Bruce R. Laumeister - CTC/Vermont Color - Bennington and Manchester, VT, USA - www.vermontcolor.com

Our most successful business generator, over the last 15 years, has been the monthly calendar of daily specials.

Ward Lundgren - The Camera Company - Madison, WI USA - www.cameracompany.com

I was discussing our staffing situation with a store manger and mentioned that we need to either come up with a way to occupy the staff downtime or cut back on some hours.

We decided to run a promotion on Video Transfer. Our standard price for YES Video tape to DVD transfer is $39.99. Our promotion was $19.99 on orders of 6 tapes or more.

We promoted it at the counter, email blast, and on our website. It was a HUGE success. Our video transfer department was busy from open to close for two solid months.

I didn't run the numbers using Bill McCurry's Product Discount Chart but considering that the material cost is about $2.00 I think that we did quite well. Our video transfer business has also been up after the promotion ended. I am sure it is because of the word of mouth advertising.

When I run this promo again I plan on giving the customer a $10.00 off coupon that they can use on a future project or share with a friend or relative.

Chris Dolajek - Bob's Photo - Bismarck, ND, USA - www.bobsphoto.com

My wife and I recently had our first child and I was stunned by the barrage of photo marketing pieces in the new mom care packs that the hospital gave us.

Our store has been in the hospital's self-produced coupon book for a few years, but that was lost amidst the product-filled hand bags and big-brand flyers.

So how could we better compete? That question was answered just a few days later.

When I got home from the hospital all the care pack stuff went in the trash, along with four days of junk mail. But the next day I got a dinky little 'congrats' card from my credit union offering to start an account for my new son. It was still on the kitchen counter a week later (and I eventually did open the account). That was it! The "aha" moment!

As long as we show up late to the party, we won't get lost in the crowd. So I whipped up a nice little letter (attached) and some coupons.

July 6-9, 2009 IPI Meeting and Trade Show. Las Vegas, NV, USA.

July 15-19, 2009 PRO Convention, (Members and affiliates only) Rancho Mirage CA, USA

September 10-11 PMA Canada Exposition 2009, Toronto, Ontario Info

October 22-24, 2009 PDN PhotoPlus Expo Jacob Javits Center, NYC, NY, USA - info

November 10-12, 2009 - 6Sight Future of Imaging Conference being held in the Monterey Conference Center, Monterey, CA, USA. www.6sight.com