Idea #1 - Making things look better than new  
Rich Reed, Reed's Camera & Video, Walnut Creek, CA (www.reedscameras.com)

   Small "idea" . . . A long time ago we bought a "shrink" wrap machine. They say it's all about "presentation". Well, we shrink wrap all are repairs when they return. It gives them a professional fresh look . . . keeps them clean too. We also repackage miscellaneous mdse. It's great for "saving" the real expensive books. We can reshrink mats frames etc. When you need to repack the "last" camera or shelf model makes 'em look fresh. Many other uses . . . Make your own "multi" packs of film. 

Idea #2 - Prove your quality, increase your sales
"Anonymous" (?) - Reported by Bill McCurry

   In researching new ideas for the new Digital Guerrilla Marketing book due out at PMA 2003, Bill McCurry was talking to a retailer who passed on the following guerrilla marketing tactic. The retailer said he'd send the idea into the Idea Exchange but it hasn't shown up yet. Bill thought it was too good of an idea to not pass it on, even if it is "anonymous". Perhaps our reluctant subscriber will step forth to take credit for his genius.
   It's the best $18 I ever spent on marketing. We have a "free trade in" offer on photofinishing. If you had your work done by another lab, bring it to us and we'll reprint it free. The customer can then keep which ever is better. Of course ours is the best. We make a second set of prints at the same time.
   Then, with the customer's permission, we post the competitor's envelope along with their prints and our reprints. They are all posted on a bulletin board we spent $18 for - it hangs in the window.
   I know it works. The other day a gentleman stopped and looked at the pictures and hurried away. Three minutes later he was back with six rolls still in the bag from the mass merchant whose work we had hanging next to ours on the bulletin board.
   Hint: If your customer is the least bit hesitant to allow you to post the pictures then be sure they are totally destroyed . . . unauthorized copies of customers' prints are bad and a dangerous slippery slope. On the other hand, when they are eager to have their pictures up as good examples, then it makes them ambassadors for your lab.

Idea #3 - Community support begins at home
Michael St Germain, Concord Camera, Concord, NH (www.concordcamera.com)

   Twenty employees, relatives and friends of Concord Camera walked in the fund raiser, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. The group raised over $1,300 for the effort.
   Michael devoted some of his regularly scheduled radio spots to the event asking listeners to drop by the store and pledge support. Customers and strangers came by to give a few dollars or pledge dollars per mile.
   The team named themselves the "double exposures" - it was rewarding and fun for the team and beneficial for the entire community.