Where Do You Make Your Money ?

If you have been selling and marketing online for more than a few months, a serious question to ask is “Where Do You Make Your money ? ” It is a question that you need to ask yourself almost on a daily basis. But if not daily on a very regular basis. You need to keep your mind and eyes open to new opportunities as to where you can sell your items.

Yes you maybe selling solely on eBay at the moment, but is eBay the only place you can sell, there are many other places, such as : eBay, Amazon, etsy, Bonazle and several niche sites. What you must do is your homework and you must never dilute your time and resources. You need to stick to what works for you.

But there is another way to look at that question “Where do you make your money” ? Well how often have you sat down and looked at your figures and information from your business. Have you looked at the different income streams you have, if you do you may find a few that you did not know you had, but they are bringing you in a nice income.

Also once you starting looking at where your money comes from you can start to work out on how you can either increase some areas, or at times you may need to stop a part of the business as it is losing money. Over the next few weeks, spend some time and take a look at where you really make your money, it may surprise you.

Use Different Web Browsers

When ever you are running websites, blogs, e-commerce platforms such as eBay, Amazon, Etsy and you play around with the templates please take some time and check them in the main web browsers such as :-

FireFox

I.E. (last few builds)

Chrome

Safari

Now while I have always known this, and 75% of the time do test either that day or other the next few days when I launch a new site and blog I have never ever seen or had a problem. Maybe this was because someone was looking after me, or the fact that I stuck to the industry standards, I do not know.

The other day I was just “Chatting” to someone of FaceBook, and she was saying that her sales had gone down over the past few months, so I asked her for her URL. The site was on eBay, I was using Firefox. The site loaded and I could see she had a custom made template on a basic store. I scrolled down and oh dear, it was real bad.

I told her so, she just laughed and said no I am wrong her site looked great. At this point you have to think, well maybe she likes all the black swearls and stuff, you could not read anything the links were all hidden by these black things. It did look good but it was too much.

I asked her what browser she used she did not know – So my mind went into over drive- I checked Chrome looked real bad. Then I opened I.E. and it looked beautiful. It was well laid out. I told her this and she contacted her web designer.

At present I am not going to share the site, it is not fair on the person concerned. But please if you use templates, do blogs, use different web browsers, see how things look and at times you will be shocked. Also while we are on this subject it is well worth your while to check your web stats, and see what browsers people are using, and then build your sites around these, and make sure they look great.

It takes up no extra space on your hard drive to use different web browsers, and again you may be shocked to find out some sites do not work in some browsers, so if you have ever wondered while a site looks real funny in your favourite browsers, check it in another and you may find it looks good in one of the others. Again this is because people have not done their homework, and checked all browsers.

Fun Facts About eBay

While doing some research online about eBay and e-commerce I found some great things and facts about many of the companies. So today for a change I thought I would share some of the Fun facts about eBay.

@ Did you know that eBay was once called “AuctionWeb” and the name change from AuctionWeb to eBay took place back in 1997.

@ The first item to be sold on eBay was a broken laser pen that was owned by Omidyar, and when the auction had finished to everyone’s suprise the pen sold for $14.95 – and as they say the rest is history.

@ There are seven main building at eBay HQ, and all of these are named have some of the main areas on eBay – Collectables, Motors, and toys to name a few of the seven buildings. And then in each building the conference rooms are named after for example in the Motors building the rooms are named after cars etc. and so on. And in the Community building the conference rooms take on names such as About Me, Buy It Now, Powerseller etc.

@ Jack Sheng was the first person to reach a feed back of One million.

@ The use of the mobile phone is always growing on eBay and since the introduction of the Mobile Phone App – One item every two seconds is bought using the phone app.And more recently someone bought a plane worth $265,000 using the phone app.

@ The most expensive item so far to be sold on eBay was a Jet that sold for $4.9 Million Back in 2001

I hope you enjoyed these fun facts about eBay, if you know of more fun facts please share them below.

Thanks

Holidays and Product Sourcing

Here in the UK the summer holidays are in full swing. Families and singles are off on their annual holiday. Now this is where the fun can start, why not combine your summer holiday with a bit of product sourcing ? Now I would guess before you even sold online, and way before any business ideas had come into your head, you were doing a spot of Holiday Product Sourcing.

How many of you when away, spent ages looking for that gift to bring home for a loved one, or spent hours in the market place looking for a new rug for your home, if we are honest I would guess the answer would be most of us. So you see although you did not know it you were doing some product sourcing.

So while you are away this year and in the years to come spend some time looking in the local market places and craft shops. Chat to the people and you never know you might become their sole seller online. A lot of these craft makers love making the items, but sadly they do not have the time to do the selling online, so you could be helping them out.

And of course if you build up a list of contacts, you may need to take some more holidays just to meet with them and see what new items they have for you to sell.

Happy Holiday Product Sourcing

Shopping Basket Is Here

Well buyers and sellers have been asking for this for years. Buyers and sellers have been saying look at this site and look at this site, but eBay did not listen. Well I would not say listen, they were watching and waiting. They were testing and looking. Like any good business they were waiting for the right time to launch a Shopping Basket.

Well folks the time has come and eBay.co.uk has a shopping basket. At present people can opt in and out of the Shopping Basket, but from what I have seen and heard today, the people who have used it are very happy. It allows buys to buy from multiple sites and then pay for everything in one go. Now as sellers as long as your prices and delivery charges all you should see is an improved increase in your sales.

Now I am going to be honest with you here, there could be slight hicups with the system, but we are talking eBay here and the company will be on tho these before we know about them and most times will not know there was a problem. As with anything this will have been beta tested by all times of buyers and sellers, from the small time seller through to major sellers.

I for one will be using the Shopping Basket and after a few months will come and report my findings.

Happy Selling

Life Is Too Short

Welcome to another video, to give you a boost for Monday. Take time and as you listen to the music, just read the words and then stop and take some time, it is worth it.

We all live in a fast paced world, but we need to all slow down and look what is around us.

Do You Have A BackUp Plan

I was sitting at my computer ready to listen to one of my coaching calls from the great Janelle Elms (OSI Rock Stars) and while I was waiting I was jotting some notes down on a blog post I was working on for my site, and nothing was coming. I clicked through a few of my favourite sites to see if I could get some ideas, but sadly I had a block.

Anyway the call started and I was getting ready to take notes……………………….. Then it happened Janelle went quiet, for a second I thought she was just thinking and waiting as she had asked us a question, but the pause got longer and longer and it was then a small window popped up and said the call had stopped. Within minutes Facebook confirmed this, Janelle had lost all her power in her home.

It was then a light bulb went on in my head, and my article was starting to take shape………………. “Do You Have A Backup Plan“. If we run a business from home either part-time or full-time do we have a back up plan if things like the power goes down, we have a flood, we are taken ill, a loved one or we are in hospital, what would happen to our business?

So let me ask you “Do you have a backup plan” for your business, to help you out here are a few suggestions I came up with as I was writing this article -

@ The power goes down – You could use your battery on your laptop till it dies, but would you have internet connection ? Well to solve this here are a few ideas. Go to your local Library and use their computers and internet, you could put your laptop in your bag and head for starbucks, Costa Coffeee or any of the other places that have free wifi and work away, and if you ask nicely they may let you use some power too. Of course you need to find one that does have power.

@ Have a list of other Post Offices in your area in case your local one is shut one day.

@ Have a list of other delivery firms in case your normal one lets you down

@ Have all your passwords on an excel sheet or Google docs and give a business friend the link, just in case you are unable to access your computer for sometime. By doing this people will be able to help you out if need be.

@ Also keep extra stock of packing items and again have a few sources where you can get these in case your friendly normal one is unable to deliver or help you.

I hope these few tips will help you work out a Backup plan for your business.

Do You List In The Summer Holidays ?

One of the questions I am asked time over time by people both new sellers and those who have been selling on eBay for years, is “Do You List In The Summer Holidays ?” Now I know there are several schools of thoughts out there and neither one is right or wrong, but through this article I would like to layout some thoughts and ideas so that you can make up your own mind and what works best for you the seller. But before we get in to the main part of today’s article let me paint a picture.

The children have all broken up for their summer holidays, it wonderful weather outside, your planned holiday is a few weeks away, so today you decide it is picnic time. The children are got into the car and you drive to your favourite supermarket, as you approach the car park is empty and then you see a big sign saying “Due to summer holidays we are closed – see you in September”, You turn around and go the supermarket down the road, that is open and has some wonderful picnic food, that you buy. September comes and you never return to your favourite supermarket, because the second one you found sells all you need, and offers great customer service. Supermarkets do not shut, during summer holidays and other holiday periods, they are busy places, they run promotions, and their sales stay steady.

The same can apply to your eBay / Amazon business, if you are running a store and have a large amount of product within the store you might loose business if you close it for a few weeks. The human race are very funny people, say you sell clothing, and you have a large amount of repeat buyers who buy large amounts from you, and then one time one of these buyers would come along to buy a dress for a wedding, and you are closed for two weeks, will they wait ? Maybe some will, but most people need the dress for the weekend, so sadly they will go else where and find what they want often cheaper and with the same customer service that you offer, will they return when you come off your holidays ? Some will, the others you will have lost.

Ok people need holiday’s, so what can be done -

1. Well not go away – but that may not be a good answer

2. Another suggestion could be, ask a family member or friend to come in and run the business for you while you are away. This could be run the whole show, or if you wanted once a day you could check you eBay account and then email them over all the order details so they can ship and pack.

3. Use a fulfilment service such as Amazons FBA – (Yes even though you may not sell on Amazon you can use their FBA – and again when you sell on eBay, just email Amazon the shipping details and you never have to touch the stock – but you would need to make sure you have the right profit margins to do this as their prices for non Amazon items are a bit higher)

4. Use a drop-shipper

5. If the items are small and light, take them with you !!!!!! Works for some people.

At the end of the day it is up to you and your business, but if I was you, I would think very carefully about closing your shop when you go away on holiday as it could cost you a lot of business. Happy Listing and happy Selling

Please post your ideas and tips people – Thanks

Today is Sunday and while I was looking online I came across this beautiful Video, please watch and be Blessed. There are times and days when we feel that life is just getting us down, but there is someone out there who is looking after you and is always there, just waiting for you. Watch and enjoy

Make Money By Teaching Others About EBay

When people think about making money on line with business models such as eBay, Amazon and the other e-commerce platforms out there, quite often they just think they need to buy low and sell high. Well that is very true and you can make a good income by doing that. But as with most things in life, you need to take a step back and think out side the box. Sit down, take a note pad and pen and start to make a list on all the different areas you could make an income from e-commerce, without selling any product.

To start you on your way, let me introduce you to “Make Money By Teaching Others About eBay” Yes you heard right you can make a very good full or part-time income by teaching other people and businesses how they can make money by selling on sites such as eBay. So how do you get started on the road to make money by teaching others about eBay ?

There are many different models that you can take hold and make your own, but one of the easiest to put into action is to offer a free one hour talk to local charity groups such as Lion Clubs, Rotary Clubs, Church Groups etc. When you give these talks you can either use the eBay Education Specialist teaching aids (To use these you need to go to the eBay Education Specialist program on eBay and pay a fee and take an exam), or if you feel at ease you can make your own PowerPoint slides or go live to the site and talk people through how to sign up for an account.

Now you may have spotted a weak link in this formula of make money by teaching others about eBay. How can you make money by giving free talks. Well when you give a free talk you will have those people who need some on to one teaching and for this you charge an hourly fee. You will have others ask you to sell items for them, for which you charge a commission.

As you feel more at home with giving these talks, you could run day long classes and charge people say $100.00 for a day to come and hear how they can make money on eBay. And again you will have people want you to sell items and have on to one teaching at the end of the day.

One last area you can make  money by teaching others about eBay, is set up a simple web page and handout and have web links to all the sites you talk about during your course, and of course all these web links will be your affiliate links and if people sign up to these services you will earn a commission.

Hope this short article on how to make money on eBay by teaching others has helped you learn that you can earn money. out side of selling items on sites such as eBay