"We are made to persist. That's how we find out who we are."

-- Tobias Wolff, Writer

by Jami Petersen

There are four elements of business that can determine long-term success. Inventory, square footage, staff and branding all play an important role in negotiating the viability of a business. Regardless of your role in the scrapbooking industry, there are some mathematical formulas to keep in mind when setting goals for 2010. Dennis Conforto gives us an insider's guide to triumph in the new year.

Jami Petersen
newsletters@a-z.com

Sakura

Stock up on proven sellers from Sakura of America.

Consumers want products of consistent quality and value, so be sure to have Sakura's Pigma Micron, Quickie Glue, and Gelly Roll Stardust pens in stock! Create additional impulse sales with low profile displays and cup displays including:

Micron 05 Low Profile Display
Gelly Roll Stardust Clear Cup Display
Quickie Glue Cup Display

Contact your local wholesaler for details, or visit www.sakuraofamerica.com for more information.

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.
 

Becky Higgins LLC will soon be contracting with Amazon.com to fulfill Project Life orders. The company has temporarily stopped taking orders for Project Life. For the purpose of simplifying the ordering and fulfillment process, arrangements are being made to move the remaining inventory to Amazon.com early in January. Once the transition has taken place and the products arrive to Amazon's fulfillment center, Becky Higgins LLC will re-open the orders and customers nationwide will once again be able to purchase Project Life.

Wooky Entertainment

Target New Consumers:

Teenagers with the Paris Hilton Creativity Collection. This new line is for teens from 10 years old and older who are interested by scrapbooking. Following the latest trends and fashion, the Paris Hilton Creativity Collection is adapted for teen girls of 2010!

Visit us online: http://pariscreativity.com/
For more information : info@wookyentertainment.com

The Memory Tradeshow

The Memory Tradeshow is the premiere market for scrapbooking and related products, family history and digital imaging.

It is the most important gathering of this industry regionally, and it’s attracting executives from all sectors: manufacturers, retailers, distributors, suppliers, sales reps, designers and press. The show’s goal is to provide the highest ROI show within the industry with a greater focus on the business of the memory industry, education and best business practices.

Learn more and save >>

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

I like the thought of starting off the new year right. That old expression “out with the old and in with the new” really applies when you are starting a new year. This time last year, I had lots of personal goals to think about. I didn’t want to load too many new ventures into my already packed scheduled. I wanted to do more in less time, which meant that I would have to work smarter not harder.

I have thought long and hard about what I could say to you this week that would be meaningful. I already know that everyone within the Scrapbooking industry is working harder than ever before. Many are working harder and have less to show for it. A long time ago I learned the principle of not wasting time making money but invested more time in learning how to make my money work harder for me.

Now the question is how one gets their business to really work harder for them. And the answer is frustratingly simple. Just like with money, you have to make your assets work harder and smarter for your business. Your company assets basically divide into four areas. First is inventory, second is square footage of retail, warehouse or office space. Third is your employees and fourth is your brand.

If your organization has less then a six-time turn rate then you are working harder for your inventory than your inventory is working for you. In today’s competitive environment it is impossible to be great retailer or manufacturer with less than a six-time turn rate. Learning to turn your inventory is a skill as well as a system of doing business. Those who tell you it can’t be done are those without the systems, experience or skill sets to do it.

The easiest way to measure the performance of your space is by sales per square foot. To be great you should be generating at least $200 in sales per square foot. If you are not then you simply have too much space to justify your current sales level. So if you can’t increase your sales then you must reduce square footage. One of the primary reasons for low turn-rate performance is too much warehouse or retail space, which invites you to fill by over spending on inventory levels and duplication of product between resources.

Of course the most valuable asset any company has is its people. In today’s environment you need to be generating at least $150,000 in sales per employee. This will allow you to be able to pay them a fair wage and have the company meet all of its obligations including the overall profitability of the business. This means you need high trained and competent staff. Customers know if your staff is trained and competent, and customers reward businesses who have happy, knowledgeable and helpful staff. If you want higher turn rates and sales per square foot then a highly trained staff can get you there.

Finally there is your brand. Brand management is important because your brand shows and demonstrates how and why you are different and better than those you compete with. Brand management is serious business even if you use humor to manage a brand. When marketing your company, measure it by cost per thousand consumers to reach. You want to reach your target market at the lowest cost and most frequency. In the advertising business they measure CPM (cost per thousand prospective consumers) by percentage of the market reached and how often. If I was doing a TV ad I might want a $6.50 CPM to 95% of my target market with a 7 time reach during the month. This means I spend $6.50 per thousand consumers with a 95% reach and a 7 time frequency. These measurement guidelines work for television, radio, newspapers, cable, web, billboard and direct mail advertisements.

So with a new year starting out maybe its time for you to consider how you might make your inventory, space, staff and brand work smarter so you don’t have to work any harder. And that is what being SMART is all about.

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