August
2006
Dear Members:
I realize that the topic of marketing can
be scary and sometimes even intimidating to the average small
business awards and engraving shop owner, but the key to success
is developing a plan and sticking to it! This month's
topic: the importance of effective showroom displays. Click
on the highlighted words to view examples of the solid marketing
ideas that I'm emphasizing.
If
you're fortunate enough to have a display area in your shop,
put it to good use. Showcase your best work by putting examples
of it on display. Organize your best products in clean, elegant
and attractive display
units. If you have store-front windows, display your company
name and logo so it's visible
from several feet away. Also, create product displays that
can be seen from outside your windows.
Revive your showroom every three to four months with new samples.
If you maintain a professional
look in your showroom, your customers will perceive you
to be professional.
That's
it for August. Enjoy the rest of your summer and watch for
additional marketing tips in the coming months.
Ahead
of the Curve
Rich
Zydonik
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2007
ARIEF Scholarships Applications Available
The Awards and Recognition Industry Educational Foundation
(ARIEF) will again be awarding five $1,000 scholarships for
the 2007–2008 academic year. All employees and children
of ARA member companies are eligible to apply for 2007 ARIEF
Scholarships. Click
here for an application form. The forms will also appear
in the September issue of Recognition Review. The
deadline for submitting applications is December 15, 2006.
ARIEF is a not-for-profit organization that
exists solely to provide financial assistance to students
affiliated with ARA member companies, who wish to pursue an
education in any field of their choice.
ARA
Education Events in August, September, and November
Take advantage of new education opportunities made possible
by your association during the next few months. One- and two-day
ARA Regional Education Events, hosted by ARA supplier companies,
are designed to help you expand your skills and acquire the
same CEU credits earned at typical ARA shows. These events
require nominal registration fees and take place in several
locations throughout the United States during the months of
August and September.
Simply
click on the following highlighted sponsoring companies'
names to get a description of each event's educational
offerings and daily schedule. These documents also include
a registration form and driving directions to the sponsoring
companies' headquarters.
Plastic
Dress Up, South El Monte, CA, will host an event on Friday
and Saturday, August 11–12. The following month, events
will be sponsored by Continental
Trophies, Tucker, GA, on Saturday, September 9, and Victory,
Chicago, on Saturday, September 30.
Quality
One Engravers, Rancho Cucamonga, CA, has rescheduled its
education event for Wednesday and Thursday, November 8–9,
2006.
All
seminars will conform to ARA's standards for quality and adhere
to its policy of non-product promotion and compliance with
anti-trust regulations. Each seminar will be available for
CEU credit for those who are enrolled in the ARA Certification
Program.
Attend
one of these sessions and strengthen your awards knowledge,
meet fellow ARA members, and tour the facilities of the sponsoring
companies. For more information, please call ARA Headquarters,
800/344-2148 or 847/375-4800.
Bonus:
Click here
for a summary and pictures from the ARA Education Event held
Thursday and Friday, July 13–14, at Rowmark, Inc., in
Findlay, OH.
Recognition
Review Online Library
ARA now offers its members a growing library of the most popular
and useful Recognition Review articles from the past
several years. Stories covering CorelDRAW, showroom design,
customer service, engraving tips, and business issues are
available for your review. Click
here or log onto the the ARA Web site's "Members
Only" section and click on the "Online Library"
link.
Please
note: These articles are copyrighted by ARA and are not to
be republished or distributed without the written consent
of the association.
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August
5–8
Orlando Gift Show
Orange County Convention Center
Orlando, FL
August
11–12
ARA Educational Event
Plastic Dress-Up
South El Monte, CA
Click
Here for More Information
August
24–26
The Awards & Custom
Gift Show
Baltimore Convention Center
Baltimore, MD
August
26–29
Miami Beach Gift Show
Miami Beach Convention Center
Miami Beach, FL
September
9
ARA Educational Event
Continental Trophies
Tucker, GA
Click
Here for More Information
September
27–29
Las Vegas Souvenir &
Resort Gift Show
Las Vegas Convention Center
Las Vegas, NV
September
30
ARA Educational Event
Victory, a division of Planter, Inc.
Chicago, IL
Click
Here for More Information
October
8–10
Galveston Gift &
Resort Merchandise Show
Galveston Island Convention Center
Galveston, TX
October
14–16
Euro Trophex
MECC Exhibition Centre
Maastricht, The Netherlands
+44 (0) 1442 230431
E-mail: colingallimore@aol.com
October
15–18
Panama City Gift &
Resort Mechandise Show at Destin/Ft. Walton Beach
Emerald Coast Convention Center
Ft. Walton Beach, FL
October
26–28
The Awards & Custom
Gift Show
Charlotte Convention Center
Charlotte, NC
November
3–4
Western Awards & Gift Show
Embassy Suites Hotel
San Francisco Airport/Burlingame
800/276-8428
November
8–9
ARA Educational Event
Quality One Engravers
Rancho Cucamongo, CA
Click
Here for More Information
November
12-15
East Coast Resort Gift
Expo
Ocean City Convention Center
Ocean City, MD
December
3–6
Grand Strand Gift &
Resort Merchandise
Myrtle Beach Convention Center
Myrtle Beach, SC
February
21–24, 2007
2007 ARA International Awards
Market
Las Vegas Convention Center
Las Vegas, NV
800/344-2148
March
15-17, 2007
2007 ARA East Coast Awards
Market
Atlantic City Convention Center
Atlantic City, NJ
800/344-2148
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 In
the August 2006 Issue:
What's
Hot?
Here's a close-up showcase of exciting new products that are
now available from ARA supplier companies. Read
more...
Signs
of a Hot Market
Looking to expand your customer base and add another product
to your repertoire? Architectural signage is an unexplored
product that is quickly becoming a hot and profitable market
for businesses with laser engravers.
Beware
the 'Monkey'
Look, monkeys! No, not those amazing creatures you see on
TV nature shows or at the zoo. The monkeys I'm referring
to are the accomplished bandits that pass their problems over
to you, and put you in time-management trouble. Read
more...
Automation
of CorelDRAW
CorelDRAW has features that make many of your daily tasks
easier. In this chapter we are going to explore ways to automate
things in CorelDRAW. If you have a task that takes ten steps,
you'll see how it can be turned into a single shortcut
key or press of a button.
Working
with Customer Requests
How can you convince your customer to ditch their poorly-written
copy for one of your designs? Here are some tips to earn their
trust and your own self-confidence.
Text—The
Final Frontier
This month, we continue our exploration of text with character
placement and formatting. It is here, that you can apply subtle
(and not so subtle) edits that will make your work look more
professional.
New
Business Keeps Your Laser Running
Become familiar with local businesses and their potential
needs for laser processing services and products. Here are
a few that may be in need of such services.
A
Marketing Primer
Stymied when it comes to promoting your business? The ultimate
goal of marketing your business is to match your products
and services to the people who need and want them. Try your
hand at these 10 tools to aid in marketing success.
Tips
for Selling to the U.S. Government
In 1998, the federal government began empowering its employees
to make many of their own purchases through the use of credit
cards. Each of those hundreds of offices might be looking
for the products and services you sell—if you'll
take the time to service them.
My
Greatest Sublimation 'Hits'
When it comes to marketing sublimation services, Kevin Lumberg
has experienced his fair share of "misses," but also
plenty of "hits." Lumberg shares two of his hits, with an
explanation as to why he thinks they were successful.
Anatomy
of a Press Release
Press releases are an inexpensive way to get media exposure
for your business. But in order to stand out, you need to
make your news well-written, properly formatted, and interesting.
ARA
Regional Education Events
Make plans now to attend one of several ARA Regional Education
Events taking place in August and September. All are designed
to help you expand your skills and acquire CEU credits without
having to travel to an ARA trade show.
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If you're an ARA member with computer access, simply visit
www.ara.org, log in to the
members-only section using your member number, and select
ARA Ask an Expert. Find the topic and expert you're looking
for, then ask your question(s). More often than not, the ARA
expert will have the solution you need.
?
I am new to the industry and am trying to formulate some plans
for constructing a new building for my business. At this point,
I have a blank sheet of paper and a two-acre lot. Any suggestions
or ideas you might have to guide me are certainly welcome.
Sam Varn, CRM, responds: Congratulations
on your forward thinking! Planning is a key part of business
success and you're smart to be doing so while your company
is still new and small.
Obviously,
if you plan to have a showroom and production area, you will
need to adequately plan for both. If you plan on just being
a production center, then you'll probably dedicate less
space for showroom. However, you should have some type of
showroom unless you anticipate absolutely zero customer visits.
I
would strongly urge you to consult with an interior designer
about the best use of your showroom space. The designer can
help you design accents, which can quickly set your showroom
apart from the others. Features like recessed lighting and
built-in cabinets really add a quality look to a showroom.
Proper colors are also a must, and the designer can be a big
help here. You want your shop to look as professional as possible.
Designers can bring that element to your displays and help
you properly plan traffic flows. Their fees will be money
well spent.
Lots
of windows and an open feel are important aspects for a showroom.
You want your customers to be able to move between your displays
without feeling crowded. If you think your building could
become a reality in the next couple of years, keep your eyes
open for high-quality used showroom fixtures.
As
far as planning the production area, the biggest complaint
I hear from other dealers is that they quickly run out of
storage space. Be sure to build as big a building as you can
afford. It will never cost less than when you build, and you'll
never regret the extra space. If your budget won't allow the
maximum, then plan now for a phase two when you can afford
it.
That's
what I did. We started with one plan in 1991, added to it
in 1996, and we're getting ready to double our space. We planned
all of this from the beginning, and it has saved me a lot
of money on site plans and architectural fees (all paid for
in 1991 dollars). It's easy to plan footprints of buildings
and parking, and you can build it as you can afford it. Plan
for the expansion as carefully as you can. For instance, you
may want to position a large double door on an exterior wall
that will later open into the expanded area. It's cheaper
to put a door in now (even if you rarely open it) than it
is to cut a hole in a wall later.
Start
planning your production space by thinking about workflow
and the logical sequences involved. For instance, you might
use metal to engrave or sublimate and for back plates. Your
working metal stock should be centrally located so you're
not walking from one end of the building to the other to get
it. You can keep bulk storage of metal elsewhere and replenish
working supplies as needed.
Plan
your workstations so that you have power available and, if
possible, run air lines to them as well. I like the big tables
you can walk around. These give you room to work on the really
large projects and space to spread out the work for multiple
assemblers, if needed. Measure the footprint of all of your
equipment, tables, chairs, and benches so you will have a
good idea of how much space each requires. Draw these to scale,
cut them out, and put them on a scale drawing of your space.
Move them around until you find a layout you like.
Be
sure to leave room for the humans! No one wants to walk all
the way around a bench because an aisle is too narrow to get
through. Think ahead for things like a saw room, glass-etching
room, and paint room (properly ventilated, of course) in the
event you add those spaces later. Run your design by your
staff; they will want some input on your plan and fresh eyes
are always a good thing! Even better, bring your plans to
the 2007 ARA International Awards Market (Las Vegas,
February 22–24) or the 2007 ARA East Coast
Awards Market (Atlantic City, March 16–17)
and ask some other dealers to take a look at them. You'll
be surprised how many good opinions and ideas they'll
give you.
Finally,
look around your town and see if there are any small manufacturers.
You might find a lot of good ideas from these businesses that
you could apply to your design.
I
hope you find this advice helpful. Building your own shop
is a long process, but if done carefully, it will be worth
the effort and time. Contact me via the "Ask An
Expert" section of the ARA Web site if you have
particular questions as you get started.
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