Dan Wilson

Dan Wilson Links* 25/vii/08

Dan Wilson — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:16:48 +0000

A ragtag selection of links and amusements. You know the form. First, some stuff I’ve written elsewhere on the web:

- Amazon, Etsy, eBay and the eCommerce Land Grab

- Get a Competitive Edge on eBay With Video

And from other people:

- Totally loving ProBloggers’s tips on blog stickiness. It’s really useful to review the fundamentals every now and again.

- What IS a Community Manager? I’ve wondered myself (probably more than most). And answered the question inadequately a million times. But here’s a good starting point: Chris Brogan’s Essential Skills of a Community Manager. I’ll write my own take on this at some point. ;O)

- I’ve loved Indexed for a while (please check it out) and now I love Graphjam too. This amuses me more than averagely:

- And, from the great Dave Hill. An interlude. London to Brighton in 4 minutes. Poop poop.

* I’m Dan Wilson. And I’m linking.

Brighton Scenes #1*

Dan Wilson — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:58:28 +0000

St James’s Street. On my way home. About 11pm. A tall transvestite in a ginger wig with a thick belt round a long jumper is strutting along. She looks like Donna Noble.

A group of three twittering, bickering discobunny gay lads are walking the other way, towards her. One of them spots her and smirks and shouts:

“Exterminate!”

Donna stops. In her heels she’s much taller than they are. She looks at them with disdain and flares her nostrils.

“Fuck off, Davros,” she says with venom. The boys walk on, silently now. Chastened.

*An occasional sketch of things I see and hear around the City by the Sea.

Recently I have…

Dan Wilson — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:26:18 +0000

… Visited Chicago. A beautiful, relaxed and entertaining city. The weakness of the dollar made things so pleasingly affordable.

… Seen Kaki King and, also, The Tigerlillies. She was a bit dull, if worthy. They were hysterically anarchic and rude. Guess which one I preferred.

… Travelled in an Austin 7 to Dorset. All good fun: she’s a beautiful machine. But, and I say this lovingly, she’s built for neither comfort or speed.

… Been to the dentist. If someone has to take the drill to your teeth, my advice: ensure she’s beautiful and Brazilian.

… Watched Doctor Who Series 4 and it was definitely better than series 3. Catherine Tate pulled it off. Julian Bleach’s Davros was faultless. The ‘story arc’ kept me gripped and Moffat’s two parter confirmed him as the right man to take over from RTD. Slightly lost now it’s all over.

… Wondered why it has taken me so long to get into Jeff Buckley. Grace is a superb album.

… Enjoyed having a girl around the house.

eBay for ‘older’ entrepreneurs

Dan Wilson — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:43:24 +0000

Every now and again I’ll get some questions from a journalist: they want a talking head for an article and I’m usually happy to oblige. Typically, I’ll provide quite a lot of material and a few sentences will be used. I sent these responses to a journo last week, so I thought I’d puiblish my full answers here.

Is an eBay business suitable for an older entrepreneur – ie: 50+?
Absolutely. In fact, it’s suitable for any age of entrepreneur because, at the most basic level, all you need is some computer experience and access to the internet. eBay itself doesn’t require any particular technical expertise and the business side would be the same as setting up any other enterprise.

eBay is ideal for entrepreneurs who want to get started quickly, who will value flexibility, hours to suit them and being their own boss. For retired or semi-retired people, or just people who fancy a change, being able to operate on their own terms is the major attraction. For instance, if you want to take a holiday or even an extended break, it’s possible to suspend your operations and restart them with relative ease.

Many of the most successful sellers on eBay are the ones who are passionate about what they sell, or who have specialist knowledge. Many times I’ve seen older eBay sellers who say ‘I’ve always wanted to have a bookshop’ or ‘vintage audio equipment has always been a passion’. eBay has meant that they can realize their dreams without the stress, expense and commitment of taking premises.

What are the principle pros and cons of setting up an eBay business?
The pros are: It’s easy to get started, you need little capital, the risks are relatively small and you can choose the scale you operate on. It’s immensely flexible and you can do it your way.

On the downside, eBay is a complex and growing marketplace so there is an awful lot to learn. There is a complicated pricing model and a myriad of rules to know. It’s also a constant learning experience and you need to keep abreast of the latest developments and news to make sure you’re getting the most from eBay. Obtaining good stock, at the right price, is a challenge for any business but it’s a particularly hard task for new enterprises.

In terms of business practicality, these are no more or less onerous than any other business. You need to operate within the law, pay taxes and everything else a small business needs to do. Many sellers operate as sole traders and aren’t VAT registered.

Have you any stats on the number of older people using eBay for this purpose?
There are no official eBay numbers on what proportion of eBay business sellers are over 50 but from my own experience, I’d estimate that about a third are over 50. eBay isn’t a cool and trendy community and I don’t think anyone should feel self-conscious about being ‘too old’ for it. In the US and the UK some of the most successful and profitable sellers are over 50.

How do you see the eBay business market developing over the next few years and why?
eBay’s always changing and recent changes to Feedback, Fees and Search have hit the headlines. I’d suggest three major developments to the eBay marketplace in the next few years:

- Sellers will be held to higher standards of professionalism and expected, by eBay, to offer top notch service to sellers. Those who don’t will be limited from selling and potentially even removed altogether. Whilst this is happening already, expect it to continue.

- A move away from auctions to fixed price/buy it now formats. eBay is famous for auctions but enjoying better growth from BIN. It could be a bad idea to embark upon an enterprise that favours the auction format.

- Bigger and bigger sellers are coming to eBay. Rather than a level-playing field that has historically been critical to the marketplace, eBay’s biggest sellers (turning over more than £250,000 a month) can negotiate with eBay to get preferential terms and lower fees. Rather like a corner shop competing with Tesco, this is likely to represent a challenge to eBay’s army of small sellers.

Dan Wilson Links 3/vii/2008

Dan Wilson — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:23:20 +0000

A links miscellany. Here’s some stuff I’ve been reading on the web and liked.

From the New York Times, Luis Suarez of IBM explains how he has unshackled himself from his email inbox using social tools and the blower.

The Mail has over taken the Guardian and the Telegraph as the highest circulating UK newspaper online. What are they doing right?

Are you using StumbleUpon? Here’s why it might be better than Digg.

Techcrunch reports Faceparty’s hissy fit at its users. Hilarious.

Useful SEO resource: yoast.com.

And three links on blogging:

On the perils of negative blogging from Problogger.

What journalists can learn from bloggers, in the Guardian.

Why most corporate blogs are unimaginative, from the Wall Street Journal.

Greetings from Chicago.

Dan Wilson — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:12:01 +0000

(The bravado and sheer cheek of this ‘marketing’ staggers me… and inspires not a little admiration.)