Power of eBay vs Blogging

I saw a really interesting eBay auction link today; and those people participating in the 30 Day challenge will be aware of this link too - see below: Have a quick look and read the auction below via the link, then pop back to see my take on it.

eBay Pokemon Auction Link

The item for sale is simply some basic Pokemon trading cards. What makes the auction so interesting is that a regular American mother has advertised the cards and written several pages of hilarious text about how she came to receive the cards and why she is selling them on eBay. In summary her kids nagged her into buying the cards while grocery shopping and after writing a long, funny review of her grocery store trip - she is now selling the cards on eBay.

Due to the amazingly funny story, the viral effects of the internet went into overdrive. Suddenly as people found the funny story, they began to email the link to their friends, bloggers (like myself) started writing about the saga and the rest is history - classic viral marketing. The mother of 6 responsible for the auction is seeing close to 10,000 hits a day to the eBay auction page and now seeing traffic requesting her personal blog address.

The whole example for me shows how the power of 'pre-text' or a good write-up can not only introduce plenty of traffic to a blog or an eBay auction - but it will also help sell a product.

Regardless of what you are trying to sell, monetize or offer to the internet public - you must accompany it first with a good 'pre-sell' -

1. through a 'Humor story' such as the example we're talking about above.

2. 'Passionate Product or Service review' if you've used the product or recommend it or by someone you know.

3. 'Personality Link' - while the quality of what you're trying to sell is important, if your audience (be it eBayer viewers or blog audience) can relate to you, they will tend to buy or use your services (be it PPC adverts or affiliate recommendations). To achieve this you really need to interact with your audience - build up rapport through regular communication and more importantly pictures and video in your blog and where possible the comments.

To summarize, the method used by the American mother of 6 on eBay to fetch possibly upwards of $100US for a simple pack of used $3 Pokemon cards - can be applied to blogs all over the internet. Whether your goal is to make revenue from eBay or revenue from Blogging.

Attract an audience through interesting topics or stories that are easily related to real world happenings; either through humor or through a 'personality link' you might have. Having a photo on your Blog, Instant Messaging, Auctions and other forms of communication is good to help establish a 'link' to the person you're dealing with.

Once you have that connection and two-way communication street with your audience, the chances of them buying blog based services from you are much higher. (Services such as 'ReviewMe', Suggested Affiliate Links or even your basic PPC adverts.) For me personally, when I visit a blog with good content I will tend to view their PPC adverts out of respect.