If you are anything like me, a home based business mom in the making, you are determined to do whatever it takes to prevent your children from going to daycare. Even before I had my four wonderful children, I knew that my kids would never set foot in a daycare. They were going to be raised by husband and myself. My motto is, “Where there is a will, there is a way!” So, what steps did I take to ensure this plan?Like many people, I always wanted to be my own boss so I could have a flexible schedule and work around my kids activities. After graduating from college, I formed an errands business. No similar business existed in my area to “model” so it was more like paving my own road.What is the most important factor when starting a traditional business today? Marketing! Three simple but creative marketing strategies on a shoestring budget are:1. Flyers/brochures–Use a computer to create a flyer or brochure advertising your business. For my errands business, I literally walked into retirement homes to tell the owners that I would transport their residents to doctors appointments and do their shopping for them. I walked downtown, going door-to-door handing out brochures to let everyone know that I started a business and could run their errands. The two main benefits to this method are saving money on postage and by personally handing out your business information, you can start to build relationships with individuals.2. Classified ads in community newspapers–Placing classified ads in your local small papers is much more affordable than the county newspapers but can be just as effective.3. Local Ad on Craig’s List–An ad on Craig’s List is free and can be viewed by a much wider audience. (Unfortunately, Craig’s List was not available when I started my business.)By using the brochures and community ads, this home based business mom was making it work. After a few years, I got married and two years after that, we had our 1st son. I was able to take my son with me on appointments so my plan was in motion.Two years later, my 2nd son came along. Transporting a senior citizen who walks with a cane or walker while caring for a toddler and an infant became a bit of a struggle. While driving, I would try to create conversation with my clients without too much success due to a screaming infant in the back seat. Needless to say, I started to scale back my appointments but I was missing my extra income.After 2 more children, family expenses were starting to increase. This home based business mom decided to become a consultant for Creative Memories, a scrap-booking company, to earn extra income. After many years, I found the home party industry to have its drawbacks as well. Some of the less desirable factors for the home party industry like Creative Memories are:1. The much needed evening and weekend home party times cuts into personal family time2. Small commissions–Average sales approximately $500-$700 earning $150-$210 in commissions3. Quarterly Quotas–$500 minimum requirement every 3 months. All Sales tax and shipping are pre-paid on the retail value of the product ordered.Given these less desirable factors, Creative Memories for me has been set on the back-burner because of its inability to generate significant income.Before I knew it, all 4 kids were in school. So, this home based business mom went back to the drawing board. I decided to work part-time to help a family member with his “brick and mortar” business. I really enjoyed the work and the social aspect of being around people and soon found myself working almost full-time for a “family discounted” hourly rate. Meanwhile, my own family quietly suffered because I was not home to put dinner on the table or run the kids to their sports practices. Feeling under-appreciated for the sacrifices I was making to help my family member with his business, we ended our working relationship.Once again, this home based business mom ended up back at the drawing board. Finally, I found the answer… online! As a seasoned online marketer, my husband recommended I work online too. The main benefits to working online are:1. It can be full or part-time with flexibility2. It is portable–work while on vacation or at the children’s sports practice3. Teamwork–husbands and wives can work together4. Unlimited income potential5. Home based so business expenses can be deducted on annual taxesIn my opinion, it would be well worth your time to research the various online opportunities.
Online Classified Advertising – Better Substitute for Ordinary Advertising Methods
People use many advertising media such as television, radio, news paper and magazines. These are traditional advertising media people who use for decades. But at present business people are seeking for different kind of advertising media. As a better solution, internet advertising or online advertising is doing a great job.
Now there are lots of online advertising websites available in the internet and people have the opportunity to publish their classified ads such as vehicles, electronic items, laptops, cameras, mobile phones as well as can advertise hotels, holiday resorts, spa, rent a car services, lands, houses, commercial buildings, apartments and many more.
These online advertising websites work the same with other media and sometimes they provide more features than those ordinary sources.
There are several advantages of online classified advertising. Mainly most of the barriers that affect to other media such as geographical and legal barriers will not affect to online promotions. Also advertisers can target huge potential customer by advertising online because your advertisement can be accessed from anywhere of the world.
Another advantage of this is it can be published within a short time period and it can be done for lower cost than print or other media.
Because of the advantages of online advertising, most of the news papers are also maintaining their online editions. Also most of the small & medium size enterprises advertise online because they have the opportunity to target wide range of customers for cheaper prices.
Also in the near future, people will not have time to read newspapers or watch televisions for long time period because of their busy life style. Hence they will addict to the internet much more because it will help them to find what they need within a short time period even at their office or at bedroom.
Another advantage of online classified advertising is it will allow to present ads with various audio and visual combination. As an example, if we take a paper advertisement, we can use only still images or visual contents and audio or animations cannot be used. These kinds of limitations are there in other promotional media as well. But in online advertising, we have the opportunity to use audio, visual and animating contents.
Also there are time lags in other advertising media but online advertisement will be available in the internet during 24 hours a day for long time period.
Likewise there are lots of advantages in online classified advertising and it will become the number one advertising option for business people in near future.
Auction Listings Are Vital to the Success of Fundraising Auctions
Fundraising Auction Tip: You should always provide potential bidders with a printed Auction Listing of both your Live and Silent Auction items at any Fundraising Auction. A printed Auction Listing is vital for several reasons:
An Auction Listing informs bidders of the order of sale, and what is coming up next. If you keep your bidders guessing, they will simply not bid.
If bidders are not 100% certain of what they are bidding on, they will not bid. A printed Auction Listing should answer any and all questions about what is being sold in order to encourage bidders to bid as much as possible.
Bidders often need time to plan their bidding strategies, especially on multiple and/or larger value items. A printed Auction Listing helps them to do that.
Couples often need time to consult with each other about what they are willing to spend on something. A printed Auction Listing helps them to do that.
Potential bidders need to know the specifics, the benefits, and the restrictions on any item they are going to bid on, especially on travel and/or other higher value items. A printed Auction Listing should answer all of their questions, in writing.
After bidders see that they have lost an item to another bidder, a printed Auction Listing makes it easier for them to re-strategize on what else they can bid on.
Printed Auction Listings generally come in 3 forms:
Printed in the Event Program or Auction Catalog.
Printed on loose sheets of paper and hand-inserted into the Event Program or Auction Catalog.
Printed on loose sheets of paper and hand-delivered to all attendees, or left on each dinner table in the room.
Auction Listings cost practically nothing to produce and they can make the difference between the success and failure of a Live and Silent Auction. You should never conduct a Fundraising Auction without one.
A Case Study
Let me share a real-life experience with you. Once I was hired to conduct a Fundraising Auction for a nationally renowned organization. The event was held in a major hotel, in one of the country’s largest cities, with several hundred “black tie” participants attending. It was an extremely professional event, with the music, singing, lighting, speeches, and awards all perfectly timed and choreographed. Everything was done to perfection… exception the Fundraising Auction.
Although I had signed an agreement to serve as their Auctioneer nearly one year in advance of the event, no one bothered to contact me for any advice or help. Approximately one week prior to the Auction date, I contacted the group to see if they had replaced me with another Auctioneer. But they said that I was still their man.
Upon arriving at the event I asked for a copy of the Auction Listing. I was told that there were none. I’m not sure whether they felt that the Auction Listing wasn’t necessary, or whether someone forgot to have them printed. This was never made clear. When I asked what I was to use at the podium, I was told to copy the list of Live Auction items from a committee member’s computer. It took me about 30 minutes to copy three pages of hand-written notes in order to prepare for my role as their Auctioneer.
I knew that they had created a PowerPoint program showing the various Live Auction items. When I asked whether the PowerPoint slide order corresponded to the order of sale I had copied from the committee member’s computer, I was met with a blank stare. The committee member left to check the slide order, and returned to let me know that the slide order did not correspond my notes, and he provided me with the correct slide order… hand-written on a paper napkin. This forced me to re-arrange my three pages of hand-written notes before taking the podium.
There was a Live Auction Table with descriptions of the Live Auction items that were to be sold, but the table was not clearly marked, and it received significantly less attention than the Silent Auction Tables, which were clearly identified. Since the Live Auction Table was located adjacent to the “Raffle Table”, it appeared that most people thought it was part of the raffle and therefore paid very little attention to it.
According to the event program (which did not include an Auction Listing), I knew approximately when I was to begin the Live Auction. At the designated time the Master of Ceremonies announced the start of the Live Auction to the several hundred people in attendance, and introduced me as Auctioneer. As I approached the podium I realized that photographs of award winners were still being taken… directly in front of the podium where I was to stand… which required me to stand aside for several minutes until the photographers were done. Can we say “awkward moment”?
As the photographers cleared, I approached the podium and began my Live Auction introduction. Approximately one minute into my introduction, the “Raffle Committee” approached the podium and stopped my Live Auction Introduction in order to pull the 8 or 9 Raffle Winners. These drawings lasted about 5 minutes. Upon it’s conclusion I was allowed to resume the start of the Live Auction.
When standing at the podium two intense and extremely bright spotlights were pointed directly at the podium. The lights were so bright that I literally could not see the center 1/3 of the room. I could see the tables on the right, and on the left, but was totally blinded when looking straight ahead. It took perhaps five minutes before the spotlights were turned off.
While at the podium and describing Lot #1, I had to ask someone to start the Lot #1 PowerPoint Slide… because apparently no one was assigned that job.
So with only the Auctioneer’s verbal description, and a PowerPoint slide, it appeared that few people in the room had any idea about what we were selling… or when we were selling it… until it was announced by the Auctioneer. As a result, bidding was extremely light and the final results fell several thousands of dollars short of where they should have been
The learning experience is this:
The Live Auction is where you place your better items, and where the real money should be made at any Fundraising Auction. Let bidders know as far in advance as possible what you will be selling, and the order of sale, so they can get excited about the Auction, and plan their bidding strategy accordingly.
Auction Listings are absolutely vital to the success of both Live & Silent Auctions. In my opinion, revenues at this Auction fell thousands of dollars short of where they should have been, because no Auction Listing was provided to the guests.
If bidders are not perfectly clear on what is being sold, including both the item’s specifics, benefits, and restrictions, they will not bid.
When you have a committee of volunteers, especially volunteers having full time jobs and/or very busy schedules, the services of a professional Fundraising Auctioneer can help to keep the committee on track.
And once you retain the services of a professional Fundraising Auctioneer… use the services that you are paying for.