Friday, June 27, 2008

The Last Big eBay Convention Is History.

Chicago was the last because eBay decided to move closer to the eBay community in small cities, with less participants but face to face with real sellers and creating an environment in which each one can have a voice.
Moving in the community across America eBay hopes that connecting with the grass roots will be more profitable for sellers, buyers and eBay.

The first event will be in Oct. 3rd, 4th, 2008 at Fort Hays State University, 2 days event, $49.00 participating fee, max 250 people.
Each event will have a theme; in Oct. the theme is “Making Change Work”. For more info email Joyce at: yabie (at) ruraltel.net. The Education Specialists Trained by eBay are invited to participate, as volunteers and with no profit.

Now some details coming out of Chicago convention:
We are not allowed to use eBay as a marketing tool:

  • No more email addresses in your action description starting 1st July; it is a short notice, search all your listings and delete emails. It looks as eBay with communicate with our PayPal via email but we will never see the email address of buyers
  • No more links or references to websites outside of eBay, not even on “About me” pages. I don’t know when this one will start to be enforced. All you can have is a link from one of your listing to other of your listing or to your eBay Store
  • eBay will limit the “active content” in auctions listings. If you have flash code, animation, java script you must delete them except if they are coming from third parties that are certified as eBay providers. This is very tricky and slippery proposition; it will not be enforced until September.
As you can see, the new eBay management started a big offensive which is a cultural shift that will require all of us to rethink our business.

The old days in which a newbie jumps on eBay and starts selling whatever he can put his hands on are gone. Some categories are dominated by large sellers with deep pockets, as a newbie you must be an educated eBayer from the start. You must know to find good selling niche and avoid electronics etc. I think this will be hard to accomplish and eBay will lose a lot of new sellers who will be discouraged in the first 2-3 month of their eBay experience.

The change in feedback rules, the eBay being in favor of buyers and the creation of Detail Seller Rating (DSR), heart the most the community of sellers.

Keep in mind, to strive improving your DSR make sense:
  • Good score will produce more bids for you
  • Sellers with a high average score (greater than 4.6) will have an advantage in the search results (now eBay sounds like Google!)
  • Your high score can earn you free discounts as well, the highest 4.9 will get 20%, and the lowest 4.6 will get 5%.
  • The Education Specialists trained by eBay need to get 98% positive feedback to stay eligible.

Note: the score calculation produces a huge confusion:

  1. The score for bidders visible on your feedback profile is based on the past 12 month
  2. The fee discounts and search placements are based on your scores for the prior 30 days. In the case, if you don’t have a lot of activities and one single bad thing happened you are drastically affected, but because of the 30 days grace period, you can correct your score quickly.

To improve the DSR, we must:

  • Create accurate descriptions
  • Have good communication with buyers
  • Have a perfect shipping timing
  • Don’t inflate shipping and handling, just give up on handling and use an accurate shipping figure.

I notice that the community of sellers is not happy with the new changes, but personally I’ll be patient to see what happen in the next 6-12 month. I am not jumping to conclusion now.

To your success
Michaela
http://www.mc-ebay-resources.com/
http://www.ebookscamp.com/
http://www.squidoo.com/AffiliateMarketingNew/
http://www.affiliate-ebook-marketing.net/AM-eCourse.html

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Project New Web by Lee McIntyre

Hello! This is a review of a publication that is very close to my heart because it is related with Web 2.0, and producing FREE traffic using Web 2.0 or New Web.

Do you remember this headline?
“Discover a powerful System Any Beginner Can Steal To Earn $16,496.42 In 31 Days By Giving Away Their Best Secrets For Free”
It is celebration time for Lee McIntyre, this month will be one year since Lee started his online business. He had remarkable accomplishments to be proud of.

Let me tell you what he did. Well, he was sure that times have changed so techniques that gurus are still teaching that worked 5-8 years ago, they are not working NOW!

He stopped following gurus advice and instead he started doing things his way using Web 2.0 and the sales started flooding in .

When he started he had:
- No List
- No Product
- No Contacts
- No JV Partners

In the process he discovered and published the 3 major reasons why the old guru solutions no longer apply:

1) Reverse Sweep Viral Marketing is growing - the net is getting more connected by the day and people are starting to talk. A few years ago was easy to convince people to opt-in, buy, because each new product launch was an independent event. Treat your lists poorly now and your bad reputation will spread through the marketplace, vecause now evribody is related with evribody else. in Web 2.0 we are a big family.

2) Increasingly Tired and Jaded prospects are saying NO to hard selling and hype - people are fed up, and the old techniques like OTOs and over aggressive selling are getting less effective by the day.

3) Web 2.0 Momentum means the days of just talking at your prospects are over - we're in Web 2.0 world now and that means trying to 'sell' all the time just doesn't happend any more. While the old experts still teach you to sell hard, the net landscape has changed forever and that means giving away value is more appealing route to success.

In "Project New Web", Lee McIntyre can teach you how to do what he did. You can follow him in his foot steps and you can duplicate his success.

These are his five rules to help you make more money in the Web 2.0 world:

1. Stop Selling and Start Giving -
He has discovered the more value he give away, the more profits he get back... and he is going to teach you how to do exactly the same.

2. Build Deep Prospect Relationships And Not Shallow Ones - If you listen to any of the supposed big name marketers they'll tell you that email marketing is slowly dying. He is going to teach you how to build powerful relationships with your members that will make them want to buy from you again and again.

3. Look after your Prospects and Your Customers Will Look After You - He is going to show you the massive impact that treating your subscribers like gold can have upon your business, and how you can easily transform customers into your fans that help you.

4. Creating Value is More Important Than Manufacturing Profits – He is going to teach you why manufacturing profits is often counter productive, and how creating value instead will lead to a vastly increased earning potential.

5. Think Long Term and Participate - One of the reasons why so many people fail is because they spend their time chasing quick and easy opportunities they hope are just around the corner. He is going to show you why thinking long term is crucial for long term profits if you want to work once and get paid forever.

Find out more from the author of Project New Web.

Lee was convinced that it is still possible to earn a great living online and he proved it with his new product and he humiliated the experts by stomping on their rulebook.
I highly recommend Project New Web

Regards
Michaela
http://www.MC-eBay-Resources.com
http://www.ebookscamp.com
http://www.squidoo.com/AffiliateMarketingNew/
http://www.affiliate-ebook-marketing.net/

Friday, June 13, 2008

How To Do Internet Marketing

Hello! I am very embarrassed to tell you the story of my last 4-5 days, but I think we must share the good days and the bad days and the totally out of our hands days as well.

Last week I have had a long conversation with myself about how my business evolves. I made long term and short term plans and I was ready to start publishing a FREE eCourse:


I wanted to transmit the eCourse by emails in 8 odd Days.
This is the content:
Day 1: What is Affiliate Marketing?
Day 2: What is Viral Marketing?
Day 3: How to do e-mail marketing right
Day 4: How to create a Product
Day 5: What Blogging will do for your Affiliate Marketing?
Day 6: Why resell Rights are important
Day 7: How to generate Traffic
Day 8: Help yourself with Web 2.0

Sunday evening the content for all 8 days was ready, I converted the OpenOffice documents on PDFs and I moved them on my host server. Just the aWeber work was left to do. It was late, I was tired but determined to finish the work on Sunday night and tell the world about it on Monday.

I just started to create the follow ups on aWeber. It was raining, but I enjoyed the cool breeze coming through my window. All of a sudden, winds got out of control, began to rain with cats and dogs, and the light went off.
I wasn’t worry about my computer because I have a very reliable Internet Office UPS, but I had no idea when the light will be back. Well, I said like Scarlet “tomorrow it is another day” and I gave up, it was already 11:30 PM.

Monday evening was still raining and I started to work from where I was left on Sunday. The storm was determined to make my life miserable. Three times the light was off and on and off again, I had a river on my street and I had to close all the windows because the rain was falling horizontal not vertical.
The thunders and lightning was so powerful, my Mom who is 94 years old was scared as a child, and I had to stay to comfort her. I gave up working again.

Tuesday I found out that the electricity hub of Essex County was damaged and ½ of Essex is without electricity until next day. I was in ½ where electricity was on and I hoped to finish my aWeber work. Not a chance, we had another miserable evening still with rain and gusty winds, and first time when the light was off I gave up again.

Wednesday I finished, I tested and a lot of details didn’t work as I planed - no wander with so many interruptions. Thursday I did corrections and tested again.

Finally today Friday I can tell you about it, but this supposed to happen Monday. Well, now you know why I am embarrassed.

To get my FREE eCourse, please sign in:

http://www.affiliate-ebook-marketing.net/AM-eCourse.html


The eCourse will start immediately after you confirm your email and will be published each odd day until the 8th day.

Regards
Michaela
http://www.MC-eBay-Resources.com
http://www.emrauction.com
http://www.ebookscamp.com
http://www.squidoo.com/AffiliateMarketingNew/

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Can IM produce success stories in 2008?

Hello!

I had a lot of eBay students who ask me if Internet Marketing is still live and well and make sense to try it. YES make sens! I’ll comment on this topic now.

First it is a confusion going on in Internet Marketing Beginners Camp.

If somebody is not successful it is not necessary because Internet Marketing is a waist of time. In majority of cases happened because some Internet Marketing Methods are changing as we speak. I am talking about the Web 2.0 revolution, about PPC vs. FREE traffic and so on. And not everybody is willing to jump on learning the new Methods, to work hard to keep abreast with what is new.

The Internet is changing so rapidly and the comfortable routine of what you know to do, can be a stopper in your career. Not everybody has the temperament to be a pioneer, but on Internet if you embrace your comfortable pillow to long… you will not be successful.

I have been in States since 1980. I was coming from Europe, and I was looking for a job as a Programmer Analyst. At that point all I knew was COBOL on Main Frame. I got a job and in first month I was impressed with how many other packages, languages, Databases, utilities, plus PC skills my co-workers had and use daily bases. In top of that; courses for new software packages, languages was offered monthly bases.

The reality struck me: I am a good Cobol programmer, but if I don’t start to learn new technology in 2-3 years maybe I am not going to find a Cobol Job.

I jumped in the first opportunity, I learned a new data base called DATACOM/DB and IDEAL language and that decision was the start of my prosperity in USA. After 2 years I was good enough with ADR packages and I start to do consulting and 10 years of prosperity come out of that simple decision to go to the ADR’s package training.

Now those are old packages, but I learn a lesson, never stop to learn new things!

I am still learning, I was curious about Internet, about eBay, about being an eBay teacher, about on-line marketing, Web 2.0, and here I am doing Internet Marketing and keep going learning.

Let’s come back to our topic Internet Marketing. The blue print of your success will be to stick with the following plan and learn as much as you can.

Step 1: Start building a list of potential customers who some day will become your customers and repeated customers.
You may be sick of hearing “the money is in the list” but the number one reason behind almost all successful marketers is the fact they have a mailing list and they have a good relationship with the list. Start now, not tomorrow.

Step 2: Sell others products as an affiliate.
It is nothing wrong to be an affiliate, can be productive and is part of your learning curve of learning what other successful marketers are doing.

Step 3: Create your own products or services.
Almost every successful marketer has their own product or service which can be any of the following:

  • An eBook,
  • An audio recording.
  • Video tutorials.
  • A membership site.
  • Create a Software Package
  • Create reports you can giveaway for FREE
  • Do coaching on something you are good at
  • Create mini eCourses via email, and offer as a backend a real good course or coaching membership program
  • Create Copywriting services: Sales pages, squeeze pages,
  • Create Graphics
  • Website design
  • And so on… I can continue but I'm sure you get the picture.

Step 4: Create a blog.
Having your own blog gives you an instant way to communicate with your list and is also an excellent way to generate an affiliate income by reviewing other marketers’ products.

Step 5: Learn to drive FREE traffic using Web 2.0
Web 2.0 is considered the new generation of Web Sites. The communication, interaction is the name of the new game. To be honest with you, I was a little skeptical for the beginning. But as soon as I realize the power of interaction with others, I completely change my mind, and the shift to new mentality got me.

Part of Web 2.0 are:

  • Social Bookmarking
  • Social Networking
  • Video Sites
  • Pod Casting
  • Blogs

Step 6: Build a network of affiliates and JV Partners.
They can promote your products and you can promote there’s. Compete with your competition, work with them and grow together.

Step 7: Help as many people as you can.
Your effort will be repaid the big way if you offer your services to others who need it most.

Step 8: Stop wasting your time online with information overload.
You really don’t need everything which is publishing on the net. Only buy products that are relevant to your business and your niche.

Step 9: Work with a plan.
You really need a short term and a long term plan to make your business grow. Try to get done something every day. If you have a niche; stick with it.

Step 10: The Sky is the limit but not without:

  • taking action
  • keep going learning
  • staying in the positive site
  • never give up
Regards, if you have a comment drop a line or two.
Michaela
http://www.MC-eBay-Resources.com
http://internetmarketingreviews-michisor2.blogspot.com/
http://www.squidoo.com/AffiliateMarketingNew/