No eBay Live? Check out RocketPlace!

Every blog is mentioning that eBay has announced that there will be no eBay Live in 2009. 2010 will be in Orlando. Well, we've been sitting on knowing this for some time. :) I'm glad eBay told people now rather than surprising them in June.

This is a good move because for most people, eBay Live just wasn't really happening. Vendors like us tend to work for weeks and months to lose money. eBay probably lost money. The sellers we used to meet typically tended to think they were too small to make any changes OR their were big PowerSellers, and were doing everything just fine. Then, of course, you had the summer camp aspect... plenty of people came mostly or only to see the people they loved seeing last year. I have friends who go to eBay Live, and go to NO classes and speak to NO vendors. So that's no good for anybody other than the people having social fun!

The good news is that RocketPlace is here to stay, and we will soon be opening registration for the September 2008 event. We also have a March 2009 event pencilled in. We are holding our events in Las Vegas, so get ready for fun and education!

Registration should be open in the next week. Watch for the announcement, and jump in early since space and rooms are limited.

:)

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First Video Seminar Launched!

http://www.aswas.com/videos.shtml

We've just released our first video from what should soon be a whole bunch of videos for eBay sellers at all levels. :) Our first one is about marketing on eBay.

Topics include:

• Picking the right eBay user ID and eBay Store name for your business.
• Tips for item titles, item descriptions, and laying out your information.
• How bad layouts and design work against your marketing.
• How eBay shoppers perceive you and your item based on how your listing looks.
• Listing templates save the day!
• Write your policies for higher DSRs and buyer satisfaction.

Posted at 08:56 AM in News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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As Was Launches New "EverySeller Consulting" Service

As Was, eBay's first Certified Service Provider, is best known for their completely unique and customized eBay listing template designs. Their average client sees an increase in their eBay GMV of 15% within a month or two of working with As Was, and then continues to grow. It's not uncommon for As Was to get an email a few months after a project ends from a client who is raving that business doubled or tripled.

Can design really do that? When As Was works with new eBay sellers and veteran PowerSellers, they're not just designing template and eBay Stores. They're coming in as eBay experts to consult in multiple areas of the seller's business. Once upon a time, you could only get personalized consulting from the As Was team of experts if you hired us to also do your template design. For the first time in the over 13 years of As Was, they are offering the consulting side of their services without requiring new clients to get the template design as well.

The "EverySeller" Consulting Package now truly is for every seller. Sellers who are not ready to hire As Was for eBay design work can now work with As Was Account Managers to get one-on-one consulting aimed at growing your eBay business inside and outside of eBay. Some eBay sellers have lost their eBay Top Seller Account Manager (TSAM), and with they had someone they could turn to for help and advice. Think of As Was as your ESAM (EverySeller Account Manager)! :)

"eBay sellers need help, now more than ever," says Debbie Levitt, Founder and CEO of As Was. "With DSRs having the power to make or break you, it's no longer OK for a seller to do the same old things the same old ways. eBay is looking for sellers to raise their game, and that's our specialty. In helping sellers with their marketing, strategies, and how they communicate with shoppers, As Was is the only choice for sellers looking for ways to be more profitable and stay on top of eBay's changes."

The "EverySeller" Consulting Package includes the following:

* Assistance with your brand name. (why is that important?)

* Editing and rewriting the text and the general marketing-focused wording used in your listing template.

* Reviewing your eBay Store and listing template, and suggesting changes to layout, branding, order of information, and anything else As Was believes can help. Suggestions may relate to:
    * Listing strategies including formats, titles, and sell-through rate.    
    * Tips for raising DSRs and keeping them high.    
    * How to get more people to the eBay Store.    
    * How to decrease your pre-sales customer service time, and work towards people's expectations matching what you're going to deliver.

* Providing a full strategy report via email. 

* Discussing the strategy report, and advising you on improving your eBay strategies so that you are selling more while spending less on fees.

* Anything As Was can advise or recommend based on other "pain points" you might have such as shipping, unpaid items, software solutions, third party services, checkouts, how you staff, and more.

After the consulting project is over, you will receive 5 free hours of follow-up consultation time. Additional time can be purchased as you need it.

This service is offered for the introductory price of $950. New clients who sign the As Was contract and pay in full by the end of April 2008 will receive 10% off as part of our Anniversary Month discount promotion.

Visit http://www.aswas.com/pricing-consulting.shtml to learn more about this service. Clients looking for all of the As Was services including the custom design can visit the original services and pricing page at http://www.aswas.com/pricing-withdesign.shtml.

About As Was

As Was is a full-service consulting firm specializing in branding, design, sales and marketing strategies, operations management, and training for eBay and online sellers. As Was has been making the world’s marketplace your marketplace since it was founded in April 1995, and has been an eBay Certified Service Provider since August 2004. For more information, please visit www.aswas.com or call 520.204.1935.

Posted at 05:00 AM in News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Last Week to Get As Was Discount

April is nearly over, which means our 10% off promotion is nearly over too. This is the only discount we give all year, other than to the attendees of our RocketPlace conference. We have a few pricing promotions, but this is the big annual sale. :)

Each new client who signs our contract and makes the first payment by the end of this calendar month will receive 10% off everything you put in the contract. Future services will be at regular price.

This includes our new service, which we're just announcing this week. Consulting only! No design, for those of you who need the help without the design work.

So hurry up and take advantage fo the discount since prices go back up on 1 May 2008. :)

Posted at 07:19 AM in News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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As Was Is Hiring!

http://www.aswas.com/job-accountmgr.shtml

We are hiring, yes we are. We need more Account Managers! If you're great with hand-coding HTML and CSS, you're good with Photoshop, and you really know your eBay, you could be a match to us!

Please read our job posting as that will fill you in on what we expect. :)

Posted at 01:12 PM in News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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We're Hiring For Artists / Graphic Designers

Hey there. We're expanding and hiring again. As Was is currently looking to add at least one Graphic Designer/Artist to our team! This is a part-time, project-based consultant position at this time.

We're in Tucson, AZ. You're wherever you are in the USA, and you have a home office setup where you can separate yourself from any other beings who share your living space! :)

You…

• Have been designing unique websites for businesses and fun for at least 5 years. Unique as in they don't all look the same. :)
• Eat Photoshop for breakfast, and you're great with Illustrator. You know that "vector art" isn't the latest alternative band.
• Don't use the same font more than twice a year. You plan to vote for the Presidential candidate that will make clip art illegal. You won't submit any collages to us.
• Understand marketing. You know that different clients need to connect with different target audiences. You can design equally well whether the audience is college kids, mid-western scrapbooking moms, urban businessmen, new homeowners, or "everybody."
• Have a healthy relationship with eBay. You enjoy buying and selling, and you have a feedback rating of at least 10. We hope you don't have any negatives! :)
• Can find the balance between being managed by us and managing yourself. Your communication skills are the best, and you're the most organized person in your area code.
• Are at least 23 years old. We need you to have years of experience as we do not train on being an artist/designer. If we hire you, we will teach you how to combine what you do and how you do it with what we do and how we do it. We would also make sure you understood the software and systems that we use.
• You looked at some of our client work, and said, "I could have done that!"

We…

• Are eBay's first Certified Service Provider.
• Will interface with clients. You'll never have to decipher what they mean or worry that you're not reading their minds. You'll work directly with us.
• Refuse to micromanage. You need to motivate yourself and meet deadlines.
• Don't read resumes for artists. If your past or current work has included something for eBay, eBay sellers, buyers, or vendors, we'd like to know that! Otherwise, it's not about where or if you went to art school. We need clever people with talent and creativity (and did we mention great communication?).
• Audition artists. If we like your work, personality, and communication, we'll give you a few things to sign, and then you'll get a real project as a consultant. You'll be paid for your work, and if that goes well, we'll take it from there.
• Love what we do. We think you'll like it too. Our average design project will take you 3-5 hours (once you get the hang of it), so there's always something new to create.

It would be a great plus if you…

• Were a Flash genius.
• Were awesome with logos.

Interested? Please fill out our employment form.

Posted at 04:17 PM in News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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New As Was Toolbar Available

Version 1.0.1 of our toolbar is now available. We added some links as well as a version check under the Options menu.

This is a great toolbar for people who like to have eBay links and functions at their fingertips. It is Windows only but works in Internet Explorer (IE) as well as Firefox.

The toolbar is completely free AND is not watching what you are browsing, reading your cookies, or doing anything that would invade your privacy.

http://www.aswas.com/toolbar.shtml is the place to download our toolbar.

Posted at 06:28 AM in News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Are You A Huge eBay Shopper?

Seeing ChannelAdvisor's panel of local North Carolina people who shop online made me think that we should do a panel of eBay-holics at the next RocketPlace. Rather than ask a local temp agency for people who shop online, I'd like to reach out to you reading audience. You may be the right person for our panel, or you may know him or her. Maybe it's your spouse. :)

I'm looking for you serious, rabid eBay shoppers and buyers to come be on a panel. I want us to talk about what makes you choose an item from search, what makes you buy, what drives you from buying, do you read feedback, and things like that.

Our conference is tentatively 10-12 September 2008 in Las Vegas. If you can make it, and you fit this bill, please email your eBay user ID and other info to support AT rocketplace.com. If you fit what we're looking for, we'll let you know what we're offering for your involvement.

Thanks!

Posted at 04:44 PM in RocketPlace | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Next RocketPlace Being Planned!

Planning is moving forward on the next RocketPlace. This is not in stone, so don't buy plane tickets yet, but we are looking at the event being:

10-12 September 2008 @ The Rio in Las Vegas, NV

We are also planning lots of new things! One of them is to offer two tracks of information.

All day 10 & 11 Sept would be a 2-day track just for those who are new to eBay. Even if you've been in retail, buying, or online selling, eBay may be new to you. So this will be a perfect business-minded course for what we'll respectfully call eBay beginners. :)

All day 10 & 11 Sept plus a half day on the 12th will be our "advanced" track. This is aimed at PowerSellers or pre-PowerSellers :) who want to learn the latest techniques, strategies, and tools for improving eBay businesses. We'll go into off-eBay a bit, but plenty of conferences cover that. We are the only conference covering eBay selling the way we do.

People new to eBay but strongly considering it as a business are welcome to attend a little of both tracks if they pay for the advanced track. Or, get a friend or partner to come with you, and you each do one track!

So please pencil us in. The Rio is offering a great rate of $129/night (plus tax), so plan to stay with us! It'll be so much easier than trying to commute around Vegas to save a few dollars each night. The Rio is a lovely place with highly-rated food, a nice casino (I won there!), a bowling alley, some great shows, and lots to do.

Posted at 06:57 AM in RocketPlace | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Account Manager Position Open

As Was is looking to add one Account Manager to our team! Our Account Managers are the face between our clients and the rest of the As Was team.

We're in Tucson, AZ. You're wherever you are in the USA, and you have a home office setup where you can separate yourself from any other beings who share your living space! :) As Was staff are currently in the USA, Canada, the UK, and South Africa. We're not doing the India, Pakistan, Philippines, Asia thing.

You…

• Enjoy buying and selling on eBay, and you have great feedback. Your score is at least 100 with at least 99% positive.
• Know marketing, and have great ideas for all categories of seller.
• Are great on the phone, on live text chat, and over email. You express yourself well, English is your native language, and you’re naturally friendly and patient. You’re a great teacher.
• Know lots of Photoshop and hand-written HTML and CSS. Most of your day, you will be working on clients' listing templates, eBay Stores, websites, and other things they need. We don't use FrontPage or Word, we don't use the WYSIWYG side of Dreamweaver, and neither do you. You won't do the designs, but you will need to be able to change images and alter layouts.
• Write well and have lovely grammar.
• Have a great sense of humour and fun personality.
• Know your way around Microsoft Office including Outlook.
• Can fantastically schedule your own day, be self-directed, and manage yourself. We are not going to tell you what to do and when to do it. You'll get projects and tasks, you'll work directly with clients, and you'll need to make sure you're meeting deadlines and keeping people thrilled.
• Want something that's not your typical day job! Nearly every day, you'll have new clients, new projects, new tasks, and changes somebody wants to something. This job does not fall into any routine.
• Have a suitable home office/fortress, free from distractions.
• Can keep selling while working for us as long as you can balance the two.
• Can join us full time as a consultant or salaried employee.
• Love our work, and want to be part of what we do for eBay sellers!

We…

• Love helping eBay sellers start and grow their businesses. It's our passion!
• We choose clients carefully, so you will love them too.
• Will train you on how to do what we do the way we do it.
• Refuse to micromanage. You need to motivate yourself and meet deadlines.

It would be a great plus if you…

• Were familiar with one or more listing software systems such as Blackthorne, Inkfrog,      Auctiva, MarketWorks, Kyozou, Infopia, and ChannelAdvisor Merchant.
• Have already passed the eBay Certified Consultant exams. You will need to pass that once      you are hired and trained.
• Know how to use Salesforce.

Here are some of the duties in no particular order:

• Editing/rewriting policy text & standard language into clients' eBay listing templates. Installing templates into their software. Making changes as needed (some may be graphic changes).
• Advising clients on eBay strategies that we recommend for growing their businesses. Helping them NOT break eBay rules. :)
• Working with our other staff (programmers, artists, Flash guys, etc...) to get what the client needs and translate the client's requirements into a language that the artists understand.
• Client training. Sometimes, they need extra hand-holding. You can give it to them!
• Working with industry vendors as the client may need our involvement or as we have questions about their system.
• Representing us in our eBay Live! booth. Possible other travel for conferences.

Duties not on your plate:

• If clients want more services, you can quote them, and get approved services going. You are not commissioned, there is no quota, and you are under no obligation to sell things to people. We only sell services to clients who will really benefit from them. No pressure for you, no pressure for them.
• Business development. If another company wants a closer or different relationship with us, our CEO will handle that.

Interested? Please fill out our employment form.

Posted at 11:16 AM in News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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