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| Subject: Miscellaneous Advice To Add Power To Previous Suggetions | |
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Author: Dennis S. Vogel |
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Date Posted: 22:26:50 01/02/08 Wed In reply to: Netflix Competitor 's message, "Not a Netflix Victim anymore" on 11:13:21 12/31/07 Mon Thank you for your report; I’m interested in what worked best & how it worked. Example- Some of your sample ads worked well. Ad 5 brought 55 rentals when I used this headline: “Electronic Day Care—Day Care Teaches Children; It Doesn’t Just Keep Them Busy Electronic Day Care Keeps Children At Home & For A Little While It Teaches & Entertains Them, Then You Talk To Them About What They’ve Learned. “ I’d appreciate reports like these, then I can refine my craft.. If you don’t competitors to know what worked, please send me a report via email. As I was working on this discussion thread, I had some thoughts that don’t necessarily fit together in a cohesive message. You may be able to use some or all of these combined with my previous advice. NOTE TO OTHER READERS: What I’ve written may help a startup, but I advise against starting a video rental/sales shop in the USA. There are too many competitors & people get entertainment in many other ways. If you can no longer afford liability insurance for customers to be in your store, could you afford a smaller place & take orders & deliver by appointment. You could include pizza or something else also as long you have customers agree in writing, the restaurant is responsible for food quality. You’d probably have to be bonded in case somebody claims the food was safe before you got it. Maybe you can’t afford to have a store anymore. You may have to setup consignments in other stores like the advice I wrote about in the “Build Multiple Streams Of Success” thread. This may work for those who buy or rent a tape or DVD on impulse. If it’s inexpensive, but profitable for a business, customers may indulge in a movie or show. Movie Gallery & Family Video have big gum ball machines, some gum balls are marked with discount or free “coupons.” Netflix & Blockbuster are fighting fiercely. They’re apt to make mistakes, but even if they don’t screw up badly, they’ll probably try to please as many subscribers & potential subscribers as they can. They can’t afford to lose any subscribers & they need to grab as many they can, preferably from each other. But they probably share some subscribers anyway. Your problem is easier, to some degree, because you have a smaller group to recruit & keep. You can connect with each or, at least, the majority. Find what they like & dislike in general about anything video—games, movies & TV shows, plus the hardware. Ask what they like & dislike about your business & competitors. After getting their answers, develop solutions & ways to market those solutions. You may need to apologize for frustrating them before. Just do it, issue by issue, & let them know how you’ll avoid each issue. Many may’ve gotten their hardware from big retailers who don’t provide any support & don’t train any employees how to install equipment or diagnose problems. You can fill that gap for free or a fee. As a free service, you could include it with a minimum rental level or a rental membership. Even those who bought their hardware from a locally based, service-oriented retailer may’ve moved or the retailer may be out of business. You can fill that gap too. When carpets are cleaned/replaced or rooms are remodeled, equipment may be moved or bumped. People may need equipment reconnected or adjusted. If you can’t personally fill that gap with advice or physically helping them, you may find somebody who will. People may be too embarrassed to ask for help, you may need to offer help either formally through marketing or informally on a personal level or both. You can make consignment products available in your store. Some consigners will fill displays. If you have enough products to consign, you can get money from that. I wrote about consignment in the thread “Build Multiple Streams Of Success.” You should be able to get more knowledge about it from books. Here’s sales copy you can use to sell products/services of another business- “Thank you for renting video products from me. You may’ve noticed, I’ve been having a hard time because former customers have been renting video products from competitors. Since I don’t expect or want to be a charity, I’ve arranged to sell things for other businesses, so I can bring in money for (upgraded equipment, products, marketing, etc.). This money will help me serve you better because I’ll attract more customers & have a stronger business. Even when I’m busy again, I won’t forget the friends who trusted me with their video needs. “I’ve personally reviewed this offer & I feel it’s a superior value for you because ___.” You can add this to the sales copy of the other businesses. Dennis S. Vogel Track what works & doesn’t work. Record sales results of every business day; include local weather, economic trends, competitors’ actions, etc. that may’ve affected your results. Keep this journal in a convenient, safe location. Soon you’ll have a good idea what to do & not do in your future. I have more suggestions in my free information web site & this forum. http://www.thrivingbusiness.lakefield.net/ http://www.voy.com/31049/ [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
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