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Here’s Your Recession Buster Line Up


“Your Retail Stimulus Plan – Jumpstart Your Sales Now! No Matter What’s Happening In The Economy”
Bob Negen

Do you want to know EXACTLY how to take control of your business destiny?  If you do, don’t miss this fun, dynamic workshop guaranteed to dramatically increase customer loyalty, boost your foot traffic, and turbo charge sales. You will learn the secrets of an organized, consistent system to generate significant sales increases. And it’s not about spending a fortune, finding the next Beanie Baby, or creating a killer newspaper ad.  It’s about creating exponential growth by doing lots of little things well; it’s about planting many seeds and watching them grow. 

At Bob Negen's seminar you will learn:

• How to “jujutsu” the down economy to your advantage.  It’s easier than you think.
• Why traditional advertising is becoming less and less effective (and more expensive) and what you can do about it.
• How to explode your profits by getting your customers to shop more often.
• EIGHT ways to get a flood of new customers for almost no money.
• A surprisingly simple secret to generating TONS more foot traffic.
• The MOST IMPORTANT thing to do to guarantee a successful future.
• A FOUR step process to develop deep (and profitable!) relationships with every customer who comes in the door.
• FIVE ways to give a BIG boost to your average sale.
• How to jump start your sales – no matter what time of year.
• And many more easy-to-execute strategies, tactics and techniques to grow business without spending a fortune.

Plus a special section on exactly how you can use e-mail marketing and your website to generate LOTS more sales from your current customers. 

“Training and Coaching Secrets To Unlock Your Staff’s Hidden Potential”
Bob Negen

Training your staff and consistently improving their performance through coaching is the easiest, most effective way of lowing turnover, keeping your staff motivated and working together to give your customers the great service they deserve when they shop in your store.  A great staff is no accident, it comes, in large part, from keeping your staff “on the same page” through solid training and simple – yet constant – coaching.  In this workshop you will learn:

• How to build a great employee manual that is the foundation of your training program.
• The most important - and most frequently forgotten - step in the training process.
• The power of setting “non-negotiable standards”.
• The secret to consistently great training – every employee, every time you hire.
• Why a great training program is the key to top-drawer customer service and big sales increases.
• The five characteristics of effective coaching.
• Four “tricks of the trade” to drive home your coaching.
• Five tried and true coaching strategies to put to use immediately.
• How to coach on the fly, even when your store is slammed!

You will learn how to create an effective training program to coach your staff effectively to dramatically improve staff performance and your profits!  This program shows you simple secrets that will dramatically increase the effectiveness of all your coaching.

Bio: Bob Negen discovered his entrepreneurial spirit at the young age of twenty-three and opened one of the world's first kite stores. In twenty years he helped change the public's perception of the kite from a child's toy to an "eco-friendly" hobby for families and people of all ages. In those twenty years he grew his company from $17,000 to over $3 million in annual sales. In 1998 the company was named "Retailer of the Year" by the Kite Trade Association. A natural marketer, Bob constantly created very successful promotions. His favorite, the Great Lakes Sport Kite Championships, grew into one of the largest, most prestigious kite events in the world.

Bob Negen is a real businessperson whose knowledge, skill, and passion come from the trenches of small business. His credibility and audience connection come from shared experiences, not from academic degrees. When Bob shares something will work, it will. He speaks from experience.

“Keeping your Business Profitable and Healthy in Tough Economics Times"
Paul LaPonte

Many of us started our business life running a single store with another family member or a single employee and struggled to generate enough profit to cover the rent and make a modest profit. We started each day focusing on each and every customer because we could not afford to miss a single opportunity. In tough economic times, it's more important than ever to focus on the basic principles of success in order to capture every opportunity. Paul will share ways to identify these principles, including using great customer service to generate new sales, selling new product to repair and parts customers, and motivating your staff to think like an owner. He will also cover cost effective ideas that bring new customers into your store and generate additional store visits from your existing customer base.

 “So …You Want To Expand Your Business!”
Paul LaPonte

You are doing good running one store but want to expand your business. Paul will discuss the strategies he has used to grow his business and what obstacles you may encounter.  Learn from a true expert who has been there and done it in the sewing and vacuum business! When it is time to hire more people or open a new store? What can you do to get manufacturers to help you? How do you go about selecting the perfect new location? What are the caution signs and when should you go full steam ahead? We all make mistakes with our business decisions, Paul will help you avoid the common mistakes that most growing businesses make from a ground level perspective. Paul has made these decisions many times and can help you make more informed decisions. 

Bio: Paul LaPonte owns and operates 10 successful Quality Sewing & Vacuum Centers in the Seattle area. He is also a partner of Rocky Mountain Sewing & Vacuum centers in Denver. Quality Sewing presently employs almost 100 people and is one of the largest sewing dealers in the United States. Paul attributes his success to a strategy of giving consumers great service and asking them to buy something every time they visit. Paul has spoken on sales and customer service topics nationally at trade conventions, dealer conventions and dealer meetings in the US and Canada.

“Successful Direct Mail Strategies For Sewing Machine & Vacuum Cleaner Retail Stores”
Diane Conklin

During Diane’s presentation, you’ll discover the differences between image advertising and direct response marketing and the key reasons you should be using direct mail in all your marketing campaigns.  Diane will reveal not only the secrets to getting your mail opened but the essential ingredients of all successful direct mail. You’ll see simple, easy-to-implement direct mail strategies and case histories of real-life successful campaigns that work over and over and over again. If you are going to spend the money to advertize, make sure you are doing the right things to get the best result. Having been in business for over 12 years, Diane has earned her reputation as an executor - that means she knows how to get things done! Diane will share examples you can take home and start using immediately.

Bio: Diane has been involved in Direct Mail and marketing campaigns that have grossed over $1,000,000 in sales many times throughout her career. Diane is a direct response marketing expert who specializes in showing small business owners how to integrate their marketing strategies, media and methods, to get maximum results from their marketing dollars, through direct mail and other media.

Through her company, Complete Marketing Systems, Diane offers a wide range of programs and services – from strategic marketing planning, list management, copywriting, direct mail, product development, staff training, systems development, implementation techniques, to seminar, workshop and event marketing, planning, and management.

“Profit Maker’s Toolbox to Get and Keep Great Customers”
Mark Ingraham, The Profit Maker

Mark Ingraham, known as “The Profit Maker” will open his toolbox for you. During Mark’s presentation you will explore unique ways to grow your business without huge increases in costs. He will share cost-effective ways to meet qualified prospects, and discover how rewarding the old fashioned handshake can be in earning and retaining the high quality customers your business needs to thrive.  Discuss simple but effective ways to build a highly responsive list of sales leads and learn to get the maximum value from your list; add value to everything you do with pre and post-event marketing, and capture even more revenue from your investment.   Join Mark Ingraham as he shares expertise gained by working with hundreds of experienced local, regional and national companies who know how to be successful at public events -- and discover why events are a critical part of every retailer's short and long-term business success. The techniques that he will be sharing can be used outside and inside your store every day. Because Mark had consulted and built relationships with over 1000 business owners and corporate heavyweights, having him present at the Ultimate Profit Explosion Boot Camp brings a whole new dimension that you can’t miss.

Special Bonus: Mark will be giving all attendees a complete copy of his slide presentation, including the “Top 10 Things You Can Do to Increase Your Event Success”

Bio: Mark Ingraham has been associated with the sewing industry all his life. He is co-owner of MS. Productions, Inc., the company that brings you Original Sewing & Quilt Expo, the largest multi-market home Sewing, Quilting and Embroidery event in the country.  Involved in all aspects of running a small business since 1996, Mark knows the value of keeping the sales pipeline flowing at maximum volume.   As a member of a family of marketing professionals, his naturally helpful nature has allowed him to effectively advise business owners on all aspects of participation in public events, with emphasis on their value in the life of a thriving business.   Today he regularly works with more than 350 business owners who depend on shows, fairs and other community events to round out yearlong advertising and promotional campaigns, using the events to create a "13th month of sales" by getting outside the walls of their stores to do business.  
 
“The Fuzzy Shark Gets the Prize”
Amy Baughman

Learn from a master marketer in your industry! Known as the Fuzzy Shark, Amy Baughman will share with you marketing programs that she has successfully used in her retail sewing stores that you can easily use also. Discover unique ways to make your customers feel warm and fuzzy and want to spend money with you over and over again. Amy’s Army is just one way that she increases customer loyalty that she will share. Amy is a super implementer of unique ideas that you can use to drive paying customers into your store. Amy will share how you can identify weaknesses in your competition and your customers and how you can use that knowledge to your advantage. This is no pie in the sky class. Amy is just like you, in the trenches every day but fighting a unique and creative way in a very difficult market as the “Fuzzy Shark”. Amy will show you why she says “If I can make it work in Beaver County PA, you can too”.  

Bio: Amy opened Amy Baughman’s Sewing Center in 1991 in a saturated market and quickly became a top 10 Husqvarna Viking Dealer in the country. She observed others letting customers fall through the cracks and thinking they would never run out of customers.  Amy filled that void with excellent customer service, innovative marketing and taking the extra step in education.  Amy spent many years  trying to figure out what worked and what did not. Being Average and the industry norm was not enough for Amy.  Normal or Average is never an option with the Fuzzy Shark. 

“Using the Law to Make Money and Protect Your Assets”
Lee R. Phillips

You put locks on your doors and windows to protect valuables inside. What have you done to protect your assets from a legal or financial attack? You could do all the right things only to make one slip and loose it all. Financial and legal disasters come to everyone, and often only the prepared survive. In today's lawsuit happy society, you have a better chance of losing assets due to a legal or financial attack than you do a common thief. Whether it is the identity thief, bad business deal, rogue partner, out of control child, death of a family member, illness, or greedy lawyer, you are at risk every day.

Lawyers have many "tools" that can be used to protect assets, but they seldom do the planning necessary to protect their clients and their assets. (After all, there is more money in cleaning up the mess than there is in preventing the mess.) Lee speaks from experience. Nobody ever told him he how to prepare before he lost everything -- just because he got sick. Lee will introduce you to the legal tools that can be used for asset protection so this doesn’t happen to you..

Lee will also expose tax planning opportunities a lawyer brings to the table when a professional or small business owner seeks counsel to lower their tax burden. The full impact of taxes on one's ability to get ahead financially will be demonstrated and understood. You will learn how to use the legal tools and legal strategies available to address your own situations, so you can protect their assets and get more financial security.

In this uncertain economy, everybody is worried about what the future holds. How can people protect against downturns, lawsuits, business failures, illness, or personal tragedies? Is there something that can be done today to raise the chances of survival in these situations?

Lee will give you an overview of the tax disasters and asset protection disasters that are lurking around every corner. He will then show how legal tools can be used to lay the legal foundation necessary to build a large financial fortune. You can't build a house from the roof down. You have to have a foundation. Likewise, you can't build a financial fortune from the roof down. Every wealthy person has a legal foundation. The foundations are all different, but the tools used to build the foundations are the same. You will be shown different ways the tools can be used to build your foundation and reposition yourself in the tax world. There are two sets of tax laws in the United States - one rich people use, and one everybody else uses. Both are perfectly legal. The question is, "If you want to be rich, which set of laws do you have to use?"

Bio: Lee R. Phillips, Attorney and Scientist, is a counselor to the United States Supreme Court and nationally recognized author and speaker in the areas of tax planning, asset protection, and wealth accumulation. He is the author of 19 books and has given thousands of live presentations. His presentation will be entrancing. Yes, he is talking legal and tax stuff, but the 90 minutes he uses will go like lightning. His reputation and service to those who want to get ahead financially is outstanding.

“Using Your POS System as a Marketing Tool”
Howard J. Anderson

Howard has been a pioneer using computers for Point of Sale for over 15 years. He has put together tips and shortcut for you. In this class you will learn ways to put your POS system to work for you as a high powered sales and marketing tool. You can generate a huge amount of extra profit now and in the future by using your Point of Sale System to it’s fullest ability. You will learn time saving steps and ways to make every customer you have more valuable for you. You will learn ways to make customers want to give you their information. Implement just a couple of techniques that will be shared in this class and you will pay for the whole event.

There may be other well known relevant presenters who’s names I can’t presently disclose, who will help you grow the profit in your business. Emergencies come up so the actual presenters at the time of the event may change. The value to you will not!