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Archive for the ‘5- Minute Fixes’ Category

Got a moment? Get a brainstorm or at least a compliment

Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , , , on August 7, 2013| 2 Comments »

emergencycomplimentcomWe all have those small, spare moments in our consignment or resale shops when we just need a break from accepting or pricing or killing dust bunnies. We need a break from the day-to-day. So what do we do? Catch up on Facebook, read email, play Angry Birds?

I have a better idea.

When you need a little pat on the back, click over to emergencycompliment.com and get one. I guarantee it’ll unhunch your shoulders after dealing with a difficult member of the public. Maybe even make you laugh. Laughter is always a good thing.

Or maybe you’re not so much in need of a laugh as you are a little inspiration about your business. Then

try this Auntie Kate magic link: Kinda like a fortune cookie, click here to get a random Auntie Kate post. Unlike a fortune cookie, you can keep clicking til you find a message that seems like it’s just for you.

 

 

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Ever felt like this? Me too.

Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , on August 1, 2013|

Error message that might be fun to receive.

Ah yes. I get this and the answer can be “sure thing, honey.”

I’m guessing (more…)

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People WANT to be helpful. Give them the opportunity.

Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, economics of resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , on July 12, 2013| 1 Comment »

Social media… especially in the resale industry… is all about sharing and communicating and being heard.

Add you thought... maybe win a gift certificate to my consignment shop!Here’s what one consignment shop did to give their followers an opportunity to be heard.

84 comments on a mid-April blog post… 84 more customers who felt more closely connected with the shop… at a cost of $100 worth of gift cards. Not to mention, I’m guessing at least a few of those 84, and even more of the Silent Majority, read through the comments several times out of curiosity and interest.

And the shop could now use these comments to make up a customer benefit brochure, a What Our Customers Do to Help the Environment, to hand out as a sales premium in the slower months, and of course to provide context for the main point of the handout which would be, of course,

ReSell/ RePlace, ReJoice!

the battle cry of our consumer-oriented marketing at HowToConsign.org! Pretty great use of their blog, don’t you think?

What opinion could you ask for, now or in the near future, that would enable your followers to interact with you?

 

Save

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Start your Facebook Group Page for your consignment or resale shop now!

Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Not-for-Profit Resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , on July 3, 2013| 8 Comments »

Professional Resalers help each other with info from Too Good to be Threw

Click to see TGtbT on FB!

Many resale shopkeepers enjoy industry discussion groups on Facebook. They love to have a place where their ideas, comments and opinions are not the stuff of general knowledge.  It’s a place to discuss ideas, develop strategies, and even to learn something new.

[V]ery few businesses are doing something special with their presence on Facebook – I am sure you find the same thing with the pages you follow. Everyone seems to be doing the same thing, or saying the same thing. Over and over.

And oh how true! Over and over again, a shop’s page will have “Great stuff coming in” posts or “New markdowns taken!” While such commercial appeals are welcome, they don’t often build loyalty to your consignment, thrift or resale shop… the kind of loyalty that will have people thinking of your shop first, before they wander over to the mall.

Well, here’s a strategy that WILL build loyalty, one that works better than monthly Girls’ Night Out events and is easier, cheaper, and more consistent. A group page created by your business will

make your shop stand out from the Sea of Sameness

that consumers grow weary of in consignment and resale shopping today.

Starting a group page for your shop’s clientele is a great strategy to improve your business. This author’s #2 point, to add value to being a “regular” in your shop, is of course near and dear to my heart, but

I suspect #3 will be the real reason

you opt to put some time and effort into a shop FB group!

Read the article.

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Grab the car keys, Thelma! We’re investing in a consignment road trip!

Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Shopkeeping talk on June 17, 2013| 12 Comments »

Visiting other resalers is a wise investment of timeRecently, I read this Facebook comment. A consignment shop owner was replying to another who was flying cross-country to visit the area and wanted to know “if there are any good shops to visit” in the Portland/Salem Oregon area.

I own … in Salem. We are going on our 3rd year. There is a bunch in Portland but I never checked them out yet. I heard … is good. Most of the high end ones are in Portland.

This statement was such a puzzlement to me… that a shopkeeper open 3 years had not familiarized herself with nearby businesses in the same industry, that I had to Google it.

The two locations are less than 50 miles apart. Where I come from, that’s a nice day trip. Now, I’ve never been to Oregon, so maybe Interstate 5 is an oxen trail, but somehow I doubt it.

Given that the NARTS Conference Bus Tours, where hundreds of shopkeepers pay $50 or so for the chance to visit 6-8 shops in one day and to see how others operate, decorate, and relate, is argumentatively the highlight of Conference for many shopkeepers, what’s going on here?

Why hasn’t a career resaler found the time, in 3 years, to see what  other “high end” shops are doing? Isn’t visiting other resalers part of improving a shopkeeper’s education?

I’ve even written a little booklet called Visiting Other Resalers A little field notebook to help you examine other shops with an eye to making yours better. Download it; print out copies to stick in your glove compartment. Learn every time you visit another shop!

because it is so important to see what other folks are doing. You can get the booklet for less than the price of a grilled cheese on the Lunch with Kate mini-Products page.

Then Thelma and Louise can “go shopping” for new ideas and fresh approaches to their shared concerns.

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