Dear eBay Powerseller,
Hi pal, we’ve come to the end of the year for selling on eBay. How was it for you? Was it grand, were your expectations met and exceeded? If so congrats! I’m happy for you and instead of reading the rest of this article pat yourself on the back, consider yourself one of the lucky few and go eat a congratulatory donut or something.
If you are still reading you didn’t get to pat yourself on the back or eat a donut (sad face) but it doesn’t necessarily mean your a bad salesperson or your eBay biz is going down the tubes. It just means the times, they are a changing. When I started Powerseller Princess I also began a blog called Escaping the 9 to 5 where I wrote about my life as a start up entrepreneur… I blog there more than ever as my businesses (eBay and this website and my social media marketing firm) grow bigger every day.
But when I started the blog and the subsequent social media marketing business a little while back it wasn’t because business on eBay was booming. It was actually harder than ever to make big money on the giant reseller. Now as I started researching new tactics and ways to do things I documented them all on here and I found a lot of money I’d been leaving on the table. I’ve shared those secrets with you all as well as a lot of the places I find inventory for the last year. But now I have something else to add to my eBay power selling advice. I think its time for you to diversify.
Now in no way do I mean quit selling on eBay. Instead I mean its time to get with the new social attitude of the web and push your eBay auctions even harder on sites like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. But I also mean you may want to consider selling on other platforms and begin creating other side businesses as you grow your eBay revenues. This is what I have done for the last year and its been great. I have made more money than ever and with less effort. A lot of how I did that via selling on eBay I outline in my eBook which still works like a charm for those of you who want to be true eBay power sellers and make a living online. Other ways I make money I’ve outlined in various posts on my Escaping the 9 to 5 blog.
Why do I say diversify? Because why make less when you can make more? Even if you are bringing in 5, 10 or 20 k a month selling on eBay why not double that by selling on some other platforms and using some social media style strategies in marketing.
Here are some eBay powerseller secrets to use. A great place to sell if you are into any kind of handmade, unique or vintage items is on Etsy. The fees are much lower and because its more specialized you are a bigger fish in a small pond. Another place is on Craigslist especially if you sell a lot of larger pieces that are costly to mail.
Here are some other strategies to make sure that you are still a Power seller in 2010 and that you make more next year than you did this previous one.
- Get Social. I’ve said it time and again, you MUST get social to survive on eBay these days. You need to build a solid, loyal following on Twitter and you need to create a strong Facebook presence for yourself. Linkedin and Youtube are great places to get a foot hold too. If you are interested in building a loyal Twitter following with no work except just tweeting and interacting check out my social media project here.
- Get Real. If you are selling on eBay you need to treat it like your REAL job. Buy business cards, get an LLC and act like a big business for goodness sake. When people ask you what you do say “I’m founder at blank, Inc” or “Sales manager at blank corp.” then if they ask what that is go into what you sell on eBay. Selling on eBay isn’t a game anymore, it isn’t easy breezy to make money there… instead you have to fight and create to carve out a profitable niche for yourself and your eBay store. So stop treating it like its a hobby and get serious about success.
- Get Creative. Run contests, offer sales, offer free shipping for people who follow you on Facebook or Twitter. Build an e-commerce store on a separate platform like Wordpress that runs all your eBay auctions on its front page and people that are searching for words similar to what you are selling can find you not just on eBay but on Google as well.
Have a happy New Year my dearest eBayers and I hope for the biggest sales of your life next year! If you have questions, comments or testimonials please leave them in the comment section below!
