Your Exclusive Pass - Access to Success!

In the header of this blog it says you'll get tips, tricks, news and info from a Certified Education Specialist Trained by eBay.

But I'm also a Rock Star - on the OSI (Online Success Institute) Rock Star website!

As a Rock Star I hang out with an entourage - an elite group of highly talented people. These people have chosen to be successful in the online auction world and they really know their stuff.

Of course you have to pay your dues in order to become a Rock Star, but you can get a feel for what it's like by visiting the Rock Star site for a quick preview.

I know you're curious about the Rock Star lifestyle so each week I'll give you a sneak peek into their world. Sometimes it'll be a juicy tidbit you can use in your online business and other times it'll be an exclusive (podcast) recording with one of the brilliant Rock Stars.

Get ready for a glimpse of the exciting world of the OSI Rock Stars! They've chosen success and you can too!

Stay tuned!!

Online Auction Success is Just a Click Away!

Success is a journey ... and not always a smooth one.

If you're an entrepreneur, the road to success may be a bit lonely as well as bumpy.

What if I told you that with a click of your mouse, you could find all the resources you need to achieve success? And you would have the support of many other success-oriented individuals?

If you're like me, you'd be pretty skeptical of a statement like that. And you should be. There are plenty of 'experts' who will lead you to believe you can make millions with little or no effort at all.

So back to my statement .... OK, it's a little more than the click of your mouse. There's some work involved.

I'm sure you're familiar with the phrase: "you can bring a horse to water but you can't make him drink." Well, the concept here is similar. I can show you where to find the resources and support but YOU have to use them!!

All the resources are on a website called OSI Rock Stars. Started by eBay University Instructor, author, consultant and visionnaire Janelle Elms, the site contains hundreds of hours of podcast and webinar instruction along with the the most helpful and supportive forums you'll find anywhere.

With a click of your mouse you can have 24/7 access to info on
*product sourcing
*SEO
*research tips
*marketing strategies using squidoo, blogs & social networking sites
*new shipping tools
*finding 'home runs' at garage sales
*raising your DSR's
*techniques for getting organized
*free coaching for your listings ... and so much more!

If you're an eBay seller, success is just a click away ... on Janelle Elm's OSI Rock Star site. Don't believe me? Just click here and see!

What would you do to be successful?

eBay's New Affiliate Program

Here's the official announcement about eBay's new Affiliate Program:

Announcing the launch of the eBay Partner Network



We are excited to announce eBay’s new global affiliate platform: the eBay Partner Network.

The new platform will go live on April 1st, 2008 PST, at which point eBay will no longer be running its affiliate program through Commission Junction. Beginning April 1st, affiliates should register with eBay Partner Network and migrate their links from CJ to the new platform.

While CJ and ValueClick have been valuable partners to eBay throughout the years, we’ve decided to give our affiliate community a customized experience. eBay will continue its partnership with ValueClick’s technology division, Mediaplex, for ad serving, tracking and other custom projects.

All the great tools and benefits of working with the eBay program will remain the same – access to the Editor Kit and affiliate API, the flexible destination tool, the great payout structure. Please note that there will be no changes in the pricing structure as part of this transition. In addition, the eBay Partner Network will provide several new features:

Easy global registration to multiple countries simultaneously
New, targeted banners and rich media creatives
New landing page optimization and geo-targeting capabilities
More detailed reporting capabilities for eBay’s programs
The eBay Partner Network and Commission Junction will run in parallel for one month through this process, so please plan to complete your migration by May 1st, 2008.

You can receive an additional 5% bonus for all traffic tracked through eBay Partner Network in April 2008 for specific countries (bonus applicable to traffic sent to Half.com and US, UK, Australia, Canada, Italy, India and Spain eBay sites). The sooner you migrate, the more you’ll earn! Just:

Register with eBay Partner Network on April 1, 2008
Confirm your registration, and obtain your new identifiers
Update your links with your new identifiers
Reminder: Please plan to complete migration by May 1, 2008
Programs that will transition to the new eBay Partner Network platform starting Apr 1st:

eBay Australia
eBay Belgium
eBay Canada
eBay France
eBay Hong Kong
eBay India
eBay Italy
eBay Netherlands
eBay Singapore
eBay Spain
eBay United Kingdom
eBay United States
Half.com
Programs that will NOT be affected and will continue their relationship with Commission Junction:

eBay’s Tradera AB
ProStores
Reseller Marketplace
Media Marketplace
eBay Stores
StubHub
Please also note that eBay affiliates working with other platforms including Affilinet and TradeDoubler, as well as affiliates to other eBay Inc properties like Skype, Rent.com, PayPal, Kijiji and Shopping.com will not be affected.

More information, including detailed step-by-step instructions on how to migrate existing publishers’ links to the new platform, will be available on April 1st. Please check back with us then.

We’re excited for a successful transition, and the opportunity to grow our affiliates’ businesses through even more innovations, information and communication moving forward!

More Changes at eBay!

More new things happening in the near future -

eBay will have a new check-out system (details in another post)

eBay is changing their Affiliate program. Commission Junction is out, eBay Partner Network is in. Brief info is below; details coming in another post.

The new in-house network, which will launch on April 1, is designed to give affiliates better access to revenue opportunities across eBay Inc.’s global platforms

The new 'safe payment requirements' for PayPal payments start today - March 17th.

Here's the official eBay 'Safe Payment Requirements' announcement with all the details:

"Hi everyone, I'm John McDonald with the US Trust and Safety team. As Jim Ambach, VP of Seller Experience, outlined in his announcement in January, we're making some changes that are intended to make the buying experience on eBay better and safer. As part of this initiative, expanded safer payment requirements are scheduled to go into effect on March 17.

Since January 2007, all new sellers have been required to offer PayPal or a merchant credit card as a payment option to their buyers. On March 17, this policy will be expanded to sellers or items when they meet one or more of the following conditions:

the seller has higher than 5% buyer dissatisfaction rates
the seller has less than 100 feedback
the items are listed in categories with higher rates of buyer complaints, including: Gift Certificates, Video Games, Cell Phones, Computers and Consumer Electronics.

In addition, for a small number of transactions that have a higher risk of buyer dissatisfaction, we may delay the release of funds paid through PayPal. This hold will be placed on only a small percentage of transactions for up to 21 days. Then the funds will be released if there is no dispute. The funds may be released earlier if the buyer leaves positive feedback, or if PayPal can confirm delivery of the item.

Sellers enrolled in the PayPal Money Market Fund will earn interest on any pending funds in their PayPal accounts.

Your payments will not be held if you meet the following requirements:

You have been an eBay member for 6 months or more, and
Your total Feedback score is 100 or greater, and
Your buyer dissatisfaction percentage is less than 5%.
Or
Your average DSR is 4.5 or greater and
Your have received 20 or more DSRs in the last 12 months.

I know that there have been questions among our Community about payment holds. Monroe Labouisse, my colleague at PayPal, explains holds in further detail on his post to the PayPal blog – I definitely encourage you to read it.
For more information about safer payment requirements in general, see the safer payments section of our FAQ."
Sincerely,
John McDonaldeBay Trust & Safety

Registration Open for eBay Live!!

Registration is now open for eBay Live!!

It's in Chicago this year - June 19-21.

Sign up now as the price goes up later.

Early Bird Registration - $75.00 - March 14 - April 30
Final Discounted Registration - $100.00 - May 1 - May 31
Standard Registration - $120.00 - June 1 - June 21
Saturday 6/21 Only Pass - $75.00
Priority Pass - $150.00

Here's the link to sign up: eBay Live!

How Are You Doing With Your New Year's Resolutions?

Now that the new year is a distant memory …. well, it was 6 weeks ago ….it’s time to check in and see how you’re doing with your new year’s resolutions. You do remember what they are, don’t you??

Assuming you’re like most, you haven’t followed through. Don’t despair!! It’s not too late to start over. There are still 10 ½ months left to go until the next new year.

Here are some tips to make your resolutions stick:

Set a short-term, achievable goal. Choose something realistic so you actually reach the goal and achieve a feeling of success. Make each successive goal a bit more challenging but still achievable and your successes will start to build, giving you the momentum to carry on through the rest of the year. Consider joining the OSI Rock Star site. It only takes a minute to sign up and you've already achieved your first goal!

Work with Your Personality. If you’re a perfectionist, make sure your goal can easily be achieved to your level of satisfaction. If you’re a morning person, schedule your more difficult tasks for that time of day when you're most active and alert. Set your goals to work with your personality traits and you’ll set yourself up for success.

Start Slowly. Now that you’ve decided to give your resolutions another chance, don’t jump in all gung-ho. When you’re full of enthusiasm, it’s hard to keep that level of momentum going. Start slowly and meet some of your goals. You want to build on your successes and build your enthusiasm as you find you ‘can do it.’ You don’t want to start in fast forward and end up stalled, or worse yet, in reverse.

Vary Your Activities. Change up the order of your daily activities. Day after day of the same routine becomes boring and any spark of enthusiasm you may have had will be gone. One day you could check in on the OSI Rock Star forums in the morning, the next day in the afternoon.

Reward Yourself. By choosing a short-term, achievable goal (#1) you will reach it. Pat yourself on the back and reward yourself for following through! Allowing yourself to acknowledge your success is a great feeling that will help you make a longer-term commitment to your goals. If you're an OSI Rock Star you can post your success on the 'I Rock Because' forum and lots of people will congratulate you on your progress! What a great way to reward yourself!

Make exercise part of your daily routine. Sitting in front of the computer all day makes you sluggish – physically and mentally. You don’t need to embark on an exercise program or join a gym. Again, start slowly. Take a few minutes each hour to stretch. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park further away from the building and walk more. It’s important to exercise your body as well as your brain.

Publicize your goals. Writing your goals down on paper or, even better, telling someone what you’re working towards will keep you motivated and accountable. If you let someone know you’re working toward a goal you’ll feel a sense of obligation to follow through with it. Why not post your goal on one of the OSI Rock Star forums? It's a great way to let others know about your goal and you'll get tons of support.

Make your resolution have a bigger impact. Your goal may be to make more money selling on eBay. Take it one step further and relate it to something truly motivating. Perhaps you want to make more money so you can take your family on a vacation.

Look for support. If your resolution is one that others might also have, seek those people out and work toward your goals together. You’ll have a team member and you can support each other. Special interest groups abound both online and off. Join one and you'll find instant support. Join the OSI Rock Star site for awesome group support whatever your goal.

Keep a record of your progress. If you began with a small, realistic goal then you probably achieved it and moved forward to another, relatively small but realistic goal. As you get a track record of success, be sure to document it in a journal, diary or chart. On those days when you have no motivation or the path seems too difficult, read what you’ve done and see how far you’ve come. It’s a great way to beat those ‘down’ days.

Two steps forward; one back. It’s not realistic to think you can work on your goals and resolutions every day. Allow yourself some slack. Just because you let a day or two go by doesn’t mean you can’t get back on track. Go back and read the progress notes you made and you’ll see that, even with some time off, you’re moving forward.

The 30 day challenge. Meeting your goals means changing the way you've done things in the past. It'll take some time before the changes become a natural part of you and your routine. It can take a month, or even longer, before you internalize your new ways and they become second nature to you.

Life is a process where you move along a path. Meeting your goals is also a process. The path to success is meeting one small goal at a time. If you choose success be sure you're one of the Online Success Institute's Rock Stars!

Now go ahead and make the most of the next 10 ½ months!! And Keep this list handy when you need a ‘pick-me-up.’

Are You Addicted to eBay?

How To Tell If You're Addicted to eBay (Just Kidding!)

There are a number of common personality traits that can be indicative of an addiction when taken to the extreme.

These 10 common personality traits are:
1 -Low Tolerance for Frustration
2 -Being Anxious
3 -Grandiose Thinking
4 -Perfectionism
5 -Justification
6 -Isolation
7 -Sensitivity
8 -Impusivity
9 -Defiance
10-Dependence.

If you're an eBay Addict you may identify with some of these situations:

1 -Low Tolerance for Frustration - You've learned everything about the new SYI form. You go to create a listing but, Guess What? The form looks different!! How can this be? The sound of your fist hitting the desk top is a sign that you are frustrated.

2 -Anxiety - You feel something is about to happen. You don't know what it is or when it's coming, but you don't feel good about it. Perhaps that was you - the other day - when the new eBay fees were announced.

3 -Grandiose Thinking - You've done your research and see that items similar to yours are selling for $25. But that means nothing to you. You know that YOUR item (identical to the ones selling for $25) is going to sell for at least $50.

4 -Perfectionism - You will accept nothing less than 100% positive feedback with 5.0 on all 4 DSRs. You strive for the impossible and are frustrated (see #1) when your buyers don't 'get' shipping fees.

5 -Justification - You do crazy things but are able to convince yourself that they're perfectly reasonable. Of course you need to get up ten times during the night to check your Paypal, CJ and Squidoo accounts. The money might disappear if you don't check your computer every hour on the hour!

6 -Isolation - You find that you and your computer are BFF (Best Friends Forever). Your family members stay away from you because they fear you may try to sell them on eBay. Family pets flee in the opposite direction when they see you heading for the computer. It's lonely - just you and the sterile light of the monitor.

7 -Sensitivity - Since you and your computer are now BFF (see #6) you're hypnotized by the low droning sound of the hard drive. Normal sounds, like 'You've Got Mail' make you jump. Your sensitivity is wide ranging - you feel unloved if your item doesn't sell.

8 -Impulsivity - You search only for items that are sold with a BIN and you purchase the first one that catches your eye.

9 -Defiance - Your significant other asks why you didn't research your BIN purchase (see #8). Despite the fact that the seller has only 50% positive feedback, you defend your position like a pit bull and use your vast knowledge of eBay lingo to defend your position to the bitter end.

10 -Dependence - When your computer crashes, the first words out of your mouth are: 'My Life is Over.' Unable to check on your eBay listings, your world spins out of control. The adrenaline rush of the bidding war is gone. You must wean yourself from your technology dependence cold-turkey.

If you experience any of these symptoms, don't feel alone. You can visit with others who may identify with you. Your first stop should be the OSI Rock Star forums where you will receive very friendly help and sage advice.