What's Next?

At this point, I am assuming you have your internet selling account started, whether it is with eBay, Yahoo or some other venue. I would encourage you to start with eBay, as it will give the largest potential for sales. This will lead to you learning faster through trial and error, as there will be more to analyze and learn from. If you sell only 1 item a day, its hard to learn much or learn quickly. But, if you have 5 or 10 sales a day, you can learn generally 5 to 10 times faster.

Over the years, I have learned many many tips and tricks for selling online. So many, that I will not even be able to collectively remember them all or even a fraction. I guess, over time, I will consoldate them all here, but at first, I will just include the most relevant and basic..

Sales Consistancy

Generally, people will start a business because they think that they have this one "grand idea" that will be the best thing since sliced bread. They are convinced it will work, also. This is point where most businesses fail. For, you need atleast three good ideas to succeed at business, as usually only one out of three business ideas will succeed. It does not matter how convinced you are regarding your business idea or product. You should come up with three great ideas or products. Atleast then, one of them will succeed and you can continue with building your business. I developed this principle based on the statistic that "one out of three businesses fail" and from the common fact that most start businesses with their "one grand idea". So far, this has worked very well for me and I have found that it is VERY true. Generally, I will come up with three killer new products and only one really works great, while the other two just fizzle or end up being not worth my time (not enough money in them).

Listing Auctions

Listing Items on eBay:

Shipping Label Printing

Packing Materials

• SMALL ITEMS - For small items, such as software, music CDs, movies, information packet, etc, we use "Bubble Mailers" which can be found at stores like Office Depot, Office Max, Staples, etc. Bubble mailers are just bubble insulated thick envelopes. They usually only cost about $0.45 each and come in packages of 6 or more.
• LARGE ITEMS - For larger items, such as musical instruments, we first try to use the box it came in as, atleast, part of the shipping container. In the case of amps, this is often all that is needed for the container. For other items, such as electric guitars, it is wise to buy a second outer box to put thin inner box in. We buy the outer box from Uhaul(Large Mirror Box) and cut them down. If you are crafty about it, you can actually get two boxes out of one of the Uhaul Large Mirror Boxes, but it requires a bit of design in the cut. ALL items that are larger should be packed with styrofoam pellets to protect the product during shipment. ALSO, all larger items should be fully insured through the shipping company of choice (we usually use FedEx Ground for larger items).
• ODD SIZED ITEMS - Stores such as Office Depot, Uhaul, Office Max, Staples, etc are good for buying packing supplies. Unless you are doing large volume, I would suggest not buying a large volume of boxes from a box creation company. But, if you are going to be doing large volume, it might be a way to save a little money. Anything of larger size should have styrofoam pellets or other filler to protect the product in question.

Dutch Auction Listing Format

On eBay, you must meet certain requirements, before you can sell in "Dutch Auction" format. Dutch Auction format is where you can have a quantity of 2 or more of the same product up in the same auction for purchase. I often use Dutch Auction format with a quantity of 18, as it is a good way to get high sales volume a day. That way, I can get potentially 18 sales from one auction!

Here are the minimum requirements that need to be met to sell in "Dutch Auction" format:

• Be ID Verified.
• OR have a feedback rating of 30 or above and be registered on eBay for 14 days or more.
• OR if you have a PayPal account, and accept PayPal as a payment method on the listing, your feedback rating only needs to be 15.

Ad Selling Styles

Over the years, I have developed several ad selling styles through ideas and experimentation. Here are the ones I use most often:

1. Category Featured Dutch Auction - This was the first auction style I developed. Basically, you take a solid low priced product and you put it in a Dutch Auction format and feature it at the top of the category page of the auction website. The idea is to have from 2 to 10 of these Dutch Auctions for this one product up at one time on the auction website. To have several duplicate dutch auctions for the same product, you must create a new title/category for each dutch auction. This is to avoid saturating the market in a certain category and/or keyword set. In other words, you do not want people going to a certain category and seeing two of your items up in that category. You want to be effective with your advertising. So, once you have about 5 titles, 5 different categories for your one product, you can put a dutch auction up for each combination of title and category. Also, you can experiment. Sometimes, you can put two or even three auctions into one category, because there is so much traffic. Likewise, there are sometimes categories that do not have enough traffic to even warrent putting a dutch auction at the top of the category featured. The same goes for certain keywords in the title. Some are very popular and can be used in more than one title. Other keywords are not very searched and hardly warrent being in one title. After you have multiple dutch auctions up in various categories, you can monitor how well they do. Sometimes, you will have a couple gold rakers, while others will be duds. Adjust accordingly, by thinking up new categories or titles to replace the ones that do not work well. The idea is to maximize the profit by adjusting and fixing the ones that are not performing as well.
2. Low Cost Grab Auction - This is an auction where you do not feature it, border it, or anything. You just put it up in plain manner. The type of product for this style is a "grab item". Generally, grab items are the ones you see near the checkout at a store. You just grab it. Not much thought is put into the action. So, the idea is to take this grab item, put it in just as a plain auction, but the time will only be for 3 days and it will be a "Buy It Now" only. So, no bidding, just buying. If after 2 days, it has not sold, you go in and revise the auction to be a 5 day auction. This will give it an extra 2 days. Then, if it still has not sold after another 2 days, you go in and revise it to be a 7 day auction. Generally, this tactic works really well with grab items, because you are not allowing the buyer to think about ordering later. The reason is because people generally do not bookmark an auction that will be ending in 2 days. They usually want time to think about it, so they only bookmark auctions that are 4 days or more. My theory behind this is that those who bookmark, often don't buy because they just plain forget about it. So, if I force them to make a decision right now on the "grab item", often they will buy it. The cool part is that the auction will only cost about $0.60 to list. For grab items, the trick is to have very low prices and rack up the shipping. So, you could put the price at 99 cents, which makes it so low, people often will just "grab it". But, the shipping cost is $5.95. Whats cool is many (over half) already have made up their minds by the time they see the shipping cost of $5.95, so they continue to buy it.. Its kind of like grabbing something kind of near the checkout, getting up to the lady and finding out it costs a couple dollars more than you thought. Are you going to take it back or are you going to buy it? Often, you will just buy it.
3. More Visable/Buy Now Auction - This method has similarities to the "Low Cost Grab Auction" in that you do the same revision technique on the length of the auction. So, you first set it to be a 3 day auction and then after 2 days, if it is not sold, you revise it to be a 5 day auction and so on. This not only forces the customer to make a decision now, it also makes your auction more visable. The reason is because eBay will often list the auctions ending soon at the top of the search results. So, if your auction is always closer to ending, it is closer to the top of the page, hence more visability. Logically, people click on the results that list first in a search more so than something on page 3. The type of product that would work best with this auction style is anything at a "normal" price from $5 to $300. So, most products will fit into this type of Ad Selling Style. Another positive aspect regarding this Ad Selling Style is that you can avoid the "Lemming Principle". The Lemming Principle is something I coined when I noticed a customer pattern where if one person bids or buys, all of a sudden many more will join in. If you have a product that would seem to make people hesitate on bidding or buying, this Ad Selling Style is the way to go..
4. Lemming Buy/Bid Auction - Sometimes, there is a new "hot" product that people can't resist from buying. Actually, it doesn't have to be even new, it could just be a hot, irresistable product. This is the kind of product, where you can build hype and watch customers buy like lemmings. I have seen this here and there, but sometimes its not consistant. There have been times, though, where it has seemed very consistant, so I can see this as a useful Ad Selling Style. Basically, you have a "hot" product and the trick is to get an order the first or second day of a 7 to 10 day auction. If you lock in an order on the first or second day, the lemming principle will take over and people will just starting buying it like there is no tomorrow. The downside to this Ad Selling Method is the occasional auction that does not get an order on the first or second day. Often, they can become lemon auctions, where you try all you can think of to recessitate it, but it just does not respond. For example, lets say you have Hot Product "A" and you put it up in one category and it gets an order in one day. It will continue on and often get say 16 orders total. Then, you have the exact same product, exact same ad for Hot Product "A" that does not get an order till day 4. It will continue on and only get 7 orders total. Do you see how impressionable one buyer's decision is on another? They are all following each other and only a minor few are leading.

Choosing Title & Category

1. TITLE - When choosing a title for your item, think "keywords" used for searching eBay. This is the primary importance of the title. The secondary aspect of the title is to get the buyer to click on it. Many, believe it or not, do not understand this concept. Virtually every successful seller I have seen applies this principle to their titles. They sell the most, stick around the longest, etc. Yet another concept to use with your title is making more than one for each product. This requires much brainstorming of keywords and correlating the keywords to the category that would seem best. So, multiple titles, multiple categories, focusing each title to work with its respective category. The last thing to do is use the keywords in some test auction titles and monitor how they perform and maximize them over time.
2. CATEGORY - With categories, the theory is to find as many as you can that will work with your product. Then, after making this list, look through each category, doing searches & browsing, to see if the category truly works with your product and if there is enough traffic. One way to see if it has a lot of traffic is to look at similar products to yours found in each category and look down near the bottom of each auction at the "Page Views Tracker Graphic". Some will have it, some will not, so just look through a few to get an idea of how many people actually look at auctions in the category. The final step is to put auctions in the categories and see how they perform and adjust accordingly.

Description Ad Copy Techniques

There are too many principles for me to discuss them all in detail here. I will mention just some of the main principles. For more further information beyond what I discuss here, please find a good book on "product advertising". For instance, anything that would discuss advertising on the outside of a product box, internet ad, newspaper ads or just product advertising in general.

AD COPY TECHNIQUES -

1. Benefits Vs. Features - The main concept in advertising is to emphasize the benefits, rather than the features. A benefit is something that the customer needs or desires that will benefit him. A feature is a specification of the product you are selling. For example, a TV's benefits are that you can watch the news, see your favorite TV shows, watch movies, etc. A TV's features are that it is 27", color TV, Audio/Video Connection, etc. So, instead of just listing that a TV is 27" and is a color TV, it would wise to point out the benefits of having this TV. Even better, pointing out the benefits that this TV has versus other TVs out there. For instance, a benefit that it can receive high definition programs or that it has certain relevant connectors in the back so the buyer can plug in all their devices (DVD, VHS, Cable Box, etc). Often, people will just point out features of a product, but neglect to point out its benefits to the customer. If you are wondering still why it is wise to point out the benefits, realize that you are assuming the customer understands all the benefits that seem obvious in your mind. You might see its greatness, while others do not. That is why you need to point out its greatness through its benefits to them.
2. Subtitles/Sections - You want your ad to be pretty easy to navigate, so it is wise to split it into sections dedicated to a certain benefit, feature or relevant detail. The focus of many sections should be on a particular benefit (see above), but you should also have a couple sections pointing out the features (see above) and ultimately a few sections on relevant information(for instance shipping details, how to pay, etc).
3. Pictures - Pictures, photos, etc are very important to your advertisement. Photos of the item is absolutely necessary, so customers know what they are buying. The only thing the customer sees when buying on the internet is your ad itself. So, you can see how a picture can be worth a 1000 words. Another way to use photos is to show the item being used or in action. This is wise, as it will help them see it in action and possibly see its benefits. If you can get a picture or two in of people, it is an added benefit. Most of my ads do not include pictures of people, but its not a bad idea, as it gives the ad more personality. People identify with people more than they do with a product, so many advertising books will tell you having pictures of people using your item or just people in general will help make the sale.

Analyze Your Sales

Although I have tested/screened the products we will supply you, I encourage you to analyze your sales. It is always wise to analyze your product sales, by monitoring your auction's success rate. Over the years, I have noticed that this is one of the biggest mistakes internet sellers make. What they will do is put up an item to sell and will then will stop thinking/analyzing. They assume that once they have their item up selling, that is all they are able to do or they are just too lazy to analyze their sales results. I came to this conclusion on several occasions as I was browsing through auctions on eBay. Basically, I would find a guy selling something and I would do some number crunching to see what type of profit he was making. Often, to my amazement, the seller was making NOTHING. Literally, there are sellers on eBay, Yahoo and other websites that will sell items, and make little or no profit. The reason it occurs is because they take their thinking cap off after putting up the auction. This is where they are tricked, per-se: They will put up the auction and will get a few sales from the auction. They think to themselves, wow, I am selling! Then, they will fail to analyze just how much money they made from those sales. They forget the fact that the auction might have costed them $20. So, they leave their calculator in the desk and assume they are making money, because they have made sales. Yet, when I pull out my calculator and calculate their profit, I often find it being a couple dollars or nothing at all. I have found, even on occassion, people selling and making NEGATIVE money. So, PLEASE, do not assume that if you are getting sales, you are making money.

Profit in Shipping Costs!

Email Automation

A great way to cut back some of your email from customers is to make automated email response rules. You can do this in Microsoft Outlook. I have about 60 rules for my business email. I attempted, on several occassions, to fully automate it, but it never worked out. The best you can do is automate it to answer maybe half of their email questions.

Probably the easiest way to automate is to make one main rule that calls a certain text file on your computer, where you put in all the main questions/answers usually asked of you. You can tailor it over time to any new questions that are often asked of you. This is an effective way to cover many of the emails that come to you, but it is not an end all/answer all fix. You should still go through each email to see if it was answered sufficiently by the automated email response rule.

One of the things I do is color code each email per the email rule that answered the email. For example, if I have a rule to explain shipping charges, I will have it color the email green, so that I know which email rule answered it. This way, if I have many rules, I can more easily know if the automated rules answered the emails correctly.

To make rules in Microsoft Outlook, do the below:

1. Open Microsoft Outlook (Express).
2. On the top toolbar, click on "Tools/Message Rules/Mail..."
3. This will open the Message Rules Window. Click on the "New" Button to create a new email rule.
4. Look through the lists and check the boxes that relate to how you want the automation to occur. When you check a box from (1.) or (2.), it will show in (3.) with the logic written out. If you see any links in blue, click on them to put in the details. For instance (3.) could say something like this,
   
   Apply this rule after the message arrives
   Where the Subject line contains specific words.
   
   
5. Do not forget to name the email rule in (4.), so it is named similar to its function. Next, click the "OK" Button and then click the "OK" Button a second time. This will save your rule Microsoft Outlook and will apply everytime you download email.

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