Here is a checklist of the spring seller updates – what you can do starting right NOW!

The topic was an intro to Email Marketing. You can listen to the podcast here. My interview begins around the 31 minute mark.

We talked about what Email Marketing is (a tool to help you build long term relationships with your customers or clients), how to choose a mailing list provider (identify the specific needs of your business such as the number of subscribers you have, the number of emails you plan to send out and the features you require), strategies to build an email list, what good Newsletter content is (quick answer: information that provides value to your target audience) and how Social Media and Email Marketing work together.

Toward the end of the interview I shared lots of information on how to be sure to your Newsletters are sent out on the best days and at the best times. This is important to know so your emails get read and you don’t have people unsubscribing.

For example, did you know that Tues at 11am (eastern) is one of the worst possible times to send your emails? We also covered which words to use in your subject line to get the most emails opened and which not to use because they’re considered spam. And did you know that 80.8% of people read emails on their smartphones? That means your emails need to be optimized for mobile viewing.

If you’d like all the facts, figures and tips shared on the podcast, sign up for our new Newsletter (from our sister site  We Do Social Media Marketing For You) asap. The tips will be in the next issue coming out in a couple of days!

If you’re not a fan yet, it’s easy to become one. Just look to your right where it says ‘Join Our Facebook Fan Page’ and click the ‘Like’ button.

Sellers Choice 2011: Merchants Rate Ecommerce Marketplaces is an interesting look at 15 online marketplaces rated by over 2800 sellers. This is an annual survey conducted by AuctionBytes.

10 Pages for Buyers and Sellers on Facebook – Here you’ll find ten pages filled with social marketplaces – companies that help you build stores on Facebook, and other providers of shopping services.

Email Marketing for eCommerce Sellers – another super article from HubSpot. The large majority of visitors to your eCommerce website won’t make a purchase and end up exiting anonymously. Even for those interested enough to make it to the checkout process, 88% of consumers admitted to abandoning shopping carts according to Forrester Research. One of the biggest reasons noted was not being ready to purchase. Why not capture their contact info and keep in touch so when they’re ready to buy, they buy from you! 7 Ways to Grow Your Email Database.

Thinking About Selling on Facebook?. This article points out 4 things you should be aware of.

Your Shopping Cart. If you thought the topic was dull, you’ve never seen it explained like this!

Holiday Gift Ideas for the Business Owner

This holiday season why not take advantage of the wonderful variety of  items being sold online and the convenience of shopping from the comfort of your own home?

Our ‘Savvy Shopper’s Holiday Gift Guide’ features experienced online sellers who are trustworthy and reputable, offer quality products & services and are sure to exceed your expectations! You can find Part I of our Holiday Gift Guide here.

Today’s Gift Guide (Part 2) is focused on finding the perfect gift for the business owner in your life – whether their business is online or off.

We invite you to enjoy today’s selections:

Business: Frank’s Designs Empowered Marketing™

Services: Graphic Design, Trade Show Displays and Web Design

Description: Our mission is to provide exceptional, thoughtful, full service graphic design solutions and web design services for small businesses who want their marketing efforts to be as effective as possible. We serve many types of companies and we are especially inspired when working with mind-body-spirit oriented businesses.

What sets Frank’s Designs Apart: We care about the success of your business which is the logic behind Empowered Marketing™: Taking into consideration what will be most effective for your company and delivering it. How do we do it? By thinking about the psychological impact of colors, images, the right fonts, and using “powerful language” to convey your message.

Specials: We appreciate referrals all year round so if you refer someone to us and they hire us we will make sure you get rewarded. The reward varies from $50 cash, flowers or anything we feel is appropriate at the time.

How to reach us: www.FranksDesigns.com, FranksDesigns@gmail.com, 941-374-7711

Gift Certificates: Yes, You can buy a gift certificate anytime by contacting us.

Business: OSI Rock Stars

Services: OSI Rock Stars is a membership site dedicated to making your business successful and profitable.

Description: The OSI site includes over 500 hours of training in online marketing, eCommerce and social networking as well as informative and supportive discussion forums. In addition, members have access to Exclusive Success Training where each week they have a rare all access VIP pass to Live training including: Q&A with site visionnaire Janelle Elms and monthly access to in-depth training on Success subjects such as the 12-hour training on Profitable Keywords that increased participants’ profits on eBay & online by as much as 120%!

What Sets OSI Rock Stars Apart: OSI Rock Stars has earned the reputation of over delivering step-by-step success education to its members that increases their online profits. The 1000’s of quotes from deliriously happy & successful customers speak for themselves.

Holiday Special: The membership fee for OSI Rock Stars will be increasing next month (Jan 2011) but if you join now, you’ll be grandfathered in at the current rate ($368.65/year). That means you can be a Rock Star with an all-access pass to the site for just $1.01/day! Next month the membership fee will increase to $997/year. Make an early New Year’s resolution to treat yourself and your business to a profitable 2011! Go ahead …. Take your first ‘Success Step’ and sign up at the current rate .

Business: As Was

Services: As Was specialises in one-on-one branding, marketing, design, and strategy consulting services for eBay and online sellers. If you are looking for a truly custom eBay template or eCommerce design. Let us help you stand out from everybody else.

What Sets As Was Apart?: The main thing that makes us unique is our specialty in UX/UI, which is where psychology and design intersect. When we design something, we make sure it really works for each individual business. We think about the habits and behaviours of your target shopper and make sure we lay out things to naturally cater to them. We never use cookie cutter templates or give customers the same thing we’ve given other customers. We don’t take the same old layout, change the colour, and call it custom.

Holiday Special: For new clients signing contracts over $2000, which would be any new client , we are offering 10% off if the customer is willing to pay in full up front. We take credit and debit cards.

Where to Find As Was: As Was is the main place to learn more, but the website is admittedly out of date. I suggest people hit Tungle Me to schedule a phone call with me personally to look at their biz and talk about what we can do to help. There’s no charge for the consultation.

Gift Certificates: Available. Contact As Was to request one.

Business: The Savvy Seller and We Do Social Media Marketing For You (Shameless plug!)

Services: The Savvy Seller develops social media strategies and action plans customized for your online or offline business. We Do Social Media Marketing For You provides social media management services for small to mid-size business owners who don’t have the time, resources or knowledge to do it themselves.

What Sets Us Apart: Our attention to detail and the fact that everything we do is customized, personalized and tailored to you and your business. If you like to be in charge and have a hands-on style, we’ll show you ‘how to’ do it. If you’d rather have your marketing strategy created and managed for you, we can do that too!

At The Savvy Seller, we create a customized online marketing ‘Strategy’ for your business and a step-by-step ‘Action Plan’ to implement the strategy ….. all based on your  specific needs and resources as well as the personality and message that you want your business to convey online.

We Do Social Media Marketing For You is a dream-come-true for savvy business owners who want an internet presence but don’t have the time, energy or knowledge to maintain it. We create and manage your internet presence on social media sites (such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and more) so you don’t have to!

Where to Find Us: Contact us at info@the-savvy-seller.com or info@wedosocialmediamarketingforyou

Gift Certificates: Always available! Let us know what we can do for you! info@the-savvy-seller.com

Happy Holiday wishes to all from

A Holiday Gift Guide

This holiday season why not take advantage of the wonderful variety of  items being sold online and the convenience of shopping from the comfort of your own home?

Our ‘Savvy Shopper’s Holiday Gift Guide’ features experienced online sellers who are trustworthy and reputable, sell quality items, provide outstanding service, excel in packing and shipping and who will exceed your expectations!

We invite you to enjoy today’s selections:

Business: Dream Adventures

What They Sell: 100% authentic guaranteed designer clothing, accessories and jewelry

About the business:

Dream Adventures offers fashion minded women a white glove online shopping experience!  They feature a full line of women’s designer clothing from your favorite upscale brands as well as QVC clothing, from petite to plus size.  As a Kirks Folly retailer, they offer a wide selection of jewelry & accessories at low prices. Their discounts will delight you and their customer service will amaze you. 100% authentic, guaranteed.

What makes them unique:

Their white glove customer service. They make each customer feel special and pampered when they purchase from Dream-Adventures.

What’s special for the holidays:

For the holiday, Dream Adventures has their “Holidays Made Easier” campaign in place.  This includes 4 main points:  1)  Fast 24 hour shipping, 2)  Ship to the gift recipient, 3)  Free gift wrap with boutique bow and gift card & 4)  Extended money back return policy.

Featured item:

Kirks Folly Beginning To Look Allot Like Christmas Stretch Bracelet with FREE Shipping. $75.99.

Get into the Christmas spirit with this fun “Beginning To Look Allot Like Christmas” Stretch Bracelet, filled with charms of Christmas past and future, a candy cane, toy solder, a tree, reindeer, teddy bear and much more. With three rows of faceted green crystal beads this bracelet stretches to fit most wrist sizes. New & 100% authentic guaranteed!

Business Name: Kat’s Kloset

What They Sell: Items invented by women entrepreneurs.

About the Business:

Kat’s Kloset donates 10% of their sales every month to a non-profit promoting Women’s Entrepreneurship in Honduras.

Featured Item:

Onesole Holiday Snap-on Top – A creative and unique shoe with comfort, style, and versatility. This new concept allows for the purchase of one or more Stylish Soles, then the separate purchase of any one or more designer tops that suits your taste, mood, or occasion!

Business: Mermaid Caramels

What They Sell: Yummy sea-salt soft caramels. Mermaid Caramels are delicious soft caramels that are hand-cut and hand-wrapped with a smattering of sea salt to delight your taste buds! (Are you drooling yet?). These can come with extra salt and in any size you would like. Ingredients include: Madagascar vanilla, Farm fresh butter, Delicious heavy cream, Mediterranean hand ground sea-salt, Pure cane sugar, Moonbeams and Mermaid Kisses.

About the Business: Enchanted by the sea, my inner mermaid comes forth when I create these delicious caramels. After having my caramel siren song woo many a local, I was requested to start selling them. One customer won’t even let me wrap the individual caramels…he simply asks for a plate to go!

What Makes Them Unique:  The mermaid looks forward to enticing you with whatever you desire – special flavor, unique packaging. Please let me know how I can enchant your life with delicious caramels.

What’s Special for the Holidays: The option to request a special size, packaging or request you have for any special event. We love doing corporate gifts, weddings, dinner party treat boxes and much more. We would be more than happy to do anything to make your life delightful, stress-free and most of all delicious! For special deals, coupons, and being ‘the first to know’ when we launch new flavors become a Fan at www.ILoveCaramels.com – our Facebook Fan Page.

Featured Item: Mermaid Sea Salt Soft Caramels – 1 pound of the original, delicious gourmet candy sweets individually hand-wrapped (Gluten Free)

From the cottage by the sea come these delicious bites of warm vanilla, soft melting caramel and salt from the sea. Only the finest ingredients are used to create these bite-sized treats including enchanting vanilla from Madagascar. You will receive approx 55-60 pieces (1 lb) perfect for giving or receiving. (Glass display not included)

Business: Good Buys All the Time

What They Sell: A menagerie of items … all reasonably priced.

What’s Special for the Holidays: FREE Shipping and Gift Wrapping

Featured Item:
Christmas Santa Snowman Mommy & Me Matching Apron Set -

Matching “Mommy & Me ” aprons, oven mitts, and Pot Holders ~ total of 6 pieces.  Blue Background with Santa Claus, Reindeer, and snowman.

Start a holiday tradition with your little ones this year!

Business: Alpha Bargains

What They Sell: Kitchenware, Home Goods and Baby & Child Gifts.

About the Business: You can spend $500 for a knife or you can spend $1 for a knife at the dollar store. Somewhere in between is the “bargain spot” where you get the best use of your money. AlphaBargains strives to provide products that are in the bargain spot.

What’s Special for the Holidays: Alpha Bargains ships 6 days per week so their customers can get their packages as close to immediately as possible. In almost all cases we offer free shipping with one or two day delivery upon request.

Featured Item: Rada 7 Piece Gift Set

Rada 7 Piece Gift Set is a well rounded selection of some of the most used and useful kitchen cutlery. Rada is known for their highly polished, extremely sharp blades and brushed aluminum handles. Rada products are wholly made in the USA from US materials and have a lifetime manufacturer’s guarantee.

Happy Holidays from

In case you weren’t able to join us live, here’s a run-down of the tools we mentioned …..

Diigo – a social bookmarking tool with a very useful highlighting and sticky note feature.

Cinch – a very easy way to record and share audio on the web. Use from your computer or your phone!

Jing – an easy way to take a screenshot or make a short video of what’s on your computer monitor.

Paper.li – lets you read Twitter in a daily newspaper format. Paper.li organizes links shared on Twitter into an easy to read newspaper-style format. Newspapers can be created for any Twitter user, list or #tag.

Popplet – This is a very cool and super simple way to make a diagram or infographic to use on a website, blog or to email to someone. The best way to really see what a popplet is about is to look at samples on their site.

Amplify – When the 140 characters on Twitter isn’t enough, Amplify provides the solution. From the Amplify site: In addition to engaging in conversation on Amplify, everything you share here can also be auto-posted to Twitter, Facebook, Buzz, Posterous, Tumblr, Friendfeed, and more so you can easily share with your friends and followers all around the web.

RockMelt – is a new browser designed around you and how you use the Web. Although still in beta, you can get an invite and try it out!

Klout – a useful tool that measures your overall social media influence through 25 variables broken into three categories; True Reach, Amplification Score and Network Score.

The final ‘tool’ we talked about is a very creative one. You can find it mentioned at the end of the podcast.

For more information about these tools & how you can best use them, listen to the recorded podcast here:

Tomorrow’s ‘Tips From the Top’ podcast is all about Google, SEO (search engine optimization) and Social Media. Mark your calendar and join us live, tomorrow,  Tue Oct 26 at 2:00pm EST!

Our guest will be Evan Bailyn, an internet entrepreneur & the CEO of First Page Sage – a search engine optimization and social media company serving celebrity and Fortune 500 clients. Evan has a significant presence on social media sites with over 65,000 fans on Facebook and over 38,000 followers on Twitter. His first book, called Outsmarting Google, will debut in major book stores in early 2011.

During our pocast we’ll be covering a number of topics including:

* The 5 ingredients of successful SEO

* The art of choosing the right keywords

* Using Google AdWords to complement SEO

* Converting SEO results into paying customers

* Optimizing for social media

* Mobile SEO

Evan will be sharing some of his and his clients’ amazing success stories as well as offering tips and strategies for SEO and Social Media. You won’t want to miss this information-filled podcast (Tue Oct 26 at 2:00pm EST)!

If you have any Google, SEO or Social Media questions for our guest, you can post them in the podcast Chat Room during the call or write them in the Comments section of this blog and we’ll be sure to get the answers for you!

http://postrank.com/graphics/blog_claim.png?s=z2xhai8

You can add this with your blogging software, or use the following html code:

SEO (search engine optimization) is an inexact science that explains how to set up a website for optimal search result placement.

Since Google is the #1 search engine, the information provided by them sets the gold standard for SEO.

Below is Google’s SEO Starter Guide. An easy to understand yet comprehensive explanation of how to optimize your website.

Please feel free to download and share!

Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide -