Positive Yarn

Photo credit: slideshow bob on Flickr.

The aptly named Warm n’ Fuzzy yarn shop opened on Aug. 1 in Cary, NC. According to a writeup in the Raleigh News & Observer, owner Rebecca Hart is focusing on the therapeutic and stress-busting aspects of knitting and crochet, as well as a sense of community.

After teaching at a local shop, Hart decided to open her own. As she states on her site, “For many years, I had this crazy idea of running a yarn-café. I pictured people sitting, sipping, stitching, and sharing.”

She has made her idea a reality, selling coffee and baked goods from La Farm, a local bakery. From the photos I’ve seen online, the shop looks gorgeous (I only wish I lived closer!). And judging from the positive response on Warm n’ Fuzzy’s Facebook page, it’s already building a loyal following in its first week of business. I wish her much success.

But I was curious as to whether having food and drink in a retail environment helps or hinders business. My own LYS is situated on a town square where local eatery options are just steps away, so it probably doesn’t make sense for them to offer customers more than a cup of tea or coffee.

Looking at random reviews on Yelp.com, which admittedly is a forum for just as many Grumpy Guses as it is Positive Paulettes, yarn cafes in general are a mixed bag. Some customers are not sure what to make of their local destination (not enough room for yarn selection, not enough food selection, depending on the point of view); others are delighted that theirs offers so much in one space. Nearly all of their happiness levels hinged upon how friendly the staff was. And the ability to have a glass of wine next to your needles seems to be a definite plus!

So, my question to readers today is, have you dabbled in dining options with your shop? What have been the benefits? Have there been drawbacks? Any best practice tips? Please sound off below or email me directly.

The following is a press release from Interweave I received today. Copyright has been the topic of several conversations I’ve been having with colleagues lately, so I’m sure I’ll be revisiting the topic in a future blog post soon. In the meantime, kudos to Interweave for tackling the subject in this manner:

Loveland, Colo., April 27, 2012: Yesterday was World Intellectual Property Day, and Interweave celebrated the day along with the U.S. Copyright Office, American Chamber of Commerce, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and others around the world to give credit to the talented writers, designers, artists, photographers, and innovators who work with us to share with readers and customers their products and ideas.

To mark the occasion, Interweave released a new eBook for artists and crafters, Know Your Rights: Copyright 101, to raise awareness for the issues surrounding copyright and the problems with copyright infringement that are currently impacting our industry.

The 10-page eBook is available for free download in each of Interweave’s 10 online communities for artists and crafters:

• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Artists 
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Knitters
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Crocheters
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Spinners
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Weavers
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Beaders
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Jewelry Artists
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Sewists
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Art Quilters
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Mixed Media Artists

“Most people think of pirated movies or music when they hear about copyright violations,” says Eunny Jang, editor of Interweave Knits magazine. “But we answer questions about copyright for crafters, artists, designers, and authors every day—copyright and other intellectual property issues are a big deal in the DIY marketplace, where the “I can do that!” spirit and respect for original, independent design and authorship need to coexist peacefully.”

Questions around copyright can range from simple queries, like “Can I make a copy of a pattern?” (Answer: For your own use, yes; to give to a friend, no) to more complex issues, like “How can I be inspired by other artists without infringing on their intellectual property rights?” (Answer: By executing your vision independently, and asking permission where necessary).

“Ultimately, copyright is about protecting the creative process, ensuring that the creator of a work can benefit from that work,” adds Jang. “Our goal at Interweave is to educate our consumers about what copyright is, and why it matters—and to give authors, artists, and designers everywhere the tools they need to protect their own rights so they can continue to create new works and share them with the public.”

Released just a few weeks ago, the 6th annual Staples National Small Business Survey found that 70% of small business owners are optimistic about the future. “Further, 52% of small business owners revealed they would grow their business through advertising and direct marketing if they had a larger marketing budget,” the press release proclaims.

Although ostensibly, the survey is a tool to promote the office supplies retailer’s nationwide “Give Your Small Business the Push It Needs” contest (it ends March 15; more info can be found on their Facebook page, and that’s all the more I’ll say about it!), its findings are quite interesting — such as that 35% of owners surveyed have increased their social media presence in the past year, 66% have some type of marketing and advertising budget for 2012 ($2,000 on average), and that 60% have changed their sales and marketing efforts as a direct result of the economic climate: “Results showed small business owners are using less traditional media (29 percent) and more viral marketing and word-of-mouth (33 percent) compared to last year.”

After nearly five years of doom-and-gloom predictions for businesses everywhere, with customers shopping solely on price, if at all, this survey is a ray of sunshine. It’s further proof that if you’ve made it this far, you’ve made it to the point where you can start shifting your focus from merely surviving to downright thriving. Times have been tough, no doubt, but these same forces that have been such a burden on business have more than likely also kept your inventory and labor costs down, making you as efficient as possible.

Now it’s your turn: Has your experience in the past year mirrored the survey findings? Are you increasing your presence on Facebook, Twitter, Ravelry, LinkedIn, Pinterest? Have you changed your media buying, marketing and advertising habits to adjust to the times? Inquiring minds want to know! Sound off below or drop me a line at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.

Photo: iStockphoto.com/astrali232

When you tell your employees to upsell whenever they can, are you arming them with tangible ways to do so? Or are they left with the ol’ “Didja want fries with that” model?

Consider John Matthews, founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises, Inc., and his post on Convenience Store Decisions magazine’s website called Local Store Marketing: Greetings & Suggestive Sales. Among his great tips are to incentivize employees.

Now, there’s a fine line — and I know this from my own retail experience — between incentivizing and stressing out your team. Put too much pressure for them to reach certain sales goals, and you just might inadvertently create a surly staffer who can barely hide her contempt for the customer who deigns to check out with just a $3.73 purchase. On the other hand, introducing an incentive program and then not supporting it with reinforcement and enthusiasm leads to the team simply choosing to ignore it.

Despite my little jab at fast food workers above, the restaurant industry as a whole is a particular master of upselling. Check out this education piece from Food Service Warehouse. Its many tips — applicable to retail, too — include:

• Offer multiple suggestions. “Is there a particular brand of sock yarn you’re looking for? We carry some great ones, including ____ and ____.” Mention a high-end one, a slow-moving one, or one that has a trunk show coming up in the shop, for example. Don’t forget to track sales to see if focusing on a particular brand for a week has made any difference.
• Describe in detail. Whet their “appetite” for the product, so to speak, by highlighting its good points. Don’t veer off too much into Hyperbole-land, though. Claiming a skein has “super-soft hand” when it really feels like your ex-boyfriend’s ill-advised scruffy goatee is only going to damage your team’s credibility. But hopefully, your team is familiar enough with the product that they can say with authority how easy it is to work with, how well it wears, etc. If not, perhaps you need to at least designate a “New Product Tester” whenever you bring something new from market. That way, even if your other employees haven’t had a chance (or perhaps, realistically, a desire) to use it, they can at least note to customers something like “Well, Marlene is really the tatter on our team, and she says this new tool is a great help for making intricate projects.”
• Don’t forget dessert. The Food Service Warehouse piece discusses low-calorie options, a cart of mouthwatering samples and the practice of ensuring desserts are artfully delivered at the table level of all guests. Translated to your shop, consider making available low-price accessories right by the register for impulse buys. High-end accessories should be incorporated around the shop (Matthews discusses similar sentiments in the convenience store setting). Are you working on a project between classes and customers?
  Well, then, are you stashing it in plain sight in the most adorable new project bag you just happened to get in this season?

To train your staff, Food Service Warehouse suggests these five steps (parenthetical asides are mine):

1. Allow servers to taste menu items. (Play with new products!)
2. Train in menu (product) knowledge.
3. Suggest vivid descriptions. (For example, your circular needle might feature “anodized aluminum shafts that are dyed to pastel colors.”)
4. Role-play with servers. (Let them ask questions or concerns they think the customers might have, too, so they’re prepared for just about anything.)
5. Provide rewards. (Use gift cards, product, cash, time off, get-out-of-dusting-for-a-week card, etc.)

So, now it’s your turn: How has upselling worked for you? Sound off below or drop me a line at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.

Near-field communication, or NFC, is technology that lets two devices close to each other exchange simple transactions or data. While it has the potential to be used for a variety of things, one big focus currently is to make instant payments at retail outlets. Many smartphones these days feature a NFC chip, so that when you go near a register with a special card reader, you can just wave the phone, put in your PIN password and pay without cracking open your wallet. There’s two-way ability, so the shop could conceivably send coupons or special offers back to your phone.

A recent column in ComputerWorld describes the Google Wallet app, which is the first-to-market NFC payment system in the United States. It only uses the Nexus S 4G with Android, Sprint and MasterCard — but eventually that will change. (An article here notes that “Google will be getting around this by offering a NFC sticker that can be placed on the back of a phone, and when swiped or tapped at a NFC pay point, it will communicate via the cloud with your Android mobile phone.”) Give it a chance; it just officially launched Sept. 19!

“We in the U.S. must seem like dinosaurs to the South Koreans and Japanese, who for years have used NFC-ready smartphones to pay transit fares and make quick purchases at drugstores and newsstands,” says author Matt Hamblen.

“Cynics have said that NFC smartphones are no better than NFC-based smartcards, which can be used at the same payment terminals to pay for purchases via credit or debit card accounts,” Hamblen says. “But smartcards are one-way tools — shoppers can only use them to make payments — while smartphones will also be able to receive special offers (which will be based on users’ shopping histories and current locations). If retailers do start to send coupons and otherwise offer special deals to people who pay with their smartphones, demand for NFC-ready devices could jump.”

Ramon Ray agrees, in his article on BusinessInsider.com that asks, “Is your retail store ready for smartphone payments?”

It’s my question to you, as well. Are you going to be an early adopter in your shop, or are you waiting until it proves itself in the coffee shops, fast food chains and drugstores for a while longer? I want to know! Sound off below or drop me a line at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.

I was recently at an event where an older friend of mine, who uses a walker but is otherwise both spry and independent, excused herself to use the ladies room. Another friend noticed some time had passed since she had left, and went to check on her.

We soon learned she had fallen in the handicapped stall, which had both a toilet seat with a broken hinge, slipping around underneath her as she struggled to get her balance, and an improperly installed railing, which did her no good as she went from seat to floor.

The venue we were at was a fairly modern building, but these two oversights created a nightmare for her. Luckily, she was not seriously hurt.

It got me to thinking about things we take for granted — like the state of a public restroom. Check out these three great blog links on the subject of retail design for an aging population:

• Retail-display-stands.blogspot.com/2011/06/many-store-displays-going-senior.html
• WFDD.org/nprnewsstory.php/In-An-Aging-Nation-Making-Stores-Senior-Friendly/storyid135773106/topicid1091
• CBSnews.com/stories/2011/03/06/sunday/main20039772.shtml

The last one, a video piece from CBS Sunday Morning, was particularly interesting to watch as 63-year-old Rita Braver donned a special “aging” suit to make her reflexes slower, her sight weaker, etc., as she would be at 75. She then attempted to put groceries into a shopping cart.

It’s not pretty.

As the first Baby Boomers turn 65 this year, with seemingly no intention of slowing down, it may be time to take a look at your shop through an older person’s eyes.

Are your aisles wide? Your lighting bright? Your signage easy to read?

How steep are the steps outside? Is parking a maze from their car to your door? Is your door too heavy to pull open with older hands?

Last but not least, in what shape is your shop’s bathroom? Is it a possible liability?

OK, so maybe not last … as always, my question is about what your experience has been, and your opinion on the subject. Sound off below or email me at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.

When I was a kid, we rarely had junk food in the house. Now I’m a grown-up, making food purchasing decisions. And recently, retro packaging got the best of me:

Why did they leap into my shopping cart this summer? I guess it’s because that when I last saw these logos, I had less stress, less responsibility … hmm … less weight and less years.

Recent surveys confirm that nostalgia for certain foods can actually curb loneliness and be a true form of comfort. Beyond food: Look no further than the popularity of TV shows like American Pickers and Pawn Stars for more confirmation about the strength of nostalgia. And who doesn’t walk past a garage sale, see a toy from their childhood and become immediately flooded with memories?

It works for needlearts, too: The Knitting Guild Association, for example, devotes a popular members-only webpage to “Good Patterns Never Die.”

Here are three ideas to stir the pot of reminiscence at your shop:

1. Start a “Greatest Advice…” wall. Keep index cards for customers and employees to write the best bits of advice they’ve received when they first learned their technique. Heck, extend it to life if you like. My grandmother’s most repeated line to me worked both on and off the hoop: “Temper, temper!” Post the cards on a prominent wall. If you collect enough, they might make a great intro page to run off for students before your next workshop.
2. “We’ve come a long way” display. Is that raspberry beret as awesome as it was when you knit it in high school? Could you really have missed THAT many crosses in your first cross-stitch project? Yes and yes. Share them with your customers to share a laugh and reinforce that practices does indeed make perfect.
3. Endcap of possibility. What might draw them in is the vintage sewing machine. But what should keep them is a comparison of what today’s machines can do — how much faster, how much easier.

Now it’s your turn: How have you led customers down memory lane (to your register)? Sound off below or drop me a line at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com. If it involves Doritos, so much the better.

Whether it’s a sweepstakes, raffle or competition, contest events can bring excitement to your shop or business.

Consider the fabulous ideas Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender put forth in their recent “Kizer and Bender’s Retail Adventures in the REAL World” blog post, specifically geared toward craft retailers.

In his article for CPAportal.com, consultant Jim O’Donnell of Jaguar Consulting, Inc. in Kingston, NH, advises “The contest rules and progress can be included in all advertising and marketing campaigns within the contest timeframe, including the store’s voicemail greeting, flyers, media advertising and website.”

The site MakeRetailFun.com has ideas not just for motivating customers, but to motivate employees as well. And in a similar vein, if you’re a member of The National NeedleArts Association, consider applying for the 2011 Business Innovation Award. After all, if you’re doing new and creative things with your business, you — and your employees — should be recognized for it, too!

After the event is over, make sure you get mileage out of it by doing the following:

1. Take LOTS of photos of the event and/or individual entries, and post to your website and Facebook accounts. Make sure you have a signed waiver from the parents of any children in the photos denoting that they give permission for them to be published.
2. Tag everyone you can, so news of the photos spread. (If for any reason they don’t want the attention, they can easily “untag” themselves.)
3. Send out a tweet directing followers to check out your newly published album.
4. Turn the album into a slideshow on your computers, and use one of your monitors to do a looping display of the show so that customers can pause and look for themselves and their friends.
5. Send out a newsletter showcasing the contest participants and winners — and ideally, discussing the next contest in which readers can participate!

So now it’s your turn: What contests have worked for your business? I want to know! Sound off below or drop me a line at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.

Is one of your resolutions to use social media more in 2011? If not, it should be. In July, Facebook surpassed 500 million active users. The fiber industry is particularly lucky to have the fantastic platform of Ravelry. Even being on Etsy can help you keep tabs on competitors, learn new trends in the handmade world and unload extra inventory.

In the grand scheme of things, though, social media is still relatively new to business owners. It’s not as tried and true as traditional media advertising, still can’t replace word of mouth (although in some cases, it IS a type of word of mouth!) and it might not immediately bring in a strong return on investment.

You can tip the odds of success in your favor with these five tips:

1. Pick your poison(s). What mix makes the most sense for your business? My recommendation is to at least look into a Facebook fan page, a Twitter account, a LinkedIn profile and, if appropriate, a Ravelry profile. If you have videos to share, start a YouTube channel. If you want to share lots of photos of your product, look into a Flickr account. These are all free and relatively easy to start up and maintain.

2. Decide upon your message. If you are going to be exhibiting at the beginning of the month, teaching mid-month and announcing a sale at the end of the month, for example, develop your timeline of announcements for the next four weeks. Remind your followers on each platform you’re using where you going to be and how they can sign up to see you there, too. Post-event, add a couple photos or details of note. While you may not follow your schedule of posts to a T, having a general idea of your theme and direction can keep you on track.

3. Find your voice. Every post need not be a masterpiece, although you should make sure it’s news worth sharing. Is it something you’d tell a customer in a casual conversation? Does it keep your business in a positive light? If it’s something that you think might stir conversation in a positive way, use it. The more responses to a post, the more widespread your profile becomes.

4. Follow up on responses. Building upon the above: When people respond to a post, make sure you take action as appropriate. Even criticism can have a silver lining if you take it as an opportunity to share your side of the story. There’s no need to “feed the trolls” who post something mean-spirited just to provoke a fight, but luckily, those are few and far between — and are usually easy to recognize and delete.

5. Schedule it in. Even if all you can spare is 30 minutes twice a week to add a scheduled post and look over any responses, get into the habit of making social media management a regular part of your work routine. Set preferences on the different platforms so that you are notified of any responses, so any fires can be put out immediately. If you prefer, delegate management to an employee — or to a media specialist, like me! Regardless of who does the legwork, after a few weeks, you should be able to find the right mix by evaluating the feedback.

You may notice that all five tips hinge on advance preparation. Like anything else, social media management for your business is a matter of “fail to plan, plan to fail.” Even though the use of social media can be immediate and sometimes game-changing, smart users have a strategy in place before they hit the send button.

A recent article in Ad-ology cites research that claims 47% of women are using social media interaction with retailers to find coupons and promotions. (For the record, the same study, done by Empathica, found that 33% of men are, too.)

“A smaller number of consumers, 30%, follow a brand on a social network because they’re looking for more information. Typically, more men (36%) than women (28%) say information is their primary goal. However, women will recommend brands and products at a much higher rate than men, while men tend to post complaints (4%) at double the rate of women,” the article states.

The article cautions against using Facebook and other social networking platforms solely for discounting, of course, and recommends that businesses keep a balance with information about upcoming events, product introductions, etc.

Elsewhere on Ad-ology, it rounded up several online marketing choices of small businesses for 2011, including:

• “the top places where small businesses will put their marketing dollars in 2011 are e-mail marketing (72.7 percent in 2011 vs. 56.6 percent in 2010) and company website development (70.5 percent in 2011 vs. 57.7 percent in 2010).”

• “45 percent of businesses plan to use online video in their marketing in 2011, vs. 28.4 percent in 2010.”

• “35.9 percent of small businesses surveyed plan to use mobile advertising in 2011, vs. 21.3 percent in 2010.”

So, how does this translate to your business? Is online marketing in the cards for you this year? I want to know! Drop me a line in the comments below or email me at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.