We all hear about the alarming statistics stating spectacular rates of failure for small business in Australia. The numbers are enough to scare off most budding entrepreneurs. Surprisingly, we hear little about the key success factors. Those things, which done well, could help your small business flourish.I talked to Margie Sheedy, author of The Small Business Success Guide, to discuss the keys to the successful operation of a small business. Her insight, as both an entrepreneur, and a small business journalist with more than 20 years experience under her belt, will prove valuable for all small business, regardless of the industry.KP: What do you believe are the keys to owning and operating a small business?Margie Sheedy:Owing a small business is a spectacularly individual adventure. You’ll have different levels of entrepreneurial experience from the small business owner next to you. What is universal is that you’re expected to know a lot about everything in business, from marketing and managing staff to cashflow and customers, often straight away.So one of the major keys to being a successful small business owner is opening yourself up to finding trustworthy, practical ideas, and then putting them into a plan. As a business owner myself, I know how time-consuming this can be. That’s why I wrote The Small Business Success Guide in a question and answer format, so that all the information you need is in one easy-to-understand resource.KP: Why are these ‘success keys’ so important to the running of the business?Margie Sheedy:Getting the right advice means you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You can hit the ground running. You also will be giving yourself the time to think strategically about your business (working on, not just in your business). That way, you’ll know exactly why you do certain things, and how you could do them smarter, not harder.KP: From your experience, where do you believe most business owners get it wrong?Margie Sheedy:Most people start a small business without having anything written down. They think that having a vision in their heads is enough. But when your business playing field changes – for example, there could be a lull in sales, production prices might go up or your customers’ tastes may change – you won’t have any articulated strategies to help you and your team weather the storm.On the flip-side, when things are going well you will also have problems. You might need finance to grow or you may want to sell your business. Even the most generous bank manager or business purchaser will want to see why your business is worth the investment. And they’ll need more than your word to seal the deal.KP: Many entrepreneurs are wearing many hats, and can feel overwhelmed, what can they do to overcome this situation?Margie Sheedy:Realise that you can’t do it all. Start to think of yourself as the brain surgeon of your business, and value your time. Would you pay a brain surgeon to mop up after an operation? Consider enlisting the help of others to do some of the more menial tasks in your business.If you think you can’t afford to outsource anything, or you like wearing all your hats, you will burn yourself out. Instead, learn to delegate so that you have time to seriously look at your business’ future direction.Another way to take the stress out of wearing many hats is to plan your day in chunks of time. Allocate several times a day to answer calls. Stick to your schedule, not someone else’s. Then at the end of the day, you’ll feel a sense of achievement because you’ll have actually got a few things done and not spent it chasing your tail.And finally, be aware of your stress levels. Recognise how stress affects you physically. When things feel overwhelming, make a conscious effort to stop, take a deep breath and calmly go for a walk to clear your head. It will be time well spent!KP: Despite many claiming the Global Financial Crisis to be over, many business owners are still facing challenges, what is your advice to them?Margie Sheedy:Address the worst things first. In The Small Business Success Guide, I quote Dr. Graham Godbee of the Macquarie Graduate School of Management: he calls this your ‘triage strategy’. What sort of injury (major challenges) is your business encountering? Are you bleeding internally or just in need of a band-aid solution? Look at what’s caused the injury, and how you can fix it. Here are a couple of tips.* Keep a firm eye on your cash flow so that you know exactly where your business is at financially, and how much time you have before any financial challenges make things more serious.* Nurture your existing customers. It’s six times more profitable to sell to an existing customer than to find new ones. So foster relationships and give great customer service: after all, it’s your customers, clients and suppliers who will sustain you through tough times.* Talk to your team. How do they think your business can do things better? Use their brain power to help you work out some solutions to your challenges. By engaging them, you’ll be motivating your team. A healthy business, after all, is somewhere people like to go to every day.* Be honest about your own strengths and weaknesses, and commit yourself to doing things differently if your management style is part of the problem.* Ask for outside help from advisers you trust, such as your accountant or solicitor or business adviser. Remember, a dumb question is only dumb if you don’t ask it.
How Important Is the Fundraising Auctioneer to the Success of Your Event?
I want you to think about the term “Fundraising Auction”.
A “Fundraising Auction” is an event where items of value are gathered, and then sold in a competitive bidding situation, either in a Silent Auction format, or in a Live Auction format by a Live Auctioneer. And since typically the best items are saved for the Live Auction, arguably it is the Live Auction that should generate a significant portion of the proceeds in any Fundraising Auction.
So why do so many non-profit groups consider the Fundraising Auctioneer to be the least valuable component in a Fundraising Auction?
The Hosting Facility gets paid.
The Printer gets paid.
The Caterer gets paid.
The Liquor Store gets paid.
The DJ gets paid.
The Florist gets paid.
But the Auctioneer … the individual who is expected to raise the lion’s share of the event’s proceeds… is expected to work for Free. And is usually under-appreciated for the professional services he/she provides.
I’m not trying to underscore the value of the invitations & programs, food, booze, music, and decorations. All are important in their own way. But each of these are “Expenses”. It is the Auctioneer who is going to bring “Revenue”… and thus, the “Profits”… into any event. Which is the ultimate objective of any Fundraising Auction.
Here is a real-life example of how under-appreciated the Auctioneer can be. In two comparable events we worked last year, during the dinner portion of the event one non-profit group sat the Auctioneer (me) at a table with the DJ, the Interns, the Volunteer Staff, and other event “Help”. The 2nd non-profit group sat the Auctioneer (me) directly next to the CEO of their organization, where we chatted about how important the pending revenue would be to their organization. Which group do you think valued the services of the Fundraising Auctioneer more?
Don’t ever under-estimate the value that a professional Fundraising Auctioneer can bring to your event. The Auctioneer adds value as a pre-event consultant. And the Auctioneer can change an event from a moderate to a huge success.
A Case Study Once I was scheduled to call an Auction for a major local non-profit group. They represented a very good cause and they had a strong and dedicated following. Their event was sold out, quality Live & Silent Auction items had been solicited, and the Special Pledge Appeal had been choreographed and was ready to go. The facility was first class, the appropriate caterer was booked, and the food was ready to cook.
But quite unexpectedly, some unseasonably inclement weather forced the event’s cancellation. Despite all of the committee’s hard work, cancelling the event was the proper decision considering the circumstances.
So the Event Committee scrambled to re-schedule the event for the following weekend.
They confirmed with the Hosting Facility.
They confirmed with the Caterer.
They confirmed with the Liquor Store.
They confirmed with the DJ.
They confirmed with the Florist.
Since they already had the Mailing List of those scheduled to attend, no new invitations had to be printed as all were contacted by email or telephone. So with everything in place, the group went ahead and re-scheduled the event for the following weekend.
But guess who they failed to confirm? You got it… the Professional Auctioneer. They thought so little of the Auctioneer’s contribution that they “assumed” that the Auctioneer would be available and at their beck and call.
But the Auctioneer already had another Fundraising Auction booked for that date with another non-profit group. It was only hour away from the re-scheduled event, and things could have been easily worked out. All Group #1 had to do was start their event one hour earlier, or one hour later, than the Group #2, and the Auctioneer could have helped both groups on the same day.
But because Group #1 failed to anticipate a possible Auctioneer conflict, because they failed to confirm with the Auctioneer before re-scheduling their event, their preferred Auctioneer had to bow out and they had to scramble to locate substitute “Volunteer” Auctioneer only days before their event.
And it cost them.
Learning Points
The Live Auction is usually where the profits are made at any Fundraising Auction.
A Professional Fundraising Auctioneer can be vital to the success of any Fundraising Auction.
The better Fundraising Auctioneers usually get booked quickly.
You need to recognize the important contributions that a good Auctioneer can make to your event.
Michael Ivankovich is a Bucks County Fundraising Auctioneer based in Doylestown PA, and serves the Great Philadelphia PA area. He has been a professionally licensed and bonded Auctioneer in Pennsylvania for nearly 20 years, has been named Pennsylvania’s Auctioneer of the Year, and has considerable experience in conducting Fundraising Auctions. Michael loves helping groups raise needed funds for good causes and one of his specialties is the “Special Pledge Appeal” or “Fund-A-Cause Appeal” which usually enables clients to double their revenue in a single evening.
Dominate Advertising on Google With AdWords
The online world is a wonderful place to advertise any business. One of the first things you should think about will be the expense associated when you choose to do this.
Google Inc. may be the dominate player as far as search engines is concerned. They have perhaps a two-fold advertising program, Google AdSense and Google AdWords Pay Per Click Program. In this article, allow me to cover effective methods on how to advertise on Google having minimum cost. Advertising on Google can be quite profitable when done properly. Make sure you properly educate yourself prior to deciding to advertise with Google. If you ever go in blindly, advertising on Google can become very financially demanding.
How to Advertise with Google?
Google AdWords pay per click is a great advertising program that enables marketers to showcase with a Pay-Per-Click scheme. Advertising on Google by means of Pay-Per-Click or in other words PPC, you pay whenever a searcher clicks your ad. This implies your advertising could operate nonstop so you just pay Google whenever a searcher clicks your advertisement. Google’s procedure gets rid of unnecessary fees billed by many commercialized internet sites in order so they can show your advertisements on their website. You’ll still be left with debt whether or not you receive genuine visitors to your site or not through the advertising you placed. So I think Google AdWords pay per click is the right option for targeted visitors. Whenever you advertise with Google, you only pay for the actual visitors you receive, not only an advert position. This is why Google is superior from their competitors.
Google AdWords Pay Per Click Explained
When a marketer signs up to promote on Google AdWords pay per click, they will have the choice to produce both an image or text advertisement of the product or service they may be advertising. Promoters additionally must include a related list of key words. Almost all ads show on the right side of Google after a preliminary search is performed by the consumers whom are trying to find info on the internet with Google’s search engine.
You actually might be wondering how Google can evaluate which placement advertiser’s advertisements will show in the search engine. Google AdWords pay per click using a bidding and content relevancy technique to determine this. The higher a person bid on any key word, the more inclined your ad might be shown in Google.
Google’s bidding program offers publishers the ability to bid and compete for top ad placement on keywords. Bidding on keywords usually starts at five cents.
Here’s where ads are shown when you advertise with Google.
Google publishers advertising typically display on the right side of the web page when an internet search is conducted using Google. They furthermore appear on web host who agreed to allow Google to advertise on their website relevant adverts. Promoter’s adverts are only shown when a search term they’re bidding on is searched by a web searcher. Once again I want to reiterate that the advertiser only pays for clicks from web searchers.
How to advertise on Google with minimum Pay-Per-Click expense? Advertising on Google isn’t a no brainer meal ticket for publishers. Sound judgment is needed to advertise with Google. After all I’m sure you’d like to learn how to advertise on Google with minimum cost on pay-per click. The ultimate goal is to convert web searchers who click on your Google AdWords pay per click ads directly into sales. Without having sales, it’s going to hard to cash in on advertising on Google.
One method to advertise on Google and be profitable is by not being at the top placement of a search phrase you happen to be bidding on. Although being on the top of the search results will probably produce a lot of clicks on your advertisement, it will likewise get you a lot of curious searchers and not serious buyers in most cases. Statistics show that visitors usually do not usually buy from the first advert that they click, so keep that in mind when you’re bidding on search phrases.
Positioning your adverts in the latter part of the results between 5 & six, there is higher opportunity that the visitors produced through those clicks can provide more sales whenever you advertise with Google. Advertising on Google second page isn’t really necessarily a bad thing. If someone will to go to the second page of Google’s search results, that’s an indicator they may be a serious purchaser. Not to mention that what an advertiser will pay per click will be significantly cheaper versus trying to get and paid ad on the first page.
Content relevancy on your website also maximizes sales when you advertise with Google. With relevant and targeted content, you avoid confusing potential customers as to what your website advertisement is about. Keeping your links live assures consistent traffic flow to your website.
Google AdWords pay per click is an excellent choice to get immediate traffic to your website to create exposure for yourself or business. Hopefully this article gave you great ideas on how to advertise on Google.