Promote ebid.net on Flickr

[booksforsale]

I am always looking at ways to promote ebid.net.

I apologise in advance if this has alerady been done

I have dabbled with the picture website Flickr and one of the things I noticed there was the huge amount of internet 'friends' you make. There are also a huge amount of groups you can join to discuss various subjects (including ebay boycott and a tiny ebid.net presence). you can also comment on members' photos.

I see Flickr as a huge opportunity to get the name ebid.net in circulation and more importantly to ATTRACT BUYERS!

I urge you all to get a Flickr account - you don't even have to post any pictures, just join some of the groups there and drop ebid.net into the discussions.

If you sell crafts here, join one of the crafts groups etc etc.

Flickr is a huge place with a massive membership.

One thing I will say is don't make it too obvious you are an ebid.net seller, as I am sure ebay will have its spies over there and will ensure you get kicked. Also pushiness just puts people off - the idea is just to get the name ebid.net into circulation and promote its merits as somewhere else to buy other than ebay.

Join Flickr here (http://www.flickr.com/)

Join these two groups first (which look a bit empty at the moment) and use them to ENCOURAGE BUYERS to come over to ebid.net.

ebid.net Flickr group (http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebiddotnet/)

and

Look What I Bought On eBid.net Flickr group (http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebidbuys/)

Then join the following groups with the sole aim of dropping ebid.net into the discussions.

2nd GREEDBay Boycott Starting May 1st! (http://www.flickr.com/groups/greedbay/)

I am still amazed at the amount of peeps ready to boycott ebay, but have never heard of ebid.net, so this is a good opportunity to target those people.

Here is another bunch of links to Flickr groups you might like to consider:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebayartstore/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/fromebaytoetsy/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/649280@N24/ (boycott ebay forever)
The Funniest Ebay Photos Ever (http://www.flickr.com/groups/688866@N23/)

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebayit/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebaycats/
Look What I Got On eBay! (http://www.flickr.com/groups/gotonebay/)
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebuy/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/the-crazy-world-of-ebay/
Ebay moms (http://www.flickr.com/groups/54124764@N00/)


Make sure you comment on other peoples pictures and make them a Friend and be sure to join groups with an interest in the thing you are selling. Also don;t forget when you are dropping ebid.net into any comment or discussion you are making, make sure you say ebid.NET and not just plain old ebid without the .net bit.

I don't recommend pushing what you sell or trying to gain buddy points, that will put people off - this is just an exercise in making others aware of ebid.net.

good luck.

[booksforsale]

Anyone given Flickr a go yet?

[kengillam]

Are you on commission :D

[CKJ]

I have a flickr account! Lots of my photographs are loaded on there! What a brilliant idea! :)

[booksforsale]

Are you on commission :D
I wish I was. I have spent the best part of the last 24 hours trying to make folk over there aware of ebid.net

Seriously though Ken, please consider taking part in some of the groups over at Flickr.

There are disgruntled ebay users over there who have NEVER heard of ebid before. I am afraid, I myself am not going to convice them.

[booksforsale]

I have a flickr account! Lots of my photographs are loaded on there! What a brilliant idea! :)

Excellent. You will already know how easy it is to network with thousands of people there. I hope you have joined some of the groups there.

[madelaine]

Right, I've joined Flickr and your ebid group and posted a bit on there. I'll join some other groups in a bit (oh, dear! keeping my ciao review up to date, posting on bebo, facebook & myspace.. will I still have time to list?)

[booksforsale]

Right, I've joined Flickr and your ebid group and posted a bit on there. I'll join some other groups in a bit (oh, dear! keeping my ciao review up to date, posting on bebo, facebook & myspace.. will I still have time to list?)

Excellent madelaine. Yes time is a problem. I have sacrificed much of the last two days trying to get people over on Flickr interested in ebid.net - there is a community of people over there disgrunteld with ebay who have been joining the Flickr ebid.net group, but who haven't taken part in any discussion yet, thank you for getting the ball rolling. I am sure any positive input of your experiences here would get it rolling a little more.

BTW. I like you pictures

[madelaine]

ken, Flickr is perfect for your stuff - you can just upload them and place any topographical ones on the map.

Books! I'm hooked on Flickr!!

[booksforsale]

Madelaine, I have just had a look at what you sell, and Flickr is the perfect place to promote your ebid.net shop/products as they seem to be a pretty arty, crafty sort of bunch over there, though be aware, you do have to be careful not too be seen to be pushing your product or business too heavily - a 'competitor' may try and get you kicked for being blatantly over-commercial and also Flickr would rather you paid them to 'advertise' by taking up a Pro account - most people don't - once they have fulfilled their 200 picture quota they just sign up with a new account.

Back to the ebid.net cause: don't forget to:
Join groups - then mention ebid.net in the discussions
Comment on peoples photos and (subtly) mention ebid.net.
Get some contacts - on their profile page you can add them as a contact.
Upload photos of stuff you sell - then add photos these to the pool on appropriate groups
There is so much more you can do to promote ebid.net with the tools at hand on FlickrI just want to point out something to anyone reading this:
I don't get any commission or recognition for pushing Flickr and I am not pushing my own brand (booksforsale) apart from photos of my stock. The object of this exercise is to make THOUSANDS of people aware of ebid.net. Like I have said in previous comments Flickr is an excellent way to broadcast an idea to thousands of people.

[madelaine]

Right.. I've joined a knitting group and posted a couple of pictures of my knitting (nothing to do with ebid). I've commented on a few pictures but mostly without mentioning ebid. I'm hoping that people will follow trails back to my profile or look at more of my pictures, which seems to be what I do when I'm on there.

I need some friends but don't really want to involve my address book. I have hunted for a few people I know but will do more of that.

[booksforsale]

Hi madelaine,

don't worry about having 'real' friends over at Flickr, most people have an agenda and an ego over there and WANT their photos to be seen by as many peeps as possible, so your 'friendship' will in almost all cases be welcome.

To make someone a friend:

If you are, for example, looking at someones picture you like, look for something like

"Uploaded on "March 17, 2008 by name"

click on the name bit

this should take you to the first page of their photosteam, and you should see a row of links like this near the top

Sets Tags Archives Favorites Profile

click on profile

On the profile page on the top right you will see

"Add name as a contact"

click on this, it will ask you to tick add as a friend or family - how literal you take this is up to you, though I think it basically sets the level of who can see your photos. In the case of promoting ebid.net (http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebiddotnet/), I always tick these because I want as much exposure as possible.

Often after you have added someone as a friend, you will get a message on the Flickr messaging system saying they have reciprocated your friendship and made you a friend.

Then the next step, if you haven't done so already, is to invite them to the ebid.net group on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebiddotnet/) and spread the word. :D

[madelaine]

right, if you search in photos for ebid, you get 10 results - 7 are mine
If you search for ebid.net, you get 7... yes, you guessed, they are mine.

come on, someone else...

And they've made me administrator of one of the ebid groups.. It's lonely in there.

[BROOKMYRE]

Waste of time !

A review by nlc1964 (http://www.ciao.co.uk/Member__nlc1964_6604162) on ebid.co.uk (http://www.ciao.co.uk/ebid_co_uk__75382)
January 5th, 2008



Author's product rating: http://images.ciao.com/iuk/images/stars/2003/stars_10.gif

Layout & DesignVery poor NavigationHard How fast is this website?Very slow Quality of the ContentVery poor Range of Services / ProductsVery poor / few
Advantages:Absolutely none if you are a serious sellerDisadvantages:Amateur wanna be ebay site with virtually no buyers !
Recommend to potential buyers:no
Full reviewEbid is the biggest waste of time auction site on the net (http://www.ciao.co.uk/#)!
You are lucky if you can make 6 sales a year and even then you will probably land up with a non paying bidder.
Their forum the 'kitchen table' is run by a bunch of morons who love nothing more than to bully other members and spend all day and night spamming the boards with inane tosh.
The site is full of sellers selling counterfeit goods which spoils it for the honest people out there- rather spend the extra and go back to ebay is my advice! The site in general has a very clumsy layout and an extremely dated feel to it - It certainly isn't user friendly.
The old saying comes to mind - You get what you pay for , all that is cheap isn't neccessarily the best!

Have you guys seen this?! I don't know what vile person wrote it but a counter attack is required!vAs EBid is now the third best auction on Ciaobit seems to me that we need more reviews - I have just left mine. I know this was a previous topic but was so surprised at this review...

[madelaine]

Thanks for the heads up.. we can also all rate this review badly

[madelaine]

Right... I'm now admin on the two ebid groups (thanks for abandoning me booksforsale! ;)) I can only keep them alive if others post their pictures. I've changed the rules on the selling (as opposed to buying) group so links to ebay get deleted since a cheeky darkside seller had added a number of (very poor quality) pictures to it.

Please visit!

[Rednosty]

Anyone given Flickr a go yet?
What the flicker is flickr?:D

Well if its free count me in!;)

[madelaine]

www.flickr.com.. it's what yahoo photos became. You join, store your photos there.. make them public or private. If you join groups you can add photos to those groups.

[madelaine]

Special thanks to Blue Bedouin for continuing to post pictures to the flickr group. Please could we have some more? Just one visit a week, adding a picture (with a link to the listing or to your store), would be great. If 50 sellers did that, we'd have a group that moved up the rankings and appeared on the various random lists that turn up on the right when you are browsing round Flickr.

[madelaine]

A new seller has joined the ebid group on Flickr and the pictures look good.

[busylizziecrafts]

Hi Madelaine :)

I'm new to Flickr and still learning !

Are we allowed to add links to items we have for sale? ......do we put them in the comments box?

Many thanks

[madelaine]

I put them in the title and, yes, it is allowed

[booksforsale]

Hi Madelaine :)

I'm new to Flickr and still learning !

Are we allowed to add links to items we have for sale? ......do we put them in the comments box?

Many thanks

I would be subtle. I got kicked off Flickr, when I frst attempted to promote ebid.net.
The irony is, is that the guy who got me kicked off was quite active on a "boycott ebay" group on Flickr.

The best approach to promoting ebid.net on Flickr is exactly that - promote ebid.net first, then yourself second, but either way try to be subtle - ebay has sympathisers everywhere who are ready to put the boot in where they believe there is an attempt to undermine ebay.

[moonwitch]

I forgot I was signed up to flickr - havent used it in ages but have just signed up to a couple of groups.

I noticed that discussions on the boycott group have been locked though

[madelaine]

I've been spreading my pictures around Flickr - concentrating on ones that are nothing to do with ebid but, of course, when people follow the link trail back to my profile, or into one of my other groups, they will often find ebid is there.

[moonwitch]

Just added a couple of pictures to the Ebid.net group + links to my stores here i the intro thread

[bidnwin]

Anyone given Flickr a go yet?

Was that not a horse or a dolphin on the TV in the 70's, lol:)

[moonwitch]

Was that not a horse or a dolphin on the TV in the 70's, lol:)

That was Flipper the dolphin

[madelaine]

Flicker on the other hand was the unwitting star of a Round the Horne joke

"Paw, do you have to shoot Flicker?"
"Yes, son, I must"
"Really, Paw, do must you?"
"Yes, son, it has to be done"
"But, Paw, you said I could do it!"

[booksforsale]

Bump.

Come on folks. Click here (http://www.flickr.com/) and get yourself a Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/) account.

You really can reach a LOT of people there and as Flickr is primarily a place to store your images, you can also host your additional auction images here.

Also join the Flickr ebid group, (http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebiddotnet/) post pictures of the stuff your selling on the group, and discuss all things ebid.net.

There are also STACKS of groups you can join, related to your specialism

No matter how obscure, there is probably a group on Flickr to cater for it

So if you sell Filing Cabinets, for instance, there is a group dedicated to this here (http://www.flickr.com/groups/79667832@N00/) Put your filing cabinets pictures in this group and SUBTLY mention ebid.net

If you sell toilet rolls there is a group dedicate to that here (http://www.flickr.com/groups/toilet_paper/)

And of course it is easy to start a group of your own.

[starlady22]

Hi
I've just joined the group. I have no idea how to find the other groups though (madelaine said there were 2 ebid groups), and so far i have added one photo.

Jane

[bittymatriarch]

What a brilliant idea! I've only just joined Flickr through PostCrossing.com. Had no idea that there was a 200 image limit on the free accounts, as I've joined around 30 postcard groups already!

Don't forget, if you have a Yahoo! account, you can use your Yahoo! log-in to join Flickr - very useful

p.s. Have joined the eBid group, but may have to "unjoin" and open 2nd account!

[madelaine]

flickr groups

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebiddotnet/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebidbuys/

[starlady22]

Hi
Thanks for the links madelaine.

Jane

[soulscape100]

Hey, Flickr is good.
Just signed up and loaded some pics and joined the ebid group.
This has a lot of potential for making ebid and our listings more visible.
I've signed up as soulscape100......... keep it simple is wot I say.:D

[booksforsale]

Just some more hints on spreading the word on Flickr.

Image tagging/keywording

Make sure to put plenty of relevant tags against your image - remember having your images on Flickr is all about attracting people to ebid - if they can't find your images, they aint gonna find your subtle references to ebid.

separate your tags/keywords with a comma
separate PHRASES from words/other phrases with a comma

so if you are selling a lava lamp for instance, don't just tag it with:

lava
lamp
ebid

Include other words like

bubbles
wax
retro
colour (of wax and or fluid)
1970s (or whatever era)
funky
stylish
Mathmos (if relevant)
Crestworth (if relevant)
collectible
collector's item
etc
etc...

JOIN groups

so the lava lamp seller could join

"Lava Lamp's We all love them. "
"retro 70's - 80's"
" Mathmos"

Comment on other people's images

generally, in return, the person whose image you have commented on, will have a look at your photostream out of curiosity, where they will of course spot your subtle references to ebid.

Make contacts

again the curiosity thing will happen, and if they reciprocate and make you a contact, it is easier to bulk invite mutual contacts to your groups... which leads onto...

Create a group

The world's your oyster here. Whatever your interest is (i.e. whatever you are selling) you can create a group based around it, then...

do a flickr search for images related to your group, and invite the person whose photo it is to join your group and add the photo.

There really is a stack of stuff you can do to use Flickr for further promoting ebid.
Flickr can be fun as well.
It really doesn't take much time to do this once you get into the swing of it.

[klj]

Thanks for the info. Books. I've signed up to the two eBid groups. But must be a bit dense about these things, as can't figure out how to put the little picture next to my user name in for messages. Can you help please? I did take a quick look around and loaded some pictures, but just didn't see the layout for anything else. :rolleyes:

[booksforsale]

Thanks for the info. Books. I've signed up to the two eBid groups. But must be a bit dense about these things, as can't figure out how to put the little picture next to my user name in for messages. Can you help please? I did take a quick look around and loaded some pictures, but just didn't see the layout for anything else. :rolleyes:

Hi, I am not sure what you mean.

Do you want to change your buddy Icon from the default
http://l.yimg.com/g/images/buddyicon.jpg#28471519@N07
To something a bit more suited to yourself??

If so:

Log in to Flickr

When the main page comes up you will see some menus along the top of the page:

Home You Organise Contacts Groups Explore

On the 'You' menu, click the dropdown arrow (you'll see it when you hover your mouse over the menu)

On the drop-down list go down to "Your Account"

When you get to Your Account Page, you will see a 'tabbed' menu.

Personal Information Privacy & Permissions Email Extending Flickr

It should by default be on Personal Information tab, but if not, click that tab.

You will then see near the top:

Your buddy Icon, and over to the right click the "edit" link

click this and it will take you to a page where you can upload a 48*48 pixel icon from a variety of sources.

;)

This is probably not what you meant, but I am hoping it helps. If this is not what you meant, point me to an example on flickr

books...

[bittymatriarch]

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/anniemcc/smilies/bump.gif

[booksforsale]

right, if you search in photos for ebid, you get 10 results - 7 are mine
If you search for ebid.net, you get 7... yes, you guessed, they are mine.

come on, someone else...

And they've made me administrator of one of the ebid groups.. It's lonely in there.

Hello All,

just an update on ebid involvement at Flickr

A search for ebid pictures now brings up 247 images tagged with ebid

(eb** brings up 184,358,so come on folks get posting! We have a lot of catching up to do).

As we have seen from Madeleines Edinburgh Fringe festival pic, things do get seen and picked up.

I have also found that any images I post on Flickr, with a link back to the auction gets more views. OK I know views aren't sales, but an auction seen is more likely to result in a sale than one that hasn't been noticed

There are a number of groups devoted to ebid, but he main one is
ebid.net (http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebiddotnet/)

We only have
58 members, 10 discussions and 148 items showing, which is of course better than none, but this is still low.

When you do join, don't forget to join groups, post your images there, make friends, comment on other peoples pictures, In other words, spread yourself and the ebid name about a bit.

Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/)

[madelaine]

Please can we have some more activity on the ebid groups on Flickr? I've just added some more stuff.

[booksforsale]

Yes please folks.

It is a piece of cake to sign up, and if you already have a Yahoo account you can use that.

[booksforsale]

Update

A flickr search on the keyword ebid, now brings up
374 items, this is still tiny in comparison to the bay of fees keyword

The keyword ebid.net returns 137 items

The ebid.net group on flickr now has
64 members,
11 discussions and
193 items showing.

People are posting ebid related pics to flickr, but are not keywording them properly, if at all.

You must add related tags, especially ebid and ebid.net

:)

[madelaine]

Just been adding tags to some of my pictures - and discovered "notes" - if you put a note on an area it appears when anyone mouses over the area.

[booksforsale]

Just been adding tags to some of my pictures - and discovered "notes" - if you put a note on an area it appears when anyone mouses over the area.

...and you can also put a link to anywhere you want in the notes, like ebid for example.

[madelaine]

...and you can also put a link to anywhere you want in the notes, like ebid for example.

well, it would be to ebid, wouldn't it? ;)

Though I hadn't thought of using it to put in a link.

(is it just you and I on Flickr?....)

[booksforsale]

....

(is it just you and I on Flickr?....)

No, but it sometimes feels that way....

come on folks get going on Flickr

I have recently made a sale on the back of some activity on Flickr

It does work

[madelaine]

Just added a few more pictures. This evening I will wander about commenting on other people's ;)

[booksforsale]

Just added a few more pictures. This evening I will wander about commenting on other people's ;)

That is the key to spreading the ebid word on Flickr - actually getting around on Flickr, so to speak. I wish more from ebid would get involved with Flickr. More than likely if you comment on someones photo, or join a group, or make someone a contact, your profile will most certainly be looked at.

If there is a nice big link to ebid.net on your profile, there is a fair to good chance that someone is going to click on it, which is better than no-one clicking on it, to state the obvious.

Come on folks. get yourself a Flickr account and get involved in the ebid groups. You are missing a brilliant marketing opportunity if you don't. I have sold stuff on the back of a flickr presence.

ebid.net (http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebiddotnet/)
Look what I sold on ebid (http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebid/)
Found on Ebid (http://www.flickr.com/groups/foundonebid/)
Look What I Bought On eBid.net (http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebidbuys/)

[kengillam]

I have some of my paintings and photos on there, I need to find some time to do more.

[booksforsale]

In light of ebid outages this afternoon I'd like to suggest that when ebid is down and we want to chat that we meet on the ebid.net Flickr Group's discussion page. (http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebiddotnet/discuss/)

See this thread (http://helpdesk.ebid.net/showthread.php?t=120613)

[bykimbo]

Bump! And particularly remember the "what I sold on eBid" group http://www.flickr.com/groups/ebid/