eBay may be tweaking its Links Policy (just over a week ago, it announced it won't be changing it after all, at least for now), but it's still harder than it used to be to promote your web site or other off-eBay business on the big daddy of auction marketplaces. However, there is still one place where you can plug your stuff with abandon, and very few rules apply: your products' packaging.

Inserting promotional materials in with your shipments is one technique that marketing expert Andy Sernovitz recommended from the get-go in his session at the last eBay Live, "Word of Mouth Marketing in Five Simple Steps." Putting stuff in the box when you send your products out is "the most obvious thing" for eBayers, he said.

And just one is not enough, he said: stick multiple cards, coupons, refrigerator magnets, etc., in your packages so people can share them with their friends.

Indeed, plugging their businesses, both on and off-eBay, with cards, notepads, and other giveaways is one thing I noticed more and more sellers were doing at the last eBay Live conference. One eBayer was giving away free bars of chocolate with her card at the "Meet 'n Greet" party before the convention kicked off: that got a lot of people's attention and created a buzz.

"UncleJoe" Adamson, a renowned eBayer who won an eBay Community Hall of Fame award at this year's event, was giving out slick laminated cards complete with a picture of an adorable moppet in a tye-dyed shirt jumping for joy. It sported a breakaway $5 gift card good towards "any tye dye starting at $7.75" from unkiejoe.com. (Joe used www.ON-CARD.com, which craftily advertises its own business on the back of the card).

Another couple of handouts I found particularly useful were the neat little memo pad with a "Grace's Beauty Store and More" business card stapled to it (eBay seller bonita723), and the "to do" list notepad from NicheMarketplace.com.

And of course, Andy Sernovitz had his own handout: the ever-useful and easy-to-produce bookmark, plugging both his book ("Word of Mouth Marketing") and blog ("Damn! I wish I'd Thought of That" at - yes - www.damniwish.com).

And sometimes just the simplest solution is enough. I recently ordered a pair of plaid shorts from eBay for my son, and they came with a cute little slip of paper with a colorful store logo - "Spoiled Silly Shop," and that seller's off-eBay website and email address. A nice touch, and I am likely to come back for more.

So if you're not already using this no-brainer method of reaching out to customers and gathering new ones, it's time to have some handouts made up and start stuffing those packages with them.

Post a comment in the AuctionBytes Blog and let us know what you think of product inserts.