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Jan 22 2012
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retail, business, small business, independent retailers

Retail Reversals and Rallies

Laurel Tielis

What’s greater than an electric company’s power surge and more forceful than a hot flash? The power of the people combined with the power of the purse.

With social media, consumers have a voice. And whether it’s the fight against SOPA, the Occupy movement, or retail arrogance, what they’re using it to say is, “I’m mad as Hell, and I’m not going to take this any more.”

Brands that don’t get It, will get it where it hurts. Look at Netflix, Bank of America, and Verizon. Not since the Three Stooges has there been anything so dopey. But while the Stooges were funny, these companies are sad.

As for Amazon, nobody likes a bully–whether it’s in the schoolyard or on the business playing field, Amazon showed it didn’t care at all about the little guy, which was an opportunity for everyone else to say they did. 

Successful Companies Understand Consumers Count

Today, the companies that will be around tomorrow, understand that  it’s a conversation between brands and consumers. Businesses can no longer make decisions without taking consumers into account.The Internet, and social media, make everything visible. There are no secrets. Everyone knows who’s naughty and who’s nice, and they respond accordingly.

That said, companies can make mistakes and learn from them. I think these two “retail rallies” have the potential for customer engagement and retention.

Some Retail Rallies

Target missed the mark when it overpromised and underdelivered on the Missoni collection. But now it’s back with The Shops of Target, a new promotion set to begin May 6th, where the retailer will be teaming up with five small businesses from across the country for a six week run. This is a win for customers who will be able to purchase special items, its a win for the boutiques, whose products will go out to an enormous audience, and it’s a win for Target–if the company executes it properly.

Walmart is also showing that it understands how to engage and retain customers. It made a good start when it brought back layaway for the Christmas season, and now it’s got a great promotion underway called Get on the Shelf. The company has created a contest open to anyone with a product that fits its product categories. Contestants need to submit an online video, and voters will select the three winners. Their products will be sold at www.walmart.com. The grand prize winner will also have his/her products sold in selected stores.

It’s an enormous opportunity for small business owners, it’s a great way for Walmart to position itself as a champion of the little guy, and it’s fun for the rest of us.

If  you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can heIp. I’ve been a retail reporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2012 Laurel Tielis

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Jan 08 2012
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business, entrepreneurs, retail

You Can Quote Me on That

Laurel Tielis

Keeping your Twitter stream relevant and fun, your website up to date, and your newsletter entertaining as well as informative, is less of a challenge if you take advantage of the wit and wisdom of others–especially celebrities. And yes, you can quote me on that.

You might be surprised at just how many well-known names have talked about business, retail, stores, and shopping. Take billionaire Warren Buffett: “I buy expensive suits. They just look cheap on me.” What an opportunity for anyone involved in the menswear business or any image consultant to comment on that, and ask their followers to help the poor guy.

One of my favorite lines, and perfect for anyone in home furnishings or design is Oscar Wilde‘s reputed death bed quote: “Either this wallpaper, goes or I do.” (I’ve also read the quote as “Either this lamp goes, or I do.”) In either case, it gives you an opportunity to have some fun with you followers. You can ask them for their favorite quotes, or for what they would most like to change in their homes, and so on.

Rita Rudner offers some sage advice that’s useful to anyone in the jewelry business or in the bridal industry. “I think men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage,” Rudner says. “They’ve experienced pain and bought jewelry.” Follow up by asking questions like, Hey guys, What would make the shopping experience easier for you?

Cameron Diaz is clearly a foodie. According to the actress: “I can spend hours in a grocery store. I get so excited when I see food, I go crazy. I spend hours arranging my baskets so that everything fits in and nothing gets squashed. I’m really anal about it, actually.”

Groceries, supermarkets, and gourmet shops should find food for thought in that remark (not to mention therapists!). Even better, it’s too long for one tweet, so you get the opportunity to send half off at a time. You can play up the fact that at your store packers do a great job with all items, but especially fragile ones. Or ask fellow tweeps what foods feed their fancies?

Stand-up comic Jay London weighed in with “I saw a stationery store move.” Anyone who makes or sells paper products can play off the joke–I’ve seen a house fly, a horsefly and a dragon fly–or take advantage of it to talk about the best-moving items in their business.

Parenthood star Lauren Graham shares these thoughts about shopping: “These days,” she says,  “I have to be extra nice in stores. It never fails that whenever I look as bad as I can possibly look or I am sort of cranky because the store is out of something, that is precisely the time when someone one will recognize me and say: ‘I really like your show.’” Would that all customers get Lauren’s message about the importance of being especially nice in public, and that all merchants take the time and put out the energy to keep shoppers sweet!

Got a quote you’d like to share? Can I quote you on anything in the business world? Tell me, and I’ll pass it along.

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail reporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker, writer, or  consultant? Get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com.

You can also connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2012 Laurel Tielis

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Jan 02 2012
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business, entrepreneurs, independent retailers, retail, small business

Retail Moves from Bricks to Clicks and Back Again

Laurel Tielis

SAN FRANCISCO–Arkadi Kuhlmann, President and CEO of ING Direct, was in Union Square last week to launch the online bank’s new 17,000 square foot cafe, its eighth brick and mortar outlet.

While you can”t make a deposit or a withdrawal, you can grab a cup of Peet’s coffee, take advantage of the Wi-Fi, and enjoy face time with others.

Not only that, the bottom level of the three-story space is set up so that small business owners and non-profits can host meetings, free of charge, for as many as 40 or 50 people.

Why move from clicks to bricks? Isn’t business going in the opposite direction? As Kuhlmann put it, “People feel very disconnected; there’s a need for connection.” It makes sense, and it works out in dollars. ING has found that deposits have increased by about 10 percent in the cities where they have a physical presence.

Understanding the consumer is the secret of doing business today. People want what they want, where they want it, when they want it. The easier you make it for them, the more they’ll do business with you. If your goal is a successful business you need to be available instore, online, and via mobile.

Arkadi Kuhlmann, ING Direct with blogger Laurel Tielis

This is a good lesson for independent retailers, who have been resistant to selling on the Internet. And to be fair, getting started has been expensive and time-consuming.

Luckily though, as it’s become more important to have a website, it’s also become cheaper and easier to acquire one. In addition to eBay and Etsy, which have been around for a long time, but are clearly not right for all retailers, there now are a wealth of inexpensive ways for small business owners to sell online.

If you want to easily and inexpensively create a storefront with the look and feel of your four-walled store check out Goodsie.com, Shopify.com, Storenvy.com, and Weebly.com. If you’re interested in joining with other small business owners in your area, there are sites like UrbanSwipe.com in Albuquerque, and Shoppista, com, which I wrote about last year, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Got merchandise you’re ready to move at a discount? Sales site LittleIndependent.com can help. If you’re in the bridal business, take a peek at NearbyRegistry.com, scheduled to open this year.

If you started with bricks, it’s time and past time to move to clicks; and as ING Direct has shown, clicks profit when they connect in person. Success today means taking advantage of every possible place and manner to sell your products and services.

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail reporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2012 Laurel Tielis

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Nov 27 2011
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business, independent retailers, retail, small business

Lights! Camera! Sales!

Laurel Tielis

I could tell you about the excitement in the air at San Francisco’s Westin St. Francis Hotel, when they unveiled a Christmas chateau complete with railroad. Or I could describe the glowing eyes of the children, and the enthusiasm of the adults at the  Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill, because of the life-sized gingerbread house and the visit from Santa.

In either case, essentially what I’d be doing, is drawing you a word picture.  So wouldn’t it be simpler, and more effective, to show you?

People are tuned in and turned on to the visual; they get great pleasure from seeing things. If you want to convert lookers to buyers, at your website, through your social media, and in your store itself, play the game of show and tell.

Take pictures of your store and your merchandise.  Show photos of your staff, and most importantly,  satisfied customers. It doesn’t have to be a big deal. You can simply snap shots with your smartphone. You can even use it to make videos, which you can then post on YouTube, as well as on your website.

Good photos can even bring you media attention. I love the story of  how one smart small business owner got her store in front of two million readers without paying a penny, and got a website for the same amount of money.

Several years ago, an article in the Small Business section of the Wall Street Journal focused on the steps an Indianapolis retailer was taking to shore up seasonal sales. Impressed by the good-sized feature with several photos about gift, bridal, and home furnishings store, Charles Mayer & Company, I called the owner, Claudia Ryan, and asked her how she did it.

Claudia confessed she’d been interviewed twice for a feature, but the story was stalling. Finally, the reporter asked if she had good pictures of her store. Savvy enough not to say “no,” she queried back, “When do you need them?” then immediately called friend, and professional photographer, Mary Kissel. saying, “How would you like a byline in the Wall Street Journal?”

Mary saw the value of a credit in the country’s most-widely read newspaper, came right over and took the shots that sold the story. As for the website, Claudia’s son, a college student, set it up simply by using revolving photos of the elegant merchandise.

You, too, can tell your story and  sell your store by showing potential customers you’ve got what they need. Got some photo tips? Please share them here.

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail eporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2011 Laurel Tielis

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Nov 13 2011
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business, independent retailers, retail

Holiday Sales are Bullish at Pet Shops

Laurel Tielis

It’s a funny old world. Retail analysts are predicting that holiday sales will be more ho-hum than ho ho ho, and a lot of Christmas giving will be self-directed. But there’s a major exception; polls are showing people are planning to spend more this year on gifts for pets.

Many of these are the same folks who are concerned about high prices for commodities–from filling their gas tanks to putting food on the table–but they’re not cutting back when it comes to their feathered, finned or  four-legged friends.

And savvy pet shop owners are taking advantage of their desire to cater to their “best friends,” by  offering premium products. So while well-known pet food brands are far from suffering, for everything from puppies to guppies, people are willing to pay more.

As a retailer, what can you learn from this?

People want to feel good about themselves. One way they do it is by giving themselves small treats, like buying a daily latte. Another way they do it is by taking care of others.

And as much as people pay for pet products or presents, it’s still a small sum in the face of the cost of presents for people. Plus, pets are non-judgmental, so it’s easy to buy for them. They don’t point out that something is the wrong size or not their favorite color. Heck, they don’t even care if their holiday gifts don’t arrive on time.

Christmas Gifts photo, Kelvin Kay, en:user:kkmd

 If you’re buying for your pets, you don’t have rush the season. There’s no need to push back from the Thanksgiving table to head to a store to make a purchase. You can show solidarity with store employees, who won’t have to work on a holiday on your account. Prices are pretty consistent year-round, so you don’t have to wait for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday.

You can do your Christmas shopping any day, and kick back and enjoy the holidays themselves. Those are my thoughts on the upcoming retail holiday season. How do you feel about it?

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail eporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2011 Laurel Tielis


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Nov 06 2011
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business, retail

Speed Up Sales By Using QR Codes

Laurel Tielis

In addition to sushi and bonsai trees, we can thank the Japanese for QR codes, those black-and-white patterned squares that have become ubiquitous.They were created in the 1990s by a subsidiary of Toyota, to track cars as they moved down the manufacturing line.They’ve been popular for some time there, but have only recently begun to be used in the U.S.

They’re not all that different from the barcodes used on items in the supermarket, or from those on the back of books. What makes them more valuable though, is that they offer far more information in a similar amount of space.

Why All the Hoopla Now?

QR codes have finally come into their own because they’ve have moved from the province of the manufacturer or retailer, to that of the consumer. Mobile apps have made them customer centric. A shopper on a smartphone downloads a free app, like Red Laser, then uses it to snap a picture of a code, et voilà, the phone screen displays a wealth of information about a product or a service.

If you’re a retailer, as you’ve already discovered with barcodes, this offers both positives and negatives.The downside is that armed with all that information, shoppers can quickly and easily find the same merchandise you’re selling elsewhere, and possibly at a better price. Which of course means, they’ll buy elsewhere.

But the upside is a stronger one, especially if you own a brick and mortar store. QR codes let you sell your merchandise 24/7.

Benefits to Retailers of Using QR Codes

For example, a window shopper out for a late night stroll or a pet owner up early taking care of Fido’s needs, attracted by a display can easily find out out more about what caught her eye by simply scanning a QR code. That means, even when you’re not officially open for business, you can still be selling.

You can also use them to create customer engagement, and possibly loyalty. When shoppers text your QR code, you can give them a discount coupon, or a free sweepstakes entry in exchange for their information.

Want to promote your business without making it so obvious that no one will want to use the product? Rather than run an ad all over a T-shirt or a coffee mug, a simple QR code, especially one inserted cleverly into a picture, will get the word out about your business.

No matter what you retail, you can use a code to fine tune the information you want to share about your merchandise. If you sell food or drink, you can include a recipe in the code. Apparel sellers can include a tip about how to dress for success. Own an art gallery? Give some information about the artist, or the particular piece, on a QR code.

They’re inexpensive and easy to produce, and can be used on walls, windows, print ads, giveaways, social media sites, kiosks, or wherever you’re imaginative enough to place them. They can even be used as a part of, or  in place of business cards.

When you’re ready to move to the next level of business, I suggest you check out QR codes.

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail eporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2011 Laurel Tielis

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Oct 23 2011
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entrepreneurs, independent retailers, small business

Power Up Your Small Business with Publicity

Laurel Tielis

Want to bring more business in? Get the word out. Once you become publicity-savvy, you can gain visibility, credibility, and profitability without having to open your wallet.

Publicity beats advertising because it’s free. If you’re an entrepreneur or an independent retailer, “free” is probably one of your favorite words; “easy” and “effective” are most likely others. Today, getting publicity can be all three–free, easy, and effective.

Getting Publicity Has Changed

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, or about one dozen years ago in real time, getting publicity was a challenge. To attract the attention of a reporter you had to draft a press release, then mail or fax it off, and finally, follow up with a phone call.

Or, you reversed the process and made a phone call, most often reaching an answering machine,  left a message which frequently didn’t get returned, and then sent off a press release.  As the gag line went: With advertising you pay for it, with publicity you pray for it.

Then along came the Internet, and prayers “paid off” for publicists. Today, getting a company’s name out is a whole lot easier.

While being quoted in a major newspaper, an important trade publication, or on the air, is still a major hit, there are lots of other ways that a small business owner can get free attention and more business. Not only that, you have easier access to reporters and bloggers.

 Easy, Effective, and Free Ways to get Your Story Out

1. Follow a reporter on Twitter and when you have a story idea that would benefit readers, viewers or listeners, send a tweet. Sadly, you can’t send a direct message to someone unless they’re following you, but happily you can get anyone’s attention using @ and following with their user name.

2. Add a comment, and your web address, to online stories. It takes just a minute to sign in, and once you do you can get your name, and your targeted message,  in just about everything, including major publications like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

3. Read a blog, and respond to what’s been written. Tell the author why you agree or disagree with the post. Stay on point, and if you have doubts about what’s been said, be pleasant in raising them. Again, almost all blogs accept relevant comments. For example, even if you never finished high school, you can post pertinent comments to blog posts on the Harvard Business Review.

4. Join the conversation on social media sites. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a fan of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Goggle Plus, or even all of the above, participate and you can get your name out and build your business. Heck, you can even  get rich and famous by working social media. Lift a glass, for example, to Gary Vaynerchuk, who shared his passion with wine to one and all online.

5. Speak up. It’s great if you have the time, and the chops, to stand in front of an audience and share information. But even if you don’t, you can still ask questions, or answer them, at lectures and conferences you attend. Make sure to say your name, and the name of your company, before you start. And once again, keep to the subject, then let people know about it everywhere you connect with others.

I find being patient, persistent, and pleasant pays off in useful publicity. How do you promote yourself

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail reporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2011 Laurel Tielis

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Oct 16 2011
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business, entrepreneurs, independent retailers, retail

Make it a Party for Your Customers

Laurel Tielis

Want to create a WOW experience in your retail store? Here’s how two small businesses in my area took advantage of the easy and effective theme, It’s our birthday, but you get the present! to surprise and delight their customers, and build their businesses.

Baker and Banker, a perfectly-named eponymous bakery and restaurant in San Francisco, celebrated its first year in business by offering everyone, no purchase necessary, a free slice of chocolate birthday cake with a Guinness cream frosting. Delicious  and healthy! What, you haven’t been reading about the benefits of chocolate?

Every year on the day it first opened its doors, Four Barrel Coffee offers customers free drinks. This year, I got to take advantage of it. Lots of coffee companies offer free coffee on occasion, but what made Four Barrel’s offering super special was not limiting the size or kind. Everything they regularly served was available. How could you not like that?

Birthday Cake by Will Clayton

Will everyone who celebrated at these businesses turn into a customer? Of course not. Did doing so help each raise its profile? Yes, and I can prove it. I read about the promotions online, which meant they got publicity. I’m writing about it, and you’re reading it, which means there’s more publicity.

I also got to sample their wares, and liked what I had. Which means they’ve got one convert. And all at a very minor cost–after all,this is their core business.

Birthday celebrations are a great idea–they’re fun and they offer an opportunity for a business to show generosity. That’s always important, but it’s even more important when so many people are feeling a lack.

It’s no secret, as I’ve written before, when the economy goes sour, people seek sweetness. You as a business owner need to provide it in terms of customer service, and a little extra loving, in terms of munchies doesn’t go amiss. And isn’t it better than running an ad, or getting involved with a daily deals site?

These businesses are in the food and beverage arena, but you  don’t have to be to use your business’s “birthday” to reach out and bring business in. Order a sheet cake, brew some Joe, and get the word out through social and mass media. You’ll get the gift of more attention and more sales.

Generosity creates excitement and opens the door to increased business. What are you giving to others, and what is it bringing to you?

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail reporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2011 Laurel Tielis

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Oct 09 2011
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business, retail

Smart Retailers are Moving to Smart Credit Cards

Laurel Tielis

Picture this: I get to the head of the supermarket line, the cashier rings up my purchases, and I give him my credit card. Declined. I ask the cashier to swipe it again, and again, it’s declined.

Concerned, I call the credit card company. I’m told that they’ve had multiple uses of my account in Toledo, Ohio. But I’m holding my card in my chubby little hand, and I’ve never been to Ohio, let alone Toledo.

Not to worry, though. They’ll cancel my card and send me out a new one the next day. My only responsibility is to check my bill, and if there are any additional charges that aren’t mine, to notify them.

Three days later my new card arrives and all is well. Or is it?

Granted, it’s hard to be unhappy with a system that got me back up and running in next to no time, but it’s also uncomfortable to realize just how prevalent credit card fraud is, and to understand the billions of dollars it costs consumers, merchants, and banks. Sadly, in the United States, lack of credit card security is an accepted part of the system.

Stripes aren’t safe

Credit card fraud occurs in large part because the magnetic stripe that runs down the back of  cards used in the U. S., is easily replicated. These cards are just not safe. That’s why most of the world has moved on to smart cards, which have chips with encoded information.

Why does the U. S. trail in credit card security? Blame it on a lack of accord between of retailers and banks, as well as no incentive to make changes. U. S. merchants don’t have terminals that accept smart cards because banks don’t issue the cards; banks don’t issue the cards because merchants aren’t equipped for them. And so it goes.

Change is Coming, and it’s Good

So I was happy to learn that changes are afoot. Visa will start issuing smart cards in 2012, and has plans for a full roll out by 2015. Initially, they’re making it attractive for merchants to install the new terminals by eliminating the yearly security audits of their payment systems, which will save stores owners both time and money.

Instead of the carrot, they’re using the stick in 2015, when the burden of payment for some types of  fraudulent transactions on their cards will move from the banks to retail outlets. So the sooner retailers move to smart cards the better for their businesses.

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail reporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2011 Laurel Tielis


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Oct 02 2011
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business, entrepreneurs, retail

Maximizing Your Email Marketing

Laurel Tielis

Social media is growing, and businesses, both large and small, need to participate in the online conversation to stay front of mind. But doing that doesn’t mean giving up one of the most powerful tools for contacting others–email.

Statistics continue to show the strength of email. It leads the way as a method of conversion–turning contacts into customers. It’s a winner because the people on your mailing list have already shown an interest in your business, by specifically allowing you to contact them.

Benefit by reaching out to customers

To ready yourself for the holiday season–from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas–reach out to your customers and clients through Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and LinkedIn and ask them about their holiday wish list.

That will do several good things for you: it will help you engage with your fans and followers; it will allow you to ramp up merchandise in areas whose importance you might not have recognized, and it will serve as the basis of your email campaign.

Use Email to Engage and Convert

When you send out your emails, let people know what others find hot this year, so they’ll be able to buy while there’s still availability. Provide gift suggestions and let your contacts know about gift cards, layaway (if you’re offering it ), as well as inexpensive stocking-stuffers.

Of course, you want to send out coupons, info on special offers like BOGOs (buy one get one) or two-for-one opportunities, as well as other promotions that are available in-store or online. Since shoppers tend to purchase more in-store, you might offer the option to buy products online and pick them up at your store, or create an online holiday contest, where the entry form has to be dropped off at your brick and mortar location.

Promote specific events you’re sponsoring. For example, if you’re a small business supporting Small Business Saturday, get the word out through social media and email.

As far as shipping, you want to email customers to make it clear the last possible day they can make a purchase so that goods will arrive on time for the holiday. Also, let shoppers know if you’re offering free shipping on certain days, or throughout the holiday season. Ditto on gift wrapping.

Activating your email list will help ensure you reach your sales goals and achieve the profits you’ve been working toward all year.

How important is email to your business? How do you use it to bring in more traffic?

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail reporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2011 Laurel Tielis

 

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