Y'all please give me some ideas to help our local "womans club" out of their marketing flop...

Hi Folks,

Just got a call from the head of the local "womans club" here in our little town in the boonies. She was absolutely beside herself. Seems they've ordered 288 Xmas tree ornaments, dated 2002 and depicting the "Old Inn" here in town... and so far have only sold 50 of them.

She says they desperately need to move at least another 100 of these to just break even. They are already for sale at city hall & local banks. Had a (crummy) ad in the local paper, and now no money to place another one.

So...

I told her I would post this request where the best marketing brain trusts I know of reside...

Anyone have any suggestions on some creative ways to MOVE these ornaments out and save the "womans club" budget?

Post here!

Best Wishes,
Jim Erskine
Homeway Press

Hi, Jim - just at the pitch of millenium fever, one of our local schools decided to create some products; two reasons behind the decision - one to let the kids experience a real "business", the other to raise funds for the school. As long as your women's club put a modest mark-up on cost price, there should be a bonus to your local schools for marketing via the kids - in other words, they get the remainder of the profit!

Hope that helps!

Margaret

Hey Jim,

How about an "Open Letter to the People of {town name}", which then proceeds to describe the ornament, the local historical angle, and the limited availability ("...only a few left! So don't miss out on this opportunity to show your support of the "Women's Club" and get one of our limited supply, Old Inn 2002 ornaments. Contact Jane now at 901-555-1212!")? You get the gist...

Obviously, you wouldn't be able to send it all over town, but perhaps a limited mailing targeting town officials and member of the Chamber of Commerce. Or, make it a space ad in the local paper? Of course, you'd have to scrape together a few bucks from somewhere. A cheaper solution might be to tack the letter to bulletin boards and ask select merchants to tape it to their registers and point it out to people. You might even be able to get a printer to donate or discount their services.

An added incentive might be to enter the name of every buyer into a drawing, with a nice prize donated by a local merchant.

With this approach, you not only avoid the desperation plee but actually add urgency with the "limited supply". They may get more requests than they can fill!

Best of luck,
Chris

> Hi Folks,

> Just got a call from the head of the local
> "womans club" here in our little
> town in the boonies. She was absolutely
> beside herself. Seems they've ordered 288
> Xmas tree ornaments, dated 2002 and
> depicting the "Old Inn" here in
> town... and so far have only sold 50 of
> them.

> She says they desperately need to move at
> least another 100 of these to just break
> even. They are already for sale at city hall
> & local banks. Had a (crummy) ad in the
> local paper, and now no money to place
> another one.

> So...

> I told her I would post this request where
> the best marketing brain trusts I know of
> reside...

> Anyone have any suggestions on some creative
> ways to MOVE these ornaments out and save
> the "womans club" budget?

> Post here!

> Best Wishes,
> Jim Erskine
> Homeway Press

Jim
Solve a problem.

As a business owner, I love the people I work with
and clients who patronize my business. I want to remember these people at Christmas, but invariably I leave someone out due to lack of time.

May I suggest the womens club write a benefits oriented letter aimed at merchant owners in town. You're providing them an opportunity to remember those employees, prized customers/clients who keep them afloat.

Service oriented businesses would benefit most from this idea. The Chamber of Comm. is the best place to start gathering names from. Take orders from the businesses before delivery and I believe you'll have to reorder before you're through.

I would personally hand deliver the letters without pitching them, followed by a phone call
to close.

If someone walked in here right this minute with a solution to my Christmas gift dilemma they would be making my life that much easier.

Best
Michael
> Hi Folks,

> Just got a call from the head of the local
> "womans club" here in our little
> town in the boonies. She was absolutely
> beside herself. Seems they've ordered 288
> Xmas tree ornaments, dated 2002 and
> depicting the "Old Inn" here in
> town... and so far have only sold 50 of
> them.

> She says they desperately need to move at
> least another 100 of these to just break
> even. They are already for sale at city hall
> & local banks. Had a (crummy) ad in the
> local paper, and now no money to place
> another one.

> So...

> I told her I would post this request where
> the best marketing brain trusts I know of
> reside...

> Anyone have any suggestions on some creative
> ways to MOVE these ornaments out and save
> the "womans club" budget?

> Post here!

> Best Wishes,
> Jim Erskine
> Homeway Press




THE direct path to a broadcasting career

Jim:

I've only just this week started getting Christmas catalogs in my mail from the K-Marts of the world.

So if K-Mart, in all their years of experience in business and marketing at certain times of the year, only thinks now, the end of November, is the best time to BEGIN marketing Christmas stuff, then you're friend has a lot to look forward to. And their reaction can be viewed as a little premature.

They ordered 288 and have sold 50. That's a little over 17% of their entire stock BEFORE the Christmas buyng season starts.

One thing you didn't mention was the price these items are being sold for. Nor whether the 50 sold units were sales to the members of the club.

I'd be inclined to sell the remaining units to the same types of people who bought the first 50. Did the club get details on the buyers?

Have they made up a flyer?

Michael Ross

Hi Jim,

Michael Ross could be right - they may not have a "problem" at all, since probably the Christmas tree market should "heat up" during December...!

I did have some thoughts though.... My thoughts were that Christmas trees are very generic - one Christmas tree is generally as good as another. So, it's hard to make them "stand out from the crowd"....

Perhaps trying something to make them "stand out" more in people's minds might help. Sometimes, having a "story" to go with a difficult-to-sell product can help!

Joe Cossman tells a story in his books about how he was stuck with these earrings with bells in them.... He couldn't sell them. Nobody wanted earrings with bells. But he found a way to sell them - and once he did this, everybody wanted them!

What did he do? He simply re-christened them....

to "Mother-in-Law Earrings"! (Give these earrings to your mother-in-law, then you'll hear the jingle as a warning of her arrival!)

The product was the same - all that changed was the "story".

Another example which springs to mind is the "pet rock".... Of course, the "pet rock" was just an ordinary rock. But it came with a "Pet Rock Training Manual" which explained how to make your pet rock "roll over", "play dead", and how to "house-train" it! Anyhow, the key here was that it sold just because of the "story".... (Nobody actually wanted a rock!) You can read more about the Pet Rock at the Pet Rock Page!

Would a "better story" work with Christmas trees? Anyhow, it's food for thought....

How about "Santa's Christmas trees" - you could explain how Santa still had some trees left over after giving away trees to his elves and his reindeer, and that's why you're selling "Santa's Christmas trees". (It could come with a little inflatable Santa - charge extra to cover the extra cost.) Anyhow, this is off the cuff! I'm sure you could come up with some further possibilities....

- Dien Rice


Find Great Business Ideas at... the Great Ideas Letter!

A Sowpub reader emailed me and pointed out that Jim was asking about Christmas tree ORNAMENTS - not the Christmas trees themselves.... Oopsy daisy. :)

That could take a different approach.... Though I still think it helps to try to make whatever it is you're selling "stand out from the crowd" and get noticed!

- Dien Rice

> That could take a different approach....
> Though I still think it helps to try to make
> whatever it is you're selling "stand
> out from the crowd" and get noticed!

Hi Dien,

When I saw this post yesterday, I was thinking of a story to to enhance the perceived value of the ornament too. Jim says the ornament depicts the "old inn" so this indicates there is a "new inn." Considering the money problems often associated with living in the "boonies" there is every possibility that the "old inn" may be 100+ years old.

There is a story to be told about that inn someplace. Since I can't possibly know it's history, here is an example from the rural community I grew up in when I was a boy.

I grew up in Economy, Nova Scotia. Many of the families history there is very old. Most of this history starts around 1755 when the Acadians were expelled and the British were given "land grants" which consisted of parcels of land already claimed by the Acadians.

About 12 years ago a friend bought a box of books at an auction. The books had been buried in someone's attic for years. Hidden within the pages of an old bible were court documents stamped and notarized that depicted some illicit affairs involving the minister of the church.

I noted the date on the official documents and realized that my father would have been a young man at that time.

My father grew up in the community through the Great Depression. Families at that time were very community orientated and the church had a very strong presence in people's lives and activities. My wife and I had been invited to Mom and Dad's for dinner, and I thought I would take this opportunity to ask Dad if he knew anything about the affairs the hidden papers had spoke of.

Dad was normally a very calm and reserved gentleman but when I approached him with this topic he became angry very quickly. He screamed those documents were "damned lies."

What was it Shakespeare said? "I think thou protests too loudly." His uncharacteristic outbreak would indicate he knows something, but it is a secret he will "take to the grave" with him.

I KNOW the "old inn" has a story to tell. Just because my example paints a nasty scandal, doesn't mean the "old inn" has to. It could be a story of how the people who were involved with building the inn fared in those days, with a list of who worked on it. I'm sure if a story and a list of the men who built the inn, was made available, several residents would want to know if their ancestors names was included on the list. A great story included with the purchase of each ornament might make more people feel it was a worth while piece of memorabilia, and perhaps become a heirloom to be passed on to the next generation.

I think the story would have to be one of courage -- something about the "old inn" that that encourages feeling of patriotism or community pride. Then you will have people buying the story with an ornament to remind them of the time.

Best Regards,
Steve MacLellan




homebusiness-websites.com

Great Ideas, everyone! Thanks for your input! I will take these to the ladies & see what we can work up together on this. I WILL report back to you on what happens with this.

By the way Steve, the Inn IS old, and was a stopover for President Andrew Jackson on his journey to his presidential inauguration. There ARE some great stories to tell about the place. Just gotta dig them up....

Best Wishes,
Jim Erskine

Hi Steve,

Fascinating post! I should have read Jim's original post more accurately.... I agree, the "historical angle" with stories about the old inn is probably the way to go! Some fascinating stories about that old inn could probably help move some of those ornaments!

It makes me wonder.... What other products, depicting old community buildings or structures, could be sold locally with a similar approach? This sure gets the brain humming.... :)

Cheers,

Dien