Starting and running a small business can be an exciting opportunity for anyone. But far too many small business owners overlook the importance of advertising as a revenue driver. The fact is that advertising is the engine that drives global business, representing around $500 billion annually. But even though major international companies have been consistently advertising, demonstrating their recognition of its importance, the small and local business market has been slow to catch on.Either these small and local businesses either are not advertising at all, or, when they do, they make considerable mistakes doing so. After all, small business owners are not typically trained in the details of marketing, so they are deprived of the basic understanding of how to create an effective advertising campaign. And to make matters worse, most small businesses don’t con side the importance of learning how to advertises, or how to engage outside help to be successful.So what often happens is that, after a few negative ad campaign experiences, many small and local businesses cease advertising, and struggle to find other ways to promote their business. A phrase commonly heard among this crow goes something like “advertising just doesn’t work for our business.”Worse yet are the small businesses who get mediocre results from their advertising. They may be aware that something is wrong, but are unable to identify what exactly it is that is limiting their effectiveness. There’s a famous saying on the subject that goes something like “I know half of my advertising is wasted, I just don’t know which half.” This notion is particularly important for small and local businesses, because they can’t afford to waste the budget that they have spent on advertising. That’s why it’s crucial for small businesses to recognize the common mistakes they need to avoid, so their ad campaigns can be as successful as possible.Some mistakes include not recognizing who they are advertising to, and, as a result having a weak message that doesn’t resonate with anyone. Another very common problem is lack on constancy in the message of the ad and the destination website where an ad points. Finally, many small businesses neglect to take advantage of capturing leads and following up with them, even though the technology and the systems are so readily accessible.Small, local business advertising is easy to do. You just need to understand some basic rules, and know what mistakes to avoid. To help small business owners who are looking for help, I’ve prepared a report on 7 mistakes local businesses should avoid in their advertising. If you think it would be useful for your business, you can get access to it at http://baeronmarketing.com/7mistakes. Remember that advertising is a vital part of the economic success of most businesses. Don’t overlook the importance of budgeting for and constantly promoting your business to both prospects as well as your current clients.
Easy Methods To Generate Home Based Business Leads
Having home based business leads is mandatory should you be looking to explode your business and looking for ways to be a top earner in your business. On the other hand the problem is that we waste too much money on the home based business leads and also we lose all our money before we even have chance to make profit. I will go over some methods that you might use immediately to explode your home venture in a record time. I will discuss the free and paid methods you might use to produce this leads.The 1st free methods that you can use to create home based venture leads are through article writing. There are actually diverse things that you know right now that other people might benefit from. Write about it. Create something interesting. Create about something very educational. Whenever you do this, you’ll create followers. Some of these followers off course will opt to work with you. You can find free websites where you can post your articles or blog posts. You are on one of them now.Another free procedure that you might use to produce Home based business leads is through video marketing. You tube is the second most visited internet site now. Shoot a video. Let people know who you’re. Let them know about your business. Offer them success tips and also value through this video. Again just like write-up marketing, they’ll follow you. As soon as they become far more comfortable with you, most of them will join you in your home venture.Social media is another way that you could use to generate home based enterprise leads. Social media could take a lot more time. But the idea is still precisely the same thing. Do not post on your friend’s Facebook wall as well as start pitching your home venture. You must create relationship with individuals on Facebook or Twitter. Chat with them. Offer value. Be positive on there. Make positive comment to their statuses and profile. Whenever you do these, you’ll create followers.The quicker way to create home based venture leads is through paid traffic. Basically you pay money for web site like Google, Yahoo, Bing, Facebook, Twitter plus even You tube to strategically place your ad. As you could guess, in terms of traffic, Google is your best bet. Realize that you could easily lose money with this paid ways of producing home based venture leads. That is why you need proper training for these.There is where an attraction marketing system comes into place. You can get thousands of benefits of having an attraction marketing system. One of it is the trainings that you are going to get. If you are not properly trained, you’ll easily lose thousands of dollars on paid home based venture leads generation.
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.