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If
you can't read this,
select
here.
 Dear
Friends and Colleagues,
April means a lot
of things. Warm weather, sunshine... and sports!
It won't be long now before a lot
of your customers' children are engaged in various little
leagues, etc. That means, your customers' schedules are
going to get pretty tight!
Don't wait for that to happen.
NOW is the the time you should be on the phone with your
customers booking your May AND June events. The longer you
wait, the harder it will become.
Enjoy this month's
newsletter, and, as always, if I can ever be of service, please
don't hesitate to get in touch!
Warmest
regards,
John
Sanpietro
Certified
Professional Development Coach
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Make Your Stamping
Business
Recession-Proof!
Less Than A Week
Left to Sign Up!
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There's less than a week left to sign up for the
Guerrilla Marketing
Boot Camp - Make Your Stamping Business
Recession-Proof!
If you're
concerned about how the economy is going to
affect (or is already affecting) your stamping
business, you should know there's a way to
protect your business against changing economic
tides.
The Guerrilla
Marketing Boot Camp will teach you how to
rise above bad economic (or any other) news by
making yourself indispensable to your customers,
rather than optional.
Use this link for more information.
Or just
register now!
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Last-Minute Tax Tip -
Let Your Stamping Business Fund Your Retirement! |
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 As
the April 15th tax deadline approaches, I'd like to ask
you the same question I ask all of my clients - What are
you doing for your retirement?
Many
stamping business owners are unaware that, as sole
proprietors, they have several retirement options beyond
the Traditional and Roth IRA. In many cases, these
options are far superior AND on par with the 401(k) and
403(b) plans larger companies offer!
One
such option is the SEP IRA. The SEP IRA allows you
to make pre-tax contributions into a retirement
plan that you control. In other words, if
you're so inclined, you can use the money to invest in
whatever you want. You're not limited to the
options set by your broker. Often, that
flexibility translates into a better return on your
investment. Of course, if you would like someone
else to do it for you, several brokers offer SEP IRA
plans that are run like a traditional retirement plan -
you pick a strategy and they manage the investments.
If
you'd like more information about SEP IRAs, you can
learn more at Investopedia's
site, or do an internet search for SEP IRA.
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You
Think Your Customers Give You Grief!? At Least
They Don't Give You Ground Beef! |
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You have
to love your customers!
Several
people forwarded this post to me, and... well... you
have to read it to believe it:
OK -- so I'm having my stamp camp last night and I
charge $10 for three projects: 2 cards and a 3-d item.
The camp goes well and everyone seemed to enjoy the camp
and all the projects. I had some newbies at this camp
too! When everyone was finished and started to pay their
camp fees (and/or their order amounts), one women (a
newbie) promptly shoved a pound of frozen ground beef
at me for her camp fee payment. WHAT!!!???!!! She
glowingly and proudly told me the beef was prime beef
from her family's butcher and then walked away. I stood
there holding the beef, and really didn't know what to
say?
Ouch!
I truly feel for this person, but, as a Business Coach,
I'd like to point out a few ways this could have been
avoided:
1.
Always require prepayment! It's tough to
pre-pay with meat! Seriously, you should never
wait until the end of the event to get paid. In
fact, you should require all of your customers to
register and pay at least 10-14 days in advance.
2.
Raise your prices! All of you should be
charging at least $20 for a class like this.
There's no way you're getting paid for your time if
you're doing three projects for $10. Also, it's a
lot more difficult to carry $20 worth of ground beef...
even if it is prime!
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Now
Booking 2008 and 2009
Live Presentations!
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 "John
is the BEST business speaker in our profession!"
- Glenda Travelstead
We're now booking
presentations for the second half of 2008 and 2009!
If
you would like more information about booking John for an appearance in
front of your group, send
us an e-mail, or select
here for more information.
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Sample
of the Month |
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Submitted
by:
Monique Montenegro
Stamp Sets:
Friendship Blooms
C/S:
So Saffron, Bashful
Blue
Inks &
Markers:
Black
Accessories:
Cutie Pie Designer
Series Paper,
Scallop Punch, 1
3/8" Punch
Congratulations
to Monique, who wins a $10 SIMB Gift Certificate! As
part of our efforts to continually improve, I'm happy to
announce the NEW & IMPROVED SAMPLES SECTION.
Utilizing blog technology, the new samples section
features a search function which allows you to look up
samples by a particular stamp set or theme. You
can also click on each sample for an even larger
version. In total, WE
NOW HAVE OVER 500 SAMPLES and are adding more and more
every day. Use
this link to view the new
Samples Section. We
are now looking for
Mother's
Day
samples!
If
you would like to submit a sample to be considered for
Sample of the Month and the Samples Section, just send
me a scan via e-mail, or mail your sample to: John
Sanpietro, Stamping Is My Business!, 36 Fir Street, Jay,
NY 12941. Please
include your name, e-mail address, phone number and all
materials used to make your sample.
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Book of the Month
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Leadership Gold
by
John C. Maxwell
John Maxwell is one of those people you want to spend
some time with. He's been in the business of
business for a LONG time.
This book is sort of the
culmination of that time. He condenses the lessons
he's learned into easy-to-read, easy-to-digest chapters.
This book won't change
your life or anything, but it probably contains a couple
of 'a-ha' moments for everyone.
Select here for more information from Amazon.com.
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Stamping
Business Q&A
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When I Call A
Customer To Follow Up On A Catalog, What Do I Do
When They Say, "I Haven't Looked At It Yet? |
Don't give up control
of the timetable!
If a customer says she
hasn't had a chance to look at what you sent her yet,
don't leave it at that. Don't expect that the
customer will dutifully look at the catalog and then
call you. Most of the time, that just won't
happen!
Instead, if your customer
says she hasn't looked at it yet, you follow up with,
"No problem. Would it be OK if I called you back
(three days from now)? Do you think you'll have a
chance to look at it by then?"
This follow-up statement
accomplishes two things:
1. You get a commitment
from your customer, as well as her permission to call
her back.
2. If your customer was
just trying to put you off without saying she wasn't
interested outright, that follow-up will usually reveal
that. You customer might say something like,
"well... I'll just call you." Now you don't have
to waste any more of your time!
The motto here is,
don't give up control! The more control you
have, the more you're running your business... not the
other way around!
(If
there's a question you'd like answered, or a topic you'd
like me to cover, feel free
to
send
me an e-mail)
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Testimonials... |
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Your
Boot Camps
are AMAZING! I learn more in four weeks with you than I learn in
years with anyone else!
- PC, New Jersey
Group
Coaching has truly helped me be more profitable & I've met many nice
(and smart) Demonstrators to make it even better.
- AMC, California
Your
book is
awesome! Before I read it, I didn't think I could make money with my
stamping business. Now I (and my husband!) know I can!
-
DF, Utah
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Quick
Links...
Order
the Electronic Version of "Stamping Is My Business!"
Order
the Printed Version of "Stamping Is My
Business!"
Order
one of the SIMB Training CDs
Join the Stamping Business
Coaching Group
Find out how to book John to speak live to YOUR group
Learn
more about the SIMB Referral Program Sign
up for 1-on-1 Coaching
Sign
up for an @StampingIsMyBusiness.com e-mail address
Order
the "Stamping Is My Business!" Tote Bag Stamping
Is My Business! Homepage
E-mail
Me
Past Newsletters
February,
2008
January, 2008
December, 2007
November, 2007 October,
2007
September,
2007
July,
2007
June,
2007
May,
2007
April,
2007
March,
2007 February,
2007 January,
2007
NEWSLETTER
ARCHIVE
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Companies I Use
People
always ask me what companies I use to run my home-based
business. The links below are all companies I work with
and recommend:
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