February 2008 VideoZine
I know we're all still
running the numbers to figure out how the new eBay rate and feedback
changes will affect our businesses. I've been scrambling to do the
math and figure out how to make my selling more efficient - which is
something we all must do.
Everyone has an
opinion about the new feedback changes, and I thought I throw mine
into the mix. I'll tell you right now, that I'm in the
minority. According to an article by Ina Steiner at AuctionBytes.com
- only 5% of eBay sellers feel the same way I do. But if you are
running the numbers remember the statistics from the Small Business Administration
that 50 percent of businesses fail in the first year and 95 percent
fail within five years. I've been a small business owner since the early 1990's.
So, again I'm back in the minority 5% club. But, I'm one of the 5%
that has made in business for more than five years!
I'm all in favor in doing
anything that will bring in more buyers or keep the existing ones on
eBay. So, if that means no more negative feedbacks being left by the
sellers I'm all for it. I was surprised and shocked when
I heard that sellers leaving negative feedback for buyers had grown to epidemic proportions - with sellers
leaving negative feedback eight times more frequently than buyers. That
can't be right.
As a seller I leave
positive feedback when the buyer pays. I'll continue to do it. Have I received
what I thought was unfair negative feedback? Yes, and it stung! But
it made me look at the negative and ask what could I do
to better serve my customer? In all cases I contacted the buyer.
I've also added my rebuttal under the negative comment. In one case
the negative came from a new buyer who didn't understand feedback. He was so happy
that he could actually talk to me that after we communicated he asked
me, not once, but several times if we could retract his negative
feedback. We did.
Whenever I receive a negative
or neutral feedback I put the buyer on my blocked buyer list. OK, so
I'm not perfect - LOL. The same buyer later tried to buy another, more
expensive item from me. Of course, I had forgotten I blocked him. He
wrote asking that I unblock him - he promised he understood the
feedback system
(I felt kind of foolish - he was so nice about it - and here I was
being so mean). I did unblock him and he is a very happy and return
customer!
So, what's more important
in your business? A return customer or leaving a customer a negative?
That's the bottom line to me. I'd really rather laugh all the way to
the bank. When I get a
non-paying bidder, I simply file a claim, relist the item and move on.
I'm happy to let eBay be the 'bad guy' and contact the buyer, suspend
them or slap their wrists if necessary.
I wish I had the answer to
the shipping question and how to improve my DSR (Detailed Seller
Rating) to achieve the 15% discount. It is an enticing carrot eBay is
offering PowerSellers. I'm trying a number of different things that
won't impact my profit margin to improve my ratings. One of them is a
new "toss in" for my buyers. I thought you might like to try it too. So, in this months video I'm covering how to
create a postcard throw-in for your customers using VistaPrint. I made a template for
you to use, feel free to grab it and use VistaPrint.com
 to print it for
you for next to nothing. Hope it helps improve your DSR as well.
Let's get started with
this month's newsletter.
In
This Issue:
-
Improve Your
DSR With A Toss In
-
Are There Legitimate
Ways To Make Money Online, on eBay From Your Home Computer? This month
we highlight Squidoo
-
Monday
Night eBay Education Series
-
Our
four part 'Adding Video to you eBay Listings'
-
Book
Review: PresentationZen by Garr Reynolds
-
Update
on Boot Camp Videos
-
Online
Classes This March
Improve
Your DSR With This Free Toss In
This video shows you how to use this
postcard to create a custom VistaPrint Postcard.
To improve buyer experience eBay is offering
PowerSellers a
5% to 15% discount depending on your Detailed Seller Rating (DSR).
Seller ratings are the star rating system buyers leave for sellers
when they leave feedback.
With a 15% final value discount incentive I'm
really focusing on improving my DSR. I decided to create a postcard
throw-in when I package and ship customers their items. I want to let
them know I appreciate a 5 Star rating.
I created it to
VistaPrint.com
Specifications.
Please feel free to copy and use it when you package and ship.
If you've never designed your own postcard or
uploaded one to VistaPrint I created a video tutorial. Click
here for the postcard and the video.
Are There Legitimate
Ways To Make Money Online, on eBay From Your Home Computer?
With so many 'get rich quick' schemes these days it's no
wonder one of the biggest search phrases used is: "honest
ways to make money online."
Yes, there are lots of reputable
ways to make an honest income or just make a little extra cash on the
Internet.
This month I thought I'd tell you a little about
Squidoo.
Squidoo - It may not make you rich overnight, but
if you like to write Squidoo pays royalties for your work.
Squidoo is a unique place where you can combine your
blog writing talents with a 'plexo' and make a little extra
income.
To start create an account. It's a simple process. They
just need to know who you are and how they can contact you, and of
course, how to pay you. Once you've created an
account the next task is to create a 'Lens' something similar to a blog with
a few new bells and whistles that helps you direct traffic to your eBay or
Amazon store or to just earn click revenue. The nice thing about Squidoo is
that you get paid when someone clicks or buys through the links on
your Lens and monthly royalties
for writing the content. The next step after creating
the lens workshop is to find the right keywords and write the content. The
content should be informative, but doesn't have to be a novel. Keep your
writing concise and to the point. If you know something about fishing lures
you could write about the best one to use for stream fishing and then start
a new lens about the best lures to use while sea fishing. In
fact you could create a lens for each lure and its best application. If you
sold the lures you could link to the store page on eBay. If someone
clicked the link from Squidoo you would receive click revenue from Squidoo
when they purchased. Plus on the same purchase you would receive 75%
referral credit on your final value from eBay. How sweet is that? If
you have good keywords and a topic of interest your lens will soon show up
top ranked on the search engines. To make a serious income
using Squidoo you'll need a popular topic and a little elbow grease. You'll
need to create several lens to start noticing your revenue building. So plan
on creating many. I've heard of some lensmasters who have created hundreds of lens.
Megan, the head Squid who helps runs the site said in a recent interview that
there are lensmasters who are paying the rent with revenue from their lens. If you'd like more information about setting up a
Squidoo Lens, please feel free to download and read How To
Squidoo. It's a free eBook I wrote a few months ago.
That's one of several simple ways I know to earn a honest income
on the Internet. Next month I cover another area to earn income on the
Internet.
Monday Is Education
Specialist Night
Forget Football - watch your computer!
We're starting to wrap
this series up. The end of February will be my last Education
Specialist interview. But, I'll be back with new and exciting content
soon. If you have a subject you'd like me to take an in depth look at
send me an email.
Next week Janelle Elms from OSI
Rockstars and I will do a very special program together.
We're going to take Five Education Specialists and help them decide
how and what to create to sell their clients. This is especially
important to improve your income online and for back of the room
sales. If you are interested in being one of the education specialists
we work with on air please let me know. Send me an email at: cindy@clovercitysells.com
Monday at 6:00 p.m.
Pacific (eBay Time) till 7:00 pm.
To see the line-up of
amazing stars in the education world we've had on the show please
check out Success
With Cindy
Then watch for Wendy
Segal Monday February 25th for our last interview.
Using
Video In Your eBay Auctions
four part video series value bundle
Using Video on eBay is the amazing,
information packed, four part web workshop that gives you the tools you need
to market your business and entice new customers by adding video to your
eBay listings, your blog, your web site, and even Amazon reviews!
- Volume 1: Tools of the Trade
- Volume 2: Tell A Story
- Volume 3: Editing
- Volume 4: Marketing
- Volume 5: Bonus CD
This four part series is narrated by Dany
Byrne from Ghost Leg Media and me - Cindy Shebley. It was hosted by
Janelle Elms at OSI
Rockstars.
If you missed the live web broadcasts in September, now is
you chance to catch up with them. Video is going to be a powerful new tool
for selling your products on the Internet.
For a
limited time only – Get a free 5th BONUS CD that includes iPod
and MP3 versions of the webinars, for studying on the go, plus an exclusive
eBook, “The eBay Sellers Guide to Video”
For More Information, or to buy - here's
a link to the four part eBay video series
Book Review PresentationZen
by Garr Reynolds
If you are a teacher or presenter at some point you'll
be called on to create a PowerPoint Presentation. The PowerPoint
software is
used as a visual aide to help tell your story.
PowerPoint can be a powerful tool to help presenters,
there is no doubt about it. Not every PowerPoint presentation is good
though, in fact most are boring, dull or just plain confusing to the audience. There's a new term being tossed around: "death by
PowerPoint."
This book is not a book about how to use the software
to create the presentation - there are dozens of those out there. This
book is about how to make an interesting presentation that will get
your point across to your audience. Garr's simple techniques show us
that often less is better. He shows how to make even a simple bar
graph convey more information and burn deep into the mind of the
viewer.
This book is staying within reach on my desk. I use
PowerPoint for teaching, in webinars and video tutorials. I'll be
referring to it often and can recommend it anyone who creates their
own content.
Skip McGrath Boot Camp Videos Coming Soon!
I had the honor to teach alongside Skip McGrath, Jen Cano and Lynn
Dralle last September. Skip hosted a weekend intensive training
eBay Boot Camp. Skip taught advanced marketing, product sourcing and
Jen Cano from Hammertap showed how to get the most out of marketplace
research.
I taught attendees how to improve their eBay photographs and about
video.
Of course we all enjoyed Lynn taking us out to several garage sales and
then back to the classroom to teach us how to list the items.
The weekend was a fun and amazing learning opportunity for teachers
and students. However there was room for only a few attendees in this
exclusive training. Luckily Skip hired a videographer so we could make it available
to anyone who wants to take their eBay selling to the next level.
I'm pleased to announce that the five disk DVD set is almost
available. We're going to have a very special introductory price
available. Plus, if you buy from me or through my affiliate link I'm
going to throw in some very special bonuses. So please watch for an
announcement soon.
New
Online Digital Camera Class Coming In March
Take this class without leaving the comfort of your home!
Taught by Cindy Shebley
Dial in and watch your computer monitor.
When: March 2, 2008 and March 9, 2008 (Two Saturday sessions).
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 noon (pacific) - 1:00-3:00 pm eastern
I'll provide the information necessary to produce great photos and
walk you through step-by-step how to use your digital camera.
During these two classes we'll cover: the various modes and
settings your camera has to offer, the basics of composition, how to
get those images to your computer, basic software uses, printing and
sharing your photos via email and the internet.
We'll open up the phone lines for questions at the end of each
session, so bring your camera, questions and enthusiasm - and never
leave the comfort of you home!
Includes a downloadable PDF file with the presentation so you can
follow along with your camera instead of taking notes.
For More Information or register about this online
camera class click here
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