First, bigger is not always better. In this case big advertisement would have been needless.

Two, a good product will sell itself.

Three, and most important IMO, just ’cause everybody else does it don’t make it the best way. You mentioned that the advertising strategy that you bypassed was customary in Wisconsin. I did the same thing when I started in the Real Estate business. Custom says to take out big print advertising when you start and when you list property. Nope, not gonna do that. Not gonna spend a dime on print until my internet presence is where it needs to be…best decision I ever made:)

But without measuring their effectiveness we really can’t tell how successful they are.

Sometimes word of mouth and visibility gets you more than any expensive ad campaign. Sometimes, too many ads, especially those up too long, are ignored because they think too many people are already attending or they have grown accustomed to seeing them and ignore them. That’s a big problem with web-savvy surfers. They are so used to the ads, they ignore them.

Good point!

Congratulations on your sale! In the days of eBay and collecting, it doesn’t take much to draw a crowd to a rummage sale. I have two book boxes with signs on 2 sides that I set out at the main drag near our house and the end of our street. It never takes more than 5 minutes for the cars to start rolling in.

I think the lesson is that we often ASSUME a lot more about our customers’ behavior (and thus the need for marketing) than we should.

Mike

P.S. Have a safe trip back to GA