Sandi Garcia is an eBay education specialist and social media marketing coach who provides tools, tips, and tricks for running an efficient online business. The document outlines strategies for setting boundaries, scheduling, creating efficiencies in listing and other processes, managing cash flow, using tools and technology, and networking. It emphasizes the importance of treating the business like a professional operation.

1. Tools, Tips & Tricks
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2.  © 2013, Sandi Garcia. All rights reserved.
 No part of these materials may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form, by any means
without permission of the author.
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3.  Sandi Garcia, aka “Social Sandi”
◦ eBay Education Specialist
◦ Social Media Marketing Coach
◦ B.S. in Business Administration from UC Berkeley
(Go Bears!)
◦ Owner www.OfficeThreads.com (formerly Like New Suits)
◦ Based out of Alameda, California
◦ Crazy obsessed NY Yankees Fan
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4.  We are going to move wicked fast.
Follow-up at:
◦ www.socialsandi.com
◦ www.facebook.com/socialsandi
◦ Tweet me @socialsandi
 B-School words
 Interactive
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5.  Get Out the Map
 Boundaries & Scheduling
 Going to the Office
 Get up, Stand up
 Managing Cash-flow and Business Decisions
 Creating Efficiencies
 “Help Wanted”
 Using Tools, Apps, and Resources
 Back to School
 Networking
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10.  Those who don’t sell on eBay do not
understand what we do & may not consider it
“work”
 Loved ones can be tremendous time-suckers
 Have a “family meeting”. Explain things will
change re: your availability. Involve family in
the process of finding ways to help you be
successful with your business.
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11. “I put my foot down on people coming and going
from my office. Most people tend to think of what I
do differently from what it actually is. Friends
would stop by to 'hang out' or call to just say "hi".
I wasn't taking my schedule seriously, nor were my
friends. Now I have a 'by appointment only' sign at
my office and use Google calendar to set my
schedule. It has a pop-up when it's time to change
or start a task.”
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12.  Please volunteer if you have family or friends
who fairly often impose on your “work time”.
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13.  Sample: “I love you and am so glad you are a
part of my life, but this is work time so I can’t
help you right now.”
 Important to validate that you care/respect
them, and also that you are firm.
 Use the same language every time, eventually
they will get the message (or just get so
bored by your response that they will leave
you alone).
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14.  Take off 1 day each week!
 Plan your week ahead of time, combine trips.
 Schedule “Firehouse Time” – Reflect on your
business regularly, consider what is and isn’t
working.
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15. “Do it now. And if you can't, then schedule a
time to do it. This pertains to unloading
inventory, bookkeeping, mending piles, etc.”
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16.  Reading industry news & education
 Social media networking
 As your business matures: Social media
marketing
 Shipping
 Customer service & communication
 Inventory management
 Photography & Photo Editing
 Listing
 Bookkeeping
 Sourcing
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17. “Create a daily to-do list.”
“Be on top of things as they come up. I log
everything in as soon as I can -
inventory, payments, etc., and try not to let
things pile up, including bookkeeping.”
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19. • Get dressed.
• Pack your lunch and snacks.
• Make your office an office.
 Create a separate, definitive “office” – separate the
space visually (doors, screens, tall plants…)
 Keep the office separate from your homespace: No
children, pets, roommates, or life partners. If you
don’t go to their office/school and lounge
around, they don’t go to yours.
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22. “If at all possible, have a designated eBay area.
Preferably one with a door that you can close at
the end of your workday.”
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24.  When we are sick, we can’t operate our
business. Staying healthy is essential.
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26.  American Journal of Epidemiology studied people
who sit more than 6 hours per day.
When tracked over a 13-year period, there was a:
 40% higher death rate in women
 18% higher death rate in men
As compared to people who did not sit 6+
hours/day.
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28.  Cardiovascular disease
 Diabetes
 Cancer
 Metabolic syndrome
 Obesity
 Back and neck pain
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30.  Treadmill desk
 Frequent breaks from sitting, every 30 minutes
 Stretches and “desk yoga”
 Replace your chair with an exercise ball
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34.  Shawn Busse, Kinesis, Inc.
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35.  ROI = “Return on Investment”
 Ask yourself:
“If I spend this dollar,
what will my return be on that dollar?”
 When it comes to expenses, don’t trust your
gut
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36. Costs
Cost to acquire inventory $10.00
Labor cost for listing item (30-minutes,
$16/hour)
$ 8.00
eBay Fees (if it sells for $40) $ 3.60
PayPal Fees (if it sells for $40) $ 1.46
Shipping Expense $ 3.50
Shipping Supplies $ .35
Cleaning Expense $ 0
Storage Expense $ 0
TOTAL COSTS $26.56
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37. Your ROI is…
$40.00 – $26.56 = $13.44
Is that good?
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38.  Rent
 Utilities
 Mileage (gas, car maintenance…)
 eBay Store Subscription
 Listing Service Subscription
(SixBit, SSB, Inkfrog, Blackthorne, Auctive, etc.)
 Other subscriptions
 Insurance
 Office supplies
 Travel
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39.  Budget for Returns, estimate 3-5% of sales
 Set REALISTIC income goals
 Include fixed and variable costs already
discussed
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41.  Sourcing inventory
 Listing flow (including photography)
 Shipping
 Every thing you do operationally can be
analyzed and (probably) improved upon
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42.  I worked in batches of 10 items, then
averaged my time per item.
◦ Photography: 5 minutes 6 seconds each
◦ Photo editing: 14 minutes 38 seconds each
◦ Measuring: 1 minute 14 seconds each
◦ Listing (with research): 9 minutes 40 seconds each
 Total time per item to get them listed:
30 minutes 38 seconds
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43. “I would say my most efficient technique is
sorting "like" items, when possible for the days
listings. Either by brand or style (like
collared, button up shirts or sleeveless
dresses, etc) .
This optimizes listing times by minimizing
changes from listing to listing, speeding up the
process.”
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44. “Have designated area for shipping. I have my
tissue at the end of my work table and it NEVER
gets moved now. There is a nice space for
packaging and doing the tissue wrap and
makes me happy every time I ship there.”
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45. “Techniques I use: Issue an inventory # (SKU,
part #) to everything - use that same # for
photos of the item) -and- I have an explicit
place for everything - inventory is here,
shipping materials there, etc.”
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46. What is something you can make
more efficient in your business?
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49.  You have plateaued
 You have maximized efficiencies
 You are cash-flow positive
 You have a positive net income every month
 You want to grow the business
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50.  IRS: “Anyone who performs services for you is
your employee if you can control what will be
done and how it will be done. This is so even
when you give the employee freedom of action.
What matters is that you have the right to control
the details of how the services are performed.
 If you have employees, you will may expenses
related to payroll taxes, unemployment
insurance, workman’s compensation insurance
 If you have employees, a rule of thumb when
budgeting expenses is to estimate double their
rate of pay
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51. 1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of
the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which
would be given in an educational environment;
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works
under close supervision of existing staff;
4. The employer that provides the training derives no
immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and
on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the
conclusion of the internship; and
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is
not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.
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52.  There is a clear “end date”, but you can
always extend or offer a paid position later.
 They may be able to receive college credit.
 If you hire the person at the end of the
internship, they are already trained!
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53. 1. Hire people who are passionate
about your product.
2. Trust but verify.
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55.  eBay Completed Transactions - Free
 Terapeak.com - $19.95 to $49.95/month
 Worthpoint.com - $14.99/month
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56.  Outright.com
 Quickbooks
 Hire at Odesk.com or a local professional
 Sales Tax Organization: TaxJar.com
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57.  Auctiva Find & Replace
 Ki Oui Googalytics
 Page Mage Billboards & Smart Gallery
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 SocialBeacon.com
 Smartphone apps for Twitter and Facebook

58.  List with Mobile!
◦ eBay has apps for the iPhone, iPad, Android, and
Windows Phones
 Great on-the go research tool
◦ Terapeak has an iPhone App
 The PayPal “Ka-ching”
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59. What is a tool or App YOU use to
make your business more efficient?
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61.  Coursera.org
 Edx.org
 Udacity.com
 What to study?
◦ Accounting
◦ Tax preparation
◦ Business classes
◦ HTML/SEO
◦ Marketing
◦ Social Media Networks
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62.  Set up a blog/RSS Feed Reader
◦ TheOldReader.com
◦ Feedly.com
◦ NetVibes.com
 Subscribe to industry news magazines
(often free)
◦ InternetRetailer.com
◦ Apparel News
 Carry a Book with you EVERYWHERE
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64.  eBay quarterly Investor Call
investor.ebayinc.com
 eBay Blog
blog.ebay.com
 Semi-annual Seller Updates
 eBay Radio (Tues. & Thurs.)
 eBay Town Hall
 Set-up a News Feed and monitor eBay News
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66.  Crowdsourcing, especially research
 Sharing ideas
 Bouncing ideas off of them
 Helping you stay grounded
 Motivating each other
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67.  Facebook Groups
 LinkedIn Groups
 eBay Discussion Boards and Groups
(watch out for trolls)
 Meetup Groups 
 eBay Radio Party & eBay On Location (TBA)
 ColderICE Retail Conference (Sep. 20-21)
 Kansas Jubilee (Oct. 25-26)
 SeaBay Cruise (February 8, 2014)
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70. Sandi.Garcia@Live.com
805-400-3229
www.socialsandi.com
www.facebook.com/SocialSandi
@SocialSandi
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