How is your blog going? Do you need some inspiration on how to spruce it up, spice it up or create new excitement?

DO – Create a conversation rather than trying to sell, sell, sell. Your blog should be a place where customers can get to know you, your store and your products. Avoid being overly promotional and instead opt for the soft sell by making your blog a relationship-builder and a place where you can present your store’s ability to solve problems for customers.

DO – Present your unique perspective. Use stories of your customers, staff and yourself as fodder for your blog. Write using your unique perspective on your industry and highlight the attributes and abilities you and your staff possess. Readers that are invested in you emotionally are more likely to be loyal customers.

DO – Spruce up posts with photos and videos. Create more interactive and appealing posts by including photos and videos when you can. Using photos and videos will not only help you rank higher in search engines, but also will increase readership and is a great way to get a conversation going.

Looking to boost sales with your customers? Here are a few tips:

Be a retailer without borders.
If your customers are not coming to you, perhaps you can go to them. Consider setting up a table at a local farmer's market, street festival or swap meet. Consider hosting a sidewalk sale or your own mini-festival outdoors.

Give customers a new reason to come in.
Come up with a compelling promotion to bring customers back, such as a free gift with purchase or a shopping party that has free food and drinks to all shoppers. Don’t forget to market your promotion widely. Once customers are in your store, increase per transaction sales numbers by including great impulse buys at point of purchase and promoting items on the wall directly behind checkout.

Generate buzz.
Slower summer days are a great opportunity to step up marketing and promotion efforts. Consider using print advertising in your local newspapers and magazines. And step up your public relations by writing some press releases. Of course, remember to keep up with your online marketing efforts (blog, social media and email newsletter) too. Perhaps you can try some new tactics and see what works.

Today's guest post is from Becky Tyre, Trends Editor of GIFT SHOP Magazine.

Shop Green at NYIGF
The semi-annual Eco Choice Awards, co-sponsored by NYIGF and GREENRetailer magazine, were awarded to “green” gift and home products. Retailers attending the show voted to determine the winners among the products featured in the SustainAbility – design for a better world display. One World Projects, ES Chilote House Shoe and I Design Distribution were the winners.

Michelle Harris, buyer for Dedrick’s Pharmacy and Gifts in New Paltz, NY, noticed that geometric prints and patterns were evident from tabletop to pillows to jewelry. She went on to say that “green” is still around with a new twist being jute. She noted jute showing up on tote bags and pillows with a cottage-style feel, many with scripted words as overlay patterns. She also noted a “bring the outdoors in” theme and lots of fringe vases at the show. Harris mentioned seeing quite a bit of a muted, gray, plum color in home decor choices.

Shop Globally at NYIGF
The fair offers access to more than 300 suppliers from 49 countries. The International Pavilions have the most extensive collection of global resources of any U.S. market. There were booths with Tribalinks jewelry from Africa, British fashion accessories, jewelry from Chile, cutlery from France, glass studios from Germany, metalworks from Israel, kitchen products from Japan, food products from Korea and matryoshka dolls from Russia.

Changes in the NYIGF structure
As part of a 3-year reorganization of the NYIGF, the Gourmet Housewares Show joined the gift fair adding approximately 150 gourmet product suppliers to the roster. These included cookware, gadgets, small electronics and bar accessories. These were in addition to the 200 specialty lines in the existing Tabletop section of the show. TAG, Trade Associates Group, a leading tabletop brand, returned to the NYIGF this summer to join this new section after a five-year hiatus from the show. Vendors in this area welcomed the opportunity to meet specialty gift and gourmet store buyers.

The Artisan Jewelry Showcase inside the New York’s Newest at Pier 92, was another addition. About 30 jewelry makers made their NYIGF debut there this summer.

Most gift buyers said the broad range of merchandise categories at the New York shows, allows them to get most of what they need, at one show. Emese Boone has a lifestyle boutique in Little Rock, AR. Boone’s shop, The Box Turtle, sells gifts, clothing and art. She is able to get much of her gift selection orders placed at NYIGF. She seeks out independent designers and artists. She attends apparel shows and also searches locally for artists to feature in her store. Buyers were looking for new products to excite their existing customers and attract new customers to their stores.

The next NYIGF show is January 28 – February 2, 2012. Hope to see you there!

Today's guest post is from Becky Tyre, Trends Editor of GIFT SHOP Magazine.

The attention given to the visual merchandising of trade show booths can be inspirational for displaying merchandise and decorating retail areas. Buyers likely left the show with display ideas for use back at their stores.

Say It With Book Covers
Say It With Book Covers began as a retail display idea and now has a product booth of its own at the show. Not surprisingly, the booth was cleverly designed.


Andrea by Sadek
Andrea by Sadek had an expanded exhibit space for the summer show and created a snowman display by arranging white snowflake plates in the shape of a six-foot snowman.


Cate & Levi
Vendors sometimes offer displays as an option to accompany their products. Cate & Levi had a wood display with 18 arms for their puppets that are made from reclaimed wool.


Kevin O’Brien
Another interesting display was at the Kevin O’Brien booth in Pier 94 NYIGF At Home. To enhance the display of pillows printed with game boards, full-size vintage game boards hung above the pillow table complemented by scattered logo printed poker chips throughout the display.


Check back tomorrow for more!

Today's guest post is from Becky Tyre, Trends Editor of GIFT SHOP Magazine.

Twice a year, in January and August, an incredible array of the world's best home, gift and lifestyle resources gather in Manhattan for the New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF). Over the next few days, I'll be posting about some of the great booths I came across at the NYIGF.

IndieFlix
Back in the gift area, Scilla Andreen, the CEO and co-founder of IndieFlix had just written orders with two major national accounts. IndieFlix is a film festival in a box and a party game for movie lovers. Each box contains a DVD of four short, independent films in themes such as comedies, chillers and love stories accompanied by instructions for conversation-starting topics. Launched in late 2010, the games include the option to vote in categories online at their website after viewing the films. Andreen, a film producer herself, came up with the idea to market the product that she had been giving as gifts to friends. The comedies and love stories are the best sellers, one of her new major accounts ordered only the Pottymouth Comedies.

Paper Punk
Another interesting innovator, Grace Hawthorne, demonstrated her product at the A+ Young Designers’ Platform. This section provided a showcase for emerging designers and featured four companies. Hawthorne’s Paper Punk of Mill Valley, CA, is a paper-based building toy that provides imaginative and creative play for all ages. Fast Company Magazine says that “Paper Punk teaches 3-D thinking with paper building blocks… part origami, part Lego, and 100% recyclable.” Each kit contains the paper shapes, stickers, adhesive dots, a poster and a reusable folder. Hawthorne won one of the Blogger’s Choice Awards for this show.

Manny and Simon
Another Blogger’s Best Award winner was Manny and Simon in the Baby and Child section. Manny and Simon, based in San Diego, CA, won for its collection of eco-friendly, wooden push toys in vehicle shapes. The collection is made from 100% recycled wood residuals and is non-toxic with zero VOC. Eden Yaskil, principal of Manny and Simon, said that they exhibit at NYIGF because of the breadth of buyers that attend. They are able to connect with buyers for gift shops, museum shops, department stores, art studios and home furnishing stores. For summer 2011, they were one of several Baby and Child vendors that expanded their exhibit space.

Anamalz
Wooden toys have clearly been trending with the toy companies that sell at gift shows this summer. First time exhibitor, Anamalz, a line of eco-friendly, maple wood toys that can be posed, had plenty of activity at their booth.


Tegu
Tegu, pronounced TAY-GOO, were back at the NYIGF with their magnetic wood blocks and were busy writing orders. Their booth was simple and designed with stations for assembling their magnetic blocks into shapes.


Check back every day this week for more!

Today's guest post is from Becky Tyre, Trends Editor of GIFT SHOP Magazine.

Twice a year, in January and August, an incredible array of the world's best home, gift and lifestyle resources gather in Manhattan for the New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF). This August was no exception. Over 35,000 gift industry professionals walked the aisles of the Javits Center and Piers 92 and 94 in search of the latest trends and offerings in gifting and design.

The show gave access to designers, industry leaders, buyers and more than 2800 exhibitors. At the NYIGF, large and small companies traditionally exhibit in 400 product categories ranging from home furnishings, fashion accessories, stationery, pet products and toys to housewares and handmade art.

Over the next few days, I'll be posting about some of the great booths I came across at the NYIGF.

Cake Vintage Table & Home
One of the busiest booths was the Cake Vintage Table & Home booth attended by owners Robbie and Angie Cook. Their booth, which included the company’s original line, Knobstoppers, was also one of the prettiest booths in the Tabletop section of the Javits Center. Angie attributes the booth’s success in part to the fact that they were able to expand to a triple size booth for the summer show, allowing customers to step in and get their hands on the products. The Cake line consists of vintage inspired linens and paper goods printed with cutlery and place settings.

Angie reports that the pads of printed paper place mats and the 100% recycled, reversible place mats have been excellent sellers. The 50-foot paper runners, sold on a roll, also sold well at the show. Holly Anselmi, the owner of The Italian Dish, placed her first order with Cake during the show. She was excited to find such lovely new products for her retail store in Birmingham, MI.

Anselmi regularly attends the NYIGF show since it also gives her access to vendors from Italy. Open since July of 2005, The Italian Dish holds numerous in-store promotions throughout the year to bring in new customers and to stay in touch with existing clientele. Anselmi estimates that they do at least 6 major events per year and has an artisan event with the vendor Vietri coming up in the fall. She meets contacts for such events at the show.

Sloane Ranger
Another active booth was Sloane Ranger in the General Gift section. Established in 2011, this is only their third show. A “sloanie” is a young, confident, preppy individual named for Sloane Square, an iconic locale in the UK. Available in simple, repeating prints of owls, horses, whales and scottie dogs, the company offers cloth products ranging in size from wristlets to duffle bags. Their target customer is the higher end gift and apparel stores. Alex Chauss, reported that the totes and tablet cases enjoyed strong sales at the show.

Handmade Designer Maker
In the Handmade Designer Maker section, the Tokens & Icons booth was busy writing orders. Buyers seemed to be most interested in the recycled nostalgia sports products geared towards a male gift recipient. This company makes cufflinks, wallets and pens from authentically used football helmets, hockey pucks, baseballs, uniforms and even old stadium seats, coins and maps.

Check back every day this week for more!

Ever feel like your to do list and email inbox are growing faster than the national debt? Or that as hard as you’re working, you never seem to be ticking off the most important items on your task list? We all feel that way at one time or another.

Here are some tips to help you harness technology and work smarter, not harder.

Work from anywhere. Save time by making it easy to work wherever you are. There are multiple ways you can insure access to important documents, emails and schedules from anywhere, such as storing it all on the Internet, carrying a small jump drive with you at all times, or using a laptop that you always carry with you.

Automate important functions. Avoid wasting time cutting, signing and mailing checks. Automate your bill paying and payroll as much as possible. Most banks have an online bill paying feature that you can sign up for.

Put your inbox on a diet. Increase efficiency in your inbox by using an email program that allows you to filter and file emails with no action on your part. Set up folders and filters so that you only see important, action-required email in your inbox. Then deal with emails as you read them so that they can be filed and finished for good.

Automate marketing tasks. Set up auto-responders for emails and social media messages. Create auto reminders for consistent tasks such as writing blog posts or submitting artwork for your newspaper ad. Also, create checklists and forms for tasks you do regularly so that you’re not reinventing the wheel each time.

Sweat the exceptions only. Avoid spending time reviewing items, reports, statements and paperwork that don't really require your attention. Make a habit of only reviewing items that are exceptions, such as budget overruns or missed sales forecasts.

Today's guest post is from Becky Tyre, Trends Editor of GIFT SHOP Magazine.

As always, the NYIGF was full of fantastic finds for the gift retailer. Walking down the aisles, it’s hard to whittle down the wonderful selection to a few choice finds. Here's part two of what I loved at the show—and what you will too!

Stroke Of Art
Best known for her watches and clocks, Minnesota artist Debra Dresler has added book vases to her line of products made from vintage found objects. These vases are fully functional and hold water to display live flowers and are one of her best sellers at this summer’s NYIGF.


Fred’s Top Banana
You can count on the Fred and Friends Booth at any market to be full of fun and laughs. One of their new product introductions is the Top Banana Wine Bottle Stopper. Once you’ve uncorked a bottle of wine, you just “slip” this stopper in, peel side up, to keep your wine fresh. The Top Banana merchandises perfectly with the Wine Monkey bottle cover introduced earlier this year.


Zing Artwear
Made from flexible, washable and eco-friendly material, these bracelets and necklaces are created to look like body art. Their NYIGF booth was buzzing with customers trying them on and placing orders.


Game Board Pillows
During the NYIGF show, pier 94 offers a wide selection of decorative pillows. Kevin O’Brien Studio featured a line of printed cotton pillows that looked like vintage game boards. These fun, yet sophisticated pillows represent eight games including checkers and darts.


Knotty But Nice
Continuing their mission of designing and manufacturing unique, high quality products that bring smiles into the lives of others, the Inspired Generations booth at NYIGF was a bit “knotty and nice”. The knotty bowls come in single, double and triple versions. The double bowls are ideal for wedding gifts.

Today's guest post is from Becky Tyre, Trends Editor of GIFT SHOP Magazine.

As always, the NYIGF was full of fantastic finds for the gift retailer. Walking down the aisles, it’s hard to whittle down the wonderful selection to a few choice finds. Here's part one of what I loved at the show—and what you will too!

Paulette Rollo
This small acorn purse hooks onto a belt loop or handbag. Made from 100% hard leather, formed by hand, these small coin purses come in several color combinations and sizes. Also available in apple and heart shapes.

Oclaf Barcelona
Brand new to the NYIGF show. Is it jewelry or is it a scarf? The answer is both. Fashion necklace scarves are made of the softest fabrics and incorporate a piece of hand-made jewelry. From Spain.


Soggy Doggy
The makers of the original Soggy Doggy doormats are introducing the Soggy Doggy Super Shammy. Made of quick-drying, highly absorbent microfiber chenille, these new pet towels have convenient hand pockets for easily drying any size dog.


Mad Party Mats
Carefree, convenient and classic party mats fold up into a neat 10" x 20" packet that ties securely with handles for easy transport. Measures 54" by 6' when opened fully. Take them anywhere in the sun, salt water and rain. These mats are waterproof and stain proof. Made from recycled plastic bottles, packaging and bags. Available in three color combinations. A fair trade company.


EZ Sox
The “I can do it!” sock. Fun learning socks for kids. Reinforced loops give tiny fingers a strong grip for pulling over tiny toes. Cute animal faces act as a guide, showing them which way is up. They help to build the confidence that pre-schoolers need as they learn to dress themselves. Available in a variety of cute designs.


Be sure to check back tomorrow for five more finds from the NYIGF.

I was interviewed recently by the Wall Street Journal about the specialty retail market, and for the first time I was able to provide concrete data about our industry.

Specialty Retail Report commissioned the first ever study about the specialty retail industry from Alexander Babbage, an independent market research firm who specialize in the retail and shopping industries. The results cover more than $600 million in sales from more than 5,800 cart and kiosk retailers in North America over the past two years.

Here are a few noteworthy pieces of data that I pulled from the report:

• Specialty retail holiday sales grew by 10.6 % in 2010 — more than three times higher than the GAFO sales growth of 2.9% for the same time period.
• The toy category was the fastest growing area of year-on-year in category sales growth in 2010 with a 35.5% increase.
• The holiday category saw a 40.9% jump in the number of reporting units.

I am excited by the results of this report as it confirms that specialty retail is thriving and outperforming the big box stores. It also indicates that savvy entrepreneurs are still earning profits and specialty retail is worth noting. It can’t be ignored based on this record performance

SRR is committed to the industry and will continue to offer updated reports on a quarterly basis. Click here for more information or to participate in the next round of the study.

A very big thank you to the Max F. James Family Foundation for sponsoring this report.