Here's scenario: You just sold a widget for $15.78. It cost you $8. Not too bad a profit, huh? But wouldn't you like to at least try to make a little bit more?

If your auction business is running on very tight margins, then even getting an extra 10 cents per auction could do wonders for you, am I right?

One of ways to add a bit of cha-ching to your auction business (the other ways will be written about in future) is following:

In my end of auction e-mail I include an affiliate link to a Web site, or to one of my own Web sites.

What do I mean?

Well, let's say it was me who just sold $15.78 widget.

After auction is over I send winning bidder an e-mail congratulating him or her on their win and explaining to them how to proceed with payment.

But right in middle of e-mail I include a little money maker that looks like this:

----------------------------------------------------------------- Looking for products to sell on eBay?! Look no further than Drop Ship Source Directory. Find thousands upon thousands of awesome products...and you don't have to pay for them until you make a sale! Click here for more information: http://www.freeauctionprofits.com/cgi-bin racker.cgi?dsnews -----------------------------------------------------------------

See how easy that was?

Now if somebody purchases a membership to Drop Ship Source Directory I get paid without barely having to do a thing!

As you launch your business you can begin to build your opt-in list in order to followup with these prospects and customers. It doesn't have to be a formal ezine initially, it can just be a once a month update on new products and services. When your list starts to increase to a good size then you can consider a formal ezine.

We started with 300+ email addresses of associates and customers who we did business with offline. Today our list has 15,000+ subscribers and is growing steadily.

So how do you capture addresses. Here are a few of standard ways that we capture them:

1. A Web Site Sign Up Form

Place a sign up form on every page of your website. Or at a minimum have a "subscribe" link on every page that goes to a separate subscription page. Make sure that you just don't put "subscribe to our ezine". That means nothing to me when I see it. Why should I sign up? Just a short description will greatly increase your subscription rate. For instance. using "Weekly Marketing Tips and Techniques emailed to you! Subscribe Today" would be better than "Subscribe to Our Ezine".

2. Free Information Giveaways

Give something away free like a free report with information that is geared to your site's content. Ensure that they have to request information so you capture their email address.

Use an autoresponder to deliver information automatically. There are lots of free autoresponder services out there. That way information is available around clock. With most good services you will receive a information copy as soon as someone requests information and it will have their email address in it.

But, and this is important, just don't send them free information. Make sure that at end of your autoresponder text that you send them, there is a short blurb about your website services/products and your ezine if you have one. But don't over do it. I like to just keep it to one or two little ads.