8 Non-eBay Ways to Promote Your eBay Store

1.  Google Adwords - There’s really not a more powerful force on the internet that can drive more traffic to your eBay Store.  A majority of the population uses Google when they search for something on the internet.  You buy keywords – or specified phrases or words – that will make your ad for 1952 Helicopters appear when someone on Google searches for “1952 Helicopters.”  You can specify where you want the customer to go when they click on the ad.  You can send them to your eBay Store homepage, or even directly to the eBay listing in your eBay Store.  Google Adwords is a very, very complex tool to use – there are tons of books on the topic, or seminars, or classes that you can take on Adwords. Or you can just skip those steps and hire an Adwords expert so you can get back to doing what you do best.

2.  Email marketing - Probably the best way to keep in touch with your customer base.  You can email them when you have new products for sale in your eBay Store, or when you’re running a promotion or sale on items in your eBay Store, or just to say hi.  Make sure that your customers opt-in to your email list.  eBay does provide a built in Newsletter/email feature within the eBay Store, which is great for beginners but you’ll want to graduate to something like Constant Contact or MailChimp as you grow.

3.  Your website or blog – Let’s say you sell vintage Coke bottles.  You can start a blog at Blogger.com or WordPress.com so that you can talk about Coke bottles all the motherlovin’ day long.  On your site, simply direct readers to your eBay Store to buy that rare 1912 Coke bottle you’ve been talking about.

4. Twitter - Yep, Twitter.  Twitter is a place where you can promote products, talk about subjects, follow people with similar interests, and yep, post links to your eBay Store products.  I have a lot of experience with Twitter, and it does take some getting used to.  The Twitter experience is not very intuitive, so you can read up on it right here with the Simple but Solid Guide to Using Twitter.

5.  Facebook - 500 million users, and most of them use Facebook EVERY DAY.  Bad for employers – good for you!  I’ve read articles lately suggesting that Facebook could actually become larger than Google, and I believe it.  On Facebook you can create a Page, which is a dedicated page for your business, or rock band, or rock collecting hobby.  Then, start posting about the rocks that you sell in your eBay Store and post links to your eBay Store.  This is another massive, complex system like Adwords, and well worth your time to learn.

6. Business cards, letterhead, email signatures – Make sure that EVERYTHING that contains your business info also contains the URL of your eBay Store.  Did you hear me, Joe in Scranton, PA?  EVERYTHING.  Consistency is key.

7.  Facebook Advertising - Along with your Page on Facebook, you can also buy ads that appear on the right side of the page.  Facebook has a VERY sophisticated targeting system. You can target Women age 19-25 in Charlotte, NC who post “I love Coke bottles” as their status update.  Its very cool, and right now it is less expensive than Google.  You can drive traffic to your Facebook Page or to your eBay Store directly.

8.  Microsofts’ Bing and Yahoo Search - Believe it or not, there are other search engines out there besides Google.  These 2 sites account for about 8% of search traffic and they have now teamed up so you can advertise on both at the same time.  8% more business is a decent bump in sales, no?  To learn more, visit Microsoft Ad Center.