Shownotes
Paul is a great example at 70%. So that’s the answer: 70%. Want to know the question? It’s funny when you think about it. We would applaud a restaurant that made it 10 years. That’s a long time in the restaurant world yet we tend to downplay a real ecommerce business that has made it for well over 10 years because they haven’t sold a million dollars yet. They have not scaled to a power player. Yet, they have built a viable skill set and a model that is sustainable. hmm.. Seems to me they “made” it! Living on your terms has to take over the conversation. Living where you want, how you want and just being there for your family is where it needs to go.
Mentioned:
Sponsors:
Gaye’s Million Dollar Arbitrage List
Transcript: (note- this is a new tool I am trying out so it is not perfect- it does seem to be getting better)
Stephen: [00:00:00] I’m excited to tell you about galas B’s million dollar arbitrage edge analyst group that’s a lot to say but there’s a lot in it. And guess what. It’s closing it’s closing this week it’ll close for Q4. It will not open up until next year. She started a third group. And so there’s only 50 in it. So you don’t have to worry about deal with hundreds of other people buying the same thing. So you’re going to get daily actionable items delivered to you five days a week. You’re going to get the mentorship of being in the million dollar arbitrage group and you’re going to be able to ask questions ask for help get whatever you need. But again get those opportunities join me in this group because I’m in this group and you’ll see me in there. The only way you’re going to get to join this week is if you click on the link that’s in this episode and also in a Gaye’s interview number two 38 was Episode 2 38 and she explains a lot of what it is and their only chance you’re going to have to get in there.
Stephen: [00:00:54] Second I want to make sure Scott from solar labs I was just with Jeff. They are just killing it with this product. It is just not going to dead because you get to see the keywords that are important for your listing. Why go trying to figure it out. You already know an item is selling. So you go and find their keywords and you put them in your listing. It’s a smart move. You already got a proof of concept and scope does that for you. So it’s Sellar labs dot com slash scope.
Stephen: [00:01:22] You’re going to use the code word momentum and are going to save 50 bucks. Awesome awesome deal. I was just with Karen Lochore also and we we spent some great time talking about you know what’s going on in her business and it’s just incredible solutions for e-commerce. Great group you’re going to save 50 bucks if you come through my listings. Right. Remember these people pay me so I don’t want to mislead anybody. They pay me. But you’re going to save$50. And she’s still doing that inventory health now says this is the perfect time to get yourself right. Storage expensive member it’s triple triple storage fees. So get your inventory right get it correct. I just had to create 68 variations of a listing if you heard my interview with her at [2:45] you heard that 68 variations.
Stephen: [00:02:08] They went live today. Products went in today as day I’m recording this and I am so excited. I just I’m so excited because I’ve got another order of them coming in next week. And so I already have the listings up. They look beautiful. It’s everything that I needed and it’s just such going above and beyond. That’s why I love solutions for e-commerce solutions for e-commerce dot com slash momentum and you’re going to get that benefit are going to save your money at the lowest price say 50 bucks and you get the inventory Health Report Go Daddy dotcom you want to try try. Go Daddy dot com slash momentum and you’re going to save 30 percent on all your. Go Daddy needs. I use them for all my domains that I buy have for a long time now I get to save 30 percent just like you try.
Stephen: [00:02:56] Go Daddy dotcom slash momentum. And last but not least is grasshopper I saw somebody just bought it this past week and I can’t wait to hear how it goes for them because it allows you to be the professional that you want to come across as right. You want to have really strong features especially as you’re building customer service. I think a great program for anybody who’s selling a Wal-Mart you need a customer service program. You can use Google Voice it’s free but it’s definitely not as professional and you’re not going to be able to have the flexibility. Imagine one phone your personal phone and that app on there allows you to have all those lines set up you can have it forwarded to other you can you can do custom vanitie numbers you know 880 [6:03] whatever you want. Great program. Try grasshopper dot com slash momentum. Try grasshopper dot com slash momentum. Save 50 bucks there too. All right let’s get into the podcast.
Cool voice guy: [00:03:50] Welcome to the e-commerce momentum podcast where we focus on the people the products and the process of e-commerce selling today. Here’s your host Stephen Peterson.
Stephen: [00:04:04] Welcome back to the e-commerce momentum podcast. This is episode [2:48]. Paul Apollonia. Now I appreciate this conversation so much because here’s a gentleman who’s a little older than me. Yet for the last 10 years has created a business for himself something that he has figured out that he’s pretty good at and he’s teaching others he’s not the most successful seller. You’re not going to hear millions of dollars in sales. He’s a little humble and yet he’s doing it on his terms. How many of us wish him well let’s say this we get into a discussion about how we describe ourselves when we go to a party. Right. How men define themselves. And now you get to a place where that’s not so important that the older you get the less important that is. And I think we get into a great place I hope people really listen to this. Let’s get into the podcast more.
Stephen: [00:04:55] Welcome back to the e-commerce moment podcast excited about today’s guest. I got to meet him face to face and was very impressed with the story but more importantly just the attitude about his business and his life and I just love it. Paul Apollonia Welcome Paul. Say
Paul: [00:05:14] Hi Stephen how are you doing today. I
Stephen: [00:05:15] am doing awesome. It’s just a great day working on warehouse stuff. Moving between two or three actually look I have three warehouses right now I’m working with trying to figure out what’s the best scenario and that’s really those distraction. I was just talking with somebody about this. When you get one of these distractions it can change your whole day. I had a plan today. I was going to do this and guess what. Now I’m on these these little side gigs you know dealing with this so happened a lot.
Paul: [00:05:45] Yes it does. I actually my kids are older now. They’re teenagers and my 17 year old daughter she always up my plans almost on a daily basis. And my wife goes you know we’re serendipitous and I’m like no.
Stephen: [00:06:04] But isn’t it awesome that you have that ability. To me that’s a pretty awesome thing. How many other businesses could you be in that you could just pick up and do something different.
Paul: [00:06:15] Almost no. Right.
Stephen: [00:06:17] All right. All right well let’s get in the story because you have a you’ve been to this a long time.
Paul: [00:06:23] Yes I have. I’ve been doing ebay since like feels like forever. I signed on in 1998. Really didn’t do too much just bought a few things obviously. Like we always do and started selling a little bit in the early 2000s. Just goofed around with it left my full time job in 2004 did not do online stuff for another five or six years. I started an automotive e-tailing business mobile did that all about 2008 and 2008 came along and everything came crashing down. I think I was a God thing to be honest with you and I’m moved on to do an online stuff just by accident. Well not really an accident and a friend of mine was telling me I shouldn’t be selling on eBay. It’s a lot easier work and I just ignored them for a couple of years.
Stephen: [00:07:12] Well did you ignore him because you had already had that experience in your life. It’s not that he was way back. It really was not easy. I mean it was not easy. You couldn’t do anything with the photos and everything else right.
Paul: [00:07:24] Gosh no it was not my gosh I remember going to the post office and waiting in line every single day. So I got somebody from international watched something or when I was another fiasco.
Paul: [00:07:36] So I think that’s part of a reason to think you’re correct there that it was at the time it wasn’t as easy as it is now. You
Stephen: [00:07:43] know I wonder if that’s a lesson for us to think about. You know I think about. I’ve seen this so many times rates queue for things that we’re selling then all of a sudden the price tanks or last year it was great and then everybody gets in on it right.
Stephen: [00:07:56] And then it’s not valuable anymore right so you stop looking for do you stop selling it. And then all of a sudden though you go back and look now I wonder if that’s a story you trying something that was horror or it just whatever happened and then you give it some time and then you can get back into it. I wonder if that’s pretty much everything that we deal with little thought. I
Stephen: [00:08:16] don’t know if that’s a good question. It’s interesting. OK so so you decide I’m going to try this. Was this going to be an end all or was this a stopgap till you found another job.
Paul: [00:08:30] It was going to be a stopgap until unfortunately I went was planning on going back into full time work. And I know yuck but I was able to make it almost my own. So I didn’t have to go and look for another I.T. job. That was great.
Stephen: [00:08:49] So you had a plan right and you say you were going to make you know a hundred dollars a week to make this easy.
Stephen: [00:08:55] And the fact that you got to 70 or 80 and you were enjoying it. That
Stephen: [00:09:01] was enough. Was it enough for you and your wife or was it just enough for you.
Paul: [00:09:07] It was just enough for me. My wife was work and she. She’s been in a nursing field for ever. And now she’s just you know she’s is there is no conflict. But she knew where I was going with that was she on board with you doing 70 percent or whatever she has been supportive in what ever I have done in our 34 years of marriage to be honest. That’s pretty awesome. As for a better woman.
Stephen: [00:09:33] Well I think that that’s you know what you just said I think is a powerful message for somebody to hear because I see that question asked a lot. So I’m wondering when I see other people out there so I see these posts and they’re like when can I leave my job when does it make sense. And in your case it was it when you made 100 percent of your income it was when you made say 70 percent. And yet you still enjoyed it. I wonder if that’s the permission point. People need to get to they don’t need to replace it all the way because just just by doing it you get better at it right. I mean I imagine you’re much better today than you were 2005 writer 2000 and 2008.
Paul: [00:10:10] Yes yes yes of course. And I’m always trying to find better ways to get better.
Stephen: [00:10:15] Right. Right. Right. Because you can then focus. And so I wonder people need to hear that instead of waiting til you replace your income get to 70 percent and then let that be good enough because you’re only going to get better that next 30 percent. While it’s probably harder it’s probably easier when you give it your all. You know when you’re when you’re trying to do this part time right. I mean maybe you can attest to this doing this part time is a very difficult to scale. It’s a very difficult thing to replace a six figure income if you were going to try and do that or whatever it is right. It is. And so I wonder if that’s the place that people need to get to with their head. It just sounds the way you said it it sounded so good like hey that’s good enough. Now I can build something run.
Paul: [00:11:01] And also like I said before there’s nothing wrong that in our time. But I think in our time and knowing you have that check coming in two weeks. You know what I mean like oh I don’t have to work that hard today. Yeah.
Paul: [00:11:13] You’re going to be two weeks or less I will work this week. You I looked at that chart and you know it’s it’s it’s a lot different doing it part time and doing it on you know it all on your own. You have to really be disciplined and everything else. I’ve
Speaker 13: [00:11:29] learned a lot about myself. Wow. We’ll talk about that. So
Stephen: [00:11:33] you learned a lot about yourself. Did you like everything you found out.
Paul: [00:11:38] You know about myself to be honest with you I’m pretty much an open book. No I didn’t. One of my good friends way back when I first looked my job was OK now the fun begins. You sort to deal with those he quote evens in your head. You know your mom you know your mom you have to get up in the morning you have to make your own schedule. You
Paul: [00:11:57] have to you know you have nobody to answer to but you know you can’t call in sick without you know sick of a day is means something different. Right.
Paul: [00:12:07] You going to make it up the next day you know like I came from the ICU where you are the manager would hand you something to do with it two deadlines you have to make your own deadlines.
Paul: [00:12:18] I mean it’s it’s I wouldn’t change you for the world now. To be honest with you it’s not just the freedom. It’s just I can’t explain what the freedom feels. It’s just awesome.
Stephen: [00:12:28] But you didn’t like I mean to me and this is hard for guys to admit and it’s not a you know picking on you or anything like that. I think a lot of people get there in their head and then they think there’s something wrong. I think it’s normal that you start to see the things hey maybe I wasn’t as disciplined as I needed to be right. Or maybe I wasn’t in my job maybe I didn’t give what I said I gave 100 percent. Maybe I didn’t.
Paul: [00:12:53] Oh yes of course. Like when I first left in 2004 and lost or that business now I was doing for a time before that for about a year and I thought maybe I quit my job I’m so busy that I’ll be quite honest I wasn’t ready. I should’ve left my job and I should have waited until a year or so before I was really ready to be new. It was just a bad time for me and I’m just I don’t know why was it a bad time. What do you make a decision on of emotion. To leave. I was just. It was a weird thing you know like I loved that industry for my whole life I was in it. And then I just got up one day and was just like I really don’t like this anymore. I look that’s my head for a couple of months and my weight. Well just leave your job if that’s what you want. And I was blown away. I’m
Stephen: [00:13:42] like What am. So she she took away. You were like wow I can’t leave you know I don’t want to disappoint my wife. She took that away and now there was nothing stopping you. But you know what. It
Paul: [00:13:55] was funny when she said that is it. I’m going to let you think about that for one more day and then get back to me. Yes.
Stephen: