I just wrote that I would not write about eBay anymore and here I am, compelled to do so...

Fortunately, this is really not a story that will be seen as bashing eBay because it is just not something that the giant of over regulation and useless rules has any control over.

It seems con artists, inspired by eBay's (Good?) name have adopted a new tactic to scam people of hard earned money.

and here is the kicker....

Scammers are advertising on Craigslist and claiming to be connected with eBay!

Amazing as it sounds, it is true, the story goes something like this...

You (i.e. the aforementioned earner of difficult to gain money) see an auto for sale on Craigslist, posted in an advertisement in your local area.  The car is the model you want, the price is unbelievable and you contact the seller to be first on the deal. - Normal life of a Craigslist buyer (I can attest to this as I am an active Craigslist buyer and seller).

The "seller" then replies to your email (you should set up a dummy email address for any dealings through Craigslist - by the way), and provides you with a very detailed story about how the car is not currently in your city, it is actually across the country (or in another Country) but it will be shipped to your city very soon.  The seller is leaving the country, but , and here is the really stupid part of the scam...

Sample Reply email

Subject: Re: ford f-150 supercrew - $10200 (phoenix)
From: "Hickman Bobby, Tech Sgt." bbobby.hickman@gmail.com

Hello,

Thank you for your interest in my car.This is a  2005 FORD F150 SUPERCREW
4x4, 8 Cylinder 5.4 Liter, Gasoline engine,Automatic Transmission,Non-Smoker,clean title!! The car has only 24,000 miles on it,VIN# is : 1FTPW14515FB48400 .

Here you can find more pictures of the car:
http://s597.photobucket.com/albums/t58/fordfordsalfo150/sample of photobucketlink
(if the above link does not work copy and paste it into a new web browser
window).

The car has been well taken care of, always kept in the garage.Flawless exterior/interior condition,no scratches and no dents.It has never been involved in an accident.The engine starts and drives like new and the paint looks great.It comes with US clear title which will be signed and notorized in the buyer's name. Have all keys and manuals.

I'm an US Air Force Tech. Sgt. currently stationed in Germany.The car is here with me. It was bought in the US and shipped to Europe, but it was never permanently registered here, the car is still registered in the US. The car is for sale locally as well, but there are slim chances of this to happen. In order to be able to register this car here in Germany the buyer would have to pay very high import/custom taxes that will double the price. So I decided to sell the car back in the US.

The price is $10,200.00 including shipping from Germany to the US and delivery to your home address.

So if you decide to buy this car or need further information please get back to me as soon as possible.

Thank you
Tech.Sgt.Bobby Hickman

Somewhere along the line in the email exchange the seller will tell you that eBay Trust and Safety or eBay Buyer Protection will be holding your money for 30 days after you receive the car, to make sure that you are happy with the transaction and to protect you from a scam.

Hi,
The payment will be made through eBay. I'm under Contract with eBay which states that we can close the deal using their service.Very Important, Only after you will receive the car, eBay will release the money to me.

The money will be sent per ebay instruction and you will give the payment details only to eBay. They will verify the payment and when the money are confirmed they will notify me to proceed with the shipping process. After you receive and see that the car is the one you want, you just notify eBay to give me the money.

In order to start the deal I need YOUR FULL NAME and SHIPPING ADDRESS so I can register the transaction with eBay. They will let you know what you have to do for the payment.

Thanks!

Ok kids - why would anyone consider this as a valid story?  I certainly cannot say, but I have gotten several calls in the last week from potential buyers, asking me if they should send money to eBay?

NO - eBay is not an escrow service for Craigslist!

Lets all get our thinking caps on and reconsider the old addage....

If it seems too good to be true... Yes, it probably is not true!

Variations are certainly a part of the con such as:

• The seller is a US service person immediately shipping to Afghanistan or Iraq and they need to leave money for their family, the car will be shipped via the US Air Force to you for free.
• The seller needs money for emergency surgery, this is why the car is listed for less than half the price of any comparable car.

Of course you can be assured that if you do send your money to "eBay" (This will look like an eBay address, but will not be an eBay account or address) you will never ever see that money again, and you will never see the car you thought you bought.

People may be quick to say that eBay should do something about this, and maybe they could try, but really this is just a real buyer beware situation. At some point people must realize that scammers and thieves have been around much longer than Internet commerce.  Craigslist and eBay are relative newcomers to the game and they can not be held responsible if some artful thief with a very incredible story convinces you that he/she is backed by either party, because they are certainly not.

This scam could also encompass more than automobiles, so keep your radar active!  In all cases when dealing with Craigslist buying you must see the merchandise and/or be reasonably assured that you are dealing with a reputable company or party.

I ended my eBay oriented services about 6 months ago and I have turned away clients who only want help to start selling on eBay as a business.

I do this simply because it does not help me or my reputation to be associated with the name eBay.  I know that is a strong statement, and that a lot of fine people make a good living by providing training and advise and third party tools to the eBay selling marketplace... I commend all of you who keep up the fight.

Unfortunately I have been put in the position of trying to rationalize irrational rules, ridiculous business practices and the odd behavior of a huge corporation who seems so out of touch with it's core customers, one time too many.  In my mind, I do not need to be placed in the middle of good honest sellers and a company that acts as eBay does towards those sellers.

This is not a new development, obviously I have not spent much time here on the TAJ within the last 6 months writing or offering opinions about eBay.  Of course I miss that challenge, but when you are frustrated with the subject matter, it is difficult to come up with commentary without sounding like the negative fool.  Better to say nothing at all.... Right? I also have been deeply involved with other projects and really do not have the time for eBay commentary.

While, I still receive several calls per week from people wanting me to help them with eBay sales, I gently try to share with them other ways to approach online marketing and then I let them go on about their business.

My business is no longer involved with eBay other than to sell an odd item or two from time to time like any casual seller.

iBusinessLogic actually has never been better since I made this strategic change in my business plan. We have multiple projects working and I have a waiting list of clients for web development.  I appreciate everything that the eBay community shared with me over the years and I cherish all of the real friendships I developed, including many within the eBay organization.  But business is business and eBay does not need my help, conversely I find that I also do not need theirs.

I hope this is not the end of the Trading Assistant Journal, but as it was an eBay centered publication, the current environment is not primed for growth.  I do enjoy Bonanzle, and I am still working on BonanzleStores.... But if you are looking for up to date eBay information, I am afraid you will need to go enjoy some of the other fine blogs and websites out there dedicated to such things.

For me, it has been a long and winding road, but my eBay life has ended.  Good Bye.

If you ask that question in ten different places, you will most likely get a million different answers!

Ten Golden Rules for eCommerce

But not today at 12:30

Today Jay Berkowitz and I will discuss the Ten Golden Rules of eCommerce in a Internet Marketing Club Webinar

I am a member of the Internet Marketing Club but have known Jay for several years. I was and am honored that he selected me to co host this webinar which may eventually be morphed into a book. Lately I have been concentrating on many aspects of eCommerce development while creating my latest project BonanzleStore

In today's Webinar we will discuss Search Engine friendly eCommerce, how to choose the difference between selling on a large venue like eBay or Amazon or Bonanzle and your own website or both and much much more.

So join us TODAY at 12:30 PM EST at Go To Meeting!

It had to happen sooner or later... Google brings the power of Search to eCommerce!

Why oh Why eBay, did you not think of That!

Hmmmm - maybe eBay can sign up for Google Commerce Search and scrap this whole "finding" experiment... Maybe with Google Search installed on eBay.com, the term Best Match might actually mean that the best product matching the search terms entered will be presented.

Oh - what a novel idea - Actually allowing the person doing the search to determine what it is they are searching for...

But I Digress - eBay and Google burned bridges long ago and ever since that time, Google has grown stronger while eBay - well we all know where eBay's numbers are - in the hands of PayPal!

So... what is Google Commerce Search anyway? (Get most of the scoop at this link Google Support)

Evidently Google has a few tricks up their collective sleeves...

Google is making it easier than ever to improve search in your own online store

From Google:

How it Works

Once you've signed up for Google Commerce Search, your site administrator will follow these simple steps.

Step 1: Submit your product data to the Google Merchant Center and Google Product Search. Visit www.google.com/merchants to upload your items via data feeds, direct uploads, or use our API.

Step 2: Customize the look and feel of your on-site search engine. Log into the administrative console to manage product promotions, upload synonym dictionaries, and control parametric search options.

Step 3: Analyze your site's traffic and search effectiveness. View custom reports on top queries, special feature usage and more.

Benefits

Search is a critical part of the shopping experience; in fact, 71% of online shoppers use keyword searches to find products (eTailing Group). Google Commerce Search addresses this need by offering an easy-to-deploy solution with Google speed and relevancy.

Increase your website conversions -- and sales

The average conversion rates of retail sites is barely 3% (Forrester). Yet, with effective tactics, retailers can achieve a much higher conversion rate. For instance, the top 10 visitor-to-buyer conversion rates ranged from 16% to 45% (Nielsen Online). Effective search can bridge this gap considerably: customers who use the search box on e-commerce sites convert at nearly three times the rate of general browsers (MarketingSherpa).

Increase customer lifetime value

Forrester projects that 47% of online retailer revenue comes from repeat shoppers. By enhancing shopper experience, Google Commerce Search can improve customer loyalty, and ultimately increase customer lifetime value.

Deploy within days

Google Commerce Search is an entirely hosted, software-as-a-service offering. You simply upload your product information to Google Merchant Center, and Google Commerce Search intelligently leverages the product feed and provides your website with search capabilities.

Easy to scale

With Google Commerce Search, you are leveraging the powerful Google platform: the speed, relevance, reliability, and certainly scalability. As your customer base grows, you can scale your search solution effortlessly - without adding any servers or other infrastructure.

Add features -- without upgrading

By deploying a Software-as-a-Service solution, you'll be able to enjoy the ever-growing number of Google features and updates automatically, without any sort of deployment or upgrade on your end.

Measure and streamline

Retailers who excel at understanding and responding to usage metrics are able to improve conversion rates by as much as 24%, while less responsive companies' conversions tend to stay flat (Jupiter Research). Google Commerce Search provides you advanced reporting tools to measure and streamline - so you can maximize the effectiveness of your website.

What it Wont Do:

Using Google Commerce Search will not improve your rankings within Google Product Search or in Google.com searches. Google Commerce Search will allow you to promote and order your product listings when users search for items on your website.

Yeah, why not... hmmmm Ok - here goes, this will be short and sweet...

My friend, Jay Berkowitz of the Ten Golden Rules of Internet Marketing consulting firm, has started a new NING community called the Internet Marketing Club.

If you don't know Jay Berkowitz you may think, "Oh - Great a new guy hawking his wares on Ning" - Think Again!

Ten Golden Rules Host - Jay Berkowitz

Jay is all about sharing and education when it comes to Internet Marketing and his podcast "The Ten Golden Rules" is one of the most widely respected Internet marketing audio podcasts in the world. I have written about Jay's delivery and insights before here

Excerpt:

"I appreciate his genuine awe struck and outgoing way of bringing his listeners sound bytes from some of the most powerful and cutting edge Internet marketers and pioneers in our World today. Jay rubs shoulders with and interviews the likes of Seth Godin and Jason Calacanis on a weekly basis. If you don't know who those people are, it's OK because Jay will share the highlights of the careers of these .com and Internet moguls with you when he reports on the Ten Golden Rules podcast. I say Awe Struck, not because I think Jay does not belong in the same room with these mega-tycoons of our industry but because he has a way of approaching these interviews with the kind of exuberance and giddiness of someone who may not belong, but is happy to be there, would bring. Jay belongs - one only needs to read his resume on the Ten Golden Rules website to know he has been playing in this sandbox for some time now. He simply has a style which brings the listener into the room as if we were flies on the wall and Jay is the only person who knows we are there".

More about the Internet Marketing Club:

Starting in October, we will run weekly webinars on topics such as Social Media including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, Search Engine Marketing - Search Engine optimization (SEO) and Pay Per Click Marketing (PPC), Affiliate and Performance Marketing, Conversion Strategies and Analysis and Analytics.

Next on Today's Agenda is the Free 12 Week Internet Marketing Course - Provided by: Jeremy Shoemaker

If you are not aware of who Jeremy Shoemaker of "Shoemoney" is... Well, then I would wager that you may not have not been around the web 2.0 or blogosphere for very long. Jeremy Shoemaker helped put the spit shine on blogs as a a way to make money and he walks the walk and cashed the checks to prove it. I have been reading his Shoemoney blog for at least 3 years and it is full of good stuff.

Quote:

Google Adsense Check for $132,994.97

ShoeMoney.com, shares my ups and downs in the world of online marketing to a loyal daily readership of over 30,000 people. ShoeMoney.com has been named the Best Affiliate Marketing Blog and ranks in Technorati’s top 50 blogs for the past three years.

Of course Jeremy is selling an extensive Internet Marketing tools kit subscription at the end of this free 12 week course.  Even though Jeremy would like to continue to make money from his knowlege he is not just putting together some e-book and expecting to get rich. The tools he provides at ShoeMoney Tools have a great deal of value.

I have signed up and completed all 12 weeks of the Free Course and I must say that there is a great deal of valuable information in this Free version. I see no reason to avoid learning from a guy who has made a great deal of money online. All information is good information if you utilize it - right?

Hello, I'm Jeremy "ShoeMoney" Schoemaker and for 13 years I've been building successful online businesses. For the past five years I've been working hard writing a book to help others get started online. I recently decided that there is just too much great information in my book to exclude people from reading it. I have now backed out of my major book deal and turned it into a completely FREE 12 week guide to Internet marketing. No strings attached. Enter your email and start receiving the weekly guides directly in your inbox!

Week 1 - The Beginner's Guide To Internet Marketing

Week 2 - Affiliate Marketing 101: Everything You Need To Know To Start Promoting Products

Week 3 - Market Research: How To Crush Your Competitors And Discover Hot Niches

Week 4 - Introduction to Pay Per Click

Week 5 - Advanced Pay Per Click

Week 6 - SEO Tips, Tricks, and Tactics

Week 7 - Content Creation: How To Create Articles That Attract Users And Increase Sales

Week 8 - Marketing: How To Use Social Media To Spread Your Brand

Week 9 - Make That Cash: 10 Ways To Monetize Your Site And Increase Profitability

Week 10 - Testing & Tracking: How To Optimize Your Site & Make Sense Of The Figures

Week 11 - Building Your Team: How To Network With Others And Find Long Term Partners

Week 12 - Launch Day: How To Kick Start Your Business And Manage Your Projects

• To the consumer eBay is offered as a great online place to find anything - cheap

• Consumers are also told what a "safe" and easy place eBay is to shop.

All well and good, in most cases, except for the fact that eBay does not have to stand behind the promises they make to the consumer, eBay leaves that bit of dirty business to the individual seller and they use PayPal as the big stick of enforcement to make sure that the sellers keep the buyers happy, no matter the cost or situation.  (more on that later)

• To the Individual Seller eBay is offered as the easy and fast way to sell the junk that accumulates in the garage or attic

eBay has been promoted as the place for anyone to start a business (selling junk from your garage) for years.  (More recently eBay went courting the corporate world, offering enticements and sweetheart deals to big sellers like Buy.com and others).  For awhile it looked as though eBay would turn its back on the small individual sellers in lieu of the huge volume possibilities offered by the Buy.coms of the world.

Some eBay Kool Aid?

Thankfully, eBay has not completely forgotten the little guy, they are happy to take his/her money and they have taken some minor steps to entice the small seller back. To be honest, I still don't understand the "selling junk from the garage" business plan "drink the kool aid" approach, but that must just be me...

2008

2008 was a long year in eBay-land, the changes and turmoil wrought by the eBay executives decisions (right or wrong) made an impression on the rank and file. The effect of these constant changes on eBay's core audience of sellers (the little guys and gals) became more than an annoyance. For some of these smaller sellers the constant state of flux of 2008 - early 2009 ended a long term love affair.

I will admit that my own love affair with eBay ended in 2008.

It was just too frustrating at times, not only dealing with the changes in my own eBay selling business, but also fielding questions from my clients regarding unexplainable and sometimes indefensible new rules or policies and outrageous games with fee structures.  I pretty much shut down all operations on eBay myself and quietly told my good clients that they might want to take a fresh look at eBay, it was time to evaluate whether the price in terms of time, frustration and costs, had possibly become too high for some to do business on eBay.

This was a tough thing for someone like myself to do, I had earned a living as an "eBay Guy".

For years I was an eBay evangelist, promoting the benefits, offering training, offering business setups, designing eBay stores... I was writing this "Trading Assistant Journal" which started as an eBay based blog about being a "Trading Assistant or Trading Post" in 2007, (Then, due to changes in policies, I was neither a Trading Assistant or Trading Post by the middle of 2008). In effect, I had been helping to offer the "Kool Aid" in my own way,  I did not feel as if it were kool aid at the time and I was proud of my designations as an eBay Stores designer, eBay consultant and eBay education specialist.

I was an eBay person to the core and I believed, truly believed, that eBay was the way to make money and have fun in business.

But some major changes had come about and not only was my eBay business no longer fun, it was not profitable either.  I lost a lot of money in my eBay business, I know I am not the first person to publicly admit that fact but the reality does not change. You can lose more money as a seller on eBay than you make... Keep that in mind. If it happened to me, with my training and experience, it could happen to anyone. The Kool Aide is not always so sweet.

But We Always Want To Go Back Home...

I had a large office and warehouse for my eBay business. at the end of 2007 when the Trading Assistant and Trading Post rules changes took effect, I shut down all consignment operations.  Therefore I no longer needed a warehouse and I did not need a 2000 sq ft office.  During the course of 2008 I consolidated into a smaller office and now in 2009, since I had been working mostly from my Beach Condo anyway, I moved my office to the Beach.  This move, of course, precipitated some purging of office related "stuff".  In effect I needed to clean out my garage or attic.

Why not try eBay?

How many times have you heard that line?

I heard it inside my own head, in fact I was thinking that I really needed an article about eBay for this Journal and that I should go through the steps of listing an item on eBay without using fancy listing software etc.  I should take a fresh look at the process, start to finish, of listing an item on eBay with the "sell your item" form.

What is it like selling on eBay in 2009?

I must admit that the process of listing items for sale using the eBay sell your item form is much easier than I ever remember it being.  I listed about 10 items in the span of an hour late one evening in my old office before the move. Not a lot of stuff, just books and software and other things I did not need any longer.

Since I had kept up with the growing eBay vs Bonanzle debate (insert your favorite selling venue here, I prefer Bonanzle myself), I wanted to see just how fast these eBay listed items would sell using no special tactics or traffic generation, just by listing on eBay as any other person would do.  This is not a comparison review, because I did not list the same items on Bonanzle, I simply wanted to see if the bad taste of sour Kool Aid from 2008 was still stuck in my mouth for a reason.

Bad Kool Aid?

• 7 of my ten items listed did not get a bid, these 7 items were various technical and business or software related books and did not cost that much to list, but they were started at a price of less than half of retail and way below any competing products. All of the books were in like new condition.
• 3 of my items sold = 30% STR - Not Bad, but not great and really not a true Sell through rate as these were all different items.
• I shipped all 3 items within 2 days
• One of the items that did actually sell was an opened retail box with a (un-named) software disk within. This item sold for over $150 which pleased me because I had described exactly what the item was and it was not new. This item was an open retail box, included a certificate of authenticity and the complete manual.  The return policy was set at 3 days.

That last item has replaced the bad eBay Kool Aid taste in my mouth.  Not because the buyer wanted a refund due to not reading the item description or my responses to several other bidders questions about the item or its condition. Nope, not even due to the fact that the buyer had convinced themselves that the item was something it never had been listed as, or because the buyer wanted a refund after the 3 days return period... The bad taste is back because PayPal immediately granted the buyers wish, removed the money from my account and issued a decree that I would accept the return if the item was shipped back to me.

I called PayPal to ask why?

In my call as well as in my response to the PayPal dispute, I explained that the item was described correctly, I offered proof that the item had been signed for upon delivery at a date and time that was in excess of the 3 day return policy. I submitted screen shots of the listing of the shipping delivery information and of the full questions and answers to bidders about the item condition etc.

I also explained to the PayPal representative on the phone (who may not realize that since this was a piece of software that it had most likely been copied) and that since the buyer was in the software selling business on eBay, that they had more than the average amount of knowledge when it pertains to the buying and selling of software, the buyer obviously did not read the listing, or they are running a scam.

Not one part of my honest contribution to the "PayPal investigation" made a bit of difference.

Why?  because the buyer claimed within the PayPal dispute form that the item was significantly different than what was sold. That is all the information the buyer submitted, no proof, no screenshots, no images of the imaginary or supposedly different product they received.  Guess what, PayPal did not ask for any kind of proof either.

Apparently if a buyer keeps the PayPal dispute form short and sweet, it matters not what the seller submits as proof to the contrary.  It does not matter that the images of the box are exactly the same as what was displayed on eBay, it does not matter that the 3 day return period had expired, it does not matter that the product sold and its certificate or authenticity have been compromised, it does not matter that the seller has 100% feedback going back over 13 years on eBay.  None of that matters, the only thing that matters, and the investigation of any claim by a buyer ends when PayPal read these words.

"Significantly Not As Described"

No amount of proof to the contrary will make a difference, the buyer is granted free reign to buy software, copy it, claim it was significantly not as described, and then own it for the price of shipping the item back by eBay and PayPal.  In effect the words "Not as Described" throws up a roadblock to further investigation by PayPal.  This little loophole in PayPal policy makes for interesting opportunities for the unscrupulous among us, does it not?  How many other non tangible goods categories could be exploited in this way?

Obviously not all buyers are unscrupulous, and I have dealt with more than my share of sellers who are not pillars of honesty, but for PayPal to proceed in this manner, while they hold my funds in thier own interest bearing accounts - well, I will say that this somewhat unpleasant reminder places the very real and very bad taste of some very old "Reverend Jim Jones style Kool Aid" in my mouth.

Sellers beware, the PayPal dispute is not just slanted toward the buyer, it is a deck of cards with too many one eyed jacks, and that deck is stacked against you.

Links are what makes the Internet work, and links are what make your website grow.

There are many ways to collect links to your sites, some easy, some not so easy.

• Beg for links from everyone you know (how long is that list? people you know with ranked websites that are relevant to your own website?)
• Cruise the Internet chat rooms and discussion boards, posting messages and creating links back with your signature in these posts (Most likely marked No Follow by the discussion board webmaster)
• Offer a link exchange - Ok if you know the other website or blog owner, but not usually too effective with ranked sites with any real Google Juice and Google will actually deduct from your page rank score if you have too many reciprocal links on your site. One way links are best for you.
• Join a Web Link Echange Ring - alright, these have been around since Moby Dick was a minnow - some swear by them but I have heard that Google really frowns upon collecting links for your site this way, and if Google does not like it, I don't do it.
• - Sometimes this can get you in trouble, unless it is done right. and to do it right you need to have a strategy and you should know more than what is promoted in link exchange groups.
• - Offers education in the form of a free guide to link buying which explains more than just why you should buy your links through Text Link Ads.  I have read it and I was impressed with the amount of real education included in this guide which is offered with for trying the service.

I have tried the old fashioned methods of web rings and I have gone through all of the can't miss super affiliate long sales letter "Systems" for building links and page rank and ultimately traffic and I know there are very few easy or free ways to build up traffic to a site besides old fashioned content generation (some say free - I say valuable) and a well placed and yes - monetized link building plan.

Excerpt from the Link Buying Guide

Buying links through a service like is not all that expensive when you consider the time you will not have to waste on building these links through other means.  Do yourself a favor and check out this method of link building, it could just increase your sales and the effects of building up page rank are long term.

It may have been a long while since you have heard anyone repeat that phrase but it bears remembering from time to time.  Just the shear vast amount of  merchandise available on eBay along with the volume of sales on a daily basis is just awe inspiring.  This is why many of us jumped into the eBay vortex feet first.

eBay for some people is an addiction much like the gold rush of the 1890's.

Some merchants find the mother load, while others have been panning the same weak stream for many years. There always a comes a time when it is wise to look at other ways to make money. Many think that means leaving eBay altogether, while others feel it is blasphemy to utter such thoughts. Is there a happy medium? I think so....

We have all heard or told stories about those who just packed it all up and left selling directly on eBay.  Many claim it is because of the massive changes or because of the rules, or more often because of the fees.  Others just face the reality of the combination of smaller margins and an increasing work load and they make a business decision to find other marketplaces.

Change is growth and we all live in an ever present state of flux when it comes to the eCommerce business.  No matter if you choose to keep eBay as your home listing venue, or you move on to Amazon or Etsy or Bonanzle, eBay will always be that Gorilla in the corner of your mind... Reminding you that there are thousands of smart people making more than a living on eBay every day.

In fact, some of them are making more than a living on eBay, without ever listing a single product or paying a single fee.

Now, that's a concept - making money on eBay without all that hard work of sourcing, stocking, listing, photographing, handling customer service or paying the ever increasing shipping to deliver your low margin product to the consumer!

Got your interest?

The following listings are inserted for demonstration purposes. Click any of them you like, but come back and read the rest of the article <wink>.

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Hong Kong Auctions Indian Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Polish Auctions Singapore Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions UK Auctions

Website Domain Name www5g iphonescom Great Money Potential iphones 5gs    US $3,000.00

singleclickxxx Single Click Adult Website Domain    US $2,750.00

sexybikinisxxx Sexy Bikinis Store Website Domain    US $1,650.00

liquorjunglecom Liquor Jungle Store Website Domain    US $1,650.00

2thousand12info 2012 Year Information Website Domain    US $550.00

sexyzooskcom Sexy Zoosk Adult Dating Website Domain    US $2,750.00

1	Display eBay Listings On Your Own Website!

Affiliates do make money!

Obviously I am talking about affiliate marketing here... Some make hundreds of dollars a month with affiliate marketing, while others make millions per year.  If you are an affiliate, you are familiar with eBay in a different way than most merchants.  You think of eBay as an incredible money making opportunity where thousands of other people pay you a commission to advertise their products.

So, how do you get in on the act?  There are many ways actually and some may surprise you.

• Use social networking sites like twitter or facebook to post affiliate links (not approved by the EPN - see comments below - thanks Mitzi)
• Do just as I have above (Domain listings and websites) and list a few eBay items at a time within an article on a blog or a web page.
• Create a website dedicated to a niche market such as Voyager Supply.com then populating it with thousands of products from eBay in addition to some affiliate advertising mixed in on the sidebars etc.
  

  Marine Store Affiliate Site 100% Populated With eBay Items

• Create a hybrid site like Vintage Meld or my Diecast Car Dealer site - selling a mix of owned inventory and/or listing other products from different eCommerce venues all on one website.

In the case of Vintage Meld the products come from eBay, Amazon and Bonanzle.  Diecast Car Dealer advertises items from Bonanzle and from eBay.  Most of Vintage Meld's product is owned by Cliff Aliperti the publisher of the site, Most of the product on Diecast Car Dealer are not owned by the website owner.

In effect each of these sites uses the affiliate program in a different way but to the same purpose.  Cliff uses an affiliate program to bring all of his thousands of listings together on his own website where he can talk about them in informative articles.

I use the same program to offer more than my limited stock of classic diecast cars to consumers looking for choice.  If they choose to buy my car, or another dealers car that I do not have but find that car through my site, I may make just as much profit as I would have by listing the car myself. I like that idea.

Diecast Hybrid Site - Offering Both eBay and Bonanzle Listings

It is a nimble and nifty way to make more than an average living on the internet.  I am not saying that this form of affiliate marketing should be your only income stream but it sure does not hurt to see that you made an extra $100 over night and you do not have to worry about shipping anything.

Add Ebay Auctions to your Website

The software works on WordPress or with an upgrade, on almost any PHP based website (Joomla, Drupal, Etc.).  I have been using it for over 2 years now and can tell you that the developer of PHPBay Pro is very accommodating and the script is solid as a rock.

I especially like this software because even though I may have a passion for a particular niche market like, oh... say... Boating or Diecast Cars... I don't have to worry about thousands of dollars of inventory rotting in a warehouse until it sells, if it sells.  I don't have to deal with the average eBay consumers wants and needs (reduced shipping - discounts for multiple items purchased, chargebacks from PayPal, etc.).  All I have to do is provide more information for the consumer than the average product website does and I have to make sure that I present it is a reasonable manner which looks attractive.

I dare say that if you are an eBay seller now, one of these types of sites will perform much better than any eBay Store's subscription ever did.  The site can be used to only list merchandise from a single eBay seller or they can be used to promote products from any seller.  In the end, they will bring in more organic traffic than an eBay Store and in turn send that

Vintage Meld by: Cliff Aliperti Designed by: Scott Pooler

traffic to the products you choose to send them to (meaning either your products, or the products that will net you the best commission as an affiliate).

There really is nothing wrong with that philosophy, is there now?  I mean, if I can send you business, and you make the sale, and part of your fees go towards paying me for my efforts of bringing you a qualified customer, isn't that just good old fashioned business?

If you would like some help in setting up and designing your own affiliate marketing website , either to promote your own products like Vintage Meld, or to sell in a category you no longer wish to compete within on eBay, or to offer associated items which compliment your core product line (the list goes on and on), just contact me here or check out my new portfolio site at Open My Site Now!

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Hong Kong Auctions Indian Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Polish Auctions Singapore Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions UK Auctions

Just South of Fort Lauderdale Florida Rare Fixed week Timeshare 7125Q    US $975.00

Falls at Ogunquit is all you would wantfor vacation Maine Timeshare 7618Q    US $850.00

CABO VILLAS BEACH RESORT CABO SAN LUCAS MEXICO FLOATING TIMESHARE    US $1,800.00

RCI Points Package Gatlinburg Tennessee Club Chalet 7804Q    US $1,295.00

Wyndham Newport Overlook Jamestown Rhode Island 2 Bedr 2 Bath Timeshare 7851Q    US $1,450.00

14000 Bluegreen Points Pigeon Forge Tennessee Smoky Mountain Timeshare 7198Q    US $850.00

Kahana Falls Lahaina Hawaii The Island of Maui Timeshare 7240Q    US $1,495.00

MARRIOTT BARONY BEACH CLUB BRONZE OCEAN FRONT RESORT 2012    US $3,500.00

MONARCH GRAND VACATIONS PLATINUM MEMBERSHIP 600 POINTS    US $950.00

Pueblo Bonito Sunset Cabo Timeshare Presidential Suite    US $17,777.77

1	Display eBay Listings On Your Own Website!

Thanks for reading!

By the way, I apologize for my absence... Been building too many websites... be back soon!

Vendio Free Store Offer

Vendio is offering a free online store as described in our previous article/Review on the All Business Auctions Blog:

Vendio Platform Review

Does anyone have a follow up on this service and the effectiveness of the free ecommerce store Vendio is offering to the public?

If you do, please chime in here on the TAJ Forum with your thoughts!

Thanks!

Scott

It is no secret... I love WordPress  as a Content Management System and I am an evangelist when it comes to discussing  the possibilities this CMS offers small business owners for website development .  The shear magnitude and the purity of this web publishing systems capabilities and simplicity is absolutely mind boggling to me... Yet there is a hitch...

What is the Hitch? The Catch? The Red Herring?

Whats the Red Herring?

The catch is that if the Content Management System has no content, it still will work better than a html hand coded site, but not a lot better.

I have been bumping into this situation with my clients (and even sometimes with myself) for some time now.  The "Build it and they will come" mentality just does not wash in this world of search engines and instant information.

A website is judged, not so much on what you have done, but what have you done lately?  This applies to all websites, no matter the publishing system they use, if there is no recent content, then there are no recent visits from the nifty search engine spiders or bots.

Build it - is where it all starts...

This lesson became clear to me a long time ago but more recently a situation with a family member clarified my thoughts leading to this article.

My Brother

My Brother is a Fancy Yacht Air Conditioning Man!

My brother Steve is a tradesman, he has worked with his hands all of his life.  He is also a specialist and he has a niche like no other to specialize in, Marine Air Conditioning on Yachts.

Steve has worked on installing and maintaining sea going marine refrigeration and air conditioning for the last 25 years. He owns his own business - Cooler Marine Air in St Peterburg, Florida and although he is a small operation his clients are loyal and varied.

Steve has been flown as far away as the Caribbean and Mexico to repair cooling systems on large yachts and he has consulted with manufacturers of the air conditioning and builders of the finest yachts to share with them his experience and his knowledge about what really works in the field.

Steve Pooler can teach both the theory and practical applications of all sorts of marine refrigeration and air conditioning installations, troubleshooting and repair.

So... the guy is good, and that's not just cause he is my brother! He has fans all over the country in this niche and he deserves to be recognized for his very specific skill set and experience...

Boing! His brother (me) decides he should have a website...

Last winter (the slow time for any kind of marine AC work) I decided I would build my brother a website.  I knew that if he shared just a small piece of what he knows on the Internet that he could develop an audience of fans which could then be converted into paying customers. So, with very little fanfare I set up marine-ac.com for my brother Steve in October 2008.

Marine-AC.com (My Brothers Website)

To be honest, I don't think Steve was really sold on the idea of having a website.  He just did not see the real possibilities or capabilities even though he is a fairly Internet savvy individual.  With this in mind, I did not go hog wild on the site design (using an image, taken with an iPhone, of a yacht Steve was currently working on as the basis for a vary basic header) and setting up just the basic plugins and settings for WordPress.

I showed my brother how to post an article, how to insert images and how to add keywords, tags and categories.  I then explained how he should write a short article 2 - 3 times a week, just covering what he does, what problems and solutions he comes across or whatever piece of equipment he happen to work on that day.  I explained that it is not rocket science and that he did not have to be Ernest Hemingway to add content to his own website.  Just 200 - 700 words is all he would need per article, that's it, a few pictures from the iPhone and he would be set.

(This article is currently at 646 words)

As with all new website owners, Steve became animated somewhat and actually wrote a few articles.  He did what a lot of us do and he wrote long articles.  Articles that I mentioned could be separated into a series and kept in smaller bite sized chunks for the readers. Since my brother has an (unfamiliar to me) stubborn streak, he failed to listen to my advice (I can't imagine where that stubbornness came from) - Steve liked his long articles, but writing them would take up and entire day of his time because he would write and edit and write and edit and then he would edit some more.  We all do it, its natural, we want to be Hemingway when in fact we are just people sharing simple knowledge about our specific niche subjects...

Once Steve had published two or three articles, and he saw that those articles were being found in search and people were coming to his website to read them... He became much more excited and animated about the prospect of being an Internet ready business.  Steve was becoming Web 2.0 even if he did not really know what that was... It did not matter a hoot really, because he was helping himself and his business by becoming an expert online and by increasing the confidence of his audience in his abilities and knowledge.

No Matter Who You are...

I don't Care Who You Are...

No matter how accomplished you are, no matter how many people know your name at the store or on the docks or at the club... The shear numbers of people who can be exposed to you and your expertise online with just one good article published on your own website, will dwarf amount of handshakes you can make in a lifetime.

Steve found that out...

He suddenly got calls from people he would never have expected to hear from. Manufacturers of pumps wanting to exchange links, people asking for advise, old customers saying hello.  It was exciting.

Then Steve hit on an idea... Since it was the slow winter months (A time notorious for not producing much in the way of sales or service in his field here in Florida), Steve thought he would write an article which would detail why the winter was a great time to get the service done on the air conditioning and refrigeration in yachts precisely because it was a slow time for marine ac repair techs.  He wrote this shorter and more concise article and he then sent it out to his entire customer list via email as a link to the website, introducing his new website to his customers with an article that promoted the use of his services at a time when they did not normally think about air conditioning.

The article and email campaign was a success!

Steve recorded more business last January than in any other winter month in his history of doing this kind of work.  All attributed to one article and one email and Steve was a happy, yet busy man.

Does the story end here?

Well, yes and no...

The story does not end, but for some reason after that one success, Steve pretty much walked away from his website.  Since October 2008 Steve has only published 9 articles and just one in the last 4 months.

The Forum

The Forum...

Sometime in March Steve asked me to add a forum to his website.  Steve has a great deal of experience as a user of Internet discussion forums and he expressed that he would feel more comfortable with one on his site to answer specific questions from his readers and customers.  I installed SimplePress for him and did a quick, light setup with some basic topics.

In hindsight I would say that I should not have done that so easily.  I needed to reinforce the idea of creating new content in the form of articles on the website/blog.  Because I know that WordPress will out perform a forum for targeting specific nich traffic and creating a website that draws new visitors as well as search engine spiders but only if one actually publishes content.  The forum is not bad at all, it is a good thing, but it should not be thought of as a replacement for the other work that must be done to maintain a dynamic website.

Fast Forward to the weekend of my daughters birthday - July 10th 2009.

We were visiting my brother Steve at his home and he mentioned that he really did not like the look of his forum, the colors were not right.  This was a surprise to me as he had not mentioned the problem in the previous 3 - 4 months since the forum was installed.  But nonetheless, being the web developer brother, I sat down at Steve's computer to remedy the situation with a quick forum theme change.  First I found that the forum was corrupted and would not allow even administration access and then I found a few other issues which needed my office computer to fix....

In addition, I had not been to the site in several months so I was surprised to see that he had not really posted any articles in quite sometime.  So I inquired as to why that was?

WordPress SUCKS! was what I heard... I get more traffic from my forum than from the "blog" and I really don't need wordpress, can you just make it a forum?

This is where the aforementioned family stubbornness trait kicked in on my side of the spectrum.. (The trait I claimed previously to not being aware of its existence). I was indignant that my brother, of all people would Dis- WordPress to my face.  Does this fella not know how I make a living? Does he not realize WordPress gave him his best January ever?

Does he just not understand?

The answer is yes, he did not understand and he is not alone.

My brother did not understand that for WordPress to work as advertised, for it to bring organic traffic in the way that millions of successful users can attest to, it first must be used to publish content on a consistent and regular basis.  Content in the form of words and pictures and videos and anything else your heart desires.  But it must be used.

Did I fix it?

The weekend was long and there were problems with an update to the Simplepress forum which required my shutting down the forum over that weekend.  I did not get to the issue again until the following Monday. Steve was not happy with me, he wanted his forum back because he had an ongoing technical conversation going with a gentleman who was diagnosing a problem with a marine air conditioner.

I responded to his Monday morning "reminder" that his forum was down with some opinions I did not want to share in front of my daughter and mother, and then I said I would fix his forum, but in the meantime he should:

...post an article on the "blog" (Spit hack pooey) which states that you can answer any question in comments (While the forum is down).  Continue your conversation with your guy there, not in email. WordPress really will work better than any forum, if you use it as intended, man. (i.e. Tags, Categories, Comments) Let the world know that marine-ac.com exists - post an article...

While working on the forum (which needed a complete overhaul) I was curious about my brother's claim that the forum and not the blog gets marine-ac.com more traffic.  So I did a quick search on "Marine AC Forum" sure enough, there it was in Google - outranking established marine air conditioning manufacturers websites with forums or mentioning forums.  Marine-Ac.com was number 3 and 4 on the first page for that search phrase.  Pretty cool...

But what is the rest of the story?

Both of those results, the number 3 and number 4 ranking in Google for the keyword phrase "Marine AC Forum"  actually linked to published articles on the website in WordPress.  The forum itself did not rank, it was the mention of the forum in two different articles Steve had published (out of his total of 9 articles published) that was bringing in the traffic he was referring to in his forum.

The point being that WordPress does work, even with this minimal amount of effort and without much thought concerning keyword optimization or consistency.  The few articles my brother has posted bring him traffic on a daily basis.

Of course, it goes without saying that more articles would equate to more traffic.

We are working on that!

I hope I can inspire my brother to use the site as intended and I hope to do a redesign on it soon (waiting on more fancy yacht pictures)... In any case I feel good that he is seeing some benefit from this minimally utilized resource.

Any advertising is better than no advertising!

And... WordPress Does Work! So There! (Little brother to big brother rasberry included)

Simplepress forum has been updated to work with WordPress 2.8.1 and has several improvements in the front and back end interface. It is the plugin that is powering the new TAJ Forum and with this installation the forum posts and the blog posts can be linked in a way that creates a very nice internal link as well as offers readers a new way to interact with the website author as well as other readers.  I recommend the latest version as seen installed here on this site and on marine-ac.com