Micro-Jobbing, an unemployment solution? 8-22-10 Newsletter
Sunday, August 22, 2010 at 5:25PM If you’re reading this on my website and are not yet a subscriber to my newsletter, please sign up. There are benefits to subscribers that others cannot get, such as prizes for my weekly contests and more. It’s free and I don’t spam or sell names.
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Micro-Jobbing:
I’m not sure if I invented the term “Micro-Job” or not, but I’m certainly experimenting with the idea of it and plan to publish eBooks on how you can find, make and get micro-jobs. I got the idea from the continual, devastating un-employment situation. See, I’ve NEVER been out of work. Never. I may not have always been the highest paid person in the room, nor the smartest, but I’ve always had work whenever I wanted it.
Recently, I had a Flash Auction, (see the bit below) a kind of a micro auction which went very well. I took out all the conventional financial overhead a normal auction takes to succeed, and I tweaked the event for a 10 minute auction. Instead of 200 items being sold by the piece as I’d normally do, I sold 15 multi-item lots in 10 minutes!
I had to think outside the box a bit. To conduct this auction, I couldn’t spend the time and money to have the crowd come to me. I went to where the people were. In the middle of a crowded flea market.
This auction cost me $30 to run. An average auction hall auction costs me about $1,200 to run. This “average auction” would take weeks to get ready for. The flash auction took me less than a full day.
When putting together this auction, I’d begun to realize that this theory could work with a lot of other occupations and situations. Now, with Twitter, Facebook and all the other social network tools, getting micro-jobs is not only possible, but they may be some of the best opportunities some of us have had in a long time!
Only a very short time ago, this employment model would not have been feasible, but it’s available. Yes there’s rampant unemployment, but when one door closes, another one opens up! Micro-Jobbing is just a way of turning the handle a more forcefully giving a harder yank!
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Mico-Job Tips:
- List your services on Craigslist, of course Craigslist
- If you use Twitter, learn how to search Geographical areas, and keyword phrases that pertain to your employment skills.
- Have a short simple bio ready that sums up what you can do and any credentials: like a resume, only shorter.
- Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of lawn signs like, “I’ll do carpentry work, reasonable rates”, try this.
- Instead of looking for “places to find a job”, look for people with problems. What problem can you solve?
- Send out an e-newsletter. It’s virtually free, and as you write the content, you are able better find your place in the market.
- Imagine ANY conventional project you’d have to do, the bigger the better. Then start asking the question, what would happen if I stripped away this?
- Open your mind to the concept of being self employed on a per diem basis. It’s not something everyone can, or will want to do. But there WILL be a lot of work for people who make themselves available in this manner. The reason I say this, is because for everyone that want’s to save time and money DOING and FINDING work, there is a customer looking to save money on work they need done.
I’ll be covering this topic quite a bit more in the future. (See the weekly contest)
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Flash Auction at Todd’s Farm a Success
Thanks to those of you who attended! You can see why I booked the next one right away!
The auction at Todd’s Farm was a success! It went better than I’d hoped. 80% of the lots sold, and as promised, if the auction went well, I would schedule another one for the following week. Therefore the next “Flash Auction” will be Sunday, August 29th. The only difference is, it will be an hour later at 11am. Inspection will be from 8-11.
Expect to find interesting lots of paper, smalls, postcards etc. Details will be posted soon at AuctionZip.com
I’ve gotten quite a bit of interest from dealers who are interested in participating in future sales so stay tuned. For now the auction site will remain under the trees near the snack bar.
Find out more about the auction’s location, at Todd’s Farm.
Not sure what a Flash Auction is?
Check out this article which explains it.
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Attention boocoo-ers: boocoo’s got your back!!! Now when you buy great things on boocoo , you can do so with complete confidence, with the newboocoo ASSURANCE program. For sales made on or after August 13th, if you don’t receive your item, or if it’s not as described, boocoo ASSURANCE will cover your purchase price and shipping charges, up to $300. For details click here. |
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WeGoLook.com
You contact the folks at WeGoLook.com and they send out a looker to get the information you’re looking for. Neat huh? Right now there are 5,000 background checked lookers on call throughout the US and lots of plans for expansion. The site not only verifies items, but sites, and situations as well.
I thought that WeGoLook.com was such a great site, that I contacted the owner and we’ve begun negotiations on a business partnership for our mutual websites.
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What’s up with you?
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Love to sell online, but want to sell more than antiques?
If so, you need to try Salehoo.com There’s room in the marketplace for all kinds of sellers, and many of us are selling new, items that are re-stockable. This kind of selling on eBay & Amazon & Bonanzle, can be lucrative when you have a good source to go to when purchasing stock. Salehoo is a fantastic resource for such product.
Did you know that:
They have just celebrated their 5th birthday
They have over 75,000 members
They have over 8,000 of the world’s best legitimate suppliers.
The company provides education, support, forum networking and more.
I’d like to thank them for becoming a sponsor of The AuctionWally Show and look forward to a long relationship with them.
Take a minute to see what Salehoo is all about.
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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.
NEW FEATURE: I’ve added a chat box to the Ask an Auctioneer page. As with the rest of my site, there’s no need to sign in or register to participate. When the text indicates that I’m online, I’ll be available to give advice on antiques and auctions.
The weekly contest:
I had a lot of folks email answers, but the first person with the correct answer was Joy M. of Mechanicsburg, PA
Thanks Joy, I’ll be sending out your package on Monday. If you’re one of several other folks who’ve won in the last month, I didn’t forget you, I’ve just been busy. Your package will go out in Monday’s mail as well!
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This weeks contest question is:
The Beatle’s had an album cover that was in protest of American record companies chopping up the English versions of their albums to squeeze out extra LPs out of less songs. What is the nick-name of that album cover, and what is the actual album it appeared on for a brief time before it was pulled from the shelves?
Bonus Question: If you’ve read the bit above on micr-jobs, give you’re best tip for micr-jobbing. Besides the winner to the Beatles trivia question above, I’ll also send out a prize envelope to the contestant that offer’s the best micro-job tip. By sending your answer, you’ve agreed to allow me to publish your answer in next week’s newsletter. I’ll publish all tips that have value. Thanks in advance. Let’s put our heads together and get to work!
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- Research what live auctions are featuring each week
- Find out who is selling what and where
- Find out which auctioneers sell what types of items
- Search what things have sold for
- See who is taking consignments
- Find specialty auctions
- Bid online
- Ask auctioneers specific questions
- Qualify auctions for your specific interests
- Search live auction content by zip code
Tammy Kahn Fennell provides tips, interviews and news with a lot of fun.
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