Advertisement Ideas: Time To Wake The F Up!!!

Do you know just how many times I wanted to scream this at entrepreneurs that I have worked with? I often have an experience where the entrepreneur thinks they know everything and refuses to listen to the employee that is working in the business on a regular business. The entrepreneur needs to wake the f up and understand that maybe they don’t know everything and that despite the fact that the employee doesn’t have a fancy car or live in an expensive home or doesn’t live lavishly they just might have a working knowledge to help the entrepreneur exceed their revenue goals. I was working with someone and asked what are your revenue goals. I was told none of your business. This entrepreneur ending up closing the business dissolving the corporation and then reopening in another location under a new name. He still hasn’t set up a website or done any advertising. he didn’t even update his Facebook Page. Then this entrepreneur wonders why his business struggles. The answer is because you don’t have a strategic plan to market and thus exceed your revenue goals. When I worked for Footlocker we had daily goals and the corporate marketing people had plans in place to drive people to the store and once they were in the store it was my job to make the sales. I remember how bad I wanted to tell the DM to wake the f up when he told me you can’t put the new Jordan release sneakers aside for people they are on a first come first serve basis. I called bullshit on that one and explained I have a customer who buys a size 8, a size, 11, and a size 13 in adults and a size 3 and 6 in kids plus matching socks and jerseys when the new Jordan’s are released which meant about $1000 in business. I asked the DM if you have a guaranteed sale of $1000 each time the Jordan’s are released why wouldn’t you put them aside. Well I left Footlocker and guess what I found out when I left and the store would put the Jordan’s aside for this customer he stopped doing business with the store. This is why those in power need to wake the f up. Look at the way you are doing business and ask yourself what can I do to wake the f up and make changes that will strengthen my brand and increase my revenue.

 Two of the areas where entrepreneurs need to wake the f up is in merchandising and marketing. I recently had an encounter with an entrepreneur who was told don’t buy a lot of Dwayne Wade Heat Jerseys as he is most likely going to sign with another team. He didn’t listen and ordered an enormous amount of WADE Heat Jerseys. When Wade signed with another team most stores were selling the jerseys at 50% off. When it was suggested to this entrepreneur to do the same he sad no I’ll go down 25% and when people are looking for Wade Jerseys in the future I will get their business as I will be the only one that has them. I so felt like saying wake the f up you needed to strike when the iron was hot and create cash flow to buy more jerseys that were in demand at the time.  This same entrepreneur has been told to be proactive with merchandising and marketing but insists that he knows what is best and as a result is losing sales. If people do not know you are open for business and tat you have the merchandise they are looking for they will shop elsewhere.  If a customer comes in looking for a shirt in a small and extra-large and you only have it in a small and it was her intention to buy both so she and her boyfriend could match you lost that sale. At $19.99 a shirt tat is $39,98 in revenue you lost. Imagine what else she may have bought if you had what she wanted. This same entrepreneur waited until after basketball season to get some basketball items because they were less expensive than at the beginning of the season. Again I wanted to say wake the f up people were looking for these items weeks ago. Remember a bargain is only a bargain if you can move the product sometimes it is better to pay full wholesale price and take a hit on margins on an item and then make it up on another item. The idea is to stay ahead of the curve and to wake the f up.  Namaste.