Australian Electronics Wholesalers

Aussie Wholesalers Newsletter - The Premier Australian Wholesalers Information Source for Businesses
May 3, 2006 - Issue 10

1) "Why You Shouldn't Buy A Website on eBay"
2) "Business Success Tips - Tip #9"
3) "Essential Links & Resources"

If you have a look in the 'Websites/Internet Business' category on eBay, you will find hundreds (thousands on eBay.com) of websites for sale, priced anywhere from $1 to $100,000. With very few exceptions, they are all promising you huge riches overnight once you buy their website, & start marketing it.

Stop to ask yourself, if these websites are going to be so successful, & give you a six-figure income, then why are they being sold for only a fraction of that amount? Here is a few reasons why they aren't worth more than a cup of coffee:

Firstly, to have a chance of being successful with promoting the site, you need to have a good knowledge of internet marketing skills - a skill that 99% of webmasters don't have. Without these skills, it will more than likely become a money pit - you will spend more money on advertising, than you make from the site.
Secondly, the major search engines, like Google & Yahoo, don't like mirror sites - sites that are basically identical to each other. A large proportion of the sites being sold on eBay are exactly that, with hundreds of the same site being already on the net. If you 'upset' Google, you will never achieve a good search ranking, & may even get struck off the Google search engine. This would then leave you to obtain most of your traffic from paid sources, as opposed to all the free traffic you could get with a good ranking on Google - Google gets almost 50% of the search traffic on the net!
Thirdly, they are often promoted as being in a great niche market, that has 20 or 30 thousand searches done on the topic daily. More often than not, that 'niche market' is already heavily saturated with sites, & they forget to tell you that there are already hundreds of thousands of sites, competing for the main keywords. Do your homework first, by researching the topic using tools like KeywordDiscovery.com - Keyword Research Tool OR Wordtracker.

In spite of all this, there are a few good web sites for sale on eBay. These are the ones that are well established - not one of the hundreds that say they are established, just because they have been submitted to search engines or similar - that have evidence of the income they are bringing. It is just a matter of taking care, & keeping the reality of the situation in mind. In the long run, you will be much better off creating your own website, & selling your own product - then these large profits WILL be well within your reach. A great place to learn these skills is at the Internet Marketing Center.

Use keywords in your item title - When listing an item on eBay, make it easier for people to find, by using popular keywords in the item title. Go to the category where you are listing your items, & have a look underneath the search box at the top of the listings. You will find about 4 or 5 words in blue type - these are some of the most commonly used search terms in the category. Providing they are relevant to your item, including 1 or 2 of them in your item title, will enable more people to find your listing.

Secrets To Their Success - Where else can you read real life success stories from people who are earning an amazing income from their internet businesses - the best part is, they actually tell you how they did it!

Australian Taxation Office - Learn how to keep the tax man happy!

Business.gov.au - An excellent site where you will find all the information you need on how to start your own business.

Australian Business Register - Apply online here for your ABN, business name, and other tax related registrations.

Business Licence Information - Find out if there are any licencing requirements for your business.