Archive for January, 2009

What is Google Base? Will it work for me?

I have been using google base for some time and it has given me plenty of traffic. If you are selling items from your retail website and you want some traffic for relevant search terms in google this is the way to go. Grab a few of your keywords for what you sell, do a search on google, lets say “coach handbag” you will see at the top or bottom of the organic section of the page “Shopping results for coach handbag” this is where your items would show up. Having a google data feed setup would display your link  in this section. If your handy with an excel spreadsheet you can do this with ease and you will need to have a FREE google account to proceed.

Google Base is a place where you can easily submit all types of online and offline content, which we’ll make searchable on Google (if your content isn’t online yet, we’ll put it there). You can describe any item you post with attributes, which will help people find it when they do related searches. In fact, based on your items’ relevance, users may find them in their results for searches on Google Product Search and even our main Google web search.

• Cost: Free
• How to Submit: You can submit information about all types of online and offline content to Google Base, by either the standard web form or, if you have more than 10 items to submit, via a data feed. When you submit information via the web form, you can attach up to 15 digital files in the following formats: PDF (.pdf), Microsoft Excel (.xls), Text (.txt), HTML (.html), Rich Text Format (.rtf), Word Perfect (.wpd), ASCII, Unicode and XML. Please note: the files you upload may not exceed 20 megabytes total in size, and we reserve the right to review all items in order to ensure they comply with the Google Base Terms and Conditions.
• Languages: Google Base is currently available in English and German interfaces.
• Reach: Items you submit to Google Base might be found on Google properties like Google or Google Product Search.
• How it’s different: Google Base enables you to add attributes describing your content, so that searchers can easily find it. The more popular individual attributes become, the more often we’ll suggest them when others post the same items. Similarly, items that become more popular will show up as suggested item types in the Choose an existing item type drop-down menu.

Detailed instructions for providers in real estate, recipes, products.

1. Why should I use Google Base?
2. What are attributes?
3. Do I need a Google Account to use Google Base?
4. What kind of information can I submit?
5. How can I submit my item?
6. Do I need a website if I want my item to appear on Google properties?
7. In what formats can I submit my data feed?
8. Where will my item appear?
9. How will you control for irrelevant items like pornography or SPAM material?
10. How can I increase traffic to my items?

1. Why should I use Google Base?

If you have information you want to share with others but aren’t sure how to reach them, Google Base is for you. You can easily submit all types of online and offline content to Base, and if your content isn’t online yet, we’ll put it there. You can describe any item you post with attributes, which will help people find it when they do related searches. In fact, based on your items’ relevance, users may find them in their results for searches on Google Product Search and even our main Google web search. The main benefits of Google Base include:

• Free content hosting
  Google Base represents a new opportunity to put any kind of content online, even if it isn’t a web page.
• Distribution
  By bringing offline content online, Google Base is more accessible and useful. Even online content becomes more ‘discoverable’ when users are able to refine their search results based on attributes. You can also link users to your own website, thus making your content far more accessible to the world.
• Ease of Use
  Now you can go to one place to upload content to Google. You can post individual items by completing a simple web form or submit a data feed with ten or more items in standard formats such as TSV, RSS 1.0 and RSS 2.0.

Best of all, Google Base is entirely free. And you’re always in control; you can edit or archive your items whenever you want.

2. What are attributes?

Google Base lets you describe your items with detailed information called attributes, which will help searchers find your content more easily when they search on various Google properties.Attributes are words or phrases that help describe the characteristics and qualities of your items. For any given attribute you may enter multiple values separated by commas.For example: If you’re describing a recipe you want to share, your attributes might include ‘Theme: Breakfast’, ‘Main Ingredient: Eggs, Chicken’, and ‘Servings: 4′.

3. Do I need a Google Account to use Google Base?

Yes, to publish your own items, you must create a Google Account.

4. What kind of information can I submit?

Google’s goal is to organize the world’s information, and that includes almost anything you might want to contribute, whether it’s your store inventory, collection of original poetry, or research paper on cancer receptors. You can submit your information using either the standard web form or, if you have more than 10 items to submit, via our data feed options.When you submit information via the web form, you can attach up to 15 digital files in the following formats: PDF (.pdf), Microsoft Excel (.xls), Text (.txt), HTML (.html), Rich Text Format (.rtf), Word Perfect (.wpd), ASCII, Unicode and XML.Please note: the files you upload may not exceed 20 megabytes total in size, and we reserve the right to review all items in order to ensure they comply with the Google Base Terms and Conditions.

5. How can I submit my item?

To submit an item using our standard web form, visit Google Base and click on ‘Post your own item’. On the Post an Item page, choose an item type from the drop-down menu or create your own item type in the text box below. Then click “Next” to add details, edit, review and publish your item. In about 15 minutes, your item will have a unique web address and be visible to the world. If you have a website that you’d like to lead searchers to, be sure to include an attribute as type “Web URL” which includes the page’s full URL.If you’d like to submit more than ten items, you might want to consider submitting a data feed instead of doing so by hand (learn more about feeds).

6. Do I need a website if I want my item to appear on Google properties?

Nope. If you don’t have a website, Google will host your content (for free) on a unique web address.

7. In what formats can I submit my data feed?

Google Base will accept feeds in TSV, RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0 Atom 0.3, and Atom 1.0 formats. This means that content providers who already have RSS feeds can easily submit their content to Google Base.

8. Where will my item appear?

We’ll host your item online if you don’t already have a website, and show it to anyone who searches for its unique URL or finds it while searching for related topics. Based on relevance, your item may appear on Google properties like Google Product Search and our main Google web search. Some example Google searches which include items from Google Base are:

• jobs
• homes for sale
• indian recipes

 

9. How will you control for irrelevant items like pornography or SPAM material?

All items that are uploaded into Google Base must comply with our Editorial Policies and Program Policies. Items that don’t meet these policies may be taken down based on our own checks or in response to user complaints.

10. How can I increase traffic to my items?

You can increase the likelihood that your items will appear when searchers enter a relevant query by including highly structured information with each item. This means including rich attributes that accurately represent your content. You can learn more about improving the quality of your items here.

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Double stunner from Amazon

I found this about amazon and it was interesting enough for me to post. Copy the link below for the full article.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/30/magazines/fortune/investing/investor_daily.fortune/

The online retailer hits the street with a two-fold gift for investors: a great quarter and a share price to match.

By Michael V. Copeland, senior writer January 30, 2009: 11:54 AM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Fortune) — Finally some good news, brought to you by Jeff Bezos and the gang at Amazon.com.

In a week when company after company announced horrible earnings and pulled the plug on tens of thousands of jobs, Amazon’s fourth-quarter net profit rose 9 percent, to $225 million, or 52 cents a share, in the quarter ending December 31. Overall revenue jumped 18% (the Street was looking for 13%).

Those are good numbers by any measure, but in the context of total online retail sales down 3% over the holidays, according to ComScore, and overall retail down 5% during the same period, according to the Commerce Department – they’re stunning.

A big part of the story for Amazon appears to be international growth. While net sales for categories like media (books, DVDs and the like) in the U.S. slowed to a 7% rise versus 31% a year ago, international was on fire.

Excluding the effects of exchange rates, Amazon’s fourth-quarter net sales from sites in the U.K., Germany, Japan, France and China climbed 31%, slightly down compared to the 35% growth during the same period last year.

“But based on everything we know about the global economy,” says Thomas Weisel Partners retail analyst Matt Nemer, “That is downright shocking.”

Bezos is cagey about the future direction of his business, and he wouldn’t say which countries and which categories Amazon might tackle next. “Internationally we focus on the same things that we focus on in North America,” he said during a conference call.

According to Bezos, those are great pricing and a great customer experience. The Internet giant’s continued focus on those two areas was a refrain repeated by both Bezos and Amazon CFO Tom Szkutak throughout the earnings call. Pressure on margins was apparent, as Amazon lowered prices to keep shoppers coming, but not as bad as analysts had feared.

In general, neither Bezos or Szkutak gave away much, dodging questions about the specifics of Kindle sales, the impact of defunct competitors like Circuit City and just what Amazon might spend some of its $3.7 billion in cash on. Bezos didn’t even hint at the launch of its second-generation e-reader Kindle 2, widely expected to be revealed February 9th.

Like many companies, Amazon refrained from giving full-year guidance. Szkutak did offer broad first-quarter estimates, pegging operating income between $125 million and $210 million in the current quarter. That spans either a 37% decline, or a 6% growth in operating income compared with the first quarter of 2008. Even for the world’s largest online retailer, apparently visibility is an issue.

Investors warmed to what they heard. Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) stock rose about 18% Friday in early trading, just north of $59.

You can bet some of that is a short-squeeze being felt. There isn’t likely to be a sustained run-up is its price, because at $59, Amazon is trading at around 36 to 40 times 2009 projected earnings (depending on whose projections you use), far exceeding its Internet peers like Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) (16 times) Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) (29 times) eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) (8 times) and retail competition like Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) (13 times).

Had Bezos ventured full-year guidance he could have instilled enough confidence in investors to take the plunge at $59 or more. Without it, too much uncertainty remains to send the stock appreciably higher.

“The problem is, in a tough economy Amazon doesn’t get a lot of margin for error,” says Nemer, who has a “hold” rating on Amazon. “You can’t take away what they have done, but if they have a blip the other way, stocks trading at 36 times can get hurt.”

Of course, if Amazon keeps nailing its quarters (and not just sand-bagging them as they seem to be inclined to) $59 could start to look pretty cheap.

Dropshipping or stocking and why is it important to you?

Along with good customer service, finding the right products to offer to the public is probably one of the most significant challenges for those wanting to sell on eBay, amazon or any other online business. The main goal is to buy at low prices and to sell high. Of course, the majority of people just starting out on eBay begin by selling their own personal goods, all of that generally surplus merchandise they have in the attic, garage or basement. This is a good route to take with eBay, as it will help you to become familiar with the basics of listing, shipping, pictures, description writing and general customer service but at some point you will have an empty home if you keep moving in this direction.

When the house is empty you will need to find more items to sell. Many sellers will spend Saturday and Sunday searching around garage sales and flea markets, looking for merchandise and it soon becomes apparent that this it taking up a lot of time and money although I have found a lot of great things that I decided to keep for myself. What you really need is to find a wholesaler where you can buy in bulk at inexpensive prices and make your mark up on eBay then box and ship yourself. Search the items you want to sell for sales numbers before purchasing for stock. You do not want to get stuck with this stuff. Buy wisely.

 When you have decided to start trading seriously on eBay, amazon or with any other online retailing business, there are some things to remember about the businesses where you are likely to be buying your stock.

·         Have a Business corporation, llc, partnership or sole proprietor set up.

·         Make sure your paperwork to purchase wholesale is in order, since this will be required by the supplier.

·         The wholesaler will provide you with all of the necessary information for you to buy from him with confidence.

·         Have your merchant account in place whether it is paypal or credit card processing center.

·         Search, Search and do more Searching, do as much research as possible. Be Confident in the items you choose.

After you have some of the basics covered you should have a great start on your online adventure. Good Luck!

Pathways to Additional Income from home

Don’t steal, the Government ha…

Don’t steal, the Government hates competition!

Finding Merchandise to Sell Online is easier then you think.

Maybe you have found something everyone is talking about or all the kids are pestering their parents for. That’s great. Now, how do you get hold of it to sell? Well, that’s one of the biggest challenges you will face when building your online business.

 There are a few very simple ways to track down manufacturers details. It’s actually easier than you think. The most important thing to remember is that you just need a few pieces of information to get your search started, a name or website address is often all you need to track down the full details. Here are some methods that you can try out.

 Lets say there is a fashion label that you really like and would love to sell online, they sell it in your town but you have no idea where it comes from. The first way is simple. Just ask. It sounds silly, but quite often if you ask the person at the counter or get friendly with someone in the shop they might just tell you that most of the time the owner of the shop doesn’t work there all the time. It’s worthwhile sometimes to ask the Saturday clerk, “Do you know the name of the company on the invoices that you get for these clothes?” You will be surprised how many people will tell you if they have the information available. If they are the only one in the shop they might have to go out the back to look it up. It’s possible that the chances are slim, but it’s definitely worth asking.

Keep an eye open for when they receive their stock arrivals. Usually a truck will pull up first thing in the morning to bring in the stock. This is a good time to take a good look. It ’s not unusual for the driver to leave a large number of boxes on the sidewalk for a while. If you can get close enough, just glance at the labels on the boxes as you walk by and look for the suppliers name or website address, or anything you can use to look them up. Perhaps, if the driver is friendly, he might tell you who the supplier is. He might even as he delivers exclusively for them. You only have to ask. Both these methods have been used by prospective sellers when tracking down specific brands, and they do work. It takes some confidence and a little aggression, but it could make a real difference to your business.

Why not try it out this week as an exercise with something you would like to sell.

Thanks – R.W. Casandra

I have as much authority as th…

I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don’t have as many people who believe it. >>> George Carlin

Defeat is not the worst of fai…

Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.

eBay Wants Its Sellers Back. A bit late?

If you are new to EBAY then the past has not affected you. I was an EBAY seller for years and I was slowly getting discouraged by management with every day that past. Last year EBAY changed direction and new visions came aboard which had effected sellers they made there empire from. Do some searches and you can find the history. Now I use ebay as an advertising platform rather than sole income. I set out to lose “x” amount of $ – dollars – $ every month but the traffic to my site gains it three times back, not always but most months it does. Dont get me wrong I am not telling you EBAY is completely no good but it works for everyone different.

Thanks R.W. Casandra

See this article from webpronews.com

eBay Wants Its Sellers Back

By Chris Crum – Mon, 01/26/2009 – 3:49pm.

Makes Feedback and Payment Policy Changes

Early last year, eBay inflicted some damaging policy changes that sent many sellers running for the hills. Now, they apparently are changing the rules to remove negative comments left by customers towards the sellers.

A couple months ago I talked to a number of eBay sellers, and all but one of them told me that eBay’s feedback policy was their biggest frustration. It now seems that eBay has decided to hear the howls of disgust from its users that have been going on for the majority of the past year. Ecommerce Journal reports:

The move to change the Feedback policy was prompted by numerous requests made by the cross-border sellers who received negative comments from customers while there wasn’t actual fault with the merchants. Now eBay will be removing feedback if: the listing meets the Customs Requirements and/or the seller receives a negative or neutral Feedback comment, which references customs delays or customs fees. Merchants in turn are obliged to advise the buyers that import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer’s responsibility.

There was also a lot of frustration about eBay’s payment policy. Many were enraged by the favoritism showed to eBay-owned PayPal. eBay will reportedly now be adding Moneybookers and PayMate as acceptable methods of payment starting next month.

eBay users have been quite vocal in their displeasure with the famous auction site. It seems unlikely that many of them that have been so passionate will be willing to go back to eBay just because they finally acknowledged these issues. But the brand power that eBay carries does pull a lot of weight. Are you (or were you) an eBay seller? What do you think?