Bank Holiday Break

I’ve just spent four days camping in Scotland at the side of Ben Nevis and it was a wet and windy four days. At least I now know for sure that our tent is waterproof. The amount of rain that fell on it tested it to the limit but it held up well and kept us warm and snug. Despite the rain, it was a nice break. I cut myself off from business and the internet. The only thing I used my laptop for was watching movies on late at night, it’s the only time I get to watch a movie, I’m usually too busy.

It’s good to retire from the battle for a while now and again and just relax; in fact, it’s crucial to our well-being. We had a good time despite the weather and managed to do some walking and visit some nice places. The summer’s coming to an end and the autumn and winter business cycle is beginning. I’ve already seen an increase in sales from eBay and my website so I’m hoping for some good business in the run up to Christmas and beyond.

I’m busy now, relisting all my items on eBay in a more attractive way. I’m employing all the knowledge I’ve learned to maximum effect. My website requires a lot of work on it as well, another time consuming task. I’m continually marketing my site for new customers. This is a never-ending job. If you’re new to the internet trading game then you need to get to grips with Search Engine Optimization to promote your website. It means getting people into your store or to your site.

It’s a never-ending game because the factors that influence SEO are changing all the time. Nobody knows what they are apart from a few Google boffins. Like everything else it’s time consuming but an essential part of online marketing.  Online selling is a constant learning process, there’s so much information to take in, so many things you have to learn, that it can be mind blowing but it’s also great fun.

Remember the old days when you left school, learned some job and stuck with it for life, never having to learn anything else. Those days are well and truly over. People leaving school today will have two or three career changes in their lifetime. Learning is now an ongoing process that never really stops. I think the most successful people in the future will be those who can adapt and learn fast.

Those of us who have reached middle age today cannot really think about putting our feet up unless you’re a corrupt politician, banker or PLC chairman who’s lined your pockets at the expense of the rest of us.

If you’ve been in the private sector all your life then retirement is not looking promising. We need another income to support us. The best way for us to do this is to start our own business. The beauty of an online business is you can compete against the big players from your bedroom. You can have a great professional site made to compete with the big boys and the internet gives no favours to companies just because they’re big. By studying SEO, you can get your site at the top of the search engines.

Well back to work on my website.