- retailrehab.co.uk

Adriaaaaaaaaaaaaan ……!

June 15th, 2009

Don't give up....

I love Rocky Balboa ! I admit it.

Not the last movies but the earliest ones, where he’s young and hungry and the iconic moment when he shouts Adriaaaaaaan ! Ah, iconic cinema moments (and I’m a girl !)

So what do I love about Rocky? Simple, he doesn’t give up – He’s a survivor, and he keeps pushing through when all the odds are against him, but he’s totally determined and victory is sweeter because everything was against him !

Is there a bigger icon of triumph over adversity ? I don’t think so !

So many times in life we get kicked in the bum and its hard to pick ourselves up time after time and remember what we started the damn business for in the first place…..?

To be our own bosses ….

To sell beautiful things we love ….

To set our own hours ….

To create something ….

Whatever your reason was, come Monday mornings it’s sometimes hard to hold onto the dream, so this is for everyone that doesn’t give in, that keeps pushing, learning new stuff when they feel a hundred years old, sorting out staff dilemmas and schedules, finding new suppliers, creating new displays and generally motivating everyone around them and keeping the spark alive.

Lets celebrate that we’re all still here !

Its enough of a reason, we don’t need fireworks and a band, lets just acknowledge that we’re fighters (maybe not as fierce as Rocky) but with the same determination !

Admit it now, how many of you have got “eye of the tiger” on your gym i-pod mix… I thought so !

In case you’re in need of a little pick me up this Monday morning… here’s the words to Eye of the Tiger to get you in the mood for a totally kicking week !

Risin’ up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I’m back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive

So many times, it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don’t lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

It’s the eye of the tiger, it’s the cream of the fight
Risin’ up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he’s watchin’ us all in the eye of the tiger

Survivor, Eye of the Tiger

Tags: adversity, determination, Rocky Balboa
Posted in Challenge, Passion, success | No Comments »

Get networking

June 12th, 2009

Its good to talk

Where do people in your target audience hang out locally?

Why not go there and meet them, chat to them and chat them up (not in that way !) but just join in what they’re doing - not in a creepy, I’m following you kinda way, more in a we live in the same community kinda way.

As we get older and more set in our ways its easier to shrink a bit, not join in, make excuses for why we don’t do things, its rather like building up muscle - either we use it or we lose it. The sad fact is that the less new things we try, the less new people we meet, with the obvious consequence - the smaller our lives get.

Networking has a myriad array of connotations for people, some see it as a group thing or as rather false, but like anything in life, you get out of it what you put into it.

After all you’re talking about something you believe in, your business ! It can even be fun! You don’t have to pay to join a networking association, there’s lots of events you can go to for free and just meet and talk to people - people who could become your customers…

So make a point of starting conversations with people, if you have an engaging manner people will be fascinated to learn about your business and even about you and your story.

Have a business card to hand, and pass them out, it helps if you have a fun and colourful card, with your USP clearly printed on the back, people always study business cards as lets face it, we consider it rather rude not to….

So if you’re standing in line at the local coffee shop waiting for your daily fill of wake up juice, and you get into conversation with the lady in front, pass her your card… and if it says on the back of it something like…

“solving your gift buying problems” or “we source the tastiest treats” or ” all the new seasons fashion styles” do you think that might elicit a question or two… It would certainly spark my interest !

Starting conversations is good fun, it broadens your horizons - you never know who you’re going to meet and it might end up being profitable for you ?

Worst case scenario it’ll pass the time in the coffee queue line… best case you’ll make an interesting new acquaintance and who knows where that could lead ?

Tags: business, conversation, Networking, USP
Posted in Adding value | No Comments »

How to get people talking about your business…

June 10th, 2009

Visibility creates credibility !

When there’s budget cuts, marketing and PR can seem like a frivolous option compared to rent and rates, but really if you’re not marketing your business and continually re-inforcing your message you run the risk of lessening your brand.

Note that I’m not talking here exclusively about advertising, rather a mix of advertising and other PR activities that don’t need to cost the earth.

Building a strong brand isn’t an activity reserved for the big brands in this world any longer, small businesses can really see a return on investment for a bit of brand building.

How can you market your business effectively? There are two questions you need to ask yourself…

1. Who’s my target customer (don’t say everyone) break this down into different stratas or types if you can, it will make this process easier for you.

2. Identify your message – or your USP ? What’s different about your store ?

There’s lots of ways to market your business, local press, local radio, direct mail to your customer database, through your website, local events, online marketing, sponsorship and any other profile lifting activity you can think of… including the new social media that’s so much in the news at the moment.

PR which is a fancy name for giving information to journalists who might be interested enough to print your story is pretty much free if you do it yourself. Ok, so you may not get into Vogue, but with a few well thought out press releases you should be able to get into your local magazines and newspaper.

PR really consists of building a strong relationship with local journalists so that when you have a story to tell you can get some good local coverage, you can build a relationship by being reliable, interesting and timely with your news.

Free editorial coverage is your goal here, and the old maxim visibility creates credibility should make this an activity worth considering…

If you’re not sure where to start, download our free e-book – a crash course in PR from the e-book section & the sample press release template from the downloads section to help you on your way.

PR has a reputation as one of those “black art” ideas, rather like web design, search engine optimisation or garages for women drivers, but once you know how it works it can be a real advantage in getting some great press coverage for your business

Remember : Visibility creates credibility !

Tags: marketing, pr
Posted in branding, marketing, pr | No Comments »

Blogs, blogging and new social media !

June 8th, 2009

This post is inspired by the recent seminar i gave at Pulse, where i asked the audience of about 60 people whether they had a blog - while about 40% had a website only one person was blogging….

Blogging is comparatively new in the UK, but its a good idea to understand what it is, so you can make an informed decision about whether or not it will work for your business.

First up, lets start with a definition of what a blog is, so there’s no confusion:

A blog is a derivative of the term web - log. Its normally run by one person but it can be run by several with contributions by interested parties. Its updated regularly and can feature graphics or video, as well as quizzes, questions and comments. It runs in reverse order with the most recent articles or posts as they’re known coming at the top of the blog.

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others are used more as online personal diaries. There’s many different kinds of blogs, personal ones, corporate ones, question answering ones and genre blogs to name a few.

Since blogs are posted online, they’re arguably interconnected and this interconnectivity is called the blogosphere. It now has its own rules, communities and search engines. There are also micro blog sites such as Twitter which only allow users to post messages of 140 characters at a time.

So, what’s all the fuss about, what’s the importance of blogging?

Well, blogging gives people and in our case businesses a voice, they’re invaluable for interacting with customers and engaging with and attracting potential new customers. As you control the information you put out you can promote your business as you wish it to be promoted and gain search engine ranking (as content rich sites rise up through search engine rankings)

So should your Business be Blogging?

The answer is pretty much - YES! Whatever product or services your business provides you should be blogging now. Unless you hate writing or have nothing of interest to say. Blogging is basically free, the only cost is your time, but sadly, most businesses are still not taking advantage of this simple, easy and inexpensive way to promote their business.

These are the top five reasons why you should be blogging:

1. Blogging creates authority: If you put out good content, then you can brand yourself as an expert in your field. Experts are trusted, which can only reflect well in your sales.

2. Interaction with customers: Your customers can read your posts and comment on them, getting into dialogue with your customers builds relationships, and strong relationships are at the base of sound businesses.

3. Keywords: Blogging allows you to add keyword dense content to your site – this will attract customers searching for your keywords online.

4. Branding your business is in your hands: You can present yourself as witty, personable, humble, expert, intelligent, however you see fit – blogs are a great way for your customers and prospects to see the people behind the business who are often hidden behind walls of minders …

5. Content – adding new content to your site regularly will bring in a steady stream of new prospects or customers, its also a reason for existing customers to check back, to see what’s new… Its one of the mysteries of the human brain – none of us like to miss something we think we should know about.

The most used excuses for not blogging are lack of knowledge or time.

So for a quick knowledge burst head over to blogger to sign up for a free blog site that you can customise with your own template.

As for time, if you’re already issuing press releases, or writing a newsletter then this shouldn’t be a giant leap for you… Just re-write the piece for your blog and post it online.

There’s also a host of free resources on line about almost any kind of industry you can imagine, so if you read things that are interesting to you, and you think they’d be interesting to your readers too, then you can share them…

Don’t be put off, it sounds much more complicated than it actually is – Have a go, in the words of a famous sports brand – just do it !

You’ll be surprised, you might even enjoy it !

Tags: Blogging, Blogs
Posted in Blogging, Blogs | No Comments »

What is learning …?

June 5th, 2009

What is learning...?

For most of us it’s a past thing, not an everyday thing. Its something we did at some time to get where we are now, but its not something we’re actively pursuing right now.

The dictionary definition of learning breaks it down into two distinct types, and maybe this is where the ambiguity starts…?
1. The act, process, or experience of gaining knowledge or skill (through schooling or study)
2. Behavioral modification especially through experience or conditioning.
(psychology )

As adults unless we are preparing for an exam or facing some momentous situation in our lives many of us are content to put the books aside in a cavalier, “I’m a grown up” kinda attitude.

So much of what passes for thinking in our everyday lives is really just critical thought that doesn’t help us and doesn’t help those around us. It comes from an attitude of scarcity rather than abundance, and its not empowering to ourselves or our businesses.

So, how about a more hands on approach to learning – Instead of thinking I’m done with learning, what if we asked instead…

* What can I learn today (that can help me or improve my business) ?
* How can I improve myself
* How can I help others ?

Running a business is like climbing steps, you can’t jump too many steps, because at each level you have to learn whatever it is you need to know to be able to climb that next step…. Whether its accounts, staff motivation or a lesson in bookkeeping….

So, rather than thinking of learning as a past thing, lets think of it as a present and future thing, what can we learn today that’s going to help us

After all it is the weekend !

Tags: learning
Posted in Adding value, learning | No Comments »

Come on lets shake a tail feather…!

June 3rd, 2009

Let me see you shake a tail feather...

The definition of insanity, as someone much smarter than me once pointed out, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result !

From a retail point of view, having just been at Pulse, I’d say its not just adding a few new lines to your shop (although that can’t hurt ) its looking at your business differently.

What do you offer? Is it gift solutions, fashion advice, seasonal inspiration, what’s the message behind your storefront?

Is everyone clear what you offer, or have you all been doing it so long its kinda got lost in the ether…? Sometimes a quick refresher course is all it takes to recover the sparkle.

Sometimes you’ve got to act like the peacock to attract the customers…. The peacock displays his feathers to attract attention, but independent retailers seem to like to keep a low profile. A low profile isn’t really an asset (unless you’re a troubled pop star)

Visibility = credibility !

The benefits of some good local pr will astound you….

* Send some press releases into your local publications (details of how to do this are on the e-book – crash course in PR)

* Paint your shop front – really jazz it up

* Invest in some new shop fittings

* Have an open/preview evening and invite along the local press for a photo opportunity

* Start a club

* Update your monthly newsletter

There’s a gazillion things you can do to re-ignite your interest in your business, and show off your feathers and preen a bit, after all it works for peacocks.

So why shouldn’t a little harmless self promotion work for your business ?

Tags: pr, Promotion, Publicity
Posted in Adding value, Building a media profile, Retailing in a recession, marketing, pr | No Comments »

Managing knowledge

June 1st, 2009

How can you extract more from what you know ?

The term knowledge management has only been around since the 1980’s, it refers to companies need to improve their ability to learn and use knowledge in order to be able to innovate.

In 1988, a dutch academic argued for the creation of a “learning organisation” He believed that in times to come (like now maybe?) the only really sustainable form of competitive advantage that companies have is their ability to learn faster than their competitors.

Businesses have always managed knowledge, its pretty much impossible for a business to exist without knowledge of some sort. In our businesses knowledge must circulate to be effective. Managers and employees must know what’s expected of them, what’s going on around them, and what the shops vision and mission is….

But we also need to know what the future holds, what changes and trends are happening in the local environment, the online environment and the business world, how these might affect our businesses and most of all we need to know how to find solutions to problems, how to create, how to innovate and the shops that do this consistently are the ones who are most likely to win out in the current economy.

So what is knowledge? There’s two kinds that build on each other to form a hierarchy of knowledge:

1. Data (simple facts, figures and statistics) unused, or unprocessed data is useless, its only useful if you do something with it.
2. Information – this is enhanced data – what we learn from reading the papers or watching the tv.

Knowledge is information that has been analysed, understood and internalised.

The real question is how knowledge gets passed on in your business. Anything that you don’t have a system for, means that it will be done ad hoc (at best) or forgotten about at worst. This is just for day to day stuff, but what about the big stuff, how to grow and thrive….

Burying yourself in your business isn’t the best way, you’ve got to get out, go to other towns, see other businesses, go to museums and art galleries, retain that interest that got you started in the first place, because knowledge isn’t a single blinding flash of inspiration, or rather that’s the end result of knowledge but its built up of stepping stones, from things you saw, read, heard or discussed that disseminated in your brain until it seemed obvious what the next step was.

People in every business are always learning, the secret is to find ways of discovering, organising and exploiting the knowledge that’s already there.

Tags: Knowledge
Posted in Adding value, Knowledge | No Comments »

Shameless self promotion…

May 29th, 2009

In the spirit of our marketing mantra for this year, which if you haven’t heard it is :

* Niche marketing
* Fabulous customer service
* Shameless self promotion.

Nice and simple, easy to follow, a three point plan for success in 2009.

Where was I? ah yes, We’ve never used this blog for our own ends, but in the light of my shameless self promotion edict, we wanted to let you know that Rachel will be a guest seminar speaker at Pulse this weekend, Sunday 31st to be exact.

Rachel is speaking from 1pm - 2pm and the topic will be : Successfully promoting yourself and your business in 2009.

More specifically, how to attract and use PR to your advantage on a limited budget.

How to create a buzz around your business.

Why all the rules for marketing are different this year.

We’re still writing it, so you can be sure it’ll be bang up to date !

If you’re not going to be at Pulse, don’t worry we’ll make the seminar slides available on the site from Monday so you can download them at your convenience…

In the meantime, have a fabulous weekend….

Tags: customer service, niche marketing, pr, Pulse, self promotion, seminar speaker
Posted in marketing, pr, seminar speaker | No Comments »

Cinderella and retail !

May 27th, 2009

Cinderella and retail

We all know the story of Cinderella, its an inspiring and heartwarming story. But any idealised version of what we should do, doesn’t really come close to how it really is, or even how it might evolve as time goes on.

To continue the Cinderella analogy, we all want to find our Prince Charming, and put on the beautiful glass slipper and live the fairy tale. We all want the love story !

But idealised love and real love are not the same thing, just as the idea of having a shop and the reality of having a shop are not the same thing.

Falling in love is easy, putting on the glass slipper is easy, but being in love is harder and making it work day after day, year after year is much harder. Sustaining the dream is the difficult part.

Getting the keys to your first shop is usually surprisingly easy, fitting it out and choosing the products is exciting, but it’s just the beginning, not the end.

Getting a shop is the easy part, like putting on the glass slipper. The rest takes hard work – hard work to sustain the enthusiasm, motivate the staff, check on the competition, find new and exciting products, keep up to date on new trends and market your business.

Just like the Cinderella story, someone missed out on telling us that life can be unfair, big local businesses can close, town centres can evolve, and not in a good way, competition can open up next door, and economies don’t always work in your favour.

So, what are we to do ? The only option is to choose it the way it is…. After all it isn’t any different to how it is. Then go to work on making it the way we’d like it to be and that’s a serious business decision.

True love is not a temporary thing, it comes with time, it’s not a Cinderella story. It’s a story of commitment, and doing the little things well, with a light heart, not because you have to do them, because you want to do them.

Naturally it’s the same for owning a shop and running a shop. Most of the hard work is behind the scenes, but its vital, and its vital that you maintain your passion for your business, because when the passion starts to fade it’s obvious to everyone……

Tags: Cinderella, Independent retailers, Passion, Working hard
Posted in Adding value, Happiness, Passion | No Comments »

Happiness is a buffet dinner…!

May 25th, 2009

Happiness is a buffet dinner...!

Happiness is a fleeting and inexact thing, but we all know when we have it, or when we feel it, even if its hard to put into words. But what is happiness and why are we talking about it in a business blog?

Achieving your own happiness is the best measure of how well you are living your life and enjoying your relationships. You can learn how to be happier and more fulfilled in everything you do and the end result of this is that everything around you will work more smoothly. It all begins and ends with us !

We’re all different…

Happiness in life is rather like a buffet at a really good hotel. If 100 people went up to the buffet and chose the food they wanted to eat in the quantity and mix that they felt would be most pleasing to them, then every plate would be different. A husband and wife going up to the buffet would each come back with plates that looked completely different. Happiness is the same.

Each of us needs a particular combination of ingredients to feel the very best that we can about ourselves.

Continuing with my buffet analogy, consider that each meal time when you visit it you’ll be selecting different food, or maybe you’ll be the person who has the same meal day in and day out without getting bored of it? But if you do try different food, then you’ll see that what you want changes by the meal, if not by the day….. so in the same vein, what we want to make us happy can change daily……

So why are we having a discourse on happiness in a business blog? Its because we’re all human beings and its all inter-related. We don’t act as automatons and if we are at least vaguely aware of what makes us happy then we have more chance of keeping ourselves on track instead of wondering off into the ether and making decisions that are not going to ultimately make us happy…

Sometimes its deciding to be bigger, open a new shop, take on more staff, and sometimes its deciding to be smaller or take on a new project, its completely individual and it changes – so we need to have some kind of a plan to make sure we’re in tune with ourselves and not just in a mad rat race that we don’t really want to win anyway….

What’s on your plate right now ?

Tags: Happiness
Posted in Happiness, growth, success | No Comments »