• There is a chatroom there where buyers can ask questions.
• I’ll be calling the bids live.
• I have the ability to ad lots and even take requests
• These auctions can be posted on Twitter.com and elsewhere.

This week’s contest questions are: Where on my uStream page is the “Follow” button, and what is the code-phrase I’ve posted in the chat room for this contest?

• Find auctioneers
• See the prices realized section to find out the current value of items.
• Search for items coming up for sale
• Track which auctions specialize in specific genres
• Learn how to consign to auction houses

      If it takes a village to raise a child,
 then it takes one to grow a business too!

 

“Word of mouth, social networking, it takes a village”

 

These 3 phrases all mean the same thing, getting the word out about a business or a cause.

Here it’s discussed in an Internet context, which is after all, the way 99.9% of you on this list have found me.

 

Since there are every day, more and more people coming online to earn a living or at least extra money in the antiques & collectibles business, there is more opportunity. Many of you on this list already have at least one sucessful website or more. Many of you may be on your first one, or are about to publish.

 

You need to know that social networking in your niche is critical to success.  

 

Social networking sites like Twitter, MySpace and Facebook have become household names. Bookmark sites like digg, addthis, Stumbleupon and others are used by Internet publishers with a fierce loyalty, you could argue that some have built businesses largely dependent on them.

 

So of course, the next big thing would the specter of doubt that surrounds any vastly popular meme. Lately, I’ve noticed the the question, “does social networking really work?” popping up all over the place.

 

Are the people asking this serious? If you would be truthful at all when you claim that social networking doesn’t work, you would have to be referring to the people and companies that abuse it with spammy overkill.

 

Since the argument has be re-hashed into a puree, all I’m going to say is of course it works, when you use these tools for their original intended purposes which are: To bookmark and group like and relevant content to your interest. The natural outcome of this strategy would be to surround yourself in efficient circles with people who have common economic/social interests. You figure out a way to filter what you don’t need and you are running at much more efficiency.

 

Here are 4 tips to help you build your social network:

 

Use bookmark sites to rate and keep track of sites important to you. Every time you do, it helps the site get boosted in  rank, and of course becomes organized as a bookmark for you. If your website is linked to on this site, double bonus! Tooting someone else’s horn draws more lasting visitors more so than if you were to only push your own sites. It shows you’ve an interest in distributing the best info you can and that you cite your sources with confidence. A tactic spammers find difficult to duplicate with ease, so it would make sense that search engines seek it out.

 

Within your own articles and blogposts, use the same tactic linking out to rich content when possible. Links to Wikipedia dot .org sites and knowledged based sites, aren’t automatic rank raisers, but rather, provide value to your readers which means they are more likely to return if you keep your site fresh.

 

Keep your site fresh: If you can’t do this, have someone do it for you, it’s that important. Of course, freshness is relevant to the topic and modis operendi of the page. Some sites will not have the need to publish more than once a week or so.

 

Be interesting: We all only have a limited time to work on our projects. Substitute being clever and interesting for long articles. People are generally after information in bits and fragments when they’re on the Internet. Even if they thoroughly cover a subject, they are likely to do it pieces at a time. Consider breaking up a long post into 2 or 3 which means you have a couple more URLs rather than the one for the long article. More chances of getting found. Don’t forget to link to the other articles in the series.

 

 =======================================

Episode 91 of the AuctionWally Show is up. Show notes with links can be found posted at this link as well. Was your website mentioned in episode 91? Listen to find out.
==========================================

                                       The Prices Realized Directory

 

 

At  www.AuctionWally.com/prices-realized you’ll find a 100% free prices realized directory, no registration required.

Prices-Realized Directory.
==========================================

See more details on upcoming Thursday night auctions in Barre. 

                                           Looking for work?

  If you can answer “yes” to a few simple questions, you may be able to start making good money as an antiques appraiser. I have a one day seminar that will help qualified candidates start earning between $75 and $150 per hour as a Professional Personal Property Appraiser. Find out more here.

                                               Ask an Auctioneer

==========================================

 

Do you or need the services of a Massachusetts Auctioneer?  Want to find out how auctions work, or need help with your auction business? If so, check out http://massauctioneer.info

====================================

                                                 The weekly contest:

                                     

Thanks to Daniel C of Ontario, Canada who was the first person to correctly answer last week’s contest question.

This week’s contest question is: give 3 first names of any characters in the Underwood and Flinch podcast. Information about the Underwood and Flinch fiction podcast can be found at the beginning of ep91 of the AuctionWally Show.

The best way I know of to search them is to use Auctionzip.com the largest live auction locator.

• Find auctioneers
• See the prices realized section to find out the current value of items.
• Search for items coming up for sale
• Track which auctions specialize in specific genres
• Learn how to consign to auction houses

See the best collectibles video podcast at http://Collectiblescornertv.com
Tammy Kahn Fennell provides tips, interviews and news with a lot of fun.

Winter is here, and travel can be difficult. But that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on great auctions! Did you know that iCollector.com is an online portal into hundreds of auctions from live venues?

thanks for reading, and remember, it’s not spam if your requested the content ;) 

By Wayne Jordan,

The World’s Fair held in Paris in 1867 must have been a sight to behold.  The principal building was almost two football fields in length, containing a central pavilion crowned by a dome and surrounded by a garden.  Over 50,000 exhibitors displayed in more than 100 buildings.  Among the exhibitors were 400 piano manufacturers, all competing for the gold medals that would assure their brands’ future dominance of the world piano market.

The enthusiasm for the four piano models displayed by Steinway & Sons of New York was overwhelming.  Steinway won two gold medals, endorsements from European royalty, and praise from Franz Liszt and other great pianists. The Steinway piano was so wildly popular that the magazine Harpers Weekly published a cartoon showing crowds fighting to get to a Steinway piano.  The cartoon’s caption read: “Sudden Mania to become Pianists created upon hearing Steinway’s pianos at the Paris Exhibition”.

Such was the popularity of the Steinway piano that in 1869 Matthew Fontaine Maury, then Chairman of the Physics Department at Virginia Military Institute, sent two of his daughters to New York to purchase a Steinway for their home in Lexington, VA.  Matthew F. Maury was a former director of the US Naval Observatory and Commodore of the Confederate Navy.  He was awarded medals by European heads of state for his achievements, and honored with the nickname “Pathfinder of the Seas” for his groundbreaking work on ocean currents. Commodore Maury had settled in Lexington to pursue his academic interests.  When the Steinway arrived at his home, Commodore Maury excitedly wrote his son-in-law saying “the Piano has come - all safe- Elegant. Everybody pleased with it, and Elie is now making it “talk”! Thanks.”

My introduction to the Maury Steinway came almost twenty years ago, when I received a call from Keith Gibson, noted author and Executive Director of Museum Programs for Virginia Military Institute.  Col. Gibson had located the Maury piano, which had been stored for decades under a porch.  The piano had been used by the Maury family until about 1912, when it was sold to the Christian family.  In 1991, the Rev. William Christian, whose mother had bought the piano, offered the instrument to VMI.  Generous funding by Dr. J. Battle Haslam, a 1961 VMI grad, provided money for restoration.  Aware of my experience restoring antique pianos, Col. Gibson asked me to evaluate the piano for possible restoration.

My first impression of the piano was that it should be doused with gasoline and set afire.  The rosewood veneer was peeling from the case, ivory was missing from many keys, there was termite damage to the lid and legs, the strings were rusted, felts were moth-eaten, and the piano action had completely seized due to verdigris in the action’s pivot points. I was aware, however, that this was a historically important instrument that had been owned by a historically important man.

Before I accept a restoration job, I first establish the client’s expectations.  Col. Gibson made his expectations clear from the beginning: he did not want a cosmetic clean-up that would be suitable only for display: he wanted this instrument to play.  My logic was telling me: “run away”; but my instincts told me that this was my piano to restore.  Instantly, I didn’t want anyone else to be in charge of this restoration.  This was an opportunity for me to pay homage to history.  This instrument deserved thoughtful and skilled restoration, and I intended to provide just that.

Restoring an antique piano is more similar to restoring an antique automobile than restoring antique furniture.  A piano is a machine with thousands of moving wooden parts.  The Antiques Roadshow admonition that “refinishing hurts value” does not apply to pianos.  The challenge with an antique piano is to maintain its historical integrity while insuring that it will play music.  Hippocrates’ admonition “first, do no harm” must always stay in the mind of the restorer in choosing materials and techniques.  In consultation with Col. Gibson, a restoration plan was developed.

The restoration took more than a year.  The piano was completely disassembled; thousands of parts were numbered and labeled.  Unusual configurations were photographed.  Strings were sent to a string maker for duplication.  Action felts and cloths were painstakingly removed and replaced. The case veneer was repaired, and brass case parts were re-plated.   A new tuning pin block was installed, and the bridges and soundboard repaired.  The case was refinished, and then the piano was re-strung, the action re-assembled, and the piano regulated and tuned.

The sound of the resulting instrument surprised everyone.  Typically, square pianos have uneven tone with overpowering bass notes and weak treble notes.  The Maury Steinway was remarkably even in tone for a square piano.  No wonder Steinway received such accolades at the 1867 Paris Exhibition.

Due to renovations at the museum, the piano was placed into storage at VMI until its official dedication in June of 1995.  Dr. Haslam was the first to play the piano, performing the Doxology and the Navy Hymn, choices that would have pleased Commodore Maury.  Following Dr. Haslam, the song “Ashokan Farewell”, the theme from the PBS series The Civil War, was performed by Ginny Hutchinson, great-granddaughter of Commodore Maury.

Nearly twenty years after the initial restoration, the Maury Steinway is still exhibited at the VMI Museum in Lexington.  It is occasionally played, and the piano’s care is under the watchful eye of Col. Gibson.  Once again, Commodore Maury’s piano “talks”. I am glad I played a part in restoring the pianos voice.

Wayne Jordan is a Virginia licensed Auctioneer and Certified Personal Property Appraiser. As an auctioneer, Wayne has traveled from Florida to Alaska and from Maine to California, and internationally from Russia to Panama. He has sold cars, boats, jewelery, fine art, real estate, business assets, and estate property. Visit his website at www.waynejordanauctions.com and his personal travel blog at www.blueridgerambler.com