Managing and operating a functional and money-making Christian home based business can be a daunting endeavor to say the least. So much to do and so little time to do it!So how do the “chosen” few actually turn their home based Christian business into a profitable venture? Why may it seem that you are giving it all you’ve got and just not grabbing the traction you need or feel you deserve?Here now are a few Christian business practices that can give you a significant business edge.Step 1: Begin each and every day with prayer and taken in a powerful dose of God’s Word, the Holy Bible. Be sure that Jesus is on your side. Team up exclusively with the Holy Spirit. Make God your intimate business partner. “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” Matthew 6:33.Step 2: As you begin your plan, be sure to include and implement a “gifting first” process. The object is to lure suspects and prospects into your Christian home based business world by offering “free” incentives. These incentives might be a “free” special report from your web site, or you might invest in inexpensive promotions items such as pens, mini-calendars, or refrigerator magnets with your brand printed on them. Give these items away to all potential customers and clients.Step 3: Get involved in the community. Be of service to others and be available when needed. Be on the constant look out for opportunities to building and nurture long-term relationships by providing your time as a goodwill measure. Caveat: Never simply give of yourself expecting to “get” in return. When you give from a heart of Christ, people “will” take notice and respond. Let God open these doors as you share His love throughout your target market zones. “If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too” Romans 14:18.Step 4: Run your Christian home based business like a true professional. Even though your business is located at your home, adopt and maintain the mindset of a corporate giant. Act like you “intend” to do business. Although working your Christian home based business can afford you work schedule flexibility, keep your focus on your plan, your daily schedule, your work ethic, your customer service practices, and well-formed business goals top of mind. You might even consider dressing and acting the part, too.Step 5: I encourage you to consider these Christian home based business practices and put them into action right away. God knows the open marketplace can be challenging, but by following a professional Christian business regimen, you can distinctly level the playing and generate the success you seek to achieve. Keep God in the forefront of all you do. You will most definitely need His anointed blessings. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” Ephesians 3:20.And finally…Step 6: Don’t worry and don’t be afraid. We serve a big God who wants you to win. Let go of your inhibitions and fears. Go boldly and listen for God’s direction. Hold fast not to your will, but to God’s will. He will lead you to the land of milk and honey. “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” Philippians 4:6. Believe it and become it!May almighty God bless you abundantly!
Entrepreneur Mind-Set for Home Based Business
With the recession, companies closing and the incredible increase of unemployment everywhere around the world it is difficult to project ourselves in the future. This situation pushes many of us to use their entrepreneur mind-set and grow a home based business.To be an entrepreneur is not an easy task. Nobody will tell you what to do, when to do it and most of all how to do it. But one thing is common to all the people who start a home based business is passion, motivation, and rigor! This is not surprising; those are the foundations of all the major industries in our country.The passion is source of creation:To create your home based business, you will need ideas of products, marketing, distribution,… For some people these will come naturally and for others it will be hours, days, months of reflection, discussion with others. So, in the first times of your market research you should focus on topic that you like or you have experience in. If you are a fan of golf and practice it for a while, you certainly met some problems regarding the technique or material. Find an answer to this problem and you have a business opportunity. Yes, there are millions of golf players in the world; some certainly met the same issue: they are your potential customers. For technique issue, your products can be video training (cheap and easy to do with a computer and some freeware). If it is material, you can always find a merchant that propose affiliate program, so promote his products and get your commission.The motivation is your petrol:Have you ever notice how you can easily complete boring and hard tasks when it is related to a topic you are passionate in? Any business, either home based or not requires time, dedication and most of all MOTIVATION. You will pass through hard time before your first sale/contract/commission, great time when you will make good profits, stress, laugh, and many more. Therefor you need to be motivated to keep your direction and don’t give up. You are the Boss now, so behave like one; I’m not talking about this pain in the *** that make your day a nightmare, but rather the captain of the boat that spray confidence and positivity around him. This is the right entrepreneur mind-set.The rigor keeps you on track:Your home based business is not a hobby like the gym club that you start three months before to go to beach and give up afterward. Here, we are talking about what will bring you something to eat every day (and maybe much more), you have to be rigorous in your approach.
First of all, before to jump in any business, learn at least the basics of the activity to be ready to what is waiting for you.
Second point, don’t let others put you down, especially at the beginning you will need supportive people around you.
Know where you are and where you’re going: prepare a plan, work-flow chart, business plan or any other support document that will be your road map and stick to it (you can adjust time to time, following the evolution of the activity and your knowledge).
Keep record of everything: expenses, profits, costumer and supplier details. You will need it to track your performance (are you really making money?!) and to develop your business network (building confidence with suppliers and trust relationship with costumers).No, don’t be scared, a lot of people did it before you and many after. A home based business is a great achievement for any entrepreneur and most of the time requires a minimum of investment. The only thing to remember when starting this kind of adventure is to take it seriously and to prepare yourself to any outcome.Maybe you have already an idea of activity but don’t know where to start, then the internet is here to help you to find some expert in your field that can give you some guidance. But as long as you got the right entrepreneur mind-set, your small business has all the chance to succeed.
Running a Home Based Business – Are You Making These Three Deadly Home Based Business Mistakes?
Running a home-based business has many challenges that you never had to face as an employee. A successful home-based business is more than just taking orders from your kitchen and enjoying snack breaks whenever you want. To ensure that your efforts are rewarded, consider whether or not you are making any one of these three deadly home based business mistakes?Mistake #1-Starting your business without checking out the legal and liability issues of running a home based business.Driven by passion to get started on a business idea many budding entrepreneurs set up shop without checking with their city regarding licensing, permits and an insurance broker regarding liability issues.Everyone may rave about your brownies, and may even buy them from you, but selling food you created in your home kitchen is a code violation in many cities.Offering financial planning services from home but meeting your clients in their offices or the local coffee shop is likely to be acceptable in many cities.While you may think of your business as unobtrusive and discreet, if you’re operating in a residential area you may be in violation. While you may operate undisturbed for a while, all it takes to shut you down is a complaint to the city from a disgruntled neighbor who resents that you’re working from home while he has a 37 mile commute.Liability is also serious concern no matter what type of business you operate. Just one lawsuit can not only dampen your spirits but damage your business assets.Solution:
Visit your city online or in person to learn what licenses and permits you will need regardless of whether your business offers products or a service. Even though you operate from home, some cities will approve with no-business-in-residential zones may still allow you to operate if you get a private-mailbox in a commercial zone.
Your city business license department can tell you about all the permits you need in addition to the license, such as a seller’s permit or health permit.
Contact an insurance broker to discuss the type of liability insurance you will need to cover potential lawsuits. Insurance is not only a very wise choice, but is often required by corporations with whom you will do business. Some homeowner insurance policies may protect your home based business, while others won’t.
If you discover at the beginning that it is not feasible to operate your business from home, you can seek a proper location, get adequate insurance and start off your business with peace of mind.Mistake #2-Overlapping your business and personal life.You probably chose to work from home so you can spend more time with your family and enjoy a more flexible schedule. These are worthy goals, but your business success depends on the extent to which you keep the two separated. It may be great talking to clients in your pajamas, but trying to make sales calls with screaming children in the background is not likely to win many accounts.At the same time, your children deserve your time and must have their needs met as well. Your spouse is likely to fall out of love with your business and you too if your business consumes all your time. Solution:
Set up your office in a separate room preferably away from the main family-gathering room.
Install at least a second phone dedicated to your business so you can answer it with your business name or create a voice mail with a business greeting.
Set up business hours and adhere to them as much as possible. Just because you work from home doesn’t mean you can run without a schedule. You have the flexibility of adjusting your schedule, of course, but you must have one to start.
Set up rules and guidelines about how you want your family to behave during your “business” hours.
Plan activities that will engage your children while you are working. For children who are not school age, some business owners hire a babysitter or work in the evening after their children are asleep.
Carve out time in your day when you leave your business to spend quality time with your family. It may mean taking your dog for a walk to the park, playing games with your children, and having meals together.
Mistake #3-Undercharging for your products or servicesThe biggest mistake many home based business owners make undercharge for their products and services. Some do this in an effort to drum up business in the beginning stages, especially if potential customers balk at their prices. Others undercharge because they don’t document how much it cost to create their products or render a service. Then others don’t place a high enough value on their time. It’s very awkward to be forced to raise your prices after you created the expectation of low prices in your clients.No matter how passionate you are about your business, if you don’t make a profit you will not be able to keep your business nor your personal life afloat. Solution:
Research the fair market value of your product or service. Don’t make the mistake of believing that because you work from home your fee should somehow be less.
Determine the actual cost of doing business. Be sure to count business overhead, supplies, shipping costs, materials costs and especially your labor.
Consult a coach and others in your industry to learn their pricing strategies
Remember that profit is your net, not your gross. You must keep records that enable you to track your income and outgo so you’ll be able to easily see if your business is profitable.
Food for Thought: A Successful Home Based Business Starts Within Yourself
On a constant basis, lots and lots of people find ways to solve one of their top problems-that on the financial side. Although their regular jobs must be providing them enough money to shoulder their needs, they just could not settle for anything that is just enough. Much more, they could not lie around receiving anything less. Thus, they always make it an excuse to search for successful home based business ventures and earn more than enough.There is always that anxiety that you are not making enough money to sustain all of your personal and family’s needs. Therefore, it doesn’t come as shocking when you re-think your choices and prefer to own your time while making big cash.If you have heard individuals who vow that there are just successful home based business opportunities out there, then you better believe them. For sure, they will not be telling around tales if they themselves have not experienced such. Many of them have started with nothing. Many of them have gone through the same rough roads. They have struggled with the odds of running a startup home based business. They have likewise traded their regular and stable jobs with time, flexibility, and the potential of earning more than what they have been getting. Hence, realistically, there is that possibility of turning a startup home based business into a successful one if you will just loosen up. You will come to see your own success if you strive hard.Alright, so how do you spot at a successful home based business? Why don’t you start out with one of the greatest sources these days, which is none other than the Internet? Yes, you got it right! The Internet can turn every single willing individual into an entrepreneur. What basically sets an Internet business apart from the typical brick-and-mortar investments is the fact that it will not force you to shell out too much money. As it goes, a successful home based business requires very minimal financial capital.But then again, be very careful about idling. Others will lead you to the assumption that a successful home based business on the Internet will not require effort on your part. It is but one of the many false assumptions made by others, which must never apply to you. Remember that you decided to let go of your current job because you wanted to be your own boss and work at your own pacing. More importantly, you shifted from a 9 to 5 job to a home based one because you wanted to do business. It is not just a hobby, which you will attend should you have the interest. Rather, it is a source of living that when executed the right way can make you earn more than what you have been expecting.
Developing Your Small Business Marketing Plan
Along with your business plan, your small business marketing plans is only of the most important long-term plans you’ll make for your small business. Some small business owners choose to ignore that advice, instead preferring to fly by the seat of their pants, so to speak, to “wing it.” While some of those small business owners are successful, they’re not nearly as successful as they could be had they laid out a well-defined small business marketing plan.Small business marketing strategy step 1: Know your marketThe first step in developing a successful small business marketing strategy is to make sure that you have a really solid handle on your target market. Ask yourself: Who are my customers? Once you’ve identified who they are, ask yourself: What are my customers’ problems? What are their dreams and aspirations? The surest way to answer those questions, of course, is to ask your customers themselves. Even if you can’t afford to hire a small business marketing firm that will conduct focus group tests for you, you can do your own simple survey by hitting the streets and talking to those people you plan to sell to (and make contacts at the same time!). You’d be surprised how powerful that simple task is yet how few businesses do it.Small business marketing strategy step 2: Know yourselfThe second step in developing your small business marketing strategy is to get to know yourself (your business), once you’ve gotten to know your customers. Ask yourself: What does my business do? How is my business different than my competitors’? How does my business help solve my customers’ problems or help them achieve their dreams? Answering these questions will help you to define your unique selling proposition – those aspects that set you apart from your competitors.That unique selling proposition should become your brand – your business’s identity. Your brand is what will pervade all of your marketing materials and what your customers will use to identify you. The importance of diligently developing your brand as part of a successful small business marketing strategy can’t be overstated.Small business marketing strategy step 3: Analyze your competitors’ small business marketing strategiesOnce you’ve developed your brand – that unique identity that tells your customers who you are and how you’re different – you can begin thinking about how you’re going to actually market your business. First, look at your competitors’ small business marketing strategies. Are there obvious gaps that you could fill (and thereby stand out among the competition)? For example, if you see that none of your competitors have websites, you could stand out with a small business marketing strategy online.Wherever you market your business, it must be where your customers are. For example, small business marketing online will be a waste if none of your potential customers use the Internet. Likewise, you may think that writing a monthly column in your local newspaper would be a great way to advertise your services and establish yourself as an expert; but if none of your potential customers read that paper, that small business marketing strategy will fail.At this point, your small business marketing strategy will not only be defined by where your customers are and what your competitors are doing, but it will also depend on your small business marketing budget. A full-page spread in a national magazine may be the best way to reach your target audience, but if you can’t afford to shell out tens of thousands of dollars, it’s not the small business marketing strategy for you.Wherever your small business marketing plan takes you, the careful development of your small business marketing strategy – by knowing your market, knowing your business, and analyzing your competitors’ strategies – will be a critical determinant of your long-term business success.
Easy Home Based Business – Home Based Business Checklist Revealed
There are some important aspects that you need to consider when starting a home based business with a network marketing company or a multi level marketing company because the home based business industry can be very over whelming and if you want to be successful then you are going to need to run an easy home based business.
Why?
Because there is a new person joining this industry looking to start a home based business for themselves every 17 seconds so it is very important that you can offer an easy home based business for even a newbie to run and become successful with.
What are the things to look out for in a company that can provide this easy home based business?
You want to join a company that has a great business overview webinar that you can send your prospects to so you don’t have to do any selling because the best way to sell someone on something is to let someone sell themselves.
You want to be in a position so you can just focus on your prospect, find out why are they looking for a business and what they are looking for in a business.
If you join a company that has a great business overview webinar then you can follow this four step system to create an easy home based business for yourself.
1 – Generate a lead
2 – Have a conversation with your prospect, qualify them to attend the business overview webinar.
3 – Send them to the business overview webinar
4 – Call back and collect their decision
Your entire business model should revolve around this four step system, these are the action steps that will make you money in your easy home based business if you’re not closing sales and bringing people into your business you aren’t making money.
OK so let’s face it without a constant supply of leads this four step system just doesn’t work so when it comes to choosing a company to join you absolutely must have a training centre that teaches you how to market using the internet.
You want an internet marketing university that you can plug your new business partners into so they to can learn the very latest internet marketing strategies for generating targeted leads for their business, leads are the life blood of your business! Without leads you don’t have a business.
If you are putting in the hard work you want to be getting paid the big bucks for your efforts so when you are searching for the right company to join you want a compensation plan that is going to pay big dollars, you don’t want to have to bring 100 people into your business just to make $1000, you want a compensation plan were you can make $1000 – $14000 from bringing just one person into your business this is called a top tier compensation plan.
The compensation plan is a very important part to your home based business because this is your pay structure and you want to maximise your efforts by getting paid big dollars, this makes it all worth while also allowing you to transition from your current employment to working full time on your home based business.
One of the most important aspects to think of when partnering with a company to start a home based business is that you must have a passion for the product or opportunity that you are selling, you want to partner with a company that is closed to your heart and passions because at the end of the day this is a business and if you don’t enjoy working on your business then it just becomes another job.
Partner with a company that has all of the points that I have mentioned and treat it like a business not a hobby, follow the four step system and you can’t go wrong.
Advertising: Art, Science and More
“Advertising is based on one thing: happiness. And do you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car. It’s freedom from fear. It’s a billboard on the side of a road that screams with reassurance that whatever you’re doing is OK. You are OK.”
The above lines from the Mad Men could be a timeless classic in beautifully expressing the essence of advertising. Advertising is indeed all about happiness, of being assured, of being worth it, of being taken care of, of being valued and of being loved.
Love of Advertising
Ask any advertiser, what do they love about a job where work hours a tiresomely long and the pressure to come up with new ideas consistently, is high? Whether or not they answer you, their answer would invariably come to rest on one thing – the thrill of creating something which could affect the minds of many.
Like the gloriously heady concept of ‘Dream within a dream’ in the movie inception, the power to affect the minds of others through your art and witticism, is a great one. It is not hard to miss for most advertisers.
Art of Advertising
Also, all advertisers are essentially artists who use their art for a purpose. There is no greater happiness than being able to express yourself through your art and getting paid for it, maybe even obscenely (yes but only if your ‘art’ is loved equally well by others, that is).
Being allowed to be able to be an artist for a career and not be a starving one at that (in fact quite the opposite) is what draws many talented people to advertising and also keeps many working in this line of work despite everything.
Science of Advertising
Any ad concept or a campaign is well researched before coming into picture. This research could be quite in depth and intricate which is directly proportional to the budget of the ad and the stakes involved.
The science of advertising is the complete planning which takes place before an ad comes in front of the audience. There is market research, target audience’s psychology analysis, decisions with regard to place, product, pricing, packaging and people, understanding of the client’s needs and goals plus so much more.
It is only by a proper understanding of the science of advertising that the ad creative’s are briefed accordingly to take over the next step.
People in Advertising
There are several different kinds of people who work in advertising – right from ad visualizers to copywriters to filmmakers to graphic designers to art directors. Each has their own specific role in the advertising ecosystem like an ad director is responsible for how an ad will look like in terms of its visual appeal and a copywriter will be responsible for writing the content for the ad.
Advertising also has its set of mangers and client servicing people who may or may not be involved in the creative process. Normally the ad world creative’s are known to be wild and woolly, bratty and sentimental, poised and wild, simple and complicated, normal and crazy and what-have-you, usually all together in one person.
The people in ad world are generally quite liberal in values and open minded as compared to people in other industries.
Atmosphere at an Ad Agency
Most of the times, an ad agency that you may work at may have quite a chilled out environment. Clothing could be casual on all days (not for the managers and client servicing people though) and more than average make up, revealing clothes, torn clothes etc may all be okay as long as you are producing good work.
Drinks may be easily available and most people won’t mind you smoking. There may be some game room or some games handy that you probably will never have the time to play. Every day may seem to be like a high pressure party where you must keep working too hard to stay.
Architecture and Interiors of an Ad agency
An ad agency may have one of the most interesting architecture or creative decors. With over sized human dolls, interesting paintings on the wall, makeshift furniture, crazy curtains, cool office stationary, spray paintings, swear words, collages or other messages on the walls and what think you, things certainly feel quite crazy and creative in an ad agency.
One surely cannot comprehend what these creative’s may fancy next and which may form a part of the decor. Things present in an ad agency may spell creativity out loud and make a creative person feel amply at home in their imaginative world.
The architecture may be equally interesting with completely round buildings, differently shaped ones or even a fusion of architectural styles.
New age advertising
With the advent of technology, advertising too has moved up the quarters. No more is the ad must sitting in the print or even in the television commercial. Today we find advertising having taken over the short message service (SMS) and OBBD in the phones, social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, websites like YouTube and blogs with any content worth their salt. Advertisers make sure that anywhere there is human presence; there must be ads to call them to action.
Criticism of Advertising
And like all good things, the field of advertising has had its share of criticism too, chiefly among these, is that it is a field which makes money by fooling people.
While good advertising never writes lies but the whole profession of advertising works on highlighting the good. Sometimes it might happen that the good gets highlighted so much that it may make the consumer blind to other aspects which could be detrimental to them. In any case, too much of even a good thing is harmful.
The Finer Points of Internet Auctions
WHAT IS A PENNY AUCTION?
Penny auctions have exploded in popularity with the massive growth of the internet. However, few people know the true origins of penny auctions.Beginnings actually stretch back to the Great Depression. Those were hard times for everyone, but even harder for farmers. Farmers struggled to bring in steady income because of droughts and crops not selling as well as they had previously. As a result, the banks would foreclose on the farmers who couldn’t keep up with their mortgage payments.
The banks weren’t satisfied with just repossessing the house, they wanted to raise as much capital as possible, so they resorted to selling off the possessions of the owners of the repossessed houses. There was not much the farmers could do about it so they began bidding ridiculously low prices, pennies, on the items while threatening others who dared to bid higher than a few pennies.
The auctions of today hardly resemble their tremulous beginnings. Being part of a penny auction today is exhilarating, fun, and addictive. It combines the selling format of auctioning with a little bit of chance factored in.Auctions are a game of strategy but also a game of luck.
The premise behind penny auctions is giving people the chance to win an item at a drastically reduced price.Auctions make that possible by spreading out the cost of the product among multiple bidders. In order for a person to take part in an auction, they must pay a set price for each bid. For example, if a person wanted to bid on a fifty dollar Amazon gift card then he would spend a dollar for each time a bid placed. If he ended up winning the gift card, then he would only have spent a few dollars for a fifty dollar gift card. Usually penny auctions sell bids in packages.
HOW PENNY AUCTIONS WORK!
The main foundation of penny auctions is the pay-per-bid format. It is the key that allows bidders to win items at the fraction of their retail value and allows the auction owners to keep their site profitable. Most y auction sites run on the same premise: people pay a set amount for each bid, whenever a person places a bid within the closing seconds of the auction time will be added, the last person left with a unique bid after the clocks runs out will win the item. There are a large variety of items that can be won, but they tend to be popular electronics or gift cards to popular stores.
There are two types of auctions: lowest unique bid auction and highest unique bid auction. Lowest unique auction sounds confusing but it is actually quite simple. A unique bid is when only one person has a bid at a certain price. Bids usually start at one penny, a bidder can then place a bid at two pennies. Until another bidder places a higher bid, the most recent bidder will be the lowest unique bid because that was the only bid at two cents and nobody bid higher. However, penny auctions generally don’t stop at one penny. It is not uncommon to find auctions that end up at a couple hundred dollars based on the popularity of the item being auctioned. However, the same principles apply for those auctions. Highest unique bid auctions follow the more traditional auction format such as eBay. The person with the highest bid at the end of the auction wins the item.
Auction site owners turn a profit by selling bids. Say twenty people are bidding on a ten dollar gift card at one dollar per bid, at the end of the auction if there were twenty bids placed in total then the site owner would have made twenty dollars with a ten dollar profit.Auctions do seem like a win-win situation:The site owner makes money while the bidder gets an item for dirt cheap. However, not everyone wins in penny auctions. The people who paid one dollar each bid but left with nothing to show for their investments will not be so happy.
HOW TO WIN!
Penny auction has a lot of chance mixed into it, but one can incorporate strategy that will help raise the chances of winning. Playing smart can make all the difference between gambling and auctioning.
The first crucial tip to winning penny auctions is to know how to manage your bids. Your goal should be to win as much as possible without spending a ton of money buying bids. Managing your bids means that you should already know how much you are willing to risk in order to win an item. The amount of capital you are willing to risk will determine how many bids you can use. Once you know how many bids you have to spend on an item, then you will be better able to manage how and when you place a bid. That will keep you from blowing away all of your bids in the first few seconds of the auction.
The next tip is to practice time management. When fighting in the trenches of penny auctions, you have two enemies: other bidders and time. Knowing when to bid is a must if you want to have success. Placing a bid when there is a lot of time left on the clock is never a good idea. You have to remember that the key to winning a penny auction is being the last one standing when the clock runs out and that each bid increases the amount of time left. It would be a good practice to wait until the last few minutes of the auction before you begin to bid.
The final tip for successful auctioning is to keep your emotions under control.Auctions have a lot of similarities to gambling, and just like gambling, your spending can get out of control. If you keep your emotions level, it will keep you from making rash decisions and blowing loads of cash. Keep your mind clear so that you can gage the behavior of the other bidders and outsmart them.
HOW TO AVOID SCAM SITES!
Penny auctions are a great addition to the web whether you want to win an item that otherwise you wouldn’t be able to afford or if you simply enjoy the thrill that comes with bidding in auctions. Unfortunately, scam sites have tarnished the reputation of the legitimate penny auction sites. However, there are ways that you can protect yourself from scamers and enjoy your auctioning without having to worry about losing your money due to dishonesty.
Checking the reputation of the auction site before you start spending your hard earned money is always a good idea. Chances are other people have tried the site before you and some of them have left reviews. The reviews are your way to gage whether a auction site is trustworthy or not. If a site is getting overwhelmingly negative reviews, then that is a clear indication that you should steer your business elsewhere.
Another tool you can use to protect yourself is checking the Alexia ranks of the auction sites. Alexia rank will give a solid view of how much traffic the auction is getting. If you see a huge difference in the amount of traffic Alexia is projecting and the amount of active bidders on the site, then warning signals should be ringing in your head. Some auction sites have been known to set up robots that automatically bid on projects in order to keep the auction going and inflate the price. That is known as shill bidding. You can sniff out those sites by comparing the traffic the site should be getting to the amount of users using this site.
CONCLUSION!
New legislation may come out later down the road that will officially make penny auctions gambling, but until then, it is a fun, exciting auction that allows one to win the item they’ve always wanted but couldn’t afford.Auctions are also quite lucrative for the site owners because of the pay-per-bid strategy they’ve incorporated. Penny auctions had humble beginnings with farmers who just wanted to get back at the banks who kicked them out of their house. More recently, auctions have enjoyed an explosion in popularity with the rise of the internet.
There are two main formats fora auctions, lowest and highest unique auction, however they both run on the same premise where the last unique bid wins the item. Winning a penny auction will require a certain amount of mental tactic and a bit of luck. However, you can increase your odds of winning by practicing certain techniques such as managing your bids wisely, learning how to work with the time, and keeping a level head and your emotions under control. When you combine those three strategies to your bidding plan, you will find that you win a lot more often.
It is important that you do your due diligence to protect yourself when participating in auctions. Not every auction is run by honest and trustworthy people. There are people out there who just want to take your money. You can protect yourself by ensuring that you only bid on sites that already have a very positive reputation from real users.
How to Find Great Live Auctions for Resale Items
Hi, my name is Walt. I’m an auctioneer with 25 years of experience in the auction business and licensed in the state of MA. I own Quick Auction Service, a company that specializes in building and running custom auctions, I’m also the webmaster of my own site and have been on eBay for 8 years. Besides eBay, the types of auctions I run most frequently are antiques and on-site estate auctions, although I’ve run everything from business overstock auctions to charity & special event auctions.
I enjoy sharing my knowledge and stories of the auction business. My goal for article is to help folks get the absolute most out of their auction experience.
Whether your fresh out of the package or a seasoned dealer I think I can offer something in this article to help you with your auciton adventures.
There may be as many reasons to attend auctions as there are types of auctions to attend. Maybe you want to attend an auction to buy items for re-sale on eBay, or some other market. Maybe you want to furnish your home with wonderful antiques, or you want to furnish your home as inexpensively without sacrificing quality.Some folks are just looking for a fun night out. With a little perseverance all these things are possible.
There are antiques and estate auctions, auto auctions, overstock auctions, absolute and no reserve auctions, real estate auctions, specialty auctions where only one genre of items are sold, tailgate auctions, live auctions, online auctions, sealed bid auctions, silent auctions, charity and fund raising auctions and many more.
Can you really buy for pennies on the dollar at an auction? You bet! Many times I’ve seen folks buy and re-sell at the same auction on the same night for a good profit, although be advised, this should only be done after the auction is over.
There are a lot of ways to find an auction, but here are some tips on how to find and attend the best ones.
Visit the genre of shops in the area that apply to the type of auction you want to attend. IE: If your looking for a good antique auction to attend, stop in the local antiques shops and ask for what there are for good auctions in the area. Sounds obvious right? But listen to what they don’t say as well as what they do say. Oftentimes when a dealer speaks poorly about an auction he or she attends, it may be likely that they are trying to keep a good thing secret. Think for a moment, why would a dealer keep attending a lousy auction?
Newspaper ads: I personally like to find ads in the classified ad section rather than flashy display ads. Flashy ads are usually indicative of an auction that will be high priced, may have reserves, (a set price on an item), and usually an enormous crowd. While any auction can be profitable to attend, it is usually best to steer clear of the glitzy ones, at least for the beginner.
Here’s the minimum you want to find out before you go. If there is a phone number in the ad, call and ask for the terms of the sale. What forms of payment do they accept? Is it an absolute auction? An absolute auction is one that has no minimum or reserve bids on items. These are the best auctions to attend! Is there a buyers premium? A buyers premium is like a tax that everyone who makes purchases at that auction must pay above the winning bid price. Most auctions these days do charge a buyers premium, 10% is not unreasonable but I feel much more than that is greedy, and the auctioneer that charges over 10% is counting on most bidders not doing the extra math as the bids quicken in pace.
A fair auction will have ample time to inspect the merchandise, usually at least 2 or 3 hours. Find out when inspection starts and make sure to attend! Never attend an auction if you can’t make the inspection, not unless your prepared to gamble. Most auctioneers sell at a rate of about 100 items per hour, which is why they sell “as is”. They simply don’t have the time to give a detailed description of all the items. Since almost all items at auction are sold AS IS, there are sure to be some damaged, refinished, fake and incomplete items at any given auction. Beware of any auctions that offer very little or no inspection time.
Good auctions will usually have 150 to 400 lots. A lot may be one item or a group of items. The exception to this are specialty auctions, auto auctions, real estate auctions etc.
When you attend your first sale, take note of the 1/2 dozen or so dealers that buy the most often. See if you can find out about other area auctions they attend.
When you do find an excellent auction, attend it as often as possible. By frequenting good sales, you help increase the bottom line of that business. It’s difficult for many auctioneers to keep the quality of merchandise consistent, so good attendance certainly helps. And when an auctioneer gets to know you as a buyer, he/she will go out of the way to accommodate you, to keep you coming back.
Hiring An Auction Company
Estimating your assets value:
Typically, one of the first questions a business owner will ask me is, “how much will the assets bring at an auction”. After taking the time to review the assets, the auctioneer should give the client a conservative estimate of the sale based upon his experience and the current market trends. It is important that the company give realistic expectations so the seller can make informed decisions based on their best interest.
Compensation and Expenses:
Is the company you are considering working for you or against you? The agreement you decide may determine this.
A business owner should carefully consider how the auction company is compensated. The most common commission structures include: straight commission, outright purchase of assets, guaranteed base with a split above to both auctioneer and seller, guaranteed base with anything above going to auctioneer or a flat fee structure.
In a straight commission structure, the company is paid an agreed upon percentage of the total sale.
In an outright purchase agreement, the auctioneer simply becomes your end buyer. The company purchases your assets and relocates them. While this can be an option in some unique situations, keep in mind that they will want to purchase your assets at a very reduced price to make a profit at a later date.
In a minimum base guarantee, the auction company guarantees the seller that the auction will generate a minimum amount of sales. Anything above that amount either goes to the auction company or split with the seller. While a seller might feel more comfortable doing an auction knowing that he is guaranteed a minimum amount for his sale, keep in mind that it is the best interest of the auction company to secure a minimum base price as low as possible in order reduce their financial liability to the seller and secure higher compensation for the sale.
In a flat fee structure, the auctioneer agrees to show up for the sale and call the auction. There is no incentive for the auctioneer to get the best prices for your assets. The auction company is compensated regardless of the outcome of your sale.
What is the best option for business owners? In my experience, an agreed upon straight commission structure. This puts the responsibility on the auction company to offer the best outcome for everyone involved. There is an incentive for the auction company to work hard for both parties, set up and run a professional sale, get the highest bid and sell every item on the inventory. Successful auctions translate to a higher bottom line for both the seller and the auction company.
Auction Expenses:
In most auction agreements the expenses to conduct an auction are passed to the seller. If the auction company pays for the expenses, it is simply absorbed in higher commission rates.
All expenses should be agreed upon in advance in a written contract. Typical expenses will include the costs of advertising, labor, legal fees, travel, equipment rentals, security, postage and printing. A reputable auction company will be able to estimate all expenses based upon their experience in previous auctions. An agreement should be actual costs charged as expenses, not an estimated amount.
Advertising is typically the highest cost in conducting an auction. The auction company needs to set up an advertising campaign that will promote the sale to its best advantage and not overspend to simply advertise the auction company.
Once the auction is complete, the auction company should provide a complete breakdown of all expenses to the seller, including copies of receipts within the auction summary report.
Buyer’s Premium:
What is a buyer’s premium? If you attend auctions regularly, you are very familiar with this term. The auction company charges a fee to the buyer when they buy an item at auction.
The buyer’s premium has been around since the 1980′s and is standard auction practice. It was first used by auction houses to help offset costs of running brick and mortar permanent auction facilities. Since then, it has spread to all aspects of the auction industry. It is prominent in online auctions and allows auction companies to cover added expenses incurred from online sales.
It is the responsibility of the auction company to provide clear disclosure of the buyer’s premium to both the buyers and the sellers. Those not familiar with auctions are often taken back by the buyer’s premium. They looked upon it as an under handed way for the auction company to make more money. Reputable auction companies will provide full disclosure within the auction contract, advertisement and bidder registration.
Typically, an auction company will charge online buyers a higher buyer’s premium percentage than those attending an auction in person. Extra fees are incurred with online bidding and are charged accordingly to online buyers. This provides the seller a level playing field for both online buyers and those attending the auction in person. Without the buyer’s premium, there is no way to do this.
Pre-Sales:
We’ve all been there. We’re looking forward to attending an auction only to find that some items were sold prior to the auction date.
As an auctioneer with over thirty-six years of experience, I can honestly state that pre-sales will hurt an auction. When a company decides to liquidate their assets, it is easy to sell off high-end pieces of equipment through online sources, equipment vendors or to other businesses. The seller receives instant cash and avoids paying a commission to an auction company.
Auctioneer’s find themselves appearing to acting in a self-serving capacity when potential clients say they are planning to sell off parts of their inventory prior to an auction. It’s hard not to consider the auctioneer’s commission when they warn you not to pre-sell anything. Yes, the auctioneer wants to earn a commission on those sales but it is more important that the auctioneer protect the sale from potential negative backlash that comes from pre-selling. The buying public knows when an auction has been “cherry picked” prior to the sale and it reflects in their bidding. It becomes a sale of “leftovers” and that impacts prices.
A buyer who purchases prior to the auction usually does not attend the sale. They already bought equipment at a good price with no competition. If they do attend the auction, they tend to let others know of their great pre-sale purchases which again, impacts prices and the overall excitement of the sale.
It is important to understand that auctions work best with a complete inventory. You want competition on your higher end equipment. The easy to sell items make it possible to gain respectable prices for hard to sell items.
When a business owner decides to liquidate their equipment assets, there is only one opportunity to do it right. Hiring a reputable auction company will assist you with a professional, orderly and timely liquidation.