April 23, 2009 - The first part of this call focused on forms of advertising other than television, radio and newspaper. In the second part of this call Tom outlines how to develop a staff education program and what you should include in it. During the question and answer part of the call, there was a lively discussion about challenging employees.

May 28, 2009 - We first talked about the lack of mistakes probably means we are not trying enough new ideas. In the second part I announced, the new books on retailing that I wrote for the NSSF can be had by calling 203-426-1320. The main component of the session dealt with the strategies and tactics a business should use to be successful.

June 25, 2009 - The focal question of the conversation was to ask what a business is expecting to get from their advertising. We discussed what percentage of operating expenses to spend in advertising, and why advertising does not work. Of course, there are no final answers; only information to help a business fine tune what they are doing with their advertising, and how to do it.

July 23, 2009 - Inventory control was the issue for the conference call. We discussed 'open to buy', close out sales, using the cost of inventory calculator from the Profits Plus website as well as calculators for return on investment, discounting and sale price determination, and several others. We covered targeting the right customers for our business, and why we should quickly mark down inventory to keep the cash circulating. Velocity coding of inventory was also discussed.

August 27, 2009 - Pricing. This conference call had two focal points. The first one was the issue of discounting merchandise. Does the idea of creating too many sales, or decreasing the entry level price points do damage to your business? Is it the way to go? The second component of this conference call was to look at how we price items. Here's a hint: you don't apply a multiplier factor to the cost of the merchandise. Because of a storm we were experiencing in Florida during this call, the recording was knocked out during the call.

September 23, 2009 - The September 2009 conference call dealt with the issues of the financial statements. We discussed the balance sheet, profit and loss statement, budgets, cashflow, margins and all the components of financial management the accountant never told us.

October 22, 2009 - A timely conversation in which we discussed what we can do during the holiday season to influence what the customer buys. When we know the natural tendencies of a customer it is much easier to have products and information about services in the places they are most likely to look. If you have ever heard a customer say, 'I never knew you carried that', it is an indication you were able to get a customer to look around in your business.

December 17, 2009 - This conversation discussed how to deal with an unhappy customer. We also discussed the return policy of a business and if you could make it work to your advantage. The third component dealt with Tom's controversial position that, "Can I help you?" is an improper statement to say to a customer. So, what could you say to them?

January 14, 2010 - Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, TweetDeck, UberTwitter, AudioBlog, and a bunch more. The conference call combines what to do with each of the social media with how to do it. Tom shares the media he has chosen, the shortcuts he has found, and how little money it takes to make these work. The key is automation so that you are spending a lot of your time away from other responsibilities working on these forms of advertising for your business.

February 25, 2010 - Looking for answers? I am not going to give them to you. That is how this call started. The idea is that when you give someone the answer, they come looking for the next answer and stop hunting for themselves. It is what causes our management problem.

March 18, 2010 - Who is your customer? Can you describe them and what they want to buy? If this is a challenge, then you want to listen to this conference call to get some ideas of how to identify your customer and what you should be selling.

April 29, 2010 - As the great recession continues on, why have businesses closed? Not just because they didn't have sales, but why didn't they get the sales while other businesses did? And for the survivors, what is it they are doing that allows them to continue to be in business as well as take the business from those that are failing?

May 18, 2010 - Been to a trade show lately? If not, you should be making plans to attend one. The trade show is where you find new products and services. It is where you go to get that advantage over the competition. It is where you go to hear the newest ideas in the educational sessions. It is where you go to talk with other successful businesses and get charged up to return to work. This conference call is about how you can prepare for a show, what to do at the show, and what you can do after the show to increase the results.

June 22, 2010 - Are you still taking the cost of an item and multiplying it by a particular factor to determine the price of an item? If so you are leaving too much money 'on the table' and you are overcharging on items as well. It is no wonder that independent businesses get a reputation for being high priced. Listen to this conference call and hear the strategy of how to properly price what you sell.

July 20, 2010 - There are so many independent businesses that are missing opportunities to make a sale. In this e-retailer conference call, I share 8 ways of making additional sales - converting a browser into a shopper, asking for repeat business, asking for a referral, upselling, add on selling, impulse selling, cross selling and suggestive selling. This session is for everyone in your business.

August 24, 2010 - Did you know there is both an art and a science component to selling? This evening's conference call talked about how to utilize the scientific aspects of personal interaction to make that be a part of your art form of selling. This session is for everyone in the business.

September 28, 2010 - This e-retailer conference call deal with finances. We discussed the profit and loss statement, balance sheet, budgeting, cashflow, and some of the ratios that an accountant is likely to mention. Listening to this session can give you a lot of insight to better financial knowledge which can definitely help you to become more profitable.

October 26, 2010 - How can you make better decisions in your business? While all decisions use some degree of guessing, this e-retailer conversation conference call was a guide through the Profits Plus website and the calculators that are available for free on the site. The discussion shows what each of the calculators are designed to help you with in your business and how you can profit more from better decisions.

November 9, 2010 - Getting ready for the holiday season, this e-retailer conversation conference call was about selling techniques that our staff should be practicing before the rush of holiday sales. It is easier to sell something to a customer that is in your business than to attempt to get someone else to come into your business.

December 14, 2010 - Fun and games; We talked about games you can play with your staff that can tell your staff a lot more about selling as compared to you as the owner or manager standing before them and telling them they should try to sell more merchandise. We spent an hour talking about ways to engage your staff and finish the holiday season with increased sales.

January 11, 2011 - Some people think they should earn less because they get to do what they enjoy. I do not agree with that. Why shouldn't you enjoy what you do and make more money because you have made that sizable investment in owning your own business? This e-retailer conversation conference call was about having the passion for making money as well as the passion for what you do.

February, 2011 - We did not have a conference call for this month.

March 15, 2011 - Why do business fail to do something that is so simple yet is so exceptional in the eyes of the customer? We discussed looking for additional sales, following up, asking for repeat sales and referrals. Instead of looking for new customers, what if businesses paid more attention to their existing customers?

April 19, 2011 - The call from those that read the e-ret@iler newsletter was that they want to talk more about financial aspects. We utilized five of the calculators on the Profits Plus website to emphasize the points. The calculators were: Break even analysis, financial ratios, financial statement explanation, return on investment and 'what it takes to make a profit'.

May 17, 2011 - How about a prep list to help you get ready for 2012? In this session we talk about 10 areas of business that could be focal points for increasing your business and profits in the coming year. This self evaluating session invites you to make a list of the suggested books as well as think what could help your business in these key points.

June 14, 2011 - Do you have a program through which you educate your staff? If not, take the invitation and listen to this conversation to learn a proven program you can easily implement to have your staff become more customer centric.

July 18, 2011 - A special guest, Bill Kendy, joins Tom Shay as the remember playing the childhood game of 'King of the Hill'. Bill and Tom share stories of how this game was played and how the strategy of playing the game can be an integral part of your business today. This is an entertaining session with lots of ideas you can use to find that 'most important' customer for your business.

August 25, 2011 - Are you ready for Christmas? This call discusses how every business can be a Christmas gift store. Starting with the idea of gift giving, moving to what the customer sees first from a physical store, or an Internet store, and then moving about the business. Now is the time to get ready for the holidays. Are you ready for the extra business?

September 29, 2011 - Bonnie Raite sang 'Let's give them something to talk about. Steve Martin and Dan Akroyd did a sit of 'two wild and crazy guys'. This e-retailer conversation conference call is about what a business can do to get the attention of their customers. It's gotta' be something more than just the traditional advertising. As Steve Martin would say, 'bring your happy feet' for this call.

October 27, 2011 - This conference call had two points. The first dealt with challenges of business owners having a form of 'paralysis' set in when it comes to resolving challenges in their business. Frequently, very important decisions are not made because of this paralysis; opportunites are missed and challenges are not fixed. What I most often see are business owners that become involved with the challenges their staff cause to happen. As the business owner is kept busy with the staff issues, the important issues are not attended to. The second point dealt with how to keep your employees engaged.

December 8, 2011 - The final e-retailer conversations conference call provided insight to the terminology that accountants and bankers use. We discussed why this information is important to you and how you can use it to increase your profits.

January 19, 2012 - This is going to be a great year for a lot of businesses. Perhaps even a break through year or the year of a big bounce back from a tough economy. This call contains Tom Shay's list if what needs to be look at in the next 30 days to produce these results.