We're gonna talk blogging on blogtalkradio.com!

Well, we had so much fun on Tuesday, Kat and I, that Louise and I are gonna try it on Friday, 12/26 at 2 PM EST- Talk to the Powersellers! We're going to interview Danna Crawford, CEO of PowersellingMom.com about Blogging!

Everything you ever wanted to know about how to blog, where to blog and what to blog about!



So come join up on Friday and if you have blogging questions, you can call in during the show and Ask Danna yourself!

The Soap Opera Comes to Talkshoe Radio!! Today!!

The folks from my yahoo group are going to try to have a talk radio show today - 1 PM EST (12-23) on talkshoe.com

WHAT are you doing at 1 PM on Tuesdays?? Come talk with us about selling online. We're on ebay, amazon, bonanzle and a few other places so come ask us your questions and suggest your answers to our questions...and just generally chat and learn from each other for 60 little minutes.

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=29246&cmd=tc

Are you tearing your hair out trying to get your child to read?

I did too. Mine is in his 20's now. And he reads. I don't know exactly what turned the trick. It might ahve been the comic books he started reading when he was about 12. It might have been the desire to read the "whole" story behind some of his favorite horror movies or the Japanese Anime he came to enjoy as a teenager. I really don't care what it was. Something got him reading and I rejoice as my husband and I are life-long readers and book collectors. Now he not only reads, he is writing about what he read this year. (ssssssssssh do not tell him I showed you this. He'd probably never forgive me. But because I read this and enjoyed his analysis of the books he read, I thought you might like to check them out too!

So, Forthwith, here is his Squidoo lens on his 2008 reading list. (Don't miss WRATH of the Thunder Lizards which is his other squidoo lens)

http://www.squidoo.com/xml/syndicate_lens/Cherkowskys08readinglist

(or it's linked in the right side top box!) Check it out.

Blogging your products

Well I'm so behind on everything that I almost put adding to this blog off. BUT,...Steve Lindhorst sent me a new issue of his The MultiChannel Seller Newsletter and in it, Steve said "BLOG" is a verb. BLOG about your products. Or words to that effect.

So, here I am. This week, I'm trying to finish listing a grouping of Nancy Drew books we bought last year. Problem was, there were a lot of double and triple copies of the same volume. So 3 of The Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion. All hardback 1940's issues with dust jackets and in reasonably good shape. So rather than dilute the market by putting all three up at the same time, I listed one. And in some cases I actually remembered to list the second copy. Not often enough though so now I still have 2 copies. And there fore, this time I'm just listing them all and letting the bids fly where they may.

Are you a Nancy Drew collector? Girls' Series books are hotly collected still. Even in this economy. But you need Farrah's Guide which is a very specialized and rather hard to find book. My husband bought several years ago when we found several other series of girls books so all of the ones that I've listed this week or will list next wee are marked as to which of the 10 million variatons they are. (hey he has to do something to earn his spending money! ) To see them, click here:

And, because like the rest of you, my family expects Christmas presents to be real gifts and not socks or underwear, I am also listing a whole lot of Roseville, Weller and Royal Copenhagen as well B&G Christmas Plates . So you will see those there also.

Come on in and browse at least. And if you'd like a copy of my new newsletter, please sign up here:

Depression Glass Warehouse Collectibles Newsletter

Ok, gotta go list. List more, Sell more!

C-ya tomorrow!

Beth

Blogging is like work - DUH!

My sister runs a company (her own small startup) that provides services to senior citizens and their caretakers. She's paying $175 a month for 4 posts a month to be written. She provides the blogger with material and that person writes her blog. AND??? And she's happy paying out money. Me? As hard as it is to blog, I'd rather do it myself, thank you.

So I sat down the other day and wrote this whole draft about how Santa Claus, who used to shop on eBay according to Marsha Collier, is now shopping on Bonanzle (according to me). And I say that because? Because I've sold 4 things since opening there, without really doing a darn thing.

I pushed my eBay listings over. Was taking my sweet time editing them and people started buying. WOW! So I signed up for Googlecheckout. Guess what? I love it!

But back to that original post about Santa shopping at Bonanzle. I was just about done and...(no the computer didn't crash. ! ) I hit the wrong stinking key and deleted the whole darn thing!

TADA! the wonders of modern technology! At least in a typewriter, I'd have had typos but I'd still have a paper copy.

And the creative spark that was burning during that "episode" of my blogging life is dead now. Santa may still be over at Bonanzle shopping his fool boots off, but my brain has moved on and not to more interesting topics. Today, my brain is consumed with "WHY can't I list as many items per day as I used to??"

I'll have an answer for that on Friday. See me then. (After all, it's my consuming project for the day...to figure it out! and reverse the trend!)

Are you ready for the Holiday Mailing Season?

Are you ready?

You and I both know that even with the economy in a shambles, WE are giving Christmas presents (holiday presents to celebrate Hannuaka or Kwanza or New Years or Boxing Day or WHATEVER you feel like celebrating.)

So are our customers online! They may not be spending as much as last year but they going to give each other something. So are YOU ready?

Do you have priority mail boxes on hand?
Do you have packing materials - clean, non-smelly, category appropriate packing materials?
Do you have plenty of packing tape? labels? printer paper? ink?

Did you eat your Wheaties this morning? Cause Black Friday, Green Monday, Cyber Tuesday - they are all on the way. And for heaven't sake, you don't want to have to refund a sale because you didn't have the right size box or other supply.

Now do you know the Post Office's and UPS and FEDEX's shipping deadlines? You need to know them and let your customers know them. So, here's a link to the appropriate websites:


The USPS: http://www.usps.com/holiday/welcome.htm?from=home_lgpromo_RedOrnaments&page=Calendar

BROWN! UPS:
http://www.compass.ups.com/article/article.aspx?id=2289

and last but by no means least - Fedex:
http://www.fedex.com/us/holiday/shipping/lastdaystoship.html


So, go print out the schedules if you haven't already. Be sure to order the supplies from whomever you use for that (I've got recommendations for that on another day) and get packing!


By the way - remember to smile every day - it makes the world wonder what you've been up to! and? And HAVE FUN!

WHAT do you like to sell?

I like selling small light things. I normally sell pottery and glass - not exactly small and light. But i love pottery and glass and selling it is an excuse to buy it and have it for a while. I think of my inventory as "my rotating collection".

My favorite thing to ship is....well it's a toss-up between postcards (2 pcs of cardboard or a rigid plastic slip case and an envelope) or authographed baseballs (box, peanuts, baseball, more peanuts. Tape the box shut! WALA!! you're done.

Now even though I don't like shipping big pottery I seem to be doing it pretty regularly. Imagine my emotions when my shipping deparment, aka my husband, confessed that they shipped a 16 inch tall pottery vase, which sold for a mere $150 and...


And he used peanuts, wedged the vase into the box but forgot..the bubblewrap. Thank God he pused a box! It did arrive safely and my buyer did leave good feedback. But JEEZ!! Good help is hard to find.!!!