Shopper Intimacy Reviewed

I thought my retail subscribers would want to know about a new book Shopper Intimacy: A Practical Guide to Leveraging Marketing Intelligence to Drive Retail Success by Richard de Herder and Richard Blatt. It espouses a success tactic I've long felt was paramount; I just haven't used the same term to describe it. That is, of course, "Intimacy." Call it personal contact. Without it, you can not understand what motivates your customer. It is the one aspect of doing business that each retailer can offer that is unique to his or her business, the one edge or she has over those in competition.

Here is a quote from the authors: "Today, although more attention than ever is focused on understanding what motivates the shopper, the conversation revolves around shopper insights. We suggest that having insights into your shoppers' buying habits is not enough.  For true success you need intimacy---understanding what our shopper does and s going to do in this shopping environment and why."

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Free Ideas for Boosting Profits with Career Czar's MP3s

For information about making retailing work in a down economy and how retailers can boost profits by partnering with authors, check Paul Bruno's Career Czar® radio program. The show is available free at http://www.careerczar.com/mp3/career121710.mp3 . Listen to his other shows at http://www.careerczar.com/  or at the show's blog at http://www.careerczar.wordpress.com/  . E-mail Paul at careerczar@cs.com and ask to be on the show's notification list for free podcasts.
As the author of A Retailer's Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques, I appeared on Paul Bruno's Career Czar® radio program. We'll talk about making retailing work in a down economy and how they can boost profits by partnering with authors. The show is available for download at: http://www.careerczar.com/mp3/career121710.mp3 . ; In the meantime, listen to Pual's other business-oriented shows at http://www.careerczar.com/  or at the show's blog at http://www.careerczar.wordpress.com/ . E-mail Paul at careerczar@cs.com and ask to be on the show's notification list for free podcasts.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Now We Have to Worry About Bedbugs?!

Holy cats. With all we retailers have to worry about, now this. Here's the link, just in case you didn't hear about it!
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/12/01/new.york.bed.bugs/index.html?hpt=T2

Here's the silver lining. An infestation would sure give us something to blog about--not that I'm wishing it on anybody! And it's too late for me to include it in the list of ideas of things to blog about in Your Blog, Your Business. 

We could also turn an infestation into lots and lots of  free ink.  Juicy Couture did! (-:
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Making Retail Blogging Easy

Blogging can be a great, cost-free marketing tool for you to build a larger, more loyal customer base, offer your expertise, increase search engine optimization, and keep customers and potential customers coming back to your store again and again to buy more products. In this webinar I am giving in conjunction with Gift Shop magazine and Retailers E-Profit newsletter, you will learn how to create your blog, how to attract and keep readers, and how to turn readers into customers. You will also get practical ideas for using your blog and integrating it with your other social networks. But my favorite thing to tell you about is how make the whole process a whole lot easier and less-time consuming than you expect it to be from the stories you’ve heard about blogging!

Enroll Now! http://www.retailconferenceseries.com/how-to-use-your-blog-as-a-marketing-tool/  Note that the entire Webinar is also available for you to download and study at your leisure.

This Webinar is produced by Melissa Kellogg, editor of Retailers eProfits, my favorite newsletter for retailers. Join us for this practical, Webinar designed with you--the independent retailer-in mind. You will have immediate and actionable take-aways from this Webinar that, ones that you can implement immediately to increase exposure and sales.
This Webinar will teach you:

1. Five essential and easy steps for building a blog
2. Time management tips for blogging

3. Surefire blog topics to increase your exposure, better market your business, and to help you earn more profits
4. Proven techniques for turning blog readers into blog buyers


5. Insider secrets for increasing readership and building sales


With your registration you’ll get a FREE bonus gift, my book Your Blog, Your Business: The Frugal Retailer's Guide to Getting Customer Loyalty and Sales, Both In-Store and Online.


We are heading into the most lucrative time of the year, the Christmas season. This is the perfect time for you and your store to begin making the most of your blog as a marketing tool. It’s not too late to use your blog to drive more sales and profits this season! Sign up today!
Reserve Your Spot Now http://www.retailconferenceseries.com/how-to-use-your-blog-as-a-marketing-tool/
About This Webinar

Date: Saturday November 20 at 9 AM, Pacific Time. Or sign to get your downloadable copy to study at your leisure.
We also offer you a risk-free no-hassle money back guarantee. Gift Shop magazine and Retailers e-Profits newsletter stand behind our Web conferences with a 100% no-hassle money back guarantee of complete satisfaction. You must agree that this program was worthwhile for you, or we'll refund your registration fee in full. Guaranteed!



If you’re wondering if this Web Conference is for you, this is what others have said about me and about the Gift Shop webinsars.:

"In 35 years in the industry, there are only a handful of retailers I have observed reach the success level of Carolyn Howard-Johnson. There is only one thing you need to learn from her to succeed... everything she says!"
"Thank you for showing me a fantastic plan for how to use social media to increase my store sales."

"I loved how interactive and educational the session was. The Q & A at the end was great."

Sponsored by:

GIFT SHOP Magazine (http://www.giftshopmag.com/ ), Specialty Retail Report (http://www.specialtyretail.com/ ), and Retailer eProfit (http://www.retailereprofits.com/ ).
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Help Small Business Owners Accelerate Growth--FREE

As our retailing industry pulls out of the recession, we need help and resources. This is a service opportunity I believe could help many of us in the retail industry.



If you saw "Strategic sales coaching company makes proprietary sales process available online to help small businesses increase average deal size by five to twenty times" would that pique your interest?

 That comment should grab the attention of any small business owner or sales representative who is interested in growing  business – and aren’t all business people looking for ways to grow business and to create jobs?
The Whale Hunters®, is a strategic sales coaching company that helps small businesses find and close large accounts. They recently announced the launch of its new online community, Pier9. The new site marks the re-launch and rebranding of the company originally founded in 2004, and makes the proprietary business development method, The Whale Hunters Process™, available to members online for the first time.

The proprietary process gives small businesses a systematic, repeatable method for finding and closing accounts that are typically five to twenty times larger than a company’s average customer. Hundreds of businesses using the process have been able to grow and insulate recurring revenue, in spite of tough economic conditions, and have closed name brand accounts including Dell, Cisco, Sears, Baskin Robbins, Eli Lilly, Under Armor, Insight and Papa John’s.

Pier9 members can access beginner, intermediate and advanced training content on the process, as well as related training resources in various formats like podcasts, online courses, live webinars and teleconferences. Training is designed to introduce whale hunting concepts to companies new to the process, and to help existing members continually assimilate and integrate the methodology into their own organizations. Pier9 also gives access to a team of in-house experts and other trained members, offering individualized deal coaching and hard-to-find industry and customer research.

"Whale hunting is a powerful sales method proven over years of implementation, which involves the entire organization, and ultimately transforms the company’s culture,” said Margie Traylor, CEO of The Whale Hunters. “We are excited to launch this new site and online community that gives members 24/7/365 access to training resources and expert support as they integrate whale hunting into their businesses every day.”

The Whale Hunters Process is designed to help small businesses serving any industry learn how to accelerate revenue growth by training the entire company to participate in the sales process, and by taking a proactive and deliberate approach to business development overall. Two Pier9 membership options, Basic and Premier, allow business owners and entrepreneurs to sample free content and cost-effectively consume training content whenever and however they prefer.

About The Whale Hunters®

Established in 2004 and headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, The Whale Hunters is a strategic sales coaching company that helps small businesses achieve explosive growth by landing bigger deals with bigger customers. The company has a growing network of certified partners across the country, and delivers its proprietary sales training method in person and online. Based on a proven, nine-phase business development process, The Whale Hunters method gives companies the steps and tools necessary to successfully find, land and harvest “whale-sized” accounts. Founder and president Dr. Barbara Weaver Smith, co-author of Whale Hunting: How to Land Big Sales and Transform Your Company, is a nationally-known authority on business development and the RFP process. For more details visit http://www.thewhalehunters.com/
.

What Clients Have to Say about The Whale Hunters

“Whale Hunting keeps us organized and on track. The metaphors have become a part of our day-to-day vernacular and have created a lasting effect on everyone. It is definitely a process that we know is repeatable and sustainable, no matter what the team or the market looks like.” Lori Sutorius-Jones - Co-Founder Avocet Communications



“We know this is just the beginning,” said Jim of Arizona Color. “Now we have a pipeline of national accounts and residual income from a steady stream of large customers that use our services month after month.”
For a wealth of similar sales and business development articles, podcasts, webinars, training courses, and online discussions, visit www.thewhalehunters.com and join today! Basic membership is free.


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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Freebies Given with Gift Shop Webinar on Blogging

THE FOLLOWING WEBINAR HAS BEEN POSTPONED. PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR THE NEW DATE, POSSIBLY SOMETIME IN LATE NOVEMBER.

Blogging can be a great, cost-free marketing tool for you to build a larger, more loyal customer base, offer your expertise, increase search engine optimization, and keep customers and potential customers coming back to your store again and again to buy more products. In this webinar I am giving in conjunction with Gift Shop magazine and Retailers E-Profit newsletter, you will learn how to create your blog, how to attract and keep readers, and how to turn readers into customers. You will also get practical ideas for using your blog and integrating it with your other social networks. But my favorite thing to tell you about is how make the whole process a whole lot easier and less-time consuming than you expect it to be from the stories you’ve heard about blogging!


Enroll Now! http://www.retailconferenceseries.com/how-to-use-your-blog-as-a-marketing-tool/


This Webinar is produced by Melissa Kellogg, editor of Retailers eProfits, my favorite newsletter for retailers. Join us for this practical, webinar designed with you--the independent retailer-in mind. You will have immediate and actionable take-aways from this webinar that, ones that you can implement immediately to increase exposure and sales.

This webinar will teach you:

1. Five essential and easy steps for building a blog

2. Time management tips for blogging

3. Surefire blog topics to increase your exposure, better market your business, and to help you earn more profits

4. Proven techniques for turning blog readers into blog buyers

5. Insider secrets for increasing readership and building sales

With your registration you’ll get FREE bonus gifts so the webinar more than pays for itself! With your paid registration you will receive a paperback copy of Your Blog, Your Business: The Frugal Retailer's Guide to Getting Customer Loyalty and Sales, Both In-Store and Online, and a free gift from our webinar sponsor Victorian Heart.
The total value of this bonus gift pack is over $75! Plus, one lucky winner will receive an additional gift set from Victorian Heart valued at $150!

We are heading into the most lucrative time of the year, the Christmas season. This is the perfect time for you and your store to begin making the most of your blog as a marketing tool. It’s not too late to use your blog to drive more sales and profits this season! Sign up today!

Reserve Your Spot Now http://www.retailconferenceseries.com/how-to-use-your-blog-as-a-marketing-tool/



About This Webinar

Date

Wednesday, October 20

Time

Eastern time: 12PM

Central time: 11PM

Mountain time: 10AM

Pacific time: 9AM



Sponsored by:

Victorian Heart

Especially for Retailers
We also offer you a risk-free no-hassle money back guarantee. Gift Shop magazine and Retailers e-Profits newsletter stand behind our Web conferences with a 100%  no-hassle money back guarantee of complete satisfaction. You must agree that this program was worthwhile for you, or we'll refund your registration fee in full. Guaranteed!
If you’re wondering if this Web Conference is for you, this is what others have said about me and about the Gift Shop webinsars.:

"In 35 years in the industry, there are only a handful of retailers I have observed reach the success level of Carolyn Howard-Johnson. There is only one thing you need to learn from her to succeed... everything she says!"
"Thank you for showing me a fantastic plan for how to use social media to increase my store sales."
"I loved how interactive and educational the session was. The Q & A at the end was great."

Sponsored by:

GIFT SHOP Magazine (http://www.giftshopmag.com/), Specialty Retail Report  (http://www.specialtyretail.com/),

& Retailer eProfit (http://www.retailereprofits.com/).


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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Tell Me Why a Retailer Would Want to Blog Again!

Marketers often say the customer must hear a message seven times before they're reading to buy. Retailers are much the same way about blogging. So I hope this is the seventh time someone has told you to blog.

I’m serious. You have something to say that your customers will want to hear. You have experience and expertise and product. And, please note that I put product last. Without the first two items on a blog, no one will come. Or at least no one will come back again. Readers want valuable information and if you think about what they want and then give it to them, you've got a winning reason to start a blog. So, below you'll find eight very good reasons to have some fun with blogging.

You Can Blog Free

There aren't many things you can do to attract customers and increase your store's image that are FREE. Blogging is one of them.

Blogs Are User Friendly

Blogs are really easy to set up. Especially at Blogger, owned by Google.com. You probably have a Google account (they're free, too!). If you don't, open one, Click on the "Blogger" link (it's orange) and user-friendly windows will take you through the basic blogging process. Don't worry about details about blogging at first. Just get going.

You Can Write Your Own Blog

Even if you aren't a writer, you can write your own blog. Just write like you talk and let the best grammarian in your family look it over errors (but don't let them edit out your colloquialisms!). If you need someone to get you started, contact Joyce Faulkner at katieseyes.com. She can ghost blog your entries until you get the hang of it. Before you start, be clear about your niche--how it relates to your store and how you fit into the picture. Probably the best name for your blog will be your store's name but it might be something more generic. Something like "StationeryEtiquette.blogspot.com." Generally, the narrower the niche you choose, the better.

Your Blog Becomes Part of Your Branding Campaign

Once you’ve created a blog, you can link it to your Web site, to your social networks like Facebook or LinkedIn. Use it on your stationery (it positions your store as the go-to place for expert information!), on you business cards, in your paid advertising.

That You Blog Can Be News That Interests Your Local Media

Write up a media (press) release about your blog. Try to get your local feature editor or business editor interested. You may be the only retailer in town to do this!

Your Blog Can Keep Working When You're Out of Town or Otherwise Too Busy

The more you post to your blog, the more traffic you’ll get because the search engines will pick up your titles and keywords. Post at least once a week. If you can’t or don’t want to blog that often, write several entries at once and postdate them to space out their publication. In Blogger or Blogspot, here’s how to postdate entries:

1. While you're in either the "Compose" or "Edit Html" mode of Blogger, click on "Post Options" at the bottom left of your screen.

2. In the "Post Date" and "Time" blanks, you'll find window to fill in whatever date and time you'd like your post to appear.

3. Now click on the "Publish Post" button. Your post will not be published until the date and time you've specified.

You Can Involve Your Customers and Your Employees


Blogs are all about interacting. Your customers can leave you comments or suggestions on you blog and that is invaluable. You could run "Why I love Cozy Corner Stationery" as a contest with the winner's entry posted as a guest blog. You can run contests on you blog. You can propel customers from your blog to your Web site and back again by using links that entice visitors to know more. And yes, let your employees have a go at ideas for blogs or act as guest bloggers. They'll love it.


You Grow With Each New Thing You Try

That's the conventional wisdom. When you grow, you stay motivated. If you're feeling a bit down or bored with your business, blogging may be just the ticket.



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Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a veteran of the retail industry with more than 30 years founding and operating a small chain of stores from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, from home décor to the souvenir shop at the Santa Anita Race Track. She is also an award winning novelist and poet and has written articles for assorted retail trade magazines from Gift and Decorative Accessories to the LA Mar Beat. She speaks nationwide, acts and has served on gift show boards of directors. Her newest book for retailers is Your Business, Your Blog: The Frugal Retailer's Guide to Getting Customer Loyalty and Sales, Both In-Store and Online (www.budurl.com/Blogging4Retailers).


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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Blogging Grammar: Sometimes the Rules are Simple!

Back in the days when I was learning to apply classroom marketing principles to the job of running retail stores, we carried collectibles. Because I started out as a journalist (with a little training to be a teacher thrown in), it drove me crazy when people in the gift industry spelled the word "collectibles" with an "a." That is, they spelled it "collectables."

At the same time I was only too aware that when you are writing it is darn hard to know whether to choose "able" or "ible" off the cuff.

Now that retailers are blogging,  such spelling dilemmas become more important. Not just for the "able" and "ible" words but for all the words we make into "able" words like "searchable."

Here's the secret. Look the word up in the dictionary. Sorry, it's the only way to do it if you don't have a memory for such things. If it's listed, spell as suggested. If it isn't listed, that means you get to make up a word. Yay!

The trouble is, you don't have a choice. One of the firm rules in English (at least according to most style guides) is that if you add one of these suffixes to a word, you've got to "able," not "ible."

So, retailers! Happy (and easy!) blogging!

If you'd like to brush up on some other word trippers in small, easy does, try my new booklet. Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips. It's frugal enough! (-:




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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Gift Shop Magazine Presents Webinar on Building Better Web Sites--and Promoting Them

Patricia Norins, editor of Gift Shop magazine, and I will be doing a Webinar on how to reach more people by integrating your online marketing and how to save time by doing that very thing. It’s at 10 am Pacific Time on Thursday, August 12. The fee for the Webinar includes a copy of my book Your Blog, Your Business: A Retailer’s Guide to Garnering Customer Loyalty and Sales Online and In Store (www.budurl.com/Blogging4Retailers ). The Webinar is priced $79. But my blog friends—can pay only $49 for it by entering the code “twitter.” Don't use caps or quotation marks.

Go to http://www.retailconferenceseries.com/ . This is the second in a series of Webinars. Did I say that attendees get a free book? (-: Did I tell you I love Webinars. You get the visual and the auditory benefits. Not quite like being there in person, but close.

Did I mention that I love working with Patricia. She believes--as I do--that personal contact is important. Webinars, in their way, help us do that.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Midwest Books Adds Book on Tweeting to Vogel's Shelf

Reprinted with permission from MBR Bookwatch: June 2010

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
Vogel's Bookshelf



Frugal And Focused Tweeting For Retailers
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
HowToDoItFrugally Publishing
http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com/
9781451546149
$17.95


Reviewed by Paul T. Vogel for Midwest Book Review



No 'brick and mortar' business can survive in today's marketplace without including the advances in communications technology represented by the computer, the internet, web sites, the Blackberry, Facebook, blogging, and now -- twittering. That's why Carolyn Howard-Johnson's "Frugal And Focused Tweeting For Retailers" should be considered mandatory reading for all business managers over the age of 30. And that's because younger generations than that, the phenomena of twittering is already well established and near universally entrenched. Using 'social media' communications technology is vital for successfully competing in the marketplace regardless of the services or products being offered to a consuming public. "Frugal And Focused Tweeting For Retailers" is a 130-page compendium of invaluable, practical, instruction, tips, and techniques for integrating this new technology into marketing and management, maximizing results for publicity, promotion, advertisements, and sales; customer relations; internal communications, and more, making "Frugal And Focused Tweeting For Retailers" an invaluable and highly recommended addition for personal, professional, academic, and community library instructional reference collections and supplemental reading lists.


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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

CNN Featured Business Expert Reviews Frugal and Focused Tweeting

Review of Frugal and Focused Tweeting:
How-To Tweak Your Tweets and Integrate Your Online Presence
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
ISBN: 9781451546149
Available on Amazon: http://budurl.com/Tweeting4Retailers


Reviewed by Michelle Dunn

With Social Media dominating every aspect of business especially marketing, Carolyn Howard Johnson is sharing practical marketing practices using social media that anyone can use. While businesses everywhere cut their marketing budget due to the economy, the handful that keep marketing and using Carolyn's books to help them be successful will be the last ones standing.

It is obvious Carolyn loves what she does and is good at it, lucky for us she is willing to share her tips and techniques in her book subtitled How to Tweak your Tweets and Integrate your Online Presence so that we can share in that success.

If you know nothing about Twitter but want to learn how you to can use it as a successful marketing tool  pick up this book. It is the only book on Twitter marketing that you will need.

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Reviewer Michelle Dunn is an internationally known credit & debt collection expert. Michelle she is the award winning author of 13 books, a columnist ,and marketing expert. She has been featured on CNN, Forbes, Smart Money magazine and is often quoted in the Wall Street Journal. Learn more at
http://www.michelledunn.com/.
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Making Coupons Fast and Easy

Just passing on one of my favorite marketing-aid sites. I love it as much as I do the banner creation sites. When you need a coupon for promotions, this is the place to go for a professional-looking one: http://www.oneminutecoupon.com/ . BTW, I talk a bit about using coupons in A Retailer's Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions--along with tons of other events and marketing tools we use in our most important asset, our stores. Whether that's the stuff of stucco and beams or online.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Retail Consultant's Book from the HowToDoItFrugally Series of Book for Retailers Nominated for Award!

Military Writers Society of America member reviewers independently nominate books for awards using a scoring system each year and one of my books, A Retailer's Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions in the HowToDoItFrugaly series of books for writers, was nominated.

In fact, two were nominated. The other is  my chapbook of poetry She Wore Emerald Then with Magdalena ball.

You may wonder why I even mention the poetry in a blog for retailers. Well, retailers have been selling poetry in greeting cards for ages. so there. Further, I think my "other writing" gives me crediblity when I'm telling you how to write in books for retailers like Your Blog, Your Business.   I mean, I'm not just practical! I have...ahem...this artistic side, too. (-:

That may seems like Winners will be announced on Veterans Radio Network (http://www.veteransradio.net/) on July 31 at 9am Eastern time.
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Free Books Given at Gift Shop Mag's Webinars!

I am so proud to be doing a seminar for retailers with Patricia Norins, editor of Gift Shop magazine!

Our collaboration is a natural extension of a couple of seminars the two of us presented at the National Stationery Show this year. We had soooo much fun--with each other and helping retailers!

So now we will be dishing on Tweeting as a Marketing Tool at 10 am on June 29th.  The fee for the Webinar includes a copy of my Frugal and Focused Tweeting for Retailers. And there will be others to come. One on blogging will also include another of my books, Your Blog, Your Business, also free with the cost of the Webinar.

 Learn more about how to register at. http://www.retailconferenceseries.com/ .

 Did I say that attendees get a free book? (-:

PS: See some of my Tweets in the right column of this blog--some of them designed to be marketing tools, some not. Which (Tip!) is also a marketing tool. That is, everything on Twitter isn't all business.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Sneak Peek at Tweeting Book's Online Launch

Two launches in one! What a way to get a book off too a great start!

Aggie Villaneuva is planning an online launch for my Frugal and Focused Tweeting for Retailers on August 2, so this is sort of a sneak peek at what's to come.

And MaAnna Stephenson kicks off her BlogAid Podcast series with our interview! Yep! We talk Tweeting to celebrate the launch of Frugal and Focused Tweeting for Retailers and her blog. It's at http://www.blogaid.net/podcasts  The specific link to the conversation on Tweeting MaAnna and I had is

http://www.blogaid.net/podcast-with-carolyn-howard-johnson

She also reviewed Tweeting and posted it at: http://www.blogaid.net/book-review-of-frugal-and-focused-tweeting-for-retailers . Find the complete launch schedule planned for me by Aggie Villaneuva at http://www.visualartsjunction.com/?page_id=9204.

By the way, maybe Aggie could plan an online launch of a new product line or new store for a retailer, too!


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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Writer Gets Twitter Epiphanies from Book for Retailers

How I love it when I hear directly from people who have read my books. After all, I could use all my writing time on fiction and poetry. It's just that I love to feel as if I'm making a difference. So letters like this from Sylvia McClain just...well, just make me happy!

Carolyn,


Just read your book on tweeting and what struck me most is Branding, Branding, and more Branding. Whew! Where do I begin. No, I am not a retailer but as you said, there might be something in it for writers, too!  



The book, Frugal and Focused Tweeting, said:

YOUR TWITTER MONIKER is as important for your Twitter branding as it is for your e-mail addresses.

My epiphany:

Duh! was my first thought; no one knew that my Twitter Moniker "rpmenter" stood for RPM Enterprises (my company name) but me. What everyone knew me by was "Scribal Press," my company imprint publishing name, my Web site and my news calendar of writer events. So before I could finish reading the book, I jumped online and immediately changed my Twitter Moniker everywhere not just on Twitter, from "rpmenter" to "Scribal Press."  So my Twitter name is now www.twitter.com/scribalpress.

In Chapter Two, page 30, of Frugal and Focused Tweeting, you suggested:


I will make ____ useful contacts a week. Twitter contacts include possible customers, but connecting with vendors, bloggers who write about shopping, and business editors at print and online media, etc., can be equally profitable in the long run.

My Epiphany:

I had no idea what number to use but it made me take notice and start thinking.

In Chapter Three, page 36, Frugal and Focused Tweeting talked about branding using our Twitter biographies and you gave an example of what you would use for your own store.

I needed to go do a new bio on my Twitter account. Why? Branding that's why.


In Chapter Four, page 57, Frugal and Focused Tweeting said: .

Tweet about new blog posts, newsletter editions, Web pages. More on this when we talk about integrating your marketing efforts in Chapter Seven.

My Epiphany:
Why I have never thought of this is beyond me.


Anyway, yes you were right again. There is something in this book for everyone,  even those who don't think they want to to tweet.

Sincerely,
Sylvia McClain
Blogging at View Points at http://sylviaspeaks.blogspot.com
Book Reviewer at MyShelf.com and Atlantic Publishing Company
Now available, the 2nd Edition of The Write Life











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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Richard May Blogs About NSS Seminars, and I NAG!

I know. I sound like a nag. OK. I am a nag. But tradeshows are one of the best places to network. You'll want to drop by The Stationery Guild's blog today to see what Richard May had to say about the great buyer education program at the National Stationery Show, another of the best reasons to go to tradeshows!

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Big National Stationery Show find!

Yep, I'm b-a-a-a-ck.

And one of the most exciting things I found at the National Stationery Show in New York (in between book signings and presentations, of course!) is  the brand new, hot-off-the-press Retailer eProfits.

It will help you harness the power of online marketing --a subject near and dear to my heart. By using frugal (often free) online methods to promote, you can stay ahead of the competition! Please know you can subscribe now at a discount of $149 and receive 3 FREE bonus gifts (worth $228). Visit www.retailereprofits.com today to download your first issue free and subscribe!

I met the editor of this newsletter, Melissa Kellogg, at the show.  I saw the initial  issue. Trust me. This is a woman who will work for your success. This is a newsletter that can make a difference to any retail operation with its down-to-earth advice. Specific advice! I love the first letter's article on list building, one of the keyes   to great marketing of any kind.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Retail Books from Experts at Bargain Prices at National Stationery Show

Five Veteran Industry Authorities to Debut Books at the 2010 National Stationery Show!

Meet the Authors" Book Signing Events

Media Resource Lounge, 3600 aisle

Book Signing on Monday
Here’s a terrific opportunity to meet and chat with industry-esteemed experts, all of whom will debut helpful business-building books at the Show this year.
Rob Fortier, president of Paper Words and Meryl Hooker, manufacturer’s representative have jointly authored Pushing the Envelope: The Small Greeting Card Manufacturer’s Guide to Working with Sales Reps. This book will convey to small greeting card manufacturers how to find, recruit and retain a winning sales. Written from both the manufacturer and sales rep perspectives, this nuts and bolts guide is full of industry information, sales tips, and guidance for building successful and profitable rep relationships.
Enjoy meeting Meryl and Rob!
Monday, 4pm – 5pm and get your copy hot off the press!


Book Signing on Sunday
Long-time retailer and best-selling author Carolyn Howard- Johnson will launch two new books in her award-winning "How To Do It Frugally" series:

Frugal and Focused Tweeting for Retailers: Tweaking Your Tweets Other Tips for Integrating Your Social Media

Your Blog, Your Business: A Retailer’s Mini Guide to Garnering Customer Loyalty and Sales Online and In Store.

Carolyn is a 30-year veteran of the retail industry, founding and operating a successful chain of stores from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.

Carolyn is also the author of A Retailer's Guide To Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrify Events and Sales Techniques.

Carolyn will be available to meet, greet and sign her books on
Sunday, 2pm – 3pm.




 Book Signing Monday
Linda Cahan is internationally known for her visual merchandising and store design expertise developed over three decades of working with retail stores.

Get a first run, signed copy of her book 100 Display Ideas Under $100. and chat with Linda on Monday, 10am – 11am.

Linda is also the author of Feng Shui for Retailers.


And as a special exclusively for NSS attendees, Carolyn’s book will be offered at one half the retail price and Linda’s book will be available at a significant discount during these signing events!







Book Signing Tuesday
Wanda Wen, a devoted paper arts enthusiast and founder of Los Angeles stationer Soolip -- the preferred artisanal paper supplier and letterpress correspondence purveyor for L.A.’s trendsetters and Hollywood A-Listers -- has long been a champion of creating simplicity-infused beauty using the ingenuity of the human hand and heart. Wanda's new book "The Art of Gift Wrapping" (Potter Craft/Random House), an inspiring, visually tantalizing and resourceful how-to on the art of gift wrapping, inspires others to join in the fun with 50 innovative design ideas using organic, unique and uncommon materials.
Enjoy the opportunity to visit with Wanda Tuesday, May 18, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Many of these celebrated authors are among the 2010 National Stationery Show’s educational Faculty, and will be presenting seminars throughout the show.
All signings will take place in the Media Resource Lounge, 3600 aisle 






----- Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Borders, Book Competition and Your Pricing Policy

Borders Australia announces it a new pricing policy in direct competition to Amazon at http://mhpbooks.com/mobylives/?p=15017.  

For authors and publishers, this only means a reduced net profit. It means a reduced net profit for Borders as well. For a few customers it sounds like good competition,  but most will never follow up on a refund (or merely buy from Amazon). Those who understand this retail ploy will see it as manipulative, rather than a straight-forward "better price for all" policy.

A lesson here for retailers in general is that those TV beat-the-price ads for mattresses and other items--including this Borders policy--appeal to the few. They may feel like an assurance that the retail outlet will do its best to price low, but most know a gimmick when they see it. Most know that the expensive ads must be paid for, that the retailer must make a profit just as their competitors must.

Further, a gimmick like this sends some prospective customers to the competitor to check for prices. He or she may well stay there and buy if the price is the same. If the price is the same too often, the entire process will start to look like a game if not collusion. If the price is only a few pennies less (as it probably will be with something as low-priced as a book), it will look like trickery.

The most important reason that this is a poor policy is that, surprise! Customers want service. They want fast shipping. They want ease of checkout. Yes, they want low prices, too. But to focus on price like this seems a very, very bad move. And a dangerous one. Bookstores (like the rest of us) can ill afford a downward spiral in in our profit margins even considering high volume.



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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Think an E-Mail Can Replace a Hand-Written Note?

Note: This post is from guest blogger Maria Murnane of  Honey Pot  and author of Perfect on Paper: the (Mis)adventures of Waverly Bryson.  These products are available at wholesale and because this is a newbie line, it's your chance to shine with something new, something cute! Something no one in your area has seen! Reach Maria at info@waverlyshoneyshop.com .


Honey, nice try, but think again.

Yes, we are all busy, and yes, it is much easier to send an e-mail than it is to send a real letter or card. But the truth is that nothing says “I care” like taking the time to pick up a real pen and use it. Think about it. When was the last time you received a thank-you note in the mail after having friends over for dinner? Or sent a note to a friend after her boyfriend broke up with her? Or opened a funny “just because” card from a friend who sent it to you … just because?
Remember how nice it felt to receive a card like that? Or to send one?

Honey, you are not alone!

I’ve always loved sending cards to my friends, and even before e-mail came along I used to lament the lack of witty options out there, especially for women. I never in a million years thought I’d design a line of my own, but then one day I quit my job and decided to write a novel, a romantic comedy about a single woman called Perfect on Paper. In the book the main character, Waverly Bryson, comes up with a line of greeting cards for women called Honey Notes. Here are some examples:

Front: Is it worse to be fake or bitchy?

Inside: Honey, just face it. If you're asking, you're probably both.



Front: Ever feel like you don't know anything at all?

Inside: Honey, just face if. If you're asking, you're probably both.



Front: Can’t face the dating scene after a breakup?

Inside: Honey, hit the bar, and hit it hard. Beer goggles are the lonely girl’s Cupid.



Front: They say laughter is the best medicine?

Inside: Honey, toss it in with girlfriends and wine, and you’ve found the fountain of youth.



Front: Afraid to show your vulnerable side?

Inside: Honey, that’s better than showing your cellulite side.



Front: Life has its ups and downs, right?

Inside: Honey, if you’re talking about my weight and my bank account, the unfortunate answer is yes, in that order.



After Perfect on Paper came out, so many readers asked me to make the Honey Notes for real that I decided to do it! And I didn't stop there. I launched a website called Waverly's Honey Shop that includes Honey Notes, Honey Tees and Honey Totes, all featuring quotes from Waverly Bryson. Right now the products are only available at http://www.waverlyshoneyshop.com/, but I hope to get the line into brick and mortar stores. So all you Honeys out there, please take a look and help spread the word! You can also buy my book on the site and/or read the first chapter. If you do, I hope you enjoy it! 


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Learn more about Maria at http://www.mariamurnane.com/.

----- Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Come Pah-h-h-ty with Me in New York

Here is a recent media release from the National Stationery Show telling about the doings at the show in May. They always manage to combine practical, store-building events with so much fun you won't know you're working! (-:

NATIONAL STATIONERY SHOW EXPERIENCE TO INCLUDE NATIONAL

MEDIA EVENT, NETWORKING EVENTS, BOOK SIGNINGS AND MORE

- Opening Night Party Moves to Quintessential NYC Venue -


WHITE PLAINS, NY, April 22, 2010…In addition to presenting the latest product collections from nearly 900 exhibiting companies, the National Stationery Show® (NSS) will offer a host of exciting events to further enhance the market experience for some 11,000 attendees, May 16-19, 2010, at New York City's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Events such as the "Party on the Battery" Opening Night Party, USPS® Butterfly Stamp release, Greeting Card Association LOUIE Awards, "Meet the Authors" Book Signings, and The Supply Side Exhibitor Mixer provide additional networking opportunities during the social stationery industry's foremost gathering of the year.
"The National Stationery Show serves as the single platform that brings the industry together - not only for new product discovery, business development, and education - but also for events that support networking and generate excitement for the year ahead," said Patti Stracher, show manager. "This year is no exception, with a full schedule of events that will create a vibrant market experience for all."
Following is the complete schedule of special events at the 2010 NSS:

"Meet the Authors" Book Signing
Sunday, May 16, 2:00 - 3:00 pm
Media Resource Lounge, 3600 Aisle

Long-time retailer and author Carolyn Howard-Johnson will launch two new books in her award-winning "How To Do It Frugally" series: Frugal and Focused Tweeting for Retailers: Tweaking Your Tweets and Other Tips for Integrating Your Social Media and Your Blog; and Your Business: A Retailer's Mini Guide to Garnering Customer Loyalty and Sales Online and In Store. The first book in the series, A Retailer's Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions, was launched at last years National Stationery Show. Carolyn is a veteran of the retail industry with more than 30 years founding and operating a small chain of stores from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Both books will be available at half-price during this signing event.


"Party on the Battery" Opening Night Party
Sunday, May 16, 6:30 - 9:30 pm
Battery Gardens

Battery Gardens will serve as the new venue for the annual NSS Opening Night Party, celebrating the opening of the 64th annual National Stationery Show in style. A Manhattan oasis positioned along the water's edge with panoramic views of New York Harbor, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, "Party on the Battery" promises to be a true New York City experience. Tickets are $65 per person. Early ticket purchase is recommended, as this event sells out each year. Tickets are available online at www.nationalstationeryshow.com.


USPS Butterfly Stamp Release Ceremony
Monday, May 17, 9:30am
South Concourse, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center

The NSS will host the official announcement and unveiling of the U.S. Postal Service® Butterfly stamp, a 64-cent, 1-ounce postage stamp developed in collaboration with the Greeting Card Association (GCA) to serve the needs of greeting card and other social stationery manufacturers and their customers utilizing square or irregular shaped envelopes that require hand cancelling. The new Butterfly stamp will serve as a universal symbol for mail requiring additional postage due to being square or irregular in size. Join us for the unveiling with USPS leaders, GCA representatives who spearheaded the effort, and NSS Show Manager Patti Stracher.


"Meet the Authors" Book Signing
Monday, May 17, 10:00 - 11:00 am
Media Resource Lounge, 3600 Aisle

Linda Cahan is internationally known for her visual merchandising and store design expertise over some 37 years in retail. Get a first run, signed copy of her book 100 Display Ideas Under $100. Her book will be available at half-price during this signing event.


"Meet the Authors" Book Signing
Monday, May 17, 4:00 - 5:00 pm
Media Resource Lounge, 3600 Aisle

Paper Words President Rob Fortier and manufacturers' representative Meryl Hooker have jointly authored Pushing the Envelope: The Small Greeting Card Manufacturer's Guide to Working with Sales Reps. This book will convey to small greeting card manufacturers how to find, recruit and retain a winning sales rep. Written from both the manufacturer and sales rep perspectives, this nuts and bolts guide is full of industry information, sales tips, and guidance for building successful and profitable rep relationships.


22nd annual International Greeting Card Awards - "LOUIE Awards"
Monday, May 17, 7:00 - 10:00 pm
The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers

Presented by the Greeting Card Association (GCA), the LOUIE Awards celebrate the year's most original and ingenious greeting cards in a variety of categories, including the Grand Prize "Card of the Year". This year's theme - Go for the Gold - recognizes the gold medal caliber of the greeting cards, imprintables, and invitations considered for this year's competition. Sponsorship and ticket information is available by calling the GCA at 202-393-1778 or visiting http://www.greetingcard.org./


The Supply Side Exhibitor Mixer
Tuesday, May 18, 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, Level 3, Hall E

Suppliers to the social stationery industry exhibiting within The Supply Side division will have dedicated time to connect with NSS exhibitors during The Supply Side Exhibitor Mixer, where a casual atmosphere and complimentary refreshments will foster networking among colleagues. Advance registration is not required.

The 64th annual National Stationery Show, the nation's leading marketplace for the social stationery industry, will run Sunday, May 16, through Wednesday, May 19, 2010, at New York City's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The Show features nearly 900 exhibitors and attracts some 11,000 attendees.

The National Stationery Show is owned and managed by GLM®, LLC. For exhibitor information, contact Kelly P. Bristol, sales manager, at GLM, 1133 Westchester Avenue, White Plains, NY 10604. Telephone (914) 421-3228. Fax (914) 948-2918. E-mail kbristol@glmshows.com. Attendee information is available by contacting GLM's Customer Relations Department, at (800) 272-SHOW or (603) 665-7524, or by email, at customer_relations@glmshows.com. Additional information and registration is available online, at http://www.nationalstationeryshow.com/.


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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it: