“Keeping Up” With Online Marketing
Lights, Camera, Action! Those terms are all too familiar in Kim’s world, but those lights can never shine on you if you don’t get your name out there! Marketing is the first key step to having people show up to your successful yard sale! But don’t complicate things, let’s keep it simple. Use resources like Craigslist and Facebook Groups to post the time, but you don’t have to go all out and pay for marketing. Use a free application like Canva to create a great flyer within minutes and add that to your ad. You can also take a picture of the signs you’re posting around the area. Just make sure your signs are written correctly! Doing this alone will ensure you have a successful yard sale
Don’t forget to use word of mouth to your advantage! You’re not going to get any attention if you don’t draw attention to yourself! Talk until you’re blue in the face and tell everyone you know about your yard sale that’s coming up!
Clear Pricing Using The Humphries Split
All puns aside, clear pricing has to be a constant in order for you to have a successful yard sale. Remember the times you walked through a yard sale and had to ask the vendor the price of every item? Talk about a waste of time! Now imagine a successful yard sale where everything was priced accordingly and you are able to select what you want, pay, and leave to get to the next one. Big Difference!
Pricing each individual item is an option, but when you’re clearing out an entire tool shed labeling each one is a straight-up chore. That’s why you use the Humphries Split! Select different spaces on a table, you can separate each section with painters tape, or another tape that won’t leave a residue when you pull it off. Avoid Duct Tape like the plague! After dividing those sections, write the section’s price on the tape, or add a piece of paper so it stands out more. Everything you put in that section is that price! You COULD separate everything into sections for different types of items as well, but we like to just group all like-priced items together in one spot. Just like the actual Humphries split, it all needs to be on paper and clear!
Street Signs
BIG! I’m going to say it again. BIG! Everything Kim does is big! She doesn’t spew little pieces of information everywhere in hopes that people will see it. When she posts something it’s big, legible, and easy to spot from a distance. Your signs should be no different! Every successful yard sale uses effective signage! You don’t need to spend a lot of money on a big sign or banner. The size of the sign is inconsequential. As long as people can READ your sign, you’re going to get more attention and have more customers. Here’s a list of the 4 things you HAVE to do to make your signs stand out:
- Write Big!
- People need to be able to read your sign from the opposite side of the street! That’s extremely important!
- Put Only Important Information
- Less is more. Writing “Yard Sale” “123 Fake St” “6 AM to 10 AM” is perfect. Give them the information they need, and nothing more. This allows you to write in a larger font which is easier to see.
- Write Legibly
- This is obvious, but my handwriting is horrific. I know it is and I accept it. Don’t get caught up thinking you have to do everything. If you need to ask someone with better handwriting to write the sign, then do it!
- Place Signs Strategically
- Unless you’re picking up your signs after your yard sale, you’re littering. Pitt Home Buyers buys houses in Greenville, NC, but we absolutely refuse to use bandit signs. How can we claim to serve a community that we’re actively littering? If you use all of these guidelines in totality, people are going to see your signs, so place them at busy intersections. Ask businesses if you can place signs in their yard for 24 hours. Be respectful and pick them up afterward. Then what do you think will happen next time you ask them?
Spotlight Your Hours
Being a successful actress and socialite doesn’t mean you wake up at 10 AM and hit the sack early. To make yourself shine, you need to be in the spotlight as much as possible! Waking up early and going to bed late. That’s what it takes to be successful. So take a hint from Kim! Not only should you make your hours extremely clear (see “Street Signs” above), you need to sack up and do it! If your yard sale start time is 7:00 AM, be up at 6:00 AM! Set everything up on your lawn and organize them so that when people arrive at 6 AM, you’re able to serve them.
Hardcore “Yard Salers” are looking for signs and scanning for yard sale ads starting on Wednesday. When you tell them what time to be there, they’re going to be there at that time. But if you say you’re starting at 5:00 and you’re not set up by that time, you can kiss that sale goodbye. Don’t make this mistake!
Streamline Access
You have to be accessible. You may not have a private jet… yet… But when Kim needs to be somewhere, she gets there. No questions asked. She takes the fastest route possible and the form of transportation that is the least challenging. Accessibility is key. Take this to heart and use it to have a successful yard sale. Set up your tables so there’s plenty of space between them. Maybe even put them in a long line. There’s also been a lot of success with making a “T” formation with tables since there’s a lot more surface area in a smaller space. If you have clothing, hang them on a clothing rack you can roll outside. Set it up like a high-end clothing store. Put that extra effort into it, and you’re certainly going to get so much more out of it!
Parking is another crucial part of access! Make sure you clearly mark where people can park, so you can maximize the number of people who can be there at one time. Don’t worry about too many people parking on the side of the road. As long as you put every action of Kim Kardashian’s Guide into action, you’re going to straight-up smash it! Happy Selling!