Sunday, December 7th, 2008 at
2:40 pm
Howdy Folks,
I can’t believe Christmas is almost here. I did already start my Christmas shopping which I normally delay until a couple of days before Christmas, so at least I am ahead of schedule on something.
I’ve been busy, busy, busy putzing around on some different projects. I never did complete Ed Dales 30 day challenge, however just by getting to day 10 or so, I got an awesome website started that made the number one spot on Yahoo and the #4 on Google for my main keywords! Simply Incredible.
And to be honest I think I got to those top spots by the information given for only day 6 or 7. It’s a great course, but the type of site I chose to build is really beyond what the course is designed for. I should have chosen a different topic. So I will most likely start another website and go through the course sometime hopefully in the near future.
So what’s with the site I created? Well I won’t go into specifics, but it’s selling hard goods which is and always has been my meal ticket. As great as selling info products is, for me selling hard items on websites and ebay has simply been working tremendously. The site needs a lot of work and I had to take a break as my other sites keep me really busy before Christmas. Orders keep pouring in and I am too stubborn to outsource product fulfillment as I am extremely particular about how things get sent out. Everything from how the items are packaged to getting them out the door ASAP I need to get done unless I am using drop-shippers which frankly drives me nuts.
As convenient as using drop shippers is (no inventory, initial lay-out of cash, etc), there is a huge drawback when it comes to reliability. Stuff I inventory gets sent out right away. Drop shippers seem to take all the time they want. This can be up to a week to get a package sent out. And if they are out of stock on an item and I don’t get notified for a few days that does not sit well with a customer who needs an item and finds out days later that I can’t get it to them. Then of course I need to credit their charge cards .. grrrr
/end rant
But business has been good. With the economy in a recession I am not sure if sales are down over previous years or not. It probably is down a little, but not significantly. I should know by the end of the month in either case.
A new thing I have been working on is another 30 day project. This one is a product creation course. Everyday you get to watch some videos and get a homework assignment which leads you step-by-step to creating your very own info product. So far it’s been simply awesome. Most things I have been doing through the years, however the instructor Kevin Riley puts some unique twists and insights in things which not only teaches you how to do everything, but it also keeps you on track and focused.
Unfortunately, I am way behind on that as well with my time being devoted to fulfilling product sales. Also the topic I chose for this product creation course is also something that is maybe a little too much. I’ll let you in on this one. Hopefully by letting the cat out of the bag, that will encourage me to finish.
It’s a guitar learning info product which will be video based. I think it’s going to take me longer to do this than writing an ebook. I still need to write nearly everything out I am going to say on video, although it does not have to be polished writing. There will also be a book that the customer will get in addition to the videos. But the slow part is I really need to brush up on my guitar playing. I need to get in better form before I can start shooting video.
Once I finish the course, I will make it available to others as well. So take this as advance knowledge that an awesome product creation course will be available by me soon.
January will be another busy month as I try to catch-up on all these delayed projects. Hopefully I have more to share with you then.
Until then take care! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
- Rupps