eBay Selling Secrets by Andrew Lock, the ‘Renegade eBay Auction Seller’

A.L.O. is a term I coined which stands for ‘Auction Listing Optimization’. It can be defined as ANYTHING you do within the eBay environment that increases the number of people buying from your listings, or that prompts buyers to go directly to your website. Each month I discuss an A.L.O. technique that you can implement to increase the effectiveness of your eBay listings…

eBay finally came out with a policy regarding classified ads recently. Whether or not that policy will be strictly enforced remains to be seen.

In case you’re not familiar with the classified ad format, think of it as any other type of eBay listing, with the difference that the buyer can’t buy the item within the eBay environment, they have to contact you, the seller if they’re interested in the item.

The letter of the law now according to eBay is that you can’t include a clickable URL in a classified ad. That raises the obvious question, ‘how is someone supposed to buy?’ eBay’s response is that you should include your email address or telephone number in the ad. Ridiculous. eBay are paranoid about not having external links anywhere on the site apart from the About Me page. Frankly, they’re living in a dream world. What other site is there that bans outgoing links? If you can think of one, please let me know because it goes against everything the web stands for.

Any way, there are still ways to get around eBay’s silly policy of no links on classified ads.

Firstly, you can use FLV Producer (www.easyflashvideo.com) to autoamtically open the webpage of your choice when your video finishes playing with the eBay listing.

Secondly, you can make your images clickable, so that the visitor clicks through to your website.

Thirdly, you can state ‘for more information about this item, click here’ with a clickable link that takes the visitor through to an information page on your website. Note that the page they’re directed to cannot have a ‘buy’ button on the page, but there’s nothing to stop a smart visitor from figuring out where to buy from, is there?

Fourthly, you can include an audio message that states what your website is, and encourages visitors to goto that website for more information.

Fifth, you can include your URL within the graphics on the listing as a copyright logo, e.g. Copyright 2008 www.mywebsite.com

Sixth, you can redirect people back to your ‘About Me’ page where there is a direct link to your website, by using some small incentive. E.g. “To see an instant preview of the first chapter of this guide, click here.” When the person clicks on the link, they’re taken to your ‘About Me’ page, where they can click on a link to your website where they can buy the item you’re promoting.

It’s been my experience that eBay staff do not understand the classified ad format generally. They’re confused about what is and isn’t allowed, and that confusion shows no signs of clearing up, even with the new policies regarding classified ads. As is so often the case with eBay, there’s the official company line, then there’s reality.

Don’t be afraid to use the classified ads for fear of not knowing all the latest policies. If eBay’s own staff aren’t informed then what hope is there for mere mortals like you and I? I’ve been profiting from classified ads for more than a year now, without a single ad being pulled for any perceived or actual ‘violation.’ Sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness than to seek permission…

Stamp collecting, hula hoops, platform shoes, Barbie dolls, skateboarding, video games, and tattoos are all fads that have appeared over the years. Some stay around longer than others, but these are a few examples to demonstrate that the world is constantly changing. In the business world, there are many companies that refused to go with the flow, and got left behind. Others adapt and remain profitable.

It was very interesting for me to work on a number of projects with British Airways, who are one of the world’s largest airlines. The last twenty years has seen some enormous changes in that industry, many of which could never have been predicted, and each change called for a radical rethink of marketing strategies. Let’s look back over some of the key changes and see how British Airways reacted.

Until the mid 1980’s, it seemed that British Airways had got into a bit of a rut with their advertising. Most of their offerings were fairly bland, and very British. But since that time, they have radically changed their approach, and thought carefully about what would appeal to their customers. Each campaign in the last fifteen years or so has been specifically targeted to a much narrower group of customers, sometimes referred to as niche markets.

In the yuppie era of the 1980’s, British Airways ad campaigns featured hard-working white collar workers dashing to get on the “red eye” (night time flight) to maximise their working time during daylight hours. At the time, that’s what business flying was all about. The innovation of laptop computers meant that employees could take their work with them, and many individuals seemed to be working all the hours in the day. Hollywood movies such as “Wall Street” coined phrases like “lunch is for wimps.” Most companies were raking in money in the booming economy, and B.A. succeeded in attracting a substantial number of customers in the top end of the business market, where the fares were the highest and the yields the greatest. Coming into the mid 1990’s, there was much more emphasis on “looking after yourself,” even to the point of pampering oneself. With many young people suffering from burnout or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, the trend was to be more sensibly paced, and to reward hard work with equal amounts of “play”. B.A. wanted to get the message across that if you flew with them, they would really look after you, and that flying was a time to relax and unwind, away from the stresses of the office. The “Up on the roof” campaign worked well in conveying this. Using the relaxing musical theme “Up on the roof,” the commercial showed an executive relaxing in a swimming pool on the top of a skyscraper within a big city. Two environments were featured at the same time – the workplace, and the relaxation area. This concept fitted well with the intended marketing message and the campaign was a great success.

In the mid 1990’s airlines started to form alliances with each other. The first major alliance named the “Star Alliance” incorporated Virgin, United, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and others. This partnership of airlines meant more benefits to customers, and more sales for the airlines.

British Airways took the initiative to create another major alliance, named “One World,” with the emphasis on a smoother travel experience as a result of the cooperation of a number of airlines. A high profile and extended advertising campaign targeted regular travellers, who were most likely to benefit from the new alliance.

In the late 1990’s, B.A. realised that the majority of their passengers at that time were not British, which seems rather odd, as it was the predominant national airline. After conducting surveys, they found that many foreigners were keen on the British Airways service style, and were choosing B.A. over their own national airlines. Whereas many British people considered B.A. to be too formal and stuffy, that unique service style was often considered to be a positive aspect by many other nations.

It was a challenge to appeal to both types of customer (which they tried for a while), and B.A. were keen to attract more British passengers, so they launched a series of adverts that attempted to draw in more of their national passengers.

However, no one could have predicted what was to come next… In to the year 2000 and beyond, recession was hitting many countries. The boom time of business air travel was definitely over, and many companies cut back on their staff air travel. The events of September 11, 2001 struck another blow to an already ailing industry. This resulted in a massive cutback in air travel by many companies, both from the point of view of saving costs, as well as an element of fear of further terrorist attacks. Many companies chose to use video links rather than send their employees on flights.

At the time, B.A. had to think very carefully about how to try and win back the lucrative business travel sector, and they came up with an award winning marketing concept. The advert showed two UK based businessmen, who were independently trying to win a lucrative contract in the USA. One of them was shown trying to do the deal on the phone, whereas the other flew over to the USA and met personally with the client. The strap line was: “It’s better to be there”—the notion being that when doing business with other countries, if there is a choice between communicating by phone or email, compared to being there in person, “it’s better to be there.” The campaign went a long way in helping to rekindle business travel.

Looking back over the years, it is amazing how much companies like B.A. have changed. Although they may not have wanted to go down a certain route with their service, if that’s the way the market leads them then at a particular time, it would be foolish to go against the flow. Imagine if British Airways had dug their heels and said, “No, we will offer customers what we think is best for them.” The business would have died a quick death.

Let’s take another example, this time from the world of photography. Since the 1990’s, digital cameras have steadily risen in popularity to the point where they overtook the sales of traditional film cameras by a substantial margin. Companies like Kodak and Fuji, whose businesses were focused on manufacturing rolls of film, had to embrace this new digital technology, or be left out in the cold. Although the adoption of digital cameras was a gradual process, it was unrelenting, and it has meant a radical rethink of the business structure of all traditional camera and film manufacturers.

Demonstrating just how far the world of photography has changed, early in 2004, Kodak announced that they would no longer be selling traditional film cameras in western markets, such as the U.S.A., Canada and Western Europe.  I’ve also just heard that there’s only one remaining manufacturer of instant photo film.

The Times newspaper of London recently reported a 50% decline in the use of payphones in Britain, as a result of the increasing use of cellphones.

About 30,000 of those iconic red phone booths (1/3^rd of the total) have been removed in response to dramatically decreased usage.

What once seemed rock solid, secure businesses have changed dramatically.

We have seen that as the years pass by, consumer trends vary dramatically. What suits buyers at one particular time can change very quickly. It is essential to keep up to date with what your customers want. You should constantly be re-evaluating the marketplace. What are your customer’s current needs? Have world events had an impact on what they want? Has new technology affected their view of your products or services? Should you consider developing and offering other products or services that better fit changing needs? Has new competition opened up which could threaten to take a share of the market you are in?

How can you tell what changes are happening? There are several things you can, and should do. Keep up to date with the news—every day if possible. Ask your customers directly how you can serve them better. You may well be surprised at how helpful they are. Observe people everywhere. Are new trends emerging in what they wear, what they eat, their choice of music and entertainment, and so on? All these things are indicators of trends.

To be effective in business, you really need to be one step ahead all the time, pre-empting the changes that are likely to affect your business.

That headline is the title of a brilliant little book by Richard Branson, from the Virgin empire.

It’s one of the best books I’ve read recently because it’s easy to read, filled with fascinating stories, and practical lessons.

In one chapter, Richard talks about his oldest friend ‘Nik Powell.’ Nik was with Richard from the very start of Virgin, looking after the books and where the money was spent. When Branson started the airline, Nik became increasingly agitated because he didn’t like to see the vast amounts of money that Richard was pouring into it, especially as British Airways tried to stop them.

Nik realized he wasn’t passionate about airlines. His main interest was movies, so when Richard bought his shares, he used the money to start a movie production company called ‘Palace Pictures’. They went on to make films like The Company of Wolves, Mona Lisa, and The Crying Game.

Interestingly, Richard comments, “If Nik had stayed with Virgin he might have made more money, but he wouldn’t have been happy. If we had gone on working together after the fun had gone, we might not have stayed friends. He made the right choice, which is why I say, never just try to make money. Long-term success will never come if profit is the only aim.”
That story fits in well with the cover article this month, doesn’t it?

There was another lovely story in chapter 8 under the theme of ‘be polite, and have respect.”

On one occasion in the early days of the Virgin music business, Richard had to go to a meeting with investors and was running late. He jumped in a taxi in London and the driver was very chatty, but Richard was trying to concentrate on his paperwork.

The taxi driver said, “Oi! I know you. You’re that Dick Branson. You’ve got a record label. Well, ain’t it my lucky day. Fancy having Mr Branson in my cab.”

Branson thought to himself he wish the driver would be quiet so he could read, but he went on, telling Richard how he was a drummer in a band and offering to play his demo tape.
Richard’s heart sank because people were always playing tapes to him in the hope they’d be discovered.

But, he didn’t want to be rude, so he said, “That would be lovely.”

“No, you look tired, tell you what, my mum lives around the corner. She’d love to make you a cup of tea, let ‘s drop in on her.”
Richard tried to protest, but gave in.

Just as they reached the house, the driver put on his tape. The words came over the speakers:
“I can feel it, coming in the air tonight…”

The cab driver was Phil Collins, and Richard had just discovered him…

Such a great story, you just never know who you’re going to come across in your day to day activities, do you? So there’s a lesson not to dismiss anyone, but always show people respect .

Some have called Richards balloon stunts reckless but it’s interesting to see how he calculates risk, and carefully weighed the pros and cons of those endeavors.

Summing up his life experiences so far he tries to convey a few nuggest of key advice, which include:

Have faith in yourself

Believe that anything can be done

Live life to the full

Never give up

Always think what you can do to help

Pick the right people and reward talent

Live your dreams, but live in the real world

I highly recommend this book to you. I’ve also read ‘Losing My Virginity’, Branson’s main book, but ‘Screw It, Let’s Do it” is even more packed with sound business lessons.

It was great to see so many of you at Yanik’s Underground Seminar last month. What a fantastic event that was! Looking around the audience it was like a roll call of the most influential marketers on the planet. And overall, the caliber of attendees was incredibly high. Sad that next year’ll probably be the last one – not because the event isn’t hugely popular, but because it’s no longer fitting with Yanik’s core business goal.

That leads me to the title of this column.

It was fascinating and intriguing to note that without any deliberate collusion or planning, a theme came out of the Underground Seminar that reinforced what I’ve believed for a long time now.

Speaker after speaker emphasized the same reason for why they’ve been so successful in business. If you were there, I’m sure you spotted it too.

The ‘secret’ is this:

“Don’t chase the money. Follow your passion.”

Before you brush this off, believing that you already know this, I urge you to think about this on a much deeper level.

If so many successful entrepreneurs with billion dollar businesses are saying this, then you MUST think about it.

There are different degrees of compliance with this philosophy. There’s the type of person who is constantly jumping from one ‘opportunity’ to another. Whenever they receive an email from a marketer announcing a new ‘breakthrough’ money making opportunity, they buy the product and chase after it for a week or two before jumping on to the next opportunity that is even newer, with even more money to be made.

I see this all the time. If it describes you, you’ve got to stop this practice because you’re in a downward sprial that leads to nowhere but failure.

Look, everyone’s been guilty of chasing the money to some extent, chasing every new bright and shiny object that comes our way, but it’s not the way to succeed. Here’s a clue if you’re not sure if this describes you: if your bank account is empty then what you’re doing isn’t working!

Even if you believe that you are following your passion, how often are you tempted by offers to make some money in another industry?

“… if your bank account is empty then what you’re doing isn’t working!”

How do you respond to such offers / opportunities?

The wise entrepreneur, the renegade entrepreneur will refuse. Of course, deep down, none of us want to miss out on the next big thing, but true entrepreneurs rise above that thinking and realize that if they were to follow other opportunities, it’s a DISTRACTION from their true ambition / vision.

That raises the question, do you have an ambition or vision?

If not, you need to sit down quietly and reflect on what gets you excited in life. Write down everything that you’re passionate about and enjoy. Here’s a good question to reflect on:

“If you’re having a bad day and your mind wanders off in thinking about other activities that you really enjoy, what would you be doing on that perfect day?”

We’re not talking about lazing on a beach or staying in bed. What meaningful activities / hobbies / pastimes / interests do you love to do but currently only wish you could spend more time on?

That’s where your passion lies. That’s what you should be following.

It might be painting watercolors, paint-balling, wine tasting, video editing, scrap-booking, tinkering with electronics, hiking in the himalayas.

There are zillions of possibilities.

All of these interests and passions can be made into a business. For example, every single one could have a line of information products – guides, audio CD’s, DVD’s, membership sites etc.

Logically, do you think you’d be more inclined to spend time creating a product based around one of your passions than chasing after another ‘opportunity’ in an area that doesn’t interest you?

The answer is obvious, and that’s why the most successful entrepreneurs are driven to success – they’re obsessively passionate about their business.

No obstacles will cause them to give up.

If you’re chasing an opportunity, the moment problems arise, what happens? You lose interest. You give up. You move on to the next shiny object that attracts you.

Admittedly, occasionally, someone will have a lucky break with opportunity, but they are definitely in the minority, and even then, let’s say they do make a lot of money - will they feel happy and fulfilled? Usually not, because they’re heart wasn’t in it to begin with, and ultimately they’ll usually end up using the money to start a business that relates to their passion!

The principle to follow your passion links nicely with helping people. If your primary motivation is to help other people benefit from an area that you’re also interested in, then the money usually comes naturally.

If you read enough autobiographies of successful business owners, you’ll identify that pattern. Time and time again, the formula for success is follow your passion and create a business around something you love and feel strongly about.

I hope this article has got you thinking, to challenge your existing business practice. There’s an enormous relief that comes from having a laser focus on following a passion. You get a lot more done, and any opportunities that don’t fit in with the core vision are quickly dismissed, because there’s a standard to measure them against. Without that standard, it’s a free for all with opportunities pulling you in every direction with no end in sight. I’ve been there, it’s very frustrating, and I would never want to go back to that.

Remember your new guiding principle: don’t chase the money, follow your passion.

As a seller it’s very frustrating to receive questions from bidders or potential buyers who haven’t taken time to read the description. Frustrating is putting it mildly. Reminds me of the time when I listed a training DVD for a Sony Z1 camcorder. Despite my efforts to spell out every conceivable detail, I still received questions such as, “is this a DVD or a CD?” Or how about this one, “which camcorder is this for?” Or my personal favorite, “is the Camcorder included?” Sure, of course, you get everything plus the lifetime services of a Hollywood Director to actually shoot your videos for you (!)

I think we’ve all had occasions when we want to scream a reply such as:
“YOU IDIOT! CAN’T YOU READ? THE ANSWER IS IN THE LISTING!”

What’s worrying is that while most sellers don’t use that kind of language, many approach it. While you might think that kind of reply, it’s completely unproductive to verbalize it. It’ll make you feel better but you’ll lose any hope of making a sale.

Yes, customers can be dumb sometimes. Yes, they often don’t read the description fully. Yes, they’ll ask questions that seem obvious to you and everyone else on the planet. But the truth is, not everyone is like us. Not everyone is computer savvy. Not everyone understands eBay as well as we do. Not everyone feels comfortable buying online.

Can you start to see why we need to be patient?

What we perceive to be ‘dumb’ actions might well be due to inexperience or overly cautious behavior on the part of the customer.

I witnessed evidence of this first hand when I used to conduct eBay trainings for beginners some years ago. Some of those people could barely use a mouse, let alone navigate web pages with confidence.

The renegade eBay seller recognizes the wide difference in the scope of experience of eBay buyers, and acts according to that knowledge. The average eBay seller by contrast will simply respond with a curt, unfriendly, and even derogatory message.

Here’s some specific tips to keep in mind:

1. Approach answering questions with the assumption that the person is inexperienced, that will help you get in the right frame of mind.

2. Always begin with, ‘thank you for your question, I’m happy to answer that for you’ or something similar.

3. Unless the question is personal or very specific to the person who asked it, check the box that allows everyone to see your response. That way, you’ll minimize the future questions you receive – chances are the answer will be helpful to others.

4. If many people are asking the same question it would be sensible to revise the listing to address that question. You can revise a listing at any time. If it already has bids on it, your additional comments will be added underneath the original description.

5. Make sure you also send the answer directly to the person who asked the question, via the eBay email system. Many people won’t think to check the listing for a response, they expect it to come to them directly through the eBay messaging system.

6. Above all, be patient and understanding. Not only will you show yourself to be an exceptional eBay seller, but you’ll gain more sales as a result. Answering with a clever, belittling message might make you feel better but it’ll lose you at least that customer, and probably more. Stand out from the crowd, and make that extra effort to be helpful and friendly.

Reading the title of this article, you’d most likely assume that this is an article about the feedback system on eBay. It’s not.

What I’m about to share with you is an advanced marketing technique that almost any business can take advantage of. Used effectively, it can help you to dominate any competition, regardless of their current hold in your marketplace.

So let’s get into it…

Any business has weak points that competitors are liable to point out. What if you were to turn those negatives around into positives? That might sound crazy but it’s entirely possible, and highly encouraged!

Let me give you some examples from the well known furniture store, IKEA. Here’s a company that has built-up an almost evangelical following of loyal customers, despite having many negative aspects to their business.

Let’s look at some of the negatives:

·     You have to assemble the furniture yourself.

·     There are very few staff in store to answer your questions.

·     You have to pick the flat packed items from the warehouse yourself.

·     You have to transport the items yourself (delivery is available but costs extra – many other furniture stores will deliver for ‘free’)

·     When you eat in their restaurant you have to clear your own plate etc away.

Now, at first glance these appear to be fairly serious issues. But let’s look at how IKEA handles some of these ‘negatives’ and turns them around to position them as a positive advantage.

Firstly, IKEA has established an overall brand of quality at low prices, and most people know that to be true. They say, ‘You do your part, we do ours, and together we save money.’

Specifically, they address all the perceived negatives in a well thought out way in all their marketing – in the catalog, in stores, on signage around the stores, and so on. I would venture to say that by the end of their visit to a store, every customer is well educated as to why the perceived negatives are in fact positives.

So how do they ‘turn it around?’

Here’s an excerpt from the current catalog

“Shopping is a bit different at the IKEA store. We ask you to share in some of the work. At the store you pick up what you want and take everything home and put it together yourself.

Why do we do this? To offer you low prices.

Doing work yourself means you don’t have to pay someone else to do it for you. It’s a little extra effort from you that makes a big difference to the price.
And we have to do some extra work for low prices, too. We pack things flat to save on transport and storage, we choose manufacturers who can deliver quality at a low price, we buy in big quantities…”

What about clearing away your tray in the restaurant? Again, notice the link to a lower price, reassuring us that we’re getting a better deal:

“Clearing your own table is one of the reasons you paid less at the start! By taking your tray to a tray station we can continue to keep our prices low, and it also means our staff has more time to serve you and cook.”

The question now is, what perceived negatives can you turn around in your business? It’s suprisingly simple to reframe negatives to make them appealing as benefits of doing business with your company, rather than a weakness.

Most people are wary about buying online, even on eBay. We need to reassure them that we’ll take care of them every step of the way. How do we do that? Here are some quick tips:

1.) Write a short BIO about yourself.

Help prospective buyers to get to know you ‘virtually’ by freely providing information about yourself – your name, your relevant qualifications if any, think of it as a getting to know you conversation. If possible, include a photo (unless you know that you’re cosmetically challenged). Scam artists and fly-by-night sellers don’t do this.

2.) Provide a real contact address.
Include an email address where you can be contacted and preferably a physical mailing address too, unless you have privacy concerns. Also, remember to reply promptly to any emails you receive.

3.) Offer a money back guarantee and honor it.
I’ve heard it said, ‘if someone doesn’t like your product at least let them like your service.’ That’s excellent advice. I don’t understand why so few sellers are bold enough to stand behind their products to offer a money back satisfaction guarantee. Will you get ripped off very occasionally by some idiot who buys with the preconceived intention of getting a refund. Sure. But you can blacklist them so they don’t buy again, and you WILL make up for it in more sales overall. Having a guarantee is a very persuasive risk-reversal technique.

4.) Don’t hype your product or make exaggerated claims about it.
We’ve all seen eBay listings that promise the world, event the entire universe, for just 99 cents. People aren’t daft, don’t treat them as unintelligent. Hypey sales copy or wild claims about get rich quick schemes will destroy your credibility and cause people to click away with their mouse. Avoid this practice at all costs.

5.) Avoid using page counters.
They might be fun for you but they smack of amateurism. Do you know of any other well known website that uses visible page counters? Of course not. No one cares how many page views you have, it’s really a meaningless function that serves only to satisfy the curiosity of you, the seller.

6.) Include testimonials from happy customers.
Yes, we all know that eBay has an in-built feedback system but not everyone looks at it, and regardless, it’s wise to go beyond that to really hammer the point home.
Your past satisfied customers are your most useful allies. What they say about you and your products is at least 1000 times more convincing than anything you try and say.
Remember, testimonials is a marketing buzzword, don’t use it online. Use phrases such as ‘here’s what our customers say’ to introduce testimonials.
Video testimonials are the most persuasive because they can’t easily be faked, but audio testimonials are also useful.

7.) Keep the emphasis on the BENEFITS not the FEATURES.
This is a classic marketing principle that continues to hold true. People don’t care about features, they want to know what’s in it for them. What are they going to get out of it. Let ‘em have what they’re looking for – reassurance that the product or service will benefit them. It’s useful to use the linking phrase ‘this means to you’ in preparing features and benefits. State the feature first, then insert the ‘this means to you’ phrase, followed by the benefit. That process forces you to concentrate on highlighting the benefits to the buyer.

8.) Include your Skype contact info where possible.
Many categories now allow you to include your Skype contact info. Always take advantage of that when it’s offered. Having a direct way to contact a seller is a persuasive and reassuring benefit to buyers. They’ll be much more likely to buy, and few people actually use it. It’s one of those things that they just like to know that it’s there for them if they need it.
With these tips you’ll be much better equipped to overcome potential buyer objections. Be constantly aware that many buyers are cautious. Put their minds at ease as fast as possible in the process.

A.L.O. is a term I coined which stands for ‘Auction Listing Optimization’. It can be defined as ANYTHING you do within the eBay environment that increases the number of people buying from your listings, or that prompts buyers to go directly to your website. Each month I discuss an A.L.O. technique that you can implement to increase the effectiveness of your eBay listings…

If you haven’t included an opt-in box in your listings, that’s a must.

An opt-in box, for clarification, is a simple web form that captures a visitors name and email. Other information can be captured, such as a telephone number, but the more you ask for, the more resistance you’ll receive to filling it out. If you ask for someone’s address you’ll have to be willing to provide them with something of high perceived value in return, otherwise there’s no reason for them to give you their information.

The reason why it’s so important to include an opt-in form in your listings is because it’s a prime way to build a mailing list of potential customers that you can continue to follow up with. After all, without it, you’ll never know who is interested, but perhaps not quite ready to buy when they came across your listing.

A logical question is, “how do I get people to enter their name and email address, right?”

The answer is logical – you need to offer them something of value as a ‘trade.’

Exactly what you want to offer will vary according to your niche, but lets say that you’re using the H3 system to offer a report in the eBay listing, which then leads on to a high priced information product.

In this situation, you could offer a free ‘preview’ chapter of the report within the eBay listing. The best place to do that is at the very top of the listing, even before your main headline offer.

Again, you want to grab the attention of the visitor and encourage them to opt-in as quickly as possible.

It’s also worth a reminder that all eBay listings, regardless of the listing format (fixed price, classified ad, buy it now, auction etc) are just html. So you can create the html in your favorite web editor, just as you would do with any other web page.

The important thing to note with web forms is that they must be html based, you can’t use javascript, that’s not allowed in eBay listings. If that sounds like a different language to you, simply pass the information along to whoever prepares your listings for you.

Most email autoresponder software has the facility to create opt-in web forms using html. I know for certain that Aweber and Infusion have the capability, but again, if you’re not sure you can ask your software provider for assistance.

Make sure that the benefit you offer the respondent is delivered promptly, ideally automatically by the Autoresponder. Note that if you’re delivering a PDF or some other document, it’s better to have the recipient download it rather than attach it to an email. Many email browsers block attachments and you’ll be dealing with a lot of customer service enquiries / headaches.

And finally, make sure that you follow up with all these people who opt-in to your list. The worst marketing sin would be to collect the names and email addresses and not do anything with them.

Again, try and setup an automated campaign of regular contact to keep these people ‘hot’ buyers.

By applying this ALO technique, you can expect to get many many subscribers for every listing you place.