TAA February Block Talk

Texas Auctioneers Association | Block Talk | February 2021

Your TAA Monthly News and Updates

Laughter is Good Medicine

By: Montie Davis, PRI - TAA Secretary/Treasurer, TAA Hall of Fame

I love to laugh. I love to be around people who make me laugh.

Not long ago my family was sitting around the dinner table just enjoying each other’s company. I can’t remember what we were talking about but before long we were all laughing so hard. You know, that deep belly laugh which leaves you with tears streaming down your face. In that moment, all the stress of the day just went away. As auctioneers, we can be under a lot of stress preparing for and conducting an auction so maybe we should laugh a little more.

Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart does good like medicine.” Studies have shown that there are many health benefits of enjoying a good laugh thus the phrase “Laughter is good medicine.” So laugh more. You’ll like it. Say, have you heard the one about…?

A man bought a parrot at an auction after bidding higher and higher against another bidder. “I suppose the bird talks.” he said to the auctioneer. “Talks!” replied the auctioneer. “He’s been bidding against you for the last 10 minutes.”

I think I’m getting too old…I attended an antique auction yesterday and 16 people started bidding on me.

At auction school when you learn your basic chant the instructor had you put six marbles in each side of your mouth. You started your chant. One dollar bid now two. When the instructor nods his head, you spit out a marble. Two dollar bid now three. Nods his head, spit out another marble. Three dollar bid now four. Nods his head, spit out another marble. When you’ve lost all your marbles, you’re an auctioneer.

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Request for Clerk Management for 2021 TAA Conference

Please submit your best bid to support this event!

This year’s event will be held May 20-23, 2021 at Kalahari Resort, Round Rock, TX.

Why I Love The Hashtag (#) and You Should Too!

By: Heather Kaspar, BAS, CAI, GRI, SRES - TAA Board Member

Some of my colleagues lovingly referred to me as “Hashtag Heather.” This is because, when I first learned the power and purpose of the hashtag, I unleashed it everywhere. My goal, and the use of my hashtags, was to have my online posts count towards my brand. I also wanted to be able to find and earmark my posts. Lastly, I wanted to show up in relevant searches for the services I could provide.

Over the years, some of my zest for hashtags has diminished, but nonetheless are still a very important part of my marketing plan.

Hashtags help boost the social media engagement of your brand and can be done across multiple social media platforms, and is really quite easy. The other thing I really love about them is how they help me sort my posts on social media. If I needed pictures of my crew for other marketing I could type #buckupcrew and it was much easier to sort my images and content & find what I was looking for, or at least narrow my search. I still use many of my very first hashtags. Some hashtags were never used again. Now, I use them to help me manage different marketing campaigns.

I found this article by Louise Myers and thought it did a fantastic job of guiding a business towards the hashtags they could use in their marketing.

Link: https://Louise.com/72927/how-to-use-hashtags-guide-2

ABOUT THE IMAGE: This image, from that article, breaks down the thoughts to take when using or creating hashtags for your social media campaign.

Buck Up Baby! #CreateYourOwnHashtag

Goal Setting at Any Time

By: Doug Bradford, CAI, TCAP - TAA Board Member

The beginning of a new year is a common time we talk about resolutions and setting goals. You can make life changes at any time. 2020 and the pandemic emphasized the importance of being able to pivot and change our business plans as many so our auction businesses to complete changes.

Research has shown that writing your goals down and reviewing them daily or frequently leads to a greater success rate of achieving those goals. That doesn’t mean YOU don’t have to put the work in.

Try the SMART acronym when creating and setting your goals:

S: make your goal Specific. “I want to gain two new clients each month.”
M: goals must be Measurable. By setting a number or dollar figure, you know if you’re getting close, meeting, or exceeding your goal.
A: make your goal Attainable. Find the balance when creating your goal. It needs to be achievable. A $500,000 auction might not make sense if your typical auctions bring in $50,000, but $75,000 or $100,000 might be achievable with a little research and hustle to get better items.
R: make the goal Realistic. Saying you want to book 100 auctions in the next month may not be realistic if you normally only book one auction every one to two months. But booking three to four auctions a month might make more sense.
T: make your goal Timely. Set a timeline with beginning and end dates and target dates in between to track your progress. In doing so, you create a sense of urgency.

Auctioneer Violations Are Why License Fees Go Up

By: Rick Stroud - TDLR Auctioneer Advisory Committee

Here are examples of top Auctioneer Alleged Violations filed in 2020:

Alleged Violations:

Did not Pay seller within 15 days
Flagrant misrepresented or false promises
Acted as an Auctioneer or Associate Auctioneer without a License
Criminal History
No Name and TDLR number in AD
Failed to comply with an order
Did not give another their money
Failed to announce terms and conditions
Did not announce or reserve right to bid

The following are top Auctioneer Violations Resulting in Disciplinary Action for Fiscal year 2020:

Violations:

Did not pay seller within 15 days
Criminal History
Flagrant misrepresented or false promises
Acted as an Auctioneer or Associate Auctioneer without a License

Each and every one of these violation that was committed or allegedly committed was by a resident of the State of TEXAS. This is why our License fees increase, because of the pay out of the recovery fund. Be sure to share and educate your colleagues and staff. Here are links to TDLR resources of laws, rules and license study guide with many tips.

Reminder: The Sunset commission has acted to do away with the Auctioneers License, but this still has to go through the state legislature. As of right now it is business as usual!! People still need to apply for or Renew their License. Online renewals and applications are the easiest way and quickest way.