Promote Your Product in Software

Paint ECC200 in Software Promote Your Product

You can conduct business on eBay without doing anything more than submitting Sell Your Item forms, as you ve probably done several times already To recognize and support those who want to ratchet up their involvement, eBay provides several programs that can help you take advantage of its powerful marketing and advertising engine Promotion gets the word out about your product to your target audience In eBay, you have several promotional upgrades and features you can apply to your listings (see 6) Examples of other promotional actions you can explore include the following:

all levels will want to share in your success, from the $10 local municipality business license to the double hit the federal government imposes on collecting Social Security tax The type of entity you choose will have serious tax, reporting, and legal consequences, so take the time to consult with professionals and businesspeople to see what makes the most sense for you (see the Understanding Business Entities QuickFacts later in the chapter) SET UP YOUR BOOKS

Keeping accurate records of your inventory costs, selling prices, shipping and handling, overhead, and associated costs is the foundation to satisfying government reporting requirements, as well as to keeping on top of the financial health of your business You can get professional help to set up your accounts, use an accounting program (a popular small-business accounting software is Intuit s QuickBooks Basic/Pro/ Premier wwwintuitcom), use eBay and third-party tools tailored to selling on eBay, or set up your own spreadsheets, either paper-based or using a program such as Microsoft Excel SET UP PROCESSING AREAS

Cross-promote between your business Web site and your eBay listings (see Link to eBay from Your Web Site next) Utilize eBay specialty sites to leverage exposure to your listings For example, your Halfcom listing can automatically be displayed on eBay Express, and you can take advantage of cross-promotional tools by having your eBay Store listings appear in item listings (See 5 for more information on selling in eBay specialty sites such as Halfcom and eBay Express; see Open an eBay Store later in this chapter for steps to set up an eBay Store) Create an About Me page (see Create an About Me Page later in the chapter) to provide information about you, your company, and your products (see Figure10-1) Create an eBay My World page to provide links to your listings and further tell buyers about yourself and your business 1 directs you to where you can create an eBay My World page

Henry Ford revolutionized manufacturing by introducing the assembly line A hundred years later, you can benefit Continued

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CREATING AN EBAY BUSINESS INFRASTRUCTURE (Continued)

from his wisdom by applying the same principle to move your product quickly from inventory to shipment by devoting dedicated centers to the eBay sales process An item s typical journey through your business might include:

inventory database (it can be a simple notebook or a database program, such as Microsoft Access) and includes sales cost, date of acquisition, and source

studio that s set up to quickly introduce the item into a neutral background with adequate lighting Enhance pictures to accentuate features Pictures are uploaded to a local computer system for ready use by your hosting method

(see 5 for information on determining the price of items) and enters the listing directly into eBay or your auction-management system Listings are monitored for bidding activity and bidder/buyer inquiries (see 7 for more information on managing listings)

Figure 10-1: An About Me page is a great tool for promoting yourself, your listings, and your eBay business