Articles. News. Information.

Category of Information, News & Articles


Traditional Marketing Techniques for eBay Auction Ads


Ya know, I sort of giggle when I look at an ad on eBay that's just a black and white description of the item or product that's up for bid. It wasn't long ago at all that I would have done the exact same thing, but once I understood some traditional marketing techniques, not just been exposed to them; everything looked totally different.

It's been a few years now and I can't imagine how I got by in a "sales" career beforehand. I had been a fairly successful salesman in the mortgage business, or the term the public uses; Mortgage Broker. A commission only job with no promised monthly salary. My income was totally based upon my sales success or "lack of", each month. How was I able to eat without knowing how to write ad copy or how to use the "hook", or how to effectively use a "take away" move..?

Simple answer: Born for it.

If you're like me, in that you enjoy selling something that you, yourself are sold on, then eBay is where you need to be and learning traditional marketing techniques is the way to have any type of success. There is no other way for, us po folk(not millionaires), to reach such a huge amount of potential buyers for ANY type of item at all. One hundred twenty five million users! Whoa. At this point, they have daily new user sign ups in excess of one hundred thousand people...100,000 each day!

THE PRODUCT IS NOT WHAT YOU ARE SELLING!!!

Things are much more technical than that. Here's a short list of the different focuses:

  • Gallery picture is to grab attention only. It's not about looking nice and neat or pretty or professional; it's about human instinct, the power of basic colors, and their contrast with each other. It's about getting noticed on a page of 25 items in a list! We all just browse lists...there is no reading lists word for word! Of course I know that there are exceptions, but the majority are predictable.

  • The title is not for describing the item! Don't think for a minute that you will get noticed by enough people to make real money if they don't see you when they search. The bottom line is that most purchases are the result of a search at the top of the ebay page. Knowing this, you'd think that the search would be checking the entire ad text for matches, ...not! There is a specific checkbox to choose this option right next to the search area, but most don't "check" it, so normally the search is only checking the title. Think about that. Now do you understand why some of those auction titles sounded so stupid..? You got it! They are the smart ones. There's a real art to creating a title that sounds somewhat normal while being keyword rich.
  • Feedback must remain clean, if not perfect! It's an opinion and mine will not sway. There's an inherent communication problem on the internet already. Why would you do anything at all to place more doubt in a prospective buyer's head..? Well, one bad comment can ruin the whole record for, at least 10 more sales because they're structured like this blog, backwards! The bad comment will be there until you fill the page again with positive comments! Just keep it perfect at all costs or don't get upset when they bypass your item for someone else's.
  • Pricing. Again, more of a marketing or psychological factor than most think it is. Information products are even more suited to this because their value is based, partly, on perception or what people think it should cost. That literally means that a new product can sell more units priced higher than comperable products just because it's more expensive! Now, what I just said was not that they sell for more so they make more. I said "units". It's possible to sell 10 for one price and 10 for a higher price, quicker. If the whole dynamic, or feel of the ad, gives the item a higher perceived value, rather than a "ripp off", they may even move faster because of being more expensive. I'm beating this horse because most people are trained the opposite of this, that cheaper is better... Pricing is a tool, just a really important one to get right.
  • Traditional ad copy is usually a sales letter that is absolutley focused on purchasing your interest with well placed, and sometimes viosually appealling, words. Just as the title was only to get you to click the ad, the headline or first words in the desciption should be focused on getting you to read it and go to the next line. That's where the hand off takes place and now it's the second area or headline's job to kepp you and send you to the next. Just that methodical. The only way I can see to do this effectively is being obsessive about it. Invest some time in this because it directly effects your income, period. Sometimes I like to write most of the ad, right off the top of my head, then go over it with a fine tooth comb, making adjustments, over and over and over and over... Till it works and flows properly. Every great marketer has seemingly strict opinions as to which words to use or not and which colors to use or not. The funny thing is that a huge part of a marketer's job is to test new things and question there skills to hone them. I'm caught up in this circle all the time...
  • Your "store" policies. The only way to really get the idea of why you need to be particular about things such as this is to look around at the other auctions. You will definately run into some cheesy ones and some really well done policies. Now pick which seller you feel more comfortable paying money to "up front" for a purchase... Get my point..? Be a pro at all times, trust me; everyone is watching. Make your store policies more fair than most and make them easy to read and understand. Don't write them exactly the way you want to see them, smarter people than you will read them AND dumber people than you will read them. You need to make each of us feel good about you here.

    Once you grasp these as the truth that they are, you'll see the potential of eBay just because you will simply be in the minority! These are the first steps of becoming an extremely over paid telecommuter or PJExec.

    I've sold almost a half million dollars worth of products this year, from my bedroom, without employees, and in my PAJAMAS! Not one of my sales were drop shipped and almost every one of them was an Information Product.

    I'm a High Level Powerseller on eBay, AND, I'm a Certified eBay Education Specialist, trained by eBay. When I took the acceptance exam to be an Education Specialist, in September 2004, my exam ranking was number 1! There were 582 other trainers at that point.

    I have gross eBay sales of more than $300,000 this year.

    I also have gross website sales of more than $140,000 this year.

    I have 100% Positive Customer Feedback!!!!

    I have Zero Employees.

    I work, at home, in my PAJAMAS!

    http://www.PajamaExecutive.com


    MORE RESOURCES:

    The Market Oracle

    Treasurys down after $30B auction
    CNNMoney.com - 9 hours ago
    By Julianne Pepitone, CNNMoney.com contributing writer NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Treasury prices fell Wednesday - after a record $30 billion auction of ...
    US Treasuries Decline Before Record $30 Billion Debt Auction Bloomberg
    Weak Jobs Report Lifts Treasurys Wall Street Journal
    TREASURIES-Longer bonds fall on auctions, issuance fears Reuters
    EasyBourse.com - CNNMoney.com
    all 375 news articles


    Record UK Gilt Sales Raise Risk of Auction Failure
    Bloomberg - 18 hours ago
    7 (Bloomberg) -- Britain may overwhelm bond investors with a record number of quarterly debt sales, risking the first failed auctions since 2002 as the ...
    Fears over UK gilts going unsold First Post
    all 3 news articles


    CEP News

    German Bond Auction Fails to Attract Enough Demand
    Bloomberg - 12 hours ago
    “I would call this a failed auction,” said David Keeble, head of fixed-income strategy in London at Calyon, the investment-banking unit of France’s Credit ...
    Investors shun auction of German Bunds Independent
    Investors shun German bond auction Financial Times
    German Bund Futures Extend Early-Morning Losses on Dismal Auction CEP News
    all 15 news articles


    Japan’s 10-Year Bonds Fall; Surge in Sales Cools Auction Demand
    Bloomberg - 24 minutes ago
    The sale drew bids worth 2.33 times the amount offered, compared with a so-called bid-to-cover ratio of 2.9 times at the previous auction last month. ...


    BBC News

    Japanese 30-Year Bonds Decline as Dealers Prepare for Auction
    Bloomberg - 22 hours ago
    7 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s 30-year government bonds fell for a second day on speculation dealers reduced holdings of debt in preparation for an auction of 1.9 ...
    Japan 10-Year Bonds Fall as Stock Gains Reduce Demand for Debt Bloomberg
    Japan Bond Futures Fall as Stock Gains Reduce Demand for Debt Bloomberg
    Japanese 10-Year Bonds Fall a 2nd Day as Stock Gains Sap Demand Bloomberg
    all 601 news articles


    ABT: Mint Lionel #624 C&O Switcher/Brick OB+
    Auction Central News, NY - 1 hour ago
    TIME: This Auction begins at 7:30 pm Eastern Standard Time on Monday, January 19, 2009. It will be completed prior to midnight on that date. ...


    Sydney Morning Herald

    Real estate power broker dead of apparent suicide
    CNN International - 10 hours ago
    Good was the chairman and chief executive officer of Sheldon Good & Co., a major US real estate auction company. The death comes amid great turmoil in the ...
    Real-Estate Executive Found Dead in Apparent Suicide Wall Street Journal
    Chairman and CEO dies in apparent suicide REjournals.com
    Real-estate tycoon found dead in car The Courier News
    Daily Contributor - Straits Times
    all 50 news articles


    Missoula Art Museum to Host 37th Benefit Art Auction Exhibition
    Art Daily - 2 hours ago
    Missoula Art Museum will host the 37th Benefit Art Auction. This important benefit auction – Missoula’s longest running – is critical for MAM to continue ...


    NZ Herald Dunedin Metro

    Suppliers call for review of auction system
    Otago Daily Times, New Zealand - 14 hours ago
    By Neal Wallace on Thu, 8 Jan 2009 Fonterra suppliers are calling for an independent review of the company's Internet auction system after prices for whole ...
    Farmers hit out at Fonterra The Press
    World Milk Prices Continue to Decline - NZ's Fonterra FLEXNEWS
    Milk powder prices curdle in crisis The Australian
    NZ Herald Dunedin Metro
    all 60 news articles


    FACTBOX-The Fed's evolving liquidity toolkit
    Reuters - 6 hours ago
    Those auctions will continue until at least April 30, 2009. AUCTION OF TERM SECURITIES LENDING FACILITY OPTIONS: The Fed authorized the New York Fed to ...

    Auctions - Google News

  • Home | Sitemap
    © 2006 eInfoJunction.com Homepage | Web Directory | Article Directory