It's Time for the 2010 Bonanzle Up!

Image via CrunchBase

When? August 7, 2010

Where? Kansas City, MO (at the Four Points Sheraton)


More info: Registration fee is $25.00 on a pre-sale basis. After July 7th, the price goes up to $35.00.
 
Rooms are available at $70.00 per night at the Four Points Sheraton for  attendees. You can even come 3 days early and/or stay 3 days after the event and still get that rate!

You can find more information on the speakers as well as register now on the Bonanzle Boardroom site. 

We're Moving!

Image by Peregrino Will Reign via Flickr

This blog had its first post in December of 2007!

We started with Blogger because it's a wonderful platform - simple to understand and easy to use.

Over the past few years, we've learned lots and we've grown. Today it's time to introduce you to our new blog which is located on our website - built on the wordpress.org platform.

If you've enjoyed reading this blog, we hope you'll stop by The Savvy Seller's new blog and subscribe to it.

Saying good-bye is hard to do so on occasion you'll find new posts here.

You know how it goes .... "make new friends but keep the old."

Lessons From eBay On Location Atlanta

eBay's first 'On Location' event was held in Atlanta this past weekend. A Networking Reception was held Fri evening and the training portion took place on Saturday.

The first session, 'Strategies to Grow Your Business' was presented by Sarah Brubacher, eBay's Director of Top Seller Development. The key growth strategies listed were:

• leverage the new fee option
• maximize search visibility and sales
• delight your customers
• optimize effectiveness with tools & resources

Leveraging the new fee option included information on eBay stores and how to determine the right subscription level. Maximizing search visibility included information on choosing the right listing format, optimizing item prices, earning/maintaining Top Seller status, writing great listing titles and offering free shipping. Various ways to use 'Best Offer' was an interesting part of the discussion.

The next talk was called 'The Art of (Customer) Attraction.' Mike Michalowicz, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, gave a lively and informative talk about finding and keeping repeat customers. He discussed loyalty programs, email marketing and how to create great buyer experiences.

Next was the 'Top-Rated Seller Secrets' portion of the day. This was a panel discussion moderated by Griff. Panelists Cindy Shebley, Jordan Insley and Lynn Dralle were quite candid in answering a wide range of questions that had been submitted by the audience.

After lunch Sarah Brubacher returned to the stage to present 'The Power of Productivity' - talking about how to reduce costs and grow sales volume. This is what was covered:

Next up was a presentation by Rieva Lesonsky, former editorial director for Entrepreneur magazine. Unfortunately I did not attend this session as I was in a break-out session with Griff called 'Know Your Numbers.'

Griff's talk was all about the numbers that are important in running a business on eBay. To quote him "you can't manage what you do not measure." He went over Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV), Costs, Net Profit, Average Selling Price (ASP), Conversion or Sell Through Rate (STR) and Sales Velocity and Price Balancing Act. An interesting part of the discussion was about 'Who Sets the Price' and how frequently you might want to check up on your competition.

The final presentation was 'I Just Tweetered on FaceSpace' by John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing. He defined social media and reminded us that eBay pioneered social networking. After describing the pillars of a social media system as listening, optimizing your assets, using content for lead generation and managing it all, he showed examples from various social sites as well as a variety of useful tools. This talk ended with a list of action steps: Set up Google Alerts, Create a Content Hub, Grab 2-3 Profiles and Create 1 Outpost.

There were additional Break-Out sessions during the day. They included 'eBay Seller Tool Demos,' 'New to eBay Stores' and 'Shipping Q&A.' These sessions had limited seating and tickets to attend were distributed in the early morning on a first-come, first-served basis.

Sponsors of this event included the USPS, endicia, PitneyBowes, eBay Giving Works, ProStores, eBay AdCommerce and eBay Green Team. All had space in the exhibition part of the venue.

eBay On Location in Atlanta & The Aftermath

'eBay On Location' is a series of local events sponsored by eBay to provide practical information to help eBay sellers take their business to the next level.

The 1st 'On Location' event will be held in Atlanta (at the Omni Hotel) in less than 2 weeks - on March 19-20. 'On Location' will then travel to other cities including Dallas & Chicago & end up in San Jose in time to celebrate eBay's 15th anniversary.

Some of the speakers who will be in Atlanta iinclude:

• John Jantsch (Duct Tape Marketing) - I Just Tweetered on FaceSpace
• Mike Michalowicz (The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur) - The Art of Customer Attraction
• Rieva Lesonsky (GrowBiz Media) - 10 Steps to Entrepreneurial Success

On Fri evening (March 19) eBay will be sponsoring a networking opportunity at a Welcome Reception from 5-7pm.

After the Welcome Reception is the VIP event of the weekend -
'The Aftermath: eCommerce After Party'
hosted by John "colderICE" Lawson.

This is THE place to 'meet & greet' the Rock Stars of eCommerce including:

• John Jantsch - Duct Tape Marketing
  
• Richard Brewer-Hay - eBay InkBlog
  
• Brent Leary - Customer Relationship Management
  
• Toby Bloomberg - Diva Marketing Blog
  
• Peggy Duncan - Personal Productivity Expert
  
• Charles Lumpkin - eCommerce SEO Strategist
  
• "JB" Braitwaite - Internet Technology Expert
  
• George Trantas - CEO Designer Athletic
  
• Melinda & Kat - co-hosts of eBay and Beyond Radio
  
• Cindy Shebley - WebSellersCircle
  
• Marlene Gavens - The Savvy Seller :-)

Be sure to register asap for this opportunity to get up close and personal with these Rock Stars! Featuring a VIP lounge and prizes and giveaways, you won't want to miss this!

Buyer Persona: The Importance of Knowing Your Buyer in the Web 2.0 World

Image by nicolasnova via Flickr

This past Sunday I had the honor of presenting a webinar as part of the New Life Event. In case you missed it 'live' - here is the webinar recording:

The Importance of Knowing Your Buyer in the Web 2.0 World - Marlene Gavens, The Savvy Seller

A Weekend of Wisdom: 30 Webinars in 3 Days!

If you follow The Savvy Seller you know that we're focused on education. The quality kind that you can use right away to make your business more successful.

This coming weekend (Fri Feb 26 - Sun Feb 28), tune in to an education bonanza by attending the 'New Life Event' - 30 FREE webinars over the course of 3 days. Each 30-minute webinar will be full of great information followed by a 10-minute Q&A session. The speakers are experts in their field and you're sure to come away with some valuable information, insights and tools.

Topics include:

• Analytics for eCommerce
• Keyword Research
• Longtail SEO
• Viral Marketing
• The Secret of Writing Unique Content
• How To Succeed on Google Shopping
• The Best Ways to Use DropShipping
  
• and so much more!

Shawna Fennell, the New Life Event host, has invited me to present so I invite you to join me Sunday morning at 10am ET for "The Importance of Knowing Your Buyer in the Web 2.0 World."

All you have to do to attend any of the 30 FREE webinars is register!

Be sure to follow the New Life Event on Twitter or on Facebook for updates and tell your friends!

See you there!

The Impact of Social Media

If you need to explain the importance or impact of social media, this 4 minute YouTube video will do it for you with style.

eBay Changes Announced This Morning

Image via Wikipedia

The 2010 Spring Seller Update was announced by eBay this morning.

Looks like this round will be good for sellers!

Use this Seller Checklist to be sure you stay in compliance with the changes.