Thursday, October 29, 2009

Best Shipping Practices

For small items, Use PayPal to send First Class.

When possible, use USPS Priority, because it is often cheaper than the rest.

UPS is a joke. Seriously. The online label creation sucks, and the billing sucks too. Not to mention the fact those crooks still owe me like $150 that I will never see again.

The best thing to do, it setup a business account with FedEx. Ask to speak with a Sales Representative about special pricing. When he calls you back, talk up a storm about how you use UPS and USPS right now, but would prefer to use them instead. Unfortunately, the prices are higher than what you already pay, so you really need a discount to start with, so that you can justify the transition. If you do it right, they will low ball everyone else, and you can use them for everything. The billing is automatic, and the shipping label creation is a breeze.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Posting On Yellow Page Websites

I've mentioned this before, but it needs repeating. In 3 months:

Number of Calls From Customers: 2

Number of Calls from Salesmen: 893

Friday, October 23, 2009

PeachTree

I went on their website and found a free webinar I could sign up for, to get a personalized walk through. Thinking that they actually cared, I signed up. Instead, I got some bullshit email from a $7.50/hr salesman. I need to reply. With all this hard work I have been doing to learn about marketing and getting customers, I had no choice. The following is my reply:

I am still waiting for that "Free Webinar" that I signed up for several days ago. You know, the one that would have helped me decide if your product was right for my business. But, yeah, generic SPAM that says "Buy My Product" works just as well too. I especially like that part that says "Dear John," then nothing else. Again, compelling, and competent. I can't wait to buy now....

I never did hear back from him.

Western Union Sucks Too

So, I had lost my Bank Card, so I needed to order a new one. I had thought that $1000 would be a nice low value to send through Western Union.... Nope. They asked me a million questions, ran a credit check, and left me feeling quite violated. I told the operator that I send thousands of dollars through their system every week, and just because I needed to use a different card, this completely ruined any level of privacy I could have had. Gawd, i hate using them sometimes.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

CopyWriters

I posed on CraigsList for a blog/advertising/copywriter. I said the following:

I am in need of someone, preferably in the New Haven area, that is willing to come to my office and write articles, product descriptions and advertisements about Cell Phones. After you have become familiar with the products and style, you would no longer need to come to my office. This is less about being technical writing, more about creative writing about a technical product. If you have an interest, send some short samples with hourly desired wage. The days and times are semi flexible, but I prefer evenings for a few hours each, starting at 8pm. This would be regular, ongoing work.

10 people replied so far, and NOT ONE could follow my direction. I was so appauled at the garbage I was being sent, I started emailing them back pointing out why their email sucked. I'm sorry, but I expected SO much more from writers. The designers followed direction better than the writers did. Even the person that said they followed details didn';t do what i asked. Amazing.

What a mess

It is incredibly difficult to run a business when you have no money. It seems that all the friggin' time, my personal money is used to buy phones, and money from phones is used to pay all my bills. It gets terribly confusing, and I am not in the situation yet that allows me to separate my business from my personal finances. I all just seems to come rushing in at me in waves. I know I am making plenty of money, but it is so hard to keep track of.

For example, I had a small profit pile of $120. But, I need some ofice supplies and whatnot. So, I take the money to Staples and buy $100 worth of stuff. This puts $20 in my pocket, $100 to staples, and I wait on $33 in rebates. My wife then runs over a screw, blows the tire, and copntinues to drive not noticing she is ruining the tire. So the $20 of profits, and $113 of business money, is now used to buy her a new tire. Now, my next wave of profits, needs to be used to pay for her tire until she has the money to pay me, and the business back.

Are you confused yet? I sure am....

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Quicken 2010

I used Microsoft Money. But since microsoft has stopped making the product, I decided to jump to Quicken, now that they inlcuded a fully supported importation of data. I have ound Quicken 2010 to be terribly buggy, where it will crash randomly. Apparently, my 5 accounts at one bank seem to make it self destruct. At one point, I told it to do something, and even knowing full well it was about to destory all my business data, would not let me escape from the command. I just watched it destory hours of work while I banged on the escape key.

I had watched a video where someone at Quicken said "It is so easy to use our software. I can bring your entire financial data up to date, in the same time it takes to go for ice cream.

Wow, that some long trip. I've been at this shit for hours now.

TV to Watch

If I failed to mention it yet, go to www.gotbiz.tv which is a website that hosts 6 or 7 weekly shows about starting and running your own business. It is only about a month old, so there isn't a ton of content yet, but there are a few hours worth of shows to watch.

Next Book

The next big book you should start reading is Chet Holmes - The Ultimate Sales Machine. Unless you are reading one of the other books I have suggested, you should stop what your doing, and go get this one. Worth every penny and then some. Sometimes it feels like it gets a little repetitive and does not move off the topic, but then starts shooting off information, ideas, and concepts at a pace faster than I can mentally grasp. I am listening to the audiobook in my car (like usual) and I find that I keep pausing it, so that I can think about what was just said, and what I can do to implement the idea for my own business. Great, great stuff. This is one of those super long, amazing, stop what your doing and change course, type of books. It is 11(!!!) Cd's and could have easily been 5 or 6 seprate books all dealing with different aspects of your business. But, the fact that it only cost you a few dollars, and will give a lifetime of information is another one of those great finds.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

More eBay B.S.

I just confirmed something I had noticed before. If I say a Buy It Now winner must pay right away, that does NOT count if they make an offer that is accepted. Well, now I gotta chanse this person down for the payment. Another waste of my energies.

Seriously. I am collecting all this information as things to NOT do anymore.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

TradeKey.com

While looking into setting up TradeKey.com, they want almost $400 fo like 10 items. Damn, and I thought ebay was off their rocker. Alibaba.com is at least 50 for free. Of course, then they want the big bucks to go over that. Oh well. I will keep trying. At some point, I will find somnething that is actually worth the cost of entry.

ExtortionPal

Apparently ExtortionPal is holding onto 10% of ALL my transactions. Even books... why the fuck are they holding onto a reserve for books?!? Apparently, come december, I am going to be sent a whole mess of ebay money. What a waste of my energies. I am lucky if I make 10% profit after eBay fees, and now they are holding onto that too. Seriously, I've got to get away from all these large online venues for services. Amazon, eBay, PayPal, iOffer, Google... they are all nothing but automated systems designed to stop me from making an honest living. I swear, I would have less troubles if I sold crack on the corner.

Cancelling iOffer

Apparently, my account was suspended because I sell generic phones tyhat look like brand phones. Oh, for the love of god....

So I look up how to cancel the account and get my held money back. It saiys to click the cancel button... of course the button is not actually linked to anything. Fucking Nice. Further waste of my time and energies...

Friday, October 9, 2009

iOffer Sucks

One of my items was removed because it looks like a Sony phone. Whatever.

I owe then $2.50 from a sale that the buyer backed out of. Since they have really shitty cancellation policy, (ie: I can't do it) they suspended my account until I paid it. Oh, for christ sake.... they make like they are the bee all end all.... 2 months later, all I have had are people asking me to ship to various european countries. What a waste of time they are.

I know that any of the other sites are just as obnxious and wasteful of my time. I just wish my own website had a bit more traffic. I need to get down and dirty with the advertising again. I've noticed that the traffic has slowed since I haven't made a video in about a month. Good to know.

Friday, October 2, 2009

PayPal can officially Go Fuck Thelselves

"PayPal is temporarily holding in reserve 10.00% of the value of all your transactions on Oct. 2, 2009. The funds will be available to you in 60days."

Dear Paypal,
I am trying to run a business. Holding 10% for 60 days, on TOP of the 10% Ebay and Paypal already extorted from the sale in Fees, Will put me out of business. If I, and all other sellers go out of business, you will not make anymore fees. This is why I stopping selling on Amazon, because of a stunt like this..

As a not-so-valued customer of 8+ years, I will no longer accept your form of currency for my products. I will also proudly display your logo with a big red X through it. Paypal, Go fuck yourself.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

eBay Fees

Holy Fuck... I had this $300 phone here for a few weeks now, and figured maybe I could sell it on eBay. Which worked, it was sold in about 24 hours.... then came the fees...

Insertion: Free
Buy It Now: .25
Reserve: $2.00
Final Value: $19.99
PayPal: $8.85

Total Rape: $31.09

Whenever I need to use them, I always learn the same lesson over and over again. The only person making any money on ebay, is ebay.
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