The July issue of the e-ret@iler contains:

1. The article of the month: Giving Management
Skills to Others
2. e-ret@iler advisory of the month: advertising
vs. promotion
3. Sales tip of the month: The pen
4. Web tip of the month: What's a customer worth?
5. Our Power Promoting idea of the month: Eliminate
disclaimers
6. Book of the month: Predatory Marketing
7. Your e-ret@iler subscription and contacting
Profits Plus and Tom Shay

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

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1. Article of the month: Giving Management Skills to Others

When you leave the business, do you keep a
cell phone or pager with you at all times?
Do you find yourself solving even the most
basic of problems in your business? If so,
you probably need to read this month's article.

Giving Management Skills to Others

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

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2. e-ret@iler advisory of the month: advertising vs. promotion

This is the fifth month in our series on the
characteristics of a successful business. In the
first four months we covered having a clear image
in the mind of your customer, identifying the
best customers, technology, and financial understanding.
If you missed these issues, we have archived
them on our website. Here is a link to that page
on our website.

Archieve of e-retailer columns

This month we cover advertising vs. promotion.
Advertising is trying to get rid of the
merchandise you have on hand. Promotion is
having the merchandise on hand that you can
get rid of. When you decide to advertise,
are you wandering the aisles of the store
looking for something to place in the ad?
Or, are you looking at what you have ordered
for your ads and making sure that the merchandise
has arrived?

If you are going to a trade show and ordering
merchandise, why not place orders for the items
you will be using in the advertising for three
to six months out.

Next month's topic is improving the business.

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3. Sales tip of the month: The pen in your pocket

The pen is a small detail, but can be so very
important. Of course you need to make sure that
you are always carrying a pen that has plenty of
ink in it. But as you write a sale for a customer,
what kind of pen are you using?

If you sell big ticket items, then you need to be
carrying a high quality pen. Customers need to see
the salesperson as being at the same level as the
high quality products. Imagine a person spending some
$5,000 for floor covering and appliances for their
home, and the salesperson asking the customer
to sign the contract as they hand the customer
a 59 cent Bic pen. This is not the image you want
to convey.

And as one last point, don't put the pen back into
your pocket until the customer has left. If you put
the pen away in the presence of the customer, it is
a subtle message to the customer that you are through
selling.

O <= After printing the July e-ret@iler, check here
if you plan to use this tip.

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4. Web tip of the month: What's a customer worth?

Ever think about how much money a customer spends
over a lifetime in your business? We did, and have
created a way for you to calculate this information.
It is a great way to help your staff to see the importance
of visiting with each customer when they call on the
customer or when the customer comes into the store.

Click on the link below to visit this page on the
Profits Plus website. After you enter the numbers,
and perform the calculation, print the page from
our site and share it with your staff.

What is a customer worth?

O <= After printing the July e-ret@iler, check here
if you plan to visit the customer's worth calculator.

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5. Our Power Promoting idea of the month:
Eliminate disclaimers

We saw this in a series of ads this week. A mass
merchant was advertising a sale price. But when
you read the 6 point type at the bottom, you
found that this sale price occurred only after
the customer mailed in a rebate form. The actual
price the customer initally paid was substantially
higher.

The same goes for ads that have limited quantities
and all kinds of other disclaimers. Is that
really necessary? If there is 1% of your
customers that will take advantage of a situation,
then you have 99% of your customers that respect
the way you do business.

Is it really necessary to go through all of that
extra effort just to catch that 1%? And isn't there
a strong possibility that the 1% is still going
to be a problem?

How about using your version of the Outback
Steakhouse slogan? No rules! Just right!

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6. Book of the month: Predatory Marketing

It does look a little odd as a book. There is a picture
of a wild rabbit against the backdrop of a
white plate with a fork and knife along side it.
But get inside the book, and there is a lot of
information about your customers.

The book, Predatory Marketing by C. Britt Beemer
gives some great information about what your
business should be doing to better target your
customers. Did you know that more than 70% of
consumers view the salesperson as being "the
store"?

This is just one of many valuable insights that
this book provides.

If you have already read this book, or are wanting
to find other interesting titles, follow this link
to the Profits Plus website where you will see
a list of suggested reading.

Book Referral List

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

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

The subscription is free. Just remember if you
are changing your Internet service provider, you
will need to enter your new e-mail address
to keep the e-ret@iler coming.

If you received the e-ret@iler by way of someone
that passed it to you, then you can easily get your
own subscription.

Contacting us is just as easy:
The phone is 727-464-2182
The fax is 727-898-3179
The mailing address is:
PO Box 128
Dardanelle, AR 72834 USA

Thanks for visiting with us this month. We
appreciate your taking time from your
busy schedule. Our goal is to help you and
your business to become more profitable. We hope
we have done that.

We encourage you to seek out and do business
with other independently owned businesses. If
you are wanting people to do business with you
because you are a locally owned business, then
it stands to reason that we should be doing
what we are asking others to do.

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

Tom Shay