Affiliate Marketing Terms and Their Meaning

Affiliate Marketing is a concept with it's own terms. To get started, you'll have to know what the middlemen and affiliate program pitches mean when they use them, otherwise it will strike you as a bunch of gibberish. For those of you with some experience already in this matter, these terms are for the beginners.

These will get you started with your affiliate marketing understanding. Some programs are also multi-tier, which means you get paid on downline several tiers beneath you or more.

• Two-Tier Program: An affiliate program that pays you for your sales and those of anyone you recruit. For all intents and purposes, if you recruit and train your second tier, they will make you money.
• Super Affiliate: An affiliate marketer in the top 5% of all affilate marketers. These are the ones that make 80% of all the commissions in affiliate marketing and the aspiration of all affiliate marketers looking to get rich doing this.
• Pay Per Sale: The most common ways to get paid in affiliate programs. When you send someone to a site and they buy a product, eBook, download, or membership, you get paid a percentage of the gross on it.
• Pay Per Lead: This one is not common but very handy. When you send someone to a site and they sign up for a free trial, e-mail list or sales call, it's called a lead. Some companies pay you to give them leads, which is good for you, because you are getting paid to give a potential customer something for free.
• Pay Per Click: You get paid anytime someone clicks on a link from your site. The biggest example of a program that does this is Google AdSense, which gives you Pay Per Click ads to put your site and pays you every time someone clicks on it. Miva ARX and Yahoo! also have ad programs that work this way.
• Creative: The collective reference given by some programs to the sum total of all their advertising stuff, like ad gif's, testimonials, product photos, and copy text.Conversion: The percentage of people you send to an affiliate site that buy. 1% is the industry average. Getting conversions is the name of the game in affiliate marketing.
• Commission: This is how you get paid by all affiliate marketing programs. It's not a salary or a fee, and taxes are not deducted and thus your problem to track. Commissions are usually expressed in percent, although some are given in dollars per sale.
• Affiliate Program: An agreement with a given company that has this sort of program to advertise and promote their products in exchange for payment, usually as a commission per sale. You do this at your own expense, although the programs themselves are free to join. I have heard of those that require payment to join, but I strongly recommend against them, as there are plenty of good programs you can join for free.
• Affiliate Link: This is how the company knows who to pay. These are the hypertext links given to you by the affiliate program that differentiates you from generic traffic at large. Unless you send someone through an affiliate link, you don't get paid.
• Ad Copy: A written sales pitch, also known simply as 'copy'. Most follow the AIDA form (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) and examples can be seen on any site that's selling something.

5 Common Mistakes That Drive Visitors Away From a Website

The way your website is designed and presented influences your opportunities to make money online. A professionally designed and well presented website will bring you a lot of customers and sales.

So, what common mistakes drive visitors away from a website?

• A template that is similar to other websites. There are a lot of website templates which although they make things easy for you since you get a ready-to-go website for your online business; they are not good for your business in the long term. It is not good for your business if your website is similar to hundreds and thousands others. Online customers do not want to see precisely the same website layout. Have your own original website designed, or if buy the ready made website template, it is highly recommended that you hire someone to adjust your template to personalize it and make it your own.
• Confusing websites. These are the websites whose layout is not efficient, and you can not easily navigate the site. For some websites, the website name, URL and blog names do not seem related to the website’s focus. These websites can also have a lot of products and services on offer that are not related. Make sure that your website, as well as services and products you offer are focused.
• Too many graphics. Too many graphics simply make your website slow to load. For many people websites with too many graphics can be annoying and unprofessional. These graphics do not add much to your website in terms of search engine rankings or user-friendliness, and are not therefore helpful for your online business. What is important to have on your website is distinctive, relevant and high quality content.
• Ineffective use of keywords and phrases. This is essential for your visibility on search engines. Make sure that your website is well optimized.
• A website that lacks any ‘benefits’ to prospects. Although you are selling your online business’ services or products mainly, your website must also offer the reader high quality unique information.

Also, if you offer an e-zine or e-course on your website, it must also offer some useful information. It is also a good idea that you get creative and offer many other ‘stuff’ that relates to your website. The idea is to make visitors want to come back again.

If you want to succeed online, it is important that you avoid these common website mistakes. A professional and informative website will make your visitors want to come back again, which is good for your business.

The Seed of Internet Marketing Success

Selling other peoples products is all well and good, but every successful marketer will tell you, that to reach REAL success you need to create your own products and put them into a funnel.

It is vital to create a product that will allow you to eventually expand into other markets. The goal is for the people who initially buy your product to also buy your next products. Since you have proven that you can be trusted by delivering a product to your clients that they love, it should be much easier to obtain their business when your new item hits the online marketplace. We need to understand a seed is truly important indeed. You need to see your first product as that seed.

You see this is about creating an Internet marketing kingdom, a virtual empire of products that all start with one tiny seed that is planted in the fertile soil of those hearts that are eager for your particular product.
Here is an example, someone I know is in the process of creating a set of online videos where they teach students the various techniques needed to speak English. Their area of expertise lies in the field of ESL (English as a second language) of which they have been blessed to have over 10 years of experience teaching to adult learners.
Their target market would be foreign adults who wish to learn English via video. They realize though that if they want to branch out and sell different yet similar products later on, they will have to pick a product that these learners would also enjoy.

This led them to recall the great end of the semester food parties in the classes that they taught where both they and their students brought in dishes from other countries that many enjoyed. Now they know that their second product launched could be an ESL cookbook with recipes submitted from actual students. The cookbook will be sold to other ESL students online. Branching out even further, a cooking forum would be established as well as an online cooking class with graduates of their ESL video courses eventually teaching the course.
It is amazing to see how all this began from the planting of one little seed. The online ESL videos seed grew to become a cookbook, an online cooking school and a cooking forum. As we all know marketing is a numbers game and the bigger number of people you have on your marketing list the better your chance of survival and dominance.

Think about your online marketing seed before you plant it. You want to plant something that will grow into something huge.

When you look into the jungle you see an incredible array of trees. That is what you should want your seed to turn into. The trees in your Internet jungle will be represented by the vast amount of names on your email list who want your first and additional products.
The product you create should also appeal to as many people as possible. I know those who may not be interested in ESL may be interested in cooking and vice versa.

I could use the cooking bait to reel in the ESL fish and use the ESL bait to reel in those who love cooking! See what I mean?

When your Internet marketing seed is sown you will reap the harvest of personal and time freedom. In fact done digitally, this also gives you location freedom as well, so you can run your online business from anywhere in the world.

This translates into having the freedom to spend time doing what is really important. Even though I am blessed to be doing well working from my home right now, my goal is to create an online marketing kingdom.

It all starts with that tiny Internet marketing seed. You need to have blind faith and then you can see what can happen. We have to have dreams, big dreams and seeing those dreams become realities is quite inspirational and shows that this Internet marketing thing is real. No one in your circle of naysayers can argue with your results unless they choose to be up against the truth of your success.  

3 Steps to Daily Success: Using Motivational and Inspirational Quotes to Achieve Your Goals

Changing our day-to-day behaviors may be easier than previously imagined. By meditating on and repeating motivational and inspirational quotes, we are better prepared to change our thought patterns, behaviors and in turn, change our lives.

Now this article gives an example of weight loss desire but it can just as easily be transferred to the get success or become wealthy desire.

Here's how it's done.

If we believe something to be easy, we find little, if any struggle in accomplishing it. However, if we imagine something to be difficult to accomplish, then our struggle becomes more apparent. In fact, if we imagine that it is difficult to change a specific behavior, then we will always find experiences that will justify that belief. 

Take this for example.

We wake up one morning and decide that:
"This is the day I start losing weight. When things get difficult, I will not reach for junk food, but instead I will focus on something else to keep my mind occupied. It'll be tough at first, but I'm going to give it a try."

If you continue with this thought pattern and belief, don't be surprised to find yourself struggling more often than not. Why?
If we look at this example closely we find a couple of thought patterns and beliefs already in place. We have determined to do something good for ourselves, but we do ourselves a disservice by choosing certain negative thought patterns, beliefs and words that go along with it.

We have said, "When things get difficult...."
(This is already assuming that there will be difficult moments! Strike one!)
"It'll be tough at first..."
(This is already assuming it will be difficult at first! Strike two!)
"...but I'm going to give it a try."
(Remember the movie "The Karate Kid"..."There is no "try", there is only "do". Strike three!)

Now there are hundreds of products out there that will assist people in losing weight. Some, if not all of them, may work for various people at various stages of their goal. But for many people who have convinced themselves that losing weight is difficult, some products may fall short when our thought patterns are stronger than our desire to change.

Here is something that I've done to change a behavior I no longer desired.

I recently lost 20lbs in about 12 weeks. I didn't like the way I looked, felt or even thought for that matter. I needed to change and take some action towards it.
First, I realized that I had to change my way of thinking about losing weight. My old thought patterns were no longer working for me. My thoughts were like little tiny pictures that I projected in my mind of how heavy I was. I no longer wanted these pictures or thought patterns a part of my life. I had to choose a thought pattern and belief that would be easier to think about.

I chose this thought,
"Losing weight is easier than I thought."

Perhaps not the most ideal for everyone but it worked for me.

Secondly, I chose a word I wanted to focus on for that day, week or month to help me in accomplishing my goal (Start with just a day, or just an hour for that matter. Keep it simple.) The word I chose needed to be in relation to the change I want to make. For example, I chose the word "FOCUS", as I felt that that's what I needed to think about most of time; focusing more on losing weight than gaining it. Choose any word as long as it relates to your situation. (Attitude, Energy, Action, Believe...)

Following that, I scoured the Internet for motivational and inspirational quotes that resonated within me that related to that specific word I chose. Quotes that I could remember, especially ones that really spoke to what I wanted to accomplish.

But here's the most important part.

I needed quotes that were powerful enough to change my thought patterns the moment I read them. Quotes that REALLY spoke to me when I my eyes fell upon them. Quotes that forced me to pause and think for a moment. Quotes that had that extra "edge" where my mind said, "Yes. This is one."
These are all signs of a quote that held power for me. I "focused" in on the following quotes.

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought." Buddha

"The only way to discover the limits of the possible, is to go beyond them into them impossible." Arthur C. Clarke

"It's not what you achieve in the end that matters, it's who you become in the process." Author Unknown

In fact, I found dozens of quotes that I resorted to from time to time, but these three I always came back to. They spoke of who I was, what I wanted to accomplish and who I wanted to become as I worked towards my goal.

I wrote them down. I carried these quotes with me constantly. I read them and meditated on them whenever I had the opportunity to. At work, home or at the gym (yup, I finally got myself to exercise, primarily by focusing on Arthur C. Clarke's quote!), I focused on these three powerful quotes to help me FOCUS on what I wanted.

Because I changed my thought patterns, over time, I can honestly say I am 20 lbs lighter and a whole lot happier. I can honestly say I am 20 lbs lighter and a whole lot happier. Yes, I'll be the first to admit that accomplishing the goal involved more than just thinking but it all began with my thoughts. The thoughts then permeated into my actions. (Now I need to FOCUS on maintaining that weight, so for me a whole new thought pattern begins.)

Here are the three steps again:

1. Decided to change your way of thinking about a behavior, making it easier for you to think about it. Phrase it in a simple way.
2. Choose a word to focus on to change that behavior for a period of time.
3. Find a minimum of three motivational or inspirational quotes related to that specific word that are powerful enough to change your current thought patterns the moment you read them. Meditate on them and repeat them, silently or out loud, every chance you get.

Be patient. Stick with it. Give it some time.

Why do you think companies offer a 30-day money back guarantee? They know that if you do something for 30 days it becomes a habit and you no longer need to return it! (Learned something, huh?) Give it time.

The first step to what you want to accomplish is changing your mind and the thought patterns and beliefs associated with your behavior. Thoughts are the precursor to action, meaning that thoughts occur before any action takes place. That's what needs to be changed first. Your thoughts.
It worked for me and I hope this inspires and motivates you to achieve your goal.
Think positive.

Internet Marketing for Beginners

Really useful vlog and well worth grabbing a coffee for!

Affiliate Marketers Must Have Tools

If You’re an Affiliate Marketer, You NEED these Tools!

There is a proverb that goes, “A bad workman always quarrels with his tools.” Why he does that is anyone’s guess… maybe he is hot tempered or maybe his tools are argumentative. Whatever the case, tools are crucial for both cantankerous workmen and SUCCESSFUL affiliate marketers.

Have you heard of the super affiliate who uses free hosting and free autoresponders? No? You haven’t? Don’t worry… no one else has either.

Many beginner affiliate marketers try to skimp on costs and make the mistake of trying to use free alternatives rather than paid services. Any saved costs are then squandered on some get rich quick system that never delivers on its promises.

As an affiliate marketer, it is of paramount importance that you understand that this is a business and all businesses have fixed and/or variable costs. There is no getting away from this fact. You will need to spend some money in order to make much more.

Being penny wise pound foolish will not only sabotage your efforts but also impede your progress. To be a successful affiliate marketer, 3 tools are crucial. In fact, you could almost say that they are the cornerstones in your business. Without them, it is almost certain that you’ll fail.

The first tool you’ll need is your own domain name. The operative word here is “your own”… Ignore the fact that that’s 2 words. You absolutely should not build your business on someone else’s web property.

Yes, you may have to spend a few dollars buying a domain, but at least you will know that you have control over it.
Many marketers spent a lot of time and money building Squidoo pages a few years ago. All of a sudden, Squidoo, changed its policies and these marketers found that their earning dried up overnight.
You will always be subjected to the whims and fancies of some other person/s decisions if you don’t own your own domain name.  Your content may be deleted, your pages may have ads for Viagra, etc. There is a price to pay for free domains.
My 2 favourite places to buy domains are Godaddy and Namecheap

The second tool you’ll need is hosting. Web hosting is extremely affordable. Companies such as Hostgator, Arvixe, Dreamhost and many more provide plans that most beginner marketers can afford. There really is no excuse to not get paid hosting.
Sure… you could opt for free hosting. Just like choosing a free domain, you’ll once again have no control over your business.

Free web hosting usually comes with a ton of unrelated ads that will appear on your site.
Choose paid hosting. You can also host unlimited domains on the same account for one low monthly price. My favourite is Hostpapa. If ever you have a problem, their live chat never lets me down.

The third tool you will need is an autoresponder. You may have heard the saying, “The money is in the list” repeated ad nauseam.

Yet, many beginners try to save money by not getting one. This is understandable since an autoresponder is an ongoing cost. However, it would be myopic to not build a list because of this.
Initially, the autoresponder may be costing more than it makes. However, with time as you build your list and your subscribers swell in number from hundreds to thousands, the list will pay for itself. You’ll be able to develop a relationship with many people through email.

You can provide them with free, useful content so they start to trust you. This will reap rewards when you promote something they will find helpful. You’ll get sales and earn commissions that far exceed the cost of your autoresponder.

Besides these 3 tools, there are several other tools such as keyword tools, rank checking tools, spy tools, etc. However, these tools are nowhere near as important as those mentioned in this article.
If you’re a serious affiliate marketer who actually plans on making money be sure to grab a domain, hosting plan, and an autoresponder to make your business easier and increase its chances of success.

How to Create Viral Videos for Under $200

One common misconception of creating viral videos is that it needs to be expensive. In reality, your whole project can be launched for under $200. Justin Bieber, the teen pop star, started his claim to fame from his bedroom with an inexpensive camera. Today most of his videos have tens of millions of views.

So how do you create viral videos for under $200?

==> The Video Camera

Today, for as little as $100, you can get a high definition camera that shoots decent video. It's not professional grade, but if your actual content is good, many web visitors will be willing to overlook that.

Take a trip to Best Buy or Costco, or check out price comparison sites online.

Also don't forget that many smartphones today have cameras that are more than sufficient to record high quality video. For example, the iPhone 4's 4 megapixel camera can produce videos that are definitely good enough for online viewing.

==> Shooting the Video

Your video is best shot with a friend. Trying to shoot yourself on video, while possible, is quite difficult.

Experiment with different camera angles to see what looks best. You'll often have to do multiple takes to get something right. Don't be surprised if a one-hour video takes you all day to shoot.

==> Editing Your Video

There are many different ways you can edit your video for free.

To start with, use iMovie or Windows Live Movie Maker if it came with your operating system. Though they won't have special effects or color correcting options, you'll be able to do most of your basic edits.

If your operating system didn't come with a video editing program, there are several good free options you can download online.

==> Rendering Your Video

Finally, once you've shot your videos and edited your video, the last step is to render your video.

Rendering refers to the last part of the editing process where you actually create your new video file. Generally you'll want to create a small sized, decent quality video rather than a large high quality video.

YouTube will re-render your video to a smaller size anyway once you upload it.
==> Distributing Your Video

There are several online video distribution services - some paid, some free - that'll submit your video to a number of different video hosting sites.

Sure, YouTube definitely has the most traffic. But many other sites, like Dailymotion, Metacafe and others still have quite a bit of following. Getting your video on those sites as well can really increase your exposure.

At this point, you've bought an inexpensive camera, recorded your video, edited it for free and uploaded it to one or more video distribution sites. If your video is good and has viral potential, it might just take off. Best of all? You've spent less than $200 on the whole process.

So You Want to be an eBay Seller

So You Want to be an eBay Seller

The No Regrets Method of Getting Started with eBay

If you think eBay might be a good place to make some extra cash, then you’re right.  With 157 million shoppers, and 100,000 new users each day, eBay is a hot market.  It is an excellent place for potential sellers of all experience levels to quickly and inexpensively set up shop.  The user-friendly environment makes it a great place for the budding entrepreneur to learn the ropes while taking very little financial risk.

This report will provide tips and warnings of potential pitfalls that will assist you in setting up your account, listing your first auctions, filling orders, and following up with your new customers so they come back and buy from you again.  Following these instructions will lay a solid foundation for the long-term success of your new eBay venture.

Setting up Your Seller Account

There are two important things you should consider prior to setting up your eBay seller account.  The first is what email address you will use, and the second is what your User ID will be.

You should avoid using a free email address for your account if at all possible.  The best solution is to use an email address on your own domain, the second best solution is one with your internet service provider (ISP), and the final and lest favorable solution is to use a free email address such as hotmail, yahoo mail, or gmail.  I recommend using separate email addresses on the same domain for your eBay and PayPal accounts (we’ll talk about PayPal later).  This will help you keep your auction and payment communications separate.

You should think carefully about your User ID prior to registering with eBay.  You are going to want to “brand” yourself in a way that your customers remember and recognize you.  Your eBay User ID is an important element of the branding process.  You are free to change your User ID later, however this is not advisable if you can avoid it.  Changing your User ID may result in your customers not being able to find your auctions later.

When selecting your brand or User ID, you should consider what you will be selling and what image you want to present to your customers.  If you already have another business that your eBay business will tie into, then you will want your eBay User ID to reflect that.  In that case your ID should probably be your existing business name, or an abbreviated version of it.

If you will be selling primarily collectibles, then your eBay User ID should reflect that in some way.  If your focus is cheap items in general, then your ID should emphasize cheap (my first eBay User ID was 99_cent_guy, and all of my auctions started at 99 cents).  If you’re going to specialize in college textbooks, then your ID should indicate that in some way.  Ensuring that your User ID reflects what you sell will assist greatly in ensuring that existing and potential customers are able to find you when they want to purchase what you are selling.

The use of website addresses (URLs) and email addresses in eBay User IDs is prohibited.  I have personally found a way around this by using an asterisk before and after the URL (*www.yourgreatestyear.com*), however doing this could result in eBay requiring a change to the User ID.

Setting up a PayPal Account

The more payment options you offer potential customers, the more sales you will make.  PayPal is the standard method of electronic payment on eBay, and many eBay’ers use PayPal accounts as their “mad money” accounts.  If you don’t offer PayPal as a payment option, you will never make a sale to these people.  PayPal is also the easiest way for you to accept credit cards and electronic checks as payment for your auctions.  PayPal and eBay have tracking mechanisms that interact with each other in a way that makes managing sales, payments, and shipping a breeze.

You should set up a PayPal account as soon as possible, because the verification process may take a few days.  At a minimum you should offer check, money order, and PayPal as payment options on all of your auctions.  (However, you shouldn’t accept checks from foreign bidders.)  You can set up a PayPal account at www.PayPal.com.

Deciding What You’ll Sell

While the online garage sale approach can be profitable, you are likely to have more success on eBay if you specialize in a particular type of product.  Your customers will learn to associate your specialty with your User ID, and will remember you when they are shopping for those types of products again.

You should start by exploring your areas of personal interest.  What are you an expert at, and what do you enjoy doing in your spare time?  Simply answering those two questions is often enough to identify a niche that could be a goldmine for you.  After answering those questions, conduct a search of both active and completed auctions to see what related products are in demand and bringing a price that will adequately pay for your time.

It is important to note that if a lot of products in your chosen specialty are going unsold, or are selling at well below their value, then you need to find a different specialty.  Spend as much time on this as necessary.  Diving into a market blind could result in a big investment with little return and a lot of unsold items collecting dust in your garage.

If you’re having trouble identifying a niche, just take a look around your house.  Do you have lots of old books or record albums?  Look them up on eBay and see what they’re selling for.  Go ahead and auction some to test the waters.  Do you have old collectibles, Christmas ornaments, or china boxed up and in storage?  Dig it out and research it on eBay.  You may have thousands of dollars in your attic and not even know it.  And exploring what you have in your house could reveal a hot product that you might otherwise not have thought of.

Are there products manufactured in your area that you can buy wholesale and pick up locally?  By not having to pay freight, you may be able to undercut competing sellers.  Explore everything you can think of and research it fully against what is selling and what it’s selling for before diving in head first.  This will save you a lot of money and frustration later.

Building a Reputation

Your biggest obstacle to selling at the outset is going to be that you have no transaction history on eBay.  Buyers have no reason to trust you.  And the best indicator of whether or not they should trust you to deliver what you promise is your feedback rating.

This is how eBay describes feedback ratings:

Feedback ratings are used to determine each member's feedback score. A positive rating adds 1 to the score, a negative rating decreases it by 1, and a neutral rating has no impact. The higher the feedback score, the more positive ratings they've received from members. However, a member can increase or decrease another member's score by only 1 no matter how many transactions they share.

There are two ways to quickly build feedback while you are establishing your new eBay business.  One is to make purchases, and the other is to sell inexpensive things that bidders are willing to risk a couple of dollars on.  You should achieve a feedback rating of no less than 25 before listing items in your specialty (unless you can sell some cheap items in that niche).  Doing so will bring more bids and higher selling prices when you list those items.

When exploring eBay for bargains to build your feedback, you might think about picking up some business or success books.  These are tax deductible for you as a business owner.  One book that every business owner should read at least once a year is “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.  You should be able to pick it up for five or six dollars, including shipping.  Be wary of shipping costs while bidding, by the way.  Always decide the most you are willing to pay for an item prior to bidding, subtract the shipping cost, and bid no higher than the difference between those two figures.  You might also look for some books about selling on eBay, or a recent edition of “Taxes for Dummies.”  If you haven’t received feedback by the time you receive your item in the mail, first leave feedback for the seller, then send them an email informing them that you received the item, posted feedback for them, and ask them to post feedback for you as well.

Another quick way to build feedback is by bidding on penny auctions that have no shipping fees associated with them.  These are usually placed by sellers trying to recruit bidders into a business opportunity.  Listing these types of auctions is against eBay’s policies, and many will be closed before the auction ends.  However you should be able to gain at least a couple of feedbacks a week by bidding on them.  Use the advance search feature to ferret them out.  Search for the terms “no shipping,” “free shipping,” “free auction” or something similar in the auction description, and only search auctions that are between one and three cents.  Sort the results to display the auctions ending soonest, and bid on the ones ending in the next couple of days.  Make sure you don’t win more than one from the same seller, as only the first feedback from each member will count in your rating.

We also mentioned selling some cheap items that bidders will be willing to risk a couple of bucks on.  Small paperback books or other items around your house that are inexpensive to ship work well for this.  Mark the shipping up by about a dollar more than it will actually cost to ship your item, and start the bidding at a penny.  Even if the item only sells for a penny, you will probably break even on the auction after you pay your eBay and PayPal fees.  Remember, this is about building feedback, and not about making money (yet).

Your Auction Listings

The best way to learn about the best way to list your auctions is by analyzing auction listings for items that are the same or similar to what you are selling.  Try searching eBay for completed auctions of exactly the same item you are selling, sort the list by price (descending), and study the listings for the items that sold for the highest price.  Observe the similarities between the words in the auction title, similarities in the auction descriptions, what categories the auctions were listed in, how pictures were used, whether or not there were gallery pictures, the shipping costs, and what day of the week and times the auctions were listed and closed.  Analyzing this information will give you the best information on how to get the highest price for your item.

When listing an item, you should try to put yourself in the mind of your customer.  Think about what search terms your customer would use when looking for your product.  Those terms should be used in your auction title and description.

Auctions for items such as collectibles, clothing, and jewelry should always include pictures.  Again, observe completed actions for similar items to see how pictures were used in the most successful auctions.  Items such as office supplies or paperback novels do not necessarily need an accompanying picture, though it certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Ensure you are charging an appropriate amount for shipping.  You will lose money by undercharging, and you will lose bidders by overcharging.  For expensive items, you should require insurance, and include that cost in your shipping price.  Marking your shipping up by a dollar or a dollar fifty will help defray the cost of your shipping supplies and auction fees.

Pricing your items can be tricky.  You don’t want an item to sell for less than you paid for it, but by starting the bid too high the item may end up actually selling for less than if you had started the bidding lower.  If you are selling an item that has resulted in a sale in nearly all of the completed auctions for that item, then you are safe in starting the bidding low.  Demand is high, so you item is very likely to sell.  Starting the bidding low will draw more bidders.  More people bidding against each other on your auction will ultimately drive the price higher.  If you want to make a quick sale, you can often use the Buy It Now feature, and price Buy It Now at a couple of dollars less than the average completed auction price of like items.

Don’t buy features such as bold, highlight, or border.  The extra cost of these items is generally more than the feature will increase the selling price of your item.  After you are more experience, you may want to try featured auctions, but it is expensive so use it with caution.

After you gain some experience you will also want to try using html in your auctions, the free listing software Turbo Lister, or a third party auction manager.
Shipping Your Items

You should always use quality packing materials to ensure the item reaches your customer undamaged, and you should also ship the item promptly to ensure the customer is satisfied and will purchase from you again.

Always charge for insurance on items you think will sell for more than $50.  Don’t give the bidder the choice of whether they want to insure.  Just charge for it in the shipping and make it a requirement.  If you are shipping via UPS, your item is automatically insured for $100 at no additional cost.

Become intimately familiar with different methods of shipping, the associated costs, and the speed at which the shipping method will get the item to your customer.  Becoming an expert in shipping methods will save you a lot of money, time and grief.  It will also result in happy customers.

Include some kind of promotional material with every shipment.  This can be a flyer for your eBay business with your User ID displayed prominently, it can be a brochure and order form for items related to what you shipped, or it can be promotional material for another related business you may own.  You can even include promotional material for someone else’s business, and charge them to include it the packages you ship.

There is no need to ship daily.  Set a schedule of two or three shipping days a week, and stick to that.  Shipping every day will wasted valuable time that can be used for other tasks.

Following up With Your Customers

At a minimum, you should send three emails to every customer.  The first is to congratulate them on winning the auction, and instructing them on how to make payment.  The second communication is to let them know their item has been shipped, how it was shipped (USPS, UPS, Fed-Ex), and to remind them to look at your other auctions.  The third email should be sent several days after you expect they should have received their item.  Thank them for purchasing from you, tell them you want to ensure they received their item, tell them you have left them positive feedback, request that they leave feedback for you, and remind them again to look at your other auctions.

You should also capture the contact information of every customer and use it for further follow-ups.  Capture every piece of information you have access to:  name, email, physical address, and phone number.  Send all of your customers an occasional email reminding them that they purchased from you before, and that you have more items up for auction.  You can even include links to your current auctions in the email.  Once or twice a year, send them a postcard.  This will put you well ahead of your competition.

You are now armed with the information you need to get started on eBay.  You will learn much more by actually doing this than by simply reading about it, so go ahead and get started.  You have all the information you need to successfully sell on eBay.


 

So, What is Internet Marketing