Month: February 2008

Categories
sales

eBay’s new feedback policy angers sellers but there is no real alternative

Heavy sellers are upset about eBay’s recent changes to the feedback policy. And they should be: it’s hard to carry on a conversation when only one party gets to do any real talking.

However, there is no real alternative, at least the way I see it. Part of my web development company‘s clientèle wants e-commerce web sites – natural web stores to sell their stuff. Some of them are heavy eBay sellers. They always were more focused on selling on eBay then selling through their web site, since eBay has more natural ways of reaching buyers.

So now that I think of alternatives to eBay, since some of the members suggest to “take business elsewhere” – what “elsewhere” are they talking about? Professionally designed web store that is able to accommodate large volume of buyers isn’t exactly cheap, so what alternative do you REALLY have?

UPD: My discussion on eBay forums.

Categories
business

What Is Marketing – New Definition

Robert Kingston at SmallBusinessBranding.com shared a new definition of marketing by the American Marketing Association:

“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

What amuses me is that this is a definition done by marketers for marketers. It adds nothing to the understanding of concept or, as a matter of fact, a reasoning a small business owner should include a Marketing row in his cash flow statement.

I am not a marketing professional, only learning, but for me this definition is like saying the water is wet. I’d rather had someone explain all this in English. My own versions of definitions would look closer to the following statements.

Continue reading “What Is Marketing – New Definition”
Categories
technology

Gadgets As A Conversation Pieces

Gadgets as a conversation pieces - Small Business Marketing and Web Design blog There are couple of gadgets that I possess that make great conversation pieces. One is Lenovo X61p laptop, which I reviewed earlier, another one is famous HTC Advantage 7501. Both, as it turns out, attract a lot of curiosity.

When I am working (or blogging) at the local Starbucks with my X61 a lot of people pay attention to the small yet strong laptop figure. Most of people I see around me use large, bulky, flashy laptop, like Dell, Toshiba or Apple, with 15 and 17 inch screens. X61p that I own has only 12.1 inches and resolution of 1024×768. However, it doesn’t look like cheap plastic hardware, more like a business tool for a person on the go. It also attracts looks because it’s different from other laptops around, so it naturally stands out. And any conversation it starts can be turned into potential sales pitch. After all – it isn’t hard to predict the sequence: “Nice laptop you got there! – Thank you, I travel a lot, so I have to have as light load as possible. – Oh, wow, what do you do? – Web design, we create web sites. Our customers are all over US, so I get to travel a lot sometimes.” – and so on.

The HTC Advantage (follow this link if you want to see where I bought it and don’t fall for any price above a grand) is very unique. It doesn’t look like Amazon’s Kindle (another great conversation piece, actually), but I do read books on a subway using HTC Advantage, so people become naturally interested. Again, the sequence is very much the same. Although last time I got asked, the lady pulled out her Blackberry and started researching Amazon for HTC Advantage right there and then.

Generally speaking there is a lot of stereotype bashing going on right here. Being equipped with so many advanced gadgets makes me look like a geek. On the other hand, these gadgets help me make more contacts with people I would otherwise miss. Not a geeky behavior at all.