How To Organize A Yard Sale

A yard sale is a great way to purge space taking items that you no longer need, but someone else may need, and at the same time earn some cash. For the yard sale to be successful, it needs to be organized well.

Before you conduct a yard sale, you should know why and how it is going to be done.

Here are some question to ask yourself:
• Why a yard sale and not Ebay or Craigslist?
• Are you downsizing a home, moving, or just wanting to clear stuff or earn some money?

The answers to these questions might help in your planning. In general, here are some things you can think about:
1. One of the first steps in organizing items for a yard sale is to decide when you are going to have it. Having a date in mind will give your yard sale a sense of reality and help you to make decisions about what you will sell and what you will keep. Having a yard sale date on the calendar will also give you the motivation to actually have the yard sale. Nothing happens without a goal and a plan. I often work with clients who want to have a yard sale but until I work with them, they never do.

2. Next you need to go through your home or office and select items that you will sell. Be decisive and consider if you use, need, or love the item. If not, it is a good candidate for the sale. Is the item easily replaced? Make sure that the items are not broken and that they are in good condition.

3. Start sorting. Organize your yard sale in the same way you look for things in a department store and sort your items by category, i.e. kitchen items, appliances, linens, household items such as lamps, throw pillows, clothes, luggage, sporting goods, auto, etc.

4. Price your items. To get an idea what things go for shop other yard sales or check Ebay or Craigslist.

5. Advertise your sale in the newspaper, on the internet, use flyers and get the word out. Make sure you know how much lead time you need to place an ad.

6. The day of the sale, make sure you start early! Yard sale shoppers are early birds and will sometimes line up a good half hour or more before your advertised sale time. You may want to decide if you are going to allow early shoppers or not?

7. Find out if your neighborhood, city, or county have rules or regulations about yard sales.

8. NOTE: Most yard sales that I have organized and worked are pretty much over by late morning or by noon. Things are for the most part "picked over" by then. You can wait for more buyers or start giving things away so that you do not have to haul stuff off to Goodwill yourself.

Good luck with your sale.

By professional organizer Lee Mahla of Get OrderLee and Organize It. If you have any organizing related questions, you can contact Lee Mahla at Ask a Professional Organizer.

Walt Disney
John Ortberg

Motivation + Humor = A Great Meeting-Factors To Consider When Hiring A Motivational Humorous Speaker

Motivation is a funny thing, influenced by a broad range of factors. The bottom-line purpose of a motivational humorous speech is change. After all, if everything were running exactly as it should, all at its very best, then there would be no need to consider a motivational speaker. In order for a motivational humorous speech to be effective, however, it must be heard and the listeners must be engaged. This is the special talent that motivational humorous speakers bring to the table, the one that can allow them to change the world one laugh at a time.

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Rather than a speech filled with motivational platitudes that have been heard so often as to become almost meaningless, motivational humorous speakers present concepts and ideas that will be remembered and thought about after all is said and done. Thats because those concepts and ideas are presented in a form that is pleasurable to the listener, a situation in which the listeners are able to enjoy the camaraderie of a group with common goals, while sharing laughter.

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The particular talents and techniques that motivational humorous speakers have at their disposal help to ensure a productive and successful event, one that has great potential to create the motivation necessary to achieve desired goals. Laughter is a powerful, positive means of bringing people together to make things happen.

Doug Dvorak is the CEO of DMG Inc., a worldwide organization that assists clients with productivity training, corporate humor and workshops, as well as other aspects of sales and marketing management. Mr. Dvorak's clients are characterized as Fortune 1000 companies, small to medium businesses, civic organizations and service businesses. Mr. Dvorak has earned an international reputation for his powerful educational methods and motivational techniques, as well as his experience in all levels of business, corporate education and success training. http://www.dougdvorak.com

Confucius The Hero
Prajna