• #182
    Feb 7, 2012

    Putting a Price on Your Friends List

    Dinner Party with Price Tags (combination of iStockPhoto purchases)
    Social Media Monetization

    If I had a dollar for every time I saw or heard the words social media, my wife and I could go on an international vacation—and I don’t mean Canada. I’m sure the same holds true for you. Websites like Facebook and Twitter and YouTube are touted as marketing gold mines, the future of advertising, the magic answer for harvesting clients out of thin air.

  • #181
    Jan 22, 2012

    Winning The Close Ones

    Improving Proposal Presentation

    Having helped auctioneers with proposals for over a decade, I’ve found that many auction proposals follow similar outlines and use similar selling points. So, how do you separate your plan from the competition’s one?

    The way you present it.

    Our culture is becoming more and more visually stimulated and educated; and your marketing materials need to reflect that—especially your proposals.

  • #180
    Jan 5, 2012

    What Would Your Brand Do?

    Image used by permission by purchase from iStockPhoto.com
    Your Brand as a Filter

    or years, I’ve rolled my eyes at mission statements and the like, especially the ones that get posted on store walls or printed in company brochures. I don’t really care what a company’s mission statement is. If your customer service and marketing already exemplify it, I already know your vision and values. If they don’t, why give me a yardstick to to measure your shortcomings?

  • #178
    Dec 16, 2011

    An Auction Bidder’s Wish List

    Christmas Wish List
    Giving Your Audience What It Wants

    Does this mean advertising should be reduced exclusively to a list of bulleted descriptions? No—even if in many media, that’d be the most efficient strategy. Write your sales copy as long as space and budget will allow. Emphasis, though, belongs to the facts. Headlines should tell people if what they want might be described in the next section. Top billing should go to the unarguable.

    Make it easy for potential buyers to compare your sale item(s) to their wish list. That ease of comparison reflects on your brand, whether they bid or purchase from you or not.

  • #177
    Dec 1, 2011

    5 Reasons You Should Be Using Google Alerts

    Written for OPEN Forum by American Express

    One of the most overlooked tools in the search giant’s toolbox is Google Alerts. In the hands of a savvy entrepreneur, marketer or blogger, this superpower can be a force for good.

    The linked article is the exclusive content of OPEN Forum by American Express.

  • #176
    Nov 17, 2011

    10 Tips for Better Marketing Emails—Part 2: Dont’s

    Email as Part of Marketing Mix
    What Not to Do with Your Marketing Email

    Email should be an important component in every marketing campaign you create. Because the medium is free or very inexpensive, the temptation is not to place as much effort into it as with more tangible and public media. Beware of that pitfall. Surpass your competition’s emails by doing the small things right.

  • #174
    Nov 4, 2011

    10 Tips for Better Marketing Emails—Part 1: Do’s

    Spam Folder, used by permission through purchase from iStockPhoto.com
    Email Marketing Tips

    If these suggestions seem like common sense, know that I’m still not seeing them used as common practice by many small business owners—auctioneers in particular. For all you do to sell your professional brand in the marketplace, don’t sabotage that work and expense with cheap and lazy email marketing.

  • #173
    Oct 20, 2011

    6 Weird Intruders in Your Mail Box

    What Not to Do with Direct Mail

    Your media needs to make a good first impression, hold that attention, and then leverage its impact to evoke a specific response. The first step and the transition to the second step are typically where I see auctioneers stumble. They assume that the recipient is as interested in what they’re selling as they are and that the recipient will interact with an advertisement as though they already know the content will interest them.

  • #172
    Sep 15, 2011

    The Ebay Rule for Advertising Estates

    Advertising to Buyers

    If your audience would investigate a collection because of who owned it, by all means use the seller’s popularity to their advantage. But if the seller isn’t the selling point, stick to the facts important to the buyers in your advertising headlines.

  • #171
    Sep 1, 2011

    6 Marketing Myths Entrepreneurs Believe

    Lynchburg Billboard
    Lessons From Bad Billboards

    In short, avoid myopia at all costs. Get outside of yourself, your business, your ego. Don’t get bored with your branding; instead, realize that well-policed marketing will accelerate your brand over the long haul—long after most YouTube sensations have come and gone.

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