Say More Than ‘thank Youก

Say More Than ‘thank Youก

by: Akinori Furukoshi

Most Websites are gathering email addresses. When you submit your email address, you will be redirected to a thank you page. There is nothing wrong with it, but that page can do more than saying ‘thank you.ก
The Result
A while ago, I added some affiliate links to my thankyouforsubscribing page. (You can see it at http://www.thatswise.com/popups/redirect/thanks_subscribe.html .) Even though you can close the window or go back to the home page, 98.8% of viewers of that page have clicked one of the links listed. This is astonishing when compared to the clickthough ratio of banner ads on my site, which is about 0.9%. And, 98% is not a stat of one lucky day. Itกs an average of one year.
They Will Listen
98% sounds unrealistic, but it makes sense. Visitors subscribe to your newsletter because they liked your site in some way. So, they will listen to you as they listen to their friends. When you recommend some places to go, most people will go.
Additionally, you will get better results if you link to a page with one product rather than linking to a page with a lot of products. People who have submitted to you an email address are open minded. This is the time to tell them your recommendation (your favorite product), not to show them options (list of your products).
Note
However, do not use this technique on a thankyouforORDERING page. If you send buyers to another Web page asking them to buy more things, visitors will feel you are trying to suck all the money they have. You may add links on this thankyou page, but be selective which pages youกll send buyers to. I am not saying upselling won’t work. Upselling does work. You have to upsell before receiving payments, not after you received payments. Chasers at McDonaldกs ask, กWould you like to have French fries with that?ก when you order a burger, not after you have paid for your order, don’t they?

About The Author

Though his Web site, http://www.thatswise.com Akinori Furukoshi has been providing ecommerce related information since 1998. His unique way of thinking has helped online businesses to improve their performance. More detailed bio is available at http://www.thatswise.com/about_us.html

This article was posted on June 29, 2004

by Akinori Furukoshi

Remove These Objections and Watch Your eBay Auctio

Remove These Objections and Watch Your eBay Auctions Fly

by: Brian McGregor

กObjectionก is a term taken directly from sales and marketing training, and it is important you understand the significance of objections to your sales process.

Objections are those points, sometimes small issues, which make a bidder or a buyer think again about going for your offering.

In your auction description you need to remove as many of these objections as you can.

These are the kind of objections which your prospective buyers will have.

Objection 1

Is the seller trustworthy?

The buyer usually doesn’t know you. If they’re serious bidders they will check you out. How will they do this?

a) A good Feedback Rating will be one way they assess you. Be determined in getting your feedback up, and making it all positive.

b) They might also click through to your About Me page. This page gives you the opportunity to convey your personality and your honesty.

One of eBayกs standard About Me page formats lets you display your recent feedbacks always useful and also your other auctions, again useful. This is in addition to anything about yourself which helps to show what a sincere and genuine person you are.

And finally, if you have a web site from which you sell products or services, you are allowed to place a direct link to it from the About Me page. This is in marked contrast to your auction description page, where eBay does not allow direct links to web pages. So, create an About Me page and incorporate the points mentioned.

c) A prospective bidder may wish to ask you a question. As you will know, there is a standard eBay facility whereby a bidder can ask a seller a question. You should really welcome questions. Why do I say this?

Well, if a bidder asks you a question, first of all you know they are interested in your offering. They wouldn’t have wasted their time on typing out their question to you if they weren’t. So, by asking you a question they are qualifying themselves in as a real prospect. And you now have the chance to directly influence them in your reply to their question. Depending on the nature of their enquiry, you have the opportunity to convey your integrity, honesty, credibility, fair mindedness, helpfulness, expertise, knowledge, other appropriate products etc.

So, if questions are such good things, why not make it easy for the bidder to ask one? Always have some text in your auction description offering to answer any questions, with a link to your email address. If you have a little knowledge of HTML coding you will know how easy this is to do. It is far better than simply relying on buyers finding the standard กAsk the seller a questionก link provided by eBay.

d) You might consider a moneyback guarantee, if itกs appropriate and you can กaffordก it.

Why would you or should you do this?

Well, when you think about it, in online auctions, the buyer is normally asked to take all the risk. They usually pay the seller up front before the item is delivered to them. The risk is all theirs that the seller doesn’t perform.

To some buyers, particularly on higher value items, this risk is so high that it can cause them to have second thoughts about bidding. You know you are trustworthy, but they don’t. By offering a moneyback guarantee you are offering what is known as กrisk reversalก. You are taking the risk off your buyer. In effect you shoulder the risk.

I know this works, because I use it myself. In thousands of auctions Iกve run, I can count on one hand the number of people who have invoked my money back guarantee.

If you can practice กrisk reversalก, it will help your auction success rate, and it is vital on Dutch auctions.

Objection 2

How do I pay?

Always maximise the number of payment options you will accept.

You should provide different types of payment options for your buyers:

PayPal

Nochex

FastPay

Cheque

Postal Order

Bankerกs Draft

Bank Transfer

Cash

You can accept credit/debit cards on your auctions if you open accounts with relevant payment processors. These enable buyers to pay you with a credit/debit card even though you aren’t a business, and you don’t have what is known as a Merchant Account.

As you probably know, PayPal is owned by eBay. Therefore eBay make it really easy for you to take PayPal payments from your buyers. But don’t forget other payment processors, like Nochex and FastPay. It might just be that your interested buyer only has a Nochex account, or a Fast Pay account.

Opening accounts is free. Paying anyone via PayPal, Nochex or FastPay is also free which is why so many auction bidders and buyers use them. There are charges for you as a seller, however, and these are incurred when you receive money and/or when you transfer money from/to your PayPal, Nochex or FastPay accounts from/to your own bank account. Check out the respective fees via their web sites.

In my experience, the rates of charges are reasonable for giving you the significant advantage of being able to accept credit/debit card payments on your auctions.

If you are selling low value items, say less than £3, it may be prudent to add a small sum or percentage to the final sale value to cover this.

Speaking personally, I never ask the buyer to incur additional charges for using PayPal, Nochex or FastPay. (You will now realise why itกs called removing an objection!) I take the view that buyers who wish to pay by credit/debit card should not be discouraged in any way and a surcharge of this nature might just prevent them from bidding or buying.

If you don’t have PayPal account and youกd like to create one, click here.

If you don’t have Nochex account and youกd like to create one, click here.

If you don’t have a FastPay account and youกd like to create one, click here.

As I mentioned, they’re free to set up.

Objection 3

Is delivery expensive?

Always fully describe your delivery details within your auction description. Be up front about delivery costs.

If bidders or buyers aren’t given this detail within the auction description, they may become suspicious that the seller is hiding something, and therefore decide not to bid. There have been occasions where sellers have sold items at what appear to be cheap prices, but have inflated delivery costs to compensate, or even over compensate. Never do this!

There is no reason why you cannot say up front how much P&P will be. You can find out the real delivery costs of the company you plan to use. You can get these details from their website.

Once you have the postal costs you can add the appropriate handling and packaging costs, and there you have the figure to let your buyers know in advance that you’re not hiding anything.

You have just removed another doubt in your prospective buyerกs mind.

Objection 4

What happens if the item arrives damaged?

In your auction description you should cover your policy in relation to damages and insurance.

If you’re selling higher value items you may wish to consider using a delivery service which includes insurance. Remember, even though the buyer has paid for it, the item is your property until it is accepted by the buyer. So if it is damaged in transit, this is your responsibility. You will have to arrange a replacement or a refund, and claim your costs back via your insurance.

Don’t forget, if you do need to have enhanced insurance cover, it is perfectly reasonable to include this is in your delivery costs as shown in your auction description.

Objection 5

How professional is someone who has multiple spelling errors?

It is very unreasonable for any bidder to overlook your auction just because you have spelling errors. Isn’t it?

However, they may believe someone who won’t take the trouble to get their spelling correct might be equally unprofessional elsewhere.

You and I might consider that stance to be unreasonable. With spell checkers available, however, thereกs no reason to have any spelling errors creeping through on your auction page.

So, spell check your auction description page please.

Objection 6

What do I do now?

You should always กask for the orderก. In other words, suggest to your prospective buyer that they make a bid today for this valuable, rare, stunning, limited edition item!

And remind them that when they win the item they will be enriched by the strongest benefit you have already identified to them in your auction description.

Objections Summary

If you spend time removing these objections, you will be repaid handsomely. I can guarantee you will receive more genuine bids for each of your auctions than if you had left these points hanging for the bidder to ponder and make assumptions.

About The Author

Brian McGregor specializes in showing website owners how to make more money from their sites by applying inventive and original use of eBay. For a free copy of ‘The eBay Traffic Funnel’ which shows you how to use the power of eBay to make more money with your website, visit http://www.moreauctionsales.com/websites

[email protected]

This article was posted on January 19, 2005

by Brian McGregor

Make Online Auctions a Home Business

Make Online Auctions a Home Business

by: John Lynch

Everyone is aware of online auctions nowadays. We all know someone who has bought or sold something on an Ebay online auction site. But how many people know that this hobby can be turned into a profitable business?

The fact is online auctions are a new kind of home based business created by the Internet with no capital investment and no risk.

An online auctions business has the following advantages:

No startup costs.

No financial risk.

Work whenever you choose.

Targeted customers brought to you by auction sites such as Ebay.

No technical skills required.

Startup in 5 minutes.

How do I start an online auctions business?

First, if you are not familiar with the process of buying and selling, you need to understand how auctions operate. By far the biggest online auction site is Ebay (http://www.ebay.com), boasting millions of users worldwide.

However, this is the tip of the iceberg. Other popular auction sites include:

Yahoo Auctions http://www.auctions.yahoo.com

uBid http://www.ubid.com

OnSale http://www.onsale.com

QXL http://www.qxl.com

Start off by buying an item yourself to get the feel of how it is done. This will give you an overall insight into the process of registering with the auction site, bidding, paying for your goods and the delivery arrangements.

Don’t Feel Forced to Buy

As a buyer you should not feel pressured into buying something that you know is overpriced because you think it is the last item. There are many online auctions and there is a good chance that you will come across the same item at another site.

Leave Your Bid Late

Experienced online buyers will leave their bids until the last few minutes before an auction closes to prevent the price being driven up too high.

Use Automated Bids

If you don’t want to spend a lot of time waiting for an auction to close, you can use an automated bidding service such as eSnipe (http://www.esnipe.com). You can open a free account and type in the auction number and the amount you want to bid. ESnipe can then place a lastminute bid for you just before the close of the auction. If you win the bid, you pay eSnipe a small fee and if you lose you pay nothing.

Search for Misspelt Items

Savvy buyers know that many items listed for sale at Ebay are misspelt. You can use this to your advantage by searching for wrongly spelt items. You will have far less competition as most people search for correctly spelt items.

Once you have bought something and paid for it, you will know how the auction process works from the buyerกs point of view. This is vital as it will give added insight into how you can provide good customer service when you set up your own business.

So now that you have bought and paid for an item on an online auction, you are ready to sell something yourself as a first step to setting up an online business.

At this point, most people look around their own homes to rid themselves of some unwanted items for which they have no use. This is a good way to get started. When you list your item on auction sites, make sure you provide a photograph. This will grab the attention of the buyers.

Description of Goods

A good description of your กfor saleก items is essential. Give all relevant details including technical specifications and dimensions where necessary.

Guaranteed Refund

Give a guaranteed refund to potential buyers to reassure them of your integrity. Most buyers and sellers on the Internet are honest but there are a few rogues, and buyers like to be reassured.

Positive Feedback

Getting positive feedback from your previous customers is the best way to prove you are trustworthy. Always request feedback politely after a successful sale.

Reserve Price

Set a reserve price to ensure that your goods do not sell for less than you want. Make it reasonable. If you set it too high, you will not receive any bids.

Payment Options

The more payment options you offer your buyers, the more likely you will be to make a sale. Ebay auctions offer the online payment transfer system Pay Pal (www.paypal.com) which is free to set up. Credit cards also offer security and are popular.

If you intend to set up an online auctions business, it is best to specialise in a niche which is a little out of the ordinary. Thereby facing less competition and guaranteeing your profitability.

Setting up an online auctions business can become a reality for anyone who is prepared to do the necessary research and put in the effort. The enormous interest in auction sites created by the success of Ebay has provided huge numbers of targeted visitors ready to part with their cash for a great variety of goods.

(C) John Lynch 2003

About The Author

(C) John Lynch 2003

Visit http://www.merchantaccountservice.com/auction_ebay.html for a Free auctions course on how to start a successful online auctions business from home.

This article was posted on October 24, 2003

by John Lynch

Using Paypal for eBay Purchases

Using Paypal for eBay Purchases

by: Terry Gibbs

Paypal is the preferred payment choice for many buyers because Paypal allows buyers to pay instantly for eBay purchases. In this article, we will review using Paypal on eBay from the buyerกs point of view.

Since eBay purchased Paypal, it has become even easier for buyers and sellers to complete auction sales. Buyers like Paypal because they can quickly and easily pay online. In fact, some bidders will only bid on items they can pay for with Paypal.

One thing that confuses buyers is some sellers accept Paypal payments through credit cards, while others only accept transfers. You see, with Paypal a buyer can fund the transaction in three ways. This can confuse buyers, and cause problems.

Hereกs the three ways to fund a Paypal transaction:

1. Transfer from a bank account tied to the userกs Paypal account.

2. Transfer from a Paypal balance.

3. Payment from a Credit Card.

The first two options cost Paypal nothing in processing fees. Credit cards cost about 2 percent to process, and Paypal passes this cost on to merchants. Some eBay sellers do not want to pay this fee for service, so they only accept payments by transfer. This confuses buyers who win auctions and assume a credit card transaction is fine.

Paypal wants users to transfer funds, and not use their credit cards. Not only is this cheaper for Paypal, but there is no risk of a chargeback.

A chargeback is when a buyer reverses the charge on a credit card by contacting his bank. Most, maybe all, banks will reverse a credit card charge with little or no investigation if the card holder contests the charge. The money is taken right out of the merchantกs bank account Paypal in this case.

Paypal makes it difficult to use a credit card to send money through Paypal. This is done making the credit card payment option difficult to find, and warning users about the กriskก because you cannot buy Paypalกs insurance.

With a credit card purchase, you do not need Paypalกs insurance. Your bank will reverse the charge free if the seller scams you.

One other way Paypal makes it hard for users to instantly send money with a credit card is by limiting the total amount you can charge.

The first time I tried to use Paypal to pay for an eBay auction, I was unable to use my credit card because the amount was above the limit. That was a $700 item. I think the single item limit is $500, but could not find confirmation of this. The lifetime limit, or total amount you can send all eBay sellers with a credit card is $2,000.

If you wish to pay for an item with a credit card through Paypal you should confirm the seller takes card transactions. This can be done reviewing the auction and looking for the credit card logos adjacent to the Paypal logo in the payment methods screen.

Whenever you pay for an eBay auction through Paypal, you should check the sellerกs Paypal status. Do not send large amounts to unverified users, and watch that the userกs address matches the auction details.

Paypal is an easy way to pay for your eBay purchases.

About The Author

Terry Gibbs is a collector/dealer of old toys and trains, and teaches others how to buy and sell antiques and collectibles. Gibbs is the author of two best selling eBay books ‘the Auction Revolution,ก and ‘the Complete Guide To eBay Consignment Sales.ก He has also written numerous other books about buying and selling antiques and collectibles. Learn more at his website: http://www.news.iwantcollectibles.com.

This article was posted on March 22

by Terry Gibbs

eBay The Mega Marketplace For Everyone

eBay The Mega Marketplace For Everyone

by: Lori Osenbaugh

eBay is one of the worldกs largest market places with over 35 million visitors per day. That first sentence is worth repeating because I want you to realize that eBay gives you the ability to reach a customer base of millions and millions of people which is beneficial to you. Say Goodbye to garage sales and hello to eBay.

You don’t have to become a major powerseller or wholesaler to take advantage of eBay and what this mega marketplace can do for you. All you need is a computer with Internet access so you can setup auctions for all that stuff laying around the house youกve been wanting to get rid of by selling it or giving it away, so why not eBay it?

eBay auction VS garage sale

First lets talk about garage sales. Holding a garage sale consists of getting all of your items ready to sell and placing them on display in front of your house or on your driveway for neighbors and lookers to purchase. You or someone you know and trust needs to be physically present at all times to sell the items as your front yard has now become a small storefront. In other words you have to sit at home all day after getting everything together and promoting your garage sale which is a lot of work especially considering what you can accomplish with less time and effort on eBay.

Time & Money

Just about everybody is looking to save time and money which is exactly what eBay does for you. eBay is a much larger market and can attract many more potential buyers than a garage sale can. The very reason that there are more potential buyers creates more of a demand for your product, toy or whatever you are trying to sell. eBay commands more dollar for your product than a garage sale for this very reason.

eBay also saves you time because once you have setup your auction it does most of the work for you. You don’t have to be present to sell the item, you don’t have to be home to get paid electronically and you don’t have to be there for somebody to see your auction because your potential buyers can look at your item for sale from the convenience of their own computer which saves you precious time.

eBay also gives you the ability to accept different payment methods such as PayPal, money order, check or cash it is up to you what payment methods you wish to accept. Garage sales simply do not offer this sort of flexibility with time and money.

Quick tips

Shipping can be a hard one to get used to so make sure that you either A. get a postal scale (about $20 at Office Depot) or B. have the post office weigh the packages before you list. Take it from me because I have lost so much money on shipping because I would just กguesstimateก and that simply does not work. I would recommend always making the buyer purchase Insurance and tracking. I had an issue where a customer said she never got her package and I didn’t insure it. We decided to wait a couple of weeks then figure it out, she actually wanted me to refund everything to her, which I didn’t feel was fair but was willing to do it because I believe in customer satisfaction. Fortunately the package finally showed up after three and half weeks (and I sent it Priority Mail).

You want to only send to the buyers address if it is registered with eBay. A couple of years ago a gentlemen contacted me to buy a $250 wireless antenna, he said he was traveling and asked me to send it to his satellite office. He paid me through PayPal, I always thought that was safe and would automatically include coverage. Two months went by and then all of the sudden Paypal took $250 out of our account without warning or explanation, when we called them they said that one of our eBay transactions was fraudulent! It turns out the man used a stolen credit card, PayPal told us we were out of luck since we did not send to his confirmed address. Lesson learned.

Always state the terms of your auctions, it is good to come up with your terms to use at the end of every auction that states your policies, if you combine shipping, the payment methods you accept, etc. Also, think of a refund policy. I give a full refund, or for instance my sisterinlaw gives purchase amount back but not shipping, those sort of policies are up to you as a seller.

I use Turbo Lister, a free software program, that makes it so much easier to get multiple auctions setup simultaneously. If you do it directly from eBay it seems like it takes forever to enter each one. Turbo Lister is a free download and is available in Seller Tools at eBay.

A way to save money; I always use the free template from eBay. Itกs not really anything fancy. You can choose to get those cute little borders and clipart on each auction but it costs more money. Itกs proven that ultimately it doesn’t matter to people, they want what you are selling. Your first picture is free after that they are .15 cents for additional ones. So I always try, when possible, to use only one picture. Sometimes if it is a big clothing lot or a large dollar item I will only use more pictures. I also make sure to try and write a great description so potential buyers know what they are getting and are excited for their purchase.

Something that works; I will sometimes utilize the กBuy It Nowก features (they cost extra) but I put the BIN price higher than I would normally expect to get and when somebody really wants an item, they would rather pay the higher price than risk missing the auction end without winning the item. There are many times where this has benefited both myself and the buy it now bidder.

If you are doing a local pickup or have special instructions for your auction make sure you include those instructions ALL OVER your auctions. The mistake I made one time was only putting local pickup only on just the shipping description and the winning bidder did not notice that. Now I plaster special instructions like that everywhere.

Remember that people love fast shipping so when you do sell try to ship the item out as soon as possible after auction ending. Your customers will love fast shipping. I also include a note thanking them and sometimes I include a bonus item. Thatกs just some of the fun and benefits of selling on eBay.

About The Author

Lori Osenbaugh sells on eBay in addition to being a licensed Realtor® and Pampered Chef Consultant. You can custom search for Colorado homes at http://www.preferreddenverhomes.com or search Loriกs Pampered Chef online at http://www.pamperedchef.biz/cookieo

This article was posted on August 11

by Lori Osenbaugh

Engage the Power of the Internet to Find Your Perf

Engage the Power of the Internet to Find Your Perfect Home

by: Marianne Bandy

Finding the perfect home is always a challenge. Itกs easy to be overwhelmed by the number of choices and all the time required. But the challenges have gotten much easier for buyers who use My Buying Buddy®. Itกs a system that permits กvirtual tire kickingก of homes listed by the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

My Buying Buddy makes it a lot easier for buyers to research their options. And it lets me focus on the other services necessary to complete the deal (like showing properties, communicating with lenders, negotiating the purchase with the sellerกs agent, etc.). Since I installed this system on my website, http://www.bandyhomes.com 70% of my clients find me through Internet searches. Itกs my experience that these buyers are better educated, have higher incomes, and are more motivated than typical lookers.

A large percentage of online buyers looking for Denver real estate, haven’t moved here yet. They’re using the Internet to assist their relocations. This program lets them narrow their choices and decisions without needing to be here.

Delve into the MLS Yourself

Realtor® is a trademark of National Association of Realtors. Only members get full access to the MLS, which lists all the properties for sale by local Realtors. Every listed property can be sold by any member. The public isn’t allowed to look into the database of listings. Thatกs reserved for licensed brokers who are members.

Traditionally, buyers had to rely on their real estate agent to tell them about what was available (given their desires and resources). Now, buyers can do their own searches, with direct access to the same listings as their broker. To see Denver homes for sale, buyers can see the latest information, and even receive updates about changes regarding properties of interest.

My Buying Buddy Streamlines Locating ‘the Homeก Buyers Hope to Find

The software system provides a comprehensive, easytouse home search service of the MLS. This buyerfriendly system was developed by Blue Fire Marketing, http://www.bluefiremarketing.com I consider it an incredible tool for the Denver real estate market. Itกs already available in several Colorado markets, the San Francisco bay area and parts of California and Texas. And more communities are adopting My Buying Buddy all the time.

When it became available, I saw its power, and was one of the first to climb aboard. My entire website is oriented around this system since it automates and simplifies many tasks required to find the perfect home.

The Denver MLS consistently lists over 25,000 properties, of which over 16,000 are residential properties. Thatกs too many to sort through without powerful software. But this program lets buyers be actively involved in finding and comparing the best listings.

My Buying Buddy Benefits

Shows featured listings

Locates homes in the MLS according to your criteria

Saves properties, so you can keep track of homes you like

Saves your search criteria from one session to the next

Gives email notification of new listings

Sends you email alerts about changes on homes of interest: daily or weekly

More People Trust the Internet to Locate Major Purchases like Homes

Increasingly, people turn to the Web to make critical buying decisions. The publicกs high expectations are caused by three trends:

Twothirds of US Internet users have more than three years experience online

Websites have gotten much better at giving people what they want in the way they want it

Search tools have become more powerful, so people can locate the information they’re looking for (like My Buying Buddy)

Research studies about used car sales and hiring attorneys demonstrate that people even turn to online resources before making expensive purchases and commitments. The Internet has replaced newspaper classifieds as the primary place to go for used car information.

The more comfortable people become online, the more home buyers go online to seek out desired information. Depending on the source, up to 70% of all purchasers turn to the Web during their home search and buying process.

Test Drive My Buying Buddy on my Website http://www.bandyhomes.com

Iกm a real estate professional who enjoys the human side of transactions. I care about helping families meet their needs and find what they love. This buyerfriendly system lets me do even more to assist my clients. And it involves them to the extent they want to be. See for yourself how beautifully technology can improve the home search experience.

© 2004, Marianne Bandy

About The Author

Marianne Bandy, Realtor® Denver, Colorado and surrounding communities. Use My Buying Buddy® to search the MLS listings to find your perfect home yourself. Helping families From My Heart to Your Home.

http://www.bandyhomes.com

(303) 7467799

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 22, 2004

by Marianne Bandy

5 Things More Important to Internet Buyers than WH

5 Things More Important to Internet Buyers than WHAT You’re Selling II

by: Dr. Lynella Grant

Web commerce is all about courtship, not salesmanship. In life, a suitor can’t go from first date to the engagement ring in one afternoon. Courtship is an intricate dance, where each party contributes to the relationship at a measured tempo. Trust grows through gradual exchanges and reassurances.

Yet, the typical salesoriented Web site urges the visitor to jump to commitment right away. Pushing for them to กBUY NOW!ก is not only premature, but a misapplication of the fact that visitors are in a hurry. Developing a relationship can’t be rushed or skippednot if you intend to lead them to the alter (sale). Buyers want and need to proceed at their own pace.

Each request you make of a visitor กcall, read, subscribe or buyก requires a higher level of commitment. So back off the hard sell, and instead weave the steps into a sensuous dance that respects them and invites a lasting relationship. Itกs possible, if you follow these five points that buyers care about.

1. How well they’re treated

The mood of the site should be welcoming, geared to assist the customer finding what they’re looking for. Trust grows as you minimize their sense of risk. And make no mistake, the buyerกs risks are greater online. Recognize them and reduce them as much as possible. Theyกve been conned, burned, or faced nondelivery of purchasesnot to mention abuse of their credit cards or privacy information.

The Internet works because people feel anonymous. People are understandably leery about revealing personal information. So every aspect of the site needs to say, กyou’re safe hereก along with, กlook at all the interesting things we have to show you.ก One fast move and that skittish deer will bolt.

Web commerce has several inherent disadvantagesshipping charges, delays until products arrive, lack of handson assessment, etc. When buyers encounter other disadvantages as well, whether itกs unacceptable policies, or added costs, they treat them as a deal breakereven if itกs just a little bit more.

2. How efficiently the buying process went

Assuming your site sells a tangible product, the buyer has to be able to assess its looks, materials, uses, and value without being able to touch it. This can be accomplished much better with some products than others by use of photographs and descriptive copy. But a buyer still takes a chance as to color, size, quality, and suitability. Sales sites need to know their customersก concerns so well that they anticipate what they need to know.

Design the site for ease of scanning and logical organization that presents information so it will guide and inform.

3. How much aggravation they had to endure

Hereกs where poor navigation or slow download times cost you sales. (Navigation problems are a main reason why site visitors leave.) They won’t stay at a site where they can’t easily find the answers they want. And if they have to wait too long for pages to load, forget it. Internet users are extremely time sensitive. The high percentage of abandoned shopping carts (as much as a quarter) proves that the payment process can defeat all efforts to motivate the buyer. These are กalmostก sales, where sloppiness got in the way.

Getting through some payment procedures confounds even experienced surfers. How many payment options do you provideanywhere from Paypal to fax your order? Credit cards are convenient, but not always the purchaserกs preferred choice. How intrusive are the questions (yes, we know about fraud avoidance)? When the goal is building trust (in both directions), how many กwe don’t trust youก signals does your site send?

4. How many mind games were played on them

The primary products sold on most web sites are hype and high pressure. Unfortunately, thatกs not what buyers are looking to buy, and why conversion rates online are so abysmally low. The quality of typical sales copy is aggressive, designed more to trick than inform. It seems like the sales letters were drafted from the same manual.

Aggressive tactics are so widespread that effective, customerfriendly copy can actually stand out. So get rid of the กgotchas.ก Customers dread them, and then relax once they don’t find them. Mind games don’t end after the saleกs complete. Be alert for delivery, security, and privacy lapses that could creep up after the sale.

5. How well the business has its act together overall

Behind the computer screen are untold elementsefficient links, quick loading, glitchfree credit card processing, the respect for the visitorกs time, etc., that reveal the companyกs priorities. Unless all the parts work with a consistent goal and degree of care the buyer experiences whiplash. Sour notes (small potatoes signals) are trivial in themselves, but break the momentum toward purchasing. They’re easily eliminatedonce you know to look for them. To learn how, read the helpful articles at my site, http://www.giantpotatoes.com

Give yourself extra points for postsale follow up. Hereกs where Internet sellers can shine because of autoresponders and customeroriented email. Don’t just use such tools for making the sale. Use them to build relationships and added value after you get their money.

Dance Your Way to Profits

Courtship is necessary to develop a lasting relationship.

The pace of the dance should reflect the giveandtake necessary to build trust. Don’t sell the buyer, court him with a wellpaced dance.

This is Part II of a twopart series. Part I can be read at: http://www.giantpotatoes.com/article201.htm

© 2004, Lynella Grant

About The Author

Dr. Lynella Grant is an expert on the signals that make up the กbody languageก of a business. Author of The Business Card Book and Stop Looking Like Small Potatoes Visit http://www.giantpotatoes.com Off the Page Press (719) 3959450 mailto:[email protected]

This article was posted on March 02, 2004

by Dr. Lynella Grant

HighTech Real Estate Marketing

HighTech Real Estate Marketing

by: Dale Ryan Serbousek

A quick glance through the Sunday real estate ads reveals that most homes are sold the old fashioned way. By print ads and word of mouth. Truth be told, placing your home in the Sunday paper does little more than quench the ego of the agent listing your home. Demand more!

Traditional real estate marketing reaches about 70% of the people who want to buy your home. The other 30% are buyers who are outofarea. They are the buyers who surf the web, looking for a home in the town their employer just relocated them to. They are the buyers who are looking for a retirement home, or a second home near their kids. If you are not placing your home in front of these buyers, you could be chopping thousands of dollars off the selling price of your home.

Lets look at eBay for an example. Most sellers tell you the key to getting the highest dollars amount for an item is to have as many potential buyers looking at the item. The final selling price is directly prortional to the number of people watching the auction. The same holds true for selling your house.

In closing, ask your real estate agent how they plan to advertise your home on the internet. Do not let them get away with placing your home in the Sunday paper, and calling it a day. Sure, your home will sell. It may even sell fast in some markets; however, the only successful real estate transaction is the one where you get the most money when selling your home. Now go getกem.

About The Author

Dale Serbousek is and ePRO Realtor in Bellingham, Washington. He specializes in hightech real estate marketing, helping sellers realize the full value of their property. He is also a coveted eBay Powerseller, a title owned by less than 1% of all eBay sellers.

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 24

by Dale Ryan Serbousek

10 Steps to Getting Paid for Your Marketing Materi

10 Steps to Getting Paid for Your Marketing Materials

by: Paulette Ensign

How many times have you heard the same sound bites come out of your mouth to your clients, prospects, and audiences, almost boring yourself to tears in the process? Imagine generating money directly from those sound bites, from those pearls of wisdom that effortlessly trip off your tongue. Yes, it is completely possible, and here’s how to do it.

Capture those tidbits of information as soon as they come to mind. Jot them down in a notebook or get them into a Word document. They can be in a raw format, with just enough information to jog your thinking about what you mean. There will be time to refine them later.

Let a couple weeks go by, allowing most of the information to surface in your thoughts. It rarely happens by declaring two hours on a Thursday afternoon to sit at your computer to think of it all.

Refine and organize the tips. Divide them into categories and edit the text. Use a writing style similar to what you are reading here.

Be sure to include your contact details so readers can easily reach you. Add a brief section about your background so people will know your qualifications for presenting the information.

Hire a graphic designer to make the words look good on the page. Your completed product will be a tips booklet measuring about 3 ½ inches by 8 ½ inches when printed. The designer will create their part of the finished product as a PDF file.

Send the PDF file from your graphic designer to a printing company. Do an initial print run of 1,000 copies.

Think about who can benefit from using your booklet to promote their own product, service, or cause. Send them a sample of your booklet and a cover letter describing some of the ways they can increase their sales or further their cause by using your booklet as a promotional tool.

Consider corporations, associations, publications, and any other group that seems appropriate for the topic of your booklet. Reach out to as many of them as you can, on whatever budget of time and money you have available to you.

Realize that every time one of the largequantity buyers sends out your booklet to promote their own product, service, or cause, they are also marketing your business. Your contact information in the booklet allows the reader to reach you directly.

Enjoy the expansion of your customer base and your checking account. You are now reaching a larger audience than you are likely to do singlehandedly, thanks to the largequantity buyers of your booklet. And you have been paid by your buyers to reach those new people.

Those sound bites you have been saying for years are now reaching far beyond your current clients, helping your buyers, their clients, and your own business. It doesn’t get a lot better than getting paid for your marketing materials.

Copyright 2005 Paulette Ensign

About The Author

Paulette Ensign has sold almost a million copies of her own tips booklet without spending a penny on advertising. For information on creating your own tips booklet and leveraging a booklet manuscript into other products, contact Paulette Ensign, Tips Products International 8584810890, San Diego, CA http://www.tipsbooklets.com.

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 10

by Paulette Ensign

Taking Paypal on eBay

Taking Paypal on eBay

by: Terry Gibbs

Accepting Paypal as a payment method might increase your selling prices and your profits. This depends on what you are selling. I sell collectibles to collectors. My clients are like junkies. They will buy regardless of the payment options, so not offering Paypal won’t make much difference in the final selling prices.

If you sell items with high competition, accepting Paypal will make your auctions more attractive. This also holds true for impulse buys. Plus, you can get paid instantly through Paypal.

Hereกs a few suggestions for increasing your profits by accepting Paypal:

1. Select accept Paypal in the auction listing process to get the Paypal logo into your auction. You can put in the auction description that you accept Paypal, but unless you use the Paypal logo some buyers will miss this Payment choice. Many buyers look specifically for the logo and expect to find it in certain areas of the auction listing.

2. If you only accept bank account transfers, and do not accept credit card payments through paypal be sure to mention this in your auction description and the payment types area. Even after you mention this, you will get credit card payments from some Paypal users. This causes confusion with buyers.

3. One problem that may come up is your shipping schedule. I ship once a week. Some eBay buyers feel that I should drop everything and go to the post office as soon as they send me money through Paypal. This used to cause problems.

Now when a buyer sends me money, I quickly email him and tell him when to expect his item. Because I ship on Thursday or Friday, I can tell them their item will be delivered by the next Tuesday, if not earlier. Instead of telling the buyer I will ship the item on Friday, I tell them to expect it on Monday. This changes the buyerกs focus from when I will ship to when they will get the item.

One last thing before I finish up. I recommend eBay sellers use guarantees. If you take a credit card through Paypal, and later refund the buyerกs money, you will be out the Paypal fees if the refund is done more than 30 days after the initial transaction. You need to require your buyer to return the item quickly.

About The Author

Terry Gibbs is a collector/dealer of old toys and trains, and teaches others how to buy and sell antiques and collectibles. Gibbs is the author of two best selling eBay books ‘the Auction Revolution,ก and ‘the Complete Guide To eBay Consignment Sales.ก He has also written numerous other books about buying and selling antiques and collectibles. Learn more at his website: http://www.news.iwantcollectibles.com.

This article was posted on March 22

by Terry Gibbs

Shorten Sales Cycles in Complex Sales Environments

Shorten Sales Cycles in Complex Sales Environments

by: Richard Cunningham

Help buyers discover the answers they need to understand and align all of their decision variables.

In complex sales, salespeople often find themselves negotiating their way through a web of decision influencers, conflicting initiatives, and multiple priorities. The time it takes prospects to align all of their internal stars and planets for a buying decision can create painfully long sales cycles.

In the audio book, ขSound Advice on Sales Strategies,ข Sharon Drew Morgen maintains that conventional sales precepts are the underlying cause for this and the other problems salespeople are experiencing.

According to Morgen, we need to rethink effective sales skills. The new sales definition must help buyers make decisions.

ขBuyers no longer need us to sell product, they need help making sense of the ever increasing complexity within their environments,ข says Morgen. ขThey need help understanding and supporting all of the elements that will face change when adopting a new solution.ข

When a group makes a purchase, it affects their system of rules, norms, relationships, and initiatives. ขIt’s vital that the inherent systems be maintained or it will fight to keep itself static,ข says Morgen. ขBuyers will wait until they understand how to maintain equilibrium before bringing in change.ข

The solution, says Morgen, is a new sales paradigm called Buying Facilitation. ขBuying Facilitation is a sequencing method that supports buyers in managing all of those idiosyncratic variables that make up a prospect’s status quo. Its basis is to expeditiously align systems – the people, the management, the budget, the initiatives, and the partners – in order to add a foreign element into the system without chaos.ข

ขInstead of basing your communications on discovering needs or pitching features to sell, teach buyers how to line up all of their unique decision variables and criteria to create a solution for themselves. In this way, you’ll become a true trusted advisor.ข

Sharon Drew Morgen, bestselling author of ขSelling with Integrity,ข offers sales advice each week in the free audio newsletter from What’s Working in Biz, http://www.whatsworking.biz/full_story.asp?ArtID=92

About The Author

Richard Cunningham is a principal of What’s Working in Biz, http://www.whatsworking.biz, a publisher of business audiobooks and online audio programs on marketing, sales, and small business strategies.

This article was posted on March 22, 2004

by Richard Cunningham

Local Search by Internet Search Engines is as Esse

Local Search by Internet Search Engines is as Essential to Your Business Survival as your Telephone

by: Lynella Grant

Your Enterprise Won’t Survive Unless People Find It

Whether you’re a oneman shop or a midsize operation, you need to make it easy for people find you. Most enterprises serve the people who live in the same town (80% of all dollars are spent in a buyer’s home community).

Being included in the Yellow Page directory tells the world you’re open for business—listed alongside competitors offering similar products and services. After people check the directory, they came to your store, or กlet their fingers do the walking.ก

Your Telephone Links You to Buyers Ready to Spend

Unlike other methods of promotion, the Yellow Pages connects a business with customers at precisely the moment when they’re ready to buy.

Traditional Buying Cycle

Stage 1 A person consults the directory when they’re considering a purchase. They narrow their choices (on whatever criteria they consider important). As it turns out, over 50% select on the basis of convenient location.

Stage 2 They call with questions. Whereupon the business owner persuades them to come into the shop or make an appointment or not.

Stage 3 Their coming to your store provides a facetoface opportunity to nail the sale.

The popularity and convenience of the Internet has thrown that sequence on its head.

The Shortest Distance from Your Customer to You is Over the Internet

Recent studies show that these days as high as 70% of potential buyers head to the Internet instead of the Yellow Page directory. They consider search engines the fastest way to get the information they need to make buying decisions. By the time they walk into your place of business, they’re already informed about the products they want.

Increasingly, buyers learn about available products and services in their hometown by conducting a Local Search. A Local Search occurs when a search engine query is coupled with a geographic term, like city, state, zip code (for example: plumber + Spokane). The search results only include enterprises within that area.

Even a very small business can show up at the top of the search results. But if they’re not included in the databases the search engines use, they won’t show up at all. Learn whether your business is listed by checking it on these resources: http://www.localsearchresources.com/listed.html.

Being Found Demands You Show up where Customers are Looking

Small businesses will be compelled to make themselves findable online because of changed consumer behavior. And the Internet has altered other habits as well. The majority of young adults (a highly soughtafter demographic) use the Internet every day. It’s an integral part of where they get news or the facts they trust. For them going online is as convenient as picking up the phone.

Since 74% of households have Internet access, more and more of the buying public uses search engines as a preferred local shopping resource. By comparison, Yellow Page use declined from 75% to 62%.

The public is very attached to their cell phones (literally) and, they carry them everywhere they go. There are about 200 million wireless phones in the U.S 200 million potential buyers walking around. It’s now possible for anyone to conduct a Local Search from their cell phone. So there’s no question that onthego consumers will rely on Local Search even more.

Reexamine your assumptions about your own customers. Times have changed. How do they find you? What information they want to know, and how hard is it for them to find it? And what do you intend to do about that?

Yesterday’s answers about the best way to promote your business don’t match the new reality. Most buyers are ahead of you when it comes to computer savvy and confidence in search engine results. That’s not a prediction, it’s an actuality. Take Local Search seriously because your survival is at stake.

Copyright 2005 Off the Page

About The Author

Dr. Lynella Grant An expert in Yellow Page ads and Local Search. Learn to stand out online and offline, so you capture more Internetsavvy buyers for your brick and mortar business. Free resources http://www.localsearchresources.com 7193959450

This article was posted on August 2

by Lynella Grant