Tag: business

  • Taking Advantage of “Slow” eBay Auctions.

    Taking Advantage of "Slow" eBay Auctions.

    Some auctions get hundreds of bids, but some go much more slowly, getting only a few bids or even none at all for days. Auctions are generally much slower during the summer months than they are in the winter – and sales on eBay are slowing each year, as more sellers than buyers sign up, hoping to get rich quick. There are a number of ways that you can take advantage of slower auctions to get the best price.

    Wait to Bid.

    If you bid, then everyone can see you're interested – and that might make them interested too. Leaving the item alone for as long as you can bear will make it look less popular, and keep the price down so you can come in at the last minute and get a bargain.

    Make an Offer.

    If the seller is selling an item using 'Buy it Now' and it still hasn't sold when the auction is about to end, use eBay's 'Best Offer' service to make them an offer on it. The chances are they've listed the item two or three times before, and they'll be so annoyed at the prospect of re-listing it yet again that they'll accept your offer just to get rid of the thing.

    Conspire with Other Buyers.

    You might not have thought of this, but if there are two auctions for the same item and only you and one other buyer are bidding, why not get together and work out a 'you take this one and I'll take that one' deal? This avoids you raising the price on both auctions just to get one each. If you make a few friends, you can even work together on auctions long-term, taking it in turns to bid.

    Be Snobbish.

    Send the seller emails asking questions about the condition of the item, and making it very clear that you are a discerning buyer and will only accept things of the highest quality. This will make them feel better about selling you their item for less.

    Don't Feel Guilty.

    There really are too many sellers on eBay now, to the point where you can get common items at very low prices. Long-term, this will probably force those sellers out of business, but that's the way a market works – it's supply and demand.

    Buy in Bulk.

    When auctions are slow, many sellers will have had the same stock for a long time. If you offer to take ten things off their hands all at once then you can almost name your price – the chances are that they'll fall over themselves to give you a good deal. If you come back again and buy another ten items then they'll love you even more.

    The longer you spend on eBay, the more experienced you'll become – and the greater the chances are that you'll stumble across an auction for something very odd, and quite unexpected. In the next email, you'll hear all about the strangest eBay items ever sold.

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  • Google Adsense: Tips for Using Google Adsense

    Google Adsense: Tips for Using Google Adsense

    Like anything else, you’ll get out of Google Adsense what you put into it.  The following optimization tips can help you grow your Google Adsense dollars:

    Write interesting content and write every day.
        
    Have more than one site.  The more sites you have, the more ads have the potential
    to get clicked.

    Set up channels and monitor your statistics across all sites.  If one site is performing
    poorly, consider changing the content or the ad layout.  Experiment!

    Change the ad layout and notice which layout works the best for you.  There are
    many different layout options and there’s no way you can know going in which
    one will perform the best.

    If you’re blogging, writingup.com has a list of profitable topics.  They state that
    you don’t have to write on those topics but  you might give it a try or at least plug
    some of them in to the search engines.

    Google different key words and phrases and notice how much and what kinds of content and ads you see.

    Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

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  • Folksonomies

    Go to http://afrocircle.com/business/folksonomy/

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  • EBay

    eBay

    eBay Inc., (stylized as ebay), is an American multinational corporation and e-commerce company, providing consumer-to-consumer sales services via the Internet. It is headquartered in San Jose, California. EBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995, and became a notable success story of the dot-com bubble; it is a multi-billion dollar business with operations localized in over thirty countries.

    The company manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. In addition to its auction-style sales, the website has since expanded to include "Buy It Now" shopping; shopping by UPC, ISBN, or other kind of SKU (via Half.com); online classified advertisements (via Kijiji or eBay Classifieds); online event ticket trading (via StubHub); online money transfers (via PayPal) and other services.

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  • Using Autoresponders To Keep Up With Email

    All online businesses, no matter how big or how small, will sooner or later become overwhelmed with how many emails responses they have to send out on a daily or weekly basis.  If you’ve been looking for help with your email troubles, it may be the time to invest in an autoresponder.  With the help of an autoresponder, you’ll have no trouble keeping up with your email.  All you need to do is get yourself an autoresponder and write the scripts.  Once you have installed it – your business will be on autopilot and you’ll be free from answering hundreds of emails.

    Anytime a visitor of your website sends you a business related email, they are looking for an immediate response.  If you take your time responding or put the email off, the potential customer can get frustrated and decide to go with another company.  If you have an autoresponder on the other hand, the individual will get the immediate response he or she is looking for.  There is no waiting involved, as the email response is sent almost immediately.

    Sit down and think about how much time you spend answering emails or sending them out on a daily basis – chances are it’s a time consuming process.  If you get hundreds of emails each day, you probably spend several hours going through them all.  An autoresponder will take care of this for you, and give you more time to tend to other things.  Autoresponders are all about efficiency – as they give any successful business an edge towards making great use of your time as well as making your customers feel truly special.

    Keep in mind that not all autoresponders are built the same.  Each and ever one of the different autoresponder programs will differ in terms of what they offer, with some being better in certain situations.  When you decide to buy an autoresponder to assist you with email, you should always shop around and select the program best for you and your company.  If you compare different programs and companies, you’ll find what’s best for you.  Although it may take you some time, you’ll find that it’s well worth it in the end.

    When it comes to your business, you don’t want to take any chances.  Email is very important with any online business, simply because it’s the best way to communicate with customers and visitors of your website.  Before someone buys anything from your company, they will normally contact you via email or speak with someone before they make a decision.  Although there are some impulse buyers out there who will purchase something on their first visit, most people prefer to take some time and think about.  In these cases, you can use your autoresponder to follow up with them, sending them information about your products and your company to help persuade them into buying.

    The last thing to think about, although it’s the first consideration for many is the price.  In order to find the best features for the best price, you’ll need to shop around and compare.  On the Internet, you can find many different autoresponders, some of which are obviously better than others.  If you go to a search engine such as Google or Yahoo, you can find dozens of different programs in little to no time at all.  You’ll have many different programs to review and research at your fingertips, all of which you should at least look over before you purchase your program.  If you look at everything available and base your decision on features and price – you’ll get a great autoresponder that will go a long way in helping you with responding to your emails.

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  • Tips for Buying Sex Toys and Accessories

    Are you looking for an easy way to spice up your sex life with your spouse?  If you are, you should know that experimenting in the bedroom has been successful for many couples, just like you.

    As nice as it is to know that experimenting in the bedroom may help to revive the romance in your relationship and improve your satisfaction in the bedroom, you may be curious about the buying process.  This is because one of the first ways that married couples experiment in the bedroom is with the use of sex toys and other similar accessories.

    If this is the first time that you are looking to purchase sex toys and other similar accessories, you may be a little bit nervous about doing so.  In fact, you may be downright fearful of the whole process.  You are, please continue reading on, as some helpful buying tips are covered below.

    First, it is important to know that sex toys and other similar accessories come in a number of different formats. You can purchase pleasure enhancing toys, role playing toys, massage oils and so forth.  This is important to know as it may eliminate some of the fear associated with going into a sex toy store and buying something that will bring attention to yourself, like a huge blowup doll.

    Speaking of bringing attention to yourself, it is important to know that the use of sex toys in intimacy is increasing in popularity.  Many individuals are finding them to be a great new way to bring passion and excitement into the bedroom.  Although you might not know it, there is a good chance that your friends and even some of your relatives use these popular toys and accessories.  Knowing that you are not alone may help to make the buying process a lot easier.

    If you live near a large city or town, you should have multiple sex toy and accessory shops for you to choose from.  With that said, it you would prefer to shop online, you can do that as well.  For shopping online, perform a standard internet search the type of items or accessories you are looking for.  Choose a website that has a large selection of sex toys and similar accessories available for sale, a website that has good prices, and one that looks reputable.

    Many couples prefer shopping online for sex toys, as it does tend to limit the embarrassment.  The only thing is that you need to be careful with who you shop with.  You will want to do business with a company that is discrete.  Make sure your package doesn’t arrive with a phrase like “We Sell Sex Toys,” plastered around the box.  Also, what will appear on your credit card or bank statements?  This may be a concern of yours if you don’t want what seems like the whole world knowing what you do in your private life.

    As a reminder, as fearful as you may be of walking into a sex store for the first time or as worried you may be having a red box that screams sexual contents sitting on your doorstep, don’t worry.  Remember that a lot of couples use sex toys as a way to bring fun and excitement into the bedroom.  If you are looking to spice up your sex life, visit a local store with your spouse or browse the internet together.  This alone may help to get you in the mood.

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  • Tips for Buying Collectibles on eBay.

    Tips for Buying Collectibles on eBay.

    Buying collectibles is one of the most enjoyable things to do on eBay, simply because you can find so many things that you just can't get anywhere else. Here are a few tips to help you on your way.

    Find your Category.

    You'll probably find that all the items you're after are listed in a single category. Add this category to your browser's Favorites, and keep coming back.

    Look for Mistakes.

    If you collect something, the chances are you know a lot about it. This can be your opportunity to make a mint from a seller's mistake. They might not realise that they have a rare version of an item, or they might have left off the key information that makes it valuable. If you're willing to email the seller and ask them a few questions about the item to confirm that it is what you think it is, then you should be able to buy items like these. You can then resell them at a big profit, if that's what you want to do.

    Don't Always Believe Descriptions.

    If you find something you haven't heard of, and the description calls it 'rare', don't assume that it actually is. Far too many sellers just put 'rare' into all of their descriptions – the chances are that the item is common and has just been described wrongly. Don't bid unless you know what you're buying.

    Stalk Other Users.

    When you collect something, you'll probably notice that there are four or five sellers who seem to come up with consistently good items – and the same buyers buying them. Add their user pages to your Favorites, and check back often to see what they've got – or what they're bidding on – that you might be interested in.

    Don't Get Too Attached to an Auction.

    There are millions of items being listed every day on eBay – whatever you want, it'll come around again, and if you don't get it there are plenty more things to buy. This is similar to the golden rule of negotiating: always be prepared to walk away. If you can't walk away, then expect to pay over the odds. There are few things so rare that another seller won't have one to sell. Go and bid in a lower-priced auction, instead of getting into a bidding war in one that is already expensive.

    Beware of the Postage.

    If you collect lots of small things with a relatively low value, you might end up paying as much for postage as you do for each item. You should take these costs into consideration when you make your bid. Another good strategy is to always buy a few things at once from the same buyer, as they will almost always offer you a discount on the postage.

    When you're bidding, you might notice that some auctions go more slowly than others, going days at a time without any new bids. The next email tells you how to take advantage of these 'slow' auctions.

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  • An eBay Seller’s Checklist.

    An eBay Seller's Checklist.

    Being a seller is a lot of responsibility, and sometimes you might feel like you're not doing everything you should be. This simple checklist will help you keep on top of things.

    Have you found out everything you possibly could about your items? Try typing their names into a search engine – you might find out something you didn't know. If someone else is selling the same thing as you, then always try to provide more information about it than they do.
     
    Do you monitor the competition? Always keep an eye on how much other items the same as or similar to yours are selling, and what prices they're being offered at. There's usually little point in starting a fixed price auction for $100 when someone else is selling the item for $90.

    Have you got pictures of the items? It's worth taking the time to photograph your items, especially if you have a digital camera. If you get serious about eBay but don't have a camera, then you will probably want to invest in one at some point.

    Are you emailing your sellers? It's worth sending a brief email when transactions go through: something like a simple "Thank you for buying my item, please let me know when you have sent the payment". Follow this up with "Thanks for your payment, I have posted your [item name] today". You will be surprised how many problems you will avoid just by communicating this way.

    Also, are you checking your emails? Remember that potential buyers can send you email about anything at any time, and not answering these emails will just make them go somewhere else instead of buying from you.

    Do your item description pages have everything that buyers need to know? If you're planning to offer international delivery, then it's good to make a list of the charges to different counties and display it on each auction. If you have any special terms and conditions (for example, if you will give a refund on any item as long as it hasn't been opened), then you should make sure these are displayed too.

    Have you been wrapping your items correctly? Your wrapping should be professional for the best impression: use appropriately sized envelopes or parcels, wrap the item in bubble wrap to stop it from getting damaged, and print labels instead of hand-writing addresses. Oh, and always use first class post – don't be cheap.

    Do you follow up? It is worth sending out an email a few days after you post an item, saying "Is everything alright with your purchase? I hope you received it and it was as you expected." This might sound like giving the customer an opportunity to complain, but you should be trying to help your customers, not take their money and run.

    Being a really good eBay seller, more than anything else, is about providing genuinely good and honest customer service. That's the only foolproof way to protect your reputation. Of course, you might be wondering by now whether it's really worth all the hassle to get a good reputation on eBay. Won't people buy from you anyway, and couldn't you just open a new account if it really comes down to that? Our next email will set you straight.

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  • EBay Income Possibilities.

    EBay Income Possibilities.

    If you've ever read an article about eBay, you will have seen the kinds of incomes people make – it isn't unusual to hear of people making thousands of dollars per month on eBay.

    Next time you're on eBay, take a look at how many PowerSellers there are: you'll find quite a few. Now consider that every single one of one of them must be making at least $1,000 per month, as that's eBay's requirement for becoming a PowerSeller. Silver PowerSellers make at least $3,000 each month, while Gold PowerSellers make more than $10,000, and the Platinum level is $25,000. The top ranking is Titanium PowerSeller, and to qualify you must make at least $150,000 in sales every month!

    The fact that these people exist gives you come idea of the income possibilities here. Most of them never set out to even set up a business on eBay – they simply started selling a few things, and then kept going. There are plenty of people whose full-time job is selling things on eBay, and some of them have been doing it for years now. Can you imagine that? Once they've bought the stock, everything else is pretty much pure profit for these people – they don't need to pay for any business premises, staff, or anything else. There are multi-million pound businesses making less in actual profit than eBay PowerSellers do.

    Even if you don't want to quit your job and really go for it, you can still use eBay to make a significant second income. You can pack up orders during the week and take them down to the post office for delivery each Saturday. There are few other things you could be doing with your spare time that have anywhere near that kind of earning potential.

    What's more, eBay doesn't care who you are, where you live, or what you look like: some PowerSellers are very old, or very young. Some live out in the middle of nowhere where selling on eBay is one of the few alternatives to farming or being very poor. eBay tears down the barriers to earning that the real world constantly puts up. There's no job interview and no commuting involved – if you can post things, you can do it.

    Put it this way: if you know where to get something reasonably cheaply that you could sell, then you can sell it on eBay – and since you can always get discounts for bulk at wholesale, that's not exactly difficult. Buy a job lot of something in-demand cheaply, sell it on eBay, and you're making money already, with no set-up costs.

    If you want to dip your toe in the water before you commit to actually buying anything, then you can just sell things that you've got lying around in the house. Search through that cupboard of stuff you never use, and you'll probably find you've got a few hundred dollars' worth of stuff lying around in there! This is the power of eBay: there is always someone who wants what you're selling, whatever it might be, and since they've come looking for you, you don't even need to do anything to get them to buy it.

    So you want to get started on eBay? Well, that's great! There are only a few little things you need to learn to get started. Our next email will give you the lowdown.

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