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Monday October 19, 2009 |
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it's magical really. |
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Christmas truly is a magical holiday. Now, before you think I have
sniffed too much of the evergreens already, hear me out. I agree that
for those of us in this industry the holidays lose a little luster in
the day-to-day process of running our businesses. I certainly have
moments where I get bogged down, tired, and downright Grinch-like and I
am sure most of you do too. But then something will happen. Maybe it's
something as simple as a special telephone conversation with a customer
but it makes me realize that what we do for a living shares the magic
with the world......one person at a time. Think about it. From the
careful pruning of the trees to the person hanging the fresh wreath on
their home all of us have worked together...bonded really....to make an
already magical holiday all the more special.
As the season is just beginning I wanted to just take a moment and say
thank you. Thank you for sharing in the magic. I'm looking forward to
the holidays and hope you are too. After all, it's
Tis the Season Time
and what can be more magical than that?
I will attempt to blog periodically but if I don't,
know that it is because I am fully absorbing myself into the magic of
the season and I hope that you join me. Here's to sharing the magic!
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Friday August 21, 2009 |
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fresh, new, and exciting. |
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That is the only way I can describe our new items for 2009. To make the 2009
items easier to find on this ever-expanding website, go to the current news
page by clicking HERE. There you will find
a list of the new items for this year. By clicking on the new items, it will
take you to the right page where you can find them.
My advice to you? Don't be afraid to try
something new. Remember, we have no minimums! We do this so you can try and
test new items without a huge risk. The key is ordering early. I can't tell
you how many times I hear, "just duplicate my order from last year". While
this is a good strategy for covering your basics, don't let your inventory
become stagnant and repetitive by not taking a few moments to add something
fresh and new. Trust me, you will be glad that you did! |
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Tuesday August 18, 2009 |
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the power of a porch pot. |
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One of the amazing things about this industry is the willingness I see in my
customers to share ideas with their "competition". I can't tell you how many
times I heard things like "what works for me is...." and "you should
try....." spoken from the owner of one garden center to the owner of another
garden center. (Feel free to substitute "garden center" with "greenhouse",
"Christmas Tree Farm", or any other industry retail establishment because I
have heard them ALL be helpful to each other).
One such idea I have heard shared numerous times is the "Returning Customer"
tip. This tip involves the many ways you can get a single consumer to return
during each season.....spring, summer, fall, and winter. New for 2009, we
have our own products and tips to help with that challenge....the Porch Pot.
Don't let the name fool you, it's not only for porches. This item makes an
excellent memorial item as well. It's very sturdy with drain holes in the
bottom and it will easily hold your 10" pot.
And the "Returning Customer Tip"? Decorate and sell this wonderful item for
Christmas.....with a program in place to have them bring back their Porch
Pot. You can plant it up for them in the spring, maybe plant it again in the
summer, plant it in the fall with Autumn-inspired colors, and of course,
redecorate it for Winter with Christmas Greens again. With the sale of
one porch pot you have the added bonus of creating a program to guarantee
plant sales in the other seasons too! It's a win for both you and your
customer too!
Click HERE to go to the Porch Pot page of our
website!
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Thursday August 13, 2009 |
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CD tips & candleberry details |
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It's come to my attention that some helpful hints and tips about our price
list CD might be a good thing. This is a relatively new concept and I
apologize if our efforts to be more "green" and simplify things actually
makes it more difficult. I think once everyone is comfortable with this new
tool, they will find it so much easier to use.
First, on the CD are 3 different types of files which I will break down into
2 categories. Those file types are Word documents, Excel files, and PDF
files. The neat thing about the Word and Excel files is that you can type
right into the fields on those files. You can then save a copy for your own
records and print and fax or even simply email back the file to us as your
2009 order. You can fill out the forms that are in Word by typing in the
appropriate areas....then save a copy for your records and email (or print
and fax) the forms to us. The catch is you have to have Word and Excel
(which is part of Microsoft Office) in order to use these files.
Since we know not everyone has Word and Excel, we have also saved all of the
information as a PDF file. This file can be read, but not modified so you
can't type in the fields with the PDF files. However, you can view the files
and if you don't already have Adobe PDF viewer on your computer, you can
download it for free at
www.adobe.com. Simply
click on "Get Adobe Reader" and it will take you to the page where you can
download it.
Back to the Excel files......in terms of the multi-page
lists (such as Regular Price List and Direct Ship List), you will see little
tabs at the bottom of the screen that say "Page 1", "Page 2" and so on. You
need to click each "worksheet" as they call those tabs in Excel in order to
view, modify, print that particular page. Our Regular Price List has 22
pages (including the cover sheet) and the Direct Ship has 5 pages (including
the cover sheet).
As for the Candleberry details.......I had a customer
just today point out to me (and if you are reading this blog, you know who
you are....thank you for the feedback) that the wording on our price list is
a bit confusing as 12" shows up near both the Candleberry Wreaths. On Page 2
of our Regular Price List, the Candleberry is a 12" ring.....and that is the
new wreath for 2009. On Page 3 of our Regular Price List the Candleberry has
12" OD in the description but that OD means "outside diameter". The ring
size of that wreath is a 7" ring. That is the Candleberry wreath we have had
for many years. I hope this helps clarify things.
As I mentioned, I want this blog to be helpful
and informative. Please let me know if I can answer questions, or if there
is some other information that I can share that might be helpful to
everyone.
Happy Thursday Everyone! (P.S.....the deadline
for the PreSeason Sale is only 19 days away! Don't forget....it's September
1st!) |
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Wednesday August 12, 2009 |
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the beginnings of a blog...and a ticking clock. |
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Welcome to our blog! Although we haven't yet joined the Twitter and
Facebook bandwagon, we felt it was time to create a blog on this website,
with the intention of sharing information and other fun and useful tips.
Hopefully you will enjoy your time visiting our blog and it will become a
place you frequent often!
Tick-Tock....Tick-Tock.....the countdown is on. Not just for back to
school but for the deadline to lock in pricing for our two fabulous
sales....the PreSeason Sale and the Swag Stimulus Sale. Take just a
minute.........find a pen, pencil, crayon....whatever it takes....and
mark your calendar now with the deadline of September 1st!
Okay, now that we got that important task out of
the way, let's chat about the upcoming Christmas season. Last month we
were exhibitors at the OFA Short Course in Columbus, Ohio. I will be
honest, I didn't know quite what type of "mood" attendees would be
in. We all know the economy hasn't been the best (to put it mildly) and
I wasn't sure how the spring season had gone for everyone in terms of
sales. I was cautiously optimistic going into the show....and I was
pleasantly surprised! The majority of the people that we spoke with had
decent to better-than-normal spring sales. They had also done very well
with our product during Christmas 2008. And....they were EXCITED about
Christmas and ENTHUSIASTIC about planning and ordering for the upcoming
holiday season.
There are many things to be positive about and
the economy is slowly improving. Christmas is a time of family....and of
hope....and that "staycation" trend from this summer will continue
during the Christmas season too. Look to the spring sales as an
indicator.....home gardening was big. People stayed home and planted
gardens. They are also going to stay home over the holidays and "plant
memories". Our product is at the root of those memories......the
fragrance of our fresh greens is such an integral part of
Christmas...it's a natural fit. There is nothing, absolutely nothing
that can be a substitute for that.
A lot of time and thought went into our "new"
items this year. We wanted to make sure we had a variety of pricing
points to allow for the possibility that consumers might still be
watching their pennies. We have found solutions for that.....such as in
our new 12" Candleberry Wreath. It's the same design as our ever-favored
Candleberry, but in a new door-size and at an excellent price too. It
has quality, distinction, and value.
It is very important that blogs cater to their readers. So please tell me
what you want to hear about. How can our blog be enjoyable and
educational? Send your thoughts to me at
shannon@wintergreens.com.
I can't promise how often this blog will be updated, but I will do
everything I can to make this new blog something you want to frequent.
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Note: This web background was found at
www.backgroundcity.com. |
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