While Punxsutawney Phil may have seen his shadow on Groundhog Day, February 2, 2012, on the other side of the country in Seattle, WA ‘Ecommerce Phil’ popped his head out to see a very bright and sunny spring selling season online ahead!

Rather than burrowing back underground, Ecommerce Phil is busily out sourcing new products to sell during the spring and summer season.

Fueled by robust 2011 online holiday sales and a stellar 65% Q4 for 3rd party merchants on Amazon, Ecommerce Phil knows he needs to get his best spring and summer merchandise online fast!

So what products is Ecommerce Phil planning to sell online this spring and summer?

Well to plan his inventory strategy, he first took a look at his Online Marketing Calendar to see what the upcoming Spring and Summer selling seasons are.  And this is what he found:

February

• Valentines Day
• Black History Month
• National Weddings Month
• Superbowl Sunday
• Mardi Gras
• Oscar Night
• Pre-gardening season

March

• Saint Patrick’s Day
• National Craft Month
• First Day of Spring

Products to Source:

1. Seeds
2. Flower Bulbs
3. Coldframes
4. Composters
5. Greenhouses
6. Houseplants
7. Planters
8. Raised Beds
9. Supplies
10. Gardening Tools
11. Yard & Deck products
12. Sheds
13. Area rugs
14. Firepits
15. Ceiling fans
16. Grills
17. Hammocks
18. Hose Carts/Reels
19. Outdoor Storage
20. Solar Lights
21. Pest Control
22. Bicycles/Accessories
23. Kites
24. Blinds/shades/curtains/hardware
25. Neon colored clothes, shoes, accessories for women and kids
26. Cosmetics in new spring colors
27. Handbags in spring colors and styles
28. Perfume
29. Big ride on toys for kids
30. Swimwear
31. Sunglasses
32. Soccer cleats/clothes
33. Baby gear
34. Wedding favors
35. Bridal shower supplies
36. Bridal accessories
37. Home spa products
38. Footbaths
39. Aromatherapy machines
40. Super Bowl related football jersey/memorabilia
41. Mardi-Gras party decorations
42. Saint Patricks Day decorations
43. Home decor in bright, spring colors
44. Car care and maintenance products
45. Luggage
46. Walking/jogging clothes and accessories
47. Spray on tan products
48. Snowboards (clearance)
49. Skiing products (clearance)
50. Winter clothes/boots/accessories (clearance)

This is just a sampling of products that Ecommerce Phil is out sourcing!

Think about what products are new for spring and summer in your niche! Check with your wholesale suppliers.  Look through your supplier catalogs.

Whether sourcing products wholesale to sell on Amazon or using arbitrage sourcing to fuel the pipeline.

It’s a fresh new selling season and online shoppers are looking for fresh new products!

What new products will you bring to the marketplace this season?

-Lisa

Think Halloween products only sell in the month’s before October 31st? Not if you sell online!

In the online world, Halloween themed products sell all year long.

Whether for kid’s dress-up play, a themed costume party, a local school drama club production or the Halloween collectibles shopper, the only place you can off-season Halloween products is online.

Seasonal Halloween sales are a $7 billion dollar industry, reports  the National Retail Federation.

But off-season sales are strong all year long.

According to Terapeak Research, more than $2 million dollars worth of Halloween products were sold on eBay between Nov 1, 2010 and January 31, 2011.

Another 1.9 million in Halloween product sales happened on eBay between Feb 1, 2011 and April 30th.

And because most people don’t think about selling Halloween themed products throughout the year, if you’re one of the lucky sellers in this niche, you can have a strong foothold in this market.

Sourcing Halloween Products at Rock Bottom Prices

So what’s the best way to source great inventory for this multi-billion dollar niche?

Get started on Halloween of course!

October 31st (and often before) marks the date that offline retailers start taking deep discounts on their Halloween products. Unlike online merchants, brick-and-mortar stores can’t display Halloween merchandise all year long.

Beginning the week before Halloween and continuing until the last scary pumpkin is sold off the shelf, scour your local stores for great deals on Halloween products.

Here is a list of products to look for:

• Kids costumes
• Adult costumes
• Face makeup
• Wigs
• Dept 56 and other collectible Halloween houses

• Halloween nutcrackers
• Halloween candy
• Pet costumes
• Large/life sized Halloween decor (used for drama productions, set designs, themed parties)

Even Halloween candy! Already bags of Autumn Mix candy are selling on eBay for up to six times what you can buy them  for at local stores.  (One bag sold for $45!)

And don’t forget:

• Limited edition Halloween themed items

• Halloween themed jewelry

• Halloween bedding and towels

• Halloween colored light bulbs

• Halloween CDs and DVDs

Even Halloween board games!

If you’re looking for ideas about what to source, head over to eBay or Amazon and using the keyword “halloween” do some research and see what’s selling!  You’ll be surprised at the plethora of different products that make up this $7 billion dollar niche.

Then, armed with Terapeak for eBay and FBAScout for Amazon, head to your local store and scout the deals, looking for items that are selling for pennies on the dollar.  Don’t delay though, the best deals sell out early… so get some sourcing time in today.

And don’t forget about wholesale suppliers, if you find this is a niche you like, go to a trade show or do locate a wholesale supplier so that you can source and sell Halloween themed inventory all year long!

PS: Looking for a hot niche? Think Zombies.  This new MSNBC article reveals that Zombie related product sales are worth over $5 billion dollars to the economy.

So don’t less this multi-billion dollar opportunity pass you by! The products make be scary, but the profits are a treat!

Happy Halloween!

-Lisa

PS: Just two days left on the 3-pay option for my brand new series “How to Integrate Amazon Into Your Business Model”.  If you haven’t yet joined the Amazon Revolution, find out why you should today.

With exactly two months to go until December 24th, for online merchants, it’s showtime!

And even if you’ve been meticulously planning for the holiday selling season, there are so many details involved, it’s easy to inadvertently make common mistakes that can derail your holiday sales.

Don’t let these 7 mistakes be the Grinch that steals your holiday sales and profits…

7 Mistakes That Can Derail Your Online Holiday Sales

Mistake #1. Discounting too deep, too early and for too long. While media reports of holiday shoppers clamoring for deep discounts and word of Wal-Mart’s new holiday price guarantee could rattle even the most stalwart independent online merchant; discounting too deep, too early and for too long will kill your profit margins.

Sure you may sell more, but you will make less at the end of the season.

Which means you have to compete for those holiday sales on something else…

• Selection
• Delivery
• Customer Service
• Quality
• Integrity

Keep in mind that the #1 thing online shoppers want during the holiday season is selection and confidence that their product will arrive on time.

And they are willing to pay more for it.

Not all buyers shop on price. In fact in the wake of Wal-Mart’s recent announcement, there has been a huge backlash from customers citing all the reasons they won’t shop at Wal-Mart despite their low-price guarantee.

Higher income customers especially, will pay a premium to get a unique gift, the latest gadget and superior quality and service.  So don’t shortchange yourself or your business.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t run any promotions or offer free shipping promotions during the holidays.

Just know that trying to compete on price with a big-box retailer during the holidays is a recipe for dismal holiday profits.

Mistake #2. Running a 2 month long holiday ‘promotion’. A good retail promotion is a time limited discount on a particular product or group of products.

While you might think you’re doing your customers a favor and driving sales by offering 30%  off on your entire store until Christmas, it actually works against  you. There’s a whole psychology around retail pricing and promotions.

A short, time-limited promotion will drive more sales, than long promotions without a deadline. Promotions based around a current event like Cyber Monday also help customers focus and execute on their buying decisions.

Mistake #3. Not creating holiday gift lists. The holidays are overwhelming for your customers. With a list of gifts to buy and thousands of online options, they often don’t know where to start.

Short on ideas and short on time, they need your help to find the most gift-worthy items in your store.

By creating a holiday gift list of the best holiday items in your store, you not only provide a service to your customers, but you also have the opportunity to drive them to your higher quality, higher margin products.

Here are a few gift list examples:

• 10 Hot New Cooking Gadgets for the Gourmet Chef On Your List
• Our 15 Best Selling Gifts for Dads Who Don’t Wear Ties
• 12 Gemstone Bracelets That Say “I Love You” in Color!
  
• 8 Creative Toys for Kids Under 8

Place your gift list prominently on your website, blog and if possible, your marketplace store. Post your gift lists on Facebook, Tweet them out.

A good holiday gift list can easily go viral driving floods of new traffic to your store.

Mistake #4. Ignoring marketplace incentives. If you sell in a marketplace like eBay or Amazon, be sure to get up to date on the holiday sales incentives being offered to sellers. Amazon’s 3rd party sellers can get in front of Amazon’s best Prime customers by fulfilling their inventory through Amazon FBA.This is especially important if you want to sell in the lucrative toy category. On November 15th, restrictions in the toy category go into place, but you can work around them if you fulfill your products through Amazon FBA

eBay has come out with a variety of incentives this year that they say will boost sellers visibility in search.

Mistake #5. Skimping on customer service. There’s no faster way to lose a holiday sale than not responding quickly to a customer inquiry. Shoppers have one thing on their mind this time of year – to get that gift and get it now!

Website owners can use a tool like Olark for Live Chat to provide real-time interaction with their customers. Amazon sellers who sell through FBA will have Amazon customer support doing their holiday customer service for them. And eBay sellers can add common questions asked by buyers to the Auto Answers system, although if possible, having a dedicated person monitoring My eBay during the busy selling season will allow you to assist the customer in finding the perfect gift.

Mistake #6. Not speaking the language of the holidays. If Grandma Mae comes to your fly fishing store looking for the perfect rod and reel for Grandpa Joe, she wants to see some evidence that you are participating in the holidays.

Messaging about holiday deliver, special holiday items, gift-wrapping for Grandpa Joe’s new tackle box (maybe an upsell to the rod and reel) should all be prominently displayed on the home page of your website.

Holiday shoppers who come to an online store where it’s ‘business as usual’ are not as likely to stay engaged with your site as those with clear holiday messaging (and holiday gift lists). You can get great holiday graphics done for $5 at Fiverr (learn how to use Fiverr here.) or for a very reasonable price on ODesk or Guru.com

Mistake #7. Closing up shop too early. Last year only 12.4% of shoppers had completely finished their holiday shopping ten days before Christmas. You need to be prepared to sell and ship right up through December 23rd. 13% of holiday shoppers start their holiday shopping the week of Christmas. 

Offer express shipping and handling. And prominently post these options on the home page of your website or in  your eBay listings. A graphic with your delivery options works best.

And remember… the holiday sales don’t end on December 23rd.

One of the most popular up and coming activities on December 24th and 25th is… you guessed it! Shopping online!

-Lisa

Running an ecommerce business costs money.

Whether it’s buying a new computer with faster processing capabilities, sourcing new inventory so you can sell more and make more, updating your workspace to make it more efficient or, bringing in project based help to get your holiday inventory listed…

It takes money to grow.

Unfortunately for small (and especially home-based, online businesses) the availability of growth-captial is in short supply. Especially from traditional sources such as banks and credit cards.

Enter Kabbage, an Atlanta based company with one goal – “Funding for your online business.”

Kabbage provides short-term loans to online sellers using credentials that other lenders don’t/won’t. They use marketplace and PayPal data from your online business to process your request for capital. An analysis that includes things like transaction volume and consistency, customer feedback/reviews, your product line and more.

Understanding the World of Online Sellers

What sets Kabbage apart from a traditional lender is that they understand the world of online sales, whereas many traditional banks do not.  In fact, traditional lending institutions can be downright leery of lending money to a home-based online sellers – even those with a proven track record.

Kabbage also understands that many online sellers only need a short-term loan to help them get to the next level.

It may only take $1000 to attend a trade show or $3000 to source new inventory once you’re there, but not having access to that $4000 means the difference between your ability to grow your business or staying stuck until you can earn enough money to fund your tradeshow trip or buy new inventory.

Kabbage Founder and CEO Rob Frohwein says:

“Thousands of online merchants have obtained working capital and grown their businesses since our push into the market in April 2011. Although small business fuels the majority of growth in the U.S., it is extremely difficult and time consuming for these businesses to apply for and actually receive financing from a traditional bank. Kabbage fills this need by providing money to these businesses in a quick, easy and painless way, helping them to further grow their businesses and boost the economy.”

Online sellers can apply and be approved for a short-term advance, also known as “Kabbage Kash” in minutes. Once approved, you can use your cash advance line if/when you need it.

It’s free to apply and be approved. Once you use your cash advance, you have six months to repay it. Cash advance rates are determined by your credit history and store performance, as well as the length of time you keep the cash advance. If you pay it back earlier than 6 months, you’ll pay less.

Kabbage has a patented technology that enables them to evaluate seller’s businesses and credit history. Currently Kabbage supports eBay sellers, Amazon sellers and Yahoo store owners.

This week Kabbage announced that they’ve just received $17 million in funding which will allow them to add funding support for merchants who sell on Facebook, Etsy, Sears and Shopify.

Your Ability to Source Quality Inventory Increases Your Sales

I first met the folks from Kabbage this spring and recently caught up with them again here in Seattle at the Amazon Seller’s Conference in July.

At that time, I sat down with Russell Walraven to talk more about the company’s goals to help online sellers grow. Fresh off the announcement that Kabbage would now be supporting Amazon sellers, Russell said that the response to Kabbage cash advances was overwhelmingly positive.  Seller after seller stopped by the booth to tell the Kabbage group that the #1 thing they need is cash to buy more inventory. With Amazon sales skyrocketing off into the stratosphere, lack of product to sell was the only thing holding back Amazon sellers from selling more.

Interestingly, Amazon category managers at the conference told me the same thing. “We need more product. Amazon’s growth is only limited by product selection. And we’re looking to 3rd party merchants to fill that need.”

Kabbage provides a win-win situation for online sellers ready to expand.

Many of my clients and students have already applied for and used Kabbage as a source of funding for their business.  They’ve raved about the simplicity of applying and the fact that Kabbage speaks in “plain english” as just two of the reasons they feel that the folks at Kabbage understand their needs as online sellers.

You can learn more about Kabbage and see if you qualify for an advance in seconds.

-Lisa

Ever since I introduced our new 2-part series  on “How to Integrate Amazon into Your Business Model”, the #1 question I’ve received is about what to sell on Amazon…

“Lisa, I’m interested in selling on Amazon, but I don’t have a niche.  (Or my niche is not represented on Amazon.) Do I need a niche FIRST to sell successfully on Amazon?”

It’s a really good question and the answer may surprise you…

You  don’t need a niche to start selling successfully on Amazon.

In fact, waiting to find the perfect niche before opening an Amazon sales channel will only delay your success.

Products First, Niche Second

When you start selling on Amazon, think of it from a product based standpoint.  You are bringing product to the Amazon marketplace, supplying in-demand inventory to their customers.

Your primary goal with inventory is:

1. To determine what Amazon buyers want to purchase

2. Source that product

3. Look at the margins

4. Make the decision to list

For example,yesterday I sourced some Monster High Dolls to sell on Amazon. This is a super hot brand of dolls that will be a best seller at Christmas. In fact, I talked about the popularity of Monster High Dolls in my recent 2011 Hot Holiday Products: Sneak Preview interview  on eBay Radio.

Using Arbitrage Sourcing, I picked up a few new styles of  MH dolls, some brand new doll sets, and the hot off the presses doll accessories. I also found a new offshoot product line from Monster High.

Because I know these are extremely popular toys, I sourced with the intent to turn them over quickly and make a profit.

I didn’t spend time weighing whether or not this is a good long-term niche to get into.

For now, I’m going to capitalize on their popularity, sell them on the world’s fastest growing marketplace and get this revenue stream going while I consider my next move.

If You Already Sell In a Niche

If you already sell in a niche on eBay or from your own website, the first step is to determine whether or not those products can be sold on Amazon as well.

Anytime you can sell the same inventory on more than one marketplace, you’re leveraging the sourcing work you’ve already done.

For example, if you sell Nachtmann vases on eBay, you can also sell that same inventory on Amazon.

Listing your inventory on eBay and Amazon gives you the opportunity to get your inventory in front of millions of new customers and increase your sales on existing products.

If you sell in a niche that is not represented on Amazon, you’ll need to start with the first scenario I outlined – looking at selling on Amazon from a product based standpoint.

You can then build out your niche from there, or continue to source as a “Deal Scout” looking for great inventory to sell in multiple Amazon categories.

Move Fast, Sell Quickly

Unlike a website which requires considerable financial investment, a pre-established niche, SEO and content marketing (and that’s just to get you started) the purpose of selling on Amazon is to take advantage of the millions of customers flocking to Amazon’s global sites every day, snapping up products at record rates.

Hockey great Wayne Gretsky said “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”

The ecommerce puck is definitely at Amazon. With a 51% growth rate, their fastest growth in 10 years – the 3rd party merchant market places now represents a staggering 36% of all products sold.

Amazon is not a magic button or the only place/way to sell online. But it is the fastest growing ecommerce marketplace and is clearly dominating ecommerce sales.

The smart business owner can’t ignore this sales channel.

Channel Advisor CEO Scot Wingo recently said:

“This quarter provided more mounting evidence that Amazon is essentially running away with market share in e-commerce.

Consequently, we believe retailers urgently need to think of an Amazon Strategy – partner, compete, co-opetition?  Amazon is becoming so big and growing so fast, you almost can’t afford not get on this train.”

I agree with him 100%.

What is your Amazon strategy?

If you’re ready to “skate where the puck will be”, I’ll show you several different Amazon strategies in my new 2-part audio series “How to Integrate Amazon into Your Business Model.

You’ll learn how to fast-track your success,  including a way to free up your time, sell more products, and take advantage of the Amazon Revolution!

You’ll also learn the latest tips, strategies and tactics for selling on Amazon. Including insider information from the recent  2011 Amazon Sellers Conference!

There is an Amazon Revolution happening! And you need to be a part of it!

Whether you’ve overbought on inventory, sourced the wrong products or have merchandise on hand with little shelf-life left  in it, “stale inventory” is a common (and normal) challenge  for online merchants.

But no matter what you sell or where you sell it, holding on to stale inventory is a costly business practice.

In fact, in the last 60 days Amazon has implemented two new policies on stale inventory:

• Sellers will pay a new annual Long-Term Storage Fee of $45 per cubic foot for any units of inventory that have been stored in an Amazon fulfillment center for one year or longer.

• Limits on the amount of inventory that  Amazon sellers can store in Fulfillment by Amazon Warehouses. Amazon has said
• they want to “ensure that customers are able to get the products they are most interested in.

Stale is merchandise that sits in your store or on your website for months on end with no sales.  (Or just an occasional sale here and there.)

It’s toxic to your profits. And can take a toll on you psychologically. No one likes to look at inventory day-after-day that isn’t selling.

Potential Sales Don’t Equal Profits

Too often people will look at stale inventory and think “Well, I paid $25 for this shirt, so it’s worth at least $25 in potential income.”  But that’s only true if the item sells.  (And in a reasonable time.) If a product sits on your shelf and doesn’t sell, you’re losing money on your investment.

And remember, every time you pay an insertion fee to list a product on a site like eBay for example, your cost of goods for that product increases and  your profit margin on the product decreases.

Additionally, every  item sitting on the shelf that’s not selling could be replaced with a product that is selling.  (And this also applies to unique one-of-a-kind items that have been sitting in your store for years.)

Home based businesses often hang on to inventory far too long due to low storage costs.

But as the saying goes “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should”.

In order to run a profitable ecommerce business, you must keep your inventory lean and clean.

In today’s blog post, I’ll show you how to get rid of  stale inventory quickly and put some extra ka-ching in your pockets!

7 Surefire Ways to Turn Stale Inventory Into Cash

Look objectively at your inventory. The first step in turning dead inventory into cash starts with recognizing that your inventory is stale and it must go.  This is often the hardest step for people. Be realistic about market value.

You should be turning (selling) items in your inventory every 90-120 days. Even one-of-a-kind collectibles need to turn frequently. If an item is sitting there with few views and no sales, you need to take action on it and get it to move!

Re-photograph your item. Retaking a photograph of your item is often all it takes for new buyers to take a fresh look. Your photos should have a clean white (or appropriately colored) background and the item should fill up 85% of the frame. Blurry, murky, poorly lit photos will hurt the sales of your items.  Studies show that items with high-quality photos increase sales by 20% or more.

Re-keyword product title and description. 86% of all online sales begin with a buyer search. If you’re not using the keywords in your product title and description that buyers are searching for on Amazon, eBay or Google, your items won’t be found. If you sell on eBay, the Terapeak Research tool will tell you exactly what keywords buyers are using to find your products. The Google Keyword Tool will show you what keywords and keyword phrases people are using to search for your products on Google.

Feature like items together and run a promotional event. Don’t run generic 20% off sale.  Select a specific line of products and run a sale on the entire group.  20% off all prom wear. 15% off all our summer sandals. Save 40% on our complete line of Back-to-School Backpacks. By grouping items together you can make a splash with your marketing and grab the attention of those specific buyers interested in the products you have on sale.

Give your event a name “Save 30% on our Red, White & Blue Fireworks Sale!”  (perfect for a 4th of July promotion).

Sales on grouped products are more likely to generate buzz as well. Excited customers are more likely to email, Tweet & Facebook “Hey, did you know that Sam’s School Supplies is having a 40% off sale on all their backpacks.”

Slash prices and take the loss now rather than later. Don’t be afraid to slash prices (and lose money or break even) when you have to. While you can start your sale with a smaller discount of 10% – 20%, if that doesn’t get the sales of dead inventory going, it’s time to do some serious price slashing.

Again, this is where many merchants hesitate, trying to recoup their initial inventory investment or at least break even. But here’s the reality. Every day that product sits on your shelves unsold, you are losing money.

Bundle slow sellers with a hot seller. If you have a hot selling line with a couple of product dogs, take those non-selling products and bundle them with the hot sellers. If you’re candle holders sell well but your candles aren’t moving. Bundle a candle or two with each holder, raise the price of your set slightly and watch those items sell!

Cosmetic companies do this all the time. They’ll put together a promo kit and throw in a few items that aren’t selling or are discontinued. People will but the set because there is one item they want in there.  The rest they give away (or often sell on eBay).

You can also do this in reverse and bundle a hot seller with some duds. If you sell a group of products that isn’t moving, add one hot item to it and watch the set sell.

Sell it in a “Lot”. An inventory Lot is a large grouping of like inventory bundled and sold together.  Do a search on eBay for a product and append the keyword “Lot”.  You’ll find thousands of inventory lots being sold in every category.  Many brick and mortar stores shop eBay for Lots of inventory to sell locally.

One client of mine who participates in an annual sidewalk sale here in Seattle, always checks eBay first to buy supplemental inventory in bulk.  Online sellers search eBay for inventory Lots, breaking them apart and reselling them as individual items (this is known as arbitrage sourcing).

Grouping your inventory in a Lot and selling it all at once allows you to get your money out fast and not deal with an ongoing markdown process.

Finally, you can move your inventory to a different marketplace.

If it didn’t sell on your website, move it to eBay for liquidation. If it didn’t sell on eBay, you can try moving it to another marketplace. But be careful with this! Don’t keep moving inventory around the marketplaces to avoid dealing with the problem.

Remember, cash flow is the key to health for an online business. Stale inventory will stop the cash from flowing. So focus not on how much you spent for it originally, but on how good it will feel to have cash in your bank account from the sale of those items!

-Lisa

Are you ready for the new eBay Fees on Shipping coming July 6th? Get help preparing and avoid ‘fee increase shock’ on your August invoice!

We’re less than a day away from one of the biggest shopping days of the year!  Cyber Monday.

The “official” kick-off to the online holiday selling season.

Millions of motivated shoppers will hit the web on Monday, 11/29 to do some heavy duty shopping.

Early projections for Cyber Monday sales are up 30% over last year!

Soooo, the question is… are YOU ready for Cyber Monday sales?

To make sure you don’t miss a beat this week, I’ve put together a last minute Cyber Monday Eve checklist for you!

Cyber Monday Checklist for Online Merchants

Clean up your website homepage or your eBay listings. Remove all traces of Thanksgiving imagery and messaging.  For more tips on adding holiday messaging and imagery, check out my recent blog post on 7 Late to the Game Holiday Sales Savers.

Send out a Cyber Monday email promotion. 9 out of 10 retailers plan to send out Cyber Monday promotions. Will your customers be bombarded with emails for companies eager to sell their wares? Yes! Which is why it’s important to do emails right…  ( see next tip)

Make your Cyber Monday email subject lines specific. Many merchants will send an email titled “Cyber Monday Deals! Save 25%” – and while that may work for Walmart, it won’t work for smaller merchants competing for Cyber Monday eyeballs with the big guys.

If your best-selling items are kids’ rain boots, promote these in the subject of your email. For example: “Cyber Monday Deal: Save 25% on all Colorcraft Rainboots”.

Track sales trends in your niche. Are you staying on top of the sales trends in your niche? During the holidays, things change quickly as deman increase and supplies dwindle! Use trend sites like Google Insights, Twitter Search and eBay Pulse to track searches and demand for holiday products.

Offer shipping promotions. But keep in mind it’s important to put quantifiers on your promotions! “Free shipping on all orders over $50.” “Free Shipping on all orders placed before December 5th.” will get you better results than a generic free shipping promotion.

Display contact information prominently. Shoppers stress is escalating and people won’t take the time to look for your contact information if it’s not displayed prominently. For website owners, this means the upper, right-hand corner of your website. For eBay sellers, this means the upper right quadrant of your listing.

Replenish your inventory. As you sell out of inventory, restock your homepage and your eBay listings with more styles, sizes, colors, etc. Whatever it takes to fill out your store. Even if you’ve run out of your best holiday inventory already, keep in mind that 52% of holiday shoppers will be buying something for themselves this year!. A pair of plain brown boots may not bedazzle a gift recipient on Christmas morning, but they may be exactly what your customer needs to replace their worn out pair before winter kicks in.

Check these items off your list and enjoy the process of fulfilling those incoming orders!

-Lisa

With the Thanksgiving holiday in sight, and Christmas just over a month away, your holiday sales should be in full swing.

But for those who are late to the game, or need an extra boost to amp up the numbers, these 7 late-to-the-game strategies will stoke the fire in your holiday sales…

Speak Holiday.Go right now and look at your web pages, you eBay listings, your online store. How many places do you see holiday imagery, holiday messaging, holiday gift suggestions? If the answer is none or few then your products are not showing up for the party everyone else wants to be a part of.

You have to give your customers visual clues that you’re dialed-in to the holidays. Your store must be part of the fun and festivities. Even the smallest online sellers can add a few holiday graphics and use messaging on their their website to speak the language of holiday sales.

Run Different Holiday Promotions Each Week. If you want to capture the attention of holiday buyers this year, you must run new promotions on a weekly basis. While this year’s shoppers aren’t suffering from frugal fatigue, consumers are looking for a sale.

Unlike last year, they’re not hoping to find everything marked down to 50% off, but they are looking for somewhat of a “feel-good holiday special” so they walk away from the purchase feeling like they got something extra.

Sell Communication & Service. Prominent service messaging must be a part of your holiday game plan. Whether it’s strategically placed graphics on your site or you hop in front of a video camera, one of the key things shoppers should see when they come to your site is a message from you with a commitment to:

• Same day shipping
• Providing tracking numbers
• Customer service (how will they contact you if they have a question)
• Optional gift wrapping services

Free Shipping. If you’re late to the holiday selling game, one of the fastest ways to amp up your sales is by offering Free Shipping. Again this year, Free Shipping is the #1 thing that holiday shoppers are looking for.

Bundle it Spectacular. If your holiday sales haven’t yet made a blip on the radar, it’s time to pull out the big guns and get really creative with your product offerings. A necklace and matching bracelet sold separately becomes a spectacular gift set.  Pair a warm fuzzy bathrobe with matching slippers and create a special Christmas morning promotion around it.

Offer Holiday Gift Suggestions. Holiday shoppers aren’t looking for the “same ‘ole, same ‘ole” when it comes to purchasing holiday gifts. They LOVE creative ideas and unique gifts. Just because the media doesn’t recognize your product line as a “holiday item” doesn’t mean you can’t!

Don’t wait for anyone to give you permission to present your products as a holiday gift. Be bold and step out and make gift suggestions!

Get in Front of the Video Camera. If there is one thing that etailers can do this year to get found in search without the use of costly PPC campaigns and lengthy traffic driving strategies, it’s to get in front of the video camera. There is not a person reading this blog post who sales can’t benefit by doing a video review of a product you sell.

Whether it increases conversion on your site or eBay listing or helps you make it to page one on Google, video product reviews are all the rage this year. And don’t think you have to have a Hollywood stage production video to make it useful.  REAL sells. Take a look at this video review of a popular Nikon camera lens. A little humor, being real, to the point and educational. 11,000+ people have viewed it so far.  (BTW, I came across it in Google search while shopping for, you guessed it! Nikon cameras.)

Even if you’re sales aren’t yet where you’d like them to be this holiday season, you’ve got 30+ more days to keep focused on selling more. Never give up! Keep doing the right things up until the very last holiday minute and you’ll start to see the results of your efforts!

How about you? What are your plans for increasing your sales over the next 30 days?

-Lisa

As we move closer towards Christmas day, I’ve been hearing from many of  you that you’re beginning to feel swamped and overwhelmed.

Sales are picking up, personal holiday duties are picking up and you’re starting to panic at the thought of attempting to do it all!

It’s a very valid concern…

Because no one can do it ALL by themselves!

As multi-tasking entrepreneurs, we already do a LOT! During the holiday season, our responsibilities triple or quadruple.

That’s why I want you take what I’m about to say next, VERY seriously…

NOW is the time to “Beg, Borrow or Buy help!”

Whether it’s:

• Help with the business
• Help at home
• Help with personal errands

You can’t be shy about asking for help or worry about “putting people out”.

“But I don’t have money to pay for help.” you say.

Help doesn’t always need to come in the form of paid compensation.  There are plenty of people in your life who would love to help you during this busy time if you’d only ask!

Make a choice to ASK for what you need and let others be responsible for determining if they can help you.

• Now is the time to ask your spouse or friends to help you wrap and ship a few evenings a week.
• Now is the time to put the kids to work doing basic household chores.
• Now is the time to call a friend and ASK for help!

For example:

“Hey Christine. Help! I’m happily swamped here with orders! And I need your help!!! Would you be willing to come over on Saturday and help me get the rest of
my holiday items listed?  Then  I’ll treat you to dinner and a movie Saturday night.”

Help doesn’t have to cost a lot either. Many people would love to make a little extra shopping money for a few hours of work each week!

Ask:

• The neighborhood kids
• Your niece your nephew
• Your church youth group
• Your children!a

…if they want to make a little extra holiday money for the next month.

Those of you who have done  this are successfully breaking through the  “Lone Ranger Biz Owner Syndrome!”

Some of you have tapped friends to help through the holiday season, and even though the paycheck is not huge, your friends have been THRILLED to help.

Here’s the bottom line…

You need more than yourself in your business to make things happen!

The sooner you realize that, the MORE money you’ll make!

So who are YOU going to ask for help today?

Tell me below!

-Lisa

Growing up I always thought my friend Megan’s family must have a lot of money. It seemed like every time I went over to her house, her dad had a new toy – a big  TV, the latest audio equipment…

Megan’s mom always wore  beautiful leather jackets in colors like dusty pink and butterscotch yellow with fabulous jewelry to match.

And Megan and her family lived in a nice  house adorned with dramatic decor.

But it was the day that her dad brought home the shiny, new red Bayliner speedboat that I was convinced Megan’s dad must be making the big bucks. (I loved that boat, and I’ve wanted one ever since!)

Megan and I only went to school together for a couple years and I never asked what her father did for a living.  It wasn’t until several years later when we ran into each other while she was home from college on a visit, that I found out how her dad made the extra money to get all this stuff.

Turned out Megan’s dad was what I call  a “Deal Scout”. He  loved to find deals on new merchandise and then resell it through the local Classifieds.

For example, one time he  bought out the inventory( for pennies on the dollar)  from a hardware store  that was closing and resold it to another store and made $20 thousand bucks on the deal.

Later on, when the local Classifieds got too expensive and less effective, he turned to Craigslist and eBay to resell in-demand items.

Megan told me her dad had resold almost everything over the years.  From printers to concrete pavers. Jewelry to shoes.  Nothing was off-limits when it came to buying and reselling (unless it was illegal!)

He preferred dealing in new consumer goods, claiming there were “deals to be had everywhere” if you just looked for them.

Well I can tell you from experience, Megan’s dad was right.

He was using a method I call Retail Resale.  Buying new consumer goods in one market for the purpose of reselling them in another. And generating thousands of dollars of extra income a year.

Megan’s dad was my first exposure to someone who made some serious money with Retail Resale, and I didn’t think much more about it until 2002.  When I used this exact method to start my online business.

Making Money with Retail Resale

When I started my online business back in 2002, I used this method to buy high-end leather kids shoes at deeply discounted sale prices and resell them on eBay to a global customer base.

For me it was instant profit. I knew about kids shoes, I knew what brands were hot, and it didn’t take me long to find deals locally and online for these in-demand brands. I soon figured out what I needed to do to minimize my sourcing risk, in the event that I’d chosen items that didn’t sell.  I was off and running!

I used Retail Resale to generate the majority of my income that first year in business, and it continued to represent about 30% of my sales for the next two years.

• Retail Resale works great for start-ups sourcing products on a shoestring budget.
• But it’s also perfect for established businesses who want to create extra income without committing to a new product line.

Retail Resale works for any marketplace from marine electronics to toys. clothes and shoes. It works for car tires and cars. Jewelry and Halloween Costumes. You name it!

If You Know How to Shop, You Can Profit from Retail Resale

The principle behind Retail Resale is simply this, shopping for your customers. You can shop anywhere to get your inventory. Offline, locally, online from websites, from marketplaces like eBay, Amazon or Bonanza.

There are millions of products right now available for sale both online and offline,  that are either under priced, deeply discounted, or in short supply and high demand that are prime candidates for profiting with Retail Resale.

Make Extra Income with Just a Few Hours of Work a Week

For example, the Nerf N-Strike Stampede is already the #1 selling toy on Amazon.  Sales of this hot new toy have already increased in sales 1800% since July. Already sold out at Walmart, you can still find it for $44 + Free Shipping at Toys R Us (or pick one up locally).

It’s currently selling for between $59 – $108 (with a sweet spot of about $75)  on eBay and demand is starting to rise.  This one will be sold out before Christmas and prices will go up to reflect it’s in-demand status.

This is an example of a product that lends itself perfectly to Retail Resale.

Last weekend we were out at the mall, when we came upon a sunglasses shop that had MAUI JIM HOKU sunglasses on close-out for $120.  A quick price check with a cell phone showed they sell on Amazon for about $208.  On eBay you can pick up a new pair for $160. If I’m going to sell these Retail Resale, I’d sell them on Amazon rather than eBay.

There’s a lot of money to be made with Retail Resale and that’s why I recently included a brand new audio on Retail Resale in our 2010 Holiday Selling Guide private site.

If you haven’t joined us yet, now is the time. The holiday selling season is here and the clock is ticking.  You need to know about strategies like Retail Resale in order to help you make more money this year.

If you sell physical products online, now is your time!

Join us this week and and take advantage of our special easy 3 pay plan !

-Lisa