Are Office Supply Super Stores Killing Your Business?Written by Robert Short
Have you ever noticed how convenient those giant office super stores are? I mean we all use them. They’re on every corner out here in suburbs of Boston. It’s Officethis or Officethat or something like Paperclips, you know, all major players. Well, I’ve recently realized that over past 10 years of prosperity that my small business has been paying a huge premium for this convenience. In past several months, as a result of recent economic downturn in our local economy, I have been doing everything I can to plug holes in our spending and trying to “trim fat” so to speak. Fortunately this is something that myself, my competition and other local business owners are not familiar with. We have all prospered and have rarely, if ever, worried about money.One evening I was shopping with my family at Wal-Mart loading up on family stuff and I couldn’t help but notice that same 100ct (or very similar) manila folders that I paid nearly $7.00 for several hours earlier at Officethat were available at Wal-Mart at an everyday low price of $1.77. Now, I never claimed to be a genius but a $5.00 difference on a product that I buy 5 boxes of a month is a $25.00 a month savings. That of course is $300 a year. I quickly realized that I was on to something but I figured it was just a fluke. I had also bought a new water bubbler and a mini bar type refrigerator earlier and they both cost $149.00 each so I figured I would go and check out that aisle as well. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I found a water bubbler/mini fridge combo for only $99.00. Of course I bought it on spot and when I got back to my office next morning I repackaged fridge and water bubbler and back to Officethat they went with five boxes of manila folders and a few other overpriced items and I saved more than $225.00. Not too shabby. And to think that this was only one trip over past ten years. How much could I have been saving whole time?
| | Using Repackaging to 'Go Big' with your Online BizWritten by Andrea J. Lee
It's actually quite common for online business owners to find themselves stuck. So let's start with a bang and talk about one of best ways I know to give your online business a real-world boost. Come to understand concept of 'Repackaging' or 'Repurposing' When I go to grocery store in month of November, I always shake my head in admiration. The reason is it's pretty obvious what Big Chocolate companies have done, isn't it? They've taken same chocolate product and changed packaging (switched giant plastic bags for high-end boxes.) It doesn't matter if it's Cadbury, Hershey or Lindt...you're looking at very same chocolate only put to a new purpose...helping us celebrate Christmas instead of Halloween. Brilliant. And a critically important lesson for online biz owners. So here's question to ask yourself: "What intellectual property do I have that I can (quickly and with relatively little effort) repackage and sell to a new set of customers?" Answer: Step 1: Start by listing your current inventory of intellectual property. Dig deep and don't overlook obvious. If you've created a one-page website, terrific, put it on your list. Other things to list include lesson plans, graphical banners, audio clips, TeleClass titles you've led, even list of ideas in your notebook is part of your IP inventory...you don't have to have a website. Other more traditional items are CD sets, workbooks, assessments, your ezine, eBooks, etc. Step 2: Now brainstorm how to make your material new again. Make a list of how your current inventory can be repurposed. Can your eZine issues be compiled into an eBooklet? Maybe your eBook can be chunked into 52 issues of a weekly tip eZine...perfect to attract visitors to your website. Do this for as many items in your inventory as you can, and by all means list as many new purposes for each that occur to you. Filled in, this worksheet will become your list of "gold nugget" projects, to return to when time or budget permit.
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