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/ ).
-----
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:
Friday, November 19, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
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.
-----
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:
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.
-----
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:
Thursday, October 14, 2010
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/).
-----
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 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/).
-----
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:
Saturday, October 9, 2010
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.
-----
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).
-----
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:
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.
-----
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:
Monday, August 23, 2010
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:
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:
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
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:
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.
-----
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:
Monday, August 2, 2010
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:
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.
-----
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:
Sunday, July 25, 2010
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:
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.
-----
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/.
-----
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:
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
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:
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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:
Saturday, July 17, 2010
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:
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:
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