Creating an About Me Page
Saturday 07 November 2009
by SaleHoo.com
I have been a SaleHoo member for almost 3 months and in that time i have scooped up some fantastic bargains which I have been able to resell for almost 3x what i paid! I have had nothing but good experiences and I will continue to use this fantastic directory for years to come.
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Hi!
Welcome to the first part of the advanced SaleHoo newsletter series!
By now you've found some stock, got a system going, find yourself obsessively checking your auctions...and you are beginning to realize that eBay has the potential of becoming a full-time business.
It's such an exciting moment when you suddenly realize the full extent of the possibilities eBay can provide you!
Deciding to pursue eBay as more than just a fun hobby requires dedication and hard work as well as enthusiasm.
It's important to remember that working on eBay fulltime will probably require more hard work than a normal job. But at the same time, the rewards are much greater than a regular job can provide. Most importantly, you are in control of your own future.
If you are going to take your eBay career seriously, you will also need to take advantage of the more advanced options available.
This is what these advanced newsletters are all about.
In today's newsletter, we're taking a look at eBay's About Me pages, and how they can help you to start building your brand.
Why use about me pages?
Do you remember the very first lesson in this series when I said that eBay was built on a foundation of trust?
You can only become a serious eBay seller if you work on doing everything you can to establish yourself as a trustworthy seller with superb customer service.
One way of increasing your transparency and trusted reputation is to give more information about yourself and your items.
Instead of being just one of many faceless, nameless sellers, known only by their ID, you can set yourself apart with an eBay About Me page. Adding an About Me page is a great way of adding personality to your auction listings and creating fantastic personal lines of communication with your buyers.
**Did you know?**
Ever wondered why auctions with a personal story behind the item are so popular? Well it seems that the majority of people on eBay are just longing for a sense of community and to develop personal relationships with people they interact with. Some of my customer's have sent me Christmas cards and some have even become friends. I've heard of people developing romantic relationships, swapping baby photos, and traveling across continents to meet up: and it all started on eBay.com.
As with any business, repeat customers are absolutely essential: and one way to keep them interested is to create a great About Me page advertising all of your items. Great customer service helps too :)
So what is an About Me page?
Basically, it's a free web page that eBay gives you to promote yourself and your auctions. You're entitled to one as soon as you sign up to eBay, however most people don't bother unless they are serious about making their presence felt.
It helps to know a bit of HTML if you want to create a good looking page. But if you aren't confident in this area, then eBay provides some template layouts so all you have to do is select one and enter your details.
eBay will then email you with your website address (URL) to share with friends or print on your business cards and stationary.
Once you have established your page, other users will be able to click through to it from the 'aboutme' icon next to your User ID on your auction listing.
Here's where you need to go to set up yours: http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?AboutMeLogin
What to include:
- Your name and contact details. To become a top seller on eBay it's important to provide contact details so that people can ask questions about your product. Being transparent about yourself gives people security in the knowledge that you are willing to stand by your product.
- A good photo of yourself - people like to see who they are dealing with. A photo increases their sense of safety.
- Feedback and auctions - you can receive HTML links from eBay that allow you to place feedback and auction listings on your page. If you have great feedback then let everyone see it!
- Link to your website - if you have a website, you can put a link to it on your About Me page.
- Make the style consistent with that of your listings.
**Tip**
A deal of the week/day/month is a great way to promote a featured item, and drive traffic from your About Me page to your listings.
What not to include:
- Promotion of outside-eBay sales
- Promotion of prohibited items
- Links to commercial websites where goods from multiple sellers are aggregated by a common search engine.
- Links to other auctions outside eBay.
- Controversial or political links and materials that may deter buyers.
- Indecent photos
- Inaccurate contact information.
Learn more about the About Me page at: http://pages.ebay.com/help/account/about-me.html
Managing your About Me page
Once you have created your About Me page you can:
- Use the edit function to add new information to your About Me page. You can personalize your page using eBay's special HTML tags for About Me pages
- Add pictures using eBay Picture Services. Your About Me page can display up to two pictures with a size of 2 MB per picture.
- You can delete your About Me page at any time by selecting the "Delete Your Page" link. Once deleted, your icon will no longer be displayed.
Workbook
- What strategies could you use to promote your About Me page in your listings...and vice versa?
- An About Me page is a part of your branding. When you design your About Me page you need to make it similar to your listings. Have a look at some other eBay seller's pages. What do you like? What don't you like?
Useful Links
- eBay's special HTML tags for "About Me" pages
- eBay's help page for "About Me" pages (including the link to start a page)
- eBay's policy guidelines for "About Me" pages
In next week's newsletter, we'll be taking a look at eBay's seller tools and how they can benefit your business.
01 | 02 | 03 | 04 |
05 | 06 | 07 | 08 |
09 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
17 | 18 | 19
