Happy New Year 2011 to One and All!
I wrote quite an extensive "tell all" post last year on New Years day and would like to suggest that you take time to read it now even if you have read it before, if you have allowed the entire year of 2010 to pass you by without taking action, you especially need to read and heed what I took a lot of time and thought in posting there -
http://importexportbusiness.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html
In addition to it being New Years Day 2011, I wanted to address a couple of recurring factors that seem to hold people back from making life decisions. Call this my 2011 KICK IN THE ASS POST!
It is NOW 2011, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
Stop thinking that someone or some organization like the government is going to help you get to where you want to be in life.
Do you really think that either political party gives a DAMN about you and your family?
You have to take the steps necessary to survive and prosper in this life or forever label yourself as a victim of circumstances out of your control.
YOU ARE IN CONTROL and YOU MUST TAKE ACTION, SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
A comment that was left on this blog a few days ago helped to prompt this post as well.
The comment stated about how to start without much funds and also stated "I need a mentor".
So let me address those two facts about your success or failure first.
Funds - If you follow the course that we recommend and my personal bonus information provided when you purchase that course, you will need little or no money to start or operate your business (NOTE: I am referring primarily to the exporting part of the business).
My first recommendation is this - if you are short of funds enough that the price of the course is going to affect how you live for the next few months, i.e., pay your rent, buy your groceries, put gas in your car, then DO NOT BUY OUR COURSE OR ANYONE'S COURSE.
You need to either get a job or second job if necessary, get your finances in good shape and then, and only then, get our recommended course and bonus resources.
No one offering any of the other courses is going to tell you that because they simply do not care about anything but getting your credit card number and putting you into an even worst financial position than you are now.
Despite all the hype that is out there about how "easy" it is to just buy their "program" or their "mentorship" and you will be guaranteed of success. WAKE UP and smell the coffee - it AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN, you are just going to be separated from your money at a time when you need it the most.
Which brings me to the subject of "mentorship" which has become a very sore spot for me.
Many people call me, every week, asking about the import export business, they want my help, they want my advice, they are seeking it, but when I give it to them, they never follow through.
Some people have told me that the SBA (Small Business Administration) volunteers really did not or want to provide the type of support they were seeking (for free, of course). I do not know if this is true since the SBA has always been touted as being the best place to go for free assistance in getting started in your own business.
My growing belief is more on the side of the people who make the above complaint being not ready to be in business for themselves and the SBA volunteers recognizing this. Also, I believe these same complainers are people like a lady who called me from Canada a few years ago asking for an import export business that was already set up and running and profitable that she could simply buy into for a few hundred dollars.
IT AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN!
The volunteers teach or guide people how to get started and become successful but what most people lack is the initiative to actually take any action.
There is a WEALTH of FREE advice and guidance within the posts of this blog. REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE has gone into these posts.
HAVE YOU READ ALL OF THEM? Have you taken action to implement any of them, even ONE!
IF NOT, forget going into ANY business for yourself, because you need a BOSS, not a mentor, not a coach, a BOSS!
My advice to you before ever spending a single penny is to READ each of the posts within this blog. There are also some good posts within our Importers and Exporters trade leads blog spread out among the trade lead posts, read them too.
If there are suggested actions within those post, TAKE THEM, TAKING ACTION, even little ones will help you to realize YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR DESTINY and will help you get over the victim mentality or the I need a mentor, helper, coach before I can succeed thought process.
Realize that NO ONE ELSE is going to care as much about YOUR FUTURE, YOUR FAMILY'S FUTURE, YOUR SUCCESS as you will and if you don't care enough to take positive actions to change things why do you think anyone else should?
Some might think me to be arrogant. So be it but let me tell you where I came from.
My parents, both depression era children, worked for the railroad as a laborer and in various sewing factories as a seamstress.
I had two brothers and when my mother would buy a bag of M&M candies she would count the candies out so each of us got an equal amount.
I had to use an outhouse for a bathroom until I was about 10 years old (gets damn cold here in Pennsylvania December through March, let me tell you). We did not consider ourselves poor at the time and I know that both of my parents did their best to give us the best life possible.
I worked for several years in a warehouse loading and unloading trucks and have a bad back to this day because of it.
At one point in my life, I made a job decision that some would say (and did say) was a bad one and it almost left us destitute so much that I had to take a job shoveling horse ship cleaning out horse stables and planting trees at a minimum wage with no benefits.
Jump to today. I owe NO ONE. My only bills are those we all have, electric, heat, real estate taxes etc. and I do not state this to brag, but simply show you from where I came to where I am there were a lot of BAD decisions and GOOD ones but I really cannot look back on any of them and BLAME or TAKE CREDIT for other than myself.
I did not wait for a new president to be elected, or congress person or senator, they are only in the business of helping themselves keep their jobs every 2, 4 or 6 years. I took the negatives and turned them into positives, basically, I focused on what I wanted to do and took positive steps to achieve success in that area.
Did I continue to make mistakes to this day, absolutely! But without taking those steps I may still be working in some type of hard labor type of job for a subsistence style of living.
NO ONE CARES MORE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY'S FUTURE THAN YOU DO!
For those of you who want my advice, then don't act on it, forget this business, forget any business for that fact, get the best job you can find and stick with it.
Seriously, because you need a BOSS or SUPERVISOR who will tell you what you need to do next and who will ALWAYS be sure you are one step below what they are in the corporate structure.
If you are a DECISION MAKER and ready to TAKE ACTION on starting an Import Export business, then my advice is (and always has been) read through my blogs first, take notes, take action, review the DUE-DILIGENCE resources on our company page and THEN purchase our recommended course, study it, take notes and TAKE ACTION.
The calendar has changed again. Are you still where you were a year ago? Either get off of it and take action or forget about it. Your CHOICE, not mine or anyone else's.
With that said, WELCOME TO 2011!
Showing posts with label import export. Show all posts
Showing posts with label import export. Show all posts
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Import Export Business Tips
1. Get a voicemail system to receive your calls.
You can have a dedicated phone number that allows you to record an outgoing message and receive unlimited incoming messages for as little as $24 a year ($34 the first year) - that is $2 a month. (NOTE: I did not say $24 a month, I said $24 a year after the first year which has a $10 setup fee.)
The voice messages are then sent to you via email and you can play them back on your computer anywhere you might be in the world. You can find these services advertised on the net, but if you would like the name of the service I have used for 5 years you have to get either the Import Export Toolkit or the Exporters Master Training package.
Sidenote: everyone loves their children and grand-children but you should not put their voice on your outgoing message - if you do not like your voice, write down what you want to say and have a friend or relative with a better voice record the outgoing message for you. And, please, do not have your children or grand-children in the background when you are calling someone - you only get one chance to make an impression.
2. Get a dedicated fax number.
Here again you can use the same service as the voicemail and have them send your faxes to you via email as PDF documents that you can then view on your monitor and print out, if necessary.
Sidenote: I often use a dedicated fax number as a means of qualifying an import lead's validity - if an "importer" has the same number listed for both their fax and phone number, they are most likely just getting started, or are sample seekers who have no intention of buying anything. Don't waste your time.
3. STOP USING YAHOO AND HOTMAIL email addresses.
I have spoken to many people who will not bother to read an email if it is sent from a Hotmail or Yahoo email account. So when trying to do business via the Internet DO NOT try to do so with a Yahoo or Hotmail email account and expect people on the receiving end to take you seriously.
Gmail.com offers the best FREE email system right now and although it will probably reach a point where it too is looked down upon in the business world, it is still fairly new and does not have the BAD stigma attached to it that Yahoo and Hotmail have achieved.
BETTER YET - Follow advice on our last post about getting a website and begin using your own website Email system to send and receive your emails.
Yahoo and Hotmail email systems are two of the MOST restrictive systems that I and other business owners I have spoken to have found - many, if not most, of any email with the word dollar, or symbol for dollars $ or mere mention of order or other commonly used business terms will send your email into their spam folder. Oh and forget about an email with an attachment like an invoice.
4. STOP SENDING FREE SAMPLES.
Do your due diligence on a lead first, make sure they are a legitimate business and even then DO NOT SEND FREE SAMPLES - advise them that you will ship samples at wholesale cost and they will pay shipping "in advance" but that once you receive an order for $1,000 or more, you will deduct the wholesale cost of the samples from their first order. NO NEGOTIATION. Scammers know you want and need business and they will use this against you.
The above method was provided to me from the owner of a very successful vitamin manufacturing business (about $10 million a year successful) and it is the exact method his company uses, no exceptions.
5. FREE TRADE LEADS.
Forget about the trade lead boards, legitimate importer don't need them, they have the Internet and will find their sources of supply via the websites of the manufacturers and/or exporters. The majority of the FREE importer (buyer) leads are 1 person wannabee startups but the vast majority are SCAMMERS and FREE SAMPLE SEEKERS that will not only break your bank but waste your most precious asset - TIME!
There is a way you can find REAL importers using your best friend on the Internet - Google. I will not provide the exact details of how to find them as this is reserved for the BONUS resources we give to our customers who purchase either our Import Export training course or just the Export training course.
But I will tell you that GOOGLE can be your BEST friend in identifying REAL importers or REAL products that you seek to export and the key I will reveal is to learn how to use their "ADVANCED" search techniques. Other than that, if you want a full, detailed description of this search strategy you will have to get one of the two above mentioned courses.
Finding REAL IMPORTERS using the method I discovered is great, however, in the world of marketing, which type of lead is better? A lead that you find, then contact and try to sell OR a lead that has already seen that you have the product(s) they are looking for and now they have called you or sent you an email?
COMMON SENSE - the lead that is coming to YOU is the BEST lead you can find in ANY BUSINESS. And what is the best way to help potential customers find you and your products? Yes, you guessed it, a WEBSITE (re-read the post previous to this one).
Hope you have found value in the above TIPS and suggestions.
Ron Coble
International Trade Services
You can have a dedicated phone number that allows you to record an outgoing message and receive unlimited incoming messages for as little as $24 a year ($34 the first year) - that is $2 a month. (NOTE: I did not say $24 a month, I said $24 a year after the first year which has a $10 setup fee.)
The voice messages are then sent to you via email and you can play them back on your computer anywhere you might be in the world. You can find these services advertised on the net, but if you would like the name of the service I have used for 5 years you have to get either the Import Export Toolkit or the Exporters Master Training package.
Sidenote: everyone loves their children and grand-children but you should not put their voice on your outgoing message - if you do not like your voice, write down what you want to say and have a friend or relative with a better voice record the outgoing message for you. And, please, do not have your children or grand-children in the background when you are calling someone - you only get one chance to make an impression.
2. Get a dedicated fax number.
Here again you can use the same service as the voicemail and have them send your faxes to you via email as PDF documents that you can then view on your monitor and print out, if necessary.
Sidenote: I often use a dedicated fax number as a means of qualifying an import lead's validity - if an "importer" has the same number listed for both their fax and phone number, they are most likely just getting started, or are sample seekers who have no intention of buying anything. Don't waste your time.
3. STOP USING YAHOO AND HOTMAIL email addresses.
I have spoken to many people who will not bother to read an email if it is sent from a Hotmail or Yahoo email account. So when trying to do business via the Internet DO NOT try to do so with a Yahoo or Hotmail email account and expect people on the receiving end to take you seriously.
Gmail.com offers the best FREE email system right now and although it will probably reach a point where it too is looked down upon in the business world, it is still fairly new and does not have the BAD stigma attached to it that Yahoo and Hotmail have achieved.
BETTER YET - Follow advice on our last post about getting a website and begin using your own website Email system to send and receive your emails.
Yahoo and Hotmail email systems are two of the MOST restrictive systems that I and other business owners I have spoken to have found - many, if not most, of any email with the word dollar, or symbol for dollars $ or mere mention of order or other commonly used business terms will send your email into their spam folder. Oh and forget about an email with an attachment like an invoice.
4. STOP SENDING FREE SAMPLES.
Do your due diligence on a lead first, make sure they are a legitimate business and even then DO NOT SEND FREE SAMPLES - advise them that you will ship samples at wholesale cost and they will pay shipping "in advance" but that once you receive an order for $1,000 or more, you will deduct the wholesale cost of the samples from their first order. NO NEGOTIATION. Scammers know you want and need business and they will use this against you.
The above method was provided to me from the owner of a very successful vitamin manufacturing business (about $10 million a year successful) and it is the exact method his company uses, no exceptions.
5. FREE TRADE LEADS.
Forget about the trade lead boards, legitimate importer don't need them, they have the Internet and will find their sources of supply via the websites of the manufacturers and/or exporters. The majority of the FREE importer (buyer) leads are 1 person wannabee startups but the vast majority are SCAMMERS and FREE SAMPLE SEEKERS that will not only break your bank but waste your most precious asset - TIME!
There is a way you can find REAL importers using your best friend on the Internet - Google. I will not provide the exact details of how to find them as this is reserved for the BONUS resources we give to our customers who purchase either our Import Export training course or just the Export training course.
But I will tell you that GOOGLE can be your BEST friend in identifying REAL importers or REAL products that you seek to export and the key I will reveal is to learn how to use their "ADVANCED" search techniques. Other than that, if you want a full, detailed description of this search strategy you will have to get one of the two above mentioned courses.
Finding REAL IMPORTERS using the method I discovered is great, however, in the world of marketing, which type of lead is better? A lead that you find, then contact and try to sell OR a lead that has already seen that you have the product(s) they are looking for and now they have called you or sent you an email?
COMMON SENSE - the lead that is coming to YOU is the BEST lead you can find in ANY BUSINESS. And what is the best way to help potential customers find you and your products? Yes, you guessed it, a WEBSITE (re-read the post previous to this one).
Hope you have found value in the above TIPS and suggestions.
Ron Coble
International Trade Services
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Open Letter To Import Export Business Entrepreneurs
This blog contains some of the MOST VALUABLE REAL WORLD experience regarding International Trade and Ecommerce that you will find anywhere and best of all, it is FREE.
You have been directed to this post as a means of helping you make the most informed decision possible about your interest in starting an Export and/or Import business.
Quite frankly, if you will not spend hours and maybe days reading through the posts in this blog, especially ALL of the Questions and Answer posts, you really are not ready to be in business for yourself, especially international trade.
And, if bluntness offends you, you should leave now.
Over the past 4 1/2 years most or at least many of the questions I have received by email or by phone over the past 22 years in this business. My answers to those questions are posted here because it became apparent that many (or most) of these questions were the same, only from different people.
In recent months some changes have come about in our business, website and my health. Assessing these changes, I have decided to put more emphasis on the RETIRED side of the term I normally use of "SEMI-RETIRED" when describing my level of doing business.
In doing so, I also decided that if a person called or emailed questions that I would first refer them to this blog to read everything that has been posted here since most of those questions were answered in the archived posts.
Then if they are unable to find the answer to their specific question, they may come back and ask it, BUT TOO BE VERY BLUNT here, I do not intend to provide you a summary of the import or export course by phone or email when details of the course have been outlined "very" extensively on our web pages.
Also, I am NOT here to provide free coaching, mentoring or consulting - that is why we offer the course and the main courses have a ONE YEAR EMAIL consulting services for any questions that may not be answered within the course.
Before writing this post I tried to think of an analogy for the reason most people never succeed in "any" type of business and I think one came to me.
Let's say you decided to build an addition onto your house and you purchased all of the necessary plans, materials and tools to do so.
If all those plans, materials and tools are still sitting there or the addition is only 1/2 finished after one year, are the plans, tools or materials the reason it was not finished? OR, heaven forbid, would the fault be with the fact the person who had every intention of finishing this addition in 3 months, then 6 months, then 9 and 12, simply was not motivated enough to start or finish it?
If you follow my advice and read the posts within this blog, you may do so by using the links to the archives that are located on the right sidebar area linked to by Month and Year.
Ultimately, if you decide to get the international trade course offered on our website or do not, you will hopefully benefit from the REAL WORLD experience I have put into my answers to the many questions received over the past 22 years.
I will continue to post on this blog as there are still more questions and answers in my files, but again, I am entering a more RETIRED mode of my semi-retired mode of operation.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I hope you will find the rest of the blog helpful.
UPDATE (24 October 2010): I realized that the Month/Year Arhive links were not showing up on this page, so just go to the MAIN page of the blog either by clicking here --> http://importexportbusiness.blogspot.com or by clicking on the header title of Import Export Business at the top of the page - the Arhived Posts are then found on the right side by Month and Year.
Regards,
Ron Coble
Owner - Coble International Marketing Services
http://www.importexporthelp.com
You have been directed to this post as a means of helping you make the most informed decision possible about your interest in starting an Export and/or Import business.
Quite frankly, if you will not spend hours and maybe days reading through the posts in this blog, especially ALL of the Questions and Answer posts, you really are not ready to be in business for yourself, especially international trade.
And, if bluntness offends you, you should leave now.
Over the past 4 1/2 years most or at least many of the questions I have received by email or by phone over the past 22 years in this business. My answers to those questions are posted here because it became apparent that many (or most) of these questions were the same, only from different people.
In recent months some changes have come about in our business, website and my health. Assessing these changes, I have decided to put more emphasis on the RETIRED side of the term I normally use of "SEMI-RETIRED" when describing my level of doing business.
In doing so, I also decided that if a person called or emailed questions that I would first refer them to this blog to read everything that has been posted here since most of those questions were answered in the archived posts.
Then if they are unable to find the answer to their specific question, they may come back and ask it, BUT TOO BE VERY BLUNT here, I do not intend to provide you a summary of the import or export course by phone or email when details of the course have been outlined "very" extensively on our web pages.
Also, I am NOT here to provide free coaching, mentoring or consulting - that is why we offer the course and the main courses have a ONE YEAR EMAIL consulting services for any questions that may not be answered within the course.
Before writing this post I tried to think of an analogy for the reason most people never succeed in "any" type of business and I think one came to me.
Let's say you decided to build an addition onto your house and you purchased all of the necessary plans, materials and tools to do so.
If all those plans, materials and tools are still sitting there or the addition is only 1/2 finished after one year, are the plans, tools or materials the reason it was not finished? OR, heaven forbid, would the fault be with the fact the person who had every intention of finishing this addition in 3 months, then 6 months, then 9 and 12, simply was not motivated enough to start or finish it?
If you follow my advice and read the posts within this blog, you may do so by using the links to the archives that are located on the right sidebar area linked to by Month and Year.
Ultimately, if you decide to get the international trade course offered on our website or do not, you will hopefully benefit from the REAL WORLD experience I have put into my answers to the many questions received over the past 22 years.
I will continue to post on this blog as there are still more questions and answers in my files, but again, I am entering a more RETIRED mode of my semi-retired mode of operation.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I hope you will find the rest of the blog helpful.
UPDATE (24 October 2010): I realized that the Month/Year Arhive links were not showing up on this page, so just go to the MAIN page of the blog either by clicking here --> http://importexportbusiness.blogspot.com or by clicking on the header title of Import Export Business at the top of the page - the Arhived Posts are then found on the right side by Month and Year.
Regards,
Ron Coble
Owner - Coble International Marketing Services
http://www.importexporthelp.com
Monday, June 28, 2010
Import Export Courses Now Available Via Online Delivery
We will soon have the information and new LOWER PRICES and
FASTER DELIVERY info posted to their respective web pages, but for now,
we are posting the announcement of the NEW ONLINE DELIVERY of the
Import and Export business courses here in our blog.
Basically, all the course files that were placed on CD roms, packaged in a fancy
looking box and then shipped sometimes taking 2-3 weeks due to the customs
clearance delays in your country are now being made available online via a
password accessible dedicated member website.
You will need a broadband connection to download the files, so please
keep that in mind as you make a decision.
Now, in addition to the much faster delivery, the prices will be changed shortly to
reflect the basic shipping costs being taken off the price.
Here is the link to the combined Import Export Toolkit course (components are
outlined on the web page) -
http://www.importexporthelp.com/trdspx1.htm
*** Note the stated price is $424 and $25 would have been added for overseas shipment - NOW (and this may change to a higher price) you can get ALL the
materials via direct member site download for only $409.00US.
If you were only interested in either the exporting or importing courses, here are their direct links and new online delivery prices:
Importing Course - Price on page is $160 and $25 would have been required to
ship - new online delivery price is only $154 -
http://www.importexporthelp.com/trdspi1.htm
Last, just the Exporting Course - Price stated on webpage is $316 plus $25 to
ship overseas - NOW online delivery price is only $301.00 -
http://www.importexporthelp.com/trdspm1.htm
Now even if you are in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, United Kingdom, Australia or
wherever you are in the world, you do not need to be held hostage to the mercies
of your customs bureau for delivering your course. Within 1 Business Day of
placing your order, you will receive your Password and UserID to use
to get ALL the course materials directly downloaded to your computer.
Ron Coble
Coble International - International Marketing Services
FASTER DELIVERY info posted to their respective web pages, but for now,
we are posting the announcement of the NEW ONLINE DELIVERY of the
Import and Export business courses here in our blog.
Basically, all the course files that were placed on CD roms, packaged in a fancy
looking box and then shipped sometimes taking 2-3 weeks due to the customs
clearance delays in your country are now being made available online via a
password accessible dedicated member website.
You will need a broadband connection to download the files, so please
keep that in mind as you make a decision.
Now, in addition to the much faster delivery, the prices will be changed shortly to
reflect the basic shipping costs being taken off the price.
Here is the link to the combined Import Export Toolkit course (components are
outlined on the web page) -
http://www.importexporthelp.com/trdspx1.htm
*** Note the stated price is $424 and $25 would have been added for overseas shipment - NOW (and this may change to a higher price) you can get ALL the
materials via direct member site download for only $409.00US.
If you were only interested in either the exporting or importing courses, here are their direct links and new online delivery prices:
Importing Course - Price on page is $160 and $25 would have been required to
ship - new online delivery price is only $154 -
http://www.importexporthelp.com/trdspi1.htm
Last, just the Exporting Course - Price stated on webpage is $316 plus $25 to
ship overseas - NOW online delivery price is only $301.00 -
http://www.importexporthelp.com/trdspm1.htm
Now even if you are in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, United Kingdom, Australia or
wherever you are in the world, you do not need to be held hostage to the mercies
of your customs bureau for delivering your course. Within 1 Business Day of
placing your order, you will receive your Password and UserID to use
to get ALL the course materials directly downloaded to your computer.
Ron Coble
Coble International - International Marketing Services
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