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How To Promote Your eBay Business (With 3 Simple Letters)

by Dave Lovelace

As with any business, you're "dead in the water" unless there are paying customers to keep you 'afloat'. Those customers are called 'traffic' (whether you're operating online or offline).

But how do you get targeted traffic (your prospective customers) to look in your direction in the quickest time possible? I'll answer that in 3 letters: PPC, otherwise known as "Pay-Per-Click" advertising.

A simplistic explanation of PPC advertising is that you're paying when someone clicks on an Ad that you've placed which is written to attract very targeted customers who are searching for your exact product or service.

How are they searching? By entering keywords and phrases into the search engines.

All you need to do to get your 'billboard' in front of them is to make a list of the Keywords that most of these people are using (to search for your products or services) and bid on those keywords on a per-click basis. Most PPC search engines typically allow a minimum of 10 cents per click (some may be as low as 5 cents).

It's easy to find out what keywords are being used in the search engines. I use a free piece of software called Good Keywords to extract this information from the search engines in just seconds.

Once you have a list of keywords in place, you'll want to create your ad using a few of those keywords in the ad's text. Once you determine your budget, what you want to pay per-click, post your ad with search engines who offer PPC advertising options. I'll give you a link to the most popular of these search engines in a moment.

Now when anyone types in a keyword that you've bid on, you're Ad will show up. If it gets the prospective customer's attention, they'll click on it to go to your site (auction store, etc) to get more information. The rest is up to you to close the sale. Just ensure that you've followed a few basic and simple rules for listing your product. Need a reminder? Learn more right here.

The most popular PPC service? It may be no surprise, as this one happens to be the largest and most recommended by marketing experts. I'm referring to Google AdWords.

These are the classified-sized ads you see on the right-hand side of Google's "results page" whenever you use their search engine. And your ad could be showing up in on Google's results page and driving targeted traffic to your eBay store (or any page that you want to send traffic to) in as little as the next 15 minutes.

Side note: with any paid advertising method, make sure that your expected profit margin covers your ad costs. It's all about testing to see what works best for you and your business.

Ready to give PPC a try?

First, you need to gather your keywords and create your ad. But keep in mind, there is a formula to creating this type of targeted ad that ensures the "most bang for your buck".

The good news is you can discover this formula immediately by reviewing this free Adwords "Super Tips" course. No registration required (at the time of this writing). You'll get instant access and you'll shave months off your learning curve. I'm all about "getting it right the first time" whenever possible.

Pay-Per-Click advertising can be very effective, as you've just taken your products to the world outside eBay. Imagine someone going to a search engine, typing in what they're looking for and seeing your store right there!

What's more, if you target this approach to specific models of a product it can be very cheap. Most advertisers try to get as much traffic as they can instead of targeting their ads as specifically as you will be, meaning there won't be much competition for the keywords.

By the way, eBay encourages this method of marketing because it benefits as well as you, since it drives new buyers to eBay as a whole, not just to your site.

So when planning your next marketing budget, take a serious look at Pay-Per-Click. It may be the competitive edge you've been looking for.

Dave Lovelace is the author of eBay Platinum Profits, a step-by-step beginner's guide to Making Money on eBay "the right way the first time". Subscribe to Dave's FREE 9-day mini-course, "eBay Success Tips: Quick-Start Guide To Winning The Auction Game (for Newbies)" and discover everything you need to know to get started right away!

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