Archive for June 28th, 2006

GBuy Hasn’t Taken over Yet

Forbes Unconfirmed reports that Google will soon launch a payment service to rival eBay‘s PayPal dealt a blow to the online auction company’s shares on Tuesday. But eBay (nasdaq: EBAY – news – people ) could conceivably weather the competition thanks to its significant brand-name advantage, according to a new report from Standard & Poor’s [...]

 

eBay May Need More Training Before Skype Is Adopted

TMC Net  Internet fax and on-demand communications solutions provider RingCentral announced this week the results of its recent online commerce survey, conducted during the eBay Live 2006 conference. The survey asked more than 85 eBay merchants categorized as “Power Sellersâ€? to share their thoughts about which communications solutions work best to enhance online selling. RingCentral’s [...]

 

ChannelAdvisor Buts Heads with Marketworks

 AuctionBytes ChannelAdvisor issued a press release on Tuesday announcing competitor Marketworks filed a complaint against it in Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta. “ChannelAdvisor understands that the complaint primarily centers around the hiring of a former Marketworks employee who was allegedly bound by a non-competition agreement forbidding employment with AuctionRover.com” (http://www.channeladvisor.com/company/press_releases/pr060627.asp). ChannelAdvisor and Marketworks provide [...]

 

GBuy Take a Bite Out of eBay Stock

 Reuters Google Inc. is expected to unveil on Wednesday an online payment system called GBuy, which analysts say will allow merchants to accept payment for services and could become a broad-based alternative to eBay’s PayPal, the dominant system. Analyst Danny Sullivan, editor of SearchEngineWatch.com, said he expected Google to make the announcement on Wednesday and [...]

 

Jellyfish to Challenge Google CPC Ad Model Jellyfish to Challenge Google CPC Ad Model

Information Week: On Monday, shopping search engine Jellyfish.com will begin to woo advertisers with what it claims is a better mousetrap: It will offer an alternative to cost-per-click (CPC) advertising by opening an online marketplace for advertisers to bid directly to customers for their attention and patronage. The company, which closed initial seed funding from [...]

 

How to Track Ad Results

Entrepreneur: When you want to hold your ad dollars accountable, there are basically three ad-tracking strategies to choose from: Strategy #1: under-price a well-known product Strategy #2: feature an item with a powerful story Strategy #3: plant a word-flag in the ad

 

Build an Army for Your Ideas Build an Army for Your Ideas

Fast Company: Before you pitch your next big idea, remember the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. In the late 1970s, someone in the Army had a notion to build something that could transport 11-soldier squads into battle. Then the suggestions–and the chaos–started. Let’s add a roof! And a missile launcher! More armor! The result was a $13 [...]

 

Do-It-Yourself Strategic Planning Do-It-Yourself Strategic Planning

Gladys Edmunds in USA Today: A simple thought to keep in mind when developing your strategic plan is to remember that no matter how successful you feel your business is, you are only serving a very small piece of your market. Therefore the objective of a strategic plan is to figure out ways for you [...]

 

Where to Get a Prototype Where to Get a Prototype

Startup Journal: There is an increasing array of low-cost options. For instance, virtual prototypes, or “computer-aided designs,” generally cost less than $1,500 and are fine for inventors with prohibitively expensive or large-scale inventions, or those looking for an affordable prototype, says Duke Kramer, president and chief executive of DTI Prototype & Design in Lompoc, Calif. [...]

 

Star Treatment on eBay Star Treatment on eBay

Entrepreneur: It doesn’t matter what you sell; people truly buy only two things from you: security and confidence. If you can’t provide those two things through your customer service, your buyers will simply move on to your competitors…and on eBay, they have many to choose from. If you treat eBay like a garage sale, you [...]