Well, this week I took them up on it and “followed” every person with a Twitter account who follows me. Most of whom, naturally, are consignment, resale, and thrift shops. Let’s see what I can learn Continue Reading »
Posted in Shopkeeping talk | Tagged blogging, Twitter, web | 3 Comments »
In the last few days, when resale and consignment shopkeepers were slow, or maybe even housebound, the readership here as well as on Too Good to be Threw, the Premier Site for Resale Professionals and HowToConsign.com, Turning your Cluttered Closets into Cash, has MUSHROOMED!
Which doesn’t mean that I have suddenly become even more fascinating than normal… but it does mean that
Hope you have the time to take advantage of this weather-driven happening and can visit back with them:
Use this enforced slow-down of life to strengthen your relationship with your clientele and to find new customers as well.
And you’ll be able to count on business mushrooming…as soon as the weather improves.
Photo borrowed from Made with Love: some seriously cute stuff.
Posted in Shopkeeping talk |
[Update 2-24-18 : picnik is now OOB. Try picmonkey.com or ribbet.com, very similar and free/premium programs] I use picnik.com, a free/ paid web site, to fix photos, to add text to them (a great attention-getter in those overbloated Facebook albums) and to make collages or join several images together. (For example, the header image here on my blog was created in picnik.)
If today’s another day when business is slow because of your weather, take Continue Reading »
Posted in My Favorite Things, Shopkeeping talk |
Here’s a Teeny Tip from Too Good to be Threw, Products for the Professional Resaler Snow still eating into your shop’s traffic?
Here’s a task you can do, on and off, until you have a finished
for your current or potential staff. As you do (or run through, in your mind, if the weather’s keeping everyone away today!) each task, write it down, step by step, in detail. Such as
and so on. This is a good start on your policies and procedures manual.
Next, you might want to work on your employee manual, where you set down your expectations and duties of staff. Resources for this: Some generic information is linked on the TGtbT Links Page.
Not in the mood to do this Teeny Tip? Choose another! More Teeny Tips for consignment, resale, and thrift shops. Or add YOUR Teeny Tip here by commenting!
Posted in Shopkeeping talk, Teeny Tips | Tagged daily operations, resale shopkeeping | 1 Comment »
So getting and staying organized is a hot topic amongst resale shopkeepers. To give you some insight, we’ve gathered
Peggy: I email the store from home with to do lists.
Deb McD: I call and leave myself a message!! I’m also an avid list maker-even if I forget the list, I can kinda visualize what I wrote down.
Jessica: If a lot of what you need is on a computer, PCAnywhere by Symantec is a life saver! It allows you to operate your store computer from home and vice versa.
Kate: A square-bottomed canvas tote plus a clipboard or plastic see-thru envelope for notes. That way, physical things and lists get where they are going. My staff knew to clip (with spring clothes pins) notes to me or to the tote rather than rely upon my remembering it in the middle of a hectic day. The tote’s square bottom meant it sat upright, easy to toss things in, obvious to remove and do something WITH whatever was in it.
Add a yearly diary. In it, record when you started planning your St Pat’s event, when you called Yellow Pages to change your ad, daily/ weekly/ monthly/ YTD sales figures, exceptional happenings (even name and phone of a customer who offered to help, had an in with a specific group, etc.) This diary functioned as a “Beat Last Year”, scheduling reminder, and contact database. I remember and think about things a lot better if I write them down rather than keyboard them.
Bonnie: Like Kate, I use a big tote bag back and forth from home to the store everyday. It usually goes full both ways – clothes that need washing, bills, notes get put in the bag all day. Then I deal with it when I get home, and start filling it up with stuff to go back to the store. My daytimer lives in the tote unless I am using it. Still, I always manage to forget something!
Janis: A “phone message book” that is in duplicate with a post-it note feature. I or employees write notes & phone numbers and take/send them home so I can remember to do stuff … and the copy is there at the store in case I forgot! I also keep old books to keep track of things. I have a tote bag/brief case that I carry the papers & bills back & forth. I use vinyl pencil cases for each day of the week – whoever closes will put the daily reports, receipts, messages and backup disk in them. Usually, it’s me who closes, but the idea is that anyone can keep up with all the daily stuff. I keep the past couple days at home and rotate them – each day has a backup disk, so I actually have 6 historical backups.
Connie: Go with a voice recorder. You can buy those for around $30. Also you could leave yourself or employees a voice memo on the answering machine. (That is, if your machine has this feature)
MarKay: My method is kind of primitive, but effective. I tape or staple a Post-It note around the handle of my purse.
My personal 2 Best Tips: Use a clear over-the-door shoe organizer bag to hold tagging and other back-room supplies.
And (promise you won’t laugh) I use clothes pins to clip notes to myself (well, my clothes, really) as I gallivant around the store.
Tip #2 1/2: Call yourself: when you think of something super-important, leave a message for yourself on your phone. Just don’t let anyone catch you doing it or you’ll feel really silly. Trust me. —Kate
Posted in Shopkeeping talk | Tagged resale shopkeeping | 5 Comments »
Too Good to be Threw is the flagship site of the TGtbT Family of Sites for the Professional Resalers
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 