Need a fresh summer marketing idea..

[J Phipps TN]

I'm spent on fresh ideas to drag people in while they are perparing for or recovering from vacations. :cool:

What's your favorite summer marketing plan?

Right now I'm getting ready to paint the shop, but when I'm done I'd like to have some kind of fresh campain to generate some fresh and exciting business.

Lets get those creative juices flowing.

:D

[J Phipps TN]

graemlins/kaffeetrinker_2.gif OK it's 1 of three things,

1. you don't have anything fresh and new to share...(I don't beleive that for a second)

2. You have them and don't want to share graemlins/shutup.gif (fearing competition)....

3. Or you just plain ol' don't like me!!! graemlins/faintthud.gif (Just kidding)

Or maybe summer is just a wash for the most part anyway and you just let it pass, clean your shop and get ready for fall?

[Jerry Ervin]

Defiantly NOT 3

Possibly 2


I'm going for number 1

[B. Newman]

Since "consistancy" is the name of the game, perhaps others (like myself) are just doing more of the same...

Namely - newsletters, postcards, PR (also known as "consumer awareness") - just doin' what we've always done - just more of it.

For instance - in my e-mail newsletter, I gave a brief overview of what will be in the print newsletter (whetting their appetite and goading them to watch for it) and noted that if they didn't get the print edition, to e-mail or call me and be sure to be on the mailing list.

One thing I'm doing with my newsletter this year is try to make it more informative. I have one indepth article (called "Continuing Education") which is on shadowboxes this time (with Dad in mind) and one shorter one (called "Project of the Month") and this one is on Signature Mats (how they're not just for weddings anymore) but it's geared toward the Wedding Crowd.

Then I list upcoming events and shows and have a spotlight on a local artist.

Just doin' what I've always done - just more of it.

[MnSue]

Definately not 3!

Having personally devoured the marketing ideas from the grumblers search areas, there are at least a hundred ones posted. I printed them all out, studied them, flagged the ones that were timely for what I wanted to do and went forward. Also, for certain ideas I boldly emailed the poster (i.e. the human writer not the paper version) and received additional information.

So boldly go where others (like Betty) have gone before. Betty has posted not only great information, but also terrific links for other sites.

then sit back on this holiday weekend, with your cool beverage of choice, and let the good ideas flow.

[J Phipps TN]

Me too, :D

I print out all the ideas from the Grumble.

I have a whole file of ideas. I love them!

These guys are the best at what they do! I guess I need to do an indepth search, and see what pops up.

Betty,thanks for the encouragement. I do need to do a new newsletter. I haven't done one this year, because of a sale in Febuary and Silhouette Artist in April. I used postcard
mailings for both. I guess it's time to get back to business and send out the big one.

I just so struggle to write those articles. I am no writer, that's for sure. And then there is the cost of postage. My mailing list is about 1500 now. I just need to get to work.

Thanks guys!

:D

[Bob Carter]

Okay

Here it is-A Plan designed to generate sales like crazy AND increase your margins by AT LEAST 10%

"WE WILL BEAT ANY MICHAEL'S BID BY 10%"

Don't even fire up the POS; get a stack of one piece manual workorders. Client brings in bid from Michael's, take 10% off, ring 'em up and Count de Monet

Be sure to mention this is a "limited time" option and leave the sign up forever

Done

[B. Newman]

Originally posted by J Phipps TN:

I just so struggle to write those articles. I use some of the ideas from PFM's "Framing Focus" newsletter material found on their website. Whenever there is a new one it is announced in the magazine. But the "old ones" are pretty much timeless.

Also, I get ideas from Decor's "e-tips" which they send out regularly. (I even offered to "re-write" these for "consumer consumption" after getting permission from John Taff who was the editor at the time - that permission may need to be, ahem, updated I guess.) A few of those "re-writes" can be found in the archives.

Just take any informative article you read, and using the idea, write it to conform to your customers understanding. If it is very much like the original, give credit to the magazine or publication where you read it.

Now postage - that is a whole 'nother matter! Try rotating your mailing list and only hitting half or a third of it every month. If you do a "quarterly" newsletter, you can send the same one, staggered, over the quarter.

If I'm sending "Summer" - it could be sent in June, July, or August, for instance.

But Bob beats all of that, hands down!

You just gotta have a front window for your sign!

[Jay H]

I wished I had one of those here Bob. It seems that everybody on the grumble is at least XX% cheaper than them. I guess I would jump all over your promotion. The only bb we have here is Hobby Lobby and there is no chance on earth I will be running that promotion against them...no sir re Bob.

[Smile with Style]

Jennifer,
In order to know what would be new to you, it would help to know what you have been doing? POSSIBLE VACATION IDEA! To pick up some of those people returning from vacation, you might want to run a display window or ad with some readymade frames showing local people on vacation having a great time. The caption might read: "Fun photo frames to keep you there longer!" It might encourage them to get their photos developed and put one on their desk or in their home. You could even work with a local store that does photo developing. Maybe run a contest for the most colourful vacation photo, most fun, original, creative, etc. Have the winning photo printed in the local paper - sponsored by your business. In order to compete, it would have to be printed (which would make the photo business happy.) Maybe it would have to be matted and displayed in your store window. One of the stores here has the contest (of framed art) open to the public and we have to go into the store to vote for our favourite. Naturally, you see something to buy or need to have done while you are voting. It's a fun way to get people involved and inside your business.

[J Phipps TN]

Betty,

Do you ever sell any of your articles to other framers? I would be willing to buy.

Bob, that is a great idea, but we have a Hobby Lobby too, and I'm afraid of their estimates. I mean they still use card board for backing. I guess I could point that out and also, they have thier own line of frames which I can't match. Any suggestions on getting around that?

And Carol,

That is a super idea. I may do that at the end of June. And have the contest end in August. I beleive the camera shop down the street would go for it too. I could even do posters. I could even charge $2.00 per entry to help cover cost of mailing and posters. What cha think?


That's what I mean about you guys being the most creative in the world.

We should have a contest on here for the best marketing idea of the season!!!!

Thanks again,

Jennifer

[Jay H]

The HL here really pushes "acid free" stuff. I don't think they are big on UV glass but even if they were, I find their prices very hard to compete with BEFORE 50% off. They are slightly higher than my regular prices (about 20%). Which means they are 30% cheaper than I am when they have a sale every other week. Those numbers are also before my latest price increase, which was rather significant.

They are a very worthy competitor for sure.

[A Wise]

Bob how do you beat Michael's bid when your comparing apples to oranges? We found that their frames are different to ours and how do you know what glass they quoted? I've never seen one of their bids on paper but I have tried to replace a frame on a job they did and found they have their own line of frames.

[A Wise]

another fun thing to do is we have a restaurant next door and run an ugly tie contest. Customers bring in the tie to the restaurant and the winner gets the tie framed in a shadow box and receive a gift certificate. Great idea for Fathers Day. We've done the same thing with coloring contest for the kids. We haven't received a lot of business from the promotion but it gets the name out there. And sometimes we pick a few customers here and there.

[Bob Carter]

C'mon Wise-You're killing me. I just got 'em into to your door and your biggest concern is what kind of glass they use.

Remember one thing-they left them for some reason. Maybe it was price, maybe they didn't like the person, maybe they were uninspired. Who knows?

But, you have a chance, now. Jump on it like Anna Nicole Smith at the Retirement Home for Millionaires

Show some design, show some skill-make them happy they came to see you. If you do those things and you do have good prices, the brand of frame is probably right down there on their "important" list like when their next Dentist appt is

If someone walks in and says "Can you bet a Michael's bid?", we're going to strike up the band, push back the tables and start the show

The key is to get 'em in the dad-gummed door

And you are worried about produce?

[Framerguy]

Quote from jPhippsTN:

Bob, that is a great idea, but we have a Hobby Lobby too, and I'm afraid of their estimates. I mean they still use card board for backing. I guess I could point that out and also, they have thier own line of frames which I can't match. Any suggestions on getting around that?

Jennifer,

I find all of that very hard to believe!! I managed an HL frameshop for almost a year last year and we weren't allowed to use cardboard for anything like a backing. We DID order different sizes of cardboard from our central warehouse for packaging lites of glass so the customer didn't cut themselves between the shop and home.

And their frames consisted of a cross mix from Framemerica, the commercial line of LJ, and a few other smaller frame mfgr's like a small rustic frame company in Texas that made all their barnwood frames. I never heard of any of their frames being manufactured by HL themselves or by another mfgr under their brand name.

I hold no particular loyalty to Hobby Lobby but I really take issue with those who make unsubstantiated claims about anyone else's business when they have no solid proof of the truth of the matter. I will apologize in a heartbeat to Jennifer if/when she can prove that the policy of Hobby Lobby is to use cardboard as a filler/backing board or that they only offer their own brand of frames to the public.

Framerguy

[J Phipps TN]

Framerguy,
I went into the one here myself and saw the backing of cardboard. I even asked about the mats and they said they would have to special order acidfree. This one uses regular mats. I haven't seen regular mats, I mean paper, in years, and I was shocked. I also was very glad and relieved.

And I didn't see anything that even resembles Larson Juhl frames. They are cheaper for a reason. I didn't just speak out of the air.
I saw it for myself.

[JbNormandog]

Awise, I believe ALL the Michaels use uv glass as standard.

I just reframed a few of them for a new customer and they also had uv.

Someone posted on here a while back that they use UV glass because the typical short time framer there doesn't know enough to decide what should and what shouldn't have UV.

[Baer Charlton]

Bob, we don't dare do that. Our customers would scream bloody murder for raising our rates that high. :D

[B. Newman]

Originally posted by J Phipps TN:
Betty,

Do you ever sell any of your articles to other framers? I would be willing to buy.

What about this - e-mail me off forum if you're interested in this, and I'll tell you how to get copies of the articles I use in my newsletter.

[Framerguy]

Jennifer,

While your local HL may follow the procedures you have posted, it is the responsibility of the district framer to visit each HL in their district and ensure that all framing is done to Mr. Green's specifications. If, in fact, that HL is not following the plan laid out in the HL Procedural Manual, that district framer could well lose their position and probably their job.

Our district framer would come in unannounced and pick maybe 5 or 6 framings at random from the rack of finished jobs and tear them down. She would examine each and every detail and gig the shop for any step that was not in tune with their procedural manual. I know this because some of MY jobs were torn down and I went to the office and challenged the right to do what I did when it was told to me that I didn't follow procedural steps of HL.

One of the big things that I was always asked about was my method of wiring a frame, of all things. I have always followed the 1/3 rule of placing the D-rings and the largest angle possible for stringing the wire. They wanted me to pull my wire tighter and I pointed out the FACTS research on the various angles of wire and the stresses that the tighter wirings put on the frame package. I was informed that HL didn't follow any guidelines but those laid out in the HL Procedural Manual. So I continued to do what I had always done and took my chances with it.

I am quite sure that HL doesn't have different framing for those stores in TN than others in their chain so I am speculating that the fault lies with the district framer in your area. Were it me, I would question anything like you claim they do to the store manager and get details of where these procedures came from and why they differ from any other HL that is in operation. If they are coming from the district framer, then somebody isn't reading their PM very closely and following the steps laid out in that manual for day to day framing.

Any consumer has the perfect right to have their framing done without the use of cardboard or any type of product that they don't want in that frame package. And that goes for any frame shop that they approach for their framing work.

Oh, and regarding LJ frames, they DO have a commercial grade of frame line that they market to the franchises and most are not the same quality lines that you will see offered to your shop. They also offer the Framemerica line to the franchises either directly or through Framemerica as many of the wrapped mouldings that we carried on display were of the Boxer type or that flat wood-look profile the name of which escapes me at the moment. During my tenure at HL they discontinued all but the black Boxer line because they weren't too popular in our district. So maybe they are carrying an entirely different line of mouldings in the district you live in because of their popularity.

FGII