In case you’re wondering why I’m thanking you, especially if you haven’t watched the show yet, it’s a Thank You for being here. For taking the time out of your already busy day to be with us.
Also if you haven’t watched today’s show (you should really do that – I mean we worked so hard on it), it’s our last show. Today is our last chance to say thank you, to let you know that we love you and we appreciate you more than you could possibly know.
There are far too many people to thank here – except for my wife, Andrea.
She gets the biggest thank you of them all!
We’ve had an absolute blast, and we hope you did too. We hope you learned a little something along the way and that we helped accelerate your business in some small way.
If you want to stay in contact with us feel free to do so, we’d love that. There is no question we’ll always be trying to crush it with our business, and would love to stay connected with those that do the same.
Spring time has arrived and along with Spring-cleaning comes the ramping up to our busiest time of the year. Luckily, those two items can go hand in hand for would be home sellers and buyers looking to move. Really, who wants to move all that old junk to a new place anyway? You need to throw the best garage sale you can. Here’s how to do it.
In an effort to help you continue your dominance in 2012, here is your definitive guide to throwing the best garage sale ever. Thanks to the folks over at Lifehacker and our own methods, this guide will help your clients move more merchandise than anyone else on the block.
Ramp Up Your Marketing
Just like in business, you need to be thinking about your ideal customer. Take an inventory of the merchandise you’ll be selling and what type of clientele you want to attract. Then build your marketing campaign around that.
Putting signs up all over town saying exactly what people can expect to find at your sale is far more effective. On the note of signage, here’s the rundown on what you should be doing:
Everywhere. Place signs anywhere, and everywhere, legal and logical. Weatherproof where it’s appropriate. Good starting points are community centers, local shops and nearby college campuses.
Snacks. You wouldn’t be caught dead at a mixer that didn’t have food and drinks. People flock to free snacks, so throw some sodas and chips or popsicles in a cooler.
Free. Consider having a “Free” box to attract more visitors. Don’t forget to advertise this or the snacks.
Detail. Can we agree putting Today on a sign isn’t enough? You need the full address, time and date. Place signs days in advance to, so the pros have time to prep.
Online. Lastly, consider posting on Craigslist and eBayClassfieds. You wouldn’t even think about selling a house without listing online, the same should be true for your yard junk.
Run a Tight Ship
It’s time to put your Junior Target Store Layout hat on. Don’t just throw everything into boxes and put out on your lawn. You’d never find Men’s Boxer Briefs in the Women’s Lingerie section. Likewise, I don’t want to see clothes thrown into electronics boxes or children’s toys in the art pile.
Consider displaying you choice merchandise in prime locations. Keep that Free Box in the middle if you can, so people have to pass through other items to get to it. Put clothing on hangers. Run an extension cord to the area multimedia/electronic section. This helps people test out before they buy.
You want to create a pleasurable shopping experience. Don’t take this section for granted. If you walked into a store with merchandise strewn about the place, with endless piles of junk and no clear pricing system you’d be out of there in no time. The same is true for your yard sale.
Be Prepared For The Pros
Finally, you need to be ready for the pros and the amateurs alike. There are people who love to haggle – I am not one of them. You need to be ready to counter offers that are thrown at you. If someone says,
How about two books for 50 cents?
You should be ready to fire back 75¢! Sure the books are marked 50¢, and yes you are technically losing money, but if you give a mouse a cookie…
Also, be ready with plenty of change on hand and consider taking credit cards. Using any iPhone or Android you can use a service like Square or Paypal Here, and not have to deal with cash only buyers. There is a small service fee with either option, but it’s better than having to keep that ugly armoire, right?
Action!
You are now equipped to have the best yard sale experience of your life! OK, that might be a bit over the top, but still if you want to move the merch follow these tips.
What did we leave out, is there anything you’d add to the list?
Blogging and using video in real estate is an amazing way to grow your reach and your business. In fact, there are many different ways to do those two things. The key is consistency and learning from your mistakes.
Wouldn’t it be nice to know where the pitfalls are though, before you make those mistakes? Hindsight is 20/20 after all. Here are the top 4 things I wish someone had told me before I started the show, blogging and using video.
Know What You’re Getting Into
Like most things in life, observing before you dive in is much more preferable to going in blindfolded. That’s essentially what I did back in 2009 when I started the show that eventually became The Ticker.
Whether you’re starting a blog, getting into video or any other project, this simple step can save you a lot of trouble, help you understand the logistics of the project and get you motivated to take action.
Find someone already engaging in the task you’re looking to adopt and ask if you can shadow them, or if they can mentor you. An easy way to get in good is to volunteer.
Spend Wisely
Today the barrier for entry is low. Video gear isn’t anywhere near as expensive as it used to be, and blogging is generally considered to be an inexpensive pastime. However, as with anything if you’re not careful the expenses can start to add up quickly.
For any new endeavor, take advice from the mentor, or whomever you shadowed, on ways you can be a savvy shopper. Spending wisely requires being smart about your purchases and staying within a budget.
Remember audio is fifty percent of your videos, so don’t blow your entire budget on a camera. Been there, done that. A great theme for your website and blog might cost a bit more, but it’s more than worth it.
One last thing to note, as you get more experienced upgrade your gear. Whether that means new software, a better graphics guy for your marketing pieces or a new lens on your camera, upgrade as you go.
You Signed a Contract
You might think blogging twice a week is crazy, impossible or that you just can’t find the time? Wait until you get the ball rolling, it’ll blow your mind. You’ll be hooked!
Once the expectation is set by the audience, and yourself, it’s hard to stop. You’ve basically signed a social contract that you’ll be addicted to upholding.
Blogging, video and a million other things are addicting once you really get going. Prepare yourself.
Compete With Yourself, No One Else
Run your own race!
Admittedly, this one is hard for me, even today. It’s far too easy to get caught up in the competitiveness of this business. It’s vital to set goals and develop a plan to accomplish them.
The difficult part is using others around you as motivation, instead of getting caught up in some childish comparison contest.
Challenge yourself, reach your goals. Leave all that foolish comparison stuff to the amateurs.
Action!
So, if you had the chance what would you tell yourself?
What are some things you wish you’d have known before you started selling real estate, blogging, etc.?
Every detail helps tell you a story. It’s a lie you’d tell yourself without all the fanfare, but it’s helpful they’ve included it.
They’re in a bag, instead of a box, because their “old-fashioned”, its green because that’s the color of nature and so on. It helps you sleep at night knowing you’re eating healthier, but you’re not.
You see it every day, people are tricking themselves. We all know the danger of little white lies, but no one talks about the ones you tell yourself. Knowing that you’re willing to lie to yourself isn’t going to give me confidence that you’re going to be honest with me.
You want to be a better marketer, you want to close more deals, start making small promises to yourself. Then keep them.
The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. So, when you stop lying to yourself I’ll start believing you.
Between all our social sites, personal and business websites, our online presence is fragmented. We use different usernames, passwords and pins for a variety of services. But, what if we didn’t have to?
As we struggle to recall a forgotten login or password, engineers over at OneID, a San Jose-based start-up launched a beta version of its next generation digital identity service.
As far as I’m concerned If this then that is a completely new service that was created just for me. Seriously, the second I think I’ve seen everything, that innovation is going to take a power nap for a few weeks – then BAM! I’m introduced to a service that I can’t live without.
In all honesty, the show absolutely cannot do If this then that justice. It’s a web service you have to see (use) to believe.
I was talking to an agent the other day who wanted to get back into shape and lose some weight. It was almost an identical conversation I’d had a few day earlier with a friend. I gave an identical pitch to both of them about lifestyle change, nutrition and fitness. Basic principle, nothing truly groundbreaking.
That’s where the encounters hit a fork, the point of choice. They were interested in what I was talking about, but one response hit me as strange. I realized that I’ve heard this response a million times, a million different ways.
”Oh, I’d love to do [XYZ thing], but it just doesn’t [random excuse].”
Whenever you hear someone say this, or you say this, you need to realize you’re saying two things.
The first is easy enough, you’ve made a choice. Many people think that they’ve actually avoided making a decision in that moment. However, by deferring a new, possibly better, alternative to a current thing, you’ve chosen the old thing. Ultimately, there is absolutely no harm in that. However, now you’ve lost your ability to complain.
The second is that you probably haven’t put forth much effort to do any kind of research. All over the country agents are using new tools, learning new platforms or starting new marketing initiatives.
(And the twist, because there is always a twist, is that first guy, you know the one that took me up on my advice, he said the same thing with his response. He made a choiceand he was yielding that he hadn’t done much research on the topic. The art of turning away from the status quo rests on the point of choice. I struggle daily trying to silence the lizard brain. Bet I’m not alone.)
The answer the ‘Why video, why now?’ is pretty simple, the market demands it. It’s no secret we’re big fans of video around here, and we still get our fair share of objections every day from agents and lenders.
The main objections we hear involve time and a lack of equipment. Leave it to the amazing people over at Coldwell Banker to provide the industry at large with a fantastic resource about video creation.
