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by on February 23, 2015 Leave a Comment

5 Ways to Add Value to Your Home

Real estate is simply one of the best financial investments you can make. Apart from providing you with a sense of ‘home,’ your property can generate a huge profit. If you’re looking to sell in the near future, here are five cost-effective ways to add value to your home, get a quick sale,and maximise your returns.

1. Street Appeal

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What is the first thing people see when they come to view your property? It’s the exterior package of your home. Not just the building itself, but the gardens, lawn, fence, and even the letterbox. You would know yourself that when you’ve gone to inspect a property to buy or rent, the ‘drive-by’ is the first thing you do. If you don’t like what you see from the street level, you keep driving. Take a look at your home from this perspective and identify and address obvious issues. The aim here is to make it as visually appealing as possible. Get some tips from local real estate agents on what buyers are looking for and maybe even take a drive around your suburb to see what other homeowners have done to make their place look great from the outside.

2. Space

space

Once inside your home, the fastest way to scare off prospective buyers is by presenting a cluttered property. A home doesn’t have to be messy in order to be cluttered. Oversized furniture, loads of decorations, and ‘busy’ designs on carpet and curtains can all create a sense of chaos. When people walk through that front door, they want to be greeted by clean and spacious rooms. If you’ve outgrown your home and simply have too much stuff, get yourself some packing boxes and store your excess things in a garage, shed, or self storage facility such as Fort Knox Storage. Check out their self storage page here. This will instantly transform your property and give you a blank canvas to start your pre-sale styling.

3. Fresh Paint

fresh paint

This is a very effective way to add value to your home quickly, easily and relatively cheaply. Fresh paint suggests a home has been well maintained and increases apotential buyer’s perception of the cleanliness of a property. For the purposes of selling, it’s probably best to play it safe and go for a neutral colour scheme.

4. Outdoor Living

outdoor living

This has almost become a pre-requisite for homes now. If you already have an outdoor entertainment area, make sure it’s beautifully presented. Add comfortable and colourful cushions to chairs, have some potted plants, and organise some intimate lighting to create ambience. The best time of day to photograph and show a property is at twilight, so you may even want to invest in some lamps and candles.

5. Garden

garden

Tying in with outdoor living, neat and nicely presented gardens are a big ticket item when it comes to adding value to your home. While most people love being outdoors, gardens can be a lot of work to keep well maintained. By presenting your gardens well, buyers get a lovely, tranquil feeling. Long grass and overgrown garden beds scream “you’ve got heaps of work to do here” and are a major turn off for most people.

There are many ways to increase the value of your home, but don’t spend more than you’ll get by selling. If you’re about to sell, apply some of the cost-effective tips above to increase your chances of a fast sale and a great price.

Image Credits:
Pixabay.com

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by on October 8, 2014 6 Comments

Using Press Releases for Business Promotions

Press releases are often taken for granted or used incorrectly when it comes to promoting businesses. The truth is that using press releases for business promotions can be truly effective since these articles are perceived to be “friendlier” as compared to sales articles. There is a clear difference between these two types of articles. While some would mistakenly think of press releases as solely for announcement purposes only, these articles can actually serve the sales purpose as well.

press releases
Readers are more open to the messages in press releases as they are considered to be less “pushy.” When written correctly, these articles do not make the readers feel like they are forced to make a purchase – at least not directly. PR articles should make the readers realize the value in purchasing products, availing of services, or doing business with a particular company. As such, press releases for business promotions should be relevant to its target audience.

Instead of directly telling the audience to “buy this,” the PR article tells the customer that they can gain specific benefits from the products and services being offered. The highlight is shifted towards the value of the products and services to the consumers. When the customers realize the value that they can get, they are likely to be more receptive to the subtle marketing messages in the PR article.

PR articles should also be distributed to reputable publications. The credibility of the publisher is just as important as the credibility of the business. These days, there are plenty of PR websites that specialize in delivering these articles to various audiences. Even free PR websites are considered to be worthwhile by many consumers. In fact, a lot of consumers choose to read PR articles from these websites before they make their purchase decisions.

Those who are not familiar with the proper way of writing press releases for business promotions can check out the internet for guides and examples. There are also freelance writers who can be hired to come up with effective press releases. No matter which option you choose, you have to make sure that the value you are offering to your audience is clear and compelling enough even without the hype and promotional content.

Image Credits:
ddpaumba – FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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by on July 4, 2014 Leave a Comment

Traditional versus New Ways of Advertising for Modern Businesses

The landscape of media and advertising has definitely changed over the past decades. Even industry studies show that the ad spending on traditional media advertising has considerably decreased. With the presence of new ways of advertising for modern businesses, is there still value in traditional advertising using conventional tri-media? The answer is a definite yes. It’s not a matter of one or the other. It’s not a battle between the traditional and the new. It’s all about the various modes of advertising complementing each other. Traditional advertising can support modern advertising and vice versa.

ways of advertising

Among the new ways of advertising for modern businesses are online advertising modes. The realm of online advertising is vast and diverse, with options as simple as link advertising to as complex as affiliate advertising. These work well for businesses that only operate online. While their operations are limited to the internet, this should not stop them from using traditional tri-media to draw their target market to their website. Advertising on television or printing out and distributing flyers with the website address can very well work in increasing traffic to an online business website.

In a similar manner, a bricks and mortar store can advertise online to invite people to visit their stores. They can do email blasts of special discount coupons that can be printed out and presented at the checkout counters in their stores. Businesses can also hold social media campaigns tapping their target customers using geo-tagging services. Announcements of in-store promos and events can also be done through online advertising. Getting customers to talk about their businesses in various online venues is actually a good way to drum up excitement and increase store visits.

There are clear differences when it comes to implementing traditional advertising and new ways of advertising for modern businesses. More than the mode of advertising, businesses will have to think about giving more value to their customers whether online or offline. They also have to consider how their advertising initiatives will reach more people and consequently result in more revenues. The bottomline, after all, is still the relationships created and revenues generated by advertising, whatever mode it may be.

Image Credit:
Patpitchaya – FreeDigitalPhotos.Net
Modified by: Rossel

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by on January 26, 2014 Leave a Comment

Things to Consider Before Joining a Travel Trade Show

Advertising your business and your product is one of the most challenging parts of growing a business. You have to try out different venues and apply different strategies to reach out to key players in the industry and gain potential clients. One of the most productive advertising campaigns you can do is to join a travel trade show or a road show wherein your product is advertised along with others businesses. You will be provided a stand or both on a variety of locations on the duration of the travel.

trade show

Image Credit: Phil Sexton on Flicker

Participating in a roadshow is a cost-effective method of advertising your business to certain audiences. If you want to create or raise brand awareness, this will give you a platform for promoting services or products that you can offer. A roadshow also allows you to carry-out market tests for gathering opinion and feedback about the product or services that your business sells. One major benefits of joining trade show is that it leads to business trading opportunities which can help you build a strong customer base.

Choosing a Trade Show Organizer

Before deciding whether to join a roadshow or not, it is ideal for you to discuss your plans with a trade show organizer. Reputable organizers will be able to explain to you expected costs, time table and schedules, location of stops, other businesses on the show and other important matters. You should have a clear picture of the things that can happen in the trade show and have a set budget for unexpected events to ensure that your team can sustain the demands of the travel trade show. Discuss with your advisor plans and outlines of the risks and benefits that you can gain if you join such activity and compose a team for you to start planning and sourcing out your requirements.

Duration of the Trade Show

Factor in several points such as destinations, number of days and costs of displaying your products or service during the event when making your budget. These shows can last from one whole day up to a week. It can cover one neighborhood to one municipality. You may also research on the other businesses that will participate in the roadshow to ensure that you have the right target audience. If you will be promoting you domestic cleaning products, make sure that you are with fellow businesses who are also promoting home-related services or products. It will be useless for you to join a roadshow that has an expected audience of business owners looking for commercial building materials.

Knowing other participants in the roadshow also help you determine the level of competition that you will be facing. This way you can plan your business advertising strategies accordingly. Work out how many clients or potential clients you will need to make profit and you can do this with the organizer and your staff who will man your stall during the trade show. Make sure that your marketing department also comes up with materials that will capture attention during the event.

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by on July 4, 2013 Leave a Comment

How to Choose an Advertising Agency

Small businesses that have no marketing departments but want to maximize their product or service promotions can opt to hire the services of an advertising agency. Being independent from the business, an ad agency can objectively design marketing campaigns, branding strategies, and sales promotions. By commissioning these services, small businesses are able to effectively grow their consumer market.

advertising agency

Small businesses may shy away from hiring an advertising agency due to the steep costs that significantly add to their expenses. However, if one would consider the increase in revenue that could be achieved through a great marketing strategy, the cost of an advertising contract becomes a very wise investment.

In choosing an advertising agency for your business, here are some factors you should consider:

Expertise. Small businesses, especially those that are based online, would do well to employ the services of a specialized agency. If your target is to make your brand much more visible in cyberspace, an agency whose expertise lies on marketing through digital media, social media, and mobile applications would best address your needs. On the other hand, bigger businesses may want an agency that can do everything from brand building and print advertising to direct marketing and public relations.

Track Record. Many ad agencies highlight the various awards that they have received but this, however, doesn’t always make them the best choice for your business. Instead of looking at the number of awards an agency has received, check how their strategies have helped build their clients’ businesses. Though they may have employed different strategies for their clients, you would have a better picture of whether they would be a good fit for your business.

Connections. An ad agency that has extensive connections with other businesses, social organizations, and media outfits has more edge in maximizing product or service promotions. Those who have already established a relationship with media outfits for one can already save you some advertising expense by availing discounts for ad placements.

Cost. Ask for a quotation and see if you can work it in your budget. Do remember that ad agencies cannot promise results so the expense that you allot for this expenditure must not send you to bankruptcy in case their strategies do not deliver. A good option for small businesses is to look for an agency that would be amenable to a success fee or traditional commission agreement.

With their expertise, an advertising agency can efficiently build your brand and market your product and services. The significant increase in revenue their marketing strategies can bring about make commissioning an ad agency a worthy investment even for small businesses.

Image Credit:
Arztsamui – FreeDigitalPhotos.Net

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