4

Establishing your brand

CHECKS 34 TO 42
      Make your brand consistent

What is it?

Wherever your eBay business name appears it must be consistent — for example, in email, user IDs, websites, business name, business cards, thank you slips and letterheads.

Three reasons to do it

Having a consistent brand means customers are more likely to remember you, return to you and tell others about you.

1 Consistency builds trust and attracts more and repeat customers.
2 A consistent brand can help you achieve higher prices and more sales.
3 Your brand will be transferable — to other marketplaces and websites, and offline.

Getting started

Once you've chosen a suitable name, update each of the following. If you have an existing business, make sure every one of these is consistent. Make sure your business name is available before updating any!

Check 34: Business name

Register your business name at ASIC: http://goo.gl/5so9T0.

Check 35: Business number

Create an Australian Business Number (ABN) at www.business.gov.au.

Check 36: Website address

Register a website URL. Check with domain name providers by searching ‘domain names' on Google.

Check 37: Email address

Create a new email with your provider (get free email addresses from Google, Microsoft and so on).

Check 38: Stationery

Speak to a printer about bulk discounts for any stationery featuring your business name. Order new thank you slips, business cards, letterheads and other stationery.

Getting it done

Check 39: eBay User ID

Update or register your eBay ID: My eBay > Account > Account Information > Edit (next to ‘User ID').

Check 40: eBay store name

Update or register your eBay store name: My eBay > Activity > Manage My Store (in left navigation) > Store Design > Change (next to Display Settings).

Check 41: eBay email

Update your registered eBay email address: My eBay > Account > Account Information > Edit (next to ‘Registered email address').

Check 42: PayPal ID

Update or register your PayPal ID. On PayPal: My Account > Profile > Add or edit email > Add.

Detailed costs and time for checks 34 to 42

$200 and less than 1 hour to register a business name and Australian Business Number (ABN).
$200 and less than 1 hour to register a website URL.
$500 and up to a few days to design a new logo (search online).
Cost will vary and a few weeks to update business stationery (search online).

Business impact

To gauge potential impact, measure if there's:

an increase in sales price
an increase in views (or clicks) to your listings
an increase in visits to your eBay store
an improvement in the feedback and DSR ratings you receive
a decrease in the number of questions buyers ask.

More information

Visit the Australian government website at http://goo.gl/LLkdo5 for when and how to register a business.

CHECKS 43 TO 47
      Have your store and listings professionally designed

What is it?

Individual branding is essential to stand out from other stores. You can use eBay store templates and create your own professional listings (see checks 31 to 33), or you can stand out from the crowd and invest in your business by paying a professional company to redesign both your store and listing template to help establish your brand.

Three reasons to do it

1 Professionally designed templates help build confidence in prospective buyers, which converts more visitors to buyers.
2 Professionally designed templates also project a more professional brand to encourage higher selling prices of your items and multiple purchases from each buyer.
3 It's important to stand out from your competitors by utilising a cutting-edge, unique and memorable design.

Getting started

Check 43: Mock up your design

Choose a style and colours that best reflect your products and the personality of your business. Mock up a layout using basic design (pen and paper will do) but be clear on what you want your templates to look like.

Check 44: Get design quotes

Contact three providers to get quotes on store and template redesign. Try Frooition (www.frooition.com/au), Dzine (www.dzine-hub.com) and a Google search for ‘eBay store design'.

Check 45: Hire a designer

Employ your favourite designer/agency and agree on costs and timing.

Getting it done

You can ask your agency to update your store and listings as part of their quoted price, or you can do it yourself by completing these checks.

Check 46: Update your store template

Update this within My eBay > Activity > Manage My Store (in left navigation) > Store Design > Change (next to ‘Display Settings').

Check 47: Update your listing template

This is a more complicated process and will take some time. The process will vary depending on the listing tool you use. You will need to download all of your product information then slot this into the basic template for every item you sell.
To add HTML (this is the language used for professionally designed templates) to an item description: Sell > Sell an Item > (beneath ‘Add a description' in the Sell Your Item form) HTML > paste your code.

Detailed costs and time for checks 43 to 47

$1000 to $3000 and up to a few days to decide on a provider and submit your brief.
Less than 1 hour and free to upload your new store design.
Less than 5 hours and free to update your listing template.

Business impact

To gauge potential impact, measure if there's:

an increase in your average sales price
an increase in conversion of views to sales
an increase in the number of items per buyer
an increase in the number of repeat buyers.

More information

Visit eBay's Seller Centre at http://goo.gl/ronqW for more information on eBay Stores.

CHECKS 48 TO 50
      Create great product images

What is it?

In more than 15 years of eBay's existence one adage remains unchanged: ‘a picture tells a thousand words', or to be more precise, pictures sell! Photographs are arguably the first and most important thing a prospective buyer looks at when deciding whether to click through to your listings or purchase from you. As competition in eCommerce increases, buyers have raised expectations for what they consider acceptable and appealing product photography. Remember that more clicks to your listing can help improve your visibility in eBay search results, so attract as many buyers as possible via the power of clear, crisp and attention-grabbing photography.

Three reasons to do it

At a time when the number of online businesses is greater than ever, all of them competing for buyer attention, this really is a non-negotiable.

1 Attract more buyers to your listing, which can help improve your standing in eBay's search results.
2 Convert more searchers to purchasers, resulting in more sales for your business.
3 Not doing it will diminish your ability to compete successfully in your category.

Getting started

Taking great photographs is often about having the right equipment to do so. If you plan on listing a lot of products on eBay it may be most cost-effective to purchase the equipment outright. Alternatively, you could consider hiring equipment whenever you need to create more photographs of your products. Some suppliers will allow you access to their stock photographs, but it's important to ensure they are the right size and as professional as possible.

Tip: Never copy and paste product images from the internet — you may be infringing copyright, which is against the law. From an eBay perspective, this could lead to your entire listing being ended and an inability to sell your stock. The risk is simply not worth it.

Check 48: Prepare products for photography

Before you start taking photographs, prepare a sample of each product. This will save you time when you should be concentrating on completing the task at hand.

Getting it done

Before you begin, make sure you have a list of all of the products you're taking photos of, and the order in which you'll take them — this will make it easier for you to locate the right photographs later. Alternatively, you could save each image as you take it and rename it to the product name or number. Make sure each file is saved with a name that makes it fast and easy to identify and distinguish from other products.

Check 49: Photograph your products

Taking a great image is an art but there are some tips for making the end result look more professional.
  • Use natural light wherever possible. For darker areas try to use lamps rather than the camera flash.
  • Create a plain background. White often works best — a clean sheet is a simple option.
  • Elevate products. Use a white stand or table; for clothing use a mannequin.
  • Use a camera tripod to reduce shakes and bumps.
  • Move the camera closer to the product rather than using zoom.
  • Take images from a number of different angles.

Check 50: Upload your photos

Uploading images to eBay is a straightforward process once you have the image files saved to computer. However, there is no fast way to upload bulk images and assign them to individual listings unless you're using a third-party listing tool. To add a photo to your listing click Sell to enter the Sell Your Item form then Add Photos then Browse to locate your photo on your computer. Click the image then Open. Use the buttons to the right to optimise the image (crop, rotate, correct exposure, adjust brightness) and once you're happy with the image, click Upload.

Detailed costs and time for checks 48 to 50

A few hundred dollars to hire good photography equipment or up to a few thousand dollars to purchase it.
$200 to $500 per hour for a professional photographer.
5 to 10 minutes per product to take the image.
1 to 5 minutes per listing to upload to eBay.

Business impact

To gauge potential impact, measure if there's:

an increase in views (or clicks) to your listings
an increase in the number of items sold
a decrease in the number of questions asked by buyers.

More information

  • View eBay's great photo tips page and video at http://goo.gl/k6ZeTu.
  • You could consider investing in 360 product photography, which essentially takes a 360-degree image of your product (from all angles). Conduct a Google search for more information and equipment for sale.
..................Content has been hidden....................

You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.
Reset