"EBAY SELLING" EZINE
February 8 , 2007
In this issue:
* 25 Top Marketers Share Business Strategies For FREE
* eBay "Buyer Protection" Expanded For No Cost
* "Safeguarding Member IDs" On eBay
* eBay Buys Stubhub.com
* Kudos To PayPal For New "Security Key"
* From Our Humor Department
25 Top Marketers Share Business Strategies For FREE
Last week I recorded a phone call with Ken McCarthy, one of the top marketers on the Internet {He once talked about living on only 4% of his income! Not me!} We chatted about my new "Wealth Plan" and you can listen to that conversation and many others, all at no charge. Here are just a few of the speakers:
* David Bullock: success in Net marketing depends on just two elements:
Traffic + Conversion
We all understand traffic - but very few people talk about conversion. What is conversion, exactly? Simply, conversion is getting folks to do what you want them to do: buy something, join an email list, fill out a form, click on a link, etc.
But what if your conversion stinks? Or what if it could be better? How do you fix it? To do that you have to know two things:
1) How you're currently doing
2) What needs to be changed and what changes to make
To figure out either of those variable you have to test. And there's a reason why 'test' has four letters .... because most of us don't really know how to do it. I'm not that great at it myself, even though I do a lot of testing. Dave Bullock is the most knowledgeable testing expert I know and I'm learning from him myself. Do your business a favor and listen to anything and everything he has to say.
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* John Carlton: John is one of the top copywriters in the world. Those who can afford it will pay him $25,000-$50,000 for a single piece of sales copy. You might not be able to afford him - most can't - but you can still improve your own copywriting by listening carefully to what he has to say.
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* Marc Harty: Marc has published the best course I've come across on how to use press releases to get traffic to your websites & stores. I own it and have listened to every word.
Ever heard of myspace? del.icio.us? squidoo? etc? I thought so. Personally, I admit to almost total ignorance on these subjects and am expecting Marc to enlighten me on this confusing subject. This is a new presentation for Marc and I definitely need help! :-)
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* If you want to know about blogging, the two best experts are Dave Taylor and Sherman Hu. Dave has his own six figure blog so he's definitely doing something right. And Sherman has made an entire business out of teaching and helping folks with Wordpress. If you've ever considered a blog, these are the go-to guys.
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* Perry Marshall: Perry Marshall is THE US expert on a tiny little program you might have heard of ... AdWords. Honestly, I've only played with AdWords in a small way because I know anyone can lose a ton of money in a hurry if they don't know what they're doing. One of my commitments this year is to take Perry's intensive AdWords coaching program. He guarantees $25,000 in profits as a result - or my money back. Now that's a guarantee with teeth - and why I'm not worried about taking his courses.
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* Were you aware of the recent frenzy about Pipeline Profits? The founder, Buck Rizvi, has a recording I am currently listening to as I write this. I didn't pay much attention when Pipeline came by but I'd like to know about it, whether I ever get involved or not. It surely did cause a stir so perhaps it's a great traffic source. Until I know more, I have no verdict.
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* Tim Gorman: of all the speakers at the Systems Seminar, this is the one I want to meet the most. Tim is an incredibly self-disciplined captain in the army who has built a part-time Net biz for himself that puts the rest of us full timers to shame. (If he can make $10K/month part time, what is our excuse? ;-)
One of my favorite methods for site promotion is writing articles and Tim has the best-organized, most comprehensive system I've ever come across.
There are many more , including me, naturally. Don't miss this education because, after all, the price is definitely right.
http://systems.auctionknowhow.com
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I also was recently interviewed on the same subject on the Entrepreneur Magazine radio show on January 29th:
http://www.auction-genius-course.com/radio.shtml
If you'd like a complimentary copy of our new Wealth Plan you can get it here:
http://wealthplan.auction-genius-course.com/WealthReport.pdf
eBay "Buyer Protection" Expanded For No Cost
eBay recently announced an expansion to their "Buyer Protection" program - but only if you sell via PayPal. According to eBay, they've expanded their original protection:
"When you pay with PayPal on eBay, eligible transactions will receive coverage up to $200 at no additional cost. However, the majority of transactions will be covered up to $2000."
* The $200 coverage applied only to tangible goods, the seller doesn't matter and there is no cost - IF you use PayPal.
* The $2,000 coverage only applies to "qualified" sellers which PayPal defines as those sellers with a Verified Business or Verified Premier Account.
And what if the fraud involves a credit card or other payment? You're pretty much on your own. I can see eBay's point of view, though. They have zero control over credit card lenders and their policies - but they do have power over PayPal and are choosing to enforce it. Of course, if along the way they're encouraging use of their product (PayPal), well good for them. That's what marketing is all about and I would do the same in their shoes.
"Safeguarding Member IDs" On eBay
"Safeguarding Member IDs" (SMI) is a new program by eBay that makes bidders more anonymous. According to an eBay spokesman, the purpose is to cause "a reduction in unwanted commercial and malicious spam (including Fake Second Chance Offers) to bidders on higher-priced auction-style listings."
To accomplish this, bidders IDs will show up as "bidder1", "bidder2", etc. The seller will be able to see the IDs, but no one else can. Currently, this applies only to items that sell for $200+, but we can certainly expect it to occur site-wide, if it's successful.
eBay acknowledges that this might increase shill bidding. Shill bidding occurs when:
1) Sellers artificially raise the bids by bidding on their own items with other accounts or by getting friends to do so
2) Buyers can bid a high price on an item they covet, which discourages other bidders. Then at the last moment, they withdraw that bid and the price takes a nosedive, at which point they scoop up the item
eBay claims to have a sophisticated shill bidding detection system, but this reprehensible practice still remains. So, we will see what happens with their new SMI system.
eBay has added information on the new anonymous bidders.
Verrrrrrrrrrrrry interesting.
eBay Buys Stubhub.com
eBay does a big business with ticket sales. In fact, their two biggest competitors seem to be Stuphub.com and TicketExchange.com, operated by Ticket Master. So it's no surprise that eBay has eagerly snapped up Stubhub, a ticket site that does a brisk business in the follow categories:
* MLB
* NCAA:
* NBA
* NHL
* Concerts
* Theater
eBay paid $310 million for StubHub, a San Francisco-based online marketplace launched in 2000. StubHub saw 2.1 million unique visitors and generated 22.3 million page views in August, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. EBay's ticket section saw 309,000 unique visitors and 875,000 pageviews so the deal definitely makes sense for eBay. And Ticketmaster is none too happy, we might add.
Kudos To PayPal For New "Security Key"
PayPal has introduced their new PayPal Security Key in an effort to update security and reduce unlawful access to your PayPal account. The deal is that we can buy a security key for $5 (PayPal is taking orders but there is no delivery as yet):
The key will generate a unique security code every 30 seconds. The account holder then uses this code to log in to her/his PayPal account, rather than the current standard code. It's a one-time fee to purchase the key and it's small enough to attach to a keyring. I can see a couple of potential issues. Like, humans being what they are, what happens when we lose our key? (Not me, of course. Just speaking hypothetically. :-) Or what if our key doesn't work - technology IS subject to glitches?
Still, it seems like a great security update and, if it works properly, will make PayPal accounts mostly invulnerable. Kudos to eBay/PayPal!
From Our Humor Department
Sometimes you gotta wonder about our fellow citizens! :-)
Customer: "I've been ringing 0700 2300 for two days and can't get through to enquiries. Can you help?" Operator: "Where did you get that number from, sir?"
Customer: "It was on the door to the Travel Centre."
Operator: "Sir, they are our opening hours."
Caller: "I deleted a file from my PC last week and I have just realised that I need it. If I turn my system clock back two weeks, will I have my file back again?"
Samsung Electronics Caller: "Can you give me the telephone number for Jack?"
Operator: "I'm sorry, sir, I don't understand who you are talking about."
Caller: "On page 1, section 5, of the user guide, it clearly states that I need to unplug the fax machine from the AC wall socket and telephone Jack before cleaning. Now, can you give me the number for Jack?"
Operator: "I think you mean the telephone socket on the wall."
RAC Motoring Services Caller: "Does your European Breakdown Policy cover me when I am travelling in Australia?"
Operator: "Doesn't the product give you a clue?"
Caller (enquiring about legal requirements while travelling in France): "If I register my car in France, do I have to change the steering wheel to the other side of the car?"
Caller: "I'd like the number of the Argoed Fish Bar in Cardiff, please."
Operator: "I'm sorry, but there's no listing. Is the spelling correct?"
Caller: "Well, it used to be called the Bargoed Fish Bar, but the 'B' fell off."
Then there was the caller who asked for a knitwear company in Woven.
Operator: "Woven? Are you sure?"
Caller: "Yes. That's what it says on the label: Woven in Scotland."
On another occasion, a man making heavy breathing sounds from a phone box told a worried operator: "I haven't got a pen, so I'm steaming up the window to write the number on."