And so on, and so on, and so on....

Advertising is hard--REALLY hard, and, unfortunately, the only way to figure out what works for your business is to try different methods. When I first opened my store, I would lug my wares around and set them up at events to try and recreate a micro-version of my gift shop. These displays produced a lot of "oohs and aahs" on the spot, but they didn't do much in the way of bringing people to the actual store. Once the event was over, me and my beautiful shop weren't even a distant memory.

I also went the classic route of newspaper print advertising. Here, repetition is the key, so those with long-term commitment issues (like me) are going to squirm a bit. This is a relationship that you don't know is going to work out until you're well into it, having spent more time, energy, and money than you want to for an unsure thing. Admittedly I didn't have the stamina to give this a good go, so I did a few ads here and there without any real continuity. Wrong or not, when my uncle commented that he'd been doing a crossword puzzle for a week before he noticed the ad for my shop above it, I yanked all my print ads immediately.

Enter the television commercial. This one, I have to take full responsibility for its failure. I focused on the completely wrong products, and the commercial did essentially nothing to promote the gift shop. I still want to revisit this with a brand-new commercial because I do believe I had the right target audience to make this work. I'll probably roll this out next year.

What I have found from all of my experimenting, however, is that there is one advertising model that works 100% of the time--the glorious word of mouth. The problem with this method, however, is that you have to have the patience and funding to wait out the time it needs to take hold. As any small business owner will tell you, these are typically two things they do not have in abundance. Here's where YOU, yes YOU can help. There's a lot of chatter about shopping local, supporting small businesses, and how small businesses are the backbone of our economy. Well, it's time to really do something about promoting the small businesses you love--the ones owned by your family, friends, and neighbors. Does anyone remember the Faberge Organics Shampoo commercial? You know the one I mean:

"When I first tried Faberge Organics Shampoo with pure wheat germ oil and honey, it was so good I told two friends about it. And they told two friends. And so on, and so on…”

THAT'S what your small business owner needs from you--RIGHT NOW! So do it--it takes TWO SECONDS to tell a friend how much you love the coffee at Demitasse, the great stocking stuffers you got at The Toy Tree, the fabulous clothing you got at Fun Kids Consignments, that gorgeous dress you purchased at Sabrina Style, or the perfect gift you found at my shop, Wishing Well. You really do have the power to boost our economy, one comment at a time--Who's with me?!?

Getting Their Feet in the Door

For the last two years, we have teamed up with a local gluten free baking company for a little win-win situation. The president of the company bakes gluten free pies for the holidays, and, prior to our current set up, would drive the pies around and meet people in business parking lots to deliver their pies. As one customer said to me, "It was a little like a drug deal," which I thought was kinda funny, but our baker friend probably will not.

In any case, we came up with the idea of making Wishing Well the pick-up spot so that our gluten-free baker only had to make one stop to drop off her pies. Her customers could then pick up the pies at their convenience in a retail environment. Now, this may seem like a great deal for our baker friend and her gluten-free pie lovers, but how does it benefit Wishing Well? Aside from the obvious (it gets people in the shop), it gets the RIGHT people in the shop so that they can discover that we have a fantastic selection of gluten free gourmet treats. Our offerings go beyond the staples/essentials you'll find in the grocery stores, and into the realm of gifty, gluten free yummies that your gluten free-friends and family will love to receive.

We also have unique gluten free ingredients to help inspire you to whip up gourmet foods for your holiday table and WOW your gluten-free guest(s). Check out our Facebook page for recipes and tips.

Going the Distance

The other day I got a call from a woman asking if we were Down on Main Street Gift Shop.

I answered, cheerfully, "No, but we are a really great gift shop, Wishing Well, and we're also on Church Hill Road."

The lady asked, hopefully, "Oh, really? Where?"

"We're in Sandy Hook, right next to Figs Restaurant," I said.

"Ohhhh," she moaned, "that's really far. Thanks anyway," and then she hung up the phone.

Far? Really?!?!? Down on Main Street is located at 14 Church Hill Road, and Wishing Well is at 107 Church Hill Road--they're both on the same street! What's more, they are only 1.2 miles apart! I must be missing something--if you are willing to drive to Down on Main Street, is it really that much more out of the way to drive to Wishing Well? The answer is, as the crow flies, it's not. However, there is a BIG distinction to where Wishing Well is on Church Hill Road and Where Down on Main Street is located. At the top of Church Hill Road where Down on Main Street operates, they have the zip code 06470--making them a Newtown business. Where Wishing Well is located on Church Hill Road addresses have the Sandy Hook zip code of 06482. Despite their proximity, the fact that Wishing Well is in Sandy Hook, means it may as well be in a different universe. For whatever reason, crossing that bridge is a big deal...

Now I'm not trying to say that Newtown businesses don't suffer during difficult economies, and I'm not bitter about my location--in fact, I LOVE Sandy Hook. Our little village is adorable, and I have the BEST support from my business neighbors--especially since I am part of S.H.O.P. (Sandy Hook Organization for Prosperity). What I am saying, however, is that we are perceived as being remotely located as opposed to an easily-accessible part of Newtown.

This perception gives Sandy Hook businesses a unique challenge in advertising and marketing their establishments. S.H.O.P. has been fantastic in this regard by organizing and promoting our area with events such as Passport to Sandy Hook, and the upcoming Halloween Walk. At Passport especially, so many people said to me "WOW! I never knew there was so much in Sandy Hook!" As great as it is to get this kind of exposure, however, the effect of these events soon fades, and when every day life returns, these same people that we "wowed" during the events forget all about us again.

So, yes, our challenge is to keep reminding everyone that we are here, that Sandy Hook really isn't that far, and that our businesses really are worth patronizing by going that little bit of extra distance. When you do come, I, for one, promise to be absolutely delirious and offer you a discount coupon. If you don't want to shop, come have a cup of tea and visit anyway--I'd love to see you!

Rainy Day Retail

I was thinking that I should start from the beginning when chronicling my retail journey, but the prospect of organizing my thoughts into a timeline seemed daunting and artificial. I figured the full story would come out eventually through flashbacks triggered by my daily observations, so here we are, beginning this tale on a rainy Wednesday in October.

When I first opened an actual store in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, I had some pretty stupid ideas on how retail worked. Some of these ideas came from my own experiences as a shopper, but more of the ideas I had were formed by my four years of online retail experience. I quickly realized that my online retail experience was akin to my first language, and as such, interfered with my learning about brick-and-mortal retail my second "language." In short, my understanding of retail overall was defined by parameters set by my online retail experience, and this "lens" was skewing my ability to acquire and speak this new foreign language of retail now upon me.

But I digress. All I really meant to say here is that when I first opened my store, Wishing Well, in 2007, I thought that rainy days would bring tons of shoppers into my store. I mean, I liked to shop on rainy days--it's wet out--so any sane person would want to engage in an indoor activity, and shopping, being an indoor activity seems like a natural fit...right?!? Wrong. No one, and I mean literally, NO ONE shops on rainy days. So, on this rainy Wednesday in 2012, I know that the only faces I'm going to see are my employee, Kathy; my UPS delivery person, Cindy; my FedEx delivery person, Matt; and my barefoot mailman (whose name I don't know).

Another really, really stupid idea I had in the beginning was that I would actually have customers. This assumption was partly due to my "online retail" language interference and partly due to a small twist on the quotation, "if you build it, they will come." See with online retail, getting customers, or, rather, browsers, is pretty darn simple. Throw a few (thousands of) dollars at Google to buy some keywords, and you've got customers entering through your front door (home page). Write a few blog posts promoting your product, align yourself with a few sites that can show your product to the right audience, and BAM!--you have even more customers. I don't mean to imply that this means I'm making millions of dollars--I'm not--not ALL of the people who find my website buy something, but enough do that I'm doing alright for myself. So with all that being said, hopefully I can be forgiven into thinking that the actual storefront with a hanging sign, an a-frame sign, and bunch of merchandise outside would serve as the "keywords" needed to get lots of customers through the door. I "built" it, so why didn't they come???? I still can't answer that one. I have spent years now watching tons of cars drive by and people walk by, and I still have no idea why I can't get more people through the door. And don't even talk to me about print advertising--that medium flat out doesn't work.

This, again, is not to say that my store is a complete failure--it's not. I do have SOME customers, but it certainly wouldn't be enough to survive if I didn't rely on the income from the internet.

On rainy days, like today, I will set up fun little displays in the store, that I imagine customers will love. I remain excited for a few hours until the frustration of not seeing any new faces, overwhelms me. I LOVE my store--it's super cute with a lot of really fun merchandise. I seriously just want more people to share it with, but, I know from experience, that isn't going to happen today. And, in case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm relying on my first language of "online" retail to market my gift shop using a blog--I figure if no one is going to actually come in to see my displays--maybe I can get people to look at pictures of them online. Enjoy!

Come check out our new SEASONS jewelry display at Wishing Well! Do you love the beach with the warm sand beneath your toes and the cool colors of the ocean? Your jewelry style is SUMMER. Prefer the earth tones of browns, greens, oranges and the feel of crispness in the air? Your jewelry style is FALL. Snowy whites and sparkling crystals from icicles more your thing? Your jewelry style is WINTER. Vibrant colors peeking out make you happy? Your jewelry style is SPRING.