Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

Momentum returns
It's been an unusual day to say the least, but I feel momentum turning back in a more productive direction. I had a day at last where I wasn't being pulled in fourteen different directions at once.

Still, I had trouble getting down to work. I browsed Webmaster World for a while—really for too long—until I came across a thread asking other webmasters what they did to avoid getting distracted. Hmm... Sounded familiar.

I added my two cents to it: "it seems that when I drift off into something that doesn't advance my goals, I'm focusing too much on the 'little picture,' the predictability of the task at hand. The task feels like something I'm being forced to do against my will.

"So I rebel and drift off into whatever arouses my curiosity and offers me the promise of relieving the boredom. But when I focus on the 'big picture,' my overall goals, and put that predictable task into perspective as a necessary step toward getting where I want to end up, it's a lot easier to buckle down and do it.

"It's kind of like driving to your favorite vacation spot. If you think only about how you'll have to drive a particularly boring stretch of road to get there, you'll avoid getting going until there's no longer enough time to take the trip. But if you focus on what you'll enjoy once you get there, the drive is easier to start and less boring to endure."

Putting that into words helped get me focused again. Not only did I finish my May website optimization for my client, but also got my overdue newsletter nearly ready to send.

I think that hearing about Corey Rudl's (see previous blog for today) death had a role in shocking me out of my rut, too. Here was a guy who was such an inspiration to Internet marketers dying so young (34). Kind of reminds you to spend the time you have productively.

But at any rate, it feels good to feel that momentum going again.
Jeff

In Memoriam
Corey Rudl died in an automobile accident today. I feel a little strange writing a memoriam to an Internet marketer when I didn't write any for any of the more far-reaching historical figures who have died since I started this blog. But hearing of his death today in an auto racing accident was like losing someone I knew personally.

Corey was a pioneer in Internet marketing and documented his knowledge of it in what I consider to be the Internet marketing course that I measure all others against. I have long been a subscriber to his newsletter so I have "heard from him" often. He had a warm and enthusiastic style that made it feel like I actually knew him.

I've bought a lot of the products he developed and always found them to deliver far more value than he priced them at. I didn't always appreciate the persistence of his selling style. When he held a huge seminar to celebrate his wedding last summer with dozens of the top Internet marketing speakers in the business presenting their insights, I reluctantly decided not to go. His frequent e-mail encouragements to "reserve my spot at the seminar before they are all filled" bugged the living daylights out of me for weeks (although I admired his ingenuity at always finding fresh ways to try to close the deal).

So whether I used his products or didn't, I always learned from his immense skill at marketing.

And many other people learned from him, too. Whenever I investigate a new ecommerce product on the Web, I'm struck by how closely seemingly EVERY sales letter online follows the pattern he developed. And visiting his product pages was always a lesson in what new techniques he was testing.

I would visit his products pages occasionally and take note of what new technologies and techniques he was testing as part of his sales process. And I knew what worked and what didn't. If a new technology or technique stayed up on his sales pages over time, I knew it was effective. If it disappeared, I knew it wasn't.

The Internet marketing field is poorer for having lost his enthusiastic and innovative mind. I give my condolences to his bride and all others who were close to him.
Jeff

Running down
Time for an earlier night of sleep tonight. I've been run down for a couple of weeks now. Memorial Day weekend helped me catch up a bit, but then it was back into late hours and early rising and I'm beat again.

We celebrated our middle son, Ben's, 20th birthday today. Fortunately, he had a rare day off, so we were able to celebrate with all three of the kids that are at home.

Hopefully, a longer night's sleep tonight and being able to sleep in on Saturday will get me back on track.
Jeff

Going through a dry spell
I missed my nightly blog entry last night. The time was eaten by researching on eBay, and by the time I finished, I was way too tired to come up with anything interesting. The sad part of it is that now, tonight, I can't remember what worthwhile info I got from that research.

It's been a dry spell for the past week or so. Highlights have been few and time has flown away without the productivity I would have liked. I think I'm getting into a pattern where I'm trying to be "the guy who makes everything work" at home. Somebody needs to be picked up? Jeff to the rescue! Somebody's time needs to be juggled to make sure the car is available at the various times that each person needs it? Jeff will make the sacrifice.

I can't blame anyone else. I'm doing it to myself—choosing to fill my life with "things that need to be done" so that no one else is inconvenienced instead of what I need to do most—build my business and our family income.

I could easily fill all of tomorrow already with tasks and errands that this person or that would like me to run for them or with them—which would add up to another unproductive day.

Even a full day's work in the office felt unproductive today because some decisions there that I thoroughly disagree with.

It seems everywhere I turn lately, my life is filled with situations where I'm feeling backed into corners. So what does it mean?

I'm convinced that we are wherever we are in life because God wants us at that very place at that very moment. And when the place we are in life has a particular problem coming at us from every angle, it's God's way of saying, "Hey, wake up. You've got a problem not with your situation, but with yourself. Face it and do something about it."

In other words, Jeff has to learn not to be "the guy who makes everything work out." Setting limits is important—and healthy for everyone involved. Standing up and saying, "Sorry, I can't do that for you; you'll have to find another way," has always been a weak spot for me. But it's something I'll have to spend some time with in the coming days. It's healthy for my business. It's healthy for me. And it's healthy for my family.
Jeff

Ingenuity
If any of you have not been following trends on eBay, one of the hottest ones right now is mystery auctions. Items that ordinarily would draw little interest in eBay suddenly become hot when coupled with a little ingenuity and mystery.

My son, Jon, has been exploring this phenomenon lately and coming up with some intriguing auctions. After having no success at selling some of the collections he no longer actively collects because of the glut of sellers in those categories, he has now repackaged those items as parts of cleverly devised mystery auctions in which he gives clues as to what exactly is contained in the auction as well as cash that is included with the items auctioned off.

Traffic has been phenomenal, he's gotten lots of free publicity and is having a whole lot of fun in the process. As of today, he's auctioning off his shadow (plus the many items his shadow has "stolen" from him) and is adding excitement to an auction of his baseball card collection by revealing that he has placed a $1, $5, or $10 bill behind each card, depending on its age.

Fun stuff. And some of the questions and answers he posts from potential buyers are as fun as the stories he weaves in his descriptions. You can find his auctions at the following address:

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZpokey1299

Enjoy! And let his ideas spark some of your own. The mystery auction category is already filled with those trying to copy the concepts that other sellers have had success with (such as a roll of toilet paper with an undisclosed amount of cash rolled up inside it). But there's still an interest among buyers in finding new and entertaining concepts with genuine creativity. Is there something you can add to this trend?
Jeff

Memorial Day
Heading into Memorial Day this year gives me a little more to think about. My middle daughter, Becca, is about to report to her post as an Air Force officer by next weekend and my middle son, Ben, will be leaving for Marine boot camp at the end of the summer. Ben's test scores qualified him for just about any assignment he wanted; Ben chose Infantry and hopes he will be found skilled enough to be chosen for Recon, the most dangerous assignment he can get.

I'll admit, I've probably underappreciated the sacrifices that others in the military have made for our country. My draft number was a safe 213 during Vietnam and my Father never was in the military either; he was in the States, serving by manufacturing battleships during World War II.

The military has never been a part of my life—until now. Now, the news reports of serviceman deaths or injuries in far corners of the world have a lot more poigniency for me. The losses, both to the service people and their families hit a lot closer to home.

Yet I wouldn't want them to do anything different than what they've chosen. Ben talks of giving back to his country for all it's given to him and I'm reminded of how much we have all been given and at what cost to so many. Ben had his problems with motivating himself in his last few years of high school and his three-semester shot at college before he decided that he needed to do what was in his heart instead of following the path that he felt everyone expected of him.

Now there's a new life to him that I'm happy to see. I'm proud of his choice and proud to be part of a country where young men and women freely choose to take on the risks they do for others, not only here, but to benefit people in countries far away as well.

I don't think Memorial Day will ever be quite the same for me ever again.
Jeff

Spring cleaning/Opportunity seeking
Yes, it's that time again, but cleaning and reorganizing the basement today (OK, it's not all done and will probably take at least one more day) has a new, extra purpose this year. It's also opportunity seeking. I cleaned with an eye out for a bunch of things that might work on eBay and need to research them briefly to see if they're viable.

Some of the things have sentimental attachment; there are the antique fishing poles and rods my Dad and I used when we used to fish together. As I set them aside for possible auction, I had a tug of wanting to hold on to them. But then I thought, "I can either sell them to someone who will display them as they deserve, or they can sit in a corner of the basement waiting for my estate sale."

And with no place to properly display them, that's exactly where they would sit.

My old medical equipment from my days reenacting as a Civil War surgeon may go, too, although that's a collection I put together with a lot of effort and pride. I'll probably hang on to some of that—it might be more possible to display—but I don't see myself keeping all of it.

But I digress from the purpose of today's blog. I guess the thought of parting with things to which you have a sentimental attachment can do that to you.

I want to try out some different things with my store, particularly the tips I've gotten from Jim Cockram on making money off of more than just the auction buyers that makes the winning bids. He has some excellent ideas for making more sales than just one per auction that have worked very well for him and I want to try them out.

So my wife Joanne found me not only surprisingly willing to tackle the basement today, but actually leading the way. Funny how mundane chores can be exciting when you turn them into an opportunity for new ideas. I'll let you know how these tips go as I experiment with them.
Jeff