eBay Business Tips – eBay As a Way of Life!

This eBay-Business-Tips article is about living as a successful eBay seller. You are now entering a different world than the average Joe (or Jane). Or as we would have said when I was a Kid, “Your are now entering the Twilight Zone.” Working with eBay is a whole different world. Being a successful eBay seller has some real challenges, but it also has some real rewards.As an eBay seller you will put in some very long hours. Hopefully that doesn’t scare you away, because those can be fun and rewarding hours. And, yes, the hours are long, but then again, you get to pick them.You have to immerse yourself into what you sell, but the good thing is that you will be immersing yourself into something you have a passion about. Don’t forget, we are talking about a successful eBay business, not a hobby.Some people like to tinker with eBay and sell a few things now and then. And these people do make a little money while having fun. But this will be your business…a business you can enjoy, but still a business that you must immerse yourself in every day.If you want to escape working for someone else in some mundane job and make eBay your business, then there is no way to do this half-heartedly. You will be diving in and swimming the eBay life.Most successful eBay sellers don’t take a lot of vacations. It’s not that they can’t if they wanted to, but they get a system going and as they see the money coming in, they don’t want to break the flow of their business. After all, there is a lot to do.You will have to answer your emails, seek out new products to sell, post your listings, package your products and mail those babies. Yes, there is a lot to do, but it sure beats commuting for an hour to a job you aren’t invested in or using a jackhammer in the hot sun.Sure you work long hours, but I know people who commute 1-2 hours each way every day and don’t get paid for that time. The gas costs them a fortune and they leave before dark and get home after dark. I’d much rather be sitting at home in my pajamas (if I want) working at my computer and getting paid for it, than driving that commute each day. Not to mention the gas money and wear and tear on your car you save.These eBay business tips are just to ensure that you know the pros and cons of being your own boss with eBay. The responsibility is real, but, hey, so is the freedom you have to work the hours you want…and so is the reward of having your own business and creating your own good income with eBay!

10 Checklist Points Before Engaging In Social Media Marketing

Where to start? Social media marketing has a phony reputation. For many an executive from the commercial department, this exercise sums up to a string of signups over several social networks randomly and from time to time, multimedia, article postings and advertising over Facebook and Twitter. This is definitely not the right shot!SMM is more than just being present in the Social Media Sphere. It is a sharp commercial engagement that may just turn into total havoc if not handled properly. The goal of Social Marketing in cyberspace is the same as the real-world thing. It’s about delivering Unique Selling Points that will end up into concrete and sustained sales. It is about converting an anon into a brand advocate at best. Achieving this objective follows basically almost the same rules except for the fact that Social Media allows a closer, more personal and customizable, so to say Social approach of the targets. Same rules apply but with more or less variations. Assessing the prerogatives, context, environment and toolsets is the essential starting point of any Social Media Marketing campaign. It implies thorough setup and clinical precision in the way messages and attitudes are to be delivered through dedicated channels. Within such campaigns, posting on Facebook, on a fan page, group page or personal page is never the same process.Here are 10 checklist points before engaging into Social Media Marketing:
Define your base strategy. Setup a budgeted roadmap with intermediate white stones that will help at fine tuning the campaign all along the way.The roadmap should stay in tune with what is being done or what has been done in the real-world. Social Media Marketing is never an innocent act. It is time-consuming and will incur expenses. Being precise about the campaign will definitely decrease the burden. As said earlier assess the main objective and methodology. For example, you may need to totally revamp your actual website so as to allow SM integration and SMO. Make your campaign stay SMARRT – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Relevant and Time-bound. Either go for Awareness or Sales or Loyalty. One at a time! Don’t try to aim for all objectives in one go. Remember! Stick to your company’s marketing and communication policy.
Assess and understand your campaign’s environment. RESEARCH and don’t stop til’ you get enough! One surely doesn’t want to jump into dark waters without basic precautions and headlamps. So do you with your Social Media Marketing Campaign. Diving recklessly into Social Media can spell TOTAL MESS especially when dealing with building awareness and product reputation. Building an effective Online Social Strategy implies thorough knowledge of the competitors’ doing’s on common platforms (of course)… but above all, take an humble preview of how others from different sectors have done or are doing. Get into both successful and failed case studies. Learn more about technical potentials of each and every Social Network and platform.
Identify these platforms and toolsets that are relevant and positively responsive for your roadmap. Social Media Marketing is about delivering the same consistent message through the whole spectrum of interwoven Social Networks. The intertwined winning triumvirate is made of the Blog, Facebook and Twitter, to which you would add a YouTube account if you would have video clips uploaded on a regular basis. Choose strategically. For example, you might feel the need of Slideshare and LinkedIn accounts instead of a Foursquare one, if your product or service is more into pitch-intensive B2B. Your toolset should also be made up of listening and monitoring wares.
Realistically budget and size your Online Advertising. Use the full potential of Google AdSense and Facebook’s advertising platforms, but make sure to target wisely. Goal-tied Marketing Campaigns mean nothing without proper advertising. Intuitive Online advertising is now accessible through a few clicks and will definitely unleash its power to communicate about your brand on a global basis. They can also enhance diffusion to limited zones. Think about identifying and assessing your targets on geographical grounds. This will help at optimizing your online advertisement budget. Choosing PPC or CPC is up to you accordingly to your basic roadmap requirements.
Setup a Social Media taskforce from within your staff and look for an outsider to operate as a Community Manager. The web never sleeps. Social Media Marketing is a 24/7 perpetual roll-on. As such it is time and resource-consuming. One should never expect to be capable of handling a Social Media Marketing campaign alone, especially if other primary company duties are at stake. Instead, invite some of your staff to engage into social networking on your business’s behalf. Be choosy though! Those indulged in such a sensitive and interactive task must write well, be tactful, creative and loyal. Outsider Community Managers are seldom biased and are limited to the sole responsibility of consolidating your taskforce’s activities over relevant Social Networks. In any case you should build a team whose main goals and capabilities are to listen, learn and reply in tactful manner.
Prefer influential relationships. Get your team to identify major Bloggers and mainstream Social Media activists who fringe with your zones of interest and industry. This task is one of the hinges of success for your campaign. Getting to talk to Social Media heavyweights is like hiring evangelists when relationships get entrusted. Getting Lady Gaga to like your pair of boots is like tapping straight into a sea of opportunities as wide as 9 million individuals who would just follow Gaga’s recommendations. Getting her to buy one would mean immediate success. CAREFUL however! The adverse effect is also proportionally as big as your contact’s notoriety. Be sure of what you sell to him or her. A successful Social Media Marketing campaign starts here.
Identify relevant measuring and benchmarking tools. They are proof of your campaign’s success or need for fine tuning. For example, the increase in the number of likes on Facebook or followers on Twitter is an indicator of your campaign’s health. Getting to know how many times your brand is mentioned across the web and rating these comments help at fine tuning the campaign. You should also be able to keep track of your on-growing relationships and traffic that comes from Social Platforms. Identifying prospects for future opportunities helps at developing better strategies. Beware! At the actual state of affairs, Social Media Metrics can be tricky! In fact you will need a very wide array of results coupled to trending reports to be able to depict the exact snapshot of your on-going campaign.
Identify offline components that will be needed to complement your Online Social Marketing. Offline events are powerful conversion tools when geared the proper and relevant way. Offline components may also mean socializing with people off the web, in the real world, offering real-world prizes and gifts, organizing rallies, bar camps, conferences and seminars… etc Determine how these components can enhance your target’s brand experience and how they will relevantly fit into your Online Marketing Scheme.
Urge for quality relevant content when posting articles, multimedia and comments. Praising your 270hp 1974 red Corvette when you advocate for ecological products on your blog isn’t the best of strategies. Be sure to lay editorial rules that will define consistent cross-platform content production both in terms of easy-reading literature and technical specifics. Should an uploaded video be in HD both on YouTube and on Facebook? How long should be an article? Should an article contain a generic common byline for multiple authors or should it bear the actual author’s name and on what grounds? One should always define these lines accordingly to the targeted audience.
Urge to stay HUMAN at every stage! Putting up a Social Media Marketing strategy is about building your brand’s Social Media presence where your quality accessible content will be delivering values of your organization. Social Media is about… Socializing first! People are touchy when it comes to attitudes and postures. They don’t like to bullied or taken as immature consumers. Being too techy, too commercial, demotes the social experience. Simple language and “real-worldlike” politeness are the bases for the best of approaches. It is sometimes more fruitful to start a discussion that may seem miles away from your product and its campaign objectives. With the will to listen and the power to communicate clearly, high conversion rates are never far ahead.
Conclusion Whoever engages into Social Media Marketing is bound to find himself pulling on very many strings at the same time. Assessing, understanding the campaign’s environment through research and pre-dive learning is a must. Although the marketing process might seem similar to the real-world thing, the Online Social Experience entails mastering every stage with even more precision, because you can never see or analyze real-time behaviors, except for what the prospect writes from behind his monitor, should it be true or false. A Social Media Marketing Strategy is simply the result of the conjunction of human competences and webtools that allow social interaction, interchange and sharing to the profit of a brand. It is a two-way traffic by which the seller has an on-spot obligation of being a psychologist, sociologist or an ethnologist. Be reassured you do not need to be these actually because you’re a human being who is supposedly used to human social codes in general.

Internet Marketing – 10 Tips For Success For the Newcomer

If you are new to internet marketing or thinking about becoming an internet marketer, then please do not sign up for anything, do not spend any money until you have read this article so many times it is always at the forefront of your mind. I am talking from painful experience, everything in this article comes from my painful experience of starting up in internet marketing. My number one passion is to stop others going through the anguish, financial pain and get rich quick schemes that I have had the misfortune to suffer. Do I believe in internet marketing? Yes, I do, however I want to lay out in this article the right way to do it to save you time, money and ensuring you work with the right people to help you. Anyway, below I have set out what I think are the top 10 practical guides to help you with your on-line business.1/ Learn the Lessons from this Article!I have written this article not to sell and to make money but to prevent you making the same mistakes I made when I started out in this business. Read this article over and over again so that you are always prepared for what internet marketing will throw at you. There are times when you will be completely overloaded with information and to be honest at a standstill with your business. Keep coming back to this article and the guidelines given here will help you stay focused and focus in any business is a key ingredient.2/ Are they Really Going to Help You?You will see many claims from people who want to introduce you to internet marketing and to be your “mentor”. Do not get me wrong, there are good mentors out there who want to see you succeed. However you must remember that they will ask you to sign up for their program or service with a view to making money out of your future sales. Some mentors out there to be very honest just want to get you on board and take their first commission. The chances are you will never hear from these mentors again or if you do their help and advice will be as good as worthless. If you do go for a mentor then you will most likely have to spend money and give them commission. So why give money to someone who will not help you? Check out your mentor. Have they got many people under their wing? Can you talk to the people they are mentoring? How will they help you over this first 6 months? This is a key area you need to investigate thoroughly. Do not let them away with words, actually ask them what they will do for you over the first 90 days and get a plan from them to back it up. Only when you are completely convinced that they can help you achieve your goals should you sign up with them. Again, find the right mentor and you will have a much easier route to success.3/ Put Your Credit Card Away!Internet marketers reading this next bit will cringe and probably ask for a public hanging, however here goes, do not spend any money! You will see offer upon offer to sign up for automated systems that will generate so much cash without your involvement that you won’t know what to do with the money that rolls in. If you have a list then that may be true but if you don’t have a list then it will take you many months to start generating income. You may be asking what is a list? A list is large number of e-mail subscribers who have opted in to receive offers and information from you. It takes time to build a quality list, so if you don’t have one do not expect the money to roll in from day 1 or even day 51. As a newcomer to the business you will get overloaded with offers to spend your money. Everything from buying a mailing list (don’t) to the latest and greatest system that will quadruple your profits (yes, but only if you already have a list). You do not need money to get started in this business. The only thing you really need to spend money on is a PC and a broadband connection, everything else you can nearly pick up for free, no matter what anyone else tells you. Keep your cash in your bank account, keep your credit cards locked away and you have fully understood guideline 3. You can spend money once you have the basics in place and you are generating cash from your on-line business.4/ It’s Your BusinessAs a newcomer to Internet Marketing always keep your interests at the forefront of your mind. You will receive offer after offer, usually with the infamous time limited offer for that day only or at this price only if you sign up for today. Whenever you receive one of these offers, leave the page and you will find that offer gets even better with a lower price or a payment plan. Whenever any offer comes your way you need to decide will this help your business move forward in the way you have planned it to, will it take your focus away from your business plan or will it cost money and you will never recover the investment over a sensible time period, if at all. This is your business, do what is best for your business not what others want you to do.5/ Internet HypeThere is a lot of hype and rubbish out there. In fact, internet marketing would be a much more pleasant place if people told the truth. Yes, there is a lot of money to be made on the internet but it is not just as easy as signing up for a program and watching the money roll in. Every advert should be precluded with “if you already have a list”. No matter what program you join you need to have buyers that will buy from you. These buyers will come from the quality list that you have taken the time to build. Once you have a good list then good opportunities will come your way as other marketers will be asking for your help in promoting products so that they can get access to your list. You quite rightly will pick up commissions from all purchases from your list which is the way it should be. Build your list and then you are your own master.6/ Information OverloadI think at one point I was receiving over 100s of emails a day to one account from marketers who had the silver bullet for my on-line business. How did I get into this complete overload? Simple, when you are new to the business you get carried away (go back to my first guideline!) with the amount of free offers and information that you receive. You get carried away sign up for this free offer, sign up for this free product and before you know it you are in information overload. One of the real problems to watch out for is the offer if you read a few mails a day then your offer will be posted to other internet marketers so that you can build your list. I seem to remember on my first day receiving around 30 mails and it just grew from there. I even tried to put filters on my email to prevent these coming into my inbox. The only way I could get out of this was to unsubscribe. How many offers did I read? Practically none of them and I am sure my email offers were read by the same amount of people, none! When you start out, select your business, build your plan and stay focused on it.7/ Focus, Focus and Focus Again!I cannot remember who came up with this phrase “Focus, Focus and Focus again”Not just for your internet marketing business but for your whole life you need to focus. That is why the high achievers succeed and the rest of the population falters. Set your goals for all aspects of your life and then focus on achieving them. Set your goals for your on-line business and then go after them wholeheartedly. You cannot fail if you retain your focus and your belief.8/ Don’t Give Up The Day JobInternet marketing is not a get rich quick scheme, although others will tell you differently. Start off with internet marketing part time, keep your day job until you have built an on-line business that can generate the income required to get rid of your day job. How long does this take? Some people manage it in about 6 months, others can take years. Internet marketing is not a substitute for your day job. Be patient, the money will come if you persevere. Remember the top internet marketers have put the time, effort and focus in over many years to be successful9/ PatienceThe internet and technology are ridiculously fast moving. When you are running your business do not get caught up in this. When you start put your fundamentals in place, monitor them and when you see the need for change or new systems then only buy them if they will add value to your business. Remember the tortoise and the hare. In internet marketing it is easy to become a hare chasing everything that you see. All you will do is divert yourself from your plan and most likely lose a lot of money. Take your time, be patient, stay focused and your rewards will come.10/ EnjoyGiven the first 9 guidelines this one may come as a bit of a surprise. Enjoy your business. You have selected it so have fun with it. Internet marketing is an exciting environment. If you like learning then there is endless opportunity to learn and to grow your skills and knowledge. Not many people make money doing what they enjoy, most people are stuck in their daily routines and cannot wait to finish their work to get out. Internet marketing is not owned by major corporations so you do not need to work for one to be an internet marketer. You are also working for yourself so the hard work you put in puts cash in your pocket, not somebody else’s. Your time suddenly becomes your own so if you want to take the family out for the afternoon then you have nobody to get permission from, just you.I hope you found the article informative, it is not meant to scare people away from internet marketing, use this as a check-list before you sign up and when your new to the business to keep you on track. There are a whole number of other considerations you need to take into mind like your goals, your willingness to tough it out and how to get into the right mental state, however that is for other articles.Can I just end by hoping that you do become an internet marketer and that you have a very successful and profitable business, here’s to your ongoing success.