Check Your eBay Description Copy and Outshine the Competition - Fast & Easy Writing Quality Checklist

Whether you like it or not, selling on eBay requires writing. Some of us are better at this than others. One thing is clear, though. Those who use persuasive, clear communication get more $$$ in their PayPal account. That's the bottom line.

The following is a checklist I use to polish finished descriptions, flyers, direct email, direct mail, and all other kinds of customer-directed marketing copy. Whether your description is one paragraph or 20, this list will help you sell more, faster, and at a higher profit margin.

Post-Writing Quality Control Checklist

* Set the thing aside and let it sit for least an hour
* Read it again and flag stumbling spots
* Break up paragraphs to increase pace (variety is the spice of life). Go with short graphs first, then vary the amount of lines from 3-5. Sprinkle in some one line paragraphs, if possible.
* Break long sentences into two simple, shorter ones
* Eliminate extra words
* Eliminate “thats"
* Eliminate words with “tion” “sion” “ance” “ate” “able” “ment”
* Eliminate excessive adjectives
* Eliminate passive voice (this includes “is” “are” “can” etc.)
* Eliminate cliches
* Make cannot and is not into contractions for conversational tone
* Pay particular attention to commas, making sure they’re right (right for the particular customer, too)
* Make sure bullet lists start with either a “How to” phrase or a number or a powerful verb or…
* Write rhetorical questions into your copy that can be answered in the affirmative (YES!)
* Make sure you have some numbers for impact (specific numbers are better than generalized ones). Keep the % and the numbers themselves. Don’t spell out.
* Proof read on paper and mark it up
* Read it aloud

How 'Keeping It Real' Improves eBay Sales

When writing for the Web, for eBay, or for brochures and advertising copy, there are traps you can fall into. For example, your copy can begin to feel and sound *salesy.* This can be bad, because most of us - as consumers - have a built in aversion to overt sales-sounding pitches, attitudes and smarm.

Let me clarify something here. I don't think that there's anything wrong with "sales." This is one of the time-honored traditions in our culture that just so happens to make a lot of people wealthy. Look around you, and you'll see that the best doctors, lawyers, landscapers, babysitters, hair dressers and.. yes.. automobile purveyors are the best salespeople. It's about communication, relationships, confidence and competence, really.

It's also about being genuine. For small businesses, genuine-ness is fairly easy to capture because just a few people are running the show. Goals, strategies and capabilities are fairly clear. It's a little tougher for bigger organizations, where departments and "too-many-cooks" scenarios drive marketing communications.

Pushy, sales nuance -- the kind that we cringe at as consumers -- creeps into copy for a variety of reasons. As sellers (on eBay or anywhere else), we read all kinds of articles and blogs on how to be persuasive and infuse copy with energy and passion. Somewhere along the line the passion train goes off the tracks, though. Preposterous adjectives creep in, outrageous claims invade the pitch, and customers start to imagine diamond pinky rings on used car salesmen and the buddy-buddy demeanor of the time-share "service representative."

What's the trick to avoiding this scenario? Get real. Eliminate excessive adjectives from your copy (some copywriters say eliminate them all!). Find your genuine voice. Picture the prospect in front of you and be totally honest. Sometimes writing allows us to hide behind the words and say things we wouldn't typically. Treat your description as a casual conversation, and imagine a critical consumer in front of you who's just about to say "B.S" to your next claim. Then start writing your pitch/description/title/headline. The more real and factual you are, the more you will sell. That is a fact. And you'll avoid all the negative back-end karma that comes with over-promising and under-delivering.

Warning: Don't write less just because you have to keep it real. Remember, "the more you tell, the more you sell." Just don't over-hype things. If 100 people come to your listing or product page, several will be live, enthusiastic, closable prospects. These people don't want short descriptions and half-assed information. They get pumped up by all the details... so provide them. You'll do a disservice to your product if you don't.

eBay Design and Listing Comprehension - Another Marketing and Layout Tip

When you sell on eBay, the text should be designed to communicate.

Pretty obvious, right?

Well, some people make choices that work in the opposite direction. They choose fonts, colors and layout designs that hinder rather than enhance communication.

I'm going to touch on just a few tips here relating to background colors and font color. There have been a number of studies that back up the information that follows. If you’d like more detailed background info, I highly recommend reading “Type & Layout: Are You Communicating or Just Making Pretty Shapes” by Colin Wheildon.

1) Black text set on shades of grey makes for difficult reading.
2) Dark text on color tints makes for difficult reading.
3) Brightly colored text on light color tints is “the enemy of comprehension.”
4) Don’t use reverse – white or light text on a black or dark background. Especially with bigger chunks of text. People just can’t comprehend and retain the information very well.
5) Contrary to some “old school” assertions about black text on white background, it’s ok to put black text on light color tints. The light color can attract attention, in fact. Just don’t let the tint get too heavy. The darker the tint gets, the more reader comprehension suffers.

From “Type & Layout”:

“It is impossible to avoid the fact that comprehensibility of colored text increases as the color gets closer to black.”