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Issue
369 -
October 21, 2010
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MMIE #369 - Ramping
up for holiday card
sales
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Hello Chris,
Seen in the
New York Times:
"A camera-store
salesman recently
steered me away from
the compact,
ultrahigh-tech
camera I thought I
wanted. Smaller is
fine, he told me,
but only if it fits
in your pocket - any
bigger will end up
hanging from your
shoulder anyway, so
what's the
advantage?"
That's the intro to
an article entitled
"Seven Steps to
Managing Your Online
Reputation" By David
H Freedman and you
should look over the
complete article at
this
Times blog.
Those links don't
stay active and free
forever, and the
camera store in
question was B&H
Photo in New York.
As you're preparing
all the last minute
details of The Big
Season ahead, take a
second to reread
what you're saying
in the minds of the
reader . . .
The text was
obviously written
for communication to
existing employees -
then apparently
someone got the good
idea to make a
poster for the store
window so that
customers could tell
their friends the
store is looking for
help . . . But this
sign in the window
doesn't tell the
potential applicant
where to send the
resume . . . (or CV
as it's known in the
country of the sign)
. . . A quick
addition of an email
address, phone
number or website
would have increased
the effectiveness of
the sign
There are those who
think making the
potential applicant
grub around to find
out how to apply is
part of the
application test -
if you can't find
the store manager
you don't deserve
the job type of
thinking . . . .
That flies in the
face of the concept
that the best
employees are likely
not the ones looking
for a job - the best
employees are
usually already
employed. This is
modified somewhat by
the unique economic
conditions today -
but not always . . .
the point? Make it
easy for the best
applicants to join
your team - during
your peak season or
not.
Over the last
several hundred
issues of the
McCurry Marketing
Idea Exchange, some
of the best
submissions have
been from readers
sharing their best
tips on building
greeting card sales.
We're going to pull
some of the best
ones from the
archives over the
next several weeks,
kick off this issue
with a brand new one
from Laura Covey of
PMA, and give you an
important reminder
right now:
Check your inventory
of envelopes for
greeting cards today
and order enough to
last the rest of the
season! |
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Idea # 1
- Dogs
are
people
too
Laura
Covey -
PMA -
The
Worldwide
Community
of
Imaging
Associations
-
www.pmai.org
- Follow
me on
Twitter:
PMAMembers
Hello
Bill and
Chris,
With the
start of
the new
member
year
here at
PMA, it
reminded
me that
I also
have
some
annual
dues to
pay . .
.
When we
adopted
our dog
from the
local
humane
society
earlier
this
year, we
wanted
all of
our
friends
and
family
to know
about
it. What
do you
do when
you have
a new
family
addition?
You send
out
photo
announcements,
of
course!
With all
the
choices
on the
market
today, I
thought
this
would be
a fun,
quick,
and easy
project.
Boy, was
I wrong.
Sure,
there
are tons
of baby
announcement
templates
available,
but when
you
don't
want
blue,
pink, or
even
human
attributes
in the
design,
your
choices
become
very
limited.
So I
changed
my
search
to focus
on
adoption
announcements.
This
yielded
more
results,
but
still
not what
I was
looking
for. I
finally
found a
rather
generic,
yet
attractive,
option
that
worked,
but I
still
found
myself
wishing
for
something
that
really
suited
my
purpose.
And I'm
sure I'm
not
alone.
Olivia,
Laura
and
Bill's
"adoption"
announcement
According
to our
local
human
society,
they
facilitated
nearly
1,000
adoptions
last
year
alone.
What an
opportunity
for
specialty
retailers!
Why not
design a
pet-friendly
"new
addition"
photo
card
template
featuring
the logo
of your
local
humane
society
or
animal
shelter
and
include
a coupon
for five
free
cards in
their
adoption
packet.
Or offer
to
rebate a
percentage
of the
card
sales
back to
the
shelter
as an
ongoing
fundraiser.
The
options
are
virtually
endless
with
just a
bit of
imagination.
Whatever
approach
you take
will be
bringing
these
families
into
your
store
and if
they the
kind of
folks
who want
to buy
pet
announcement
cards,
you can
bet
these
are
"photo
people"
who will
be
interested
in your
other
products
and
services
as well.
Best,
Laura |
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Idea #2
- When
you've
got 'em,
flaunt 'em
(Christmas
cards,
that is)
(from
Issue
312,
August
2009)
see
entire
issue
Michael
St
Germain
-
Concord
Camera
Store -
Concord,
NH, USA
-
www.concordcamera.com
Good
Morning:
Over the
last 20
years or
so we
have not
done a
great
job of
displaying
our
greeting
card
assortments.
The
books
were
okay,
however,
they are
limiting
for a
customer
or a
group of
customers
to see
and
touch.
This
year I
vowed we
would
change
that and
I think
we have.
This
project
cost
about
$25.00
and some
time and
energy.
We made
samples
of all
the
templates
and
mounted
them all
on black
foam
core to
make
them
rigid
and a
piece of
Velcro
hook
tape on
the back
of each
sample.
We then
covered
two
pieces
of 32x40
foam
core
with
black
felt and
mounted
them to
the
wall. We
now have
a
display
that the
customers
can see,
touch
and
select
from
that is
open and
inviting.
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Calendar
of
Industry
Events
November
15-17,
2010 -
6Sight
Conference
- San
Jose,
CA, USA
-
http://www.pmai.org/6sight_09.aspx?id=15274
June
23-26,
2011 -
PMA
Australia,
Sydney
http://www.pmaaustralia.com.au/
June
27-30,
2011 -
IPI
Members'
Retreat
and
Trade
Show
-
Henderson,
NV USA -
By
invitation
July
16-20,
2011 -
PRO
Members'
Convention
and
Trade
Show,
Jacksonville,
FL- By
Invitation
September
6-9,
2011 -
DIMA
Conference,
Las
Vegas NV
USA
September
8-10,
2011 -
PMA
Convention
and
Trade
Show,
Las
Vegas,
NV, USA |
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Remember to send us
your marketing
ideas, as well as
comments on those
ideas posted by
hitting your reply
button or emailing
to editor@mccurryassoc.com.
Your colleagues may
also get the
newsletter free in
exchange for
submitting ideas.
Give them this link
to sign up but
remind them they
have to share:
http://photoimagenews.com/mccurry.htm
Please Enjoy,
Consider and Profit
from these ideas.
All the Best, Bill
William J. McCurry,
Chairman
McCurry
Associates
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