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Use your Facebook Photo Album to build business, recognition, WOM about your consignment, resale, thrift shop.

Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , on December 1, 2010| 12 Comments »

Do you use your FB photo albums to their fullest?

I’m betting that you could use some fresh ideas here. Now is the perfect time to put photos of your wonderful merchandise up, so your FB, Twitter, blog, site, broadcast email friends/ fans/ followers can see just

what their holiday dollars can get them in your shop.

Here’s how. Get an “extravagant” present together. Say, not just a sweater, but a sweater, scarf, gloves, headband and jeans together. Work towards making the WHOLE OUTFIT the price of, oh, the jeans or the sweater. Photograph it. Do a caption that includes a list of items in  GLOWING terms. Compare it to “new”.

Here, let me take a stab at it so you can see what I mean.

Example borrowed from a Polyvore creation

You’d pay $383 for these HIGH jeans alone. At MyShop, get the hottest designer jeans, add a leather messenger bag and a shearling jacket and you’ll still have $ left over for the aviator cap, available (once in a while!) in our Weird and Wonderful department! Talk about a great outfit for the hippest chick on your list (we won’t tell if that happens to be YOU!) for less than $300!

BTW, do add your shop’s name and a message like the “Happy Snow” above, to your photos. Makes them MUCH more effective.

Do a variety of looks, as in these examples. And swap them out every few days, so you can send another GIFT IDEAS from MYSHOP message out.

Everyone's got a floor to use as a backdrop, right?

Try YOUR hand at a caption for an outfit like this.

Ball cap, T, overalls, sneaks, AND what he really wants, the truck!…all for $32, which is less than the overalls alone would cost at the mall.

This caption could be about the unique artist-created things you have, versus made-in-China dreck.

Okay. Now, after the holidays,

continue to use the free FB photo albums in business-boosting, reputation-building, word-of-mouth ways. Like to show folks how you examine incoming merchandise (a great opportunity to reinforce Clean-Current-Cute) or your staff planting that pretty flower garden that enhances downtown.

Some photos borrowed from web venues including Interior Motives WI for illustrative purposes.  Obviously, you’ll use your own merchandise and your own photos.

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My consignment anniversary giveaway: In honor of Martha Stewart

Posted in economics of resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , on September 21, 2010| 14 Comments »

This post is part of Auntie Kate’s 35th anniversary of being a consignment shopkeeper, author, maven, and fan. Here’s the intro to our anniversary giveaway, and if you haven’t already posted a comment to win Monday’s prize, you can do so here.

Every entrepreneur dreams of gaining the public attention an appearance on Oprah or Martha Stewart or other shows can bring their business, book, invention or passion. That’s whyMartha Stewart’s show giving

10 minutes of fame for consignment shops was so exciting

for all resale shopkeepers, and the show itself was well-done. Never once did we hear the phrase “musty dusty thrift shops of old”…thanks goodness. Each of us, even those without the audience of millions Martha has, can (more…)

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You don’t occupy a lot of their brain

Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , on September 12, 2010| 3 Comments »

Rule #1 of Advertising, Marketing and Promotion:

They aren’t paying attention.Your potential customers have a lot on their minds.

Your potential audience for everything from a TV commercial to a tweet is not concentrating on what you’re saying. You’re lucky if (more…)

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Neutron bomb has fallen.

Posted in economics of resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , on June 30, 2010| 9 Comments »

It seems like the neutron bomb has fallen on many consignment, resale, thrift shops…leaving everything intact except for people.

Neat, yes. Appealing, no.

Least, that’s how it looks when I see shop photos many times. Lonesome. Unoccupied. Empty. Deserted. Cheerless. Forlorn. Desolate.

Snooze.

Where’s the subliminal “community acceptance” message? The in-your-face “boy this is a popular shop they must have great stuff”? Or even the “gosh, will I look like THAT if I shop there?” wishful thinking.

People, people. Put people in your photos. Even just one can make all the difference.

Even one person makes a difference

Or failing that, mannequins.

These models won't blink.

Liven it up! Make it look like it’s fun to shop in your store. Befriended. Cheerful. Together. Popular.

Courtesy some newspaper photog.

Make it seem like THE place to BE.

Here’s an idea: invite all your Facebook fans over one evening. (Might as well get SOME use out of them.) Ask them to dress in white tops, black or khaki bottoms (you want your shop to shine; the fans are really only props but we won’t tell them that.) Use them as your models. When you’ve got the shots you want (and only then!), break out the pizza and beer or raspberries and champagne.

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1 Week ’til NARTS Consignment / Resale / Thrift Conference

Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , , on June 17, 2010|

Getting ready for a great resale industry conference!

Some friends-of-long-standing (that’s how to get around calling them OLD friends)

Just one week until NARTS Conference and consignment, resale, and thrift shop owners and managers are excited!

For those attending it’s gonna be an exciting and profitable trip. And to those who can’t make it, we’ll take notes, we promise!

Here’s what to do right now.

♥ Make sure you have enough business cards (100-200) to hand out and that they have complete info. Add your city, state, area code, email address if you forgot it before printing.

♥ Gather your questions. Write down what you want to find out about. Pull out the index card you’ve written them on several times a day and ASK someone. Gather your answers, too. Got a great source for gift items? Really learn a lot from a book or web site? Write down the specific info so you can help others.

♥ If you’ll be attending my workshop on How to Get the Good Stuff in YOUR Shop, you’ll get more out of it if you prepare: Read Accepting and Pricing about how to make sure you treat the good stuff right. And be sure to study up on Using ALL your Space too, ’cause you’ll need it if you follow my plan! The TGtbT Shop has both and you can get them PDQ!

♥ Bring CASH MONEY. And your ATM card to replenish your cash. It’s easiest on the time-pressed bus tour, and with cash you are not making your resale peers pay credit-card fees. It’s the friendly, considerate thing to do. And you all know how we love friendly considerate customers!

♥ Print out 5 or 6 copies of TGtbT’s PDQ booklet, Visiting Other Resalers, to get the most out of every shop on the Bus Tour. No sense just SHOPPING on the bus tour when you could be learning at the same time!

♥ Decide on clothes. Remember 2 things: Layers (rooms start out chilly, warm up once we get all fired up!) and pockets. In your right pocket you will carry your business cards to hand out; in your left, you will stash the card of people you meet.

♥ Swear the following:

  • I will NOT sit with the one what brung me.
  • I will make a point of switching seats on the bus and everywhere so I meet someone new every chance.
  • I will forget that really I am shy and I will chat with everyone. Especially Auntie Kate. She does want to hear all about you and your shop.

♥ Make up a few SASEs: self-addressed stamped envelopes. When you ask a breakfast buddy to send you a copy of that great bag-stuffer she’s talking about, hand her a ready-to-use SASE, penciling on the back “your Pick a Pair flier” to remind her what she promised to send.

♥ Check the TGtbT Shop to decide what you need. Then: order what you need now.  PDQ files are more earth-friendly and by pre-reading and thinking you’ll be able to ask Auntie Kate and others, in person, for more insight on something you’re planning.

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