Blog Blog Blog

So I've had my blog for a few months now, so I thought I'd touch on they why and how of it.

Why get a blog? Some people enjoy writing. Some people get good therapy for themselves out of writing about lifes goings on. Others do so strictly for business reasons and others to educate the masses. Google has one, HP, Sony...just about everyone it seems is blogging. Businesses use Blogs to communicate with its customers.

But me...why did I start a Blog?

Well a bit of all of the above. I do enjoy writing, even in my matter of factly style. I wanted to educate anyone willing to read it, on a miriad of subjects that I've endured in my pursuit of making a living online. And I too, want to communicate with my regular readers.

Has it worked? Who knows really? You're reading it right? Why? You may have gotten here via my email signature. It appears this is the way most of my readers find their way here. The first month around 70 visitors total, then 80 the next, thn it dropped off a bit...down to 60. Then this month boom, back up to over 100. Ok, I'm not the New York times, but I have had a few people email me about what an "interesting" blog I have. I'm not sure that means they like it or not, but I'll take interesting. :o)

I'm trying to touch on eBay, websites, email marketing, and any other online endeavours I've run across. But if you have a topic you want to see my comments on, let me know. Chances are better than not, that I've tried it or at least given it some thought.

Feel free to post your comments on any posts you like or dislike too.

$5 Banner creation

Banners...what are they used for? Normally you think advertising. Now when you need a banner you have two choices...make your own or hire someone. I've done both. Now I like to think of myself as a fairly artistic and creative guy, but my skills are still limited and my time is even more limited than my skills! Below is a banner I created for eBay keywords advertising.




It's not bad, but even as simple as it is, it probably took me an hour to make.

Well through my searching and doing business online, somewhere in a forum I found a guy that does fantastic work, and dirt cheap. His name is Justin and he owns 5dollarbanners.com . You can check out some of the hundreds of banners he's done at his site, and I'm going to paste a few below. I really like the animated ones he's done for me. $5.00! And he usually has them done in a day or two. He does all different sizes, whatever you want.

Justin also does eBook covers, CD's and website headers.




Anyway, that's my shameless plug for a guy that does super work at great prices. Check it out the next time you need some work done.

eBay Live...come and gone

eWow, it seems like I was just writing about eBay Live 2005 not so long ago...and BAM!, Live '06 has come and gone. The recent event held in Las Vegas actually sold out at just over 15,000 attendees. It was the first time that has happened in the brief 5 year history of the event. They actually didn't allow "at the door" registration because of maximum capacity.

The show was great! We always have a great time. I heard so many people griping about having to pay $50 for the three day event, or simply refusing to go on the grounds of "I'm not paying eBay another cent" type mentality. Honestly, the entertainment alone is worth the admission price, not to mention the show itself.

It's always great to meet people you've chatted with on the phone, including eBay employees, account reps, PayPal staff and others that we indirectly work with every day. On more than one occasion I've leveraged my past relationships with people I met at eBay Live to help me work through an issue I was having.

I realize not everyone makes their living on eBay like I do. But I always want to learn more, and would always take any opportunity to do so.

I did learn a lot. Some I'll share in future posts and others I'll touch on briefly here today.

So what's new? eBay Blogs! Yes, if you didn't hear, eBay has a blog now. It's free and is another way to drive traffic to your listings. They're new, and their future is not yet determined, but at this point, why not, right? Check 'em out here http://blogs.ebay.com/ .

Shipping terms are going to be enforced better. That's the promise from Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay. We saw her at the "Keynote" speach. You can see her below. What does that mean? It means when you see a listing with a Buy It Now of .99 cents for say a $50 item, then you see Shipping & Handling $49.01. This is what eBay calles excessive shipping and is really designed to save the seller money on eBay fees. You see, if you're unfamiliar with the eBay fee structure, the way it works is, the higher you start an item at, and the higher it closes at, the more eBay charges you in fees. But, that doesn't include shipping. So, they're paying next to no eBay fees, and still making the sale. Smart, but it's cheating and in the past it's gone on un-patrolled.

This is the view from our seats. I guess Meg and others are fans of the Monkees - the old "hey, hey with the Monkees" band. And yes, the lead singer Davey Jones of the Monkees and his new band were there to put on a short concert at the end of the speaking. It was really fun. Snack foods, soft pretzels, soft drinks, hot dogs, pop corn and ice cream bars were all free for everyone at the event that around 10,000 attended.

By the way, you can listen to the Keynote speach by visiting here: http://www.wsradio.com/internet-talk.cfm/radio/ebay-keynote-2006.html

One of my favorite things at eBay live is the "Seller Scalability" area of the show. This is where you meet one on one with an eBay account rep and they go through your listings, and store and give you immediate feedback on things you can do to improve your sales, appearance and effectiveness. It REALLY helped me out last year. I especially liked this year when I was told "wow, this looks great. I wish there were something I could help you with" . Now while I appreciated the compliment, I really wanted someone to pick my work apart and show me what to improve, but this was beyond the scope of the show meeting.

The show was very large and took us about a full day to walk through at a fairly brisk pace. Then the second day we re-visited particular booths of interest and the last day, really just fooled around. :o) There are also educational seminars and guest speakers going on all day everyday for all abilities on all manner of subjects. Jerry, from Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream was there. The PostMaster General from the Post Office was there. There were classes for newbies and for PowerSellers alike. Again, we got SO much out of those classes last year, but were much more selective this time around.

Speaking of the PostMaster General...he informed everyone that you can now print International labels and fill out customs forms all online and at home, like you already could the regular and priority postage before. This will be a huge time-saver for anyone doing International shipping on a regular basis.

Of course there is always the collecting to do at the show. Last year they had the trading cards I mentioned in my past Live post, but this year it was a mini deck of playing cards...Vegas Baby! And the ever-present lapel pins to trade and save too.

The closing ceremonies or GALA Event as it is called, is always a great bash. There are literally a thousand eBay employees lined up on both sides of a red carpet and they all cheer, clap and give you high-5's as you enter the event. There is food galore everywhere, all part of the $50 you paid for the whole show. There are give-aways, entertainers, and always a headliner band. Last year B-52's, this year Huey Lewis . It was fun. Also it wouldn't have been a Vegas event if they didn't have about 20 Elvis impersonators running around and show girls for numerous picture opportunities.

All in all...definitely a great time. I didn't get quite as much out of it as last year, but I'll definitely go next year. And by the way, the show is heading back to the East Coast...Boston! Should be a fun time and will feel like it's just around the corner.

Hey...who's that dude below? YES! It's eBay Jay himself. :o) Yeh, that's me.

Hope to see some of you in Boston next year!