HAVE A DIRTY MOUTH?

I'm sure we have all seen that gum commercial where chewing this piece of gum can clean up a dirty mouth. In my opinion, more sharpeners need to chew it!

Too often I hear and read about sharpeners bad-mouthing other sharpeners! What a silly thing to do! Of course, as I write this I'm beginning to realize that I'm bad-mouthing bad-mouthers, but I'll just have to take the heat for that! :)

If you want a good example of why you should never bad-mouth your competition, read this article. It drives the point home and also shows what speaking respectfully about the other businesses in your area can do.

I know it is hard sometimes NOT to say a bad word or two when you see some of the sharpening that is done out there, but resist! Go over your competition, not under them or through them! Present yourself professionally and your customers will respect you for it!

SMALL BUSINESS INFO

Just wanted to pass this blog post along to all of you. I think it is worth reading since it deals with many of the issues we as sharpeners face in our business. As small business people, it is important that we stay informed. The Entrepreneurs Club is a blog that can help you do that.

WANT TO THROW IN THE TOWEL?

I've been going through this for the last week or so. This happens every time I go out of town. I come back to a pile of stuff on my desk at Wolff, a deadline for On The Edge and a bucket load of blades and scissors from my mail order sharpening business. Sometimes I just want to throw up my hands and say something has to go! But after I mope around for a day, I hitch up my pants and get to work. It's never as bad as it seems by the way!

While thinking about this, I came across this article that will help any small business person through times like this. Take a look at it and put it in your favorites. Refer back to it when you get down or it seems like you have a pile to big to get through.

SCORE ONE FOR YOUR BUSINESS WITH THESE NEW ONLINE RESOURCES

SCORE has been one of the greatest sources for small business, and they just got better! Take a look at some of these new features they have on their website. They will be a great help to any small business person!

ARE YOU LISTENING?

I just watched the movie Hitch with my wife Tisha last night. Will Smith and Kevin James were the stars and it was a blast!

The reason I mention this is one of the points that Hitch, a dating coach, made while explaining dating to one of his clients. He said, "Listen! Don't be looking at her mouth! That way when she's done talking, you'll be able to answer with something besides 'you have pretty lips.'"

Listening is one of the most important skills in selling, but listening is difficult; especially for men because we tend to be problem solvers by nature. As soon as we hear one or two points about a particular problem, our minds start working and our ears stop listening. If this describes you, stop it! Need some help with this? Take a look at this article adapted from Zig Ziglar's book Ziglar on Selling. It has some helpful advice.

GIVE TO GET

One of the best ideas that came out of the show at Reno was one from Bob Huffman. He talked about some great products sharpeners can give to stylists as a bonus for buying a pair of shears. This increases those "buy it now" sales and lets your customers feels like they are getting a little something extra for that money that just spent! July's On The Edge will list a number of these product suggestions.

But I'm posting this just to mix things up a little! We've all seen beauty shears companies give aways! At one time one was giving a free mountain bike away with a pair of shears! Pretty wild! This just goes to show you that you don't have to stay within the realm of the beauty industry to make these give aways work.

While looking through a friends blog today I came across this article titled Sourcing Products. It was written for ebay sellers of course, but I thought some of the products available through these companies would lend themselves well to this style of selling. One, for example, is this small digital camera. It would only cost you a few dollars each, but it would make a great bonus product to go with a pair of shears. Take a look at some of the products available through these companies and companies like them. Give aways are a great way to increase sales. Let me know your thoughts about this.

CRAIGSLIST

I've told a number of my students about CraigsList and have suggested that they post an ad on it. While perusing the internet, I came across this article. I think it will be a big help for anyone thinking about advertising their business on CraigsList, but want to know a little more about it before they do.

GREAT NEW BEAUTY PRODUCTS

If you are not reading industry publications of the industries you're servicing, shame on you! American Salon is just one of many you should be looking into. There are many good articles that will help you, as a sharpener, better understand your customers needs.

Here is a link to just one article that will make for a good conversion piece while you're in the salon. Take a look and brief through the archives while your at it. Reading the publications of the industry you service is a must do practice. Make it a habit!