From Lyme Bay to eBay
publication date: Jan 23, 2007
Hi
It's bleak midwinter, in the dead of night and Branscombe beach is packed with people: fires dot the coastline and the beams from powerful torches flash into the surf.
As the bitter wind blasts the Devoncoast, the wreckage of the MSC Napoli lies a mile off shore, slowly being pulled apart by the relentless tide. But the crowds haven't come to watch the boat or the pending ecological disaster. It's the spillage of the valuable cargo that draws freebie hunters from miles around.
One spotty Herbert had found a steering wheel for the new BMW M3.
'Do you have a BMW M3', the local
journalist asked, dryly.
'Err . . . no . . . but I'm sure someone on eBay will want one!'
'So from Lyme Bay to eBay huh?' the
reporter retorted, pleased with his clever turn of phrase.
'Yeah, bring it on!'
Whatever happened to the fuzzy community feel good factor of Whiskey Galore?
Instead we see wide-eyed and slightly crazed locals commandeering tractors to lift £13,000 BMW motorbikes away from the shore, a slightly disheveled old man picking up odd sized trainers and whole families pushing oak barrels full of wine up the unforgiving pebble beach.
I guess the British, if nothing else, have the bargain hunting instinct hardwired to their brain. Give them the slightest sniff of a bargain or better still free bootie and they will become highly industrious, inventive and entrepreneurial.
Ok, so it is technically illegal to take goods from the wreckage without first notifying the authorities of where it is being taken, but at least the authorities don't have to worry about the cost of cleaning the beaches!
So what can we learn from this spectacle?
Well, eBay is prominent in everyone's mind.
All of those beachcombers know that no matter how obscure or niche their find, they were sure to find a market for it online.
Perhaps they would even be able to charge a premium for the items historical significance.
A few years ago, the booty would have ended up either in the local car boot or gathering dust in the garage. But no longer. The average household is said to have on average £2,500 worth of unused and discarded goods that could be sold onto eBay.
I guess the homes of Sidmouth and Lyme Regis will be pushing that average even higher!
But I bet 95% of those who venture onto eBay to sell their finds will only pocket a small percentage of their true worth. It takes some skill to list an item to generate maximum bids. If you live in the Lyme Bay area and are sitting on 200 nappies or a barrel or 2 of cheap wine, or simply want to learn how to make money on eBay, then I can highly recommend Avril Harper's eBay Confidential. Check it out here:
With a marketer's hat on, it shows how powerful a freebie offer can be to activate your prospect. A well-presented free bonus can increase your response significantly. But don't fall into the trap of just piling on bonus after bonus without explaining the value.
I've seen far too many online and offline promotions that squander the freebie offer by simply listing freebie after freebie without connecting them to the core promise or highlighting how they will specifically benefit the recipient.
Trust me, a good freebie can work wonders, but in the hands of amateurs it just cheapens the offer. I don't particularly like giving away ebooks. They are intangible. But if you must give away an ebook, then make sure you have a smart graphic of a book cover with plenty of supporting and benefit-rich copy.
And talking of beaches . . .
I spent a wonderful day down in Brighton on Sunday. Heloise, Zac and I went down on the train. In just over an hour we were on the beach throwing stones into the huge waves, eating fish and chips in Harry Ramsden's and feeling decidedly green on the spinning cups ride on the pier!
Although it was a great family day out, I was there with an ulterior motive. As you will know from my recent Lifecoaching experiences, I am trying my hand at digital photography with a view to selling my prints in a gallery by 1st September.
Well, this whole digital photo thing has got me fired up and I have been investigating other ways that newbies like me could make money from their pics.
OK, so we've covered making money by posting your pics onto various online photo libraries before. And I definite think I have some corkers that could make some money. But what else? I did a bit of digging and found that there are other ways of making money,
including:
*** Digital photo tours. Doing photo-tours of property for sale for estate agents. Could also combine with taking photos of cars for sale for garages.
*** Digital photo inventories. Photographing valuable items for
householders and insurance companies in case they are stolen, eg. jewellery, antiques - I have also heard of this being done for horses and pedigree dogs!
*** Digital paparazzi and news photographer. But on a local scale, so it is realistic for people to try. Take pics of local newsworthy events and local celebrities and sell them to local papers. Maybe even make £thousands by selling occasional really good ones to national/international press.
*** Digital catalogue photography. Working part time for Internet retailers. Taking up to date photographs of all the items they sell and uploading them to their websites. Also pictures of staff to illustrate 'Contacts' page etc. You could also set up a small business photographing other people's items for eBay . . .
*** Digital photo products. For example, make and sell local postcards, calendars, framed prints of views/buildings, T-shirts, ceramic plates and mugs decorated with photographs. Good for anyone living near a tourist spot. Sell direct at fairs etc. or supply retailers in quantity.
*** Digital photo albums/scrapbooks/journals. Take commissions to photograph events like weddings, parties, graduations, reunions etc.
Make a CD of all the photos and distribute (or sell) them to the guests. Could also work for country shows, music gigs, concerts, theatre (with agreement of the organisers) and also trade events like conferences, seminars, exhibitions and trade shows.
*** Producing and marketing screensavers. Taking photographs and then selling them as mobile phone/PC screensavers. This is already done on eBay - you can buy CD's of 100 car pics, 50 animal pics etc. for £2-£10 a time.
I will be researching this area in greater depth for my own sake and of course will pass on details to you as soon as I have them.
If you have any experience in selling photographs - especially using a digital camera - please do let me know.
********************
WRMM Website launch
********************
What a fantastic response to the launch of the new What Really Makes Money website!
If you are already signed up PLEASE do use the forum. It's there for us to help each other, give support and advice.
Yes, it is also there to post your views on business opportunities, but I want to make it clear we are not going to turn it into a 'knocking shop' (you know what I mean!). Yes, we can alert readers to the scams a dodgy opps, but it is not a place to air general grievances about biz opp offers. In my experience that just drains the entrepreneurial energy by focusing on the negatives.
There are already plenty of great posts including a very exciting free review site for Internet marketers.
If you haven't signed up yet, then please take a look by going to http://www.whatreallymakesmoney.com/
If you are an existing subscriber you can upgrade for a piddling £15 a year by clicking on the subscribe button. This will take you through to a new page. Fill out your details.
Then type in your special promo code:
wrmm3695.
If you are not a current subscriber you will have to pay the regular subscription fee.
And did you know that Lifetime Members
get free and unlimited access? To check out how you could become a Lifetime Member and enjoy this and many other benefits, go
here:
*************************
Oh no, not another High Yield Investment Programme!
*************************
A new reader asked me what I thought about Matt Gagnon (Mazu) and the www.legisi.com opportunity.
Well my position on HYIP and e-gold related schemes like this one remains the same.
These HYIP (High Yield Investment Programmes) keep going, but personally I can't see how they can work over the long term. It is just impossible to sustain a 10% return each month by just depositing funds like this. The maths and economics just don't stack up!
Of course, take a look on the web and you'll find the usual mixed messages. Some will be slamming the opp. Others will be evangelical. Some will claim that they have been paid for the past 8 months without a problem. Well that IS the problem. You see, those who are involved early on do get paid and all is hunky dory. It's only when these offers reach a critical mass and the pyramid (oops did I say pyramid) collapses on itself that the payments suddenly dry up!
You have been warned! If you have any experience of HYIPs, I've started a discussion on the WRMM forum, so feel free to add your tuppence worth!
*************************
Cuckoo Clocks and Web 2.0
*************************
On Wednesday The Davos World Economic forum opens high in the Swiss Alps with the focus on climate change, the 'Web 2.0' revolution in internet services and Asia's burgeoning economies.
No surprises on the climate and Asian economic boom, but how interesting that Web 2.0 is high on the agenda. For those who haven't a clue even, Web 2.0 is the term for the new breed of internet sites that that exploit social networking (think myspace.com), user-generated content (think youtube.com and wikipedia.com).
This is definitely going to be the big online opportunity this year - and we are already starting to see the first buds of web 2.0 in the 'money making' arena.
Look out for more details in the February WRMM issue . . .
*********************
And finally... Be a fat Loser!
*********************
Sorry about that, but I saw 'Be a Fat Loser' on a sign this morning outside a local gym.
Oh how droll! You know me and my hatred of puns. Well this is a prime example of how stupid and sometimes downright insulting 'clever wordplay' can be . . .
Feel free to send in any puns you see and we can all have a good laugh!
Until later in the week . . .
Nick