Series continues on Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. EST
Oct. 7/14 2013; Volume 27/number 12
On Sept. 26, Floor Covering News hosted its free monthly Marketing Mastery webinar with the goal of helping its readers increase their sales and profits. In this session called “Killer Marketing Strategies for Fall and the Holidays,” the turnout more than tripled the number of participants over the initial webinar in August. Some of the strategies discussed included how to use a “schedule warning” for a pre-holiday boost in sales; how to host a Halloween party to drive traffic to your store and create a connection with the surrounding community, and how to use Thanksgiving greeting cards to simultaneously give your past customers a special offer and support local charities.
Here are some comments from attendees:
“I am going to attempt to apply what I have learned in some of my future ads and media. I highly recommend this type of webinar and find it helpful to open the mind to new and exciting ideas. In short, I’m very pleased; they did a great job presenting it.” —Kenny Schroeder
“I watched the webinar and was so impressed that I passed the link on to several others.” —Vincent David Jericho
“The webinar reaffirmed some of the things we were already doing in our store and it allowed me to see where we could improve.” —Megan Sebree
“I have always mass marketed. When it comes to advertising dollars (which are sparse anyway) I am going to re-access my process.” —Carol Huiras
“Loved the idea about Thanksgiving cards. I plan to do that this year. I liked the explanation about the ugly lettering/fonts. Makes sense to me. I don’t look at the slicked-up ads either.” —Michael Larsen
FCNews associate publisher Dustin Aaronson and FCNews Marketing Mastery columnist Jim Armstrong are the host and trainer, respectively, for the webinars.
“I see lots of flooring dealers copying each other in their advertising by using name, rank and serial number ads and websites,” Armstrong said. “This means business name at the top, a list of products and contact information.” According to Armstrong, this lack of differentiation causes many dealers to wind up competing on price. “There are much more effective methods for promoting your flooring business, but you don’t see many dealers using them. Partnering with FCNews is a great opportunity to bring these strategies to their readers.”
Aaronson and Armstrong have succeeded at making the webinars fun, fast-paced and interactive. “Throughout the event, attendees are firing off interesting comments and asking insightful questions,” Aaronson said. “It’s exciting to sit around a virtual table with FCNews readers, many of whom I know personally, and discuss new, unconventional ways to promote their flooring businesses. There’s a lot of learning that takes place, a real positive energy.”
The next webinar, titled “Creative Strategies to Grow Your Flooring Business,” is set for Thur., Oct. 24, at 7 p.m. EST. Some of the topics that will be covered include how to dramatically increase sales while cutting advertising costs, two ‘deadly’ mistakes most dealers make that costs them thousands of dollars, and three “poor boy” strategies that can skyrocket profits and even turn around a failing store.
“Come with an open mind,” Armstrong advised. “The strategies we lay out are not the run-of-the-mill advertising you see used by a lot of dealers. But that’s the whole point—to learn something new.”
The webinar is free, but you must complete registration early by visiting jimarmstrongevent.com/fcn. Be sure to register right away if you plan to attend because seating is limited.