Ebay Secrets Blog

Archive for May, 2010

An observant reader pointed out that eBay is back on Bing Cash back with a 8%.  On May 5th, we noticed that eBay as not on Cashback. Today, 16 days later they appear to be back 'on' as illustrated by this screen shot: (the red square was added):

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Some interesting news in the e-commerce and marketplace world.  Buy.com has been acquired by Rakuten  for $250m in an all-cash deal.  First, I wanted to congratulate all of the folks we know and work with at Buy.com (Neel, Randy, etc.) on a great run and what looks to be a great new parent going forward.

You can check out the coverage at several places, each has a new tidbit of info:

• WSJ is here ($)
• TechCrunch is here
• VentureBeat is here (don't believe that revenue number, kind of crazy)

Rakuten's CEO, Hiroshi Mikitani said: "We feel it has a great strategic fit with our global expansion. Our goal is to become the number one e-commerce company and Internet company in the world."

Pretty bold statement and if you've never heard of Rakuten, one that may seem kind of 'out there'.

We're getting a lot of questions from customers that are active on Buy.com and Wall St. so I wanted to take a bit of time and look at this deal as I do think it has obvious ramifications for the Buy.com marketplace and will have ripples outside of Buy.com.

First, to orient everyone, I give an 'about buy.com' overview followed by an 'about rakuten' perspective.  Not many people in the eBay/Amazon worlds have heard of Rakuten, but they are a huge Japanese company that already has a meaningful US presence that just got bigger and signaled some important moves  by bringing buy.com into the fold.  Finally we'll look at what this means to the US marketplace players – eBay and Amazon.

About Buy.com

The latest and greatest Internet Retailer 500 guide approximates Buy.com's 'first party' (where they are the retailer, not their third party marketplace) GMV at $690m for 2009, up from $657m in 08 and enough to place them as the 32'nd largest retailer.  Buy.com doesn't separately release third party (3P for short) GMV or revenue, but they did have this press release recently that pegged the growth of that segment at a whopping 150% and Neel Grover, their CEO, said: "We firmly believe that our marketplace platform is the future of online retail."

Buy.com has 14m registered users and comscore and  other traffic measuring sites put their traffic at avg 4m/m with a big spike in Q4 of course.

It's widely believed in the industry that Buy.com's 3P marketplace is 10-15% the size of their 1P business, so call it a $100m GMV/yr marketplace.  It's also pretty easy to guess that the 1P business which is largely drop-ship media and CE products is very low margin. 

Based on those facts, my speculation is that the $250m price tag, while it may seem low when compared to the $690m top-line, when you look at the bottom line/EBITDA, Rakuten probably put the bulk of the value in the more lucrative 3P marketplace (say $200m) and the rest in the 1P market that really is a loss leader/break-even leader for 3P (say $50m).

About Rakuten

Who is Rakuten and how the heck do you pronounce Rakuten? Well I can't help you on the latter, but on the former, here are some highlights:

• Rakuten's CEO, Hiroshi Mikitani is the richest dude in Japan and one of the richest in the world #7 actually.
• Rakuten has their fingers in a LOT of businesses (check out the chart that follows) in Japan – including owning a baseball team! The cash cow of Rakuten is their e-commerce site which is an online mall concept called Rakuten Ichiba – you can check it out here (more on this in the speculation section)
• Their $3.2b revenues and $9.5b market cap place them as a top 10 internet company globally.
• They are so focused on global expansion they hold all board and company meetings in English – very unusual for a Japanese co.
• Rakuten enjoys 64m active members.
• Rakuten acquired one of the two largest affiliate networks, Linkshare, back in 2005 for $450m (more on this later)
• Rakuten doesn't have a Paypal competitor that I'm aware of, but they do have this point systems they offer throughout the mall called Super Points that folks in Japan are crazy for. Like Farmville in the US, there is a whole set of entertainment and other outside e-commerce items that have grown up in a Super Points ecosystem.  This guy is clearly very excited:

The following graphic is from their annual report and shows the lines of business they are in: (click to expand)

What does this mean for e-commerce, eBay, Amazon, etc.

E-commerce is a tangled world and the first things to keep an eye on are the various intersections between the three (eBay, Amazon, Buy/Rakuten) companies:

• Buy.com is eBay's largest seller with around 1m items for sale and $2m/month in GMV between their buy seller ID and buydeals.  In fact, eBay has anchored their media strategy around buy.com.  should they become more competitive (read on, it seems like this is a clear yes) and let's say buy.com leaves eBay, then you have a big hole to fill there from a GMV and selection standpoing.
• Buy.com recently started selling again on Amazon and is a top tier CBA (Checkout By Amazon) merchant.
• Buy.com is a big Paypal merchant as well.

Mr. Mikitani wasn't being too secretive about their plans for Buy.com when he told reporters: "If we can convert it (buy.com) into what we do here in Japan, then it is going to be a lot more powerful," he said. "We believe that we have a very different business model from Amazon and eBay. We empower the merchants," he said.

So taking this comment and thinking about the three assets now at Rakuten's US disposal:

• The Rakuten Ichiba online mall business model that is wildly successful in Japan
• The Buy.com rapidly growing 3P supported by a 1P loss-leader
• The LinkShare affiliate network with 1,000's of merchants and $B's of affiliate flow-through

My speculation is they will attempt to mash-up these three things to create a US -flavored version of Ichiba.  If you read Mikitani's last statement: "We empower the merchants." I think this bodes very well for sellers already on buy.com and those that are looking for another marketplace to come on the scene and balance the 800-lb eBay and Amazon.

An Ichiba-like system in the US would be unique and innovative on several dimensions:

• Unique offering – The US doesn't have a 100% 3P marketplace with an integrated cart, integrated points/cash back system. Think Etsy/Bonanzle but with a much larger company and a broader view and a mix of large and small merchants and some clever cross-merchant marketing and merchandising with high entertainment value.
• Advanced merchant services (this is a sampling of what they offer in Japan) including: Rich content management system, advanced inventory system, advanced order management system, CRM capabilities (these are all called Rakuten Merchant Services or RMS), University system for sellers (training), dedicated e-commerce consultants (ECC) and much more.
• Aggressive merchant pricing – Rakuten charges 5% take rate and has some fixed fees and some a-la-carte services like the Universities and ECC systems.
• Linkshare + Buy 3P can get this going quickly – I've been watching the LinkShare acquisition since '05 and honestly Rakuten hasn't really done anything that I can see there, so it will be interesting to see if they plug those merchants right into this 'US Ichiba' that I'm speculating on here.

A new player is here….

Speculation aside, what is clear is that a new $9.5b player is in town from Asia, they are willing to spend $250+$450m = $700m to get the pieces they need, and they clearly have their sights set on a US Ichiba-like marketplace as an alternative to eBay and Amazon.

This is a pretty big deal for merchants so we'll be keeping an eye on developments, stay tuned for more information as we learn what's going on and how you can take advantage of it to SELL MORE.

SeekingAlpha Disclosure – I am long Google and Amazon. eBay is an investor in ChannelAdvisor.  Buy.com is a business partner of ChannelAdvisor's.  

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All,
I was fortunate enough to sit down with eBay CEO, John Donahoe, at the eBay: On Location event in Dallas a couple of weeks ago. We managed to take 5 minutes between sessions to sit down and talk about the event(s). Rather than edit the video down I wanted to give you guys the conversation in its entirety. I apologize for the bad lighting; we had to conduct it in his hotel room to eliminate any background noise. I’ve done my best to fix the brightness and contrast on the video for better viewing.

Enjoy!

Cheers,
RBH

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Unlock Your iPhone

First let me explain what unlocking means: Unlocking means breaking free from your current carrier. Another internet slang term you may have heard for this is “Jailbreaking.”

Once you unlock the iPhone you will be able to use any SIM card….

…from any carrier in your iPhone. Obviously Apple and AT&T don’t like this very much. They want to keep you captive to their service.

If you bought an iPhone, it comes locked to the AT&T network in the US and other networks if you are located overseas.  Basically, your iPhone is locked to the carrier where you bought your iPhone. Therefore it’s not possible to use any other SIM card in your locked iPhone.

AT&T typically requires you to buy a 2-year contract when you purchase your iPhone. Unless you unlock the phone you will only be able to use the original AT&T service.

After researching 3 or 4 different solutions, I found the one called Unlock Apple that I liked the best and it’s really worked for me. This is the same application used by Apple Store employees.

Here are some of the benefits:

• You will be able to use cheap local (pay as you go) SIM cards in the phone, and make phone calls at cheaper local rates, instead of using the expensive roaming services)
• You can use the iPhone on cheaper networks. You can use more then one phone number on the iPhone, and switch your SIM card at any time you wish.
• Of course you can always use the original AT&T ( or O2) SIM card after unlocking. The unlock does not affect the way your iPhone works ( if you use a good unlocking service) it only enables the phone to accept any SIM card.
• No iTunes Sync or Airplane mode issues
• Other benefits of unlocking your iPhone are the addition of Cydia and installer on the unlocked iPhone.
• FULL Unlock for Any Network! Worldwide!
• ALL Functions Working!(Includes 3G Data network and GPS!)
• Unlock solution for latest 05.11.07 Baseband
• MMS/SMS + Instant Messenger + PUSH notifications
• Very Easy unlock, no knowledge required! Anyone can do this.
• No Signal Loss like other Unlocks available!
• Instant Access to 1000’s of iPhone Applications!
• 100% Working, 100% Reliable, 100% Safe
• Experienced & Trained support team to answer all your questions 24/7
• - Full Money Back Guarantee!

Click here to see a free video about unlocking your iPhone

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I wanted to remind my readers that Jennie Hunt’s Summer Toy Guide is only available for a short while longer.  If you were wondering what kind of info you get, this is just a tiny sample.

Below I’m listing out 5 of the items from this last week’s Toy Guide weekly report so you can get an idea of what is included.

These items are currently selling on eBay!

Even if you don’t get in on the Summer Toy Guide, you can find these items at yard sales or thrift shops and resell them for profit… but, if you do decide to join us with the Summer Toy
Guide, you will receive a weekly list of 25 used toys for 3 months just like the ones I’m mentioning below.

You can get immediate access to the Summer Toy Guide Here:

Alright – let’s get to what’s selling!

The following items are CURRENTLY selling on eBay! If you can find them at decent prices, now is the time to consider reselling them on eBay. (If you want to see the item on eBay, just type the item number into the eBay search box)

1.  Loopin LOuie Game by Milton Bradley 1992 L@@K COMPLETE
Item number: 220598746628
Ending Price: US $30.00 with 1 day left
Starting Bid: US $.99
# Bids: 12
Don’t pay more than: $3-$5

Notes: Board games are easy to find at yard sales and thrift shops. In fact, even if you find INCOMPLETE games… often you can sell the pieces for more than you paid originally. I always see
board games for $1-3 at yard sales!

2.  LITTLE TIKES DOLPHIN WATER SLIDE – HTF
Item #: 320526057256
Ending Price: US $41.00 with -1 day left
Starting Bid: US $9.99
Bids: 8
Don’t pay more than: $5-10

Notes: Little Tikes can be a great seller on eBay! The vintage stuff is usually relatively inexpensive at g-sales and can turn around quickly on eBay.

3.   Dora Friendship Adventure Doll (34″ tall)
Item: 200466252563
Ending Price: US $35.00 with 1 day left
Starting Bid: US $.99
# Bids: 8
Don’t pay more than: $5-$7

Notes: The thing with selling used toys on eBay is that often once a toy is a solid seller… it remains a solid seller for a long time! This is not true of new toys – where the market is constantly changing. (If you have sold new toys during the holidays you know exactly what I’m talking about!) Because used toys stay valuable longer, you have more time to find the toy… making it much easier to find inventory at yard sales. You might think Dora is out – and a lot of the Dora merchandise is… but, when you find
a gem like this that doesn’t seem to be available anymore – it’s worth getting! This particular doll is available on Amazon from a private seller for $379 and it is the only one on amazon! Definitely worth keeping a watch for.

4.  “Elsie The Cow” Borden’s Play Bottles/Carrier
Item #: 140403552658
Ending Price: $42.97 with -1 day left
Starting Bid: US $14.99
# of Bids: 7
Don’t pay more than: $5

Notes: Finding vintage items like this are usually plentiful at estate sales or at g-sales in retirement communities. Many times people have held onto the toys their kids played with for their
grandkids.

5.  Craftsman Kids Work Bench Tool Bench + Tools Weed Eater
Item #: 140403522184
Ending Price: $26.04 with -1 day left
Starting Bid: $19.98
# Bids: 6
Don’t pay more than: $5-$10

Notes: Kid you not… I found this SAME workbench at a yard sale a while back for $7 and it came with a huge supply of tools too! It didn’t have the weed eater – but, for $7, it was a steal for
resell. In fact, I actually ended up not listing it on eBay and bringing it to consignment instead and made a nice profit without having to hassle with shipping.
———————————————————————————————————————
Used toys are a great niche to get into for the summer months. You can find inventory that you can list and resell immediately! It’s a win-win.

The 5 items I listed above were from a recent list of 25.  You can get a list like this every week for the next 3 months for just $27 if you get in on the Summer Toy Guide.

You can learn more here

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While this is an eBay blog, we have many customers that sell on both so I wanted to alert you to a complimentary webinar tomorrow for anyone interested.  We have historically done a bunch of what I would call 'Amazon 101' webinars for folks just looking at the platform and wanting to get started.

This webinar is more of a 201  -you're on Amazon, things are cooking, but you want to take it to the next level.  Many sellers feel that once their products are on Amazon, you can 'set and forget'.  That's one approach, but like any channel, Amazon has many second and third order things you can do to continue to boost sales.  For example – are you doing the right things for Amazon SEO (optimizing within the Amazon search engine), are you merchandising your products, are you being competitive with pricing, are you considering leveraging FBA and of course, what are you doing to own the infamous buy-box?

We'll be covering a lot of these more advanced topics and of course will have Q+A with a group of folks that know more about the ins and outs of selling on Amazon than anyone outside of Amazon's four walls.

The webinar is tomorrow, May 20th at 2pm ET and you can register here.

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I have had so much trouble working the past few days. I would be sitting here working when all of a sudden my wife Karen would hoot out loud or fall into paroxysms of laughter. Somehow she accidently came across an obscure forum on Amazon for the Textbook Buyback community. (Who knew?).

It all started with a forum post where the poster asked the question “Is it OK to sell a text book that was used to bludgeon loud library patrons over the head to get them to shut up?” This seemingly innocent question started a series of posts and replies that went into the hundreds and became hugely humorous. The forum went viral and well beyond the textbook buyback community. Posters were making up humorous mystery stories about people being bludgeoned by textbooks. Others were reviewing textbooks to determine which one would make the best bludgeoning tool.

People all over the country were following the posts and literally rolling on the floor laughing until this morning when the entire series of posts and replies were deleted.  My wife did have a few from here email file where Amazon emails posts to you.

Here is a small sample:

Martin S. –  I glared at the geek sitting across from me on the bus.
“You think you’re better than the rest of us?” I challenged him.
He looked up at me, startled. “What?”
I pointed at his iPad. “You think you’re better than the rest of us?” I repeated. Other passengers on the bus caught the spirit and began staring down the coward.
“Look, I don’t want any trouble,” he said.
“You already bought your way into trouble,” I jeered. I looked around the bus and asked in a loud voice, “Anyone else here think they’re being treated like bull’s pizzle by this Apple wonk baring his wares right in our face?” You could feel the heat in the bus go up a few degrees. I’d stirred the pot, but good.
The geek tried to put his iPad away, but I wasn’t done with him.
“Why are you riding buses?” I demanded. “You’ve got an iPad. Shouldn’t you be in a Maserati, or have a chauffeur? Why’re you brandishing that thing in this death-by-diesel bus?”
The other passengers could smell blood. This was too easy. I pulled out a textbook.
The geek’s eyes widened when he saw the textbook: he knew he was being shaken down for his iPad, and there was nothing he could do about it. I laid it out for him.
“You want to get out of here in one piece? Why don’t we remove the occasion of the problem?”
“You mean, give you my iPad?”
“Exactly.”
“I’ve got a better idea,” the geek replied. He flipped the iPad through the air to his left, and it was snatched up in mid-flight by this huge lug of a man I hadn’t noticed earlier.
“The iPad’s yours!” the geek cried out to Man Mountain Mike’s clone, “but this guy” he pointed at me “said you’re a drooling idiot!”
When I woke up in the hospital several days later, I asked the nurse what happened.
“You were in for a textbookectomy,” she said.
“Where’d they remove it from?”
“Where DIDN’T they remove it from,” she corrected. “I guess your attacker got carried away, though. We did an iPadectomy on you as well.”
“Then I was right,” I gloated with satisfaction. “That guy WAS a drooling idiot.”
A shadow crossed my countenance as a huge orderly walked past my bed. As the nurse departed, the orderly turned toward me: it was that huge guy from the bus, now wearing hospital scrubs. His security tag said “Lenny,” with no last name.
“Lights out,” he whispered as he approached, gripping a Physician’s Desktop Reference in one beefy hand.
Moral of the story: iPads are so cool!

Amanda W — The driver looked in the back seat. The duffle bag was unzipped. She quickly pulled the sides together covering the hard bound edition of Shakespeare’s Complete Works and the sawed off OED.
“Stay quiet back there. There’s a police check point ahead,” she said to the passenger in the back of the SUV.
It was a hot summer night, the driver was sure the WriterGal was hot under that blanket, but what could be done. She had to get out of the city before Martin Selbrede’s people caught up with her. That incident in the back of the restaurant had to be cleaned up and quickly.
The driver thumbed the small hardbacks in the map pocket. She hoped she didn’t have to use them, but she was prepared nonetheless.
The driver inched the car forward again. One car in front of her now. She was glad the windows were tinted, but she was starting to rethink that. The level was just past legal and she really didn’t want any problems. She touched the books again, reassuring herself that all would be fine.
Now it was her turn. She pulled up to the officer and rolled down the window.
“Have you been drinking this evening?” the officer asked routinely, though that flashlight was really bright.
“No, Officer. Just headed to a friend’s home,” the driver said.
“License and registration, please.”
The driver reached into the glove box, cursing when she saw the copy of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tale Tell Heart. She grabbed the registration quickly and closed the box hoping he didn’t see. Then grabbed her license from her purse.
As the driver handed everything to the officer, she noticed the flashlight was now pointed at the glove box. She grabbed The Blue Day Book from the map pocket and threw it. She missed purposefully, distracting him. He had gone for his copy of Fahrenheit 451 Collector’s Edition. She punched the gas. The police weren’t able to get into their cars quickly enough without hurting someone else. She dodged the lumber truck crossing the road just in front of her, slammed on the brakes, and opened the passenger side door. The truck finished completely blocking the road. Jennifer threw the keys into the woods, jumped into the SUV, and they were gone.
WriterGal would be safe for another night.

WriterG. Amanda Thanks!  Does that make us (or rather you and Jennifer) like Thelma and Louise? If so, perhaps you should have driven that car off a cliff.

I love being the villain. I feel like Butch Cassidy! But instead of running out with guns blazing, I’m rolling out of a vehicle (hopefully with at least a couple of Signet Classics strapped to my belt).

WriterG. <Grumbling> I’ve got some old Houghton-Mifflin Literature Works Teacher’s Guides (parts 1 and 2) with that barista’s name on it and two hands itching to help them make their acquaintance. And Martin, if ya know what’s good for ya, you’ll quit askin’ questions or you’ll get the same. Ya get me?

Martin S. Groggy. Can’t open my eyes. What hit me? I could hear the beep of EKG machines and doctors ordering nurses around. My tongue was stuck in my throat, feeling like a big dry Biscotti that hadn’t been properly chewed.
“What happened?” I asked weakly.
“You ask too many questions,” a stern male voice said. “Shut up. We’re trying to stitch you back together. 40 ccs of Kahlua, stat.”
“Was it WriterGal?” I asked.
“I told you to shut up.”
“Where am I?” I tried to force one mucus-glued eye back open.
“Special Municipal Trauma Unit VOWG3,” a concerned female nurse said, bending over me, talking through her mask.
“VOWG3?”
“Victims Of WriterGal Three,” she explained. “It’s a massacre out there. We’ve set up medical depots around the city. You were lucky you were within a half-mile of this place or you wouldn’t have made it.”
“He’s finally stable,” the presiding doctor announced. “Let’s move on. Dump those pieces of Houghton-Mifflin textbooks we extracted outta him, they sicken me.” The room became quiet. But I still heard breathing — and it wasn’t mine. I turned my head painfully to the side to look.
There was that huge orderly from last week, from that iPad incident on the bus, coming toward me.
I blacked out before he reached me.

Martin S.  – “What do you mean, you can’t take that SUV out?!” I shouted over the tracer fire. “You’ve got 48mm antitank artillery out on the line!”
“Tried that,” Sergeant Koller yelled back. “The inside of that SUV is lined with textbooks. The shells bounce right off ‘em. Nothing can stop WriterGal’s Happy Bookmobile.”
The sky was an angry red, filled with smoke from a city aflame. Every time the SUV broke clear of a roadblock, a tanker trailer would jack-knife in its wake, blocking the road while going up in a scorching ball of fire.
“Sergeant,” I shouted, “what about that Chinese proverb: kill the chicken to scare the monkey!”
“I’ll try anything!” he yelled back. He quickly assembled a ten-man detail and barked out his orders.
“We need you men to go out and find a chicken. Don’t come back here without one. Move it!” The soldiers hurtled out of there in Jeeps on steroids.
The sergeant turned toward me.
“Okay, what was that second instruction? Scare the monkey?”
I shook my head. No wonder WriterGal had brought the city to its knees.
“While you’re at it, why don’t you rub bulkhead softener on the shells so they’ll penetrate the textbooks?” I asked sarcastically.
He sent another dozen men scrambling to find bulkhead softener.

Bruce M. –  I lay awake angry and in pain in the recovery room after having my grandpa Groucho’s shnoz rearranged into a less noticeable form, my upper lip still stinging from the laser hair removal.I was waiting for nurse Amber to bring me some Morphine. I grinned wickedly thinking about how I wouldn’t get caught as I watched my old face splashed across the news report looking for the fugitives known as Groucho and Blankethead. I hope WriterGal got away after clobbering Martin. Man was her aim good! Thankfully the laser eye surgery worked and I wasn’t seeing two of everything. Just then my old friend Lenny wheeled another patient into the recovery room. I stared for a minute ,trying to focus on the face. Wait…it couldn’t be! It is!
As I stared at Martin’s unconscious form, my mind began to race. What if he wakes up and recognizes me? Just then I noticed a shelf with a large copy of an OSHA guide on the shelf. I had a score to settle with Martin and I needed to buy myself time to get discharged and escape before being found out….
Jennifer

WriterG.  – As I sank behind the Starbucks, I heaved a ragged breath and slowly pulled off my gloves. Even with the thin gloves, my knuckles were still a mass of angry bruises. That Martin would have a skull like a cement block. But he had it coming to him. I warned him, didn’t I?

I glanced at the few pages left of Literature Works. Still smoking, their edges a dull red like the sunset warning of a coming storm.

I checked my backpack. Only one chem textbook left. I needed to reload. I needed to get to my arsenal of the far north side. But there were at least 300 cops between me and my armory.

I sighed, wondering if Jennifer was all right. I needed to find her and fast. I checked the alley. Only a wino lay by an overturned garbage can, a Venti cup in hand. The coast was clear.

Martin S. — The news spread fast. The Marines had captured the SUV, and I needed to be there when they peeled it open. I broke every traffic law in the book, even using my cell phone in a school zone, to get to the scene of the capture.
I hopped out of the jeep in time to see the Marines cracking open the door. They backed away, confused. I looked inside the SUV.

It was empty. Just a blanket in the backseat.

“Who was driving this thing?” the Marine next to me asked. And without warning, a monkey flew out of the SUV and bounded out over the heads of the Marines, hightailing it for the nearest building.

Sergeant Koller walked up behind me and clapped his hands together. “Okay, we scared the monkey. Should we skip the chicken?”

I shook my heads, wondering where those two fugitives had slipped away to. By now they’d had plenty of time for plastic surgery, tanning booths, tattoo parlors, piercings, hair extensions, bunion cream, and God knows what. I reached into my pocket to pull out the bad check WriterGal had written me.
“It’s not over yet,” I whispered in determination, staring at the scrawled “X” on the signature line. “It’s ‘homo indomitus’ time.”

I contacted Amazon for a comment but they didn’ t respond. I suspect some lawyer read these at Amazon and became worried over liability is someone was suddenly bludgeoned to death by a text book and they could be sued.

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Recently I announced my new affiliate program and had about 90 people sign up. Most of the folks who signed up understand how affiliate marketing works, but I did get email from a dozen or so folks who asked how to promote their affiliate links.

How to Make Money Blogging From Home is the title of one of my best-selling books that I released late in 2009. In the book, I explain several ways of monetizing a blog for income –but the top way is with affiliate marketing.

Making money blogging

It is no secret that thousands of people make money blogging…but many more thousands of people blog and don’t make a dime. In many cases it’s just that they don’t want to –they are blogging strictly for fun.  And that’s all right.  Blogging can be a great way to connect with other people who share your interests or to reach out to friends and family.  But in these hard times, who wouldn’t appreciate some extra money every month?

If you are not familiar with affiliate marketing, it is nothing more than earning money in the form of commissions for recommending a product. And blogs are one of the best ways to do that.

Finding Affiliate Programs That Match Your Blog Topic

The most important thing you have to do to make money blogging from affiliate programs is find programs that relate to the content of your blog. If you were writing a blog about cooking, then you wouldn’t want to promote my affiliate products about selling on eBay. Instead you would look for programs that promote cooking gadgets, gourmet foods, and so on.

However you if were blogging about way to make money working from home or eBay or other related topics, then my affiliate program would be a good fit.

There are several affiliate networks that represent hundreds of companies. Some of the larger ones are Kowabunga, Share a Sale and Commission Junction. Just Google those names and it will take you right to the site.

Amazon & eBay Affiliate Programs

Amazon and eBay both have affiliate programs.  These can be really great because those two sites have a wide variety of products you can promote. No matter what your topic is, there is probably a book or gadget or product of some type that relates to your subject. For example I saw a blog about travel to Spain. In the margins were eBay banners for luggage and other travel products.  When people reading the blog click on those banners and buy something on eBay, then that blogger makes money.

My book, How To Make Money Blogging From Home takes you through the simple and almost free way to set up your blog, how to find subjects to write about how to get traffic to your blog and several ways that you can make money from your blog.

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A few days ago I told you about the FREE Video series that would show you how to make money by outsourcing online business tasks.

The sooner you see this the better.

Click here to see the last free video in the series

Facts I learned about outsourcing from these videos:
1. The most successful online marketers leverage inexpensive virtual workers.
2. There are tens of thousands of virtual workers wanting to work for
you for as little as $2/hour.
3. Virtual Workers = They Do The Work, You Make The Money!

And now you can get first-hand coaching directly from someone that has
mastered Outsourcing.

But there are limited seats available, so watch this now and decide quickly.

Click here to see the last free video in the series

Skip McGrath

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NHL veteran Georges Laraque, the National Hockey League Player’s Association and World Vision Canada have joined together to create Hockey for Haiti, a program that aims to provide critical medical care to Haiti’s earthquake survivors. From May 11 to June 15, they will be auctioning off on eBay jerseys worn during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games to benefit the charity.

Just a little over a month after the tragic January 12 earthquake hit Haiti, athletes from around the world gathered in Vancouver to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Unable to watch the devastation unfolding from the sidelines, NHL veteran Georges Laraque, the National Hockey League Player’s Association (NHLPA) Goals & Dreams fund and World Vision Canada joined together to create Hockey for Haiti, a program that aims to strengthen Haiti’s ability to provide critical medical care to earthquake survivors. So far, Hockey for Haiti is helping to build and operate a health clinic, restore the country’s Grace Children’s Hospital and contribute to short term emergency relief efforts and long term development.

In its latest fund-raising effort, the charity is auctioning off—via eBay—140 Olympic jerseys from 12 countries worn by NHL players during the games. The jerseys are accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from the NHLPA, and players who’ve donated their wares include the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby (who scored the winning goal in the gold medal game), Alex Ovechkin (from the Washington Capitals, arguably the best player in the world) and Jarome Iginia (star of the Calgary Flames). The jerseys of Ryan Miller (US Olympic goalie and Buffalo Sabres player), twins Henrik & Daniel Sedin (of the Vancouver Canuks), and the Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane are also on the roster.

Each Tuesday, starting May 11, jerseys will be auctioned off by country. On May 11, 23 jerseys from Team Canada’s game against Germany will hit the block. Team USA is up on May 18, Team Finland May 25, Teams Slovakia and Sweden June 1, Teams Russia and Czech Republic June 8, and Teams Switzerland, Belarus, Norway, Germany and Latvia June 15.
 
If you think your favorite player’s jersey might be up for sale, great news: Every auction starts at just $0.99, with no reserve. That means anyone has a chance of winning a piece of hockey history. Talk about fair game.

Lauren Sherman is a fashion and culture writer based in Brooklyn. She currently works as an editor at Fashionista.com.

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