If you are searching for more ways to make your internet business a success, you have landed on the right article. In this article, we will briefly describe the five methods or tools the top home based businesses use to guarantee profits online. We are living in a day and age when everybody, from your grandmother to the kid next door, is moving toward starting their own home based business. However, there are a few steps that, sadly, most entrepreneurs don’t know, that draw the line between the profitable top home based businesses and the failing home based businesses.

One of the first pointers you need to remember in establishing top home based businesses is that there is nothing wrong with the word “HELP”. The most powerful thing you can do as a business owner is contact consultants that can help you create infrastructure and get your business off the ground. Surprisingly, many of the top home based businesses gained a huge amount of their success by working with internet marketing professionals and experts. Partnering with other professionals is a hidden key to gaining online success.

The next powerful method you must work on to effectively win among the top home based businesses, is in the setup, development and designing of your own personal website. A functioning website is imperative to have in the ultimate success of your home based business. Most of the top home based businesses have their own websites where they can market most of their goods and services. Your website is the key factor to online profitability.

Sadly, many business owners create a website and are still not successful in building their home based businesses. A website, alone, is not enough to guarantee instant online profits. You must learn how to market your website properly. As a result, the third method one must use in gaining results, like many top home based businesses, is to create a comprehensive marketing plan. In order to succeed in any business, you must have a detailed road map of your marketing and promotional efforts.

Included in your marketing plan, should be details on how to stay in contact with customers or visitors to your website. Most of the top home based businesses work at building an opt in email list and corresponding follow up message series as a part of their marketing campaign. Establishing an email marketing campaign is one of the most effective ways to increase conversions and profits in any home based business.

Last but not least, if you are competing with other top home based businesses, it is important to keep in mind that the market can be highly competitive and hard to penetrate. As a result, you have to become very innovative and think of creative ways to “out-promote” your competition. This requires constant learning and reading on internet marketing trends and tips. If you don’t want to do this, you can always hire someone to do it for you. Of course, this is what most of the top home based businesses do anyway.

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.

4 types of viable small business financing Many small businesses face the prospect of going under if they are not able to secure good financing. The need for quick cash injections to keep a small business running can continue even after the first few loans are acquired. However, with each loan taken it becomes increasingly difficult to get a new loan approved. Also, the number of banks and financial intuitions who are willing to lend money to small businesses are rapidly shrinking.A regular small business loan from the bank Before you go anywhere else the first place you should go to is your bank. Banks offer some of the best small business loans which can be used as startup capital or to further expand your business. However, your proposal needs to appeal to the bank in a way that helps them feel that giving you a loan is a worthwhile investment. If you’re just starting out your business plan should go into detail about your business and your experience. This will help the bank understand your industry and how effective you can be. Banks will also require the following details from you:• Cash flow projections which tells them how they will get paid back and when. These should be honest figures.
• Make sure to add personal financial statements.
• If possible add past business tax returns. This will show how exactly your business has been doing.
• You need to have good credit rating to be trusted. Even though this is a small business loan but you are getting the money. Make sure to add your credit report to the file you send as part of your loan request.Try finding micro-loans If you are not able to acquire a regular small business loan you may try to get a micro-loan. Micro-loans allow you to borrow up to $35,000 and they are easier to get. Micro-loans work great as small term capital and for equipment purchases. Because micro-loans may require collateral the best use for it is equipment purchases since then the equipment can be put up as collateral.Short term supplier credit This type of loan clearly does not work for every business. So, if you’re not a retailer or a manufacturer then you’ll have little use for it. You’ll usually need to pay back this type of loan within 30 to 60 days. However, you should be aware of the fact that the interest rate on short term supplier credit is very high.Instant small business loans Also known as quick cash loans and quick cash advance loans these work great for businesses that are not able to find a loan anywhere else. It is also great for businesses that do not have the required assurances to secure a regular small business loan. These types of lenders will usually process your request within a few days and deposit the amount into your account. In most cases you can apply for the loan directly from the lender’s website. However, because the lender is taking a higher risk of lending you money without due diligence the interest rate is slightly higher than what banks offer.