If you are of the opinion that eBay is just a giant online flea market, then you could be overlooking one of the most powerful promotional tools your business could ever find.

eBay is described as the worlds biggest Internet auction site, and recent statistics quote 2.6 million visitors daily. Thats a heck of a lot of visitors to a flea market! Many people are making a full time living from eBay, and previously small localised retail shops have embraced the huge worldwide market accessible only on the World Wide Web.

If you have recently set up a retail website you will know how difficult it can be to draw visitors in any great volume, and you will also be aware of the huge fees charged by professional SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) experts. But the great thing is that you can use the enormous pulling power of eBay to drive targeted visitors to your own website. After learning a couple of tricks it is childs play to generate repeat sales and ultimately a loyal customer base.

So how is it done?

Its all quite straightforward really. You will need to develop your own eBay presence and become a regular auction seller. Its not a difficult process and will in itself generate revenue for your business. However, this is by no means the end of the story...

After the sale of each item you should email the buyer with a courteous thank you message detailing your payment and delivery terms. This is of course good business practice and your customers will love you for that personal touch - they should also see the URL (web address) of your business website at the foot of your email, so dont forget to include it.

You should then follow up with another email when the item has despatched to advise the customer when they should expect to receive their purchase (remembering again to add the all-important URL footer). Finally, include in the package a simple advice slip thanking the customer once again and of course quoting your website URL.

This simple and free promotion of your website will help to establish and build a customer base that could have cost a huge investment in advertising costs.

So it can be seen that by using the worlds biggest flea market to your advantage, the phrase "I Sold It On eBay" can mean a lot more than initially meets the eye!