Publisher: Earl Williams
Shop-Now Mini Mall
Turn on the news and you'll get an earful of how bad things are - not only in your community but around the world. Head to the coffee shop and conversations will battle for your attention as folks around you discuss their woes. The financial situation and the disposition of people around you are enough to make you want to bury your head in the sand.
Yet, when you can harness a positive mindset, the sky is the limit. A positive mindset not only helps you get through the tough times, it helps you profit from them and continue to grow and succeed. The trick, of course, is actually being able to think positively in tough times. Here are a few tips and ideas to help.
#1 Gratitude
Gratitude is one of the most powerful emotions human beings are capable of. It’s right up there with love as a potent and significant emotion. One of the easiest ways to stay in a state of gratitude is to create a gratitude habit. Start or end each day by listing the things you’re grateful for. Also consider turning to gratitude when you feel negative emotions sneaking in and taking over.
#2 Focus on What Is Working
If something is always going wrong, rest assured something is also going right. The trick is to focus on the things that are working. So make a list. Right now, make a list of the things that are going right in your life, in your business, and in your relationships. Print the list and hang it in a place where you often feel overwhelmed. When negative thoughts begin to creep in, take a glance at your list. Read it aloud if it helps. Absorb it and change your thoughts.
#3 Create Positive Surroundings
Surround yourself with things that you love and people that support you. Emotions are contagious. When the people around you are negative, it’s easy to become negative too. However, the contrary is true too. When you’re surrounded by positive people it’s much easier to feel positive.
And when you’re surrounded by things you love and things that make you feel good, it’s easier to focus on the good. Make your home comfortable. Place personal pictures on your desk. Buy pillows and blankets in colors that you like. Paint your room or office a color that makes you smile. Change your surroundings and change your life.
#4 Personal Care
Taking care of your mind and body makes a huge difference in your ability to stay positive. Exercise, eat well, get plenty of sleep and take time during the day to meditate. A little self-care goes a long way.
When it comes to maintaining a positive attitude, it can be a real challenge during the tough times. Small things matter and can make a big difference. Take care of yourself. Surround yourself with people and things that make you smile and remember to focus on what is good in your life. If you have to, make a list and keep it handy.
About the Publisher: Shop-Now Mini Mall is the place whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time online from a list of stores on our site. The consumer deals direct with the merchant for which we provide the store links. Our online shopping mall provides everything you need for shopping online.....
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Amazon.com Affiliate Program: Is It Worth the Effort?
Publisher: Earl Williams
Shop-Now Mini Mall
It seems like affiliate programs are all the rage these days. And why not? It is a good way to create an income stream with very little work. One such program is Amazon.com.
What Are Affiliate Programs?
In case you are a newbie in the world of affiliate marketing, here is a quick tutorial about the concept. Affiliate marketing basically involves selling products for others and earning a commission on those sales or sales leads.
There are many advantages to this model. First, you don’t have to house any inventory. The products are managed by the affiliate program owner, in this case Amazon.com. There is nothing for you to keep up with.
Second, you don’t even have to come up with tools to promote the products. The affiliate does that for you as well. They provide an affiliate’s toolbox filled with all sorts of goodies that help you to get started. You can use different codes on your site to embed pictures, text or both with your affiliate code so that it traces back to you when someone clicks on the links.
Third, you don’t have to monitor the clicks. All of that is done for you, by the affiliate owner. They compute your payment and send it to you.
So, what’s your responsibility? Successfully promote the product and drive traffic to your site so others will take advantage of the offers displayed there. But, that is a subject for another time.
What about Amazon.com?
Amazon is a pioneer in the affiliate marketing model. When you are growing a company it is often hard to also grow the advertising. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day. Amazon have developed a strategy whereby others help to promote the products and services that they offer for a percentage of the commission on the sales.
It’s ingenious, actually. Now, someone else is working for you so you can concentrate on other business aspects.
With Amazon.com, you are backed by a brand that people trust. When you promote any of their products, potential customers already know that it is good quality so you don’t have to sell them on that. The products practically sell themselves.
But, before joining any affiliate program, even Amazon.com, read the fine print. Know about fee structures, payment schedules and what you are getting to help you be a successful affiliate. This will help you evaluate whether the program itself is worth the effort.
If you are looking for a constant income stream that gets better over time, then this one may work for you. Some are skeptical about the low starting commission rate. However, while it is low compared to other programs, you can grow that as quickly or as slowly as you want with increased sales each month.
Also, Amazon.com pays quarterly. You won’t see a check until the end of the first three months depending on when you sign up. So, it is not a quick bucks kind of program.
Is Amazon.com worth it? That depends on your needs and affiliate marketing goals.
About the Publisher: Shop-Now Mini Mall is the place whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time online from a list of stores on our site. The consumer deals direct with the merchant for which we provide the store links. Our online shopping mall provides everything you need for shopping online.....
Shop-Now Mini Mall
It seems like affiliate programs are all the rage these days. And why not? It is a good way to create an income stream with very little work. One such program is Amazon.com.
What Are Affiliate Programs?
In case you are a newbie in the world of affiliate marketing, here is a quick tutorial about the concept. Affiliate marketing basically involves selling products for others and earning a commission on those sales or sales leads.
There are many advantages to this model. First, you don’t have to house any inventory. The products are managed by the affiliate program owner, in this case Amazon.com. There is nothing for you to keep up with.
Second, you don’t even have to come up with tools to promote the products. The affiliate does that for you as well. They provide an affiliate’s toolbox filled with all sorts of goodies that help you to get started. You can use different codes on your site to embed pictures, text or both with your affiliate code so that it traces back to you when someone clicks on the links.
Third, you don’t have to monitor the clicks. All of that is done for you, by the affiliate owner. They compute your payment and send it to you.
So, what’s your responsibility? Successfully promote the product and drive traffic to your site so others will take advantage of the offers displayed there. But, that is a subject for another time.
What about Amazon.com?
Amazon is a pioneer in the affiliate marketing model. When you are growing a company it is often hard to also grow the advertising. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day. Amazon have developed a strategy whereby others help to promote the products and services that they offer for a percentage of the commission on the sales.
It’s ingenious, actually. Now, someone else is working for you so you can concentrate on other business aspects.
With Amazon.com, you are backed by a brand that people trust. When you promote any of their products, potential customers already know that it is good quality so you don’t have to sell them on that. The products practically sell themselves.
But, before joining any affiliate program, even Amazon.com, read the fine print. Know about fee structures, payment schedules and what you are getting to help you be a successful affiliate. This will help you evaluate whether the program itself is worth the effort.
If you are looking for a constant income stream that gets better over time, then this one may work for you. Some are skeptical about the low starting commission rate. However, while it is low compared to other programs, you can grow that as quickly or as slowly as you want with increased sales each month.
Also, Amazon.com pays quarterly. You won’t see a check until the end of the first three months depending on when you sign up. So, it is not a quick bucks kind of program.
Is Amazon.com worth it? That depends on your needs and affiliate marketing goals.
About the Publisher: Shop-Now Mini Mall is the place whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time online from a list of stores on our site. The consumer deals direct with the merchant for which we provide the store links. Our online shopping mall provides everything you need for shopping online.....
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Affiliate Marketers: How to Increase Conversion
Publisher: Earl Williams
Shop-Now Mini Mall
Your conversion rate is perhaps the most important factor to improve if you want to create a successful affiliate marketing campaign. If you have a 2% conversion while your competitor only has a 1% conversion, it becomes very hard for them to compete.
How do you raise your conversion rates as an affiliate marketer?
==> Start by Getting More Targeted Traffic
Start by improving the quality of your traffic.
One easy way to do this is to narrow down your keywords. For example, if you're selling sports shoes, instead of bidding for keywords like "Nike shoes" try going for specific models like "Nike Sprint Runner 2011."
Also try cutting down on broad match or phrase match terms, and go for exact match terms instead.
The principles of getting more targeted traffic apply no matter what kind of traffic source you're using.
==> Use Keyword Pass-Through & Geotargeting
Let's say someone who lives in Boulder, Colorado typed in "Nike Shoes" and landed on your site. Which of these headlines would be more appealing?
"Buy Sports Shoes Online Today" or "Buy Nike Shoes Online, Delivered to Boulder in 48 Hours"?
Naturally, the latter is going to be more appealing.
Two quick ways to increase your conversion rate on anything you're promoting is to add keyword pass-through and geotargeting.
Keyword pass-through simply means passing the keyword someone typed in to get to your website to your landing page, and using it in the headline or body copy.
Geotargeting involves using the IP address of the browser to detect where they're located and then using that to increase conversions. There's a free script you can use from MaxMind.
==> Split Testing
Ultimately, the only way to really increase your conversions consistently is to split test on a regular basis.
If you have a small amount of traffic, start with basic A/B split tests that tackle large differences in your website.
If you have a profitable campaign that's getting significant amounts of traffic, try using multivariable testing to figure out the best possible combination of factors.
==> Starting an Email List
If you have a campaign that's profitable or breaks even on the front end, you might want to consider setting up an email list.
Setting up an email list will allow you to promote multiple affiliate offers to the same traffic source. Since you've already proven that you're able to get buyers to your landing page, you're likely leaving money on the table if you don't try to get them on a list.
These are a few proven tactics for increasing your conversions as an affiliate marketer. The most important habit you could get into is regularly trying out different ideas. Affiliate marketing is often just about trying out as many different things as possible until one sticks. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
About the Publisher: Shop-Now Mini Mall is the place whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time online from a list of stores on our site. The consumer deals direct with the merchant for which we provide the store links. Our online shopping mall provides everything you need for shopping online.....
Shop-Now Mini Mall
Your conversion rate is perhaps the most important factor to improve if you want to create a successful affiliate marketing campaign. If you have a 2% conversion while your competitor only has a 1% conversion, it becomes very hard for them to compete.
How do you raise your conversion rates as an affiliate marketer?
==> Start by Getting More Targeted Traffic
Start by improving the quality of your traffic.
One easy way to do this is to narrow down your keywords. For example, if you're selling sports shoes, instead of bidding for keywords like "Nike shoes" try going for specific models like "Nike Sprint Runner 2011."
Also try cutting down on broad match or phrase match terms, and go for exact match terms instead.
The principles of getting more targeted traffic apply no matter what kind of traffic source you're using.
==> Use Keyword Pass-Through & Geotargeting
Let's say someone who lives in Boulder, Colorado typed in "Nike Shoes" and landed on your site. Which of these headlines would be more appealing?
"Buy Sports Shoes Online Today" or "Buy Nike Shoes Online, Delivered to Boulder in 48 Hours"?
Naturally, the latter is going to be more appealing.
Two quick ways to increase your conversion rate on anything you're promoting is to add keyword pass-through and geotargeting.
Keyword pass-through simply means passing the keyword someone typed in to get to your website to your landing page, and using it in the headline or body copy.
Geotargeting involves using the IP address of the browser to detect where they're located and then using that to increase conversions. There's a free script you can use from MaxMind.
==> Split Testing
Ultimately, the only way to really increase your conversions consistently is to split test on a regular basis.
If you have a small amount of traffic, start with basic A/B split tests that tackle large differences in your website.
If you have a profitable campaign that's getting significant amounts of traffic, try using multivariable testing to figure out the best possible combination of factors.
==> Starting an Email List
If you have a campaign that's profitable or breaks even on the front end, you might want to consider setting up an email list.
Setting up an email list will allow you to promote multiple affiliate offers to the same traffic source. Since you've already proven that you're able to get buyers to your landing page, you're likely leaving money on the table if you don't try to get them on a list.
These are a few proven tactics for increasing your conversions as an affiliate marketer. The most important habit you could get into is regularly trying out different ideas. Affiliate marketing is often just about trying out as many different things as possible until one sticks. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
About the Publisher: Shop-Now Mini Mall is the place whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time online from a list of stores on our site. The consumer deals direct with the merchant for which we provide the store links. Our online shopping mall provides everything you need for shopping online.....
Friday, August 19, 2011
How EBay Powersellers use Dropshipping to Boost Their Profits
Publisher: Earl Williams
Shop-Now Mini Mall
Dropshipping is a highly profitable, low-risk, easy to set up method of delivering products to customers. Because you hold no inventory, you preserve valuable capital that you can invest into other areas of your business. This is especially important with eBay businesses, where cash on hand is often limited and can't afford to be tied up in inventory.
How do "The Pros," i.e. powersellers, use dropshipping to boost their profits? Here are a few ways.
==> Launching a New Business
If you're launching a new business, there's no sense in sinking a bunch of money into it before you know if it'll work.
Instead, why not try it through dropshipping? The margins will be slimmer and you may even risk losing money. But you'll be able to prove how much volume you'll be able to generate before you risk cash in inventory.
It's much better to risk 30 cents per sale through dropshipping, than it is to risk $30,000 in inventory by stocking a thousand units.
==> Testing What to Upsell
Let's say you're selling fishing rods. What else should you sell? Hooks? Lines? Sinkers? Books on fishing? Bait boxes?
You never know. And you probably shouldn't buy 500 of each just to test out selling each one.
Instead, establish a dropshipping relationship with your wholesaler and try each of them. It won't cost you anything to figure out which products don't work. Once you find the ones that do, you can continue dropshipping, or order wholesale.
==> Seeing Customer Response for a New Product
Will they love it or hate it? Again, you don't have to take a financial risk to find out.
You can launch new products without risking your hard-earned cash by dropshipping. Read the reviews and talk to your customers to figure out if the product is up to snuff.
Once it's proven it's earning potential, then and only then do you stock up on hard inventory.
==> Testing a Vendor Relationship
Apart from the product itself, dropshipping is a great way to test out a new vendor relationship.
How "on the ball" are they with requests? Do they fulfill dropshipping orders promptly? Do they hassle you about billing before your net 30/60/90 period is up? Do you feel like you have connection and rapport?
It's much better to ferret out any problems in the relationship on a $20 dropshipping relationship than on a $20,000 wholesaling relationship.
These are just a few of the methods that smart eBay powersellers are using to boost their profits. Dropshipping can be a very powerful way of increasing your profits while decreasing your risks. You can use it to launch new businesses, test upsells, test new products and even test a new vendor relationship. You can do all this without tying up any significant amount of cash.
About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who own and operate his online mall. Shop-Now Mini Mall is the place whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time online from a list of stores on our site. The consumer deals direct with the merchant for which we provide the store links. Our online shopping mall provides everything you need for shopping online.....
Shop-Now Mini Mall
Dropshipping is a highly profitable, low-risk, easy to set up method of delivering products to customers. Because you hold no inventory, you preserve valuable capital that you can invest into other areas of your business. This is especially important with eBay businesses, where cash on hand is often limited and can't afford to be tied up in inventory.
How do "The Pros," i.e. powersellers, use dropshipping to boost their profits? Here are a few ways.
==> Launching a New Business
If you're launching a new business, there's no sense in sinking a bunch of money into it before you know if it'll work.
Instead, why not try it through dropshipping? The margins will be slimmer and you may even risk losing money. But you'll be able to prove how much volume you'll be able to generate before you risk cash in inventory.
It's much better to risk 30 cents per sale through dropshipping, than it is to risk $30,000 in inventory by stocking a thousand units.
==> Testing What to Upsell
Let's say you're selling fishing rods. What else should you sell? Hooks? Lines? Sinkers? Books on fishing? Bait boxes?
You never know. And you probably shouldn't buy 500 of each just to test out selling each one.
Instead, establish a dropshipping relationship with your wholesaler and try each of them. It won't cost you anything to figure out which products don't work. Once you find the ones that do, you can continue dropshipping, or order wholesale.
==> Seeing Customer Response for a New Product
Will they love it or hate it? Again, you don't have to take a financial risk to find out.
You can launch new products without risking your hard-earned cash by dropshipping. Read the reviews and talk to your customers to figure out if the product is up to snuff.
Once it's proven it's earning potential, then and only then do you stock up on hard inventory.
==> Testing a Vendor Relationship
Apart from the product itself, dropshipping is a great way to test out a new vendor relationship.
How "on the ball" are they with requests? Do they fulfill dropshipping orders promptly? Do they hassle you about billing before your net 30/60/90 period is up? Do you feel like you have connection and rapport?
It's much better to ferret out any problems in the relationship on a $20 dropshipping relationship than on a $20,000 wholesaling relationship.
These are just a few of the methods that smart eBay powersellers are using to boost their profits. Dropshipping can be a very powerful way of increasing your profits while decreasing your risks. You can use it to launch new businesses, test upsells, test new products and even test a new vendor relationship. You can do all this without tying up any significant amount of cash.
About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who own and operate his online mall. Shop-Now Mini Mall is the place whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time online from a list of stores on our site. The consumer deals direct with the merchant for which we provide the store links. Our online shopping mall provides everything you need for shopping online.....
Monday, August 01, 2011
Does Your Online Socializing Interrupt Your Productivity
Publisher: Earl Williams
Shop-Now Mini Mall
If you're like most internet entrepreneurs, you'll probably notice you spend a disproportionate amount of time checking Facebook, Twitter, your email or your web stats. How much productivity does this really cost you? And how can you cut down on this productivity loss?
==> The True Price of Socializing
If you check your Facebook for just five minutes, two or three times a day, plus your email another two or three times a day, that doesn't seem like much, does it? It seems like very normal online behavior in fact.
In reality, the costs are huge.
Let's say each time you decide to check Facebook, it interrupts your concentration and costs you momentum in a project. In addition, it takes you an additional ten minutes or so to get back "in the groove."
While you're on Facebook, you might see a cool link or video. Or perhaps a slightly political comment on a friend's wall that you want to discuss. You get sidetracked and spend an additional five or ten minutes.
When you add it all up, each distraction could easily cost you fifteen to thirty minutes of productivity.
Did you know that you can really just check your email once at the beginning of your work day and once at the end and still address all the important emails in a very reasonable time frame?
Did you also know that, even with 1,000 friends, you can easily view all the posts that were posted in a day in about twenty minutes - checking Facebook just once a day?
The cuts in productivity aren't necessary. You aren't missing out on anything by streamlining your online social networking.
==> What to Do about It
As mentioned above, one very effective system is to just check your email or Facebook once at the beginning of the workday and/or at the end of the workday.
If the interruptions feel like an addition (it does for many), consider getting a site blocker for a short period of time.
Even if it's just for two weeks, it can help you get in the habit. Set up the site blocker so Facebook.com, Gmail.com, Twitter.com, etc. aren't accessible during work hours. That way you won't even be tempted to access those sites.
Also consider trying a productivity monitoring system. These are systems that will actually watch how much time you spend on email, on work and on sites like Facebook and report it to you at the end of the day. You'll probably be shocked at how much time social networking really takes when you see the numbers.
You now know how much online social networking can really be costing you in terms of productivity. You also know a number of ways to break this habit. Remember: adding just an hour or two to your daily productivity can mean a lot of real money added to your bottom line in a few months' time.
About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who own and operate his online mall. Shop-Now Mini Mall is the place whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time online from a list of stores on our site. The consumer deals direct with the merchant for which we provide the store links. Our online shopping mall provides everything you need for shopping online.....
Shop-Now Mini Mall
If you're like most internet entrepreneurs, you'll probably notice you spend a disproportionate amount of time checking Facebook, Twitter, your email or your web stats. How much productivity does this really cost you? And how can you cut down on this productivity loss?
==> The True Price of Socializing
If you check your Facebook for just five minutes, two or three times a day, plus your email another two or three times a day, that doesn't seem like much, does it? It seems like very normal online behavior in fact.
In reality, the costs are huge.
Let's say each time you decide to check Facebook, it interrupts your concentration and costs you momentum in a project. In addition, it takes you an additional ten minutes or so to get back "in the groove."
While you're on Facebook, you might see a cool link or video. Or perhaps a slightly political comment on a friend's wall that you want to discuss. You get sidetracked and spend an additional five or ten minutes.
When you add it all up, each distraction could easily cost you fifteen to thirty minutes of productivity.
Did you know that you can really just check your email once at the beginning of your work day and once at the end and still address all the important emails in a very reasonable time frame?
Did you also know that, even with 1,000 friends, you can easily view all the posts that were posted in a day in about twenty minutes - checking Facebook just once a day?
The cuts in productivity aren't necessary. You aren't missing out on anything by streamlining your online social networking.
==> What to Do about It
As mentioned above, one very effective system is to just check your email or Facebook once at the beginning of the workday and/or at the end of the workday.
If the interruptions feel like an addition (it does for many), consider getting a site blocker for a short period of time.
Even if it's just for two weeks, it can help you get in the habit. Set up the site blocker so Facebook.com, Gmail.com, Twitter.com, etc. aren't accessible during work hours. That way you won't even be tempted to access those sites.
Also consider trying a productivity monitoring system. These are systems that will actually watch how much time you spend on email, on work and on sites like Facebook and report it to you at the end of the day. You'll probably be shocked at how much time social networking really takes when you see the numbers.
You now know how much online social networking can really be costing you in terms of productivity. You also know a number of ways to break this habit. Remember: adding just an hour or two to your daily productivity can mean a lot of real money added to your bottom line in a few months' time.
About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who own and operate his online mall. Shop-Now Mini Mall is the place whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time online from a list of stores on our site. The consumer deals direct with the merchant for which we provide the store links. Our online shopping mall provides everything you need for shopping online.....
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
EBay: Tactics on How to Get More Bids on Auctions
Publisher: Earl Williams
Shop-Now Mini Mall
The more bids you have on your auctions, the higher your eventual sale price will be. The number of bids indicates to other bidders how popular your item is. The more popular it is, the more others tend to want that item.
So how do you get more bids on your auctions? Here are a few proven tactics.
=> Start Your Auction at $0.99
Starting your auction at $0.99 will virtually guarantee you'll get bids, especially if your item is worth significantly more.
You have to have a bit of confidence to do this; because often times your item won't actually get bidded up until the last hour of the auction.
While starting at $0.99 can often win you more bids, it can be a trade-off. Sometimes starting lower causes people to believe your product is worth less and therefore eventually sell for less; while at other times the extra bids drive the sales up.
Test it for yourself to see what works.
=> Aim for Snippable Times
Many eBay buyers prefer to bid at the last minute to prevent others from seeing their bid prematurely. This practice is called "sniping." As a seller, you want to make it as easy as possible for snipes to place their bid.
Therefore, look at ending your auctions either on weekends or at nights, when people can comfortably be in front of their computers.
When in doubt, take a look at when all your competitors end their auctions and time your items to be within a few hours of theirs.
Having a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) can really make the difference. So many sellers try to compete with one another selling basically the same item. It makes no sense.
Instead, come up with something unique about your item. It can be something as simple as a free guide to the product to be included when they buy; or a small related item for free.
Whatever it is, make sure you have something that sets you apart from your competition. Promote that USP shamelessly.
=> Clear Pictures, Description, Shipping and Refunds
Take several clear pictures of the product from all angles. Avoid using stock images or images from the manufacturer, as that's what everyone else will be using.
Answer common questions in your description. Make sure your shipping and refund policies are crystal clear. Know what questions others frequently have about the product and answer them pre-emptively.
Even in the competitive marketplace of eBay, there are a lot of bad listings. A lot of people just copy and paste their website into eBay.
By taking the time to really answer questions, take new pictures and create a professional description, you'll make your listing stand out.
If you craft your auction with clear pictures and description, have a rock-solid USP, end your auction at ideal times and start your auctions at $0.99, you'll almost certainly get a nice flow of bids for your items.
About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who own and operate his online mall. Shop-Now Mini Mall is the place whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time online from a list of stores on our site. The consumer deals direct with the merchant for which we provide the store links. Our online shopping mall provides everything you need for shopping online.....
Shop-Now Mini Mall
The more bids you have on your auctions, the higher your eventual sale price will be. The number of bids indicates to other bidders how popular your item is. The more popular it is, the more others tend to want that item.
So how do you get more bids on your auctions? Here are a few proven tactics.
=> Start Your Auction at $0.99
Starting your auction at $0.99 will virtually guarantee you'll get bids, especially if your item is worth significantly more.
You have to have a bit of confidence to do this; because often times your item won't actually get bidded up until the last hour of the auction.
While starting at $0.99 can often win you more bids, it can be a trade-off. Sometimes starting lower causes people to believe your product is worth less and therefore eventually sell for less; while at other times the extra bids drive the sales up.
Test it for yourself to see what works.
=> Aim for Snippable Times
Many eBay buyers prefer to bid at the last minute to prevent others from seeing their bid prematurely. This practice is called "sniping." As a seller, you want to make it as easy as possible for snipes to place their bid.
Therefore, look at ending your auctions either on weekends or at nights, when people can comfortably be in front of their computers.
When in doubt, take a look at when all your competitors end their auctions and time your items to be within a few hours of theirs.
Having a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) can really make the difference. So many sellers try to compete with one another selling basically the same item. It makes no sense.
Instead, come up with something unique about your item. It can be something as simple as a free guide to the product to be included when they buy; or a small related item for free.
Whatever it is, make sure you have something that sets you apart from your competition. Promote that USP shamelessly.
=> Clear Pictures, Description, Shipping and Refunds
Take several clear pictures of the product from all angles. Avoid using stock images or images from the manufacturer, as that's what everyone else will be using.
Answer common questions in your description. Make sure your shipping and refund policies are crystal clear. Know what questions others frequently have about the product and answer them pre-emptively.
Even in the competitive marketplace of eBay, there are a lot of bad listings. A lot of people just copy and paste their website into eBay.
By taking the time to really answer questions, take new pictures and create a professional description, you'll make your listing stand out.
If you craft your auction with clear pictures and description, have a rock-solid USP, end your auction at ideal times and start your auctions at $0.99, you'll almost certainly get a nice flow of bids for your items.
About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who own and operate his online mall. Shop-Now Mini Mall is the place whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time online from a list of stores on our site. The consumer deals direct with the merchant for which we provide the store links. Our online shopping mall provides everything you need for shopping online.....
Google Patents Search - What Are the Benefits
Publisher: Earl Williams
Shop-Now Mini Mall
Google's patent search system makes obtaining patent data fast, easy and free for everyone on the internet. In the past, obtaining patent data from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) was a painstaking and potentially expensive process. By scanning all 7+ million patent documents filed with the USPTO, Google has made the process easier for everybody.
What are the benefits of being able to search for patents?
=> Determine If Your Idea Has Been Done
If you have a brilliant business or product idea, one of the first things you should do is make sure that nobody else has already come up with and patented the idea.
All you need to do is come up with a few keyword ideas to search for the patent. If your search doesn't turn up any patents, then you have a good shot at being first to the market.
=> Look for Patents to Lease
If you need a certain piece of technology but don't want to spend the money in developing it yourself, one cost-effective alternative would be to lease the technology instead.
But how do you find out who owns the right to certain technologies? Google Patent Search. As long as you can find the patent, you can also find who holds the rights to the patent, along with their contact information.
You can then contact them directly to strike a patent leasing deal.
=> Research into a Specific Inventor
If an inventor you know has created several products that have caught your attention and you want to see what else they've invented, you can find all the patents by that inventor using Google Patent Search.
Just click the "Advanced Patent Search" link next to the general search box and type in the inventor's name.
=> Find Inspiration for Product Designs
Need some inspiration for a product you're designing? Stuck on a specific engineering challenge? Why not look through past patent designs to see how previous designers tackled those issues?
Past patents can be ripe grounds for finding inspiration and solutions. That said, be careful - any idea that you want to patent yourself or use commercially needs to be sufficiently different from any past patent that it can be considered its own entirely different product.
Never take complete ideas from someone else's patent. Only use it as inspiration to come up with your own unique designs. If you absolutely need to use a design in someone else's patent, consider leasing just that part of the technology.
These are some of the uses for Google's Patent Search. With over seven million patents at your fingertips, you can now easily find just about any kind of information you want in relation to patents. From inventors to patent numbers to specific technologies, all the information is freely available.
About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who own and operate his online mall. Shop-Now Mini Mall is the place whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time online from a list of stores on our site. The consumer deals direct with the merchant for which we provide the store links. Our online shopping mall provides everything you need for shopping online.....
Shop-Now Mini Mall
Google's patent search system makes obtaining patent data fast, easy and free for everyone on the internet. In the past, obtaining patent data from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) was a painstaking and potentially expensive process. By scanning all 7+ million patent documents filed with the USPTO, Google has made the process easier for everybody.
What are the benefits of being able to search for patents?
=> Determine If Your Idea Has Been Done
If you have a brilliant business or product idea, one of the first things you should do is make sure that nobody else has already come up with and patented the idea.
All you need to do is come up with a few keyword ideas to search for the patent. If your search doesn't turn up any patents, then you have a good shot at being first to the market.
=> Look for Patents to Lease
If you need a certain piece of technology but don't want to spend the money in developing it yourself, one cost-effective alternative would be to lease the technology instead.
But how do you find out who owns the right to certain technologies? Google Patent Search. As long as you can find the patent, you can also find who holds the rights to the patent, along with their contact information.
You can then contact them directly to strike a patent leasing deal.
=> Research into a Specific Inventor
If an inventor you know has created several products that have caught your attention and you want to see what else they've invented, you can find all the patents by that inventor using Google Patent Search.
Just click the "Advanced Patent Search" link next to the general search box and type in the inventor's name.
=> Find Inspiration for Product Designs
Need some inspiration for a product you're designing? Stuck on a specific engineering challenge? Why not look through past patent designs to see how previous designers tackled those issues?
Past patents can be ripe grounds for finding inspiration and solutions. That said, be careful - any idea that you want to patent yourself or use commercially needs to be sufficiently different from any past patent that it can be considered its own entirely different product.
Never take complete ideas from someone else's patent. Only use it as inspiration to come up with your own unique designs. If you absolutely need to use a design in someone else's patent, consider leasing just that part of the technology.
These are some of the uses for Google's Patent Search. With over seven million patents at your fingertips, you can now easily find just about any kind of information you want in relation to patents. From inventors to patent numbers to specific technologies, all the information is freely available.
About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who own and operate his online mall. Shop-Now Mini Mall is the place whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time online from a list of stores on our site. The consumer deals direct with the merchant for which we provide the store links. Our online shopping mall provides everything you need for shopping online.....
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Do You Have What It Takes to Become a Social Media Virtual Assistant?
Publisher: Earl Williams
Shop-Now Mini Mall
Being a virtual assistant who's fluent in social media management is going to be an increasingly lucrative career in the coming years. Social media is quickly becoming one of the most talked about sources of traffic and brand building. More and more business owners are seeking virtual assistants who can manage their social media platforms well.
Social media is hot, but it can be confusing and time consuming to learn all this stuff. The Social Media Coaching Center walks you through with step-by-step tutorials, reviews and strategy tips to make your social media strategy successful.
Do you have what it takes to really succeed as a social media virtual assistant? What are the most important skills and qualities you need to succeed at the job? Read on.
=> Comfort with a Variety of Social Networks
Each of your clients will have different needs and different social networks. In order to be successful, you need to be fluent with at least Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Furthermore, specific clients will have more specific needs. For example, some clients might get a lot of traffic from StumbleUpon and need you to manage their account and relationships with other stumblers there.
In order to succeed as a social media virtual assistant, you need to be fluent in all the major social networks and be able to learn the smaller networks quickly.
=> Ability to Write in a Variety of Voices
You may have one client who'll require you to manage his LinkedIn profile in a professional and courteous voice. Simultaneously, you may have a client who needs you to manage his reddit and Digg accounts in a crass and satirical manner.
One of the most valuable skills you could have as a social media specialist is the ability to write in the voice that your clients want.
Remember that when you're representing someone in a social network, you're basically representing them and their brand. Their readers expect to hear from the brand in a certain voice. If you're able to adapt to and take on that voice, you'll become incredible valuable for your clients.
=> Consistency and Organization
Finally, being a social media virtual assistant requires being very organized and very consistent.
For example, one client might ask that you do certain tasks every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Other clients might ask that you make certain posts on certain dates. Other clients will ask you to handle certain basic tasks every single day.
It'll be on your shoulders to make sure you manage all these tasks properly and don't let any balls drop.
Furthermore, you'll need to be keeping tabs on all the different accounts and passwords of your clients, in addition to important relationships.
In short, you need to have organizational systems that work for you. You need to be able to keep track of notes, tasks, relationships, logins and more.
If you're fluent in social networks, you're organized and consistent and you can write in a variety of voices, then you may have the makings of a very successful social media virtual assistant.
The Social Media Coaching Center walks you through with step-by-step tutorials, reviews and strategy tips to make your social media strategy successful.
About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who own and operate his online mall. Shop-Now Mini Mall is the place whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time online from a list of stores on our site. The consumer deals direct with the merchant for which we provide the store links. Our online shopping mall provides everything you need for shopping online.....
Shop-Now Mini Mall
Being a virtual assistant who's fluent in social media management is going to be an increasingly lucrative career in the coming years. Social media is quickly becoming one of the most talked about sources of traffic and brand building. More and more business owners are seeking virtual assistants who can manage their social media platforms well.
Social media is hot, but it can be confusing and time consuming to learn all this stuff. The Social Media Coaching Center walks you through with step-by-step tutorials, reviews and strategy tips to make your social media strategy successful.
Do you have what it takes to really succeed as a social media virtual assistant? What are the most important skills and qualities you need to succeed at the job? Read on.
=> Comfort with a Variety of Social Networks
Each of your clients will have different needs and different social networks. In order to be successful, you need to be fluent with at least Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Furthermore, specific clients will have more specific needs. For example, some clients might get a lot of traffic from StumbleUpon and need you to manage their account and relationships with other stumblers there.
In order to succeed as a social media virtual assistant, you need to be fluent in all the major social networks and be able to learn the smaller networks quickly.
=> Ability to Write in a Variety of Voices
You may have one client who'll require you to manage his LinkedIn profile in a professional and courteous voice. Simultaneously, you may have a client who needs you to manage his reddit and Digg accounts in a crass and satirical manner.
One of the most valuable skills you could have as a social media specialist is the ability to write in the voice that your clients want.
Remember that when you're representing someone in a social network, you're basically representing them and their brand. Their readers expect to hear from the brand in a certain voice. If you're able to adapt to and take on that voice, you'll become incredible valuable for your clients.
=> Consistency and Organization
Finally, being a social media virtual assistant requires being very organized and very consistent.
For example, one client might ask that you do certain tasks every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Other clients might ask that you make certain posts on certain dates. Other clients will ask you to handle certain basic tasks every single day.
It'll be on your shoulders to make sure you manage all these tasks properly and don't let any balls drop.
Furthermore, you'll need to be keeping tabs on all the different accounts and passwords of your clients, in addition to important relationships.
In short, you need to have organizational systems that work for you. You need to be able to keep track of notes, tasks, relationships, logins and more.
If you're fluent in social networks, you're organized and consistent and you can write in a variety of voices, then you may have the makings of a very successful social media virtual assistant.
The Social Media Coaching Center walks you through with step-by-step tutorials, reviews and strategy tips to make your social media strategy successful.
About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who own and operate his online mall. Shop-Now Mini Mall is the place whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time online from a list of stores on our site. The consumer deals direct with the merchant for which we provide the store links. Our online shopping mall provides everything you need for shopping online.....
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