Monterey is a pretty classy place thus far, but the morning overcast fog would get old in a hurry. We are here spending time at Laguna Seca, the most-famed road-race course in North America. New to my job duties, videographer. I'll be shooting video, conducting interviews and producing movies in the next two days.
Granted I've never actually produced any movies or short media clips in my day, but I spent plenty of time on camera and writing scripts and shooting video at the ATV publications. I just received Final Cut Pro software to produce the movie clips, so I'll quickly have to learn that program too. So far I've managed Adobe Flash for our flash online ads OK, so I hope this is as easy to learn as the other Adobe programs I've studied and learned.
At this point, my skills are being tapped to their limits. After leaving the magazines I never thought I'd be using all these skill sets at KTM, nor making them even better. Crazy to say the least. Here's a taste of what I'm up to: Photographer, videographer, PR press releases, marketing programs, designing ads, creating model line brochures, designing T-shirts and various logos, creating flash ads, writing ATV / Husaberg sales programs and creating them from scratch, managing press functions, managing racing efforts, managing ATV / Husaberg product, managing dealer development functions and trying to stay sane. That's just a taste. Needless to say, my job NEVER gets boring!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
So It's November Already I Guess
Wow, where has time gone? Tracy and I have been pretty swamped here lately. It seems something always comes up to keep us busy and distracted and the time just whips by.
It's officially been 13 months since the move to California, but it only feels like it's been about 2. It's been a hectic last couple of weeks at and outside of work. I've been putting in 11-hour days at work, launching two all-new ATV programs while working on a ton of street media launch items (I have a flight up to Monterey Tuesday and come home late Thursday night).
But, it wasn't enough to get home late from work as I spent my nights wrenching on my ATV for the big sale ... it's like brand new now! I had enough of trying to sell my Suzuki virally via Craigslist and forum boards, so I put the puppy up on eBay. I was skeptical of the whole deal from the get-go, but at minimum hoped it drew some interest. I was right on both marks. Selling an auto or big-ticket item on eBay is a risk. Yet for me, in this economy, it was a risk worth taking.
I went the 10-day selling route and marketed the quad everywhere I could think of to draw up interest. After the 5-day mid-point, the Zuk had one bid at the minimum of $3995 and had more than 575 page views. As the time ticked away, the page views jumped to more than 1,000. By day 9 I had 5 bids, 36 item watchers and 1575 page views. Unfortunately the top two bidders both had zero feedback scores. From my experience, this is not a good thing.
After a short nap, I was awaken by Tracy excitedly saying, "Honey, the bid is up to $7600." Me being the skeptic that I am, I pulled up the auction and sure enough that's where it was at. Of course, my next move was to question how serious these two bidders were. Both had zero feedback scores. And this is where eBay needs improvement.
I didn't think the top bidder would come through with the purchase ... all the while Tracy was holding out hope. I didn't think the second chance offer to bidder No. 2 would move the Suzuki either, but Tracy wasn't giving up. eBay has its risks, and unfortunately my skepticism won out. This is were eBay needs to invoke a penalty to the top bidder, forcing them to pay the seller's listing fees. I dropped $22.50 listing that ATV, and non-serious bidders ripped away a sale that would have went to a lower more serious bidder who now had lost interest in the item. It happens all the time when bidders run up the price with a fake username, just to skew the auction. An authorized credit card with bidder listing fee penalty would protect the seller, and would help prevent goofballs out to ruin your auction.
I made second chance offers to all of the bidders, and only had one response. Naturally, it was the first bidder at the lowest price. Thankfully, he was still interested and we came to a fair price with a lot of bonus items included. I got the deposit in PayPal and we are arranging for pick-up next Monday. This eBay auction and ATV prep managed to eat up way more time than I ever fathomed. But, at the end of the day, I got a sale so it was all worth it. And, I managed to make 35% (less interest paid on the loan) on my investment. I'll take that to the bank.
It's officially been 13 months since the move to California, but it only feels like it's been about 2. It's been a hectic last couple of weeks at and outside of work. I've been putting in 11-hour days at work, launching two all-new ATV programs while working on a ton of street media launch items (I have a flight up to Monterey Tuesday and come home late Thursday night).
But, it wasn't enough to get home late from work as I spent my nights wrenching on my ATV for the big sale ... it's like brand new now! I had enough of trying to sell my Suzuki virally via Craigslist and forum boards, so I put the puppy up on eBay. I was skeptical of the whole deal from the get-go, but at minimum hoped it drew some interest. I was right on both marks. Selling an auto or big-ticket item on eBay is a risk. Yet for me, in this economy, it was a risk worth taking.
I went the 10-day selling route and marketed the quad everywhere I could think of to draw up interest. After the 5-day mid-point, the Zuk had one bid at the minimum of $3995 and had more than 575 page views. As the time ticked away, the page views jumped to more than 1,000. By day 9 I had 5 bids, 36 item watchers and 1575 page views. Unfortunately the top two bidders both had zero feedback scores. From my experience, this is not a good thing.
After a short nap, I was awaken by Tracy excitedly saying, "Honey, the bid is up to $7600." Me being the skeptic that I am, I pulled up the auction and sure enough that's where it was at. Of course, my next move was to question how serious these two bidders were. Both had zero feedback scores. And this is where eBay needs improvement.
I didn't think the top bidder would come through with the purchase ... all the while Tracy was holding out hope. I didn't think the second chance offer to bidder No. 2 would move the Suzuki either, but Tracy wasn't giving up. eBay has its risks, and unfortunately my skepticism won out. This is were eBay needs to invoke a penalty to the top bidder, forcing them to pay the seller's listing fees. I dropped $22.50 listing that ATV, and non-serious bidders ripped away a sale that would have went to a lower more serious bidder who now had lost interest in the item. It happens all the time when bidders run up the price with a fake username, just to skew the auction. An authorized credit card with bidder listing fee penalty would protect the seller, and would help prevent goofballs out to ruin your auction.
I made second chance offers to all of the bidders, and only had one response. Naturally, it was the first bidder at the lowest price. Thankfully, he was still interested and we came to a fair price with a lot of bonus items included. I got the deposit in PayPal and we are arranging for pick-up next Monday. This eBay auction and ATV prep managed to eat up way more time than I ever fathomed. But, at the end of the day, I got a sale so it was all worth it. And, I managed to make 35% (less interest paid on the loan) on my investment. I'll take that to the bank.
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