Tips And Resources For Online Sellers

Funding For Startups And Entrepreneurs

2010-10-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

Need some operating cash?

Whether you’re just starting a business or expanding to take advantage of new opportunities, your company needs the right financing at the right time in order to succeed.

Financing is often the critical component to success. There are a wide variety of ways this can be accomplished, depending upon the credit history of your business and how established it is in the market.

Finding financing is just one aspect of your overall financial management of your business, but it is a critical factor for the success of many startup businesses.

So what kind of capital should you seek? There are several options for funding your startup, each with different benefits and levels of external involvement. Below is a list to help in determining which one is right for you.

Bootstrapping in business is to start a business without external help/capital. Startups that bootstrap their business fund development of their company through internal cash flow and are cautious with their expenses. Generally at the start of a venture a small amount of money will be set aside for the bootstrap process.

Love money is usually given to entrepreneurs who have proved their responsibility to close family and friends over the years, but who fail to meet the the capital requirements that financial institutions look for in borrowers. An angel investor's love money is sometimes the only way a business can get off the ground; this type of financing can allow for growth that would be impossible through traditional financing channels.

Seed money, sometimes known as seed funding, friends and family funding or angel funding (and some times also as venture capital), is a securities offering whereby one or more parties that have some connection to a new enterprise invest the funds necessary to start the business so that it has enough funds to sustain itself for a period of development until it reaches either a state where it is able to continue funding itself, or has created something in value so that it is worthy of future rounds of funding. Seed money refers to the money invested. New seed money options are also emerging from crowd funding.

Series A financing tends to occur when the company is generating some revenue from its business model, but rarely will the business be generating net profits at this point. Most series A investors will be venture capital funds or angel investors that are willing to accept the high levels of risk found in these early-stage company investments.

As an enterprise grows and requires additional capital, the subsequent rounds of preferred stock issued to investors are called Series B, Series C, and so on. This allows investors in those subsequent rounds of financing to know where they stand in the hierarchy of claims to future profits. Typically, the business is revalued before each round of financing, so terms of conversion may be vastly different for different rounds depending on the valuation of the company at each stage.

An angel investor or angel (also known as a business angel or informal investor) is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. A small but increasing number of angel investors organize themselves into angel groups or angel networks to share research and pool their investment capital.

Angel Funds are a blend between individual angel investors and the more traditional VC investors. An Angel Fund is usually comprised of a group of individual investors who pool their money to make a number of individual investments. An example might be 50 individual angels each contribute $100,000 to make an overall fund of $5,000,000. This overall fund will then make a number of individual investments, allowing the individual angels to diversify their risk. A typical angel fund will have a submission process, often via the internet, where you can submit your business plan or overview documents. If selected for the next step, you would present your overall business plan to the members of the fund, where afterwards they will vote to proceed or not. If the fund has voted to proceed, they will often select a small group of members to negotiate the details with the entrepreneur. Angel funds will typically invest between $100,000 and $1,000,000 in a company (often in multiple tranches), taking an equity position in the Company and will often require board representation.

Crowd funding (sometimes called crowd financing or crowd sourced capital) describes the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. Crowdfunding occurs for any variety of purposes, from disaster relief to citizen journalism to artists seeking support from fans, to political campaigns.

A venture capital fund is what many people think of when they are looking for outside capital to grow their business. A typical VC fund will be a professionally managed fund, that has a small number of partners and junior level individuals (often less than ten in total) who manages a pool of money raised from individual investors and institutional money (pension funds and endowments). The total fund size will range from as little as $10 million to in excess of $500 million, and each VC group may have multiple funds under management. VC funds will often invest between $250,000 and $5 million in a company (in multiple tranches), taking a senior equity position (often preferred shares) and will require a board seat. An entrepreneur can submit their business for investment consideration via the internet, but a higher level of success is often experienced through either contacting VCs the entrepreneur has a relationship with (often from a prior successful venture) or using third party advisors who have relationships with a large number of funds.

Here are some resources that may be helpful in funding your business:

Advantage Growth Fund
The management agreement for the Advantage Growth Fund, formerly known as Pender NDI Life Sciences Fund, was acquired by Lions Capital on October 3, 2007. Advantage Growth Fund invests in emerging growth companies located in British Columbia.

Aggregate Media Funds
Aggregate Stockholm AB is a management company with the administrative commission for Aggregate Media Fund I KB (fully invested), Aggregate Media Fund II Nordic KB (fully invested), Aggregate Media Fund III KB (fully invested) and Aggregate Media…

AIB Seed Capital Fund
The AIB Seed Capital Fund was established in 2007 to provide venture capital for companies at the seed and early stages of development across a range of sectors throughout the Republic of Ireland. The Fund was established under the Enterprise Ireland…

Amundi Private Equity Funds
Amundi Private Equity Funds, an Amundi asset management subsidiary, specialises in private equity and unlisted infrastructure investments.

Arts Fund
The Arts Fund commercializes innovation in fine art, music, motion pictures & social sciences.

Bank of Ireland Seed and Early Stage Equity fund
The Bank of Ireland Seed and Early Stage Equity fund is a joint fund built with contributions from the Bank of Ireland, the University of Limerick Foundation, and government-backed Enterprise Ireland.

Bedford Funding
Bedford Funding is a private equity firm providing long-term capital to businesses in the consolidating and fragmented technology industry with experienced industry focus in the software and IT services sectors. There extensive operating backgrounds…

BlackBerry Partners Fund
The BlackBerry Partners Fund is a $150 million venture investment fund that was established to deliver superior returns on the compelling investment opportunities present in the applications, services and supporting infrastructure for mobile…

British Columbia Discovery Funding
British Columbia Discovery Fund (VCC) Inc. (“BC Discovery Fund,” “BCDF” or the “Fund”) is a diversified venture capital investment fund which allows investors to participate in the emerging technology industry in British Columbia. The Fund issues its…

Cambridge Enterprise Seed Funds
Cambridge Enterprise Seed Funds, consisting of the Challenge Fund and the Venture Fund, is a resource for members of the University of Cambridge and the Babraham Institute. Investments are priced and structured competitively with other sources of…

Ceres Venture Fund
Ceres Venture Fund is a new Chicago-based venture capital fund dedicated to funding high growth companies located in the Midwest in their early stages of growth. As growth-oriented investors, the fund seeks to partner with entrepreneurs of proven…

CIT GAP Funds
CIT GAP Funds makes seed-stage equity investments in Virginia-based technology and life science companies.

Dimension Funding
Dimension Funding was founded in Irvine, California in 1978 as a company designed specifically to service the telephone interconnect industry. As word began to spread that Dimension Funding was providing innovative, simple and price competitive…

Domain Developers Fund
The Domain Developers Fund is the first and only open-ended Investment Fund available to the public that invests into Domains: The Internet´s Real Estates. The roots of the DDF go back to 2006 when the core team of the Fund first met and joined…

Dynamics Venture Capital Fund
The Dynamics Venture Capital Fund is a global venture capital fund investing key sector with focus on energy and water. The fund volume of € 20 million Evergreen Funds is currently the Fund is invested in six portfolio companies.

EB Exchange Funds
EB Exchange Funds creates partnerships that enable entrepreneurs to pool their pre-IPO stock. The Funds enable entrepreneurs to diversify highly concentrated, illiquid equity positions and to share in the upside of the liquidity events of multiple…

Energy Investors Fund
Energy Investors Funds (EIF) was founded in 1987 as the first private equity fund manager dedicated exclusively to the independent power and electric utility industry and is 100% management-owned. Since that time, EIF has mobilized over $3.4 billion…

Funding Circle
Funding Circle is an online marketplace where people can directly lend to small businesses in the UK.

Fundly
Fundly is a social fundraising platform that helps Universities, Non-profits, and political organizations leverage the existing social networks of their supporters to raise money.

Fund Mojo
Fund Mojo provides investors with financial intelligence through systematic data collection, correlation and analysis, as well as a community and gateway to connect investors with peers and financial advisors with investments and financial planning…

GeneChem Therapeutics Venture Fund
GeneChem fund and the changing landscape of the genomics industry, the principals set out to raise their second focused fund, GeneChem Therapeutics Venture Fund L.P.. With committed capital of $136.5 million, the Therapeutics Fund’s objectives were…

German Seed Fund
The German Seed Fund is the first german startup aggregator seed fund for the D-A-CH region.

HealthVault Be Well Fund
Microsoft’s HealthVault Be Well Fund is designed to stimulate not-for-profit research and development across a broad range of health disciplines that have the potential to significantly improve health outcomes for patients.

Hedge Fund Directories Inc.
Hedge Fund Directories (HFD) is a hybrid online directory of hedge fund contacts, compiled by nearly 2400 unique contributors in tandem with a dedicated team of seasoned researchers.

Illinois Innovation Accelerator Fund
The Illinois Innovation Accelerator Fund (i²A) is an innovative $10 million for-profit early-stage investment fund created in direct response to the decrease in seed-stage investing that’s occurred since the turn of the new millennium. The fund’s…

Illinois Metropolitan Investment Fund
The Illinois Metropolitan Investment Fund (IMET) was developed in July 1996 as a cooperative endeavor to assist Illinois municipalities with the investment of their intermediate-term dollars. IMET was established as a not-for-profit investment fund…

Indigo Funding
Indigo Funding LLC is a private investment company that places equity and debt capital for a variety of businesses through its proprietary network of accredited investors, investment companies, private equity firms, hedge and other funds, banks, and…

Karnataka Information Technology Venture Capital Fun
After the success of the first Fund (KITVEN Fund), we have since launched our second Fund (KITVEN Fund – 2) with higher corpus as also increased outlay of investment. During the past, we have successfully partnered with visionary entrepreneurs and…

Kickstarter
We help people (like you!) fund creative projects. Kickstarter is the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world. Every month, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, food, publishing and other creative fields.

Life Sciences Fund Amsterdam
The Life Sciences Fund Amsterdam is established in 2009. Its goal is to provide investment capital to fund biomedical entrepreneurial activity in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. The fund targets companies that are developing commercially promising…

Low Carbon Seed Fund
Low Carbon Seed Fund was established with £1m from Carbon Trust Investments Ltd, and £1m from Imperial Innovations funded by a grant from the Shell Foundation. The fund invests in early stage UK companies which are developing clean or alternative…

MacQuarie Capital Funds
Macquarie Capital Funds (Europe) Ltd. provides banking, financial, advisory, investment, and funds management services to institutional, corporate, and retail clients. It offers specialist and the United Kingdom investment funds, real estate capital,…

Masdar Clean Tech Fund
Masdar Clean Tech Fund is a $250 million diversified venture capital investment vehicle that will build a portfolio of clean technology funds, direct/co-investments and joint venture investments.

Mid Atlantic Angel Fund
The Mid-Atlantic Angel Group Fund I, LP (MAG) was created to bridge the gap between angel funding and institutional venture capital funding serving the Greater Philadelphia Region. This member-managed fund provides its investors with an opportunity…

Mutual Fund Technologies
MFT was established in 1999 and provides software, managed service and consulting services. Their core platform currently administers in excess of 1.25 million account fund holdings and 5000 funds for a range of institutional customers around the…

Navatar Hedge Fund for salesforce.com
Navatar’s CRM for Hedge Funds helps manage the operations of a Hedge Fund, including investor subscriptions & redemptions, fund offering & returns, security holdings & trades, fund exposure & risk - all at a very low cost with no IT support.

New York City Investment Fund
The New York City Investment Fund is a private fund with a civic mission. The fund was the vision of Henry R. Kravis, founding partner of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., who serves as its Founding Chairman. His goal was to mobilize the city’s…

Novartis Option Fund
The Novartis Option Fund was designed to provide an alternative financing vehicle.

Ohio TechAngels Fund
The Ohio TechAngels (“OTA”) provide investment capital for commercialization of innovations in life sciences, information technology and physical sciences. The goal of all of our Funds is to support Ohio-based technology investment opportunities…

Oregon Angel Fund
The Oregon Angel Fund (OAF) is a highly structured, professionally managed, investor-driven angel fund comprised of some of Oregon’s most successful and influential business leaders. OAF operates independently of, but in close collaboration with…

PCG Clean Energy and Technology Fund
The PCG Clean Energy and Technology Fund is a co-mingled fund of funds and coinvestment vehicle dedicated to investing across the spectrum of the global clean energy and technology value chain.

Renewable Funding
Renewable Funding develops and delivers innovative solutions for renewable energy and energy efficiency financing. They are the pioneer of the turnkey administration and financing of the PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) Program.

Roche Venture Fund
The Roche Venture Fund is the name given to the corporate venture fund of the healthcare company Roche. Roche has allocated CHF 500 million to invest in and develop commercially successful innovative life science companies.

Slater Technology Fund
The Slater Technology Fund was created in 1997 by Governor Lincoln Almond and the Rhode Island General Assembly to stimulate the creation of new technology-based companies in Rhode Island. The Fund is financed annually by the General Assembly.

Smallcap World Fund
Smallcap World Fund, Inc is an open-ended equity mutual fund launched by The Capital Group Companies, Inc. The fund is managed by Capital World Investors. The fund invests in the public equity markets across the globe. It seeks to invest in stocks of…

South West Ventures Fund
The South West Ventures Fund (SWVF) is one of nine English Regional Venture Capital Funds. SWVF, which is managed by YFM Group, was established in 2002 to provide risk capital of up to £500,000 to small and medium sized (SME) companies in the South…

TDF Fund (Telecommunications Development Fund)
TDF (Telecommunications Development Fund) is n $80 million early stage venture capital fund focused on the Communications sector. TDF’s focus is driven by investment themes that share several qualities: large and important problems in…

The Athenaeum Fund
The Athenaeum Fund is a venture capital limited partnership comprised of a General Partner and sixty-five Limited Partners who provide seed funding to emerging Southern California technology companies. The Fund’s goal is to provide the funding,…

The Entrepreneurs' Fund III
The Entrepreneurs’ Fund III (TEF3) is a Silicon Valley based, early stage venture fund focused on next generation/Web 2.0 software. It is the latest in a series of successful early stage funds which include The Entrepreneurs’ Fund (TEF), The…

The Founders Fund
Founders Fund is a venture capital firm in San Francisco that focuses on early-stage technology investments in the $500K-$5M range. It also operates…

The Funded
The Funded, a site focused on revealing the inside of the Venture Capital world, is out to find the truth about how Venture Capital firms treat entrepreneurs. Like Avvo, a service that allows users to rate…

The Lambda Funds
The Lambda Funds is a venture capital firm that specializes in niche market investments. The firm’s philosophy is that the number of potential competitors should be limited, and the total amount of capital needed to become a leading company should…

The Mail Room Fund
In March 2008, a consortium of key players in the evolution of the Internet and digital media announced the agreement to create a unique new investment vehicle to seed and grow innovation in Southern California.

The Southern Appalachian Fund
The Southern Appalachian Fund (SAF) is a $12.5M venture capital fund formed to provide equity capital and operational assistance to qualifying businesses in southern Appalachia. The Fund focuses specifically on companies in Tennessee, Kentucky, and…

UCSD Rady Venture Fund
The Rady Venture Fund, a student-assisted venture capital investment fund, was established at the Rady School of Management to support the school’s educational objectives in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation and transfer of discoveries into…

University Venture Fund
The University Venture Fund (UVF) is the largest student-managed venture capital fund ($18.2M) in the United States. UVF is an independent venture fund that leverages the innovation of students from around the country. It promotes entrepreneurship by…

Western New York Business Development Fund
The Western New York Business Development Fund (WNY BDF) provides seed capital to technology entrepreneurs and start-up companies in Western New York. It was created to help stimulate and support early entreprenurial efforts.

Wolverine Venture Fund
The Wolverine Venture Fund (WVF) is a multi-million dollar venture capital fund operated directly out of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, enabling entrepreneurs to realize their business dreams. The Fund invests with the…

Zernike Fund Management
Zernike Fund Management manages several funds, private as well as public. Aim of their fund management is to manage the fund in such a manner that the objectives of the fund owners are attained. Keywords are efficiency and continuity. An important…

Is there something missing? Have a suggestion? Let us know in the comments section below.

Social Networking Sites for Entrepreneurs

2010-10-23T11:34:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows that social networking is taking the internet by storm. People from every walk of life are using it to some degree for a myriad of reasons. There is also a trend being set where searchers who most recently performed searches via a specific search engine are leaning more and more to their social sites to get the info they seek.

The benefits to social networking may vary from user to user, but for entrepreneurs, it's a treasure trove of info and resources. While social networking brings to mind such places as Twitter and Facebook, there are more niche sites specifically designed to network with other entrepreneurs. The list below is in alphabetic order and does not represent the best to worst etc.

Biznik

Discuss your business, introduce yourself, ask questions and find answers.

Be Part of a Community

Build your business one relationship at a time, both online and face-to-face.

Attend Events

Attend business networking and educational events, or host your own.

Get Published

Share your expertise, raise your profile and build your reputation by publishing articles.

Cofoundr

Cofoundr is the fastest growing online network for Entrepreneurs! Join the private community of startups founders — developers, investors, CEOs, advisors, programmers, and designers — to find co-founders, build teams, and get advice.

Ecademy

Learning, networking and business development for the digital age

Share Knowledge with Social Media

Build Contacts with Social Networking

Grow Transactions with Social Commerce

Entrepreneur Connect

Create a comprehensive profile for your business

Exchange ideas and advice among your peers

Establish meaningful business connections

Post products, services and events

Embed video, maps and more on your profile

Promote your products and services on the marketplace

Go BIG Network

The Go BIG Network is an on-line marketplace that connects the startup and small business community. The company allows startup companies, funding sources, advisors, and service providers to post requests for help on-line and have those requests routed to other members of the Network who can help them.

Startups, funding sources, and service providers all need one another to survive and grow yet at the same time they are hindered by their own lack of connectivity.

Go BIG allows members of the startup community to connect faster by exposing all of the demands of the startup community in one place.

Members of Go BIG can either search profiles of other members and contact them or they can post a Request (like a classified ad) and let other members see what they are looking for. It's pretty much that easy.

LinkedIn

Stay informed about your contacts and industry

Find the people & knowledge you need to achieve your goals

Control your professional identity online

PartnerUp

Find People and Resources to Help You Succeed

Exchange Business Opportunities and Ideas

Get Free Advice and Answers

Grow and Manage Your Contacts

Perfect Business

Everything you need to launch and grow a business

Our website is a network of entrepreneurs, investors and business experts. Everyone on our site is here to encourage entrepreneurship and mutual success. PerfectBusiness will introduce you to new business contacts and answer your toughest questions.

You will not be alone in launching and growing your business. We are YOUR network. We are behind YOU. Whenever you need answers or help, think PerfectBusiness.

PerfectBusiness also provides professional business planning software, startup resources and inspiring interviews with leading entrepreneurs. Services include exclusive offers from VirginMoney, LegalZoom, Entrepreneur Magazine and other strategic partners. The site is organized to help you CONNECT with entrepreneurs, LEARN how to succeed and ultimately, LAUNCH and grow your business.

When you are ready, you can pitch your new idea or your existing business to accredited venture capitalists and angel investors. On PerfectBusiness, you can raise the capital you need.

Ryze

Ryze helps people make connections and grow their networks. You can network to grow your business, build your career and life, find a job and make sales. Or just keep in touch with friends.

Members get a free networking-oriented home page and can send messages to other members. They can also join special networks related to their industry, interests or location. More than 1,000 organizations host networks on Ryze to help their members interact with each other and grow their organizations.

Sprouter

Sprouter facilitates networking and collaboration between entrepreneurs globally. Providing a platform for users to connect with other innovators, entrepreneurs can expand their networks to include fellow entrepreneurs and startups with similar interests and goals. By answering the question “What are you working on?” in 140 characters or less entrepreneurs can discover and join events in their local areas, start discussions and follow topics of relevance to their business.

StartupNation

StartupNation is a free service founded by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. We created this site to be your one-stop shop for entrepreneurial success, and we’re thrilled that StartupNation has grown to be the leading online content and community resource for entrepreneurs.

It’s our belief that everyone can —and should—own a business, whether full-time or part-time. Our mission is to help you do just that!

Inside our site, you’ll find all the easy-to-follow, practical information you could ever need to start and grow your own successful business.

The Funded

TheFunded.com is an online community of over 14,500 CEOs, Founders and entrepreneurs to discuss fund-raising, rate and review investors, and discuss strategies to grow a start-up business.

Xing

Get in touch with people to generate contacts that stay connected to you for a lifetime. They may well help you in your career by providing contacts, offering jobs, or coming up with ideas.

Find jobs or get yourself found by recruiters within a professional environment.

More than 10 million people are already there.

Young Entrepreneur

YoungEntrepreneur.com was launched in 1999 and has grown to become one of the largest online forum communities for entrepreneurs worldwide.

YoungEntrepreneur.com has become a “must visit” resource for start-up CEOs, founders, aspiring entrepreneurs, mentors and investors worldwide, reaching an audience that very few can match.

Our social network and blog properties showcase Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Online Business Strategies, Entrepreneur Interviews, and several features, solutions and support to assist small business owners with starting, managing and growing successful business ventures. We cater to the entrepreneurial passions of our entrepreneurial audience, giving them all the latest news, entrepreneurial conversations, small business webinars, access to seasoned experts and of course access to the most active community of like-minded entrepreneurs.

Is there something missing? Have we missed your favorite site? Let us know in the comments section below.

Free Email Addesses For Scammers?

2010-10-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

Better to give than to receive!

Anyone who does business online knows that an email address is an important and integral part of your success. After all, you have to be reachable and give your customers access to some level of support. It's not that hard for scammers to get your address and before you know it, your spam folder is overflowing on a daily basis. What can you do? If you're like me, you have no choice but to scan through it, for fear of not catching a misdirected email from a client or potential customer.

You also know there is no shortage of scammers trying to convince you to send for your free money that is just waiting for you to claim. Usually, just a minor annoyance, and sometimes a mild source of amusement at the level of stupidity that some scammers possess. So how do they find their victims? Where did they get your email address? What can you do about it? Probably not much. You could spend all day reporting them, and by the time they get shut down, there are 20 more to fill their shoes.

What do I do? I list as many as I can when time permits, listing their names and email addresses where anyone who does a search for them can find the info. Why? First, because maybe it will keep someone who falls for their rhetoric from actually getting taken advantage of. And second, because scammers use search robots to find and harvest email addresses from all over the web. Whether it be from bulletin boards, classifieds, websites, blogs, forums, search engines, or anywhere else they can find a source. Therefore, I feel a sense of accomplishment by providing them with a free list of email addresses to keep them busy. Sending and receiving. A win/win for them, right?

Think about it like this.....
Hypothetically speaking, for every 1000 spam emails a scammer sends out, they may receive 2 replies from people who fall for their scam. Now if they also were to receive 1000 spam emails, how will they weed through all the spam to find their victims? Sure, they have a spam box too, but let's not forget how important those two potential victims are to them. They will have to at least look through their spam folder to see if anyone got misplaced.

Every day, new scams are created and new perpetrators are looking for email addresses. Why not help them out and give them some of their buddies addresses. For more info on Spammers, Scammers and Phishers, check out my page above. Feel free to use my list of email addresses as you wish, or start one of your own.

Is there something missing? Have a suggestion? Let us know in the comments section below.

Building A Marketplace

2010-10-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

The 'build it and they will come' attitude...

In a previous post, I gave some examples of alternative sites for online sellers. In looking at those sites, some jumped out front in terms of popularity amongst members, while others were kinda just there.

What I find surprising in today's marketplace is the lack of social marketing to gain popularity amongst competitors. Facebook and Twitter are great examples of where you can get exposure to the masses in a relatively short time, however, a lot of companies just don't seem to utilize them on a regular basis.

When I research a company, I use three starting points to get a feel of the land. Google for saturation, placement and general opinion. Facebook for popularity and interaction with followers. And Twitter for public image and strength of brand. If I like what I see, I will interact, whether it be in purchasing a product, or utilizing their services. What do I consider cautionary flags? When a company has been around for awhile but has very little social presence. Content is king. For example, if they have a Faceook page or Twitter account and only have a handful of followers, this makes me wonder why. Or if they haven't even posted anything for months. Why?

And then, there are companies that are just plain rude to their followers. This is not a good first impression when I read a comment from a member that is having problems and the owner interacts by telling them if they don't like it they can leave. Oh yeah, I want to be a part of that. No site will be perfect for everyone, but tact and professionalism goes a long way.

I'm not referring to any company specifically, and I have no issues with any sites. The sites I sell on are what I consider to be the best fit for me. That doesn't mean they are right for everyone, but there is a reason behind their growth and popularity.

Branding For Success

2010-10-10T06:39:00.000-07:00

Important or hype?

In the world we know today, business is becoming more and more competitive. Understanding the concept of branding is vital to every company's bottom line. Your brand is the genuine personality of your company. It's what your customers think of you and say about you when they've left your company. It's what they tell their friends.

So what exactly is branding? Branding isn't a name, not a symbol or even a picture. It's a reputation, subliminal memory, a thought provoking statement. It is what people associate with your name, logo etc. Branding is something that will bring in new customers and insure repeat customers. Without it, you are just a product in the millions available. Kinda hit and miss without making yourself available to customers who, although they like your product, can't remember anything other than the product. The next time they need another, will they come back to you or will they just google it?

Developing a brand requires having a plan that consistently communicates what your company is and does, along with your distinct attributes, image, and personality. Think about the strengths of your business and use them. What sets you apart from your competitors and why?

Building your brand allows you to easily engage with your customers and build trust. Once your customers begin to trust you, they’ll never forget what you have to offer. Once they trust you, they won’t hesitate to refer friends to you. Over time, this evolves into a strong relationship, which in return turns consumers into loyal customers. This leads to brand awareness.

Brand awareness is a customers' ability to recall and recognize the brand. One way to think about branding can be explained in personal branding. It's more than a persons name. It's the emotions provoked when you hear that name. It's like the feeling you get about a name on the caller ID when your phone rings. It's what you relate to that name, whether you take the call or not. This is similar to what a consumer thinks when they see your business name. Will they answer your call?

How Are You Branding Yourself? What do you consider good examples of self-branding? Share your thoughts and opinions on this subject in the comment section below.

Alternative Sites For Selling Online

2010-10-06T17:16:00.000-07:00

There's more than one circus in town!

I learned a long time ago not to keep all my eggs in one basket. And while I may sell primarily on one site or another, and promote for my favorite, that doesn't mean I'm not aware of my options. That also doesn't mean I'm going to jump on board with every site that springs up proclaiming to be the next eBay either. Not that I disbelieve them, but I'm not sure I'm ready for the next eBay.

So how do you decide which marketplace is the best fit for your business? There's no one-size-fits-all answer, though most tend to agree it's worth listing on multiple sites. After looking through this list, you can find even more through my Alternative Sites For Sellers tab above.

Is there something missing? Have we missed your favorite site? Let us know in the comments section below.

http://www.addoway.com/

Get a FREE online store with built-in marketing, inventory and order management tools.
List new items in seconds or import inventory from eBay and Etsy.
Even sync inventory so you never run out of stock on Addoway.
Grow your business using our automated Social Marketing tools and Referral Incentives to keep the buyers coming back.
Plus free distribution to the most popular product search portals reaching millions of shoppers.
There are no fees to sell and it only takes seconds to sign up.

http://amazon.com/

Reach tens of millions of shoppers - Your products in front of Amazon.com customers.
Sell in over 25 categories, from books to electronics to sports & outdoors
Add Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). With FBA your products are eligible for Prime and Super Saver shipping.
No per item listing fees, Become an Amazon Professional or Individual seller. Choose the plan below that best fits.
For Professional sellers who expect to sell more than 40 items a month - Unlimited sales for $39.99 a month + referral fee.
For Individual sellers who expect to sell less than 40 items a month - $0.99 per sale + referral fee.

http://artfire.com/

ArtFire.com Pro accounts are chock full of seller tools, powerful marketing features and time-saving management options.
Your flat rate monthly subscription is the only cost you pay for your ArtFire PRO account.
There are no insertion fees, final valuation fees or commissions.
More than just the Premier Artisan Marketplace, ArtFire pushes your products to the top shopping engines on the web.
Remote checkout enabled Facebook Kiosk and full featured coupon code and gift certificate system.
We automatically convert the shopping currency in every country based on the location of the shopper.

http://auctionfire.com/

No listing fees, No final value fee
Easily receive credit if buyer doesn't pay
Free image hosting, Free featured auctions, Automatic Re-list
Import feedback from other auction sites
Instant Purchase (Buy it Now)
Linking ads to your own website is ok.

http://blujay.com/

All features of blujay are free for buyers and sellers always.
Post unlimited items and manage them from your My blujay. Listings last until it sells.
Each item can have up to 4 photos.
Free Online Store. Showcase all your items for sale to buyers at blujay.com/your_username.
Posting items for sale is quick. Items show up immediately without any delay.
Updating your ads is easy. You can add information & photos or remove an ad.

http://www.bonanza.com/

Start selling in one click, Import from eBay, Import from inventory file
Price to post items for sale (including up to four pictures) is FREE.
All fees are based on the Final Offer Value (FOV) and only charged after the sale.
Bonanza.com combines an online marketplace with social media features.
"Bonanza, an eBay alternative that lets people engage in social commerce online, is launching a revamped website. Coinciding with the rebranding announcement, the company disclosed that it has acquired 1000 Markets."

http://us.ebid.net/

Import Your Items from eBay
On eBid it is free to list your auction, with 3% Final Value Fee.
All sellers must have a credit or debit card validated.
Currently 2,172,318 auctions running in 10,382 categories.
60- minute-auctions which have no reserve and end in just an hour.
Escrow payments allowed.

http://ecrater.com/

eCRATER is both a free web store builder and an online marketplace.
All products are submitted to Google Product Search. You can easily import your eBay products as well.
Your eCRATER store is offered at no charge. It will remain free, which means sellers will always get a 100% of their sales.
Your eCRATER Web Store supports unlimited number of products.
Easily import the products from your ebay store.
Google Analytics has been added. You can use it to fully track your store's traffic.

http://epier.com/

No Listing or Insertion Fee, No Final Value Fee.
ePier will provide you image hosting for your auction images free of charge.
Sell anything from personal items to automobiles!
Sellers can sell duplicate items through a Dutch auction or at a fixed price.
Note: ePier has received an unsatisfactory rating from the Better Business Bureau.

http://etsy.com

We connect buyers with independent creators and shop owners to find the very best in handmade, vintage and supplies.
No HTML required. Setting up shop on Etsy is easy and takes only a few minutes.
You’ll get your own URL for your shop based on your username, http://username.etsy.com
To become a seller, you’ll need a credit card for verification purposes.
It costs 20 cents to list an item for four months. When your item sells, you’ll pay a 3.5% transaction fee.
Etsy offers multiple options for paying for items, including credit card, money order, and PayPal.

http://ioffer.com/

Allows buyers and sellers to negotiate to buy and sell items in an interactive and open format.
No Listing Fees, Free iOffer store, Transfer Items/Ratings. We only charge a small percentage when an item is sold.
Easily integrate Google Analytics with your store to see what buyers are searching for.
Free Store Themes Personalize your store and attract buyers by choosing from a wide selection of themes.
Create your very own custom store categories to match the products you sell.
Sellers are required to place a credit card on file to list in all categories. If you don't have a credit card you can pre-pay.

http://onlineauction.com/

Verified Sellers are security checked through a monthly credit card validation process
Low $8 monthly membership fee
No listing or re-listing fees
No final value fees (sales commissions)
Freedom to post personal website information with every listing
True competitive bidding - highest bid wins

http://webstore.com/

Webstore.com is an Online Marketplace with No buying or selling fees, No signup fees!
Sell as an individual (or open a FREE Store)
Set a fixed price and/or auction to the highest bidder.
Open your FREE Webstore today! (No limits on the number of items)
Customizable store pages using our preinstalled themes/templates.
Keep 100% of your profits!

http://yardsellr.com/

Yardsellr is an online marketplace which uses social networks to connect buyers and sellers.
In the tradition of neighborhood garage- and yard-sales, we make it easy for you to list and sell.
Yardsellr will spread the word about your item within your online social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Google.
Sellers pay nothing to list or sell on Yardsellr.
Yardsellr adds a small fee to the buyer's final cost which is displayed at checkout.
When you post an item for sale, there is a section to upload a handful of pictures.

Even More.....

http://atOncer.com/
http://bidtopia.com/
http://bigcartel.com/
http://buy.com/
http://collect.com/
http://cozybug.com/
http://de.dawanda.com/
http://elfingo.com/
http://farauctions.com/
http://folksy.com/
http://goantiques.com/
http://mainstreetfair.com/
http://malleries.com/
http://neweggmall.com/
http://oztion.com.au/
http://papernstitch.com/
http://payvment.com/
http://pikaba.com/
http://pricegrabber.com/
http://qxbid.com/
http://rubylane.com/
http://seeauctions.com/
http://shophandmade.com/
http://supermarkethq.com/
http://tias.com/
http://topbuysell.com/
http://tripleclicks.com/
http://trocadero.com/
http://ubid.com/
http://webidz.com/
http://wensy.com/
http://wigix.com/
http://zibbet.com/
http://ziing.com/

Bonanzle.com Vs. Bonanza.com ... The Transition

2010-09-22T21:26:00.000-07:00

Bonanzle has officially changed their name to bonanza and have done a number of changes to their site. During the name change they also acquired a small artisan site named 1000markets.com. It has created a web wide flurry of activity with members from several sites voicing their opinions and views. Some love it and and some ... well, not so much. How will it effect sales and where will they be when the dust settles? Only time can tell, but sellers are scurrying to catch up and make changes before the busy holiday shopping season hits.

What does this mean for the buyers? The most obvious is some great bargains as sellers try to clear out their merchandise in preparation for the holidays. There may be some glitches in the process, but nothing very serious is anticipated. Recently there was a problem with some of the sellers not receiving email notification of a sale, but it has hopefully been corrected. My best advise would be to make some sort of contact with the seller if you haven't gotten confirmation of your purchase in a reasonable time. What's reasonable? What ever you're comfortable with would be my best answer. As a seller, and I think most other sellers would agree, I love to hear from my buyers.

What does it mean for the sellers? It will definitely be a hectic time for some. The sellers that have interlinked a variety of sites and social networks have their work cut out. All links will be redirected for awhile, but the owners of Bonanza.com have said that they will need to be changed eventually. How long? There hasn't been a definitive time put on it as of yet, but sooner would be better than waiting for time to run out. One thing that is crucial to change is for sellers that accept Google Checkout as a payment option. If you use Google Checkout, you will need to change your callback URL to https://www.bonanza.com/offers_checkout/google_callback, and the directions can be found by going to the FAQ's section for this (here), or there is also a pretty good screen shot of it in the forums (Click here).

The Bonanza.com team have been updating their blog with tons of info regarding the transition and providing resources to assist with the changes. There are new logo designs and templates as well as new business card templates. Also, links to the press release and stories from around the web.

As always, we're here to help in any way we can. If you have any questions or comments, post them below. However, any negative remarks are best kept to yourself. I'm not trying to open a like or dislike discussion. There are plenty of conversations actively going on around the web for that already.

Backlinks For Beginners

2010-07-29T23:02:00.000-07:00

What, Where, How.......

In order to drive traffic to your blog or website, some additional steps can be performed to increase your placement within search results. Called SEO (search engine optimization). Some are less technical than others and some can be confusing at best. While not a necessity, they are definitely a worthwhile effort in boosting your site's popularity. Your blog can be a huge marketing tool and when used in conjunction with a few other resources can increase traffic / sales for your Online Store or website.

In this post, we'll talk briefly about back links. Backlinks can play a big part of SEO when done properly. Quality over quantity will boost page rank which search engines use in determining where you will place when a search is done with your keywords. We'll talk more about page rank, keywords and more SEO in upcoming articles, and be sure to check through our table of contents for other areas of promoting your business.

If it seems a bit overwhelming to perform all the steps needed to get your name out there and promote your products or services, it's understandable. However, in today's competitive market, anything you do to step out in front of the masses will be a great benefit to your success. Take your time and build slowly at your own pace, but this should be a big part of your daily routine. Running a business online can be a rewarding experience, if you are willing to put in the effort.

Wikipedia explains in detail what backlinks are, so we'll just touch on some of the highlights, and address some of the key issues.

Backlinks are incoming links to a website or web page. Meaning that if a website has a link to another site, that other site now has a backlink. The importance of that backlink depends on the site it's placed on. This is where the quality over quantity plays a role. Quality links from established, authority, high Page Rank, and highly relevant domains are good quality links. Bad links? Bad quality back links, such as sites or blogs that sell links, non-relevant sites and no-follow sites. These will most likely be the sites to damage your rep.

So how do you get them? By getting listed in relevant directories, posting in forums, blogs and article directories. If you perform a search with the keywords pertaining to your site, you should get a return list of similar sites where you can post an article, message, posting, or simply a backlink to your site. After you have the list of potential backlink partners, it is up to you to visit each of the sites and post your content with the backlink to your site in it. Most sites have some way of commenting where you can place your link as a signature.

Stay on topic with the post you're commenting on and try not to sound spammy, or your link will most likely be removed. Your signature link should contain the best keywords associated with your site. Try to keep the words to a minimum of 2 to 3.

Thе principle behind building backlinks tο уουr website or blog, аlѕο known аѕ link popularity, аnd whу thеу аrе οf such importance tο search engines іѕ pretty straight forward. If a web page provides value οr іѕ οf interest tο others, people wіll naturally link tο іt. Google wants to provide pertinent search results, and will therefore list the most popular sites first.

Good luck in building your links and be sure to follow us for future installments.

Promoting With Facebook, Twitter and Blogs

2010-07-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

Are you Accessible To Your Customers? Can potential customers find you?

There are three platforms that every seller should be on. Think of it as putting your business in the yellow pages, classifieds, up on a billboard and sending out fliers. Not that those techniques aren't still widely used, but times change and so do marketing techniques. If you're selling through a brick and mortar location, then many of these assets may still be viable resources. However, most businesses are finding more and more ways to advertise online. Don't take my word for it, just do a search for any major retail company and see if they are using online resources to advertise. While there are several ways to gain a presence online and some can be costly and challenging, there are still a few basic sites that weigh heavily in marketing your business. Facebook, Twitter, and Blogging are three of the most widely used and most popular. These should be considered a must for anyone selling online.

I hear comments from time to time like......
I hate Facebook, or Google, or Bing, or a miriad of other sites and resources. That's good news for all the other sellers who won't have to compete with you for sales. While not every one likes the same things, you have to treat is as business. It's not personal. There is no room for hate in business, and you should welcome any resources that will be another avenue for marketing your business.

Below is a list of other Bonanzlers who are getting their name out there by listing their links, are you on the lists?

Facebook Members
Bloggers
Twitter Users

Here are a few other places to check out for promoting your business:
Promote Your Bonanzle Booth

How To Write A Great Item Description

2010-07-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

There are three main components that make up a listing. Title, Pictures and Description. Each one is just as important as the next and should be able to stand alone without the others.

This means that your title clearly states what the item is and points out the strong points while containing the proper keywords that are needed for good placement in the search results. The description should be written as if it is the only thing that will be read. A complete hands on experience to the reader. They need to be able to visualize the item and know exactly what it is without seeing it. Pick up the item and inspect it as if you were looking at it to buy it. What are you looking for? What are you seeing? Taking pictures of your item is just as important. They need to tell the complete story of the item. Nice lighting with no glares, and no loud or busy backgrounds that take away from the subject. Focus, crop and center your picture. Cover as many angles and important features as you can. Same as the listing description, what would you look at if you were buying it.

Turn offs for potential buyers:
Bad spelling/ grammar, all caps, reference to other sites, excessive shipping, lack of alternate payment methods, listing is 3 miles long, too many colors / types of font, warnings/ statements of buyer responsiblity, Seller disclaimers, uncropped/ poor quality/ lack of pictures,

Prior to listing checklist:
What is it?
Research your item.
Keywords (list all the strong keywords that are found while searching)
Attributes (list all the attributes that pertain to your item)
Average price?
How much would you pay for it?
Hi points?
Low points?

After you have your listing finished, read it again. Is there anything you can improve? Did the spellcheck catch everything? Would you buy it? Would you tell your friends about it? If everything is in order, update your booth and go check out the live version. As a final step, I like to go to batch edit and check out what attributes are displayed and see if there are any more possibilities that can be used.

Anything I forgot or you think should be included?

Seller Etiquette or Seller Suicide

2010-07-13T01:19:00.000-07:00

"Where are the buyers"??

You're only as professional as others see you. It doesn't matter if you have the best product at the best price, professionalism speaks much louder.

Would you buy from a store in the mall with funny pictures and drawings plastered all over the walls and windows, and the store owner running around like a madman, cracking jokes and making fun of people? What image are you trying to portray while you are posting in the forums and on the social sites? What part of your marketing plan does this fit into? Everything you say and do online, adds to your branding. Let's look at it another way.... Can your business afford to push customers away? Or do you think that potential customers don't care? If you don't understand the damage this does to your reputation, than you are probably also wondering where all the buyers are.

Positive people get positive results, and negative people get negative results. When you complain about lack of sales, unpleasant buyers, unfair feedback, etc., do you really think it helps get your business on track?

Another area that is increasingly dominating the forums on many sites is marketplace bashing. No site will be right for everybody, but these are choices each seller makes to suit his or her business decisions. I often wonder what goes through a sellers mind when they complain about another venue? Some get downright mad just to hear something about another site. Do they think customers are site specific? Reminds me of the civil war where brothers were fighting brothers, just because they lived in different places.

Anything that is taboo in the workplace should also be taboo in your business. This includes, but is not limited to..... Sexually oriented remarks, politics, religion, discrimination, foul language, and begging. Believe it or not, buyers find these topics unprofessional, and while this may be common sense, it only takes about five seconds to find a post about one of these topics. Again, usually by the seller that can't understand why they're not getting sales.

Adding Attributes To Your Bonanza Listing Simplified

2010-07-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

Adding Google attributes to your items can be tedious to say the least. However, it's time well spent to have your items more readily found in the search results. Just consider it another tool for promoting your Bonanza booth.

I thought I would touch on it briefly and tell you how I have 'simplified' it somewhat for my listings. Initially I created a cheat sheet with the attributes, and was spending a lot of time copying and pasting each one after numerous views at the list to make sure I wasn't forgetting one. I have since then abbreviated the way in which I do this. One, copy and paste, two, fill in the blanks, three, delete irrelevant attributes. It has significantly reduced my listing time and increased the accuracy of my attributes. Below is my cheat sheet that contains the attributes and are ready to add your data after the semicolon. Reference for data specifics can be found on Googles help page located here

[[brand:]] [[isbn:]] [[mpn:]] [[upc:]] [[ean:]] [[actor:]] [[age_range:]] [[artist:]] [[author:]] [[battery_life:]] [[binding:]] [[capacity:]] [[color:]] [[color_output:]] [[department:]] [[director:]] [[display_type:]] [[edition:]] [[feature:]] [[focus_type:]] [[format:]] [[functions:]] [[genre:]] [[height:]] [[installation:]] [[length:]] [[made_in:]] [[material:]] [[megapixels:]] [[occasion:]] [[operating_system:]] [[optical_drive:]] [[pages:]] [[platform:]] [[processor_speed:]] [[publisher:]] [[rating:]] [[resolution:]] [[screen_size:]] [[size:]] [[style:]] [[tech_spec_link:]] [[weight:]] [[width:]] [[year:]] [[zoom:]]

Note: Edited to add a couple more-
[[availability:in stock]] [[quantity:1]] [[featured_product:y]] [[price_type:negotiable]] [[location:your city,state,zip]]

You can add as many attributes as you'd like, as long as they're separated by a space. For example,

[[brand:Bonanza]] [[department:booth]] [[feature:attribute]] [[functions:SEO]] [[age_range:18-110]] [[rating:PG]] [[year:2010]] [[author:Florida Mercantile]]

I would love to hear how you do it!

Introducing Our Facebook Fan Page

2010-06-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

While many of you are friends with us on our Facebook Page, we would like to invite you to join us on our Facebook Fan Page. We will be working on the details over the next few days, but would love to have you check it out and give us your thoughts and suggestions. There are some areas where you can drop your links, and we'll be adding more soon. As a way of thanking all of our recent customers, we have dropped all shipping charges in our Studio7 Booth for a limited time. We will be running some more specials and will be announcing them on our fan page. Hope to see you there!

Visit us here

Bonanzle Nominated as Seattle's Best Bootstrapped Company. Vote!

2010-04-21T11:57:00.000-07:00

Bonanzle has been nominated as a finalist for Seattle's "Best Bootstrapped Company" by a team of Seattle's most respected entrepreneurs and investors.
"For those that don't regularly invest in small companies, "bootstrapped" in business lingo means that Bonanzle has been built without using money from investors. That turns out to be an exceptionally hard and unusual thing to do, but we are proud of how far we've come using the power of your positive word of mouth.
We are up against some very stiff competition in the "best bootstrapped" category, including Biznik, one of my favorite local sites for business networking (highly recommend checking it out if you're a service provider). Ultimately, if we are going to win this award, we'll need all of the votes we can get from those that use and enjoy Bonanzle."

Click here if you'd like to vote for the Seattle 2.0 Awards. It's fun, anyone can do it, and it will provide 82% of your daily recommended allowance of random Internet surveys. Thanks so much to everyone who nominated us for this award!

Which Site Is Best And Where Are The Better Sellers

2010-03-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

As I was out doing a little promoting for my various sites today, it occurred to me that while I have sold in so many different venues, and met so many wonderful sellers, I hardly have the chance to network with them as much as I would like to. Sure, I still remain friends with them and it's always a pleasure to run into them on other venues and social sites, but unless I am active on the same site as them, we seldom see each other.

I know that their are vendors and retailers including myself across the web that have issues with certain sites for whatever reasons. Just because a site goes bad..... (no introduction needed) is no reason we should forget the great friends we have made while networking and growing our business wherever it may lead us. There are no correlations between the quality of seller that is on that site and the rules, fees, or policies of that site.

There should be no rivalry between the shop owners. No Bonanzle verses eBay, Etsy verses eCrater, ioffer, webidz, ebid, Shopit, BlueJay, AtomicMall, OnlineAuctions, Amazon, craigslist, Get it or Sell it........ and so on. After all, the site may be different, but the sellers are all trying to make a living the best way they can.

As I browse the different boards and forums, I see so much animosity towards a site that the sellers will be in a heated discussion as to which site is better and why they hate another. Just because one site works for one, doesn't mean it will work for everyone. Each site has been built with different ideas and concepts on the arts of selling, and some sites are more in tune with today's sellers, and other sites are more in tune with their banker and travel agent.

Let us not forget the sellers that helped us along the way and try to pass a little of that help around to the new sellers trying to get started. No matter what venue they choose.

Please feel free to place a link in the comment section below to your booth, store, site, page, blog, mall, shop, sports arena, Laundromat, beauty parlor or anywhere else you would like to promote today. And tell us a little bit about yourself, or just drop your link and run.

Let's all try to work together and build our business as the professionals that we want potential customers and clients to know we are. Would you want to shop in a mall where all of the sellers were standing out in front of their doors arguing with each other?

Wow! You'll pay me how much?

2010-03-08T00:35:00.000-08:00

Spammers, Scammers and Phishers: Bottom Feeders.

Some are just plain silly, others really make me wonder if a 10 year old is sitting at his mom's computer writing the jibberish that I just got in my email. For every 15 sales, I get half as many scammers offering me 3 times what I'm asking if I'll let their shipping company handle all the details. Wow, really? How about I just give you my bank account info and you can deposit the cash when you feel like it. Morons!

Some of my favorite lines include:

"pls can you tell me if this item is still for sale ?and the price" (ummm, note the price next to the listing where you found it for sale)
"I have a CLIENT of my that is owning me some Fund" (never a good start to a proposal)
"If this is okay by you, do e-mail me the following detail" (if it's ok with you, please read the details in the listing)
"I will have to inform you that i am okay with the price" (thanks, me too)
"I’ll pay you 1000 American dollars more than you want" (excellent, I'll notify my banker to keep an eye out for it)
"hello am very lucky to see what am looking for is about you" (and I thought I was the lucky one)
"do not worry about the shipping ,my shipping company will handle that" (thanks, can your shipping company deliver the cash as well?)
"i am buisness man based in holland ,and other european countries,and also in the states" (Fire your secretary, her typing skills are atrocious)
"Please do get back to me reaffirming your asking price and the present condition" (how about I just send a link to my ad so you can see it again)
"kindly let me hear from you in earnest so that i can arrange for payment" (Earnest went to camp)
"I am personal Assistant to the Branch Manager of Bank Of Africa" (Does he know you're a scammer too?)
"CDear friend, READ CAREFULLY AND KEEP SECRET" (Mums the word)
"I want to inquire from you if you can handle this transaction for mutual benefits" (Wow, sounds like a match made in heaven)
"Have it at the back of your mind, that the transaction does not involve any RISK" (But the front of my mind keeps getting in the way)

Dear Mr. Scammer,

Below is a list of a few of your friends and colleagues that have offered better deals than you, so please don't be offended if I graciously decline your offer. While I thought long and hard about it, I just feel like we aren't compatible to proceed in this transaction and request that you cancel any funds that you have already placed in my account. Thank you for the interesting points that you have shown me and I will work diligently to implement them into my marketing plan.

Yours Truly,
Elvis Press Lee

Note:

Due to the extensive amount of names on the list, it has been moved to it's own page, please click on link below to take a look -

http://the7thpwr.blogspot.com/p/spammers-scammers-and-phishers.html

New Bonanzle Booth Announcement

2010-01-29T16:56:00.000-08:00

A glimpse of things to come as we grow into 2010

We have been busy getting our third booth open and will be making several changes in our structure as we move inventory around and get new items listed. As many of you know, Bonanzle has been steadily growing and sales are increasing at a substantial rate, so the time has come to get more organized in our efforts to continue growing with the needs of our customers. We will be implementing changes to our booth categories and cleaning up some of the clutter as we make the changes.

Our original Bonanzle Booth 'The7thpwr' will contain our Movies, Games, Electronics and Memorabilia. Lots of new items coming, and we also have a big sale planned for the near future.

Our second Bonanzle booth 'Mercantile' started out as a catch-all for just about everything that didn't fit with our first booth. This is probably where most of our changes will be. We will be structuring this booth to stock our Home and Garden, Replacement China, and Gift Shop items.

We are really excited about our third and newest Bonanzle Booth 'Studio 7' which will carry Vintage, Collectibles, Art and Ephemera. As of today, we have a meager 38 items listed, but this will be stocked to the ceiling. We have a complete room devoted to this booth alone.

We expect to be making these changes over the next couple of months, so as not to disrupt our sales and hope that you will stop in to check things out and give us your opinions. As always, if we can be of any service, or answer any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

We look forward to keeping up with our commitment to customer satisfaction and providing you with the highest level of professionalism as always. Wishing you much success and prosperity in the year ahead.

Setting Up Your Bonanzle Booth

2009-10-09T17:51:00.000-07:00

What to do first?

Bonanzle will only work for you if you work for you. One of the most discussed questions by new members is on how to bring in new customers. This is an ongoing task that will get easier as your new business gains visibility.

There are differences to listing on Bonanzle as compared to other sites where customers have been shopping for years. While Bonanzle is growing by leaps and bounds, they are still a relatively new site.
If you simply list your items and wait for sales, you may find yourself waiting more than selling.

It's also easy to get overwhelmed at the amount of resources available to market your business on Bonanzle. However, if you approach it as you would with any start up business and build it gradually, you will have a strong business that will become easier to manage as time goes by.

My best suggestion would be to acquaint yourself with the forums and watch what some of the successful sellers are doing. Ask questions and contact support if you need more info or have any questions. The staff are always happy to help and you'll be surprised how fast you get an actual reply and not an auto response that has become the norm at so many other places. Browse some of my previous postings and feel free to contact me with any questions as well.

Work towards your visibility and recognition. Try to use the same avatar and screen name / id everywhere you go. Be sure to link your Bonanzle booth in your Bio, or 'about me' pages. Add your links everywhere you can, from email signatures to online yellow pages. Social marketing will play a major role in your success. I've included a few links below to help you get started, but there are an endless number of places to get your name out there. The phrase "build it and they will come" only applies if they know it exists.

Leave relevant comments on blogs and forums with your link and avoid spamming. People are wary of too many 'look at me' postings, but with interesting comments and topics they'll want to check you out.

Last but not least, go to the top of my blog and click on "Promote Your Bonanzle Booth".

Bonanzle Verses Ebay

2009-10-08T17:54:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago a friend asked me how I liked Bonanzle as compared to eBay. It got me to thinking about the reasons I started looking for an alternative to something that had provided me with the means to successful online selling for so many years.

   It wasn't any one thing that turned me away from eBay, but a combination of changes and new rules that had been slowly changing until it was to the point where I was finding it difficult to provide the level of income I had grown accustomed to from sales past. Not to mention that eBay seemed content with the new direction and getting any support from them was like pulling teeth. If a problem was encountered, by the time eBay responded (usually with an automated non-human response) the problem had either escalated, or the damage had already been done.

While looking for alternatives, I stumbled upon Bonanzle and while the format of their site was different than what I was looking for, it was free to list so I decided to give them a try. The first thing that impressed me was the feel of enthusiasm coming from the members in the forums. When someone had a question, the members would have answers immediately. As I was signing up, I had a question about migrating my listings from eBay, and while I was in no hurry, thought I would contact support and get around to it in a few days when support got back to me.This was at around 11:00 PM and within 5 minutes I received an answer that welcomed me and fully explained everything I had asked about. This wasn't an automated response, and it didn't say they had received my email and would be in touch, it was an answer. From the owner of the website.

   In the beginning, I spent quite a bit of time in the forums, leaning tons of new information on a daily basis. Bonanzle is not just a place to sell your wares, it's like going to school for an advanced degree into online selling. The tools that are available are tremendous in growing your business, and the available knowledge of the members is mind blowing. I came from eBay where the forums are anything but friendly and the members are in a competitive mode so getting usable info is rare.

   I'm not Anti eBay or Pro Bonanzle, but when it comes to business I go where the best outcome is. Right now, Bonanzle has provided me with so many more options in the first year than eBay did in almost ten years. While I say I'm not angry with eBay, I admit that they have lost my trust and as such I don't see anything that would take me back with the level of support that has come to be the new eBay.

Washington's interest in Internet marketing puts online advertisers on notice

2009-09-22T22:21:00.000-07:00

Congress weighs landmark change in Web ad privacy

By JOELLE TESSLER (AP) – Sep 7, 2009

WASHINGTON — The Web sites we visit, the online links we click, the search queries we conduct, the products we put in virtual shopping carts, the personal details we reveal on social networking pages — all of this can give companies insight into what Internet ads we might be interested in seeing.
But privacy watchdogs warn that too many people have no idea that Internet marketers are tracking their online habits and then mining that data to serve up targeted pitches — a practice known as behavioral advertising.
So Congress could be stepping in. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, is drafting a bill that would impose broad new rules on Web sites and advertisers. His goal: to ensure that consumers know what information is being collected about them on the Web and how it is being used, and to give them control over that information.
While Congress has waded into Internet privacy issues before, this measure could break new ground, as the first major attempt to regulate a nascent but fast-growing industry that represents the future of advertising. Boucher insists his bill will benefit consumers and preserve the underlying economics of the Internet, which relies on advertising to keep so much online content free.
"Our goal is not to hinder online advertising," he said. "This will make people more likely to trust electronic commerce and the Internet."
Although his proposal is still taking shape, Boucher is confident lawmakers will pass an online marketing privacy law of some sort. He is working with Cliff Stearns of Florida, the top Republican on the Internet subcommittee, as well as Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., who chairs a separate subcommittee on consumer protection.
Already, Washington's interest in Internet marketing has put online advertisers on notice. In July, the industry released a set of self-regulatory principles in an effort to head off concerns in Congress and the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC put out Internet ad guidelines early this year.
Boucher's efforts have encouraged privacy activists, who point out that Internet surveillance has evolved beyond just data-tracking files, known as cookies, that Web sites place on visitors' computers. Technologies such as "deep packet inspection" can now monitor a user's every online move.
"Consumers have no idea that they are being followed online and that their information is being compiled into invisible digital dossiers," said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, one of 10 privacy groups that recently issued recommendations for lawmakers. "There is an incredibly sophisticated, ever-advancing system for profiling online users."
Chester believes several developments have put the issue on Washington's radar. Those include the rise of social networking sites that capture detailed personal information, like Facebook and MySpace; Google Inc.'s acquisition of the Internet ad service DoubleClick Inc.; and the proposed Internet search partnership between Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc., now under review by the Justice Department.
"Online privacy has finally taken off and become a serious political issue," Chester said. "A perfect digital storm has created momentum toward action."
The challenge facing Washington, said Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz, is to strike the right balance between "protecting the fundamental rights of consumers" and preserving "business equilibrium."
Boucher's bill will seek a middle ground in a long-running debate over what the default assumptions should be when companies monitor consumers' online interests.
On one side, privacy watchdogs say Web sites should be required to obtain user permission — that is, people would "opt in" — before collecting most data.
On the other side, Web sites and advertisers insist such a mandate would overwhelm consumers with privacy notices. The companies argue that it is more practical to simply allow people who do not want to be tracked to "opt out" of data collection.
Boucher expects to set different rules for different types of sites. Sites that collect visitor information in order to target advertising on their own pages, for instance, would have to offer consumers a chance to opt out of having their interests tracked. These sites would also be required to prominently disclose what information they collect and provide a detailed description of how that information is used.
Web sites that deal with sensitive personal information, such as medical and financial data, sexual orientation, Social Security numbers and other ID numbers, would have to ask users to opt in to being tracked.
Boucher's bill would not be the first significant online privacy law. In 1986, Congress passed the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which placed privacy obligations on companies and organizations that offer e-mail services. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 requires commercial Web sites targeted at children under age 13 to obtain parental consent before collecting personally identifiable information.
But the current bill would mark the first significant attempt by Congress to regulate Internet advertising. Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said there had been little need for Congress to impose privacy protections on advertisers offline, since traditional media such as TV, radio and newspapers don't enable marketers to profile individual consumers as easily as the Internet does.
Now, Rotenberg said, "privacy laws should be updated to reflect new business practices."
It's too soon to know whether Boucher's final bill will go far enough to satisfy privacy activists. But they agree that a law would do much more than the self-regulatory principles released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and three other advertising trade groups in July.
Among other things, those principles call for consumer education efforts and disclosure of behavioral advertising practices.
ANA Executive Vice President Dan Jaffe said self regulation is the best approach for managing an industry evolving as quickly as online advertising.
"Legislation would be too rigid because this is a moving target," Jaffe said.
Mike Zaneis, IAB's vice president of public policy, added that self regulation is effective since it is in advertisers' interest to make sure consumers trust them.
"At the end of the day, the most important asset any online company has is a strong relationship with the consumer," he said.
Yet that's also why Chester insists that tougher rules from Congress would not cripple online advertising. Consumers might be more likely to favor Web sites that allow them to see and influence their personal data.
"It's about treating consumers with respect," said Joseph Turow, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication. "Companies keep saying they want to engage users. That means opening up and not sneaking behind someone's back to draw up pictures of them. We need information reciprocity."
Turow added that while he supports opt-in mandates as "the ultimate form of respect," the debate over opt-in versus opt-out rules won't matter "when people really have an opportunity to interact with their data."
For now, privacy activists are pinning their hopes on lawmakers. Evan Hendricks, editor of the Privacy Times newsletter, believes Boucher's bill will find bipartisan support in Congress.
"This stands a very realistic chance of passage," he said. "Privacy is the kind of issue you can't be against."

The Stats Are In - Top Ten Online Marketplaces

2009-09-08T07:18:00.000-07:00

How do they stack up?

With all the choices in today's online marketplace, it can be tough trying to decide where to sell your products or services. Finding the perfect match can be confusing and time consuming to say the least. So which site provides the best options for you? This is something that only you can decide, as each one has their strong points and weak points depending on what is important to you. While one may get great traffic stats, and another may have better rankings with the search engines, it's relevancy is only important to the role it plays in your specific business. I would suggest when comparing the sites below to take in all of the stats comparatively and consider the years they have been in business as to how well they are performing and at what growth pattern. Eliminate the ones that you don't like for one reason or another and compare the remaining sites to see which one fits your business the best. Feel free to comment below and give others any insight you may have on the sites listed, or ones that you think should have been included and why. Any rude or site bashing comments will be removed.

Amazon.com Online Since: November 1994 - 15 years (1)
Website Value $549.33 Million (2)
Daily Pageviews 29,118,264 (3)
Daily Visitors 4,135,950 (2)
Worldwide Rank 32 (3)
United States Rank 14 (3)

Auctions.yahoo.com Online Since: January 1995 - 14 years (2)
Changed name to Shopping.Yahoo.com
Website Value $10.08 Billion (1)
Daily Pageviews 363,726,976 (1)
Daily Visitors 50,594,700 (1)
Worldwide Rank 2 (1)
United States Rank 2 (1)

Ebay.com Online Since: August 1995 - 14 years (3)
Website Value $538.97 Million (3)
Daily Pageviews 62,970,288 (2)
Daily Visitors 4,057,950 (3)
Worldwide Rank 22 (2)
United States Rank 10 (2)

Ubid.com Online Since: November 1996 - 13 years (4)
Website Value $2.21 Million (8)
Daily Pageviews 49,513 (8)
Daily Visitors 11,076 (8)
Worldwide Rank 19,312 (8)
United States Rank No Data

Auction-warehouse.com Online Since: September 1998 - 11 years (5)
Website Value $155,352 (10)
Daily Pageviews 2,851 (10)
Daily Visitors 760 (10)
Worldwide Rank 272,876 (10)
United States Rank 124,686 (9)

Epier.com Online Since: September 1998 - 11 years (6)
Website Value $240,787 (9)
Daily Pageviews 4,501 (9)
Daily Visitors 1,189 (9)
Worldwide Rank 179,409 (9)
United States Rank 97,735 (8)

Ioffer.com Online Since: December 1998 - 11 years (7)
Website Value $10.76 Million (4)
Daily Pageviews 539,544 (4)
Daily Visitors 54,015 (4)
Worldwide Rank 2,831 (4)
United States Rank 1,095 (4)

Bidz.com Online Since: February 1999 - 10 years (8)
Website Value $8.54 Million (5)
Daily Pageviews 247,416 (5)
Daily Visitors 42,900 (5)
Worldwide Rank 4,121 (5)
United States Rank 1,945 (6)

Ecrater.com Online Since: October 2003 - 6 years (9)
Website Value $8.43 Million (6)
Daily Pageviews 162,793 (6)
Daily Visitors 42,315 (6)
Worldwide Rank 4,700 (6)
United States Rank 1,226 (5)

Bonanzle.com Online Since: August 2008 - 1 year (10)
Website Value $3.20 Million (7)
Daily Pageviews 119,882 (7)
Daily Visitors 16,068 (7)
Worldwide Rank 11,216 (7)
United States Rank 2,985 (7)

Eight Steps To Customer Satisfaction

2009-09-01T06:17:00.000-07:00

Do You Think Like a Buyer?

Most people think in a common pattern. Once you realize the process from a prospective customers view, it will help you better understand how to increase your productivity. When you utilize the proper techniques in building your business, thinking not of how many sales you can make, or how fast you can make them, but rather how can you satisfy your customers needs, your business will grow by word of mouth and customer loyalty, which everyone knows is a powerful campaign.

1. Visibility

First, you must ensure the product has good visibility. Whether through advertising, socializing, by speaking with friends and family or the many other techniques that have been discussed in my previous postings.

2. Visualization

Once your product is found, the customer needs to be able to visualize the product and feel comfortable that it is what they are looking for. Good pictures and item descriptions that create a mental expectation of what the product is and what it offers. Use pictures as if there were no description and describe as if there were no pictures.

3. Comparability

How does your item compare to similar items and why should they buy yours? What makes it favorable? Why would you buy it? Research and become knowledgeable of your product.

4. Evaluation

Once your product has been discovered, What kind of information about the product have you given to be used in evaluating whether it is worth purchasing.

5. Rationalization

If they are interested in the product, there will be a period of rationalization where they try to convince themselves or someone else that the product is worth purchasing. How well have you represented your product?

6. Relationship

After deciding to purchase the product, they form a mental bonding with the product and begin to think of it as their own. How do you communicate about the product? Your item will ship..... or the item will ship.......etc.

7. Acquisition

Eventually, they acquire or receive the product. How well was it received? Thrown in a box wrapped in crumpled newspaper? Or has care been taken to show off anticipated gift? First impressions mean a lot.

8. Satisfaction

After acquiring the product, they will evaluate whether or not they are satisfied and whether it was worth purchasing. Do you allow them to make up their own mind or are you asking for feedback throughout the entire process? Word of mouth and customer loyalty far exceeds a few sentences in your feedback rating.

Use these eight steps to think like a customer when selling your products and while you may not associate or realize the impact, you might ask yourself, "how would I view this transaction?" Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the selling game, but if you just take a step back and view it through outside eyes, you might be surprised at what you see. You need to be objective and decide whether the product or service fulfills its promises even though it may or may not not appeal to you.

Backlinks And What They Do For You

2009-08-25T21:12:00.000-07:00

Just about anyone who has created a Website or composed a Blog has heard of search engine optimization (SEO), and all sorts of things that one can do to rank higher in the search engines. Backlinks are one of those elements which provide a crucial role in placement with many search engines, especially Google. So what are backlinks and what role do play in all of this?

A backlink is a link coming from another Website back to your own, also called inward or inbound links and are used by Search Engines as an indicator of the popularity of a site. These backlinks to your site can be established on forums, Blogs and other sites of similar nature anywhere across the web.

Only quality and relevant backlinks should be considered for proper SEO. A backlink from a site that has quality content related to the theme of your site will hold you in a much better standing than a back link coming from a poorly designed site, or from a site that has little to do with the theme of your site. So how can you get beneficial quality backlinks?

Forum signatures, article submissions, comment on other Blogs, submit press releases, social bookmarking sites, guest posting on other Blogs, etc. You should be able to find dozens more with a basic search. To conduct a relevant search, you really want to know what are the most important, relevant pages to get links from. Search for the words you’d like to rank for. See which pages come back first in Google. These are the most important and relevant pages you want to seek links from. That’s because Google is explicitly telling you that on the topic you searched for, these are the best.

The main point is to develop your links slowly but steadily. Too many too fast and the search engines will see it as spam and could give you negative results.

Having good quality backlinks are extremely important to Search Engine Optimization, therefore they should be very high on your priority list of SEO plans. We hope you have a better understanding of what they are and why you need them.

Help, The Boat's Sinking!

2009-08-25T00:14:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a trend going on where sellers are migrating away from eBay and looking for other venues to set up shop. Some get frustrated over a lack of immediate sales on the new site and blame it on the site itself for not doing enough to bring in customers.

There was a time when anyone could sell anything on eBay and make a great
living doing so. The rules have changed. I have nothing against eBay, and am thankful for the opportunities they provided me with in the past. As times change, however, you have to change with them or get left behind. Everything changes and will continue doing so.

The inventor of the Hoola Hoop became a millionaire many times over. Can you imagine inventing the Hoola Hoop today? With the technology kids now have available to them, it would be a short lived invention. I will give you another analogy.... If your cruise ship sinks, are you going to sit there and blame the Captain for not doing his job, and tell everyone that is trying to help you to go away? Or are you going to swim?

You cannot play today's game with yesterday's rules. It's going to take a commitment of time and effort to move your wares in today's market place. Do some research and find out what the old timers are doing. The seasoned sellers won't be the ones sitting around waiting for the boat to sink. They are already half way to shore at the first sign of failure.

Do not be afraid to ask for help, but be willing to take a little constructive criticism as well. There are a lot of helpful people that are willing to help, but the first sign of arguing and you will be on your own. Positive people understand frustration but will avoid negativity like the plague.

Is There A Secret To Selling?

2009-08-23T18:19:00.000-07:00

Why do Some Sellers Have All The Luck?

It seems like no matter what you do or how much you advertise, your products just aren't moving. You have blow out sales, advertise everywhere, post on twitter, visit all the forums and let everyone know what great deals you have. Still......... nothing! It's no secret, and it's not about luck.

So why do you see other sellers that have no problem selling the same items as you and it seems like they are barely promoting their items at all. What gives? How can people not see that your items are better, ...and less expensive! Is it a popularity thing or are you just not screaming loud enough?

There is more to running a successful business on line than just selling your wares. I see so many 'sellers' who think if they list their items on a page, all they need to do is tell enough people and their product will sell themselves. They watch what others are doing and it looks simple enough. They even know people who have made a lot of money doing just that.

So what is the secret? Why can't I go from rags to riches? Let me propose the same question, why can't you? Henry Ford said it best..... 'Whether you think you can or cannot, you are right'.
If you tell the masses that you are not selling, you won't. Complain, whine, tell sob stories and then sit back and watch.

Another sure way to guarantee a lack of popularity is to over do your sales pitch. It's reminiscent of the traveling salesman standing on a wagon with a magic potion. Why do you think they kept on the move? They were selling lies. They may have fooled a few people in the beginning, but there was no longevity to their success, and repeat customers weren't going to happen, so when they made a few sales, it was off to find some new suckers.

People on the Internet are more savvy today and it only takes a small amount of negativity to self destruct. When was the last time you saw McDonalds or Walmart complaining? Do they get up on the rooftops and scream? Are they constantly in your face saying 'buy from me I'm better, and cheaper'?
There are ways to get your message out there without sounding cheap and tacky.

You ever try to tell a secret when everybody was talking? What is the first thing that happens? Everybody stops talking and looks to see what you are saying. You didn't have to scream that you were telling someone a secret, they just knew. And if it was a secret, they wanted to hear it too. You can apply this philosophy to business as well.

Do you want to sell, or do you want customers? Selling is hard work and endless hours of mundane tasks that will leave you somewhat wondering if any of it matters. Gaining a customer is a challenge and will give you an instant feeling of gratification. With each new customer, comes a renewed vigor. So how can you get a customer without dragging them to your product and forcing it down their throat?

A lot has to do with your reputation and how you handle yourself when others are watching. Always and I will repeat, always act professional and never leave negative comments, no matter how angry you get. If you cannot control your anger, you are in the wrong business and should probably get a job before you starve.

You should advertise without looking like you are desperate. Simply let people know about your product and give them just enough details that will entice them to investigate further. Leave the razzle, dazzle and flash for the potion peddlers. And never under any circumstances plead for sales. Are you a beggar or a business?

When you meet someone on the street who is successful, you just seem to know it. They do not have to tell you, it's obvious enough from just looking to know. That is the image you want to present. It's no different online. There are sellers that instill trust and professionalism from the start and there are sellers that are more like your chatroom stalkers. Who would you prefer to buy from?

There are also words that should be avoided in your pitch. Most should be obvious and some may not be. However, your sales pitch will leave the first impression, so it's your most important asset when it comes to your visibility online. Below is a list of a couple words with some alternative suggestions just to get you thinking in the right direction:

Buy (Not so good) Try 'Purchase' or 'Own'. Everyone enjoys a good 'purchase' or wants to 'own', 'buy' however speaks of spending money.

Sell (Not so good) implies they are not in control. Instead, 'supply' or 'offer' speaks of helping.

Contract (Not so good) implies a forced decision. 'Paperwork' implies a formality.

Sign (Not so good) Same implications as contract, better to 'finalize' or 'okay' the paperwork.

Cost (Not so good) A negative of buying, instead try 'investment' which implies a return.

There are plenty of potion peddlers. Is your wagon ready to roll? Or are you here to build a profitable business that will survive. Selling is but a small part of your business. I for one would prefer to be known for being successful in my business than by the color of my wagon.