When a small business decides to take their business online there are usually several mistakes that they do. This is partially due to lack of experience and often lack of knowledge. There seems to be a trend that small businesses think of their website as an online business card instead of a marketing tool. That is where the majority of them go wrong. So let’s take a look at some of the most common mistakes done when a small business takes their business online.1. Order of linksSo many times you visit a small business website and they proudly flag the “about us” link as their first link. This is called the pride link because they often think that telling people about the company is the most important thing. The links should be in order of importance. Not in the order of the business owners EGO! If you use a website designer and he does consult you on the order of links, chances are you should be using someone else or at least make sure you educate yourself about online marketing because your website designer sure hasn’t!2. No focusMost small business websites lack focus. When you enter you are not sure where to go next which makes it hard for the user to understand exactly what he is supposed to do. The website should flow and the user should be able to make sense of the site within a few seconds of opening it up.3. No sale / No lead setupMany small businesses do not use their website to increase sales directly or capture leads. It is nothing more than an online brochure or business card. Sometimes the information is more confusing than it is helpful. If you competitors site is easier to navigate and captures either the sale or lead, you just lost a client. A small business websites needs to be even more on top of catching leads than a corporate website because every client lost counts more!4. No analyticsMost small business websites have no clue what people do when they enter their site. No clue what users are really looking at and where they are losing their potential sale or lead. If customers just walked in and out of their place of work eyebrows would be raised and something would be done. Shouldn’t the same thought process apply to the site? You need to know what is going on with your small business website and what users are doing.5. No marketing purposeThis is the biggest “Whammy” of them all. Small business websites tend to fail seeing the potential of using the website as a complete marketing tool. The fundamental reason to take a business online would be to do marketing. The lack of marketing vision explains the mistakes from above. If just this single piece was in place when a small business builds their website, many of the other things would be solved because they would educate themselves about what it means to have a marketing tool!6. No results!This is no surprise considering everything above. If there is no purpose, no focus, no vision and no marketing thought behind the site then there are probably no results from the site either. What is even worse is that most small business websites do not even measure results or understand how to measure results from their site. Once again it is a lack of understanding more than anything!So what can a small business do when they are ready to take their business online and setup their small business website? The most important thing is to educate themselves in a few areas. The most important ones being, what you need to consider before building or having someone build your website. How to use the website as a marketing tool and it would be extremely beneficial to you if you at least had some understanding of what SEO is and how it works. What is the difference between a website designer, website developer and an online marketing company? All of them do different things and have a different understanding of how to use the internet; the question is what purpose is your website supposed to serve? For most it should be a marketing tool, because the internet is the most effective marketing tool available!
Five Tips for Selling at Live Auctions
Ah, the old-fashioned country auction! The idea of a country auction conjures up certain images for people. The image of a fast-talking auctioneer offering up an antique table or chair is a popular example.
People who are buying household goods or collectibles are looking to get their items at the lowest price possible. However, the people who are selling their items at auction are hoping for the highest price!
Unless a person is in the business of buying and selling antiques or other items, not a lot of thought goes into how goods are prepared for sale via the auction process. However, if you are one of the growing number of people using auction venues to sell your collectibles or other inventory, there are a few things to learn first about how to sell at auction before you bring a truckload of stuff over to the next event.
Tip 1: Make sure the things you want to sell are a good “fit” for the auction house you’ll be using.
Never bring a load to an auction house without actually having been to one of the previous auctions. It’s important to get a feel for the type of goods that the house sells. For example, at one very rural country auction it was common for the owners to sell live chickens, pots and pans, car parts, and farm equipment.
After close investigation, this would not be the right venue for selling your daughter’s “Hello Kitty” collection. On the other hand, the spare John Deere parts that you bought at last week’s yard sale might be just the right thing for the buying crowd at this auction.
Tip 2: Be sure you clearly understand the terms and policies of the auction house.
Visit with the auctioneer ahead of time. Call to find out what the best days and times are to visit. One of the worst possible times to drop in for an informational visit with an auctioneer is the day of the auction. Call ahead and ask. While you’re at it, find out what are the best days and times to drop your stuff off.
Once you have a little time with the auctioneer, you’ll be able to find out what type of commission he or she takes from consigners (which is you), and what type of paperwork might be needed. Some auction houses send out Form 1099 tax forms at the end of the year. An auctioneer may need to see your identification and have you fill out a W-9. Be prepared.
Find out what happens to your items if they don’t sell. For example, some auctioneers may have a minimum starting bid. If, for some reason, one of your items does not sell, it may be grouped with another one of your pieces. Know the auctioneer’s strategy beforehand so that you aren’t surprised on pay day.
Tip 3: Make sure the auctioneer knows what you’re selling.
It might be perfectly obvious to you that the signed print you are consigning is a rare and valuable piece of art. However, the auctioneer may not know this particular artist. Make a note of anything particularly special about your items, and leave the note with the piece. Be sure to tell the auctioneer about it as well. He or she might determine that this is something to highlight on the company website or in the newspaper listing.
Tip 4: Present your items neatly.
No one likes to have to dig through a box full of grimy and greasy car parts to see what treasures might be in there. Separate the parts and lay them out on a flat, or use more than one box to de-clutter the lot.
There is no need to buy fancy display boxes. It’s easy enough to go to the local convenience store or supermarket and ask if you can have the emptied boxes or flats that they are discarding.
While it’s good to present clean items, take care not to ruin the value of anything by over cleaning. For example, if you find some old cast iron cookware, clean the obvious dirt and grime, but don’t scrub it to its original finish. For many people, this ruins the value of the item. So, clean and tidy and organized is the key here.
Tip 5: Don’t complain to the auctioneer if your stuff doesn’t sell for as much as you’d like.
The phrase to remember here is, “You win some; you lose some.” That’s just the way it is. There are some days where an auction house is loaded with people who all seem to want what you’re selling. There will be other days where the crowd is sparse, and the bidding is simply not competitive.
Remember that it’s in the auctioneer’s best interest to sell your things for the highest possible hammer price. But sometimes, it’s just not going to be a stellar sale. The auctioneer is only human, and is also disappointed if a sale doesn’t go as well as planned.
If you notice that every time you bring a bunch of goods to sell that you’re not realizing as much as you think you honestly should, try another auction venue and compare apples to apples. That is, bring the same types of items to the new auctioneer and compare the results.
Unless the auctioneer is particularly disagreeable or inconsiderate to you or buyers, there is no reason to confront him or her about a sale. If you find you just don’t care for an auctioneer’s style or methods, find another one. Believe me, there are plenty of them out there!
The primary thing to remember as you learn how to sell at auction is that the business is unpredictable at best. You will have good days, some not-so-good days, some great days. The more you sell, the more experience you will gain, and the more enjoyable the business will be.
3 Ways to Build Your Home Based Business Opportunity
Where are all the good people? I often get asked this question when new people first join me in a home based business opportunity. You see, we have been conditioned to follow the pack and do what everyone else is doing, even if its the wrong strategy. I see many leaders preach about duplication and follow along on how they made their fortune in network marketing. The problem with that strategy, is what worked well for them, may in fact not work well for you.In today’s article, I will outline 3 areas of where you can go to find and locate good quality people. Many people are probably familiar with the first two areas, but not necessarily realize the advantages of organic search results, especially if you are just starting out.1. Warm Market – Is this still a good way to build?We have all heard the stories about making a list of 25 or 50 people that you know, get some training and start calling them to build your home based business opportunity quickly. Hey, I am the first to suggest doing this only if you feel comfortable doing so. That may be a contradiction to the super star network marketers advice, but here me out.Let me repeat, call your warm market (circle of influence) if you are OK doing so. If you are not, then you will need to explore other effective ways to build your home based business. The fact is, you will likely utilize a variety of methods to build your business opportunity anyways. I am just tired of the 1 approach fits all mentality to this business. I am still in the trenches day in and day out. Over the years, I have found that I no longer want to approach too many of my friends. Its a personal choice, but one you should consider as you build a business.2. Social Networking Sites – Are they effective?Several years ago, I reached out and started working the social networking sites. I really knew little about the process and wanted to make sure before I tried building my home based business opportunity by this method, that I understood the rules and how to maximize my time. What I learned over time, you should never try and sell something to someone in social networking sites. It is far better to get to know people, make friends and in time, people will ask you what you do.I have seen too many people try and come in, make up a MySpace, Twitter or Facebook page only to fail. The problem is there approach. Their home page is a like an advertising billboard. Most people ignore them because they have become conditioned seeing them all the time. If you want to stand out, build a nice profile, without all the in your face approach and reach out daily to make friends. In the course of a year, you could have several hundred close contacts and some may even join you in your business.3. Organic Search Results – What is this all about?In the past couple of years, I had a desire to finally start learning about driving traffic to my websites via organic search results. The problem was I didn’t know, what I didn’t know. So after searching around, I found some good people to educate me on the fine art and science of SEO. You see, I believe this is by far the best strategy overall for my situation. But there are some really good reasons for it.During the past 10 years, I have been involved in a few home based business opportunities. I really never made a lot of money, but I certainly learned a tone of skill sets by some great mentors. The problem was after I made a decision to leave, I had to start over. Well, I’m tired of starting over each time and decided that if I went with another company, I would build my home based business much differently this time.I wanted to only build by organic search results. You see, what happens in 2 years down the road if the company I am currently involved in goes bankrupt, they change the compensation plan or I simply decide this is not a good fit for me. Well, what do I do if I build the traditional ways. You got it, I am left to start over yet again.So this time, via search engine optimization (SEO), I have decided that no matter what happens with Company A in the future, by having my websites at the top of the search engines, I will always be able to make money in a home based business. If Company A goes under, all I need to do is look for another company that I like, change the links on my websites and within a short period of time, I am back in business because of traffic coming to my website.Each of us has to decide what methods we should use to build our particular home business. For many people, they enjoy the one on one interactions, doing home parties and building by traditional methods. Hey, that’s OK with me too. Many people are choosing to go online and look for ways to make money. You need to take some time, educate yourself and understand there are pros and cons for each method. No matter which method you choose, understand it will likely take 2 to 4 years before you make any serious money. None of the methods are instant wealth creation methods, but rather long term viable options.Make it a great day,Darrell Lischka