100k Job Trading From Home

I’m directing this article to those who are just starting their eBay Selling Venture.  Whether you’re selling books, DVDs, CDs, collectibles or clothing, all things (with the exception of eBooks and services) need to be mailed.   And it’s the postage, handling fees and mailing that seems to cause a great deal of angst among new sellers.

You’ve heard the advice – don’t overcharge for shipping.  That is very good advice, indeed, as nothing turns off potential buyers like sellers who gouge you on the shipping costs.  It’s also a practice that can rack up bad feedback.

However, I’m going to play Devil’s Advocate here and suggest that you don’t go overboard and give so much of a break on shipping that you’re chipping away at your profits.  It’s good to remember the “hidden costs” of shipping:  bubble wrap to secure your breakables, tape, shipping envelopes, boxes, etc.  Then there’s the gas you put in your car to take all those trips to the post office.

You might think I’m being cheap, but, if you added up all your eBay expenses for the year (as some did for their recent taxes) you might be shocked to see how all the packing materials and gas for your car added up and took a little chunk out of your eBay profits.  And, believe me, they do add up.

Some people are even more surprised to find they underestimated the weight of their packages, causing their profits to shrink even further.

How can you be fair to both you and your buyers?

1.  Buy a scale.  It may sound simple, but purchasing a scale can save you a bundle in shipping.  If you’re just eyeballing the weight of the package, you can often times guess too low, and be in for quite a shock when you go to the post office and see the package is going to cost twice what you thought to ship.

2.  Know the dimensions of your packaging before listing the item.  Some packages cost more to ship because of their dimensions.  Knowing the weight alone isn’t enough.

3.  Offer the buyer a variety of shipping methods.  Some prefer speedy delivery with Express mailing, while some prefer to save money with parcel post even though the wait is longer. It’s always a good idea when using parcel post or other slower ground shipping to alert the buyer by email that it can take anywhere from 8 to 10 days.

4.  Save yourself money whenever possible by using boxes that have been used.  Most stores are more than happy to let you rummage through their old boxes and take some home with you.  But, do remember to choose boxes that are presentable, secure and strong enough for your items.  And, if you have breakables, don’t skimp on the bubble wrap.

5.  Give yourself a small handling fee that will cover your expenses.  Some sellers add on an additional $1 or $2 to the shipping fees for their handling fees (depending on the cost of the item and how much packaging you have to use).  I really advocate doing this because your expenses will add up if you do a lot of selling on eBay.  Be sure to be upfront with your buyers that you have a small handling fee so they can’t complain about it later.

Being fair to both yourself and your buyer will keep you both happy, and keep more of your profit in your pocket.

It is important to realize that your choice of a niche can have a significant influence on the success or failure of your new blog.

Deciding on a theme can be a daunting task. What exactly are you going to write about? Your niche needs to be a popular topic that many people are interested in.

If you are going to blog about yourself, then you better have a very interesting life, or you will have difficulty keeping your readers coming back for more. You should choose a topic that will make it comparatively easy to grow your readership and build a strong following.

Since many bloggers write about their favorite subjects, it’s not a bad idea to start brainstorming by writing down a list of your hobbies, interests, and any areas of professional expertise. Now try to determine a niche you can target within one of those areas.

Should you blog about automobiles in general, or the latest sports cars? If you choose too narrow a theme then you may struggle to come up with regular, fresh content. And if you choose a topic that’s too general your readers may be confused by a jumble of seemingly unrelated posts.

You might consider niches within the following general topic areas which have proven to be popular for blogging:

•    Automobiles
•    Computers & Information Technology
•    Digital Cameras
•    Gadgets
•    Music
•    News
•    Photography
•    Politics
•    Shopping

If you plan to use Pay-Per-Click advertising to get traffic to your blog, then remember also that the hottest topics might have the highest pay-per-click fees.

You can sometimes get great niche ideas by browsing at Blog directories and sites like Google Blog Search: http://blogsearch.google.com

There are many factors that make blogs much better than normal WebPages including the speed at which blogs are indexed, ability to submit to blog directories & normal directories, pings and track backs. All these little things can help drive more traffic to blogs. Here are 14 popular techniques you can use:

1.) Submit to My Yahoo! When you submit your own RSS to My Yahoo it is indexed by Yahoo.

2.) Submit to Google’s Reader. When you submit your own blog RSS to Google’s Reader the Google Blog Search will index your site.

3.) Add a relevant link directory to your blog and trade links like a demon possessed! Although it may take more time than simply submitting to a search engine one time, this method is perhaps the best way to drive traffic to your site. Use software such as Zeus to speed up the link trading process.

4.) Use ping sites like ping-o-matic. Ping your site every time you add a new post.

5.) Submit your blog to traditional search engines such as AltaVista, and MSN.

6.) Submit your blog to traditional directories such as DMOZ. Directories (particularly DMOZ) increase relevance with Google. DMOZ is very picky, but what do you have to lose by trying?

7.) Submit to as many RSS Directories and Search Engines as possible. This is a simple but repetitive process that can be done with software such as RSS SUBMIT.

8.) Comment on other blogs. Do not just leave short, lazy comments like “I agree.” Leave well thought out replies that will force readers to wonder “who wrote this?”

9.) Use track backs. If there is a blog that you refer to or quote and it is highly relevant to your subject, leave a track back. It increases your link popularity and may even score a few interested readers from the linked site.

10.) Go offline. Use newspaper ads, public bulletin boards, business cards, even stickers to let as many people as possible know your blog exists.

11.) Add a link to your blog in your e-mail signature block.

12.) Use Groups (Usenet). Find a relevant group on Google groups, Yahoo groups, MSN groups or any of the thousands of other FREE group services and find like minded people and talk with them. Make sure your use your blog URL like it is your name.

13.) Use Forums. Forums are one of the best places to go for advice. Go to forums and find problems to solve. Make sure you leave your blog name, but be tactful about it; some forums get annoyed with those who selfishly drop a few links to their own site and leave.

14.) Tag your website. Tagging is a new idea that has erupted across the web. Sites like http://Del.icio.us, Technorati and many others have a social feature that allows you to place your article under keywords or “tags” that everyone interested in that tag can see.

Although these are some of the most popular ways to drive traffic to your blog, do not limit your self to tips and lists. Use your imagination and you will come up with thousands of ways to drive traffic to your blog!

Blogging can be an extremely interesting hobby to have. A blog is a place where someone can post exactly what’s on his/her mind. While some bloggers could care less if their posts are read, others actively try to gain more readers. Some advertisers are offering money for blogs that get high traffic amounts, so learning to blog better can be an important task. If you are interesting in learning more about better blogging, check out these six helpful tips.

Use a Casual Tone

The most interesting blogs are not written using formal grammar rules. If you want your blog to be popular and a success overall, consider writing in a more casual tone. Think of the writing as being a conversation you are having with a friend. Write exactly the way you would talk, not the way you are supposed to talk. Using slang and other words that may not be considered “proper” is a great way for your blog to reach a wide variety of viewers. Using humor and other personality characteristics in your writing will make people want to keep coming back to read your newest posts.

Don’t Overdo It

Keeping your blog posts short will help you retain any interested viewers. People don’t want to spend massive amounts of time reading text on the web. If they wanted to read a novel, they would do just that. Try to stick to your point and keep it nice and short. A blog that is more than 700 words is just too much. If you need to carry on with the topic, consider creating another post that finishes your point, so the readers will be less likely to get bored.

Never Advertise Improperly

Too often people use blogs as a space to advertise their services or their products. This can be a cheap way to get your work out there. It is noted however that blog readers can get annoyed quickly at advertisements on blogs. If you must advertise on your blog, consider doing so in a more subtle manner. Write a short post about your product and put a link to your website. Don’t take up your entire blog space with the advertisement, people will be scared away from your blog altogether.

Check Your Spelling

Although the tone of your blog should be kept casual, you should still edit your work. There is a way to be casual, without being sloppy. You should always check your spelling before you submit your post. If your posts are sloppy and full of misspelled words, people will think that you are not educated and probably won’t take anything you say seriously. Some blogging software comes will a spell check features, while some doesn’t, you may simply create your post in a word processing software and use the spell check there. This will allow you to post without spelling errors, which is highly recommended.

Be Versatile

If you want to reach the largest amount of people, you do not need to advertise endlessly. You simply have to be versatile with your post topics. Those blogs that cover only one type of thing may be popular with one specific targeted group of people. That is fine, if it is what you want. If you want to reach everyone however, you need to post on everything. Consider posting on current affairs, music, books, and other hot issues. This will draw people in. When you post about popular things in the news, it will draw people to your site when they do a search on the web.

Post Frequently

People who become fans of your blog will likely be looking for a new post every few days. Some will only look once a week. If you want to keep your blog fresh and interesting, you should post often. Posting often is something that takes very little time, because your entries should stay short and sweet. It is a way however to keep things new and exciting for your biggest fans. They will be waiting for your new posts and will continue logging on as long as you provide them with new information.

Make a list of 10 previous posts and the links to those posts. Make a post in your blog about 10 things you want your readers to know and read in case they have not done so before. At your suggestion they will at least go see if they have read those posts before, increasing your pageviews once again plus bringing old material to new readers. That also lets them know they should browse the archives for things they have missed.

Create pages within the blog that contain reference material you refer to often in your posts. These static pages will also get crawled and indexed by the search engines and as you write posts about your topics you can refer people to these static pages as references to what you are posting about.

Refer to other posts you have made on your blog or on another one of your blogs while posting. This gets the reader to click over to previous posts. You can even decide your posts by browsing previous posts and deciding which one to follow up on. Those archives are not to be lost and forgotten. Its great material, (you wrote it right?), so use it.

Create a page that links to your favorite posts that are timeless. You browse your old posts, find posts that you want readers to find easily, then build a links page with those posts directly linked. Then add a link to that page from your front page. Call it favorite posts or whatever and you will benefit by those that click through and follow those links.

Use the “more” tag. You write your post as normal, then decide where you want to break the post up onto a new page. You put the more tag in and readers have to click to a new page to read the rest of the story.

Using your content from your other websites or blogs is also a great way to get more pageviews for all of them. Use the target new tag and refer to material on your other blogs and websites. It will open a new window leaving the current blog open while they visit your other website or blog. You can quickly double up your pageviews while also introducing your readers to your other websites and blogs.

Using that same list of 10 posts or a new one, visit other blogs on your topic. Find posts that talk about something similar to one of those 10 posts, then instead of adding a link in your signature to the home page, make a comment there and refer to the post that is similar and that contains helpful information to that blogger and their readers. You will also be increasing your link popularity while doing this. Do not spam the link. Make sure it actually contains useful information. Don’t be trolls or spammers and you will end up with new readers and more page views for your blog.

Do not stop being creative. Use the tips in this article, plus invent some of your own ways to interlink your blogposts together. Create pages. Don’t just post and forget. That content is valuable, use it. Do not make people search your blog. They are lazy and busy. Bring it to them. That is just good customer service.

There are times when a blogger, like any other writer, will ‘loose the muse.’ Every idea that comes to mind seems either trite or dull or, worse still, no ideas come to mind. What’s a blogger to do? Here are five tactics that just might clear away the cobwebs and allow you to find an inspiring idea for another great post:

Start with surfing your favorite blogs. What are your favorite fellow bloggers talking about? You might have a different view on the latest hot topic that might just be interesting to your fellow bloggers or a perspective that might make them mad (BTW, never worry about making bloggers crazy — most of them love having something to gripe about). If you can’t find anything that inspires you in your favored blog, surf through some of those blogs that always make you mad; the ones that seem to promote everything that goes against your lifestyle. Anger is always a good blog motivator but don’t get so angry you get irrational. Comment on some blog posts and then expand your comments into a post on your blog. Also try logging onto Blog Explosion, Blog Clicker or one of the many other blog traffic generator programs — there are lots of ideas out there that are worth writing about from either a pro or con perspective.

Read some news! Open up your favorite news page or open a newspaper and see what catches your attention. What are the politicians up to today? Any pending legislation that worries you or flat out scares you? Or perhaps someone is running for office or proposing a law that you may want to publicly support. Some celebrity is sure to be in trouble again; have anything to say about that? Maybe you have an idea about who should be dating or marrying who. Who died? A nice memorial post for a nice person may be in order. What happened “On This Date” in past years? Some past events are worth researching and writing about. Are you into sports? Many bloggers or blog readers are sports fans and they might be interested in your take on the playoffs or the players. Don’t forget to check the editorial page and the letters to the editor — do you agree with the opinions? Tell the world why or why not.

What have you been watching or reading? Have you read any good (or bad) books lately? Write about your latest read — recommend it, blast it or even write an abstract for your blog (but don’t give away ending). How about movies, the great ones or the pitiful losers might be worth some good or bad words — you could make movie or book reviews regular features of your blog. The same goes for television shows. Start a series that follows your favorite TV show, there might be quite a few fans of the same show that will be interested in your take and appreciate your summary of episodes they missed. If there is a book, movie or TV show that you thought was great there is sure to be a reviewer who panned it. Find the bad review and write a post countering the reviewer’s opinions.

What have you been doing? Your work place, your co-workers, you bosses, your home and your family members are all fair game for your blog — keep it short and amusing and you’ll have a great post. Once you introduce a particularly interesting person to your readers you may want to do some sequels. When was your last travel vacation — write a travelog about where you’ve been or do some research on some places you’d love to go to and write about them.

Do you have a special skill? If you can make something that is unique or something that is common but made special because of what you know, there may be people interested in knowing how to do it. Give away tips on cooking, sewing, cleaning, fix-it projects, pet care, child care, beauty secrets, personal care or organizing tips. Make it a regular feature on you blog. If you have a digital camera find an interesting subject, take some pictures and then write something based on the subject. If you found it interesting or comical or sad its likely to interest someone else.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may already know that I just gained 400+ followers in the last week. If you are more aggressive, You may double or even triple that number. However, I don’t want you to be banned from Twitter, so a similar gain is recommended. The answer can be found in the following post. You will also find quite a few Twitter tips there:

How to become a twitter rockstar

Another income generator that is often overlooked are companies that will pay you for using their content.  One program for business and personal blogs, is the Voxant Network (<http://www.thenewsroom.com>).  The Voxant Network is a leading news provider that prides itself on having the most current global headlines.

These headlines cover almost any topic or category that one could imagine.  The sites entertainment headlines report the latest movie, television, and music information along with some of the juiciest celebrity gossip.  Finance headlines deal with stocks, banking, real estate, and any other industry that is being affected by finances.  There are also world news headlines and you can also find your own local news. The Voxant Network gets its news from the following sources:

Associated Press
AFP
CBS
NHL
MTV
The Wall Street Journal

These are only a few of the most recognized sources.  The network constantly searches for, and screens, quality content so that you don’t have to.  Now blog owners don’t have to waste time searching through headlines for relevant, researched, news and information.

Once you find headlines that will appeal to your readers or fit in with your existing blog content you can then choose what format you want to post the content in.  You can use the text player but there are also streaming videos and high quality images.  These images are extremely popular on  celebrity and entertainment related sites.

The network then pays you, the blogger, for each page impression that their news content receives.  That means that each and every time a visitor goes to your site and the voxant content is loaded into their browser you are earning money.  The payout varies depending on the content and you are also paid for referrals.  The payout schedule is as follows:

Video Feeds:  $4.00 CPM
Video Story:  $3.00 CPM
Text Story:  $1.00 CPM
Image:  $1.00 CPM

This might not seem like a lot of money at first, but once you factor in your traffic and the fact that you are essentially getting paid to use free content and they are all passive income, the value increases.

Many bloggers rely on MySpace (<http://www.myspace.com>) for new readers and visitors.  Setting up a free MySpace profile and participating in groups and forums can attract an entirely new group of people to your blog.  When networking and promoting on MySpace it is important to remember the Terms and Policies of the site and to avoid sending out bulk messages of any kind.

You can use MySpace as a promotional tool for your blog, including a widget to your blog on my MySpace profile page so that all visitors can see your latest blog headlines.  You may also cross post bits of your blog posts to your MySpace blog linking back to the full post on your own domain.

While MySpace is very strict about posting links to your site in certain forums and groups, there are ways to advertise your domain and blog site without breaking the rules.  MySpace allows users to have a headline which appears instead of there name.  Many users replace that headline with their own web address.

Facebook is another good site for promoting your blog and getting the attention of new clients, readers, and even local businesses.  Quite a few bloggers have groups set up on Facebook and network with each other.  Also they are often helped by friends and relatives who are also on Facebook and who don’t mind sharing news of you blog through word of mouth.  Many of the Facebook applications make it easy to add feeds to your blog and to promote your domain or blog without getting into any trouble.

If you follow me on twitter, you probably knew that I created my first Squidoo lens a couple of days ago. The reason behind that move will be exposed here in this post. If you are using Squidoo, please share your experience here.

Squidoo is a network of user-generated lenses—single pages that highlight one person’s point of view, recommendations, or expertise. Lenses can be about anything, such as ideas, people or places, hobbies and sports, pets or products, philosophy, and politics. Lenses aren’t primarily intended to hold content; more emphasis is placed on recommending and advice then pointing to content on the web.

Squidoo’s content is highly ranked in Google and other search engines as it is treated as one of the authority sites. Squidoo recently changed their nofollow link rules. Once your lens is established, you get dofollow links from there. This gives Squidoo lenses more ranking power in the search engines. That’s why I’m taking advantage of it.

You can even make money from your Squidoo lens, as they share the ad revenue with the users (or lensmasters in their own term). It’s like getting paid to promote you own blog. So why not.

The following is a video demo on Squidoo:

This post credits to my twitter buddy Anthony Bulchalka and his little eBook “10 Web 2.0 Tips”. Download from his web site, you will find some very useful information there.