WOW!!! Two countries, four cities, three presentations and 40+ hours in airplanes makes for ONE tired black man. The experiences we had in Sydney, Melbourne, Kansas City and Hollywood (that was just for fun) have been amazing. It is way too much for a blog post, but I hope you will join me TOMORROW evening for a very special Late Night BETA show, register now FREE.

I will be recapping all the information, tools and fun of my trip to Australia for the Professional eBay Sellers Association (PeSA) event there and also the Bonanazle Up event in Kansas City. Two selling communities and some really great people. Join me on the show and make sure you bring a drink! This is Late Night BETA, we kick it on a whole different vibe when I go late night. See you there, guys…

Register now for the PeSA eBay Summit highlights 2010 Show

Come back here during show time and I will be LIVE!!!

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I going back to Australia in July and you have GOT to be there for this one. Last years event was spectacular and I am stoked to get invited back. After chatting with the organizers in Aussie, they told me that this year is on track to be the biggest PeSA Summit yet! The people of Australia were so great last year. They are some of the most energized eBay/eCommerce merchants in the world and it is an honor to be asked back as a keynote speaker once again.

Earlybird registration for the two day event is only $249 until Friday 11 June, 2010. So you can register online today

Its is a two day agenda that has been finalised. You can download a PDF on the agenda page. WHAT SIZE BUSINESSES ARE REGISTERED? They have got a great mix so far, with 15% of sellers expecting $1 million+ in revenue this year, 10% expecting $500k-$1milion, 15% expecting $250k-$500k and the balance below $250k. Of Sellers registered, 25% only sell on eBay, with the rest using eBay as one of their channels to market.

NEW TO Australia SUMMIT? Check out the About Summit page.

I woke up this morning to a story that caught my eye from Dave White of eBay and Beyond when he said the following:

Recently, I submitted a press release regarding the combined ECMTA Chicago Chapter/Chicagoland eBay Sellers dinner meeting coinciding with Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition to Auctionbytes.com free service for Press Releases.

The event is open to all internet marketers, and will feature John ColderIce Lawson, CEO of 3Rd Power Outlet, Randy K. Smythe, Merchant Advocate for Buy.com, Richard Brewer-Hay editor of eBayInkBlog.com, and Scot Wingo, CEO of Channeladvisor and editor of ebaystratagies blog as guest panelists in a roundtable townhall discussion format.

Imagine my surprise when I received an email from David Steiner President of Auctionbytes denying my submission. As there was no reason for the denial given I decided to seek an answer.

I emailed David requesting a reason for the denial and this is the response I received:

It’s our policy not to accept PESA/ECMTA press releases.

OK, so I must step in here and say that yes I am personally on this press release (for disclosure purpose) so I may be a little biased…ok, more than a little.

OUCH! I had no idea that AuctionBytes has a blanket policy in place that it would not accept press release news affiliated with the eBay PowerSeller organization PeSA or the eCommerce Seller organization of ECMTA.

Personally, everyone with a blog has a right to have a “pissing contest” with anyone they want, but I do feel it is unfortunate that people like Dave and the eBay and Beyond folks have to chose sides or they will NOT be treated fairly. The AuctionBytes folks now have this blanket DOS (denial of service) based on simple “sponsorship association”. I dunno, just was shocked to see that response so open and out there about it.

I must quote the great incite of  Mr. King…No silly, not Martin Luther King…Rodney King! “Can we all get along?”

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So, I am sitting on the plane, watching the parade of people going by as they make their way past my seat. I am on the front row, seat 1F in business class. So John why is that important?

I am so glad you asked … I ALWAYS have coach seating, I have not flown first class since the days back when I was a kid. My dad retired from American Airlines and as a kid I got free flight passes, boy those were the days. But nowadays I simply can’t really justify the cost to sit in business class, since that class actually lands AFTER the coach class LMAO!

I was checking in for today’s flight and was offered a frequent flyer upgrade and took it…Lucky day huh, especially since the casinos here in Vegas busted my ass. I was in Vegas to speak at the eCommerce Summit hosted by the Ecommerce Merchants Trade Association (ECMTA) and PeSA (Professional eBay Sellers Association) here in Vegas and it was 2 days of intense learning and networking and was a great time for all. A fabulous event that I really enjoyed, but more on that in a later post….

The managing director of ECMTA, Jonathan Garriss, did his presentation and it was fantastic. One of the underlying themes he had was about perspective. That just kept resonating with me as my "personal" take away. He was talking about how we all perceive our businesses from our perspective and was showing the opposing view points of things like, customer vs. business owner or even ecommerce channel (like eBay) vs sellers.

Brandon Dupsky, Jonathan Garriss, Joe Cortez, Adam Hersch (all are ECMTA Board Members) and myself

Then in another session with the eBay panel, an attendee was questioning why eBay was not as "responsive to his needs as a seller as he thought they should be" and one of the eBay panel people said, there are approximately 5000 employs and 60 million sellers…hmm, perspective is important. Even while doing my presentation on

Social Media for Business SUCKS! I had some slides in it dealing with that same subject matter of perspective.

So here I am on the front row of the plane and suddenly my perspective was altered. I did not wait in the long line at the check it, I went to the business class lane and was helped immediately. They also have a business class lane for security search, no long line and waiting. I got to go on the plane first and settle in before the others with seating in coach. And best of all, I am sipping down a CC and Seven (no Johnny Black on Airtran ) while I am writing this blog post in my leather reclining oversized seat.

The take away is this…IF I were a privileged flyer, filthy rich and all of my travel was just business class and I never had the opportunity to sat in coach before, how would my perspective of air convince and comfort differ from a coach flyer? How would I respond when I hear others speak on their hassles with air travel. Could I really understand and truly share in their pains? NOPE probably not.

Now flip that scenario and put yourself on the other side of that mysterious blue curtain, that separates coach from first class. Could that person appreciate why business class passengers get to jump to the front of the check in line. Do they understand really, why the business class passengers get special shout outs on the announcement or why they have cocktail drinks in hand BEFORE the plane leaves the gate? NOPE probably not.

In this scenario which side is "right", which experience is more realistic?

Everything that we think, feel, believe and understand gets filtered and processed by our brains. Our mind filters everything by and through our experiences giving each of us a UNIQUE perspective on things. To help expand that narrow viewpoint, sometimes listening to the experience of others helps to craft and alter how we filter thought and alters the way we think.

The tricky part is to be open enough to take in the information disseminated by others and use it to shape your thinking, so you can now filter information better by using not only your own limited experience, but those of others, ESPECIALLY your customers and business partners.

You have got to get INSIDE their mind and understand their experiences which shapes their perspectives. You do not have to think it is the ONLY "right" perspective, but you must understand where they are coming from. And you have to empathize with their perspective for your own graduated success and endeavors. Doing this not only in business but in your own life!

Photo above Usher Lieberman (TheFind.com), Me, RIchard Brewer-Hay (eBay Ink Blog) (from left)

This is something that you can take and use in all areas of your life, remember that each of use have a unique perspective and even though you think you see something one way, another person can see it entirely different and BOTH of you can be 100% right. How’s that for a insightful take away blog post on a conference, eh? Use it…I most certainly will going forward.

Photo credit: Karen Locker

Today is Sunday, not just any old Sunday, but it is Easter Sunday. Its early cause I need to get a early start today. What sucks about it being on Easter? Nothing really, I can still get my cup of Mc Cafe since the Mc Donald’s is open today, YEAH!

Yesterday went off without too many hitches. We left the hotel and forgot the key for the rental truck. There was so much on the brain you can sometimes forget the small stuff. That was not too big of an issue, but I had to go back and get it since we needed to return the truck by 2:00.

Yesterday George and crew got all the product on the shelves and sorted into their new home. They were done by lunch time! Very efficient stuff man, and the folks here are all cool. After tinkering with the in-house PC my partner finally got all parts of our proprietary shipping program to load and work on the server here as well. That was the BIGGEST blind part of the move. Could we actually get our software to run on their servers the way it did for us? Since he wrote the program for his own use when he was doing all of our packing and shipping back home, could it now work on a larger level and be properly ported to North Carolina? The answer is now YES!

So with all these things in place, all that we need to do today is get a good inventory count and put the location codes into our systems. What I mean is that each item has a space on a shelf and each row has multiple shelves. We will use an alphanumeric code that will tell the shipping technician where the item actually resides for pulling it, simply by using the location code. This makes it easy to locate product where Row O Shelf 21 would be a “blue widget” now on the pull sheet all items will have its corresponding location code. So that is the task for today BEFORE I get to eat my Easter dinner

We got all the reports to print properly, our labels are printing as planned. Communication between offices has been simulated and is working. All systems are GO and now tomorrow is the ultimate test. We will run a full production day on Monday. Just so you know, we planned this weekend knowing that Spring Break + Easter makes for one of the slowest sales weekends due to the holidays. This allows us to do the move and not have the heavy volume on Monday from a normal weekend. This will allow extra time for us to hammer out any issues on Monday and still make the pick up times for the carriers.

Now that I have told you all the what’s let me tell you some of the why’s…why are we doing this? The question came from my mother, she is always checking up on me like she knows what I do, LMAO. But the why is still a good question. This started by me asking myself a question…”Is my time best spent on the nuts and bolts of our business or the merchandising and marketing?” What happens when you have a more flexible approach to your business operations? This whole conversation really was sparked by Phil Leahy (PeSA Australia founder) last year when I was in Australia. Phil said that with all the things going on with ColderICE he was amazed how hands on I was with daily operations for 3rd Power Outlet. He began to lay out the benefits to me of allowing the day to day, nuts and bolts go so I could free up time for other things at the same time move on a faster road to maximizing profitability. Phil is a smart dude and I took that conversation to heart. Everything starts with an idea and there are MANY good ideas in the universe. But few can actually execute a good idea and I have been able to do that with this move.

A few months after leaving Australia I still had the conversation in my mind. I knew what I wanted but had no idea where to get it. Then George called me out of the blue with news of a new venture he was starting called “Fulfillment by George” …. OMG I had my answer! OK, I got to get to work now, so I will be back tomorrow with a few more thoughts on it.

Stay tuned, I will let you know how that works out tomorrow

The Aftermath:

eCommerce Merchants Atlanta

After Party

Welcome to HOTLANTA! What you heard is true, we know how to throw parties in this city. Take a break from the mundane and spend some time hanging out and having a few drinks with the "eCommerce Rock Stars".

This is the HOTTEST ecommerce party in this city for the eBay On Location event!!!

The Aftermath: eCommerce Merchants Atlanta After Party

Date: Friday March 19th, 2010

Time: 8:00 pm

Admission is FREE!

Register:  HERE

Location:

300 Marietta Street Northwest, Atlanta

(404) 885-1472

(2 blocks from the eBay On Location hotel)

Dress: Casual chic

Walking Directions:  Exit the CNN center or Omni Hotel facing Marietta Street. Turn left and walk 2.5 blocks. Stats is on the corner of Mariette and Baker.

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The Aftermath: eCommerce After Party 2010. This is the place to meet and greet after the eBay on Location events on Friday  in Atlanta. the after party is atomic and you have got to be on the VIP List! Register now and get up close and personal with the best and brightest minds in eBay, marketing, ecommerce and customer relationship management.

Featuring a private lounge VIP area for our guests, free drinks to the first 100 people in the door, prizes, giveaways at the "BEST Bar in Downtown Atlanta" a guaranteed good time.

   Join the Rock Stars of eCommerce

John Jantsch – Duct Tape Marketing

Richard Brewer-Hay – eBay Ink Blog

Brent Leary – Customer Relationship Management

Toby Bloomberg – Diva Marketing Blog

Peggy Duncan – Personal Productivity Expert

Charles Lumpkin – Ecommerce SEO Strategist

"JB" Braitwaite – Internet Technology Expert

George Trantas – CEO Designer Athletic

Marlene Gavens – The Savvy Seller

Melinda and Kat – Co-Hosts of eBay and Beyond Radio

Cindy Shelby – Web Sellers Circle

Hosted by eCommerce Merchants – Atlanta

with "Your Boy" John from ColderICE.com

plus YOU?!?

and many many more!

ProStores is Platinum Sponsors for The Aftermath: eCommerce Merchants – Atlanta Chapter After Party!

We’re pleased to announce that ProStores will be the platinum sponsor for “The Aftermath – eCommerce Party" here in Atlanta 2010.

 GOLD SPONSORS:

eCommerce Summit 2010 Agenda

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 6:00 PM –
Thursday, April 15, 2010 5:00 PM (Mountain Time)

Las Vegas – Flamingo Hotel & Casino
702-733-3111
3555 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
USA
Map & Directions

Hosted by:

 

Speakers include:

The State of eCommerce

It is always important for online merchants to see the big picture and understand the landscape. As Executive Director of the Professional eBay Seller’s Alliance, Jonathan Garriss understands the online retail landscape very clearly and will share with merchants what trends to pay attention to and opportunities not to miss.

Keynote Presentation – Creating, Adapting and thriving in eCommerce.

Paul Greenberg is co-founder and Managing Director of DealsDirect.com.au. When eBay launched in 1999 Paul became the first commercial seller on eBay trading as Auction Alliance. In 2004 Paul and Michael Rosenbaum launched Australia’s number one online department store, DealsDirect.com.au and created their own identity to meet the needs of customers who were looking for fixed price goods. In 2009, DealsDirect celebrated its 5th Birthday and continues to build from strength to strength. With a 430,000 square foot warehouse located in Ingleburn, 120 staff, 900,000 customers, over 1 million unique visitors per month, and four million items sold, DealsDirect.com.au is Australia’s leading online department store. 

Customer Service  Excellence – Focus on the Buyer

Marsha Collier is well known in the eBay seller community as one of the foremost eBay experts and top selling eBay author with over 1 million copies of her books in print. Marsha will be helping merchant
evaluate their customer service strategies to highlight the do’s and don’ts as well as the costs of not doing customer service right. Marsha Collier is Author of the For Dummies series of books on eBay and
eCommerce

Social Media for Business STINKS: Unless You Know These 7 Secrets

John Lawson from ColderICE.com speaks on these technologies. Every day, thousands of small businesses and entrepreneurs miss out on millions of dollars in revenue simply because they don’t know how to utilize the Internet for marketing and selling. This is NOT your same old ABC stuff, these are actual eCommerce practices for Social Media that will yield bottom line results and amp up your business. 

eBay Seller and Executive Town Hall

After the eBay presentation, sellers have an opportunity to ask eBay executives questions and offer suggestions during the eBay seller and executive town hall. eBay executives value the tremendous opportunity to visit face to face with the seller community at eCommerce Summits. We recommend sellers take full advantage of this rare opportunity.

Get the FULL lineup of events and presentations HERE

Tuesday April 13, 2010

Registration Desk Opens – 5:00 PM
Cocktail Reception – 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: TBD

Wednesday April 14, 2010

Registration Desk Opens – 8:00 AM
Keynote Presentation – 9:00 AM
Educational Sessions – 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Evening Entertainment – TBD

Thursday April 15, 2010

Keynote Presentation – 9:00 AM
Educational Sessions – 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

We are extremely excited to announce the launch of the eCommerce Merchants Radio Show airing for the very first time LIVE tomorrow Wednesday 11/18/2009 at 12:15 ET (9:15 AM PT).

eCommerce Merchants and PeSA members already receive tremendous value from our eCommerce summits, our community forums, special partner offers, webinars, and news feeds. It’s time to hit the airwaves with additional valuable eCommerce tips and strategies as they happen. Radio is the perfect medium to discuss and share these strategies in additional detail not easily accomplished in print.

Click here and bookmark radio page

The eCommerce Merchants Radio show will air every Wednesday at 12:15 ET (9:15 AM PT) LIVE with the audio archives available for download online and on iTunes within 24-48 hours after the live program. Join us live when you can and be sure to download any missed episodes when you can’t.

With the eCommerce Merchants Radio Show being 15 minutes in length, we will be focused on the important stuff that impacts sellers most. The program will discuss eCommerce strategies, best practices, and tips learned within the eCommerce Merchants community of sellers week by week. We will not become another news channel as we like to help our members create the news rather than watch it happen.

Wow, you guys freakin’ ROCK! Damn, that is absolutely humbling to think that a idea can be implemented and catch an audience. I never would have guessed that a lone idiot like me would say something intelligent enough for anyone to listen, let alone come back again!

What started as a WordPress.com blog about my thoughts as a business owner and eBay seller just one year later is really making some noise. We are having a conversation and the results are astonishing.

The funny thing is that I had slacked off June/July and wondered if I was going to continue doing the blog. Then I went to Australia the first week of August and came back rejuvenated. After seeing the excitement about ecommerce those sellers had, I got back into the swing. Those sellers down there rubbed off on me. What they had was spirit and spirit can be awful contagious.

I love what I do, I love ecommerce and I love learning. Its cool that I can put that spirit in a blog post or video and others will join the conversation. You folks ROCK! Thank you so much for hanging in there on our journey. This might seem like a small number to others (10,000) but I appreciate every single reader. I LOVE YOU MAN…..LMAO.

Special shout outs to those who encouraged me and supported the project last year (they did not laugh at me when I told them I was going to blog).

Jeff Braithwaite (he told me to do it and gave me much encouragement, a true friend)

Brandon Dupsky (eCommerce Merchants director was my FIRST interview, he is very supportive)

Scot Wingo (CEO of ChannelAdvisor – he took me to lunch and took me seriously. A W00T! moment)

Phil Leahy (PeSA Australia- Did not know him in the 1st chapter, but he is co-authoring chapter 2)

Scott Pooler (he took a chance and let me be a guest blogger for my first ever blog post)

Dave White (broadcasting mentor)

Dude!!!! It is on and poppin’ we will be hitting VEGAS BABY for this years eCommerce Summit 2010 in Vegas. I got a call this week to clear the calendar so you have GOT to come and meet me there guys.

The "retail recession" is over will you deny yourself a position to take advantage of the coming recovery? Do you want to make new success moves for your business? Do you want to lay claim over your territories and CRUSH the competition? You better register right NOW!!!

Yep, I will be in Vegas presenting with the LEADERS in eCommerce, the event is sponsored by the eCommerce Merchants and the Professional eBay Sellers Association (PeSA) which are the two premier organizations in the industry.

There is an introductory LIMITED TIME ONLY registration fee on sale right now for only $99.00 … WTF? HUH? Is that a typo? OMG you better GET IT!

eCommerce Summit 2010 in Vegas

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 6:00 pm –
Thursday, April 15, 2010 5:00 pm (Vegas Time)

Las Vegas – Flamingo Hotel & Casino
702-733-3111
3555 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Register Today & Save 25%
Register 2 or more people at the same time and save 25% for everyone.
- Must register at the same time – Limited time only

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