USE E-BAY FOR
ALL IT IS WORTH!
-----------------------------
by Tom Falco, (c) 2001
Are you taking advantage of eBay? Or any auction
site for that matter?
I'm familiar with eBay so I'll just talk about that.
We put things up for auction on eBay very often but
not because we want to sell the items! We put things
on eBay for the links to our site!
According to our stats, we receive tons of link-throughs
from our eBay site to our major website.
We have put all kinds of items on eBay that will
attract
attention. Through the counters, we can see how many
people are hitting the pages.
You don't have to put anything related to your
business.
You can put whatever you would like to use to
attract
buyers. We put a lot of magazines and small items.
We
also put items that are hot at the moment, to
attract
traffic.
During the Elian Gonzalez affair, we had Elian
buttons
and received 1500 hits a day! We limited the number
available so that we didn't have to sell 1500
buttons
a day. But we were able to take those 1500 hits, or
a
majority of them, and link them to our main site to
sell
them our bigger and better things!
We aren't against selling 1500 buttons a day, mind
you,
but that was not our purpose and we weren't prepared
to create one button per person and mail one each,
our
business deals in volume sales. We sell wholesale in
bulk.
eBay allows you to place a link on your item page
that
will send visitors to your main business site. In
the past,
they allowed banners and all kinds of buttons and
whistles.
But now, in a more dignified fashion, they allow a
one
line link, something like: "Please visit us on-line
at:
www.blahblahblah.com" (there you put your URL).
You can make the link stand out by making it larger
and
in a different color. You would be amazed at the
click
throughs. Due to the Christmas season we have been
busy
with our main business, so we don't have any items
up
for bid at this very moment on eBay, or I would show
you
an example. But we usually have as many as 18 items
running
at any given time. Depending on the item, we get
lots of
hits on each item and in turn, lots of link throughs.
Another really great thing is the "Me Page" on eBay
where
you are allowed to create a personal home page of
yourself
and/or your business! eBay places a small "me" logo
next
to your listings and with one small click, anyone
can see
you and what you are all about.
We have a great page, simple, but to the point. It
pushes
our website and this ezine. We have received many
subscribers
from this eBay "Me" page. We can tell by the coding.
You can see what I mean here (don't laugh at my
photo):
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/xpectmore.com/
eBay members (shoppers and sellers), are in the
millions, yet
they feel like they are all in one small community.
Placing
your photo and business information can only help
you. It
makes you real and part of that community.
Another great feature is the constant emailing, and
we all
know the importance of email.
During auctions, you will receive many queries on
items,
shipping info., sizes, whatever. This give and take
allows
you to make lots of personal contact with interested
parties
and through these emails, and your signature, you
can gain
new customers.
It is important to keep in constant contact even
after the item
is sold. Especially after the sale. You will first
notify the
buyer and bill them. You may then thank them when
payment is
received. You can then notify them on the shipping
day and when
shipment was made. You can follow up on delivery to
see if they
were satisfied. This is all opt-in! This "coddling"
is actually
the best thing. You can even get back with them to
thank them
for their "feedback" review of the transaction, or
you can email
them to tell them you reviewed them favorably. The
important thing
is to keep the dialogue going. This is opt-in at its
best.
This article may be reprinted with permission by
including the
resource box in its entirety at the bottom of the
article.
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