"UNOFFICIAL" GATHERING AT PMA . . .

Want to meet cutting edge retailers? Want to know what makes them successful? How'd you like to have a (free!) drink while you're doing this? PMA is the place to do that . . . and while at PMA be sure to come celebrate with us the success of one of our own . . . Click Camera.

Click Camera is PTN's Dealer of The Year - They will be honored at a reception Monday night from 5:30 - 7:00 at the Rosen Centre Hotel, Ballroom A. Come by to say hello to your fellow McCurry Marketing Idea Exchange subscribers, give Rob Klaben and the Click Crew your best wishes, munch on goodies, have a drink and listen to interesting people.

Event is open to all list subscribers and is kindly hosted by PTN, Canon, Fujifilm, Fuji Hunt, Lucidion, Kodak, Graphx, Noritsu, Olympus and Nikon. Just FYI, there are two Rosen hotels . . . one on each side of the convention center - this event is at the Rosen Centre Hotel. See you there Monday night.

This week - odds and ends from our subscribers. No theme, just tidbits to read as you travel. By the time you read this newsletter you might be on the way to Orlando for DIMA/PMA or at least packing!

Idea #1- MORE CONVENTION TIPS:
Michael St Germain - Concord Camera Store - Concord, NH - www.concordcamera.com

Not all the great ideas come from within our own industry. Here's one Michael St. Germain found on the website of a company which sells, among other things, Point of Sale Software: http://www.jdapos.com/newsletters/current/article2.html
 

Idea #2 - Tripod display hint
Jerry Harmen - Madison Photo Plus - Madison, NJ - www.madisonphoto.com

We've gotten clear plastic tubing to cover slatwall/pegboard hooks for displaying collapsed tripods on the wall. The hosing protects the finish of the tripods while being invisible to the customers, making it easier to sell the display model at full price.

Idea #3 - Making and selling customer mousepads
Deedra Durocher - Kingstown Camera & Portrait Studio - Wakefield, RI - www.kingstowncamera.com

"Feeding the Monster" - I don't know that we have come up with anything truly unique, but in thinking of what we do in addition to regular prints, I came up with the following: We make personalized mousepads using an 8x10 color or black & white print from a customer's negative, print, slide or digital file. We've even made a mousepad with a scanned print of a child's drawing for her Dad for Father's Day. General Binding Corporation (GBC) has a Mousepad Kit of 25 units (approx. $3.50 each) that is easy to use with a matte print and a regular desktop laminator. With a cost of roughly $4.00 to $4.25, our retail is $12.95 which isn't a bad margin. In addition, we have made up other mousepads of cartoons by a local artist, Don Bousquet, who uses very Rhode Island based themes in his drawings and captions. These mousepads sell for $14.95 because Don gets $2.00 from each sale for using his drawings. Other ready-made mousepads that sell for $14.95 are of local landmarks, our Main Street, and a staff member's photos of Block Island.

These all are very popular as impulse items, especially with tourists during the summer, and are nice add-on sales.
 

Idea #4 - Free Photo CD Promotion helps move analog camera inventory
John Kreidler - Cardinal Camera - Lansdale, PA - www.cardinalcamera.com

We were looking at our inventory of Film SLRs about 9 months ago and saw, like most dealers, the inventory was not moving. So we decided to offer a free CD with each roll processed for 1 year when the customer purchased a Nikon N75. We thought "let's try it with the product we are heaviest on and see how it works." And if someone buys another camera and is interested in the offer we would honor it on any SLR.

The result? We sold most of our N75s! The other nice benefit is that the customer is now more likely to return for processing, because of the perceived value of the free CD. It helps bridge the gap between film and digital.

Remember - SNEAK PEEK AT NEW PMA BENEFIT TO PUT MONEY IN YOUR POCKET . . .

If you've benefited from these marketing idea emails, you'll get filthy rich reading the new PMA Marketing Community. You will find marketing ideas, suggestions and insights from around the world. No, it isn't intended to replace the McCurry Marketing Idea Exchange; it will be a greater resource allowing for more diversified opinions and greater depth of discussions than a 3 minute email. It will also be easier for you to find issues relevant to you by topic.

The community won't officially open until the Orlando show, but if you want a head start on the crowd, go to http://secure.pmai.org and click on PMA Communities - You will need to be a PMA member and sign into this site. (It's simple, follow the applicable directions!)

Once you're signed in, go to PMA Communities (link at top left of page) - Our suggestion is that you immediately then go to Setup/Preferences and select how you would like to be notified of any new marketing information that gets posted. Our preference is for the daily digest that sends all the day's postings every night. You can select immediate emails for each posting or a weekly collection. You can also select no emails but that forces you to come to the site rather than the ease of reading it in your email box.

Bill McCurry is the moderator for this community - In his "News" in the community you'll see his welcome letter which states in part:

The rules are simple -
Rule #1 - Please use common sense when asking and answering questions
Rule #2 - See Rule #1

We look forward to "seeing you" at your PMA Marketing Community at http://secure.pmai.org
 

Bill McCurry's Speaking Schedule At DIMA/PMA/PPFA February in Orlando

More information at:
http://www.pmai.org/dima2005/ or
http://pma2005.pmai.org/ or
http://www.pmai.org/ppfa2005/

At the DIMA Conference:
* Saturday, February 19, 10:30AM - 11:30AM
D92 - McCurry Marketing 201
Nothing happens until somebody sells something - discover how you can sell more quickly and cheaply.
* Saturday, February 19, 1:15PM - 2:15PM
D102 - DIMA Marketing Ideas Exchange
Where money making ideas are share, new friendships made, old friendships rekindled and your profits begin to grow.

At the PMA Convention:
* Sunday, February 20, 6:30PM - 9:30PM
N1 - It's Your People. . . Really! Change Your Focus and Grow Your Sales
Hot off the presses - PMA's newest book will refocus your team's efforts to boost your sales for 2005 and beyond

At the PPFA Convention:
* Monday, February 21, 8:00AM - 9:15AM
F303 Are You Talking to Me?
Communication is the problem and the solution - uncover techniques that reduce frustration, save time and make money.
* Monday, February 21, 11:00AM - 12:20PM
FG3 PPFA General Session Luncheon - Big Bang - Little Buck...Effective Marketing on the Cheap
The title says it all.
* Monday, February 21, 2:30PM - 5:20PM
F308 Direct Marketing - From Your Idea to Cash in the Bank
Focus your message, focus your target and hit the bull's eye of increased profits. Find out how at this session.

Scheduling Frustration at DIMA/PMA

Some of you already noticed that the Marketing Idea Exchange (Saturday, February 19 @ 1:15) is scheduled at the same time as Chris Lydle's session, Creating Loyalty and Profits Through Digital Photo Classes. Alas, when you have as many good sessions as DIMA does, these types of conflicts will occur. Your possible solutions:

This is why you want more than one person from your organization attending - so you can go to different sessions and compare notes.
If you're not able to have enough employees to cover all the sessions, then partner with another industry colleague. Determine ahead of time who will go to which session then plan on meeting immediately after the session to share notes with each other.
Order the tapes from the session.
 

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