Dec 17, 2009

The Secret Power of an eBay Auction Title





by: Brian McGregor
I get frequent emails from my newsletter readers wondering why their eBay auctions aren't working.
You might have the most brilliant auction description page with a fantastic set of pictures offering a superb item at an incredible price. But the page counter shows after seven days of your auction that it’s only been seen by 3 people. Has that happened to any of your auctions?

If it has, I always start at the same point. The auction title. 
In 99% of cases, the reason for low viewing figures is that your auction title isn't smart enough. 
 
Here are a few facts. At the end of this small list you’ll understand the secret power of eBay auction titles: 
 
a) 79 million times each day buyers use eBay's search box to locate items in which they are interested. 
 
b) eBay's standard search system takes the search words keyed in, and compares them with the titles in its database of 10 million auctions. (Note it doesn’t compare them with sub-titles, nor auction descriptions) 
 
c) If an auction title doesn't contain the words keyed into the search box, the auction won’t get returned in the search list. And that’s another of the 79 million searches you’ve missed out on! 
 
d) If an auction isn't returned in a search list, it can’t be clicked on to have the auction description viewed. So, the whole of eBay's default search system relies on matching keywords with auction titles. And that’s the secret power of auction titles. If your title contains words which the buyer searches upon, your auction will be returned time and again in search return lists. 
 
Actually, that’s not quite everything. Let’s say you want to create a new auction. Your auction title has three functions: 
 
1) To contain keywords. (Number one on this list for the reason you now know!)
2) To persuade buyers to click through to your auction description page
3) To convey what the item is 
 
To decide on the keywords to use, you have to think like a buyer. What words would be used by a person interested in searching for an item like yours? At this stage, just list them. Don't put the words into a sentence yet. Spend as long as you like on this exercise. The more effective you are with this, the less likely you are to have one of those sleepy auctions that rarely gets a visitor. 
 
Having listed as many keywords as you can think of, you have to decide which are the strongest. Remember, you only have 55 precious characters for your auction title. Taking your best keywords, you now create your auction title. It's not an English exam, so it doesn't matter if it doesn't scan like a sentence. 
 
You can add a power word or two if you've space. By this I mean words like stunning, limited edition, unique, rare, new, one-off, exclusive, distinctive, dramatic etc. These are words which can influence buyers to click through to your auction description. They won’t be searched on by buyers, so use them sparingly. For the same reason, I don’t advocate the use of "clever" words like l@@k or w0w! 
 
Finally, do the words in your title convey what the item is? If so, that's it. You've created a powerful and compelling auction title. And your title will appear more often in search return lists. And, as you know, that’s the key! 
 
If you can get your auction to appear more frequently in search return lists, more buyers will view your auction description page. The more people that visit your auction description page, the more likely you are to make a sale at an acceptable price. 
 
Now you know the secret power, why not create a new title today for one of your auctions? If you do, believe me you’ll get your fair share of the 79 million eBay daily searchers. 
 
Good luck in all your eBay selling. 
 
About the author:
Brian McGregor is an internet entrepreneur specializing in leveraging the power of eBay. He is author of ‘The eBay Formula’ on how to sell successfully on eBay time after time, and is editor of the eBay Auction Newsletter. http://www.workwinners.comBrian is also creator of Keyword Pro, the software which enables sellers to find the top keywords by category currently on eBay http://www.keyword-pro.com
Need Million Free Traffic to your webs ? Please visit Search Engine Optimization Tips  
Need Extra Money At Home ? Visit Make Money At Home, Or Affiliate Revenue Tips. 

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The Real Secret To Finding Hot Niche Markets!



by: Mark Kessler
Finding a niche market is simple. Finding a PROFITABLE niche market is a little harder, but it's still easy once you know what you are doing. Otherwise, you will end up like 90% of the other niche marketers out there who spend weeks or months on a niche market only to find out there is no money to be made there. 
 
Luckily I will reveal the secrets to finding a profitable niche market later in this article.
There are literally hundreds of ways to find niche markets. You can spend your time searching for popular keywords using tools such as Wordtracker, or you can walk around your local bookstore looking for common book topics. I've tried both of these options when I first got started in niche marketing, and let me tell you, I lost the most money when I picked a topic that way. Why? Well, it's simple. Just because people are searching for a keyword or phrase online or because there are a bunch of hard copy books on a topic, it doesn't mean those markets will buy your products online. 
 
Have you ever heard the advice "Target a niche market you are passionate about"? What a bunch of garbage that piece of advice is. It doesn't matter how passionate you are about a topic, if people in that market don't buy products online, YOU WILL FAIL and fail miserably. 
 
Here are 2 ways to find cash generating, starving niche markets that you have probably never seen before... 
 
1) Ebay - the unlimited supply of niches. Everyone has heard of ebay, but few people think to go to ebay to find a niche market. You would have to be crazy NOT to use ebay to find a market. This is one of the only places you can go and see exactly what people are buying in real time. Here is how you do it. 
 
First, go to ebay's main page at www.ebay.com. At the bottom of the left column of links, click on the link that says "All Categories". When you get to the next page, click on the link at the bottom right of the categories that says "See All Categories". 
 
What you have just done is list every product currently for sale on ebay, but even more importantly, you can see HOW MANY products are for sale in each category. There are literally thousands of categories of niche topics right in front of your eyes, and you can see how popular each one is in just a couple clicks. 
 
I just clicked "See all Antiques categories..." and I uncovered several hundred niche markets within the antiques category. This is what niche marketing is all about. The category "Antiques" alone is too broad. If you go after this one, you will fail, however if you go after a sub niche such as "Asian antique bowls" or "Antique sterling silver flatware", you greatly increase your success rate. 
 
Then, go to http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/whatshot.html and see just how flaming hot they are. 
 
2) The next way to find a popular niche market is by going to the website www.meetup.com. From the homepage, there is a link that says "Browse All Interests". The website will then list hundreds of topics in which people signed up to be a part of a group. It also lists how many people joined each group, or "niche market" if you will. Who would have thought there would be a group of over a thousand people crazy about scooters? I found this niche market under the automotive category. 
 
Using these two methods, you should be able to uncover hundreds of niche topics to begin targeting immediately. Once you find a niche market you want to build your business around, the next step would be to learn how to develop products these markets will knock each other over trying to buy. 
 
About the author:
Mark Kessler offers a FREE 34 page report where you'll "Discover The Most Simple, But Extremely Powerful System that reveals the 4 secret steps you need to achieve maximum niche profits!" your copy is at http://www.profitattractor.com
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