"Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you're not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were."
-- David Rockefeller

by Jami Petersen

This week is a time of giving thanks and showing gratitude. As we celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday here in the U.S., I think that it's appropriate that everyone take a moment to reflect on the things they are grateful for. This attitude of gratitude is especially important as we embark on a hectic time of the year when the spirit behind the holidays we celebrate individually is sometimes lost. Pause for a moment and think of the things you are grateful for, both in your personal life and in your professional life. Most importantly, share your feelings with those who are on your list.  

Jami Petersen
newsletters@a-z.com

Adhesives

Occasionally Scrapbooking.com Magazine would like your opinions on different topics that are relevant to the craft industry. We would appreciate your valuable feedback about adhesives:

Click here to participate. . .
 

by Dennis A. Conforto, A-Z Media Group, Inc.

Nothing can replace the significance of leadership in the workplace. A company with the best ideas and potential that lacks effective leadership will eventually falter and then fail.

Author and leadership expert Warren Bennis puts it bluntly: “A business short of capital can borrow money and one with a poor location can move. But a business short on leadership has no chance for survival”.

Leaders see those in a company not just as employees, but as individual people that form a family. A leader emphasizes the importance of having core values in the workplace and within one’s individual life. Moreover, a leader seeks to foster their own skills in other employees so that they too may one day lead others toward success. Leaders are learning engines not only for their own company but for an industry. They are interested in always learning and teaching others along the way. Getting to the top of a mountain is not just about them but about the team. For them it’s a group photo at the top, not a personal portrait. Leaders are always reaching down and pulling people up to the top of the mountain.

Without effective leadership, teams often experience a breakdown in direction, communication and motivation, which usually leads to failure either within a company or within an industry. This is why so many great leaders have been excellent communicators. A competent leader is never satisfied with the status quo, but repeatedly seeks to re-evaluate team goals and performance with a long-term vision in mind. Without this element of creative passion, a company or an industry often finds itself surpassed by its competitors or other industries.

Leaders are the kind of people you aspire to be like. They are the kind of people you love to listen to and whose opinions you seek,. While they are busy, they always seem to slow down just enough for you and your needs before they somehow change the laws of time and speed off to the next goal they have created for themselves and those they work with.

Leaders avoid words like, “I can’t do that” or “It can’t be done”.. A leader’s passion is addicting. They don’t just talk about their scrapbooking passion; they live it.

Leaders base their opinions and thoughts not just on feelings but on facts. However, they are not afraid to use limited facts and their vast experience to feel their way to a new truth. Leaders don’t dictate, they motivate. They seek input from others either by asking or by reading and studying.

Leaders do not look at failure as failure; they look at not trying as the biggest failure in life. Leaders are not afraid to apologize or admit a mistake. They are not afraid of what others might say about them; they are more fearful of what they have to say about themselves.

Finally, leaders love to give credit to others. They understand that great leaders are made by having and creating great open-minded followers. When a leader moves on they are remembered because they change the lives of those who follow after them.

The success of the scrapbooking industry will be all about great leaders who know that the act of scrapbooking in its own way can not only change the history of a family or a nation but change the world for good. Through the act of scrapbooking we prove that every life has value and every life is a life worth remembering. That is why the scrapbooking industry needs real leaders.
 

If you would like to comment directly to Dennis about this article or have him address a subject matter in future articles feel free to email him directly at dconforto@a-z.com.

PSRO 

Dedicated to those helping consumers preserve treasured memories.

The Professional Scrapbook Retailers Organization™ (PSRO™) bridges together retailers and suppliers for insight into the memories market.

Through educational programs, business services, industry research, networking, and events, PSRO leads its members to discover, understand, and act on new business opportunities.

For more information, or to join PSRO, visit www.psro.org or contact our member service department at 517-788-8100.

Creative Accessories Available to Busy Retailers Just in Time for Holiday Sales

Memory Maker, a division of Key Item Sales Inc.,announced it has joined the Lucidiom EQ Designers Alliance, offering custom photo jewelry and other unique photo accessories to photo retailers through Lucidiom’s extensive photo kiosk network (APM network). Memory Maker templates will be available for Lucidiom retailers to download just in time for the busy holiday selling season.

“Memory Maker is all about creating unique keepsakes that allow you to share your photos. By joining the Lucidiom EQ Designers Alliance, we’re extending our reach to a broader retail channel, so more consumers will not only be able to access Memory Maker products, they’ll be able to produce them effortlessly on Lucidiom kiosks. Now, our unique, wearable photo keepsakes are just a few clicks away,” said Brandon Rapport, Memory Maker vice president of sales.

The new Lucidiom content templates will be bundled with Memory Maker’s Best of the Best (BOB) display. The BOB assortment includes: eight Photo Bandz (4 black, 4 pink), 8 Six Frame Stretch bracelets (silver), 4 Charmed Life bracelets (dog), 8 phone charms (heart and star) and 4 key chains (flower), 4 Gallery Collection necklaces with add on charms, 4 Sent W/Love necklaces, 4 Toggle bracelets with add on charms and 4 Charm bracelets. This 56 piece prepack comes with a free two- sided spinner display.

Rapport continued, “Our Lucidiom kiosk templates produce the exact size photo needed to fit the selected Memory Maker jewelry or gift item. Retailers will no longer have to tediously resize the customer’s images. The templates also include more than the required number of photos, so the customer can use the extra images on an additional piece of jewelry – a valuable upsell opportunity for the retailer.”

Lucidiom launched the EQ Designers Alliance earlier in the year in order to increase the number and variety of templates available on its APM kiosks and Photo Finale websites. Memory Maker is the latest partner to offer exclusive content templates to Lucidiom retailers. Retailers interested in carrying the Memory Maker template should contact Brandon Rapport at Brandonr@kiscola.com or by phone at (818) 885-5070

About Lucidiom:
With some 55,000 APM photo kiosks deployed worldwide, Lucidiom Inc. is the leading provider of social expression imaging solutions. Lucidiom’s flexible and brand-independent digital photofinishing systems, known as Lucidiom EQ, enable retailers to develop in-store and online revenue streams beyond the standard 4x6 print and empower consumers to express themselves through images. Lucidiom EQ runs on the APM Network and features all the business systems, software tools and equipment needed to go beyond the 4x6: the APM photo kiosk; scrapbooking and creative content; the EQ Printer; APM ProfitWatcher statistics tracker; Photo Finale online software and the Lab 50 management system.