Product Pictures are Powerful

Successful companies invest heavily in pictures for print and online advertising – Magazines, websites, and catalogs would not have the same impact without pictures. Imagine receiving a clothing catalog in your mailbox without any pictures of the items for sale… would you buy anything from it? What about an online advertisement that offers sports memorobilia for sale, but no pictures… would you buy from them? The point? People want to see what they are going to buy before they buy it.

With that said, your eBay listings for sale need to have a picture. Yes - it’s more hassle, more time, and more money, but it’s going to produce much more interest in your products! Buyers on eBay have an unlimited sea of choices for all types of products, making it a very competitive market for sellers. This means that sellers must make their items stand out and catch the roaming eyes of the buyers before they roam right on by. So, lesson #1: Make sure your listings have pictures! Now, moving on…

Most sellers and storeowners realize the power of pictures and have used them for their products. In order for items to be truly competitive, product pictures need to be what I call the “Three C’s”: Clear, Colorful, and Clutter-free. Images that are pixelated or blurry don’t give the buyer a good look at the item and appear unprofessional. Black-and-white photos are boring and do not communicate to the buyer as effectively as something in color. Products with distracting items in the background (or a background that is itself distracting) take the focus away from what you are trying to sell.

There are many other ways to make your eBay items stand out, but having a picture great picture is a good place to start.

Smarter eBay Auction Templates

If you’ve seen one auction template, you’ve seen them all. Sure, there are different styles and colors, but they all pretty much do the same thing, right? Actually no – not all eBay auction templates are created equal!

ClassifiedFlyerAds recently introduced their version of an eBay Auction Template, and it does a lot more than just showcase product listings in a fancy way. With over 50 themes and colors to choose from, the style options alone make these templates stand out. But the real benefit comes in the advertising power they provide, since each one is posted to over a dozen online product directories and search engines. eBay sellers simply add photos and information about their product listings, and the ClassifiedFlyerAd Auction Templates are automatically syndicated all over the web. Each template, or flyer, displays the sellers product, contact information, and links back to the seller on eBay.

eBay sellers also have access to the posting html for their product flyer,which can be used to post the listing into eBay, Craigslist, Backpage, and others.

Advertise Outside of eBay

There is a common misconception about eBay in which people think they can get rich easily and quickly. While some people have made lots of money from selling on eBay, it certainly isn’t effortless or easy. Folks need to first understand the eBay environment they’re venturing into. Marketing expert and bestselling author, Seth Godin, calls eBay a “haystack”; something in which people can easily get lost if they don’t have a plan.

In a recent podcast interview, AuctionBytes editor, Ina Steiner, talks with Seth about his new book, “The Dip: A little book that teaches you when to quit (and when to stick)”. During their discussion, Seth talks a little bit about the way he sees eBay commerce:

“eBay is a haystack, and your auction is a needle. You can sharpen your needle all you want, but it’s still going to be a needle in a really big haystack. I think the way you win is by getting out of the haystack.” (emphasis mine)

Seth offers specific ways of doing just that. eBay sellers and storeowners can market their brand, and themselves, on places around the web such as, Squidoo (which he founded), Twitter, and blogging.

Seth Godin is a very well established marketer and there’s no doubt that he knows his stuff about product promotion and brand marketing. I’d like to expand on his idea of marketing outside of eBay to include cost-effective product advertising as well.

eBay sellers have tons of listings, especially if they have a store. While Seth’s suggestions are great for marketing the seller, it is also important to market the seller’s products as well. Blogging about each individual listing is just too time consuming to be a valuable use of time.

ClassifiedFlyerAds.com allows eBay sellers to advertise all of their listings online in one step, simply by using the file feed or RSS feed of their listing inventory. The system automatically places each listing into it’s own web page and posts them to over a dozen online search directories.

With seller marketing and product marketing combined, an eBay seller has a real chance at success.

Increase eBay Store Traffic

So you’ve got an eBay store with tons of great items, so it’s just a matter of time before the cash starts rolling in, right? You’ve made sure all of your friends, family, and co-workers know about it, but is that going to get you the amount of traffic you’re looking for? Likely not.  eBay is the largest online marketplace in the world, which means you have a lot of competition, no matter what type of things you sell there. So, how do you get your eBay store and products noticed?

You need to advertise your eBay store. Simply putting items on a website and opening an eBay store will not bring the success you’re looking for. Remember, you are a salesperson now, and have lots of competition. If you’re serious about having a successful eBay store, you need to treat it like you would a business. When a new storefront opens in your town, do they open their doors and just sit around hoping that masses of people flood in? No, of course not! They plan and promote and advertise their new store; and that’s just what a new eBay store owner must do as well. If you want a little help,  ClassifiedFlyerAds.com has developed a system that makes it so simple to effectively advertise your store and eBay items. The advertising method they use also increases incoming traffic to your store.

The service uses a file of your eBay store listings to promote those items outside of eBay. They place each of your items on a unique webpage, then submit all items to online classified directories - automatically. And that’s the best part; it’s hassle-free.  So now, instead of your eBay items being only on eBay, they are all over the internet. A great added benefit is that with all of those links (from your item webpages) pointing back to your eBay store, it actually improves your eBay store’s overall ranking in Google and other search engines.
 

Remember, any new eBay store (like any new brick-and-mortar store or any new website) needs promotion and attention. If you spend a little bit of time and effort, you can end up with a truly successful store. Best wishes for your success!

And, if you don’t know how to get the file feed of your listings, don’t worry! ClassifiedFlyerAds.com provides an illustrated guide and video tutorial to guide you through the process, step-by-step. Once you sign up, the process is simple and fast, and much more affordable than other similar services out there.

So get advertising! Best wishes for your eBay store success.