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

1. The article of the month: Some great reading
material
2. e-ret@iler advisory of the month: Knowing
how to pace yourself
3. Sales tip of the month: Being positive
4. Our Power Promoting idea of the month: New
Year Resolutions
5. Book of the month: Why we buy
6. Your e-ret@iler subscription and contacting
Profits Plus and Tom Shay

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

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1. Article of the month: Some great reading
material

The article of the month is sharing a great idea
for you to consider for 2005 - sending a newsletter
to your customers! And while the article talks
about the print version, you should also
consider an electronic version. After you
read the article, take a look on the Profits Plus
website to see our suggestions of how to create
an electronic version. (Click on "site map",
select the letter "N" for newsletter, and you
will be there. It is a great way to keep your
name in front of your customers for next year.

Some great reading material

O <= After printing the December 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: Knowing how
to pace yourself

December is the last in the series about the
characteristics of a successful business. It deals
with a personal issue - knowing how to pace
yourself.

Saying that you are working 60-80 hours each week
is not a sign of dedication, edurance or ability.
Wouldn't you rather be the business person that
could say they are working almost 40 hours each
week, and after that you are busy with family and
playing?

Last year I heard another speaker suggest that
people schedule a "personal" day for themselves
each month. The idea is that you would stay
away from the business as well as not take any
business home with you for the day.

I tried it, and experienced mixed results. Some
days were just "catch up with things" days and
a couple were spent primarily doing what I wanted
to do. If you are going to make it work for
yourself, you have to schedule them well in advance.
I have already picked all of mine for 2005. Your
mind, your body, your staff, friends and family
will appreciate your doing it also.

If you missed the past issues containing the first
of the topics in this series, we have archived
them on our website. Here is a link to that page
on our website.

Archieve of e-retailer columns

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3. Sales tip of the month: Being positive

There was something else scheduled as a sales tip
for this month, until I had the same experience
twice last week. I was shopping with locally owned
stores and doing my best do initiate a conversation
with the staff.

I was complimenting them on having so many customers
shopping in their store and how busy their staff
was. In both situations the response was a lot of
"Whining" as they were telling me how "crazy" all
those customers were and what they wanted, and what
they were looking for that was on sale.

It could be different. They could have no customers.
It could be a quiet holiday season. The store could
be all neatly arranged because there were no
customers to browse through everything.

We already have enough of the media telling the
public about the holiday frenzy. Can't we tell
customers how much fun it really is to work in
this industry? It is a lot of fun seeing people
shopping; asking questions and spending money. If
there is to be a Christmas spirit, surely the
world needs to see it in our businesses.

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

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4. Our Power Promoting idea of the month:
New Year Resolutions

This is the month to hold this fun promotion
with your customers. It worked very well for
the business where we first saw it.

Invite your customers to share with you their
New Year Resolution. Of course, as they enter
the contest you will be getting their contact
information to add to your data base for your
newsletter, sales flyers, and electronic newsletter.

Award prizes that you will give away at the
end of the month for the person that has the
most original, most unique, most likely to
succeed, least likely to succeed, most sincere,
and other categories that you can create.

From the business that first held this promotion,
the local media saw the display and created a
human interest story from it. If you decide to
try this, you will probably want to tell your
customers that their resolutions may appear
in the paper, or be heard on TV or radio.
You don't want any embarrassing situations.

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5. Book of the month: Why we buy

When we were reviewing what the book of the month
had been for the past year, we were surprised that
we had not already had this book on the list. It
is one of the all time best! "Why We Buy" by Paco
Underhill.

While this book will not read like a novel, it is
filled with all kinds of statistical information
about where items should be placed, how people
walk through a business and many other ideas
that you should consider in designing your sales
floor.

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 December e-ret@iler, check here
if you plan to read the book of the month.

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6. 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 with the link in the upper left.

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.

This issue represents the beginning of our 6th
year of sending the Profits Plus e-ret@iler to
you on the first of each month. We create it
to express our appreciation for the many
people that have attended the educational
session I have given over the years. From the
e-mails and calls we have received as well
as the comments made at these sessions, we
thank you for your reading it, and for the
business you have given us.

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 January 2005.

Tom Shay