I remember reading a study several years ago that showed strong evidence that playing music in the store boosts sales—and even if you don't have an expensive sound system piping music in, you can purchase a relatively inexpensive CD player and speakers.

If you don't have one already, think about creating a register display centered around your holiday music CDs. Put out a sign near your register promoting the CD you're playing and offer a special discount with purchase, such as spend $30 or more in the store and receive $5 off the CD, or $3 off the CD that is currently being played. Suggestively sell to every customer who comes to the register by asking if they want to purchase a CD at the special price.

Don't be surprised if you hear your customers singing along to the music as they do their holiday shopping.

With the holiday season upon us, it's the perfect time to remember to always build a message of "thankfulness" into your sales and marketing efforts—not just now, but throughout the year (while I'm at it, thanks for reading!).

I was reminded of the importance of a simple "thank you" message this week while attending the Gift and Home Trade Association Conference in Phoenix. While there, I stopped by a local (independently owned) toy store, and after making a purchase for my seven year old daughter, chatted with the owner for a few minutes. On my way out, I thanked her for her time, but was surprised when she didn't thank me for my purchase. As a customer and retail veteran, I find it shocking that so many retailers forget the value of thanking their customers (regardless of the size of the purchase).

Here are five ways you can express your thanks to your customers:

1. Establish a store policy that every customer is given a genuine "thank you." Whether customers are thanked when completing a purchase, or for simply visiting the store, it's absolutely critical that every employee adopt the policy (be sure to remind them at staff meetings).

2. Send handwritten thank you notes to all customers who spend over a certain amount in your store per year, or during a specific store visit (i.e., $500).

3. Host a VIP customer shopping night and reward your top customers with a free gift.

4. Express customer appreciation through your marketing efforts (post cards, email marketing pieces, etc.) this month and periodically throughout the year.

5. Post a professional sign near the register, or a note on the store receipt, or a card that is placed in every bag that reads "thank you for your business." You might even tie this messaging into your shop local campaign in a store sign placed near the register that reads, "thank you for choosing to shop at XYZ store and supporting your local retailer."

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

It's hard to believe that Black Friday, the day that officially starts the holiday shopping season, is here. Your store is fully stocked, your store displays look dazzling and now all you need are holiday shoppers!

Many retailers I speak with are still avoiding "discounting" in their store during the holiday season, but rather than treating a product discount as the Black Plague, think of it as your Black Friday Super Charge Booster. By discounting a few lines (20-25%), you'll be giving customers a reason to stop by the store. You'll still be making a profit on the products—and with many of your customers on a fixed holiday budget, it's more important than ever to get them to your store ASAP to spend their money with you and not the competition.

Here are five tips to boost traffic and generate more sales on Black Friday:

1. Open your store early and offer special discounts to early bird shoppers (from 7-10AM). Compete with the big retailers and offer special discounts on 5-10 product lines. Promote these early bird specials with an email blast.

2. Do a targeted email blast to VIP customers (those who spend more than a certain amount per year) and offer them a free gift for stopping by the store on Friday.

3. Create an inexpensive sign (professionally produced—most sign companies can create one for under $100) promoting a special "Black Friday Sale." Buy a big bunch of balloons and hang them outside the store to attract attention.

4. Divide and conquer. Have each store employee call and personally invite 25 customers into the store for Black Friday shopping. Let them know you'll be holding a special gift for them at the register when they come in.

5. Staff for a busy day. Make sure you have plenty of staff on hand to help with the holiday rush, to keep the register line(s) moving, to gift wrap and to offer the level of personalized shopping that has made your store so successful in the past.

Stay tuned for more last minute holiday selling tips over the next couple of weeks!

By now you've seen (and heard) about the thousands of retailers who are successfully using Facebook to create an online community for their store, build a list of followers and fans and most importantly, drive store and web traffic and sales.

So if you're not on Facebook yet, you should be. According to Clara Shih, author of the Facebook Era, 300 million people are Facebook, and there are 1.4 million Facebook pages (with that number rapidly growing every day). Shih says, "Facebook is increasingly where your audience is for a lot of products and services."

Even if you don't have a website yet, which is one of the biggest objections I hear from retailers, this is a great way to get started.

Ready to try? Follow these (basic!) steps:

1. Set up a Facebook Page (which is different from an individual profile page—you must have a profile on FB to create pages) using your store name. Make sure it's spelled correctly and what you want—once you create a page and give it a name, you can't change it!

2. Fill out all the pertinent information—store websites, hours, directions, etc. And upload good store photos—a blank Facebook page won't attract fans.

3. In the beginning, invite friends and family to become your fans so you will start to build your list. From a marketing perspective, it looks better when people go there and you already have fans (it creates the herd mentality).

4. Start promoting your Facebook page to your existing customers through every marketing channel you have: email newsletters, direct mail, business cards, your website and signage in your store.

5. Offer monthly promotions, drawings or giveaways to incentivize your customers to sign-up.

6. Make sure you're posting messages on your site that aren't sales-y. You want to entertain, give them a sense of community and be interesting. New store promotions, new products and new sales staff are also good updates.

7. Think about using Facebook's new advertising campaign program to attract more fans and traffic to your store. You can target geographically, by gender, by age, etc., and any time someone says "gift" on Facebook who you've targeted, they'll see your ad. It's a very pointed way to market to potential customers right in your area.

8. Just like any marketing initiative, it's helpful if you map out your goals to use them as a foundation for the content you post, the ways you promote your Facebook page and a way to measure success.

Have you done any innovative promotions to draw more fans to your page? Let us know about it.

Two recent promotions I've received via email.

An increasing number of retailers ranging from chain stores to smaller entrepreneurs are recognizing the value of opening pop-up stores. Not only does a pop-up store create immediacy for consumers who have to make their purchases now, there are also great opportunities to strike a great deal with your local mall or strip center developer.

Sadly, about two months a cute gift shop down the street closed—but a couple of weeks from now a pop-up store will open there for 10 days.

Intrigued by the idea of opening a pop-up store? Here are five reasons why you should give it some serious thought:

1. Pop-stores give customers a reason why they should buy now—immediacy.
2. There has never been a better time to negotiate a great deal with shopping center developers.
3. By opening for less than two weeks, your overhead expenses will be very low.
4. It gives you a great angle to garner local media attention.
5. You can use it as opportunity to increase sales, to promote your permanent location(s) if you have any, and to collect customer email addresses to build your marketing list for your permanent location (or in case you open a pop-up store again in the next three to six months).