Home based business leads are the life blood for every independent business owner.Having a constant stream of leads will give increase profits and create massive leverage. However if your relying on old methods to find them then you might be banging your head on the wall. Learn how a small percentage of savvy business owners are leveraging free marketing techniques, creating an endless stream of leads, while cutting their advertising budget by 100%. All the while increasing overall productivity by 200%.First a look at the traditional methodsIf your building a home base business with traditional method then you are very familiar with:1. write a list
2. contact your friends and family
3. use the 3 foot rule
4. pass out fliers
5. advertise on your car
6. attend networking events
7. buy cold market leadsThese methods work. In fact they are the same methods used to build multi- billion dollar organizations. The purpose of these methods are to create more home based business leads to increase recruiting. However they existed prior to the magic of the internet.Now a smart home base business owner can create laser like focused marketing to reach more people with less effort. I would like to introduce you to article marketing.Article Marketing:
This method is a home base business owners dream! Why because its completely FREE.The concept is very simple. You write a short 500-700 keyword rich article that will draw leads right to your inbox.Think about it for a momentYour leads are on the internet looking for information about your product, service, or opportunity right now. If you can position yourself as a leader in your leads eyes then they will be attracted to you and will want to join or buy what you have to offer.You just have to be smarter than your competitionMost home base business owners are doing it the wrong way when it comes to the internet. They are pitching a product, service, or opportunity before they offer real value.To your leads this looks like spam. Why? Because the majority of your competition is marketing this way. So when a smart marketer decides to lead with value all of a sudden they stand out like a leader in a market of pushy salesmen!I think its so simple yet so many marketers fail at understanding this one basic concept.People join people not companies or compensation plans. People are attracted to people who have value to offer them.But if your a newbie you might be thinking how do you offer value?Here is the secret…If your really plugged into your network marketing company then you are aware of personal development. And NO I’m not talking hokey puff up self help books! I talking about books that teach you philosophy and business principles that the most successful individuals that ever lived experienced.Entertain this for a moment. If someone spent their entire lives learning something. Writing a book about it. Wouldn’t it make sense to read the book to learn what took a lifetime in a weekend. This one tip alone will shave years off your learning curve.Unfortunately with technology people are not reading books anymore. But they are one the Internet searching for the quick fix! This is where your one killer secret to attracting home based business leads come into play.If everyone is on the Internet searching for a better way then wouldn’t it make sense to position yourself as a LEADER online. If you remember anything from this post remember this:In order for you to attract anyone into your business you need to be a leader. People follow people not companies. With the right mentors, the right marketing training system, you can literally position yourself as a person of value.Once this process begins you will attract home based business leads by the dozens sometime thousands a day.Here is my DISCLAIMER:Leaders have vision. The process of attracting leads with article marketing wont happen overnight but if you take the time by putting a few hours a day to learning and developing new skills. You will be miles ahead of the masses. There are many hungry network marketers out there starving for knowledge on the Internet.Teach value and share them through article marketing and it will be effortless to attract home based business leads into your primary opportunity.
Home Based Business Leads: Discover How To Attract Them For FREE
Home-Based-Business: How to Be First and Get Deals With No Competition At Every Garage Sale!
How can you be the first one to every garage sale, every time? How can you get their first, and still get the absolute best prices? How can you just flat wipe out any competition? How can you make a big business out of buying garage sales? Find out right now!I cleaned out my shop last month – it made me think about garage sales. We (my wife and I) have also been business partners for 30 years. We have always been fascinated by business and business marketing, even on the micro start-up level. As I cleaned out my shop, I had the following thoughts a home-based-business based on garage sales.Thought #1: Make an offer they can’t refuse. If you have just one or two thousand dollars in capital to start your home-based-business, you can go to almost any garage sale, survey everything there and make an offer on all of it.This is true today, but it would have been risky home-based-business not that long ago. Simply scan the stuff for the most valuable items. Write down what they are. Walk town the block and get on the internet and check eBay’s Completed Items category to check the actual value – this will show you what actually sold.Garage Sale Home-Based-Business Thought #2: Make the offer for everything. Make your offer is based on the value of the key items, but take everything. You may not want to take everything, but by offering to take everything, you’ll get all the small stuff for free or nearly free because you are taking the problem away for the seller.In other words, do what others won’t and you’ll win. No other buyer is going to mess with the small stuff, so their offers on the good stuff will not have as much value as your offer.You may be saying to yourself as you read this that you don’t want to deal with the little junk – I understand that. However, if you just set up a simple sorting system and donate what you don’t want to resell, you’ll get great deals from the sellers who REALLY don’t want to deal with the small stuff. Dealing with things fast and right is what being in a real home-based-business all about.Garage Sale Home-Based-Business Thought #3: How can you eliminate the competition?How can you always be first to a garage sale without competition? Run Craig’s List ads that say, “I’LL BUY YOUR ENTIRE GARAGE SALE NOW!” Place it in the “wanted” category. In the body of the ad, tell them you’ll pay a price that will make them happy and you’ll take everything to save them the trouble of having a garage sale – you can even offer to sweep the garage out in the bargain. Why? The more you make it a “service” the more seriously your offer will be considered. In fact, it would be good to use the word “service” in everything you do with your new home-based-business.Why? It’s because we are all human. If someone wants to help you, even if they are buying everything you have at a bargain, you’ll be more inclined to think kindly of them and accept their offer. Contrast with the hard and crusty professional buyers you see at garage sales who are simply trying to make low ball offers on only the items they want. You want to be providing a service – the service eliminating all of the hassle for your customer.What are you risking by softening the blow of your offer by offering to sweep the garage? The vast majority will appreciate the offer but won’t have you sweep. Why? It’s because most of them are neat freaks – that’s why they are selling everything at a bargain! They just want to get to the good part, the part they like, cleaning up.This is important: Please understand this – you are advertising to people who are thinking about having a garage sale. You are offering to save them time because they won’t need to have a garage sale at all, because you’ll take all of it. Can you see how you won’t have any competition? You’ll be the only buyer there because you’re there when they are just in the thinking stage – just thinking about having a garage sale!WARNING:Always think in terms of massive action when it comes to business. Advertise on CL and your local throw-away paper like The Penny Saver. Also, make up a flyer and make 5,000 copies for very little money by finding a printer online. Put out 1,000 at a time and see what you get. Be sure to use the same language – you want to buy their entire garage sale of items.Buying at garage sales and reselling on eBay and CL always sounds like a tiny business. STOP thinking small. You could get rich fast doing this home-based-business.What should you do next?
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.