Ideas for Attracting Store Traffic
Use Twitter to make friends, not for the hard sell.  High Give:Ask ratio.
Use Get Caught Reading!
Keep sign-up sheet for Emails at Point of Purchase area.
Use Facebook!
Exploit B2B!  Reach out to schools, non-profits, gift shops, museums, realtors, libraries, etc.

Making the Most of Each Customer; Maximizing Sales, Creating Repeat Customers
Advanced Hand Selling – Place the book in the customer’s hand and take the book out of the customer’s hands, both create ownership and sell books.
Offer a ‘money back guarantee” book; get the staff to agree on pushing selected staff picks.
Sell to any & all that enter the store to sell you.

Getting the Customer to Return, And Bring a New Customer
Give automatic local discount based on zip code.
Daily Word Challenge – game where a purchase must be made to play; win something from the “fabulous prize box”, in this instance filled with mini candy bars.
In the case of used books, have receipt show how much has been saved.
Host an in-store Ereader Class inviting customers to bring in their e-readers and demonstrate how to buy books from your website.
Print off bibliographies for your customers of their favorite writers or genres.

Other Ideas
Post on Facebook when you get in a large quantity of books.
In Search of a Great Idea!
Post pictures of books on quirky subjects.
Get on email list of other bookstores.
Make your emails relevant.
Gifts Galore for Bookstores
Do “If you like this, then you’ll like this…” signs.
Design bookmarks with other local business logos & coupon to place in other businesses.
Create Gift Registry for new baby, bride, housewarming, etc.
Offer services such as SAT Tutoring
What Booksellers Want!

Booksellers Benefits Package from SIBA.
SIBA Membership Dues Form

From a Savvy Bookseller

By Heather Hebert, Children’s Book World

We are about to head into the time of year when fall galleys start flooding into our stores.   It always starts out nice and organized and then inevitably the galleys completely overtake your office, your back room, your storage area.  Your instinct is to get rid of them, but wait,  DO NOT GET RID OF YOUR FALL GALLEYS until you read this first.  We have been running a program for the last twelve years that brings customers in repeatedly, builds a sense of community, generates tons of goodwill and  it costs nothing, and takes next to no time set up and run.  It is our read and review summer program for children, tweens and Young Adults.

Every summer we take most of the fall galleys we receive put them in crates according to age group (3rd- 5th grade, 6th -8th and YA).  We then send out an email inviting our customers to read and review these ARCS for us.  Each child is allowed to take out one book at a time and keep it for up to two weeks.   A one page review sheet is given with each book.  We do not want this to feel like homework so we keep the questions light and simple.  They can either be answered with pretty much one sentence (or even one word) such as , “would you recommend this book to your friend?”  and some of the questions are even in scale form, such as “rate this book on a scale of 1 to 10 – one  being awful and 10 being totally awesome!”  Everytime a book and review are turned in, a dollar store credit is given.  At the end of the summer, these credits can be redeemed.

It’s time to renew your membership dues for next year. Once again, SIBA is offering bookstores free membership if they will participate in the Southern Circle of Sites program and run a banner on their store website for SIBA.

In otherwords, SIBA wants to give you $150.00.

Download our Welcome Kit to see other member benefits
Join online (choose “bill me” and put “Circle of Sites” in the comments)
Download a SIBA Dues Form (check the Circle of Sites option on the left)

If you allow SIBA to run a banner on your website, we will waive your membership dues for 2011. Banners change weekly, with no other work or requirement from you.

The deadline to participate is April 1st

Click here to see last year’s list of books promoted on Circle of Sites

What’s new for Circle of Sites in 2011?

1. We now offer the option of a horizontal or vertical banner. We heard from many stores that the horizontal banners didn’t always fit into their website design gracefully. For those of you with narrow two- or three-column sites, we now have a vertical option we can provide.
2. In order to be eligible for free membership dues, the banner must appear “above the fold” –that is, visible to viewers without scrolling when they first visit store site.

Stores interested in participating in the 2011 Circle of Sites program should contact Nicki at nicki@sibaweb.com with any questions.

Customer Acquisition Cost

I recently spoke at the Southern Independent Booksellers (SIBA) conference. During my presentation, one of the concepts I discussed was that of “Customer Acquisition Cost“. When I questioned the audience members as to whether they knew what this cost was in their business, only one individual responded affirmatively. The rest had no idea.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is a measurement of your sales and marketing strategy. Simply put, it is the cost you incur to get a new customer to patronize your business. It is not a measurement of the effectiveness of your marketing strategy, but rather an indicator of the total investment incurred to gain that customer.

Notice I said investment. Not expense. An expenditure to gain a new customer is an investment. if you are spending $20 to get a new customer, shouldn’t make every effort to hold onto that customer so that you get a return on your investment. Customers are an asset. An asset than can keep putting money into your pocket long into the future.

Here are some other examples. The Intermarket Group is an organization that conducts research about most everything having to do with the internet. Recently, they completed a study on customer acquisition cost. Some examples on the cost to sign up a new customer from the study are as follows;

• Barnes and Noble.com $42
• Amazon.com  $27.60
• Priceline   $32.30
• Beyond.com’s $29.30

Don’t you think that companies that are spending this kind of money to gain a new customer are interested in keeping that customer? if not, they are just wasting that money.

One of things I stress in my talks is the necessity of thinking of marketing as not just advertising, but as a tool for building customer relationships. If your business is incurring real costs in gaining a new customer, then that business needs to maintain and nurture a relationship with that customer. if they do not do so, then they are not going to recoup the expense of that investment.

As a business owner, you really need to track this cost and make sure that you are recouping it. Here are some areas that you need to measure.

Customer Acquisition Cost by marketing segment

How much money are you spending in each area of your marketing. Furthermore, what is the value of the customer that you are obtaining from that segment? If you are spending $300 a month on the Yellow Pages, but only getting 10 customers a month from it who only spend $15 on a book, are you getting your money back? Maybe, if they are continual repeat customers. Unless you track this you will not know if this expenditure is paying off for you.

Cost Trend

The cost of gaining new customers should go down over time. The decrease would primarily have to do with increased sales volume, and the increased brand awareness that every dollar expended promoting your business should bring. If the trend is not downward, then your business is not allocating its marketing budget properly and some changes need to be made.

Special Promotions

Some areas of your marketing do not necessarily require an ongoing expenditure. For example, your website is basically a one time expenditure. is it gaining customers? Are they valuable customers? if the answer to those questions is a No, then a website makeover might be necessary. A simple change can bring big benefits if done properly. Same thing with discount coupons. or promotional giveaways.

Long Term Value of a Customer

Keep track of where that customer came from and how much he/she spends. If you find that some customers are generating continued revenuw over the course of time, then determine which marketing channel you acquired them from and concentrate your marketing expenditures in that area.

Knowing your Customer Acquisition Cost is a necessity for a profitable business. Only if you know what a new customer costs you, can you determine if you are getting a return on your investment in the acquisition of that customer. One of the big advantages of the internet as a marketing medium, is that it can be easily tracked. You know if you are getting results. And results (profit), and return on investment, is what business is all about.

This information should not surprise anyone but, for the most part, booksellers are baby-boomers, and bloggers are not.  Blogs have only been around in a big way for the past ten years while most bookstores that are thriving today are either brand new, or they are 25+ years old.  And herein is an opportunity for you.  Surviving and thriving over the last 15 years ensures outstanding bookstores that are well-established in the industry and able to provide you with contacts and information that could take years to gather on your own.

And because booksellers are often baby-boomers (as am I), we may have a tendency to think we know everything and many may need to be convinced to enter these partnerships.  But together, we have the tools to convince them.  So, what kinds of information does a bookseller want when considering a blogger as partner?  Booksellers want someone who shares their passion for books as well as the First Amendment.  That said,

FOR WEEK THREE:

1. Create a one-page with information you are willing to share about your blog.  How many folks read it?  What kinds of books do you review?  Which is your most popular post?  Where do you get your books from?  Are you a customer/browser of their store/blog? What kinds of things can you assist with and what kinds of assistance do you need?  How long have you been blogging?  Why do you blog?

2. Visit your local independent(s). Introduce yourself.  See if the store offers an affiliate program.

That’s it.  Stop.  Go post something.  More next week.

Book Bloggers are Queen Readers

Why do book bloggers blog?  Well, I hope they will let me know, but here is what I think:  Book bloggers love books, love sharing about what they have read, and want to connect with other book lovers.  Most book bloggers are something else as well, either full-time moms, librarians, booksellers, writers, students.  But they are all readers and the reader is king in my business.  (which led to my title, which led to my changing king to queen, which led to my putting this APB out for male book bloggers – please let me hear from you! )

Those of us in this industry of selling stories on street corners yearn to hear directly from “the reader”.  Harry Potter, Nancy Drew, The Passage, The Stand, Stephanie Meyer, Sense & Sensibilities, James Patterson, James and the Giant Peach; oh, if you could only hear the conversations that go ’round and ’round about how to create buzz for a book, what causes a book to intersect with readers, what makes a book “fresh” or “a book club read”.  And the book blogger is the new reader, and SIBA wants to find you and nurture you and bring you inside the circle.  Partnering with an indie bookstore is your ticket to becoming an industry insider.  We welcome you.  It’s crazy in here but it is also where the stories are.

FOR WEEK ONE:

1. Watch this video, Independent America: The Two-Lane Search for Mom & Pop (this will help you understand just what bookstores are facing and their value)
2. Find an independent bookstore near you (http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/STARS/bookstore.php OR http://bookweb.org/aba/members/browse.do) , if you haven’t already (learn who these fine folks are and that they love books just as much as you do)

That’s it.  Stop.  Go post something.  More next week.

Bookseller & Book Blogger in Bed Together

The 2010 Get in Bed Blog Project is a summer-long project that will consist of weekly challenges to move you closer to getting in bed with a blogger or bookseller.  Weekly, I’ll post an activity that will relate in some way to connecting book bloggers and booksellers. Each participant should spend the following week meeting the challenge.  Some posts will be a blogger tip, and some will be a bookseller tip.  We will begin next week.

If you choose to participate in this project, there is no obligation to participate in every challenge, and you can customize each challenge so it makes sense for your particular goals.  Think of the design (and this post, for that matter) as similar to Sophisticated Dorkiness’ Blog Improvement Project (where I got my inspiration) — participate when it makes sense for you.  This is a group effort, because getting better is always easier when you have a support system, but the ultimate commitment remains with you — do you want to get in bed with a blogger/bookseller before September 25, 2010?

A word of note — I am no expert.  I am not even a book blogger or a bookseller.  I read a lot of blogs about books and am interested in social media, and I do everything I can think of to market indie bookstores in the south.  One of the reasons I am hosting this project is because I want to support the “circle of books” – the connection between books, their readers and their writers.  I believe in support systems, and think this will be a fun way to get in bed & get better together.

Booksellers & book bloggers that would like to be listed as participants need only email me at wanda@sibaweb.com

Read, Remember, Recommend includes SIBA Book Award Winners for Fiction

Sourcebooks has published this ultimate organizing resource for book lovers.  The journal features 60 cross-referenced lists of literary awards and notable picks, including Pulitzer, National Book Awars, 100 Best Books of the Century and the SIBA Book Awards for Fiction since 1999.

Like her recently re-launched website – www.bibliobabe.com – Read, Remember, Recommend by Rachelle Rogers Knight keeps readers coming back to bookstores to purchase recommended books and urges users to spread the joy to other book lovers.

Rachelle Rogers Knight is a passionate reader who has enjoyed books her entire life.  She has earned the Bronze Medal for “Independent Publisher of the Year”.  Read, Remember, Recommend for Teens: A Reading Journal for Young Adult Book Lovers is also available.

Available from Ingram, 978-0-9825205-0-5, SRP $9.95 - 50% OFF

from: George Spitzer, Nebbadoon Press

Storytelling at its best, hilarious and serious at the same time.

 Nebbadoon Press, as policy, does not sell to Borders, BN, or Costco!  Only to independent bookstores…Order direct from www.CelloStories.com or fax consignment form to 805-456-0167

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  P.O. Box 91244, Santa Barbara, CA 93190
800-500-9086 (phone); 805-456-0167 (fax)
George@NebbadoonPress.com; www.CelloStories.com

The Day I Almost Destroyed the Boston Symphony
by John Sant’Ambrogio

Memoir takes readers behind the scenes to reveal the sublime enjoyment and occasional disasters experienced while performing upwards of 10,000 concerts always thought of this noble and sublime occupation as being devoid of humor. After all, classical music is often called serious music. I should have known better.”

Cellist John Sant’Ambrogio’s career spans more than 50 years and (still counting) 10,121 concerts. He has just released The Day I Almost Destroyed the Boston Symphony and Other Stories, a memoir containing nearly 70 stories reflecting his myriad experiences as a former member of the Boston Symphony and Principal Cellist with the Casals Festival Orchestra and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Ranging from the dramatic to the poignant, the utterly hilarious to the very serious, chapters include “My Musical Crime,” “On Teaching Your Own Children: Don’t! Well, Maybe,” “Is This Your Real Job?,” “Those Newcomers,” “Concertmasters I Have Known,” “Who’s the Best?,” and many more.

Replete throughout the book is the self-awareness and humor indicative of a man who knows himself well and forgives himself too. As Sant’Ambrogio notes, “Just before I left the BSO, a friend said, “John, we will have to hire two cellists to replace you: one to play for you, and one to talk for you.”

The Day I Almost Destroyed the Boston Symphony and Other is available at www.CelloStories.com and at select independent bookstores.

# # #

For more information or to contact the author for media commentary or interviews, email George@NebbadoonPress.com or visit www.CelloStories.com.

Readers, Aggregators, & Search Engines

http://bloglines.com/ It’s the same internet minus the clutter

www.google.com/reader read it in one place

http://www.google.com/ check out all of the options on google, endless (http://wave.google.com)

http://www.icerocket.com/ blog search (use Big Buzz to search everywhere)

http://clusty.com/ the clustering search engine

http://popurls.com/ the genuine news aggregator for the latest web buzz

http://www.ask.com/ search engine

http://alltop.com/ all the hot stories

All of these sites were found by someone to be easy to use in sharing information over the internet.

This first batch allows you to share photos and/or videos.

http://vimeo.com/ video sharing some Easy Bake Oven for you
http://www.youtube.com/ broadcast yourself & Easy Bake Oven
http://www.viddler.com/ the best way to watch and publish your videos about Easy Bake Ovens
http://www.flickr.com/ share your photos of Easy Bake Ovens. Watch the world.

This second batch hosts your blog so you can share anything & everything -

http://www.blogger.com create your free blog
http://wordpress.org/ blog tool and publishing platform
http://www.typepad.com/ simple, social blogging
http://www.tumblr.com/ the easiest way to blog

And this last batch lets you share other items – my favorite is etherpad.com – it just seems to work and I cannot wait to use it.  Happy Sharing!

http://www.slideshare.net/ upload and share PowerPoint presentations & documents
http://animoto.com the end of slide shows
http://etherpad.com/ realtime collaborative text editing
http://www.yousendit.com/ send, receive and track large and important files (lite account is free) http://www.meebo.com/ instant messaging everywhere