The August e-ret@iler contains:

1. The article of the month: The Legacy of the
Family Business
2. e-ret@iler advisory of the month: Also from
the grocery aisles - Stay nimble
3. Sales tip of the month: Loyal Rewards
4. Web tip of the month: Current ratio
5. The contest for August 2005: How did you
celebrate National Independent Retailers Week?
6. Our Power Promoting idea of the month: Appreciate
your customers
7. Book of the month: Take Care Of Your Business
or Someone Else Will
8. Your e-ret@iler subscription, contacting
Profits+Plus and Tom Shay, and a note about
my Dad

O => Print the August issue of the
e-ret@iler so you can read it at your leisure.

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1. Article of the month: The Legacy of the
Family Business

This month's article is a reprint of one that
we ran several years ago. After you read this
month's e-ret@iler, I am sure you will see
why we chose to have a repeat. Here is a link
to the August article.

The Legacy of the Family Business

O <= After printing the August e-ret@iler, check
here if you plan to read the article of the month.

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2. e-ret@iler advisory of the month: From the
grocery aisles

From an article in USA Today this spring comes
a valuable lesson that retailers of all types
can learn from grocery stores. The article
talked about grocery store chains filing for
Chapter 11 and what caused that problem. There
were six problems with grocery stores that were
outlined. We will talk about these over the next
couple of months.

#1 Are the grocery stores in your
area changing or are they the same store they
were 20 years ago? Is there any area of small
business that can be the same thing they were
years ago? I think the answer is NO.

Even in something as basic as a hardware store,
there is an old adage that said if you had
stocked a hardware store with the latest of
everything and closed the doors for 7 years, when
you reopened the doors you would find that
half of your merchandise was outdated.

This doesn't apply to just merchandise. It also
applies to the strategy of which customers you
are targeting, the hours you are open, the
services you provide, and how you advertise.

We have all seen a business that looks just as it
did just five years ago. It is fine when you want
a trip down memory lane, but it doesn't really
work when you want to grow sales.

O <= After printing the August e-ret@iler, if you
plan to review this material for your business.

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3. Sales tip of the month: Loyal Rewards

Several years ago while speaking at the Automotive
Industry Week, I had the opportunity to meet
Jay Siff, the owner of a company known as Moving
Targets.

Their business has always fascinated me as they
provide several unique services for small businesses.
They have a new one called Loyal Rewards and have
provided us with a special to help you with your
business. The Loyal Rewards program works like this:
When a customer is checking out, you ask if they
would like you to send them coupons for specials
or free stuff.

They give you their contact information and
everytime you are ready to drive more business to
your business, you contact Jay and they will create
and send the appropriate e-mail. It is a most
affordable service.

Click on this link for more details.

Loyal Rewards

O <= After printing the August e-ret@iler, check
here if you plan to use this tip.

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4. Web tip of the month: Current ratio

It is going to take us quite a while to cover this
page on our website. The financial ratios calculator
has 20 calculators to help you with your business.

We will discuss them top to bottom beginning with
current ratios. With each of the calculators on
this page, there is an explanation of how the
calculator works as well as what it means. You then
have the option to insert the appropriate numbers
from your financial statements to see what the
ratio is for your business.

Financial Ratios Calculator

O <= After printing the August e-ret@iler, check here
if you plan to look at the financial ratios calculator.

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5. The contest for August 2005: How did you
celebrate National Independent Retailer's
Week?

National Independent Retailer's Week was last
month and we hope that you did something to
celebrate. We are already thinking about the
event for next year and know that the best ideas
come from our readers.

Our contest for this month asks you for ideas to
celebrate National Independent Retailer's Week for
2006. Send us an idea that we can add to the website
and we will send you a copy of our first CD e-book,
"What does Tom say?"

This link will take you to the page that explains
the event:

National Independent Retailer's Week

O <= After printing the August e-ret@iler, check
here if you plan to enter the contest.

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6. Our Power Promoting idea of the month: Appreciate
your customers

When we first got into the idea of power promoting
at our business, this was the second idea that we
tried - and it worked with great success.

We printed the monthly statements for all our
customers - even those that had zero balances.
We then asked each of our staff to pick up the
statements for all of the customers that they
knew by name. Then they were to write notes on
the statements - nothing elaborate, but just a
simple hello or thanks for their business.

We were amazed at how many people came into the
store or called to express their thanks and
remind us that this was one of the reasons they
did business with us.

Where do we get all of these ideas for Power
Promoting? As you visit the resource center
on the Profits+Plus website, take a look at
the book with the blue cover and the one with
the red cover. The Ideas books are a great way
to jump start your store with some unique
promotional ideas. Each of these books is
only $9.95 US.

Click on the link below to visit the Resource center
to order these books. There are two promotional
ideas books and two management ideas books in
the 100 Profits+Plus Ideas series of books.

Order the Ideas books series

O <= After printing the August e-ret@iler, check here
if you plan to visit the Resources Page to order
the Ideas books.

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7. Book of the month: Take Care Of Your Business
or Someone Else Will

Mike McKinley's book has a title that pretty much
tells it like it is. We think you will enjoy reading
it.

If you have already read this book, or are looking
for more books to read, click on this link to
see our book referral list.

Book Referral List

O <= After printing the August e-ret@iler, check here
if you plan to read the book of the month.

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8. Your e-ret@iler subscription and contacting
Profits+Plus and Tom Shay, and a note about my
Dad

As I write this newsletter, it was just a few
days ago that I lost my Dad. Over the last 30
years he was my father, my friend, my mentor,
my employer and my coworker. My Dad, Mom and I
have worked full time side by side since 1973.

I can't believe how much I miss him already.
Every time I visited with my parents home,
Dad and I were always going into the office and
visiting - just the two of us.

When several of us would talk about our experiences
of working together from years ago, I would
undoubtedly struggle to remember someone by name.
Of course, I could always ask Dad, describing the
person and talking about the experience we
had with the person. Now I just struggle by myself.

At the service, I heard some great stories from
former employees and sales representatives that
called on our store. The morning of the service
we heard from a sales representative who had called
on our store since the 1960's and whose father had
called on my grandfather and great-grandfather.

Over the last two months as I have updated you about
my Dad, there were many of you that took the time
to send a note. Every one of these were shared with
my Dad, who was very moved by the outpouring of
concern. He remarked how impressed he was by the
concern that all of you showed for me. I reminded
him that all of you were concerned for him.

For all of you working in a multi-generation business,
take time every day to reflect on the blessing that you
have. I can't tell you how many times my father and I
disagreed over ideas in the business, but I learned
something that I use everyday as I share with
you.

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Contacting us is just as easy:
The phone is 727-464-2182
The fax is 727-898-3179
The mailing address is:
PO Box 1577
St Petersburg, Fl 33731 USA

And click on this link to send an e-mail:

Thanks for visiting with us this month. We
appreciate your taking time from your
busy schedule. Our goal is to help you and
your business to become more profitable. We hope
we have done that.

We encourage you to seek out and do business
with other independently owned businesses. If
you are wanting people to do business with you
because you are a locally owned business, then
it stands to reason that we should be doing
what we are asking others to do.

Get your Profits+Plus. May God bless you and yours.
We will see you in September.

Tom Shay

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