Client – Annies Costumes You Tube Video Marketing Costumes 2008
September 6, 2008 by Scott Pooler · Leave a Comment
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Annies Costumes is a star client of iBusinessLogic.com and a very innovative client at that! In addition to the introduction of our custom designed eBay Store front powered by Frooition and redesgning the Annie's Costumes website, they also created this fantastic You Tube video showcasing the best costumes of 2008: Annies Costumes 2008
Popularity: 93% [?]
Get Products Noticed 2008 – eBay, Amazon, Google ShopZilla & More
March 21, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
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What are the best places online to get your products noticed in 2008?
eBay - 225 million eBay members are actively buying and selling in the world today and over 68,000 businesses are trading there. Over $52 billion was traded on eBay globally in 2006. eBay is one of the first places that consumers looks when trying to source a product to purchase. Consider opening an eBay store. If set-up correctly and managed, an eBay store can result in your listings being organically visible on the top search engine organic listings. You can even give your eBay store the same look and feel as your website. Read more
Popularity: 22% [?]
Does Becoming a Guest Blogger on an Authority Site Improve Your Blog Traffic?
March 13, 2008 by Scott Pooler · Leave a Comment
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Guest Blogging?
Becoming a guest blogger for a related website or blog can increase your own website traffic and improve your reach. The key is to provide a valuable and interesting perspective for the readers of the surrogate blog site. Your message should be just a little bit outside the normal flow of the readers expectations but not so far out that they will dismiss your post to wait for the next "regular" issue to return to normal. Intrigue don't insult... make new friends and possibly new subscribers in the process.
Recently I have been working closely with Jay Berkowitz of the Ten Golden Rules Podcast, Ten Golden Rules Blog and website. TenGoldenRules.com. (Everyone should be familiar with Jay by now as I have been including a great deal of information about him and our interrelated speaking engagements etc... on this blog and in the Trading Assistant Journal.
Jay has a perspective that is exciting and refreshing when viewed from an eBay guy's vantage point. The entire world of Internet marketing is so vast and yet eBay people, myself included, can get so wrapped up with the day to day activities and grind of eBay that we sometimes let the entire outside world go by without even noticing. Jay brings into focus some aspects of that vast world, or at least the social networking and new Internet marketing portion of the it for me when I listen to his podcast. This is not a podcast which is designed to sell you a box of DVD's , Guides, e-Books or Courses - Jay has no DVD's for sale.
I appreciate his genuine awe struck and outgoing way of bringing his listeners sound bytes from some of the most powerful and cutting edge Internet marketers and pioneers in our World today. Jay rubs shoulders with and interviews the likes of Seth Godin and Jason Calacanis on a weekly basis. If you don't know who those people are, it's OK because Jay will share the highlights of the careers of these .com and Internet moguls with you when he reports on the Ten Golden Rules podcast. I say Awe Struck, not because I think Jay does not belong in the same room with these mega-tycoons of our industry but because he has a way of approaching these interviews with the kind of exuberance and giddiness of someone who may not belong, but is happy to be there, would bring. Jay belongs - one only needs to read his resume on the Ten Golden Rules website to know he has been playing in this sandbox for some time now. He simply has a style which brings the listener into the room as if we were flies on the wall and Jay is the only person who knows we are there.
Jay uses a small digital recording device to get his sound bytes and interviews. He approaches people at opportune times, usually after a cocktail hour or a dinner at the end of a long day or after a conference. His interviews are not stiff but his subjects just might be. The format is simple and to the point and he repeats similar questions to all of his guests but this only makes the listener more comfortable with the process. The answers are not canned or spammed and they seem to come from the heart with most of his best guests. So I applaud Jay for his honest and forthright efforts to bring a tiny glimpse of the vast and ever changing world of the Internet and how cutting edge pioneers use it for their own personal enjoyment as well as how they market for personal gain.
Jay has been more than happy to communicate and share with me outside the world of his podcast. I helped Jay and Debbie Levitt arrange for Jay to be the Keynote speaker at RocketPlace.com and now that has become a connection which will serve all of us well into the future. With Jay speaking at eBay live in Chicago (As noted in our previous post).
Jay has allowed me the honor of guest posting with an eBay perspective on his Ten Golden Rules Blog. I hope to contribute as often as he and his staff have a need for my content. But if no more than the post I have repeated below is included in the Ten Golden Rules blog, I think I will have been successful.
Guest posting is a sign that you have good content and that people want to hear what you have to say. I respect the trust and I honor the privilege whenever another blogger has room for one of my posts within their publication. If you reach the point where another blog property will have your content inserted with your own byline, as a guest blogger the opportunity should not be allowed to slip away. Guest Blog whenever possible and do it with integrity. Make sure your host is aware of your sincere gratitude for the opportunity to address his or her readers.
Thanks again Jay and the Team at Ten Golden Rules!
The following is my first guest post on the Ten Golden Rules Blog:
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Guest Post - Top 10 eBay Stores Tips for Small Business Owners
Here is a guest post from our friend Scott Pooler at All Business Auctions, an eBay stores expert.
Top 10 eBay Stores Tips for Small Business Owners
1) OPEN an eBay store and stock it with merchandise - This is the first step! Once you make this initial step, your business will be on its way towards gaining worldwide exposure for your brand plus a robust and lively new customer base. Question: Are you aware that more searches are initiated for products on eBay each day than on Google? In fact there are more searches completed each day on eBay than on Google’s entire system and every search within eBay is initiated by a consumer looking for a product to buy.
2) Build up your positive feedback number - By building the eBay account feedback through purchases and the sales of your store merchandise new and exciting features of your eBay account will become available. Once your feedback rating exceeds 100 all of your fixed price and store listings will be gaining even more Internet exposure on eBay express and your eBay store merchandise will qualify for many other programs within eBay. When sales exceed $1000.00 per month, the eBay stores business you established will be listed as a PowerSeller. Powerseller status indicates to the consumer that you are a steady and reliable resource and they can have confidence buying from you. Additionally, when your sales surpass $3000.00 per month, your business will qualify for a reduction in PayPal fees. The best sellers rise to the top both in the new Best Match Search and with quality DSR's or "Detailed Seller Ratings" on eBay. Being a great merchant now results in a bottom line discount on fees for Powersellers.
3) Research and Test - Use existing tools provided by companies like Terapeak and Hammertap to research your niche and products on eBay. Study the competition and learn your strengths and weaknesses as a seller on eBay. The world of eBay retailing is dynamic and different from even cutting edge eCommerce marketing. You must have relevant and accurate information at hand to really know the marketplace. Without research and testing (via your eBay store and auctions listings), no real eBay marketing plan can be developed. Use these easy to understand tools to learn the trends, price points, and methods your competition uses to dominate the marketplace for your niche. Research is king on eBay!
4) Design Your eBay Store to fit your brand - An eBay store is a marvelous tool to attract traffic to your merchandise but once a potential customer lands on your site you want them to stick around and see all that you have to offer. A standard eBay store design is very basic and will appear as one of a thousand similar eBay stores in the world. To stand out and be recognized, you need to invest in a professionally designed eBay store. A store designed with your company look and feel and your branding will perform much better than the stock eBay store packages with dated graphics and cookie cutter design.
5) Complete your eBay Store “About Me” Page - This is possibly the single most important step to succeed as an eBay seller! The About Me page is the only place where, within the eBay rules and guidelines it is possible to re-direct eBay traffic to your own website. If you want a portion of the 225 million eBay users to see your company website, this is where you get it done! A professional eBay store design should include a “me” page designed to funnel traffic to your off eBay website.
6) Write an eBay guide, review, or blog - Give your muse a try and write a review or a guide to how to buy a product you feature. What should a consumer look for in products similar to what your store features? How would a consumer go about finding an honest dealer like you? What kind of treasures can be found in the marketplace and how does a consumer tell the good from the fake in your field? This is not a place for blatant merchandising but more of a place to write a common sense guide about how to buy your specific category of widgets. These guides and reviews and/or blog posts are all ways to gain worldwide exposure for your company and your brand and identify yourself as an expert - eBay provides these tools to you for free!
7) Import your eBay listings into your own website - Create excitement on your website and offer ever changing content to the search engines by importing your own eBay store listings into your off eBay traditional website. The advantages of this strategy are vast and the investment is minimal. If you sign up as an affiliate of eBay (also free) your company can even realize revenue from any click through to eBay from your website.
Sell Internationally - With an eBay store your company becomes an international exporter overnight. Make your products available to the world and offer them on all of eBay's international websites. You will gain new customers, additional traffic and valuable bidders for any auction listings you post. Bring the world to you with the click of a mouse!
9) Set up a Trade - In / Trade - Up Program for new equipment sales - . Example: Your business sells new and valuable products or merchandise and has a loyal customer base. You are always working toward selling your customers the latest and greatest piece of equipment or new model of your merchandise. As a business owner you hesitate to directly accept trade in equipment and then sell same used equipment for warranty and financial reasons etc… With an established eBay based Trade up program an opportunity becomes available to offer your customers a way to convert used merchandise into trade in cash on eBay if the customer will commit to buying a new stock item from you. In an eBay consignment arrangement, you never take ownership of the item and therefore you never invest in the item nor are you liable for the item. The item is sold as is to a new customer and your loyal customer applies the value towards the sale of your new inventory. Win Win - Everyone is happy. You sell new equipment by eliminating a financial objection from your present customer. - Smart Business!
10) Stick with it! - There are many tools available to your company which will automate the process of listing and re-listing merchandise which reduces labor costs and the possibility of tedium causing you to abandon an eBay store plan. When you set up your eBay store, have an eBay plan in place with goals and milestones in mind and on paper. Stick with your plan, adjust your goals, and learn your marketplace. Each sale will propel your business along the pathway to success and each sale will be a learning experience. Your company and you can do it and you can do it now!
Bonus Tip - eBay is more than a sales channel - eBay is a worlds most highly trafficked intersection of buyers and sellers. Location is everything in the world of retail and if your store is on a busy corner you will be touted as a genius for your selection of a location. Think of eBay more as an advertising opportunity and a brand building marketplace with the added benefit of producing real sales. eBay has spent as much as 4 Billion dollars per year on PPC advertising targeted for goods listed within eBay Stores, do you want a piece of that ad buy? An eBay store can have a long lasting positive impact on brand awareness and new customer acquisition all while providing actual revenue. Top tier retailers including Sears and Circuit City have invested in the eBay marketplace because it is much more than a place for collectibles. Open up to the possibilities of eBay, no other venue provides so much traffic with such a small overall investment.
Scott Pooler is an eZine Articles Expert Author and the Publisher of the "Trading Assistant Journal" . His company - AllBusinessAuctions.com provides eBay stores design, eCommerce development, Internet & eBay solutions & software to small and mid sized businesses worldwide.
727-596-6900
Popularity: 24% [?]
eBay Spin – Leak news of lower fees for sellers for weeks, then raise the fees
January 29, 2008 by Scott Pooler · Leave a Comment
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Much has been written in recent weeks about the coming fee reductions for eBay sellers.
Market analysts and eBay sellers themselves recommended the lower fee structure and it looked as though eBay was listening. We have all read in many industry magazines and blogs about the new lower listing fees in the future... It was all spin...
eBay has taken on the panache of a high powered political campaign. Leaking stories about fee reductions and changes in search while a changing of the guard at the CEO position is orchestrated. This was and is a very nifty piece of politicly styled spin. It worked for awhile, but now the truth is out.
While auctions listed with a starting price of less than $1 will cost 15 cents in Insertion fees (down from the current 20 cents), eBay will no longer allow sellers to list items in fixed-price format for under $1.
- Final Value Fees increases are larger than expected - more than offsetting the small reduction in listing fees.
- Items that sell for under $25 are currently charged 5.25% of the closing value - this will be increased to 8.75%.
- The FVF for items that sell for between $25.01 - $1,000 are currently 5.25% of the initial $24, plus 3.25% of the remaining closing value balance; this will change to 8.75% and 3.5%,
- Store Inventory listing Final Value Fees will rise from 10% to 12% for items that sell for $25 and less.
- For Store Inventory items that sell for between $25 and $1,000, the fees will be 12.00% of the initial $25.00, plus 8.00% of the remaining closing value balance.
- Reserve fees will no longer be refundable if the item sells.
- The Good News is.... Drumroll Please...Gallery Fees are no longer charged!
Will the reduction, small as it may be, of initial listing fees help your overall bottom line costs when the increase of almost 3.5% is added to your final value fees? Even with the removal of a gallery fee, a 3.5% hike in final value may be hard to swallow.
We all will benefit from the initial reductions, but the compensation on the back end seems a bit extreme.
eBay sellers should always be aware of the value they receive from listing items on eBay while at the same time being aware that eBay is a business, and they are in the business to make money. We still feel that even with these recent fee changes, there is no better place to advertise your products and your brand than in an eBay store. You may need to be even more diligent about how you go about doing this however. Make sure you have tight controls on your eBay listing habits and know your cost per unit sold before launching any new eBay inventory.
For your convenience we have included all of the details of the new fee changes below. Please refer to these graphics as released by eBay today as the real fee structure moving forward.
Popularity: 10% [?]
eBay Sellers Keyword Tools Rundown – Use keywords tools to find buyers!
January 14, 2008 by Scott Pooler · 1 Comment
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Established eBay sellers know the importance of selecting the right "keywords" for the titles of auctions and store listings within eBay. While most eBay sellers may not be aware of the work eBay does "behind the scenes" to make sure each and every one of your listings is optimized throughout the Internet. The work that eBay does assures eBay Stores sellers are the beneficiaries of one of the most effective SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tools available today. That tool is eBay.
While the SEO work that you must do as a seller is minimal for your eBay listings. There are very good reasons for you to learn more about SEO and Keyword tools. Relying on eBay to do all of the work for you may not always be the wisest course of action even though it does work most of the time. With the proper understanding and use of keywords and keyword tools you can increase your sales and get your products seen by the people who are searching for them everyday. In addition, if you want to drive traffic to your eBay store or off eBay eCommerce website a proper understanding of SEO and search based marketing is a basic requirement for your business.
I found the keyword tool comparison listed below to be quite interesting and helpful. It has been written by Aaron Wall of the blog SEOTools. While Aaron offers one of these tools on his website, I find it refreshing and encouraging that he spent the time to write this article and gave his honest opinion of a great deal of the keyword tools available today in the marketplace. Read more
Popularity: 13% [?]
Why every Trading Assistant and eBay Franchise Drop Store Should have and eBay Stores Account
November 25, 2007 by Scott Pooler · Leave a Comment
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In our previous post we reviewed Trading Assistants & franchise eBay drop store marketing ideas and I promised to detail how and why every Trading Assistant or drop store owner should have an eBay Stores account.
It always amazes me when I consult with franchise owners who are struggling to find that they have not signed up to become an eBay store owner. These franchise drop store owners are struggling to generate profits and eventually they ask for marketing ideas, when one of the smartest marketing tools available on the planet is an eBay Stores account. Why don't these business people take advantage of this opportunity?
Is it the $15.95 per month charge which holds them back? Or is it simply the fact that eBay does not do a good job of explaining why eBay stores are the key to becoming profitable on eBay. Read more
Popularity: 11% [?]
Adding eBay to go Widgets to your Website
November 6, 2007 by Scott Pooler · Leave a Comment
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Did you know that you can display your eBay store items anywhere on the web?
- In your Blog
- On MySpace
- On your friends website or blog
Its true and its easy!
Just go to: eBay to Go
And set up a widget which will import your eBay store items into any other website.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Listing a $35,000.00 Custom Diamond Ring on eBay
November 4, 2007 by Scott Pooler · Leave a Comment
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Originally uploaded by All Business AuctionsContinued as Promised....
As discussed in my previous post, this is a very high quality item which has been entrusted to my company to list for sale.
- Was my trading assistant company just given this opportunity because we have an eBay sign on our front door?
- Did we simply luck into this possible sale?
- Is there any reason why we were chosen over any one of the reputable jewelers in our community?
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 QUALITY 18CT AND PLAT SOLITAIRE DIAMOND RING HALLMARKED  US $77.40
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 14K 150ct RED RUBY HEART AND BAGUETTE-CUT DIAMOND RING US $260.00
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 LADIES STERLING DAVID YURMAN CHALCEDONY DIAMOND RING US $660.00
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 14K W-G 2cts VERY SPARKILY WIDE DIAMOND RING US $405.00
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 14K VINTAGE LARGE GENUINE PINK AMETHYST DIAMOND RING US $142.49
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 BEAUTIFUL 14K LARGE GENUINE CITRINE DIAMOND RING US $357.99
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 Emerald Cut Aquamarine G-H SI Diamond Ring 14K 6g US $130.00
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 18KT YELLOW WHITE GOLD RUBY CABACHON -DIAMOND RING US $103.07
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 Genuine 3-4ths Carat Diamond Ring 10K White Gold US $132.50
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 Platinum Scott Kay diamond ring Appraised at 1432000 US $2,025.00
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I like to think the answer to all of those questions is NO.
Now, why do I think this?
Popularity: 6% [?]
Listing a 2.85 Carat Diamond Ring on eBay?
November 3, 2007 by Scott Pooler · 1 Comment
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ABA_2007-10-25_0125.jpg Originally uploaded by All Business Auctions When you are an eBay trading post operator or an eBay trading assistant, opportunities like this come along more frequently if you develop your business reputation and instill confidence in your clientele. When the opportunity to list a $36,000.00 piece of jewelry presents itself, will you be ready with the tools and strategies and experience to perform a successful sale?There are numerous considerations when listing an exclusive custom designed diamond ring such as this. How will you gain the confidence of a buyer beyond simply starting the auction at a ridiculously low price? What is the marketing strategy for a piece like this?
High quality items deserve and demand high quality listings. If your goal is to provide quality service for your client and higher profits for your business, you should work towards the goal of creating an image which will impress the type of buyer who would buy your exclusive item. Starting with Images and continuing through description every part of an auction or eBay stores listing with an item like this must exude quality.
Popularity: 6% [?]
All Business Auctions Joins With Frooition
November 3, 2007 by Scott Pooler · Leave a Comment
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All Business Auctions Designed by Frooition!
eBay stores design leaders Frooition – www.frooition.com – have joined forces with All Business Auctions to provide world-class eBay store design services to eBay sellers and established brick and motar retail & wholesale businesses in the USA. Frooition provides design & eBay store management services through its unique and proprietary software for eBay sellers and corporate businesses throughout the UK and internationally. Read more
Popularity: 3% [?]
