By Bob Negen, Retail Expert, Author and Speaker, WhizBang! Training
There’s a Chinese proverb that says the weakest link is stronger than the most powerful memory. I know, I know, some of you are thinking, “Well, what in the world does that have to do with marketing?” The simple answer is everything.
A major key to success in all your marketing efforts is to build on past successes. To make sure that everything you did right last year, you’ll do right again this year. There is something you can do that will dramatically increase the probability that every marketing activity you engage in will be more powerful, more profitable, each time you do it.
Create a marketing book. In fact, as soon as you’re done reading this post, start creating a marketing book of your own, or nominate a trusty staff member to get it started for you. My colleague, Aubrey is responsible for maintaining our marketing books at WhizBang! Training. Aubrey prints out every marketing activity that we engage in here at WhizBang! Training and it is noted in this book.
For example, in our marketing book you can see printed documentation of our intensive training sessions, sales, and our public events like the Retail Success Summit, etc. Every email we send out and every Tip of the Week also gets printed and put in the book along with the reports from our email service provider with the open and the click rates. You see, we’re gathering information we need to make smarter business decisions in the future. Building success!
So make sure to put everything that is related to your marking efforts in your marketing book! Every time you get a press release printed in the media, it goes in there. Notes you make about special events and promotions, put them in there! Emails and social media posts you send about your promotions… well, you get it. It all goes in this book. It will be invaluable to you.
I will share with you super easy and proven marketing tips and techniques on how to make more money in your store! Each of these programs was created to stand alone. But, of course, you will gain much more value when you attend both. In fact, I am so confident that I will give you a full refund from my own pocket if you don’t walk away with immediately actionable tactics on how to pull in new customers and boost your sales.
Don’t waste another dollar on your marketing efforts… join me at the Boot Camp!
Bob Negen discovered his entrepreneurial spirit at the young age of 23 and opened one of the world’s first kite stores. In 20 years he helped change the public’s perception of the kite from a child’s toy to an “eco-friendly” hobby for families and people of all ages. In those 20 years he grew his company from $17,000 to over $3 million in annual sales. In 1998 the company was named “Retailer of the Year” by the Kite Trade Association. Bob was also instrumental in helping create a nationwide yo-yo boom. At one time his company employed eight full time yo-yo professionals performing in schools, malls, nationally broadcast parades, professional sporting events, and other large entertainment venues. While building the national craze, his company opened “Yo-Yo Universe” kiosks in over a dozen malls, hired and trained over 150 employees using his unique training system, and sold over $2 million worth of yo-yos. All in a little over 6 months! His yo-yo adventure forced Bob to boil down 20 years of hard-earned experience about life as an entrepreneur into a fun, but no-nonsense, only-if-it-works outlook on business. This “make it fun, but get it done” attitude has given Bob an expert edge not only in marketing but also in practical, proven customer service practices, solid common-sense employee management, super efficient operations, and focusing the entrepreneurial spirit.
The Early Registration Deadline for the Creative Conference at the National Stationery Show is May 14th. Register now to take part in any of the several conference programs focused on:
What makes one store great and another just a place to buy stuff? Join us at 1:00 PM EST on April 3, 2013 for “The Inside Secrets of Charisma Retailers™” and find out!
Here’s the deal: Today’s customers are busy, and maybe just a little bit bored with the “same old, same old” they find in too many stores. This makes your job tougher because these consumers expect more than ever before.
We’ve come to realize that there are two kinds of retailers today: Commodity Retailers who make no effort to do much more than they are supposed to do: open for business and hope for the best. Commodity retail associates are there just to collect a paycheck. There’s no customer buzz about town and no fizz on the sales floor, merely shelves full of stuff.
And then there are Charisma Retailers™ who thrive on creating a unique in-store experience that customers just can’t get anywhere else. Charisma retail associates share the same values as the store’s owner: they are there to serve and delight customers.
Any retailer, regardless of what they sell, can be a Commodity Retailer or a Charisma Retailer™; it’s a choice that’s yours to make. Charisma Retailers™ thrive on reinvention. They understand how to live in the present while keeping an eye on the future. They know that the special things they do for customers today, will be the expected things of tomorrow, so they are always on the lookout for new ideas.
We hope you’ll join us on April 1 for The Inside Secrets of Charisma Retailers™. We’ll share ideas and inspirations, and we’ll take your questions to help you unleash your inner charisma!
And afterwards, we hope you’ll take time sit down in a quiet room with a notebook and pencil. Let your mind wander, imagining what your store will be like a year from now. Who will be your customers and what will they demand of you? What aren’t you doing today that you need to in order to meet future challenges? Keep this notebook handy and do this exercise for fifteen minutes each week.
In time, you’ll be amazed at how quickly the ideas begin to flow, multiply and become reality. Before long, the retail status quo won’t be good enough for you – you’ll have crossed over from commodity retailing into the rare air Charisma Retailers™ breathe every single day.
Rich Kizer & Georganne Bender are professional speakers, retail strategists, authors and consultants whose client list reads like a “Who’s Who” in business. Companies internationally depend upon them for timely advice on consumers and the changing retail market place.
In 2010 KIZER & BENDER made Meetings & Conventions Magazine’s list of Meeting Planners Favorite Keynote Speakers; they’ve also been named “Two of Retailing’s Most Influential People.” And with good reason: Rich and Georganne are experts on generational diversity, consumer trends, marketing and promotion, and everything retail. They are widely referred to as retail anthropologists because they stalk and study that most elusive of mammals: today’s consumer. Visit their website for more information: http://www.kizerandbender.com.
by Theresa Cifali, Mixed Media Artist & Craft Designer, CHA Designer Council Member
Someone once said to me, “You can’t manage time. You can only manage yourself.” How profound…and true! As business owners, we often find ourselves talking and thinking about how to manage our time better. Let’s face it though…we are just not going to have more time. However, we can make better use of the time we do have.
When it comes to social media, time is definitely a huge issue. How much time we spend in those platforms can greatly effect other areas of our business. You know you do it! You go into Facebook to just put up one post and before you know it, an hour is gone….just like that.
It’s no different for me. Being a small business, there is a lot to do with few people to do it. So, in my own quest to “manage myself” better, I’ve put certain systems in place. More importantly, I utilize tools to help me better control my social media efforts. Does it take time to work in these tools? Sure, but the benefits are huge! One such benefit is that I can work inside of the tool rather than inside of the social media platform. This prevents me from getting all distracted by pretty, shiny things. Another plus is it forces me to focus and plan what I want to do and say. The combination of these factors free up other times of the day. I love that.
As a creative business owner, I feel very it is important to help other creative businesses…especially when it comes to social media management. Whether you are a manufacturer, a retailer, a professional crafter or a designer, you need to make social media work for you and fit into you marketing plan. It is really important. Not doing it simply because you “don’t have time”, is not a good enough excuse. Believe me, I get it. How many more hats can we all wear?
I’m here to tell you that you have the time! What you need are the tools. I know which tools will work for you…and I can show you how to use them.
If you are attending the show, I invite you to join me for this powerful seminar. You will learn how to leverage specific web-based tools for scheduling, organizing, and more. These tools are designed to help YOU manage yourself better. I look forward to seeing you there!
Theresa Cifali hails from Westchester County, NY and is the sole proprietor of TheresaCifali™ with nearly 20 years of experience working with consumers, manufacturers and retail businesses in the crafting industry. Theresa is a seasoned designer with her own private studio where she maintains her business, instructs classes and continually experiments with new designs, techniques and class concepts. Theresa is also well versed in social media and emerging digital platforms, actively using these platforms to build genuine, dynamic communities where she can interact with individuals and promote her business. Theresa consults businesses on best practices in social media and provides management and social strategy services in addition to her already vast repertoire of business services.
Mobile Commerce and Computing for Business: Retailers, eTailers, Designers and Manufacturers
By Tony Ford, CHA 2013 Technology Expert; Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of ArtFire.com and principle consultant for Bounce Rocket Media
She walked into your store looking for inspiration, 10 minutes later she walked out empty handed. In four out of ten cases, it was her smart phone that caused her to leave without buying. By next year it will be 6 out of 10 times.
She had trouble using your craft product, so she used her tablet to look for instructions, but your site took too long to load on her tablet. So she posted something about her frustration with your product to her 800 fellow crafter followers and moved on to another project
She is going to spend big this year on Black Friday. She’s looking for the perfect craft kits for all the kids on her list. She wants them to love crafting the way she does. But, your site isn’t optimized for mobile commerce, so, she won’t be buying from you.
Mobile is not an option. Mobile commerce, mobile marketing, mobile reputation management and even mobile search and content are moving billions of dollars now and will only expand in the near future. Every day you wait to learn how to use these tools to help your business, you leave dissatisfied customers, untapped market share and real money on the table.
At ArtFire we saw our mobile sales double in a day when we optimized our checkout for mobile devices, the bare minimum we could do at the time with the many projects and constraints.
We have a long way to go. Mobile is so important that our entire re-build of the multi-million dollar ArtFire platform is designed, first for the phone, and then the tablet and only then do we design for the PC. We’re building “mobile first” for our future. You should be considering mobile first for yours.
Join me on February 20th for a one-hour webinar on mobile trends for 2013. We’ll look at the market, the growth, where the current craft customer is and what the future customer will be like. I’ll also give you specific strategies and concepts for you mobile future based on the type of CHA member you are designer, manufacturer, brick and mortar store or etailer.
That customer you’ve built your business around? Well, she’s got the tablet on the table, the smartphone in her purse and a new project in mind. Are you ready to provide her with the level of service she deserves?
Tony Ford is the co-founder of ArtFire.com and principle consultant for Bounce Rocket Media, a new media and social marketing consulting firm based in Tucson, Arizona. Bounce Rocket provides social media marketing and new media marketing services including staff training, account management and education for a wide range of firms with a special focus on creative professionals in the art, music and literature space as well as small business and non-profits. More information can be found at BounceRocket.com.
The CHA 2013 Winter Conference & Trade Show drew 3336 buyers and 928 networkers, totaling 4264 attendees; of which 790 were international, joining us from 56 countries including Canada, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Germany.
While the temperature was down, the energy was up. Despite the unusual California weather being as low as some 30 degrees, exhibitors and attendees were all in good spirits yielding positive results. For some, this Show was the most successful it’s been in years.
“We’ve been exhibiting at the Winter Show for the entire life of our company – seven years that is – and 2013 was our best Show ever! Our booth was busy literally the whole time. We’ve always seen the Show as – primarily – a way to build brand awareness and network with distribution partners. But this year we worked with a lot of independent retailers and wrote a lot of orders. We did more international business than ever before, picking up new distributors and retailers in Australia, South America, Europe, and Far East.” Sara Davies – Sales Director, Crafters Companion
“This year’s CHA Show was the best in years for us. Not only was it a great forum to see many of our current customers in one place, but it also presented an opportunity to meet new buyers from the international community.” Ryan Newell – President, Spinrite LP.
“The CHA Conference & Trade Show is the only event on the planet where we can greet hundreds of customers in three days. We cannot imagine choosing not to be there. The 2013 CHA Winter show was our best show ever; the quantity of customers, the quantity of leads and the sales dollars written were all record numbers. The CHA Winter Show was a great start for a new year!” Bobbie Medema – Marketing Director, Notions Marketing
Another key contributing factor to the positive momentum was the launch of the CRE8TIME industry consumer awareness campaign and the new CRE8TIME.org website. CRE8TIME is a movement funded by the CHA Foundation, designed to encourage creativity by getting participants to pledge 8 hours per month to doing something creative. CRE8TIME.org serves as the hub of the CRE8TIME social movement. It is a community where “CRE8ERS” share their crafts, pledge their hours, get inspired, stay informed and learn how to reclaim 8 hours a month.
“The positive energy from both exhibitors and attendees is very encouraging and speaks volumes to the vibrancy and momentum building for the industry. We look forward to carrying that excitement forward with all the new programs we are launching in 2013.” Andrej Suskavcevic – CAE,President and CEO, Craft & Hobby Association.
Every year CHA gives out awards to select exhibitors for outstanding work in product innovation. Those receiving awards for their products include: Innovative Product Award – Katy Sue Designs/Flower Soft – Silicone Molds (www.katysuedesigns.com); Attendee Choice Award – Spellbinders Paper Arts – Imperial Gold (www.spellbinderscreativearts.com); and two Honorable Mention Innovative Product Awards – June Tailor – T-shirt Transformation Ruler Center (www.junetailor.com) and We R Memory Keepers – Envelope Punch Board (http://www.weronthenet.com).
CHA accepts nominations annually from members throughout the industry with the purpose of identifying individuals and companies making significant contributions to humanity, the industry, and the Association. This year Creative Leisure News’ Mike Hartnett was the recipient of the Meritorious Award of Honor. This is the highest award recognition the Craft & Hobby Association can bestow upon an individual past or present member, and is given for significant contributions made to the Association. The Special Recognition Award went to Mari Eriksson and the staff of Fusion Beads, a retail store in Seattle Washington. This award is presented to a person, group and/or company for their extraordinary contribution in an activity showcasing the craft and hobby industry in a positive way.
In 2014 the CHA Winter Conference & Trade Show will return to Anaheim, California January 10-14 to celebrate the 73rd edition of the Show.
Throughout the months of November and December we will feature the speakers and instructors who will be teaching courses at the 2013 Winter Conference January 11 – 14 in Anaheim, CA.
How to Make the Most of Your Quality Budget
By Paul Milne, Manager, Restricted Substances Testing Services, SGS
There are a great many regulations out there. Perhaps you’ve noticed. In the United States in particular the complexity is compounded by regulatory requirements at both the state and the federal level. Simply keeping track of all the requirements for restricted substances in your products can occupy a fair amount of your time. To complicate matters, there are different requirements depending upon age of use of the products, with children’s articles naturally coming with more restrictions than those articles intended solely for adult use. How can you ever test to all those limits?
The simple answer is that you can’t. There are too many individual regulations to chase after to test exclusively for each one. However, as you go through things, certain commonalities will crop up. For example, most jurisdictions are concerned with the levels of lead and cadmium in various products. This is notable because lead and cadmium make very vivid and bright colors depending upon how they’re combined with other elements. Those same colors that appeal to artists are also the ones that can be problematic. Do you need to test?
Not necessarily. You can stipulate that those dyes and paints that contain lead and cadmium are to be for use by adults only. To comply with the Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act (LHAMA), you will place statements on your product to the effect that these dyes or paints are only for use by adults, wash hands after use, keep out of reach of children, etc. (To know exactly which warnings are required, you will have a toxicologist review your formulation and give you a Toxic Risk Assessment (TRA). This will eliminate having to deal with the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) which is concerned with lead and cadmium (among other substances) in children’s products.
For the US, that leaves California’s Proposition 65 which is designed to limit the exposure of Californians to chemicals that are toxic, cancer-causing, or cause reproductive harm. Normally, manufacturers try to eliminate the toxic substances in their products in order to comply with prop 65, but in this case, the toxic substances (lead and cadmium) are a necessary part of the product. Not to worry. You place a warning label stating that there are toxic substances in this product and that allows you to sell in California.
So you have managed to comply with US regulations and only gone out of pocket for the TRA. By knowing what was in your product, you avoided unnecessary testing for things that “might” be there. By classifying it correctly as an adult-use product you were able to avoid CPSIA regulation, and by understanding Proposition 65 regulation you knew you couldn’t avoid a warning label so there was no point in testing.
This realistic example is one way to stretch that quality budget, and I will be presenting more ways at the CHA Winter Conference as well as being part of the CHA Experts & Resource program. In the meantime, if you have questions regarding chemical regulations and compliance, please feel free to contact me at pmilne@craftandhobby.org. I look forward to hearing from the CHA members over the coming months.
~ Paul Milne
Conference Program registration is NOW OPEN! Click here for more information and to register. Register for a Conference Program by December, 21st and be entered to win TWO admission passes to Disneyland Park.
Throughout the month of November we will feature the speakers and instructors who will be teaching courses at the 2013 Winter Conference January 11 – 14 in Anaheim, CA.
First up: Sheer Intensity! THE Retail Boot Camp, a must for every retailer! A down economy can either be an excuse to play it safe or a chance to outpace your competition – only you can decide where you want your business to go. Get ready for some crowd control! Our day long Retail Boot Camp will show you how to successfully differentiate your store from your competition, build a buzz about town, and thrill your customers all at the same time. No theories. No fluff. Just hard hitting information. On the agenda: Consumer trends you cannot ignore… anymore; techniques to hire smart, motivate, reward, and build a strong sales and service team; what’s new, hot and happening in Social Media Marketing, circa 2013; enough retailer-tested,no-cost, low-cost in-store events and promotions to increase traffic andbuild sales and profits; plus how to set your sales floor to sell with the latest in layouts and visual merchandising, store operations tips and inventory control. Save the date, Saturday, January 12, 2013. Seats are limited – don’t miss out!
On Sunday, January 13, we present Land Mines and Slippery Slopes, a BRAND NEW program that outlines 10 common problematic symptoms of failure – land mines – to avoid, how they affect your store’s performance, and what to do about them before they send your profitability slipping downward. You’ll leave armed with specific strategies to help you identify, avoid, and control your land mines, plus how to keep off the slippery slopes that erode and destroy your retail business.
Next up: One Size Does Not Fit All: Marketing to Different Generations. This one’s for retailers and manufacturers, actually anyone with customers. You can’t attract them if you don’t know who they are. Today you sell and market to five very distinct generations: LOMLOTs (consumers with Lots Of Money, Lots Of Time, ages 68+), Baby Boomers (49-67), Generation X (33-48), Millennials (19-32), and Generation Z (3-18). How these consumers respond to your marketing is based on their age – and their generational experience. Technology is huge, but how you use it depends greatly on which generation you are trying to reach.
LOMLOTs may be older, but they’re all over technology. Case in point: Skypeing with grandkids is huge. Texting is fun for Baby Boomers, but it’s as important as air to Millennials and Generation Z. Older gens still read newspapers, younger ones use them to line hamster cages. Gen Xers still enjoy magazines, but their kids prefer iPads. And if you still require shoppers to clip or print coupons you’re missing the boat. And a boatload of customers.
We’ve done the research! You’ll learn what it takes to attract each generation to your product or your store; when to go digital and when to hang on to tradition; which social medias go with which generations; how to get Pinterest followers off of their computers and in to your store; which in-store events attract which generations; how to effectively use e-mail marketing; how to optimize the consumer shopping experience; and more.
As CHA’s Retail Experts, when we’re not in seminars, you’ll be able to find us across from booth 1201 on the Show floor. Bring us your questions, concerns, challenges, opportunities, and photos of your sales floor for a one-on-one, customized consultation.
While compiling the article, “Family Ties: Craft businesses pass their torch from generation to generation,” which appears in CHA’s magazine, Craft Industry Today (Fall 2012, Vol. 1, No.3) we were fascinated by the amount of family-owned companies, each with their own unique stories, within our industry. In the upcoming weeks we will be expanding on this article and sharing CHA member stories on our Blog. In the coming weeks we’ll be featuring stories from the following members and more: Dee’s Delights and Beacon Adhesives.
Hobby Lobby
By Mike Hartnett
Hobby Lobby is one of the most remarkable success stories in American business – and it’s remarkable in many ways.
Hobby Lobby started as an outgrowth of Greco Products, a miniature picture frame company founded in a garage by David Green in 1970. David’s sons, Mart and Steve, began gluing frames together for seven cents per frame when they were nine and seven.
Hobby Lobby officially began operation on August 3, 1972. Size of the store? 300 square feet of retail space.
Today there are 514 stores from coast to coast, averaging 55,000 square feet and selling more than 65,000 craft and home décor products. Other divisions include Crafts Etc., the wholesale division; Mardel, a chain of Christian bookstores; and Hemispheres, a chain of high-end home décor stores. As a result, Forbes magazine has included David on its Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans since 2004.
The growth is attributable in part to his loyal employees, who have good reason to be loyal. Three years ago, at the depth of the recession when the unemployment rate was skyrocketing, Hobby Lobby raised the starting minimum wage, which was already higher than the federally mandated level. The company has increased the starting minimum wage $1/hour four years in a row. The company also built an extensive medical clinic for employees at the headquarters in Oklahoma City.
The family has strong religious beliefs, and they put their money where their mouth is. The company probably loses millions in sales because the stores are closed on Sundays. Each Christmas and Easter, Hobby Lobby takes out a full-page ad in the major newspaper of each town with a Hobby Lobby store. The ads have a religious theme, not the typical “50% Off!” ads that are so common for retail advertisements.
Half of all pre-tax earnings are given to a variety of evangelical causes. The list of donations is almost endless; Forbes estimates David has donated “upwards of $500 million,” including property to help the late Rev. Jerry Fallwell, and tens of millions to save the almost-bankrupt Oral Roberts University, etc. The company is planning a national Bible museum to house the more than 44,000 religious artifacts that have been purchased and saved.
The ministry reaches around the world, too. The company has printed and distributed almost 1.4 billion copies of Gospel literature to more than 100 countries.
Hobby Lobby is remarkable in other ways, too: Despite it size, one of the largest privately owned company’s in the country, it is still a family-run business. Mart, David’s oldest son, is CEO of the Mardel Stores division, and Steve, David’s younger son, is President of Hobby Lobby. David’s daughter, Darsee Lett, is VP of Art/Creative Department overseeing approximately 70 artists and crafters. Stan Lett, David’s son-in-law, is VP for Manufacturing, International Dept., and Buyer Resources. Randy Green, David’s nephew, is head of the wholesale division, Crafts, Etc. And yes, David’s grandchildren are working there, too, or with the company’s numerous charitable and religious efforts.
A succession plan is in place. When David is gone, Hobby Lobby will operate as it has and to continue to donate to evangelical causes. The company has been set up as a managing trust with Green family members as the trustees to see that it remains true to its operating philosophy. If succeeding generations were to decide to sell the company, 90% of the proceeds will go to ministry causes – an incentive to not sell the company, but see that it continues to fulfill its purpose.
The current generation certainly can’t foresee Hobby Lobby being sold. Randy Green, David’s nephew and head of Hobby Lobby’s Crafts Etc. division, said, “We see Hobby Lobby as much more than just a business, but as a ministry that ultimately belongs to God, and as a family we are just stewards over it. If the company were ever sold and taken public, we would not be free to donate to and support various ministries at the level that we have done and continue to do.”
(Note: Forbes magazine recently profiled David. Read the article HERE. In 2004, when David made the Forbes 400 (richest Americans list), Hobby Lobby vendors were asked to explain the keys to the company’s success, given the fact that the stores are closed on Sunday, no fancy scanning equipment at the check-out counters, etc. Their answers are HERE.)
Welcome to the official blog of the Craft & Hobby Association
Check back weekly for the latest news and information from the craft and hobby industry.
The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) is an international not-for-profit trade association consisting of thousands of member companies engaged in the design, manufacture, distribution and retail sales of craft products worldwide.
For more about CHA, the value of membership, or its award-winning Conferences & Trade Shows, please visit www.craftandhobby.org.
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