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I remember business 101 the first time I went to college a millenium ago. Simplicity and thinking it through was the key. Those were business principles. Do they still hold true? There was no Ebay, Google, MSN, or Yahoo! at the time. Could there be? They told us in college, yet again, this time around "do what you know and do best". Do what you love and the money will come. Yada yada. I researched how other businesses started. Peg at Ebay knew a lot about Pez dispensers so that was their focus the first year or so. I'm an entrepreneur. My mind is complex. Chances are, if you are reading this, so is yours. Some days we are ready to conquer the world, some days we are in bed late licking our wounds from trying to conquer it yesterday. Zen is at work here. There is a yin and a yang pulling us in either direction. The secret is to get centered, focused, and open to learn. Take advantage of the opportunities on the net by spending a few extra hours a week researching. Most e-books I've found are replicas of others and offer nothing new or cutting-edge. All the information in them are free at websites and usually better-written with less typos. And I tend to run from Internet gurus anyway. I suggest you do the same. Why sell what everyone else is selling, even if they are the "hottest products on the market". Unless you are a trust-fund baby, you won't win. I'd rather sell kitchen cutting boards that sell well than Calvin Kleins best fragrances. Why? Why not. Why beat my head against the wall competing with people who have been doing it for years, have a name, have more resources, etc. Provide a service or product that is needed, carve a niche, get wealthy, and have fun. There are billions or products and services just laying domannt waiting for the right person to come along and market them correctly. It is all a matter of taste and style. It need not be the next hybrid car or Pentium 10. It could be a vacuum cleaner that does something very different. It could be a special pet food that improves the quality of life. It is all up to you. Copyrighting your own designs simply deepens your brand and public awareness. If you don't want to sell someone else's sell your own! I own several stores that sell a myriad of products, but none of them really specialize in a niche product. I want to try what the superstars tried when they got started. My "success" evolved over the years by having a following; but not necessarily because I was using the marketing technique of "finding a niche". So after more research I opened a "funny apron shop"; yes that's right, funny aprons. Nothing too sexy about funny aprons of course. I don't expect Austin Powers to come forward and say "Funny aprons, Shagadellic!!!" But you never know. The minute I started listing the stores in directories and search engines, people started buying. Yes, a cyber-field-of-dreams. Build it and they will come. Then research further, and find a product on the web that people need, and use, and make it a little different than what others are selling. Find your niche whether it is cell phones (a certain kind), chocolate, pet treats, organic dried fruits, your own private coffee label (yes I have one of those too), or whatever you think will sell; perhaps do an informal survey or focus group and you would be surprised what people want. Then promote heavily with all the Internet has to offer; blogs, article marketing, ppc engines, pinging, and every other method of which you can think. Suddenly you will wake up successful. The odds are on your side. The harder you work, the more research you do, the more action you take, the luckier you get. In fact, the big dogs did the same thing to become big dogs, and they have nothing on you, if you just allow yourself to take the action. Keep an open mind and be prepared for faux pas. You may make them and that's okay. It's how many times you get back up that counts. It is not how many times you fall down that count, but how many times you get back up. And if you use your "Zen", you will get back up. It's all a matter of physics, getting pulled back into balance.
Article Source: http://www.share.onlypunjab.com
Cartoonist Rick London, founder of Londons Times is famous on the Internet. He started in 1997 with nothing, in a metal warehouse, and now has one of the biggest cartoon gift and t-shirt mega-stores on the net. He recently launched Londons Times Superstore funny t-shirts, and more
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