Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers - July 26 in Community Help Boards in Community

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Last Post Jul 26, 2007 11:14 AM by: deirdre@ebay.com

Replies: 51

Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers - July 26

Jul 2, 2007 8:43 PM

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Topic: Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers

Host: oasisconnect
Date: Thursday 07/26
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Pacific time
Location: Workshop Board

Description: eBay has become a great niche marketing mecca. Anyone can do it. But can "anyone" do it right? There are 5 steps to creating a customer experience that will not only turn visitors into customers, it will have them talking about you to everyone they know. From understanding who your customer is to giving them exactly what they are looking for, learn how to Connect with your Customers with Diane Falvey and Rebecca Shapiro from OASISConnect.com.

Cheers,

Deirdre
eBay Community Development

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Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers - July 26

Jul 25, 2007 5:26 PM

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Hello! This is Rebecca Shapiro and Diane Falvey. We’re both business partners at OASIS Connect (www.oasisconnect.com), a company we started to help eBay sellers and businesses get set up the right way on eBay because these days eBay should be a part of every online business.

oasisconnect

Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers - July 26

Jul 25, 2007 5:26 PM

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At OASIS Connect, we’ve been where you are; starting an eBay or online business without the right guidance or tools. While there is plenty of eBay how-to information available, we have found that it often isn’t specific enough. We’ve both made many expensive and timely mistakes selling on eBay. We want to help you avoid those pitfalls and rise to the top as quickly and successfully as possible. We’re also actively selling on eBay right now with our own eBay stores so we’re not removed from what’s happening in the marketplace.

oasisconnect

Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers - July 26

Jul 25, 2007 5:28 PM

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Our first OASIS Connect eBay workshop is all about drawing customers to you and getting them to stick. Join us as we cover important suggestions, ideas and tips to get you: Connecting with Your Customers.

"Turn strangers into friends. Turn friends into customers. And then…do the most important job. Turn your customers into salespeople." – Seth Godin, Flipping the Funnel

Seth defines “friends” as the prospects you’ve earned permission to talk with even though they haven’t turned into customers yet. So how do you turn strangers into “friends,” and then those “friends” into customers who will announce your fantastic business to their friends?

oasisconnect

Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers - July 26

Jul 25, 2007 5:30 PM

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First you have to define or refine your niche market so that you are selling a product/service that will make you money so you can grow your business.

Second, you need a clear picture about your perfect customer so you can make sure that your products are targeted at the right group and that you’re selling in the right niche market.

Third, you must provide a fantastic customer experience through your products and service if you want your customers to stick with you!

oasisconnect

Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers - July 26

Jul 25, 2007 5:31 PM

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When we first started writing this workshop we thought we would just give you five steps to creating a happy customer experience. But, then we realized that two very important pieces of information were missing. So, before we get to those five steps, we need to look at your niche market and your perfect customer.

Now, you might be wondering why should you bother with niche markets and perfect customers. You’re a busy eBayer and what’s more, you’re selling fine, thank you very much! Well, if you’re happy with where you’re at, great. But, you can always make your business better and now is the time to make it better.

oasisconnect

Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers - July 26

Jul 25, 2007 5:31 PM

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Did you know that eBay is considered a Web 2.0 portal for niche markets? Think of it as a niche market mecca. Once the online garage sale where anyone could sell anything from socks to diamonds, eBay stores and the marketplace have redefined what customers are shopping for on eBay. That’s not to say you won’t still find those garage sale diehards (a niche in and of itself), but eBay makes it easy to sell just about anything if you are in a carefully defined niche.

The flip side of having a niche-rich opportunity is that the eBay marketplace is busy, busy, busy, and buyers have millions of products to choose from these days. Buyers get to be pickier than ever about where they spend their money. Some will get overwhelmed by all the choice and won’t buy anything. Some will go for the cheapest price they can find. Some will buy only name brands. So how is your message going to be heard? How will you make your products stand out? How can you get your customers stick with you, come back and tell their friends to buy from you? How do you become a superstar, a name brand in your own niche?

oasisconnect

Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers - July 26

Jul 25, 2007 5:32 PM

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Niche Markets

Niche market. Those are two busy words that have been tossed around a lot. What exactly is a niche market?

Niche market just means that you’re selling to a select group of people that share a common interest. Like people who love baseball, Hummel figurines or anything designed by Coach. Why should you bother to define or refine your niche market? Because it can be very lucrative. When you’re the very best in a healthy niche market you’re the big fish in a small pond. You will either be alone or in very limited company in a niche market; other small businesses may not be aware of your niche and large businesses won't want to bother with the small pond.

oasisconnect

Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers - July 26

Jul 25, 2007 5:32 PM

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The trick is to find or develop a niche that has customers, is growing and is not already owned by a group of established vendors (like the super-saturated electronics, clothing and jewelry categories). Then start expanding and refining your target market carefully so that you don’t grow beyond the boundaries of your niche. If you’re selling everything related to cats, you should think twice before you expand and start selling everything related to birds, turtles, gerbils and dogs. There’s Petco for that!

oasisconnect

Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers - July 26

Jul 25, 2007 5:34 PM

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Define or Refine Your Niche Market

Now, most of us have already chosen our niche markets before we knew it was a good idea to do some research. Maybe you were passionate about dogs so you’ve been selling dog collars, combs and beds. Maybe your train hobby led you to sell Lionel trains. Maybe your yen for organic coffee has helped you sell sustainable coffees. Don’t worry if you’re already invested in an existing niche. Use these tips to research a market you’re interested in or help you refine your existing market and improve on what you offer.

oasisconnect

Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers - July 26

Jul 25, 2007 5:34 PM

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First, choose your market or research your current market. Is it gardening? Is it toys? Is it handbags? Do a little keyword research. Keywords and keyword phrases are just words and phrases you use to search for something. Take a peek through your customer’s eyes for a moment. What if they were looking for firehouse collectibles or ant farms or nostalgic toys. What words would they type into Google? What words would you use?

oasisconnect

Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers - July 26

Jul 25, 2007 5:37 PM

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Here are some free tools to help with your keyword research:

Link
Link
Link

Just enter the keywords that you think your customers will use when searching for your product. You’ll see your word pulled up along with other related keywords, phrases and topics for this market.

oasisconnect

Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers - July 26

Jul 25, 2007 5:37 PM

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Here’s an example. Let’s say you’re a jewelry designer and want to create a business or improve your existing business. Do a keyword search for the word “jewelry.” Here are some words that came up for jewelry using wordtracker:

Jewelry
Jewelry stores
Silver jewelry
Sterling silver jewelry
Beaded jewelry
Turquoise jewelry
Unique handcrafted jewelry
Handcrafted jewelry

oasisconnect

Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers - July 26

Jul 25, 2007 5:38 PM

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This list clearly shows you several markets, jewelry being the biggest. Now pick one of these markets you’re really interested in. Let’s say you make beautiful, beaded jewelry. When you search for beaded jewelry you find:

Beaded jewelry
Handmade beaded jewelry
Handcrafted beaded jewelry
Beaded handmade jewelry
Glass beaded jewelry
How to make beaded jewelry
Beaded jewelry designs
Beaded jewelry to make

oasisconnect

Member Workshop: Connect with Your Customers - July 26

Jul 25, 2007 5:38 PM

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Oooh, look! There are markets for you to specialize in! You could sell your own handmade beaded jewelry. Sell other artist’s handcrafted beaded jewelry. Create an eBook about how to make beaded jewelry. You could sell beaded jewelry patterns that you design yourself (just be careful that you don’t get into copyright infringements).

AND, if you’re already selling beaded jewelry, look at the new products you could offer in addition to the ones suggested. For instance, you could start selling jewelry made with glass beads from other artists.

This exercise is a good habit to get into. Do it at least once a month. As a business owner you need to keep your inventory fresh. One way to do that is to research what people are looking for and then find products to sell or create products for your niche market.

oasisconnect

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