I’ll be the first one to put my hands up and confess that I am terrible with a lot of things that occur in the daily course of making money on ebay or running a business.
Costs, budgets and cash flow? Yep. Really bad.
Making sure the customer gets what they asked for? I’m no better at that either.
If it wasn’t for my other half (or as she refers to herself, the ‘better half) there would be a lot of angry customers venting a lot of anger in my in box.
I like to stick to what I feel I excel at…..Coming up with ideas.
I know what my strengths are, and I also know where my weaknesses are. So keeping track of things, and actually sending things out to people that have paid me - that's not much good for me. Someone else needs to do that, or else it won't get done.
Sitting behind a computer trying to look busy is how I spend most of my days but don't actually do very much at all.
My speciality is to come up with new angles, products and research various other 'things'. Creation of new ideas in marketing and (here's a word people don't really like) in selling.
So what's that got to do with making money on eBay? A lot!
You see, my main focus on the site is in marketing more effectively, because I know that's where my strengths are. Not only does a mastery of good eBay marketing mean I can concentrate where my strength is (i.e. marketing)... it also makes things a lot easier.
In short, being good at marketing on eBay can help you - in a big, big way. Should you become an eBay marketer? I think so. It will help you tremendously.
How Can Good Marketing Help You Make Money on eBay?
Here are some of the ways 'good marketing' can help you:
It can mean far more powerful descriptions. This is HUGE. Descriptions can certainly make or break you. A new approach in describing products, a twist on a staid concept, powerfully convincing' copy' ... all these things can make or break your business. Good marketing knowledge/salesmanship can convince people to choose your listings over others, and your listing over doing nothing at all. This is very important. And that's why becoming a good marketer is critical.
It can help you tremendously when sourcing products. Not only can it help you when communicating with potential partners, but a knowledge of marketing can help you 'dream up' crafty ways of sourcing all sorts of products.
Another thing, also related to sourcing. You can use 'smart' marketing to get people to come to you with product, in relation to selling on behalf of others.
It can help you after you've sold your products on eBay... when you're expanding your business into other channels... whether that's retail, the larger internet or wherever else. Again, solid marketing skills will help you massively.
It can help with your listings. I've touched on this when referring to descriptions above. If you gain a better understanding of marketing... or your prospect... same kind of thing... you can understand how you might better attract more customers, by listing in more categories and so on.
I can't think of any more right now, but there will undoubtedly be many more ways in which learning how to be good at marketing will tremendously help you make more money on ebay - or any other business, for that matter!
Believe me: marketing is good to know if you're an eBay trader.
Important: Pick What You're Good At
I've come to realise something else too. Since I was good at marketing, I had to select those eBay businesses where I was able to use my marketing skills... in short, use what I was actually good at.
Let me be a bit more concrete. Let's say that you want to sell a branded product, such as Apple iPods. Admirable goal. But my marketing... what I was good at... wouldn't have been able to help me very much if I chose this route. Maybe that category is tied up with established re sellers, and there's little I can do to break into it.
So, I have to choose another category of product where I CAN use 'what I'm good at'... For example, those items where I can use lengthy descriptions to 'beat' my competition (who maybe aren't as good at marketing as me), or where product sourcing is much easier if you're a good marketer.
Examples? If I choose to sell vitamins on eBay, I reckon I'd be good at that, because there's more marketing leverage available to me in a category like that (lengthy descriptions etc.). I'd be playing to my strengths.
So, should YOU get better at eBay marketing? Maybe you should. Because when you do, things can get a lot easier... and you can blitz (certain) other sellers in a heartbeat.
If you do want to 'get good' at this and maybe build it up so good marketing is one of your strengths, then the best thing to do is start reading the material on this subject.
Me? Whenever I get interested in something, I end up getting interested in a big way. So I become something of a junkie.
If you're interested in learning more, there are literally hundreds of good books on any given topic. One of my favourite authors is Joseph Sugarman, who really knows how to position products. If you want to blitz the competition, you can start with his book Advertising Secrets Of The Written Word.
Remember these words and getting marketing. Go on, make some REAL money on ebay!
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