A small home based business opportunity will share these 4 characteristics: you can work at your own pace, you get complete, step-by-step training, there are resources available if you need help or get stuck, and it is reasonably priced.Characteristic 1: Work At Your Own PaceA true small home based business opportunity allows you to work at your own pace to make money. This is important, as some people have more time to devote than others. Plus, not everyone has the skills to work at the same speed. This way, you are able to work in your spare time or during the hours that you see fit in order to grown your small business.We all know that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will a home based business. The ability to work at your speed is a very important aspect of the right course for you.Characteristic 2: Complete Step-By-Step InstructionsIt is very important that you get complete step-by-step instructions for your home based business. These can come in the form of manuals or ebooks, video or even MP3 or podcasts. The reason for this is self-explanatory: the system or program you buy needs to walk you through each step in the process.You do not want to leave anything to chance! Plus, if this is a legitimate method that is repeatable, it should include all of the instructions that are necessary for you to get up and running quickly.Characteristic 3: Resources Available If You Get StuckEven with step-by-step instructions, it is possible that some steps are trickier than others. When that is the case, you need to be able to email or phone contact someone who can help you! Not all support is created the same. Talking to a help hotline is the best form of support you can get. Next in line to that would email support.The important thing is that you have someone that you can reach out to in order to answer your questions or solve problems for you when you get stuck.Characteristic 4: Reasonably PricedYour small home based business opportunity needs to be reasonably priced. Prices will vary from product to product, depending on the offering, that is OK. Also, what is reasonable for one person may not be reasonable for another.A rule of thumb is this: if you are investing the money and it is going to impact your standard of living until your next paycheck, it is probably not reasonable. Granted, there is nothing wrong if you are giving up a luxury item like going out to eat or getting your nails done. However, you if you are buying fewer groceries in order to make this purchase, it is probably not reasonable for you.Finding the perfect small home based business opportunity takes a little research. Find out more by visiting my website where I introduce you to ways to start an internet business.
Characteristics to Look for In A Small Home Based Business Opportunity
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.
5 Tips on How to Market a Home Based Business Via Trade Shows
If you are looking for a great way to market a home based business, try becoming a vendor at a trade fair. When you attend a trade show you will be given a table where you get the opportunity to display your product or service to potential targeted customers who have specifically come to the trade show looking for products similar to yours. A Trade show is great because it is typically filled with other business people who understand business and could also be interested in becoming your business partner, so if done correctly it’s an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Since trade shows are filled with business owners if you happen to sell a product these customers will most likely be looking to buy on a larger scale potentially increasing your business volume and inevitably your bottom line. Once you finally make the decision to market your business many people, think that they have to attend those HUGE shows and invest tons of money. That’s not necessarily the case. There are many small local events that may be in your area that could potentially be JUST as effective for your home based business if not better. In fact, many of the smaller local events can be more cost effective, and at times more productive. People are often more eager to stop and talk at your booth for longer periods of time. This will allow you to build a better rapport with your potential client.
A great way to find a trade show in your area is to start with a search at your neighborhood Chamber of Commerce. They should have a listing of events in your area. You can then contact the event planners for each event to get specific pricing for the booth spaces.
Another idea when looking to market a home based business in your local area via trade shows is to, do a Google search for “trade shows [city]” or “expos [city]“. When you contact the coordinators for these events, ask if they know of any other upcoming events, since they are in the industry they may be better able to point you to some other exclusive events.
Now that you are ready to market a home based business at a trade show; here are few tips to help you succeed:
1. First impressions are everything; especially when marketing a home based business. Make sure you have a good looking booth. People are naturally attracted to what looks good. Have great attractive colors in your booth, have a large banner or sign so that you are not missed by anyone. Have images and picture stands of different heights to make it look interesting. Not confusing. Have your products displayed neatly on your table so that everything looks well managed and streamlined. Your display will tell a lot about you as a business owner.
2. Be fully stocked. Trade shows are mainly business events people may want to purchase your products right there, make sure that your booth is fully stocked with your products. Even if they are not displayed all at once always be prepared for buyers. You can get an idea of how many products to bring by asking the event coordinator the amount of attendee he/she expects. On that same note, be sure to have plenty of brochures, flyers and business cards. That provides information about your business and products. Even if people don’t purchase they will always take a brochure.
3. Give the attendee some type of incentive to come to your booth, a good way is to give away some sort of free item, for everyone such as a bowl of candy or free goodie bags with a key chain or pen with your business name on it. People will be more inclined to come to your booth for something free that they are almost guaranteed to get. If you give away a goodie bag for example, it will keep people standing at your booth longer because people will always stand in line for free stuff! It helps to keep people for just a little bit longer.
4. Have an inviting and interactive display. If you are allowed to have music, you can have soft inviting music to make people feel relaxed once they get into your booth. Music should be low background music, not load head banging music. Have as many sample products on hand if possible. Do demonstrations, show how it’s used. Make your display and booth interesting. The goal is to have people come in and stay so you have a chance to have a conversation.
5. Have a free raffle giveaway. Raffle off a product or service from your business. Have contact information forms, in order to be eligible for the raffle, they have to fill out their information. This way you can capture information of potential future customers or business partners. Include spots for people to mark if they would like to learn more about your product or the business opportunity as well. Make sure to follow up in a timely manner.
Events are a FANTASTIC way to collect contact information, get information in to people instantly, and converse with people about your business. If the cost is an issue, consider sharing the booth with another member of your team or another noncompeting business. Just remember, you’ll need to share the leads as well.