January 2002
Sent at your request by Profits Plus Seminars & Tom Shay

What you will read in this month's issue of the e-ret@iler:
1. The article of the month on the Profits Plus website: The add on sale
2. e-ret@iler advisory of the month: One more website visit
3. The January 2002 e-ret@iler contest and the prizes
4. The resource library available to you
5. Our Power Promoting Idea of the month: In the community
6. Your free subscription to the e-ret@iler
7. Contacting Profits Plus Seminars and Tom Shay

1. The add on sale
Our January article on the Profits Plus website is entitled,
"The add on sale". Using examples from the power equipment industry, in this article we are discussing techniques to complete an add on sale. Unfortunately, when many salespeople suggest additional items to a customer, they think they are being pushy. Instead, they are actually providing the customer with a necessary service. You will probably find this article useful as you are having your staff meetings.

2. January 2002 e-ret@iler advisory: One last visit to the website idea list. For the last two months, we have been discussing in the e-retailer, ways of tying your website to your store front business. Here is the completion of that list.

Look for ways to partner with others. Think about your customers and the other types of businesses and websites they would do business with. Then, work to create a partnership with them. For example, as we work to serve small businesses we know of several companies that can assist you. This list includes Modern Postcard and Screen Graphics (the t-shirt people). We exchange links with these companies on our websites so that people can more easily find these people as well as making ourselves more easily found. Who else targets the same customers as you do? Work to have a relationship with these people.

Capture more of your customer's business. It is easier to get all of the business from a small group of customers than it is to get a small percentage of the business from a large group of customers. Decide who your target market it, and aim to better serve these people.

Design your website to appeal to your best customers, not the average ones. The same strategy applies to your advertising. Do you work to make your best months even better or do you work to improve your worse months. Most of the businesses I talk with work to make their best months even better. Do the same with your website by targeting your customers that spend the most money with you.

That completes our list. Do you have any that you would share with our readers? It may be an idea, strategy, or even the name of a website that you have found to be useful. Send it in and we will include it with the February issue.

3. Our January e-ret@iler contest and the prizes
We have a new look on our website. While you have been busy during the holiday season selling, we have been busy developing some new topics and building our new site. The address is the same (www.profitsplus.org) and we think you will find the new site much easier to navigate about as well as find some new and useful tools for your business. In the meantime, the prize for January is a two pack - a copy of our first Power Promoting and Power Managing books. To win, just answer this question, "For 2002, when is National Independent Retailer's Week?"

The answer is on our website. Prizes are awarded to the first 10 correct respondents. Don't forget to include your mailing address.

4. The resources library at the Profits Plus Seminars website
Several readers have asked for another couple of overheads from our presentations. We have added the "top ten" and "bottom ten" things to say, and not say, to customers. Visit the links page to get to these two new downloadable pages. Slide index

5. Our Power Promoting Idea of the month:
Our Power Promoting Idea of the month comes from Tom's book and seminar entitled, "Power Promoting." Become a very community involved business. Invite a local group such as the Boy Scouts, to have a sidewalk sale in front of your business. This will help them raise money as well as get some new people exposed to your business. And if you help the charitable group to write the necessary material, you can get some free advertising through the local media as they do their public service announcements telling people to support the group holding the sidewalk sale in front of your business.

6. Your free subscription to the e-ret@iler
If you have received this edition of the e-ret@iler by way of someone passing it onto you, you can add your name to the free subscription list by clicking on this link and putting the word "subscribe" in the body or reference line of the e-mail.

You can also visit the website and click on the e-retailer logo to subscribe.

7. Contacting Profits Plus Seminars and Tom Shay
Thank you for inviting us onto your desktop, and taking the time to read our newsletter. We trust you have received some business building ideas from it as we look forward to seeing you again next month.

One last word! How about we all decide to ignore all that stuff the media is throwing at us about it being a recession or general decline in business? Why don't you decide that 2002 is going to be the best year your business ever had, and then go at that goal with all you have? Let's all have a great 2002! I will see you at a trade show or conference this year. Please stop by afterwards and say hello.

God Bless America!

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