Newbies to the online home based business industry always want to know how to know the quickest way to make money. My response is always on how valuable you can appear to the world. In the realm of free enterprise you only get paid on your value not the time you put in.In an effort to shorten the learning curves of all the newbies and even those that have been around for a while this is for you. If you ever want to learn how to become an instant authority and expert in the eyes of your prospect read on. The best thing is is that you don’t even have to create a product.Do Product ReviewsPeople love to read or hear a review about a particular product before they buy. Prime example is when you look to download an app on the iPhone you can check out the ratings and reviews of that particular app. Opinions matter in this day and age. You job is simple. Find a book, product, training, or person that impacted your life. Shoot a quick 2-3 minute video on how it challenged your old way of thinking and increased the quality of your life. Whatever the product or person is that you are doing a review on make sure you put that name as the keyword in the video title. By doing this your name becomes associated with the product hence making you an expert in the eyes of your prospect.Video Domination On SteroidsThis simple formula will hands down position you as an expert in your top home based business. Whatever company you are in you want to come up with 10 of the most FAQ. Do a video on each question. In the opening statement declare that you are the author of whatever eBook or video series. This makes you extremely credible. Whatever the question is make sure you put that as the title of the video. Also make sure the keyword is in there. Videos should be no more than 3 minutes long.Then do another 10 videos on the top 10 questions people should be asking about your top home based business but don’t know to ask. Follow the same guidelines above. By the way at the end of each video state where they can get more of these questions answered at. Of course you’ll be sending them to your capture page.Now when they get to your capture page, state what you will tell them, tell them, then repeat what you already told them. Explain you are giving away 20 free videos that will answer their questions on whatever the keyword is. Then on the next page which is the thank you page, tell them to find out more about how you provide an answer to all those questions click here. At this stage you are giving them an offer. Have a link that goes directly to your top home based business landing page.The last step is to use a resource called Traffic Geyser to blast this out to the net. Inside of Traffic Geyser their is an option to transcribe your videos. If you choose that option you instantly can create an e-book out of your videos series as mentioned above.The whole psychology behind the product reviews and video domination formula is that people will view you as someone that is credible and willing to help. You have pretty much cut out all the leg work for them and answered all their questions. You are a leader in their eyes and they are more likely to sign up with you in your top home based business.To get a clearer picture of how all this works and to see the top home based business [http://strategicinternetmarketingpro.com] that I recommend go here.
Building a Home Based Business With Integrity
Integrity should be the axial of any business without it many businesses are destined for failure. In the global business marketplace where many of us work from it is hard to control or determine whether everyone doing business online is onboard with integrity.Where does integrity starts? the foundation for integrity has to start with individual values set before entering into business. Our values provides the foundational strength upon which our business is built. Make no mistake poor values will relate to poor business ethics and you will never be able to build strong relationship that will develop into huge returns on your investment.Home Based Business although it may not be look upon as a big investment or placed in the same category as the conventional business, as it relates to start-up cost, however, it is a business that requires capital injection and should be upheld to the same kind or integrity afforded to the conventional business.True integrity is based on trust. It is important to provide excellent service to our customers without any questionable behaviour. Customers should know that they are regarded as the most valuable asset to the success of our business. Home based business owners and entrepreneurs will in most cases never meet face to face with their customers, that’s why it is so important for us to gain their trust through integrity in everything we do. Never offer a service that you cannot deliver. Never take people for granted in misleading them to believed that your product or services are better than someone else. That’s not to say that your product or services is not the best, but let it be the best and not a scam. To scam a customer out of their hard earn dollars is not good business ethics or integrity. Ethics as we know it is deals with right or wrong.Principals that should be exercise by all home based business entrepreneurs working in an online environment are truth, accountability, fairness and upholding the laws. These principals are critical to maintain customers trust and the industry integrity.Let us remember that public trust is critical to the success of our business. Our motto for success should be trust, honesty, integrity and accountability.
Are Home Based Businesses For Real?
When it comes to home based business the first thing that strikes one’s mind is: are home based businesses for real? When you have been staying at home and not having to do too much then some home based business is the best source for some solid earnings. This is what spikes a spark in a person to achieve greatness but most of us would be still thinking and questioning whether home based businesses are real or not.Check out the requirements for a business of own:ConfidenceYou might think about the right elements and the right directions towards any business that is home-based. The first of them is self confidence. You should be looking to have a good thought about it and you will come to have the confidence that no job can assure you the security as much as a home based business of your own can. Everybody wants a better option in order to secure his future and his family. And a home based entrepreneurship inside you can really be the answer for this concern.BackgroundThe next most important thing for a person willing to do his own business would be of the background. There should be a good solid background on which he or she would like to build a home based business.AnalysisBefore you start, you should have good thought analysis and should know that the thought is really worth a shot. There can be many ideas coming up in your mind but you got to analyze them well and for that you need to note them down. This must suppress your negative thoughts and boost you up for next steps.BudgetingAfter you have made good analysis you got to see on the budgeting side. And if your budget is good enough and suitable to your requirements then you can proceed to have a good business. In the end I would like to mention that even the impossible says “I’m possible”. So, there may be problems on the way but making good efforts, working hard would make you reach the pinnacle of success.Having cleared these will put an end to your thought of are home-based businesses for real or not.
Reasons To Start A Home Based Business?
The most obvious is for the type of income it can generate. It is so powerful that many people are using the internet to build their business.Another reason would be to free yourself from the anxiety and daily stress of a JOB! Not to have to get up everyday and punch the time clock, put in your time, go home and do it all over again. There are a lot of opportunities for anyone interested in building a home based business without having to work from scratch.What should you look for in the company?1. Unique Products with a high demand, there are a lot of idea’s out there.2. A Good Compensation Plan, residual income which really means lifetime commissions to you.3. A Marketing Plan the education and training platform.4. Company Stability, the credentials of the company, another words their reputation.5. Global Expansion, look for a company that is doing business around the world.6. Support, Will you have a mentor who is determined in helping you succeed? This is HUGE, they are people who have spent a lot of time and money already learning the business. They will literally spoon feed you the tools for your success.How can you start working in a home based business?There a many ways to get started, doing a search on the internet is a good place to start. By joining forums and finding out what other people are doing, join in and ask some questions. If you do your homework, you will start finding all kinds of opportunities out there for yourself.To get started with a Home Based Business, all you need to do is find a Company that you have researched and sign up. The key here is to simply get started then never quit.You are probably going to come across people who are skeptical of your ideas. However, if you want to start a Home Based Business, you’re going to have to start thinking like an entrepreneur and get educated. Don’t let them sap your confidence and enthusiasm, pay no attention to those who try to deter you from your goals. Keep moving forward, following all the steps that the company has in place for you. There are a lot of scams out there as well so be careful and do your homework. You can always go to the better business bureau and do a search on the company. They will give a rating and a review.So can the average person do the this?The answer is average people ARE already working with home based businesses. Are you one of them? If not, now is an excellent time to get started. Another important key element is your commitment to the training. Plug in and follow through. Therefore, if you wish to have more income while still working a 9 to 5 job, or to build your retirement income, then you should seriously consider working a Home Based Business. Running a Home Based Business may possibly be one of the most exciting and life changing ventures that you will ever pursue. As long as you follow the above guidelines.In conclusion, A Home Based Business is a smart way to begin for anyone wishing to start working at home. Start by investing in YOURSELF!
Powerful Mobile Apps for Small Business
Are mobile apps really necessary for the success of your small business? Is being “mobile app ready” worth the effort and time that you will be spending to complete the process? What benefits can you exactly earn from using mobile apps for small business? These are just a few of the many questions that you will definitely think of, once introduced to the idea of using small business applications.What Makes Mobile Apps Better for Your Business?Look around and you will see every person having his or her own tablet or smartphone. More and more individuals are switching to using such devices instead of using traditional PCs, laptops or desktops. Smartphones these days have the capability to do most of the things that the personal computer does. Smartphones allow you to search online and browse websites. They enable you to track your sales, receive emails from customers and even send promotional offers without turning on your PC. And since Smartphone’s are lightweight and very handy, they can do the said processes anytime and anywhere.Using Apps for Small Business
Enables you to connect to your customers 24/7
Helps you monitor your business even when away from home or office
Makes it convenient to take your business, with you, even when you’re out of town or traveling abroad
Facilitates customers to make purchases using just their smartphones – they can buy your product or service on the go, as against having to find your store or a computer, to place their order
Helps keep up with changing needs of the market
The good news is that creating apps for small business may not require you to hire an expert or pay a skilled developer. You can build the app on your own. You can begin the process by accessing a software platform that can help you build your own small business mobile app. If you really want your business to grow, it is worth investing enough time and effort in developing the right application for your business.Outside of your own business app, here are a few other apps that you might find useful to help you with your small business.Google DriveIt can sync and edit files from multiple devices such as smartphone’s, tablets, laptop and others. It has a free storage space that is equivalent to 5GB. Google Drive is accessible anytime, regardless of your location.ExpensifyThis app is extremely useful when it comes to managing the company’s finances. It allows users to scan and save receipts, forward reports for approval and import expenses, apart from offering functions such GPS mileage tracking, receipt sync and auto expense sync.LocalVoxLocalVox can help you market your brand effectively. It is one of those apps for small business that is very useful when it comes to marketing and other pertinent aspects.If you are interested in building your own mobile app that can power up your business, do take a look at small business mobile app platforms. The right choice can get you going on multiple platforms ranging from mobile web, to Android, iOS (iPad, iPhone) etc. as well as from start to finish in a matter of few hours with push-button ease requiring you to do no-programming, and further help you with the ability to manage your apps real-time, at any time.
Home Based Business Residual Income – The Joy Of Success In Home Based Business Opportunity Program
It seems that millions of people have dabbled into various home based business programs and spent money and time for a couple of years working themselves to death to succeed but have failed miserably and are frustrated and may have given up on their dreams of creating true wealth and financial security from a home based business.
Are you one of these people?
If yes, read on to discover an eye-opening “SECRET” which may rock your world and finally give you the little known “SECRET GOLDEN KEY” to unlock vast internet wealth and make all your dreams to come true.
Most people got fade up from doing 9-5 jobs and all the stress and hassles involved and decided to try their luck in doing home based business opportunity programs which they operate from home to generate auto-pilot cash flow.
However, most of these people are ordinary folks who have no computer programming or business marketing or webmaster or web designing or website promotion skills.
Therefore to get their home based business programs off the ground, they had to spend a lot of time and money to seek and find website designers, web hosting companies, website marketing information and had to read hundreds of e-zines, e-books as well as attend $5000 hot seminars conducted by snake oil internet marketing wannabe gurus.
Yes, there are millions of people who are making large amounts of money doing home based business programs and even affiliate programs.
Ironically, they include these so-called internet-marketing gurus.
However, the problem is these so called internet marketing gurus are slick because they do not tell you the whole truth about the “secret” to get rich doing home based business program, because they don’t want you to know the WHOLE “SECRET” and become their competitors!
They do not tell you the WHOLE TRUTH about how to generate website traffics.
If you cannot generate massive website traffics, you will not get website visitors or sales and you will fail.
There are very powerful little known secrets on how to generate massive website traffics for any home based business program.
However, the so-called gurus and webmasters do not share all the secrets.
They sell only half-truths to you for $39.99.
Half-truths are very dangerous because they complicate matters and waste your valuable time and resources.
The so-called internet-marketing gurus have told some home business owners to buy traffics from traffic companies, to do banner advertising, to do opt-in e-mail marketing or joint ventures.
Most of these internet-marketing strategies have been dead and invalid for a few years now. They do not work anymore.
There are millions of fake traffic companies selling 1000 traffics for $10, 50,000 traffics for $50 and 1,000,000 traffics for $500.
So, you spent your hard-earned money to buy their website traffics services.
They told you it would take about a month for them to deliver all the website traffics and that a report and proof will be sent to you after the website traffics were sent to your website.
So you waited for a month, but at the end, you did not get even one sale, even though the traffic company claimed they had sent 1,000,000 website traffics to your website and also gave you a proof for it.
What you did not realize was that, yes, they sent 1,000,000 hits to your website, but they were computer generated (using a script).
They are not real human beings!
That was the reason why you did not generate even one sale.
You had been conned and ripped off!
So, you felt angry, scammed and frustrated.
Therefore, you decided to try to get website traffics from the search engines.
So, you squandered $5000 to attend seminars by the so-called internet- marketing gurus and spent a lot of time reading all their hare-brained silly e-books and listening to their audio tapes and watching their videos.
From all these you probably learned how to optimize your website, do link exchange and submit your website to search engines.
But what happened after you did all these as they instructed you to do?
To your horror, you discovered that the major search engines would not even index your website for at least 6 months!
That is what is called being sandboxed.
They placed your website on probation for at least 6 months.
So, there was no way for you to get any website traffics for at lest 6 months.
Your website had not been included in the databases of the major search engines.
So, since there was nothing you could do about that, you decided to wait.
You waited and waited for 6 months.
Then luckily, finally in about 8 months they indexed it.
Therefore, you started expecting website traffics and hits from the search engines so you could finally start making sales and earning income.
But what happened when you checked your keywords positions in the major search engines?
You became shocked to discover that the largest corporations dominated all your keywords and your website could not be found in the top 100 websites in the search results!
Holy mackerel, you moaned.
No wonder you were not getting any website traffics, hits or making any sales!
Ouch. That hurts.
It was then about 1 yr since you started making efforts to earn income from a home based business program.
At that point, you were angry, frustrated and disappointed.
Who would blame you?
Nobody enjoys failure.
So you decided to fight on by hiring a website search engine optimization company (SEO or SEM) to do all the work for you so you could get to the top 10 positions in your keywords and begin to generate traffics and sales.
You plunked down $2,500 for the SEO company to work their SEO “magic” for you, in addition to agreeing to pay another $100-$250 monthly for them to maintain your keyword positions.
They told you that you should not expect any result for at least 3 months-6 months and you had to agree because you had no choice.
If the SEO company you hired was a genuine one and they did their work right, yes, in 3-6 months, you would finally start getting website traffics and sales.
Yahoo! You exclaimed out of excitement.
At last, you finally made it.
You felt happy and wanted to scream and tell the whole world.
Sales were coming in.
You were then able to start paying some of your bills, especially your rent or mortgage, insurance, medical and car loan as well as other payments.
But after 3 months when the major search engines updated their databases, your keyword positions disappeared and suddenly your website traffics as well as your sales screeched to zero!
You were back to where you began a year ago! Zero!
No traffic and no sales, in addition to having spent $2,500 and additional maintenance fee of $100-$200 monthly for about 3 months.
When you phoned the SEO company, they told you that it was not their fault and they would keep charging you $100-$200 monthly as you agreed and that you must have patience because after the next search engine update, your website keyword positions could go back up to the top 10 positions again.
You do not have to go through this. Enough is enough.
This is not how those who are getting rich online are making it.
There is a better way to get rich online without selling your soul to the devil and having a heart attack.
And what is great about it is that there is no website required, no product/services to promote, no search engine optimization needed because there is nothing to sell.
So, you do not need any website traffics or to squander your hard earned money paying website search engine optimization companies $2,500 plus $100-$200 monthly.
This little known but extremely potent and powerful millionaire’s secret of creating, preserving and propagating wealth is 100% legal, easy and fun to do.
All you will be required to do will be to open a special “INTERNET FINANCIAL ACCOUNT”, click your mouse and enter a “SPECIAL CODE NUMBER”, then click your mouse a second time and you make money.
The amount of money you make may vary from $100 every hr to $2,500 daily and even $100,000 monthly.
And you can make fast cash all day, 7 days and 365 days from the comfort of your home or office and from any country in the world.
There is no limitation on how much money that you can make.
It is the fastest and greatest “SECRET” to creating infinite wealth on the internet without doing any work.
Read my lips: no work. Nada. Zip.
This is hot stuff and that may be the reason why you might not have heard about it because the millionaires and the “power elites” who have been using it to create vast wealth without doing any work have hushed it up and jealously hidden it and kept it away from the public.
Can you blame them?
If you wake up tomorrow and discover that there is a goldmine or treasure in the ground under your home, will you place a full-page ad in New York Times newspaper to tell the whole world?
With the millions of dollars which you could potentially make from this $100,000 monthly for life, millionaire’s “SECRET”, you’ll be free like a bird to buy a mansion, with the most lavish and expensive furnishings, jewelry, antiques, electronics, a 50ft yacht, dream luxury cars, pick your choice: Lexus X470, $44,000 Jaguar 2007 S type, Silver Porsche Carrera, $180,000 Ferrari Testarossa, Mercedes 2007 Model S Class, 2007 Rolls Royce Silver Seraph, Bentley Mulsanne S, $220,000 Bentley Arnage Silver Tempest or a flaming red Lamborghini Jalpa!
You can make all your dreams in life to come true, without any hard work!
May these insights into home based business opportunity, online income opportunity, internet wealth secret, internet millionaire secret, shortcut to online wealth, home business internet money making, earn income online, residual auto-pilot cash flow program, website traffics, website sales, affiliate program, website marketing, website search engine optimization, SEO, SEM major search engines, website internet-marketing gurus, help you make millions of dollars and to achieve your life’s ambitions and dreams.
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Applying For a Small Business Loan
When you have ideas, plans, and desires in place, the anticipation of moving forward in operation a small business is extremely exciting. Only one thing can hold you back – money. Working with a lender and applying for a small business loan can be easy or difficult, depending on how much preparation you’ve put into the process.
The lender will ask for a variety of items when applying for a small business loan
1. Business Plan.
If you don’t already have one, write one. Virtually no lender will consider you for a small business loan without the organization, detail, and direction you have for your business, and all of this is stated in a business plan. For information on how to write a business plan, visit sample-business-plan.org/sample-business-plan-directory.html – Don’t be afraid to hire a professional writer to write or proofread the plan for you if you’re not confident in doing it yourself.
2. Loan Proposal.
Nearly all lenders require a loan proposal if you are applying for a small business loan. After you’ve written a detailed business plan, your loan proposal can be written. The information in a loan proposal includes details on who you are, including your experience and business desires; how much money you need and what it will be used to purchase or fund; how you intend to pay back the loan; and what your plans are if you cannot pay the loan back in full.
3. Completed Lender’s Application.
Most lenders will also require that you complete a business loan application when applying for a small business loan. Your application should be very organized and presented in a professional manner. Don’t omit any details, and be completely honest about your credit history, even if you don’t have an excellent credit rating, when applying for a small business loan. Some lenders base their loans on the character of the person applying for a small business loan, and if you’re “borderline” for qualifying for the loan, your honest application can prove to the lender that you are indeed trustworthy for receiving a small business loan.
4. Financial Statements.
If your business is already in existence, visit the lender for your interview with two years of tax records, as well as two years of business and personal bank statements when applying for a small business loan. Not all of that information may be required immediately when applying for a small business loan, but it’s better to be prepared with the information on hand, rather than have to tell them that you’ll have to bring that in at a later date. Your tax records will show the profitability of the business, as well as detail its expenditures. Your bank statements will prove that money is coming in, and that the business is already established. If your business is yet to be launched, you still need to go to the meeting prepared with both two years of tax forms and two years of personal bank statements when applying for a small business loan. This will show the lender that you are a responsible, reliable individual, that you pay your bills, and that you file your taxes in an honest, timely, and fair manner.
5. Resume
While not required for a meeting with a lender, it’s probably a good idea for you to have a current resume with you for the interview with the lender when applying for a small business loan. As mentioned, there will be some judgment of your character made at your loan interview. If this should come into play during the interview, you can easily present your resume to show your work experience when applying for a small business loan. This is especially important if you’ve worked in the field in which your business will be based. It’s also important in the instance that you have experience in a business-related area, such as management, marketing, or accounting, to show that you are capable of succeeding in business due to your experience in working with other businesses.
The bottom line is to be prepared when applying for a small business loan:
- Visit the lender with all files neatly presented and very organized.
- Present information as requested during the application process and interview when applying for a small business loan.
- Dress for success. Don’t show up at your meeting in jeans and a sweatshirt when applying for a small business loan.
- Don’t worry if you’ve forgotten anything, and don’t get flustered. Offer to drop off or fax the requested information as soon as you leave the meeting. Offer to provide any additional information that could possibly play a role in your loan’s approval.
If your business loan is not approved, don’t become frustrated. Many small businesses are declined on small business loans. Look into alternative loan sources, and don’t give up.
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.