"Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold."
-- Helen Keller 

by Jami Petersen

Last week we talked about the importance of reaching new customers and how employees and sales approach are a key ingredient to making that happen. Both retailers and manufacturers can learn how to increase the frequency of their messages both to their seasoned customers and to potential customers. As you approach each new experience, truly evaluate each decision you make for your business and you're sure to make more SMART ones.

Jami Petersen
newsletters@a-z.com

Press Releases

News you can use about the latest media coverage of hot trends, noteworthy events and dynamic industry leaders. Learn more about the current headlines in arts and crafts by clicking on the title of each article segment.

Luminarte announces it will be going out of business. "We will continue to manufacture for a little while longer so everyone has a chance to stock up. After that, you will no longer have the option of ordering products." There is currently a 40% discount on all orders.

Wal - Mart, Michaels Swap Executives. "Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said on Monday it hired former Michaels Stores Inc. Chief Executive Brian Cornell as the president and CEO of its Sam's Club warehouse business, effective April 3. And in a game of corporate musical chairs, Michaels said it hired former Wal-Mart vice chairman and chief administrative officer John Menzer as its new CEO."

RocketLife Instant Experience Announced. Rocket Life Instant Experience provides an instantly branded website or kiosk environment with ready-to-buy photo products containing rich imagery of a company or event just attended, such as a university's football game with team logos, mascots and game photos. RocketLife Instant Experience enables designers and resellers to create customized variations to existing RocketLife themes that target and appeal to specific companies, events, venues, and other interests. 

Sawgrass Ink

Make Money with Make-and-Take Scrapbooking Giftware and Wearables!

Use your favorite scrapbooking software and our patented inkjet heat-transfer system to transform scrapbook designs into Full-Color Gifts and Wearables.

Terrific New Revenue Stream for Your Business
Compact and Easy to Use
Affordable System + Great Margins = Blazingly Fast R.O.I.
Vast Selection of High-Quality "Blanks"


Sell Make-and-Take Coffee Mugs, Puzzles, Coasters, Magnets, Ornaments, Jewelry, T-Shirts, Tote Bags, Aprons, Memory Boxes and More!

 http://www.sawgrassink.com/v.php?pg=332 

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training

Hi Family and Friends!!!

Just over two years ago I decided to participate in my first marathon in support of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training. I have once again signed up to participate. I attend the Team in Training pasta dinner before each event. Following each dinner they ask the people in the audience running their first Marathon to please stand. I’m always amazed at the number of people who give so freely of their time, money and energy to endure excruciating pain, to push themselves to the limit. People from all walks of life, from all parts of the country, from all ages, all willing to put so much aside to help The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. And I say to myself, I can do more.

Then they ask the coaches and mentors to stand, these people who continue to give up hours a week, days each month, and weeks each year to support the program, getting us out there and motivated. If they can do that, I have to do more.

The staff of Team in Training who keep this massive operation going, with an unwavering enthusiasm, and positive attitude. They orchestrate magic, before, during and after each event. I must do more!

Then the honored members get up, and a young boy pulls down the microphone and tells us how he was diagnosed with this (too often terminal) disease when he was “just a kid”, but he “licked it!” Or a mother thanks us for helping to save her child. That’s when my eyes start to fill, and I realize I have got to do more! I can’t stop doing more! And I won’t stop!

So that’s what happens during each event, I get up the next morning heading to the starting line, thinking about what my next event will be. Thinking about how I can do my small part in this incredible organization. I finish each event running the last two tenths of a mile, with Honored Members and their families cheering me on, and realize I don’t have a clue what real pain is.

That’s why I run.

I’m not addicted to running. I’m addicted to the feeling I get by being close to these fantastic people. By letting them touch me like few people ever have.

I’ve also attached a form for those who would prefer to donate by check. THANK YOU for your support, your thoughts and your prayers.

Sincerely,

Karen Crisp

We are asking for your support to help find a cure for cancer so that not one more family has to hear the words “You’ve got cancer.”

If you would like to help you can donate securely at the following website. Please check back often to review how we are doing in our training and efforts in support of Micah, his family and all those affected by Cancer. Donate at http://pages.teamintraining.org/ocie/rnrseatl09/kcrisp.

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L™

Make SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L™
your preferred brand

Ensure yourself an adhesive that satisfies all your customers scrapbooking and papercrafting needs. We not only put our hearts into designing easy-to-use adhesives so your stories will last throughout the ages, we also put our spirit into your community through corporate sponsorships. 

http://www.scrapbook-adhesives.com/

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

Frequency is defined as the number of times the individuals or households are exposed to an advertiser’s message within a given period - usually a month. So how does one increase the frequency of their message to the consumers for their scrapbooking business? This is an issue that faces both manufacturers and retailers in our industry. Frequency is a term you typically hear in regard to television advertising. Since most manufacturers and retailers in the scrapbooking industry do not advertise on TV, you might think that this term is irrelevant to your business. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Frequency can be applied to all types of media.

As it turns out, once you have reached your targeted consumers you need to reach them frequently. Frequency becomes the driver of your business to help you reach your sales objectives.

A real life example

Let me share with you an example of message frequency from my childhood. I remember a gas station in Idaho called, “Stinker”. Their mascot, a skunk, also named “Stinker”. They had a billboard campaign that taught me at a young age how powerful frequency can be to your message. We would be driving on the highway in the middle of nowhere and there we’d find a billboard with little Stinker on it saying, “Good news! Restrooms 5 miles ahead.” A mile later, there would be one that says “4 miles ahead,” and one every mile thereafter. At one mile, the billboard said, “Your worries are just about over.”

Until we saw these billboards, I literally had no need for the restrooms, but because their message was repeated so frequently, suddenly, I had a need. At 5,000 feet ahead, there was another sign, but nothing was in our view up the road. We sped by the 4,000 ft ahead sign with nothing in sight. Still nothing was in sight at 2,000 feet, or even at 1,000 feet. When the signs said 100 yards ahead we could see something on either side of the road. When we pulled up, there was a barrel on either side of the road facing each other, one with a sign on it that said, “Hers” and one that said, “His!” I remember all of us laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes as we all ran in different directions into the brush to do what we needed to do!

The funny thing was that people were pulling over and running out into the bushes as well, everyone laughing even harder coming out of the brush than those who were running in. Had it been one sign it wouldn’t have been a big deal. But the constant hammering of the message not only had an impact on our mind but on our bodies needs as well. Frequency of message is what gets people moving and thinking. Frequency of your message is how you and your product or service becomes top of mind for your target market.

Applying it to our industry

How do you get more frequency in this industry if you are a manufacturer? First, look beyond the media products that can deliver your message only one time each month, such as paper magazines. Magazines are great for branding the message but are not great for frequency of message. For your message to be seen in a magazine, you should fight for positions next to content. After all, the consumer purchases the magazines for the articles, not for the advertisements! I have often wondered why any advertiser would want to be caught in the front few pages of a magazine where many times you find full page ad after full page ad - back to back. Everyone knows the readers just flip through that section in seconds to get to the content for which the magazine was purchased.

World-branded manufacturers know the power of the electronic media like TV, radio and the internet. They want and need frequency of message because it is frequency that pushes you into the consumer’s minds.

Your best bet

Within the scrapbooking industry the best media vehicle for both reach and frequency is Scrapbooking.com Magazine. Why? The reasons are many:

1. The magazine’s content grows throughout the month, forcing the reader back to the magazine weekly. Just like a weekly TV show like 24 on FOX forces millions of viewers back each week to see what is going to happen next.

2. The editorial staff places the ads of the advertisers automatically next to the most relevant content in that issue of the magazine. Meaning the ad is placed next to the articles that the readers go to the magazine for.

3. Website studies have shown that it is much more effective to have the ads located in many places rather than in just one place. And Scrapbooking.com Magazine has created many places for an advertiser to be for both a successful branding campaign and a successful call to action.

4. Scrapbooking.com Magazine’s staff publishes articles every month about all major product categories. This means that your product category is pushed from a content standpoint every month. If, for example, you are a sticker manufacturer you want your ad to be next to content about stickers and other relevant areas, as well. This brings up another reason for manufacturers to really look more carefully at the branding model found within Scrapbooking.com Magazine.

To review: More content, more often with better placement of more ads for less money is a winning combination that manufactures can no longer ignore. And that is what being business SMART is all about.