"How to Generate Leads for Your Bricks & Mortar Business on eBay."

Smart marketers always go where their customers can find them. Given its popularity in recent years, eBay has become a logical destination for buyers and sellers alike. More and more companies are learning how to use eBay to generate leads and additional sales.

According to recent figures, more than P970 million items were listed on eBay in 2004 and the site generated revenues of over $2.17 billion. The site has become a virtual paradise for companies of all kinds, ranging from one-man operations to Fortune 500 corporations. But now things are getting crowded and more companies are competing fiercely for a piece of the proverbial pie.

Today, the name of the game is knowing how to stand out in a crowded online marketplace, because only by standing out can you successfully use eBay to generate leads or even sales for your own business.

Here are a few tips to help you achieve just that.

1. Study the competition

It pays to know your market. Before you have your product listed, do a quick search for other products that compete with yours. Take note of their benefits and determine how your own product can perform just as well or better.

Compare prices and see if you can offer a more competitive price. Make sure that you only take into account items that have received actual bids, because that's an indication of what the market is willing to pay for such products.

You can simply ignore the other items that haven't received any bids. Find out who are the most successful sellers of your item on eBay and study why they succeed and how you can do better.

2. Play with your price options

There's nothing that attracts attention quite like a good price. You can play with the Buy-It-Now price and the starting price of your products in your auction details to capture more attention from buyers.

When you list, set the Buy-It-Now price to your desired selling price or the amount you want to receive for the product. If you want to move your products fast, set the price low. If you think your products are rare and in great demand, set the price high.

Now, on your opening bid, set your price really low so you attract the attention of bargain hunters (and, on eBay, who isn't one?). You can start at one dollar and put a ceiling of about half of your product's actual value. This strategy can spark a lot bidding, which makes your product seem even more valuable.

3. Spell your auction title correctly

EBay uses "exact match" searches as opposed to "fuzzy searches," which means that your auction title will determine to a great extent if buyers find your product or not. It pays, literally, to spell your auction title correctly and to include as many keywords as possible.

Skip punctuation marks and avoid words that your customers probably won't use in their search. You must sell your product as best you can in only 45 characters, so make sure that you don't waste any space.

4. Dress up your auction

Since the name of the game is to capture attention to generate leads, the savvy marketer should dress up his auction for success. You can use color to make it more appealing. You can use HTML to make the copy more attractive and easier to read. But best of all, if it’s appropriate, you can use a nice photo of your product that accentuates its best qualities. If a picture is worth a thousand words, on eBay, your product's photo can generate a thousand bids and a thousand leads.

5. Have open communication lines

There's nothing that turns off a potential buyer more than getting no reply to their inquiries. This happens if you have a spam filter which blocks e-mail that it mistakes for spam.

If your potential customers also have aggressive spam filters, they may not receive your response either. It's best to advise customers in your eBay auction and payment instructions to disable their spam filters. It's also a good idea to answer important queries in the auction description so similar questions from other prospects are also addressed.