Are you finding that auction after auction fails to attract any bidders or buyers? It happens to the best of us sometimes - take a good look at these things to see if any of them could be making your bidders avoid you.

The starting price was too high: People don’t want to have to make a high bid before anyone else has - you should always start your auctions low and let the bidders bid them up.

The fixed price is too high: If you’re just selling with Buy it Now, then of course your items won’t sell if they’re too expensive. Try reducing the price a little each time the item fails to sell.

No picture: Most buyers are reluctant to bid on something without a picture, and that goes even more for high-value items. Think of it from the buyer’s point-of-view: would you want to bid on an item when you’ve no idea what it looks like?

You had a reserve: Reserve prices scare away buyers like you wouldn’t believe, not to mention costing a percentage of your final sale price. Avoid them like the plague.

Bad spelling and grammar: If your titles are spelt wrongly, then no-one will find your auctions. If your descriptions are incoherent, then no-one will know what you’re talking about. Always run your text through a spelling and grammar checker before you put it up on eBay.

Too much for shipping: You might be expecting people to pay more for shipping than they’re prepared to. Give them a few cheaper options that will take longer, or use cheaper materials.

Negative feedback: If you got negative feedback on your last transaction, expect things to be slow for a while. Try selling cheap things for a while to get your account back in good standing.

Nasty terms: Don’t write things all over your auction like “I will only accept returns in PERFECT condition” or “Serious bidders only, no timewasters!!” This is entirely unnecessary and just makes you look difficult to deal with.

No PayPal: Many buyers simply avoid any seller who doesn’t accept PayPal as a payment method - they can’t be bothered with the hassle of anything else. Even if you don’t like PayPal, you should accept it if you want to business on eBay.

The items were bad. You will have to accept that there are some items no-one wants - perhaps they were hyped to begin with, but now people had heard that they’re useless and stopped buying. Before you come to this conclusion, though, check everything else you can, and check if anyone else is managing to sell it. If you’re sure, try to return the items, and buy in some new stock.

Paul is Head of Training for a major UK Charitable Organisation with a wealth of experience in personal development, management development, e-learning and operational management. In addition he owns PK eBooks (http://www.pk-ebooks.co.uk) two sites specifically aimed at those who want to successfully sell on eBay http://www.ebay-profits.co.uk and http://www.info-entrepreneurs.co.uk

Do what you Love and the Money will Follow

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned, a lesson that only recently
I have begun to follow is to do what we’re passionate about. In the early stages
of life we’re taught all of life’s rules and regulations from our parents and
our teachers. When we would rather be out playing with friends, riding our bikes,
going to the movies, reading comics or doing anything fun, we were told that
we had to stop messing around and do our homework. But imagine this, imagine
our homework was as much fun as play time. Now jump forward 20-30-40 years and
imagine if your work was as much fun as play time when you were 8 years old.

I’m encouraging everyone to do what they’re passionate about and not worry about
the money - the money will come. There’s a secret rule of the universe that
our parents and teachers failed to mention to us. That is;

When we’re passionate about things, and we put all our energy into them,
when we give it all we’ve got, the world notices and somehow things start to
fall into place almost like serendipity - like it was meant to be.

When we do what we’re passionate about - we’re fulfilling our life’s
purpose. You’ll find your passion in what inspires you the most. Whatever it
may be, you can make a living doing it and at the same time, provide a service
for others - I have no doubt about that. It’s happening for me as we speak.

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

Goethe

Now everybody reading this is wondering how their favorite pastime
is going to pay their bills. How am I going to make it rich, you ask? Well,
you’re reading this for a reason - the most recognizable reason is that you
want to start a web business or you want to improve your business by learning
more about internet marketing. So let’s start there.

When you discover what you’re passionate about, you will find others who are
passionate about the same things. I’m sure there are already many communities
online who are discussing what you’re passionate about. This is the best place
to start. Don’t be disappointed if there are already others doing what you love
- don’t think of them as competition - be happy that there’s a market out there
who cares about the same things you do.

A word of advice, don’t try to find a product and then find the market to sell
it in. It rarely ever works well doing things in that order unless you developed
the product in response to a need by some market. Here’s what I mean, find the
market you’re passionate about and try to solve a problem they’ve been having
(so you’re being in service to others) and try to come up with a solution for
their problem. That’s how you’ll find the right product to sell. This is your
ideal target market - this is your niche (I’ve written more about that in another
article - Niche Marketing and Solving Other People’s Problems).

Doing what your passionate about also gives you a much higher chance at success,
because you’re going to love putting all your energy into everything you do.
It’ll be fun. You’ll be willing to work hard because most of the time it will
seem like play. You’ll have a sizeable advantage over anyone in your market
without the same passion you do.

What did I mean above by instant success? I didn’t mean that you’ll make a million
dollars in 5 minutes. This is important and maybe only some of you will get
this - but I want all of you to try. So many people are stuck living humdrum
lives working 9-5 in a job they think has security. They have no passion in
their work - rather they dread going in to work every single day. What a boring
monotonous life? No offense to any of you who feel this way. I want to help.
When you do what you love and what you’re passionate about you’ve just improved
your quality of life and that is success (even if the money isn’t pouring in
yet - but if will if you stick to it).

So try to find your passion and do what you love - you will be an instant
success (with a lot of fun, enjoyable work to do that will not even
seem like work).

Once you’ve found your inner passion I can help you learn how to find your ideal
target market - your niche.

Wishing you happiness and good fortune,

Guy Reichard

Guy Reichard is an up and coming Internet Marketing Consultant and Life Skills Coach. He combines learning enlightenment and spirituality with business and focuses primarily on internet marketing. You can visit his growing website at http://www.enlightenedinternetmarketing.com for more details.

MSN is currently third in terms of number of Search requests processed. Microsoft is never happy being just third. Look back at the history of Microsoft, Can you still remember when Netscape was the #1 Browser and Internet Explorer was a young upstart? Can you remember when Word Perfect was the #1 Word Processor and Office Just a Dream?

When Microsoft gets involved in a market it’s goal is nothing short of total domination. Yahoo and Google look out because Microsoft will be a huge force in the Internet Search Arena. Microsoft has published guidelines to help You achieve higher rankings.

1 - Well Formed HTML

When it comes to HTML Always validate your HTML Code using free online HTML Valuators, Make Sure you have no broken links.

2 - Use a Robots.txt

In Your Robots.Txt File Make Sure MSN is given permission to Crawl your site

3 - Static URLS

Keep Your URLS simple and Static

4 - Keyword Rich Text

In Your Content use Keyword Rich Text that is relevant to your page

5 - Keep It Simple

Use 1 Topic per page and keep your page size reasonable

6 - Image Text

Make Sure Keywords are placed outside of Images in the Page Text

7 - Use a SiteMap

Using a Sitemap with a simple fairly flat hierarchy will make it easier for the MSN Robot to Crawl your Site

8 - Good Quality Content

Have lots of content both original and 3rd Party and make sure it is all relevant to your theme

9 - Good Quality Links and Back Links

Don’t overlook link Popularity. Quality links from other Web Pages is a big part of the MSN Search Algorithm

Search Engine Masters Course
A FREE 5 day email course on how your web site can get
top 10 rankings in the other search engines.
http://ewguru.com/free-seo-ecourse

About The Author:
Mike Makler has been Marketing Online Since 2001 When he Built
an Organization of over 100,000 Members

Get Mike’s Newsletter:
http://ewguru.com/newsletter

Weekly Tios and Tricks
http://ewguru.com/tips

Copyright © 2005-2006 Mike Makler the Coolest Guy in the Universe

Linking continues to be one of the most important aspects of achieving high rankings in most search engines, and in particular, Google. The more links leading to your site from other URLs that have content relevant to your site (and preferably a high ranking themselves), the higher your search engine rankings will be. Linking pages within your site are also valued by the search engines and help with rankings.

The words used in links leading to pages of your site are referred to as “link anchor text.” Link anchor text can be used in both internal pages of your site and in links from other URLs leading to your site.

If you had a site on marriage counselling and you were also using those words as keywords you would include them in the link anchor text from other web sites pointing to pages of your site. For example, the anchor text should read something like, “For more information go to marriage counselling,” with the link on the words “marriage counselling,” The search engines will value this type of link more than one that reads, “For more information on marriage counselling go to www.thissite.com” with the link being on “thissite.com.”

You would do the same thing for linking internal pages of your web site as you direct visitors to specific pages. You can also use your keywords in the anchor text of your navigation map at the bottom of your pages.

Bio of Author

Juliet assists helping and healing professionals (coaches, therapists, counselors,
massage therapists, chiropractors, etc.) who are struggling to market their practices.
She helps her clients overcome resistances to marketing, learn and implement no or low-cost marketing strategies, create compelling promotional materials, and write effective website copy.

Sign up for Juliet’s free ezine, “Enlightened Marketing” at: target="_new"
href="http://www.julietaustin.com">http://www.julietaustin.com

Visit her
Marketing a Private Practice blog and her
target="_new" href="http://www.websitedesignandpromotion.com">Website Design
and Promotion blog for socially responsible businesses that she co-authors with Web Designer, Nathaniel Richman, of nrichmedia (nrichmedia.com).

The author grants reprint permisson as long as the article and by-line remain intact and the links are made live.

Writing Sizzling Copy that Sells is one of the biggest challenges many web business owners face when turning their web site that costs them money in to a web business for profit.

It’s not that we dont know what we want to say, it’s that we aren’t really sure HOW to say it with sizzle - will this attract people and will it help boost sales? The answer lies in testing different versions of your sales copy, whether it’s your advertising, like 3 lines on Google Adwords, or if it’s on the landing page of your site, or even in your ezine or on your blog.

Here’s 10 Eye Popping, Jaw Dropping Ad Copy Secrets to Help You Create Sizzling Sales.

1. Use a hand written note on your ad copy to enhance the typed text. Write a message on a piece of paper, scan it and publish it on your web page. Adding a personal touch like this will always increase your relatability and believability - it makes you more ‘real’.

2. Publish a list of famous and respected customers who have bought from you on your sales page. People will think that if these people bought from you, they should also trust your business and purchase your products. Make sure to get their permission first.

3. Show photos of before your solution was used and after your solution was used and include photos of your products on your web page copy. Show the problem picture and then beside it, show the picture of the resolution to the problem when your product was used.

4. Include an article or review that has been written about you or your business. This will show people that your business is respected and will increase your credibility.

5. When you offer free bonuses in your ad copy, also list the dollar value beside each bonus. People will feel they’re getting a good deal and it will increase the
value of your product.

6. Offer a deal to a famous person to test out and endorse your product or service. Make sure the person is well known to your target audience. Include their picture and statements on your ad copy.

7. Include your own picture on your ad copy. This will show people that you’re not hiding behind your ad copy and will increase their sense of trust. Also, include your contact information below the picture and a brief statement or quote.

8. Offer to donate a percentage of a product purchase price to a known charity. This will show you care about others. Some people may just buy your product to donate to the charity. Start donating before you start marketing this added incentive. You can then provide evidence - receipts, photos, letters of thanks, etc. BE CREDIBLE AND FOLLOW THROUGH WITH IT AFTER YOU’VE WON THE SALE TOO.

9. Ask your potential customers plenty of yes and no questions in your ad copy. The questions should remind them of their problem and make them think about what will happen if they don’t purchase your product.

10. Offer ’stick-ability’ rewards and incentives. Let your site prospects know they will receive a free bonus (or prize) if they answers a few questions, identify a few ‘hidden bits’. You can challenge them to find the five words in your ad copy that are misspelled or spelled backwards. The longer you can keep someone reading your copy the greater chance of them purchasing.

Jen shares many other great “Sizzling Sales Copy Secrets” in her “Winning Web Business System and Program” - Internet Marketing for your Web Business - Made Easy.

Grab your FREE Mini-Course at http://www.WebBusinessWorkshops.com

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If you’ve a savvy businessperson, the chances are you’ve already taken a look at your competitors’ auctions. What you might not have realised is just how much you can learn if you know what you’re looking for.

To begin with, don’t bother looking at listings that haven’t ended yet - you don’t know what’s going to happen with them. Instead, use the advanced search page to search for listings that sold. Just go to the advanced search page, type in the keywords that you know will find your competitors’ items, tick ‘Completed listings only’ and set the minimum number of bids to 1. Set it to sort by ‘Price: highest first’.

This will show you auctions competing with yours that have recently finished, starting with the ones that sold for the most (ignore any with prices in red - they didn’t sell). Go through and take a look, paying special attention to the following points:

Titles. What information do the top sellers of your item put in their titles, and what do they leave out? If your titles are very different to theirs, it might be time for a rethink.

Descriptions. You’ll probably notice that the highest sellers haven’t just copied text from the company’s website or an Amazon.com review - they’ve gone to the trouble of writing a little about the item, and about themselves. Learn from their example.

Pictures. I can almost guarantee you that the listing will have very nice pictures - not catalogue quality, but good enough to see what you’re getting. With items of any significant cost, you’ll probably find more than one photo from different angles.

Style. Is it written conversationally, or in terse businesslike language? The way you should write entirely depends on what the market seems to like - and the market seems to like what the top sellers wrote.

Time. It’s pretty easy to ignore this as a factor without meaning to, but pay attention to when the top selling items’ auctions began and ended. This might give you a few clues about the best to catch buyers who will bid highly on your item, and then you can schedule your items accordingly.

Price. If your competitors are selling using Buy it Now, you can see what the maximum is that they’ve managed to sell for recently, and set your own Buy it Now price slightly below that.

Shipping. Look around to see the sweet spot for shipping. If you can figure out a way to get your shipping costs lower than the highest sellers, then this is a great opportunity to differentiate yourself in the market.

Once you see what works, you can start to emulate your competitors - of course you can’t just copy them completely, but you can structure your auction similarly and make sure it includes the same information.

Paul is Head of Training for a major UK Charitable Organisation with a wealth of experience in personal development, management development, e-learning and operational management. In addition he owns PK eBooks (http://www.pk-ebooks.co.uk) two sites specifically aimed at those who want to successfully sell on eBay http://www.ebay-profits.co.uk and http://www.info-entrepreneurs.co.uk