Hashtags: A Beginner’s Guide

Hashtags: A Beginner’s Guide

You?ve no doubt heard of ?hashtags. ?It?s that pound sign people use on Twitter right?? you say. You may have even referenced them in conversation, either in person, text, or just jokingly (I know I have). But…you really have no clue on how to use them to build an audience. Today we?re going to change that. You will learn

• What hashtags are
• Which social media platforms use them
• How to use them effectively

I?ll also point you at some amazing tools that will help you figure out which ones to use. Oh, and I?ll just give you some to get started with because I just like you so much 😉

What the heck is a hashtag?

  [dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”300px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ] Hashtag:??A word or phrase preceded by a hash or pound sign (#) and used to identify messages around a specific topic or category of interest. [/dropshadowbox]   Basic rule: Don?t use spaces or punctuation In Layman?s terms: Word/phrase = a searchable link. Example: If someone is looking for something about the Nutribullet on Twitter and you have a video on YouTube showing people how to use it to make smoothies, they might find you when looking for something relevant like #Smoothies or #Nutrition. Hashtags are now used on every major social network (minus Linkedin, but there?s something similar). As you might have guessed, we?ll start with…

Twitter

 

Hashtags and retweets (Some interesting numbers)

Here?s some data you need to know:   [dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”300px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]

• 25% of tweets without hashtags are retweeted
• 40% of tweets with hashtags are retweeted
• Tweets with hashtags get 2x more engagement than those without them

[/dropshadowbox]  

How many hashtags should I use??

According to Twitter, 1-2 hashtags is ideal and anything above this will either start to annoy people or lead to irrelevant hashtags.   [dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”300px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ] One study claims:

• Tweets with 1 or 2 hashtags have 21% more engagement than those with 3 or more.
• Engagement drops 17% when you have more than 2.

[/dropshadowbox]   However, a different study by Track Maven revealed that on average 3-7 hashtags is where you?ll get the most retweets. So…which do you think is right? I?m leaning towards Track Maven?s results, but see what works for you. The important thing to take away from this is that you should absolutely use hashtags when tweeting because you?re better off with at least 1 or 2. Furthermore, you should experiment with a few (1-2) and multiple (3-7) hashtags, but make sure to track your results to see what works because everyone?s audience is different! NOTE: There is a possibility that your account could either get suspended or banned if you start over-hashtagging. If you use 3 or more of them you better make sure they are very relevant!

Riding the trend waves

Before I get started here… why don?t I just give you 7 trending topics you can use right away? Here you go (one for every day of the week):

1. #ManicMonday
2. #TransformationTuesday
3. #WisdomWednesday
4. #ThrowbackThursday or #TBT
5. #FollowFriday or #FF
6. #SexySaturday (#Caturday works well too)
7. #SelfieSunday

Use them if you can, but make sure they?re relevant to whatever content you?re adding them to. Where were we? Oh yeah, riding the trend waves that?s right! Hashtags that start getting used very frequently begin to what they call ?trend?. For instance, according to Hashtag.org, #HondaCivicTour is on the rise (currently at around 12,100 retweets and counting today 8/10/15)?UPDATE:?(I finished this on 8/11/15) because it?s a huge music tour hosted by Honda where they released a YouTube video showing a time-lapse of them making a custom civic with artwork that matches the tour?s. I think One Direction is the headliner. Now I?d say that this hashtag is trending don?t you think? Use relevant trending hashtags when you can. Another reason this is a great resource because it allows you to see a graph that?s tracking a specific hashtag for the past 24 hours AND some information on some of the more popular users using them. Now you will only see what Hashtag.org allows free members to see (which isn?t a whole lot) so upgrading might be an option for you. If not, don?t worry you can use Twitonomy to find out an influential tweeter?s top 10:

• Hashtags
• Tweets users most retweeted (and what they retweeted)
• Most replied to tweets
• Users most mentioned
• Days & hours most retweeted
• What platforms were used
• Tweets most favorited

You can see some average tweet analytics, tweets, followers, who they?re following, people who favorite their tweet, lists they?re being followed on and ones they?re following. Pretty neat huh? Now if you want to download and print this stuff (and get access to more than just top ten this and that) you have to upgrade, but the top 10 list is a good start.

How to avoid a huge mistake people make on Twitter

If you start a tweet with the @ sign only the people that follow you and whoever you mention will see the tweet. In other words, not all of your followers will see it, which may come in handy sometime if that?s what you want. Example:   [dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”300px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ] “@Yankees suck and they know it.” (Only people that follow both you and the Yankees will see this). [/dropshadowbox]   However, if you want everyone to be able to see what you tweeted… DON?T start the sentence with the @ symbol, add something like ?The? or you could even put a period in front of it (but using ?The? looks way more natural). Example: [dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”300px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ] “The @Yankees suck and they know it.” [/dropshadowbox]   Or. [dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”300px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ] “.@Yankees suck and they know it.” (looks a little awkward, but it works) [/dropshadowbox]  

Trending keywords?

While you can piggyback off of other influential people?s hashtags, do not forget that to look for industry keywords if you?re using them for business. Hashtagify.?me(not hashtagifyme.com, I got this wrong at first lol) will show you the top 10 hashtags for a certain keyword.

Getting more targeted

Perhaps you want a hashtag that is a lot more niched down than something like #Facebook or something else very broad. Introducing?Tweetbinder. This tool will help you get relevant, more specific keywords by just entering a broad hashtag. Additionally, you can even see what others are saying about any of the keywords pulled up by clicking on them. Boom. Simple stuff.

Tweetchat

Basically this is a discussion group with similar interests that have scheduled ?meetings? on Twitter. This is a great way to find people that are in your same niche! If you?re using Twitter for Internet marketing here?s an ultimate list of tweet chats you will love. You?ll see the name of the twitter chat room, when the discussions are taking place, who?s moderating (this person usually has some questions lined up for everyone), where to find the recap, and of course what recent topics they?re discussing. Simply go to Tweetchat and get started, easy right? (You can even start your own)

The other social networks using hashtags

To find out about hot topics on other social networks (besides Twitter) you can use Tagboard. This site will find and combine discussions from Instagram, Facebook, etc. and organize them by their hashtag. Create your own board if you?re brave and have come up with your own hashtag.

Instagram

Now Instagram is pretty much the polar opposite of Twitter because when it comes to hashtags, the more the merrier…and you can use up to 30. Here are 5 of the more popular hashtags according to Zarella:

• #followforfollow
• #likeforlike
• #follow4follow
• #l4l
• #f4f

This site?s popularity is rising, so don?t overlook it.

Facebook?

Hashtags are not as popular on Facebook. Clicking on a hashtag will bring up relative content, but you can?t search for hashtags. Somewhat like Twitter (the Track Maven study had different results), over-hashtagging is just not as engaging. According to a study of over 200,000 brand posts, here are some of the numbers: [dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”300px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]

• 1-2 #: 593 interactions per post
• 3-5 #: 416 interactions per post
• 6-10#: 307 interactions per post
• 10# and more: 188 interactions per post

[/dropshadowbox]   The numbers certainly didn?t seem to lie there.?

Google+

Yes, it?s still relevant. The cool thing is they?re pretty easy to find in Google search. With Google+ you want to put your hashtags on the bottom of you post (just nice netiquette) and limit them from 2-4.

Pinterest

? With Pinterest you really just want to:

• Put your hashtags in the description box because they?re only clickable there.
• Keep them at 2-3

Tumblr?

Tumblr is in the same boat as Instagram.

• Use as many as you can (up to 30).
• Stack them up in the ?tags? field

Linkedin? With Linkedin they?ve done away with hashtags, but you can use up to 3 keywords to ?tag? Pulse posts.

Simple tips to follow when using hashtags:

• Have a clear call to action
• Make them RELEVANT
• You can use a hashtag in Spanish as long as it?s relevant.
• Make them unique
• Use them to check on the competition
• Keep them short and sweet
• Stay away from generic hashtags
• Capitalize multi-word hashtags
• Do NOT use slang
• Be wary of double meaning
• Don?t get abstract
• Make sure and proofread them
• Pay close attention to your fans for new ideas
• Check if your hashtag is being used for something else completely different
• Use branded and NON-branded hashtags
• Track what works and scale it up
• Make sure that you don?t spell something else entirely when capitalization is removed.
• Test small and THEN go big when you get good results
• Have a back up hashtag
• Don?t forget about billboards, TV, experiment with them in unlikely advertising.
• Incorporate your hashtag into live tweets on major events
• Keep an eye on your trade with them

#EndOfPost Hehe. Hashtags are an awesome way to get your content seen. Use them to build an audience and experiment, but make sure and track your results. I hope you?ve enjoyed this little hashtag lecture lol (it won?t be long before they?re in colleges if they isn?t already…they really should be) feel free to follow me and get updates on new blog posts from me. (Grab a freebie while you?re there) Let me know if I missed something on hashtags kiddos. I?ll depart with an inspirational quote I love: [dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”350px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ] ?If you learn late, you pass it on to people so they learn early. It?s a step process.? ?Russell Simmons [/dropshadowbox]   Love that guy. Have a great day everyone. -Phil

You Don?t Need To Be an Expert To Master Headlines

You Don?t Need To Be an Expert To Master Headlines

Your content is awesome.

?How can they NOT read this? you think to yourself.

But after putting your heart and soul (and possibly tears lol) into it..

Nobody really cares about what you’ve written and I?ll tell you why.

Why You Need A Great Headline

Roughly 20% of the people that read your headline will actually read the rest of your content.

Now those are tough odds aren?t they?

I feels ya.

However, I?ve come across a ridiculously simple free method that shows that you don?t need to be an expert to master headlines.

Lord knows I?m not an expert, but I’ve applied this very method to this post. Oh, and there?s one more thing that brings this all together:

You should write your headline first.

Now don?t get me wrong you do want to have a basic idea of what you want to write about, but focus on your headline before getting into the grunt of whatever you?re writing.

Ok, ok, ok.

You?re still thinking to yourself ?How am I going to master headlines??

Well, have no fear because I?m going to hold your tiny, adorable hand through this simple process where you will be coming up with fantastic headlines that get people to your next sentence.

BONUS: these headlines will also be likely to get shared you?ll see why.

Take less than 10 minutes (9 minutes, 23 seconds to be exact) and watch this video and you?ll see exactly how you can do this..

I must remind you that this is completely free so…

What the hell are you waiting for?

Feel free to share some of the headlines you came up with in the comments bellow kiddos, good day!

Oh! Before I go I will depart with this awesome quote (from an unlikely source, but still): “When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.” -Futurama

Later kiddos 😉

-Phil

How I Got My First 78 Email Subscribers and Blew It

Yup.

It?s sad, but true.

I thought I could bypass the newbie learning curve?

But I was wrong.

Here?s how I got my first 78 email subscribers and blew it:

You see, I am relatively new to the Internet Marketing world. I really became obsessed with it around the Fall of 2014. I was watching YouTube videos galore and downloading free ebooks?left and right.

I watched the video below by James Scholes and I loved it because I was getting familiar with squeeze pages and whatnot.

I started watching a lot of his videos, got on his email list, conversed with him back and forth for a while, and eventually trusted him enough to buy his course The Evergreen Wealth Formula.

Now the course itself is quite good, but I got way too distracted with other marketers? videos and courses.

Also, there was a?combination of the learning curve and the?simplest of roadblocks weighing in as well (i.e. WordPress issues, missing a step, etc.)

Well this course was all about setting up a blog, promoting via social media (and optional black hat-ish methods, but I don?t recommend them), and rinsing and repeating the process on a daily basis.

James gave away a couple of starter blog posts for total newbies like me and I thought I?d start with one of those because I was terrified lol.

Well, the first blog post was all about getting more email subscribers on autopilot or whatever so I thought I?d give it a try too since that?s what I wanted as well.

5iphon and Udimi Combo

First things first, I got?5iphon your free ?Viral List Building System?.?

In a nutshell, it works like this:

• You get your free system
• Refer people through your blog (if you have one), Facebook, Twitter, and (the fastest way for newbies like me) Solo Ads
• Your first five sign-ups go up to the person who referred you (or 5iphon?s creator Bryan Winters) and then your account is ?unlocked?.
• After that anybody that signs up goes directly to your email list and their first 5 sign-ups go to you (unless they upgrade to “5iphon Gold” or something like that) and you can even incorporate it with your autoresponder.

Now I tried promoting this through social media and this netted me?no one.

Boo.

James? course recommended you use Solo Ads on Safe-Swaps, but then I saw that a course update said you should use Udimi?instead because it was free to join and has no monthly fee.

Udimi is free to join, but you have to ?top up? with a minimum of $25 to be able to purchase a Solo Ad.?Just go to My Money and then go to Top Up and you can use a credit card or Paypal to get started, super hard I know.

Ok, so then you?ll want to go to ?Solo Deals? and look for a seller with a good response time, a good price (cost per click), and with a minimum number of clicks that you need in order to purchase.

Also, if you can’t find anyone here go to ?Find Sellers? and there you can filter them out to meet your needs.

One last method is going to ?Forum? and just putting in a request for what you want and when. For example: ?I need 100 clicks in ______ niche at $0.33/click on July 20, 2015?.

See what kind of responses you get and go from there. I ended up buying 3 Solo Ads from 2 different people.

I bought 2 sets of 25 clicks from this dude:

I spent $22.99 and got 91 clicks. Now I wish I could tell you how many subscribers this netted me, but I didn?t track this at the time.

Later on, I bought another Solo Ad from this other dude:

On this one, I spent $21.99 and got 62 clicks (I want to say I got more opt-ins from this one, but?yeah I?m not sure, still wasn’t tracking).

Ok, so in the end I got a total of 78 subscribers as you?ll see below, not too shabby if you ask me.

I even bagged my first affiliate sale check it out below (I know it?s $5.04, but still!):

And?here?s where I went wrong.

I did have my autoresponder all set up (incorrectly mind you), but I didn?t even know who bought my upsell (only 1 sale, I know).

Instead of focusing on building trust with these people by directing them back to my blog (and focusing on providing shit tons of value) I had the great idea of marketing to them primarily through email that wasn’t even set up correctly (bad idea guys lol).

I?d give away free things here and there (things I didn?t create, another bad idea) and pretty much market to them with impunity with affiliate offer after affiliate offer.

I very soon found out just how bad my logic was back then with a completely unresponsive list.

I wish I would have employed Gary Vaynerchuk?s ?Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook? (amazing book by the way) marketing tactic with them instead. Basically, that means that you provide, provide, provide, and then you go for the heralded right hook/the sale.

I ended up abandoning that crappy blog and now that list is done for.

Lesson learned.

As embarrassing as it is, feel free to check out what?s left of that blog?here.

Oy vey.

I was so ashamed of my blog posts that I erased all 3 of them lol (mostly because the first one wasn?t even mine), but I haven?t taken the blog down as a reminder of what not to do!

Takeaway

Ok, so my takeaway from all this madness is that it does work.

I?m not too crazy about having 5iphon as a giveaway because it seems like an offer that?s a bit oversaturated, however, ?I know you do what you want?so…yeah.

I recommend you create your own product and then you won?t have to worry about ?unlocking? your system or having to upgrade in order to work around that or any B.S. like that.

Now this paid method worked for me, but below I will give you 3 free methods you can start using today to get more email subscribers.

Method # 1: Create Your Giveaway In 3 Different Formats

Let?s face it.

Everyone and their dog gives away a free report, formula, blueprint, etc.

It?s all really just a fancy name for an ebook/PDF (and they’re great don?t get me wrong), but their perceived value is just not that high because of a sea of free ebooks out there.

A good way to buck that trend is by offering a giveaway that’s available in 3 different formats:

1. PDF
2. Video Presentation (a Power Point?Presentation with you going over your ebook?s main copy points)
3. MP3 Audio version of your Video presentation or you reading your book aloud.

You can see what I did with my little YouTube-related giveaway.

This will also help you build up trust because your potential customer will see that you gave away all this kick-ass material for free.

They may be more prone to bust out that credit card or Paypal you some moolah in the future.

Method #2: Simple Tweaks To Your Site

I read this post where Noah Kagan talks about being more aggressive when it comes to asking for someone?s email and have decided to try it out. Besides, you should make it uber easy for your visitors to get on your email list.

I?ll admit it.

I?ve just added these 3 to my site and I?m still working on promoting, but they?re awesome and as I mentioned before, they?re absolutely free.

By the way, you can download all of these from Sumo Me. Just click on that link and it’s super easy to set it up, no rocket science involved whatsoever I promise.

Welcome Mat

Boom! Here?s mine:

Welcome Mat is pretty much a full-screen landing page people see when they first get to your site. You can add a nice call to action here right from the get-go.

Now, if your visitors want to bypass this they can simply scroll down, but it?s a nice instant call to action.

List Builder

Here it is on my site:

What happens is a visitor comes to your site, reads your content and then List Builder pops up after a little while (you can tweak this) and reminds them to get their free giveaway.

Pretty neat stuff here, it?s simple but effective.

Scroll Box

Once again, what?s on my site:

This app is a little more discreet.

It focuses on coming up once your viewer has scrolled down a certain percentage on a page on your blog.

Yeah, I know I could probably work on the copy on all three of my apps, but the important thing is to just get started and see what works best. Also, all three have analytics that are accessible in the free version.

Of course, there is an upgraded version to all 3 of these apps, but before I upgrade I want to see some results first and these are free F-O-R-E-V-E-R, you have time.

You can tweak some of the colors, mess with the behavior, change the font, and you can also see a sneak peek of what you get with paid content which looks pretty good, but like I said do what you can do for free starting off.

The last method I have for you is a little different, but you’ll love it.?

Method #3: Leverage Other Marketers? Traffic (Non-Black Hat)

So you?re just starting out with this whole ?make money from home? niche and you?re having trouble figuring out what you to write about or what to sell.

I?m confident you?re a person who?s been checking out other peoples? blogs, videos, and other types of content.?

Why not take one of those ideas (make sure it?s something that a lot of people seen and have interacted with) and just follow their step-by-step process and write about your experience? In my first blog post, I did this with a cocktail event and showed my results with pics and to boot.

Introducing Sniply (also available as Google Chrome extension):

Simply share a link to something and you get a cool, little customizable banner on the bottom of the page that has a call to action button or link.

Here?s mine:

Yeah people can just close it, but some won?t.?

Try it out, my copy sucks right now but it will get better.

Much like the 3 apps I mentioned above, the free version on Sniply has its limitations, but roll with it until you don?t have to.

Easy right?

Conclusion

?Although we?ve come?to the end of the road??

Ah…that song really made me feel ways about stuff lol.

What I’m trying to say is?we?re done.

I?ve shown you how I got my first 78 email subscribers and blew it using a combination of 5iphon and Udimi successfully and then tanking?with email marketing/blog upkeep.

Next, I showed you 3 different free methods you can use today to increase your email subscribers total.

1. First, I told you to create your free giveaway in 3 different formats:

• PDF
• PowerPoint Video Presentation
• MP3 Audio Files from your PDF or Presentation

2. I then showed you 3 simple tweaks you can make to your site with:

• Welcome Mat – Full-screen landing page with a call to action
• List Builder?– Smart Pop up that collects email addresses
• Scroll Box – Call to action that comes up once a reader has scrolled down a page on your blog.

All of which are free, customizable, and provide analytics. They are upgradeable, but I?d focus on sticking the free versions at first.

3. Finally, I informed you of Sniply, a free tool (with Google Chrome extension) that you can use to put a call to action banner at the bottom of any URL you share.

Simply create related content to any chosen URL, customize your Sniply banner, and then share it on social media.

I must reiterate that if you go the paid way (5iphon & Udimi) that you make sure to focus on building up your blog and tracking your conversions (split-testing).

I?m still learning all this stuff, but I know way more today than I did back then I assure you.

You can do this, it?s ?simple.

If you create awesome content, but collect no email addresses then you?re just kind of ?pissing in the wind? like I was.

Don?t do that.

Ok, feel free to tell me if you?re going to actually put any of this into play or if you think I?m just full of it.

I will depart?with these 101 Amazing PC / Internet Tricks No One Told You Before.

Have a wonderful Monday guys.

The Sneaky Sneaky Sir Method

The Sneaky Sneaky Sir Method

So, here we go.

Blog post # 1 done.

Blog post # 2?

Not so much, so I went around Googling how to create a blog post fast and came up with this post from Neil Patel.

I thought this is what I would do, but…no. I went with something else (although I will use snippets and probably use this method in the future, it’s very simple and effective).

Moving on.

Instead, I’ll be teaching something I’d like to call “The Sneaky, Sneaky Sir” method.

1 MILLION gold stars to anyone that got this reference right away.


You will need an account with the following sites for this to work:

• Ebay
• Offer Up
• Paypal

Now you could do the same thing with a Craigslist account or a Facebook group that is Craigslist-like, (yeah we’ll roll with that terminology) but Offer Up is just better in my opinion because you HAVE TO HAVE A PICTURE with your listing, unlike the latter.

I don’t understand how people expect to sell something to a complete stranger without a picture. Have you ever sold anything like that?

I sure haven’t.

Let’s see…how can we get back on the right track?

Offer Up

Ah yes, Offer Up.

It’s really meant to be more on the mobile-friendly side, but you can download it and set it up on your phone or computer.

If you want to see how it works go here on your CPU and click on the “How it works” button and watch how to buy and sell on there, it’s super easy.

Create your account using a real photo of you, they even let you hook up your Facebook account which adds your profile pic (upload any other pic if you wish) and I believe other people that like Offer Up on Facebook can follow you (you can follow them too).

Once your account is set up you can look for items near you. Just pull up the app on your phone and you will see categories like:

• Search Everything
• Popular Near Me
• From People I Follow
• Furniture
• Baby & Kids

(These are just a few categories of many)

Here’s a screenshot from my phone:

I’d start off by searching for stuff in the “Popular near me” category.

Set your filter for within 5 -10 miles away. With the “Sort by” button, you have the options below.

Personally, I went with the closest because I’d rather not have to drive far out at all.

Then just hit apply and see what kind of cool stuff you find.

At first I thought I could do this with cell phones but the risk that there might be something wrong with the phone was too high (something could come up later on the phone like it won’t charge or it heats up).

I instead decided to go with something that can have its condition based on appearance alone for the most part.

I went with a pair of Retro Air Jordans.

Ebay

I will admit that the first pair I posted on eBay got sold on Offer Up before I could sell them on eBay.

Luckily the same seller said he had more shoes he just hadn’t posted them on Offer Up yet.

I would like to point out that I did no research on this beforehand, but I suggest you do. (I will in the future as well).

Here’s how you go about doing that:

1. Go to your eBay account. If you haven’t created one…do it. It’s free to set up, they put your stuff in front of TONS of people and only charge 10% + 2.9% for Paypal fees. Just take away 13% from anything you sell, plus anything else that you add on like signature confirmation or insurance (I’d add signature confirmation anything over $100).
2. Search for your item in the eBay search bar (add details that you think would help find it like “Retro 1 Air Jordans red and white size 12” or something like that). Usually, eBay will pull up complementary category specifications like shoe size, color, etc.
3. Select the categories that best fit your item and scroll to the bottom where it says in bold “Show only”
4. Select “sold listings” and see what kind of prices others are selling the same item at and when they’re selling. This will help you figure out what price you should sell at and how fast the product is moving.

Now, if you don’t want to do any of this I understand. You could just do what I did and wing it, besides your just fishing really.

Okay, so either way when you find something that you deem worthy of listing on eBay (researched or not), hit the little star on the top right hand side of the screen next to the cutesy little camera symbol.

This will add it to your favorites.

Next, go to your computer and sign-in to your account, go to that favorites item and save the picture.

Make sure and hit the “ask” button and find out some more details from the seller on the item or items if you’re doing more than one listing.

Get as much info as you can, like final price, (always try to offer a little less, you never know) ask for more pics they can send to your phone or email (Offer Up only allows 1 pic unless you download some app which I didn’t do lol), and just make sure that the seller is responsive otherwise I wouldn’t really mess with them.

The final piece of the puzzle is creating the eBay listing.

PRO TIP: Look at the sold items if you want help on what kind of titles sell. Create a similar title. Simple right?

On the top left-hand side of your eBay page you should see “Sell” right next to “Gift Cards”, you know what to do now….HIT SELL knucklehead lol.

You’ll see 2 buttons come up:



Hit “Sell it myself”. Where it says “Tell us what you’re selling”, just spin around some of the titles from the tip in red font from before and don?t use the exact same wording.

Don’t take too long on this, but add the main parts to the listing like:

• Condition
• Photos
• Details (Use this at the top: “**Ships out in ____ business days and arrives in 1-4 business days**” ALSO, USE PRIORITY MAIL!!! Add any details but don?t over do it. Make sure to add the amount of business days you think you could mail it off in, I’d go with 1, but 2 is ok.

Adding a YouTube Video

This next part needs a little more attention: Look for a YouTube video that pertains to your item.

There are several review videos and unboxing videos that you could use.

See the highlighted part on the URL?

That?s what you need for later, you can copy and paste this on a clipboard on your CPU for later or just leave the tab open we’ll come back to this.

I chose this video one for my Jordan’s:


Next, you want to hit “Switch to HTML editor”.



Enter this code at the end of the weird looking stuff (see pic below HTML text) in fact start a new paragraph just to make sure:

<p align=”center”>?<object height=”385″ width=”640″><param name=”movie”?value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/XXXXXXXXXXX?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US”><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”> <embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/XXXXXXXXXXX?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” height=”385″ width=”640″></object></span></strong></p>



Now, either copy and paste those 13 digits from earlier or go to your YouTube tab’s URL and look for the last 13 digits, this is what mine looked like (it?s everything after the = sign).

All you’re doing is replacing the 13 Xs in the two spots where you see them in bold in the HTML you’ve pasted.

Next, just hit “Switch to standard editor” and see if you have your video embedded now.



Camera one:



Doesn’t that look a little more appealing?

Does to me!

You do not need to go crazy on the description.

Just provide facts and be brief.

Leave your listing up and check up often on Offer Up to see if your item isn’t sold, keep in contact with the seller.

It’s no biggie if it gets sold, just erase the listing on eBay if it is. Shipping For shipping, I’d say go with Priority Mail so it can get there fast.

Ebay kind of guesstimates the weight.

What I did was I selected select shipping myself, got rid of international shipping (I don’t want to mess with that for now), added a pound to the weight eBay provided and added extra inches (hehe…I?m a child) to the dimensions they provided as well.

(If you have boxes you can use to ship, get exact measurements because it could save you money on shipping!)

ONE BIG FINAL NOTE: MAKE SURE THAT YOU?RE PAYPAL PAYMENT IS CONFIRMED BEFORE SHIPPING ANYTHING!!

Conclusion

And…you’re done.

So, to sum it all up, what we’re doing is we’re creating accounts on eBay, Offer Up, Paypal, and YouTube/Google I guess (if you don’t have one for some reason).

You find stuff on Offer Up that you think you could sell on eBay.

Do research on it by seeing what actually sold on eBay.

Add a YouTube video that shows your item off all nice and purdy.

Use the copy and paste HTML template that I’ve provided you.

Make sure you use Priority Mail when shipping, remove international shipping, and add to the dimensions just to overestimate a little.

One last thing…Meet up with people in a public place!!

Starbucks is great and they’re open until like 10 or 11 p.m. 

Be safe guys.

Oh!

I will depart with an interesting, totally random fact (something I did in the past 3 days actually): If you put a ripe avocado, or more than one, in a brown paper and roll up the bag a bit, you can make it mature overnight!

I did this and they came out perfect just a day ago.

Boom.

Let me know if you have any thoughts on how to improve The “Sneaky, Sneaky Sir” method!

Cheers!

~ Phillip Lopez

I Suck At Internet Marketing