How to Use Social Media as a Marketing Opportunity for Your eBay Business

As an eBay seller, it is easy to get caught up in the everyday tasks of just keeping your operation running. You might be drowning in brown tape and jiffy bags and making sure you make it to the post office in time, but remember there’s a whole world out there.

eBay is a walled garden. It’s busy and has millions of buyers out there for you. But there is more to the internet than eBay. You can boost your eBay sales by marketing online. One of the most talked about opportunities is social media. That means sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace and other activities such as blogging.

Twitter has grown phenomenally in the past year or so and is now a mainstream website used by millions at home and abroad. If you have opened a newspaper in the past year you can’t have missed it. The same is true of Facebook. Both Twitter and Facebook offer the best options to eBay sellers who want to have a go at social media.

Blogging is also a great opportunity. A blog is basically a website where you can write about anything you like and also publish other content such as videos and photos. Setting up a blog can be free and easy, depending on what service you choose. Open source software Wordpress comes highly recommended and is free: you just need to pay for the hosting and design.

If social media seems scary, you’re right to be cautious: time is your most valuable commodity and wasting any of that or getting behind in the essential tasks of running your business would be a bad thing. But by approaching social media with discipline and a clear idea of what you want to achieve, you can reap some benefits.

There are two key benefits of social media to an eBay seller:

1. The first is traffic. Sites like Facebook and Twitter have a massive following with millions of visitors every day. It’s possible to get a little bit of that action and increase the number of people viewing your listings.
2. The second benefit, especially if you already have your own website, is SEO (search engine optimization). Blogging, in particular, is a good way of building your site content and creating valuable inbound links to build the prominence of your site in web searches.

Here are a few ideas that you can try:

• Build a Facebook fan page for your eBay sales. Even your granny is on Facebook these days so it’s a great audience to plug into. Your easiest option is to build a Facebook fan page for your business including links to your eBay shop and items you are selling. One of the best ways to utilize Facebook is to offer discounts and deals exclusively to Facebook fans to tempt them.
  
• Twitter and Tweets: Get started on Twitter and gradually build your network. Succeeding on Twitter can take time but the best way to attract attention is to provide links and information that other people find useful. That could be sharing news stories, your own content or making wry and amusing observations. You will also get a lot out of Twitter if you connect with people you admire and trust.
  
• Blogging: Blogging is something that rewards you the more you do it. If you start a blog, write about things that really interest you. Establish yourself as an expert in your field and as someone who people turn to for insight and interesting comment If you’re not much of a writer, try a picture blog or video blog (vlog).

What you want to avoid, whether on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or any other social network or blogging, is mistaking not working for networking. If you’re just jabbering away to your fellow sellers, friends or people who aren’t buying from you, it could be a waste of time. You need to approach social media as a marketing channel. It should be fun but it does have a very serious purpose: promoting you, your sales and your business.

And the good news is that Frooition can help as you take on social media. It’s essential that your eBay brand is extended to your other online profiles. A consistent look and feel makes your buyers and customers feel reassured, makes you look good and inspires trust. Frooition can help you with custom made-to-order design, expertise and plenty of past experience. Get in touch with Frooition and we can help you extend your eBay brand so it includes social media.

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.

Promoting Your eBay Store Offline

Article from the Shopster blog

Having an online eBay store shouldn’t limit your world to just the web. One of the most effective ways to deliver traffic to your eBay store is to do a bit of offline marketing. And it’s not just about traffic, we’re looking at increasing credibility and customer trust. Knowing you have a physical presence can help you make a connection with customers who aren’t as comfortable with buying online.

Here are a couple of tips on advertising your eBay Store via traditional means:

• Include the eBay Store web address in marketing collaterals such as brochures, mailing labels, posters, letterheads, fax cover sheet and more.
• Add your URL to your business card. Don’t just give away your number when you hand out business card, send them that message that you want them to visit your site as well.
• Give out promotional products to your existing client base as well as to potential new clients – of course all displaying your website address. Pens, bags, bumper stickers, promotional products go a long way in the advertising world. They often have an extended reach, not just to your target audience but to their friends, family and other people who see the product when being used.
• Display it in your physical location. If you have an actual retail store, put the URL up on your store window or have signage made indicating the time of business operations and hat you’re also open 24 hours on the web.
• Include the URL in your newspaper / magazine ads and even in radio and television ads. You’ll have the tri-media effect working for you and you’re doubling the effect of traditional advertisement you are already paying for.
• Update your phone book listing. Most businesses are listed in a telephone directory, other take out a bigger space in them. If you’re one of the businesses that has paid for a bigger or a highlighted listing in the local yellow pages, you might as well list your web address there.
• Give out printed discount coupons or gift certificates for use on your website. How you deliver this to your intended audience is entirely up to you. You can have it done as a cut-out add in the newspaper, you can send it by snail mail, however you do it, it should only be claimed on the website.

Let your creativity go to work in exploring ways to advertise your eBay Store and make your brand more visible in the real world.

Happy Selling!

Shopster is an eBay Certified Solutions Provider providing additional product and inventory for eBay sellers through drop shipping. Shopster has customers in 22 countries and provides full service drop shipping to both the United States and Canada.

The Pivot Points in Your Online Business (Critical Points Where You Must Make a Change in Your Strategy)

For those living in the U.S. the 4th of July is a long holiday weekend – but for eBay and online sellers July 4th is a “Pivot Point” for your 2010 online sales.

In sports, a pivot point can set an athlete up to make the winning shot or run the distance for a touchdown. In business, “Pivot Points” are critical points where you MUST make a turn in your strategy in order to stay AHEAD of the needs of your online buyers.

I first identified the concept of Pivot Points(tm) in my own business back in 2002.

I realized that there had been several selling opportunities I’d missed because I wasn’t prepared. I started charting these Pivot Points on my business calendar my first year in business so that the following year they didn’t sneak up on me OR even worse, I didn’t miss them completely.

From that point on, JULY 4th was one of the most important Pivot Points in my online sales success. In fact, by acting on that one Pivot Point alone, I more than doubled my holiday sales that following year.

The next Pivot Point for etailers is the change of focus from summer sales to planning for fall and holiday sales.

So even though you’re currently in the middle of summer sales – it’s time to TAKE ACTION on this Pivot Point and shift a part of your attention to prepping for what you’ll sell this fall.

Here are Your Pivot Point Actions
==> The Back-to-School selling season starts July 5th.
==> 69% of holiday shoppers START their holiday shopping in SEPTEMBER.

Pivot Point Action #1: Take a look at what Back-to-School related merchandise (or information) you are selling. The beginning of July is the time to move that merchandise front & center. You have to start advertising this merchandise now. Capture the early bird sales. Don’t wait for the procrastination shoppers. Or you’ll lose a ton of income.

Pivot Point Action #2: What Fall/Holiday merchandise do you CURRENTLY have in your inventory? Start grouping that merchandise together on a spreadsheet so you can see where the gaps in your inventory are and determine what inventory buys you want to make this month. If you wait to order holiday merchandise, your suppliers will be sold out of their hot selling seasonal merchandise by Sept.

Benjamin Franklin, a very successful entrepreneur in his own right once said: “By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.” Taking action at Pivot Points will prepare you to SUCCEED!'

Instead of chasing the seasonal sales, start early with preparation and watch your sales soar while others are playing catch up!

Blog post by Lisa Suttora, CEO & Founder of WhatDoISell.com

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

11 Hot Selling Holidays eBay Sellers Should Be Ready For (April - June) by Lisa Suttora

Article by Lisa Suttora, CEO & Founder of WhatDoISell.com

You may think that the “holiday selling season” runs November-December, but take a look below and you’ll be surprised at all the selling opportunities you have for your online business coming up in the next few months. No matter what you sell or where you sell it, capitalizing on these HOT spring and summer selling seasons can make a huge difference in your income during the 2nd quarter of the year! From April to June there are 11 different selling holidays that you’ll want to ramp up for! Miss these and you’ll leave money on the table…

April
April may be the kickoff to spring, but in the world of online sales, there’s a whole lot of shopping goin’ on!

• Bathing suit season: It’s still too chilly to wear them but sales of bathing suits are skyrocketing now. In fact, shoppers who wait much past May will find that all the best selection is gone! If you sell beachwear, it’s time to get it on your store homepage
• Prom wear: Online searches for prom wear are on the rise this month. Even though most proms don’ t happen until late May or early June, prom wear sales are increasing quickly with online searches up 60-80% from last month according to Google Insights
• Wedding season: Wedding season is in full swing as we approach June, one of the biggest wedding months of the year!
• April 4th: Easter: Easter is April 4th. And there is still time to make last minute sales. According to BIGResearch the average amount Easter shoppers are expected to spend is $118.60, slightly up from the 2009 average of $116.59.
  April 22nd: Earth Day: Earth Day is April 22nd and sales of eco-friendly and green products abound during this time. Don’t just look to sell traditionally “green” products. Look for the green in everything you sell. A bicycle is not only for entertainment and exercise, it is an eco-friendly way for your customers to commute to work or around town.

May
But that’s not all people are buying…

Bathing suit, prom wear and wedding season continue, but Mom boosts the sales this month!

• Sales of summer products ramp sharply in May (and June): Products for outdoor activities, clothing and outdoor living products for the home. Don’t wait until June to feature these in your store or you’ll lose a lot of sales!
• May 4th: National Teachers Day. A week long celebration honoring teachers, if you sell gifts and decorative accessories your store should have a promotion around National Teacher’s Day.
• May 9th: Mother’s Day: Mother’s Day is one of the biggest spending holidays of the year. Because it’s not just about buying a gift for your mom… there are grandmas, aunts, nieces, friends, co-workers and friends who are like a mom, who will all be getting gifts on this holiday too. Recognize all the moms in your store promotions and you’re sure to increase sales!
• May 31st: Memorial Day: It vacation time, camping time, fun in the summer time and your last chance to make big inroads in summer product sales!

June

• June: Graduation. Grade school, middle-school, high-school, college and technical college – sales of graduation gifts increase in May and June! And don’t forget the little ones! Pre-school graduation parties are all the rage. What do you sell that would make a perfect gift for the graduate?
• June 20th: Father’s Day: Dad doesn’t fare quite as well as mom when it comes to Father’s Day spending but Father’s Day gift shoppers will be out in full force. Put together a Top 10 Father’s Day gift list and watch your sales of those products soar!
• June: 4th of July products: Remember the majority of product sales happen in advance of the holiday, so if you wait until July to pull out the red,white and blue – you’ve just lost sales to the savvy seller who merchandised their 4th of July products in June. So get those 4th of July products out early, so your inventory is sold out come July.\

As you can see there’s a whole lot of selling you can do from April through June! So it’s time to get out there and capitalize on these spring and summer holiday selling seasons. Looking for creative ideas on how to merchandise your products or source products for these selling seasons? You’ll find them in the WhatDoISell Business Growth Center!

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

MyStoreMaps Helps eBay Sellers Create Trust and Credibility with Buyers

Blog post from Auctiva Education

A seller's reputation carries a lot of weight when it comes to converting first-time visitors into customers. MyStoreMaps is one company that aims to help merchants build that trust with potential buyers.

MyStoreMaps allows eBay sellers to attach maps to their listings that display the countries and regions to which they have shipped packages in the past. These maps also note the date of a merchant's last shipment and the shipment's destination. Putting this information on a listing can be reassuring for buyers, says company President Brian Lawe, especially among shoppers who live in another country.

"Imagine a buyer from Stockholm looking at two similar items from sellers in Scottsdale and Sacramento," Lawe says. "Both sellers take great pictures, both sellers write great copy, both sellers have clean, professional templates and have nearly identical feedback scores. But let's say the Scottsdale seller uses MyStoreMaps and even sells the exact same item for $1 more. The Stockholm buyer sees the MyStoreMap at the bottom of the Scottsdale seller's listings. It shows the Scottsdale seller has shipped 35 items to Sweden. The Sacramento seller's listing says only 'We ship internationally.' Who do you think the Stockholm buyer will buy from, even for $1 more?

"This kind of information can dramatically alter a buyer's perception of a seller. Not just for international buyers—but also for domestic ones," he adds.


Sellers can use MyStoreMaps for both auction and fixed-priced listings, and choose between attaching a regional or worldwide map to their listings. MyStoreMaps populates maps with markers displaying shipment destinations and maps then loads these onto a seller's listings in 24 hours, updating every two hours. Sellers can manually add past shipments easily. Maps are customizable, so sellers can adjust their colors to keep them in sync with their listings.

The maps have been very helpful for some sellers. eBay seller Doug Sacks says the service provides valuable information and helps his listings stand out from the rest.

"I like the addition of MyStoreMaps to my listings because overseas buyers seem to feel more confident with a seller who has experience in shipping abroad," Sacks notes. "The map clearly shows where you ship to and I believe my sales have increased to certain countries because of MyStoreMaps."

Sandy Hancock, owner and president of It's Good To Be a Girl, says MyStoreMaps is a great resource for sellers.

"What a great way to keep my customers up to date on the latest shipments my company is making," she says. "It shows the diversity of my company in a great graphic presentation."

To add customer maps to your listings, visit www.MyStoreMaps.com.

This article has been shortened. Click here to read the full article.

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.

New eBay Certified Provider - Frooition; Brings Design, Consulting and Marketing Services to eBay Sellers

New eBay Certified Provider, Frooition

The eBay Certified Provider Program is pleased to announce Frooition as a new Certified Provider helping eBay sellers increase sales with design, marketing and consulting tools and services.



Frooition is an experienced eBay Store and listing designer. Frooition specializes in providing design services for eBay, other online channels and website design. In addition to design services, Frooition also provides software for eBay sellers to help easily manage their eBay Store, listings and cross-promotions.

U.S. and international sellers will find Frooition can help grow their eBay business. Frooition can help an eBay seller assure buyers they deliver quality merchandise and customer service with professionally designed eBay Stores or listing templates. eBay sellers can also have Frooition custom design their eBay Store, listing templates or websites specific to their brand.

• Design services customized to your specifications
• Create a professional appearance for your eBay business and stand out from the crowd
• Create recognition and bring in repeat customers and purchases with memorable design

eBay sellers can improve their sales performance with Frooition’s advanced search functionality built into their eBay template or eBay Store.

• Professionally designed and easy to navigate eBay Stores and templates help keep buyers within a sellers listing/Store
• Dynamically display and cross-promote additional products and categories within your Store
• For example: Top 5 cross promotions change dynamically as a seller’s products sell out – no need to constantly reset cross promotions

eBay Seller Testimonials

"They have helped us to grow our business by providing us with a well designed, professional storefront and ad template that our customers love."

"Frooition possesses a very strong understanding of the eBay shopper and what they are looking for in terms of usability and design."

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.

How to Write Great eBay Item Descriptions that Sell by Shopster

Blog post by Shopster

Writing eBay Item Descriptions that Sell
Buying online as a rule is an impersonal exercise. While very efficient, it’s essentially, a no-touch experience i.e. the consumer and the seller do not need to make contact for a sale to occur. Because online business owners don’t have any live salespeople to fall back on, they need to guarantee that their site answers any questions a customer might have - hence, why great product descriptions are so critical. A product description is your salesperson, your chance to engage a customer and get them to buy, buy, buy.

3 Tips for writing engaging product descriptions:
Know your audience and write to them
Ensure that your writing style aligns with the audience you’re writing to. If it’s a highly technical audience use the appropriate jargon. Likewise, if you’re writing for a group of grade 6 children – write at a grade 6 level. When writing product descriptions, imagine your target audience and let that guide your language.

Get your customer’s attention
Use attention-grabbing phrases to grab shoppers’ interest quickly and keep it. Don’t be afraid to use strong words, questions, and phrases to do so. Pierotucci does a great job with opening sentences like: “Walk into a room and make an impression”, “Looking hip and cool is easily achieved when you are wearing this fabulous short fitted jacket”.

Tell a story & appeal to emotions to encourage buying behaviour
Once you have a potential customer’s attention, appeal to their emotions to encourage buying behaviour. Then offer logical support to help them rationalize their desire to purchase. Use each product description to paint a picture in your shopper’s mind, tell them a story, and let them insert themselves in the lead role. Use descriptive language and specific examples to get the best results.

Back to our Pierotucci example “Walk into a room and make an impression. Buttery-soft leather adds distinctive class and undeniable comfort to this sleek blazer perfect for work, weekend, and travel." This product description lets me visualize myself wearing this jacket - I can almost feel the leather on my skin, hear the whispers as I walk into a room. This product description does not just make me want this jacket, it makes me feel like I need it.

The moral of the story: Write to your audience, grab their attention, and then engage their emotions to keep it. By keeping these three tips in the forefront of your mind when writing your product descriptions, you stand a much better chance of turning your site browsers into paying customers.

Shopster is an eBay Certified Solutions Provider providing additional product and inventory for eBay sellers through dropshipping. Shopster has customers in 22 countries and provides full service dropshipping to both the United States and Canada.

5 Tips to Prepare for a Successful 2010 - eBay Radio with WhatDoISell.com

Listen on eBay Radio as Lisa Suttora, CEO & Founder of WhatDoISell.com, shares her insights and tips on how eBay sellers can create a prosperous 2010!

“5 Tips to Prepare for a Successful 2010”

• Look back at 2009 and assess your business
• Review your financials and create goals
• Organize inventory and workspace
• Analyze inventory and reprice or remove slow selling items
• Find new or fresh products and expand in your current niche

Check out www.bizplan2010.com to receive these tips and more from Lisa Suttora. Lisa's Top 10 Tips for a Successful eCommerce Business.

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

Are Your eBay Listings Holiday-Ready? by Auctiva

Article from Auctiva Education (Education for eBay Sellers)

As the holidays near, buyers will be bombarded with special offers, sales and a bevy of items to choose from. Yes, every seller will be vying for their attention—and that means you have a lot of competition. So now is the time to ensure your listings are in tip-top shape to attract buyers.

Not sure where to begin? Just glance through the following aspects of your listings to make sure your listings pop, entice and give you a very merry selling season.


Try on a new template for size
If you've been to your local mall, or even the mom-and-pop shop down the street, odds are you've seen wreaths, candy canes, twinkle lights or other holiday decorations hanging in the windows as you go by. There's a reason for this: The wintery decor is inviting and it attracts buyers.

The same holds true for eBay listing templates. Templates organize eBay listings into digestible segments, including descriptions, shipping details and payment information, so buyers don't have to read through one massive block of text to find the information they need. It's there at a glance.

Auctiva recently added a number of new themes to its gallery of more than 1,700 eBay listing templates. You could go with a holiday theme, or opt for a template that complements the color of your items.

Try Bing for cha-ching
The Bing Cashback program allows buyers to purchase qualifying items and get a percentage of the item's price as a cash rebate. eBay buyers and sellers have been taking advantage of this program since it began a year ago.

So why not give it a shot? Get full details about Bing Cashback. To qualify for the program, items must be listed with a Buy It Now price, whether you're using the fixed-price or auction format. Be sure to mention the rebate program in your subtitle and description to entice buyers. The cash-back incentive will be very appealing.

Get the Best Match
As we mentioned in an earlier EDU article, relevance is the name of the game with eBay's new Best Match search algorithm. Remember, Best Match tries to show buyers the listings that most closely match what they're looking for, so use focused and appropriate keywords in your titles and descriptions.

"Titles are more important than ever," eBay notes. "Relevant titles will be more important than ever in getting the best position for Fixed-Price listings."

Titles that are too general might get more impressions, or click throughs, but they won't get more sales—and they'll wind up with lower performance scores. Lower scores mean a lower standing in search results.

Also be sure to describe your items accurately; that includes mentioning any minor defects an item may have. The holiday season is no time to surprise your buyers. They should know exactly what they're getting.

Offer free shipping
Budget-conscious shoppers are looking for the best deals this season. Offering free shipping will not only save them money and make them happy, it will give your items a boost in search results.

If you just can't do free shipping, offer the lowest-possible shipping cost. According to eBay, auction-style and fixed-priced listings with excessive shipping will be "demoted" in search results.

Do your research
Yes, prices will definitely matter this holiday season, so take a look at other listings to find out what similar items are going for. Buyers will certainly be doing this, even as the economy starts to improve. In fact, comparison shopping is expected to be the norm in the coming weeks, as shoppers look to buy items for all the people on their holiday lists.

Make use of that camera
Good photos and lots of them can promote trust with buyers. Remember that Auctiva lets you add more than 24 images to your listings.

Make sure photos are clear and detailed. A white background is always a good idea, as is taking photos in direct light to get good images. A picture really is worth a thousand words when it comes to selling online.

Find the right format

Lastly, your selling format will matter, too. It may seem difficult to decide if you should list your items in the fixed-priced or auction style, but there are some guidelines.

Auctions typically work well for one-of-a-kind products such as collectibles and antiques. It's also a good option if you don't know the value of an item. This could prevent you from over-pricing a product, since buyers will determine its worth. And you don't want to over-price your items. Buyers will be looking for deals, and so will Best Match.

However, if you have several of the same or similar items, and you can compare your item to others to determine its value, opt for fixed-priced. While several factors go into determining your standing in Best Match search results, Best Match will follow these guidelines.

So take one more good look at your listings to make sure they'll grab buyers' attention, and let the selling begin. Hope you have your packing supplies ready. You'll need them soon enough. Enjoy the sales.

This article has been condensed. Read the full article here.

Should You Use eBay Cross-Merchandising? by Vendio

Article from the Vendable Blog

eBay recently announced Cross-Merchandising where watched items will appear at the bottom of sellers listings. This is an opt-out program, and you'll need to decide if you want your items displayed in other seller’s listings, at the cost of having their items displayed in your listings.

Example:

Typically, in a cross promotion program, some do better than others and you’ll need to determine if it benefits your business or detracts from your items. Here are a few questions you could ask yourself before you make a decision:

1. Are your prices in general lower or higher than your competition? If your prices are lower, then you could benefit from the Cross Merchandising.

2. Are your images compelling? Do you images really shine? If your images are clearly better than your competitors, then you could benefit from Cross Merchandising.

3. Are you a Top Seller? Top seller badges are displayed in the Cross Merchandising Panel, which could be a benefit to you.

4. Can your items be sold multiple categories? For example, if you sell sterling nurse charms, getting “shown” in medical categories could be helpful.

We (Vendio) would suggest considering your options before you make a decision.

An eBay Certified Solutions Provider since 2004, Vendio provides an ecommerce solution for eBay sellers of all sizes. Vendio offers a series of applications which can be installed on a standalone basis or used to extend the functionality of the Vendio's eBay listing and inventory management solution.

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.

Sometimes It IS All About Image - by Vendio

Article by Vendio

With all the discussion, information (and angst) about DSRs and Top Rated Sellers and the eBay change of the week, sellers may forget to pay attention to the basics. New sellers inundated with the volumes to learn may never learn the basics. So today, let’s take a trip down “Basic Lane” and take a look at images.

When selling online, the image is the most important piece of sales collateral that you can “hand” to your potential customer. It is the first thing that a potential buyer sees.

You do not need to be a professional to recognize a good image, and you don’t need to be a professional to take a good image.

Here’s some tips to improve you images:

1. Make sure your item and camera lens are clean. This might seem like a no-brainer, but if you use your camera often, you may forget to check the lens for dust.
2. Light your item. You can create your own inexpensive photography box (or even buy one). For inexpensive lighting, you can purchase clip on lights at any home improvement store. Shine the light onto the product and stand behind the lighting.
3. Unclutter the area. It is not good practice to take an image with other items in the photograph. If you are selling a vase and want to display it with flowers, take an additional photograph, but your main photograph should be of the product and the product only.
4. Take several photographs. Vendio image hosting is inexpensive and having multiple images help sell your product. You will want to take images from several angles. If you sell collectibles, take an image of any makers mark.
5. Resize and crop your image. Make sure that your product is what is seen, not the background.

Too much background, lighting is not correct and not showing enough product detail

6. Don’t take images with a distracting background. If you are using a backdrop cloth, use plain colors. Plaids and Paisleys will detract from your item.

7. Include a visual reference to size when appropriate. For example, use a ruler or a coin for visual reference to item size.

8. Try not to use a flash, but use lighting instead. If your item is reflective, don’t use a flash at all.

One other tidbit to note – the best way to determine if your images are up to par, is to view similar items and compare your items with your competitors. If you have Vendio Research, it will display the images of completed items, so you can see at a glance if your images are better (or worse) than your competitors.

eBay sellers can try Vendio Research free for 60 days! Click here.

Happy Selling!!

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

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.

Thoughtful Product Descriptions Create Sales by Infopia

Blog post provided by Infopia

Product descriptions are essential to merchandising and selling successfully online. A picture may speak a thousand words, but rarely tells a potential customer why they should buy that particular product from you. The three following strategies will help you to write product strategies that will sell.

Get to Know Your Customers
Determining who your customers are will help you to determine what they value in a product and what kind of language you should use in the product description. The actual product you are selling will also determine your audience. If the majority of your customers are high level executives purchasing business to business services you will use a much different vocabulary than you would if you were selling family vacation packages.

Create Excitement
Product descriptions should not only give necessary details of the product (size, color, availability) but also create excitement and a desire to own the product. Be sure to answer the following questions in a description:

1. What makes this product better than others?
2. Why does your customer need this product?

Example: “Stay ahead of the fashion curve in these boots, This boot features black leather with a scrunch detail at the front. This knee boot is slightly rounded at the toe and features a 3 inch block heel. This will not be going out of fashion anytime this season!”

The Power of Persuasion: Tell a Story
Using the power of persuasion through emotion (Pathos) and appealing to your customers emotions in a product description is a very effective way to sell products. It can be difficult to build a relationship with your customers when you sell online. By using the pathos method of persuasion you will be able to bring back the “human element” online. This is something that can set you apart in the cold world of online selling. The easiest way to create this type of persuasion is to tell a story about the product. Use descriptive words that will appeal to your customers. This is also an effective method of using positive customer reviews.

Example: “I order from you guys all the time and my pit bull (who I write a column about in the magazine NorthSide San Francisco) loves your bully sticks, especially the meaty ones! The 12 inch think last a long time–the only ones I’ve found that do, and I’ve ordered from everyone. I find your quality and prices to be the best.–Susan in SF, CA”

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

Stand Out from the Crowd on eBay with Great Design

Stand out from the crowd on eBay by creating a recognizable brand. eBay buyers, especially previous purchasers, should be able to remember who you are, what you offer, quality of products and customer support. You 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! Preview your custom designed listing templates and see how your 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

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

eBay Certified Providers Can Help Sellers with Recent eBay Announced Changes

eBay recently announced new features and policies designed to help sellers be more efficient and reward them for providing great service to eBay buyers. We want to make sure eBay sellers are aware of how Certified Providers can help them incorporate the new eBay changes and thereby increase their sales while saving time handling their eBay business.

Helping Sellers Avoid Low DSRs

• Tools to make giving great service quick and easy
• Simple bulk shipping management for multiple carriers
• Post shipping tracking #s automatically in My eBay
  

Opportunities for Increased Visibility in Enhanced Search

• Optimizing sales for the new Sales Per Impression
• Tools supporting Product Details

Tools for Efficiency and Profitable Selling on eBay

• Easy listing revisions – Edit live listings to comply with new policies
• Selling Manager Applications from Certified Providers

The eBay Certified Provider Program recognizes third party companies excelling at providing the tools or services an eBay seller needs to grow their business and increase efficiency.

Monsoon Wins "Most Innovative" eBay Star Developer Award - Video Interview

Monsoon, an eBay Certified Provider, was awarded the eBay Star Developer Award for "Most Innovative" at eBay's 2009 Developers Conference in San Jose, CA June 17th.

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 and keep pace with eBay's dynamic marketplace. Monsoon was recognized by eBay for their "Dynamic Pricing" feature.

Dynamic Pricing automatically searches for competitive items on eBay and will re-price a seller's inventory to beat their competition. Automatically reprice items up or down as demand fluctuates. Sellers can maintain the best price realization possible by leveraging their great DSRs and maximizing visibility in eBay search.

"For our customers, we found that conversion -- if you have real-time, accurately priced inventory -- jumped up between 5X to 15X compared to where the sellers had been previously -- a huge, huge increase in sales." - Clark Hale, VP of Product Managment for Monsoon

Congratulations to Monsoon for this distinguished honor and for their ability to assist eBay sellers with competitive pricing, maximizing the value of their items based on competition and demand!

Monsoon is an eBay Certified Provider assisting sellers with an end-to-end solution for the management, processing, pricing, and reporting for successful online selling. Monsoon supports eBay.com, eBay Motors and Half.com.

Easy Listing Tool and Great Template Design for eBay from Seller Sourcebook

Listen on eBay Radio as Seller Sourcebook discusses how their listing tool for eBay is easy to use and saves sellers time! Seller Sourcebook offers many benefits and features for eBay sellers.

Benefits:

• One-page eBay listing tool
• Over 2500 listing template designs
• Image Hosting
• Mac and PC compatible
• Great customer service
• and more...

Founded in 2003, Seller Sourcebook provides an affordable eBay listing tool, image hosting and a large selection of attractive templates to assist sellers in creating professional listings on eBay.