A Very Merry (Belated) Christmas To All

John's Personal Blog: A Very Merry (Belated) Christmas To All

Not only a best wishes message, but also some more personal information about John, from John. In his never ending quest to become better than he is: John writes an enlightening note of self-discovery, that will help him down his choosen path.

Money For Nothing

Just a quickie...saw this in a listing on eBay, and I thought...I Just Got To Have This. I hope you enjoy the video, and my weird sense of humor. Thanks Weird Al!!

Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies

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Home Business Books

Check out Home Business Books. This is also a Blogger site. I happened by this site because the host of this blog, was advertising in one of the sites that I visit frequently. The best thing about this site, is that they (the host) is offering some interesting e-books: and doing so for free.

Now I have yet to delve deeply into these book - as far as the quality is concerned. But one thing I know, is that if you can pull out even one good idea - then it will be worth the price of admission. Of course, because these books are free: what do you have to loose. I suppose that you can say that you get nothing for free (and you are probably right): but why not check this out anyways. Let me know what you think about this.

We here at Black Cat Enterprises have been adding e-books to the list of items that we are selling. In fact we have an e-book store with about 200 or so e-books. I will write more about that at a later time/date. For now: happy e-booking!!

John

Diversification Is The Key

In our dealings within the business community; and particularly in the web based businesss that we have been working with: it seems important to us that we keep a sharp focus on that what we do; while always being open to new avenues or directions that we can take our business ventures. For the last 11 months, we here at Black Cat Enterprises entered full time into the digital relm with our first own internet based business enterprise: Grandma's Attic. And although we have not realized any profit from this venture: we have learned some valuable lessons; lessons that we hope to build on in the months and even years to come.

One of these lessons that we learned is in marketing. Marketing is a broad form of letting people know who you are; what you do; and how they can take a part of your enterprise. Word Of Mouth, Pay Per Click (PPC), Banners, Link Exchange, Search Engine Optimization are but a small part of the marketing process that many successful web entrepeneures use to gain market share in this ever evolving market place.

With our experience of Grandma's Attic, we initially tried to have many areas that we could market the wares of the many vendors we had. This approach for us, proved to be not the proper route. Perhaps one of our downfalls has been the lack of large amounts of capital to get the word out. It appears that although we have pretty much have had a steady stream of visitors: it is but a trickle; and not enough to sustain it self along side some of the big players in this "game".

So, as we had written before, we are changing our focus with that enterprises: to become more focused, and limited to a niche market place. But what of all the great ideas that we have? What about all of the diverse product lines that we would like to market? The answer is so simple, it is amazing that it escaped us until now. Instead of trying to be the "Jack Of All" in one site; we would have many sites: each focused on a specific product, service or market segment.

By tightly defining each enterprise, we can better market to our specific targeted niche: and as we hope and believe; become more profitable as indivdual units. So the point of all this, is that we have in the past, and will continue to always seek out new and inventive opportunities for us to market. If we had 10 sites that sold 10 unique & targeted products/services: we should do well.

We have now added two new ventures to our repertoir of business ventures. The first of these is our e-book marketing program (seperate from our other e-book markets). The address for this site is http://www.platinum5plus1.com/affiliates/64376.

The second of our two new ventures is with a major wellness company. We cannot give their name here, as it is against their policy, but you can learn more about the services we offer by going to our new "all inclusive" site at http://options.topratebiz.com/index.html. By just changing where we purchase our every-day products: we are able to get a higher quality product - that is cheaper than the store brands; and healthier and more economical too. Additionally, by referring other individuals to the wonderful product line here, we can receive additional bonuses and benefits. If you are interested in making money too, a good place to check out is http://options.makemoreathome.com/ or http://options.ownanewbusiness.com. You can even view one business opportunity via webcast, by visiting http://options.inhomewebcast/wedoit. Lastly, you can get our e-book entitled "Six Concepts To A Successful Home Business" absolutely free of charge by going to http://options.ilovesuccess.net.

We also now have an online greeting card site where you can send some very nice e-cards to family and friends. You can find these at http://options.smilestarters.com/. We hope that you will have fun playing around in our new sites. These are some high quality sites, and very informative as well. If you should have any questions concening any of the information that you see on any of our sites, please let us know by writing us at Black-Cat-Enterprises@comcast.net. Be sure to let us know which site you visited as well as your questions or comments. We will be sure to respond to you right away: usually within 24 hours.

Change Is Slow...But it Has Started

Here are some of the latest changes & ideas that we have had for www.BuyGrandmasAttic.com. You can read all of our issues of In The News by navigating from the main page of Grandma's Attic to our archives page; and then to the story that you would like to read.

Happy Independence Day

We here at Black Cat Enterprises, would like to wish all a very happy and safe Fourth of July. It was 230 years ago, that our country declared its independence from colonial rule. To find out more about this "American" holiday, you can check out these fine sites:

• http://www.usacitylink.com/usa/
• http://www.holidays.net/independence/
• http://wilstar.com/holidays/july4.htm (some advertising popups)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(United_States)

If that is not enough to get you started, you can always do a Google search for the topic.

Please enjoy this day: but do so responcibly. Please watch minors with handling anything that has to be lit. For more information, you can check out these sites for more information about being safe this holiday.

• http://fun.familyeducation.com/independence-day/holidays-and-celebrations/32874.html
• http://www.sniksnak.com/usa/4th.html
• http://www.pscfamily.net/hints/holidayhints/independenceday.html

Oh, and one last thing. I would be remiss in my duties if I didn't give you a good link from Uncle Sam himself. You can check out the government's information here: http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Independence_Day.shtml

Okay...I lied: here is one last thing. As a note from me to you: please remember our service members who are stationed in locations all accross this globe. Whether you agree with what they may have to do or not, please know that it is because of our service members (past, present & future), that we are able to be the great nation that we are. It is because of their sacrifices, that we have the rights and privileges that we enjoy. Please pray (as you will), that our Sons, Daughters, Brothers & Sisters will return back to our open arms safely and as quickly as our God will allow.

Ground Control To Major Tom....

This is ground control...

Or at least that is what our office is starting to look like. As I mentioned in my previous post, last Thursday was President's Day here at Black Cat Enterprises (my birthday). However, even though I took off about a half a day, I really didn't get to celebrate it with my wife until yesterday (7/1/06). To make a long story short: and to keep on track here, I was discussing the need for a new computer (again) with my wife, Barbara. We had stopped in Best Buy, as I had received a gift card from my mum, and thought I would just get something simple from there. I did, initially that is. I got the Mummy Trilogy (The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, & The Scorpion King).

Soooooo....as long as I was in the store, I told my wife that I would like to look at the computers: more or less just to dream about getting one. As we looked, we found a couple of pretty good deals. For about $350.00, you could get a complete system, including monitor (crt) and a printer. Although that was pretty good (financially), I already have a CRT, and it is 19", as apposed to the smaller (15"?) one they bundled with the offer. Well, being the bargain hunter that my wife is; and being that we were not approved for their card: we decided to take their ad to Walmart, to see if they had the same machine. If they did, then we could get it for the same price, and put it on layaway (something Best Buy doesn't offer).

Unfortunately, when we checked back with Walmart, they didn't carry the "exact same model", and the manager said that the deal that Best Buy had was a very good deal (kind of recommending we go back to BB...go figure). And that is what we did...What was now our third trip to the store, ended up ending in the sale of a new machine. However, instead of getting the one that we initially looked at, we (I) actually upgraded (a little) to a somewhat more powerful machine, and with a 17" LCD monitor. Although not quite as big as my 19"CRT, it give sooooo much a better picture.

Now, I have both monitors sitting next to each other; one keyboard on the pull out shelf, while the other sitting on the top of the desk; on system sitting next to the monitors and the other sitting under the desk. I am still going to use the old system (I am using it now....at least for now). I will eventually dedicate this machine for only personal use; while the other machine will be for business only. As most of my computing time is for business, and because my business is all centered around computing, I decided (without much though) to use the new system for the business. My old Systemax AMD 800MHz computer, is working okay, but not great: and especially not up to the demands of my hectic business needs. My wife had offered to give me her computer, but I declined. Firstly, because it is not working right now. And although we could get it working with someone from the Geek Squad (which we still will need to do), I didn't want to deprive her from HER computer. After all, I bought it for her a little over a year-and-a-half ago. I just have a problem "taking it back".

I am going to keep this one for as long as it takes me to get a new, even more powerful one. That may take a year, but I will do it, because I already know I can pretty much out grow this one in that time. Additinally, I want to get a laptop, so that I can take my work with me when I am on the road. But that will probably be in another year as well, unless I can get it sooner: which is what my priority will be for now.

World Wide E-Book Marketers: WWEBM Opening Soon...

World Wide E-Book Marketers: WWEBM Opening Soon...

Happy President's Day

When is President's Day?

In the Untied States, President's Day is celebrated the third Monday in February. It is the day that we recognize & honor the birth of both George Washington & Abraham Lincoln. (source)

Why then is today considered President's Day?

On June 29, 1963: John A. Shachter, the President (and CEO) of our company, Black Cat Enterprises, was born.

What does that mean for us?

On this special day, we will have limited service being provided. If you send an e-mail, or phone us; we may not be able to respond until the following day (6/30/06). Please note that your business is very important to us, but we do want to acknowledge and honor OUR president.

World Wide E-Book Marketers

Here Ye, Here Ye: A New Site Is In The Works...

As of today (6/28/06), we have started the process of creating a new eBay account. Well actually, we have had the account for a while: but we are doing a total revamp of it. It all started when I decided that I would like to have an eBay place that was primarily geared to the sale of e-books and other related items. Because our current store: Grandma's Bargain Attic is very diverse; and because I don't quite want to give it up at this time: I decided to take an old eBay account and Jazz it up.

One fo the first things I did, was to change the name. It was named Black Cat Enbterprises...but I wanted something that reflected what we did...what we marketed. So I had changed the name to World Wide E-Book Marketers. I believethat this name lets people know right away that we market e-books world wide. So, where do we go from here?

Well then next thing that I am doing (as we speak) is updating my Turbo Lister (program) to the "new" account. It is taking quite a while, because we are adding ALL of the information to do business on all the world wide eBay sites. Once that is done, then I will need to update all of the information within Turbo Lister to my new "venture", if you will. This will include all of my policies & etc.

I then will make sure that all of my accounts with eBay & PayPal are set up for the new account: this way I can make sure that I get paid. Any changes I ned to make, will be made at that time.

Then the fun begins. At this time, I will create my first listings. I will take my Penny Book e-book, and list that. The reason is simple: I need to build up my Feedbackquickly. So I will sell that book first. . In my "experiment" on my other site, I had received over 80 positive feedbacks, in less than a months time.

As soon as I get the required feedbacks, I will then open up a store on my new site, called: World Wided E-Book Marketers. So that is the plan (simply put), as it stands right now. I will make more notes here as we progress, to keep my adoring fans "in the loop".

The Attic - A New Hope

Okay, Okay, Okay...so I just couldn't resist the temptation to use a the title of one of my favorite movie series (Star Wars - A New Hope) in my title. But that is just how I feel - I have a "new hope" that the changes we are about to make on our site over the next few months, will breathe in some new profit for this site...and for our business.

This "experitment" (if you will) in creating, from concept to market place, OUR first e-commerce site; has been less than stellar. In fact, it has not even made one sale (well actually, I DID buy from my own site). Over the past 10 months, I have created, changed, tweeked: and with all of the work I have put into it; I still can't seem to get the traffic I need; or even get anyone interested enough in making a purchase with us. I haven't even been able to "give-away" my own money in our monthly drawings. In over three months of running our promotion where we were giving away a $50 gift certificate to our site, we only had one winner (that actually claimed the prize); but she has yet to make a purchase. Part of the reason for that (I believe) is that she is from Canada, and most of our suppliers will not ship out of the US. This means that we would have to have our international customer's orders shipped to us, and then re-ship it out of the country.

So here we sit, with a site that is costing us money to run, update, and try to get visitors, but without generating any revenue. True, all while doing this site, I have been "functionally" unemployed: another words for self-employed. Because I have not had ANY revenue coming in from this venture, I have not been able to spend much in the ways of marketing and advertising. They say that when you don't have, you have to become creative: and that is what I have tried to do. I had also created a "sister site" on eBay: and she has done much better (but not enought to retire on yet). That site, Grandma's Bargain Attic (http://stores.ebay.com/Grandmas-Bargain-Attic), has benefited mostly from the large market place of eBay itself. We currently have over 30 products that are being listed (some are duplicates under different listing formats). We also started an e-book marketing test at the beginning of the month. Since that start (6/3/06), our positive feed back has increassed dramatically from about 36 to 109 as of this writing. It took 9-10 months to obtain the 36 score, and then in less than a months time, we have more than doubled our score.

Almost all of that increase in score was from one book. And I guess you can say that the price was right, at only ONE Penny. I am not making any money off of it, as PayPal has charged me a penny to collect my penny: but I am getting some great feedback; and I am getting people to my eBay store as well. Additionally, I now have the e-book "coded" with my information: so that way if someone who has my copy of this book, and they click on a link in the book: I will get credit (paid) for them doing so. I am in the process of "rebranding" several other e-books that I have as well. I have also figured that if I sell an e-book, I won't see any profit until after about 35 cents (with the eBay & PayPal fees); but anything after that point is pure profit. And if I sell them on my site...?!

Well, that is where our planned changes are going to take place. Over the next few months, we will be eliminating our third party suppliers (at least for the most part); down play or eliminate most if not all of our sellers (people who are selling through our site); and then just concentrate on books, e-books, audio books and book supplies. We will then also be able to eek out a niche target market; and have all of our advertising and marketing efforts for the site even more tightly focused. Our banner ads (such as Google & CJ ads) will be targeted specifically to a particular product or subject; and we will work to create more content rich pages.

You sell, we came to this decision: not on a whim, but on solid evaluation of what we have been doing, what we are doing now; what we want to be doing, and where we want to be financially in the next fiscal year (FY 2007, starts 8/06). I never want it to be said that this was just a "hobby". We have taken this venture very seriously, and we intend to see that either it starts turning a profit...or we will let it go. As hard as that is for me to say, I know it is the right thing to do.

So, if there is anything that you want, please stop by now, and get them while we still have them. Visit Grandma's Attic now, and we will give you an extra 10% off on your next order (discount code: DkeD57) We are also considering opening up several other sites, that are specific to each of the catalogs we are currently running...but that will be some time from now. For now, we will start the transitions, and may the force be with us...ALWAYS!!

A New Image

Several weeks ago, I had filled out a form to see if I might win a newly designed header for my site. So what a wonderful suprise when I checked my e-mail last night, to find a personalized redesigned banner for me. It is just what I had in mind. I now have this one posted on my site. I guess things keep getting better and better.

Clicking on the link above: A New Image, will bring you to our picture host. Clicking on the picture itself will bring you to our site, where you can see it in use. Please let us know what you think about the new banner. Should we keep it, or go back to one of our old banners? You have the power to change...why not use it?

--John

It Was Apt To Happen

It was apt to happen...no matter how much I would despise it; no matter how I prepared for the eventuality, it would happen. Sooner or later, I was going to get a complaint because of a shipment damaged in transit. Well, that time is now. It has finally happened, and as I think about it, I am kind of glad.

Glad you ask, but why?! Are you nuts? NO. I' m not crazy or anything, but I recognize that as a business owner, the best way for me to learn, is by trial and error. Although I don't like to make errors (and who does?), I know that each mistake I make is a chance to learn, so that I can do better in the future. I feel as though I am being stretched: building these business muscles into an even stronger resolve. The key here is to learn from the mistakes, and not make them again. Well I hope that I never make this one EVER again.

I know this is a business, and that I kind of remove myself from it to an extent: but I still feel an emotional attachment. And because I do, when something goes awry, I tend to take it personally. Perhaps that is a good thing. Perhaps by having that personal attachment, I am better able to "empathize" how my customers must feel when something like this does go wrong.

So lets rewind, and start from the (almost) beginning. I had been selling a whole lot of items form one of my clients: 24 items in all. Well one of these items was a portable Singer Sewing Machine, in a wooden case. After listing it on my site, as well as on ebay: I was able to get a buyer. The buyer was out in California, and I would be shipping the item via the slowest method: Parcel Post. This is what the customer paid for, so this is how it was shipped. Because of the size and weight, I was lazy in not getting an accurate weight (including the packing materials) before listing it: so I just guessed. Unfortunately, I mis-guessed, so I actually undercharged the customer by almost $5. So I guess that was my first mistake.

Second mistake: I didn't actually pack the item until the day I was ready to ship it. So you might ask: why was that a mistake? Because I felt "rushed" to get this item packed, and to the post office. When you get rushed, you may take shortcuts; and perhaps not do as good of a job as you should. So perhaps that is part of my problem. Although I still believer that I had packed it well: it wasn't good enough. What I didn't account for was the size/weight of the item.

Because this item was large, odd-shaped and somewhat heavy (over 30 lbs), I didn't really account for the movement of the item within the shipping container. If I would have it to do all over again, I would have done a few things differently.

• I would have used tape &/or plastic wrap to secure small and movable pieces in place.
• I would have wrapped the entire unit (sewing machine) in bubble wrap.
• I would have double boxed the item, for an even more secure shipment

One of the problems that I face in my business is having the appropriate boxes on hand for shipping items. I try, whenever possible, to recycle good sturdy boxes, to save myself time and money. I have received some free Priority Boxes through ebay (with the ebay logo on it). Unfortunately, I almost never have had the chance to use them. Either the items I'm selling are too big or too small; or the customer has chosen another shipping method (such as Parcel Post). This ends up meaning that I have to go out and buy a new box for the shipment, if I don't have a box of adequate size.

I try to estimate my costs before hand; but sometimes I just get it wrong. But not to fret: I now have a better system in which I hope to be able to avoid most, if not all of the problems I have experienced here. In reading The Official ebay Bible, written by Jim "Griff" Griffith, Dean of eBay Education, and published by Gothem Books: I have created my new plan for listing and shipping all items. My plan, a 10-step process, outlines what I need to do for each item I want to sell, and in order of doing it. Without going into great detail, after I have found my item, researched it, photographed it, edited the photographs, and written up the ad: I now will be packing and weighing the item. This will come BEFORE I actually list it.

What I hope this will do is it will allow me to know exactly what the shipping size and weight is going to be before I actually ship it. It will also allow me (hopefully) not to be so much in a hurry. As I will know the size and weight, and I will know exactly what it will cost me to ship it, including the packaging materials: I will be able to get a better, more accurate shipping cost to the customer. This way, I should hopefully not be faced with taking a loss because of the shipping/handling charges.

In getting back to the story: the customer wrote me, and seemed very upset about the whole deal. She felt that she was being ripped off, and that the packaging was sub par for the item being shipped. She had requested a full refund of all monies paid, and this included the shipping charges. I wrote to her, after some careful consideration, and let her know that we have a process that we had to follow. I would be filing a claim with the postal service, and that per my company policy; we don't refund the shipping charges.

However, later that same evening (or actually early in the next morning), I had an epiphany of how I should proceed. I decided, for the sake of all, I would just refund the entire amount, including the shipping charges. I would file the form, which I found online, and hope that the government would refund the purchase price to either the buyer or me. After I came up with this new plan, I had written a long letter back to the customer outlining the plan.

So this brings things up to date. I will be going to the post office in a little while, and filing the claim. I will send the shipping costs to the customer as of this weekend when I get more funds. After all, I have already paid the seller, and don't wish to bother him about this. When I get the money from the claim, I will forward the rest to the customer post haste. I am also waiting for some additional pictures of the "damaged" items, so that I can keep accurate records about this whole transaction, as well as a reminder of the entire event.

Lastly, I am considering having the customer shipped the damaged item back to me, so that I can attempt to get it repaired, and possible resold. I am not sure about this, as I think my customer may take offense to this. I will have to give this some careful consideration before I proceed.

This Is What It's All About

As a business owner, I strive every day to meet and exceed the needs and expectations of my clients. In this business, we actually have two different, but symbiotic sets of clients: our listing advertisers (aka: sellers), and the buyers of the products and services we merchandise. Because of the nature of the internet, and especially with eBay, our business has slowly started taking on an international presence. Up to this point, we have received only a few international requests for information pertaining to shipping charges to ship what ever the item of interest was at the time. But now, we here at Black Cat Enterprises have just completed our first international shipment. This shipment went to our "Neighbor to the North", in Ontario, Canada. We were stretched to learn about weight and size restrictions, as well as the paperwork that is needed to send items. We have only scratched the surface here, but hopefully we will be getting more and more business internationally, so we will "learn as we go".
Now the best part, was our customer. She was so happy with our service, that she has given us some great feedback: both in the eBay feedback section, as well as via e-mail. Some of her comments are:

4/18/06

"You've been just excellent at communicating and resourcing. Hope your client knows how hard you've worked for this commission. Thanks Kimberley Feel free to use this statement...."


4/19/06

"Your feedback is already posted. Sorry, but eBay doesn't allow us many characters as they allow sellers. rewrote it 5x to get what I thought was best effect. when I try to describe to friends that there are dealers like you on eBay...they don't believe me... you've been so CANADIAN!!!!
you will get referalls notheless. thanks so much, and please use my quotes as refernece. You deserve them. Kimberley"

And our eBay feedback, also on 4/19/06:

"b/f product rcd... THIS SELLER SO GOOD, +++CANADIAN FRIENDLY! and all other +++"

Now I am not the one who likes to tout my accolades much, but this is what it is all about: serving your clients to the best of your abilities, and making them happy with your products and services. I cannot control weather or not the product I sell will be quite what they want: as I can never really tell EXACTLY what someone has in mind. But I can ALWAYS provide the best service possible. If I treat people the same way that I would want to be treated (with respect & understanding), then I know that I should do well. I expect good service when I am the consumer, and I want my clients all to feel they are important, and that we here at Black Cat Enterprises care for their satisfaction.

We would like to thank the many clients and customers that we have had the honor to serve. We have learned so much from each of you. We will continue to strive for perfection in what we do, and to give the best service to all who we serve: both existing clients and customers, as well as our future clients and customers.

Successfully Yours,

John A. Shachter
President & CEO
Black Cat Enterprises

A New Day...A New Era

Well it has certainly been a long time since I have had the chance to sit down and update this blog. WELL...that wasn't the only problem: I couldn't remember my username and password either. Everytime I tried to access the account, I couldn't get logged in: and I ended up giving up, as I have been too busy to take the time to find my info.

So here we are now: I finally took the initiative to get the required info so that I could update this thing. So much has happened since I last wrote in December ('05), that I am not sure exactly where to start. I guess I should start at the beginning (sort of). When I started this business last August, I thought I would sell mostly items that I would get from other companies and those bargains that I would find by attending auctions, sales and the such. I never thought that things would be much different from the way I saw my business. I had built in, at least in concept at first, the ability for the visitors, subscribers and members to my site to be able to sell their items on my site; and through my site on ebay. I never thought that I would get much business there. I was really counting on the sales of the items I was currently selling. Well...to this date, I have not made even one sale (although I have come close only once) on my site. I have, however, sold a few things now through ebay: and most of these things were for other people (at least the things that have made me the most money).

This is how it all got started. I was called up by one of the missionaries from my church, asking if I could help another member who was having computer problems. I agreed, and went to this member's home. But alas, the problems were beyond the ability I possess. However, I did do one VERY important thing while I was there: I mentioned about my business, and gave him one of my business cards. He had stated that he might be interested in selling a few items that he had, and said that he would call me back at a later date. And so he did. It was a month or so later, but he did indeed call me back. But not so much to get his items listed, but to tell me about a friend of his that might need my service. To this day, I still have not contracted with that individual (it is STILL pending), but besides this individual, he also referred me to 3 other people. And guess what, one of those people did contract with me. And that person referred me to four other people, of which two had contracted with me.

So I have been busy (to say the least) with listing other people's stuff on my site; but mostly on ebay. I had to create agreements to protect the sellers, to protect the buyers, and to protect us here at Black Cat Enterprises. I am still creating new forms, agreements and other materials all the time, as they become needed, or as things become obsolete. This business has been like going back to school. As I have made mistakes, or discovered things in the process of doing business, I have had to modify my agreements to reflect the best way that I wish to do business. This businesss is constantly in flux: changing depending on the needs of my customers: both my sellers and buyers. I am hoping that once I get the agreements down to a managable size (there are currently over 11 pages), I will be able to afford to get them printed up on NCR paper: so I wont need to use carbon paper any more. Currently, I have the following agreements: Master Listing Application (3 pages); Master listing Agreement (4 pages); Master Listing Agreement Addendum "A" (3 pages); Consignment Agreement (1 page); eBay Listing Worksheets & Agreement (5 pages). Additionally, I have my Privacy Policy (3 pages), T.O.S. (5 pages) and BCE-GA Fees, Ad Rates & Rebates Sheets (4 pages) that I give all my customers no matter how they list with me. So as you can see, it is a bit much. I feel that there is much redundancy, and I am going to be exploring ways to whittle this monstrosity down to a managable size.

Oh, I shouldn't one other very important agreement: my referral agreement. With this little form (1 page), I agree to be bound to anyone who refers a person or company to my, who in turn contracts with us to list on Grandma's Attic, eBay or both. I am currently paying a flat $10.00 for each contracted party who lists under our flat fee agreement; and I pay 10% (with the minimum of $10) for those who contract under a consignment agreement. I am planning on having these rates through the end of spring.

The problem that I am having now, is that I am almost too busy. I actually have a small back log. This is due partially because I was sick for two weeks; and then I have been moving to a new location over the past three weeks; and let us not forget that I had one customer alone who listed 24 items (seperate listings). I also have one customer (not contracted with yet) who dropped off two boxes of sheet music for me to look at and see about selling (in lots of perhaps 25 pieces each). I was hoping to get to that this week, but it may need to wait until next week, becasuse we are finishing up our move tomorrow (4/19).

If business keeps growing at the rate it has been, I have thought that I may need to hire a part timer to help me with the work load. Success breeds success, or so they say; but my favorite quote for this case is from Abraham Lincoln: "Things may come to those who wait...but only the things left by those who hustle". I have definately been hustling lately. It has been tough, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Now at least, I can look my wife square in the face, and say that I was right not to try to get an "outside" job.