Here is an interesting tidbit offering a LOT of food for thought!

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/06/19/trend.fishing.ap/index.html

First off, who can NOT love the idea of Pink Waders and fishing equipment. Way back when, I was a union stagehand in IATSE. I spray painted ALL of my tools pink, and let me tell you… if any of the guys borrowed them, they were quick to return them! *VeryBigGrin*

But, ignoring everything else… this is the paragraph that most got my attrention:

*quote*

Outdoor marketers have found it makes good business sense to reach out to women, said Monica Pelletier, spokeswoman for the national Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation.

“The thinking used to be that the man is the one who goes fishing and he’s going to decide whether to take the family along, but really it’s the woman who decides where to take the family. She determines the activities,” Pelletier said.

*end quote*

The bold, italics are my own and sure give me something to think about! Are we in Needlework and Quilting giving ANY thought to this significant fact? Hmmmmm……

I have some specific ideas that I intend to share with my Gold member Retailers!

Tink

As a result of input from Retailers at TNNA last week, I have ended up going in a slightly different direction with the Marketing Edge sites. Both the Retailer site and the Designer site will be membership sites

The Retailer site will be going live first. It will have two levels of membership: Silver and Gold. Participants at both levels must be qualified Retailers, either online or offline.

Silver membership will be free. The Silver level will have basic information access, but far fewer bells and whistles than Gold membership.

Gold membership will have all of the information provided at the Silver level PLUS much additional information, step by step tutorials, time-saving services, and various discounts on workshops etc…

There will be a Forum (being installed at this very moment!) and both levels will have access to it. Silver members will have a basic section and Gold members will be able to access the Silver areas as well as their own more structured discussion area.

In addition, I will be offering email consulting services for Gold members. There will be a cap on the number of retailers from each discipline (Needlework and Quilting) that I will be able to accept.

It has been an adventure getting the Membership site up and running. I found a good company with an excellent reputation to provide the software and installation. It has been a very pleasant experience and I will be happy to report in greater detail if any of you retailers are considering implements a site such as this!

The company providing the software is in Russia and it took me a bit of time to figure out the time differences… there is 7 hours diference, btw.

Which brings me to an important point of business etiquette… The web is truly international and without geographic borders. Because of this, you should have YOUR time zone clearly listed on EVERY page of your website. Putting it alongside your contact phone number is a good place. The same information should be provided in every email or every time you provide your phone number!

This morning I am working with Alex in Russia, later today I will be working with my friend Bjorn in Sweden…
Tink

There is an article today on CNN.com (the page my browser opens in!). It is in the Entertainment section and mentions that *It’s a Wonderful Life* led the American Film Institute’s list of inspirational films revealed Wednesday in the group’s annual top-100 TV special that aired on CBS.

Now, clearly, you’ll get NO argument from me about what a great movie it is! However, I did get a tingle… a marketing tingle…

The significant phrease for me was *the group’s annual top-100 TV special*

So here is the plan… (rubbing hands together, gleefully)

Choose one of your shop’s Hot Spots… put together a display of the Top 10 New Designs… This could be done just once a year… but my inclination is to do it monthly. Make it a regular feature of the shop… include Employee choices to maximize the branding potential.

If some of the designs are from new designers, include information about the designer… remember, Needlework and Quilting are personality driven industries! Use this to your advantage!

Scheming in KY,

Tink

I got back late Monday night and have spent the last two days getting caught up.

The response to the Marketing Edge has been fantastic… beyond my wildest dreams, in fact.

I have always been confident about its usefulness and I feel strongly that it could be the key to survival for many of us in these challenging times. I was immensly gratified that many of the retailers saw the potential immediately.

I am setting the Retailers site up as a two tier membership site. The software is being installed even as I type. I hope to have the site go live by the end of this week.

Membership will be vetted, since I don’t want non-professionals involved.

The timing on all of this has been remarkable. I explained about the importance of using a double-optin email system on Friday. On Saturday, one of the retailers who had taken my class stopped by the booth to tell me that AOL is blocking her show report emails!

I had been going to put up the info quickly but now I realize that the problem has started so this will some of the initial info I put up.

I want to get the Retailers site up and running and then I will start on the Designers site, probably at the end of the summer.

Tink