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I have only ever used Ebay once and that was a couple of months ago. I had bought a couple of concert tickets for my sons and they were unable to attend at the last minute. As I’d paid nigh on £100 pounds for these tickets I thought I’d see if I could get some recompense and so placed them on Ebay - it would have been a shame to have wasted them.

I cannot say it was a profitable experience though…they sold for £10 - both of them. A nice couple in Belgium bought them and would use them as an anniversary treat. I was happy for them - in a clenched teeth kind of way though. But that’s the whole Ebay experience, it’s all a gamble. You either get a great bargain or you sell and lose money.  No hard feelings right?

Tell that to some buyers and sellers who have successfully turned the feedback system there into a series of childish playground spats. Apparently it has reached the stage where new laws are being introduced, effective of May, that will stop Sellers leaving feedback about their buyers. Now, constructive feedback is always useful and especially on a site where people are basically paying online and then trusting that the item will be posted to them both quickly and in good condition. This is usually the case but of course there have been instances where buyers have been ripped off by sellers.

Not sending items at all; items being sent that are damaged/broken; sellers charging outrageous postage rates on items and then paying the cheapest rates to post the item. Many people have complained about such practices. Feedback allows the buyers to rate the seller so that other buyers can decide for themselves whether to deal with that merchant. But this has backfired on many people who left honest feedback…the sellers were getting their revenge by posting equally negative and, in some cases abusive, comments about the buyer. Read Simon Lamberts experience with an Ebay seller just to give you an idea about this kind of thing.

This has had a destructive effect on many honest people from both sides; the Ebay feedback system simply became a process of an eye for an eye and it is ridiculous. Leave a negative remark about a seller and that seller will in turn leave negative feedback about that buyer. But everyone suffers when this kind of thing happens…right?

As of May merchants will no longer be permitted to rate their buyers, though the buyers will still be able to rate the sellers. I think though that using a site such as Ebay one still has to be careful, it is an auction site and we all know that auctions basically are a gamble. You are dealing with a faceless individual and buying an item sight unseen. But when it comes down to it, if you wish to receive good feedback then give good service. Remember in business - the customer is King and can make or break you!

Popularity: 5% [?]

Hopefully now you will have zipped on over to PPP and signed up to start earning some money from your blog so I thought I’d concentrate on a few little points that will make a huge difference both to your earning potential and the quality of your articles - both paid and your own. Nothing groundbreaking - but as I said - they will make all the difference.

Spelling/Grammar…

I just had to start with this, the reason? I just deplore bad spelling and poor grammar. I have looked at some great looking blogs but when I’ve started to read the articles felt really disappointed.  If you are going to blog in english then use correct english! okay, if your grammar is not quite up to scratch then you will not be an isolated case, but please get the spelling correct. There’s nothing worse than badly spelt words that are easily found in the dictionary. Bear in mind that many advertisers will refuse to pay for spelling/grammar mistakes now; also, your readership will suffer - no-one wants to read poorly written articles. It gives the impression that you really do not care about what you are doing.

Research…

When you are writing a sponsored post about a particular item/service put some effort into doing a little research before you write. You want your readers to believe what they are reading and more importantly you need to show the people paying you that you at least know what you are talking about. If you have accepted an assignment to write about an item/service  that is a little out of your field of knowledge then do some googling and don’t try to say too much otherwise you will just be talking drivel. Having said that, I have at times myself written some rather creative drivel - it’s all down to developing your style.

Be creative!…

Those words speak for themselves. We all have some imagination and there are many ways in which you can say the one thing, but mind you do not repeat yourself over and over. I recently read an obviously sponsored post on a well ranking blog and in just one paragraph the writer said ‘you must visit this site’…’you really must visit this site’…’so why don’t you visit this site?’ . Get the idea ? once was enough. Another tip when writing a paid post is to heed the advertiser’s requirements…do they want a positive or neutral opinion, or are they giving you full rein to say whatever you like? Remember, do not be too negative (unless the advertiser asks for such, but it is very rare) and whilst promoting their product or service don’t write in a style that screams I am being PAID to write this!!  As I said write creatively in the style you would use as if you were writing one of your own articles - make it all blend in and look as natural as possible.

Popularity: 18% [?]

We’ve covered the engine room of setting up your blog - all the behind the scenes stuff - now you need to get creative. What are you going to write about ? Now, I cannot tell you what your topics should be, or which area you should cover as that is strictly up to yourself.

Basically your blog should reflect you. Write about the things you know about. Your blog can take the form of an online journal; write a few paragraphs each day if you like about what happens in your life. Around the home, at work…maybe you have a particular field of interest such as technology, science, mechanics, health and fitness, IT…the choice is really endless. But make it your work; set your own style and work to that and don’t try and copy what other bloggers do.

Steer well away from using offensive language in your posts and never, ever link to porn sites; you will usually get some spam comments with links back to these types of sites…delete and spam them immediately. They are only after a link from you and if you allow it once you will get inundated.

For sure, look around at some of the top blogs such as I have listed on the right in the blogroll and see how they have certain features on their sidebars. But remember copyright does rule even in blogging and don’t reproduce other peoples works. If you wish to quote another blogger on something they have written make sure you acknowledge the blogger in question and give them a link back to their site. Doing this will be good strategy and you will get some links back to your own site as well - this will help to generate traffic to your blog and you’ll build up a readership. That’s what we all aim at when it comes down to it…we blog to be read!

Popularity: 6% [?]