I was standing outside our auction house the other night, and a longtime customer asked me, “Where’s your auction on Sunday?”
I told him, “1427 West 1st, in Grandview, 1:00 p.m.”
Of course, he knew where (and when) I was talking about — we were standing in Columbus, Ohio and Grandview is a well-known suburb just north of downtown.
However, on the Internet, such as blogs, LinkedIn, forums, and especially Facebook — we don’t always know, “where exactly is that auction?”
For instance:
Don’t miss our auction tomorrow in Springfield, next door to the library.
Outstanding auction in downtown Columbus Saturday.
Be sure to come down to our auction house on Monday night.
We respectfully note …
There are upwards of 34 Springfields in the United States — is this Springfield, California or Springfield, Maine?
There are maybe 18 or more cities or towns named Columbus — is this Columbus, Arkansas, Columbus, Ohio or Columbus, New Mexico?
There are 1,000’s of auction houses, and on any given Monday night, maybe as many as 750 having an auction on Monday night — is this auction in Florida or Alaska?
Of course, with a little research, eventually the state and exact location can be found. My point here is no research should be required.
Auctions should be easy to find.
And, when on Facebook, for example, with friends all over the world, and those friends having 1,000’s of other friends, a note that we’re having an auction in Fairview might not be good enough — as there’s over 45 different cities, towns and villages called Fairview in the United States.
Certainly this phenomenon comes naturally — auctioneers arrive home from their auction house and almost unconsciously get on the computer, and say,“Great auction at our auction house, and be sure to come to our Greenville location tomorrow for our annual tool auction!”
… not thinking anything but that he or she knows exactly where that tool auction will take place; in fact, the auctioneer has hosted an annual tool auction there for 11 years.
Auctioneers have only a few seconds to grab (or retain) an Internet user’s attention. With insufficient information such as what state or part of the country an auction is located, those few seconds can be lost — possibly forever.
Where exactly is that auction? Good question.
Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, CAI, AARE has been an auctioneer and certified appraiser for over 30 years. His company’s auctions are located at: Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, Keller Williams Auctions and Goodwill Columbus Car Auction. His Facebook page is: www.facebook.com/mbauctioneer. He serves as Adjunct Faculty at Columbus State Community College and is Executive Director of The Ohio Auction School.
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