e-ret@iler from Profits Plus and Tom Shay
ideas to be more profitable in your business
September 2006 - Our 82nd consecutive issue

The September e-ret@iler contains:

1. The article of the month: Analogies, ideas
and making money
2. e-ret@iler advisory of the month: Sneezing
about your business
3. Web tip of the month: Sales to inventory ratio
4. Our Power Promoting idea of the month:
Popcorn
5. Book of the month: WAYMISH
6. Your e-ret@iler subscription, contacting
Profits Plus and Tom Shay

O => Print the September issue of the e-ret@iler
so you can read it at your leisure.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

1. The article of the month: Analogies, ideas
and making money

This article was a lot of fun to write. It is
the true story of a business in our community
and what happened to it. Unfortunately, this
story continues to happen time and again.

The moral of the story can apply to the business
as a whole, or perhaps it can be applicable
to a category within a business. I invite you
to read this article and see if it is applicable
to you. If not, perhaps you know someone that
needs to read it and you could share it with
them.

Analogies, ideas and making money

O <= After printing the September e-ret@iler, check
here if you plan to read the article of the month.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

2. e-ret@iler advisory of the month: Sneezing
about your business

In June the book I suggested was 'Purple Cow'
by Seth Godin. In the book he talks about
sneezing. Not the scenario when you get dust
in your nostrils, but sneezing about your
business. Let me share with you an example.

My wife Marilyn is the exact opposite of me.
She is not a shopper. She doesn't enjoy it.
This summer she went to a reunion in southern
Indiana.

Somehow she wound up one afternoon in a shop
called Grace's. It is a clothing and gift store
that has an excellent offering of products. She
was there because someone said the shop was
having a great sale. The signs on the windows
indicated the same.

At the conclusion of her shopping she found
she had spent almost $200. The original total
price of what she had selected was approximately
$600. After making her purchase, she told
everyone about what a great time she had at
Grace's.

When she came home, with each of the garments
she put on, she told people about the great
store called Grace's. She became a sneezer -
someone that is so excited about a busines
that they tell many others about the business.

This is like advertising without paying for
the media. Unfortunately, most businesses do
it the other way. They spend hundreds and
thousands of dollars to get a very few
customers in the store.

To add insult to injury, after spending all
those dollars, retailers have markdowns
on merchandise that are minimal. As an example,
a business spends $1,500 for television, radio,
newspaper and direct mail. After calculating
all of the purchases by customers in response
to this advertising, the total of the markdowns
is only $400.

If you want people to talk about you, spend the
dollars with your customers by having the
bigger markdowns and spend less on the media.

Very soon we will have a new calculator on
the Profits Plus website that will help you
to develop a plan to do just what we are
talking about.

O <= After printing the September e-ret@iler, check
here if you plan to reconsider your advertising,
marketing and promotion plans

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

3. Web tip of the month: Sales to inventory ratio

This is a two step calculation that compares
your average inventory for the past year to the
net sales for the same time period. As merchants
we have to realize that our inventory is an
investment - just like you have bought stocks,
bonds, or other investments. And your investment
needs to be profitable.

Sales to inventory ratio

O <= After printing the September e-ret@iler,
check here if you plan to look at the financial
ratios calculator.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

4. Our Power Promoting idea of the month:
Popcorn

We have discussed many times in this column
that by keeping a customer in the store
longer, you are more likely to get them to
see more of your store as well as more likely
to purchase something.

One of the ways we found that worked well is
talked about on page 94 of the blue Ideas book.
Having popcorn available as a snack food is
not only a healthy snack but very affordable.

We used small white sacks and a large
rubber stamp we had made at the local print
shop. The imprint was, "I got the munchies
while I was shopping at (name of store)".

It is a fun way to tell your customers you
appreciate them as well as suggesting they
stay longer to visit in your business.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

5. Book of the month: WAYMISH by Ray Considine and
Ted Cohn

The title, WAYMISH, is an acronym for, "Why Are
You Making It So Hard" for me to give you my money?

The title explains it all. If you happen to see
yourself in this book, I hope you will dedicate
yourself and your business to changing it immediately.

If you have already read this book, or are looking
for more books to read, follow this link to the list
of suggested readings on the book referral page
of the Profits Plus website.

Book Referral List

O <= After printing the September e-ret@iler,
check here if you plan to read the book of the
month.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

7. Your e-ret@iler subscription and contacting
Profits Plus and Tom Shay

Contacting us is just as easy:
The phone is 727-823-7205
The fax is 727-898-3179
The mailing address is:
PO Box 128
Dardanelle, AR 72834 USA

Get your Profits Plus. May God bless you
and yours. We will see you in October.

Tom Shay