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greenoak
11-07-2008, 07:40 AM
in about 6 days we revamped the store into a huge christmas thingy....please see my blog for an idea of what im going thru out here in the real world.........and yesterday towards the end someone came with over 200 items to sell.....85 sap buckets and other barn relics.....
today that pile is outside unpriced and waiting to be processed and today our big event starts.....i would never tell someone not to bring me something that would sell easily...even tho it was totally the wrong day for us...
so its kind of crazy around here....and the headlines yesterday were about how awful retail is this year.... not us so far...im hoping to be face to face with about 6 or 700 customers this week....
ann

Aaron Hats
11-07-2008, 10:03 AM
That's good to hear you're doing well. We are too. We just ended October even with last year. Our in-store sales were a little up and our web site was down a little but that was due to problems my previous webmaster screwed up. I've been working to fix them these last couple months and it's paying off.

The news certainly hasn't been nice lately but we're cautiously optimistic for this holiday shopping season.

orion_joel
11-08-2008, 12:15 AM
It is good to hear that thing's are going well for both of you.

Paul Elliott
11-08-2008, 05:00 PM
im hoping to be face to face with about 6 or 700 customers this week....
ann

Great news, Ann.

By all means, collect their data--whether they buy or not--so you have the list for your next promotion!

Paul

greenoak
11-08-2008, 07:21 PM
we do that....with a drawing....hopefully we got a lot of email adresses today.... about 220 individual sales today...we were kind of mobbed....one more day...
the customers are so appreciative of our effort for this thing....we just got compliments all day long....it was nice....we have pretty good marketing, but really the best is word of mouth..when the event kind of makes its own buzz,,,,..the idea i try for is to make it a good event they wouldnt want to miss and would want to tell their friends about...
did you see all the stuff? it had to be bought priced displayed wrapped sold etc etc.....retail is very tough!!!imho....
kind of the opposite of passive income....dang,,,i never had that kind...lol..
ann

billbenson
11-08-2008, 09:26 PM
retail is very tough!!!imho....
ann
Retail has to be at about the bottom of the list of businesses I would want to start.

My only real exposure to retail is 3 years in security for Sears in college. It was a good college job as I learned a lot about human nature. It was also kind of like sitting on the sidelines looking at how a retail business ran. We dealt with HR, clients, store executives, safety, tracked records for internal theft etc. It was a good college educational job aside from being punched a few times.

I had a coworker who was a business major. Out of college he took a job as a management trainee for some retail chain. Even back then, multiple Sears executives advised him not to go into retail. I didn't stay in touch so I don't know how he did.

There is a local liquor store and I chat with the owner about biz from time to time. While he is happy because the liquor business is somewhat recession proof (get laid off, you are probably going to buy more booze not less), the fees he pays for rent, licenses, etc are incredible.

Retail has to be a pretty tough way to go these days.

Paul Elliott
11-08-2008, 09:41 PM
we do that....with a drawing....hopefully we got a lot of email adresses today.... about 220 individual sales today...we were kind of mobbed....one more day...

Great! Be sure to send out something to them within 7-10 days to remind them what a blast they had at your event! Aggressively begin the relationship building process.


the customers are so appreciative of our effort for this thing....we just got compliments all day long....it was nice....we have pretty good marketing,

Get testimonials--audio and video--at the event and while everyone is effusive. Show your merchandise and the crowd of customers. Put them on YouTube and your site.


but really the best is word of mouth..when the event kind of makes its own buzz,,,,..the idea i try for is to make it a good event they wouldnt want to miss and would want to tell their friends about...

Great! Tell them that is what they should do at their next visit in your post-event marketing--a call to action! Send them coupons or specials which they with their guests can take advantage of.

Offer them double of triple entries into your next killer drawing.


did you see all the stuff? it had to be bought priced displayed wrapped sold etc etc.....retail is very tough!!!imho....
kind of the opposite of passive income....dang,,,i never had that kind...lol..
ann

As you develop yourself into more of a manager and less of a "doer" it will seem more and more like passive income.

Keep up your excellent work!

Paul

greenoak
11-09-2008, 08:05 AM
we have kind of settled on one email a month.....there are a lot of arguments on both sides..i sure dont want to dilute whats working now at these events we have...
..my daughter does lots more....
i never use coupons myself...never....and wasnt too successful when we tried them at the store.... i see a lot of negatives with them..besides being totally boring to me as a consumer......i hate the idea that someone gets better treatment than me because they cut out a little coupon..and i thnk my customers might be like that too.....
.
you know i really hate managing....its just a total drag to me, the hard part of a very fun business......when it really gets me down i go back and hide with the painter and paint.....they, dh especially, think im way too picky....but then he would stay up all night looking for a teeny amount that was messing up his books..but thats his part!!!
one more day of our big event..the tickets are a bit smaller but the crowd bigger...so i think they still want to spend here...the big downturn this year is that there arent many other stores here buying wholesale like there normally would be....they are really hurting and many closing all around us here in the midwest....

Paul Elliott
11-09-2008, 04:19 PM
Dear Ann,

I looked at your site and blog. You have done a very good job of getting the "buzz" started. You have obviously done a tremendous amount of preparation and have many items that appeal to your customer base, from very inexpensive to top-of-the-line. That spread is excellent!

Likely your customers who are the "shy yeses" will purchase something very modest at first. On subsequent visits they are likely to spend more money as they gain more trust and confidence in you.

I will advise you as I would a client--directly without a lot of dancing around using vague and indirect terms hoping you won't get offended. After all, this is business and getting offensive on my part gives you no benefit nor does becoming offended allow you to benefit properly.

Certainly I DO NOT wish to offend you. Quite the contrary; I want you to succeed and succeed massively--AND you DO have what it takes!

As you are well aware, simply having a lot of "promise" and "potential" typifies a lot of businesses that have failed massively.

I never want to see you there, nor do I want to see you totally burned out on your business.

Why do I bother with long explanations? I have watched you for several months and like what I see. You are more receptive to ideas than a lot of business owners I have known. So, I see the "promise" in you and your business.

I WANT to see you make the transitions necessary to transform your business into a growing and very profitable operation that you WANT to start every morning and hate to leave at 5 p.m. with plenty of time for your family.

I, myself, have victimized myself in the very ways I see you suffering. That's why I understand what you are feeling and what you are up against. I only wish I had had the knowledge or the advice I'm giving you (and others) earlier in my careers.

Yes, I would have resisted, but my desperation would have demanded that I absorb and apply some of them long enough to recognize my need to implement the rest of them.

So, here goes.


we have kind of settled on one email a month.....there are a lot of arguments on both sides..i sure dont want to dilute whats working now at these events we have...
..my daughter does lots more....

But, Ann, it's not about you. It's about your customer! Develop your relationship with them!

I learned from the marketing master, Jay Abraham, the brilliant mind behind the 20-page direct mail letter. He said your customers will read ANYthing that's interesting to them.

When you email or write them, don't simply promote your sales. Give them advice. Add an Ann's Tips column. Put in care techniques for antiques, how to care for upolstery and carpets--all sorts of antique materials, the things that make an antique valuable and how to maintain that value, etc., etc.

You want to give them things that help them . . . THEN, you can slip in the information on your sales, new lines, new purchases, special-list-only sales, etc.

Why would you want to pass up these great opportunities?


i never use coupons myself...never....and wasnt too successful when we tried them at the store.... i see a lot of negatives with them..besides being totally boring to me as a consumer......i hate the idea that someone gets better treatment than me because they cut out a little coupon..and i thnk my customers might be like that too.....

Again, who is your business about? IT'S THE CUSTOMER--right?

It may interest you to know that the annual household income bracket that makes the most use of supermarket coupons are those from $100,000-$150,000. Do you want to appeal to such people?

If so, take advantage of their couponing attitude.

While YOU may not like coupons, your customers do--or those who you would like to have as customers.

SPECIAL NOTE: The term "coupon" is really a generic term for many types of offers. You could use a "present this letter" offer; an endorsed mailing from other businesses promoting your special offer to their customers (a VERY effective technique); etc.

I don't believe you want to allow your own head to get in your way of true success in your business.


you know i really hate managing....its just a total drag to me, the hard part of a very fun business......when it really gets me down i go back and hide with the painter and paint.....they, dh especially, think im way too picky....but then he would stay up all night looking for a teeny amount that was messing up his books..but thats his part!!!

Someone MUST manage! The alternative is to exhaust yourselves to the point all you want is out! I understand this very well. Sounds like your husband has his niche which he manages.

You still view yourself essentially as the "painter's assistant." You may much prefer that role. I understand it because I like to paint and do furniture repair, too. But someone's GOT to manage!

Don't allow a very successful business go on the auction block due to no one wanting to manage.

Another alternative is to hire a manager while you remain a doer. I have seen this work out well, but it takes a good bit of discipline to take orders from someone else when you are the owner.


one more day of our big event..the tickets are a bit smaller but the crowd bigger...so i think they still want to spend here...

Yes, AND they like the experience. Have you checked the number of people who come in but don't buy anything? That's a useful number to know, too. By all means, get their contact information and give them a reason to return later.

Do you have them do a survey that allows them to "help" you determine what you should do . . . and get their contact information. I know we've discussed this somewhere else on this forum or the last one.

Remember, if they contribute to your business, they feel it is "their antique store." THAT is what you want in your relationship-building process.


the big downturn this year is that there arent many other stores here buying wholesale like there normally would be....they are really hurting and many closing all around us here in the midwest....

That may be your opportunity to purchase their remaining inventory.

When the dust settles a little, do your analysis of the testing and numbers you have collected. AND prepare your marketing strategy for your next events and months.

Keep up your excellent work!

Paul

greenoak
11-09-2008, 06:50 PM
gosh paul you sure get me thinking..
..one thing you really have wrong is me being the painter....i go in there to get away for sure...but im not good at painting or any other manual skill........my strength is buying and selling, seeing the potential ,,, planning, making deals and keeping a good customer as happy as possible.... thats where i like to be.....
the jobs i hate is managing the workers , getting the boring stuff done right...like pricing, cleaning, getting them to take care of the customers like i want....
im no mechanical person uncomfortable with the executive parts..like the emyth examples......those parts are what i like the best....plus the romance and mystery of the inventory... ...the purity of it is what i had when we first started..you know ;;supply and demand...how good of a buy something is....now i have to deal with the other stuff too....
to put it another way, my early heroes were the characteres in ayn rands books and sheena queen of the jungle....not the good worker who did a good job at something...
i wish i had someone to delegate all your marketing ideas to...lol........
thanks paul...

Paul Elliott
11-09-2008, 10:35 PM
gosh paul you sure get me thinking..

Great! Never ever stop thinking! That will always stop a lot of leaks in the boat.


..one thing you really have wrong is me being the painter....i go in there to get away for sure...but im not good at painting or any other manual skill........my strength is buying and selling, seeing the potential ,,, planning, making deals and keeping a good customer as happy as possible.... thats where i like to be.....

Super! Then, stay out of the paint shop.<big grin> Go back into it only when you are not needed elsewhere or only on your off time. Don't have any off time? Git sum! (That's Louisiana redneck.)

Do what you're good at and enjoy and hire the rest done. Now, don't tell me you can't find any good help or that you can't afford it. You can't afford not to!


the jobs i hate is managing the workers , getting the boring stuff done right...like pricing, cleaning, getting them to take care of the customers like i want....

Hire both tasks done!

I once had a patient who was a computer hardware and software genius. He owned a very successful company that made circuit boards for specialized engineering applications. When you went into his offices to look for him you might expect to find him behind the beautiful oak paneled executive suites toward the front of the office. Nope, all the guys running around in the suits and ties were the hired help. He was back in the break room with the fax machine, copier, microwave, refigerator, etc., in his t-shirt and cut-offs staring out the window.

Every so often he would scribble down some things on a piece of paper and take it to one of the suits and say, "Produce this." They would, and he would go back to the break room and stare out the window some more.

He simply wanted to think and invent. He was smart enough hire the work done he didn't like to do and knew he wouldn't do well. THAT allowed him to become wealthy. He once told me he'd be on the street, if he hadn't done that delegation early.

WHAT WAS HIS SLY LITTLE TRICK? The same one that Charles Tandy of Tandy/RadioShack used so successfully. Both men realized that very talented and capable people of the sort they wanted and needed would work only for a salary for so long, no matter how much it was.

They both paid reasonable wages but on the low end. Each offered shares of stock in the corporations. THAT was the key. Each employee earned a portion of the company. THAT is what motivated excellent people to stay with their respective companies. It was their company, too! Look how you and your family members work so hard when you own the company.

DO NOT DISPAIR! And certainly DO NOT tell me you can't do it. I'm not suggesting you give away your family business. You simply structure it a little differently.

One way I've done it is to set up a holding company, HC. That is the one you and your family own. HC then owns and retains controlling interest in several other companies.

Let's say a natural division in your current company is product acquisition and shipping--a sort of wholesale operation. We'll call that Company 1. Company 2 may be retail sales. Company 3 may be the wholesale division. Company 4 may be buildings, grounds, and equipment maintainence.

Employees can work primarily for any or a combination of those companies and be paid by each and get bonus shares of the companies they work for.

Yes, there is more bookkeeping, but the computerization of such things and a good accountant can make this much easier than it sounds and not that much more expensive.

The real payoff?

You get and retain excellent employees. This will allow you to grow your business AND enjoy it along with the rest of the family.


im no mechanical person uncomfortable with the executive parts..like the emyth examples......those parts are what i like the best....plus the romance and mystery of the inventory... ...the purity of it is what i had when we first started..you know ;;supply and demand...how good of a buy something is....now i have to deal with the other stuff too....

SEE ABOVE!


to put it another way, my early heroes were the characteres in ayn rands books and sheena queen of the jungle....not the good worker who did a good job at something...

SEE ABOVE!


i wish i had someone to delegate all your marketing ideas to...lol........
thanks paul...

SEE ABOVE! When you have your business restructured to handle a doubling or tripling of growth, we can work out an agreement. However, at this point, you'd probably faint at the thought of even a 50% increase of business in the next 6 months.

. . . And you're very, very welcome.

Keep up your excellent work!

Paul