Just Gettin´ Started...

Hey EVERYONE!!! Welcome to my blog! FYI - I am a brand spankin´new blogger AND a brand spankin´ new AUCTIONEER!

The whole auctioneering thing is what started this whole blogging thing :). I have a full-time job in TV ad sales, but since I started learning how to auctioneer I just can´t stop thinking about IT. "IT" includes a lot of stuff like: all the sweet compliments I´ve been getting, where and how I made a mistake, how to NOT make it again and/or how to cover it, the differences between one auction to another, getting rid of all the jitters I have for DAYS before an auction, what Auction School will be like.... All that kind of stuff. Needless to say...my mind is OVERLOADED with all kinds of thoughts and this blogging thing seemed like a good idea!

So people ask..... "Have you always wanted to auctioneer?"

The answer to that is I don´t think so. I have always been interested in auctions. My Uncle Melvin :) has been an auctioneer all my life and I´ve been around sale barns as far back as I can remember. My first job was punching cattle at Lee County Stockyards in Giddings, TX. I went from punching cattle and checkin´ them in, to working in the office - settling out the buyers, entering info, stuff like that. I also worked in the café end of things too. To get to the point...I think its just in my blood. I have always been interested in auctions and it WAS on my bucket list to auctioneer.

I couldn´t sleep one night and it was really early in the morning and a thought just popped in my head. "Why don´t I learn how to auctioneer?" So I mentioned this idea to my Pops (who BTW has a mouth the size of Dallas) and he went and told my Uncle Melvin RIGHT AWAY....

So Uncle Mele calls me up and wants me to do an auction with him in MAY (literally a week after I told him I was thinking about doing this). Luckily....I had a shower for my best friends wedding and couldn´t make that one. At least it gave me a little time to practice (and by "practice" I mean talking to myself real fast, watching some You Tube videos, and asking my Uncle a bajillion questions). The next auction was in June at THE ST. PETER AND PAUL CATHOLIC CHURCH in Plum, TX. There was no getting out of this. If I was gonna do it...it was time to BUCK UP and take ´hold of the situation.

Well let´s just say...I WAS NERVOUS OUT OF MY MIND!!! I didn´t know very many people there (at least when we first got there) and I was following my Uncle around like a lost puppy. Later someone told me that they were trying to figure out who I was. They didn´t know if I was "Melvin´s young mistress" or what. That deserves an LOL! That´s any small town for ya!

So I start out bid-calling or spotting the bidders. Thank GOODNESS Uncle Melvin had me do this first. It helped me figure out where the "consistent" bidders were.

AND THEN......Uncle Melvin calls me up to do my first item. I do not remember WHAT I sold, but I do remember that I sold it to Mr. and Mrs. Leer and it went for $85! WHEW! I made it! Everyone was clapping for me and said I did a good job. Anyways...after that it was all fun. I started getting comfortable, people would talk to me when I took my break, the nerves were gone. I´m not saying I didn´t mess up, b/c I did. I lost the winning bidder at one point and started and stopped selling on one item b/c I had what I call "a moment." Ultimately, I jumped a bid higher than I needed to and instead of bringing it back down I just froze.

I do want to take a little time to thank EVERYONE THAT DONATED the items to the auction, THE BIDDERS, EVERYONE THAT HELPED WITH THE AUCTION and the MEMBERS OF THE ST. PETER AND PAUL CATHOLIC CHURCH. It takes all of those elements to pull an auction off. With all SERIOUSNESS...you all gave me the confidence that is keeping me going with all of this. That first auction was MY test to see if it was even worth me pursuing this whole auctioneering idea. I do have one more shout out to HATFIELD DENTAL CLINIC in LaGrange, TX for buying the highest item I had sold at that point. It was an AWESOME metal peacock!!! All the bidders did a FANTASTIC job and I hope everyone there enjoyed theirselves as much as I did!

The best part is MY FIRST AUCTION was a SUCCESS!! I was welcomed back with Uncle Melvin anytime. I believe we helped bring in $36,000 for the church (Sorry if I´m wrong. That´s what Uncle Mele told me). I met a lot of really GREAT people and really....the response from everyone OVERWHELMED me and I am still a little overwhelmed by it all. It kinda feels like the GOOD LORD dropped an opportunity in my lap and it was time to BUCK UP and do something about it. I really don´t know what the "right" next thing to do is, but I am a STRONG believer in "If you don´t know what to do...just do something." That´s probably the sales skills coming out in me.

I plan on doing as many fundraising auctions as I can and Uncle Mele will take me on. Then later this year, going to an auction school to get licensed. It just opens up more opportunities.

Well...sorry this one is so long, but STAY TUNED for my next blog. I´ll be talking about my 2nd auction - which was in MY HOMETOWN! TALK ABOUT NERVES!!