Sometimes the simplest things can boost the number of visitors and bids to your auction listings and increase your eBay profits.

Robert G. Allen, author of Multiple Streams of Internet Income, writes, "If you are going to play online, then act like your life depended on it. Embed your web address and e-mail address in your off-line brochures, on your business cards, in every marketing message, and in every advertisement you place."

This advice rings true for eBay, Yahoo!, and Amazon auction sellers as well. You need to make it easy for web-surfers to find your current auction listings. The more visitors your auctions have, the higher your eBay profits.

Create a signature file and add a link to your auctions with every e-mail that you send. Most e-mail programs will allow the reader to click on any phase that begins with http://. Your signature should include a short marketing message that directs the reader to your current auction listings. Here's an example:

STAR WARS COMIC BLOWOUT! - All auctions open at 99 cents with NO RESERVE Click <-->> http://auctions.yahoo.com/user/fearlessdf>

To create a signature file in Microsoft Outlook Express 6 simply:

>On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Signatures tab.

>To create a signature, click New and then either enter text in the Edit Signature box or click File, and then find the text or HTML file you'd like to use.

>Select the Add signatures to all outgoing messages check box.

Additionally, you should consider promoting your auctions by including a link with every post you make on bulletin board discussions (such as Yahoo! eGroups), news groups, and in the various free classified ad listing services around the internet. According to Allen, these venues can often create the opportunity "to reach huge numbers of people, multiple times, over a long period of time."

Make sure you include the web address to your auction listings on the thank-you note you include in the package sent to your winning bidders. A repeat customer is much easier to develop than a new customer.

It's a waste of time and money to post an elaborate auction listing if you are the only one who knows that it is there. Don't overlook or underestimate these powerful grassroots marketing campaigns when you are looking to drum up bids on your online auctions and increase your eBay profits.

Doug Feiring is the creator of http://www.AuctionLink.to - A free service that provides short web addresses that automatically link to an eBay seller's current auction listings.