Archive for November, 2007
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Thursday, November 22nd, 2007If you’re in the giftware market, you might just know what’s pictured below. Otherwise, it probably seems a bit…odd. Go ahead and take your best guesses in the comments section. The only hint I’m offering is that it is not for “naughty” purposes. It’s perfectly innocent and appropriate for all audiences.
Cell Phones for Business
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007Despite the fact that my cell phone provider actively claims to have the fewest dropped calls, I seem to get more than my fair share. Today, as I was trying to do a bit of business on the drive to my day job, my call dropped 4 times in a 15 minute span. I’ve heard that you can get a cell phone booster to help prevent that sort of thing, but I’ve always been skeptical.
For those of you who use your cell phones as primary business line, do you have similar problems? How do you deal with them? Does anything work, or is a land line just the best way to go?
Brain Power Products
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007The immense popularity of the Brain Age game series has led to success for a number of similar mind-exercising products. The Brain Power books from Pomegranate Publishing are one great example. The fact that they’re affordable makes them perfect for nearly any store. It’s pretty hard to go wrong with high quality and a low price.
If you’d like to contact Pomegranate, just call them at the number below.
Pomegranate
Josh Rifkin
Box 808022
Petaluma, CA 94975
Toll Free Phone: 800 227-1428
Phone: 707 782-9000
Fax: 800 848-4376
Email: joshr (at) pomegranate.com
Lighting Sales in Your Store
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007If you’re looking for more categories to add during the holiday season, you should definitely consider home lighting. Most people are eager to make their homes look as “home-y” and warm as possible, and lighting is one of the best ways to do that.
Unfortunately, I haven’t dealt much with the lighting industry. Any good suggestions for vendors? I’m open to all types of lighting manufacturers.
Black Friday Countdown - 2 Days
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007With just two more days left until Black Friday, it may seem like there’s nothing left to do but await the chaos. That’s not necessarily true, though. On Friday, try to get in early to arrange things efficiently, get gift wrapping materials ready, and make sure everything is clean, tidy, and festive.
With a little bit of last minute double-checking, your day should be smooth and profitable. Happy Holidays, and enjoy the day off tomorrow!
Drug Rehab
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007Unfortunately, businesses don’t exist in vacuums, and real life problems will always intrude. So, how do you keep going at your business when you’re dealing with very real issues like divorce, drug rehab, financial problems, or abuse.
My only advice is this. Deal with the real life issues first. Even if your entire business goes under, you can always start again. If your family and friends are hurt, sick, or dead, though, you can’t get them back. Remember that.
More Holiday Gift Boxes
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007I wouldn’t ordinarily post twice about gift boxes, but these gift boxes from Parapluie Designs were just too awesome to ignore. They come in all sorts of shapes like blooms, oddly folded square boxes, and strange geometric shapes. They’re also very colorful, so they’re definitely eye-catchers in a store setting. The one below is my favorite.
If you’d like to sell Parapluie Gift Boxes in your store, get in touch with them below.
Parapluie
Kiersten Muenchinger
1037 Lea Drive
San Rafael, CA 94903
Phone: (415) 444-0784
Fax: (208) 975-2929
Email: kiersten@umbrellainsights.com
Last Minute Stocking Stuffers for Your Store
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007If you’re looking for some more last minute stocking stuffers for your store, you should definitely check out Notes & Queries. They have a variety of paper products and accessories that are great add-ons to increase average order sizes. You can browse most of their products online without registering, but you’ll have to get in touch if you want to find out about pricing.
If you want to talk to Notes & Queries, you can do so with the contact information below:
Notes & Queries
Alan Harnik
9003 L-M Yellow Brick Road
Suite H
Baltimore, MD 21237
Toll Free Phone: (800) 783-8870
Phone: (410) 682-6102
Fax: (410) 682-5397
Email: nandq@nandq.com
Holidays & Retail - Keeping Your Employees Through the Season
Monday, November 19th, 2007Whether you work in online retail or brick and mortar retail, one thing is certain: Thanksgiving is vital. Both Black Friday and “Cyber Monday” are huge for retailers, and unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to offer the day off to any of your employees (although Internet retail may be able to pull this off in some situations). In fact, it’s tough to give off any of the best days for shopping, especially if your staff is very small. How is it, then, that you’re supposed to keep your best employees, most of whom could probably get some pretty nice perks over at the nearest big box competitor.
Here are a couple of ideas that may help keep your employees positive and upbeat through the season:
-Music: Instead of a single Christmas CD on repeat, encourage your employees to bring in their favorites to enjoy.
-Treats: Just as providing cookies, donuts, or candy can please your customers, it can also make your employees feel more welcome in your business.
-If space permits, consider allowing young mothers on your staff to bring their children to work and keep their playpens in the back. Yes, it could be difficult at times, but think of the joy you’ll bring both your customers and your employees. I remember being in a store once when a baby started crying in back. The mother rushed back to be with it, and the store owner answered a customer’s questioning look with a simple, “It’s tough sometimes, but she’s a great employee and it’s important to me that she’s able to spend more time with her new daughter.”
-Bonuses: No talk of the holidays is complete without bonuses. Make sure it’s cash or a gift card to somewhere extremely useful, because almost no one wants to get a ham. That’s especially true for people who work low-paid retail jobs. It won’t cost you a lot to give bonuses, but the costs of not giving them are extremely high in terms of morale.
There are tons of creative ways that you can keep your employees happy - much more than what I’ve posted here.
If you have more ideas, please feel free to add them in the comments.
Black Friday Countdown - 5 Days
Sunday, November 18th, 2007I’m excited. Black Friday is less than a week away, and you know what that means. It’s okay to bring out the Christmas stuff without a crazy backlash at how early Christmas is coming each year. I always keep my Christmas trees and snowman decorations safely tucked away until the week of Thanksgiving, but after that, I say it’s fair game.
What about you? When do you think it’s safe to come out of the holiday decorations closet?
Holiday Help Tips
Sunday, November 18th, 2007Getting extra help for your store can be tough during the holidays. Big chains are often just as desperate, and many can offer benefits that most small stores could never compete with. That’s why you’ll have to get creative to get good holiday help. Here are some of the things that I’ve known to work.
-Interns - If there’s a college nearby, you can often get a local student to come help for the entire fall semester by promising to allow him or her to participate in some other aspect of the business in addition to the more menial tasks. Accounting students may be thrilled to help out with your bookkeeping data entry, and marketing students would probably love to help out with a holiday flyer or postcard.
-Mothers - If you are willing to be flexible and allow a young mother to bring a playpen and keep her child in your break room or another nearby area, it’s pretty easy to find someone to help you out. There’s not a Best Buy in the country that would offer that kind of perk.
-Retirees - Often, older women may be interested in getting out of the house for a while each day, but they don’t know where to begin. Ask around your church or at a local women’s group if you’re looking for their help.
-Be Friendly - Don’t play one single holiday CD on repeat. Don’t be a total stickler for uniformity and procedure. Embrace differences and encourage your help to be themselves (as much as is practical, of course).
To Give Good Service, Consider Yourself
Sunday, November 18th, 2007There’s no time of year when good service is as important as it is during the holidays. With all the hustle and bustle, it’s terribly easy to get angry, upset, and just plain scrooge-like. Here are a few questions to ask yourself about your holiday attitude (and your attitude in general!):
-When you see a child crying, do you think, “The mother needs to shut that kid up already,” or do you think, “Poor dear, it must be terribly frustrating for her to shop with her children.”
-When you see a local woman who has been known to “indulge” on occasion, do you sneer at her, or do you feel a genuine concern and hope that a drug rehab program is in her future?
-When you see a poor family in your store, clearly touching your merchandise with little intent to purchase, does it make you angry to see them, or do you wish them a Merry Christmas and offer them candy canes and a warm smile?
Obviously, there are more answers than the 2 I’ve provided in each scenario, but it should make you think. Is your attitude primed for the season?
Great Gadget Gifts for the Holidays
Sunday, November 18th, 2007As I mentioned before, I think it’s important to bring in a certain number of new items around the holidays, especially if you own a brick and mortar store. Given the fact that people will buy almost anything during the holiday season, you’ll almost definitely increase your sales by bringing in some unexpected additions.
Gadgets are one of many great add-ons. Some of the hot ones this year include USB Missile Launchers, USB Lamps, USB Christmas Trees (are you sensing a trend here?), keychain memory sticks, and remote control helicopters (remote control toys are always a hit).
As always, if you have further suggestions, please feel free to contribute.
Buying a Small Business Computer
Sunday, November 18th, 2007If you’re going to run a small business, you’ll almost definitely need a computer. Even if you run an old school cash register in a brick and mortar store, you can improve your business by adding a computer. There’s just no compelling reason that I can see not to make the investment (unless you work in Colonial Williamsburg and you’re going for historic authenticity).
I would offer a set of rules, but it would be outdated almost as soon as I put them onto the screen. Instead, I recommend that you go to a knowledgeable friend, neighbor, or relative (or local student, in a pinch), and ask that he or she come along with you to the store. Before you go, make sure you know what you’re looking for. If your activities will likely be limited to using the web, checking e-mail, doing a little word processing, and possibly using a basic accounting software, you probably don’t need something terribly fancy. The only real consideration would be computer memory, as processor speeds are hardly even a consideration for normal tasks these days.
What you should not do is go out to your local computer store and tell them that you need a new computer for your business. They can and will convince you that you need much, much more than you actually do. Don’t let that happen to you.
Music Design Audio & Video Wholesaler
Sunday, November 18th, 2007The simple website over at Music Designs would turn a lot of people off, but not me. I like simplicity. There’s a lot to be said for something that does what it needs to do and nothing more.
Anyway, Music Design is a distributor and wholesale of music and self-help products. They don’t appear to do books, though, just audio and video products.
If you’re interested in getting into that particular market, definitely give them a call at the number below.
Music Design
Liz Doan
4650 N. Port Washington Rd.
Milwaukee, MI 53212
Toll Free Phone: 800-862-7232
Phone: 414-961-8380
Fax: 414-961-8381
Email: goddend (at) musicdesign.com
Sports Gift Ideas for Men
Sunday, November 18th, 2007If you run a gift store, there are a number of traditional gift items that you might want to consider offering to your customers this winter. I’ll start with sports-related items, but I hope to go through several areas of interest and several different demographics. I’ve listed my thoughts below, but I welcome additional suggestions in the comments below.
Sports Items: Local team highlights DVDs, golf balls, golf desk accessories, water bottles or coffee mugs with local teams, and possibly sports related ties or tie clips.
Holiday Gift Packaging
Sunday, November 18th, 2007Depending on your customers, you may find that it’s important to offer some kind of gift packaging for holiday sales. If you plan on doing it, it’s best to look into it right away, since the beginning of the big holiday sales is less than a week away. Box & Wrap is one company that offers a variety of gift packaging products. They even have food packaging products and holiday box towers.
You can get in touch with Box & Wrap below.
Box & Wrap
customerservice@boxandwrap.com
1-866-349-9727
Managing Performance in Your Business
Sunday, November 18th, 2007One of the most important parts of any business is business performance management. Without some established system, you have no way of knowing if you’re on the right track. What’s more, it gets harder and harder as your business gets larger.
If you feel like you’re getting to the point where it’s a difficult task in your business, there are softwares that can be combined with your current systems to help you out. Any number of commercial providers would be more than happy to help.
Moosepablos - Wholesale Jewelry
Sunday, November 18th, 2007If you’re interested in selling jewelry in your store or on your website, it’s not hard to find wholesalers to help you out. Moosepablos is one great, southwest-inspired site that offers original jewelry designs. The site itself is pretty cool, too, as they’ve compiled a fun, interactive experience to help you learn about their products.
If you want to get in touch with Moosepablos, you can do so below.
Moosepablos
Janet Ruef
8202 State Hwy. 104
Suite 102, P.M.B. 44
Kingston, WA 98346
Toll Free Phone: (888) 780-8377
Phone: (360) 697-9910
Fax: (360) 697-9916
Starting a Business
Sunday, November 18th, 2007Starting a business is kind of like starting a family. It opens up dozens of new things that you have to start thinking about: life insurance, health insurance, payroll, payroll taxes, inventory, funeral insurance, worker’s comp, unemployment…and the list could go on all day.
Even still, the sense of freedom and accomplishment that comes with it is amazing. So, if you’ve been waiting, take the first step. Go down to the courthouse and register a name. It usually costs less than $50. Then, just keep going, taking one small step at a time. You’ll be glad that you did.
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