Sunday, October 25

Los Angeles Breeder's Cup TweetUp November 6

To get some photos, the people from the Breeder's cup sponsored a mini event: ""LA Tech Girls Take To Santa Anita For Pre-TweetUp Photo Shoot" to promote a TweetUp planned at Santa Anita Race Track on November 6th. I was lucky enough to be one of the models. I'm pictured here with Kentucky Derby Winner Mine That Bird.

For those in the Los Angeles area, here are the details of an event that you won't want to miss. (I hope I will see you there)!

November 6, 2009 at the 2009 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, CA. Watch the world's best horses and jockeys compete live for $25.5 million in purses during the first day of the two-day World Championships televised around the world on ESPN. Come socialize and take in a great day of racing.

Tweet-Up will be held in exclusively-designated area - Santa Anita's Seabiscuit Court and will also include access to a designated Tweeter seating area (frontside).

The day will feature:
* 11:15 AM (PT): Betting the Breeders' Cup Handicapping session with Joe Drape (@joedrape) of the New York Times, Ed DeRosa (@EJXD2) of the Thoroughbred Times and Tom Quigley (@Quigleys_Corner) of Horseplayer Magazine
* Q&A with prominent jockeys
* Appearances by ESPN personalities and jockeys from Animal Planet's critically acclaimed reality show "Jockeys" and more

The tweetup will include a buffet, a commemorative Breeders’ Cup giveaway item for all participants of the tweet-up. Someone will win a Nikon Coolpix. And the person who delivers the best tweets onsite will win a trip for two to the 2010 Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs (Kentucky, home of the Kentucky Derby) including airfare and hotel.

Follow @BreedersCup on Twitter for more information
Tickets are available here.
To see more photos from the LA Tech Girls, click here.

Photo by AV Flox

Wednesday, October 7

Social Media Marketing? Learn from Successful eBay Sellers

Once you're a participant in social media, you'll quickly get to meet the "experts." They wildly tout their business and online acumen and attempt to sell you their advice. But really? What have they really sold? The proof of any expert is how much they have earned in practice.

eBay was growing in the early days of 1996 (when I started selling). People would come to the site and buy from others on trust. Trust that was displayed in the seller's description, trust that was built on transactions and feedback. People from across the country would send money to absolute strangers and merchandise would be shipped.

Tens of thousands of sellers became "Trust Agents" (thank you Chris Brogan); making a living and building real business through trust and reliability. I put my daughter (see below) through college on my eBay earnings; and I didn't do it by just giving advice. I sold stuff.

eBay's feedback system has been building reputations for honest, trustworthy people who really make money on the internet. A brilliant idea from Pierre Omidyar, eBay's founder. Click here to see his original statement on trust and community from 1995.

Ask any experienced eBay seller how to be successful with social marketing. They know how to do it - they don't just talk about it. Ask my friend John (@ColderICE) Lawson; he's got over 75,000 feedbacks on eBay. That's one heck of a community.

I wrote my first book on eBay in 1999. Today my books are in seven languages and I've sold over a million. People take my advice because I do it; I'm honest and I give solid information. That's one heck of a community based on trust.

We've been doing Social Media since 1996. I have over 6800 feedbacks on eBay. I'm successful and so are they. Ask a long time eBay seller how.


(Yes, That's my daughter @SusanDickman helping ship items when she was in college)

(A Tweet from Pierre Omidyar, Founder of eBay about this post - Thank you)