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.

How to Know If You Have What it Takes to Be a Home Based Business Owner Answer These 7 Questions

Do you have a home based business or want to start a home based business? Who wouldn’t want to have large amounts of cash pouring in to their bank account from their home office? Who wouldn’t want thousand of loyal customers, to sell products and services to, from the convenience of their home? Who wouldn’t want more time with their family?

This is the joy of having and operating a home based business. There are literally thousands and thousands of people who make money at home and have the quality of life you are looking for. What does it take to be successful at your home based business? Are you the type of person who is ready for a home based business venture? If you are working a job right now and want to transition into having a home based business or if you want to improve your current home base business what does it take?

Answer these 7 questions and grade yourself on how you are doing right now. These questions are about how you can improve your business output. Grade yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being the highest) Be as honest as you can it will help you become more successful with your home based business aspirations. Get your paper and pen and let’s begin.

Do you have a big vision?
I have a big vision that drives and keeps me excited about my home based business. I am very excited all the time about my vision and my business. I have written my big vision on paper where I can see it. I know why I work my home based business and I know who it will benefit when I am as successful and produce my vision. Grade yourself 1 to 10

Do you have a big business community network that you work with?
I understand that my network = my net worth. I have a lot of business colleagues that I work with on a daily basis. We utilize and share information so that we can, find untapped markets, open new territories, bring in new customers over night and generate website traffic and share profits. We do not need the help of a bank loan or line of credit to run our home based business. We utilize joint venture strategies to help us all succeed as entrepreneurs. I don’t feel as if I work alone, I am part of a community of entrepreneurs who work together. Grade yourself 1 to 10

Do you have strong self-command?
I do not let any news or challenges stop me from my home based business goals. No one has command over my feelings but me. I tell myself uplifting inspiring thoughts about my ability to run a business from my home everyday. I focus only on the out come I want for me and my family. I spend part of everyday visualizing my big vision and my end results. I follow through on what I say I am going to do that day. Grade yourself 1-10

Do you have a place you can go to get new customers or clients?
When I need new clients I utilize my business community network and am introduced to someone who has a big data base, full of thousands of customer, who is looking for a new product to market to that data base. We create a joint venture and I provide that new product. I receive new clients as well as splitting the profits between myself and my business colleague. I joint venture twice a month so that I build my home base business quickly. Grade yourself 1 to 10

Are you a possibility thinker?
I do not spend time worrying, complaining or fearing about what to do with my home base business. I take action. I am a solution seeker. When I run up against an unknown problem I will explore options and implement those tools and solutions that will catalyze my home base business dreams. I do not indulge in limited negative thinking. I do not let other use lack, limited or negative thinking around me either. I am open to all possibilities and solutions. Grade yourself 1 to 10

Are you organized with your day?
I make a list of what I need to get done for the next day, the night before. I work a schedule just as I would if I were an employee, whether I work full time or part time at my home based business. I make my hourly schedule of when I will work and I stick to it. I know where all my files, papers and tools I will need are. I work effectively during the hours I set aside to work my home based business. I work at the things that will generate cash for me and my family.

Do you utilize marketing strategies that are low cost and effective?
I run my home based business lean and mean. I do not use my resources to buy unnecessary marketing or advertising products when I can joint venture instead. I keep my costs down and my profits high. I know how to get supper affiliates to sell my product at no cost. I know how to optimize the referral market. I do not pay for leads or buy lists hoping to find clients. Grade yourself 1 to 10

The lowest score is a 7 the highest is a 70. You can see by the score and number where you need to improve your home based business skill sets. If you are starting your home based business or scored in the 7 to 55 range you may want to improve your business by learning about what a joint venture is and how you can explode your home based business sales using that tool.

Here is my last challenge to you. Give this test to your spouse and ask them to grade you without any reprisal from you. Then together you are on the same page and can explode your home base business dreams together. Sometimes just finding better solutions can help your home based business thrive.

The Art of Advertising For an Internet Broadcast Station

Running an Internet broadcast station requires a financial commitment regardless of its size. There are monthly expenditures for station operation that include : Internet access, media server bandwidth, studio equipment, computer hardware, and facilities costs.

The amount of money required to run an Internet broadcast station is dependent on the size of the broadcast operation. Some of these finances can be generated from audience donations, or program subscriptions, however this approach normally does not cover all incurred expenses.

Internet based advertising content can provide a reliable source for operating income. Broadcasters can place advertising on the station website, or within the broadcast itself. (This advertising content can be in audio or video format.)

Internet based advertising has matured into a very profitable and respectable business sector. The advertising content can be broad or narrow based. Broad based advertising is well suited for high traffic, large audience broadcast stations. Niche advertising markets have also proven to be very profitable. Niche advertising combined with niche media content has been been able to out perform broad based, high traffic advertising in some instances.

There are several things to consider prior to committing a broadcast station to a particular method of advertising.

These include :

Which media format the station will be offering – audio or video content?
(Advertising can be tailored to fit specific media formats.)

What is the target audience of the Internet broadcast station?
(These demographics are based on the media content that the station broadcasts in addition to analyzing the stations web site traffic.)

Which method of advertising is best suited for the Internet broadcast station’s financial goals?
(Will this be the primary or secondary source of income for station operation?)

Broadcasters should thoroughly research and test various advertising methods before finalizing their choice for a advertising format. A time frame of sixty to ninety days should be allowed for testing different advertising formats. It is very important to document these results, as this will allow the broadcast station to choose the best suited advertising format.

A well planned and executed advertising program can provide both valuable experience and operating income to an Internet broadcast station.

Advertising content for the actual Internet broadcast

Auction advertising
Advertising can be sold through direct Internet auctions. There are several online businesses that offer online auctions.

These include ebay.com and yahoo.com

Internet audio advertising broker
There are several advertising agencies that negotiate and sell audio advertising on affiliate Internet radio stations.

These include netradiosales.com and internetradiomarketing.com.

Internet video advertising broker
There are several advertising agencies that negotiate and sell video advertising on affiliate Internet video stations.

These include brightroll.com, vitalstream.com, instream.com and dynadco.com.

Advertising content for the station website

Video clip
(Currently Beta Testing)
Monetary compensation is based on people watching web based video clips that contain advertising.

Click to call or text
(Currently Beta Testing)
Monetary compensation is based on people contacting various business partners using Google talk or Skype. The click to call or text message links are placed on web pages.

Contextual Advertising
Banner, image, text or video advertising that is placed on websites. The website content determines which advertising is presented.

These businesses provide webmaster with contextual advertising solutions:

AdSense advertising program
Yahoo advertising program
MSN advertising program

Banner Advertising Programs

Pay Per Click (PPC)
Monetary compensation is based on people clicking banner advertisements.
Banner agencies negotiate the payment per click rate with advertisers.
(Large variety of advertising sources to choose from.)

Cost Per Thousand (CPM)
(This method of banner advertising is best suited for high volume traffic websites.)
Monetary compensation is based on sales of advertising units per web page.
Banner advertising is sold in units of 1000 impressions.

Affiliate program
Monetary compensation is generated by providing referral sales.
(Most web hosting companies provide some form of sales program incentive.)

Website co-branding
Monetary compensation is generated by placing branded graphics or text on websites.