Thursday, 6/26 "Nikon Point, Click & Sell"

This presentation was jointly delivered by a Nikon (eBay Live! Sponsor) employee and a professional photographer. The session was well attended by over 400. Several camera tips were geared towards the Nikon Coolpix 2100 (2.1 mpixel camera used for demonstrations), however, most of the presentation was applicable to digital photography regardless of camera type. The presenters repeatedly stressed that the best digital pictures for eBay are "clean, neat, and simple."

Camera handling techniques were covered. These simple, yet effective practices will result in sharp digital images. They included:

• Use of Both Hands
• Keep Arms Tight Into the Body
• Brace Body Against Solid Object (or better yet, use a tripod)
• Hold Breath, and Lightly Squeeze the Shutter
• Try Self-Timer

Also discussed was the importance of composition and lighting. Several recommendations were made for inexpensive materials that can be used to set up a home studio. These included white and gray poster board or construction paper, desk lamps, and fleece.

During the Q&A, one PowerSeller stated their only Neutral feedback was caused by poor auction photos. This presentation demonstrated that small changes in your digital photography technique, even with a relatively inexpensive digital camera, will result in big improvements. The Nikon conference tag line is A Better Picture is Worth a Thousand Bucks!

The Nikon eBay Live! Presentation and more information on the Coolpix 2100 can be found at http://www.nikoncoolpix.com/ebaylive

Thurs., 6/26 "Improve Your Listing with Better HTML"

This session was presented by Jim Griffith (aka Uncle Griff), the Dean of eBay Education and author of The Offical eBay Bible (available for sale and signing at eBay Live!).

Jim recommended creating an item description, using HTML outside of the eBay SYI (Sell Your Item) page. He used Windows Notepad, stating that Microsoft Word can sometimes add formatting characteristics that will negatively impact HTML. The Notepad file was saved with an .html extension and opened with an IE browser.

Many HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) tags were demonstrated. These and more are explained in Jim's book and are also readily available in HTML tutorials available on the internet (try a Google search on HTML Tutorial).

Learning more, even just the basics of HTML can assist with the creation of more professional looking auction descriptions and will provide linking for cross merchandising.

I will use information from this session to improve the appearance of my "About Me" page and to enhance my auction descriptions with tags that are not included the SYI HTML editor.