I was in my Adsense account today and decided to check out the Adsense Video player feature they have now. I created a player style, selected my colors and that was it. All done. Here is the player:

I will be changing this up no doubt to make sure it is something I want to keep on this blog. I’ll be keeping my eye on this because I’m not completely sure which YouTube videos it will be serving up here. You have the option to somewhat limit which categories or search terms to use for the videos, but not necessarily the actual video itself. At least I couldn’t figure it out tonight. I just left the defaults which is supposed to slect video based on the site’s content.

Since this is a Business Opportunty related site, I sort of expect to see those types of videos. Maybe some on real estate and affiliate marketing too. We’ll see.

Among the many other things I am working on, I am slipping in a few listings on eBay to get my feet wet in that marketplace again. This past weekend, my wife and I scoured the house for stuff we do not need any more to post on the online auction site. Most of it is junk that I will probably just throw out, but I do have some items that I am going to list for sure. I also have a bunch of Pokemon cards and some sports collectibles that I can get rid of, though I really have no idea what they are worth. What better way to find out than to list them on eBay for $0.99? You can find my listing by searching for username “auctionready” on eBay or by clicking here:
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZauctionready

In the past, I did a lot of research on being an eBay seller and even looked into opening a drop off store for people to consign their items through me. After I did my research on that business, I decided it would not be a good idea due to low net profits and large time commitments and overhead. Turns out I was right because a lot of companies are closing up shop. Franchises are folding too and leaving their franchisees hanging.

Of course, all of that is due to eBay’s mis-guided focus on their core assets. They seem to be focusing much more on the buyer and they make it harder and harder to be a seller. Many, many long time powersellers have left ebay completely or at least lowered the amount of items they list there. EBay continually raises their selling fees and makes it harder and harder for businesses to make a decent profit selling through their site. At least it seems that way on the surface. I am not a full-time eBay sell by any stretch, but if I were, I do know how I would work their site. It all revolves around using several ways to make money online. You NEED to have more than one things going on to make it big online. You NEED to have your own store and drive people to it using tools like eBay and the other auction sites, and many other online services as well.

The money from a customer is not in the one time eBay sale. You MUST know the lifetime value of a customer to your business. If you sell random junk on eBay, you are not a professional seller running a business, you are an eBayer. Nothing wrong with that, but if you want next level income, you need to have a plan. For example…

You decide to be in the music business. You find various music related merchandise to sell through your online store. You do some research and find out what people are searching for (keyword research) and build your site accordingly. You offer many things including instruments, sheet music, accessories, how-to books, computer software, etc. You find the itmes that sell well on eBay and offer them to generate business and get a customer. Then comes the profitable part – FOLLOW UP!

Once you have a customer, you need a plan for following up with them. If you never contact them again after you ship your item, you are throwing BIG money out the window. You MUST follow up. Send them a newsletter. A helpful email from time to time. Send them notices of any sales or promotions you may be having. Be in front of them at all times and you WILL make more sales. Of course, this all assumes you provide good service too. Be there for them whenever they need something else and you will reap the rewards.