Every day, thousands of small businesses and entrepreneurs miss out on thousands of dollars in revenue simply because they don’t know how to utilize the Internet. Business expert John Lawson knows how to fix that. Lawson is the founder of ColderICE.com (www.colderICE.com) and 3rdPO.com (www.3rdPowerOutlet.com). He also has a feature on American Express Open on “Building an eBay-based Business” (http://ow.ly/vLF1).
John has been growing and changing his business with the continuously shifting world of e-commerce since he began selling a few used IT books online for extra money in 2001.
Now that he has not only established himself as an eBay Platinum PowerSeller and eBay Certified Education Specialist but also successfully navigated his business through the dot com bubble burst, Lawson is turning his focus to teaching, speaking, and consulting.
Lawson knows what he is doing as a Certified Education Specialist trained by eBay. In other words, he is an expert on Internet Commerce Education. And he was just voted #1 Savviest In Social Media for Home Based Businesses. http://www.startupnation.com/PHP_ROOT/hb100-2009/winners-social-media.html
In one of his entries, Lawson highlighted the 10 Best Business Videos on YouTube. His business blog is one of the best in the business. Lawson has successfully used social media to build his home-based business. Lawson explains that social media is simply networking…one person telling another person who tells another person and so forth. Lawson is a passionate presenter who calls himself the “Ecommerce Edutainer”. That name sums it up. He’s chocked full of information and presents it in an extremely entertaining way.
Lawson is not your usual business type. He once worked for Accenture as an Information Technology specialist despite the fact that he only had a GED instead of a high school diploma. He calls himself the GED-CEO. Most of his business acumen is self-taught because he is constantly reading. Now he is in demand as a presenter and speaker in business conferences all over the world. He recently spoke at the eCommerce Summit in Sydney, Australia, the South Florida Interactive Marketing Association and the Atlanta Social Media Day held at Clayton State University. Lawson doesn’t do anything in a conventional manner. One of his most successful marketing efforts involved reaching out to people who are interested in hip hop or “urban wear” accessories such as bandanas and hats. And it’s been quite profitable for him. He is a platinum eBay Power Seller who ships out more than 1,000 packages a week.
"I focus on transitions," said Lawson. "One big transition is successfully growing something you do in your spare time and on the weekends into your bread and butter. The next change is growing your business from a smaller entity into something more diversified and mature – to take off the training wheels."
With Lawson at the helm, 3rd Power Outlet (http://www.3rdPowerOutlet.com) has continued to grow over the last seven years, to the point where the company ships over 1000 packages a week and consists of a successful eBay store, Amazon seller status, ecommerce online store, and blog. Since its inception, Lawson has been able to transition completely away from his former corporate job, become the first African-American member of member of the Professional eBay Sellers Association (PeSA), and become a respected and valued voice in the eBay merchant community.
Lawson regularly participates in and reports from regional and national eBay and e-commerce business summits and events. Recently, he has been interviewed by The Washington Post, PC World Online Magazine and featured by ChannelAdvisor with a case study of his company. He has also lent his insight and know-how to Wall Street analysts.
E-commerce strategies and approaches are changing as fast as the related technology is being developed. Lawson is known for being capable of not only embracing innovations and change, but also for being able to understand which new products, methods, and ideas are worth embracing and which should be passed on.
"You have got to be ready for change," said Lawson. "You have to be in the forefront and grasp the new technology as soon as it’s out there. You also have got to be able to pick and choose what innovations will work for your company — all change isn’t necessarily good change."
Lawson can share his success strategies with you. All you have to do is ask.
For more information, contact Sidmel Estes, BreakThrough Inc.
770-460-7647.
Contact: John Lawson
Phone: 678.400.0580
Email: john@ColderICE.com
Business: www.3rdPO.com
Blog: www.ColderICE.com
Twitter: @ColderICE
