What The Home Shopping Networks Can Teach Us About Online Marketing

Who would have thought that a TV network dedicated to selling products on a cable network could become a success? Besides most people hate commercials? What would make them sit down, watch a shopping network and, ultimately, buy? Simple? the networks applied principles that have been selling products for hundreds of years. 1. Get targeted prospect's attention. The networks have a matter of seconds to grab those people flipping the channels looking for something to watch. ? Their solution is an excited host and an attractive display. ? These images say a thousand words, but, on the internet, this task is quite daunting. That is why you must have an exciting headline to get people's attention, yet leave out the fancy graphics? they take too long to download, while a headline pops up on the screen in a matter of seconds?just like on the Home shopping networks. 2. Handle the customer's objections. The first thing the prospect sees, after his interest is perked, is the price at the bottom of the screen. He is now asking, "Is this product worth the price and will it meet my needs?" This is where the salesmen and women show their expert sales skills. ? Before they get on air, they have done their research and know potential customer's needs and objections. ? They know that for each need and objection you ignore, you may be missing out on a sale. ? This same concept can be applied to the internet. By writing to your customer in a way that he feels that you have the perfect product for him, you can make a sale. 3. Show the benefits and justify the sale with features. My favorite products to watch being sold are clothing. They have been selling the same types of clothes for years, but they are able to sell thousands and thousands of clothes that would never sell in a department store. ? They do this by citing benefits, like, "You will look beautiful, and you will receive lots of compliments." This gets the potential customer's attention, but they are still hesitant because they want to make sure they are opening up their pocketbook for a quality product. So the sales person will say, "This shirt is different because it has original stripes, and it is a perfect fit." Now the customer will have the justification he needs to make the purchase. ? On the internet, this step is absolutely vital, and the customer must know why he should buy your product. Do this by making him picture what it would be like for him to use your product. 4. My favorite part? testimonials. On the Home shopping network, they always have people calling in to explain why they made their purchase. The customers are doing this so they can justify their purchase to themselves. Everyone wants to make sure he has made the right purchase and so he calls in, so the sales person will say, "Yes, you were absolutely right, and everyone else should take your advice." ? I like the testimonials so much because I always have to laugh at the various reasons people will use to justify their purchase. As I am writing this article and listening to QVC, a woman just called in and gave an extremely detailed explanation of why she purchases from QVC and not from department stores. The woman says she has been buying from QVC since the inception of the network and she likes it because she does not have to go outside to buy her clothes. shows that you need to give testimonials that allow prospects to find reasons to justify their purchase. People want to buy, but they are not going to, unless they have a reason. All this information is just a touch of everything you can learn from the Home shopping networks.

Hurricane Katrina Donations Could be Many Millions More - EBay Sellers Try in Vain to Help

Yesterday I saw a mention in someone's email ezine about a kind person who had an ebay auction with the proceeds going 100% to help victims of the horrible Hurricane Katrina. It struck a chord with me because I had wanted to set up something similar, but found that the "eBay Giving Works" charity program seems to be terribly flawed for us small sellers. I had researched it the day before, ebay goes through Mission Fish to handle the administrative tasks and distribution. Here in a nutshell is how I understand it works. You set up an ebay auction and pledge a percentage of the proceeds to go to a charity. You pick the one you like. If the auction sells, the buyer pays you, and Mission Fish charges your credit card, taking out $3.00 per transaction for their fees, plus 3% to cover credit card fees. That's reasonable, they need to cover their overhead and payroll expenses. Then Mission Fish sends the balance to the charity. The minimum donation per item has to be $10.00. Again, so far so good, I can understand that. Now, I noticed in the auction that I visited that the seller had set up a dutch auction, with 1000 "lots" available, each for $1.00 each, with the proceeds going 100% to her favorite charity that would get food to the Katrina victims. I was about to place a bid for several $1.00 lots (a dutch auction lets you "win" as many of the item as you like, all at the same price). Then it hit me, why couldn't I do the same kind of dutch auction, maybe she had found the way to get around the $10.00 per item restriction, and found that it was a minimum $10.00 per auction. It would only make sense that it would work that way, since Mission Fish charges the seller's credit card, if all 1000 lots sold, that would be $1000 for the charity, Mission Fish would take $3.00 plus 3%, the seller would collect (hopefully) the $1000 from the buyers, and all she would be on the hook for would be the ebay fees. Those fees, plus her hard work, would be her personal contribution. So I went back to ebay and Mission Fish and researched the deal again. I found out that sure enough, in a multiple item auction, Mission Fish requires a $10.00 donation from the seller for EVERY ITEM that sells in a multiple-item auction (dutch auction). So, if the seller had 1000 lots at $1.00 each, and they all sold, Mission Fish would have charged her credit card on file for $10.00 for each lot, a total of $10,000.00! And they would have taken their $3.00 + 3% fee for each of those 1000 lots, more than $3,000.00 for their trouble! At that point, I realized the seller either had deep pockets and was matching contributions 10 to 1, or she misunderstood what would happen to her. I sent her an email, and to end a long story, she indeed misunderstood, was obviously fairly upset at the prospect of paying $10,000, and ended the auction early. Now, I'd like my readers to do one of two things. If you think that ebay and Mission Fish are mishandling the charity program, as I do, please contact one or both and point them to this blog entry, or just write your own letter with your thoughts. You can contact Mission Fish here: http://www.missionfish.org/Help/contactus.jsp ebay is always more difficult to contact, but you can try starting here: http://pages.ebay.com/help/contact_us/_base/index.html The other thing you could do is support the ebay seller's cause, she had to end the auction but she took the trouble to set up a web page for donations, you can access and support it here: http://www.flipidy.com/secondharvest.htm Perhaps with enough pressure on Mission Fish, they'll get together with ebay and allow dutch auctions to be counted as a single donation, instead of multiple individual items, and encourage more charity in the future. For those with Homes, families, relatives or friends in the devasted area, my hearts and prayers go out to you. I hope this information will in some small way help someone somewhere.

Earn Money Now from Selling Childrens Items on Ebay

Kids Items You Can Sell Clothes, toys and videos are good money makers on ebay. Go to ebay and look up a "lot" of size six girl's cloths. You will find they are expensive! The average price for a lot of 20 good conditioned clothes is about $35.00. When your kids grow out of their seasonal clothes do not throw them out. Bundle them into different lots by category. For example bundle girls dresses separate from girls play clothes, but only do that if you have at least six of each different type. Lots of any item sell better than single items unless the item is unique or high priced. For example, a hand embroidered dress that you paid a lot for would sell better by itself instead of bundled with other basic dresses. The next item to lookup on eBay is toys. Most toys in good condition will sell for a lot of money. One idea that works well is to buy hot items in October at Wal-Mart or Toys-R-Us and sell them on eBay. Busy people are willing to pay extra for the convenience of getting the items delivered to their Home. For example, last year a Mega Power Ranger came out in stores around October and sold at Wal-Mart for about $45.00. The same item sold on eBay for up to $65.00 plus shipping. The Yellow Power Ranger is yet another example where the store price was about $6.00, while the same item was selling on ebay for about $20.00. Have your children ever received duplicate birthday or Christmas presents? You can sell those on eBay also. Look at the eBay listings for items of interest to see if selling on ebay is worth more than returning the item to the store. Kid's videos and DVDs are also good money-makers. Bundle about three of these together, and you can usually make about $7.00-$12.00 per bundle. Bundle more and the money goes up. Disney movies in hard cases can go for a higher amount. This also works for other types of movies as well. Save those McDonalds toys. Some Kids Meals toys sell high. Take the new Star Wars toys from Burger King...very collectible. You will find them selling on ebay from $1.00 to $5.00, not including shipping. Ebay has a whole section devoted to dolls and bears. If your daughter doesn't want her collectible dolls anymore sell them on ebay. Kids Crafts You Can Sell Around the holidays, especially, have your children place their hand in paint and make a print on some quality paper. Add a holiday related poem and you have a great craft to sell on ebay. Have your kids make gift jars with ready made mixes. For example, hot chocolate mixes in a jar with a plastic spoon tied to it with a ribbon. Dip the end of the spoon with white chocolate. Baby Items You Can Sell Used baby items are very profitable. Baby items cost a lot of money, especially in their first year. Any "gently" used items are generally good sellers on ebay.

Free Keyword Research Tools Are Not As Effective as Wordtracker

One of the most unanswered questions online today is, how to perform keyword research that gets free traffic from the search engines. Many SEO experts recommends using one keyword or keyword phrase per page, while others recommends using secondary keywords with your main keyword. My philosophy is simple, you simply use both methods and check to see which method works best. You will also have to draw the line and recognize which is working best and continue with that method. For me, I love to use one keyword phrase for review pages and for content pages I use secondary keywords with my main keyword, making the theme of that page much more search engine friendly. Our job is to please the spiders as well as our visitors. My advice for newcomers is to build our first page using only a free tool such as GoodKeywords. I did the same with my first site, which ranked very highly for my choosen keyword phrases, due to the fact that the competition wasn't very high and I also didn't use the highly targeted keywords found in the search results. Now, I must admit that I wanted to take my keyword research to higher heights and even discover a niche of my own with very little competition, and that is where free keyword research tools fails. They don't supply enough data for you to analyze if your keywords are actually worth while or highly competitive. That is where, wordtracker and KRA comes into play. Wordtracker is the number one keyword research tool online, has been for many years and still is. Those who generate five figure monthly commission checks with affiliate programs knows the importance of wordtracker and just can't live without it. KRA, is a tool by SEO expert Andy Williams that you can use to filter out secondary keywords and related phrases. If your into optimizing your pages for better search engines result, then I highly recommend you get yourself a copy. You can reap the benefits of online keyword research by using these tools, and stop fiddling around with free tools. Free tools are for beginners who are testing the waters. It is now time for you to join the rank of professional marketers and stop hoping for success. The best feeling you can get from your online marketing is when you make that first sale, and it doesn't matter how big it is. Stop targeting the wrong keywords and start building much more profitable content pages that only the smart marketers are targeting. My final words: If a keyword research tool is so good, then why would you create a tool with an import possibility for wordtracker data?

Increasing E-Commerce Website Sales: A Guide for the Online Newbie

Because of this encouraging surge in activity, many individuals are now interested in becoming e-commerce merchants. To profit from your online Business, you must first produce a unique website that will intrigue visitors and interest them in your items. In reality, the e-commerce business is not much different than your average offline retail venture. Both vendors have products that he aims to sell, and each retailer must discover the appropriate avenue to market these items. Online shoppers crave the same things that traditional shoppers demand: a pleasant shopping experience, in-stock merchandise, and a courteous vendor. If you seek to please the customer, your e-commerce Business shall prosper. Almost every e-commerce website that is currently profiting has a clean, crisp layout, and effortless navigation. It is essential for you to have several categories featuring your products that are easy to browse. Clear, detailed images should also be readily available. Customers should have the opportunity to examine your products and compare them with others. An ideal e-commerce store will have many WebPages. These pages will be organized into various categories, with searchable properties, and will use thumbnail pictures for faster loading time. Each picture should also have a detailed description of the product. The easier the site is to access, the more likely it is the visitor will purchase a product. Website security has become a major issue in cyberspace. It is up to you as an e-commerce vendor to make each one of your customers feel at ease shopping at your online store. It is crucial for you to have Secure Socket Layering (SSL) on your online payment pages, so you have the capacity to handle encrypted transactions, such as credit card processing. Outwardly demonstrating to your customers that your website is secure will make them more comfortable shopping with you. Customer Service information should be an eminent characteristic on your e-commerce website. It is essential that you have a Contact Us link on your site's menu, and on every page of your website. This link should be directed to another page, which lists an e-mail address, phone number, and mailing address. Customers need to feel that they can contact you at any time if they have any questions or problems. It is also wise to have a Frequently Asked Questions section to your site, which provides answers to common queries. With the e-commerce Business leading the way in the web of money-making ventures, many are racing to join the masses. While building and eventually increasing sales to your e-commerce site may not come easily at first, in time, the rewards will be plentiful.

EBay Feedback, 5 Key Things All EBayers Should Know

eBay's user feedback system is one of the site's most important components. Without the conscientious comments recorded by both buyers and sellers, there would be no way for anyone to build up a trustworthy reputation in the nearly anonymous realm of cyberspace. And without a good measure of trust among users, ebay would be a difficult, if not impossible, environment in which to safely conduct Business. By learning how ebay's feedback system works you can use it to your advantage. Understanding the numbers and feedback comments will go a long way toward making the online trading venue a safer place for you and your pocketbook. 1. How Feedback Works The ebay feedback system operates in a straightforward manner. Every time you complete a transaction as either a buyer or a seller, you leave feedback for the other party. This feedback is made up of a score of +1, 0, or -1, as well as a one-line comment that sums up how smoothly -- or how poorly --- the process was completed. A +1 means that you were happy with the way the transaction ended. A 0 score is neutral, meaning you weren't particularly pleased with the efforts of the other person, but you didn't feel taken, either. A -1 indicates that you were unhappy with the transaction as a whole. In addition to the numbered score, you can submit a short comment that explains the reason for your score. As you browse the scores and comments on ebay, you'll see the vast majority of member scores are positive, and most have form-letter comments that indicate an effortless transaction. Neutral scores are relatively rare. Negative comments are more common than neutral ones. ebay users often don't realize the importance of the feedback system in terms of establishing a good reputation. Not only do users benefit from garnering a lopsided positive-feedback-to-negative-feedback ratio, but they reap rewards by advancing upward through the various star symbols used to designate successful users. 2. You are a Star The star symbols displayed next to a username show, at a glance, how many transactions the user has completed with positive feedback. With fewer than 10 feedbacks, users remain starless. With 10 to 49 positive scores, users will receive a yellow star. There are many other star symbols, but as an example, after an eBay user snags anywhere from 500 to 999 positive scores, will get a purple star. Once a user moves into the stratosphere of eBay, she'll receive a shooting star that indicates she's gathered more than 10,000 positive scores. ebay sellers who reach this level of activity indicate that when they achieve a new star status, their number of sales increases, often dramatically, especially when it's paired with an excellent feedback rating. 3. Feedback is Forever One of the reasons feedback is so important, and so potent, is that once you've left a comment, you can't go back and edit it later. That means your comments, both positive and negative, say online for all eyes to see, for as long as that member is active on ebay. eBay does reserve the right to remove inappropriate comments, such as those that use racist or overtly sexual wording, or those that include hyperlinks. however, ebay does not typically delete most other comments, even those that seem unfair or unjust. When both the buyer and seller agree to retract feedback, there is a procedure called Mutual Feedback Withdrawal, but this option's effect is limited. If two parties initiallyhad a disagreement about a transaction, but they'd like to change the score they left for the other person, they can do this feature. This removes the score from both parties' feedback rating, however, it does not delete the comments that were left, which often makes this option less effective, especially when those comments were damaging to a reputation. You can start a Mutual Feedback Withdrawal request within 30 days of either party leaving feedback or within 90 days after the transaction, whichever is later. To start the process, enter the item number into the online Mutual Feedback Withdrawal form in the Feedback forum. 4. The Negative Curse Negative feedback, or "negs" in eBay-speak, is something to avoid because negs are a virtual curse for buyers and sellers. Serious eBay users evade bad feedback as best they can, and those who depend on ebay for a substantial portion of their livelihood will stop at almost nothing to keep these marks from marring their online reputation. One of the primary reasons for preventing negative feedback, of course, is that a buyer who's browsing for a product is likely to skip a seller who has more than a couple of recent negative comments. When you leave feedback for an ebay user, he has the option of responding in kind, os his comments land on your profile. If you leave a nasty remark accusing a seller of extremely slow shipping, you'll likely see an indignant comment denying any wrongdoing in your own profile, even if your claim was true. This kind of retaliatory feedback is the reason most users think twice before leaving negative comments, even if that comment is true. One user posts a negative comment for another party, and as an act of revenge, the slighted party leaves a neg for the first user - in many cases, the retaliatory feedback has no grounds in truth and is intended only to punish on member for leaving a read mark on another user's profile. Retaliatory feedback is a problem because negative feedback of any kind carries real weight. Not every buyer or seller takes the time to investigate negative feedback, preferring instead to find another user who doesn't have recent angry comments directed at him. On the other hand, the good news is that one or two negative comments aren't the kiss of death. The more positive feedback comments you have, the more unlikely it is that a negative score or two will cause you problems. Remember this as you deal with other users on the site, but also remember the feedback system doesn't work unless you're honest about transactions. 5. Final Feedback ebay's feedback system has its share of flaws, but for building trust and creating a safer buying and selling environment, it's indispensable. however, to make the system work best, you'll have to learn to read comments appropriately to get a better idea of how to discern trustworthy users from online swindlers. Do your research on the items you want to buy and check the feedback of buyers and sellers before you commit to dealing with them. The effort will help you avoid financially draining scams, give you peace of mind, and make ebay a much more productive place for you to do Business. About Adam Selling on eBay and the Internet is still a relatively a new phenomenon with unprecedented opportunity. Adam Ginsberg, recently featured on NBC's Today Show is an author and educator and has built a small fortune selling on eBay. As an early Internet pioneer, Adam discovered a system for generating wealth - through the power of the ebay marketplace. Adam personally sold over $20,000,000 on eBay and the Internet in the last three years. Currently he travels the world sharing his knowledge, expertise and experience with others. Adam's book, "How to Buy, Sell & Profit on eBay", went to #1 on Amazon within 3 days of being released. Learn how Adam has solved the mystery of success on ebay and how you can apply his system to capitalize on this hot new money making opportunity. Adam has also created several best selling e-books and software to enable you to enhance your ability to succeed. You can learn more at http://www.adamginsberg.com

Boosting Your EBay Auction Profits: Just Add Audio

According to a recent report, adding audio to your ebay auctions could increase bids by as much as 22% over auctions without audio. A recent trend showing up on a lot of websites is the addition of an audio clip. The clip is a personal message by the author or the website owner encouraging you to take advantage of what they offer. The psychology behind this technique is really marketing 101. It's called personalization. An audio clip added to your eBay auction allows you to personally tell the potential bidder about the product. Using your own voice allows you to make contact with the bidder on a personal level that written words cannot. Because, that's what your ebay auction really is...It's just a long written classified ad asking the bidder to make an offer to purchase your item. Prior to the advent of the telephone the only reliable way to communicate long distance was by writing letters. It was not unusual back then for lovers to write each other daily or weekly. The decline of letter writing is a well documented event that coincides with the advent of the telephone. With audio you can describe the item, tell the bidder why you are selling it or even communicate with them about your refund policy or provide your contact information. The possibilities are almost unlimited as a way to establish a rapport with the bidder. But, the most important reason to add audio clips is that it makes it easy to convey excitement and invoke emotion, giving you a really powerful selling-edge. How to add audio to a web site: The simplest way is to upload a .wav or Mp3 file to a website and provide a link to the file. When the bidder clicks on the link his or her computer will automatically recognize the file and play it with the audio player on the bidders computer. There are some drawbacks to this method. If the bidder's computer doesn't recognize the file it won't play. The overall effect is not as professional as it could be and it distracts the bidder. If you are a reasonably tech savvy type you can easily deal with the drawbacks of this approach. For the rest of us, there are a number of software solutions and websites that will simplify the task of adding audio to our ebay auctions. Here are two: Audio Maker Pro - http://audiomaker.thynke.com - (The one I use and recommend) Sound Streamer - http://soundstreamer.thynke.com - (Less expensive) Different programs and websites range from charging a one time fee to monthly fees for the use of the program. The good news is that many will let you test them for as little as $1 for a trial basis or let you download a demo version to see how well it will work for you.