On-Location Sales

Create-A-Book created the entire premise of "Personalized Books, While-You-Wait" with on-site location sales. This requires a dealer to physically take their equipment and inventory to a location and sell books for an allotted time. Craft shows, malls and flea markets have been the traditional sites where dealers have done well making and selling books.

The variety of titles available can be overwhelming to a new dealer so we recommend limiting your product diversity to about fifteen books. A customer who is interested in buying a personalized book will choose from the titles available. After the initial sale you can add more titles to your inventory to get repeat business.

First time buyers will be drawn to attractive active booths. We suggest a tent  canopy over several 6 foot tables.  The tent is an EZ Top.  Call our office for details.  The idea of personalization should be recognizable from a distance. We offer banners to hang from above, from a doorway or entryway, or overhead the table.  Activity breeds curiosity which can draw a crowd. The more people you have near you, the better chances are that you will make a sale. Attitude is also important. You must be enthusiastic about your product and also courteous and helpful. If you are excited about the product, it will be contagious.  

When a customer walks up to your booth, the best opener is "Have you ever seen one of our personalized books?"  If they answer yes or no you still have your conversation started with the customer.  While you are asking that question, put a book into their hand.  Show a page, opened up to a personalized section, and point out where the child's name is printed on the pages.  They will then ask "How much are the books?"  When you answer this question, don't stop on the price, keep talking past the price.  You can say this "They're only $16.95 and they are 36 pages, full color with a wipe-clean cover.  We have a wide selection for you.  How old is your child or relative?".  The conversation will continue, and they will pick up various books.  Then they will ask "How long does it take to get a book?"  Your answer is "I can make you one in about five or ten minutes while you shop, or mail you one in two days that you can select from our catalog if you don't see one here.  Here is My School Fun Book for children entering Kindergarten."

Try to make the books as the orders come in. If you run out of one title, you can persuade your customer to buy a different title. Take orders to mail later for books customers want that you don't have in stock. Be mindful of "be back" comments, when people ask you "How long will you be here".  If you say "All week", then they might just say "Then I'll be back".  When they leave your booth, you have a 50 percent chance of them returning, so you should do your best to get them to buy something NOW, like a special.  Say "Yes, but today we are offering a free Santa letter with each purchase, or a FREE photo sticker with each book".  This is the challenge and fun of location sales.  You can also read some books on sales, because that is what you are doing.  Show and Sell.  If you are in front of people, you will sell books.  Good luck.

The sticker books can help increase your sales on location. If a customer does not have all the information needed to personalize a book, show them a sticker book which can be personalized later. Our World's Most Precious Baby book is the only baby book that can be sold as a baby shower gift.

Unique books and products will add to the "draw" of your booth and/or kiosk. Some of our Non-personalized books will actually enhance your booth.  Check out our site for those other books, as they sell well.  They are good for location selling because they have plush with board books, books in boxes with handles, or make sounds to attract attention.  

Department Stores

TRAVELING VENDOR PROGRAM

In the past, our dealers have obtained space at many department stores, discount stores and book stores nationwide.  Your best bet, to try to obtain space, is to go directly to that store and ask to speak to the manager.  Whether you are successful or not depends entirely upon your ability to convince the manager that you will do a good job of making personalized books "while you wait".    You may  be asked to provide an application.  If you do a proposal, please read on.

Your proposal should contain the following:

• Geographical location:  Where you are interested in marketing in your area. Ex. (Chicago area)
• Price of personalized books
• List of titles you are planning on selling and retail price.  Remember, some stores are discount stores and look for offering the best price to their customers
• Picture of Display booth or table. (take a picture of your display if you have been on location before. If not, you might want to print out the sample below and tell them you will have a table that resembles this, including some balloons or any other item you may add to enhance you table.)
• A brief history of yourself and company.  (How long you've been selling books  Etc.)

I would be a good idea to send samples of your books.

Craft Shows

Craft shows are a great outlet for the handmade Create-A-Book books where you can make and sell the books one at a time. People like to watch technology in action and the thought of seeing the actual production of a quality hard-bound book attracts attention if promoted well. Craft show managers sometimes don't consider Create-A-Book books as a craft, so you will have to convince them that you will be making each book one at a time.  

A Safety Binding machine is also used to bind the books. By making the products one at a time, the custom-made aspect of the books allows our products to fall into the definition of a craft. It may take some persuading to get into a craft show but well worth the effort if the show has a good following. If the manager is adamant about not allowing the books in on their own merit, team up with someone who has a recognized craft, offer several crafty products, and share the rent. You may be approved if most of your products are crafts.

Malls

Malls can be an excellent place for on-site sales. The interior hall space has become prime real estate. Malls now require rent in the thousands even for off peak times. Kiosks, portable booths, in the center of the halls provide dealers access to all the shoppers who travel the interior of the mall from one retail store to another. Bargaining with mall managers can produce rental reductions.

During special promotional times, i.e. Easter or Christmas, you may get mall rent reduced by offering discounted Santa or Easter letters to every child having their picture taken.

If the rent is too high, you should negotiate with an individual store for the space near the door of the store. Most large retail outlets will allow temporary setups during the holidays for a percentage of your total sales. The bartering is up to you and the store manager. The incentive is to draw the shopping crowd into the store by placing a unique gift idea near the entrance.  Anytime you can pay a percent over a fixed rate in the malls, take it.  Even during Christmas, there will be some slow days, and the percent method will give you the best return for effort if things get slow!

Read the Retail Marketing section of this manual for more information on retail accounts and absentee selling.

Flea Markets

Flea Markets are a bargain shopper’s paradise. The overhead is usually low and the traffic generally high. Drawbacks to flea markets include less access to a power source, the unpredictability of the weather and possible lower profit margins on the books. Flea market shoppers are looking for the best possible buy.

The possibility of selling books can be high if you plan to do some discounting. Flea markets are an excellent choice of location when reducing your overstocked inventory, discontinued items or any damaged goods.  You can also use the exposure to sell books later by handing out brochures, and by meeting other store owners who might want your books for resale.  You can also find other vendors at the flea market who will sell your books while you are not there.   You will have to offer them a cut, but your costs are very low.  With this system, you are building a mail order business.  The flea market vendor working for you will take the money and order, and you will mail the book to the customer or give it to the vendor to give to the customer next week.  Everybody wins, and you are not risking much!

Remember that flea market shoppers are bargain hunters and will try to talk your price down. Be prepared to bargain back.

Sources for help

The guidelines that follow are excerpts from information received from the University of West Florida's Small Business Development Center's publication entitled, "Steps to Starting a Business." Visiting an organization of this type and contacting your local Chamber of Commerce is highly recommended because they can provide you with more specific information about your particular area. They have extensive information on area demographics and industry trends. The staff is generally very helpful in locating this type of information for you.

They can also provide a list of area businesses who can help you with media relations and regular business needs. You should always take the time to make plans and goals to make your venture as profitable as possible.

Community interest clubs are always looking for fund raising ideas. They will be able to tell you what kind of community activities are being planned that would allow you to set up a book booth. Sometimes these types of clubs will take on a product for community fund raising themselves.

The businessperson who belongs to these clubs are usually pillars of the community and have the respect of their peers. If they back your entrepreneurial endeavor, in whole or in part, you will be well received by most of the businesses in your area.

Do some research at the County Courthouse and the Public Library. Target not only established corporations but especially new businesses. Libraries generally have a vertical file specifically set up for local business. There may even be a directory available for the national headquarters of local branch corporations.

Community colleges also have well staffed library systems. Their information is generally geared toward national or international information.

Small Business Administration

Look in the Yellow pages of your local telephone book for the Small Business Administration. This organization was designed to help small business owners get their companies off to a good start. They have generic contracts and forms that adhere to the local laws and regulations available for your use.

Different communities, counties and states have different laws regarding small business operations. These laws can change dramatically and without much notice. Stay in touch with the Small Business Administration to stay current with the laws that pertain to you and your new business.

Location demographic information is also available through this organization, as well as craft show and local event calendars. If you are well informed about what is happening in your general area, you can take advantage of the events and be prepared to get your product out into the market.

Choosing A Location

Use the following score sheet to evaluate locations.

Grade each factor with a 4 - for excellent; 3 - for good; 2 - for fair: and 1 - for poor.

1. Centrally located to reach my market. ______
2. Merchandise or raw materials readily available. ______
3. Nearby competition situation. ______
4. Transportation availability and rates. ______
5. Quantity of available employees. ______
6. Prevailing rates of employee pay. ______
7. Parking facilities. ______
8. Adequacy of utilities (sewer, power, water, etc.) ______
9. Traffic flow. ______
10. Taxation . ______
11. Quality of police and fire protection. ______
12. Housing availability for employees. ______
13. Industrial, cultural factor feasibility. ______
14. Physical suitability of building. ______
15. Type and cost of lease. ______
16. Provisions for future expansion. ______
17. General estimates of repeat business. (10 years) ______

Average ______

* Remember to have any lease you are considering checked by a lawyer before you sign. Property owners write leases to reflect their best interests.

Determining Pricing Structure

Good pricing practices require an understanding of the influence of market factors, the economy, technology, competition and resources. The owner must consider each of these addition to cost-related factors internal to the company. It is hard to know these factors with exactness. The determination of the effect of their relationships on an individual business is impossible. The owner must investigate, and then set the selling price where he feels it should be.

There are two basic rules to keep in mind in establishing prices.

1: Recognize that it is the market, not costs, which decides the price at which products will sell.

2: Be aware that costs and desired profits only establish a "price floor" below which goods and services cannot be sold at a profit.

The area between the "price ceiling," established by the market, and the "price floor," determined by costs and desired profits, is the "relevant price range." It is important when determining costs to include labor and overhead also raw materials. Only if the market permits can a business sell at a high enough price to recover costs and obtain the desired profit margin.

Image

Designing an image for your company is very important. Your image must portray the way you wish to be perceived by the community and your customers. You need to decide on an image to project; for example: warm and friendly, courteous and helpful or honest and forthright, then set about portraying that image to your customers.

You should make an effort to select an image and make it happen. This is better than allowing an image to emerge haphazardly.

• Factors that contribute to your image are:
• The product or service offered
• Name and trademark
• Type of advertising
• Appearance of property
• Degree of courtesy and helpfulness
• Leadership of owner
• Attitude and Enthusiasm for Product

Customer Service Policies

Customer service policies not only contribute to the business image, but they also draw customers in or drive them away. Good customer service is generally more important in retaining loyal customers than lower prices. In many service and retail businesses it is wise to post customer policies.

You must decide which services are important to your customers, which services you must offer to meet competition, and which services you can offer beyond the basic ones required by this business.

Remember that you are always selling yourself and your business as well as the products. The more important you can make your customers feel the more repeat business you will see. Good news travels fast. Be prepared to reap the benefit of good customer relations.

Advertising

A difficult problem faced by new business owners is to get potential customers to the site where they are selling. Advertising is the most efficient method of generating initial interest. There are 3 important questions to answer about advertising before initiating a campaign.

1: To whom do I want to advertise?

2: Where are these people?

3: What kind of message do I want to deliver?

The answers to these questions, when matched to the characteristics of the various media and the markets they reach, will dictate which media to use. Measure the effectiveness of each advertising activity.

Though most small business owners design their own ads, helpful services are available. Most media supply marketing data and provide design and layout services. The price they charge depends on the effectiveness of the production department. Rates are readily available on request, and sometimes radio, TV stations and newspapers initiate contact with each new business that opens. If you can afford it, professional advertising agencies specializing in small accounts can do the whole job.

We have several full color marketing tools via brochures, catalogs and posters. Many posters are also available for you to use on-site. These items were professionally done and reflect the quality of our products. You can search out this web site to find samples of news releases and advertising promotions.

Use these samples as a guideline for your specific use.

Local resources for creative advertising ideas are: Universities, Junior or Community Colleges and Liberal Arts High schools. The students enrolled in Arts, Business and Marketing, and Commercial Graphics are always looking for extra money and may help you. These idea generators are in the forefront of media involvement and will usually take on a project of this nature for the experience or possibly for college credit.

Become a member of your community's Chamber of Commerce and participate in Junior Achievement. The enthusiastic young people can help you expand your business for little or no money. Remember when starting a new business it's better to begin where you have some recognition and where you are most comfortable.

There are many places where you can find about your community's calendar events. High Schools, Junior Colleges and Universities generally have event scheduled throughout the year. Most of these events will have space for a book vending booth. You may have to offer a percentage back to the organization in order to guarantee yourself a space. Other events rent booths and earn their moneys that way.