eBay Affiliate Marketing On A Zero Budget

I am writing this as an update to my starting with virtually nothing post. Every day I get at least one email from someone who says "I want to, but I can't do this. I can't afford the tools."

I cannot stress this enough - You can still do eBay affiliate marketing. Even if you have a zero budget.

Times are tough right now and I realize that phpBay Pro, BANS and other tools may be out of reach for some at the moment. With the cost of everything in our lives continually on the rise, I can totally understand that. However, if you really want to get started marketing with niche sites, do NOT let that be your excuse for not getting started.

I am going to show you how to get started for free and you will not even need hosting or a domain name to begin with.

With the niche you wish to target in hand, the first thing you need to do is go get a free blog on either Blogger, WordPress.com or even both. Then create your first blog(s) and try to include the keyword you are looking to target in the name so it is part of the url. Then you need to add at least 3 to 4 posts for content. Just as you would do if you owned the domain and were hosting it yourself.

Once you have done this and a few days have passed, go sign up for the eBay Partner Network. Keep posting content to your new blog and be sure the site you submit is one that can be complimented with eBay listings or eBay may not approve you as an affiliate.

Once you have been approved, simply login to your account and grab an Editor Kit for each post in which you wish to display auctions. If a post contained a new iPhone review, then create an editor kit in your EPN account for the newest iPhone, copy the code that EPN gives you and now go back to your blog and edit the post by adding the javascript for the Editor Kit using the HTML editor in your blog platform. Click Save and view the page/post to be sure it is displaying properly. You have just added your first listings that can now possibly earn you some great money. Now repeat this for other posts which can include eBay listings.

Yes, the listings are in javascript so the search engines cannot read them. However, if your content is good, it will attract traffic and attention to your eBay listings. Repeat these steps for any other niche you may be looking to target.

Treat these blogs just as you would if they were your own domains and you were hosting them yourself. Promote them like you would any other site, add them to directories, get links, etc. Create useful, helpful information and you will soon begin to see a steady stream of traffic and sales.

Now that you have an EPN account and have gotten a start, there are a couple of other free ways you can earn money through eBay and a few other affiliate programs including Adsense.

Sign up for Squidoo and HubPages. Create lenses and hubs about topics and products you are knowledgeable about. You can add eBay modules to your pages as well as Amazon, Adsense, etc. You can also link to your blogs if they are on topic with your lens or hub which will create a backlink to them.

Again, promote these just as you would your own sites as well. When filled with good content, Squidoo lenses and Hubs rank very well on Google and to be honest, it is really not very hard to get a lot of traffic to these pages. You can also potentially earn some great money from these sites that does not come strictly from eBay.

These are just a few quick ways to get a start with eBay in the niche marketing arena if you either want to test the waters or do not have the money to spend for your own domains or hosting.

Yes, it is more work than using some of the products I have recommended, but if you are determined to carve out a living from the internet, it can be done and you will see success. Once you begin earning money, you will then have the funds to purchase all of the tools that will take you to the next level.

Something else you have done if you begin this way is you have started to create your own network of sites that you can use for leverage when you begin building on your own domains. 98% of the time, when you link to your brand new website (related topic, of course) from your Squidoo, HubPage or free blog, the new domain will be spidered and indexed within 24 hours or less from when you add the link.

Likewise, to those of you who already have your own domains and sites - you should be building Lenses and Hubs for each of your sites. This is another method of getting traffic that I will get into once I get my ducks in a row and start talking about promotion.

So there you have it, a quick way to begin niche marketing as an eBay affiliate without it costing you anything other than time.

As always, if you have comments, questions or just something you want to say, leave a comment and let me know.