What to say about eBay? How about Goodbye…

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Posted on March 4, 2010 by Scott Pooler

Obviously I have been at a loss for words about eBay for some time. My passion for the platform has waned, I no longer follow what happens or what rules have changed or why the fee structure has gone here or there, on a day to day basis. It is just too time consuming and really the return for me is not equitable.

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

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

eBay Scams Via Craigslist, A Cunning Combination

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Scott Pooler

Wow,

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

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

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

and here is the kicker....

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

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

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

Continue reading “eBay Scams Via Craigslist, A Cunning Combination” »

Ten Golden Rules of eCommerce – What should you know?

Posted on December 2, 2009 by Scott Pooler

What does it take to sell profitably and successfully online?

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

Ten Golden Rules for eCommerce

But not today at 12:30

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

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

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

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

Ut’ Oh eBay… Google enters eCommerce – Best Match or Best Darn Search – You decide

Posted on November 5, 2009 by Scott Pooler

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Continue reading “Ut’ Oh eBay… Google enters eCommerce – Best Match or Best Darn Search – You decide” »

Free ShoeMoney Internet Marketing Course and New Jay Berkowitz Sponsored Internet Marketing Club

Posted on October 9, 2009 by Scott Pooler

Free is good and in Internet marketing good education is everything... therefore, why not combine the two great opportunities to learn for free in one article?

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

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

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

Ten Golden Rules Host - Jay Berkowitz

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

Excerpt:

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

The Internet Marketing Club has gone from zero members to 50 in the course of one short day. Jay is adding content which is informative and educational and there are no DVD's or at home courses to be found. Of course if you want to hire Jay to help you boost sales or your brand online, I am sure he wouldn't mind but his approach is to give without asking for a return. It seems to work for him and this new Club is just one more example of Jay spreading the good word of Internet marketing to the masses. Thanks Jay!

More about the Internet Marketing Club:

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

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

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

Quote:

Google Adsense Check for $132,994.97

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

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

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

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

Week 1 - The Beginner's Guide To Internet Marketing

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

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

Week 4 - Introduction to Pay Per Click

Week 5 - Advanced Pay Per Click

Week 6 - SEO Tips, Tricks, and Tactics

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scammed on eBay With the help of PayPal – A Common Sellers Tale in 2009

Posted on October 5, 2009 by Scott Pooler

eBay is sold to the public on many different levels...

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

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

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

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

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

Some eBay Kool Aid?

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

2008

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

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

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

Continue reading “Scammed on eBay With the help of PayPal – A Common Sellers Tale in 2009” »

Inbound Links are SEO Fuel – Get New Inbound Links to Your Website or Blog

Posted on September 21, 2009 by Scott Pooler

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

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

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

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

Excerpt from the Link Buying Guide

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

Making Money on eBay, Is It Possible Without Listing or Shipping Anything?

Posted on September 2, 2009 by Scott Pooler

eBay is what many call the 100 pound gorilla of eCommerce.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Got your interest? Continue reading “Making Money on eBay, Is It Possible Without Listing or Shipping Anything?” »

Free Online Store – With Vendio – Any updates for the TAJ Forum?

Posted on July 15, 2009 by Scott Pooler

Vendio Free Store Offer

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

Vendio Platform Review

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

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

Thanks!

Scott

WordPress Does Not Work!

Posted on July 15, 2009 by Scott Pooler

.... Unless You USE It!

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

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

Whats the Red Herring?

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

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

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

Build it - is where it all starts...

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

My Brother

My Brother is a Fancy Yacht Air Conditioning Man!

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

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

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

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

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