The Pulse is BACK!

Shirts, hats, promotional products, that's EmbroidMe!Our custom apparel and embroidery franchise, EmbroidMe, has cut an interesting path through the recession of the last two years. Year 2008 saw some growth and new units opening and 2009 was a year of retrenchment for the brand. My experiences saw our franchisees recommit to following their marketing plan; with fewer buyers came the reality that you'd have to press a bit harder to get each order. Pricing has become more aggressive, clients demanded the same items and quality on lower margins. Thankfully some relief in this area did come from preferred suppliers. A few kept prices at previous season levels longer than expected, which helped our stores.  Employees to create, embroider and sell the products were readily available with unemployment reaching the highest levels of the decade.  To their benefit, some franchisees quickly realized that you could hire a top notch person below their market value as jobs became tougher to find. Those that adapted well to the rapid changes and tighter budgets have weathered a storm. They are uniquely poised to build their stores in an environment with less competition and tremendous opportunity.

There was a shakeout in the industry, some of our franchisees report that embroidery failures hit their competition locally. From our vantage point, we saw this too, some of our stores closed or were forced to relocate into less expensive leases and locations. To see an EmbroidMe fail is to watch a breakdown in the implementation of a business plan. Sales cures all. If the effort to sell product falters, the system is not prepared to operate normally.  Production, design, purchasing - all these vital functions need sales to fuel their existence. Indicators that our group survived better than the average business owner is all around us. EmbroidMe resells or resales, when a franchisee sells their business and book of customers but the store remains in the same location, were at regular levels and percentages over the past 18 months.  I have been in three EmbroidMe stores in the last 7 days. Things are on the upswing. The mood has improved, the need for the products is constant, and the spending restrictions some companies imposed upon themselves have been lifted, equating to more commerce in our stores. I believe that membership in the group, the franchise, aided people that may have faired otherwise had they been independent. I speak with EmbroidMe franchisees every day.  I work on projects that involve the business owners and their teams. The change is here and it's happening now. EmbroidMe is a viable business and a valued member of the business community.  This is a great time to be doing what we do... and for customers to GET NOTICED!

Like never before...

This holiday shopping season, "Black Friday" is being hijacked.  TV and radio will have their ads as usual.  The lines will still be at the mall, the traffic still churning early in the am, but a swelling undercurrent is changing the game.

The social media sites are the new focal points. Twitter is ablaze with special offers and coupons, good at traditional retailers and/or online merchants.  Facebook groups and Facebook ads target people where they spend countless hours. (See live stats, WARNING: Fasten seatbelt first, this is WILD! http://tinyurl.com/356y6s )  The action is on your PC, Mac or smartphone now.  Shopping before the holiday rush now equates to sitting at a computer, thumbing through offers, and planning where you'll spend your money this season.  This is a profound change that shouldn't be ignored by our retail franchisees.

Have you made an investment in social media? Do you have an upkeep a Twitter page for your store?  You should. It's free financially, but like anything relationship-wise, it demands an investment in time.  You have to collect and suggest followers, and follow them back to form a community of folks with like interests.  Then you have to keep updates flowing on your Twitter site to make it relevant and interesting A new feature of Twitter is called "lists", which allows a user to categorize the people or businesses he/she follows and sort them for easy reading.  This is a great addition to help users organize the many "tweets" or messages that parse through your system once you develop followers and look to keep up with those you follow.  Shoppers will use Twitter this season like the coupon inserts of the newspapers I once delivered in New York.  Nothing was as big and heavy as the Sunday edition the week before Thanksgiving here in the US.  Now it's all in your hands, 24/7.  Have at it!

Knowing this is not a fad, can you commit to making this change to add to your existing marketing efforts?  I say "add" because it is not a replacement for traditional face to face sales... thankfully!  You need both.  Get a friend, relative or "Gen Y" employee to manage this for you.  Be a reliable and informative resource online to your clients all year, not just in the holiday crush.  This works, like most plans, if you'll work, too.  Happy tweeting, and Happy Thanksgiving!  See you online...