Are you ready to kick off a marketing campaign that will send your sales to the moon? Whether you're ready to create a Web page, sales letter, or other sales copy, take a moment to ask yourself these important questions before you dive in. Think before you advertise.

1. Who Do You Want to Target?
Is your prospective customer an avid outdoorsman who likes to hike? Know exactly who you are talking to before you start. Once you know the characteristics of your ideal reader, it's much easier to create a dynamic sales message that will address their interests and needs. Talk directly to the reader, and watch them respond.

2. What Action Do You Want Your Reader to Take?
Not all advertisements are intended to spur immediate sales. Are you looking for a list of prospective buyers, first time inquiries, or direct sales? Word your sales copy to stimulate the action you want the reader to take.

3. What Do You Have That Your Competitors Don't?
Before you can expect your audience to head out for your place of business, you've got let them know why they need to do business with YOU. Do you provide faster results, a better guarantee, personalized service, easier to use products? What is it that makes your product better?

How important is it to identify your competitive edge? A good rule of thumb is that it should cover about one half of your advertising space. Pretty important, huh? Yeah, you'll want to keep a close eye on the competition and continuously update to KEEP the competitive edge.
4. How Can You Verify Your Claims?
You don't believe everything you hear...especially from someone wanting to sell you something, and neither will your prospective customers. You've got to make them believe that what you say is the gospel truth. Gather testimonials from current customers, dig up some reliable research that will back up your claims, and find someone well-respected to endorse your product or service. Just don't expect blind faith from people who don't know you.

5. How Do You Spur The Readers to Action
Let's face it...procrastination has a good foothold in the lives of many of the people we are marketing our products and services too. Yeah, they're a lot like us. They see the ad, think "Hey, I need to get one of those," and go on about life without every getting around to making it to your place of business.

Deadlines can spur action. Hey, if you know you're going to pay 25 percent less if you buy it by Saturday, you're not likely to wait until Sunday to do your shopping. Put together a list of sales you want to introduce, specify the end dates, and your set to put a little motivation in your copy. Hint: You don't have to have new sales every time - recycle the ones you have every so often...especially those that bring good response.

Motivating sales copy doesn't have to be written by professional marketers. Implement these questions in your sales page and you'll have high-quality copy the produces top-notch results.

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Online shopping has grown from a privilege available to the wealthy to a widespread phenomenon, used by everyone from celebrities to single mothers. Stores like Amazon have realised the existence of this lucrative market and have gradually increased in size and popularity. Yet as increasing numbers of people look for bargains on the internet, the shopping site eBay has become the symbol offast, affordable and secure purchasing. The introduction of eBay “stores” has also led to more guaranteed security for consumers, as opposed to the unknown factor surrounding a purchase from a single seller.

Furthermore, the sheer range of goods available on this online marketplace also makes it the favored destination for people on the hunt for novelty and limited edition items, which would not be available in physical stores.

Sellers also find eBay a haven for their secondhand items, as it provides a fairly cheap method of advertising products that might actually be thrown out; examples include home décor, furniture and clothing. Members can choose to set minimum prices for their items (from which people will increase their bids) and/or “Buy it now” prices; essentially, prospective buyers can take the risk of entering a bidding war with others or buy the selected item outright at a slightly higher price. There is also the consequential aspect of selling; once a buyer has received an item and are satisfied with it, the comments they make on the seller’s page are extremely significant to the future success of that seller. One feedback leads to a prospective buyer considering a product, and before you know it, the seller has hundreds of bids for one item.

eBay has attempted to provide some structure to this, introducing a system that ranks sellers based on the number of items they sell, the type of comments they receive, and the general manner in which they conduct their transaction. Those who are able to meet extraordinarily high criteria are granted “Power Seller” status, which essentially is a label that assures potential buyers of the sellers’ reliability and conduct. This benefits both sellers and buyers, as buyers are able to obtain security about their purchases while sellers are able to advertise their products as reliable. Buyers have to be wary of shipping/handling costs, however, as there are fees which aren’t well publicized on certain items; having said that, shipping costs are usually posted beside the item description on the pages of established Power Sellers.

eBay’s use of the Paypal system enables it to add further security for users, due to the built-in SSL technology which ensures transaction security. Buyer protection is also available, as a user can claim up to $20,000 if there has been a faulty transaction.

The Net is becoming an indispensable tool for everyday life, and shopping is a fast-growing facet of this. With the rise of eBay, the traditional marketplace may soon be phased out, as people can make purchasing and selling choices from the comfort of their own home. Try it out, and you will be pleasantly surprised with the items a few clicks can bring to you.

In order to help you out today, we are giving away a free eBay success kit which will help enable you to earn up to $3,000 extra each month. This will give you all the guides to ensure you have a great time selling whilst making money. This kit and many more freebies can be found at www.FreeStuff4Free.com, a website dedicated to bringing the best free stuff available on the Internet.

Each month, FreeStuff4Free gives away a prize to one of their mailing list subscribers. This is an easy way to stay in the running for free gifts. In the past they've given away iPod speakers, iPod Shuffle, Nintendo games, concert DVDs and iTunes gift cards.