Advertisement Ideas: I Like It In Top!!!

 I have always believed that it is important to be proactive in all you do and to be on top of events that can positively impact your business.  If you are to get to the top in your chosen field you must stay up with the current events that affect that field. As the regular readers of this blog know I work with Celebrity Sports, The Ultimate Gift Store, located at 1825 N. Pine Island Road in Plantation, FL. We sell sports and non-sports memorabilia. We rely heavily on walk in traffic and our Facebook promotions to make sales. Each day I look for something industry related that we can capitalize on so as to create a buzz about the store and drive traffic.  Today Peyton Manning is announcing his retirement thus I took pictures of some of The Peyton Manning Memorabilia and began to post it on our Facebook Page and on my personal Facebook Page. I am working on convincing the manager and owner to put up a website as I was very surprised that it today’s market where more and more people are going to the internet to look for goods and services that they did not have one. In order to get to the top in your industry and get a nice piece of the monetary pie you must keep up with technology. If you are to reach your desired target audience and be on the top you must be ahead of everyone else and do things that are  unique and different. If you are going to drive business to you it is imperative to have innovative advertisement ideas and promote them. I had come up with an idea to put 50 balloons around the store and when some spent at least $25 have them pick a balloon to pop and inside would be some type of award such as a 10% discount or a FREE Wax Pack. I suggested we put out fliers in the community, send out emails, and promote this concept. I was told no we don’t have customers and nothing is working by my manager.  I have always believed that to be the best you must stay a step ahead of everyone else and say yes to new innovative marketing ideas. If you are going to be on top you must have a vision and a strategy to get to the top.

 If you create traffic you will have a chance to be of service and value to those who walk through your doors and as a result you have it all and be on top in your industry. In delivering outstanding customer service and understanding what value you deliver you will see your sales increase. I have this method I greet the customer with  in 10 seconds of them entering the store, I ask questions, I show them some items and then I allow the to look around. In doing this I have been successful in every retail position that I have ever held. When I first started working retail I worked for The Oaktree Men’s Clothing Store and within 3 weeks I became the top sales person in the country. I was asked how I did this by the regional manager. My answer was I set goals and I took action to exceed those goals, one way to make sure I interacted with every customer and gave them a great shopping experience. As I continued to do this word got around that Jonathan at Oaktree is the man to see if you need men’s clothing. I left Oaktree and went to work for Merle Harmon’s Fan Fair, which specialized in sports apparel and collectibles. I took the store from a $400 a day store to a $2500 a day store. I was asked how and I simply said I went out and told people about the store and invited them to shop. When they came to shop again I made sure they had a good experience. The key to being on top is to make sure you are sharing your business with others and insuring that they have a good experience.

The key to being on top is to keep shooting everyday and to stay motivated and focused. It all comes down to the old adage plan your work and work you plan and make adjustments along the way. The main reason people struggle in their business is their lack of foresight and coming from a position of lack. When you open your business you should have a plan of action to attract people and once they come into your business then it is up to you to close the deal.

In all businesses to be #1 you must have a plan that will attract your desired customer and ways to keep the customers coming back.  When I would open The Foot Locker store where i was an assistant manager I would look at the last year’s sales for that day and I would set a goal of beating it by $1 and I would meet with the staff and explain what our goal was and what our pan was they would buy into the plan and 98% of the time I beat last year’s sales.One day my district manager asked me how I did this. I answered I went out and let people know I work at Footlocker and invited them to shop at the store. The underlying theme here is if you want to be on the top you have to let people know who you are, what you do, and give them a reason to do business with you.

If you want to be on top you must have a mindset that allows you to be limitless and the willingness to take risks and do things that others aren’t willing to do.  Sometimes it means going out on your off hours and sharing with others and planting the seeds that will sprout into customers who will regularly do business with you.