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

1. The article of the month: Be a Hero
2. e-ret@iler advisory of the month: The staff
3. Sales tip of the month: In living color
4. Web tip of the month: Cost of Inventory Calculator
5. Our Power Promoting idea of the month:
Imprinted items
6. Book of the month: Marketing Warfare
7. Your e-ret@iler subscription and contacting
Profits Plus and Tom Shay

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

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1. Article of the month: Be a Hero

Take a quick read of this story and get a new
perspective of how we can be seen from the eyes
of our customers. This story fulfills the saying
of, "Every calling is great when greatly pursued."

Be a Hero

O <= After printing the September 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: The staff

This is the seventh month in our series on the
characteristics of a successful business. In the
first six months we covered having a clear image
in the mind of your customer, identifying the
best customers, technology, financial understanding,
advertising and promotion, and improving the
business.

This month we are talking about the staff. If you
have attended one of Tom's sessions, you have
probably heard him mention that there are two
areas of business management that should be
set in stone. One of those is staff education.
Every business should make a commitment to have
a meeting with the entire staff every two weeks.
Sales skills, review of policies and procedures,
product knowledge are just some of the items
that need to be covered.

Research from Harvard shows that businesses
with a low staff turnover are usually more
profitable. And businesses with a commitment
to staff education usually have lower staff
turnover.

If you missed these past issues, we have archived
them on our website. Here is a link to that page
on our website.

Archieve of e-retailer columns

Next month's topic is "working to improve yourself".

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3. Sales tip of the month: In living color

I am not sure what "In living color" meant when
NBC used the phrase to promote their television
shows that were in color in the 1960's. For a
salesperson, choosing the right color is important
for several reasons. The first is that by wearing
the colors that look best on you, it gives
you a feeling of confidence.

The second reason is that the right colors make you
look more professional in the eyes of the customer.
And a third reason is that it can save you a lot of
money. You won't be going to a store and after having
made a selection, find that you need to purchase
several other items to go with your initial selection.

Look in the yellow pages of your phone book to find
a local "image consultant". Within a couple of hours
you will know how to look your best.

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

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4. Web tip of the month: Cost of Inventory Calculator

For many businesses, September marks the start of
trade show season. When you are looking at the deals
offered by vendors you have to make decisions about
whether it is to your advantage to order a sizable
amount of inventory that has a lower price. If the
vendor is offering free freight, the deal gets even
more complicated.

Take a look at this tool on our website that will
help you make the decision about how much to buy for
your business.

Cost of inventory calculator

O <= After printing the September e-ret@iler, check here
if you plan to visit the cost of inventory calculator.

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5. Our Power Promoting idea of the month:
Imprinted products

Walk down the street and observe closely what
people are wearing. Notice how many times
their clothing has an imprint promoting a
local business. In our area there is a diner
that has a picture of a fish on the back of
the shirt and the same imprint on the front
pocket. Also on the front and back is the name,
location and phone number of this business.

To update this product, which he sells as well
as gives away as a door prize, he changes the
picture of the fish every so often. If it
works for him, it can work for you.

Don't stop with just the idea of shirts and
hats. I am probably not the only person that
has held onto pencils and pens from businesses.

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6. Book of the month: Marketing Warfare

This is a great book from the 1980's. And while
the examples are somewhat dated, the ideas are
always relevant. Read this book and learn how
to strategize your business against your much
larger competition. You will see examples of
ways that have worked for companies like Avis,
American Motors, and Gillette. If you have attended
Tom Shay's presentation of "Your customer doesn't
live here, anymore!", this is the book that was
the inspiration for that topic.

If you have already read this book, or are looking
for more books to read, click on this link to
see our book referral list.

Book Referral List

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

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8. 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 727-823-7205
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 October.

Tom Shay