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February 24, 2007
Half.com Sales + Powerseller Points
Last month, eBay announced that sales from half.com would now count towards gaining status as a Power Seller on eBay. If you're not familiar with half.com, it's an eBay-owned site that sells:
* Books
* Music
* Video Games
* Game Systems
* Movies/DVDs
Up until now, half.com sellers couldn't accrue points towards eBay Powerseller status, no matter how much they sold. According to an eBay spokesperson:
"Many sellers list on both eBay.com and Half.com. Now every sale you make on Half.com will take you closer to qualifying for the PowerSeller program. What's more, all sales on Half.com since November 2006 will be taken into account when determining your PowerSeller eligibility."
The qualifications for Power Seller are:
* Have been an active member for 90 days
* Average a minimum of $1000 in sales per month, for three consecutive months
* Achieve an overall Feedback rating of 100, of which 98% or more is positive
* Have an account in good financial standing
What are the advantages of being a Power Seller?
* Prioritized customer service - PowerSellers receive prioritized support by email or telephone, depending on sales level.
* More buyer confidence - The PowerSeller icon will appear next to your user ID in your listings and on your About Me pages.
* Networking - PowerSellers share selling strategies on an exclusive, PowerSeller-only discussion board.
* PowerSeller templates - Get PowerSeller letterhead and business card templates to use in customer communications.
* Newsletters - Receive monthly PowerUp! email newsletter and quarterly PowerUp! print newsletter.
Half.com sellers are doubtless cheering this good news!
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 7:30 PM | TrackBack
February 18, 2007
Systems Seminar, Part 3
More on my Systems Seminar fellow-speakers ...
* Were you aware of the recent frenzy about Pipeline Profits? The founder, Buck Rizvi, has a recording I am currently listening to as I write this. I didn't pay much attention when Pipeline came by but I'd like to know about it, whether I ever get involved or not. It surely did cause a stir so perhaps it's a great traffic source. Until I know more, I have no verdict.
- - -
* Tim Gorman: of all the speakers at the Systems Seminar, this is the one I want to meet the most. Tim is an incredibly self-disciplined captain in the army who has built a part-time Net biz for himself that puts the rest of us full timers to shame. (If he can make $10K/month part time, what is our excuse? ;-)
One of my favorite methods for site promotion is writing articles and Tim has the best-organized, most comprehensive system I've ever come across.
There are many more , including me, naturally. Don't miss this education because, after all, the price is definitely right.
I also was recently interviewed on the same subject on the Entrepreneur Magazine radio show on January 29th:
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 3:32 PM | TrackBack
February 15, 2007
Systems Seminar, Part 2
In writing about the Systems Seminar, we shouldn't forget any of these winners ...
* John Carlton: John is one of the top copywriters in the world. Those who can afford it will pay him $25,000-$50,000 for a single piece of sales copy. You might not be able to afford him - most can't - but you can still improve your own copywriting by listening carefully to what he has to say.
- - -
* Marc Harty: Marc has published the best course I've come across on how to use press releases to get traffic to your websites & stores. I own it and have listened to every word.
Ever heard of myspace? del.icio.us? squidoo? etc? I thought so. Personally, I admit to almost total ignorance on these subjects and am expecting Marc to enlighten me on this confusing subject. This is a new presentation for Marc and I definitely need help! :-)
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* If you want to know about blogging, the two best experts are Dave Taylor and Sherman Hu. Dave has his own six figure blog so he's definitely doing something right. And Sherman has made an entire business out of teaching and helping folks with Wordpress. If you've ever considered a blog, these are the go-to guys.
- - -
* Perry Marshall: Perry Marshall is THE US expert on a tiny little program you might have heard of ... AdWords. Honestly, I've only played with AdWords in a small way because I know anyone can lose a ton of money in a hurry if they don't know what they're doing. One of my commitments this year is to take Perry's intensive AdWords coaching program. He guarantees $25,000 in profits as a result - or my money back. Now that's a guarantee with teeth - and why I'm not worried about taking his courses.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 3:10 PM | TrackBack
February 12, 2007
Systems Seminar, Part 1
Last week I recorded a phone call with Ken McCarthy, one of the top marketers on the Internet {He once talked about living on only 4% of his income! Not me!} We chatted about my new "Wealth Plan" and you can listen to that conversation and many others, all at no charge. Here are just a few of the speakers:
* David Bullock: success in Net marketing depends on just two elements:
We all understand traffic - but very few people talk about conversion. What is conversion, exactly? Simply, conversion is getting folks to do what you want them to do: buy something, join an email list, fill out a form, click on a link, etc.
But what if your conversion stinks? Or what if it could be better? How do you fix it? To do that you have to know two things:
1) How you're currently doing
2) What needs to be changed and what changes to make
To figure out either of those variable you have to test. And there's a reason why 'test' has four letters .... because most of us don't really know how to do it. I'm not that great at it myself, even though I do a lot of testing. Dave Bullock is the most knowledgeable testing expert I know and I'm learning from him myself. Do your business a favor and listen to anything and everything he has to say.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 2:56 PM | TrackBack
February 9, 2007
For Increased Search Engine Traffic Focus On Google
If you're interested in increased search engine traffic - and if you're a website owner, you'rd better be! - then think Google, Google, Google. According to Nielson / NetRatings, here are the numbers for December 2006.
Google - 50.8%
Yahoo - 23.6%
Windows Live - 8.4%
AOL Search - 6.1%
My Way - 2.4%
ASK - 2.1%
Earthlink Search 0.5%
Dogpile - 0.5%
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 10:16 AM | TrackBack
February 6, 2007
eBay Motors New Local Service
At the recent 90th National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention and Exposition in Las Vegas, eBay announced new local opportunities for auto dealers. Already the biggest online car seller, eBay Motors plans to extend its reach by allowing dealers to advertise their entire used vehicle inventory to customers within a 100-mile radius of the dealership.
The new service will cost $1,000/month for unlimited listings with a $50 fee for any vehicles sold from eBay. According to an eBay announcement:
"Buyers located in four select markets (Chicago, Miami, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) may see a new section at the end of their search results called 'Additional vehicles near [your ZIP code].' Here they’ll see listings from participating eBay Motors dealers that will only be shown to these local buyers."
Posted by SydneyJohnston at 4:43 PM | TrackBack
February 3, 2007
Pesticides In Our Health Future? Shame On The US Government!
If you are an American and your want pesticides in your health future, you can thank the US government & Big Pharma. According to Senator Barbara Boxer, foolish volunteers will be PAID to injest pesticides. They're being paid, of course, by Big Pharma, that campaign-contributing, fat coffer political money source. But what hypocrisy! The government claims to protect us from the most trivial and ridiculous of 'dangers' yet will countenance something like this. Shame, shame on all of them!
A question for those who are responsible for this outrage ... are YOUR family members going to be drinking poison?
