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With over 25 years of frontline experience Tom Shay is America's leading small business management expert. He's a "Must Have" for your next event.

  e-ret@iler newsletter
February 2008
Volume 9 Issue 3

 

Profits_Plus Solutions
Tom Shay Photo
Article of the Month

Pricing for Profit
by
Tom Shay

This topic is so important that we teach a class on how to increase your margins. Did you know that you can listen to this class for free on our website? Click on article of the month to read this article.
Book of the Month

Managing Customers as Investments
by
Sunil Gupta and Donald R. Lehmann

In addition to this being the book of the month, we have a calculator on the Profits Plus website that will allow you to calculate the value of a customers over the average lifetime. This is another of our free calculators.

We have more books to suggest for your reading. Click on book referral to visit this page on our site.


 
Contact Us


Profits Plus
P.O. Box 128
Dardanelle, AR
72834 USA
(727) 823-7205 Voice
(727) 898-3179 Fax

Seminar Logo
Business Advisory

March 29, 2008

Now is the time to plan for a big event for next month. March 29 is 'Mom and Pop' Business Owner's Day. It is a great occasion to have an open house or other event to invite existing and new customers to visit your business.

There are those that I have met that state that 'Mom and Pop' is a disrespectful term to use when referring to we who compose the world of small business. Myself, I wear the badge proudly. I think about the small businesses that make an issue of telling their community how the majority of the money from their business is reinvested in the community as compared to being shipped off to corporate by a mass merchant.

Too many of us as 'Mom and Pop' businesses look at the mass merchants, wishing we could do what they can do. But remember the reverse of it; the mass merchant cannot do what the small business can do. They can't know their customers on a personal basis. They can't change their business quickly based upon their observations of the change in their marketplace. Play the game of business on your terms; not theirs! And celebrate the holiday - 'Mom and Pop' Business Owners Day on March 29.

Internet Tip of The Month
'If you lower your price' Calculator

Yes, this is the same calculator that we mentioned in the January e-ret@iler. However, on January 2 a reader called to our attention that the website calculator did not do all that we thought it did. So, we made some changes; now the calculator will help you to learn how many you have to sell to make the same gross sales dollars, and now it will also tell you how many you have to sell to mae the same gross profit dollars. We appreciate the tip and the opportunity to make the Profits Plus website even better.

'If you lower your price' Calculator

The Power Promoting Idea of the Month

Mug 'em

It's winter time and cold outside for many of us. We get this month's idea from a small business we visited with again in January. They found that ceramic coffee cups with the contact information from the business imprinted on it could be purchased for about $2.00 per mug. The mugs were colorful, and of course, very useful. Would it be worth $2.00 to you to have your contact information in front of your customer everyday?

You could mail postcards to your customers, or put notes in their monthly statements, inviting them to come in for their free mug. And as I write this, I am looking at a mug from my nearby favorite locally owned diner - they gave it to me in 1991.

Where's Tom?

We are thrilled to hear from you when you call or write asking to attend a presentation that is in your area. Here is the schedule for the next two months:

February 1 Las Vegas
February 3 Orlando
February 5 Nashville
February 7 Indianapolis
February 9 Anaheim
February 20 Atlantic City
February 23-24 Newark
February 26 Las Vegas
March 12 Las Vegas
March 17 Louisville
March 18 Leasburg, MO
March 27 Orlando
March 30 Philadelphia

 

 

 

 

 

PROFITS PLUS, FOUNDER OF...

 

©1998-2026 Profits Plus Solutions, Inc.
Tom Shay
PO Box 128
Dardanelle, AR 72834
(727)823-7205

MARCH 2026
Have the Small Business Advisories and News sent to your inbox. Subscribe HERE

Small Business

AdvisoriES


Every time I see the logo for Target stores, I think about small businesses and the need to know which people to target as their customers. Of course, of most importance is the person who has spent any money with your business.

 

I ask businesses if they know how much the average person spends with their business. Most offer a quick response with a dollar amount. That answer is incorrect as they are telling me what the average existing customer is spending. The average person in any community spends no money with that small business.

 

Looking for new customers without any plan of how to do so is just spending money. That is why every small business needs to know how to find and use information. Find ideas in the March Small Business Advisory.

Small Business

NewS

Top Story

Employee retention; is it important? Or is it easier to lose an employee and wait for the next applicant to walk in the door? The Small Business News for March shares some statistics of the expense you incur when you make the change instead of working to retain a current employee.

Article of the Month

It is baseball season and we use the sport as an explanation of the cost of growing your business. In Boston's Fenway Park, left field has a wall that is know as the green monster.

 

And that is what growing your business is - a monster! You can't successfully grow your business without a plan and knowing you will have the cash on hand to pay for the growth.


Book of the Month

Are you selling something or persuading the customer? With your employees are you repeatedly telling that employee or are you persuading them to excel?

 

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Ciaidini is our suggested book for March 2026. Most definitely an appropriate read.

All this plus the Internet Tool for Your Business and a staff incentive idea for your business.
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BOOK US

With over 25 years of frontline experience Tom Shay is America's leading Small Business Management Expert. He's a "Must Have" for your next event.

Small Business

Advisories

Every time I see the logo for Target stores, I think about small businesses and the need to know which people to target as their customers. Of course, of most importance is the person who has spent any money with your business.

 

I ask businesses if they know how much the average person spends with their business. Most offer a quick response with a dollar amount. That answer is incorrect as they are telling me what the average existing customer is spending. The average person in any community spends no money with that small business.

 

Looking for new customers without any plan of how to do so is just spending money. That is why every small business needs to know how to find and use information. Find ideas in the March Small Business Advisory.

Small Business

News

 

Top Story

Employee retention; is it important? Or is it easier to lose an employee and wait for the next applicant to walk in the door? The Small Business News for March shares some statistics of the expense you incur when you make the change instead of working to retain a current employee.


Article of the Month

It is baseball season and we use the sport as an explanation of the cost of growing your business. In Boston's Fenway Park, left field has a wall that is know as the green monster.

 

And that is what growing your business is - a monster! You can't successfully grow your business without a plan and knowing you will have the cash on hand to pay for the growth.


Book of the Month

Are you selling something or persuading the customer? With your employees are you repeatedly telling that employee or are you persuading them to excel?

 

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Ciaidini is our suggested book for March 2026. Most definitely an appropriate read.

 

All this plus the Internet Tool for Your Business and a staff incentive idea for your business.