Auctions are those events where properties or goods are sold to the highest bidder. Auctions are mostly public events, where bidders make a series of bids and purchase a particular item for a high price. During auctions, bidders decide the price of an item rather than the seller. It depends on bidders to decide the amount they would want to pay for a specific item. During an auction, a bid is a proof of a legal binding. Bidders agree to pay the amount that they have bid. In a high profile auction, bidders may have to pay a deposit in escrow accounts or give a proof that they can pay for those items.

Types of Auctions:

Different types of auctions take place around the world. Below mentioned are some types of auctions:

1. English auction:
This is a basic type of auction. In this type, people can see the item and then start bidding. Bidders slowly raise the value of their bid until everyone gives up. The highest bidder is the winner. An auctioneer manages an auction, keeps records of the on going bid and decides the winner. Sometimes, the seller will quote a minimum amount for an item to the auctioneer, below which the auctioneer cannot sell that item.

2. Dutch auction:
In this type, the auctioneer sets a particular price and then gradually lowers the price. People in public will start bidding and later decide which prices are suitable for the item. A seller may use this type of auction to sell large quantities of same products to the public. For instance, a seller may want to sell a large amount of hay and will thus, decide to sell this hay to people for the same amount, once a reasonable price is decided.

3. Silent auction:
In this type, the bidders in public will present their bids in a sealed format. These sealed bids open at the same time and bidder with the highest bid wins. There could be a modification in this type of auction. The bidders are allotted a specific period to bid. They can roam in a room displaying the items, and write their bids on an associated sheet of paper. The bidders are allowed to see bids of other bidders and can choose a higher price for an item. At the end of the allotted time, bidder with the highest bid is the winner.

Examples of Auctions:

Auctions can be of two types either public or private. Sellers may trade any kind of items in both types of auctions. Some areas where auctions take place are:

1. Antique auction: An antique auction consists of a trade opportunity as well as provides entertainment.

2. Collectable auction: In a collectable auction, the seller may put up collectables like coins, vintage cars, luxury, stamps, real estate, and luxury for sale.

3. Wine auction: In wine auction, bidders can bid for rare wine, which may not be available in retail wine shops.

4. Horse auction: Bidders can bid for young horses of the best breed.

5. Livestock auction: In livestock auction, bidders can buy pigs, sheep, cattle, and other livestock.

The other examples of auctions may not be public. These auctions are for bidders from corporate levels. Some examples of private auctions are:

1. Timber auction
2. Spectrum auction
3. Electricity auction
4. Debit auction
5. Environmental auction
6. Auto auction
7. Electronic market auction
8. Sales of business auction

Bidders in an auction need to examine the items displayed and decide an appropriate price for an item. Thus, auctions help buyers in getting the best deals and in gaining better profits for sellers.

In today’s fast-paced, high-tech world of Internet marketing, there are many techniques from which you can choose that will benefit your business by increasing your reach, boosting your online presence and bolstering your sales. And while there is a large debate about which method is best, there is certainly no denying that attraction marketing has become one of the biggest and most successful online marketing strategies to date, by and large. But what makes this a little bit confusing is that attraction marketing in and of itself is a little confusing to define. That’s because so many people have different interpretations of attraction marketing, mostly because of its versatility.

Attraction marketing can be tailored to just about any business and business model you can think of, adapting its core values to help individuals and corporations attain their marketing goals. From multi-level marketing strategies (MLM) to inbound marketing campaigns, attraction marketing is defined so differently because it is used so differently. Still, there are a few basic tenets of attraction marketing that we can use to help define its essence, if not pin down its exactness.

The Many Faces of Attraction Marketing

To start off with, it should be noted that attraction marketing is not a new concept. Overall, the basis of attraction marketing is to reach new customers and leads through the demonstration of value through affiliates and spokesmen. Perhaps one of the most classic-and successful-examples of attraction marketing would be a company hiring a celebrity to endorse their product or service. To this day, this marketing strategy is still used, though mostly in print and television.

But with the integration of online marketing strategies, companies have refined their techniques and thus, redefined attraction marketing. While the message of value is still at the underlying core of the strategy, it is now done in a manner that is far more cost-effective, utilizing the viral capabilities of the internet instead. In a nutshell, the social aspect of the internet has taken the cost-and the celebrity-out of attraction marketing and replaced them with webpages and sales representatives.

Inbound Marketing versus Outbound Marketing-The New Attraction Marketing

Still, the ultimate goal of attracting leads to your business or website rather than going out and actively recruiting them is the main focus of modern day attraction marketing on the internet. For example, rather than cold-calling customers or sending out individual emails (or even email blasts), it has become far more prevalent to create content that attracts leads to your site. This can be accomplished in any number of ways.

For example, affiliate marketing is a great way to leverage the work of others to boost traffic to your site. Essentially, you provide your affiliate partners with personalized links to your site and when they drive traffic to your site that results in a conversion, you pay them a commission. The affiliate partners will then go create their own sites, content and social media pages which increase not only your perceived value, but also your reach. In a nutshell, your attraction rating is instantly extended by extension of your affiliate sites.

Overall, the point here is that your marketing dollar is going to be better served by inbound marketing than outbound marketing. Given that internet searches mainly bring in your targeted audience (thanks to search engine algorithms that promote relevancy over bulk traffic), it’s generally accepted that spending money on attraction marketing is going to spend your marketing dollar on your targeted audience, rather than say a print ad which would reach more people, but not necessarily more potential leads that are high-conversion customers.

Becoming a Thought Leader and Authority Figure in your Industry

Another method of attraction marketing is establishing yourself as an industry leader in your particular niche. Once again, there are many ways to go about this, but some of the most popular are blogging and social media sites. Both are equally effective when utilized correctly, but for some businesses, blogging fits better than social media-and vice versa-for establishing authority. In the end, it really comes down to tailoring your message across multiple mediums to get your brand across in the manner that you want it to.

With blogging, there are many goals, all of which are served simply by creating keyword-centric blogs that provide value, interesting and fresh viewpoints, and are consistently churned out. When this happens:

You rank higher in search engine result pages (SERPs) thanks to increased keyword reach and fresh, relevant content. This means more incoming traffic and higher perceived value because of ranking position on the SERPs.
Your content has a higher chance of going viral because of value and viewpoint, thus further increasing your reach and attraction fact.
With social media marketing, your attraction factor is spread through organic and paid reach, giving you a better chance to not only recruit potential customers, but also establish stronger bonds with your current ones. Social media is all about interaction and engagement, both of which serve to give you a chance to get your value-based message out there to your potential leads and current customers. This is integral to attraction marketing. Plus, when you engage your fans, followers, etc., you also show up on their friends and family’s social media sites, further increasing your reach. Because they are closely related to your target audience, there’s a good chance they are part of your target audience as well.

How to Get Started

As you can see, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact definition and usage of attraction marketing because it is so fluid and wide-ranging a concept. No matter what your business is, what your goal is or what your current online marketing strategy is, attraction marketing can fit right in, helping you to boost sales and achieve all of your current and future goals.

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.