Kalau korang baca Utusan Malaysia ari nie ada berita pasal Twitter dan Facebook. Penggunaan Twitter dan facebook telah mendapat tempat di hati pengguna internet sekarang.

Di petik dari berita tersebut , Twitter telah berkembang dengan pesat dari 4 juta pengguna tahun ini kepada 40 juta . Memang berkembang dengan pesat. ia pasti Twitter telah mendapat perhatian yang kuat dari Google untuk pengambilalihan. Macam biasa le  Google perlu beli twitter dan facebook aku rasa bagi mengekalkan sabagai No.1 mengatasi twitter.

Satu lagi berita pasal google nie , sedang dalam proses untuk menjual handphone plak. Lepas nie lagi kaya le Google. Dijangka akan berada dipasaran awal tahun depan dikenali dengan Nexus One keluaran pengeluar telephone pintar iaitu HTC  menggunakan sistem operasi Android ciptaan Google.

Fuh , makin maju la sekarang. tak terkejar pasal teknologi sekarang nie. Apa pun korang bleh Twitter aku kat sini

Sampai jumpa lagi esok ..

Aku ada terbaca di blog Titan hari ini pasal tajuk diatas. Tajuk di atas aku rasa memang sukar bagi aku . Bolehkan aku menulis setiap hari di blog dalam masa 90 hari ? Fuh .. terasa sukar tetapi tak mustahil aku dapat menulis dalam masa 90 hari . Tips Titan ini aku rasa tips yang memberi satu cabaran kepada aku untuk menulis di blog ini . 

Aku rasa memang rugi kalau dipikirkan kembali jika blog aku yang telah berusia hampir 2 tahun ini dbiarkan begitu sahaja . Adakah aku malas untuk menulis atau aku tidak ada masa untuk menulis ? Mungkin kedua-duanya. 

Tetapi aku berazam tahun 2010 yang akan menjelma tidak lama lagi , aku akan pastikan aku dapat menulis dan melalui cabaran “Menulis Blog Selama 90 Hari “  dengan jayanya. 

Selama hampir 2 tahun nie aku rasa aku banyak merepek dalam tulisan-tulisan aku di blog ini . Aku rasa banyak juga aku hanya copy & paste. Tak da masa katakan.. maybe tu semua alasan yang selalu aku bagi … sibuk le.. , tak sempat le . ..dan macam-macam lagi la.. huhuhu .. itu yang akan aku cuba ubah.

Dalam 2 tahun ni juga aku rasa aku lebih serius dan fokus  dalam menjana pendapatan di ebay. Aku rasa itu satu-satunya yang memberi aku “dollar ” buat masa ini. Walaupun tak banyak mana pendapatan yang aku jana , tetapi aku rasa seronok dan puas dalam proses bisnes ebay tu. Tapi aku rasa benda nie kena amik masa yang panjang dan tidak pernah kenal putus asa. Sinar itu akan muncul nanti.

Penulisan di blog nie  aku rasa untuk ” Menulis Blog Selama 90 hari”   lebih kepada blog peribadi  dahulu dan lepas tu barulah kena niche -niche tertentu . Itu aku rasa bukan sekarang untuk dibincangkan ..lepas 90 hari kot?  sapa tau .. 

Stop kat sini kot. walaupun sedikit , tapi itu  idea yang aku rasa ada buat masa nie ..

Build Your Own Website – Part One

by: Skip McGrath

In this series I will be reviewing website building software and services that are optimized for the small home business owner.

There are three basic types of websites used by home business owners:

Information websites designed to generate revenue from affiliate marketing, Google AdSense, ClickBank or selling your own information product.
Business Promotion websites designed to promote your business or service
Niche eCommerce websites with shopping cart and payment system
Do-it-yourself website builders fall into two categories: software and online template. Web building software gives you the most control and flexibility. The online systems offer simplicity, but you are limited to their templates, navigation and design schemes.

The problem with most website design software -programs like Dreamweaver and FrontPage is that they have a steep learning curve. These tend to be great system for professional designers, but they are not very friendly to beginners.

One system I like is XSitePro website design software. XSitePro is designed for the beginner with no technical knowledge or website design training. It will work in all three applications listed above, but it really works well for the first category -websites designed to make money from content based advertising such as Google AdSense, Affiliate Banners and selling ClickBank products. With XSitePro website design software I can get a simple information website up and running within a few hours and start making money the same day.

XSitePro provides users with a range of incredibly powerful features, whilst at the same time being easy to master – even for people with no previous web site building experience. One of my readers is a Navy wife with 2 kids at home. She became so good and so fast at building websites with XSitePro that she now makes up to $500 a week in her spare time setting up websites for local businesses.

You can design your own website from scratch or you can choose from hundreds of pre-designed templates that were created by professional web designers. Best of all, once you purchase XSitePro, you own it. There are no ongoing monthly costs.

By: Chris Malta & Robin Cowie

Sooner or later, your home retail business will likely reach a point where you’ll need to buy product directly from the manufacturer in order to get the best price. To go all the way up the supply chain may mean buying directly from Chinese manufacturers.

If you’re like most eBiz owners, you may feel very uncertain about the prospect. The idea of trying to locate China suppliers willing to deal in smaller quantities, fly across the world to meet with them, and make buying arrangements with them, probably seems completely overwhelming.

Upcoming Trade Shows

According to Peter Zapf, Vice President of eCommerce Services for GlobalSources.com, one of the best ways to locate genuine manufacturers who will work with you is to attend a China trade show. His company is hosting one such show from April 12-15, 2007 in Hong Kong—the Global Sources China Sourcing Fair (www.ChinaSourcingFair.com). Explains Zapf, “It’s an excellent opportunity to meet hundreds of direct manufacturers of consumer electronics, digital entertainment, computers, WiFi and VoIP Products, Security and much more.” Global Sources also runs shows in April for Fashion Accessories, Swimwear, Gifts and Home Products.

(Note from Skip: These shows are held throughout the year. Just go to the Global Sources web site for a list of shows and dates.)

[Read the rest of this entry...]

Free eBay tips and eBay tools and services to help eBay sellers build a profitable eBay business

Whether you just want to have some fun, use eBay to clear out your attic, make a few extra bucks, or even start and eBay business, you will have to master the “basics” to sell successfully on eBay. The following tips are a good start -but you will need to keep learning to master the techniques of eBay success.  Here is a collection of eBay selling tips, basic techniques and several free eBay tools and services to help you make more money on eBay.

1. Buy on eBay before you start trying to sell

I get email from people all the time wanting to know how to make money selling on eBay. The first question I ask them is if they have bought anything on eBay. Amazingly a lot of them say no.  You really need to buy on eBay first to understand how the platform works and what eBay looks like from the buyer’s point of view. You will never be successful selling on eBay until you learn to buy.

2. Learn to sell on eBay by selling on eBay

The best way to start selling on eBay is to start selling on eBay. Yes, there are some things to learn, but take your time, look at the eBay help files (and these tips) and just start selling. You will make some mistakes -we all do. But don’t get frustrated or give up. You will get better with experience.

Also, selling will make you a better buyer. You will understand things from the seller’s point of view and learn other ways to spot bargains.

3. The best types of products to sell on eBay

Everyone wants to sell the latest consumer product -but the truth is there is a lot of competition from established sellers and even big online companies that have discovered eBay. The best item to sell on eBay is something used or a very specialized (niche) product that few others are selling.

You can buy virtually anything used: clothing, books, computers, DVD’s, Stereo equipment, and so on. If you are going to sell new goods, make sure you can buy them cheaply enough to sell and make a profit. One source is the closeout and liquidation companies that sell overstocks and seasonal items returned by department stores. Here is a link to a Free Wholesale Search Engine. I also offer an inexpensive product called My Top 20 Wholesale Sources for eBay Sellers. This is a great place to find good wholesale sources that will work with eBay sellers.  These are not perfect or complete resources they are just a place to start.  Be a little careful with the Wholesale Search Engine. It is a search engine and I can’t control what shows up there. So just because a company comes up in a search that doesn’t mean I endorse it.

Another great item is consumables. The idea here is to get repeat business via your web site from customers who buy from you on eBay. One of the best selling products from The Auction Seller’s Resource is the Wholesale Buying System (WBS). This tells you how, what and where to buy products to sell on eBay. The WBS comes with access to a members-only web site where you can access thousands of wholesale companies directly. The web site is updated monthly to add new sources.

4. Search Listings on eBay to see what is selling

Go to: http://listings.eBay .com to see what is being listed and sold on eBay. The number in parentheses after the category title is the number of auctions for a given item. In general, the higher the number the more action and sales.

5. Where to get help with your auction questions

Forums and message posts are one of the quickest and easiest ways to get help answering almost any question that might come up about selling on eBay and other auction sites.

The best – and most used forums on eBay are of course at eBay’s Community section. You can find the discussion boards broken down by subject at: http://pages.eBay.com/community/boards/index.html and there are several category-specific chat rooms at:

http://pages.eBay.com/community/chat/index.html

Another excellent link on eBay is The Answer Center at: http://pages.eBay.com/community/answercenter/index.html

There is an excellent independent forum on Auctionbytes.com at http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/index.php

These forums are moderated by David and Ina Steiner and other experts they recruit. The posts are broken down by subject areas, including an excellent one on fraud.

http://www.AuctionClan.com is a fairly new membership site that offers forums for sellers and also does very low cost image hosting.

6. Bookmark these eBay links to save time

Set up a favorites folder marked eBay and place these links in it for easy and quick reference.

• Advanced Search page http://pages.eBay.com/search/items/search_adv.html

• Search eBay stores http://pages.eBay.com/search/items/search_stores.html

• Announcements and news: http://pages.eBay.com/search/items/search_stores.html

• Discussion Boards http://pages.eBay.com/community/boards/index.html

• Leave Feedback
  http://pages.ebay.com/services/forum/feedback.html

• Rules and policies http://pages.eBay.com/services/tsindex.html

• End my listing
  http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?EndingMyAuction&EndingMyAuction=&guest=1
• eBay Fees
  http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html

7. What to do when someone doesn’t pay?

EBay has a defined procedure for bidders that don’t pay. Here are the steps:

First send an email requesting payment and warning the buyer you will file a non-payment complaint to eBay if they don’t pay within a specified time. If they still don’t pay, go to your My eBay Page and find the link to the dispute resolution center.

Follow the instructions there to make a claim and file a final value fee credit (to refund your fees)

eBay will contact the buyer and give them a warning (this often gets the buyer to pay) Any bidder that receives a third warning will be indefinitely suspended from eBay.

This is not a niche?

A useful way to define the idea of a niche is through the establishment is not more than what it is.

Niches are not the place for high-volume, the “economy of scale” businesses. A niche not just sell jewelry, which sells a certain type of jewelry. A company that is interested in a niche market is not large stockpiles of different items, each product it sells and develops is related to some very specific purpose or activity.

Because the clusters form?

Niches are natural side effects of the “size-fits-all” the main trends in the market. Most people, most of the time, shopping for things that are similar to what other people around you are shopping, too, as large retailers (including large eBay sellers and online) to compete for the attention customers in these areas. But occasionally they are interested in something different than usual, and is where niche flourish.

Take your typical supermarket as an example: despite their different names, almost all supermarkets sell the same things, for much the same price, right? Sometimes a client may want something that is different from the norm, however, and the supermarkets do not carry it. In such cases, consumers head for some kind of specialty shop to get their product instead.
[Read the rest of this entry...]

By: Skip McGrath

If you are going to run a profitable and professional eBay and/or web site business, you will need to package and ship your goods professionally. No one likes to receive their “eBay treasure” in an old cereal box or shoe box stuffed with your last week’s newspaper. This does not mean that you have to always use “new” supplies. Recycled boxes and packaging materials are fine as long as they are in good condition.

There are three costs involved in shipping:

• Shipping supplies
• Shipper charges
• Your time

Let’s look at each one.

Shipping supplies

Shipping supplies consist of boxes, newsprint or tissue, styrofoam peanuts, bubble pak and tape.

Why pay top dollar for shipping supplies when you can get them for free? Here is a source of free shipping supplies, boxes and packing materials. Visit your local gift shop or kitchen store. These merchants receive shipments on a daily basis of usually fragile items that require large amounts of bubble pak, styrofoam peanuts and sturdy boxes.

Gift shops are deluged with shipping and packaging materials. Local laws often require them to recycle the materials rather than just throwing them away. This can be expensive. Believe me — they are happy to give it away.

Local shops can be a treasure trove of free shipping and packing materials. Other stores that receive large amounts of shipping and packaging materials include drug stores, electronics stores (such as Radio Shack) and small neighborhood hardware stores.

If you ship USPS Priority Mail, he U.S. Postal Service website offers free shipping supplies delivered (also free) direct to your home or office. Many eBay sellers use Priority Mail for shipping items under three pounds. The USPS will send you free boxes, envelopes, tape and labels direct to your home by priority mail. You can print out labels and select Deliverly Confirmation at the web site. (This is a saving of 35 cents over doing it at the post office)

Shipping Charges:

As a occasional seller there isn’t much you can do about lowering shipping charges. If, however, you are a high volume eBay seller, you can negotiate rates with UPS, Fedex and Fedex Ground (formerly RPS). Call the companies and ask what their quantity points are to get a discount. If you work for a company that uses UPS or Fedex, they have programs whereby employees can piggyback on their company’s discounts. You open up an account with your own credit card, but your shipping rate is tied to your employers rate. Ask you employer to ask his/her shipping company sales rep if they offer such a program. It is good for you and the employer because it can raise his/her quantity to help get lower rates.

Your Time:

Time is valuable. Time you spend wrapping packages could be better spent launching auctions, searching for new products, answering emails and so on. The best way to save time is to have a permanent area for shipping. Invest in tape guns, paper rolls and so on. If you have to clear off the dining room table every time you want to wrap a package, this is a waste of time.

We use our teenagers to help with the business. It is a much better use of my time to pay my son a few bucks and hour to wrap packages. Besides anything you pay them is a business expenses for tax purposes.

It goes without saying (then why do I say it?) that you should package your merchandise carefully to avoid damage. Why do I say this if it’s so obvious? Just last week I received a package from a power seller containing a flow blue plate I had purchased from his eBay Store. The plate was loose in the box. He had wrapped it with bubble pak, but hadn’t taped the bubble pak together. During shipping it had worked loose in the box. Fortunately, it wasn’t broken. Even people who know better often take short cuts that can result in an unhappy buyer and in some cases, negative feedback.

by: Skip McGrath

Whether you sell your art, antiques and collectibles on eBay, at flea markets or other online auction sites, information is the most valuable resource for the antique dealer. So here are some tools and resources for antique collectors and dealers.

Free Information

Here is a list of websites that offer free information and resources for Art, Antique & Collectible dealers and sellers:

The eBay Antiques Discussion Board is simply one of the best places to ask for help whether you buy or sell on eBay, are a dealer or just a collector looking for information.

Antiques Roadshow has some great information and tips on their website.

Antique Tutorials have free online tutorials in dozens of antique and collectible specialty areas

Autograph Collector offers a free magazine for collectors

Antiquecollectiblestore.com is a national antique and collectible dealers directory, which is a guide to flea market locations, antique shop names, addresses, phone numbers all across the US. This antique & classic dealer supplies and services antiques and collectibles directory has around 50 categories which again is sorted by city or states in US for easy searching. The search box makes it easier to find the resource you are looking for. If you own antique and collectibles related shops or firms, you can submit your site for free through easy procedures.

Celebrity Collectors Resource offers free autographed items through their quarterly online giveaway and well as autograph signings, celebrity news and hobby information for the collector and investor.

Heartland Discoveries features a free glass marks dictionary on their free page.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

Like most Americans, I use Google’s search engine several times a day without so much as a second thought. It was only in 2007 that my company’s relationship with Google, Inc. temporarily escalated to that of a full-fledged customer, when Think Computer Corporation became yet another a Google AdWords advertiser. (AdWords advertisements appear on the right side of the main Google search results.) Sadly, the several ad campaigns we tried during this brief experiment failed miserably to bring in any new revenue, and so I personally went back to being just another user of Google’s search service — at least until March, 2008. That’s when my company signed up for the flip side of Google’s advertising juggernaut: AdSense. In anticipation of a new product, Think had acquired a brand new domain name that was unexpectedly receiving a high volume of internet traffic. Instead of paying Google for Think’s ads, I thought it might make more sense for Think to get paid for displaying Google’s.

Everything went according to plan until 11:00 A.M. on December 9, 2008. With a single click, a faceless Google employee decided that Think Computer Corporation’s membership in the AdSense program “posed a significant risk to our AdWords advertisers,” and the account was disabled with no warning. Trying to sign into the AdSense management site brought not the familiar user interface, with its limited account payment records and reports (including what Google currently owed Think, which amounted to approximately $721.00), but the following unhelpful statement, and nothing more:

[Read the rest of this entry...]

By Skip McGrath

One of the secrets to making money on eBay is to reduce your costs, fees and expenses. Here are ten eBay secrets to help you make more profits on eBay. Many of these are very simple and easy to implement. If you do all of them your savings can really add up and your eBay profits will increase.

1. Save eBay Photo Hosting and Scheduling Fees – There are two fees paid by almost every eBay seller that you can reduce or avoid altogether.  The first is the photo hosting fee. eBay gives you the first picture free. After that they charge 15-cents per photo. Since I always use at least 3 or 4 photos in a listing, this can add up.  The other is the scheduling fee. eBay charges 10-cents when you schedule an auction to list at a specific time. Unless you can create and launch your auctions at exactly the right time of day, almost every seller uses this service.  You can avoid or reduce these by using an auction management service to launch your auctions and host your photos.  A free program is Auctiva at Auctiva.com.  A low cost program -and the one I prefer is InkFrog at InkFrog.com. Although Auctiva is free, I prefer InkFrog at $9.95 a month as you get a lot more services and features that easily make the extra little expense worth the while.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

by: Skip McGrath

“What should I sell on eBay?” is the single most posed question I receive from my newsletter readers and book buyers. Let me say right up front: “There is no way I can answer that question.” No one can answer that except you.

Unless you have very deep pockets I can tell you what you probably cannot sell on eBay: Plasma TVs, iPods, the latest model laptops, digital camera and DVD players, Xbox, Gucci shoes, the latest perfume and other hot consumer products. The wholesale distribution of these products are tightly controlled by the manufacturer.

For example, if you want to buy iPods wholesale to sell on eBay, the distributor requires that you have a $200,000 line of credit. Channel will only sell their perfumes to a select few stores. You can buy overstock or surplus famous designer items (Gucci, Prada, Hermes, etc.) through a few outlets, but the latest merchandise is only sold through their stores and a few select upscale retailers.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

Building an eBay business is in many ways similar to building any business. To be successful everything has to work: Marketing, Sales, Quality, Pricing, and Customer Service. Selling on eBay, however, has some unique features that differ from traditional retail businesses.

On eBay, a seller’s customer service reputation (Feedback Rating) is out in the open for everyone to see. Imagine, if every store in the shopping mall had a sign outside where customers wrote comments about their products and service. Would you stop to read the comments before entering the store? Negative feedback is the number one reason eBay sellers fail. A negative feedback rating, however, usually has its roots in other problems.

Here are the top five reasons why eBay businesses fail:

1. Poor Feedback Rating

New eBay sellers typically underrate the importance of quickly building a great feedback rating. I am amazed when I click on an auction description and see a seller with a feedback rating under “10.” How could this person know anything about selling on eBay.? Experienced eBay bidders are cautious of sellers with a feedback rating under 25 – 50. Admittedly, getting your first twenty-five feedback comments as a seller can be a long process. Don’t forget, feedback comments as a buyer count as well (although eBay does show the difference). Before you rush into selling on eBay, you need to get some experience buying. There is nothing better than putting yourself in your customer’s shoes. [Read the rest of this entry...]