Ben'sMarketingMagic

Ebay is a virtual "hot-bed" of people worldwide with dreams of earning money from home through the auction giant. Whether it's through the process of drop shipping physical products or creating digital information products, they all want to know one thing. . . .

How To Make A Living Using Ebay

This is one of the most popularly watched items according to the eBay Pulse(http://pulse.ebay.com/) as of 05-16-06. If you take a look, you will see what people want to know is how to earn money using eBay information type products.

Within this guide, we'll be discussing the easiest way to do this, and that is through creating and selling your own "money generating system" information product.

The reason we will be focusing on this method is because it's an inexpensive way to turn a positive profit using Ebay and your brain. And, really, what more do you need?? ;-)

To begin with, you'll need to do a bit of thinking. And some action taking. What do I mean by "action taking"? Well, we're going to get into that in a few minutes. For now, let's discuss the thinking portion.

You really need to "rack your brain" and come up with a system that can generate money that WORKS. Don't just offer a bogus information product that isn't based on facts to back it up. In other words, have proof ready to show that your system truly works.

The reason I tell you to have the "proof" is firstly to protect yourself and secondly you will receive a lot more sales if your system is proven and effective.

So, come up with your own version of "How To Make Money With Ebay" information product, test out your ideas(this is the "taking action" portion I mentioned earlier), write up your findings, and sell this information to others so that they can follow the process you did and earn money. Which will of course earn you money by providing this information to them. What those people who purchase it from you do with the information is up to them. They have to take action for the system to work, just as you did during your "testing" period prior to you writing up the "system" ebook or guide.

And if you're already selling information products and making money from doing so, you are that much more ahead of the game. Use what you know and convert that into your money earning system. Don't "over-think" this process. The simplest answer is always the best. I'm telling you right now, if you can come up with a "money making system" that really works and people can see results from using it, then you'll have a winner.

And, when I say "see results from", this doesn't necessarily mean you have to show them how to make millions, thousands, or even hundreds of dollars, but, so long as they are earning something from using your system, it is indeed a working system. NEVER promise what you cannot deliver.

A "system" can be comprised of any steps that you use to earn yourself money from home. The steps ARE the system. Explain what you do inside your information product and you'll be all set.

Now, if you aren't currently making any money online from selling information products, then you should get started as soon as possible. There are plenty of helpful guides that can put you onto the right path.

For example, Instant Info Riches(add your product link, or replace with your own affiliated product for back end sales), The Complete Info-Product Creation Toolkit(add your product link, or replace with your own affiliated product for back end sales), or Money From Home(add your product link, or replace with your own affiliated product for back end sales) are excellent ebooks that will teach you how to accomplish this. Any one of them would be a tremendous help.

Once you are ready to begin writing your information product, I highly recommend you use Open Office Suite(http://www.openoffice.org) for this. It's free to download, easy to use, no expiring "trial" periods, and will convert any text document into a PDF file with the click of a button within the Writer Tool included with the suite. So, if you don't already have this tool suite, go download a copy of it beforehand. Then write up your information product.

Once you finally finish up compiling your "Ebay Money Making System" into a standard PDF format(this makes your product much more accesible to many potential customers due to PDF's being an independently run format from any computer operating system, including MACs), then it's time to do a little more work. What? You didn't expect the product to sell itself did you? Of course not! These are the "taking action" steps taken further to earn you the profits you want to have in your PayPal, or bank account. So let's get to it then!

I must explain something vital to you now when it comes to selling information products. Pay close attention to this because it will help you no matter where you are selling them. And that is this. . .

When You Create Any Type Of Information Product, You NEED To Have Some Type Of Graphic Associated With It.

What this means is, give it a cover! It's an easy process and could make the difference in making a few sales compared to a few hundred. If you don't believe this, try using both methods of selling your information products, one with a cover graphic and one without. See which sells more and you'll have your own proof. I can almost guarantee you that by using a graphic you will sell more through sources such as Ebay.

There are several tools for generating virtual covers for your products, which are more commonly referred to as "ecovers". Some are free, some are not. But you have to ask yourself how professional you want your product to appear to your potential buyers and then base your ecover creation tool selection on that.

Here are three different ecover systems you may be interested in trying out. They are not placed in any sort of order as to the quality of graphics they put out, but just listed so you can gain more information on them so you can make the best choice for you.

Jason Bradley's Amazing Cover Software Pro - http://www.coversoftware.com- These are beautiful, and highly professional ecover creation actionscripts that will churn out outstanding graphics for any product. They are not "cheap" by any stretch of the word, even though the cost for them is quite affordable. The quality you are getting from Jason is just as the name implies. . .Amazing! And the best part of the deal is that you get a free 45 minute video tutorial along with the actions. Only drawback, you have to have a copy of Adobe Photoshop to use them. But, if you are serious about producing professional ecover graphics, or any other type of graphics, then you should already have a copy of Photoshop. If you don't, another option is getting a free trial version of Photoshop.

Vaughan Davidson's Killer eBook covers - http://www.killercovers.com For a truly professional design, without having to bother with Photoshop, Vaughan Davidson does a terrific job in offering high quality custom covers based on your instructions. It's a risk free deal, because he will give you your money back if you're not happy for any reason.

3dCovers.com - http://3dcovers.com/- While not as "high quality" as the above two products, this site features hundreds of eBook, software, eZine and CD covers, all for one low price.

Now that you have your information product all fleshed out, it's time to get to listing it within Ebay.

The first step is to set up your own Ebay account if you don't already have one. If you do, just skip over this part and continue on with setting up your auction listing.

To set up your own Ebay account, simply go to http://www.ebay.com

And fill in all the requested information. If you are using your Ebay account for personal reasons, the username you select won't have any effect with regards to selling items. If, however, you are wishing to establish yourself as an Ebay seller, you may want to think about incorporating your business name into your Ebay user ID. There are some restrictions to the characters that you can add to your user ID, but if you wanted to use your website name as your Ebay user ID, you could essentially get round it by creating something like this: yoursitename*com, or yoursitenamedotcom would also be a great choice.

Once you have your Ebay account all set up, it's time to begin listing your

Information product(s) up for auction.

The first step in creating a noticeable auction listing is to determine the right keywords and add them into your auction title. This will effectively get your listings noticed by plenty of prospects. One keyword you can always count on to bring you hits is "money". You have to be a bit crafty and creative when thinking up just the right title for your auction listings on Ebay.

Go with the attraction of money. It is human nature to want to learn how to earn money the easiest way possible. And what could be easier than earning it from information you write up and provide from your own home? There is the pull. The attraction. It's quite a simple concept really. Money is the universal seller if you think about it. It's the one thing everyone in the world wants. And the one thing everyone in the world wants MORE of on a consistent basis. So having an information product that discusses the topic of money and how to make more of it for yourself will always be a good seller.

For instance, an auction title such as:

Learn How To Make More Money isn't the best title to go with. In comparison, a title like: Learn How To Make Money From Home is a little more on the right track.

But, using an auction title with actual monetary figures will really pull in the "watchers". Such as: I Earn $20,000 A Month From Ebay - So Can You!

Obviously you don't want to offer figures that are false, that's illegal. Even though I'm sure many of those just starting out on Ebay do, I am in no way suggesting you do that. You want to build a trust worthy reputation as a top notch source for information. Not another "scam artist" trying to separate people from their hard earned cash.

So be conservative, but at the same time excite people about the opportunity to "learn to earn" from Ebay. Or whatever other resource you personally know can make them money from home.

Another super tactic is to add a time frame. For example:

Earn $xx.xx In Just xx Days! We Did. .So Can You!!

Or how about. . .

Ebay Cash Generating System Can Make You $xx.xx In X Days

Other words that will pull are:

Guaranteed
Easy
Fast
New
Low Cost
Effective
Profit

Of course those aren't the only words you can use. But above all, be creative when it comes to your auction titles. DO NOT LIE! You will have your auction removed and could be banned from doing any future business on Ebay as a result. ALWAYS be truthful with your auctions and products.

What else can you do to make your auction listing pull in prospective buyers?

Use the subtitle option - Sure, it costs you an extra 50 cents, but you have a chance to expand on the description of your auction listing by utilizing this service. It's always a good idea to try it out at least ONCE and if it doesn't work to attract more attention, then fore go it next time.

Use images and actual pictures - This won't cost you a penny and could make the difference between you selling more of your auctions by providing them. The way for you to utilize this is to upload your graphics to your own web space and provide a link to the image(s) you wish to use within your listing information when you provide it. However, it is a wise decision to use the Gallery option which will cost you an extra 35 cents. What this does is provide an image along with your auction listing title to everyone searching through

Ebay.

It's a proven fact that people who list their auctions with an image get more attention than those that do not.

Offer example views of your earnings - Again, if you have the proof, show it off! Sometimes the best way to prove your system works is by providing such graphical proof to your prospective bidders or buyers. When you create your auction listing, you can use a pre-formatted HTML type page and add your graphics within that. This is how practically everyone lists their auctions now. And it can be as simple as copy and pasting to the appropriate area of the auction listing steps.

Price it accordingly - Don't expect someone searching for information products through Ebay to pay you 95 dollars to get their hands on it. It simply is an odd occurance that doesn't happen. It may rarely occur, but chances of you doing this are slim to none. Knowing how to price your information product auction listings is an important key to getting Ebay'ers to buy. With that said, also, don't undercut yourself by pricing your products too low either. A happy price range would be anywhere from: $9.95 to $19.95.

Differentiate Yourself From Other Ebay Sellers

Make yourself different. This is key to beating out your competition on Ebay. So, the intelligent thing to do is check out your competitors, take notes, and find that "angle" making your item different from theirs. Even if it deals with the same subject matter, there's always an alternative angle that your competitors probably never thought about you can use to your advantage. The most important thing to remember is to let your prospective bidders or buyers know exactly what it is that YOUR product can do for them that the others either fall short of or cannot.

Now, I won't go through the entire process of listing your auction on Ebay as that is pretty self explanatory once you go inside the "Sell" portion of your personal Ebay account after you have signed up and or logged in. *Hint*: The "Sell" link can be found on the top link menu of your Ebay Account after you have successfully logged in.

If you use the tips listed above with regards to the process of creating an auction listing that grabs attention, then you will do quite well.

One last tip when listing your auctions on Ebay. . .Be Certain You Are Placing It Within The Correct Category. This is extremely important to the life of your listing. Placing it in the incorrect category could in effect get your listing removed from Ebay, and you will still have to pay the listing fees. So you will in turn lose yourself money. Get it right the first time and you won't have this problem later on.

To be sure you are listing in the appropriate category, do a little research first and see where others are placing their listings that are similar to your own. Then, based on your findings, select one of those categories.

Once you have your auctions all set up, you can take a bit of time and automate your delivery of the product via email. It will make the entire auction process that much easier for you and free up more time so you can work on new products and listing them.

The easiest way to do this is with the use of Outlook Express and Message Rules. If you don't have Outlook Express, you may want to think about getting it. YES, this automation is that important to freeing up your time when running auctions. Especially those that may be very popular on Ebay. You simply won't have time to "hand deliver" every product.

So, this is how you set up a Message Rule with Outlook Express. Open Outlook Express. Before you can create a message rule, you must first create the email that will be sent off to those that purchase your auction(s).

The first step is to click on the word/link: "Message" within the top, main menu of Outlook Express. Then click the words: "New Message" and write up your "thank you" message including the link to download the product that you sold within your auction listing. DO NOT put an email address inside the: "To" text box. Leave that field BLANK. Once you have your email message adjusted and the way you like it, save it by clicking the "File" > "Save As" links. Then, simply give it a name so you know what it is and select the place on your hard drive you'd like it to be inside of, preferably somewhere you can find it easier when you need it.

And you're ready to move on to the next step. . .

Setting Up Your Message Rule

At the top Menu Link, Find the word/link: "Message", click it. From the menu displayed, select: "Create Rule From Message. .".

A new window will appear giving you multiple check boxes to select from.

Here are the ones you MUST check:

1. Select the Conditions for your rule:
"Where the Subject line contains specific words"

2. Select the Actions for your rule:
"Move it to the specified folder"

and
"Reply with message"

Now, 3. is where you will be setting all these rules up that you have previously selected under numbers 1. and 2. Inside the small text box area of 3., you will see several words that are links. Click on each of them so that these rules can be set up successfully.

For the first rule, you will want to enter the following text in the appropriate text field once you click the linked words: "contains specific words". . .

Item #00000000 Notification of Payment Received

You will need to replace the zero's above with your actual auction listing number which you can find inside your "My Ebay" area.

The next rule you want to adjust is the "specified" text link provided inside 3. text field.

For this, you may want to create a special folder for all incoming Ebay Auction Payments for your listings to better keep track of them and to separate them from other payments you receive from other sources if you are running other types of businesses online. You can name the folder anything you wish and when you click on the above text, you will be given the option to create a "New Folder".

The last and final rule you will want to adjust is the "message" text link provided to you. This is when you will need the email message you made up earlier. Click on the "message" link and a new window will open up ready to accept your settings for the specific email message you created to be sent out. Find it on your hard drive and select it as the message that will be sent out for your auction listing as a payment is received.

Then, hit the "OK" button. And close the Message Rule settings window.

Now, Open up the "Tools" > "Message Rules" > "Mail" and find the Message Rule that you just created. Highlight the name of the message rule, usually it will be "New Mail Rule #1" if you did not give it a specific name earlier.

Then, click on the "Apply Now" button. It will apply the rule immediately to all incoming messages to your inbox. Then simply hit "OK" to exit. And you'll be all set for automation!

You can follow the above process and create as many email message rules as you like if you have different items up for auction.

Now that you have all the basic strategies for running a successful Ebay auction, it's time for the final "call to action". Take what you have learned throughout this guide and put it to profitable use. There's no time like right now to get started. Why not try selling your "money making system" on Ebay?

Things change so fast that by next week there may be a new "hot subject" floating around on Ebay with millions of people searching for a solution. You could be their "problem solver" with a little creativity and know how. You've got the know how, now it's time for you to get creative and put it to use today!