14 Words To Lose Money
January 31, 2008
Knowing what not to say in your salesletter is easier than learning what to say.
Here you’ll find the 14 words that lose money when used.
In some cases they may seem unavoidable, however take note of the 14 words that lose money listed here, and the examples of how they may be rephrased to become “money words”.
Using any of these words jeopardizes potential sales before you even have a shot. Don’t ask your customers to “buy” by using contradictory words that actually lose money.
9 Major eBay Changes That Will Rock Your Selling World
January 29, 2008
We were expecting big changes at eBay. They’ve been madly testing new ways of doing things in their Playground for a year. But even our IMC Advanced eBay Mentoring team was a little stunned at the scope of the changes!
Here’s a rundown.
Lower insertion fees for auction and fixed price listings (including Store Inventory Format listings).
This answers years of complaints from eBay sellers — who have been defecting to Amazon.com, which doesn’t charge listing fees.
Of course that means that there will be changes to Final Value fees. And reserve fees will no longer be refundable if the item sells.
Visit eBay’s Basic Fees page to see the changes.
Fixed Price Format items can no longer be listed for under $1.00.
This could have an impact on people selling info products like e-Books, and it undermines one of our favorite strategies for amassing a lot of feedback in a short time.
Gallery is free!
Well, duh. Listings with Gallery photos outsell listings without them by a big margin. An eBay Australia study found that items with pictures had a 17% higher sell-through rate, received 73% more bids, and achieved a final sale price 189% higher than those without. That’s good for sellers and GREAT for eBay. So what took them so long?
Tiered pricing for Featured Plus so more sellers will be able to have their items show up in the Featured box on the main page.
Several of the changes involve Detailed Seller Ratings, which now help determine how prominently a seller’s listings appear and what payment options they offer. Until now, only overall feedback counted. Detailed Seller Ratings ask for feedback on four specific areas of a transaction:
- item description
- communication
- shipping time
- shipping & handling charges
New standards for PowerSellers. As of July, it’s possible to lose PowerSeller status if a 4.5 Detailed Seller Rating score isn’t maintained. On the other hand, PowerSellers who meet the new criteria will be rewarded with discounts of 5 - 15% off their final value fees, unlimited PayPal protection, and greater exposure in the search listings.
Best Match becomes the default method for sorting searches. Since it started testing Best Match, eBay has found that it converts best of all the sort methods.
Best Match gets the DSR treatment too! Detailed Seller Ratings will be factored into the search algorithm, so once again, sellers with bad DSRs go down to the bottom of the listings. Sellers with 4.6 or higher DSR scores within the last 30 days will get increased exposure. Those with 4.2 or lower scores for shipping and handling over the last 30 days, or more than 5% buyer dissatisfaction in the last 30 days will get decreased exposure.
Sellers can no longer leave negative or neutral feedback for buyers.This one could get a lot of negative feedback from sellers! While there are checks and balances in place to make it fairer for sellers, any seller can tell horror stories of unscrupulous buyers or total newbies leaving undeserved bad feedback. Until now, retaliation has been the most effective way of getting down to an agreement.
Repeat customers now count toward a seller’s overall Feedback Score.Now sellers will be rewarded for offering the kinds of products and services that make people keep coming back to buy from them. There’s a time limit of one feedback comment per week. Feedback scores will also now consist of a rolling 12-month percentage instead of a lifetime score.
Want details? Visit www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200801.shtml#2008-01-29054823.
You might also want to take part in the Seller Webinar this Friday, February 1 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. You can sign up here.
Our free eBay newsletter, Bidding Frenzy, comes out every month with the latest news and analysis and results from our Advanced eBay Mentoring Team.
Sign up here!
Web 2.0’s glitter
January 28, 2008
There’s this bright, shiny object called “Web 2.0″ that everyone seems to be fascinated with lately.
A lot of the heavy hitters in Internet marketing have been flocking to it like magpies, claiming it’s the “next big thing” in Internet marketing. They say if you don’t base all your marketing efforts on it, your business is DOOMED TO FAIL. Yikes!
Before you get caught up in all the hype, let’s just take a moment to consider what Web 2.0 actually IS, and whether it’s worth two seconds of your time.
Web 2.0: The secret weapon that’s going to help you “strike it rich”? … Or just another hammer in your toolbox?
There seems to be a lot of confusion around the term “Web 2.0″ and what it really means.
Simply put, Web 2.0 refers to the rise in popularity of websites that encourage user input and interactivity, and place heavy emphasis on community and shared experiences.
For example, well-known Web 2.0 sites include…
Wikipedia — The world’s most popular online encyclopedia, in which all the content is contributed and edited by its users (as opposed to paid experts)
Facebook — A popular social-networking site, where people can find old friends, post pictures of themselves, and share information about their lives with other registered members.
Digg — One of the best-known social bookmarking sites, where people share links to their favorite articles, videos, or images. Users then vote on the offerings, and the ones that get the most “Diggs” rise to the top and are seen by the most viewers.
… And that’s just a few! Basically, any site that features a blog or forum, or encourages input and feedback from its users, falls under the definition of “Web 2.0.”
But what does this mean for marketers?
According to all the current hype, Web 2.0 means TRAFFIC — and lots of it.
The theory is that the more you interact on Web 2.0 sites like those mentioned above, the more you can expose potential new customers to your brand, and encourage them to visit your site.
And the more links you get pointing to your site from popular, high-PageRank sites such as these, the higher your site will appear in the search engine standings.
… Which means even MORE traffic to your site!
In practice, this is mostly true. Kind of.
Yes, you can drive a lot more traffic to your site from social media and bookmarking sites.
But — and here’s something the majority of Web 2.0 fanatics neglect to point out — it takes a LOT of TIME and EFFORT to get that traffic.
And on top of that, a question that must be asked is: “What KIND of traffic do you get???”
They can smell a pitch from a mile away
To understand the true value of Web 2.0-style marketing, first you need to understand the type of people who spend a lot of time hanging out at Web 2.0 sites.
These are people seeking diversion and entertainment. They want to socialize with their online friends, watch an entertaining video, or read something interesting or informative.
… In other words, they’re looking for FUN — not for something to buy!
So if you think you can just waltz into an online community and start talking about your product and how great it is — and then drive swarms of interested buyers to your site — you are DREAMING.
The fact is, they’ll probably tar and feather you — then run you out of town on a rail!
If you want to get any traction whatsoever out of Web 2.0 sites, you have to invest a LOT of your time in them.
You need to carefully observe how people interact with each other on the site, and then follow their example. You need to provide lots of useful free advice or other interesting information, so people appreciate your input.
And — unless people ask you about it — the ONLY place you should mention your business or your site URL is in your signature and/or your profile page.
Your sole objective should be relationship building, NOT selling.
As people begin to know you and trust you, they might become interested in checking out your site, in order to learn more about you.
But even if you DO manage to lure a bunch of new visitors to your site from a social site like Facebook or Digg, you have to remember that they’re clicking through mostly out of curiosity…
… NOT because they’re in a buying frame of mind.
And that means your “Web 2.0 traffic” isn’t going to convert at the same rate you’d expect from the traffic you get from your affiliates, joint venture partners, or pay-per-click ads.
But does that mean “Web 2.0 marketing” isn’t worth your time?
That depends… on you.
Is your business ALREADY a proven money-maker… Or still just a “twinkle in your eye”?
If you have a well-established, profitable business that’s doing a great job of turning traffic into sales… And you’re getting hundreds, if not THOUSANDS, of high-converting visitors to your site each day…
… Only then should you even consider getting into “Web 2.0 marketing.”
Even though Web 2.0 traffic doesn’t convert as well as traffic from other sources, putting your name and business brand out there on such hugely popular sites really IS a great way to introduce your product to new audiences.
It’s just that it takes a whole lot longer to connect the dots between the effort you put into it… and the eventual sales you get as a result.
So if your business is still in “blueprint mode”…
… Or if you do have a site, but it’s not getting much traffic yet and few of your visitors are converting into customers…
… Then the truth is, there are probably a LOT of things you should be working on that will yield far more tangible, profitable results than spending hours each day on a site like Facebook or Digg!
Before you invest a lot of time on “Web 2.0″ marketing, you absolutely MUST do the necessary research to make sure people actually WANT to buy your product!
Make sure your salescopy and site design are doing the BEST possible job of converting visitors into buyers!
Optimize your site for the search engines — which, contrary to some marketers’ claims, are STILL the greatest source of free traffic available online!
Use proven traffic generation strategies — such as pay-per-click advertising and article marketing — to drive more qualified visitors to your site (Yes, the old “tried & true” methods still work best!)
Partner with other successful businesses and do joint ventures to put your product in front of new groups of interested visitors
Once your business is making good money — and you’ve maximized all the proven ways of driving qualified traffic to your site — THEN AND ONLY THEN should you turn your attention to “Web 2.0.”
… Because otherwise, I’m afraid you’ll find yourself digging WAY too many holes in the ground — but never striking gold.
Am I reading this wrong?
A wild and crazy ride
January 28, 2008
Three weeks ago, I made a New Year’s resolution.
I resolved to help make 2008 a massive success for 250 lucky individuals.
And now those 250 individuals have been chosen!
As you probably know, last Thursday we unveiled our new all-in-one business builder, "Info Biz Creator."
My team and I had to work seriously late hours pretty much every single day this month.
And it was all worth it… Because from all the feedback you’ve given us via email and on our blog, one thing has become abundantly clear:
Clearly, we’ve hit a nerve!
The response you’ve shown us over the past couple of weeks has PROVEN that a step-by-step business creator was EXACTLY what you were looking for, in order to make 2008 an unprecedented success.
Of course, in order to give participants the real-person support they need to build their business, we had to limit the number of spots to just 250.
I know a lot of you were hoping to take part in this program, but weren’t able to make it to the launch site in time.
We can’t offer you a spot in the program right now… But we have set up a special waiting list for people who want to be alerted as spots are made available.
Just go to:
… And we will offer newly available spots on a first-come, first-served basis.
And if, for whatever reason, our new program, "Info Biz Creator," didn’t suit your particular needs — stay tuned.
We will be releasing a number of brand-new products throughout the year, and all of them are geared at helping you make real money on the Internet, as quickly and easily as possible!
To your success,
Derek Gehl
It’s ready!
January 24, 2008
My team and I are excited to announce the launch of…
Info Biz Creator!
Starting today, 250 lucky people are going to embark on the incredible journey of creating their own money-making business on the Internet.
And I’m inviting YOU to be one of them!
You’ll discover all the details at our "official unveiling," which kicks off at 10:00 a.m. PST at:
www.marketingtips.com/infobiz.html
(That’s right… it’s happening now!)
However, please note: tire kickers and procrastinators need NOT apply.
I want to make sure that every single one of the 250 people who sign up for this program actually SUCCEED in creating a money-making online business.
And that’s why I only want people who are ACTION takers… people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty — and play an active role in their own success!
So if you’re willing to do what it takes, make sure you attend our "official unveiling" at:
www.marketingtips.com/infobiz.html
Because YOU are the kind of person I want to see in this program!
To your success,
Derek Gehl
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