Amazon UPCs – Make Money with WordPress – Save Money with Common Sense

Personally delivered to you by Steve Lindhorst, author of
"Selling on 'the River' and "The Niche Book"

There's a little something for everyone this week. If you would like to see a certain topic, send me an email with a request. Anything from eBay or Amazon, to alternate selling channels, affiliate selling, or niches. Also, if you want to see the Table of Contents for The Niche Book, I've added below. And now...

Here are the topics for this issue of the newsletter:

In This Issue

1. Dealing with Amazon UPC Requirements
   
2. Make Money with a WordPress Blog & phpBay Pro (special offer)
   
3. Be Choosy When Buying "Make Money" Products
4. Housekeeping Issues for Readers
   

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1. Amazon's UPC Requirements - You can get help.

Amazon recently began require UPC (Universal Product Code) numbers on almost everything. This new rule can be a real challenge for sellers who may be:

1. selling a used item, and can't find the UPC.
2. producing one of a kind items. (Obtaining UPCs for each item costs too much.)
3. selling something that was not originally sold in a retail store, and has never had a UPC.

Amazon realizes that some things will not have a UPC, and it can be too expensive for small sellers to get one for each individual product. For those cases, you can request an exemption for your product.

Recently, I heard from a lady who makes baby quilts. Each one is unique, so she would have to have a UPC for every single product. A UPC can cost anywhere from $6 to around $50. This was obviously not something she could recover in her retail price. So she was in dire need of an exemption. Since there is little chance anyone else would ever create the exact items she was making, she should be able to get exempted from this rule.

Exemptions are category dependent. The Amazon staff dealing with each category is aware of which products will, or will not have UPCs. They also know when a seller should be able to get UPCs.

They only allow exemptions for specific reasons. So try to make sure you qualify before making your request. Here are the basic reasons they consider valid:

• Private label: Non-nationally branded product on your own company's label
• Specialized: Low-volume accessory part/item with a specialized function
• Non-consumer: A business-to-business product not sold in a retail store
• Pre-configured: Made-to-order or custom products

You can see Amazon's page on this question at: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/48551

"What are the steps I should go through to request an exemption?"

1. The request must be made through Seller Central (not Marketplace). Click the link at the bottom of any page that says: "Get technical support."
2. In the contact form, for the topic, choose "Manage my products and inventory"
3. In the Short Description field, type: “request for UPC exemption.”
4. In the body, list your products, or if you have a large number of products, list some products that represent your catalog. This list should include brands, any relevant descriptions, and the total number you for which you need exemptions.
5. For each item, you'll need to explain why there won't be a UPC.

This is the best info I have right now. If you go through all the steps above, and still have trouble, let me know. I can't promise anything, but I'll try to help if you get stuck.

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2. Make Money with a WordPress Blog & phpBay Pro and a Special Offer

Can you still make money with eBay? Yes. But it's not what you think. And you won't have to ship anything, or deal with any difficult customers.

Blogs are powerful tools to gain organic search traffic. The search engines love blogs. By combining that power with affiliate links to eBay items, you can make some nice extra income.

Contextual Advertising Works

Weren't you amazed when you first noticed ads that related to the content of webpages? That is contextual advertising. A script looks at the words on the page, and displays an ad that is relevant to the context. The advertiser hopes that since you're interested in that page, maybe you'll like what they're advertising. It's very effective.

phpBay Pro uses that same concept, only you are in control of writing the page, and you control which products are displayed.

A Crash Course in WordPress

The most popular type of blog software is Wordpress. WordPress comes in two flavors. The free version can be found at Wordpress.com (www.wordpress.com). You won't need anything but an account to start your blog. You won't have to pay for a domain or a host. But you also cannot customize this type of blog.

If you head over to Wordpress.org (www.wordpress.org) you can download software (free) and upload it to your own server. That software installs and runs your very own WordPress blog. You can change all kinds of things on that blog.

The look and feel of the blog is controlled by a theme. Themes can be paid or free. You download a theme, and then upload it to the appropriate directory in your blog. Through your blog's admin panel you can install the new theme with the press of a button.

You can also add dozens of "accessories" to your blog in the form of plugins. Plugins are little programs that - as the name implies - plug into your blog. They do all sorts of things for you. Some add features such as eliminating spam comments automatically, or inserting photos. Most customize the blog's behavior in one way or another, and most plugins are free.

phpBay Pro is a WordPress plugin. It adds a button to the editing panel that lets you insert selected eBay listings directly into your blog post. If you're posting about vintage TV shows on your niche blog, you can have phpBay Pro insert current items right into the post. Let's say I just wrote a post about the Andy Griffith show, with just a click I can insert the following:

These are current eBay items. The links to the eBay products are affiliate links, and after clicking on my link, if you buy anything on eBay in the next seven days, I get a commission. I make about $150 per month using phpBay Pro on a few sites of mine.

phpBay Pro pulls the items, and displays them in the neat rows as you see them - all automatically. I just supply the search term. You can also configure the number of items displayed, choose a specific eBay category, and it works for eBay sites around the world.

phpBay and Search Engines

When you use eBay's widgets, the search engines don't look at the eBay listing titles because it's all generated by JavaScript. With phpBay Pro (as well as BANS) the information is translated into html, so the search engines see it, and index it.

What does that mean for you? It means that the rich keywords people use in their titles now become part of your content. Search engines see it, and associate your blog with that term.

phpBay Pro shows the latest listings. That is something you couldn't get away with when running a static webstore. No inventory to manage!

Yet Another Way to use phpBay Pro...

Inserting items into a post may be the obvious way to use phpBay Pro. You can use it in another very powerful way if you spend some time learning.

The unique structure of blogs allows for even more possibilities with phpBay Pro. I've discussed many features of blogs already, such as categories and posts. I mentioned that a blog dynamically displays a set number of posts on the blog home page, in reverse chronological order. You'll usually see, for example, the most recent five or ten posts of the blog.

There is another way to write content for your blog. This content stays put, rather than moving down the home page of the blog. Instead of a post we're talking about creating a page.

A page, is a way to create a more traditional webpage with a blog.

Imagine taking a WordPress blog with a phpBay plugin, and using phpBay Pro to create a collection of pages. Each page would display items in a certain category.

Wii Outlet is a site built with a WordPress blog, and phpBay Pro. You can see the site at www.wiioutlet.com. There is good content, it's well organized, and has the current listings for Wii consoles, Accessories, and Games. Each link leads you to a blog page that contains information and the latest products.

Don't forget, this is still a blog too. The ability to easily add fresh, relevant content is there in the form of blog posts. Remember those plugins you can install on your blog? Some of them automatically import news items from other blogs, and displays the headlines on your blog. Automatically adding more and more content. The possibilities are really unlimited.

Is this better than BANS (Build a Niche Store) ? The fact that your affiliate links are incorporated in lots of content is a real plus. It may take a little longer, but if you blog about a product, every day for a year, you'll have a nice blog, full of pages, with loads of up-to-date affiliate links. The search engines will love you.

With BANS, you suddenly have this "store," full of links, and usually very little content. The search engines may slap you for having a "thin" affiliate site, and your work will be wasted.

If you have the time, phpBay Pro incorporated into a blog will make you some real money in the long run.

The Bottom Line on phpBay Pro

phpBay Pro is an absolute winner. It is perfect for a niche, and really perfect for a niche blog. You can use it to build your own niche store on a blogging platform, and it's easy to use. The price is: $79.

The support is incredibly good and there are also some really helpful user sites that contain tips and tricks.

You can take a closer look at it here: www.thenichebook.com/phpbay.

AND...here is the special deal:

I have been communicating with phpBay's creator, Wade. He loved the idea of The Niche Book, and he created a special discount for those who purchase The Niche Book. Here are the specifics:

• You'll get a special 25% discount code
• This offer is only good for the first 100 people. Then it's over. (Wade sets the rules, and he set a limit of 100.)
  
• If you've purchased The Niche Book, send a blank email to: theNicheBook@gmail.com
  • Include the words phpBay Discount Code in the subject line
• You'll receive an email back, with a special link and the discount code

The savings nearly wipes out the original cost of The Niche Book! Don't wait, only the first 100 get the discount.

NOTE: You need to be signed up as an eBay affiliate before you can use phpBay Pro. You can do that at: www.ebaypartnernetwork.com.

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3. Be Choosy When Buying "Make Money" Products

One of the reasons eBay has so offended people is the way they've rolled out changes this year. They've not only confused sellers, they've also made it nearly impossible to see which things work.

Right out of high school I worked as an auto mechanic. When a customer came in with a problem, we had a method to fixing the problem. We tried one thing at a time, then checked to see the effect. That way we knew which thing we tried - worked. If we made five adjustments before checking for success, there's no way to know which one worked, and it was pretty impossible to learn to be a better mechanic.

Readers have written telling me about all the products they've purchased, but they haven't found out how to make money from them yet. They just keep on buying. They buy so much, they don't know which ones - if any - work.

I love when you buy products I sell or recommend - but please don't buy them without a clear plan in mind. If you buy a bunch of ebooks, or programs with no clear direction, you will probably be overwhelmed.

Be picky about spending your money. Research the products, ask questions. Ask me and I'll help if I can. But don't waste your money. I am not going to ruin my trust with you for one sale, if I think a product is junk, I'll tell you. If you buy something from me, and you really hate it, I will refund your money. Please keep that in mind.

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4. Housekeeping Issues - Odds and Ends

• A bunch of you took advantage of the SEO Wars ebook, with resale rights, for only $7. It's not only a great SEO tutorial, you can sell it on your own website too. I forgot to include the Resale Rights file in that download, click here to download the resale rights.

• I received several questions on what is contained in my new eBook, "The Niche Book - How to Pick a Niche for Profit." You may get a better idea if you look at the Table of Contents here.

• Is BANS really worth the effort? My answer is, "yes, if you are willing to put in the time." It is work for sure, but much of it involves writing content for your store pages. If you have a creative mind, you have a head start.

• Follow me on Twitter! I'll follow you too. I'm on Twitter with the name SteveLindhorst. I'm finally starting to get into it. Just jump in, you'll figure it out as you go.

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That's it for now. Feel free to comment. Thanks again for being there!

Steve

Tagged as: amazon upc, andy griffith dvd, eBay, make money products, multichannel, niche site, phpBay, SEO Wars, steve lindhorst, Twitter, wordpress