Talk about starting over!
How public speaking skills saved an online auctioneer.
Who says an old dog can’t learn new tricks? With Toastmasters, I learned that anything is possible. This powerful lesson arrived at a crossroad in my life, just when I needed it. While recovering from back surgery, I wasn’t able to travel, which was a requirement of my job at that time. To put food on the table, I needed to find another career. As luck would have it, a great opportunity presented itself: I became an eBay consignment seller ... with a twist.
Many people sell things on eBay, but how many find a way to do it on such a large scale that it becomes a career? There are, of course, a few ways to make that happen, but I really think my particular business concept was a boon to me and my customers. It took only a few steps:
- I gave free seminars to nonprofit groups on how they could raise cash from donated garage sale-type items such as antiques.
- I gathered their goods and went through the process of turning donations into bankable funds.
- After making the sales on eBay, I kept a reasonable commission on the proceeds, handing the sellers a good amount of cash to run their organizations.
Thanks to Toastmasters, I found a way to turn public presentations into gold ... for my business and for my customers! For four years, I offered 30-minute seminars, titled “Confessions of an eBay Junkie.” These events treated each group to a PBS Antique Roadshow style appraisal – by a professional appraiser – of some of their collected pieces. After each appraisal, I asked the antique owner if he or she would like me to turn that item into instant cash by selling it on eBay, “the world’s largest and safest online auction.” With my Toastmasters training, I could communicate effectively to one or 100 attendees.
These free seminars fueled my eBay online auctions from 2003 to 2007, during which time I conducted more than 300 talks to groups of seniors in Florida, Georgia and Alabama. In 2007, I discontinued the free seminars and became an antiques and collectibles advisor to law firms that now pay me to speak at client seminars. Now would you consider that new position to be part of my superb second career ... or the start of a third?
Gordie Allen, ATM-B, is a 31-year member of Winter Park Toastmasters Club # 3674. If you have questions about Gordie's eBay exploits or how-to techniques, he can be reached at: eurekaman43@hotmail.com