Once again my camera is filled with images of great new products and some refreshing takes on existing products. If you weren't able to make it to the National Stationery Show, or you couldn't get to every booth, here are five fun products worth noting:

International Arrivals
This company displayed a new line of scented pens called "Sniffy Scented Pens" and I fell in love with them. The scents are very accurate, have a delightful fragrance and remind me of my old scratch-and-sniff stickers I used to love as a kid. There are currently four now available: strawberry, watermelon, bubblegum and vanilla cupcake, two more holiday scents will be available in October (peppermint and gingerbread) and two additional scents will be released in July (blueberry and soda pop). The pens are priced right at only $1 wholesale and are sold in an assorted pre-pack of 50 pens. International Arrivals also offers a great assortment of file folders (I love the wood grain inspired one). The folders are available in a pre-pack of 6 and wholesale for $3.50.

Lady Jayne, Inc.
Lady Jayne just launched their new line of lunch totes at the show. The totes are currently available with 16 initials, and eight assorted patterns and wholesale for $10. They have a food safe insulated lining, a convenient zipper on the top and an outside pocket for utensils or easy access to a cell phone. They also offer a stainless steel matching travel mug, and stainless steel water bottle with coordinating Koozzie available in 16 initials. They debuted a cute and affordable angel line at the show that includes a bookmark, notepad and angel keepsake ornament (the three pieces wholesale for less than $3.50).

Anna Griffin
Anna Griffin debuted a new print pattern at the show called "Alix," with bags available in nine styles. Plus they re-packaged their holiday card packs to include a sample card on the outside of the box—their holiday card collection is very high-quality and worth noting if you're looking for a new line.

Designing Ducks
Designing Ducks was a great new company debuting their line at the show—they specialize in wedding and shower favors. I fell in love with their monogrammed lip balms which are all natural, SPF 15 and that wholesale for $.83-$1.45. I think they're also great for an impulse item near the register, as it makes a very striking display and the price point is right.

Up with Paper
Up with Paper debuted a new line of adorable pop-up greeting cards at the show (ones with very sophiticated engineering mechanisms behind them) with a great price point. The new cards are available in 12 designs, and for a limited time, they are offering a free display with the purchase of nine designs.

Stay tuned for more products from the show. Did you go to the show? If so, what was your favorite new product?

I just returned home from the National Stationery Show in New York where I hosted two retailer roundtable events to brainstorm low-cost and no cost marketing strategies to help retailers increase foot traffic and sales. It was a great group and collectively we came up with some fabulous ideas:

1. Work with local schools—One retailer shared that she prints 10,000 5×7 postcards at the beginning of the school year and hands them out at PTA meetings at 10 schools in her area. She is able to get school support by donating 5% of all the proceeds generated from sales directly attributable to the postcards back to the participating schools. This coupon works on two levels: the retailer offers a special discount on the coupon (i.e., 15% off store purchase) and she promotes that 5% of all proceeds generated from the postcard will be given back to the schools.

2. Partner with other retailers—At the weight loss center Jenny Craig, a local apparel retailer was offering a coupon saying, "Need new clothes that show off your new figure? Come and see us and save." At the apparel retailer, Jenny Craig had postcards that read, "Looking to shed some weight this summer? Come and see us." Another retailer in the room offered another great suggestion—she partners with her local dry cleaner. The dry cleaners staple her store postcard to every dry cleaning bag and in exchange, she drops a dry cleaning coupon in each customer's bag.

3. Word of mouth promotion—There are a lot of local group meetings and online town forums where you can promote your store, and I highly recommend that you get active with your Chamber of Commerce. As you build relationships at the meeting, your colleagues will certainly go and check out your store. The more active you are in your community, the more people you get to know, the more people you'll drive to your store.

4. Market your store at a town event—There are lot of local events where you can inexpensively rent a table (i.e., church or synagogue fair, town fair or farmer's market, school bazaar, or downtown sports event). Take a sample of smaller items from your store to sell, and raffle off a gift basket in exchange for their email address. Make sure you tell them that in addition to the gift basket raffle, you'll also use their email to send a special gift they can redeem in the store.

Stay tuned to see some of the exciting new products I saw at the show.

Earlier today I was thinking back to an experiment we did in a business management course I took in college. First we were given a handout which described a hypothetical situation in which we were flying on plane that crashed in the middle of a desert. We had a limited amount of supplies and as an individual you had to decide which course of action to take—sit there and wait for help or leave the crash site and try to go get help. Then we were divided into groups and asked to discuss the dilemma again and come up with a group consensus for what we should do. We were able to collectively share survival information that we had all individually learned—and by working together we increased our chances for survival. Most groups came up with the right answer—the best decision was to stay at the crash site and wait for help.

To this day I value getting together with our staff to brainstorm an idea, or meeting with colleagues to share business plans. At the upcoming National Stationery Show, I'll be hosting two retailer roundtables (which are free to attend)—the first on May 17th at 4PM, and the second on May 18th at 4PM. We'll be brainstorming lots of topics (no-cost and low-cost marketing ideas, creative store promotions and unique visual merchandising displays) with one goal: how to increase foot traffic and sales in your store.

I hope you can join me, but if you can't make it to the session, please stop by GIFT SHOP magazine's booth (1209). I look forward to seeing you there.

I was chatting with Melinda Holland, a VP of Specialty Leasing for General Growth Properties, last week about the current retail environment and she said, "I like to think that we're in a reset mode rather than a recession."

I love how she reframed the economic situation—calling it, essentially, a time of change. It opens the doors for all kinds of new possibilities—the term "reset mode" inspires me to:

• Re-think the way we're doing business. We can be smarter and better than ever before.
• Times are changing. Let's change with them.
• It's time for a fresh start. Let's try new things.

During the spring season, I encourage you to think about what your reset mode looks like. I hope you'll share some of your ideas with us here, on our retail forum or via Twitter. You can follow me on Twitter at: twitter.com/retailexpert.

Even though kids may be cutting back due to the economy, they're still planning to make a purchase for Mother's Day. According to the National Retail Federation, the average buyer is expected to spend $123.89 on Mom this year, so there is a big opportunity for you to cash in on Mother's Day sales. Here are four last-minute marketing ideas to help you capture their business:

1. Even if you've already sent out an email blast to your list of customers, send another one tomorrow. Here are three ideas for content: 5 Perfect Gifts for Mom under $30; an offer to save money (i.e., $5) on any purchase over $30 in the store valid for this weekend only; free gift with purchase (i.e., give away a free votive candle or a Mother's Day card with every purchase made).

2. Put together a focal table near the store entry with a sign, "The Perfect Gifts For Mom," and relocate some of your Mother's Day cards near the cash register. Even though they may have already purchased a card, some people are inclined to pick up a second one if they like it better—and lots of people probably haven't purchased one yet.

3. Call your top 100 customers (or if you maintain a POS system of your customers, call any who visited the store last May for Mother's Day) and invite them to pick up their gift for Mom. Let them know you have a special gift for them if they decide to stop by the store Friday or Saturday and then use a small gift like a rose, candle or pen to thank them for visiting the store. Most people will buy something to get a free gift.

4. Make up a flyer offering $5 off any Mother's Day purchase (valid on Friday and Saturday). Ask some local non-competing merchants (dry cleaners, book store, animal hospital, etc.) in your area if they'll allow you to put the coupons out on their counter. You could even offer them a store gift certificate in exchange for allowing you to distribute the coupons in their store.

We had lots of fantastic and unique concepts at SPREE this year, so if you couldn't make it to the show, here are three more of my favorites…

Build-A-Belt
This is a terrific cart concept that sells fabric and leather belts, plus more than 200 belt buckle designs. The wholesaler currently operates two of his own retail locations in the Boston area and is doing very well with the concept. He recently created an owner-operator program for interested retailers.

Lit'l Desi9s
I love this line of personalized products for babies and young children. Each child's name is spelled out "secretly" on the products in the form of a design, such as a butterfly, monkey or cat. The owner recognized that children love to see their name, but knows the security issue of kids walking around wearing it on t-shirts and backpacks. The letters are all embedded in the design and it becomes a fun game for kids to hunt for the letters. The t-shirts are mostly made of organic cotton, and the inks are water based. The line includes hats, shirts, stamps, bags, blankets, cards, etc.

RoomMates
This clever cart concept of "peel, stick and removable wall art" appeals to a wide range of demographics, from Moms to pre-tweens. Currently they offer 140 designs and the retail prices range from $10.50-$29.00. My daughter fell in love with it, and I endorse it since it easily peels off the wall. A great year-round cart concept.

The Elmwood Village Association in Buffalo, NY, in partnership with Buffalo First (a non-profit focused on building a local, green and fair economy in the Buffalo-Niagara region) is using a clever shop local slogan, "love your mom n' pop" along with a great marketing campaign to help drive more sales this Mother's and Father's Day.

The Elmwood Association is also encouraging retailers to offer specials for these two holidays centered around the number "3," since buying local keeps 3x more money in the local economy. Participating retailers get free listings on both The Elmwood Association Village website and the Buffalo First's website. In addition, the first 15 retailers to register were listed on posters distributed to all the participating stores in the area.

I encourage you to become involved in a shop local organization in your community. These organizations provide a lot of marketing support and will help you find new customers and motivate your existing customers to spend more money.