Welcome to Issue 101 of McCurry Associates' Marketing Idea Exchange. You requested to receive this newsletter.

Please send us your marketing idea as well as comments on those ideas posted by hitting your reply button or emailing to editor@mccurryassoc.com. You may offer free subscriptions to your colleagues by telling them to send an email to editor@mccurryassoc.com - Ask them to include their name, store name and city in the body of the email - privacy is protected, see below.

Please Enjoy, Consider and Profit from these ideas.

All the Best,
Bill

Idea #1- Underlying currents from PMA -

Attendance - Some observers remarked that the attendance was "down" - but a closer look at the facts disclosed that Orlando as a location does not pull as well as Las Vegas - it appears this show will beat the prior attendance from Orlando.

Quality of Attendance - Most exhibitors felt they had a great show - most said the number of people who came in their booth seemed down but the volume of business written was up - the quality of the attendees was better than it had ever been.

New Products - While Canon showed a couple dozen new items there was really nothing earth shattering from any of the manufacturers. That isn't to say you didn't need to spend hours combing the trade show floor to stay current . . . it's that the changes are incremental, not monumental. The most exciting news on the camera front wasn't new cameras - although there were a few - but lower prices. Digital SLRs with a retail around $800. Nobody was surprised

Building Revenues In The Shifting Digital World - While great debates are still raging over the correct number of kiosks, the Australian contingent turned the heads of the Yankee retailers. It is not uncommon for an Australian lab to have 6-12 kiosks . . . Their attitude is that the kiosk is much cheaper than hiring more help, customers don't want to wait in a queue (line), and it allows customers to spend more time (read spend more money). Kiosk convenience is still being debated in the US . . . Mike Worswick (Wolfe's Camera, Topeka, KS) has 8 kiosks with chairs and some without chairs . . . He says those machines with chairs get 50% higher order value than the stand up machines.

More Revenue Building: Great ideas were shared for new services and products to drive sales - calendars, portraits, specialty gifts, custom framing, are being added by many. On the more sophisticated side higher end labs are going to Digital Asset Management (DAM) where they are the depository for customers' images and can print/deliver on the spot.

What Goes Around, Comes Around: It's amusing to see smaller camera stores and one hour labs are back doing wholesale work. The delivery and other costs have run the larger wholesale labs out of business and the local retailer is now offering services to those retailers cut off from the closed megalabs. To make the delivery costs reasonable some labs are partnering with florists, druggists, dry cleaners, anyone with route service to share the overhead. In most cases the wholesale business is being done for a retailer that will also send customers with more complex needs direct to the lab . . . so retailers are seeing incremental revenue for the wholesale work plus a few additional customers at retail due to referrals.

Dealer Attitudes: Generally most people were upbeat, recognizing that digital is here to stay and there are opportunities . . . they aren't as visible, easy or as turnkey as the one hour lab business was 25 years ago . . . . Opportunities abound.

Idea #2 - That 5-second first impression really matters
Frank Ponder - Ponder Levy Properties - Los Angeles, CA

Here's a thought...

How many owners, managers, etc., walk through the front door of their stores and look at them as a customer would? It's an interesting exercise that should be practiced at least once a month if not more often. You should note the following:

Exterior appearance: How many signs are fighting for the customer's attention? What is the main message you want to convey? Is that message out there, or is it lost in the shuffle? You have about 5 seconds to get your message to the consumer driving by or a few more for those walking by your store. Keep it simple and succinct.
Cleanliness: First look when you enter the store. Is it clean? Are the displays neat and clean? How much dust can you pick up on your fingers when you touch the merchandise? Would you like to buy something that is full of dust? Why should I have to wash my hands after I visit a store???????????
Personnel: Are your salespeople ready to help the customer when they enter the store? There is a delicate balance between hovering over a customer and making them feel comfortable. Which is yours? Is the customer bothering the store personnel or do they genuinely welcome the customer?
These are just a few quick thoughts, but as you shop around at other stores (preferably not in the camera business) make notes of what you find and what you see. There are the good and the bad. Make notes of both, and try to incorporate them into your procedure.

Idea #3 - Make full use of your digital processor's printing capabilities
Gary Grinaker - The Photo Express, Inc - Bismarck, ND - http://www.cleverlyhidden.com

Our digital lab is also a full-color printing machine. Using photographic paper we create high-quality full-color handouts for less than the cost of toner on our color copier. And a 4x8 is the perfect size for a letter insert.

And why would we ever outsource postcards or newspaper inserts when our digital printer can make them for less.

We use Mitsubishi paper without watermark and turn off the backprint. Using either a wax-thermal or fuser-toner printer we can add additional information to the back. For mailings, we use mail-merge to add a message and address to the back of our full-color postcards.

Using a Photoshop action, we create individual thank-you cards for our studio's customers with their image on the front. That's a keepsake card the customer cannot throw away
 

NEW PMA BENEFIT CAN PUT MONEY IN YOUR POCKET . . .

If you've benefited from these marketing idea emails, you'll get filthy rich reading the new PMA Marketing Community. You will find marketing ideas, suggestions and insights from around the world. No, it isn't intended to replace the McCurry Marketing Idea Exchange; it will be a greater resource allowing for more diversified opinions and greater depth of discussions than a 3 minute email. It will also be easier for you to find issues relevant to you by topic.

Go to http://secure.pmai.org and click on PMA Communities - You will need to be a PMA member and sign into this site. (It's simple, follow the applicable directions!)

Once you're signed in, go to PMA Communities (link at top left of page) - Our suggestion is that you immediately then go to Setup/Preferences and select how you would like to be notified of any new marketing information that gets posted. Our preference is for the daily digest that sends all the day's postings every night. You can select immediate emails for each posting or a weekly collection. You can also select no emails but that forces you to come to the site rather than the ease of reading it in your email box.

Bill McCurry is the moderator for this community - In his "News" in the community you'll see his welcome letter which states in part:

The rules are simple -
Rule #1 - Please use common sense when asking and answering questions
Rule #2 - See Rule #1

We look forward to "seeing you" at your PMA Marketing Community at http://secure.pmai.org

previous issue	next issue (available after it is published)