A QUICK NOTE BEFORE WE START - IF YOU CAN'T SEE PHOTOS - THIS NEWSLETTER IS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT www.clovercitysells.com/oct08-news.htm

We had a great time in Kansas 

    This weekend we had the first ever Yabie Jubilee in Hays Kansas.  What an amazing weekend conference. Several eBay Business Consultants, Education Specialists, eBay & PayPal staff all came together to talk eBay. This volunteer effort was choreographed by Joyce Banbury. Her vision is to help rural America learn how to sell on eBay.

    Jim 'Griff' Griffith from eBay, spent a whole day fine tuning sellers listings and talking one-on-one answering concerns and questions. eBay employees came to teach about the new search algorithms, how to improve your DSR's and learn what sellers concerns were. We had Jason Minor from PayPal who showed sellers how to stay safe and take advantage of the many aspects of PayPal. Sharon & John Ware taught sellers about branding eBay Stores and helped beginners with a basics class. CJ Jacento and MJ Goldman taught how to package and safely ship items. Danna Crawford taught a class on organizing your time and setting goals. Suzanne Randa talked about eBay and rural America. And I had the honor to talk about marketing your eBay business and another favorite subject of mine; photography.

   Meanwhile, there were two Lab Coats from the charity "Traveling Lab Coat." These lab coats are signed and auctioned off on eBay for a sellers favorite charity. We had the only two that are currently in circulation and they were signed by Jubilee attendees. The two coats are going to be auctioned off in the coming weeks for two local Kansas schools devastated by tornados. Once they on eBay - I promise to post a link - please bid, sign them and sell them for your favorite charity. More information about the lab coats can be found here.

Here we are in front of the Old German Inn Bar & Grill (Suzanne is the gal in from with the pink bag)

   We had a wonderful authentic German dinner Thursday night. The restaurant was opened for our party exclusively. As the waitress put down a hearty plate of Pergoies, Suzanne Randa who was sitting next to me, turned to me and said "You know, I sold this restaurant on eBay a couple of years ago." As a Trading Assistant, Suzanne had been commissioned to sell the restaurant downtown. Sell it she did, to a couple from Germany, who immigrated to the USA to run it.

  We made news, if you'd like to read more about it. We made the eBay Chatter (eBay's Official Blog) and the local Hays Daily News wrote an article about the event.

  Joyce received so much positive feedback (she's the gal in red next to Suzanne in the photo above) about the event that she booked us again next year: Oct 2 & 3rd, 2009. There is talk that there may be a few other regional events as well. To find out more, visit the Yabie Jubilee website here.

  I had a request to post my presentation online for review - which I did. Here is the PowerPoint from my eBay Marketing presentation if you'd like to see it.

Good news and bad news from eBay this week.
An early morning call from eBay Execs has everyone a little surprised

Monday morning John Donnahoe, eBay Exec announced the layoff of 1000 eBay employees. That's close to a tenth of their workforce. My heart goes out to those employees, especially in these tough economic times. This sort of restructuring isn't really surprising after eBay announced the shut down of eBay Express and the other site changes this year. 

The good news, for stock holders is the purchase of Bill Me Later. A payment service that allows buyers to purchase larger ticket items, with interest free financing (if paid off within a certain term). I've purchased several items using the service, and have to give eBay an thumbs up on this acquisition. The service is used on many larger sites, including Amazon and this will really make eBay/PayPal a dominating online payment service.

These changes do remind us though, that putting all your inventory in just on place is risky. Just like investing, it is important to diversify. If you sell collectibles, start looking into sites like Rubylane.com. If you have crafts, check out Etsy.com. And if you sell what I like to call commodity items (like me) it's time to start expanding into Amazon.com. If you are interested, I just completed a two hour course covering selling on Amazon specifically you can find more information here.

The Marketing Minute - A Fun New Video Series

Click here to watch the video

During eBay Live, I asked as many sellers as possible to give me their favorite marketing tip. Over the next several weeks I'll let them tell you, in their words, their favorite eBay marketing tip. Watch my blog, YouTube, Twitter  Facebook or your email inbox for the latest video.

This weeks guest is Mary Ann Louden from  you can find her store at: http://stores.ebay.com/GOOD-BUYS-ALL-THE-TIME

More On The Local Scene

The October Monthly Meeting/ Potluck for Puget Sound SeaBayers 

Monday October 14th , at 6:30 PM
Meet at Joni's for a potluck 

For information and directions contact Joni

Fall Classes:

Fall season is in full swing now. I'm teaching eBay Basics and Digital Camera classes locally.

eBay Basics in Seattle - Oct 22 -29th at the Sandpoint Education Center 
more information here

eBay Basics in Oak Harbor - Nov 10th & 12th 
more information here

eBay Basics in Mt Vernon - Nov 17 & 19th
more information here

Basic Digital Cameras in Seattle:
North Seattle Oct 13th (Sandpoint) more information here
Ballard/Crownhill - Whitman Middle School Oct 20th more information here

Basic Digital Cameras in Everett
November 3rd more information here

NEW THIS FALL: Buying & Selling Online, an overview
October 17th - Lynnwood Community Center more information here

Online Classes this fall:

   We've had so much interest in a Photo Editing Class that Dany Byrne and I will be teaching an online series on PhotoShop Elements.

There will be three tracks to choose: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced. These classes will meet weekly and we will teach them in order if you want to talk all three courses. Watch this newsletter for details.

Dates to be announced - but if you'd like to be the first to know, please send me an email

Speaking of online classes

Blog expert Dany Byrne who helps us at OSI Rockstars really likes this eBook about improving your Search Engine Rankings (SEO). Dany feels this book is worth the price if you want to learn how to boost your rankings. I trust Dany - she's helped me skyrocket my new blog: www.photowalkstoday.com to the top in no time.

One word of caution - this Naomi pulls no punches and has made her name by trash talking - so if a few curse words offend you, this book is not for you.

For more information about Ninja SEO School click here

Stand Out In A Sea Of Free With Profitable Gallery Photos
A New CD Tutorial

With everyone’s gallery images now free, how will YOURS standout among the crowd? Join photography expert Cindy Shebley and OSI Trainer Janelle Elms as they give you some brilliant ideas on doing just that! Time 1 hour 15 minutes

• What's a good gallery photo

• Why it will become your most valuable real estate on eBay 

• Simple steps to improve your photos 

• Cindy's best lighting tips 

• Basic equipment that will make a difference 

• Step-by-step on how to use Bling! It 

• How to add photos to your listing 

• And, how to add photos without paying extra in fees 

• How to make a text only graphic for your gallery 

Purchase the CD Rom now for $14.95 - click here

How to add A FAQ 

One of the best things you can do to improve customer service and build confidence with your buyers is to answer questions promptly. However, I know you can't sit in front of your computer 24/7. EBay provides an easy solution - the FAQ. Once you have a few of your customers most frequently asked questions the set-up is easy. 

To create your own frequently asked questions:

• Go to My eBay Preferences, or click here

•  On the new My eBay look for the "account" tab to find the "Ask Seller A Question" link about half way down the page.

• Under the “Ask Seller a Question” section, click the “Edit” link.

• Select the options you want to display on the Ask Seller a Question page.

• Enter your questions and answers, and then preview your FAQs.

• Click Submit when you are finished.
   

eBay has a few questions already set up if you can't think of what a customer might ask

Twitter

Join me on Twitter! I've just discovered a new way to stay in touch: Twitter. I've heard of the site, but never bothered checking it out. Now that I have, I can't believe how easy it is and how little time it takes to be 'social.'

Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/clovercity

That's it for now, 
Cindy

PS - Don't forget to check my blog for updates - I post eBay news and tips regularly. You can find the blog here

Copyright 2008 Cindy L. Shebley Enterprises