The Wholesale Forums

[MustHaveMobiles]

76. Personal Website

If you have a website where you have many items or even services that would not sell on eBay, consider promoting your eBay auctions through your personal website. This will help increase the traffic to your site and build up the sales at eBay.

77. Auction Insight

Auction Insight is a great service that you should look at before you list your auction. Auction Insight is a search engine that will go out and review all of the larger online auction sites, looking for your item(s) specified. In return, you will get a list of prices this same item is selling for on the other auction sites.

78. Build Feedback

If you are new to eBay and have no feedback ratings, you should consider purchasing a couple of items yourself to establish a buyer's feedback. Because both the buyer and seller's feedback is rolled into one, building some buyer's feedback for yourself will help show buyers for your merchandise see that you are a good risk.

79. Escrow Service

If you are selling high priced items such as a car, computer or other technology equipment, a home, etc., you might want to consider offering buyers the use of an escrow service. Before the auction closes, you and interested buyers would need to set up an agreement as to how the item will be paid for and any other detailed information.

80. Delivery Confirmation

Unfortunately, some buyers will try to say they paid for an item but never received the auction item(s). When shipping, you should consider using delivery confirmation. This service is generally inexpensive and can end up saving you a ton, especially if the item(s) is higher priced.

81. Online Auction Users Association

If you want to establish quick credibility, you can join the Online Auction Users Association, which requires you to agree to a code of ethics and display the membership logo on all of your auctions. This adds yet one more peace of mind to buyers.

82. Featured Articles

eBay offers both buyers and sellers featured articles that can be helpful. These articles offer diversity and can guide you through some difficult or discouraging challenges.

83. E-Mail Accounts

In addition to your eBay contact and primary e-mail address, you should also consider adding an alternate e-mail address. Just in case something happens to one, you have a backup option for buyers to reach you with a question or problem. The more accessible you are to your buyers, the better.

84. Bid Cancellation

If you discover a bogus bidder has bid on your auction, be sure to cancel their bid before the auction ends, which saves you from losing an honest, paying buyer. Some of these bogus buyers will be discovered from your own experiences and others you can research through eBay.

85. Alternate Spellings

The “search” option is precise so you need to try breaking words up, creating a better chance for your auction to be found. As an example, if you are selling a lawnmower, list it as “Lawnmower” and “Lawn Mower.” Another example would be selling a television. You might list it as “television” and “TV.”

86. Summer vs. Winter

Online auctions tend to be a little slower during the summer months when people are outside, on vacation, and just enjoying life. The winter months when people are cooped up in the house tend to be much busier. For this reason, many items difficult to sell or higher priced items should be listed during the winter.

87. Collectibles

When selling antiques or collectibles, you should provide a history of the item(s). If you have artwork for sale in your auction, provide the buyer with its origin. People love to have history, especially when it comes to collectibles, which is part of what adds to its value. Without embellishing, make the story a good one.

88. Reserve Pricing

Reserve pricing cannot be seen by the buyer, leaving them to question how much you are really asking. For example, if you had an office printer for sale, you might list a reserve price, or a “hidden” base figure of $100. However, to the buyers, in their opinion, this printer is not worth more than $60 since this is the average price from other sellers for similar equipment. As the buyers start bidding close to $60 and they see that the reserve has still not yet been met, they will quickly stop bidding, unsure of what your “hidden” base is. When you use reserve pricing, it does not help to build buyer/seller confidence and should be avoided.

89. Professional Ads

Keeping with the importance of a professional looking auction, if you need assistance, use the Instant Ad Creator, which will walk you through the process to a great looking ad.

90. Integrity

Regardless of whom the buyer, work with integrity and run your auctions accordingly. More than likely, you will run into some difficult buyers, although not often. Keep in mind that every buyer provides the best form of advertisement - word of mouth. Integrity is what will draw customers in and keep them coming back along with friends and family.

91. Openness

If a buyer makes a recommendation, listen. That does not always mean you will agree or even like their recommendations but if they have something to say, it might be something important to making your auction site better for future buyers. For example, if your shipping information seems muddled to the buyer but clear to you, you need to review what you have written. If the customer is struggling with understanding, that is truly what matters.

92. Product Knowledge

Just like working a job that you love, if you plan to get serious about selling on eBay, focus on things you know about and provide interest. In turn, this will allow you to “sell” the product with knowledge and passion.

93. Entrepreneur Spirit

Rather than just look at this as selling items on eBay, adopt an entrepreneur spirit. Get serious about this venture and look at is like a business rather than just getting rid of things you no longer want laying around the house.

94. Keeping Good Records

You need to establish a sound recording system. This system would consist of the item name, any associated reserve price (although not recommended for your auction), description, flaws, buyer's name, price sold for, payment received date, etc. This helps to ensure the entire transaction for that item is complete from beginning to end and provides you with information should you need to list that same item or a similar item. Additionally, the record will help you know what your income was, based solely on your specific auctions.

95. Terms & Conditions

You will run into all types of buyers that try to move past the terms and conditions provided by eBay. Know the T&C's inside and out and if you have problems, contact eBay immediately. A few examples of the insider secrets are listed below:

? Bid Shielding – Two buyers work together. One person bids high to protect a low bid place by the other person. Right before the auction closes, the high bidder cancels, meaning the low bidder gets your item(s) for a huge bargain.
? Bid Shilling – This is where the seller actually uses a separate ID set up to inflate the number and price of the bid.
? Deadbeat Bidder – The deadbeat bidder bids on your auction and then simply fails to pay.
? Sniping – A “sniper” is a bidder that waits until there are only minutes or seconds left on an item and then quickly bids just a little higher to get the item(s). Although not against the T&C's, it is considered unprofessional and limits competing bidders from driving a high price.

[MustHaveMobiles]

96. Test, test, test

To avoid costly mistakes, test yourself. When you get started, try something a little bit different to see which auction gets the most attention. Take note of what is working by putting different options to the test. This will help you build a strong, working process that will make your auctions sell.

97. Small but Expensive

One of the best ways to make good money on eBay is to sell small but expensive items. This allows you to move more items without the bulk of heavy shipping and to move fewer items while making more money. This type of selling provides you with a much higher profit margin.

98. Specialize

While many sellers on eBay sell anything you can imagine, many of the power sellers specialize. Rather than offer 100 different items with no real connection, focus in on something that you can offer several varieties and then change those varieties out from time to time. Two great examples are purses and shoes, and paintings. You are staying in the same category but providing a multitude of options. Gotham Online is a perfect example. They have their website, shopgco.com, listed with eBay and offer a tremendous value on high quality men and women's shoes. Once the buyer finds the value of this site, the next time they need shoes, they will go back to this site, either through eBay or directly to the URL. However, the buyer will not become bored since the styles and brands of shoes rotate on a consistent basis.

99. Wholesale Products

Some eBay sellers create a business relationship with suppliers. As you find reliable suppliers, you can be assured of the quality and bargain of the merchandise. If you are not sure where to find suppliers, you can visit stockmystore.com where there are thousands of wholesale products, with the majority coming from reliable suppliers.

100. Drop Ship

Another option many power eBay sellers use is to Drop Ship. This is where the seller acts as the agent between the buyer and the merchandiser. In fact, the merchandise sold does not belong to the seller and the seller does not even have to make the shipments. This is actually a strategy used by many small businesses. The Drop Ship option allows the manufacturer to sell more merchandise while the eBay seller makes money. On eBay, check out the Drop Ship Source Directory if you are serious about selling.

101. Hobby into Profit

If you have a favorite hobby, such as creating custom wreaths or swags, making homemade soaps or lotions, sewing stuffed animals, whatever it might be, put it to work for you. Turn your hobby into a business using eBay. People do it all the time and make good money.

When it comes to selling on eBay, the door of opportunity stands wide open. Opportunity is what you decide to make it. As mentioned in the beginning, people literally buy and sell just about everything on eBay. For this reason, do not think that items you have would not be of interest to anyone because more than likely, they will be.

Give it a try – what do you have to lose but money and a lot of fun?

[Saajan]

Hi,
In this post, I will be listing websites, which will help you with HTML, Javascript, Flash and others.

HTML
http://www.w3schools.com/
This website is one of the most popular to visit if you need help with HTML, I highly recommend this website.

http://www.bravenet.com/
This is another popular sites for HTML Codes. There many features on this website, which you can use.

http://www.htmlcodetutorial.com/
This website offers HTML codes for people who aren't quite familiar with making websites.

http://www.webmonkey.com/
This website is a bit more advance and it goes into depth a bit more than the others.

Flash
http://www.flashkit.com
Flash Kit offers very good tutorials on how to use flash. This webiste also offers Flash Codes for your own use.

http://www.flashadvisor.com/forum/
This forum allows members who are'nt quite into Flash, to ask questions, ask for codes and any other things which are related to flash. It also has a section for Javascript, DHTML and HTML.

http://www.flashvalley.co.uk/
This website is quite good in giving out flash game codes, flash components, flash tutorials and flash templates.

http://www.freeflashintros.com/
This website allows you to make your own flash chatrooms, guestbooks, poll, games and even more!

Javascript
http://www.javafile.com/
Visit Javafile for FREE Java Scripts and Java Applets on the Net.

http://www.javascript.com/
Another resource for free Java Scripts.

http://javascript.internet.com/
I would recommend this website, as its very easy to navigate and the Javascripts are excellent.

http://www.javascriptkit.com/
Anther fantastic site for scripts. If you need more help, then this site does have a forum.

http://www.echoecho.com/javascript.htm
Its layed out very well, and its very easy to navigate. Plus all scripts are free!

DHTML
http://www.dynamicdrive.com/
Again, this is a popular site for DHTML Scripts. Its very good at helping people who have'nt used DHTML.

http://www.dhtmlcentral.com/
This site has its own forum, tutorials and its own projects.

http://www.dhtmlshock.com/
Very good resource for DHTML Scripts and Articles relating to DHTML.

http://simplythebest.net/scripts/DHTML_scripts/
This site has a few DHTML scripts for you to use.

Sorry about the post being so big lol but I do hope this helps people.
Thank you once again.
PS: If you have any other sites, then do reply and I will add them to the list.

Original: Help in HTML and others

[Pete]

* Winning Article *

You could almost call it “legal SPAM”.

Transactional Emails, those dull, boring receipts and shipping notices that go on 24 & 7, 365 days a year don’t really have to be dull and boring.

The CAN SPAM act allows you to send them to everyone who does business with you. They don’t have to do a double opt-in, they don’t have to check the box that says they’d like to be informed of your specials and new items.

You can send these “transactional emails” without their specific permission, as part of them making a purchase, so why not turn them into sales messages?

By law, they must relate to a recent purchase by your customer. And, a reasonable portion must be devoted to information relating to the purchase. But, there is nothing saying you can’t include a sales message.

Several basics you should follow:

Your email address should relate to your company. Keep in mind you are not only trying to get your message read, you are also threading it through an ever-growing assortment of filters. So, don’t use the word “sales” or “order” in your address. “shipping-info@yourcompany.com” should work. Or, possibly “acknowledgements@yourcompany.com” You may even have to test here, to find what gets through 100 % of the time.

Your subject line should always mention your company name. “Confirming your recent purchase at your company.” Here. Again, consider getting through the filters.

And since so many people use the “preview” option on emails, your first line of the message itself should relate to the order, letting them know it is a legitimate order confirmation, not SPAM. In fact, you should then give the confirmation information, before any sales or promotional pitch. This helps ensure that the message is truly a transactional message.

Most gateways and shopping carts produce their own “receipt type” email. But many folks are still not sure you actually got the order, they only know their card has been charged. So, start off with an Order Acknowledgement such as this:

“Our automated order system just notified us of your recent order number wxzy for a total of $ XX.XX. We wanted you to know that we did actually receive the order and will have it on the way to you by ZZ/ZZ/ZZ.

“As a token of our appreciation, we’d like to extend to you our gift certificate/discount code/etc. We’d also like to call your attention to our new such-and-such."

The object here is not to develop offers for you, simply to make you aware of the opportunity to include them in your Order Acknowledgement. One note, however: A recent study found that “click rates for emails offering a specific dollars off amount were 45% higher than those offering a percentage discount.”

Of course, it is always wise to have several offers, with tracking codes, to test which are the most effective. Since it is not the subject of this article, we will not go into detail, but as with any type of promotion, “keeping score” is suggested when using transactional emails. And time limits for offers is a must.

Whether to use text or HTML is up to you. Here you may need to do some testing to see which gives you the better response. One further suggestion is to always keep these emails to one printed page in length.

After the Order Acknowledgement, it’s only polite to inform your customer that their order has been shipped and give them the tracking number (along with a link to the delivery service tracking page). Again, this would have an address including your company name and the subject line and first line of the message would clearly indicate the email concerns their recent purchase.

Naturally, you would use the bottom portion of this email to also promote your current offerings. And, if you included a discount code or coupon in your earlier email, you might further mention that it can still be used.

Surveys have found that most online shoppers appreciate the two emails mentioned so far. There seems to be a mixed reaction on sending a third. However, if you have the capabilities and it is worded properly a third “follow-up” email can certainly work to your advantage.

By tracking the shipment yourself, if you send a follow-up email on the day after delivery, you can enhance your standing with your customer by showing that you are going “above and beyond” in your concern for their positive shopping experience with your company.

“We noticed that your package(s) have been received. We simply wanted to once again thank you for your purchase and to remind you that if anything at all was unsatisfactory, to please contact us as soon as possible.”

Of course, your address, subject line and first line of the email are all similar to the first two. And you’ll list all of your customer support information, should they have a problem. Further, by now it should go without saying, you will have yet another offer in the second half of the message.

As you can see, instead of simply a plain vanilla, generic receipt, you can turn a single purchase into at least 3 email contacts with your customers, with several sales promotion offers in each.

Done properly, with taste and concern for their satisfaction you can let them know that you:

Want then to feel they are valued customers

Appreciate their business

Would like to do more business with them

Have some specials just for them when buying from you on the net.

Will it happen automatically? No, at least not for the smaller companies. Can it be set up as a routine that runs fairly simply? Yes, by even the smallest seller. In fact, the smaller companies have an advantage, since they often have one person who would handle it all.

Larger companies, even the largest, for the most part are not taking advantage of this overlooked marketing opportunity. Those that want to are often hamstrung by having different functions split amongst several departments. So, in this case, score one for the little guy.

[YNWA]

* Runner Up *

This article with give you an in-depth look at how I started in this business, how I have succeeded and how I have learnt from any mistakes and from people around me.

First off I started selling on eBay properly about September/October 2005, I sold DVD’s on eBay at a great rate and made quite a few quid from it just before Christmas, from there on I was hooked.
After Christmas, I thought what can I do now…? So I came up with a masterplan to buy wholesale iPods and resell on eBay, I thought easy lets find some wholesalers…
So I started searching and searching and it was quite easy to find suppliers, as I was knew to this I didn’t have a clue what sort of prices wholesale iPods sell for. I remember seeing a listing on eBay for 50 iPod Nanos for £3000 and I thought yes £60 each sell them easily for £125+ and make a killing. So I contacted the seller on his email (which he so kindly told me to contact him on instead of using ebay)
** First mistake do not fall for listings on eBay where they ask for contact outside of eBay, they are doing this because the account which they listed from is not theres and it will be taken down soon so they need buyers outside of eBay.

So there I was on MSN talking to this very polite guy from Romania who was offering me 50 iPods for £3000. I thought I was in, hours upon hours of talking to this guy about shipping, payment etc…He had every angle covered. I asked for shipping he gave me a tracking number (from a buyer from a few hours ago) He also gave me the website to go to, to check it out, how kind! So I clicked his links
**Second mistake never click links from other people or email you don’t recognise this apply even more when using secure sites such as PayPal, eBay, basically any site where you need a password.

There I was on this website he gave me, called something like RUPS, I read the site and all the info, put the tracking number in and hey presto it worked and it read…

Tracking No. 1234567
25 XBOX 360
25 iPod Nano 4GB

Shipment delivered to Norris Green, Liverpool 15/11/06

Info above isn’t accurate but you get the point, I seen this and thought this must be legit. I then asked about payment and he told me to send via Western Union (at this stage I didn’t know how unsafe Western Union is). He said for me to send to him in the name of a friend, and that I would not tell him the name I sent it under until I received the tracking…Basically I would send him £3000 and he would give me the tracking after payment sent then I would tell him the name I sent it under.
**Third Mistake, never use Western Union as a payment method to people you don’t know and always insist on a safe method such as Credit Card or Escrow.

At this stage I was over the moon, I though legit supplier (he shown me tracking), great price.
So I asked how he got these iPods so cheap and he tells me from Apple factory in Romania. I don’t know if theres a factory there so I just believed him.

I was ready to go couldn’t wait to get going. So I took one look over the shipping method again RUPS and what I find looks good, it’s a Romanian partner of UPS, great I thought so I went onto UPS and searched and searched for this partner and found nothing. So I went onto eBay Forum and typed in ‘Romanian iPod’ and the posts I found shocked me, people telling stories of how they had paid grands for iPods and never received, every story was the same as mine that I had been given, tracking numbers, western union etc…

Straight away I thought the cheeky, scamming ****! SO I got back on MSN and basically gave him a load of lies that I was going to pay him etc… and then just banned his arse. Couldn’t believe that they had made a fake postal website and they also offered me fake Escrow websites. (Never deal with anything accept www.escrow.com)

This was the closest I have ever come to being scammed, I am determined never to get that close again.

After this I searched everywhere for iPod suppliers and everything I found rang out as scam, it was un-believable how much was out there.
Then on a wet February day I stumbled across www.thewholesaleforums.co.uk I checked it out and it looked like a good place to be. I made a few posts and got a few replies to my iPods, and I found out just how hard these things are to get. I thought damn never going to get these, so I concentrated on building up a reputation on the forum and eBay selling things I could get hold of…accessories.
I sold these for a few weeks and then went on holiday in Feb 06, whilst over there I thought there must be a way to make money doing what I first planned.
So when I got home I was determined to find (a) a legit supplier (b) a good reputation and (c) educate myself properly on how to get on in this business.
I read loads of websites on how to spot scammers, how to find suppliers, I must have bought at least 5 wholesale lists all with the same crap on it. Then I realised everything I needed to know what right here in front of me on the forum.
So I began posting and speaking to people on the forum and getting loads of help and my answers answered. I also found suppliers on there, that I could trust and have confidence in doing business with.

Since I joined this forum I have learned a great deal and hopefully gave a great deal. Since iPods where so hard to come by I decided to move onto an item I could get…PSPs. I changed my shop name and focused more on what I could get instead of what I could get but which was too hard to get regularly.
I have also grew into a Power Seller on eBay, taking over £10,000 in the last 3 months alone not to mention my forum sales which have risen dramatically for which can be seen in my iTrader feedback.

Basically the point of this article is to show, how I have managed to turned something I didn’t have one clue about into something that I understand. I am learning something new every day mainly due to this very forum. My sales keep on rising and more customers keep enquiring and buying.
All of this whilst still in University and only doing the wholesale thing part time. But don’t get me wrong I have put the hours in learn what I know today, if I can do it then anyone can!

A few tips that I have learnt along the way:

• Do your research before you start anything
• Always use secure payment methods
• Use this forum to your advantage, everything you need is here
• Don’t be afraid to ask even if you think you may sound stupid.
• If the price sounds too good to be true then it is! ( I was going to say properly is, but every time I have seen a very very good price it has been a scam)

Any questions you want to ask me then feel free to ask.

Cheers
YNWA

[SaleHoo]

Sometimes you just have to wonder why some buyers actually bid. The auction ends…and then the problems begin.

One of the most frustrating problems is when the buyer never responds. Have they disappeared off the face of the earth? Has their computer exploded? Whatever the reason, they ignore your emails and apparently forget that they purchased a second-hand Beatles record collection off you a couple of days before.


The Non-Responder

What should you do? First of all, you need to send them a couple of reminder emails: the first a couple of days after the auction ends, the second, 7 days after the auction ends. Firmly remind them of their purchase and that payment is due 10 days after auction end.


While you may be fuming, it’s possible that the buyer has a legitimate reason for not responding. A family emergency, illness, computer problems… these are all legitimate reasons why they may not have got in touch. So give them the benefit of the doubt and wait for 10 days before you take further action.


If there is still no response after that time, grit your teeth and consider filing an unpaid item dispute. Then relist your item and consider blocking the non-paying buyer from bidding.


This solution is not completely satisfactory if you suspect the non-responder has simply gone AWOL, but it’s all you can do in the situation. At least you haven’t lost money!
After you’ve filed an unpaid item dispute, eBay should credit your listing fee back and send the non-paying bidder three warning emails. The good news is that eBay is able to suspend non-paying bidders after three warnings.



The Fraudster

A more serious problem - and the greatest risk to eBay sellers - is the fraudulent credit card chargeback. Unfortunately, fraudulent chargeback’s are an unavoidable risk when you receive a payment by credit card or through Paypal.


Chargeback’s occur when the buyer asks their credit card company to remove a charge from their credit card statement. This can take place anytime from immediately after the transaction takes place to months later, and they can be very difficult to appeal.


There are two things you can do. Firstly, be aware of potentially risky situations, and secondly, learn what pieces of documentation can help you appeal a fraudulent chargeback.


So what situations are likely to lead to a chargeback?


Item not as described: This is a common one. If you haven’t provided a full description of your item or stated your terms and conditions clearly, then it’s much easier for a buyer to claim your item wasn’t what they expected.


Buyer asks for the item to be send via urgent shipping at any cost or shipped to a different address: Approach with caution! There have been some instances where buyers have paid with a stolen credit card (hence the different address), resulting in an “unauthorized” payment claim once the real cardholder realized what happened.


But, it’s not always easy to spot these situations. You can’t always assume the worst.
However, if you are unlucky enough to be victim of a fraudulent chargeback, then you’ll have a much greater chance of a successful appeal if you can show the following:

• Proof of tracking and delivery: Always use a shipping company that provides tracking and an online confirmation number. Many shipping companies will also get a signature on delivery if you so desire. This documentation means that it’s easy to prove otherwise if you do get an ‘item not received’ chargeback.
• Ship to a confirmed address: If you use Paypal, then a confirmed address is one that has been identified by Paypal as safer than other addresses. For this reason, it also gives you an extra leg to stand on when appealing a chargeback for non-delivery.
• ALWAYS retain proof of refund if you give one: There’s nothing worse than providing a refund and the buyer initiating a chargeback as well!

And of course, always provide as much detail as possible in your item description. A good description and a couple of good-quality photos are your best protection against chargeback’s for item not as described.


Play it Safe!

http://www.salehoo.com

[marknagurski]

We’ve all done them, and there’s many more, but try to avoid these 5 marketing sins.

1. Start / Stop Marketing –
Once you’ve started to see those customers piling through the door it’s easy to assume your marketing job is done. It’s not. Effective marketing isn’t about any single campaign or idea – it’s about all your efforts and ideas combining to create ‘marketing momentum’.

Your marketing activities should be at the forefront of your business whenever trade is good. It’s at this point when there’s already a buzz about your business and you can be confident in your approach to new customers and clients. If you stop, the momentum and flow of new business will eventually dry up and restarting it from scratch will costly and time consuming.

2. Advertising as Marketing –
Advertising is not Marketing! Well, it is, but it’s only a single tool in your marketing arsenal. Think image, customer service, your product or service itself, the way your phones are answered, your dealings with the media, networking, your website, how often the bins get emptied.

Everything that your customer or client can come in contact with is a marketing opportunity. Everything.

3. Chasing New Business –
The old adage that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers and clients has never been truer. Increasing competition, greater access to information through the Internet and burgeoning consumer confidence all mean that retaining loyal customers is more important, and difficult, than ever before.

Of course you need new business, but your marketing strategy needs to include ways to ensure loyalty, generate word-of-mouth buzz and increase sales volumes from your existing customer or client base. Never assume your current customers will be there forever. After all, your competitors are chasing after them right now.

4. Forgetting the Front Line -
Your staff are the front line of your marketing efforts. Are they excited? Do they treat each customer with respect? Do they look the part? What about you, do you embody the image you’d like your business to portray?

The most carefully crafted marketing message can be immediately undone by the actual customer/client experience. On the other hand, get it right, and your staff become ‘brand ambassadors’ and ‘buzz generators’ for your business.

5. Eggs All, Basket One
Marketing can, at times, be a bit fickle. What works today might not work tomorrow and what works for your competitors might not work for you. If you commit all your energies and your entire budget to a single marketing activity you’ll be in dire straits if it doesn’t come off.

Try dozens, if not hundreds, of low cost ideas, find the ones that work and then ramp them up. If an idea doesn’t work, move onto the next or find ways to ‘fix it’.

You should treat your marketing like a science experiment; test and retest ideas and media to see what works for YOUR business before you commit any serious cash.

[marknagurski]

Making Special Offers Work

Discounts, coupons, sales, vouchers, special offers, loyalty schemes, incentives … everyone loves to get a great deal and that’s why so many companies use price based incentives to generate business. However, simply slashing your prices by 50% in the hope of growing your business is a risky move.

At FreeForm Media we’ve been developing discount incentives for years. With all those discounts going on we’ve learned a thing or two about what makes a successful special offer and what doesn’t. Here are a few pointers:

1. Target the right customer – Different customers use offers in different ways. Your offer, format, value and where and how you promote it will all be affected by who the intended end-user is. Do you want to target existing customers, or find new ones? Would you like to attract the student market, or are OAP’s your ideal clientele?

Start by drawing a detailed picture or your intended participant including who they are, where they are, what they read, how they buy your products or services etc…. You can use that profile to educate every aspect of how you run the campaign.

2. Choose the right offer – Before you start handing out discounts left, right and centre your first thought should be ‘what do I want to achieve?’. You should look at any special offer as an incentive for customers to do something specific. If your offer doesn't create that incentive, don’t do it.

That ‘something specific’ could be to trial your business, become a loyal customer, buy up excess stock, come in at a quiet time, check out a new product or service, tell all their friends about you, in fact, just about anything.

What you want to achieve with the offer will dictate the offer itself. For example, encouraging trial will need an eye-catching offer whereas retaining loyal customers could mean progressive discounts over time. You should consider terms and conditions, the redemption process and how many people you expect to use it.

As a rule of thumb, keep it simple to understand and easy to redeem.

3. Choose the right format – Now you know who the offer is for, and what the offer is, you need to decide the physical form in which the offer will be presented.

Cost, your marketing plan and technical points will help you to determine the right format but the best solution will be the one your target market are most likely to use and respond to. A student probably won’t clip coupons from the local paper but might show a text message to redeem an offer. If you’re targeting a more exclusive clientele that are hesitant to use discounts try a format that’s subtler and more personal – like a credit card style ‘membership’ card.

Consider the following points before deciding on a format:

• How long will it last?
• How exclusive should it be?
• What format best suits my target market?
• How much will it cost?
• How can we track redemption?
• Can we gather customer data with it?
• Does the format match my brand image?
• Can we brand it easily?

4. Promote it – Too often businesses simply ‘do’ a discount in the hope that ‘if we offer it, they will come’. A special offer gives you a viable proposition over and above your normal terms of business – your job is to turn that proposition into an effective marketing message.

If you don’t market your offer, you’ll just end up giving away discounts to people who would’ve bought from you anyway.

5. Track it – Once your offer is out there you need to track the results carefully. Is it bringing in the business? How many people redeem it? Is it increasing their average spend? Is it costing me money?

The questions you’ll need answered will be based on the goals for the campaign you set out at the beginning. Use the data gathered to determine whether or not the offer was a success and make changes for your next incentive-based campaign.

6. Delivery is key – However you choose to run your special offer, make sure you deliver every time. You should go out of your way to welcome and encourage people using the offer and ensure your staff does the same. This is your chance to turn motivated buyers into long-term loyal customers and clients. Do it well and your investment in the special offer will pay dividends for years to come.
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A well-conceived and well-run special offer can be a great way to both generate short-term interest and develop long-term business. However, a badly executed campaign can devalue your products and services, alienate existing customers and even turn people off your business altogether. With this in mind it's worth taking that extra care to ensure your proposed campaign is right for your business and your customers.

[GettingRicher]

This is my third and final post. I've saved the most valuable lesson till last. This is the one that will change your life.

The Secret of Making (BIG) Money

I am that strange beast which is a cross between engineer and entrepreneur. I understand how things work but, mostly, I pay others to do the grunt work so I can spend more time making money. It's curious that people don't understand the concept. Or maybe they don't want to.

Don't get me wrong; I used to enjoy messing with electronics, computer code, car repairs and conversions. Been there; done it all; but it didn't make me rich.

When the light dawned, I decided to free up my time in order to get streams of income coming in that required very little input from me. I used to run my own mail-order business. I'd get up at 8am, take payments, pack jiffy bags and make journeys to the Post Office. I'd finish at 1am and then start over at 8am.

One day I "bit the bullet" and handed my entire mail-order business to a small company that now handles the orders and pays me 50% of the profits. All I do in return is answer customers' questions by email. But it gets better! I pay a young guy £200 a month to answer the questions. So, for a short time I'm earning half what I was earning previously but I'm earning it for zero work.

Then I spend a short time writing books. I convert them to PDF, write a PHP script (with outside help) to handle orders and payments automatically and suddenly I'm earning another £2000 a month and I'm still not doing any work.

So I write a training course comprising weekly lessons. I pay a guy £100 to write a script that automatically takes monthly subscriptions amounting to some £2000 to £5000 a year (hopefully). I'm still not doing any work, apart from short bursts.

Do you see where I'm heading? I hope this doesn't come across as inmodest. I don't want to "blow my own trumpet". ( I'll pay someone else to do that <grin> ). I'm just trying to show you that making money can be easy, provided that any work you do is done once only and is designed to bring you a continuous stream of income for the forseeable future. Don't do any work that brings you a one-off payment. You'll do that forever and you'll never stop working.

(I sell an 80 page book for £19.95 that tells people how to do this. Since you are all my friends, I've given you the synopsis in just a few paragraphs).

Let me repeat the big "secret" of making money:

ANY WORK YOU DO IS DONE ONCE ONLY AND IS DESIGNED TO BRING YOU A CONTINUOUS STREAM OF INCOME FOR THE FORSEEABLE FUTURE. Any other work should be done by someone else.

So, if anyone says "I don't have any money" I'm going to scream. If you don't have even the £100 to pay a programer, here's the place to begin:

http://www.marketingtips.uk.com

BTW: Some people ask me why I use only Apple Macs. Well, a computer is just a tool to me. I'm prepared to spend a little more on a tool that is less likely to break and is easier to use. That's why I use Macs. Time is money. I don't want a computer that's unreliable. I'm not interested in what goes on inside a computer. I'm not going to build a computer to save a few pennies. I just want it NOW and I want it to work - flawlessly.

I hope this is the message that changes your life.