Keith Goodrum

Ebay just radically changed the way many people run their internet business. In case you missed it here is the announcement… http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200803241300132.html

There are people who list a downloadable product for say .01. They sell the product to someone; collect their email address and then using an autoresponder try to sell them other products in the same subject. It is an effective way to build a list.

Ebay drives a ton of traffic to its site. And the traffic is people with credit card in hand looking to buy something. That’s what I’d call qualified, targeted traffic.

It’s a great model to build your list.

Well, at least until March 31st.

The new rules for the time being are you have to use the classified section to list digital download products. Currently it costs $10.00 to host a classified ad on Ebay.

This rule change seems to be sending shock waves though the eBay community. And for good reason… a powerful marketing tactic is being withdrawn.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a big chunk of people relying on this as their main source of list building. Based on the buzz I’ve seen out there this is probably hitting close to home for a lot of people.

Now, there will be people who stick out their chest and claim that this is only a minor method they use to build their list. But human nature being what it is leads me to believe otherwise.

It’s tempting when you find one method to generate traffic, or build lists to focus on the one method. In fact they will focus on the most profitable method at the expense of all other methods. Then when that method goes the way of the dodo bird, folks are lost.

Relying on 3rd Party’s for traffic generation is a risky strategy.

This is especially dangerous when a 3rd party like Ebay, Google or even the latest traffic darling Entrecard controls the method. When you rely on a 3rd party you are one policy change from being locked out.

Ebay isn’t the first nor will be the last to make changes that affected entire business models. Why will they do such things? Because they can. So, why put yourself in the position to be at the whim of another policy change.

Here are 7 free traffic generation tactics you can do to diversify:

1. Write a blog post about your free digital download.

2. Submit the post to a blogcarnival

3. Leave a relevant comment on another blogs.

4. Write an article and submit it to some article sites like ezinearticle.com or goarticles.com

5. Add the digital product’s page to your signature line and post on forums.

6. Record a video about the product and upload to video sites.

7. Setup a Squidoo page with a download link on the page.

Over the next few weeks, and months people will come up with ideas to continue using eBay as a list-building tool. But, why not diversify and increase your marketing effectiveness?