Archive for March, 2009

What is Twitter?

Posted in Twitter by Imran Qureshi on March 18th, 2009

Introduction

Here’s a quick marketing question for you: How often do you tweet? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’re missing out on one of the hottest marketing tools on the Internet today – Twitter.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a micro-blogging site – meaning you can state your thoughts, views, opinions and links, but in a
super-compact way. In fact, with Twitter, you only get to use 140 characters for each post, affectionately known as a tweet. At first glance, you may think 140 characters can’t possibly give you enough room to say anything of value, but once you jump into the flow, you’ll be amazed at the way Twitter can change your social media marketing world.

How Does it Work?

Twitter works as a real-time social media platform for users to update their followers with tidbits of information, chitchat, tips and tricks and other short messages that are broadcast to a group of users who have chosen to stay updated to your messages. While there are over 6 million users on Twitter, according to the latest statistics, individuals choose who they want to interact with by “following” them.

Every user gets a profile page, with room for a short bio, a photo and a link to the site of your choice. Your profile page also includes a button people can click on to begin “following” you – which means they will have access to all of your updates.

The more followers you acquire the stronger your networking capabilities become on Twitter. Twitter functions as an ever increasing network as each person interacts with their following, who then connects them to their own group of followers and on and on it grows.

Let’s break it down a bit.

When you create your user account and choose some people to follow, they have the opportunity to follow you back. As your followers start to get to know you, they will look to you to promote other people on Twitter and when they find people they relate to, they will begin following them as well. This “tell two friends who tell two friends who tell two friends” networking will expand your network faster than you can possibly imagine.

Who Uses Twitter?

At the rate Twitter is growing, it won’t be long before the answer to this question is EVERYONE! Twitter is growing at a pace of over 7500 users every day, with a total right now of over six million users! Twitter is a great place to connect, both in business and personally, for anyone who is looking for a platform where they can reach out to a wide network of people at one time.

Twitter is popular with many different kinds of people. In business, you’ll find lawyers, realtors, writers, web designers, Internet marketers, coaches, entrepreneurs, bloggers, small business owners, large corporations, politicians – even the President of the United States! You’ll find famous people, infamous people, unknown people – the truth is, Twitter is being used by folks from every walk of life you can imagine to connect with others and market their businesses.

Why Not Follow Me on Twitter:
http://TwitterImran.com

Ebay: How to Start Selling on Ebay

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Posted in Ebay by Imran Qureshi on March 11th, 2009

If you are familiar with eBay, you are aware of the stories of great fortune made on eBay. Thinking that you can make a small fortune quickly and easily, you are probably ready to move ahead fast. If your real desire is to make money on eBay the main thing to remember is to take it slow. Take your time, wait a minute before you start. Don’t plunge in with no preparation. Be patient and do it properly.

There are more than 100 million eBay members. Imagine the relevance of that number for a minute or two. The instant you set up on eBay, you will have a huge customer base. Just think — 100 million people waiting anxiously for you to start listing your items so that they can buy them and send you their money. Well, not really. While eBay does have a customer base of 100 million members, they are not aware of your existence. Even when you are a huge eBay success, most will never know anything about you. One hundred million is an enormous number.

A majority of the eBay sellers who are successful began as buyers – and you ought to take this into consideration. This will provide you with an idea of how things work. It will also help you understand things from the buyer’s viewpoint. We can refer to the time you are spending as ‘consumer research’, since you are actually finding out how eBay operates from the standpoint of a customer. All of your experience as an eBay buyer will make you a much better eBay seller.

Notice the customer service you receive as the buyer. Consider how you wish to be treated as a buyer, and write down some notes. Don’t hurry this process. Have some interaction with people who are selling. Become involved in some hot auctions so that you see what they are all about. In any spare time which you may have, jot down some notes about any hot items you notice. Later on, you will be glad that you have these notes to refer to.

eBay operates similarly to any other business. You have to figure out what it is that people wish to buy before you have a chance to be successful. Some things consistently sell well on eBay – your job is to find out which products those are. You may get this information from various sources. Begin with the tutorials that are available on eBay for sellers. Also, you may want to consider attending eBay University. This is the next phase in the learning curve. Once you have seen what it is like to be an eBay buyer, now you must learn how to sell on eBay.

Learn all about the site by reading the information that eBay provides. The information does not cost one cent and you will gain a lot of knowledge from it. Take advantage of everything that is offered and learn as much as you can before you try running your first auction or setting up your eBay store! By reading everything you can, you will be able to sidestep some of the errors that others have made. This is one more stage in building a successful eBay business. Upon completion of the educational phase, you should have all the information you need to start your own money making eBay business.

How to Find Hot Items for eBay Auctions

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Posted in Ebay by Imran Qureshi on March 6th, 2009

Before they get started on eBay, lots of people worry about which eBay items will be top sellers. Some people devise intricate systems to figure this out; others spend lots of money on classes that claim to teach them the ins and outs of the site. None of this is actually required. You can find all you need to know on eBay itself!

If you look at an category, you will notice that the word ‘hot’ appears alongside some items. There’s definitely a reason why these items are called ‘hot’! The only time an item receives the ‘hot’ designation is when it has received over thirty bids. To get a feel for the top selling items, spend some time on the eBay site.

But as most Power Sellers will tell you, there are other factors that determine what items will sell well. To them, it’s a precise science. Finding our which auction items were successful in the past is an excellent way to begin searching for items that will sell well in the future. Completed listings can be viewed at: http://listings.ebay.com.

A great tool eBay provides to help you figure out which items sell well is eBay Marketplace Research, which shows statistics about buying trends on eBay. Contained here is all the information you’ll need to figure out how popular or unpopular your item will be among eBay buyers. But in order to utilize the eBay Marketplace Research tools, you must pay a small fee.

Also know that eBay provides a list of popular search terms people use to find items and auctions. To read it, go here: http://popular.ebay.com. The list is split into various categories, which makes it a lot easier to navigate and to assess the value of your item.

Never make assumptions about how an item will do without first doing research! Surprisingly, some very odd items sell for excellent prices, while items that normally would fly off the shelves elsewhere, languish with no bids. Ask any Power Seller on eBay and they’ll say that having a successful auction means you’ve got to do a lot of research to determine which items to sell.