Advertising and branding techniques have changed vastly from the age-old commercial practices. This is due to the introduction of the magical concept called the internet. You know very well that no business can survive without advertising. Keeping this bottom-line in mind, if you are in search of selecting a best of best advertising agency, take the following tips that will be of help in narrowing down your search considerably. You can apply the same methods for locating region-based advertising agencies as well.

What to look for in an advertising consultant agency?

Simply put, the meaning of advertising is to remind your business name, products or services in the minds of your consumers, without let-up. Unless and until your business name is repeatedly focused effectively into their minds, chances are very slim that they will remember you. This exercise of constantly reminding consumers is known as “branding” in advertising language.

You can view this concept from the consumer’s perspective. Every business owner is a consumer by themselves, in respect of other products required in life. What makes a company or organization that sells the products required by you, coming to your mind instantly? Either the benefits you derived last-time by their products make the name unforgettable; or the memory gets kindled by these benefits that are flashed in an advertisement; slogan; logo or the brand-name in any media.

So by effective “branding”, an advertising agency online can meet your business requirements, to your entire satisfaction with regard to popularizing. Start looking for such an agency first.

Basic elements of branding:

In accordance with the concepts of advertising followed all over the world, especially with the new technology called internet, we can categorize the basic elements of branding into 5 branches. They are – using the resources available effectively and efficiently; propagating the unique selling point; internal branding to familiarize the products of the organization within the circles of everyone involved in the business; external branding that is popularizing products all over the internet, media and the minds of end-users; and finally identifying the targeted audience with smartness and instilling your business brand into their minds indelibly, by adopting all sorts of advertising techniques.

Resources available: apart from the financial resources for capital outlay and budget for advertisement expenses, the advertising agency can effectively use other resources like customer-feedback about your products, market research carried out for same and similar products, and perfectly compiled databases etc.

Unique selling point: this is a vital point for marketing any product or services. The advertising agency should study all the relevant facts about your products and business beforehand, and explain the USP to the consumer as to how they can be benefited in a better way, compared to your peers or their products.

Internal branding: this is something to be taken care of within your organization and spread among company personnel, to keep them well-informed of the brighter aspects of your products, by the higher-ups. In respect of other outlets such as distributors, wholesalers and retailers etc., the advertising agency should be able to provide sufficient information by way of printed materials, pamphlets, catalogs etc. To keep the product image high.

External branding: this is where an advertising agency needs to do a lot. Their experts should evolve a best-suited advertisement plan, catchy slogans, alluring logo designs, propagating the product values in all platforms where it matters, to entice the attention of the consumers at large. You can check the credentials of the proposed advertising agency in this regard before selecting them, as to how best and effectively they can market your products.

Targeted audience: here you need an expert advertising agency to focus all the branding exercise we discussed. It is essential to reach your targeted audience. Towards achieving this objective, the agency has to make themselves thorough with your business and product capabilities.

Applying all the above yardsticks, you can embark right now to narrow down your search for truly effective advertising agency online (in any specific region as well) for branding your business and win success.

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.

Have you ever compared the differences between a home based business vs a work at home job?

There are some major differences between having a home business and work from home, compared to having a job that allows you to work at home. Your home is the central hub of all the operations involving a home based business, while a work from home job means your daily work is based in your home but is just a part of a outside business. Most work at home jobs involve checking or reporting to an employer, and you are working on as a freelancer or telecommuter status. Some freelancers, however, will have a home based business and they deal with clients instead of an employer. There are definitely advantages and disadvantages to both kinds of these businesses.

When you are your own boss, you don’t receive a W-2 at the end of the year, so you’re responsible for taking care of your taxes. You would deal directly with the IRS concerning your sales and income. For people who are working from home, you’ll be receiving a W-2 at year’s end from your employer, who will also send a report to the IRS. When you’ve attained a specific level of sales as a freelance worker, the employer is responsible for reporting that amount.

Needless to say, there are no health care or unemployment insurance benefits, and worker’s compensation is not available to home based businesses. Partner discounts for the purchase of benefits are available from several insurance companies, but when you are the owner of a home based business you pay for them yourself. People who telecommute and work from home might have access to benefits, but if you are a freelancer you must get your own.

The benefits of both kinds of working at home jobs is the freedom in project choice, flexible time schedule, and the added comforts of your own home. Since you are an employee when you work from home there could be some limitations from the employer. The best thing about is being at home it offers you a lot more freedom and flexibility than an office does. However, a of people who own a home business, or home workers, will discover this kind of freedom can be a double-edged sword. In your own environment it can be easy to pick up a book, put on movie, or find some other activity you enjoy. If you add procrastination to the other possible distractions, you will soon find you’re missing deadlines and producing sloppy work. If you want to be your own boss and work a home business, you need to see if you have the self-discipline it requires.

Most of the time the money you make from a home based business results from sales of a products or services. There are some out there, however, that your earnings are based totally on the number of people you can recruit into the business. These kinds of business are referred to as pyramid scams, and your success is directly connected to how many other people you recruit in under you. As each new recruit buys in, you are pushed higher up the payment ladder. In scams like these, your own products sales are usually not very important.

However, there are a lot of home based businesses that you can start on your own and be your own boss. Besides a marketing company, there’s a portrait studio or a gardening center that would let you be your own boss. It doesn’t matter what type of business you choose to open, to be your own boss you have one that keeps all the operations with in your own home.

Be sure and do your homework before deciding which kind of work you want to do – ask a lot of questions and get a feel for the work itself before you make a commitment. Today the really successful home based business owners are people who might have purchased a product and loved it so much they wanted to share it with others. However, those who want to be their own boss, and work from home, are really happy with their business in their home.

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