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Free Resources to Help Your Retail Business Succeed!

Free eBook Icon from Phil's ForumYes, the eBooks here are FREE for you to use, copy, distribute, and share!

Most importantly, they are here to add tools to your retail tool box to help you to grow your business and find the success you know is there.

Printing more than one copy – or distributing it electronically – is actively encouraged. Please share these documents with anyone you think would benefit. Pass them along to your fellow indie retailers with my blessing. You may also reprint the text in your own writings as long as you credit me where necessary.

Check back often as I will be posting new tools and resources from time to time. If you don’t find what you need here, send me an email. It may be something I’ve got in the works, or it may be a great idea we need to explore.

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Improve Your Marketing

These Free eBooks will help you better MARKET & ADVERTISE your business…

UNDERSTANDING YOUR BRAND (pdf) – This is the very first, most important article you need to read. People don’t shop with you because of your products or prices. They shop with you because of your Values. Knowing your values will guide not only your marketing message, it will guide every decision you make going forward. (Not everyone understands this concept at first. Email me if you have questions.)

BRANDING WORKSHEETS (pdf) – After you have read Understanding Your Brand, do these worksheets to help you uncover your Core Values.

MOST ADS SUCK (BUT YOURS WON’T) (pdf)If you create content meant to persuade, whether through broadcast, print, or digital, this book will show you six principles that will help your content get seen, get remembered, and get acted upon. 

HOW ADS WORK PART 1 (pdf) – Before you spend a penny on a single ad, you should know some of the biggest myths about advertising, how different media works (and doesn’t work), and the most important difference between your audience and the big box store’s audience. 

HOW ADS WORK PART 2 (pdf) – Roy H. Williams, aka The Wizard of Ads, created a formula he calls the APE. If you really want to know how to get the most out of your advertising budget, you will definitely want to read this.

MAKING YOUR ADS MORE EFFECTIVE (pdf) – Let’s be honest. Most ads suck! A small handful are creative, some are funny, but very few are memorable, and even fewer are creative. There are four things you can do to make your ads more memorable and effective. Download this free eBook to see how.

GENERATING WORD OF MOUTH (pdf) – You know that Word-of-Mouth is the best form of advertising. But do you know how to consistently get people to talk about your business? You will after you download this free eBook.

MAIN STREET MARKETING ON A SHOESTRING BUDGET (pdf) – You don’t need a huge budget to draw a huge crowd. But you do need some powerful tools. This free eBook designed primarily for downtown retailers gives you seven tools you can use that won’t break the bank.

BABY STORE MARKETING ON A SHOESTRING BUDGET (pdf) – This is a take-off from Main Street Marketing on a Shoestring Budget specifically for independent Baby Products Retailers.

NON-PROFIT MARKETING ON A SHOESTRING BUDGET (pdf) – Another take-off of the Main Street Marketing eBook specifically for Non-Profit Organizations and Charities.

Improve Your Customer Service

These Free eBooks will help you ROCK YOUR CUSTOMER’S WORLD

THE MEET-AND-GREET: BUILDING A LONGTERM RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS (pdf)While most sales books spend all their time and energy on Closing the Sale, the smart retailers know that the beginning is equally important in the long run. This free eBook will show you best practices for making those strong first impressions that lead to lifetime customers.

CLOSE THE SALE WITH ASSUMPTIVE SELLING (pdf) – Once you’ve built the relationship it is time to get the sale. This free eBook shows you the different modes of shopping and how to get the customer into the buying mode. Plus, you’ll learn important steps you need to take to make the sale stay closed for good.

HOW TO PUSH FOR YES (WITHOUT BEING PUSHY) (pdf) – According to recent studies, 8 out of 10 customers leave your store without making a purchase. They said, “No.” This free eBook shows you the most common reasons they say No and how to turn those into “Yes.” If you can just convert one of those eight into a Yes, just think of the growth you’ll have.

CUSTOMER SERVICE: FROM WEAK TO WOW! (pdf) When you stop and look at your business from the customer’s point of view, you will find many opportunities to surprise and delight her beyond her expectations. This free eBook takes you on a journey through your store and shows you how to blow her away.

TURNING CUSTOMERS INTO FANS (pdf) – Repeat customers are great, but you want customers who evangelize your business, fanatics who come back and bring their friends with them. This free eBook shows you the steps for turning your customers into fans without having to bribe them.

SELLING IN A SHOWROOMING WORLD (pdf) – Showrooming isn’t new. It started with the second caveman to build a wheel. But with the rise of the Internet it has become a thorn in the side of many indie retailers. The free eBook will show you how to all but eliminate it from your sales floor and help you close the sale more often than not.

TEN MISTAKES THAT SIDELINE THE SALE (pdf) – We all make mistakes that kill sales. Some of them are easily correctable. This free eBook shows you ten common mistakes and the corrections you should take to win sales, not sideline them.

ATTRACTING AND SELLING TO MILLENNIALS (pdf) – Millennials are about to become the largest, most influential generation, surpassing the Baby Boomers in spending power. You better know what makes them tick if you want to win their business. (Hint: they aren’t the self-absorbed, entitled, snowflakes some might want you to believe.) This eBook shows you the real side of Millennials and what you need to do to get their business.

TEAM BUILDING 101: THE BASICS (pdf) It is all about the Team, the Team, the Team. Rah, rah, rah. Everyone knows the importance of having a solid working team, but do you know how to create that team? This free eBook gives you the basics of how teams form and can be fostered into greatness. Plus, you’ll learn the three most important questions you need to know to encourage better learning and understanding among your staff.

STAFF MEETINGS EVERYONE WANTS TO ATTEND (pdf) – Most meetings are boring. Many of them are useless. The staff find any excuse they can to miss the meeting. Unless you know the secrets for making your meetings fun, engaging and useful. This free eBook will show you a better way to plan your meetings that will have your staff planning their schedules to make sure they never miss it.

STAFF MEETING PLANNING WORKSHEET (pdf) – Once you’ve read the above eBook, download this simple worksheet and start planning some awesome meetings!

HIRING AND TRAINING WORKSHEETS (pdf) – Here are the worksheets found in the back of my book, Hiring and the Potter’s Wheel: Turning Your Staff Into a Work of Art. Read the book to see how to make the most of these worksheets.

Improve Your Money

These Free eBooks will improve your CASH FLOW, grow your PROFITS, and put more MONEY in your pocket…

PRICING FOR PROFIT (pdf) – You are leaving money on the table. Lots of it! This free eBook will show you how to find that money by teaching you the three most important rules of pricing. You will learn how to price your products more attractively which will increase both your sales and your profits!

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT: 4TH QUARTER STORES (pdf) – Cash is King! You are the adviser. Inventory is the largest chunk of your cash. This free eBook is designed for stores who count on 4th Quarter seasonal sales to drive their business and shows you how to manage your inventory and cash flow better. 

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT: PET STORES (pdf) – The same math as above but calculated specifically for pet stores that are less 4th-quarter driven.

READING YOUR FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (pdf)  – Your Profit & Loss (Income Statement) and Balance Sheet tell a compelling story about the financial health of your business. Knowing how to read them will help you use them to put more money into your pockets (and less in the accountant’s). This free eBook teaches you how the numbers are calculated and what they are telling you about your business.

MERCHANDISING MADE EASY (pdf) – The experts tell you to build straight aisles that are easy to navigate. They tell you to put in curvy aisles that surprise and delight. They tell you to rotate displays and move things around. They tell you to keep things where they are so the regulars know where to find them. The experts tell you a lot of contradictory stuff. This free eBook teaches you which plan is right for your merchandise and your store. Plus, you’ll learn why signs can increase sales by a large percentage.

Making a profit

PS The “Live” version of all of these topics is always up-to-date and much more fun! When you want to hire a top-level speaker for your next event, hire me and you’ll be happy you did.

“[Phil’s] tips paid off immediately at our next staff meeting.”
(actual survey comment from Staff Meetings Presentation for Midtown Association)

Contact Info:
Phil Wrzesinski
(517) 937-3213 phone

PhilWrzesinski@Gmail.com