Can you believe that 50% of first year businesses do not make it to the next year? Did you know that 95% of businesses fail within 5 years of being established? It is because of these percentages that lenders and other financial organizations consider many small businesses to be ‘high risk’.High risk businesses (and even some non-risk businesses) have an extremely difficult time finding and obtaining business credit. So, why are lenders so afraid to lend out funding to start-up and current businesses?Let’s take a look the real side of small business access to credit….Uncertain EconomyAn uncertain economy has a lot to do with the ability of a small business access to credit. During a recession, or even a falling economy, people are not spending money. Therefore, they are not going to small businesses for materials like they do when the economy is good.Small businesses are not getting near enough business to stay afloat and lenders are perfectly aware of it. Lenders are skeptical to lend out money in fear of never seeing repayment.Outstanding Loans And Credit Card BalancesThis goes hand in hand with the uncertain economy. More business owners default on a loan during a rough economy. Lenders have hundreds of thousands of dollars in back loans that they are unable to provide more opportunities for small business access to credit.If they are not paid for the capital they have lent out, they could risk going out of business themselves. This is especially true for private organizations that need the paid interest rates on loans and credit cards to keep them going.Lending Standards Restrict Small Business Access To CreditThe lending standards that the government places on small business loans and credit cards have a lot to do with small business access to credit. Tighter regulations for small business loans means less and less business owners will qualify for the credit they need to keep their businesses in business.Stricter regulations will help the lenders keep the money in house, but they will also increase the unemployment rates as small businesses will be going out of business. It is critical that small business access to credit be open or we could see a drastic decrease in the amount of business opportunities available to people.All of these factors contribute to why lenders are not offering business credit to businesses. Small business access to credit is becoming smaller and smaller and smaller. So, if you are considering starting your own business I want you to understand the ‘Why’ so you feel more confident when you begin your quest to obtain credit for your business.Hey! It’s not just me whining and crying. This attitude is out there regarding small business credit. I am just letting you know. Here is just one article in The Wall Street Journal – A Credit Crunch That Lingers.Keep in mind that this type of thinking and this flow of information will discourage a lot of people from seeking small business credit leaving more opportunity for those that do want to succeed and who also realize that it is just a matter of understanding how the credit game works when it comes to getting business creditKnow what to do and how to do it, and ideally before you start to do it, and your chances of success will be much higherAnd after all, how can we expect a business to flourish when there is very little small business access to credit? It almost seems as though businesses are being set up just to fail…. BUT!Remember the more people turned off by all the negative news on the economy is this ‘credit crunch’ the more room left for you to bear down and start or expand your business!
Newspaper Advertising – Benefits Revealed
The multitude of advertising vehicles available these days has made it difficult for many advertisers to distribute their advertising budgets. From traditional newspaper advertising to interactive web-based advertising, the opportunities for advertisers are endless. A healthy combination of these and other advertising media is ultimately the best approach to a successful campaign. However, lately the nay-sayers of newspaper advertising have started to garner attention. Allow me to refresh your memory on the continued benefits of newspaper advertising.
Newspapers have been gracing the doorsteps of American homes since the early 1700s. That is over 300 years of budding romance between American consumers and their beloved newspapers. Lee Clow, the Chairman & Global Director of TBWA\Worldwide explains that the, “Newspaper is a special medium. It’s not urgent, not yesterday or tomorrow but today. Sitting with a newspaper and a cup of coffee in the morning will always be one of the most intimate media experiences there is.” The title of this article is “Newspaper Advertising…Benefits Revealed” so… when will the benefits be revealed? I am getting to that! The newspaper has built its reputation as a trusted source of information; this goes for not only its articles but for the advertisements it features as well. Each individual newspaper has guidelines and restrictions that must be met by each advertiser. This is not always the case with the truckload of advertisers that place ads on the web. Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous people and companies that are able to post ads on various websites without undergoing any sort of screening. Consumers can continue to feel secure knowing that advertisements that make it to print have been checked out and approved for their benefit.
Another advantage to newspaper advertising is the portable/permanent aspect of a newspaper. A newspaper is very easily toted from home to work, to lunch, back to work and back to home. This allows readers to pick up the paper when it is convenient for them. As far as the permanent feature of the newspaper… let us look at an example. Over a cup of coffee you are perusing the pages of your local paper. You come across an ad for a new product that strikes your fancy. You set the paper aside until later when you have some free time and can research the product. Later that week, you pick up the ad and make a phone call to the company advertising the product. The same product is advertised while you are surfing the web. You bookmark the site in order to return to the site later. However, later that week the ad is seemingly gone from the site. Is it on a rotation? Was the ad pulled? You may never know. This example may be a bit dramatic, however it illustrates the benefit of a tangible ad that someone can revisit and review.
Perhaps the best argument for making the case for newspaper advertising is the “opt-in” feature. The world is full of annoying advertisements (not to say they don’t work), TV commercials, pop-up internet ads, spam emails, etc. etc. etc. Newspaper advertisements continue to be an opt-in advertising method. People can decide whether or not they are going to read your newspaper ads. They know the ads are there, alongside the articles they read everyday, and they have the choice. And as it turns out many adults are making the choice to read those ads, because they find them useful. In a 2007 study done by Mediamark, 51% of the adults they interviewed said that they found newspaper advertising “somewhat/very useful.” This day and age, people do not want to be bothered. Case and point? DVRs are becoming increasingly popular and allowing people to completely skip over commercials. People are finding a way around commercials, anti-spam filters are finding ways to weed out spam emails, pop-up blockers are eliminating pop-up ads. The list goes on. However, newspaper ads have not become an annoyance, they continue to be a source of useful information for readers of the newspaper.
Advertisers have a difficult decision in distributing their advertising budgets. There is no “right answer” for how or where to spend your money. No advertising plan is going to be right for all advertisers. Each advertiser must test different ads in different mediums in order to find out what will produce results. Newspapers have long been a valued method of advertising to companies and individuals around the world. They offer benefits to advertisers that web based advertising cannot. Newspaper advertising is still working for advertisers that continue to recognize its value. When you are divvying your advertising budget this year; do your research, weigh your options, but don’t overlook the value that newspapers have always offered advertisers.
Auction Listings Are Vital to the Success of Fundraising Auctions
Fundraising Auction Tip: You should always provide potential bidders with a printed Auction Listing of both your Live and Silent Auction items at any Fundraising Auction. A printed Auction Listing is vital for several reasons:
An Auction Listing informs bidders of the order of sale, and what is coming up next. If you keep your bidders guessing, they will simply not bid.
If bidders are not 100% certain of what they are bidding on, they will not bid. A printed Auction Listing should answer any and all questions about what is being sold in order to encourage bidders to bid as much as possible.
Bidders often need time to plan their bidding strategies, especially on multiple and/or larger value items. A printed Auction Listing helps them to do that.
Couples often need time to consult with each other about what they are willing to spend on something. A printed Auction Listing helps them to do that.
Potential bidders need to know the specifics, the benefits, and the restrictions on any item they are going to bid on, especially on travel and/or other higher value items. A printed Auction Listing should answer all of their questions, in writing.
After bidders see that they have lost an item to another bidder, a printed Auction Listing makes it easier for them to re-strategize on what else they can bid on.
Printed Auction Listings generally come in 3 forms:
Printed in the Event Program or Auction Catalog.
Printed on loose sheets of paper and hand-inserted into the Event Program or Auction Catalog.
Printed on loose sheets of paper and hand-delivered to all attendees, or left on each dinner table in the room.
Auction Listings cost practically nothing to produce and they can make the difference between the success and failure of a Live and Silent Auction. You should never conduct a Fundraising Auction without one.
A Case Study
Let me share a real-life experience with you. Once I was hired to conduct a Fundraising Auction for a nationally renowned organization. The event was held in a major hotel, in one of the country’s largest cities, with several hundred “black tie” participants attending. It was an extremely professional event, with the music, singing, lighting, speeches, and awards all perfectly timed and choreographed. Everything was done to perfection… exception the Fundraising Auction.
Although I had signed an agreement to serve as their Auctioneer nearly one year in advance of the event, no one bothered to contact me for any advice or help. Approximately one week prior to the Auction date, I contacted the group to see if they had replaced me with another Auctioneer. But they said that I was still their man.
Upon arriving at the event I asked for a copy of the Auction Listing. I was told that there were none. I’m not sure whether they felt that the Auction Listing wasn’t necessary, or whether someone forgot to have them printed. This was never made clear. When I asked what I was to use at the podium, I was told to copy the list of Live Auction items from a committee member’s computer. It took me about 30 minutes to copy three pages of hand-written notes in order to prepare for my role as their Auctioneer.
I knew that they had created a PowerPoint program showing the various Live Auction items. When I asked whether the PowerPoint slide order corresponded to the order of sale I had copied from the committee member’s computer, I was met with a blank stare. The committee member left to check the slide order, and returned to let me know that the slide order did not correspond my notes, and he provided me with the correct slide order… hand-written on a paper napkin. This forced me to re-arrange my three pages of hand-written notes before taking the podium.
There was a Live Auction Table with descriptions of the Live Auction items that were to be sold, but the table was not clearly marked, and it received significantly less attention than the Silent Auction Tables, which were clearly identified. Since the Live Auction Table was located adjacent to the “Raffle Table”, it appeared that most people thought it was part of the raffle and therefore paid very little attention to it.
According to the event program (which did not include an Auction Listing), I knew approximately when I was to begin the Live Auction. At the designated time the Master of Ceremonies announced the start of the Live Auction to the several hundred people in attendance, and introduced me as Auctioneer. As I approached the podium I realized that photographs of award winners were still being taken… directly in front of the podium where I was to stand… which required me to stand aside for several minutes until the photographers were done. Can we say “awkward moment”?
As the photographers cleared, I approached the podium and began my Live Auction introduction. Approximately one minute into my introduction, the “Raffle Committee” approached the podium and stopped my Live Auction Introduction in order to pull the 8 or 9 Raffle Winners. These drawings lasted about 5 minutes. Upon it’s conclusion I was allowed to resume the start of the Live Auction.
When standing at the podium two intense and extremely bright spotlights were pointed directly at the podium. The lights were so bright that I literally could not see the center 1/3 of the room. I could see the tables on the right, and on the left, but was totally blinded when looking straight ahead. It took perhaps five minutes before the spotlights were turned off.
While at the podium and describing Lot #1, I had to ask someone to start the Lot #1 PowerPoint Slide… because apparently no one was assigned that job.
So with only the Auctioneer’s verbal description, and a PowerPoint slide, it appeared that few people in the room had any idea about what we were selling… or when we were selling it… until it was announced by the Auctioneer. As a result, bidding was extremely light and the final results fell several thousands of dollars short of where they should have been
The learning experience is this:
The Live Auction is where you place your better items, and where the real money should be made at any Fundraising Auction. Let bidders know as far in advance as possible what you will be selling, and the order of sale, so they can get excited about the Auction, and plan their bidding strategy accordingly.
Auction Listings are absolutely vital to the success of both Live & Silent Auctions. In my opinion, revenues at this Auction fell thousands of dollars short of where they should have been, because no Auction Listing was provided to the guests.
If bidders are not perfectly clear on what is being sold, including both the item’s specifics, benefits, and restrictions, they will not bid.
When you have a committee of volunteers, especially volunteers having full time jobs and/or very busy schedules, the services of a professional Fundraising Auctioneer can help to keep the committee on track.
And once you retain the services of a professional Fundraising Auctioneer… use the services that you are paying for.