July
Newsletter
Welcome to all the
new subscribers!
As you probably know
by now, eBay Live happened in June. The conference was held in
Boston and if you ask me, eBay out did themselves! We were treated
like royalty the whole time we were there.
Check out the video
for a quick look at this year's highlights.
If you don't have
always on Internet access - copy and paste this link into your
browser bar:
http://www.clovercitysells.com/ebay_live/ebay_live.html
I hope to see you in
Chicago next year!
In
This Issue:
Elegant Ebooks
More
exciting than eBay Live is
that my partner Dany Byrne has completed the Elegant Ebooks
course. This course contains a workbook full of information and
video
tutorials. Dany is offering FREE Bonus material on CD, if you
order from Yours Truly.
More information about Elegant
Ebooks here.
YES - YOU CAN WRITE AN EBOOK!
Everyone who buys or sells on eBay has valuable information to share with their friends, customers, or other hobbyists.
An ebook is the perfect platform.
Are you a skilled woodworker? You might want to sell detailed plans for making a workbench or an Adirondack chair. An ebook is the perfect way to bring together the written instructions with photographs of finished pieces and detailed drawings showing step by step directions. You could even add links to web sites that supply the tools and materials you recommend (and that can certainly be your own web site).
An ebook is the perfect way to communicate.
Does your business have a printed catalog? Many product catalogs are printed in black and white on inexpensive paper and popped into a three ring binder. If that's your catalog, you probably wish you could afford to have it printed on an offset press, with full color, on tabloid size glossy paper. But such printing can be so expensive that a small business cannot afford to give the catalogs away! An ebook is the perfect solution.
An ebook is the perfect marketing tool.
If you have information you want to convey - ebooks made in PDF format offer a convenient way to share text, graphics, and pictures in a format that is already familiar to computer user.
EBOOKS ARE ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL TOOLS AVAILABLE TO ONLINE SELLERS
Unfortunately, most ebook authors do not take advantage of the potential built into every ebook. In the average ebook, the text and layout are humdrum.
Bad formatting can make even the most exciting ebook look like an unwelcome business letter.
You do not need to spend thousands of dollars on software to create an ebook that looks like a million bucks! Elegant Ebooks will teach you how to use the tools you already have to create stunning, visually exciting, ebooks.
All that you need is a word processor and a PDF maker. If you don't have a copy of Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat, Elegant Ebooks will tell you how to find free or low cost alternatives that work every bit as well. And it will help you choose the one that best meets your needs.
BEST OF ALL, ELEGANT EBOOKS WILL TAKE YOU, STEP BY STEP, THROUGH THE DESIGN DECISIONS THAT WILL MAKE YOUR EBOOK MEMORABLE
If you would like
more information about this book, please check out Dany's webpage
at: http://www.elegantebooks.ghostleg.com/
eBay Stores
eBay has revisited
the the store feature and we heard about exciting new changes at eBay Live. Many will take effect this fall,
while a few are available right now.
One of the most
exciting new features is the new eBay Store Center at: http://pages.ebay.com/storefronts/designcenter.html
Wow, there is so much
there! The thing that impresses me the most is the new design
templates. Now, sellers on a limited budget can spruce up their
landing page by these customized designs.
eBay took a look at the fee
structure as well and changed a few subscription prices. In fact lowered them. Starting in September 2007, eBay Stores subscribers will enjoy new features and benefits!
The new name for the Featured store is now "Premium" to better reflect the advanced business tools available at
that level.
Besides the name
changes eBay also added more feature upgrades and customer service
to the subscriptions.
Premium and Anchor Stores will receive:
Marketplace Research - Marketplace Research Basic (a $9.99/month value) will be a benefit of the new Premium level.
Anchor Stores will receive Marketplace Research Pro (a $24.99/month value).
More Email Marketing - Premium Stores will get 2,500 more emails per month for a total of 7,500.
Anchor Stores will get 5,000 more emails per month for a total of 10,000.
Customer Service - Dedicated 24-hour support will soon be available for
Premium Stores. Anchor Stores will continue to receive 24-hour support.
Finally eBay is lowering the
price on Anchor Stores.
Anchor Stores subscriptions will drop to $299.95/month.
An interesting side
note about lowering the price on Anchor Stores. When asked directly,
some Anchor Store owners replied - that while they appreciate the
savings, they hope eBay considers another tier up in the subscription
level. That is, they would like one that is even more expensive!
It seems many Anchor Store owners enjoy the exclusive nature of
the top tier. That certainly is food for thought. It must be that
these merchants really see a good value for their investment.
Observed At eBay
Live:
The vendor floor was
filled with helpful solutions to every problem an eBay Seller
might encounter. I visited many booths and brought away a lot of
information. Surprisingly a few solutions I found were not on the showroom
floor (yet, but wait till next year).
One group, The
International Association of eBay Sellers (IAOES), I believe you'll start hearing more
about as this group proves it's value. I'll be taking a closer look at
them and report back more in the next couple of months.
So, let's take a
quick peak at some of the vendors that caught my eye.
The
International Association Of eBay Sellers (IAOES)
Started by Terry
& Steve Gehrke, friends and fellow eBay Education Specialists, IAOES is one of the largest and fastest growing group of eBay Sellers
today.
They offer an amazing array of products to help grow your success, including:
FREE Wholesale Dropship Directory & Report
FREE eVideos & eBooks
Discounts on eBay Classes & Training
Discounts on products and services
Educational & Training help
Support from other eBay sellers
Fun and great times with other members
Participation in local user group chapters
Monthly IAOES Newsletter emailed to you
A VIP Invitation for our annual events Dinner
This membership
promises lots of bang for a yearly membership of $99.00. I
strongly recommend you check it out: www.IAOES.com
Vertus Fluid Mask
www.vertustech.com
Oh my gosh, I had to
buy this software the minute I laid eyes on it (and I NEVER buy at
tradeshows)! Fluid Mask is
software that will clean the background on any picture with a few
mouse strokes. You can replace it with white, color, another
image, even use a gradient background.
Right now it is a
plug in for PhotoShop, but this month they are releasing a stand
alone version.
www.vertustech.com
Squidoo
www.squidoo.com
Squidoo was there
handing out bright orange T shirts. Two
lucky winners were tapped on the shoulder by Megan (master
Squidooer), and won
$9,000.00 worth of free advertising on the Squidoo Site.
If you still haven't
set up a lens I suggest you do so right away. The traffic driven into
my eBay store from Squidoo increases daily. Don't know where to
start? Here's the link to my free eBook on the subject: How
To Squidoo
The Queen Of
Auctions - Lynn Dralle
www.thequeenofautions.com
I was excited to meet one of my favorite newsletter authors at the
show. Lynn treated me like royalty and asked if I would like to
read a pre-release copy of her new book: The 3rd 100 Best Things
I've Sold On eBay. I was so taken by her warmth, I
forgot to ask her to autograph it!
The book goes on sale
soon, it's a fun and informative little book. Grab a copy.
There were many
vendors, some new, some established - but all willing to help
sellers achieve their goals. If you didn't make it to Boston this
year, mark your calendar and make it to Chicago.
Finally,
I want to talk about Tim Knox and his new book: Everything I
Know About Business I Learned From Mama
The publisher
released his book last week, and within hours (yes hours) Tim's
book hit the top of the Amazon Best Seller List. He hasn't pushed
out Harry Potter, but what he did accomplish is astounding. Number
one in the business category - within hours!
And, you know what?
It cost him next to nothing to get there! In fact, he managed to
get today's top marketers to not only plug his book, but give him material
he could use to promote his book. These marketers gave it to Tim
Knox for FREE!
We can all learn a
lesson of Tim when it comes to marketing. Guess that's why he
wrote the book - LOL. First he built an email list. This is
something he has spent years cultivating, but with a little effort
we can all grow our lists as well.
Then, he provided his
subscribers a chance to participate in the promotion. Not only did
he offer to sell us the book, he offered willing participants a
chance to join in on the promotion. And, many top marketers are
regular subscribers to Tim's email list.
Subscribers who were
interested in joining an affiliate program - and here is the true genius
of the program - instead of paying affiliates on the front end (or
per book) he asked to contribute to the bonus offer. In other
words, affiliates could provide Tim with an eBook they were
willing to give away for free. Tim is now offering these books as a
value added bonus for buying the book from Amazon, or your
favorite bookstore. Buyers
purchased the book and with receipt in hand can back to
his landing page, log into a member area and download the free
books.
What happened? I and
many, many, others took Tim up on his offer! We gladly provided
Tim with the free material for a chance to be on his bonus page.
His bonus material is worth over $4,000.00!
Then, because we all
were on board, we all promoted the heck out of Tim's book and
helped sky rocket it to the top of the Amazon list!
Want to see what it
looks like? Check out my affiliate page - and please, if you buy Tim's
fantastic book Everything I Know About Business I Learned From
Mama, download my Squidoo book!
That's it for this
month.
Don't forget to check
out my classes. If you live in the Puget Sound Region the next
eBay Success Meeting is on lucky Friday July 13th.
If you are not in the
area - there are online course available through this website.
Check out the links on the side or click here for more
information.
eBay classes and
business consulting from an eBay Education Specialist and
Certified Business Consultant.
For more information:
eBay
Selling Basics
eBay
Beyond The Basics
The eBay Entrepreneur: 5 Steps To
Success
Business
Consulting
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