Make the Most Out of Your "About Me" Page on eBay

Many eBay sellers may not be aware there is an "About Me" page/feature available for each account to give other eBayers more information on a seller's business, what service they can expect from them and more. Fewer sellers actually take advantage of the additional marketing opportunities an About Me page on eBay provides. Building a successful eBay profile is about using all the tools eBay makes available. If you’re not using your About me page, you’re missing a trick.

What is an About Me page?
An About Me page is a page for you to tell other eBayers about yourself, your business and the things you sell. You can make and edit your About Me page via My eBay. You don’t need any special skills, but if you have some coding or design experience, so much the better. Unusual for eBay, you can have a link on your About Me page to your personal website or blog. Be careful. You are not allowed to link to commercial websites, promote off-eBay sales or link to items prohibited on eBay. You are also not allowed to link to a search engine or site that aggregates the eBay sales of multiple sellers. eBay has a full list of what is allowed and what is not allowed on the About Me policy page.

About Me Page Benefits
There are two significant benefits to building an About Me Page. The first is SEO (search engine optimization). The vast majority of buyers will come to you via eBay’s search but some will find you via search engines such as Google. It’s well worth remembering anything you can do to attract more buyers from search engines is good news for the bottom line. You can also link to your About Me Page from other sites as you like, to improve the ranking of your About Me page in Google.

The second benefit is with branding. Ensuring everything you do looks good and is clearly identifiable as your business is vital when it comes to attracting repeat buyers, inspiring trust and providing a first class buying experience. Frooition can help you with design and implementation of your About Me page and make sure it looks great!

Five things to include in your About Me page:
The good news for sellers is an About Me page is very flexible and can easily be personalized using HTML. eBay can help you build a basic About Me page but to get the full impact, pull out all the stops and make it a fully integrated part of your eBay brand.

1. Auto-generated components: eBay allows you to display your current sales, recent Feedback and even recent bids. So use the auto-generated elements to populate your About Me page easily.
2. Pictures: You can include images and photos in your About Me page to bring it to life. You can host these images yourself, or eBay will do it for you.
3. Words: To get the full SEO benefit of your About Me page make sure you have some text talking about your sales. Cram the text full of relevant keywords that will aid your find ability on Google.
4. Video: You can easily embed a video (hosted on YouTube, for instance) using HTML and that is certain to attract attention. It could be a showcase of your stock, a tour around your business or just you talking to camera about your business. It’s surprisingly easy to make a video, even with your digital camera.
5. Your philosophy: In your item listings and also other eBay pages, you’ll talk about what you’re selling and how people pay and get a refund. An About Me Page offers the chance to be a bit less formal and more personal. Talk about why you got into eBay selling, spin a yarn about why you do it and how you like to trade.

How long will an About Me Page take?
Not long. If you’re clever and reuse content like pictures and text you already have elsewhere, you could be up and running in a matter of minutes. If you want something more professional, it will take longer.

The good news about your About Me page is that it’s a one-off job. There’s no need to constantly tweak and tinker: once it’s up and running you can just leave it be. Of course, if you change your brand or want to make changes, you can then easily update your About Me page to reflect the changes.

Article from Frooition's Blog.

Frooition is a leading provider of eBay store and listing designs. Frooition provide design services for most other online sales channels as well as website design. Frooition has been working with the eBay platform more than 4 years and has clients in the USA, Canada and Europe.

eBay Workshop April 7th - "eBay Listing Design Clinic"

eBay Workshop: "eBay Listing Design Clinic"

Host: Debbie Levitt, CEO of As Was

Date: Wednesday, April 7th

Time: 11a.m. - Noon PST

Location: eBay Workshop Board

Description: In this workshop, Debbie Levitt, CEO of As Was (an eBay Certified Provider since 2004), will take a look at one listing from workshop participants, and offer free advice on how to make that listing more likely to make a sale.

She'll be looking at design, layout, pictures, description, policies, and more ingredients that go into converting eBay shoppers into buyers.

Visit http://certifiedprovider.ebay.com/ to learn more about eBay Certified Providers and the services and solutions they offer to help an eBay seller grow their business.

Thanks,

Ginger

eBay Certified Provider Program

eBay Workshop Jan 26th - "5 Tips to Prepare for a Successful 2010"

Workshop: 5 Tips to Prepare for a Successful 2010

Host: Lisa Suttora, Founder/CEO of WhatDoISell.com

Date: Jan 26th, Tuesday

Time: 11AM - Noon PST

Location: eBay Workshop Board

Description: The holiday selling rush is over and the new selling season has just begun. It is a great time to look at your 2009 selling and plan for your 2010 selling strategy. NOW is the time to review, plan and refresh your eBay business for a successful new year.

Please join Lisa Suttora, ecommerce strategist and Founder/CEO of WhatDoISell.com, as she shares her advice and insight on what you can do to prepare for a successful year selling on eBay.

Visit http://certifiedprovider.ebay.com/ to learn more about eBay Certified Providers and the services and solutions they offer to help eBay sellers.

Creating an Emotional Connection with Buyers Can Increase Sales by WhatDoISell.com

Marketing Online: Why You Must Create an Emotional Connection with Your Customers - by Lisa Suttora, Founder & CEO of WhatDoISell.com

If you think shopping is a perfunctory, logical process for us human beings… think again! The decision to make a purchase is largely based upon emotion (often subconscious emotions) that is then justified by logic.

Too often however, niche online sellers offer pages and pages of products that are devoid of emotion and personality.

Inanimate objects sitting on a page, the sales copy brings no life, no emotion, no meaning to what they sell. And because of that they don’t sell.

How then do you reach your customers and inspire them to click the “Buy” button?

You inspire by creating the right emotional connection with your buyer. One that speaks the language of a conversation that is already happening in their heads.

7 Questions to Help You Make an Emotional Connection When Marketing Your Products

If your product sales have been devoid of emotion so far, the prospect of creating an emotional connection when marketing your products may not come intuitively to you. Below are 7 questions that will help get you started connecting with your customers.

1. What do your customers want?
2. What do they care about?
3. How can your product contribute to their life? Their day? Their well-being?
4. What will inspire them? Perk them up? Make them feel some enthusiasm for what they are about to buy?
5. What are their worries? Their cares?
6. How can your product make their life easier, less stressful, more productive, calmer?
7. How will your product make your customers feel?

No matter what you sell or where you sell it, you have to make an emotional connection with your potential customer. Go right now to your eBay listings and eBay Store and look at your product offerings through a new pair of eyes.

*This article has been condensed. Click here for the full article.

Since 2004, WhatDoISell.com has provided thousands of online sellers with the skills, knowledge and support they need to build a unique, thriving business on eBay.

eBay Workshop Nov 3rd - 12 Sales Boosting Strategies to Put More Jingle in Your Holiday Season

Workshop: 12 Sales Boosting Strategies to Put More Jingle in Your Holiday Season

Host: Lisa Suttora, Founder/CEO of WhatDoISell.com

Date: November 3rd, Tuesday

Time: 11AM - Noon PST

Location: eBay Workshop Board

Description: The holiday season is upon us! And holiday shoppers are headed your way. But will YOU be ready when they arrive? With new holiday shoppers coming online each year and return buyers coming back for more, NOW is the time to ready your store, listings, and marketing for prime time!

Please join Lisa Suttora, ecommerce strategist, and Founder/CEO of WhatDoISell.com as she shares 12 sales boosting marketing strategies that will get you ready for holiday buyers and put more jingle in your holiday sales!

Since 2004, WhatDoISell.com, an eBay Certified Service Provider, has provided thousands of online sellers with the skills, knowledge and support they need to build a unique, thriving business on eBay.

Visit http://certifiedprovider.ebay.com/ to learn more about eBay Certified Providers and the services and solutions they offer to help eBay sellers.

Be Memorable - Use Effective and Creative Design on eBay

eBay Sellers can stand out from the crowd by creating a recognizable brand. eBay buyers, especially previous purchasers, should be able to remember a seller, who they are, what they offer, quality of their products and customer support. Sellers can attract buyer attention and provide assurances with a professionally designed listing on eBay.

The new item page on eBay still allows sellers the opportunity to get creative and stand out! Sellers can preview their custom designed listing templates and see how their template “fits”.

Great design not only creates a professional presence when selling online, but also establishes a recognizable brand. Buyers will be more likely to remember “who you are” with unique and memorable design.

Benefits:

• Create effective design
• Build a recognizable name/brand on eBay to suit your target buyer
• Compete effectively with your competition
• Establish professionalism and quality of your business and items for increase sales

Consider enlisting effective design and marketing services of an eBay Certified Provider to help grow your current eBay business. eBay Certified Providers work with all levels of eBay sellers from beginners to advanced PowerSellers to online retailers.

Certified Providers:

Custom Design
As Was

Pre-designed eBay Listing Templates
Seller Sourcebook
Vendio
Auctiva
inkFrog

Seller Machine Wins "DSR Rockstar" eBay Star Developer Award - Video Interview

Seller Machine CRM, an eBay Certified Provider, was awarded the eBay Star Developer Award for "DSR Rockstar" at eBay's 2009 Developers Conference in San Jose, CA.

The eBay Star Developer Awards are awarded each year to the eBay developers recognized for building applications on the eBay API platform and for their achievements in enabling sellers to improve customer service, create great buying experiences and keep pace with eBay's dynamic marketplace. BengalOne was recognized by eBay for their Customer Relationship Management solution known as Seller Machine CRM.

Seller Machine CRM, developed by BengalOne, is a customer relationship management (CRM) tool streamlining and increasing communication with your eBay buyers. Seller Machine also helps sellers with shipment tracking and communication to the buyer on the status of the shipment and satisfaction with their item.

Benefits of Seller Machine CRM:

• Build strong relationships with buyers, resulting in higher DSR scores
• Promotes a proactive approach to customer service reducing negative feedback
• Creates and manages eBay customer relationships encouraging repeat sales
• Assists in shipping communication
• Quickly see number of days since Shipped and since Delivered
• Watch for those packages that are taking longer than usual to deliver and contact the buyer before they get upset and contact you

"It's not just the one DSR -- if you fix that one {customer communication} DSR, then all the other ones just follow. Once you've built a relationship with that buyer, then they go out of their way to leave 5 stars every time." - E.J. Bantz, Founder and Creator of Seller Machine CRM by BengalOne

Congratulations to Seller Machine for this great win! Seller Machine is a DSR Rockstar as the tool helps eBay sellers increase their DSRs, create strong relationships with their buyers and increase sales with repeat purchases from happy buyers.

5 Costly Mistakes that Put the Scrooge in Your Online Holiday Sales - by WhatDoISell.com

5 Costly Mistakes that Put the Scrooge in Your Online Holiday Sales - By Lisa Suttora, Founder & CEO of WhatDoISell.com

Selling online this holiday season?

If so, then you don’t want to fall into these 5 common traps that many online sellers make… (they’ll put the “Scrooge” in your online sales.)
1. Not preparing your website/online store to look like Christmas.

Imagine what your local mall would feel like during the holiday season WITHOUT all those holiday bells and whistles.

It certainly wouldn’t get you in the holiday spirit would it?

Yet frequently, online sellers do nothing to prepare their stores with a holiday look & feel. If you want potential holiday shoppers to stop and shop on your website, you need to let them know that you are dialed-in and ready for the holiday season.

This doesn’t have to cost an arm & a leg either – there are things you can do to bring the spirit of the season (and the sales) to your website for less than the cost of a dinner out. I talk about several ways to do this in my 2009 Holiday Season Checklist audio training.

2. Merchandising too late.

You cannot, I repeat CANNOT wait until December to start featuring your holiday merchandise.

Otherwise it will simply be TOO late in the season to pick up anything but last minute sales.

3. If you sell on eBay, in order to get the best visibility for your products you need to mix up your listing formats.

If you’ve been selling everything in a Fixed Price Multi-Quantity Format, it’s time to relist or list some new merchandise in a 7 day fixed price format.

4. Not collecting email addresses of your customers.

This is probably one of the most business devastating mistakes I see people make during the holidays.

I recently worked with a client who sold almost 800 items last year during the months of Sept – Dec. and hadn’t tracked any of those customer’s email addresses. That’s 800 people who they never followed up with again!

Now there are certain legalities that you need to be aware of in order to do this so that you’ll be in compliance with the CAN SPAM email laws – but when done correctly, a simple year-end email can build an ongoing relationship with your customers for the following year.

5. Telling your customers what you can’t/won’t do instead of what you CAN do. Nobody likes to be told “We don’t do this or No, you can’t have that.”
Well the same goes for your holiday customers. It’s all in how you say it.

• “We don’t accept checks.” should be “We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover & PayPal


• “We can’t ship overnight.” can be rephrased as “We’re delighted to offer two day shipping.”

Look at your website, eBay store or listings. Count the # of times your copy says “We can’t” or “We don’t” then replace those statements with “We can” and “We’ll gladly.”

It takes 43 muscles to frown and only 17 to smile. The same goes for your holiday web copy – make it smile!

Your customers will thank you by rewarding you with their business!

About the author: Lisa Suttora is an ecommerce expert, noted product trend authority and the Founder & CEO of eBay Certified Provider WhatDoISell.com. With 15 years of online & offline retail merchandising experience, Lisa brings a fresh approach to the topic of "what to sell and how to sell it."

Since 2004, WhatDoISell.com has provided thousands of online sellers with the skills, knowledge and support they need to build a unique, thriving business on eBay.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Solutions Help eBay Sellers Increase Sales

Customer Relationship Management

To really gain an advantage and increase customer satisfaction (DSRs and Feedback) eBay sellers should consider investing in a Customer Relationship Management solution or CRM.

A CRM solution will allow sellers to keep records of their buyers in order to better understand the buyers search and purchasing behavior. A better understanding of buyer behavior gives sellers the opportunity to create and implement effective targeted marketing strategies and increase sales with repeat purchases.

A CRM solution will also help reduce the amount of emails and questions eBay sellers receive or automate the email replies.

Benefits of CRM:

• Maintain buyer/customer contact records
• Identify customer segments (location, purchase history, returns, customer support issues
• Improve customer retention
• Know your top buyers for each product and group
• Improve customer service
• Create marketing campaigns
• Send coupons and incentives to specific buyer segments
• Track and report on effectiveness of marketing campaigns
• Analyze and create reports on customer trends in correlation with marketing and product

eBay does not provide a CRM solution for eBay sellers. eBay sellers interested in increasing their buyer satisfaction, retention and sales should consider a CRM solution from an eBay Certified Provider.

Hosted Support
Seller Machine
ShipWorks
MyStoreCredit

eBay Workshop Sept 29th - Increase Your Repeat Sales with Buyer Rewards and Email Marketing

Workshop: New Selling Manager Applications - "Increase Your Repeat Sales with Buyer Rewards and Email Marketing"

Host: MyStoreRewards
Date: September 29th, Tuesday
Time: 11AM - Noon PST
Location: eBay Workshop Board

Description: It is more cost effective to retain a buyer than it is to attract new buyers. In this workshop, we'll look at how eBay sellers can drive repeat sales, build buyer loyalty and expand their buyer base with MyStoreRewards.

MyStoreRewards is a simple marketing solution enabling eBay sellers to offer cash back and coupons to buyers. eBay sellers can also create custom campaigns and directly market to previous customers and encourage repeat purchases. Sellers can do all of this direct from Selling Manager in My eBay!

MyStoreRewards is an eBay Certified Solution Provider and one of the third party providers included in the new Selling Manager Applications feature. Click here to learn more about Selling Manager Applications. After the material is presented we'll open the board for discussion and questions.

Visit http://certifiedprovider.ebay.com/ to learn more about eBay Certified Providers and the services and solutions they offer to help eBay sellers.

MyStoreCredit Brings Buyer Rewards and Loyalty Marketing Direct to My eBay and Selling Manager

Listen on eBay Radio as MyStoreCredit shares how they became an approved third party application in the new eBay Selling Manager Applications feature, and how their applications , MyStoreRewards and MyStoreMaps, will increase profits for eBay sellers.

Sellers that subscribe to the MyStoreRewards or MyStoreMaps applications as part of the new Selling Manager Applications, will have a buyer rewards (coupon and loyalty) program and/or a visual map off their eBay buyers around the world right in My eBay. MyStoreRewards gives individual sellers the opportunity to extend

Benefits of using MyStoreRewards and/or MyStoreMaps within My eBay (Selling Manager) are:

• Comfort - peace of mind knowing the company and application are vetted by eBay
• Ease of use - sellers already know My eBay
• Email marketing opportunities to reactivate past buyers or reward frequent/loyal buyers
• Increase buyer confidence in a seller's ability to ship around the U.S. or the globe

MyStoreCredit is an eBay Certified Solution Provider delivering a buyer loyalty and rewards program for eBay sellers and PayPal merchants known as, MyStoreRewards. In addition, MyStoreCredit also provides a solution to help sellers reach international buyers with the fun and visual application of MyStoreMaps.

Make Use of eBay Buyer Incentives in Your Checkout

eBay is working hard to bring you buyers by offering purchase incentives to buyers in the form of eBay coupons, eBay Bucks and cash back rewards with other online partners. All at no cost to you!

eBay sellers may be using a Certified Provider offering additional checkout features through their own checkout (Third Party Checkout) instead of eBay checkout.

Benefits:

• Verification of buyer incentive support right in View Item Page
• Reduce contacts from buyers
• Improve DSR scores
• Increase sales through more visibility and greater buyer savings
• Reduce unpaid items by requiring Immediate Pay (coming in October)

It’s important to note which Certified Provider you are using or considering and which version of PayPal checkout the Certified Provider supports to ensure your eBay buyers are able to maximize and use their eBay coupons and other incentives.

Some third party checkout users may not be able to accept certain eBay incentives depending which version of PayPal checkout they use. View our detailed chart here.

To take advantage of all buyer incentives eBay has to offer, we recommend using the latest version of PayPal Express Checkout with your Third Party Checkout from an eBay Certified Provider.

Certified Providers:
Auctiva
ChannelAdvisor
Infopia
Kyozou
Vendio

If you are a seller using eBay checkout, there’s nothing you need to do. All incentives are compatible.

Increase Sales and Improve Visibility on eBay with Strategy and Marketing Help

Increase your sales and improve visibility of your items on eBay with listing strategy and marketing help. It’s not enough to just be on top, you need to maintain “top billing” status and beat out your competition for eBay buyer attention. Be unique. Capitalize on eBay search, listing formats, visibility features, marketing and merchandising tools for eBay sellers.

Every winner has a strategy, and so should you.

Benefits:

• Incorporate successful eBay pricing and listing strategies
• Understand demand patterns of your product(s)
• Compete effectively with your competition
• Create effective design and build a recognizable name/brand on eBay to suit your target buyer
• Up-sell additional eBay inventory
• Configurable listings: Save time and spend less by letting buyers build the listing they want, on the fly
• Trade-In program: Sell and source simultaneously, while expanding your market to owners of similar merchandise. Take a trade in right in the listing. Make buyers happy by providing trade in value based on trade in worth.

Consider enlisting the marketing and strategy services of an eBay Certified Provider to get started on eBay, or to grow your current eBay business with effective marketing and merchandising tools. eBay Certified Providers work with all levels of eBay sellers from beginners to larger online merchants and brick and mortar retailers.

eBay Education, Consulting and Marketing

As Was

WhatDoISell

The Queen of Auctions

Merchandising Tools

Infopia

Vendio

inkFrog

Auctiva

Increase Repeat Purchases on eBay with MyStoreCredit

MyStoreCredit is an eBay Certified Solution Provider delivering an easy-to-use buyer loyalty, rewards and coupon program for eBay sellers.

How can an eBay seller retain a buyer(s)? You had a successful transaction with a buyer. Now, how do you encourage the buyer to keep shopping from you on eBay? eBay Sellers need a simple and cost effective solution allowing them to drive repeat purchases from existing buyers. They need to also enticing new potential buyers to purchase from the seller with the promise of future rewards to come.

Solution: MyStoreCredit offers a simple marketing solution enabling eBay sellers to offer cash back and coupons to buyers, thereby enticing a return and repeat purchase. It is more cost effective to retain a buyer than it is to attract new buyers. eBay sellers can also create custom campaigns and directly market to previous customers and encourage repeat purchases with MyStoreCredit.

On average MyStoreCredit has increased the repeat purchase rate for eBay sellers by 12-24%!

Benefits:

• Expand your buyer base
• Attract buyers
• Boost buyer confidence
• Build buyer loyalty
• Drive repeat sales
• Increase profits

“MyStoreCredit is very easy to use. Only took me about five minutes to set it up and I have not needed to make any changes since the initial set up.” – David Duong, CEO of Shoemetro, eBay PowerSeller.

MyStoreCredit is an eBay Certified Solution Provider delivering a buyer loyalty and rewards program for eBay sellers and PayPal merchants since 2004. In addition, MyStoreCredit also provides a solution to help sellers reach international buyers with the fun and visual application known as MyStoreMaps.

6 Steps of the eCommerce Workflow

Every eBay business is unique, but there are steps to the ecommerce selling process common to everyone. We refer to it as the "6 Steps of the eCommerce Workflow". The steps are:

• Source Product
• Manage Inventory
• Manage Listings
• Payments & Shipping
• Acquire & Retain Customers
• Manage Profits

eBay Certified Providers can help eBay sellers with one or all six steps in the ecommerce workflow. Certified Providers also benefit eBay sellers by helping you to:

• Save Time
• Increase Profits
• Reduce Requirement for Hired Help
• Attract More Buyers
• Retain Buyers and Increase Repeat Purchases

Go to http://www.certifiedprovider.ebay.com/ to learn more about the "6 Steps of the eCommerce Workflow" and each of our 24 Certified Providers.

Infopia eCommerce Leadership Summit - March 2009

Infopia, an eBay Certified Solution Provider, is holding an eCommerce Leadership Summit March 3-5, 2009 in Salt Lake City, UT.

The eCommerce Leadership Summit is a comprehensive gathering of eCommerce leaders in 2009 for SMB online merchants. You will have the opportunity to learn from business leaders and other successful online merchants on how to make eCommerce success a reality.

Key benefits for attending:

• Effective decision making based on accurate data reporting and metrics
• Create efficient operational workflows for your eBay business
• Successfully overcome customer satisfaction issues
• Drive high quality traffic and convert watchers into buyers

Check out the full eCommerce Leadership Summit agenda.

Founded in 1999, Infopia provides (Software as a Service) eCommerce solutions—helping eBay sellers grow their business efficiently and effectively.

As Was Consulting and Design Help eBay PowerSeller Profit

eBay PowerSeller, SuperGoodDeals, has reached new levels of sales on eBay and attributes part of their success to great design and branding by As Was. Read the full story here.

As Was, an eBay Certified Services Provider, is a full-service consulting firm specializing in branding, design, sales and marketing strategies, operations management, and training for eBay sellers.

New eBay Certified Provider - SELLER MACHINE

Seller Machine CRM, developed by BengalOne, is a customer relationship management (CRM) tool streamlining and increasing communication between eBay sellers and buyers. Developed by an eBay PowerSeller, Seller Machine enables eBay sellers to build strong relationships with buyers, resulting in higher DSR scores through:

• Constant communication with buyers
• Identifying repeat buyers
• Threaded eBay email messages
• Auto tracking of USPS packages
• And more...

Try Seller Machine CRM free today!

Sales Improve for eBay Seller with Custom Design by As Was

An eBay seller employed the Custom Design and Marketing services of eBay Certified Provider As Was, and saw an almost immediate increase in eBay sales. Effective design and branding can lead to higher conversions and create buyer confidence. Read the full story here.

As Was is a full-service consulting firm specializing in branding, design, sales and marketing strategies, operations management, and training for eBay sellers. They have been an eBay Certified Services Provider since August 2004.

Improving Buyer Satisfaction (10/14)

Workshop: Profiting from Customer Complaints
Host: Hosted Support
Date: Tuesday, October 14th
Time: 1:00 pm to 2:00 p.m. Pacific time

Description: In this workshop, Jerad Schempp, COO of Certified Solution Provider Hosted Support will discuss how you can turn those pesky complaints you get from your customers into real profits.