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The recent economic downturn has changed the way we have traditionally looked at our incomes. Till the economy was doing well, we’d think that our jobs were secure for life, and when we’d retire we’d have a big fat retirement fund that we could spend our retired lives comfortably with. And then the recession happened and changed everything. People got laid off of their many years of employment and the retirement funds took a nosedive, eroding in value. The dreams crashed. But the gloomy job market and insecurity of the future brought along a silver lining—the entrepreneurial streak in people. Suddenly, more and more people started looking at alternatives to make money, and the internet become one such resource for a stable income, limited only by people’s imagination and the amount of work they put in.

Adam Ginsberg, the pioneering internet entrepreneur and eBay top seller is now a coach and mentor to thousands of people who have turned to the internet to earn a comfortable living for themselves.  Here are three top tips from Adam for all those who are considering the internet to either set up a new venture or to supplement their existing income with some extra cash on the web.

Be Unique

The internet, as resourceful as it is, is also high on competition, and you’d often see hundreds of websites offering similar products or services. Therefore, the first thing for you to do is to choose your niche before you jump in. Even if your idea has competition on the web, you could still be creative and add your individuality to it, thus making it unique.

Research

Once you’ve had an idea and you decide to sell it on the web, don’t jump in without knowing what your competition’s doing. Adam Ginsberg cannot stress enough on the importance of research when starting a new venture. It’s always good to understand what your prospective customers are buying and what are they’re looking for before you start selling to them.  Understanding customer needs will save you a lot of effort in promoting your goods on the internet.

Learn

Once you’ve decided to start a new internet venture, invest some time and money in getting at least some basic education on how the internet works, how to set up your online store, about e-commerce, payment platforms, etc. There is so much that goes into setting up an internet venture, and without education, you’d feel like a babe in the woods.

In fact, you don’t even have to go far to get started with your online enterprise. Adam Ginsberg would love to work with you on getting you started with your business on the web. So, drop him a line or check out his website for his eBay tools and resources. You could also read his book, “101 secrets of an Auction Millionaire” for some inspiration.


 
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Adam Ginsberg is a highly successful eBay trader turned mentor, helping thousands of people set up and run their own successful eBay ventures. One of the secrets behind Adam’s unparalleled success is using specialized software to help build up and run an eBay business.

One such specialized program highly recommended by Adam for making your eBay business successful is using an eBay listing software. According to Adam, a good listing software program  can add a whole new dimension to your eBay business: it lets you set up a professional-looking and attractive store front, create and manage your product listings easily and conveniently, automate certain features such as creating and managing multiple product auctions etc. Using a specialized program also lends uniformity to your business, thereby making it look more professional and organized. Most listing programs can be customized using a simple HTML editor, making it even easier to manage your eBay storefront.

However, before you start using any listing program, Adam suggests you do your research on which one would suit you best. You may even need to use multiple programs to organize different kinds of products if you have a varied product range. Also check to see if the program you’re buying is user friendly for your prospective customers. Other features to look out for when choosing a good listing program are whether they allow you to automate certain features of eBay, like product auctions, or whether they offer multiple themes to choose from for your eBay storefront. There are many features available in good listing programs and choosing the right one can do wonders for your eBay business making it more efficient and user friendly, and also create lasting brand value. So choose wisely.

Adam Ginsberg also offers a host of other tools and resources for running a successful eBay venture and making money online. You can also read Adam’s “Secrets of an Auction Millionaire” to learn more about eBay entrepreneurship.


 
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When Adam Ginsberg started selling pool tables on eBay, all he was armed with was an idea and the determination to succeed.  With hard work, dedication and a constant endeavor to improve his business strategies, Adam rose to become one of the top sellers on eBay.

Today, Adam helps thousands of people script their own eBay success stories through his mentoring programs. And, while his programs include complete details from setting up an eBay account to making it to the top sellers’ list, Adam shares his three basic principles for achieving success in your own internet business venture.

Research

Research is the key to success in any business. The more in-depth your research, the less are your chances of making a mistake in your business venture. Start by asking yourself questions like “what is it going to cost to start your business?” and then list every possible cost that you are likely to incur, starting from the cost of setting up a website, which again will include everything from your internet cost, website development cost, electricity to run your computer and home office, etc. etc. As we said—get as detailed as possible. Once you have the costs figured out, you can do two things: figure out the profit margins you’d want to earn from selling your products, and figure out a way to constantly reduce unnecessary costs, which will help you earn better profit margins. Similarly, you could research about the products or services you want to sell, your competition, how to improve your services, etc. The more you research the better your business will get.

Plan

After you have done your initial research, make a plan of action for your business. Plan every last detail about how you’re going to launch your business, when you’re going to do it, where you’re going to do it, who your target customers are and how you’re going to reach them. Again, the more detailed the plan, the better your chances of tasting quick success.

Evaluate

Once your business is live and has been running for a few months, revisit your research and your business plan and see if everything is going according to your plan, how good your research was, how successful were you in implementing your plan, if anything had changed in the market that could affect your business. And, if need be, realign your plan according to how your business is running and where you’d like it to go.

These three basic strategies alone are good enough to help you start any business make a success out of it. But, if you’d like to know more about Adam Ginsberg’s secrets of a successful online business using eBay, check out his eBay tools and resources. You can also read Adam’s blog or see some testimonial videos.


 
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We cannot stress enough on Adam Ginsberg’s advice on hiring a qualified professional to manage your finances, or to at least plan your investments for you to achieve your financial goals. As suggested in some of our posts in the past, it’s better to hire a professional simply because you will probably never be aware of the various ways that you can invest your money safely, for it to grow steadily and for maximum profitability.

The next question or two that would probably pop up in your mind would be ‘how do I know who is the ri    ght person to advise me?’, or ‘what kind of a financial adviser do I need?’ Adam Ginsberg, the highly acclaimed internet entrepreneurship coach and author of “The Secrets of an Auction Millionaire”, offers a few pointers on how to choose the right financial advisor and the right kind of financial advisor to suit your investment needs.

Let’s talk about choosing the right kind of advisor first. When it comes to hiring someone to manage your finances and investments, you have two choices: hire a financial planner who will lay down the blueprint to achieve your financial goals by telling you where you should invest and how much, or hire someone who will not only plan your investments but manage them too. The first kind will evaluate your current situation, understand your financial goals in the short-, medium- and long term and formulate an investment plan for you to follow. These professionals usually charge by the hour, and you could always get your finances re-evaluated every few months, or years to check if you are on track with your goals or if you’d want to reset them. The second kind of finance professionals are the ones who do everything for you from panning your investments to building up and managing your portfolio in accordance with your pre-determined financial goals. These guys normally charge an annual fee of a few thousand dollars, or a percentage of your portfolio’s value to do the work for you. Walter Updegrave has provided some great information on how and where to find a good financial planner in his article on CNN Money.com.

The next step is to choose the right kind of financial planner. In short, there are money managers who will charge you a fixed fee to manage your finances, and then there are those who will charge you a fee and also get paid commissions on the various products that they make you invest in. Adam says it’s a matter of personal choice what kind of an advisor you’d want to go with: one who’ll charge you for what he does for you, but without any vested interests, or one who will recommend his products but you may end up paying less from your pocket. Again, Walter Updegrave has offered some insightful information on this subject as well, which you may find useful while choosing your money manager.

Check out Adam’s blog and website for more useful tips and his eBay resources on how to make money online.

 
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While we have, in the past, talked about Ginsberg’s views and tips on saving for retirement in general, this post deals purely with why saving for retirement is different for women than for men and Ginsberg’s suggestions on how women can gradually start building up a healthy retirement fund for themselves.

A simple fact that sets women apart from men is the difference in life expectancies. While a man has an average life expectancy of 76 years, a woman’s is slightly more than 80 years, which means that women need more funds for retirement than men, at least 4 years’ worth. This difference alone could work out to a few hundred thousand dollars. Another challenge that women face sometimes in their lives is that they sometimes give up their jobs or take a long sabbatical to raise a family, which puts them behind on their incomes and saving goals.

Adam Ginsberg, the leading internet entrepreneurship coach, offers a few pointers that could be useful for women to save for a happy and comfortable retirement.

For starters, don’t be afraid of the numbers. Research has shown that more women think that calculating investment goals and crunching numbers to achieve those goals can be a complicated and tedious job. Well, nothing can be further from the truth. All it takes is determination on your part to sit down and understand investment basics like interest rates, various investment options like IRAs, Mutual Funds, 401(K) and the like. You can even take the help of professional financial planners to know what your investment goals should be and how your investment money should be distributed.

Secondly, if you are planning to take a break from your career, make sure to understand how much money you’ll need to put away for your non contributing period in your retirement funds when you do start to work again. The figures may be a bit daunting, but don’t stress over it. You can gradually increase your contributions by 1–2% every quarter till the time you reach your goal, and it wouldn’t feel like a burden.

Third, find ways to supplement your income, and consequently your retirement fund. Adam suggests the internet as a great source of additional income, so that even if you do need to top working for a period of time to raise a family, you can still stay home and earn money on the internet. As an option you can check out Adam Ginsberg’s eBay resources to supplement your income from eBay.

Adam Ginsberg is a pioneer in eBay entrepreneurship and his eBay tools and software are being used by thousands to script their own eBay successes. For more information visit Adam’s blog here.