8 steps to starting a virtuous spiral

A virtuous spiral is when you do one thing well and have success, and it sets the stage for you to either,

1. Do it again, or
2. Do something similar because you’ve proven your success through the first effort.

Here is an example –

You launch your eBay efforts with a nice outfit, and you have 12 bidders, and the outfit goes for $39, (the highest price you’ve ever achieved). Now when you do another auction you’ll have this positive event working for you in several ways,

1. New people who don’t know about you will come in and look at your selling history, they’ll see that prior sale and realize your items are esteemed by others, and they’ll respect you for that and if they like the item, jump into the bidding.
2. People who participated in the first auction will see that if they want your stuff, they are going to have to compete for it.
3. The winner of the item, if they are super happy with it, will likely want more and become a loyal customer.

If you get this working, then you’re off to the races as your virtuous spiral begins to build from one success to the next. What’s important at this point is to keep the process working, listen to the customers, tweak things to maximize your success, then just rinse and repeat. If you’re a frequent seller, and you’ve developed a following, then the way your auctions end frequently determine the way the next one will begin.

Here are my tips for starting a virtuous spiral:

1. Sell your items in limited editions, or very well conceived ‘scarce’ methods. And tell everyone the ‘deal’. Are you making 5 of this item and no more? Be clear about the scarcity of your item.
2. Do everything you can to stand out, including, most importantly, having something very special to sell, and terrific photography.
3. Become very consistent with your auction start dates and end dates so people know what’s going on.
4. Upgrade your photography, (I’ll do a separate post on this).
5. Upgrade your listing descriptions including the guarantee, testimonials, and embedded content, (I’ll do a separate post on this too).
6. Do a newsletter and always send your newsletter out highlighting your current items and make sure you clarify the ‘deal’. How many you’re doing, why these are special, what they’ve sold for previously, etc. Send your newsletter 4 hours before your auction ends.
7. Start building more ways to draw a crowd to your auctions, (Facebook fan page, blog subscriptions, etc.).
8. Become very good at getting and using testimonials. The power of a testimonial is huge. It’s called third-party endorsement. Bottomline if you say your stuff is great, people will be skeptical, but if a raving fan says the same thing, it carries more credibility.

I hope this article has helped you consider how to manage both the good spirals and the bad, and how to move forward toward success regardless of where you are at right now.