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

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

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

Ten Golden Rules Host - Jay Berkowitz

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

Excerpt:

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

More about the Internet Marketing Club:

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

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

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

Quote:

Google Adsense Check for $132,994.97

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

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

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

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

Week 1 - The Beginner's Guide To Internet Marketing

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

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

Week 4 - Introduction to Pay Per Click

Week 5 - Advanced Pay Per Click

Week 6 - SEO Tips, Tricks, and Tactics

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Excerpt from the Link Buying Guide

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Got your interest?

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

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

Health Beauty Penny Auction Web site    US $999.99

Real Estate Penny Auction Web site    US $999.99

Auction Web site Script PHP Penny Reverse Auction    US $899.00

Video Games Penny Auction Web site    US $999.99

Coins Paper Money Penny Auction Web site    US $999.99

Stamps Business Penny Auction Web site    US $999.99

1	Display eBay Listings On Your Own Website!

Affiliates do make money!

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

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

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

  Marine Store Affiliate Site 100% Populated With eBay Items

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

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

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

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

Diecast Hybrid Site - Offering Both eBay and Bonanzle Listings

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

Add Ebay Auctions to your Website

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

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

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

Vintage Meld by: Cliff Aliperti Designed by: Scott Pooler

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

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

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

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

Cabo Villas Beach Resort Cabo San Lucas Mexico Floating 1 52    US $500.00

Gorgeous timeshare in Playa del Carmen Mexico    US $10,000.00

Save $$$ on Identity Theft Protection Legal Services    US $149.99

Bluegreens La Cabana 23000 Annual Points Vacation Club Timeshare    US $700.00

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

Display eBay Listings On Your Own Website!

Thanks for reading!

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

I have been aware of the Vzaar video embed service for eBay sellers and Internet merchants since they started back in 2007.  Not being a big user of video though I really did not spend a lot of time checking the company out. To tell the truth, this could be one of my biggest mistakes in the last 2 years!

Video ENGAGE!

(I apologize to Captain Jean-Luc Picard - I couldn't resist!)

Everyone is now aware of the power of video for product presentations, for engagement of the audience and to more effectively present any service on a website (or in this case any eBay listing) in a fashion that is accepted worldwide. Viewers may not speak your language but a video can explain your product or service to them - it is that effective.

A picture may be worth a 1000 words! What is the extrapolation for video? - a Billion words?

Yet I have not paid as much attention to video as I should have. Frankly I was blithely wandering through life with my own little writers mentality enjoying ignorant bliss.  Wow, did I miss the boat on this one!

Jamie Parkins

Jamie Parkins of Vzaar tried to show me the way at eBay Live in Chicago 2008.  We met on the solutions floor about, oh... a dozen times it seems. Jamie was actively trying to get my attention for his product and to be honest he had a great story to tell.  I listened, I watched and I found it all very interesting but I have to admit something...  In the back of my head was what I thought was a huge question about this paid video embed service...

What about YouTube or Viddler?

...or any of the other free services out there allowing people to upload and share videos on websites or even eBay?

Vzaar at eBay Live 2008

This was the dreaded objection never heard by the marketer, never expressed objections are one of the biggest killers of sales in any trade show atmosphere.  I did not give Jamie the chance to answer my objection, which was somewhat unfair to him and his company.

I thought I had the answer to what about YouTube and Viddler and that answer would be that they would be the services of choice - free is always good... right?

Free is Not Necessarily Good

Jamie Parkins has diligently stayed in contact with me since eBay Live and eventually after much delay and several conversations... I presented my objection to him.  Wow, what was I thinking?

Jamie's answer to "why use Vzaar when free video services like YouTube and Viddler are out there" was as true to basic principles of business as is my answer to prospective website clients for "why not use a free website builder"?

The answer goes beyond "You get what you pay for" in ways which make a great deal of sense for anyone thinking of using video to market any product or service online and even more so for marketing on eBay.

I will let Jamie Parkins speak for himself and Vzaar on this question:

So many businesses and eBay sellers we speak with are well aware of YouTube and ask, why don’t I simply use them? It is a fair question but one that we are confident in answering when you look at the ways that businesses want to represent themselves and their brand online.

How do we differentiate ourselves from YouTube?

The core difference is rooted in our business models. YouTube don’t charge their users to use the service and at vzaar we do. Remember though, nothing is ever really free. vzaar’s founding principle is to provide ecommerce merchants with a service that enables them to use video to merchandise their product or service. We are not a destination site for people to come and watch video, we are a tool for businesses to use to power video on their site.

We also offer our users access to:

• an unbranded video player
• use of our Search Enhancer tool that submits users videos into Google search
• the ability to add video to hundreds of eBay listings in a few clicks of a button
• multi sized video players (coming soon)

Vzaar users own their video and their video player. They have control over who sees it and where it’s published. They also have an unbranded video player so it looks smart and a seamless part of their site. YouTube sell advertising space on their site and video player, so a client’s potential buyer will be exposed to anything YouTube decide to display and the “owner” of that video has no control. Not ideal if you are selling let’s say a vacuum cleaner from Hoover and YouTube sell advertising to Dyson.

Our integration into eBay through their API also makes us stand out as we are the only approved video provider that allows eBay sellers of any skill set upload and add video to their listings quickly and easily in a matter of clicks. We’re very proud of that service and it continues to be a popular one with our users.

Pretty darn good answer - right?

So... Now I am thinking, yeah but .... is it expensive?

The Vzaar Pricing page on their website answers that question.

Upon reviewing the pricing page on Vzaar.com I did some digging around the internet and I found  the competitors seem to charge a great deal more than Vzaar for branded video players and embed capabilities.  Some charge as much as a $500.00 setup and a minimum of $100 - $1500 per month for the same service Vzaar is providing for $0 - $200 per month with no setup fees!

Yes I said $0.00 dollars - As In Free!

Anyone can use Vzaar for Free! - It is a modest amount of bandwidth at 2GB included on the free account and the player is branded by Vzaar but this is a great option for merchants to try out the service on their website, blog or in eBay listings (I think it will even work in Bonanzle or Etsy listings - but you have to use the embed code - this could be real easy with the Bonanzle Bulk editor).

The next step up from FREE is only $10.00 a month, which gives the user a clean video player without Vzaar branding and 5GB of bandwidth.  Check out the Vzaar pricing page link to see more about the other more advanced packages.

Branding Smanding Whats the Difference?

When I have a website client ask me to place YouTube videos in his/her site I sometime cringe. Why do I cringe?

Well, it depends on the situation really but if the client is selling a product or service which has competition, that competition may be found on YouTube. (if they are not there when you send your video up to you tube, they will be soon after - especially if you announce your YouTube videos to your competition by placing them on your own site).

In addition, when embedding a YouTube video in a website project I am in effect helping my client to send traffic off his or her site (or suggesting to the surfer to look for more information on YouTube). This does not make a lot of business sense in my mind.

Of course, if your goal is to bring viewers from YouTube to your site, uploading videos to this destination site with specific website branding is a good idea. Just when these new surfers from YouTube do land on your website or eBay listing - it is a better idea to keep them there with a different set of branded videos which cannot be found on YouTube. Vzaar recognized this strategy a long time ago and they have built the tool to allow merchants to keep customers engaged longer. Keeping your audience engaged with fresh and exciting content - this is the holy grail of Internet marketing.

What if I don't want to star in my business videos?

Vzaar has teamed up with video spokesperson agencies and production companies all around the world. Vzaar offers this service to help merchants produce professional branded and produced ad spots they can insert anywhere offering products or services presented by a professional spokesmodel (men and women) for a fraction of the cost of normal video production. (click image below to learn more).

No Model

No Pretty Face

My readers are aware that I have a face made for radio and sitting behind a computer screen banging on keys... So this kind of spokeperson service is perfect for me. Besides, everyone knows how shy I can be <sic>....

So what is the verdict on Vzaar?

Vzaar is an easy to use, easy to utilize and effective video embed marketing tool. A tool that allows any merchant the ability to keep his/her viewer interested in in his or her product and not go wandering off into the video surfing darkness.

Vzaar is cost effective, easy to setup and allows eBay sellers to embed videos in hundreds of live eBay listings with a click of a button.

Vzaar is worth a try - take a look at the videos in the sidebar here on the Trading Assistant Journal to see how people use Vzaar to sell things like used Guitars or to see how easy Vzaar is to setup.  What have you got to lose when the initial cost is zero and the upside is you could start engaging your customers like never before!

Thinking About Twitter?

Twitter is now mainstream and big time, if you have not heard of Twitter yet you must have been hiding in some deep dark cavern. Oprah Winfry, Regis Philbin and Ellen DeGeneris are all talking about Twitter. Nearly every local television news department in the USA has a dedicated Twitter specialist and all your friends with iPhones or Blackberrys are using it, but what the heck is it and how does it help your life or business?

• Twitter is communication on a global scale in 142 character mini messages.
• Twitter is Niche building at its best - Twitter about your niche and your audience will find you
• Twitter is a way to learn what the thought leaders in your industry are thinking and doing
• Twitter is the most productive and possibly the most time consuming social networking application you may ever use
• Every Twitter "Tweet" is indexed by Google - Content you control with your business name
• Twitter can be a customer service tool, a prospecting tool, an advertising vehicle or just a personal messaging interface - you choose one or all

Twitter basically is the worlds largest chat room only you decide with whom you chat and who's messages you see on your twitter application of choice. Each message is called a "tweet". Colloquialisms such as Tweeps (Twitter speak for another slang word Peeps or People) have sprung up around the culture that is Twitter. Twitter can be used directly from the twitter.com website or by downloading any number of different desktop or cell phone applications. I use an adobe air application called Twhirl and sometimes a more advanced tool called TweetDeck (TweetDeck takes up more room on the desktop than Twhirl. On my blackberry I use TwitterBerry but because of the huge popularity of Twitter there are new and exciting applications and tools launched every day (see below).

Follow me - Follow Who?

You can follow anyone on twitter, yet that person may or may not follow your account back. This is OK because say... if you were President Barak Obama and selected "follow" for everyone who followed you on Twitter, the messages would buzz by on the screen at blazing speed. President Obama has almost 1/2 Million followers on twitter yet he has submitted only 264 updates to his twitter followers mostly during the campaign. (Barak should update more - to be of value to his followers, but I digress....). Some popular or influential people have tens of thousands of followers, these people have the power to shut down unprepared websites with a single tweet if they include a url or domain name in the message. Gaining followers is the name of the game on twitter.

Twitter for Business

Twitter is a very interesting tool for business use. Remember though that Twitter is a Social Networking tool, not a Television ad placement. Posting Tweets with simple product information or hawking your wares in an old fashioned marketing manner will gain you little in the way of influential followers. Your goal is to inspire curiosity and trust, not sell a widget with each tweet. Smart twitter users keep seperate twitter accounts for different interests such as business and personal. (You don't want your business followers reading some of those personal tweets - now do you?). I maintain several Twitter accounts under different names for business and personal reasons.

1. iBusinessLogic - Is my web development business twitter account - This is also tied in with my iBusinessLogic Blog and will tweet new posts.
2. Scott_Pooler - Is mostly my personal account but I do tweet about business there as well (Tied in with the Trading Assistant Journal)
3. GlobalLinkUSA - Twitter account of MerchantRun GlobalLink in the USA - This account is used to update users of the software as well as promotion of the Software as a Service eBay Marketplaces management tool.
4. BonanzleStore - BonanzleStore is not yet launched but this account is tied in with Bonanzle-Webstore.com to promote the new BonanzleStore platform providing Bonanzle merchants with an enhanced experience for eCommerce sales.
5. BonanzleUp! - BonanzleUp! is the Twitter account of BonanazleUp.com a central location for Bonanzle Meetup event organizers to plan and discuss localized Bonanzle merchants conferences around the country.

As you can see, I believe in the use of Twitter for many different reasons and applications. I do not see it as a time waster or simply a fad or passing tool kids use. Twitter is used regularly by Corporate executives and housewives alike, it can be whatever you want it to be yet for business and Internet business in particular it has become the

most valuable relationship building tool I have ever experienced. I converse regularly with people who I have met on Twitter and these people have not only been helpful but they have also sent me referrals and business. Jason Calacanis of Mahalo.com and formerly Weblogs Inc has said that every follower on twitter could be worth a dollar in your pocket. I can state that Jason is absolutely correct in that statement if not possibly understating the value, becuase I have personally seen the Twitter income effect add to my bottom line.

Twitter Tools

Whether you want to achieve your Twitter goals, or just use it as a tool to achieve others, these tools will help you get there.

Twitter Analysis

If your goal is to be popular and influential on Twitter, be sure to check out these tools that will tell you how you’re doing.

1. Twitter Grader: Learn your Twitter grade, your localTwitter Elite, and find new people to follow through Twitter Grader.
2. Twitterholic: Check out the top Twitter users and find out your Twitter stats on Twitterholic.
3. TweetStats: TweetStats offers a graphical analysis of your Twitter stats.
4. TwitterFriends: Carefully measure your Twitter conversations using Twitter Friends.
5. Twinfluence:Twinfluence will measure your Twitter influence based on reach, velocity, and social capital.
6. Tweetwasters:Find out how much time you and other users waste on Twitter.
7. Tweet-Rank: Learn about the quality of your tweets by finding out which ones won or lost followers.
8. Mr. Milestone: Get a tweet when you reach various milestones using this Twitter tool.
9. Retweetrank: Find out how many retweets you and other Twitter users have through this service.

Information Gathering

With these tools, you and gather information for market research, blog posts, and your own simple curiosity.

1. Tweetbeep: With Tweetbeep, you can set up alerts that will help you keep track of keywords on Twitter.
2. @myflightinfo:Use @myflightinfo to stay updated on your flight’s status.
3. Twitterverse:Check out archived timelines and tweets through Twitterverse.
4. Twitscoop:Twitscoop shares what’s hot on Twitter at any given moment.
5. Twitbuzz:Twitbuzz tracks the latest conversations as well as popular Twitterlinks.
6. StrawPoll:Use StrawPoll to make sharing your opinion as easy as sending an @reply.
7. Retweetist:This service ranks the hottest links being retweeted on Twitter.
8. Monitter:Get real time keyword monitoring on Twitter from Monitter.
9. TweetNews:TweetNews ranks stories based on the amount of related tweets.
10. TwitterBuzz:TwitterBuzz will tell you what’s being linked to the most onTwitter.
11. Tweetscan:Set up Tweetscan to make sure you don’t miss any @replies,and to get alerted of your search queries.

Network Building & Management

Find more relevant Twitter users with the help of these tools.

1. Twitter Local: With this service, you can see tweets from Twitter users in a specific location.
2. Twubble:Twubble will expand your Twitter bubble, picking out people you may like to follow.
3. MyCleenr:Sort your friends by their last tweets, and you can get rid of the inactive and useless accounts you’re following.
4. Follow Cost: This tool will tell you how much effortit takes to follow someone.
5. Tweepler:Use Tweepler to organize your tweeps based on whether you’re following them or not.
6. Just Tweet It: Find Tweeple, tools, Twitter botsand more through this directory.
7. TweetWheel:TweetWheel will help you discover which of your Twitter friends know each other.
8. SocialToo:SocialToo will help you keep track of all of the people who have followed or unfollowed you.
9. Twitoria:Reduce your clutter on Twitter by finding your friends that haven’t tweeted in a long time.
10. TwitDir:With TwitDir, you’ll be able to search for people, and exploring categories including top followers and updaters.
11. Who Should I Follow?: Using this site, you can get good recommendations for Tweeps to follow.
12. Nearbytweets:Learn about all of the Twitter users in a specific area with the help of Nearbytweets.
13. Twellow:Find Twitter users in a specific industry using this service.
14. Mr. Tweet:Mr. Tweet is a personal networking assistant for Twitter, helping you find relevant followers.
15. Qwitter:Qwitter will help you manage your network by sending an alert when a person unfollows you.

Twitter Management

Save your time and cull your Twitter list with the help of these tools.

1. Summize:Retrieve information on Twitter quickly to search Twitter in real time.
2. Tweet O’Clock: Trying to reach someone? Tweet O’Clock will help you find the best time to get theirattention.
3. Just Signal: Set up a filter using Just Signal toget only the tweets that discuss the keywords you’d like toread about.
4. TweepSearch ut your Twitter network to good use and search your followers forspecific parameters.
5. Friend or Follow: Manage your Twitter contacts andfind out who’s not following you back through Friend orFollow.
6. TwitResponse:TwitResponse makes it easy for you to schedule the delivery of yourtweets ahead of time.
7. TwitterSnooze ut the pause button on a particular user for a while with TwitterSnooze.
8. Twitterless:Get notified when someone stops following you with Twitterless.
9. Twilert:Track specific keywords to receive alerts for using Twilert.
10. Tweetdeck:Tweetdeck has a groups function that will help you more efficientlyfollow the people you really want to listen to.
11. Twalala ut the mute button on certain people and topics for a while if you arereceiving lots of updates you’re not really interested in.

Sharing Tools

Promote your business, share photos, and more using these Twitter

tools.

1. Tweetburner:Use Tweetburner to share links, and you can track their usage.
2. Twitpic:Twitpic makes it easy to take mobile phone photos and share them usingyour Twitter account.
3. TwitterHawk:Get targeted marketing on Twitter through TwitterHawk.
4. Acamin:Acamin makes it easy to share files on Twitter with your followers.
5. Glue ost links to books, movies, restaurants and more on Twitter throughGlue.
6. Ping.fm:This service will update all of your social networks at once.
7. TweeTube:TweeTube makes it easy to share videos on Twitter.
8. twiggit:Use this automated service to share the articles you digg on Twitter.
9. Twisten.fm:Share what you’re listening to on Twitter through Twisten.fm.

Organization & Productivity

These Twitter tools will make your life a bit more streamlined.

1. Twittercal:Link your Twitter account and Google Calendar to easily keep up withyour events and appointments.
2. Timer:Use Timer to get reminders about tasks through your Twitter account.
3. TwitterNotes:Organize your notes using Twitter with TwitterNotes.
4. Remember the Milk: Use Remember the Milk on Twitter toupdate your to do list.
5. Tweetake:Tweetake will back up your Twitter timeline for archiving and more.
6. Nozbe:Nozbe makes it easy to add and update your to do list on Twitter.
7. Toodledo:This popular to do list app integrates nicely with Twitter.
8. TrackThis:Send TrackThis your tracking number, and you’ll get Twittermessages every time there’s a change in location.
9. Joint Contact: Get project management productivityon Twitter using Joint Contact.
10. Tempo:This time tracking tool allows you to send in updates from Twitter.
11. Tweet Later: Tweet Later offers a great way to setup alerts, schedule tweets, send thank you DMs, and more.
12. OutTwit:OutTwit will make it easy for you to use Twitter inside of Outlook.
13. Jott:Jott makes it easy for you to tweet without ever having to type,transcribing your voice message to Twitter.

Life Tools

With these tools, you can work on relationships, life tracking, and

more.

1. MyMileMarker:Keep track of your mileage with info sent via Twitter every time youfill up.
2. 21Tweets:21Tweets offers personal coaching on Twitter.
3. TwtTRIP:Organize your travel plans and find other Twitter travelers on your waywith TwtTRIP.
4. Tweet Answers: Twitter Answers makes it easy to askquestions and get answers on Twitter.
5. Twtvite:Twtvite is a simple event organizer that will help you create a tweetup.
6. Vacatweet:Set up an autoresponder for your Twitter account with Vacatweet.
7. plusplusbot:Share when someone goes out of their way to help you, or otherwise makeyour feelings known using plusplusbot.
8. TrackDailyGoals:Use this site and the #dailygoals hashtag to keep track of your goalsevery day.
9. ConnectTweet ut the voices of your group or business together through ConnectTweet.
10. Tweeteorology:Find tweets about the weather in any location through Tweeteorology.
11. DreamTweet:Keep a reminder of your dreams and nightmares, and follow the dreams ofothers through DreamTweet.

Business & Finance

Use these tools to improve your business and finances through Twitter.

1. Chipin:If you’re raising funds on Twitter, make use of Chipin to seta goal and let your supporters track the progress of the campaign.
2. Xpenser:You can Twitter your expenses to Xpenser and they will be recorded foryou.
3. Twittertise:Schedule your tweets and track their clickthroughs with this appdesigned for Twitter advertising.
4. TwtQpon:Create simple Twitter coupons for your business with TwtQpon.
5. CheapTweet:Get all of the deals, sales, coupons and more being discussed onTwitter through CheapTweet.
6. Tipjoy:Like Chipin, Tipjoy offers a way to create social payments for yourcause, content, or people.
7. SalesTwit:Get contact management for Twitter with the help of SalesTwit.
8. Tweet What You Spend: Track your cash in a reallyeffective way using Tweet What You Spend.
9. StockTwits:StockTwits shares the investment discussions on Twitter in real time.

Health

Track your health using these Twitter tools.

1. Qwitter:Update Qwitter to shame yourself into quitting smoking.
2. TweetPlot:Use TweetPlot to chart your food and fitness statistics.
3. Tweetwhatyoueat:Keep a food diary to track what you’re eating every day usingTweetwhatyoueat.
4. gtFtr:Use the gtFtr tool to record your exercise activity on Twittr.
5. SugarStats:Track, monitor, and share your blood sugar through Twitter withSugarStats.
6. FoodFeed:This Twitter-based food log makes it easy for you to track whatyou’re eating.

Blogging

Bring your blog life and Twitter life together with these tools.

1. Add to Any: Get your posts shared on Twitter byusing Add to Any on your WordPress blog.
2. TwitThis:Make use of this plugin to send Twitter messages about your blog post.
3. MyTwitter:Use the MyTwitter plugin to display your Twitter status on WordPress.
4. Twitpress:Twitpress will send out a Tweet every time you post a new blog entry.
5. TwitterCounter:With this plugin, you can display the number of followers you have onTwitter.
6. TwitterFeed:Announce your blog post on Twitter with a customized message usingTwitterFeed.

Additional Twitter Applications

Category: Desktop

• 2tweet
• AlertThingy
• Blogo
• blt
• Celly
• chirrup
• DestroyTwitter
• Digsby
• EventBox
• Excel to Twitter
• feedalizr
• Filttr
• gtwitter
• Gwibber
• Hummingbird
• jata
• MadTwiter
• Natsulion
• OutTwit
• Posty
• Pwytter
• pyTwit
• Skitter
• Snitter
• Spaz
• Statuzer
• teletwitter
• The Twitter Toolbar
• TikiTwit
• Togi
• Toro
• TTYtter
• Twadget
• Tweet-SQL
• Tweetahead
• TweetByMail
• TweetDeck
• Tweeter
• Tweetr
• TweetSpeak
• TweetyBot
• twessenger
• twhirl
• twibble
• Twinja
• Twit4Live
• Twitgit
• TwitSaver
• Twitter CLI
• Twitter Deskbar
• Twitter for Vim
• Twitter Public Timeline Screensaver
• Twitter4R
• Twittereeze
• Twitterified
• Twitterlex
• Twitterlicious
• Twitteroo
• TwitterPost
• Twitterrific
• TwitterYM
• Twitulater
• Twitux
• twtcard
• Twype
• What's up?
• Witty
• Yahoo Messenger Twitter Sync Plugin

Similar Applications:

1. Twitter Auto Replace URL with bit.ly URL
2. Twitter Integration into Google Search
3. Twitter Search and Tools
4. The Twitter Toolbar
5. Tweet Manager

It seems that Debbie Levitt CEO of ASWAS, an eBay Stores designer and consulting company based in Boston, MA and a personal friend, has come out very strongly against the grass roots marketing efforts of Bonanzle.com.  A Prominent blogger and also a friend, Henrietta of the Red Ink Diary has responded quite directly to Debbie's take on the Bonanzle Action Club.

Henrietta has been a friend to Bonanzle.com since the beginning, I don't think she is a member of the BAC, but could be. It is a pretty small club of only 50 people when weighed against the 30,000 members of Bonanzle.  Yet the effects of its political style grass roots effort to get out the word about the site seem to have gained some attention in eBay circles (where Debbie Levitt is a big swimmer).

The Article on the Red Ink Diary is available for all to read in its entirety here Red Ink Diary.  I have included a short quote below to give you the idea of where Henrietta stands. (Note: Links to the articles Debbie Levitt wrote in the ASWAS blog are included, just as they appeared in the Red Ink Diary.) I don't know if I would have been quite as direct as Henrietta was in her post, but she expressed her point without leaving any doubt.

From the RedInkDiary

The words which come to my mind are confrontational, short fuse, defensive, impulsive, and ‘no thank you’. This person seems to have a bee up her butt about Bonanzle and for such an important, influential and successful business owner, (I quote below from her profile on Practical eCommerce) to devote her valuable time to badmouthing a site which should be beneath her notice and that of her presumably paid staff; does make me wonder.

...the CEO of eBay’s first Certified Service Provider, which offers services for online sellers including branding, design, and personalized sales and marketing strategies. (She is) eBay’s first Certified Consultant and the first Education Specialist trained by eBay. Her recognized expertise as well as her approach to online branding, marketing and strategy are redefining the model of what are “good” eBay listings, eBay Stores, or websites.

She has written two posts about it this month. One on February 10th which has a comment by Mark Dorsey and an illuminating response to that comment by the blogger.

“As for helping me with future content, I have tried to contact you a number of times through email and Twitter, and that’s as far as things have gone. I guess I’d only matter if I were a BAC member. “

Shame on you Mark for not realizing what an important and influential person you were failing to treat with awe and respectful deference.

The second post is today and comments have been closed. You may however comment here on Red INK

End of Red Ink Diary Quote - All Rights Reserved

Personally I have no idea why Debbie Levitt would raise such a ruckus over the Bonanzle Action Committee. They are just happy members  and sellers on the Bonanzle.com platform who freely give of their time to help increase the reach and awareness of an upstart bootstrapping eCommerce alternative that has simply grown faster than any other in history.

Did the 50 members of the Bonanzle Action Club help that growth along?

• You bet! - how much they helped is really indeterminable.

Is it evil, backhanded or unfair?

• No way! - The tactic has been used the world over.

eBay has their own shills and cheerleaders, they almost invented the practice and they did it on a much larger scale than 50 unpaid members of a small site that has grown beyond anyone's expectations. These are people who actually sell product on the site they are promoting, not some paid staff working out of a boiler room. The difference here is that the BAC members are doing it in a new medium called social networking and they are effective at adding dialog to sites where there already was an interest.  (They could be more effective, but that is a matter for a different post).

I have been writing about Bonanzle since before the Bonanzle Action Club (BAC) came into being. I am not a member of the BAC and I will never be a member of the BAC because membership is closed.  I have written good things about Bonanzle because I instantly saw the advantages offered by the site, it worked,  it is easy to use and because I liked it.

I have been so impressed that I have created an off Bonanzle website development project for its members that is known as Bonanzle Webstores. This is not funded, administered or run by the team at Bonanzle or its ownership yet they have been more than helpful in the creation and development of our program because it will help bring in new traffic to Bonanzle.com and its merchants.

I have never been paid, offered payment, bribed or told what to say. I have also written honest critiques which in most cases have been accepted and acted upon by the founder of the site Bill Harding. While the site is not perfect and there are several improvements that could be enacted, the founder and head programmer works hard to make the site work for all of its members on a daily basis.

Bonanzle is a very interesting and ever expanding marketplace that has piqued mine and several thousand other peoples interest. The entire massive and ever expanding groundswell of acceptance has not come from just 50 people repeating the same comments on several blogs or sites around the Internet (something I have a problem with - please be original BAC members i.e. paraphrase your comments on blogs - don't quote verbatim what the BAC blast says each time - OK - just say what you feel in your comments) .  The interest has come both from within the seller base and from outside the community from sites like Google and from blogs like this one.

The BAC members are simply reaching outside the site to make the site known to those who have never been exposed to it. From there the decision is completely in the consumers hands, try Bonanzle or not - it is up to the potential member.  The BAC does nothing to trick or deceive people into trying the site.

I agree with Debbie Levitt on one point however.

I dislike the term or slogan "Best eBay alternative", in fact I dislike any mention of eBay when referring to Bonanzle.  They are two different marketplaces, two different systems of eCommerce and they really have no comparisons at all, other than history.

The history of eBay is one of a grass roots driven growth curve built on social interaction (first between sellers and then between buyers and sellers). Bonanzle has re-created that excitement from the early days of eBay, when sellers sold to sellers and everyone helped one another learn how to use the tools provided by the venue to become successful.  Bonanzle and eBay both have the same history in regards to a fantastic growth curve and they both share a history of having a very small marketing budget.  eBay was not perfect when it started and is still not perfect all these years later. I would wager that if you could access a screenshot or go back in time to read the forum comments of users of eBay after roughly 6 months of operations and compare that to the Bonanzle site we see today, the differences of platform and the similarities in regards to history would be oh so clear.

In today's world of internet marketing, having a small marketing budget does not necessarily rule you out from competing for business.

Being creative by using customers enthusiasm is a fantastic way to create evangelists for your brand. This is exactly what Mark Dorsey at Bonanzle has done with just 50 of his best customers.  I am certain he has many more volunteers for the BAC but for management reasons they have kept the number small.

I am sure the method of marketing being utilized here can be called many different names, is it unfair? No.

Is it unusual?, maybe in this space but it is used by fortune 500 companies the world over in this new World of Internet based marketing.  Should it be an issue for a eBay based service provider to come out so strongly against?  I really don't think so.

Debbie Levitt, on a personal note...

I want to say that I appreciate the work you do and I have always loved your designs, your speaking and your in depth knowledge of eBay. I don't want you to take my comments here personally, but I don't agree with the implications of your post(s), your insinuation that Mark Dorsey is anything but approachable and informative or that he only speaks with BAC members.  I also am uneasy with  your inclination to take the negative tact sometimes used against other companies in posts on your blog to somehow promote yourself as a consumer advocate.

Debbie, you are a marketing person and you represent ASWAS as the CEO and as its chief evangelist. Your consumer advocacy always has been one which promotes your own services and that of eBay or other eBay service providers you work with.  There is nothing wrong with promotion, and you do a fine job of it - when you discuss matters that pertain to your business, eBay or how your clients excel in new and exciting endeavors online. You have a great track record, an avid following and a long portfolio of quality work.

I really do not understand why you are endeavoring to slow the growth of a new and exciting community of sellers and buyers who simply choose to do eCommerce elsewhere besides eBay.

The people who choose to use Bonanzle really have no effect upon your business.  Does it help your company to point out what you think are wrongs that in fact have no effect on you, on your clients or really eBay in any way? I understand how you want to expose wrongs and be a stand up person who is respected in your industry, and in fact, you have been that person for many years.  Take the respect and knowledge and experience and use it to promote the good of your community, add to the knowledge base of your clients and readers by interjecting reason and not necessarily interjecting doubt where none existed.

The members of the BAC are only a small problem for those of us who have to approve their comments, and to me.. that is no problem at all because comments are what bring a blog to life.

The media thrives on news, and believe it or not, Bonanzle is news.

Bonanzle has something people like,  sales are being made by the merchants who use all of the tools available to them on the Bonanzle platform, and there are improvements being made almost on a daily basis. There is no way that Mark Dorsey on his own could gather the attention that he has for his company without some help. He can either pay cash for that help, or he can use customers who are also evangelists. The ring of truth always comes from actual customers - on this I am sure we can agree.

You and I ask for testimonials from our clients - is this really all that different?

Except for the fact that Bonanzle Action Club Members give testimony each and every week on the behalf of Bonanzle.

I am actually envious - I don't have as many clients as Bonanzle.com has that are so impressed with my work that they would take 20 minutes of time each week to promote for me. The ones I do have, I cherish,  but I have yet to organize them into a committee. Having clients that sing your praises is the best marketing in the world... Using the power of word of mouth is a basic tenant of all marketing.

Maybe you and I should look at creating something like the BAC ... Hmmmm iBusinessLogic Action Committee - Naw, it doesn't sound right, does it.... ASWAS-AC?

Tell you what, I will join your AC if you join mine....

Seth Godin

Some of you may be unfamiliar with what a "podcast" is or why anyone would listen to one?  Podcasts are recordings of events, shows or seminars and/or the occasional sales pitch.  Some podcasts are similar to talk radio shows with live callers hosted by a main host and sometimes a co-host. 

Today's "radio show" has been moved off of the airwaves and into your iPod or other mp3 device.  Thousands of these podcasts are available, mostly for free, in the iTunes store. Far ranging topics are available as podcasts on iTunes and in other places around the Internet.  I usually focus on the Internet marketing and ecommerce titles but also download free photoshop training, "This Week in Tech" podcasts from Leo Laport, John C. Dvorak's "Cranky Geeks" financial news and a few more.  Topics are plentiful and inspiration is included. 

I listen to these podcasts to try and learn something while doing things which would be unproductive otherwise.  I have learned a great deal just from this free resource and I have been fortunate enough to forge more than one friendship with people I would never have met because of podcasting. 

• I first met Dave White of "eBay & Beyond Basic To Business"
  

  Dave & Scott interviewing Scot Wingo

and eCommerce Radio Network through a service called entrecard. I started a conversation with Dave to see what he thought of entrecard and the rest is history.  I have since appeared on Dave's live talk show as a co-host over 20 times and I have tried to help Dave, where I can to develop new markets for his show with Online Auction and Bonanzle sellers.  Dave is the heart and soul of his show.  As a long time eBay seller Dave always defends the rights or point of view of the merchant when it comes to eBay.

• Jay Berkowitz has a smooth voice and gentle delivery. His podcast is titled "The Ten Golden Rules of Internet Marketing"which just also happens to be the name of his company. Rule number one of the Ten Golden Rules is that there are "no rules in Internet marketing". (Listen to the podcasts to hear the rest). Jay's podcasts take people to places and into interviews with luminaries from the Internet marketing world that most of us would never meet.  People like Matt Cutts of Google, and Andy Sernovitz of word of mouth marketing but also others you might not expect like Robin Cowie of the Blair Witch project and Worldwide brands or even myself from time to time.  Jay interviews these people without the all knowing superiority one might expect coming from a Madison avenue marketing director (Jay was a Marketing director for companies like Coca Cola and McDonalds and helped Sprint & AT&T with a few online campaigns, just to name a few - oh and then there was e-Diets), Jay approaches these interviews much like one of his audience members might do. With genuine interest and a little bit of awe that he actually gets to speak with these famous and wealthy people. If there is just one Internet Marketing podcast you try, start with episode 1 of the Ten Golden Rules.
  

  Jay Berkowitz

I am honored that both of these gentlemen include me in their lists of friends. Since meeting each of them I have had the privilege to meet and travel with them to conferences around the country.  I must take credit for unleashing Jay Berkowitz on the world of eBay and turning some eBay marketers world upside down, by arranging for his speaking at Rocketplace Disney and then helping to bring Jay to eBay Live 2008, where he launched his book and packed his seminar with a standing room audience (rare at Bay Live this past year - expet for Seth Godin's seminar in the same hall).  

Podcasting has helped me to learn and expand my depth of knowledge for myself and my clients. As a listener and a speaker I have been enriched by the experience with new relationships and new opportunities.

Back to Seth Godin...

Marketing Over Coffee with Christopher S Penn and John Wall is another must listen podcast. Heck, these guys practically invented Podcamp (a gathering of podcasters in various places around the country devised to share podcasting ideas).  On the last episode of Marketing Over Coffee the hosts of this popular podcast just happened to have a live recording of Seth Godinon stage giving one of his famous seminars on marketing. Instead of editing the recording so they could dissect and comment on what Seth was saying, Dave and John simply laid down their microphones and let Seth speak for himself.  A Wise decision!

What did Seth Say?

You can find the podcast download here: Seth - Tribes but essentially Seth Godin has pronounced traditional marketing not as a dying methodology, but simply a dead corpse.  Seth Godin observes that the old way of marketing, the marketing methods which we have all grown up with, and he terms as "Interrupting People Until They Notice You", has not worked in over ten years.  

Television was the inspiration for this annoying kind of marketing and since we all grew up watching television, we all assume that style of marketing works. Show people your name enough times, interrupt their train of thought, place yourself between them and what they are doing and they will not only remember you, but they will buy from you.  Seth Godin says that's all hogwash! 

Listen to the podcast if you want to know what direction your marketing should follow.  I believe Seth is right. We simply do not pay attention to television commercials, banner ads, billboards, bouncing gif images, or loud obnoxious carnival hawkers any longer.  People have been numbed by the noise.

People are craving actual, real content... Stuff they can evaluate, read, touch and feel.  People want to know who they are dealing with and they don't just want to know the specifications of your products, they want to know what, if anything, those products are good for?

In my view, using the power of content and information in a small business is the new marketing plan. Inform, entertain, teach, share and contribute.  Your customers want to know they can trust you, your customers will go where they can find out more information about your products.  If you do not have a place for them to find that information, your customers will go elsewhere.  

Every business should have a website and a blog! Blogs Work! From a blog a business could host a podcast, these kinds of opportunituies are available to each and every business in America!

New Marketing is informational and informative. We are all part of a tribe of some sort (listen to Seth about that) and we want to belong, we buy things we think other people buy and we respect other peoples opinions. 

Get out there and give yours!

My most recent sojourn into the world outside of eBay took me to the very interesting, yet almost unknown, industry of automotive recycling.

Yes, I know... most of us non-recyclers call it by a different name and frankly we rarely think about the positive impact on our environment and economy that auto recycling, or what we call  "Junkyards" (bad word inside the industry) has in America.

At first I did not "get" why the term "Junkyards" was considered not-PC (Politically Correct), but after attending the 65th annual Automotive Recyclers Association convention and expo in Kansas City, Missouri, I have a much better understanding.

Automotive recycling as an industry has come a long way in technology, in standards and most importantly in environmental protection since this national organization was formed in 1943.

From systems designed to extract every ounce of fluid from a wrecked vehicle to machines which automatically extract copper from the miles of wires in every car while saving the plastic insulation for re-use, the technology changes have been enormous.  I personally was amazed at the live demonstrations held at Midway Auto Parts in Kansas City on chilly evening during the exposition.

The yard was clean and extraordinarily well organized, all of the wrecked vehicles had been sorted and were laid out in various stages of the recycling process. No huge stacks of rusty hulks in this yard, most all of the cars I saw represented recent model years, they even had a used car lot in the front of the operation with some very clean looking late model automobiles. This place looked more like a new car dealership than what previously ill-informed outsiders like myself might have called it. This was a recycling facility, not a "Junk yard"

I have to agree with the new terminology, there was no presence of "Junk" here. This was pure recycling, down to the last ounce of steel. I was told this is not uncommon in the new era of auto recycling.  It seems that with the right combination of technology and training more of an automobile or truck can be recycled than ever before.  The industry as a whole has seen, both from a profit and from the environmental impact perspective, modernizing is the only way to excel.

By now my regular readers are wondering where eBay enters into all of this?

I was invited to this convention by a client who also happens to be an eBay Powerseller.

Taia Cesana - East Coast eCommerce Manager

The eBay connection starts with Taia Cesana of East Coast Auto Salvage. Taia hired my company iBusinessLogic to build a new website for their family owned auto recycling facility in Higganum, Connecticut. I met Taia at the Channel Adviser Catalyst conference in North Carolina. We have worked together on a plan to upgrade both East Coast's eBay sales operations and their website since Catalyst.

Taia and her dad Bill are very active members of both the ARA and CAR (Connecticut Auto Recyclers Association)associations. iBusinessLogic is now building a new website for CAR as a direct result of our work on the East Coast site.

Taia and Bill of East Coast Auto Salvage believe in finding the best solutions for industry challenges.

One of the challenges in the auto recycling industry is perception.  The best way to combat problems with perception is with information. Today's information leader is the Internet and building an information rich website is no longer a luxury for any business, it is a necessity.

Many of the websites auto recycling yards present to the public are developed by the industry leading inventory solutions providers. These include Hollander, Car-Parts.com and Inventory Technology Systems among others.

The original East Coast Auto Salvage site was provided by ITS.  Taia Cesana wanted to provide a more modern look and offer much more information on the East Coast Auto Salvage website than a parts search and location engine. Yet without the parts location and inventory searches provided by ITS and Car-Part, her website would not hold much value to her customers.

We solved the problem by simply taking the information served by ITS and inserting it within the new website and we also added an important feature by importing all of the East Coast Auto Salvage's eBay listings directly into their new website.

The new website we developed for East Coast Auto Salvage is designed to not only provide easy access to parts information but also give the public a more comprehensive view of their business in an attractive and straightforward package.  I am very honored Taia and Bill thought enough of the job we did for them to ask us to share our ideas with the rest of the industry.

Back at the convention in Kansas City

I did not expect to find much eBay related news at an Auto Recycling exposition. In fact, it seemed when I mentioned eBay to any of the attendees or exhibitors on the expo floor, the tone of the conversations almost immediately became suspicious.  I was not selling eBay, I simply was asking how or if any of these businesses were integrating eBay as a sales venue for the massive amount of used automotive, truck and motorcycle parts they had on hand.

The overall impression seemed to be that eBay was a mysterious and unknown quantity. These business people, all of whom seem to be looking at Internet sales and ecommerce in a new light, were not really sure if eBay could help them sell parts.

As an Industry, I would say that Auto Recyclers could use eBay to a great advantage, if they could just figure out how.

To be honest, many of these cutting edge (in their industry) business people have not yet totally grasped the power of Internet marketing.  Most auto recycling yard websites provide simple location information and a parts location search with very little or no additional information or ecommerce capabilities.  This is a missed marketing opportunity on a massive scale.

It seems that I am not the only person at the exposition who believes eBay could help auto recyclers move used auto parts.

Terry Lindell - VINterchange

Terry Lindell of Inventory Technology Systems announced what could be an incredible tool for auto recyclers worldwide in a presentation explaining his new VINterchange inventory system.  VINterchange aims to turn the auto recycling inventory process upside down (or right-side up - depending on your point of view) with a new way to automatically evaluate and inventory the parts from wrecked vehicles.

It is a long story but it seems that the auto recyclers and the auto industry have been working with two entirely different numbering systems and ways of inventorying parts. The VINterchange system is designed to bring the auto recycling industry more in line with OEM manufactures VIN system, providing actual OEM part numbers to the public.

The presentation was jam packed full of information, I will say that as an industry outsider, the new system seemed to make incredible sense from the perspective of an Internet marketer such as myself.  When these recycling yards provide OEM auto part numbers to the public, on the Internet, finding the parts will become much easier for the consumer. Selling those same parts to the world via the Internet will become a vital part of every recyclers business.

My ears really perked up When Terry Lindell transitioned into the eBay portion of his presentation. I have not seen how it works, but apparently ITS's VINterchange system has the capability of automatically populating eBay listings with all of the OEM parts information needed to sell these parts to the public in a fast and efficient manner.  This could revolutionize the used auto parts industry on eBay motors.

I have a net meeting scheduled with ITS to get a first hand look at how this new system will handle uploading parts data to eBay, to tell the truth I am very excited about the possibilities.  I know first hand from East Coast Auto Salvage that these parts move well on eBay yet the time it takes to process the eBay listings is a pain point for Taia Cesana at East Coast.

If ITS has come up with a solution which not only catalogs all of the profitable parts from a wrecked vehicle and assigns those parts the proper OEM part numbers but can also feed eBay and/or eCommerce that same catalog of inventory, I think the used auto parts business will find a much easier path to ecommerce than ever before.

In Summary

• eBay still suffers a problem of perception, in that it is a painful process to utilize eBay as a sales venue, from established industries such as auto recycling.
• eCommerce is the next logical step for the Auto Recycling industry
• It all starts with information and the proper aggregation and display of that information for both eBay and outside industries like auto recycling.
• If the auto recycling industry continues to develop methods of standardizing information the industry and consumers will both win. In effect parts will become worth more than the price of steel and consumers will buy those parts when they have a clear path to finding them on either Google or eBay.

Thanks to the following sources:

• Parts Locator
• Invetory Technology
• Car-Part.com
• ARA

Recently, I wrote an article highlighting the traffic history of three of eBay competitors, Compete: OnlineAuction.com vs Bonanzle.com vs. etsy.com

The article on iBusinessLogic.com/blog highlights the relatively flat traffic levels of two of the three sites, with etsy being the clear winner when looking at both growth and monthly visitors to the site. To be fair, Bonanzle has not been in the race long enough to be compared in this way (Bonanzle opened for business in June 2008) and Compete.com figures are not always considered the most accurate.

The current climate of disruption at eBay makes it no surprise that competitors new and old have tried to seize the day by collecting as many of the fleeing sellers as possible for their own sites.  Attracting sellers is certainly an important part of building a new online marketplace but it is only half of the battle.

Every seller looking for a new venue is seeking buyers, any venue who can provide buyer traffic will have no trouble attracting eBay sellers.

It is a catch 22 situation and it appears sites like Onlineauction.com are caught up in the vortex.  Online Auction has a vibrant and engaged seller community yet the buyer traffic is slim, the same thing could be said for many other would be eBay heirs.

eBay certainly has the traffic numbers (or had) to make almost any competitor short of Amazon seem almost a trivial pursuit.  But how did eBay get to that point?  What was it that made eBay an almost overnight success and kept them on a steady growth curve for so long?

Lessons can be learned about the early success at eBay which today's new and fresh competition (like Bonanzle) should mimic to grow beyond current expectations. I think Bonanzle has attempted to mirror some of the early eBay elan' but are they there yet?

Lets look at what eBay had going for them in the late 1990's. Admittedly some of these market factors could not be replicated now (no competition, barrier to entry for sellers elsewhere) yet some factors can be replicated by any of todays upstart eBay alternatives.

1. eBay provided a community of buyers and sellers and promoted the one on one communications between these two groups. eBay no longer provides this social interaction, many alternative sites do - good job!
2. eBay was an easy way to get products online - easy to sell with minimal friction. (Once again, no longer true at eBay but sites like Bonanzle and etsy have this wrapped up). Good Job for Alternatives
3. eBay was the place to find the unusual, unique and outlandish - No longer the story at eBay. Some alternatives are working hard to fill this niche - Good Job!
4. eBay was a fair playing field, designed to allow the small merchant or at home sellers the ability to have equal standing with huge retailers. - Not true any longer.  A message more of the alternatives should trumpet, true in most cases on competetive sites however. Good Job!
5. eBay opened up a Worldwide marketplace - Still true, to its detriment sometimes - Asian knock offs flooding categories and killing perceived value.
6. eBay provided a searchable database of merchandise from around the world - Not always the best of search but early on it was the only search - now it is a broken search.  Alternatives should focus on making sure search is always functional and easly to use.
7. eBay brought buyers and traffic with partner relationships. The obvious early partners were Google and Yahoo. Yahoo is still with eBay, Google not so much. Alternative sites need to find ways to make sure they maintain a good relationship with Google - This is Crucual.
8. eBay took advantage of mass marketing via affiliates through Commision Junction - now they have almost strangled the relationship they enjoyed for so long with affiliates with the switch to the eBay Partner Network.

Effective Affiliate marketing can propel any website to the top of the leaderboard in traffic from buyers in a matter of mere months.  Utilized in the right way an affiliate program will build any sites page rank and inbound links exponentially in a matter of weeks. eBay shared the wealth with affiliates and Google early on and it worked for them in a grand and glorious fashion.

I question why sites who want to tackle the giant of eBay when it has shown its weaknesses have not utilized this simple method of attracting new users and visitors. Affiliate Marketing.

eBay affiliates are a major reason why the company enjoyed success for so long.

Which eBay competetor will give those affiliate streams a place to send the water?

This is the article: Digital Delivery on eBay - A Crime or Just Bad Wording?

I have continued to stay in contact with Timothy Jones since that article was published and I am happy to report that he has continued with his many businesses and is doing fine. eBay changes aside, he made adjustments and moved on.

Timothy had the good fortune of attending Affiliate Summit East in Boston this year. Read more about the history of Affiliate Summit here: About Affiliate Summit

I could not attend affiliate Summit this year so I asked Timothy to bring back an inside view from a first time attendee to the event.  Since Timothy is a travel writer and all around good guy, he was kind enough to present our readers with a guest blog about Affiliate Summit 2008 in Boston.

If your interested in reading Timothy's report and learning more about what its like to check out Affiliate Summit from a new attendee perspective, please follow this link to the ibusinesslogic.com/blog