Category Archives: Marketing

Announcements, eBay, eBay Promotions, eBay Tools, Marketing, Tools

Make Money with the new eBay affiliate program!

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affiliate_logo

If You are already an eBay affiliate through CJ.com, then you will need to know about this:

On April 1st, the new eBay self owned affiliate program is opening for new signups, and if you use CJ.com then you will have to change your links and discover the new eBay affiliate network program.

One of the best new features is the affiliate enabled eBay Togo application, something that I (as an eBay community developer) have been waiting for, it’s now here with a lot more new tools and options. And if you are a developer, then you will love the affiliate API portal.

All the great tools and benefits of working with the eBay program will remain the same – access to the Editor Kit and affiliate API, the flexible destination tool, the great payout structure. In addition, the eBay partner network will provide several new features: • Easy global registration to multiple countries simultaneously • New, targeted banners and rich media creatives • New landing page optimization and geo-targeting capabilities • More detailed reporting capabilities for eBay’s programs

I am already playing with the new tools mostly: Flex Tool, Editor Kit, RSS Feed Generator, Keyword Linking Tool and the Product Kit.

No need to worry for the non geeks out there, it’s even easier than before to insert the affiliate links and start making money globally!

Check the new program at: http://affiliates.ebay.com/ and for the new affiliate enabled Togo application go here: http://togo.ebay.com/affiliates/

Announcements, eBay Tools, Education, Tools

eBay Desktop 1.0 Now Available

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ebay desktop logo

I have been researching the application and waiting for the 1.0 final release, it’s a cool coincidence for it to come out at the same time Adobe Air 1.0 is out!

That’s from their blog:

eBay Desktop 1.0 is now available for download! This free application is an alternative to the eBay website – you can use it to search, browse, bid, keep track of your auctions — all the things you use the website for when you’ve got some money burning a hole in your pocket (or in your PayPal account).

The 1.0 release contains lots of bug fixes, performance enhancements, and small changes to features in response to user suggestions. We also recently released a beta including international support, and the 1.0 has lots of fixes that should make using eBay Desktop from all the international eBay locations much better.

eBay Desktop uses Adobe AIR, and we are synchronizing our 1.0 release with the 1.0 of AIR. The installer will take care of downloading both eBay Desktop and Adobe AIR, whether or not you have installed one or the other in the past.

We have worked on the project for nearly 2 years, and I am very pleased with the end result. We have lots more enhancements planned for the coming weeks and months, but this the most important milestone so far. The eBay Desktop team from Effective UI has worked incredibly hard on this, and I’d like to thank them all: Sean, Greg O., Greg C. Jason, and all the project alumni: thank you! And thanks to all the eBay members who have provided great suggestions, ideas, bug reports, and words of praise. I hope that we can continue to provide great user experiences that make the eBay marketplace more fun and dynamic, and help connect more individuals through the simple act of commerce.

I personally think that this tool will be great for buyers more than sellers on eBay, but with some practice on it, I think it will be a mini research tool for sellers.

Enjoy it.

Advertising, Marketing

Super Bowl marketing part 1 of 2

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I have been berried in writing (And I am not complaining, but actually love it) since my publisher (for some strange reason) pushed my deadline by 2 months, so I had to triple the amount of words I type every day, and that’s why it took me a while to write this article. Better late than never I guess. 😉

So I decided to approach the massive marketing behind the Super Bowl in a new way. Here is how I watched the Super Bowl as a marketer:

I looked at the ads and the marketing strategy for Fox 5.

I will skip most of the ads I didn’t like and compress it to savor your reading.

“Road to the Super Bowl” was boring if you are a true football fan and seen it all, then why the replay?

However Fox is once again showing us how heavy they advertised the Super Bowl Throughout the season, remember that’s over $170 millions in about 4 hours, plus all the promotions about foxsports.com and some of the Fox 5 channel programs with all the ad revenue coming from it.

First ad that grabbed my attention was the Super Bowl ad itself, or should I call the opening credits?

Fox bringing their own Ryan Seacrest to what they called the first ever Super Bowl red carpet! A nice twist to adding a Hollywood spirit to the game.

Interviewing big names like: Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Laurence Fishburne and Hugh Laurie.

Then announcing the performances by: Alicia Keys, Paula Abdul w/ Randy Jackson (A quick reminder from Fox to watch their American Idol program) and Sara Evans w/ Willie Nelson.

Followed by a clip from Google earth zooming in on the Super Bowl stadium. Very nice.

Most of the pre-game show ads were relatively good, mostly, State Farm Insurance (A big sponsor for the event). Other than that it was all ordinary ads.

A semi official marketing analytics by Fox about the Super

Actual game ads:

When I ask someone why do you watch the Super Bowl? Most people answer: The funny ads.

Again another reminder about American Idol by having Jordan Sparks singing the national anthem. And also the great and sexy performance by Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson… To be continued…

Continue the storyline in part 2 of this article.