Offline Marketing of your Trading Assistant business

Trading Assistants must market their eBay business for it to grow. So much focus has been to use online marketing methods, we tend to forget that there are many effective ways to market offline too.

Some effective methods of offline marketing are relatively cheap or free. As with any marketing effort you need to track your results. Always ask new leads how they heard of you. Write down your results to help analyze how effective each marketing campaign was.

Offline Marketing ideas:

• Business Cards: Every eBay Trading Assistant should have them. It is by far the best way to leave your business impression with anyone you come in contact with. I recommend not going too cheap with this. A professional looking card will go a long way. Use services like elance.com for design services and
  for print services if needed.
• Referrals: Your existing client base is a great resource for referrals. Keeping in touch with them will help generate new clients and remind them of your selling services.
  
• Flyers: Spread the word by using flyers. Tear-off flyers work best at local supermarkets. Some examples of printable flyers are available in the eBay Toolkit.
  
• Networking: Join business networking groups like your local chamber of commerce. These groups offer a great potential for leads and exposes you to new opportunities.
  
• Print Advertising: There are many options to advertise locally including the Yellow Pages, coupon mailers, placemat, newspapers, etc. You will need to budget & track your campaigns to ensure that you are getting a good ROI (Return on Investment).
  

A few more "Guerrilla Marketing" ideas:

• Classified Ad Screening: Monitor local classified & Craigslist ads for items you would to consign. Wait a week to pass and contact the seller if the item was sold. If it wasn't you can offer to help him sell the item. This tactic is effective but cold calling is not for everyone.
  
• Garage Sale Trolling: Visiting garage sales makes it easy to talk to potential clients. Simply offer to help them sell any higher end items they might have (not garage sale items) and hand them a business card.
  
• Home Sellers Direct Mail: Many people selling their homes are in need of TAs to de-clutter their homes before a big move. You can find them by driving around, newspaper ads, etc. A targeted flyer mailed to these prospects could prove well worth the cost of postage.