BuildingYour EBay Traffic the Smart Way

What if you could double your eBay sales with one mouse click? Sound impossible? Welcome to the next big development in the world of online auctions: datafeeds.Using a datafeed to export your eBay auction listings, your items will now surface in shopping-focused searches performed by engines like Yahoo! Shopping, Amazon, and Google's new Froogle service. Instead of a general search, which finds thousands of Web pages that merely mention an item, sites like Froogle and Yahoo! Shopping return a list of online retailers who actually sell the product. Would you like to be on those lists? Building Your eBay Traffic the Smart Way gives you dozens of new strategies for reaching people whose only goal is to buy. With auction management software or a service, your eBay business information is kept in a database that can feed information to other e-commerce systems like Froogle, Yahoo! Shopping, Amazon, and other product search engines. Which means that your product is now available not only to eBay buyers but also to a whole new universe of online shoppers! Building Your eBay Traffic the Smart Way also unlocks the incredible power of cross-selling (linking from one auction to another), targeted advertising, pro-quality photography, eBay stores, online malls, and much more!


Contents
Acknowledgments ....................................................................xv
I. Introduction to eBay Marketing Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1. Introduction ........................................................................... 3
eBay Plus ............................................................................................. 4
Conclusion ........................................................................................ 12
2. The New Datafeed Marketplaces ......................................... 15
How It Works ................................................................................... 16
Froogle and Yahoo ........................................................................... 16
Other Marketplaces .......................................................................... 18
II. The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
VIII CONTENTS
3. Customer Service ................................................................23
What Is Customer Service? ............................................................. 24
Personal Touch ................................................................................ 25
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................... 25
4. Copy Writing ........................................................................27
Guidelines ......................................................................................... 28
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................... 35
5. Writing Titles .......................................................................37
Writing to Be Found ........................................................................ 38
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................... 41
6. Advanced Photography Techniques ....................................43
Why Good Photographs? ................................................................ 44
Cameras ............................................................................................ 45
Better Photographs ........................................................................... 46
Efficient Workflow ........................................................................... 53
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................... 57
III. Beyond the Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
7. Data, the Key to Business Success .....................................61
Data Basics ........................................................................................ 64
Catalogs ............................................................................................. 68
What Database? ............................................................................... 73
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................... 74
8. eBay Auctions and Stores ...................................................75
eBay Auctions .................................................................................. 75
eBay Stores ........................................................................................ 77
CONTENTS IX
The Datafeed Duo ........................................................................... 78
An eBay Store as Your Website ....................................................... 78
Cost-Effectiveness Review .............................................................. 80
9. Creating Froogle Ads ........................................................... 83
Details ............................................................................................... 86
Results ............................................................................................... 89
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................... 90
10. Creating Yahoo Ads ........................................................... 93
Details ............................................................................................... 94
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................... 95
11. Creating Ads for Other Marketplaces ................................ 97
Example Marketplaces ..................................................................... 99
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................... 99
IV. Making It All Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
12. Auction Management Services ........................................ 103
Datafeed Devices ............................................................................ 105
What Are They Doing Now? ....................................................... 107
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................. 107
13. eCommerce Software ...................................................... 109
Independent Websites .................................................................. 111
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................ 112
14. Developing a Datafeed Strategy ...................................... 113
Datafeed Party ................................................................................ 113
Benefits and Burdens ..................................................................... 115
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................. 116
CONTENTS XI
Non-Marketing Participation ....................................................... 155
Sponsorship .................................................................................... 155
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................. 158
19. Cross-Selling ................................................................... 159
Location .......................................................................................... 160
Expand Your Inventory ................................................................. 162
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................. 163
20. Advertising ...................................................................... 165
Advertising Links ........................................................................... 166
Banner Ads ..................................................................................... 168
Website Sections ............................................................................. 168
Keyword Ads ................................................................................... 173
Compensation ................................................................................ 174
eBay Advertising ............................................................................. 174
Offline Advertising ......................................................................... 175
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................. 176
21. Publishing ....................................................................... 177
Whats the Point? ........................................................................... 179
Written Presentations .................................................................... 179
Audio and Video Presentations ..................................................... 182
Multimedia Presentations ............................................................. 185
And Now for the Finale ................................................................. 188
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................. 188
22. Web Portals .................................................................... 189
Everything ....................................................................................... 191
Affiliation ........................................................................................ 193
X CONTENTS
15. Developing a Multi-Domain Website ...............................119
Website Visitors .............................................................................. 120
Servers ............................................................................................. 120
Your Online Retail Business ......................................................... 122
Portal Website ................................................................................ 124
Making It Work .............................................................................. 127
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................. 128
V. Special Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129
16. Getting Found by the Search Engines ..............................131
Website Optimization .................................................................... 132
Cost .................................................................................................. 132
eBay Stores ...................................................................................... 133
Portals .............................................................................................. 134
Search Engines ............................................................................... 135
Cat and Mouse ............................................................................... 135
An Alternative ................................................................................. 136
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................. 136
17. Email Marketing ..............................................................139
Email Techniques .......................................................................... 140
Its the Database ......................................................................... 144
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................. 147
18. Marketing in Communities ..............................................149
Internet Programs .......................................................................... 150
Passive Participation ...................................................................... 152
Active Participation ........................................................................ 152
XII CONTENTS
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................. 194
23. International Selling ........................................................195
Extracurricular Problems .............................................................. 196
Receiving Payment ......................................................................... 196
Customs Procedures ...................................................................... 198
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................. 201
24. Other Online-Marketing Techniques ................................203
Web Malls ....................................................................................... 204
eBay as a Mall ................................................................................. 207
Affitliate Programs ......................................................................... 210
Sales Management ......................................................................... 211
Categories ........................................................................................ 214
Satisfaction Guarantee ................................................................... 215
Link Trading .................................................................................. 215
A Contest ......................................................................................... 219
A Sale ............................................................................................... 219
Points ............................................................................................... 221
Surveys ............................................................................................ 222
CRM ................................................................................................ 223
Trade Shows ................................................................................... 224
eBays Hidden Market ................................................................... 225
Craigs List ...................................................................................... 226
Cost-Effectiveness Review Procedures ......................................... 228
25. Building Your Brand ........................................................231
What Will You Brand? .................................................................. 232
How Do You Brand? ..................................................................... 232
CONTENTS XIII
Aesthetics ........................................................................................ 244
More on Branding .......................................................................... 244
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................. 245
26. Analytics ......................................................................... 247
Web Servers .................................................................................... 248
Other Analysis ............................................................................... 251
Avoid Bad Practices ........................................................................ 255
Cost-Effectiveness Review ............................................................. 256
Epiloque ................................................................................ 257
Appendix The Top 14 Tips for Building eBay Traffic ............. 259
Glossary ................................................................................ 261
Index ..................................................................................... 263
XV

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