Be Outstanding In Your Field... Research....

A new Snap!Retail newsletter is out today, and it includes my article on how to make field research work for your business. Leave me a comment here, and let me know how you look outside of your business at possibilities for growth, change, and evolution of your brand...

How to Hire Me, #101

Need me to help you find a solution to a challenge in your store, art studio, or show booth? 

Just ask me! 

Here's a 'crash course' on how to do that quickly and effectively...

Send me an email that looks a lot like this: 

Hello, Debi, {greet me by name}
I'm Shell, owner of The SeaShell Boutique in Alki- www. shesellsseashells. com. {tell me who you are}
I found your blog through a search for retail designers. {tell me how you found me}

I need help with my retail store and am hoping you can assist me in finding solutions to a few problems. Specifically, I have floor plan 'issues': {state your case succinctly}
Too many hidden spots, no clear direction of where to go, and a cashwrap that seems to be hard to find. {give me some details}

I'd like to have you create a new floor plan that addresses those issues. {give me the final result you want from me}

So, I need to know if you are accepting new clients now, what your availability & fees are, if you can get this done in the time frame I have, and how the process works for you. {ask me what you want to know}

I have a limited budget for this (don't we all?!) which means I have just a few hundred bucks to spare - and I'd prefer not spending it all! My time frame for design & installation of the plan is two months, because I need to make changes before summer tourist season hits.  {be open about your situation}

But really, I want to know from you how to best utilize your services.
How much can I do to prepare so that your time is maximized for my benefit? {ask me SMART questions}

Can you email me back this week (shellers@shesellsseashells .com) with the specifics of this? {give me your contact info and tell me what/when/how you want it}

Feel free to visit our web site at www. shesellsseashells .com {include store contact info}
and take a look at our slideshow - it shows the entire space. If there are other materials I can send you (photos, links, etc.) to help you review or prepare, please let me know. {send preliminary materials so I can see what I would be dealing with}

Thank you, Debi - I look forward to hearing back from you and hope to be able to start working with you very soon!

Shell
The SeaShell Boutique
Alki, Washington

What you'll get back from me in response is a prompt reply with the answers to all of your questions, 

along with information about how my design process unfolds on a project. I will attach a letter of intent to hire for you to sign, an invoice for a deposit on the work to be done, and a list of materials (like a sketch of Shell's store floorplan with measurements, etc.) and any questions I might have. When you sign and return that letter of intent, pay the deposit, and send me the materials I have asked for, I am off and running on your project.

Which means that within ONE day, if my schedule allows, you can have me working on your challenges and finding creative, efficient solutions for you!

There is no Shell who sells sea shells in a boutique on Alki Point, Washington - to my knowledge, anyway. 
She's a fictional perfect 'inquiry' - an example of how to get to the heart of a matter fast. 
If the emails, phone messages, and comments sent to me came in that form, I'd be off and running on your business challenges before I even got back to you! A very efficient way for me to work.

Maybe it's just me.... but quick, efficient, and honest communication is GOLD to me. 
While I LOVE to talk, and can write an email that rivals 'War and Peace' in length, I don't enjoy endless communication. Especially when it comes to business. I need info! I need it now! Give it to me straight, honest, and open so I know what you want, and you'll get back from me a quick answer stating what I can do for you and where we go from there.

If you can be conscientious enough to respond to ME in a prompt and timely manner, you'll have a designer on your team in a flash. Not to mention that the longer you wait to sign up, the more your chances increase that my availability might change as others engage me to work for them.

When it comes to taking on new clients and projects, I am open about my availability - 
I won't accept a new project if I can't fit it into my schedule on your time frame, or if I think I'm just not the right person for it. If your budget seems really low, I'll ask you what the most important issues are so we can focus on that and cut my time involvement to the minimum. But I'll still try to help. 

Because that's my goal: to HELP you. Let's work together!

read all about my design services on my website

email me at debi.wardkennedy@gmail.com

Name's Luxe. RotoLuxe.

The most jaw-dropping prop I used onstage for my YMN Conference seminar was a selection of plastic pots. Not just ANY pots, mind you! These are brand new to the market  - I discovered them at Seattle's Northwest Flower & Garden show in early February, and two weeks ago they were launched at the Las Vegas show. Fabulous shapes, intense colors, interior lighting, and waterproof construction make them perfect for SO many retail & event uses. They are bonafide superstars!

Take a look at the SIZE of that white one! 

The Vazon 'Methuselah' is 41" by 44" in size. MASSIVE in scale and impact. In the photo above, you can see me sitting in a chair onstage just to the left of the huge white pot. THAT's how big they are! The others are Vazon 'Magnum', 23" by 23".On the other side of the stage, a white Chumbo 24" by 12" size is shown in a lateral position on top of another table.

These illuminated pots acted like a magnet in the dimly lit conference room {hence the not-so-incredible photos here}, drawing attendees to the stage to oooh, ahhhh, and snap photos. Every last flier and business card provided by the company was snapped up in record time, as well - I think these very smart people knew a great thing when they saw it!

I'd like to offer a huge thank you to Hans Lammersdorf, owner of Rotoluxe and all-around generous guy, who lent me these to make my seminar stage displays really stand out. He didn't know me from Adam and yet he trusted me to promote his product and make his company look good. {I think you'll be happy, Hans!}

From outdoor decor to window displays to in-store displays or fixtures, these products are a no-fail way to catch the  eye of passers-by and customers in an instant. There are so many shapes, colors, and sizes available that they will meet a wide scope of needs for your visual merchandising. With a wide selection of colors available, you'll be able to find at least one of your 'Brand Palette' colors for your store!

For complete information on products and pricing, please visit the company web site at www.Rotoluxe.com.

There are a million ways to use these in a retail setting - from topping them with a glass round to create a tabletop surface, filling them with loads of product, tipping them to provide an optional storage or display compartment, or stacking them willy-nilly to attract attention - and they'll be workhorses for years of successful merchandising.

www.RotoLuxe.com

Telling MY Story....

Thank you to the wonderful staff at Yarn Market News & Soho Publishing, for including me in the YMN Smart Business Conference 2010 over the past few days. Karin, Jessica, and Gabrielle took such good care of me and everyone else at this event. It was an altogether enjoyable experience, meeting so many people who are creative, passionate, and headed for success in their businesses.

It was my pleasure to present a seminar to this marvelous group of people, I tell ya'. I speak to many varied groups of retailers and business owners, and can unequivocally say that the reception I received at YMN was among my very best experiences ever. If you are visiting my blog after being at my presentation, welcome - and thank YOU for such a warm welcome to your industry! You are all proof positive that good business is about good relationships.

It was also fun to reconnect with Linda Cahan, fellow speaker. Linda and I have known each other for eight years, through our involvement with gift shows on the West coast... we've been onstage together before and always have fun! Linda and I enjoyed the 'Panel Discussion' session, where we had the opportunity to answer questions and refer to slides brought in by local shops. So much inspiring information...

Speaking of inspiring, check out the cover of the March issue of YMN Magazine for Yarn Shop niche retailers. Look closer. Those aren't tomatoes, my dear readers. Those are made from YARN! Every issue of this to-the-trade magazine offers us stellar visual inspiration and loads of resources, info, and material for shop owners to use. I am blown away by the attention to detail here, and editor in cheif Karin Strom is the driving force behind these 'visual puns'... way to go, Karin!

You can find more of my thoughts on the use of color in a retail environment in this issue: Kristine Hansen interviewed me, along with other visual, design, & color experts, for her article 'The Colors of Money'. It can be found on pages 34-35 (continued on 43). 

I've posted more photos of my stage displays and presentation on my Facebook page. In the next week, I'll be creating new posts here with photos & info taken from my presentation - including where you can get those AMAZING props I used on stage!!! Stay Tuned...

Support Your Local Bistro...

The 3/50 Project is at it again - championing local communities! 

Check out their new 'eat local' campaign

{image linked to 3/50 Project web site

go there to print your copies }

Field Research

On Friday I'll be heading into downtown Seattle for some 'field research'. 

{nope. not what you think. I'm not headed to Safeco Field or Quest Field for a game...} 

I have four LYS's to visit {any guesses?}, a hotel ballroom-elevator-parking garage configuration to discover, and visits to two Anthropologie stores planned. Then it's across the Lake to the third Anthro store {we're lucky that way}, and on to a vintage show where I will view the presentation stylings of seventeen individual vendors of vintage, antique, and handmade goods.

All in all, that's 4 niche markets I'll be viewing in one day: independent retail {LYS is Local Yarn Shop, btw}, hospitality {W Hotel}, corporate retail {Anthropologie}, and independent artisans/merchants {vintage show vendors}. Quite a nice scope of inspiration!

And while I'll be having a great time taking all this in and visiting with people who are passionate about what they do, I'm doing this as preparation for my upcoming seminar presentation & panel discussion {at the Yarn Market News International Business Conference}. I am attending the show to support the women & men who are my contemporaries on the NorthWest vintage circuit... this is a new show, and supporting it is important to the health and growth of the industry here in our region.

When was the last time you got out of your store-office-car, and looked around at what is going on in various facets of retail? Saw a fresh 'take' on things? You can't just look inward, or even across the aisle. I encourage you to get out and do your own form of 'field research'.

I remember a former employer, who was convinced that his only competition was other garden stores. He sent the visual team to view all of the other nurseries/garden centers in the region so we could 'out-do' them. sigh. Keeping up with or even trying to 'one-up' the established industry procedure and standard is a surefire way to fail. You have to look outward, upward, and across the spectrum in order to expand your vision of what is possible in order to succeed. Inspiration for your store can come from so many other places...

For example, in spring a nursery or garden center can inspire colors, textures, and all kinds of themes that can be used in every industry. I saw a photo of an Anthro display on a blog today. It was a bunch of galvanized buckets, green hoses, fake grass, and product 'planted' amongst the props. They don't sell plants. They sell fashion, home decor, and personal accessories. They just have no limitations on where inspiration comes from.

I bet they even 'comp shopped' my former employer for ideas!

{image credit: http://igadgetszone.com}