December 2009

Positively Heather

Bring more branding into your business

Heather Gooch

I say promotional items; you say... what? Logoed pens? Stress-relieving squish balls? Wall calendars?

These trinkets have their place at community fairs or by your register, for example, but there are a host of other — still affordable — items that you can use to get your business name out there. Here are just a few ideas to think about incorporating into your 2010 marketing plan, and if nothing else, perhaps I've just made your holiday shopping for your team and favorite customers a little easier...

For Heather's full article, click here.

Recent Musings

Plenty to be thankful for…

There are four interesting articles I’ve collected recently as they relate to needlework and its positive impact on so many different communities. The best thing is that I know these are just representative of all the good stuff going on out there — the creativity unleashed among people who didn’t think they had it in them; the bonding that occurs in a group setting; the good will brought about by doing something for others; the feelings of satisfaction, contentedness, relaxation that occur with needle in hand. I could go on, but you get the picture...

Have yourself a merry little email

iContact recently announced its compilation of the Top 10 Days for sending holiday emails in 2009...

Make online marketing part of your routine

You’re so busy with the day-to-day dealings of your professional and personal responsibilities that things like regularly logging into Twitter, Facebook and other technology wonders is pushed down to the bottom of the priority list. Unlike the typical “I’ll hit the gym more” pledge solemnly sworn on New Year’s Eve, now’s the time to hit your online marketing resources, especially during the holiday season...

Links I Love

PotomacBeads.com

When I first saw that The Potomac Bead Company was moving into an empty storefront in my sleepy town of Medina, OH, my first thought was "That sounds like an out-of-state company. Just what we need — another corporation creeping in on the local businesses."

But Potomac Bead is a franchise, independently owned and operated. It gives the best of both worlds: access to a variety of gorgeous beads at volume-discount prices, as well as the family-owned atmosphere and personal attention you expect from owners who are working right beside their employees.

I have the personal distinction of being the Medina store's very first customer, as I made my purchase early on during the city's Candlelight Walk weekend festival the weekend after Thanksgiving. Members of the team were literally still opening boxes and sweeping the floor when I walked in with my family, but they were kind to my kids (not something you find in every bead shop, I might add) and their hospitality was wonderful.

Of course, the Medina shop benefits from an online presence designed by the Chambersburg, PA-based corporate headquarters, but I believe small-business owners can still learn a few pointers from the site. The FAQ section addresses commonly encountered situations in an easy-to-read format. Products are well organized by category, and a design gallery page offers inspiration. The site works just as well for in-store customers (posting the class schedules, for example) as well as online-only customers, which is not something every retail site can claim.

During my purchase, I was asked for my email address. I have yet to receive a newsletter, but I am hopeful one comes soon. I believe this bead shop will do well in the area it's chosen to open in, and I look forward to its success!

Got a link you love? Tell me!

Check this out!

I recently blogged about how I was looking forward to my town's Candlelight Walk weekend festival, if nothing else because our LYS, Studio Knit, tags their tree with something awesome. We weren't disappointed with this year's edition, which made the tree seem downright angelic:

The Knitty Gritty

X Finding a better way: Doris Alley was recently featured in a profile by Cape Girardeau, MO's CBS affiliate KFVS-TV about her invention, the Craft Caddy — a three-bucket concept that allows you to keep skeins on the floor while you knit or crochet in your easy chair.

Tip: Follow through on your "revolutionary idea." With neccessity being the mother of invention, if you find a solution to a common problem, don't keep it to yourself. Alley worked with the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale to develop a prototype and is now having a shelter workshop manufacture the product for sale in local stores. She's living proof of the American dream: If you can think it, you can do it.

X "Earning feathers for our angel wings" is how one half of the "Two Chicks for Charity" describes their bead sales. As reported by the New Britain (CT) Herald, Susan Ciardella and Kim Bavaro first sold beads last summer for a local Relay for Life event, then figured they might as well keep the project going for other good causes year-round.

Tip: Giving back can do so much. The beads are inexpensive, but the duo market them as being useful to mark an important milestone — like being cancer-free, for instance. Having your name attached to a good cause can only spread goodwill for you and your business.

X Knit Night for Teens is just one of the special things Chris Krauss does in her Arlington Heights, IL store Fuzzy Wuzzy Yarns, as recently profiled in the Daily Herald.

Tip: Reach out to the next generation. The teen scene is an ideal age, because they're old enough to have their own money (or at least a direct pipeline to getting it from Mom or Dad) and to understand the nuances of needlework, but young enough to spread the word that this isn't just a "grandma hobby." Krauss makes her shop open to young and old alike to just hang out and knit, and to offer teen-agers a place where they can be themselves and have fun (sans the types of peer pressure that strike fear into the hearts of parents everywhere) is a win-win for all.