Free Marketing: 101 Low and No-Cost Ways to Grow Your Business, Online and Off

CHAPTER 25

USING EBAY TO FIND YOUR AUDIENCE

I mentioned in a previous chapter that eBay can be a fantastic place for you to find prospects and eager fans for your product or even some services. Not all products are a good fit for eBay, but it's worth a shot for any business to try. Here's a recent success story from one of my students that is now running a successful Volkswagen Bug customization business:

I gotta give you credit for my story, Jim. You are the one who showed me eBay and how to harness it by driving traffic to my site. My efforts have now spurred a great cult following of my business. My thanks to you.

My Story:

I was an indie filmmaker; since I was a small kid it was my dream to see my work up on the big screen. I wrote, directed, edited, and produced 10 films all on my own. I did them all on my own because I just did not have the $$ to hire people, so I made them dirt-cheap.

I got into the Tribeca Film Festival, won numerous awards, and even had a feature action film go international. All was great! But there was no income really; I worked odd jobs to make a buck. My late twenties hit and I said I needed to make some money. I couldn't keep bumming off my folks. But I did not want to work for anyone else either. I knew I had the talents and the skills to do my own thing.

My idea:

All through my college and filmmaking years I had a classic Volkswagen (VW), but I knew nothing about other cars. I only knew the Bug. I am an artist so ya gotta have a Bug. I grabbed ...