sales season. Though, since I’m new to this, I’m not really sure what to expect. I guess I’ll find out.

. 24 Oct 06 | Marketing, Sales | Read on | Comments (0)

Sales not so hot

Sales aren’t going so well right now. But, I’m not going to let that get me down. I’ve still got a lot to learn about a great many things. I’ve also got some improvements to make to my store. I’ve made so much progress that I’m satisified with what I’ve done.

I’m just not too satisfied with how much money I’m making right now. I could be doing better. But…I think this will push me to improve and learn.

. 22 Oct 06 | Sales | Read on | Comments (0)

Advertising pays off!!

Well, it’s not really paying off yet. But, I’m getting a lot more traffic. More than I thought I was going to get, actually. My budget is quite low, but I’m still getting some good, qualified leads.

Now that the ball is rolling, I’m thinking of ways to improve my click-through rate. Basically, I’ll need better-worded ads and also a budget increase. I’ll increase the budget after I make a couple of sales (generated from the ad leads). I’ll keep the status quo for a couple more weeks and see how it goes. According to Jay Levinson, author of Guerrilla Marketing, one must be patient with marketing efforts and not give up on them too soon.

I’m a patient guy.

. 16 Oct 06 | Marketing, Sales | Read on | Comments (0)

Selling on eBay

Oh boy is this difficult. That place is quite competitive, and it is hard breaking into that market. Sure, my sales copy is not the best in the world, but I’m getting better. I think it’s my images that are killing me.

Since I started my business, I have attempted to sell a few items on eBay approximately 15 times, maybe 20. I have failed to sell each time. At first it surprised me, since I had sold personal items without difficulty in the past. I have read articles, purchased and read complete books, and still nothing. My timing is good and my products are quality items. But my sales copy is written at my level (novice copywriter), and my images are horrible.

For some reason, eBay’s image resizing software doesn’t like my image size. Their thumbnails are fuzzy and the products end up with jagged edges. Sure, the full-size image looks clear, but who’s going to scroll down that far if they see a poor presentation at the top?

Pictures, pictures, pictures! I’ve gotta get a better camera. I know pictures are not my only weakness, but they are my most glaring. I’ll fix those first…when I can afford a new camera.

. 09 Oct 06 | Sales | Read on | Comments (0)

Writing sales copy

Writing sales copy for the products I sell has been something that has just slipped away from me. I guess it’s because I really don’t respond to sales copy or sales persons very well. I really don’t care what they say, or what is written, unless it answers a direct question of mine. The features of a product are enough for me. After all, that’s what will get the job done, not some foofy dream about how something will help me win back more time each day.

Still, I’ve got to revamp my entire sales angle because I’m not moving enough product. I sell quality products, but I don’t really sell them, so people who do not think like me don’t get interested in what I have to offer. If you want to see what I mean, head over to my store and read a bunch of the product descriptions (they’ll only be up for a couple more days, as I am currently rewriting them). They’re not that good. Of course, feel free to purchase several items–the holidays are right around the corner (shameless self-plug).

Selling benefits is something that is not easy for me, since I’ve really got to work my brain to come up with some good sales copy. And I can’t hire anyone to do it either, since I’m not selling enough to afford it. It’s all on me! We’ll see how it turns out.

. 27 Sep 06 | Sales | Read on | Comments (0)