by Kathy Terrill | Nov 22, 2017 | eCommerce News, Facebook Business Page Tips, Selling on eBay, Social Media Tips
The Holidays are here. Social media campaigns are in full swing to attract shoppers. eBay sellers turn to me and ask,
“How can I stand out to shoppers on social media this Holiday season?”
The answer is keywords.
Ground your Holiday Planner for 2017 with awesome keywords.
Without good keywords, it’s as if you are taking your items and throwing them in a heap on the floor. You are daring shoppers and search engines to find your products. Keywords enable search engines and customers to discover your listing.
Sellers can forget to think like a buyer. When listing a plush teddy bear toy think, “What words would I be using to find this?” I would search, plush toy, plush teddy bear, teddy bear, small teddy bear, big teddy bear, boy teddy bear, pink teddy bear etc.
Keywords are words that detail and describe your item. They are brands, colors, styles, period and the size of the product. Terms like Nike, Under Armour, Mid Century Modern, lace, 100% cotton and more.
This blog post What Are Keywords from Moz, explains keywords.
Keywords are words that detail and describe your item.
Terapeak’s keyword research tool SEO Pro gives eBay sellers effective choices for their listings and social media.
With my affiliate link HERE, test the awesome results from this professional tool.
This Facebook live I did explains selecting Holiday keywords for your eBay listings and social media.
It pays to think like a buyer when listing and doing social media. Good keywords get you found in search. They get you sales.
Combine Holiday keywords with the tips in my Essential Social Media Cheat Sheet and you’re ready for your best Christmas sales season ever.
by Kathy Terrill | Nov 4, 2017 | eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay, Social Media Tips
This will the most competitive sales season ever on eBay! There are more eBay sellers and more inventory online than ever before. How can small and medium sellers compete and win in this ferocious online environment?
Smaller sellers can score their share of sales now and all through the Holidays. Here are the top three ways to do it!
#1 – CHECK PRICES ON EBAY AND THE WEB!
First of all, prices change on the internet. Hot products prices change during the shopping season depending on availability. So, if you sell in demand Holiday products, monitor prices carefully. Take advantage of these fluctuations. Small – medium sellers can pivot, changing their prices. Also, small sellers can get often source popular items far faster than larger online retailers. Use the eBay saved search feature to monitor new listings and competition online.
There are numerous hot categories right now.
Trendy clothes, party clothes, electronics, home decor, sporting goods, sports memorabilia, and crafts are all hot categories. For in depth research use Terapeak’s (ad) Hot Product Research. If you’re analyzing seasonal trends nothing beats Terapeak’s (ad)three years of sold data!
#2- REACH YOUR EBAY SHOPPERS WHERE THEY ARE!
81% of Americans have social media profiles.
Statista reports that 81% of Americans have a social media profile! Facebook leads the way in social media with a reported 2 billion monthly users as of July 2017.
Social media is not just for big brands.
Smaller sellers can use social media to their advantage and win! What’s key with social media is to laser focus on your potential customer is. With that in mind, post social content mixed in with products. My Top Ten Social Media Holiday Success Tips shows you clearly how use social media to your advantage. So, you can reach your customers with social media and score sales.
By answering within minutes of getting the query, you the smaller seller will score the sale.
#3- ANSWER CUSTOMER QUESTIONS FAST!
Many large online sellers answer customer service questions with an auto responder. A customer will ask about color or fit and they get a message that the seller will get back to them within one business day. Monitor your customer service and shopper inquiries closely. By answering within minutes of getting the query, you the smaller seller will score the sale.
Shoppers don’t want to wait. They want answers. They want to buy.
YOU, the quick to respond seller scores sales. I’ve gotten numerous messages from happy customers saying ” Thank you for answering my questions. Wow that was fast. I bought from you because your replied so quickly etc” Answering questions promptly works to get you sales during the hectic Holiday period and all year long!
Being a smaller seller can has it advantages! By closely monitoring prices, posting great engaging content on social media and being super responsive to customer service question, you gain the sales edge online!
Here’s to sales coming your way sellers!
by Kathy Terrill | Feb 24, 2017 | eCommerce Tips
Sellers come to almost daily and say, “Kathy my eBay item isn’t showing up well in search, what can I do?”
My answer is simple, “Let’s get to work”
#1 way to get better search results on eBay is write a great title.
Whether your shopper is on mobile or desktop, your eBay item’s title is one of the first thing your potential buyer sees. Your title is important to your buyer and important for good eBay and Google search results. Have you chosen the best keywords for your product? The best keywords clearly identify what you’re selling. The words that matter here are your brand. color, size, distinctive patterns and the like. Take a minute and look at your item. If you wanted to buy this item, what words would you be using in searching the internet to find it? Use those words. This video will show you how to use eBay search to quickly write eBay titles.
#2 way to improve your search results on eBay is fill in the item specifics.
Fill the item specifics in to the best of your ability. Fill in the MPNs, UPCs, brand, color, size , country of manufacture, leading role etc depending on the item you are selling and the category you are selling in. If you have the UPC for your item and you leave it blank or use the drop down menu does not apply, the seller that does fill in the UPC has given eBay search more structured data information than you. Is there a place to chose the color of your item? If yes, chose the best color, blue, pink etc. Again the seller that takes the time to fully fill in item specifics is giving more search data to eBay. Filling in the item specifics gives eBay and Google search vital information to help your item in search.
#3 way to improve your search results on eBay is take clear, crisp pictures.
Your customer cannot hold and touch the item you’re selling. Your pictures literally put your item in your customer’s hand. Show them every angle of your product. Include pictures of any flaws on the item. You do not need to buy expensive photography equipment to take clear pictures that are in focus. Most smartphones have great cameras. Pictures are important now for the shopping experience on eBay and will grow as an essential part of eBay search. eBay‘s CEO Devin Wenig spoke to this in a recent article for CNET. “We’re doing a lot of work on image recognition. Computers are getting really good at recognizing things. We’re not that far away from a future where you’ll just do this. [Wenig picks up his phone and acts out taking photos of a pen in front of him.] You’ll just take a picture of that and we’ll match it through AI to our catalogue, we’ll know exactly what that pen is. And we’ll say, do you wanna sell it? We can get you five bucks right now for that pen.” In short, pictures matter.
#4 way to improve in search is to use eBay’s paid search service Promoted Listings.
eBay offers it’s eBay store owners an effective way to promote qualifying listings through it’s paid Promoted Listings program. Through Promoted Listings sellers create Promoted Listing campaigns and chose the advertising rate they will pay eBay IF the product sells directly through Promoted Listings. A seller ONLY pays eBay the Promotion fee is the item sells from a click through Promoted Listings campaigns. Sellers do not pay for clicks with no sales. Nor do sellers pay for listing impressions. Many sellers note an increase in sales to the overall category in their eBay store that has Promoted Listings, and increased sales store wide. Promoted Listings can have the effect of increasing overall traffic to an eBay‘s sellers store. Currently Promoted Listings are only available to eBay store owners with multi quantity items. There is a Beta test going on for unique one of a kind items. To be considered for this Beta test go to Promoted Listings under the Marketing Tab in your eBay Seller Hub dashboard. You must apply to be considered. To apply go to Promoted Listings in Seller Hub. It’s under your Marketing tab
CLICK it . Find “Give us feedback”.
Give Us Feedback in Promoted Listings Dashboard
It’s all the way to right of the page in Promoted Listings. Click it. Say something like ” Hi I’d like to be in your beta test for one of a kind items.”
According to my eBay contact, ” from the time the seller sends us the request to be considered for the beta group, it may take up to a week to get added to beta. We will confirm via email once they are accepted. They can share this info with their friends/colleague. However, we cannot guarantee that everyone will be accepted.”
#5 way to improve in search is to research.
eBay is a competitive market place. When you first listed your item a month ago or a year ago the prevailing price may have been XXX but now its Z. You can wait and see if prices change, or you can change your listing for the current market and get the sale. eBay’s advanced search can give you short term sales data. For more in depth and detailed information professional sellers look to Terapeak.
Cleaning up your title and/or pictures can get your better search results on eBay. If an item qualifies using eBay‘s Promoted Listings is a great way to get a boost for your listings and your eBay store. Make sure to stay abreast of marketplace changes in prices with Terapeak.
I’ve made a special FREE How To Dominate eBay Search Tip Sheet for you to use. It has powerful eBay search tips you can use with or without an eBay store.Gain instant access by clicking HERE.
NOW is the time for YOU to stand out in eBay search!
by Kathy Terrill | Jan 23, 2017 | eCommerce Selling Tips, Selling on eBay
Do you ever struggle wondering, “Where are my eBay sales?” This can happen to any online seller, not just eBay sellers. You may wonder where are my Etsy, Amazon or my website sales?
You pop into Facebook seller groups and it seems everyone but you is scoring sales. So what is a seller to do?
First thing to do is breathe.
There is an ebb and flow to eCommerce and retail sales.
Ever walk into a retail store and no one is shopping but you? Then 10 minutes later there are 20 shoppers surrounding you! You just witnessed the ebb and flow to retail sales.
If it’s not a temporary lull but a downward spiral of days with no sales, then it’s time to take action.
The next step is research is make sure that you are selling products that people want.
Sellers will come to and say ” Kathy I don’t have any sales.” I will look at their listings and check sales for the brands and types of items they are selling. I will discover that a large portion of their listings are items that show no sales on eBay for weeks. If shoppers are not looking to buy what you have, it’s not about doing or not doing social media, it’s about listing products that are in demand.
I will ask the seller why XX product is listed. I get a variety of answers. The answers range from “I’m cleaning out my closet, to ” it was only one dollar at the thrift store.”
It is far wiser to spend $30 on an item that sells for $100, than to spend $1 several times over on inventory that doesn’t sell.
Research is key. When you’re shopping check solds on your smart phone with eBay‘s advanced search or a professional research tool like Terapeak.
Let’s say your item IS in demand BUT you have a lot of competition. To do well in eBay search you’ll want to gain and maintain Top Rated Seller status on eBay. A good handling time of 1 day or less will help your listings, as will a 30 day or better return policy. Ship your inventory internationally through eBay‘s Global Shipping Program, or ship internationally yourself. Add to this check list, an optimized listing title, 4 or more pictures, filled in item specifics and a clear and concise description. My hit guide, Secret To eBay Search For Sellers will walk you line by through your eBay listing to make sure you’re optimized for every nuance of eBay search.
Now here comes the icing on the cake. If you have more than 1 of the item that you’re selling, use eBay’s paid Promoted Listing program available only to eBay store owners. Not only does it help to get your item sold, it will increase traffic to your listings. Learn more about Promoted Listings in my blog post The Secret To Boosting Sales On eBay.
So, when sales are slow after taking a deep breath, successful sellers take action and they R.E.A.P.
R is review. Review prices. E is evaluate. Is your listing optimized for search? A is alter. Make necessary changes to to your listings and inventory to be optimized and positioned to sell. P is promote. Use Promoted Listings, eBay collections and social media to stand out and get found in eBay and Google search by potential shoppers.
R.E.A.P. and get sales!
by Kathy Terrill | Dec 8, 2015 | eCommerce News, eCommerce Selling Tips, Selling on eBay
The Holiday shopping countdown is on and it’s time to make sure your goods are sold and your online customers are thrilled!
Time to thrill online shoppers!
If you’ve been using the tips found here on this blog and my hit class Secret Sauce for ebay Sales you’re busy packing ebay sales!
Follow these 4 tips to continue your successful selling on ebay, Etsy and your online website. These will work now and right up to Christmas!
- Answer any and all questions as fast and accurately as possible. This time of year fast, polite and calming customer service is crucial to capture the sale. If you don’t answer a potential customer quickly, your shopper will find a seller who does!
- Whenever possible ship the same day that the item is ordered. Fast shipping is a must this time of year.
- Offer free and or paid shipping upgrades. If a customer wants an item overnight or in 2 days, you want to be the seller that offers that to them.
- Be sure to keep sourcing inventory to offer buyers! Online sellers ran away with Black Friday sales this year which means many brick and mortar retailers will be deeply discounting item to meet sales goals. Keep an alert eye out for inventory for you to acquire. Fresh inventory bring shoppers back again and again as they browse your newest finds!
Shoppers are tired and frazzled.
Shoppers are tired and frazzled. Keep this in mind as you answer questions and swiftly pack orders.
Offering great products, kind and professional customer service and quickly dispatching customer’s purchases brings you happy and satisfied customers singing your praises.
Aren’t happy customers the true goal of a successful Holiday selling season?
Fa la la la.
R is review. Review prices. E is evaluate. Is your listing optimized for search? A is alter. Make necessary changes to to your listings and inventory to be optimized and positioned to sell. P is promote. Use Promoted Listings, eBay collections and social media to stand out and get found in eBay and Google search by potential shoppers.
