Using the Auction Method for the Buying/Selling of Real Estate

Tips for Better Mobile Email Marketing

Smartphones have changed the way mobile marketing works. Typical smartphone users will use their device to tweet, change their social networking updates and of course read and handle email. With all of the things that one can do with a smartphone, it makes sense to consider that you are vying for valuable attention of your target. In fact, your primary goal is to get your target audience’s undivided attention. But how do you do that?

There are three things your target audience will see when it comes to your mobile message:

·         The Pre-header: Your reader will see the sender (you), the subject line (should be attention-grabbing) and the pre-header which is the first few lines of your email. If your subject doesn't make your reader want to open your message, your pre-header better do the trick or your message will be deleted without being opened.

·         Make it easy: If you are using images in your message, make sure they load properly and that your overall message is easy to navigate. Find a design that you like and experiment with it before turning it loose to your audience.

·         Remember your audience is on the go: Mobile marketing and mobile emailing – mobile being the keyword here. You have to remember that your audience is on the go and they don’t have time to read a book when they’re in a hurry.

Make the most of your mobile emailing efforts and follow these tips – you’re sure to see success. 

Commercial real estate: The big profits

Real estate is often termed as the safest investment avenue. In fact, real estate investments done with proper evaluation of the property (and its true value), can lead to good profits. This is one reason why some people pursue real estate investment as their full time job. The talks of real estate are generally focused towards residential real estate; commercial real estate seems to take a back seat. However, commercial real estate too is a good option for investing in real estate.

Commercial real estate includes a lot of different kinds of properties. Most people relate commercial real estate with only office complexes or factories/ industrial units. However, that is not all of commercial real estate. There is more to commercial real estate. Health care centers, retail structures and warehouse are all good examples of commercial real estate. Even residential properties like apartments (or any property that consists of more than four residential units) are considered commercial real estate. In fact, such commercial real estate is much in demand.

So, is commercial real estate really profitable? Well, if it were not profitable I would not have been writing about commercial real estate at all. So, commercial real estate is profitable for sure. The only thing with commercial real estate is that recognizing the opportunity is a bit difficult as compared to residential real estate. But commercial real estate profits can be real big (in fact, much bigger than you would expect from residential real estate of the same proportion). You could take up commercial real estate for either reselling after appreciation or for renting out to, say, retailers. The commercial real estate development is in fact treated as the first sign for growth of residential real estate. Once you know of the possibility of significant commercial growth in the region (either due to tax breaks or whatever), you should start evaluating the potential for appreciation in the prices of commercial real estate and then go for it quickly (as soon as you find a good deal). And you must really work towards getting a good deal. If you find that commercial real estate, e.g. land, is available in big chunks which are too expensive for you to buy, you could look at forming a small investor group (with your friends) and buy it together (and split the profits later). In some cases e.g. when a retail boom is expected in a region, you might find it profitable to buy a property that you can convert into a warehouse for the purpose of renting to small businesses.

So commercial real estate presents a whole plethora of investing opportunities, you just need to grab it.

Why You Want to Use Twitter

It’s true – social media is the new way of life, and Twitter is where politicians, famous people, news reporters, rock stars, and dictators hang out – and then there’s the rest of us regular folks.

Become part of CNN’s newsroom just by clicking follow. You will have the latest up to date news streaming to your computer or your smart phone. Of course, you can choose which news you follow. Perhaps you’d like to follow a local anchor and newsroom, or maybe you have family in another part of the world and you would like to follow there. Maybe you’d rather rub tweets with the president. You can feel pretty important pretty fast.

Twitter has also become a great way to make your income. Start a thread on Twitter about the product or service you sell. Embed your own links so followers can click and arrive at your website. It is all pretty impressive that you are able to do internet marketing and there is no cost to you to achieve this.

Many like to use Twitter and it’s become a way of life for an unimaginable number of people. Twitter is used to keep in touch with friends, family, and people that are important to us. You can quickly find out what important people are doing at any minute from the “Tea Party” group, to athletes, and the numerous screen stars you can feel like you are in the loop. It’s fun and it can make you feel important.

Don’t be surprised if you become a Twitter addict. Many do. After all, you can know what’s going on with everyone who is anyone, from anywhere… that’s a bit enticing, and it’s certainly can be exciting when you are the first to hear of something big going down. Best of all Twitter is free to use.

Do You Let Your Staff Daydream?

How much time do you let your staff think? I mean “think” in all shapes and forms. Such as planning and reviewing, brainstorming and creativity, decision-taking and problem-solving, logical thinking and free-flow thinking.

And, yes, daydreaming, too.

Well, if it’s not up to a quarter of their time, then maybe they’re not doing enough.

There’s a rather good story told about the first Henry Ford, founder of the Ford motor company.

Ford, wanting more and more productivity from his workers, decided to hire a consultant to identify areas of improvement in one of his factories.

The consultant went round the site and returned with a list of names of people who he thought weren’t up to scratch.

Ford took one look at the list and exclaimed in horror when he saw the name at the top. “You can’t fire him!”

“Why not?” said the consultant. “Every time I observed him he was sitting doing nothing.”

“I know,” replied Ford. “But he’s the most productive guy in the plant.  I pay him to think.”

For all we know, this was the guy who ensured the phenomenal survivability of the Ford empire.

The fact remains that thought has much greater power than anything else that people do. It’s much more powerful than words or actions. Thoughts inspire. Thoughts motivate. Thoughts lead. Thoughts will take your business much further than any other commodity you possess.

That’s why, when Mike Pedler and Tom Boydell carried out a study of top managers, over half of the top 10 qualities they possessed related to thinking skills, such as mental agility, creativity, learning and analytical skills.

So, if you want your team and your business to shoot ahead, give them some daily thinking time. And don’t worry if you find them daydreaming for some of it. It could be to your advantage!

Brainstorming Techniques

Have you been in a "brainstorming" session where each person just defended their own ideas? Worse is when people don't suggest ideas at all, for fear they'll be attacked. That's no way to brainstorm. Brainstorming is using the power of many minds, and ideas should flow freely and trigger other ideas. How do you make that happen?

The Key To Good Brainstorming

You have to have a good leader to have good brainstorming. The leader isn't there to impose his will, though, but to stop the imposition of anyone’s will. His role is to stop criticisms, arguments, and even strong opinions, at least in the first part of the session.

A brainstorming session needs to be spontaneous, open and uncritical. "Bad" or "silly" ideas can lead to helpful ones, so suggestions have to be left un-judged at first. To brainstorm effectively, you can't stifle the creative process. The leader’s job, then, is to make everyone feel free to suggest any ideas.

An Example Of Good Brainstorming

The scenario: your business needs to cut delivery costs. The group throws out ideas and thoughts. "Let's not deliver," someone suggests, and when another starts to criticize, you remind him of the rules. "Negotiate lower rates," somebody says, "Or just find a company with lower rates," another adds. Ideas like reducing package weight and charging customers more are suggested, and lead to other ideas.

You keep it civil, take notes, and eventually call a halt to this free-for-all part of the session. Now it's time to evaluate and develop the ideas for whatever usefulness they may have.

To keep the creativity flowing in this stage, have participants defend or develop ideas that are not their own. This brings new insight to the idea, and prevents the problem of ego-identification that causes people to get "stuck in a rut" with their own ideas.

For example, ask the man who was critical of the idea of not delivering to work with that idea. "We have to deliver," he might start with. Then he thinks for a second and says, "I suppose we could deliver to central distribution points instead of to the individual customer. The customer could drive a short distance to pick up their order. That might save us on shipping."

Someone else suggests that the customers may like the arrangement. They would be able to return the product immediately if they were dissatisfied, with no need to pack and ship it. You assign a couple people to look into it, and move on to the other ideas.

Good leadership keeps the whole process working. In the last example, you've even used a "bad" idea to come to a possible solution. That's good brainstorming.

Absolute Auction February 26th, 2013 Dayton, OH

2 Great Absolute Auctions on Tuesday February 26th, Dayton, OH 

Held onsite - No Minimum - No Reserve

Property 1: 217,000±sf Industrial building on 9.7+ acres. Light manufacturing, warehouse and multi-use office space.  Full sprinkler system, 28' ceilings, dock height and ground level roll-up doors. Located near I-75 and I-70.

http://www.ameribid.com/upcoming-auctions/auction-detail/?id=196630

Property 2: 27,000±sf brick office building on 1.601± ac, mins from I-75 & I-70. Renovated in 2002 & featuring many updates since. Zoned B-4. Tax appraised at $875,000, now selling absolute!

http://www.ameribid.com/upcoming-auctions/auction-detail/?id=196825