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-- Heidi & Jenn

So our recent blogging project brought up some interesting questions that I wanted to share.  It’s nice to see so many of you that are interested in bringing your selling to the next level.  However, I have to be honest, I expected a lot more of you to actually jump in to having your own blog!  I know it’s a change, and you’re all so used to listing away on eBay.  But quite honestly, it’s about growing your business and stepping outside of the eBay boundaries.

On to the blogging questions that inquiring minds are asking:

Q: How much time do I need to spend on blogging?

A: You should spend about 20 minutes a day working on your blog.  Whether it’s writing one post or five, you want to get in the habit of paying attention to your blog every day so you consistently have fresh content for your readers.

Q: I’m really new to this, and feel quite clueless.  Is this simple for beginners?

A: YES, I can’t say it enough.  There’s an addiction about blogging that I can’t quite describe… I promise!  Once you get it all set up, you’ll find your groove.

Q: I have absolutely NO skills with setting up a website.

A: That’s OK, you’re not the only one.  You can easily leave it up to the person setting up your blog for you.  Web support is a god send for us non techie people.

Q: Is this going to be expensive?

A: It doesn’t have to be and it’s a very wise investment that you will have with you for a very long time.  Our pals at Freshnets can hook you up and the momwebs hosting service is very affordable.  We use WordPress Blogs and they ROCK!

Q: So I need a domain name separate than what I’m using for eBay?

A: You can if you absolutely want to have a different name, but it’s not necessary.  I think it’s personal preference. Either way, your domain name should be short and easy to remember.

Q: What if I get stuck, can I contact you or someone?

A: Absolutely!!  This isn’t something that we would leave you hanging with and we’re experienced enough with it that we can get the kinks out if you have writers block.  And don’t forget tech support is always there for technical issues.

Q: I don’t know what to write about!!!!

A: LOL!!  So funny, I thought I wouldn’t know how to put a blog post together to save my life, but it’s a lot easier than you give yourself credit for.  Your focus is eBay!  You’re going to be blogging about your items, your experiences, sharing your tips and connecting with other eBayer’s out there.

In the near future, I’ll be sharing with you the results of my eBay blog and how they’ve improved traffic to my listings on eBay.  It’s quite impressive and I’m thrilled!  I’m waiting for a full months worth of data, so the results will be in pretty soon…

Stay tuned!

It’s finally here! We had some road bumps along the way, but we were able to plow through them without a hitch!  Today we are opening Toy Auction Profits again under it’s new name (previously BB Toy Insider).  We hope you’ll join us and be the first to snatch up the toys that are going to bring in big profits on eBay this holiday season, and all year long!

Now is a great time to start earning some extra cash by telling your friends, ON TOP of what you’ll make selling toys!  Show your affiliate link to earn 50% recurring commissions on every person who signs up for Toy Auction Profits through your affiliate link.  You don’t have to be a member to be an affiliate, but it’s nice to be able to show off how much money you’re making selling toys, isn’t it?!

Keep looking for the new home page to be launched today - See you on the inside!

Summertime is in full swing now and with that comes the boredom of kids being out of school and not knowing what to do with themselves. Why not put them to work? Now, we’re not talking about some hard labor here, not at all!

Consider this: You take the kids out to do some shopping. You and your children find some excellent deals on some of the most popular toys on eBay. You come home, put them up for sale and within a week or so the whole family’s got some extra cash in hand.

Sound Crazy?

You may have some questions around this scenario, like:

- How can I convince my kids to give up those toys?
- How do I know what toys will sell on eBay?
- Where am I going to find the money to buy these toys?

It’s not as hard as you might think!

Let’s start with the question about convincing your kids to go shopping for toys and then giving those toys up for sale. If you approach this with very level thinking and rationality, you just might be surprised at how reasonable children can be when treated like part of the team. Let them know that this is a ’summer business’ and you are going out to search for toys you can sell on eBay. Let them know if they help and hold up their responsibilities (that you set out and explain in advance) then they will earn their share of the profits. There are so many great lessons for kids here!

Now, knowing what toys to buy and resell can also be a challenge and this is where you may need a little (or a lot of) help!

Toy Auction Profits: Your Inside Guide to Selling Toys on eBay is a monthly membership site you can join that gives you the most up to date information on selling toys on eBay. When you sign up for this membership you’ll receive weekly updates on the hottest selling toys and where to find them - it doesn’t get much easier than that!

You might be thinking that this is going to cost you a fortune in buying toy stock before you start to see any profit. While that might be the case if you go out blindly buying toys you think might sell on eBay, it doesn’t have to be if you let experienced eBay toy sellers lead you to the most profitable toys to sell NOW. You can start slow, based on your budget. Remember you set the rules and you determine how much you want to sell.

A word of warning, though… If you go through this process with your kids, you just might turn them on to the world of being an entrepreneur and determining your own schedule and paycheck. Once they set down that entrepreneurial path there may be no turning back! (and of course that’s a good thing!)

Try it out now by downloading your first Toy Alert completely FREE:

Toy Auction Profits

eBay sales should be on the rise, that’s for sure!  I’ve been seeing a nice upswing in profits this month, just like in previous years.  It’s nice to see that tradition follows through. 

A good tip is just to KEEP LISTING!  Never stop, list all seasons to your store, all the time. 

My newly launched eBay Blog is going very well.  I’ve been promoting some new boutique items, as well as some gently used boutique items.  It’s been really easy to maintain, and quite addicting! 

One of our subscribers is also starting an eBay blog!  I’m really looking forward to a lot of eBay moms joining in on the blogging fun.  There’s so much to promote, and money to be made on and off of eBay!

It has been a little while since eBay put their Detailed Seller Ratings into effect, and so far it’s pretty easy to keep up with the flow of things. Nice to keep on top of a good rating, and take pride in your feedback. DSR’s do not impact the overall Feedback Score, but provide a more complete picture of the member’s performance as a seller. You want to strive for 5! Here are some really solid ways to keep your DSR performance high.

Item As Described

Start at the top and work your way down. Describe your item to the best of your ability without missing any flaws. Also, make sure to use your own photos!! Take a few different angles and close ups and elaborate on them in your description.

Communication

Very important! eBay has all sorts of email notification preferences at your finger tips - use them! Once an item is purchased, send an invoice, send an email when payment is received, send an email when item is shipped, and you can thank them on the invoice you packed carefully with their item. Keep the lines of communication open every step of the way.

Shipping Time

As soon as you have a bid, your item should be packed and ready to go within 24 hours. Then, remember communication!

Shipping & Handling Charges

Specify any shipping and handling directly in your policy so it’s easily found. Offer a shipping discount on multiple items, or free shipping if orders exceed a specified dollar amount. Calculated shipping makes it easy to accurately figure out shipping rates.

Just a few tips for keeping your DSR’s in check… I hope you find them useful!

Our eBay Blogging Seminar last night was over an hour long and we had a pretty decent turn out. We discussed the advantages of blogging about your eBay business and how easy wordpress blogs are to use, as well as the benefits of earning multiple streams of income. One of our subscribers is already hooked on Blogging about her eBay business!

Our special thanks to Kelly McCausey for sharing her fantastic tips & knowledge on blogging. We are especially excited about her generous offer of a free hour of one-on-one coaching for anyone who signs up with Freshnets for a specially priced blog package! Kelly has also provided some extra special goodies for our Boutique Bargains subscribers to take advantage of on the ‘inside’.

My eBay Blog has been up and running for about a week, and I must say, it’s a breeze to maintain. EBay provides you with the tools you need to quickly generate links to items you want to blog about. Just copy & paste! How sweet it that? Now I’m really looking forward to seeing what our subscribers can do!

With all of the latest eBay changes, the one that will most effect everyone is the Updated Links Policy that has gone into effect. I recently went through my About Me page and made all the active links disappear. Of course for a lot of us, that means our outside affiliate commissions will disappear as well.

At Boutique Bargains we are dedicated to your success so we are adapting to the changes. We have partnered up with our colleague Kelly McCausey over at Freshnets, to hold a free teleseminar on how to set up your own blog! This is going to be a really exciting event, and we are pumped to teach you how to earn more money and bring more traffic to your eBay store.

Anybody and everybody who is involved with eBay should be blogging!

If you are relying on eBay traffic for all of your sales, you’re definitely leaving some profits on the table. Moving beyond eBay will increase your reach and let you build your business up in ways that are just not possible with eBay alone.

The recording of this event will also be available as a new learning resource on Boutique Bargains. So if you have any questions, now is the time to ask!! Blogging is extremely easy and fun!

The free teleseminar is Tuesday, July 15th at 9pm EST.

Just by signing up, you will also be able to download another free gift! The latest addition of the Mommy Blogger Report. Sign up here to join us…

Please note that you DO NOT have to be a Boutique Bargains member to attend this web seminar!

After a much needed 3 day weekend, the July 4th holiday is over and it’s back to eBay! If you’re like 70% of consumers - you’ll have back to school clothes on your mind!

So what does this mean?

A majority (yes, a whopping 70%) of consumers will start their Back To School Shopping in July!

 This tip will significantly increase your potential for profits on eBay right now. If you haven’t already started stocking your Back To School items in your store, I would highly recommend getting them listed this week.

The ‘Early Bird’ shoppers are more in tune to the selection they can get now and they are not worried about price - that’s the kind of consumer we all want! The remaining shoppers will wait until August, and an even smaller percentage will wait until September to begin shopping for Back To School.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be a part of the 70% piece-of-the-pie and rake in my profits now! Share your success in our forums, and let us know what you like to sell each year at Back To School time!

Have you ever read the book ”Who Moved My Cheese?”   I remember it as a reading assignment when I worked in Corporate America.  It’s about the importance of ‘going with the flow’, instead of fighting against it.  When you’re high up on the Corporate ladder, there is always something changing… it’s a part of life.

Today, this same concept can and SHOULD BE utilized when dealing with your eBay business.  I found a great YouTube video that gets the message across, although I have to warn you - it’s a bit cheesy.  

While you’re watching the video, I want you to keep this question in mind:

How well do YOU adapt to change when it relates to your eBay business?

Being resilliant can be a great way to expand and grow. 

It’s SO important to make sure you are always learning new things and keeping up with trends.  We all get in our comfort zones, I know, but who says that we can’t get comfortable someplace else?

»  Can You Read The Handwriting On The Wall?

»  Change Happens! They Keep Moving The Cheese!

»  Anticipate Change. Smell The Cheese Often, So You Know When It’s Getting Old!

»  Adapt To Change Quickly. The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese!

»  Enjoy Change.  Savor The Adventure And Enjoy The Taste Of New Cheese!

»  Be Ready To Change Quickly And Enjoy It Again… They Keep Moving The Cheese!

 

Many of our eBay moms are doing wonderfully supporting the household finances with their online auction businesses.  A big factor that we sometimes forget is… 

We are stay at home moms who still have a house to run, as well as our business! 

If you are still needing to work your eBay Store during the summer break - How about finding an assistant?  It doesn’t have to be a full-blown paying position.  Just someone to help get you through the busy times so you don’t totally loose your sanity, while still keeping things under control with your kids during the day!

Here are a few ideas to help ease the pressure:

 - Are your kids at an age where they can help you fold inventory or take pictures? 
Most kids love to help, especially if you make it fun for them. 

 - Are your school age kids able to care for their younger siblings?
If you have older children, try putting them ‘in charge’ while you’re busy tending to email and listing items to your store. 

 - Can you reach out to a local church or college for volunteer help? 
Check into finding a student or church member who will put in service project hours as your ‘Mommy Assistant’. 

 - Do you know any High School kids? 
Ask if any of them would be interested in becoming a ‘Summer eBay Intern’ to learn about Internet Marketing and the eBay Business.

 - Know any other Stay At Home Mom’s?
You may know someone who hasn’t the first clue where to begin with eBay, but would like to learn.  You could help set up a consignment store for them, selling your inventory as your Personal Trading Assistant until they get up and running!  Just be sure to lay out clear guidelines so there’s no confusion later on.

Have you tried any of these?  Do you have a great idea you’d like to share with our readers?  Tell us what your suggestions are for keeping a business running with kids home during the summer.