Book Recommendation

But in recent years, the competition has become fierce. Tens of thousands of new sellers have entered the eBay marketplace, including large scale retailers with professional marketing expertise and power-house corporate experience. The eBay market has also been flooded with small-time sellers, who sell at low margins for little profit, and make it difficult other sellers to compete with their prices.

eBay has also made system changes, offering new selling formats, a dizzying array of upgrade options and eBay Stores. The shifting sands create an environment where sellers must be on their toes at all times. While the system changes have provided new opportunities for selling – many of you have found the necessity to adapt quickly or quickly perish.

In this new, hyper-competitive arena, you need to understand what makes buyers bid on one item rather than the identical item that’s a search return above or below it. You need to understand what motivates a buyer and what prompts the buyer to click on the "Bid" or "Buy It Now" button. You need to develop a visual edge that draws customers in, inspires buying confidence and communicates professionalism.

The key to profiting in the new world of eBay lies in some tried and true marketing techniques and some digital age selling savvy. "The 7 Essential Steps to Successful eBay Marketing" delivers the optimal mix of proven marketing and business management strategies, and eBay-specific insights, secrets, coaching and advice. We break down the profit-making process into the following seven essential steps:

1. Basic steps to building a solid marketing plan
2. The latest and greatest tools to build your eBay business
3. Critical visual and presentation techniques
4. Secrets of professional advertising copywriters that help you create outstanding and persuasive item descriptions
5. Advanced marketing and promotional strategies that help you grow your eBay business exponentially
6. Keys to Gold Star Customer Service and ways to turn one-time shoppers into lifetime loyal customers
7. Proven, comprehensive planning and business-building strategies that take your business to the next level

We also discuss modern branding approaches that help you stake out more territory on eBay and drive customer recognition, confidence and loyalty.

If you’re doing a modest business on eBay, this book is going to blow some previously closed doors wide open. If you’ve had some success but seem to have hit a profit ceiling, we’ll show how to rip it out and keep climbing higher. If you’re a traditional brick-and-mortar business that doesn’t quite grasp the ins-and-outs of eBay, we’ll show you how to thrive in a few short lessons. This book is full of ideas that can be implemented now, so let’s get down to business and start boosting profits right away.

Lesson #1: Motivation, Creating a Niche and Choosing an eBay Name

Know who you are
eBay’s trademarked slogan is “The World’s Online Marketplace.” It is an economy unto itself. But eBay also likes to describe its millions of with the intimate term, “community.” If you think about it, the idea of a community is really not that far off the mark.

Compare the eBay community to that of your own town or city, and the opportunities for buying and selling where you live. Step out your front door and you may find your neighbor having a garage sale. Walk down to your mom-and-pop corner store for some daily necessity, or frequent a medium sized specialty shop for a hard-to-find item. Or, hop on the freeway and drive to the mall or a big-box superstore for a broad selection or a bargain.

Just like in your own “real world” community, eBay sellers represent the wide spectrum of the resale, retail, and wholesale world. You will find a range of sellers from those cleaning out the attic for extra cash to Fortune 500 companies expanding their sales to capitalize on the eBay phenomenon, and just about everyone in between. Now’s the time to examine where exactly you fit into this virtual community.

Motivations
Not to get too cosmic or metaphysical here, but understanding where you’re coming from is the first step in understanding where you’re going. Your motivations for becoming a part of the eBay community are a big part of defining yourself and your business.

Some folks sell on eBay as an alternative revenue stream. eBay is a great moonlighting job for many people, and others, like stay-at-home parents and retirees, use eBay to supplement their income. Some people come to eBay with the dream of self-employment. They’ve discovered the joy of the “ten-second commute” from the kitchen to the computer, and relish the freedom to set their own hours and be their own boss.

Owners of traditional brick-and-mortar (B&M) retail businesses often join eBay to create an online selling presence without having to go through the rigors and expense of developing and marketing their own Web site. The online community helps them expand their customer base from a limited regional area to the entire world. This broader base of customers on eBay sometimes leads B&M Businesses to abandon the storefront completely, and sell through a virtual store only. Other sellers have existing e-commerce businesses and come to eBay to increase sales and locate new customers.

There are as many reasons for starting (or continuing) an eBay business as there are eBay sellers. Whatever your reasons, answering the “What brings you to eBay?” question is the first step in a solid marketing plan.

What is a Niche Market?
Many sellers find that eBay gives them the opportunity to turn their hobbies or passions into a money making endeavor. Other sellers with businesses existing outside of eBay have already found their path to success by carving out their own specialty or area of expertise. These two scenarios are closely related because they both capitalize on niche markets. The term niche market is a buzzword that gets tossed around frequently, and really it just means pitching a specific product or service to a narrowly defined group of customers.

Reminder: Niche Marketing is positioning a specific product or service to a specialized and focused portion of the market.

Most businesses start by catering to a niche market. Countless entrepreneurs found their beginnings in fields of their own personal interest where they identified a product or service that like-minded people needed or desired. Look at all the new-fangled baby care products on the market, from front-loading baby packs to goofy mobiles that mount to car seats. So many of these products were invented by parents who found they wanted these items for their own babies. They also knew from their own experience that other parents would appreciate the product too.

Discovering Your Niche
A great thing about eBay is that it can be really easy to find your niche market and cater to this group of people (or for your niche market to find you). Take a close look at the broad list of eBay categories and sub-categories. Each one of those is its own niche market unto itself, and eBay is the broad marketplace that holds these sub-divided markets together. All these special-interest niche groups are like tiny little side streets in the eBay world.

Think of eBay as one of those giant bazaars in the Mid-East or Asia. Of course, eBay is really much more than that. You can buy computer equipment, cars, houses and services on eBay. But for the sake of the analogy, think of eBay as a humongous bazaar with thousands of booths with individual vendors, each selling a very specific good with everything from copper cooking pots, to fabric, to spices, vegetables, hand crafted goods and so on. And the market is teeming with customers, each seeking something different. No single seller can possibly meet all the needs of all those customers, so these smart vendors specialize in a specific product that they know intimately.

This direct connectedness between the proprietor, his product, and his customers has allowed a centuries-old retailing system to survive, and indeed thrive, in the modern age. Smart eBay sellers will find a niche market and work to be the very best in the minds of a small group of avid customers. And by being so specialized, they can keep their fingers on the pulse of their niche market, maintaining an intimate connection with the desires and demand of their customers. Think about your own interests or areas of expertise and how they are reflected in the products you sell on eBay. Perhaps you’re a technophile who sells computer parts, or a movie buff who sells DVDs and videos. Maybe you’re an avid traveler who returns home with treasures from around the world to sell on eBay. Many sellers in the antiques and collectibles fields are also collectors themselves and use eBay as a means of thinning their possessions and earning extra money to make new purchases.

These examples illustrate individuals selling on eBay, however businesses of all sizes need to develop well-defined areas of expertise and create their own niche. Even if your business employs 2 people, 10 people, 200, the scope of your business is still guided by your own interests and passions as the chief of the tribe. The important thing is that you convey your expertise to all of your team members. They too must understand your specific niche market to be able to best address the needs and desires of your customers.

Niche Is Not Always Defined By Products
Maybe you don’t think you have a specialty or that you don’t fit in any easily categorized niche. Think a little harder. The way you do business can be your niche. You might ship faster than anyone else. Maybe you’re known as someone who can find any product at a lower than retail price. Perhaps you’re a champ at refurbishing old things and making them look new again. Maybe you have a connection for sold-out tickets for sporting events or concerts.

There’s a whole group of sellers on eBay who are known as trend wavers. These sellers closely follow trends and jump from one little niche market to another. When a particular item is hot, they’ll sell the heck out of it, and then jump out of that market and onto the next big wave. They always have the hottest toy for the holidays or the coolest fashions of the season. These sellers have a knack for being one step ahead of what the buyers want, and have found their niche in forecasting fads and fashions for profit.

Specialty doesn’t have to be tied to a finite product set or a narrowly defined product line. The important thing is that you define what makes your business unique and communicate it to your potential customers, as well as your employees. Take the time now with a pen and paper and define your niche market in writing. Having a clear picture of your niche market will be very helpful as we progress through this book. All of our discussions on copywriting and advanced marketing techniques should be understood within the context your own niche market. Tip: An intimate knowledge of your niche will be helpful as we progress through this book. All of our discussions on copywriting and advanced marketing techniques should be understood within the context your niche.

Maintaining Niche Focus
Equally important as finding a niche, is continuing to grow and profit within that very specific market. Many businesses have faltered or failed in attempts to diversify beyond a tight niche market. The sirens of opportunity can be tempting, but it’s important to remember that drifting from your niche can be deadly as your business grows. For hyperbole’s sake – if you’re McDonald’s you don’t want to get into tofu. If you sell teen fashions, don’t entertain delusions of complete clothing market domination and stray into the 65+ demographic.

Develop the Principles and Goals of Your Business
Corporate players large and small frequently develop “vision statements” or “mission statements” – fancy terms for defining the scope and philosophy of a business. At first consideration, these kinds of exercises sound like serious navel-gazing or colossal time wasters, especially for a small business that’s consumed with the countless daily tasks of running a business.

However, self-examination works wonders for a business, whether you’re a one-man shop or you employ a small army. Defined principles and goals set the tone for internal standards and expectations, and they also do wonders for projecting your organization out into the market. “Know thyself” is one of the most overly quoted instructions on the planet for a reason. Don’t worry though –writing your own mission statement doesn’t need to be painful or excruciating. The secret is to keep your mission statement simple. You want to capture your essence, reality and ambitions, but not pop a blood vessel in the process. All it takes is a little brainstorming. Everybody loves that. It’s work, but it sure doesn’t feel like it.

Tip: Keep your mission statement simple - you want to capture your essence, reality and ambitions, but not pop a blood vessel in the process. Sit down with a pen and paper, and write down your ideas as they come to mind. For starters, ask yourself some questions about your business.

- Aside from making you money, what is the broader purpose of your business? - What do you want to achieve with your eBay business? - What is your benefit to selling on eBay vs. other retail venues? - What do you sell? What’s special or unique about your products? - What do you want for your employees? Do they want the same things you do? Be sure to incorporate their perceptions into your consideration. - How can you tie these musings back to your customers? How does what you want intersect with what your market niche desires? - Think backwards, from the customer to the innards of your organization. What’s the value of the end product, and why do people come to you for it?

Some businesses develop mission statements that are several paragraphs long, with elaborate lists of their core beliefs, their goals, the ways they value their customers, and on and on. If you end up getting that detailed, that’s great. However, it’s not really necessary to delve that deep. Your mission statement doesn’t need to be so significant that it realigns the planets. Just make it meaningful and inspiring to you and your employees, and be sure that it will make sense to your customers too. Here are a few simple mission statements that may help to get those creative juices flowing:

- Sporting goods: “Turning couch potatoes into athletes.” - Antiques: “Connecting collectors with the objects of their desire.” - Costume Jewelry: “Exquisite adornments at affordable prices.” - Prints and Posters: “Creating the museum experience at home with high quality fine art reproductions.” - Trendy Clothing: “The latest fashions from the runway, delivered to your doorway.” - Music: “Our staff of music experts uncover rare recordings, coveted imports, and early releases in order to please the discerning ears of our customers.”

If you’re up against that miserable, unyielding blank page, the humbling “writer’s block” that turns writers into cappuccino aficionados and cigarette hobbyists, then think about some of the brands you already know. A lot of the popular companies boil their principles and goals down to short, snappy phrases. For years, Nike’s corporate mantra has been “Authentic Athletic Performance.” Starbucks uses “Rewarding Everyday Moments.” These are great examples because they capture both internal expectation and customer benefit. They’re ingenious because Nike isn’t just about shoes and Starbucks isn’t just about coffee. They don’t pigeonhole the company. They’re wide open yet focused.

Discovery = Growth
Sometimes discovery takes intention. When you intend to find out something important about your business, something that could possibly make you more money and make a stronger connection to your prospects and buyers, you inevitably succeed. Guaranteed – if you spend a half hour to an hour in a quiet place somewhere, you’ll find out some things about yourself and your business that should be taped to your computer monitor or framed in a hallway plaque. What you discover will be useful in a very practical, tangible sense, too. As we progress through this book, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to apply your mission statement to your eBay business. You’ll use it in your eBay Store, your email “signature” and other marketing efforts. And, the discoveries you make will be applied to every communication you have with customers - from the items you put up on the auction block to the follow-up emails you send to satisfied customers.

Tip: Don’t gloss over your mission statement. We’ll use it later in the book as we get into more detail with your eBay marketing efforts.

What’s in a name?
“That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Well, maybe that worked for Shakespeare, but in the business world, your name is pretty darn important. It serves as both a first impression and the foundation for branding efforts and market perception. Your business name is a marketing tool that needs to convey in a few short words the message of who you are and what you sell. It needs to convey your business’ mission or vision.

If your business is fairly new, you’ve probably recently experienced the exquisite angst that choosing a name can generate. Or perhaps you’ve been using the same business name for years and have experienced varying degrees of satisfaction with the choice you’ve made. Whatever your situation, take some time and put forth the effort to assess how well your business name is working for you.

Take a few minutes to scrutinize your business name and ask yourself the following questions: Is your name easy to understand and remember? It needs to be simple to pronounce and pleasant to hear. If you have an uncommon family name, the kind that telemarketers usually butcher, it’s probably best to avoid using it as part of your business name.

Is your product line easily identified by your name? Customers don’t want to have to guess about what you’re selling, so avoid being vague. “Poseidon’s Pool Supplies” is a perfect example because it has a catchy, mythological element, but it’s also very clear about the line of products being sold. Including an indication of your product line in your business name also helps with search engine optimization – a strategy we will discuss in chapter 2.

Does the style of your name reflect your business? For example, a cutesy name like “Kitty Corner” would be great for someone selling pet supplies, but a business that sells high-end consumer electronics will need a name that is more cutting-edge, like “StereoTech” or “SoundLab.” Is your name too trendy? You’re going to need to grow with your business name, and you won’t want it to sound dated in a few years. Consider the naming problem that 20th Century Fox encountered when we entered the new millennium.

Does your name pose any trademark infringement dilemmas? Think of the legal wrath you may incur from the lawyers at a certain toy store chain if you name your business “Computers R Us.” How unique is your name? Searching for businesses with similar or identical fictitious business names is usually a part of the process of registering a business with local governmental authorities. However, it’s equally important to check the uniqueness of your name in the eBay world, too.

You want to be sure that your business won’t be confused with a different eBay business with a similar name. Here’s an easy way to check this: - Go into the eBay search menu - Select the “Find Stores” option from the options menu at the left - Type in the name of your business in the text field - Select the “Store name and description” option underneath the text field - Click the “Search” button

This will pull up a list of eBay Store names that are similar to yours. Hopefully, you won’t be too surprised by what you find. But if you discover a business operating under a similar name as yours with a poor feedback rating or a bizarre line of products, consider renaming your business.

What if you find that your existing business name just isn’t cutting the mustard? Don’t panic. Choosing a new business name can be challenging, but a few simple steps will make the process easier.

If your personal brainstorming efforts don’t yield the perfect name, there’s another way to do this – which is a bit more Web-hip. There are a number of different name generator sites where you plug in the keywords associated with your business and the generators spit out dozens upon dozens of possible names. Two sites that are free of charge and offer basic naming suggestions are: · http://www.nameboy.com/ · http://www.dnwhiz.com/

For more sophisticated business name and product name generation, the services don’t come quite as cheap. NameBuilder (www.namexpress.com/namesoftware.html) and Name Razor (www.creative-name-generator.com) are two of the more popular programs. You’ll need to pay a price ($35 to $100) to download these software programs, but if you’re truly stuck, they can be the cure to your business-naming blues.

Now think about your business name as it relates to your eBay user ID and your email address. Do these names accurately reflect your business? Do these elements work together fairly seamlessly? One of the main themes that will recur throughout this book is the importance of projecting consistency in your business. However, there are lots of sellers out there who are still using old user IDs, like “bidding_maniac” or odd combinations of initials and zip codes that have little or no correlation to the name of their business. Even your email address should work to accurately convey your vision.

If you’re still using your old college email address, PartyAnimal@hotmail.com think about what that says about your business and your professionalism. (Unless you’re in the business of selling party supplies, in which case, the name is perfect!) It may not seem like such a big deal, but you want all aspects of your business name, including your user ID and your email address to be memorable to your customers. In days past, it wasn’t possible to change your user ID without losing your feedback rating, but fortunately eBay has changed that policy. It’s a simple revision that can make a big difference in your customers’ perceptions of your business.

Copyright 2005 Synapse Services Co. and McGraw-Hill. For reprint permissions or link exchanges please contact info@qualitywriter or call (949) 515-3510.

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