Bus Driver By Day, Online Business Success By Night

Janine Wachowski, a long-time resident of South Elgin, Illinois, drives a school bus and is also a Powerseller at eBay (user id: the_w.a.s_ezone). In one year, her gross monthly sales went from $328 to over $45,000.

Janine began her wildly successful online business because of a chance conversation in late 2003 with a neighbor. Janine's neighbor, a fan of eBay, noticed her extensive VHS collection of Disney films and suggested she try selling them on eBay. Her neighbor took her online to eBay and pulled up some auctions for some of the very same VHS tapes she had in her collection. Janine was astounded that people were paying almost double what she originally paid for the same films. This was a revelation to Janine since at that point in time, she had certainly heard of eBay, but had never bought or sold there. She caught the "eBay bug" and caught it good!

Because she was anxious to get started, Janine's neighbor showed her how to sign up for eBay and their online payment system, Paypal. Within hours Janine had her first bids. Within the week, she was ravenous for more to sell. Janine began to research wholesale movie suppliers. She also bought a few "wholesale" lists off eBay that she describes as "mostly junk but a good learning experience".

Motivated to create a successful online business to supplement her income, Janine continued researching potential suppliers. She finally discovered a major wholesale distributor of movies, games and electronic accessories. Within months Janine was dominating the DVD TV show categories on eBay selling popular titles like "The Twilight Zone" and other multi-disc collectors sets.

Not to be satisfied with the status quo, Janine next opened her eBay store (The WAS eZone). She created customers by using eBay's "keyword Campaigns". She also uses effective auction promotion to drive sales to her store. Since Jan 2005, she has sold over 3000+ dice games!

As a breast cancer survivor, Janine has brought the same determination she used to defeat cancer to creating a thriving online business. Diagnosed with cancer in both breasts four years ago, Janine went through chemotherapy and other rehabilitation efforts. She is proud to be a survivor of cancer. She is currently working on several products of her own design that reflect her personal experience with that dreaded disease.

Never one to slow down, Janine has recently begun construction on her first Website. However, product aside, Janine is successful because of great customer service. A good example of her dedication to her customers occurred in December, 2004.

Janine had ordered a large shipment of the LCR (Left Center Right) dice game but it ended up delayed. Meanwhile, on eBay, hundreds of orders came in before she could stop her auctions. When the LCR games finally arrived, she was too late to ship them UPS that day. Give up and wait until tomorrow? Not Janine! Janine called the UPS shipping center and tracked down the location of the UPS driver for her area. She finally tracked him down at a local donut shop. She was able to convince him to come back to her house and pick up over 400 LCR games she had packed and ready to go. Why wouldn't you be wildly successful if you brought the same level of customer dedication to your business that Janine does routinely to hers?

Janine attributes her amazing success within her first year to four key factors. She says, "I truly enjoy the entire process of listing products, selling, shipping and dealing with customers. I work very hard researching profitable products and have found products that continue to be in high demand. I offer personalized customer service and often receive letters from customers praising my service. Last, but not least, I love working with my coach at Online Business Institute Inc., Sterling Brown. He's the best!"

Janine intends to see her bus driving job through to retirement in a couple of years. So until that time, if you're driving in South Elgin, Illinois, and see a school bus ahead, a little respect please. You might be in the presence of a cancer survivor and future online business millionaire.

Michele Schermerhorn has over 30 years experience in the business world and over 12 years running her own successful online businesses. She is President of Online Business Institute Inc. (http://www.obinstitute.com), authors a sassy marketing blog (http://www.imarketblog.com), and regularly conducts free online seminars. Online Business Institute Inc. exists to "Create Successful Online Business Owners One Person At A Time".

More resources: