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With over 25 years of frontline experience Tom Shay is America's leading small business management expert. He's a "Must Have" for your next event.

e-ret@iler from Profits Plus and Tom Shay
ideas to sell more merchandise and service
December 2003 - Our 49th consecutive issue

Beginning our 5th year of publishing

The December issue of the e-ret@iler contains:

1. The article of the month: Characteristics of
a successful business
2. e-ret@iler advisory of the month: Using tools
3. Our Power Promoting idea of the month: New
Years Resolution contest
4. Your e-ret@iler subscription and contacting
Profits Plus and Tom Shay

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

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1. Article of the month: Characteristics of a
Successful Business

This speaker probably sees a lot more trade shows
and conferences than the average person. One of the
most enjoyable parts of this work is having the
opportunity to visit with those that own, manage,
and work in small businesses.

Over the years, we have noticed several traits that
consistently appear in those that are most successful
at what they do. In the article of the month for
December, we outline what those characteristics are.
By reading this article, perhaps you will see
something that you want to add to the way you
work each day.

Click on this link to visit the Profits Plus
website to read the December article of the month.

Characteristics of a Successful Business

0 <= After printing the December 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: Using tools

We are thrilled to announce that we have been busy
adding new tools to the Profits Plus website.
The newest tool is a new version of the cost of
inventory calculator.

Go to a trade show, or receive a special order
offering from a vendor, as you are trying to
decide how to place an order for merchandise,
you can:
Order a smaller quantity, but pay a higher
price, a shorter time to pay for the merchandise
and maybe pay a higher price for the delivery of
the merchandise

Order with the special offering, and you receive
a much longer time to pay for the merchandise,
perhaps free freight, but you have to purchase
a much larger quantity of merchandise.

Which way is more profitable for your business?
Previously, you had to perform a lot of
calculations or just take a good guess.

We now provide you with a Cost of Inventory
calculator. You enter this information:
How many you sell each month
The cost when ordering in the traditional method
and in the special order methods
The cost of freight for each of the two methods
The quantity you order with each method
The cost of money

When using the Cost of Inventory calculator,
enter this information, click enter, and you will
see the answer for each of the next eight months.
You also have the option of seeing this
information in a line chart format.

Another new tool is the article forwarding
service. When you read an article on the
Profits Plus website, you can now forward
a message to a friend, inviting them to
read the article on our website.

We have several new tools on their way in the
first quarter of the year. Some of these are:
A calculator that will help you establish
margins on products, and then it will allow you
to implement the variable pricing strategy
that we teach in our seminars.

Another tool is a calculator that will show
you how much extra inventory you will have
to sell when you decrease a price. These are in
addition to the tools that are already
available to you on our site. Here is a link
to the page listing the various tools.

Profits Plus website tools

0 <= After printing the December e-ret@iler, check
here if you plan to read the e-retailer advisory
of the month.

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3. Our Power Promoting idea of the month: New Years
Resolution

We saw this contest in a business a couple of years
ago, and was most impressed with their creativity.

Try this great promotion to increase the foot traffic
in your business for the second half of December.

Invite customers to enter your contest by sharing
their New Year's resolution. You will give a series
of prizes for the resolutions that are most
unique, most exciting, most challenging, etc.
Entires need this information as well as a name,
address, and e-mail. (You want all of this information
so you can add these people to your PREFERRED
CUSTOMER mailing list and e-mail newsletter list.

You may want to contact a local newspaper to invite
them to write a story about what is happening in
your business. If you do this, add a disclaimer on
the entry form that tells the participants that any
information shared with the newspaper will not have
the name and address given, but they should make a
point to not have any "personally revealing"
information.

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4. Your e-ret@iler subscription and contacting
Profits Plus and Tom Shay

Simply stated, the e-ret@iler is free. We
are excited to begin our fifth year of publishing
this newsletter with the December 2003 issue. If you
received it as a result of someone passing it to
you, you can get your own subscription by visitng
the Profits Plus website and entering your
e-mail information to get a subscription.

Contacting us is just as easy. Our phone is
727-464-2182. The fax number is 727-898-3179.
Our mailing address is: PO Box 128, Dardanelle, AR 72834 USA.

Thanks for taking the time this month from
your business to visit with us by way of this
e-mail newsletter, the e-ret@iler. Our goal is
to have you find a bit of information in it that
will help you make your business more profitable.

We continue to ask you to make an effort to
locate and do business with other small businesses.
You will meet some really great people and
find others who really appreciate their customers,
just the way you do!

Get your Profits Plus, and may God bless you and
yours! See you next month to begin 2004.

Tom Shay

 

MAY 2024
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Small Business

AdvisorieS

The May Small Business Advisory is titled "Planning for a successful accountant" and is appropriate for many with the April 15 tax deadline having passed.

 

Did you work with your accountant? Or, did you just give them a bunch of papers and wait to receive a completed tax return?

 

Successfully working with an accountant requires a partnership. This month's Small Business Advisory gives suggestions of how to make this happen in 2024.

Small Business

News

Top Story

We see that many small business owners have too much of a focus on the "top line" of their income statement.

 

Increasing revenue is great, but it is not a cure all for any challenges your business is facing. And sometimes, incresing revenue can create a challenge.

Article of the Month

Who is your customer? Some small businesses have no focus. Their customer is whoever calls or walks in the door.

 

And some small businesses have determined which customers, in sufficient numbers, they should spend their efforts to attract.

 

The article of the month shares an old Southern rhyming couplet about business; "The bertter you niche, the more you get rich."


Book of the Month

Lean Startup by Eric Reis is our suggested book for May.

 

As the title suggests, the reader of the book would be someone that is starting their business. However, we see more value than just that.

 

Perhaps you have been in business for many years. We think this book could give insight to items, and methods, that a small business owner should think about with their business today.

BOOK US

With over 25 years of frontline experience Tom Shay is America's leading Small Business Management Expert. He's a "Must Have" for your next event.

Small Business

Advisories

The May Small Business Advisory is titled "Planning for a successful accountant" and is appropriate for many with the April 15 tax deadline having passed.

 

Did you work with your accountant? Or, did you just give them a bunch of papers and wait to receive a completed tax return?

 

Successfully working with an accountant requires a partnership. This month's Small Business Advisory gives suggestions of how to make this happen in 2024.

Small Business

News

 

Top Story

We see that many small business owners have too much of a focus on the "top line" of their income statement.

 

Increasing revenue is great, but it is not a cure all for any challenges your business is facing. And sometimes, incresing revenue can create a challenge.


Article of the Month

Who is your customer? Some small businesses have no focus. Their customer is whoever calls or walks in the door.

 

And some small businesses have determined which customers, in sufficient numbers, they should spend their efforts to attract.

 

The article of the month shares an old Southern rhyming couplet about business; "The bertter you niche, the more you get rich."


Book of the Month

Lean Startup by Eric Reis is our suggested book for May.

 

As the title suggests, the reader of the book would be someone that is starting their business. However, we see more value than just that.

 

Perhaps you have been in business for many years. We think this book could give insight to items, and methods, that a small business owner should think about with their business today.