Multiple Viewpoints

You may want to take two or more pictures of your object. If you're selling a car, you'll want front and side pictures. Maybe you'll want to show off the car's interior. You get the picture.

Just make sure you take enough views to show off your product well without paying a lot of extra by uploading views of your image that won't increase its chance to sell at a higher price.

Make Your Item Look "Sharp"

Another thing you can do to improve the look of your images is to "sharpen" them. Many digital cameras can take somewhat blurry images. Also, when you resize an image, it tends to get blurry. To see how much difference sharpening your image can make, click on the link below to see a before and after example.

In Photoshop, to apply a sharpening filter to an image, do the following:

1. Open the image in Photoshop
2. Click on Filter -> Sharpen -> Unsharp Mask
3. Check the Preview checkbox (if it's not already checked)
4. Adjust the Amount until the image visually looks more in focus to you
5. Click OK
6. Save the Image

In the Gimp, do the following to sharpen an image:

1. Open the image in the Gimp
2. Click on Filters -> Enh
   Disaster Prevention - 13 Lucky Tips for Small Business
   In the face of a disaster, keep one thing in mind: If you can live through it, so can your business - most of the time. But you need to plan ahead.Sadly, most small and home-based business owners won't do that. It's a tragic way to reduce the competition. But if you choose to prepare for disaster, you'll still BE the competition!The enhance your chances of still being around, you need to create a disaster preparedness plan. Even something very simple could help greatly. The most important aspects of your plan are to make it practical and easy to maintain.A good disaster preparedness plan starts with disaster prevention. General prevention is mostly good common sense. Natural catastrophes such as wildfires, major storms and earthquakes can quickly convert your office or facility into a danger zone if you're not prepared. But most of the events that destroy businesses never make the news -- things like on-site accidents and small fires that happen somewhere every moment of every day.Those things are certainly disasters. But there's an
   They won't buy what they can't see. You've only got one chance to get the attention of an eBay buyer. Then they're gone.

   So what can you do to highlight your product and make it stand out? Show it off! At a retail store, you can pick an item up. You can see and feel the quality.

   Your eBay listing can only sell with two things:

   • The words you use
   • Pictures of your product

   eBay buyers need to be assured that the things you list are in good shape. They don't want a nasty surprise when the get the item. They need to see with their eyes what they're buying, so reassure them with images that show your product in the best light.

   Keep reading to learn step-by-step how to take great pictures that will increase your chances of selling your eBay products both more often and at a higher price.

   Lighting

   Without good lighting, they can't see a thing. I'm sure you've seen eBay listings with poor lighting. Without adequate lighting, you won't show details of your product. Potential buyers can't see if the item is clean. They can't see if it has tears, damage, or other defects.

   Think about when you go shopping at a retail store. What do you look for to decide if you should buy. Sure, you'll look at the price tag, but what else? If you're shopping for clothes, you will want to make sure there are no spots or stains on the item. You may check to make sure the zipper works on a pair of jeans or check for missing buttons on a shirt.

   Great lighting must be:

   • Bright Enough
   • Come from More than One Source
   • Be the Right Color

   Bright Lighting

   Probably the best source of lighting for many products is natural lighting. Especially for outdoor products such as camping equipment or yard tools, the sun provides the most natural light for these items.

   The reason the sun is such a good light source for auction items is it is bright enough, comes from more than one source, and it's the right color of light all in one. It may seem like the sun is a single light source, but lighting in an outdoor setting comes not only from the sun itself, but from lit up clouds and the sky itself.

   Multi-Source Lighting

   Why do we care if our item we want to list is lit from more than one source? When a single light source is used, it casts harsh shadows on the object. The parts in shadow you can't see well. Lighting an object from two sources of light (or more) means you can see all of it.

   What do I use for lighting when outdoor lighting isn't convenient? I picked up two halogen shop lights at my local Home Depot. Each one is free-standing, can have their height adjusted, and have two bulbs each (for a total of 4 light sources). They provide plenty of light. The bulbs are a nice, pure white as well.

   Proper Lighting Color

   There's only one light source I try to stay away from as much as possible. Fluorescent bulbs actually don't typically emit pure white light. Before I knew better, I'd take product pictures with this kind of light.

   The items would often look somewhat green or blue, depending on the kind of fluorescent bulb. You can actually buy fluorescent bulbs that are "natural" colored, but they'll cost more.

   Standard light bulbs tend to emit light with a blue or yellow hue. They work ok, but my recommendation is still natural lighting where possible, halogen light if not.

   My Dirty Little Lighting Secret

   If you have Adobe Photoshop, you can easily adjust the color of the picture, its contrast, and even make it lighter.

   To correct your image in Photoshop:

   1. Open your image in Photoshop
   2. Click the Images selection at the top of the screen
   3. In the drop down menu, click on Adjustments
   4. Within Adjustments, click on Auto Levels

   You'll be amazed how this single adjustment will correct many image lighting problems.

   If you don't have Photoshop, you can get similar results with an excellent (and free!) image editor called "the Gimp." The Gimp isn't Photoshop, but it doesn't cost up to $800 either. :)

   To correct your image in the Gimp:

   1. Open your image into the Gimp
   2. Click on Tools at the top of the program
   3. Click on Color Tools in the drop down menu
   4. Click on Levels
   5. In the Levels dialog box, click on the Auto button
   6. Click on OK.

   No Distractions

   OK, now that we've lit up our product, let's make it the star of the show. Effective eBay photos make it clear what you're selling. Make sure it's the only thing in the picture.

   You'll want a nice background that sets your product off nicely. I've seen some advice stating flatly that you should take all your pictures with a white background. If all the products you sell are black, I agree with that advice.

   You want to display your product with a background color that contrasts with your product. If I'm selling a white iPod, white's not the best background color for me to use. It won't stand out. Pick up a simple, plain white or light-colored sheet to use as a background for dark colored objects and a black or other dark color to put light colored items in front of.

   Also, keep in mind the color you'll display the image on. You'll want to select a background color that goes well with the look you use for your eBay listings. For a more complete discussion on how to design your eBay listings for greater impact, click the link below.

   Make it Big Enough

   Since you're selling your item and not the sheet behind it, you want as little of the sheet to show as possible. Zoom in on the object or move the camera closer to the object so it takes up most of your camera's viewfinder.

   If you've already taken your picture, you can use a program like Photoshop or the Gimp to "crop" the image. Basically, you'll cut off all but a fairly small border around your item. When you upload your image to eBay, if it's larger than they display it, they will reduce its size to fit their format. If you have a lot of sheet showing around your item, the shrunk image will make your item appear very small.

   This is especially true for the gallery images on eBay. These gallery images are pretty small. Once your picture gets shrunk down to gallery size, if your item's too small to really see well, you likely wasted the extra listing fee to add a gallery image to your eBay listing.

   Multiple Viewpoints

   You may want to take two or more pictures of your object. If you're selling a car, you'll want front and side pictures. Maybe you'll want to show off the car's interior. You get the picture.

   Just make sure you take enough views to show off your product well without paying a lot of extra by uploading views of your image that won't increase its chance to sell at a higher price.

   Make Your Item Look "Sharp"

   Another thing you can do to improve the look of your images is to "sharpen" them. Many digital cameras can take somewhat blurry images. Also, when you resize an image, it tends to get blurry. To see how much difference sharpening your image can make, click on the link below to see a before and after example.

   In Photoshop, to apply a sharpening filter to an image, do the following:

   1. Open the image in Photoshop
   2. Click on Filter -> Sharpen -> Unsharp Mask
   3. Check the Preview checkbox (if it's not already checked)
   4. Adjust the Amount until the image visually looks more in focus to you
   5. Click OK
   6. Save the Image

   In the Gimp, do the following to sharpen an image:

   1. Open the image in the Gimp
   2. Click on Filters -> Enha
      Multi-Level Marketing - Is It An Extension of Franchising?
      Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s Corp., did not set out to sell Big Macs. His introduction to hamburgers came in the early 1950’s while he was peddling milk shake machines.A San Bernadino restaurant run by two brothers, Dick and Maurice “Mac” McDonald were using a number of the machines to keep up with the huge demand for milkshakes. It was here that Kroc saw a golden opportunity for lot’s of milkshake machine orders if only they had more restaurants! Kroc offered to open and run the restaurants, and in 1955 opened the first McDonald’s in Des Plaines, IL. He bought out the McDonalds brothers for $2.7 million in 1961.Ray Kroc understood one important fact about business that most of us simply miss. The fact is, that you will make far more money by “duplicating” your efforts over and over again in a mutually beneficial way, than by trying to due it all by yourself. Ray went out of his way to find qualified individuals to run and manage his restaurants, and after training them all at “Hamburger University”, took a small profit from each restaurant. This “duplic
      re than One Source
   3. Be the Right Color

   Bright Lighting

   Probably the best source of lighting for many products is natural lighting. Especially for outdoor products such as camping equipment or yard tools, the sun provides the most natural light for these items.

   The reason the sun is such a good light source for auction items is it is bright enough, comes from more than one source, and it's the right color of light all in one. It may seem like the sun is a single light source, but lighting in an outdoor setting comes not only from the sun itself, but from lit up clouds and the sky itself.

   Multi-Source Lighting

   Why do we care if our item we want to list is lit from more than one source? When a single light source is used, it casts harsh shadows on the object. The parts in shadow you can't see well. Lighting an object from two sources of light (or more) means you can see all of it.

   What do I use for lighting when outdoor lighting isn't convenient? I picked up two halogen shop lights at my local Home Depot. Each one is free-standing, can have their height adjusted, and have two bulbs each (for a total of 4 light sources). They provide plenty of light. The bulbs are a nice, pure white as well.

   Proper Lighting Color

   There's only one light source I try to stay away from as much as possible. Fluorescent bulbs actually don't typically emit pure white light. Before I knew better, I'd take product pictures with this kind of light.

   The items would often look somewhat green or blue, depending on the kind of fluorescent bulb. You can actually buy fluorescent bulbs that are "natural" colored, but they'll cost more.

   Standard light bulbs tend to emit light with a blue or yellow hue. They work ok, but my recommendation is still natural lighting where possible, halogen light if not.

   My Dirty Little Lighting Secret

   If you have Adobe Photoshop, you can easily adjust the color of the picture, its contrast, and even make it lighter.

   To correct your image in Photoshop:

   1. Open your image in Photoshop
   2. Click the Images selection at the top of the screen
   3. In the drop down menu, click on Adjustments
   4. Within Adjustments, click on Auto Levels

   You'll be amazed how this single adjustment will correct many image lighting problems.

   If you don't have Photoshop, you can get similar results with an excellent (and free!) image editor called "the Gimp." The Gimp isn't Photoshop, but it doesn't cost up to $800 either. :)

   To correct your image in the Gimp:

   1. Open your image into the Gimp
   2. Click on Tools at the top of the program
   3. Click on Color Tools in the drop down menu
   4. Click on Levels
   5. In the Levels dialog box, click on the Auto button
   6. Click on OK.

   No Distractions

   OK, now that we've lit up our product, let's make it the star of the show. Effective eBay photos make it clear what you're selling. Make sure it's the only thing in the picture.

   You'll want a nice background that sets your product off nicely. I've seen some advice stating flatly that you should take all your pictures with a white background. If all the products you sell are black, I agree with that advice.

   You want to display your product with a background color that contrasts with your product. If I'm selling a white iPod, white's not the best background color for me to use. It won't stand out. Pick up a simple, plain white or light-colored sheet to use as a background for dark colored objects and a black or other dark color to put light colored items in front of.

   Also, keep in mind the color you'll display the image on. You'll want to select a background color that goes well with the look you use for your eBay listings. For a more complete discussion on how to design your eBay listings for greater impact, click the link below.

   Make it Big Enough

   Since you're selling your item and not the sheet behind it, you want as little of the sheet to show as possible. Zoom in on the object or move the camera closer to the object so it takes up most of your camera's viewfinder.

   If you've already taken your picture, you can use a program like Photoshop or the Gimp to "crop" the image. Basically, you'll cut off all but a fairly small border around your item. When you upload your image to eBay, if it's larger than they display it, they will reduce its size to fit their format. If you have a lot of sheet showing around your item, the shrunk image will make your item appear very small.

   This is especially true for the gallery images on eBay. These gallery images are pretty small. Once your picture gets shrunk down to gallery size, if your item's too small to really see well, you likely wasted the extra listing fee to add a gallery image to your eBay listing.

   Multiple Viewpoints

   You may want to take two or more pictures of your object. If you're selling a car, you'll want front and side pictures. Maybe you'll want to show off the car's interior. You get the picture.

   Just make sure you take enough views to show off your product well without paying a lot of extra by uploading views of your image that won't increase its chance to sell at a higher price.

   Make Your Item Look "Sharp"

   Another thing you can do to improve the look of your images is to "sharpen" them. Many digital cameras can take somewhat blurry images. Also, when you resize an image, it tends to get blurry. To see how much difference sharpening your image can make, click on the link below to see a before and after example.

   In Photoshop, to apply a sharpening filter to an image, do the following:

   1. Open the image in Photoshop
   2. Click on Filter -> Sharpen -> Unsharp Mask
   3. Check the Preview checkbox (if it's not already checked)
   4. Adjust the Amount until the image visually looks more in focus to you
   5. Click OK
   6. Save the Image

   In the Gimp, do the following to sharpen an image:

   1. Open the image in the Gimp
   2. Click on Filters -> Enh
      7 Coaching Predictions and What To Do About Them
      To prepare for our segments, Milana asked us to reveal in no-holds barred fashion, a mindstream of the 3 most important trends, opportunities and landmines we could foresee for professional coaches in 2007, including how each is likely to impact a coach's business (that's you!), and what I'm doing about the predictions myself.Here are the promised notes from the predictions I made, for those who missed the call or prefer reading over listening...Coaching Prediction #1: Expect to see lots more coaching jobs.By that I don’t mean jobs that involve coaching skills, but jobs where coaching is the core deliverable. This will happen at three levels:(1) the Executive level - this is already happening and there will be many more of these.(2) the non-Executive level - these coaching jobs are becoming part of the woodwork in fitness and wellness industries, in the academic world, etc.(3) AND – coaches who are reaching a certain degree of success are now hiring associate coaches themselves, creating a demand for coaches with the skill set and experience set w
      en or blue, depending on the kind of fluorescent bulb. You can actually buy fluorescent bulbs that are "natural" colored, but they'll cost more.

      Standard light bulbs tend to emit light with a blue or yellow hue. They work ok, but my recommendation is still natural lighting where possible, halogen light if not.

      My Dirty Little Lighting Secret

      If you have Adobe Photoshop, you can easily adjust the color of the picture, its contrast, and even make it lighter.

      To correct your image in Photoshop:

      1. Open your image in Photoshop
      2. Click the Images selection at the top of the screen
      3. In the drop down menu, click on Adjustments
      4. Within Adjustments, click on Auto Levels

      You'll be amazed how this single adjustment will correct many image lighting problems.

      If you don't have Photoshop, you can get similar results with an excellent (and free!) image editor called "the Gimp." The Gimp isn't Photoshop, but it doesn't cost up to $800 either. :)

      To correct your image in the Gimp:

      1. Open your image into the Gimp
      2. Click on Tools at the top of the program
      3. Click on Color Tools in the drop down menu
      4. Click on Levels
      5. In the Levels dialog box, click on the Auto button
      6. Click on OK.

      No Distractions

      OK, now that we've lit up our product, let's make it the star of the show. Effective eBay photos make it clear what you're selling. Make sure it's the only thing in the picture.

      You'll want a nice background that sets your product off nicely. I've seen some advice stating flatly that you should take all your pictures with a white background. If all the products you sell are black, I agree with that advice.

      You want to display your product with a background color that contrasts with your product. If I'm selling a white iPod, white's not the best background color for me to use. It won't stand out. Pick up a simple, plain white or light-colored sheet to use as a background for dark colored objects and a black or other dark color to put light colored items in front of.

      Also, keep in mind the color you'll display the image on. You'll want to select a background color that goes well with the look you use for your eBay listings. For a more complete discussion on how to design your eBay listings for greater impact, click the link below.

      Make it Big Enough

      Since you're selling your item and not the sheet behind it, you want as little of the sheet to show as possible. Zoom in on the object or move the camera closer to the object so it takes up most of your camera's viewfinder.

      If you've already taken your picture, you can use a program like Photoshop or the Gimp to "crop" the image. Basically, you'll cut off all but a fairly small border around your item. When you upload your image to eBay, if it's larger than they display it, they will reduce its size to fit their format. If you have a lot of sheet showing around your item, the shrunk image will make your item appear very small.

      This is especially true for the gallery images on eBay. These gallery images are pretty small. Once your picture gets shrunk down to gallery size, if your item's too small to really see well, you likely wasted the extra listing fee to add a gallery image to your eBay listing.

      Multiple Viewpoints

      You may want to take two or more pictures of your object. If you're selling a car, you'll want front and side pictures. Maybe you'll want to show off the car's interior. You get the picture.

      Just make sure you take enough views to show off your product well without paying a lot of extra by uploading views of your image that won't increase its chance to sell at a higher price.

      Make Your Item Look "Sharp"

      Another thing you can do to improve the look of your images is to "sharpen" them. Many digital cameras can take somewhat blurry images. Also, when you resize an image, it tends to get blurry. To see how much difference sharpening your image can make, click on the link below to see a before and after example.

      In Photoshop, to apply a sharpening filter to an image, do the following:

      1. Open the image in Photoshop
      2. Click on Filter -> Sharpen -> Unsharp Mask
      3. Check the Preview checkbox (if it's not already checked)
      4. Adjust the Amount until the image visually looks more in focus to you
      5. Click OK
      6. Save the Image

      In the Gimp, do the following to sharpen an image:

      1. Open the image in the Gimp
      2. Click on Filters -> Enh
         Small Business Marketing: How to Build Profitable Bridges Over an Ocean of Customer Mistrust
         About four years ago I had a great idea for an article that I couldn't quite put into words. Recently, I ran across a video created by Michael Chaney which outlined a similar concept that I wanted to communicate to my customers. This video really helped me finish my own article was very similar to his analogy.In his video he outlines an important concept which business owners must understand when connecting with their customers and getting them to pull out their wallets or open their check books. Here is his same concept in my own words.When you are approaching your customers, there is a large gap between you and them. You are on an Island, they are on land and the gap between you represents an ocean of mistrust. All your customers see are you trying to get them to come across this ocean to your "island."To the customer, this ocean can be a scary place. They will face many dangers and perils when trying to cross to get to your island safely. Your customers don't know how deep the water is, if it has sharks, or if they can safely wade across.Your custo
         ing in the picture.

         You'll want a nice background that sets your product off nicely. I've seen some advice stating flatly that you should take all your pictures with a white background. If all the products you sell are black, I agree with that advice.

         You want to display your product with a background color that contrasts with your product. If I'm selling a white iPod, white's not the best background color for me to use. It won't stand out. Pick up a simple, plain white or light-colored sheet to use as a background for dark colored objects and a black or other dark color to put light colored items in front of.

         Also, keep in mind the color you'll display the image on. You'll want to select a background color that goes well with the look you use for your eBay listings. For a more complete discussion on how to design your eBay listings for greater impact, click the link below.

         Make it Big Enough

         Since you're selling your item and not the sheet behind it, you want as little of the sheet to show as possible. Zoom in on the object or move the camera closer to the object so it takes up most of your camera's viewfinder.

         If you've already taken your picture, you can use a program like Photoshop or the Gimp to "crop" the image. Basically, you'll cut off all but a fairly small border around your item. When you upload your image to eBay, if it's larger than they display it, they will reduce its size to fit their format. If you have a lot of sheet showing around your item, the shrunk image will make your item appear very small.

         This is especially true for the gallery images on eBay. These gallery images are pretty small. Once your picture gets shrunk down to gallery size, if your item's too small to really see well, you likely wasted the extra listing fee to add a gallery image to your eBay listing.

         Multiple Viewpoints

         You may want to take two or more pictures of your object. If you're selling a car, you'll want front and side pictures. Maybe you'll want to show off the car's interior. You get the picture.

         Just make sure you take enough views to show off your product well without paying a lot of extra by uploading views of your image that won't increase its chance to sell at a higher price.

         Make Your Item Look "Sharp"

         Another thing you can do to improve the look of your images is to "sharpen" them. Many digital cameras can take somewhat blurry images. Also, when you resize an image, it tends to get blurry. To see how much difference sharpening your image can make, click on the link below to see a before and after example.

         In Photoshop, to apply a sharpening filter to an image, do the following:

         1. Open the image in Photoshop
         2. Click on Filter -> Sharpen -> Unsharp Mask
         3. Check the Preview checkbox (if it's not already checked)
         4. Adjust the Amount until the image visually looks more in focus to you
         5. Click OK
         6. Save the Image

         In the Gimp, do the following to sharpen an image:

         1. Open the image in the Gimp
         2. Click on Filters -> Enh
            Sales & Marketing Consultant Endorses Selling Through Seminars
            Have you ever longed for a way to increase your sales efficiency and effectiveness at the same time?And have you ever wondered why so many infomercials feature pitchmen are choosing to state their cases before “live” audiences?Wouldn’t it be nice to find your own way to sell many people at a time, instead to one or possibly to a few?Can you imagine doing this and enhancing your credibility and aura of expertise at the same time?You can accomplish all of these fine outcomes by learning how to SELL THROUGH SEMINARS.A seminar is an informational meeting that people attend, either free, or on a paid basis.They are there to learn and to benefit from what you can teach them.You are there to instruct, but even more important, to sell something that requires instruction to appreciate and to fully desire.For example, people want to save money on their taxes. You might offer seminars on the topic of Estate Planning or Incorporating Yourself & Your Small Business or even on the Tax Havens of The World.They’ll learn about tax minimization
            is especially true for the gallery images on eBay. These gallery images are pretty small. Once your picture gets shrunk down to gallery size, if your item's too small to really see well, you likely wasted the extra listing fee to add a gallery image to your eBay listing.

            Multiple Viewpoints

            You may want to take two or more pictures of your object. If you're selling a car, you'll want front and side pictures. Maybe you'll want to show off the car's interior. You get the picture.

            Just make sure you take enough views to show off your product well without paying a lot of extra by uploading views of your image that won't increase its chance to sell at a higher price.

            Make Your Item Look "Sharp"

            Another thing you can do to improve the look of your images is to "sharpen" them. Many digital cameras can take somewhat blurry images. Also, when you resize an image, it tends to get blurry. To see how much difference sharpening your image can make, click on the link below to see a before and after example.

            In Photoshop, to apply a sharpening filter to an image, do the following:

            1. Open the image in Photoshop
            2. Click on Filter -> Sharpen -> Unsharp Mask
            3. Check the Preview checkbox (if it's not already checked)
            4. Adjust the Amount until the image visually looks more in focus to you
            5. Click OK
            6. Save the Image

            In the Gimp, do the following to sharpen an image:

            1. Open the image in the Gimp
            2. Click on Filters -> Enhance -> Sharpen
            3. Check the Preview checkbox (if it's not already checked)
            4. Adjust the Sharpness amount by moving the slider left and right until it visually looks best to you
            5. Click OK
            6. Save the Image

            To Sum It Up

            A picture's worth a thousand words. Potential buyers of your eBay products will be much more likely to buy your product when it's showcased with a good picture or two.

            It doesn't take much time to take great pictures. With free image editing software like the Gimp, it won't even cost you anything to crop, sharpen, and color correct your images.

            Follow the advice in this article to increase your chances of closing your eBay listing successfully. When eBay buyers see your products showcased in the best light, they'll often pay more.