The Littlest Angel

The Littlest Angel

Kenadie Jourdin-Bromley was born on Feb.13, 2003 and weighed just 2 lbs, 8 ounces. Young Kenadie was not expected to survive long but years later she is still with us.

At the age of 8 months, Kenadie was diagnosed with primordial dwarfism, a genetic condition that is believed to affect only about 100 people in the world.

She isn’t expected to grow past about 30 inches or weigh more than 8 pounds. Her family maintains an enchanting website filled with photos and Kenadie updates. The site can be viewed here.

The photo above is of Kenadie and photographer Gary Parker.

It is believed that Caroline Crachami, the Sicilian Fairy, was the first documented primordial dwarf. She toured Europe in 1824 and passed away that same year.

 

10 tips for buying and selling success on eBay

1. Build A Positive Feedback Rating
Having a good feedback rating makes other eBayers comfortable doing business with you. I won't buy from someone that has less than 98.5% positive feedback. Keep your feedback rating high and you'll continue to have lots of customers.
2. Be generous with your feedback
Post feedback quickly and leave specific comments. Leaving a comment that says: "great seller," is nice –but it is more helpful to say, "Item arrived quickly in perfect condition, just as described." Or: "Quick Professional transaction –good email and just what I ordered." If the seller sells something specific you can mention it such as: "Beautiful Print –I will enjoy for many years."
This type of feedback is very helpful to future buyers and it tends to get you better feedback comments in return.
3. Create an About Me page on eBay
eBay allows you to create a page to describe you and your family or even include your pets, hobbies, interests – basically anything you like. If you have a web site, this is the only place on eBay where you are allowed to place a link directing buyers to your web site. USE IT! The About Me page is searchable on outside search engines like google and yahoo. This can help generate traffic to your listings so be sure to mention the types of things you sell.
4. Understand the rule of odd cents
Most people bid in even numbers. If the bid increment is 50 cents, make your bid .52 or .53. This way you will just outbid someone by a few cents instead of a large increment. This is very important when sniping (see next item)
5. Learn to snipe
eBay’s proxy bidding system allows you to set your highest bid and then forget about it. eBay's system will keep bidding the minimum increment up to your maximum. This is fine if you know exactly how much you want to pay for something. If you are not sure how much you want to bid or if you know an item will be hot, then learn how to snipe at the last minute. Here is how to snipe:
Open one window with the auction description. Open a second window and place the highest amount you will pay for the item and hit "Review Bid." Now enter your username and password –but don’t hit "Place Bid" yet. Wait until 15 or 20 seconds before the auction ends. (Refresh your first window to see the time left). At the right moment, hit "Place Bid." With luck your bid will arrive at the perfect time to beat out your competition.
6. Search Completed items
To find out what a product is worth, it doesn’t do any good to find prices for on-going auctions as this could change minute by minute. Searching Completed Items (from the eBay search box) is the best way to determine an item’s worth or value.
7. Become an expert in your field
Become an authority on what you do in your online auction business. If you sell printer ink cartridges, you want to be thought of before anyone else.
When you become an authority in your field, a whole new universe of business and opportunity is opened up to you. I buy certain types of things on eBay from the same sellers over and over. I wouldn't dare do business with anyone else, not when they have proven themselves and their product.
You want to earn that same type of position in the minds of eBayer’s for your niche. Also continue your auction education. Read books and training manuals, visit the chat and message boards, attend an eBay University when it comes to your town, go to eBay Live, and keep learning all the time.
8. Master the art of writing an effective auction headline and item description.
Your headline is your advertising and your item description is your salesperson. On the web, how your potential buyer perceives you and your product is everything.
Be sure to use descriptive words in your auction title (headline). Common words like Rare, Unique, Powerful, New, Unusual, Stunning, Top Notch, First Class, etc. are not as effective as more precise brand names, model numbers, sizes, etc. Use common words (like those above) only when you have enough space for them in addition to the precise description terms. Just be sure not to exaggerate. Don’t call something ‘rare" if it is not.
Copy writing is the art of showing you and what you sell to your buyer in the best possible light. It’s the most important thing you have going for you. If your item is used and has a crack in it.. be honest and say so.. but minimize the negative aspects of it.
9. Learn simple HTML commands to spice up your auctions
Don’t be afraid of HTML. Anyone can do it. You can make your text bold, increase or reduce the size, add color backgrounds, etc. by typing a simple html code within your listing. Go to: http://echoecho.com/ or http://www.davesite.com/ for simple and free online tutorials on how to do HTML.
10.Take the time to take good photos
Here are some simple tips to take good digital photos:
Clean up the area around the subject or use a backdrop
Always use a tripod to make your photos sharp
Avoid clutter in the photo
Shoot outdoors on a cloudy day or in open shade. Don’t shoot in direct sunlight, as the contrast is too high
Indirect window light is also excellent. I often shoot objects ona table next to a window with a white or gray sheet for a backdrop
Get reasonably close to the object
Show a close-up of any repairs or defects
If relevant, show the product being used.
If size is an issue, show some thing such as a coin or a ruler toto indicate dimensions.

Bonus 11. Use multiple photos. The more photos you have the better. Buyers want to see your items before they bid so take photos that show it from multiple angles. Upload your photos to a free hosting site like photobucket or flickr and use html to pull the photo into your listing. eBay can host them for you also.. but they charge a fee.

Good luck!

Just for fun: Someone Tries to Sell Belgium on eBay

Thought for the day

My body is a temple, my mind is the Holy of Holies. - Unknown

Our minds are all we've got. They are the source of who we, both personally and professionally, are. They determine our success or failure. They are our strength and our weakness. - Mark Victor Hansen

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You Belong in Fall

Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times... You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings Whether you're carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you

What Season Are You?

Catching up..

It's been a busy week. I was so involved in the investment tournament that I missed making a couple blog posts. So today we'll get caught up with what was missed.

Normally on Fridays I do a feature called "Friday's Finds" where I share some fun and unique websites that I have happened across on the web. I've missed it a couple time so in the spirit of sharing.. here's a short Saturday episode of Friday's Finds:

1. Create a Simpsons-style avator.

2. Virtual Etch-a-Sketch.

3. Calvin and Hobbs Forever!


To update you on the results of my investment shoot-out, my wife made 10 transactions on friday but couldn’t reach the pot of gold in her battle with me. She ended the tournament with $162,186. I was able to grow my portfolio by nearly $7k on friday for a grand total of $181,101.

We both started with $100,000 last monday. By winning this week, I move into the Championship round with the CEO of Big Smarty Wallstreet. Wish me luck.. I can use all the help I can get. Of course I have the anaylitical power of "The Mentor Center" which helps to identify stocks with great buy signals. So I am sure I will do great. But win or lose, it's an honor to have made it this far.

Please stop by and join us in an upcoming weekly tournament. We are mostly non-professionals with an interesting in helping each other make better investments. We have weekly, daily, monthly tournaments and we play other games like Wallstreet BINGO and Lucky 7. All the games and tournaments are FREE so don't be afraid to register and keep an eye on us! Use the BigSmarty links on this page to find us.

Hurricane Humberto

Our family and friends thought we were crazy two years ago when we announced that we would be relocating from snowy Utah to hot, humid, hurricane stricken Southeast Texas. We bought our beautiful little 10 acre ranch only a couple months after Hurricane Rita had ripped through the area. The home we bought needed to replace the roof and make other "Rita damaged" repaired before we could proceed with the purchase.

So with that in our recent memories you'd think we would keep up to date on the storms blowing our way. But noooo, not us.

Late yesterday afternoon a friend stopped by to check on the horses he pastures here. He informed me that a storm was on Houston's doorstep and would hit us during the night. I immediated checked the computer and sure enough there it was. Satellite photos were showing the storm moving right up the highway to our little paradise.

I quickly tied down a few things and opened an irrigation trench that goes around one side of our house to prevent it from flooding. Then we had dinner and watched a dvd. The air outside was calm but dark. The storm hadn't hit when we went to bed about 10:30 and I figured it had stalled somewhere.

When I woke up this morning the air was still calm but the clouds had started clearing. Not a drop of rain nor a gush of wind had passed through during the night. The storm hit about 50 miles south of us in the Beaumont area and pushed eastward into Louisianna. Power was lost in Beaumont. Read the news here.

We have a lot of friends who live there. We are part of the Beaumont Stake. So we will be seeing if anyone needs our help with clean up etc. But for our family and friends... we are well, we are safe. Our first experience with a hurricane was not much of an experience at all.

Civil War Update

As all of you know, my wife and I have been placed into the same bracket on a head to head investment tournament this week. It's really an honor to have reached this point. The tournament is down to only 4 players and our household comprises 50% of that! Amazing!

I took an early lead on Monday when I put all of my money into one stock that I felt would skyrocket. It did, and my portfolio grew by over $70,000. My wife is a very good investor herself and had picked the same stock. She played it a little safer and made about $69,000.

Then I got careless. Because I am going head to head with my wife, I tried to second guess her strategy. She usually takes more risks than me and I assumed she would continue to press me. Although I usually will take a profit and wait for the next big one, I jumped into some other investments and they lost me about $10,000. My wife, on the other hand was the cautious one and she took the lead as my stocks fell.

Tuesday I made some headway but I couldn't catch her. She had a $7,000 lead on me coming into Wednesday. This is where I had a little luck with some smaller investments that I worked over and over. Buying and selling all morning today until by 12:00 noon I was again in the lead. As of this moment my portfolio is at: $174,679.28 and hers is at: $171,077.62

Join us for some investment fun. We're all amatures and the tournaments are FREE!

I've learned a lot about investing in the stock market just by playing in these free tournaments. You'll have fun and learn more than you can imagine. Write me for more info.

Can't we all just get along?

Yahoo reporter Caroline Levchuck recently published her list of "Ten Ways to Lose Friends and Alienate Coworkers". It was humorous but honest and I wanted to post the list here. To read the full acticle click here.

Surefire ways to test the boundaries of your on-the-job friendships:
1. Eat stinky snacks.
2. Make endless meeting requests.
3. "Reply to All" all the time.
4. Pump up the volume. (computer/radio)
5. Be the office boozehound.
6. Take super-long lunches.
7. "Borrow" magazines or newspapers.
8. Use your manager as a referee.
9. Avoid attending company gatherings.
10. Always have the last word.

The thing that is most humorous is how obviously self centered many of these things are. Doesn't it make sense that to get along with others we need to consider their feelings and needs? In a business setting don't we realize that we need to be team players? What's wrong with us these days that we don't recognize such simple truths? Will future generations need a Yahoo article to learn how to deal with simple daily routines? It's something to think about. And laugh about.