The most common mistake I find new eBay sellers making is "describing" their item rather than "selling" it. I hold eBay responsible for this simply because they named the ad portion of the listing form "Description Area". Forget the title "Description Area" and think of it as "ONLY Chance To Sell Area" from now on. After many hours of testing each part, this is how I would write a new ad today. "Traditional Ad Copy Translated For eBay" Black and white descriptions written in the same font, font size, and color is trash! When you describe your item in the description area, rather than Sell your item in the "ONLY Chance To Sell Area"; you're simply wasting ad money. Here's an outline of the basic structure: 1. Headline. Usually in red, not fire engine red, more like a bright maroon and think of this as the most important part of your ad. You literally have seconds to get the buyer to read this AND use it to entice them into reading the next line. This is the only goal of the headline. One of my best performers has been, "Take Advantage Of Me..!". Evoke emotion and interest for the rest of the story! 2. A small phrase that helps transition the loud headline over to the rest of your ad. Usually something like this; "This level of quality at this ridiculously low price will not be available for long". 3. Trust Building Time. Assuming you have a few positive feedback and no negative, start boasting here. Something like; "Click here to see what previous buyers have to say about us..!" Also, this is a fantastic place to add some trust building graphics like, PayPal Verified graphic, Pro Seller graphic, and/or Satisfaction Guaranteed graphic. 4. Benefits, Benefits, Benefits. There's a huge difference between features and benefits. I think most people writing their first ad have a tendency to list the features. I list them too, but that's not my ad; it's the outline to start writing the ad. This accounts for the majority of your ad and needs to accomplish a few things precisely. * Be Personal or Human * Be Easy To Read * Be Compelling To Read * Flow Psychologically AND Visually Here's what I mean; If you're selling a digital camera, this is not where you start giving the camera's specifications. This is where you start talking about how convenient it is to be able to view your pictures immediately. How awesome it is to be able to email your photos across the globe in 5 minutes to a family member that couldn't make it to your birthday party. How cool it is to say goodbye to one hour developing rates for good. Be sure it's worded from you directly to the reader, not the group of people browsing. Split up your thoughts into short paragraphs, 3 to 5 sentences at most. Between these breaks, make sub headlines that use your most powerful statements like; "See Why I'm So Excited..?" or "That's Not Even The Best Part..!". This accomplishes two things; it keeps the ad flowing and it will be some of the only things that are read by many users who only browse through the ad. Use a different font for these "sub headlines", make them a little bigger than the rest of the text, and consider using a color that stands out AND can easily be read. 5. Everything else. Some small photos are fine. The specifications, if this is relevant to your ad. Your seller details such as; payment types accepted, shipping policies, and refund policy. Notice how this is last? That's where they fall in importance as well as where they should be in your ads because, by this point, you've done your best to appeal to buyers who did not specifically go to eBay to buy this product. This is how you take full advantage of a "Browsing Marketplace". Chuck Mullaney http://www.iauctionsuccess.com http://www.pajamaexecutive.com |
