Facebook Shopping

Facebook users have integrated their pages with third party apps to show what they read, listen to , where they go, what they sell and what they are doing.

That was the beginning of an article I started to read in a business magazine today. The next question was: could what they buy be next?

The entire idea of buying things on Facebook has been gaining traction with more people out there. Doron Simovitch, CEO of Sortprice was quoted in "Digital Trends" as saying "I think that as users witness more and more of their friends buying things they see advertised, you will see more of them following suit. That could very well lead to buying gifts via applications becoming the next big thing on Facebook."

While the full integrations of our shopping habits has yet to reach Facebook, it seems like it is only a matter of time before a majority of us seek to share best deals and perfect gifts through the social media.

After reading this I had to re-read it to understand what he was getting at. The way I understand it is that those annoying apps you see when you get on face book are only going to get worse. It also made me want to check into how it works and what it cost per add, how long it runs, who sees it. As I see it when we facebook our items and share them to our page all who are friends with us see it and we have friends who share it for us to their friends. Then we tweet it and our friends who follow us sometimes retweet it. We +1 Google items and we do all we can to have our site and our stores out there and high in the search engines. Do we really need apps?

When I list an auction on my site at OLA.COM, I do all the above. Can I say they have helped me? Yes I can. I had a customer tell me she saw something I had for sale and that is how she came to buy from me. She lived in South Florida. New customer and hopefully a repeat customer. Now that makes it worth it and it helped me make up my mind that I do not need to be an annoying app on Facebook"s right side of the page.

Thank you for reading this and if you got anything out of it that is good. I like reading articles like that and trying to see how they affect my business. Maybe one day we will have to conform to this way of thinking but I hope it is not soon and if you want to see what got me the sale just go to chateycathey and view my items for sale.

Life is short, live it to the fullest and have fun at it.

OK, so I'm trying!!!!

I don't always know what to blog about so I tend not to blog at all!!! However, I am trying. I've been on Facebook for a while now, but I just started tonight on Twitter. See, I'm learning!!!! There are so many things out there to promote yourself, but it can certainly be overwhelming!! I'm just here to say, if I can do it, you can do it!!!

In the meantime, check out OLA.com. There are so many wonderful sellers that we may not run into here!! And we are getting new buyers every single day. I, personally, have had sales to new buyers, at least to me, quite a lot recently! It's very exciting and I think 2012 is OLA's year!!!!

Which Social Media Platform Fits Your Business?

Having an internet presence today is all about sharing. On a personal level, it's about staying in touch with people that have touched your life in the past, keeping up with the activities of your current circle and gathering new friends along the way. For online businesses, it's about transparency and trust. Forging new relationships with potential customers through a social setting, you can let them know ... who you are, what you do, where you operate, how you handle issues when they arise, and why folks should do business with you.

There are many opportunities to share things, like your knowledge, your personality and your products. The list of social media sites is long and diverse, (too lengthy to examine in one blog post), but I think we can all agree that for OnlineAuction.com members, the top contenders are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Blogs. If you are not active in at least one of these sites, you should be! So the question of the day is this: Which Social Media Platform Fits Your Business?

At the risk of sounding corny, I am going to liken Twitter to a large cocktail party, at which you know very few people when you arrive. I've used this analogy before, so bear with me if you've heard it before! Now the theme of this party is that you have to talk in single sentences. (Think Twitter's 140 character count limit.) So as you stand in the middle of the room, you say this, "I like to fish!" Some guy in the right corner of the room hears you and runs over to say, "I like to fish for trout." Another guy in the left corner of the room hears the two of you and runs over to add, "The best trout fishing is on the West Branch of the Delaware River." Before you know it, you've got a whole group of fishing enthusiasts, all talking about trout!

On Twitter, attracting followers is as simple as using the right keyword(s). Conversations develop, and people follow links, merely because they are searching for that topic. So, in the example above, you could share your favorite fishing spots, talk about the lures that have yielded the best results for you, brag about your largest catch, and lead people to your supply of fishing supplies. All accomplished in 140 character tweets.

Facebook operates in a similar fashion, but without the restraints of a 140 character post. In my opinion, it is your Facebook profile that attracts people to you, whether it's a personal profile or a fan page profile. People look for people with similar interests and for businesses that offer the products and services they want and need.

You all have heard me preach before on the value of a Facebook Fan Page, so I'll just say this... take the time to make a fan page for your business. Your friends and family can all follow your fan page if they want to support your business, but your business clients don't necessarily need to know your gaming habits, your family activities, your political affiliation, or what you had for lunch. Think about it.

YouTube is a great way to become an actor, producer and director, all in one shot! The possibilities are endless, and while this site is certainly not the only way to share videos with clients, it is certainly the most popular. Humor is often used successfully, as evidenced by the amount of hilarious videos that go viral on the internet. Video is also a fabulous teaching tool, as well as an opportunity for commercial advertisement.

When you are blogging, you more closely resemble a newspaper columnist. Blog posts are articles. The only interaction you will receive is through your blog's comments, (which you should monitor and respond to).

Didn't we all have a favorite newspaper columnist years ago, when newspapers were still our prime source of newsworthy information? Perhaps you couldn't miss the daily advice touted by Ann Landers. Or perhaps you relished the opportunity to hear your favorite sports-writer wreak havoc on the local team. Maybe you just had to buy that paper to see the latest Blondie comic strip! Whatever the reason, people became loyal followers because they enjoyed reading a regularly timed column. Blogs are the same... you're appealing to readers.

The best part about blogs, from a business standpoint, is that they are ranked very high by the search engines! So in effect, your blog post about a particular product just may have better search results than your auction itself, for the same keywords.

So tell me, Which Social Media Platform Fits Your Business?
Which sites are you using, and which sites have been the most successful for you?

This post is aimed at sellers on any site, or even people managing their own websites.

While I use all of the above sites from time to time, I really enjoy blogging. I've had direct sales from blogging, too! I am so proud of the OLA Team Blog... and I'd really like to see more OLA members take advantage of the opportunity to collaborate with their peers at OnlineAuction.com. Interested? Send an omail to FleaPirates. We've got a great team standing by to help you get started.

The 9-Step Program to Better Online Photos

Just wanted to share FleaPirates' latest tutorial video!

This was our entry into OLA's
How To Take A Great Picture Challenge.

The 9-Step Program to Better Online Photos
covers choosing your location, lighting, camera set-up,
taking the photo, uploading the photo,
photo adjustments, naming, SEO extras, and sharing.

We hope you enjoy our video!

A Quick Twitter Lesson Using the Share Feature at OnlineAuction.com

Here is a quick 'Twitter for Dummies' lesson, and how to use it with OLA "Share" Feature:

1. Sign up for an account at TWITTER (takes no more than 5 minutes)
2. Go to any of your listings (do them all one at a time)
3. Hover your mouse over 'Share' (don't click 'share', or you'll have to search for Twitter, whereas it will be right there in the window if you just hover)
4. Click on Twitter (a window will open and it will be your Twitter account)
5. Click on "Update" (in the Twitter window)
6. Go back to your listing and refresh (be sure to look at how many views you have before you refresh)
7. Check out the views from just one Tweet!!! Those are actual views. Everyone single one means someone clicked on your link in Twitter and it brought them to your listing.

A WORD TO THE WISE: It is easy to get caught up in this form of advertising. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you only do a few at a time or you will be flagged for spamming. Yes, you are allowed to 'spam', but getting carried away is what you are not allowed to do.

SOME EXTRA INFO: You can do this for other OLA members! Every listing here at OLA has the "Share" feature. It works just like described above. So if you see a Hot Deal that one of your friends or colleague is offering, do them a favor and Tweet them too! Remember, each of us has a different set of followers... so spread the Tweets around... but don't get carried away!!! A few at a time... whether they're your listings or someone elses!!!

Score 4 and Expose Your Store!

SCORE 4 AND EXPOSE YOUR STORE

We’ve done a lot of talking and teaching about proper SEO (Search Engine Optimization), but it still seems to be lost in translation. I think that this method may be easier for some of you to understand and put to practical use.

SEO Spiders are the ‘word of mouth’ to the internet search engines. If the spiders like it, the search engines will use it. It’s that simple. In order to attract them and satisfy them in their quest for food (your listings), there are certain easy but necessary things you could and should be doing. I’ve always used the word ‘matches’ but this morning, Rowan used the word ‘score’. I like it better, so let’s try an explanation using ‘score’ instead of ‘matches’ in regards to SEO.

SCORE 4 AND EXPOSE YOUR STORE

GET EXPOSED!!!

SEO is something that YOU do. It is completely in your power to get better results for your items in the search engines, including BING, Google, Yahoo, etc. Spiders read top to bottom and left to right, beginning at the top of your listing, which is the title. Here are the 4 things you should be doing to get the optimization you want and need.

1. TITLE. Search engine spiders read the same way you and I do… left to right, top to bottom. The spiders use the words in your title in the order you give them, which is to say that they don’t ‘seek out’ just the key words, they figure the important words are those you use first. You should put what you are selling, minus the fancies like ‘unique’ ‘vintage’ ‘L@@k’ etc. first. You want to use the words your customer will be searching for (after all, you aren’t selling to yourself) in the order of relevance. “Big Dog 24 oz Mug” is better than “L@@K!!! Big Dog 24 oz Mug!!!” because no one searches using the word L@@k or the exclamation points. So take out those exclamation points, hyphens, and other characters that are hurting your listing, start listing by relevant content and Score 1 Point.

2. SUBTITLE. Search Engine Spiders look for relevant content in the subtitle, the same as they look for it in the title. Using the exact or almost exact words as you have in the title (remember they’re reading left to right, the same as you and I and they’re looking for relevant content), so if they find the same relevant content, they see a second SCORE… Score 1 Point for a total of 2 points now.

3. LISTING. This is where you SELL the item, but first you want to make sure the spiders find the relevant content. Use your title for the title IN the listing to Score 1 Point for a total of 3 points now.

4. PICTURES. When you load your photos from your camera to your computer or to your photo hosting network, name your photos by using your title. This will Score 1 Point and give you a perfect score of 4.

JUNK IN JUNK OUT

If your SEO habits are technically sound, you should be getting pretty good optimization without doing a whole lot more, but who wants mediocre results when you can have great results? We all know it’s a good idea to use the social media avenues available like OLA Share (in your listings), blogging, Twitter, discussion groups, radio chat, site forum chat, etc. BUT if you haven’t used good SEO habits, like scoring at least a 3 using the above guidelines (the first 3 are imperative to your exposure on the internet)… if you’ve not followed the guidelines, the spiders (whom you’re looking to please) are not going to pick you up as easily. It’s like junk to them… and no matter where you put the info (Twitter, blogs, etc.) it will basically be Junk In Junk Out to the spiders and they won’t probably won’t pick it up from any of the other medias either. On the other hand, score a perfect 4, and every where you put your listing (Twitter, blogs, discussion and chat forums, etc.) and you double your SEO!!! That’s right!!! For each back link you create, your exposure climbs! So look at it like a disease, if it’s bad to begin with, you’re multiplying bad results… whereas if you are using the guidelines above, scoring a perfect 4, you are multiplying great habits into greater results.

Written by MetzyMom of MetzyMom's Emporium, located in the heart of OnlineAuction.com ! MetzyMom carries all kinds of nice gifts like homemade Goats Milk Soap and Tie Chains! Come See What Else She Has!

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