I’ve had this site for a long time and now am going to use it as a main informative blog. It will list all the websites, status updates, tips and tricks on many subjects. Please read the About Section and Maybe take a look at the History which explains a little bit on how I got started.
Look to the right for categories.
You may be wondering, why on Earth is there a picture of a
pizza in this post? What does this have to do with web building marketing or anything else you write about?
Well, the short answer is that it reminds me of a successful
business man and his story about a pizza party.
A few years back, Louie
from icandywrap.com, shared a story that I hope you find inspiring for 2012.
As most small business owners, we have a problem, and it is called
cash flow. We have too much money going
out and not enough coming in to make ends meet. Louie shared his success story with some of the members of Wrapcandy, and I really want to make sure everyone knows how he succeeded.
Louie had a decent website, some nice products but minimal
sales. He spent most of his time developing his site, bookkeeping, and creating new designs to sell. The problem he, and most everyone has, is not
enough customers.
He decided it was time to get sales and put all of his efforts
into getting new customers. Instead of
spending money he didn’t have on more development, he decided to “cold call”
local businesses and put all of his time into getting sales. This was the panicle point that turned his business from unprofitable to profitable.
Contacting small local businesses, School sports team coaches and other local industries that would be interested in personalized favors was a scary but necessary step to his success. He received plenty of no thanks but finally received the yes he was
hoping for, and it was a huge order. He had no idea how he would fill it but he wasn’t going to let the largest order he had slip through his hands.
How did he get the order filled? He through a Candy Wrapping Pizza Party! He invited his friends and family for pizza and had a wrapping party!
(Thanks Louie for sharing with me)
The take away from this short story, is that getting sales needs to be one of your largest priorities. You can spend months searching for the best graphics, create the most
fantastic product, buy the best printers or get the latest cutting machines. The bottom line is you need sales, and what you can make now is good enough to get you started.
Louie now has half million dollar machines to print and cut for him. He not only sells directly to customers, but his company does personalized printing directly for a large
water bottle company. He would have never realized his dream had he not taken the risk of being rejected. No one likes to hear the word No, or no thanks, but we must push past this until we get the word we are looking for; Yes!
The world of school fundraising can actually be much more complicated—and even more competitive—than one would think simply looking in from the outside. It’s great that parents want to take an active part in these types of activities to benefit their child’s school, but proper organizational structure is absolutely imperative to ensure the success of school fundraising, no matter what type. Here are a few tips to take the stress out of school fundraising and ensure the project’s success.
Any school fundraising project needs a leader. Not a bunch of leaders; ONE leader. While there may be several enthusiastic parents willing to step up to the plate and take on the responsibilities, when you have too many people in charge there is sure to be chaos and confusion. It’s like that with most things in life, really. Too many cooks spoil the broth, as the saying goes. Choose a leader for your school fundraiser who not only shows the necessary enthusiasm for the project, but also realistically has the time to devote to seeing the project through to successful completion. The primary person in charge of your school fundraiser should be trustworthy, reliable and organized. When you have this primary point of contact in place, the rest of the pieces fall together much more easily.
Okay, now you know the importance of establishing a strong and organized leader for your school fundraising project. But let’s be honest…your leader cannot carry a project like this from start to finish on their own. Here is where the rest of the enthusiastic parents find their place in the world of school fundraising. The project will need to be divided into several different categories of responsibility. You may need to have specific people designated to be in charge of things like orders, money, deliveries, promotions, recruiting…and the list goes on. Delegate specific responsibilities, including time deadlines, to responsible parents willing to help out.
Obviously, the kids themselves are an important driving factor in the success of your school fundraising project. Don’t just send them home with catalogs crumpled up in their backpacks which may or may not be discovered by their parents. Find ways to rev up their enthusiasm. Hold a fundraising rally to get them excited. Trigger their competitive nature by offering prizes for specified sales goals or blocks of volunteer time. When the kids get excited, the money comes rolling in!
Many school fundraising projects fall flat at the end simply because students forget about their deadlines. Make deadlines clear from the beginning, but then follow up with frequent reminders of upcoming due dates to make sure none of their efforts are wasted by forgetting to turn in the required materials at the finish of the event.
Raising money is an important factor in securing a quality education for our children. Ensure the success of your school fundraiser and keep it fun by following these simple school fundraising tips.
Many of you have heard me talk about the marketing term ROI (Return on Investment). This is used often by marketers all over the net and I want to elaborate a little bit to make sure you understand the term, and also make sure you are not selling yourself short.
ROI directly relates to how much you spend on advertising, and how much profit you gain on that particular advertisement. Sometimes you will lose money, but a negative does not always mean that you will ultimately lose money.
Lets say you spent $100.00 in advertising this month and only generated $70.00 in profit. You might automatically assume that you lost $30.00. It is a normal assumption but it might be dead wrong!
I concede that you are out $30.00 at the moment, but what you may not know is that it can turn a profit and this is how.
The customers that purchased from you can become repeat customers if you provide a good and positive experience for them. Repeat customers, can generate more money over the lifetime of your business. They can also tell people about the amazing product you sold them and become a great asset to your business.
So this is what matters most. Provide a great service or product and turn those customers into repeat customers and you will make your $30.00 loss back easily.
Just something to think about.
