Archive for February, 2008

The Great PowerSeller Deception

Friday, February 29th, 2008

It’s human nature to want to achieve something. What normal person is not delighted to be recognized by a person or organization in authority and praised for their accomplishments?

This type of recognition can be likened to a ladder of success that you are encouraged to climb. For example, teachers commonly award colored stars to children who perform well. These stars are even stuck on a display board for other students to see.

The eBay PowerSeller program falls into the same category.

You are probably already familiar with the term ‘PowerSeller’ but in case you are not, the term was started by eBay as a way of recognizing their top sellers, in a tiered system, according to total monthly gross sales.

At the eBay Live events (the annual eBay conference), sellers can be seen proudly wearing an extra tag on their badge that identifies them as a particular level of PowerSeller. It’s a big deal to most sellers. Strangely enough though, when they are back in their hotel no one else has a clue about what a PowerSeller is, much less care that the person has an extra label on their badge..

Be very careful about your perception of the ‘PowerSeller’ label. It is simply eBay’s way of encouraging achievement among members. In a way, it’s crafted as a kind of club, which everyone is encouraged to be part of. To the untrained eye it appears to be a valid goal to aspire to. And as you might expect, eBay promotes this view - they want all sellers to become PowerSellers because it makes the company look more successful, and hence more valuable to investors.

What Does Being a PowerSeller Really Mean? In financial terms, being a PowerSeller simply means that within a period of three months, a seller sold at least $1000 worth of goods or services per month. However, it does not make any guarantee that the seller made any profits from those sales. For example, a seller may have sold $10,000 worth of watches, winning them the title of PowerSeller after 3 months of such sales, but if they had paid $15,000 each month for those watches, they actually lost $5,000 per month.

Having the PowerSeller title applied to a seller also does not guarantee that their business is run ethically. eBay stipulates that a PowerSeller’s feedback percentage must remain at 98% or higher, but this does not seem to be strictly enforced. If a seller falls below that mark they are commonly given time to improve. Although 98% may sound high, in real terms that could mean 10 deeply unhappy buyers out of 500 transactions. In my view, that is unacceptable. A 99% or higher rating should be easily achievable by any reputable seller.

You only need to browse eBay briefly to discover countless PowerSellers with many negative feedbacks. Beware!

As we’ve already established, it’s human nature to seek recognition in what we do, and eBay makes the most of this natural in-built desire by offering and actively promoting the PowerSeller program. Sellers are continually encouraged to work their way up the ‘success ladder’ to reach the ‘goals’ of each level of the PowerSeller program.

Although there are some small benefits as a result of achieving certain levels of sales, there is a very significant practical downside to being a PowerSeller that most eBay users are ignorant of.

So why should you avoid becoming a PowerSeller generally? Actually there are several reasons to steer clear of the program. One of the reasons you do NOT want to be a PowerSeller is that having that label brings attention from both eBay (the company) and other sellers.

You may or may not know that eBay actively seeks out PowerSellers because they know that they are serious about selling on eBay, and by extension they probably produce the majority of eBay’s profits. eBay staff contact PowerSellers by phone and email regularly, to encourage them to expand their business. Here’s the downside: in offering practical help, eBay needs to look at your listings!

On the surface, that seems like a good thing, right? Well, for traditional sellers it is, but we’re not traditional sellers are we?

The main problem lies in the ambiguity of many of eBay’s policies. Throw into the mix a wide variety in the quality of training of staff members, and the net result is that some staff are more diligent than others in asking sellers to correct what they perceive to be policy violations. The same problem exists in any organization the size of eBay. It’s impossible to be completely consistent and enforce policies that are open to interpretation and that don’t apply to every seller in every situation.

Being a PowerSeller also attracts the attention of other eBay sellers. eBay encourages this by giving PowerSellers a special logo that appears at the top of each listing page by default.

While I genuinely believe that most sellers are good and honest people, it’s also true that a few get some kind of sadistic pleasure from reporting minor infringements of other sellers to eBay. PowerSellers definitely bear the brunt of these attacks – it seems that some people resent the apparent success of others.

The bottom line is, considering all the factors, it’s better to stay away from the PowerSeller program other than perhaps using it for one eBay account for the times when you need to establish credibility or be listened to by eBay customer service.

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Have You Thought About Selling…Health and Beauty?

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008

Health & Beauty is one of the fastest growing categories on eBay, fueled by increased awareness and repeat purchases of consumable items. This category attracts more unique visitors than any other online health and beauty retailer. It seems that more and more people are discovering the benefits of buying beauty products directly on eBay.

Many buyers like being able to shop from the comfort of home, not to mention the competitive prices available online.

Expanding your business into the Health & Beauty category allows you as a seller some unique opportunities to win loyal customers who will recommend you to others. Many of the items offered in this category are consumable, meaning that your customer will need to replace the items over and over again. And if you can create an exceptional buying experience for them, they will likely do just that when it comes time to replenish their supply. You may even be surprised to learn that price is often not the most important factor in a buyer’s decision to purchase.

There are several things you can do to not only attract buyers in the first place but to also turn them into loyal, repeat customers who will recommend you to their friends. Remember, the difference between standing out in their minds and being ‘lumped in’ with thousands of other sellers is very simple: you must be different. Think about and research what other sellers in this category are doing, and find ways to be as different to them as possible.

Do not get sucked into price wars. There will inevitably be another seller who will try to undercut you at some point, and if that’s the only reason your customers buy from you, you will find yourself without any business very quickly. Instead, make sure your prices are competitive, and look for other ways to stand out.

Again, it’s so important to understand that price is only one factor a buyer considers, and is often not the most important. For more evidence of this, see the stats and trends section in this issue. It’s very eye-opening about why buyers use eBay.

What else can you do to stand out from the crowd?

Offer something no other seller is offering. ‘Free’ is a magic word in marketing. Anything you can offer to your customers for free is great, especially if it has value to them. Free gifts are always great, especially if the gift relates in some way to the item the buyer is considering purchasing.

For example, if they are purchasing a hair straightener, including a nice quality bottle of straightening lotion that they would otherwise have had to buy can make you stand out from the crowd.

Free shipping is another winner. If other sellers are offering competitive shipping prices, offer it free! The repeat business you will gain in the long run will far outweigh the pennies you may lose out on in shipping costs.

Offer a completely risk-free guarantee. And I mean completely risk-free. If the item isn’t exactly what they were expecting, offer them a no-questions-asked full money-back guarantee, including their shipping costs. This may sound risky to you, but you will be surprised at how few buyers will ever take you up on this offer. However, the confidence level this creates in their minds instantly puts you a step above other sellers selling the same item. And how many other sellers do you know of who offer this kind of guarantee? Exactly.

Create a memorable service experience. It’s no good to just provide good customer service – you need to go above and beyond to create a truly memorable experience that will have them looking for more things to buy from you. Ship items out the same day you receive payment. Never ship using slow, cheaper methods, such as Media Mail. Wherever possible use Priority Mail to ensure their item is delivered as fast as humanly possible. The only downside of buying online is that customers have to wait to receive their item – if you can get it to them faster than they expect, they will be delighted and willremember that when they come to replace their products. In short, go out of your way to make sure your customer is both completely satisfied and happy – it can mean the difference between a one-time buyer and long-term, loyal customer.

If you are considering the fast-growing health & beauty marketplace, remember to look for ways to be different and always provide your customers with an outstanding and memorable experience.

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Understanding Buyers

Sunday, February 24th, 2008

My wife and I were recently driving from Salt Lake City down to Las Vegas, and fortunately we have similar tastes in music - I can’t imagine how challenging it would be if one person liked light classical while the other preferred heavy rock. Come to think of it, I can imagine how it would be because I’ve been in a similar situation with a work colleague many years ago, when we had to drive from London to Scotland – 8 hours of torture. Mind you, he probably felt the same way about my music selection…

Anyway, back to the story. We were on our road trip, just the two of us in the car. Out of the blue, Luci says “wow, the words to this song are powerful, aren’t they?” Well, that observation stopped me in my tracks because truthfully I hadn’t been listening to the words at all. I couldn’t even begin to offer even the slightest insight about them because I’d only been listening to the melody and completely ignoring the words. It was as if the words had just washed over me.

When I explained this to Luci it prompted a lively discussion about how we each listen to music, and indeed it turned out that Luci mainly listens to the words, whereas I’m much more interested in the melody.

This was a quite a revelation to me. I had assumed for years that everyone listened to the tune first, and that the words were secondary. It dawned on me like a lightning flash that I had been totally in the dark about this. I discovered that many people do listen very carefully to the words as their main focus, and the melody is less important to them. Amazing!

So that situation reminded me of a lesson I discovered some years ago. The point of the lesson being that we all have a different way of buying, and if we’re in business to sell, we tend to sell like we buy. Let me repeat that: we tend to sell like we buy, because we think everyone else is the same as us.

I’ll explain…

If you are the type of buyer that shops around and compares prices, you’ll tend to also sell in that way, unwittingly encouraging your customers to shop around and compare, or at least point out to them that your prices are lower than others.

If you are the type of buyer that looks for convenience above all else, again, you’ll sell in the same way. You’ll emphasize the convenience of buying from you above other factors.

If you are the type of person that buys on impulse, regardless of whether you can afford it, you’ll encourage others to do the same, and again, that will come through strongly in the words you use to sell whatever it is you are selling.

If you are the type of person that likes to seek approval from your husband/wife/partner then you’ll tend to sell in that way too, acknowledging that the buyer will probably need to seek approval for the purchase.

Obviously these impulses are involuntary, we can’t help it because it’s ingrained.

Again, to reinforce the point, just as with music where different people focus subconsciously on different aspects of a song, each of us tends to buy in different ways, because we automatically assume that others are the same as us.

Hopefully you can see by now that there’s a great danger in selling like we buy, because not everyone is like us. Everyone is different. It follows that if we assume every customer buys like we buy, we’ll only have success a small amount of the time when there’s a match in the personality types.

Now that you’re aware of this issue, you can do something about it.

The first step is to identify your buying traits. In line with the examples I just mentioned, what do you look for primarily when making a purchase? It might be one of the things I highlighted, it might be something else. If there are several things, then write them down so you’ll easily remember them.

Once you have that in mind, you can devise your eBay listings more carefully, making sure that you don’t bias your copy (the words you use to sell) towards the way you buy. That alone will make your listings more effective.

What makes this a little challenging is that you can’t see your customer, and it is one of the downsides to selling online, including on eBay. If you were able to talk to customers directly, see their facial expressions and demeanor, then you’d be able to tailor your comments to be able to persuade them more effectively.

Right now, we don’t have that luxury, although innovations like Skype will probably help that process over the next few years because being able to hear a customers comments and potential concerns is extremely valuable. As a side note, we need more eBayers using Skype, so spread the word about how easy and inexpensive it is.

More on that later this issue.

So, although we can’t see our buyers right now, we can usually identify certain traits about them, based on what we are selling.

It’s well worthwhile thinking about what age range they are, whether they are male or female (or divided), how passionate they are about the niche, etc.

Beyond these things, try and acknowledge the variety of customer buying traits that will come across your listings. If you recognize as many of these traits as possible within your auction descriptions, you’ll sell more, it’s as simple as that. Why? Because they’ll feel as if you’re talking directly to them.

This is a crucial lesson in buyer psychology that most eBay sellers are completely in the dark about.

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How Important is Feedback Percentage

Thursday, February 21st, 2008

Confession time. I admit it. One of my big bug bears is eBay sellers with a low percentage of positive feedback. I believe there’s no excuse for anything less than 95%, and even that should be considered borderline.

If you deliver what you say you’re going to deliver, and provide excellent customer service, negative feedback should be extremely rare for you.

I came across some fascinating information recently that reinforced to me how important it is to maintain the highest possible feedback percentage.

Most of us would feel great at having 99.9% feedback, or 99.9% as a grade for anything, but as the following stats show, 99.9% can be unacceptable in many situations. It’s certainly sobering to consider.

So, these would be the results of 99.9% accuracy in various situations:

22,000 checks would be deducted from wrong bank accounts every hour


1,314 phone calls would be wrongly routed every minute


12 babies would be given to wrong parents each day in the USA


5,517,200 cases of soft drinks would be completely flat


2 plane landings would be unsafe at Chicago O’Hare every day


2 million documents would be lost by the Inland Revenue each year (no comment)

811,000 fautly rolls of 35mm film would be sold each year

268,500 defective car tires would be sold every year

2,488,200 books would be printed with the wrong covers each year

You get the idea.

Like I said, sobering to consider isn’t it?

Feedback is a precious commodity that is your reputation on eBay. Do everything you can to maintain 100% or as near to it as possible. You’ll stand out as different, in a very very positive way.

Remember:

100%

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Bids and Pieces

Monday, February 18th, 2008

When selling physical items that are not brand new, avoid angry buyers by being completely accurate and clear with your description.

Many sellers will leave out information that they consider to be insignificant, or that they believe will reduce the number of bids. For example, information about scratches, blemishes or other imperfections are left out. This is false reasoning.

When the buyer receives the item they will feel let down and deceived, a reaction that no seller should wish on any buyer. Your aim is to have complete satisfaction, and full disclosure is the only way to go. You’ll be surprised that rather than reducing bids, it encourages buyers because they realize you are being completely honest.

Here’s Another tip for building a great relationship with buyers.

Imagine that each buyer is your only buyer.

Whether or not you are a religious person, there’s a superb lesson in the bible to live by, namely to treat others as you would want to be treated by them.

If your current buyer was your only buyer, wouldn’t you go to extraordinary lengths to make sure they had a positive experience with you? Wouldn’t you ensure that they were completely happy with their purchase?

It’s really not that difficult to provide great customer service, it’s just that most people don’t even think about it. That’s the key. You need to be constantly aware of it, and that’s why treating each customer as if they’re your only customer will help that process immensely.

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Sunny and Snow

Friday, February 15th, 2008

The British have a fascination (some might say obsession) with the weather - they just can’t help talking about it at every opportunity. Actually, it’s probably the number one topic of conversation in pubs across the UK. Right now millions of Brits across the country are talking about the weather for no good reason other than it’s a nice ice-breaker when talking to strangers.

Ironically, even though I live in Utah now (I’m originally from the UK), the subject of the weather still crops up quite frequently because there’s a saying around these parts that if you don’t like the weather to wait five minutes and it’ll change. Something about being in a valley surrounded by mountains apparently, and it’s actually a fairly accurate statement. Sunshine and snow frequently share the same day.

So here’s why I raised this topic. I keep hearing what I consider to be bizarre comments from friends and other locals here in Salt Lake City. They keep telling me that many service businesses virtually ‘hibernate’ in the winter because there’s no demand, or the winter conditions make it too difficult.

Firstly, the suggestion that snow or rain should stop businesses from working is ridiculous. There are a bunch of states north of us that really experience winter, and might justifiably have some challenges to serving their customers.

Secondly, conversations like this should remind you how fortunate we are to have eBay. With potential customers from literally all corners of the globe - the weather - or virtually any other geographic or seasonal factors become insignificant.

Why would anyone want to be involved in any business where part of their year was wiped out by something as unpredictable as the weather? Beats me. It’s not like eBay is some secret site where only certain people of a certain height, color, or weight can join. It’s open to everyone, and these days everyone’s heard of eBay so it’s not that they don’t know about it.

I know. It’s hard to tell friends to stop complaining over things that they are in full control of, whether they realize it or not. I sympathize to an extent, but no one is forcing them to stay in their current occupation. I get the feeling that some people are so entrenched in being negative they don’t even realize it. They don’t know any other way.

In fact, that reminds me of the story about two families that drive into a new town. The father of the first family stops by the side of the road, winds down his window and calls out to an old gentleman, clearly a local.

We’re planning on moving here. Tell me, what sort of people live in this town” asks the newcomer.

What sort of folks were in the town where you used to live?” asks the old man?

Awful, couldn’t stand them” comes the reply.

Same here” says the old man.

A few hours later the second family approach the same old man and the father says:

We’re thinking of moving here. Tell me, what kind of people live here?”

Again, the old man says: “What kind of people lived in your old town?”

They were great, really wonderful.”

Same here” says the old man.

The lesson should be obvious. YOU hold the key to your future, and the key might be in your attitude. Always strive to be positive, look for the good in others, and preserve in creating your own success, no one else will do it for you.

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Renegade eBay Strategy - Let’s talk about feedback

Tuesday, February 12th, 2008

Let’s talk about feedback. We all know that feedback is an essential component of eBay, in fact it’s probably a large part of why the company has been so successful.

In marketing terms we might refer to feedback as social proof. I’ll explain what I mean. We all make decisions based on what others do, yes we are influenced by others to an extraordinary degree.

If someone tells us that they enjoyed a great meal or watched a really good movie, chances are that we’ll do the same, based on their recommendation. That’s social proof.

The principle works on eBay too. When we read the feedback comments left by buyers and sellers we take note. If those comments are predominantly positive then we naturally trust the person behind that account.

So not only is feedback an essential aspect of eBay that virtually all buyers and sellers devote significant amount of time to reading, it is one that deserves more attention than you give it now.

For most sellers, leaving feedback is a few rushed words, fairly generic, and posted without much thought. The renegade seller on the other hand realizes that there is an opportunity to make more of this important aspect of eBay.

Firstly, don’t leave feedback to chance. Rather than letting buyers write the first thing that comes into their heads, prompt them a little. How can you do that without seeming impolite or demanding?

Send out an e-mail around the time you expect them to have received their item, and politely ask them not to leave feedback until they are 100% satisfied. If there’s something that needs to be fixed, tell them you want to do that. Let them know that you live for happy customers!

Next, guide them as to what to write. Suggest to them that your customers are delighted because of the fast shipping, friendly service, fair mailing costs, quality of items, and any other benefits you can think of. This is an NLP technique that plants the thought in their mind, so that when they come to leave you feedback, you’ve already told them what to mention! Is this deceiving customers? No, not if you genuinely do deliver these benefits. You are simply helping to remind them.

Another important renegade feedback strategy is to include a marketing message in the feedback YOU leave. For example, instead of the usual, “Great transaction, recommended eBayer etc etc” that most buyers and sellers default to, use the space to further promote your items.You might say, “Thanks from BobMillsPosters.com – eBay’s #1 Collectable Poster Store.”

In the above example, notice that the feedback message points people back to a domain name, which would be either the eBay store or your own website. Also, notice that the first letter of each word is capitalized – an effective marketing technique to make the wording stand out.

Remember, feedback comments stay on an account for a very long time, so use that precious ‘real estate’ wisely.

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“Squish and Send It”

Saturday, February 9th, 2008

These days computer file sizes are getting larger and larger, and I suspect you’ve experienced the same challenges as me in sending files to others. Most email providers limit attachment sizes to less than 5Mb, which is often too small.

I’ve found a solution! Here’s what you do…

Firstly, you need to zip all files that you plan to send. WinZip, WinRar and Stuffit are probably the most common tools out there, and they make the process easy and painless.

Zipping’ serves two functions – it reduces the file sizes, and then packages the files in a format that is universally acceptable.

Next, sign up for your free account at www.yousendit.com. It’s not a requirement to sign up, but I recommend that you do, as more features will be available to you.

The ‘yousendit.com’ service is super easy to use. You simply select the file on your hard drive, enter an email address where you want it sent, and type a brief message if applicable.

The file gets uploaded to the yousendit.com server, and a message gets delivered to the recipient you specified earlier. The message explains how they can download the file, which again is very easy.

Bear in mind that files are only active (available) for 30 days, so it’s worth reminding the recipient to download the file immediately, before it gets cleared off the server.

This service is so easy that anyone can use it, you don’t have to be computer literate. I hope you get as much benefit from it as I have.

www.yousendit.com

www.winzip.com

www.rarlab.com

www.stuffit.com

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Stats and Trends - January 2007

Wednesday, February 6th, 2008

For the first time in quite awhile, video game consoles have knocked the iPod off the number one spot for most searched for items. Video game consoles now dominate the top 10 searches on eBay, with the number one slot going to Playstation 3, then Wii, then XBOX 360. PSP also appears in the top ten, although further down the list.

The largest stores are currently CarPartsWholesale, RedTagMarket, MovieMarz and NorthKeyMovies, all of which specialize in DVD sales, and finally InflatableMadnessLLC which offers Books, CD’s, DVD’s, and video games to the kids market.

Brand names continue to be very popular, so here are the top searches of words that are brands:

Abercrombie

Avon

Banana Republic

Barbie

Anthropologie

Apple (ipod)

Aveda

Blackberry

HP

Dell

Nintendo

Sony

American Eagle

It’s interesting to note that virtually all these brands center around clothing or electronics, which of course are two of the hottest selling categories on eBay.

Product keywords currently center around books:

Textbooks

Books

Paperback book

Hardcover book

Science book

Overall, the top searches focus on clothes:
Vintage

Black

Shirt

Silver

White

Brand

Leather

Dress

Shoes

Tshirt

Jeans

Within the books category, the most popular searches are:

Harry Potter (do we need to say any more?)

Easton press (collectible books)

Bible (just the world’s most popular book)

Stephen King (best selling horror genre writer)

If I did it (OJ Simpson book that was withdrawn from being published)

Nora Roberts (Popular romance author)

James Patterson (Best selling author)

Nancy Drew (there’s a movie coming out)

Eragon (the movie is popular currently)

OJ Simpson (the book scandal)

The largest eBay bookstores are:

Bookmarkme2006

FreeBookShipping

Universal Athenaeum

Deals Galore New Books FAST

Best Bargain Books

Diet books ‘The South Beach Diet’ and ‘The Ultimate Weight Solution’ by Dr Phil are still very popular.

In the world of fiction, Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code is still the number one most popular book.

Another update next month…

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Why You Must Join a Mastermind Group

Sunday, February 3rd, 2008

For the last year I’ve been a member of a $14,000 a year Internet Mastermind group, setup by Yanik Silver, who’s one of the most respected online entrepreneurs in the world of marketing.

You may or may not be familiar with the mastermind concept – either way please pay attention to what I’m about to tell you. This is extremely important, and if you take note, this tip will be worth your entire annual subscription for many years – that’s a promise. Oh, and don’t worry about the money, you’re not going to have to fork out 14 grand.

Let me first explain what a mastermind is.

A mastermind group commonly consists of anywhere between 4 and 18 members who have the same goal of expanding their business. Personally, I believe between six and twelve members is the sweet spot. You definitely don’t want any more than 18, and that’s probably pushing it.

At each meeting (we meet three times a year), each member is expected to share their best strategies, techniques, and be willing and eager to help everyone else take their business to a much higher level. When each member contributes in that way, the results are fantastic. In Yanik’s group, literally millions of dollars have been created simply by following this concept of being willing to share. When everyone is willing to give out, they receive back ten fold.

Obviously the dynamics of the group are important. There needs to be some kind of synergy between members so that everyone respects each other. In other words, I don’t believe you should have a mix of newbies and experienced sellers in one group – that would be frustrating to everyone, like a class of students where some feel held back while others are out of their depth.

I can confidently tell you that the mastermind concept has made a bigger impact on my business compared with anything else I’ve done in recent years. Why? There’s a number of reasons. First, you surround yourself with a team of expert consultants that analyse your business, take it apart, and then re-build it to be much stronger. They see things you would never have picked up on in a million years, which when implemented help you take it to another level. That kind of independent analysis is extremely important because we all get too close to our businesses; we all assume we know the best way of doing something, when often there’s a much better way that was staring us in the face all along – we just didn’t see it.

Secondly, there is accountability. At each meeting, you are expected to share your progress with the group. Without that accountability, you can roam free, and things get done when they get done. Knowing that you are answerable to the group for what you’ve accomplished since the last meeting is a strong motivator, and it provides the deadlines that many of us need.

Thirdly, there are the joint venture opportunities. As you get to know the other members, you’ll see natural ways to work together, and the partnerships that are forged can be extremely useful. In our group, I’ve teamed up with a number of members on projects where we’ve combined our strengths to produce and market all kinds of products and services, both on and off the eBay marketplace.

Lastly, there is positive reinforcement. It’s no secret that when you surround yourself with successful people, you become more successful. It makes sense, and it really does work that way.

By the way, there are many other benefits that I haven’t talked about and that space simply doesn’t allow, but I hope by now you understand the power of the mastermind concept.

So let’s get practical. How can YOU benefit from this information? Firstly, I suggest you read the book, ‘Meet and Grow Rich’ by Joe Vitale. He goes into depth about how the mastermind meetings should be run. Then, research your nearest Independent Business Advisor Chapter on dankennedy.com – get yourself along to their meetings, and start participating. I recommend Dan Kennedy’s groups because they are well structured and run. As an alternative, there are other groups like Chamber of Commerce, Breakfast Clubs and so on. These are not true mastermind groups, but they still have value.

I also urge you to setup your own local group. We’ve done that here in Salt Lake City and it’s working extremely well. We have six members and we get together every other week in a meeting room at our local library. How did we all meet in the first place? I met two of the members at a national marketing seminar, and then we each suggested someone else that we knew. It’s a great group and I know I can speak for everyone in saying that it’s an extremely valuable part of our business now. There’s no fees involved, we work on the basis of freely sharing each others experience, and that works well. No one has taken advantage of that, but if they did they would be warned and then out in a heartbeat if they continued to take without giving back.

Let me sum up be telling you that I firmly believe that if I’d discovered the mastermind concept years ago, I would probably have been retired by now while in my mid 30’s – that’s how powerful this is. Don’t waste another moment, do whatever you can to get involved in a group as soon as possible, or create your own.

RESOURCE:

E-mail howard@dankennedy.com and ask him to direct you to your local Independent Business Advisor. Many of them have setup local mastermind groups.

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