Change Of Plans

I have stopped selling my books on eBay and Bonanza. Right now I only have my eBooks for sale there. I am using the time to create more of my own eBooks. My books would sell a few at a time, and not fast enough for me. I wanted them out of my house. So I offered them on Freecycle and when I boxed them up, I had 10 big boxes! Luckily my husband was able to pack them into the lady's van who came to pick them up. She seemed very happy with her bounty!

This has given me the time and space to make an organized area to put our inventory of guitar strings. Plus, I have a table up there that I am going to fix for packaging up the purchases. We have needed an area like that and now with no books on the shelves, we can keep the strings there for easy access.

I think maybe too many streams of income is not a good thing. Too many products to try to sell means that you are not giving any of them 100 percent. So I am going to be concentrating on my blogs, my eBooks and my homestead life. Maybe someday, I can get the guitar strings store producing a good income so I can sell it. It is not something I want to be doing for the rest of my life.

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2011  Kathleen G. Lupole

Selling On Bonanza

 Don't have to drive to work!

Working at home on the internet has many perks. I love working at my own pace and working whenever I choose. It is a very slow time for on line sellers. We have no choice if this is the way we make living, but to keep working at it. I know it is not like a job and having a regular paycheck. Sometimes sales can be good and other times very bad. Right now it is very bad.

I sell books on bonanza!

I have tested the waters once again on eBay and on half.com, but I really don't feel comfortable on either one. The thing about eBay, is that if you frequent their forums, you will come across the posts of the buyers also. They just can't wait to give negative feedbacks to sellers. They will post asking if this seller should get a bad feedback. I always look at the seller's feedback before I purchase off ebay. Many times the negatives don't seem as if they deserved them. Many times it comes from a new buyer, with few feedbacks.

On Bonanza you don't have to worry about that too much. For the most part, unless my sale is from a seller, I don't get any feedback. That is okay with me. They come from Google searching for a particular book, and choose one of mine. That is feedback enough for me!

 Just one of the many books I sell!

I keep adding more products. Now I am adding some other items, as well, as more books. I keep busy doing that, and hopefully, the buyers will come. If you have time, please go to my booth and "fave" me. I would appreciate it very much!

 

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
 

Improve Your Listings To Sell Online

I have been running some auctions on eBay and of course, I sell on Bonanza also. I have two booths there. There is more to selling on these sites than just listing it. I found a site that I can use for free to make templates for my listings. I love doing that and it has made the process of listing more fun.

Another thing that is handy is using the search engines to research information about whatever you are selling. Sometimes you can find a niche market for a certain item being used in a different way. So when you are checking prices, be sure to check why people would want to buy your item. What can they do with it? Or learn from it (if it is a book)?

Make your listings jump out so the buyers will click on your item rather than someone else's. Be sure to put extra keywords in the title for that purpose. I try to make it sound different than everyone else's listing of the same item. It is VERY competitive out there and you can claim the buyers if you work at it.

On Bonanza, you can put up six photos and they encourage you to do so. So you can write up some beautiful listings there. Of all the selling sites on the internet I feel they are really the easiest to work with and I have fun on their site......whether I am selling or buying!

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole

Presently For Sale On Bonanza - Wordless Wedneday

The Last Waltz CD

Me And My Big Mouth!

Statue Of Liberty Guide

The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

The Bodyguard

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2011  Kathleen G. Lupole

Now I Have Two - Yes, Two Bonanza Booths!

katlupe's Booth

I am really excited about my Bonanza booths! The last few days I have been so busy listing products there that I can't seem to get anything else done. Everything in my house is definitely in danger of being sold on Bonanza. And now that I have added a second booth, called String Baby for my guitar strings, well that has doubled my work. But I don't care. I love it!

So I figure people like Free Shipping. That is why in my booth for used books and CDs I am selling them with the price included for shipping. Now you don't think people expect me to pay their shipping cost out of the few bucks I make on the book or CD do you? I hope not. My Paypal fee is usually about .50 and the fee for Bonanza is about the same. Then add the $3.00+ for the shipping, the ink and paper for printing and the bubble mailer that I send them in............how much profit does that give me? Not enough to get rich on. Not enough to pay for groceries.

If I can make more sales though, and add up all those little profits, then maybe I will make some bigger profits in the long run. Another thing I am really excited about is that some of my blogging friends have opened booths on Bonanza too! Here are two of my very good friends who have opened booths there:

Teresa's Odds And Ends - Here is an absolutely gorgeous Antique Flue Cover that she is selling.

Deb's Booth - She has a good selection of books. And also has some books about Scrapbooking. The Ultimate Guide To Scrapbooking looks pretty good for anyone learning or already into it. Deb knows about these things!

If you decide to open a booth there, one of the first things you need to do is to write a profile. You need to let people know who you are and that you are a real person. Let them know your shipping rates. Nobody will buy from you unless you are upfront with your shipping fees. That is a fact. Then get to know the other sellers by visiting the message boards. They are the people who are your potential buyers. Good luck! And if you do open a booth, let me know and I will include it in a future post.

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2011  Kathleen G. Lupole

How To Use Social Media To Promote Your Business

String Baby on Bonanza

I have opened a second booth on Bonanza for selling my guitar strings. It seems to me that a separate booth focusing on the strings only would be better for those sales. The other booth, katlupe's Booth is for selling used items, mostly books and CDs. 

I am also writing a blog for selling guitar strings called String Baby. The thing about the blog though, I am not a musician myself and any dreams of my husband, who is one, writing a blog......is long gone. He just does not have the time available. I found a site some years back that offers free articles written by other authors on different subjects. They let you use their articles for free if you just make sure to link back to them. So I am doing that for my String Baby blog, and it looks quite nice. The articles I am getting for this are all written by musicians. So that takes care of that problem.

On Facebook, I have a page for String Baby. I started it awhile back and need to get working on it in the next day or so. A good week-end project! If you go to that page please, "like" me! I will be working on it soon. I also have a page on myspace but have not been there in months so I won't add that link here.

My husband does String Baby's twitter page, so I am not doing that presently. But you see how all these little things add up to bringing more people to your site? That is what Social Media is all about!

 

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2011  Kathleen G. Lupole

Networking For Your Online Business

Networking is a must for living out here!

Networking will help you grow your business. Even if the people you network with aren't the ones buying your products or hiring you for whatever it is you do. So how do they help grow your business? Well, one way is that you are talking to others in the online business world. You are discussing strategies and ideas they, and you, may have tried or want to try. Then you get their opinions of your business, or website, or what you have written. It may be exactly what you need to get your business on the right track.

There are so many networking sites that I can't name them all. I only use a few myself. If you belong to all of them, you will never be able to be a quality networker on that many sites. I have joined some that I never go to any  longer. I concentrate on some that I really like, and that seems to help me the most.

If you go to a site that consists of others listing their websites or businesses, and never make quality comments to each other.......then what's the sense? That is how I feel about LinkedIn. It is not worth the time. I have  joined the group for Amazon Associates and posted in their forum. Unless you comment on someone else's post, nobody ever makes a decent comment to you about what you wrote. So I don't go there anymore.

If you write a blog, I'd say the absolutely BEST networking site is The Blogfrog. Being a member there has improved my blog 100% since the beginning of last year. My blog, Homesteading On The Internet has evolved to a quality blog and I am very proud of it. I have learned so much from hanging out in the The Redhead Riter's Community there!

So how do you network? What do you like about it or not like about it? Do you feel it has helped you in any way? Joining forums is a great networking tool. I have belonged to some good ones over the years. Some that are homesteading ones which is my niche. I belong to others too. But it helps if you have some kind of problem and can ask someone else what they think or what they would do.

Selling on Bonanza has been another one of my streams of income. They have a forum and the people on there are really nice and helpful. I have found that by being on there and making posts more people know who you are and will seek out your booth. I mean we are all chasing the almighty dollar and the only way to do that is by socializing with others online. I would rather buy from someone I know than a complete stranger if I can. I will always check on Bonanza for something before I buy it somewhere else.

Copyright © 2011  Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2011  Kathleen G. Lupole

Wordless Wednesday In katlupe's Bonanza Booth

katlupe's booth

katlupe's booth

katlupe's booth

katlupe's booth

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole