We received a post on our forum yesterday from someone who is opening her first retail location, and she was asking for advice about what to do with her walls.

My suggestion is to paint them! It's amazing how a can of $30 paint can liven an entire store and help to create an ambience that's attractive and inviting to customers. Plus you can tie the walls into your branding effort by using a color that is in your logo or on your store bags.

Here are a few fun examples of how color really works on store walls.

By nature, I'm a very competitive person… but I think it's because I find it so rewarding to win. So naturally, I love participating in contests.

Back when I worked for the chain store Gantos, we were paid a base salary plus commission. In addition, our store manager loved to have contests. She would create different teams (day team versus the night team, or a mix of new and seasoned sales people) and the whole team was very motivated by the commission that we were paid for each item sold. It was amazing to see how competitive and driven the team became when a monthly contest was added to the mix (even if the contest reward was only $50 per person).

This just reaffirms that great sales people love recognition (some even more than money—or at least just as much!), so remember to recognize your sales team regularly.

Here are a few ideas:

1. A handwritten note or certificate for the person with the top monthly sales.

2. An individual or team contest with a prize (the prize doesn't have to be big).

3. A pay program that offers commission to reward your employees each time they make a sale. You'll find it will incentivize them to sell more as well.

4. Verbal recognition for a team member at a staff meeting who made a big sale, had a great month, or went above and beyond for a customer.

The other day I was chatting with one of the very successful retail store owners on our advisory board, Patti Harbin of In-Courage, and I asked her about some of the strategies she uses to keep her business growing.

One new direction she started taking several years ago was to set up a booth at a local show (open to the public) that draws more than 30,000 people from a wide radius in Texas. At the show she sold thousands in products and was able to build her brand in the community. For months after, new customers stopped by the store and told her they shopped at her booth and wanted to check out her store.

Although the show is a lot of work, she reports it's definitely worth it.

Here are a few tips if you think a show may be right for you:

1. Patti told me she researched the show and attended it the year before she set up her first booth. While there, she asked the other vendors for tips and if they would recommend the show.

2. The first year, Patti stocked her booth with products that were supposed to go in her stores. She says, "That was a big mistake, so now I order separately for my booth and my stores." It left her empty in the store for some time until the replacement inventory arrived and that lowered her store sales.

3. Make sure you have enough staff. Since the show that Patti does has a big volume of attendees, it requires five to six employees at all times to keep the lines moving, re-merchandise once products sell out and answer questions.

4. Talk to show management and ask loads of questions (how many people do you anticipate, how long has the show been running, what products sell best, who are your top vendors, how do they market the show, etc.). In the second year, Patti asked the show management if she could become a sponsor and hand out bags imprinted with her store name and website. Now "everyone walks the show with an In-Courage bag and that also helps to build brand awareness."

What's great about doing shows is that it enables you to promote your store while bringing in extra revenue. It's like getting paid to market your store!

As you've probably heard by now, Amazon purchased Zappos.com for approximately $850 million. I read a copy of the email that the CEO, Tony Hsieh, sent to his staff informing them of the acquisition in the Wall Street Journal last week. It was so well-written and inspiring that I've been thinking about it ever since.

Here are three core business principles I was reminded of when reading his letter:

1. Consistent communication is critical (especially during uncertain times)—it's very important to communicate to the team where your company is headed and how it's going to get there. By doing this you reassure them that there is a plan in place and a goal for measuring success.

2. An inspirational message goes a long way in motivating the team—the letter is so upbeat and positive that as I read it I became convinced that the merger is a huge opportunity for Zappos. Frequent, inspiring messages through staff meetings motivate a team to top performance.

3. Establishing core values and promoting them to the team gives everyone a foundation upon which to make decisions—Even as a small business owner you can create a list of three to five core values, the values upon which the attitude and character of your organization are based. After you post them on the wall, the team (including yourself) can use them as a guideline in all aspects of running the business.

Below is an excerpt from the letter…

Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009
From: Tony Hsieh (CEO - Zappos.com)
To: All Zappos Employees
Subject: Zappos and Amazon

Please set aside 20 minutes to carefully read this entire email. (My apologies for the occasional use of formal-sounding language, as parts of it are written in a particular way for legal reasons.)

Today is a big day in Zappos history.

This morning, our board approved and we signed what’s known as a “definitive agreement”, in which all of the existing shareholders and investors of Zappos (there are over 100) will be exchanging their Zappos stock for Amazon stock. Once the exchange is done, Amazon will become the only shareholder of Zappos stock.

Over the next few days, you will probably read headlines that say "Amazon acquires Zappos" or "Zappos sells to Amazon". While those headlines are technically correct, they don't really properly convey the spirit of the transaction. (I personally would prefer the headline “Zappos and Amazon sitting in a tree…”)

For the complete letter, please check out the Zappos blog.

I'm currently reading Eckhart Tolle's book, The Power of Now. The book is about adopting the practice of focusing on the present moment, rather than remembering the past or trying to predict the future. He believes that when you look back, or try to look forward, you get caught up in an emotional "dialogue" in your head that takes away from your experience in the moment.

Even though Tolle's book is meant to be used as a tool in every area of your life, I find it particularly helpful from a business perspective. As business owners we can get so caught up in thinking about how the future might unfold, that we are distracted from using every moment now to propel our business forward.

Of course we need to do some practical planning for the future (ordering, scheduling, etc.), but the more you make the most of today, the less inclined you'll be to worry about the "what might happen."

Last week I received a copy of an industry trade magazine for publishers, and it had the best cover copy I've seen in a long time—"A recession is a terrible thing to waste."

It got me thinking that while a recession is very difficult for business owners, the silver lining is that opportunities do come out of it. As an entrepreneur and eternal optimist, I immediately began thinking of good things that can come out of a recession.

1. It forces business owners to think about everything, from running our operations more efficiently, to maintaining better inventory control, to staffing. Everything should be considered as an opportunity to cost costs or generate more revenue.

2. You can't just sit still in a recession—you have to take action. Only the strong are going to survive, so it forces us to get to the top of our game.

3. Even in a good economy product(s) are important. Now they are essential. You have to focus on what's selling, and sell more of it.

4. It weeds out the competition. If you can survive the hard times, there will be less competition when the good times come back.

5. It puts us to the test as entrepreneurs. If you can get through this—you can get through anything!

I was interviewed today for an article about growing publishing companies. The reason she included our company is because Pinnacle Publishing Group was just placed on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies in the United States. One of her interview questions was inquiring about our strategic growth plans in light of what's going on the economy.

I explained that we have some fellow publishing friends who are planning on "hunkering down" in 2009 to weather the economic storm (i.e., no new initiatives). However, I don't agree with that philosophy. From my perspective, you have to continue to forge ahead even in difficult times. It's those innovative companies that can keep growing during hard times that will be here for the long-term. I hope you're working on your 2009 growth plans too!

I recently read in a newspaper article that specialty stores are using in-store workforce management computer systems to increase sales and cut costs. For example, the system that Ann Taylor installed calculates such performance metrics as average sales per hour, units sold and dollars per transaction. The system is then used to schedule the most productive workers during the busiest hours.

Proponents of the system argue that productivity can be increased by 15% or more, while costs can be cut by 5% or more. These numbers are significant and important because of the slow economy—retailers need to figure out ways to make more money while cutting costs.

On the other hand, the downside of the system is that it doesn't take into account variables (like an employee's seniority) and employees won't have the same level of flexibility in their schedule as in the past. Another disadvantage is that the selling environment at Ann Taylor switched from a more casual and fun place to a competitive, and sometimes underhanded, place of employment.

As a smaller independent store, you're probably not looking to install a workforce management system. However, here are three ideas I got from the article that you could apply in your store:

• Think about scheduling your top producing sales people during the busiest store hours.

• Assess whether your store schedule has too many people working during down time and not enough during prime time—then fix it.

• Make sure you have a way to track your employees' metrics. Reward those who have top grossing sales with a gift certificate and recognition, then schedule them to work at the busier times.

When I'm traveling, I always make a point of visiting local retailers, not only to observe new retail concepts, but also to see different merchandising ideas and products (and to shop, of course!). On the the island of Oahu, Waikiki Beach is known for its shopping—in addition to the fabulous beaches. The shops are open an average of fourteen hours a day (imagine how much the retailers spend for staffing!), but it's well worth it because tourists spend at least $10 billion shopping every year in Hawaii.

There is a little shopping area called the International Marketplace that I enjoyed visiting. The interesting thing about the cart program is that of the 40 or so vendors, about 30 of them sell the exact same thing! It proves that with the right location, right products and right staffing you can still be successful, regardless of competition.

One of my biggest challenges in business used to be delegation. Now you might think it was a control issue, but it wasn't. It was more that I thought the best way of achieving great leadership was through the old management principle of leading by example (i.e., participating in doing the work). And while I do still feel that pitching in to do some of the work can be a sign of good leadership, I have come to understand that a CEO's job is more to direct, encourage and support the team doing the work.

I recently read a business book on leadership and saw a wonderful quote by Lao Tzu, the Father of Taoism, which perfectly summed up the sign of a great leader, "When the best leader's work is done, the people say 'we did it ourselves.'"

What characteristics do you think define great leadership?