I first came across John Thornhill in 2005 on eBay. I'd been a successful eBay seller and PowerSeller for a few years selling physical items - (actually, whilst writing this I have just checked and I joined eBay on 24.11.01 which is exactly to the day a year earlier than John on 24.11.02 - how bizarre is that?) - anyway, I digress...
I remember that a strange PowerSeller symbol had appeared next to my eBay ID and I wondered what the heck it was and why I had it, so I mistakenly entered `PowerSeller' into the wrong search box (the product one instead of the Help one) and, hey presto, up popped John's 90-Day PowerSeller Challenge eBook (note the significance of a good eBay title for those not necessarily looking in the `Everything Else > Information Products' section). I bought his eBook for 0.99, I think it was, and after reading it in total fascination, I clicked the link to purchase John's `Your Own eBook Business' package.
I was excited to discover not only a great looking eBook website and 100s of eBooks at my disposal, but also an amazing private forum. Looking back now, that forum was only two months old and I was the 162nd person to join and what a total revelation it was. Loads of people offering advice and tips - perfect for someone that felt a total newbie and didn't know what the heck she was doing.
The thing that struck me most, though, was that EVERYONE was learning, even those who joined just two months before on the first day of opening the forum `doors' - including John. Of course, everyone knew that John was the `boss' but he was always there, answering questions, giving tips and even asking questions himself and asking for help. That's one of the many reasons why I had and still have total respect for him - I never got the impression that he was `keeping anything to himself'. Everything was laid bare - he would tell us exactly how he did things, discuss ideas or half ideas he had, ask us questions about our on-line problems, try to solve them - and even told us about any blunders or `cock-ups' he'd made. He was, and still is, totally approachable and always willing to help with anything you may ask him.
When it came to creating my first information product, John was always there with constructive advice and I was delighted that he started to list it on eBay in his own store and still does. In fact every product I have created since has always been sent to John for review and for his opinion, and I've been lucky enough to have him promote them for me, which anyone who has had a product actively promoted by John will know is a terrific boost, both to one's confidence and, of course, financially.
I've always found John a wise, calm, fair and genuine person who has helped me out from such little things as `help, I don't think I've set this $7 script up correctly, what did I do wrong?' To advising me how I could better set up a backend to a particular product. He's even contacted me out of the blue to ask me how I'm getting on with a project and offering to help in any way he can - reminding me that he's there.
Because John is so successful, it's easy to think that he won't have time to answer your questions or to help you, indeed it would be easy to think that small things that you are having a problem with would be too petty to bother him with. However, this is totally not the case.
One of the most admirable things about John is that he hasn't suddenly got `too big for his boots' - he's not turned into some high-fallutin' guru who's too precious to remember that he was once, not so very long ago, dabbling part-time in IM and holding down a mind-numbing factory job. He can actually remember what it was like when he was first trying to get to grips with creating a website from scratch, uploading items to his webspace, installing autodelivery scripts, struggling to create his own product and starting out building his mailing list.
If he can't help you get a successful online business up and running, then no-one can. If I had to do it all over again, I would've bought the 90-day PowerSeller eBook the first day he listed it on eBay - I definitely wasted a few months!
I remember that a strange PowerSeller symbol had appeared next to my eBay ID and I wondered what the heck it was and why I had it, so I mistakenly entered `PowerSeller' into the wrong search box (the product one instead of the Help one) and, hey presto, up popped John's 90-Day PowerSeller Challenge eBook (note the significance of a good eBay title for those not necessarily looking in the `Everything Else > Information Products' section). I bought his eBook for 0.99, I think it was, and after reading it in total fascination, I clicked the link to purchase John's `Your Own eBook Business' package.
I was excited to discover not only a great looking eBook website and 100s of eBooks at my disposal, but also an amazing private forum. Looking back now, that forum was only two months old and I was the 162nd person to join and what a total revelation it was. Loads of people offering advice and tips - perfect for someone that felt a total newbie and didn't know what the heck she was doing.
The thing that struck me most, though, was that EVERYONE was learning, even those who joined just two months before on the first day of opening the forum `doors' - including John. Of course, everyone knew that John was the `boss' but he was always there, answering questions, giving tips and even asking questions himself and asking for help. That's one of the many reasons why I had and still have total respect for him - I never got the impression that he was `keeping anything to himself'. Everything was laid bare - he would tell us exactly how he did things, discuss ideas or half ideas he had, ask us questions about our on-line problems, try to solve them - and even told us about any blunders or `cock-ups' he'd made. He was, and still is, totally approachable and always willing to help with anything you may ask him.
When it came to creating my first information product, John was always there with constructive advice and I was delighted that he started to list it on eBay in his own store and still does. In fact every product I have created since has always been sent to John for review and for his opinion, and I've been lucky enough to have him promote them for me, which anyone who has had a product actively promoted by John will know is a terrific boost, both to one's confidence and, of course, financially.
I've always found John a wise, calm, fair and genuine person who has helped me out from such little things as `help, I don't think I've set this $7 script up correctly, what did I do wrong?' To advising me how I could better set up a backend to a particular product. He's even contacted me out of the blue to ask me how I'm getting on with a project and offering to help in any way he can - reminding me that he's there.
Because John is so successful, it's easy to think that he won't have time to answer your questions or to help you, indeed it would be easy to think that small things that you are having a problem with would be too petty to bother him with. However, this is totally not the case.
One of the most admirable things about John is that he hasn't suddenly got `too big for his boots' - he's not turned into some high-fallutin' guru who's too precious to remember that he was once, not so very long ago, dabbling part-time in IM and holding down a mind-numbing factory job. He can actually remember what it was like when he was first trying to get to grips with creating a website from scratch, uploading items to his webspace, installing autodelivery scripts, struggling to create his own product and starting out building his mailing list.
If he can't help you get a successful online business up and running, then no-one can. If I had to do it all over again, I would've bought the 90-day PowerSeller eBook the first day he listed it on eBay - I definitely wasted a few months!
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