The Very Best Balloon Store - Retail Sales Tips 2.

This weeks tip is for both retail and home-based business's.

Benefits of Business Cards as a  Marketing Tool

In our highly competitive world, we need to find different ways to promote our products and services, this week we are looking at business cards.

A well designed business card can be a very effective way of marketing. They are easy to make, there are many online websites that offer an easy step-by step process to designing your own cards, giving you professional results.

The great thing about business cards is that people do actually look at them, probably longer than printed literature such as fliers and brochures. They are easy to carry and store, making it easy for someone to contact you when they need your services.

So what makes the perfect business card?

Professional looking, unlike like my first business card that I designed and printed myself on coloured card! Sadly, an industry friend reminded me of that only a few months ago and proudly gave back to me 'my original business card', they had found recently after 15 years... cringe!

Note: Do-it-yourself marketing materials can make your business look unprofessional, suggesting to potential clients that you cannot perform to or meet the standards they expect. Customers may think that if you don't care how your business presents itself, you don't care about the quality of your product or service.

What information do we need to include?

1. Your company name, business and website address are a must.
2. Company Logo is also very important and should be present on the card. Add accreditation's such as QBN network or CBA. Did you know, as a QBN member or CBA you can easily download the logo's, by simply visiting www.Qualatex.com and clicking on QBN Resources, you will need to log in using your QBN number and password, then clicking on Marketing Resources -  and select LOGO's
   
   
   
   
   
3. The font, text, and colours of a card are very important, they should be chosen with a great deal of caution. They should be readable, and colours should contrast well. Make sure the card is of a standard size to make it easier to carry. Where possible the back of the card should be left blank.

Note: This is another error that I made, recently I decided to make my new business cards a 'Hot Pink'  colour with White and Lime Green writing, yes, it did match my website colour, but it is very hard to read the Lime Green writing, all in all a disaster! 
I have since re-designed my card, making it very simple, easy to read and I lost the Lime Green text too!
Now that I have written this blog and have done a little research on the subject, I believe that I made a number of errors when designing my newest business card, I will make sure that when I re-order I will make a few changes!

My card with the Lime Green Text... impossible to read!

My latest business card, much easier to read... but does it need balloons?

A business card portrays the professionalism of a business. A good card will remain with the customer for a long time and will project a business in a positive way.

Always carry business cards with you. Give them freely and ask permission to leave them in places your target market may visit.

Have you got the very best business card that 'sells' your companies products and services really well? Please send me a photo of it, as I would love to add them to this blog! 
email me : Sue@suebowler.com

Happy Ballooning!
Sue
www.suebowler.com

Adding Value to a Qualatex Bubble Balloon - Step by Step DVD

I recently posted a blog 'Adding value... 'The Very Best Way to stand out from our competitors'! Here is a short DVD clip that show's you how to make one of the designs that I made. It's quick and simple, and with just a few additional balloons it really does add value to the Bubble balloon.

The Very Best Balloon Store - Retail Sales Tips 1.

Welcome to the Very Best Balloon Store! 

I would like to share with you on a weekly basis some retail sales tips and idea's that you may find useful and effective within your own stores, try them out and let me know if they worked for you? How about sharing some of your best sales tips too, I would love to feature them and credit you for your idea's!

As a retailer we need to find different ways to ensure that we have made the best possible sales opportunity with each and every customer who enters our stores:

I would like to start with two very simple sales tips, if you do not already do this have a go today and train your staff to do the same.

1. Each and every time someone purchases an item, the person serving should ask

"Did you find everything that you were looking for today?"  

Quick, simple and polite. Let's face it, we all from time to time forget what we actually went in a store for, or we just cannot see the item/s that we are looking for.

Think about it, let's say you manage to make an additional $20 worth of sales each day as a result of asking that very simple question.
That in turn could increase your weekly turnover by $120 which would potentially give you additional annual sales of $6,240!

2. "Can I help you?", a very classic question that we are often asked when we are walking around a store. The usual response is "Just looking"!

How about changing the way we approach our customers and ask:

"Hi there, what can I help you look for today?"

Just by simply asking a different question may get a different response and give you the opportunity to open up a conversation and recommend products or services that you are able to offer.


These sales tips are very important within our industry. We have the ability to fulfill our customers needs every time by being able to offer the perfect balloons, bouquets or arrangements custom designed to suit the customers needs.

 These  sales training tips were sourced from  MTD sales training blog.

Welcome Mr Q- the Qualatex Mascot that everyone adores!

Who's 7' tall, round, has a passion for balloons and of course is very handsome... it's Mr Q! 


This week sees the official launch of this adorable Qualatex Mascot, this chap is so important he has his very own email address and Facebook page - mr.q@qualatex.com & www.facebook.com/qualatexmascot  I am sure that he would love you to become his friend or email him from time to time!
Mr Q has actually been around since 2009 (when the Qualatex logo was revamped).

He told me “Back then, I was laying low and preparing for my on-screen debut in the video many of you saw before the Plant Tour at the World Balloon Convention 2010. Remember, the charming little fella who taught you all those interesting facts about latex balloons?
 I’m looking forward to seeing you again (in person!) at the WBC 2012 – but until then, keep an eye out because you never know where I might pop up next… After all, I love a good party!”

Mr Q will be a great ambassador for Qualatex, representing everything the brand stands for. (For those of you who don’t know, that’s quality, innovation, passion, excellence, and commitment…

I just love his favorite quotes:

"Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon." --Winnie the Pooh
"Don't worry. It's Qualatex."
"Hey, what's poppin'? Not our balloons!" --Mr. Q

I know that I for one am looking forward to meeting Mr Q in person, he sounds like a fun kind a guy!

Super Free Marketing Materials for Balloon Artists! - just a click away!

Have you seen the fantastic, new and easy to sell Everyday Bouquet Idea's available at Qualatex.com? 

They are fresh, vibrant and fun! Each bouquet has been beautifully designed using a selection of Qualatex's extensive balloon range like the stylish Birthday Funky Zebra Stripe Cake that features in the fantastic bouquet displayed below, complimented with Birthday Elegant Damask and Birthday Shining Star 11" latex... a truly 'delicious' birthday bouquet!

Adding value to your balloon designs ... 'The Very Best' way to stand out from our competitors!!

  
In this ever increasing competitive world we need to look for ways to make our business stand out. Like many Independent business's we are surrounded by 'the big boys', who can sell products cheaper than the independent store... so how can we ever compete for business?

BE DIFFERENT! 

If I want a single balloon on a ribbon & weight, I am most likely to buy it from my local supermarket, the same can apply to a bunch of fresh flowers, chocolates or candies, it's easy, it's convenient and in most cases it's cheaper. But if I want a special bouquet of flowers or elegant handmade boxed chocolates then I head off to the professionals!

So as a balloon professional and specialist let us look at what we can do to make our balloons stand out from our competitors.

Image 1

Step 1. Sell balloon's that last!
The Qualatex Bubble range is unique. They are vibrant and fun like the Birthday Brilliant Stars Bubble shown (Image 1). Made from a special stretchy plastic makes them pop resistant and withstand outside pressure changes better than most other types of balloon. They do not oxidize and will float for a number of weeks! All in all a retailers dream!


It would be easy to just simply inflate a Bubble balloon and attach it to a weight, but hey... anyone can do that (with a little know-how).

Image 2.

What is balloon art?

Cove - created by Jason Hackenwerth

What is balloon art?

I have been a balloon artist for over 20 years, but I suppose it is not until now that I have really considered what ‘balloon art’ actually means?

I am a skilled balloon artist who can create decor for events. I have the creativity to design my own work and am always excited when I complete something new, but I question, can I call my work art?

Stone Chang  a balloon artist from Taiwan, recently held an exhibition in Taiwan called ‘The Art of Rapid Expansion’. The exhibition featured work created by him and a team of balloon artists from around Taiwan. As part of the exhibition, Stone also featured 11 International balloon artists using large posters to display examples of their work and their points of view of balloon art, reading each artists words and descriptions as to what balloon art means to them was truly uplifting, and I would like to share a few of their sentiments with you.

 

“As balloon artists we are able to literally breath life into creations that then go into the world spreading beauty, and wonder, and joy, and connecting us all”. Don Caldwell aka Buster Balloon, USA

www.busterballoon.com

“Once inflated, they capture the heart of every young mind, in a child as well as an adult”. Luc Bertrand, Belgium.

www.wawballoons.be

“ If you can see it in your mind, you can make it with balloons. Air is the canvas, balloons are the paint, your hands are the brush that paints the picture”. Marvin Hardy, USA

“Balloons are amazing product for doing art, they have a special power for people, magical, simple, people like it”! Niko Fric, Slovenia

www.nikoballoonfashion.com

Stone himself says: “ Balloon, a piece of childhood memory. Creatively twisted, readily inflated into a delightful splurge. So let’s grab the chance to enjoy this volatile handicraft of peasants, a swiftly ballooned art”.



Recently, I met an artist called Jason Hackenwerth. Jason studied art and was awarded a BFA  at Webster University. St. Louis, MO. USA. Jason works with balloons (only the very best balloons) as his art medium, to create his grand sculptures such as the ‘Megamite’  or ‘Cove’, which he recently installed at Selfridges department store London, as part of a campaign to support an environmental project named Project Ocean.
Jason has been commissioned to create sculptures at numerous exhibitions, features in many publications and has a string of awards to his name.
It is strange how we ‘find’ balloons in our lives, Jason told me that his mother was a clown, and that as a young boy he was very embarrassed by this (funnily enough so were my own children and although not a clown, this is how some of their friends perceived me as I was a mummy who ‘played’ with balloons). Jason overcame his embarrassment and learn't the art of twisting from his Mom and used the tips that he earned to help fund his way through college and now, the rest is history as Jason has proved himself as a highly talented artist, who’s art form is very much in demand Worldwide.

This brings me back to my original question "can I call my work art"? Looking at the definition of the word art, I do not think that I can, my designs are 'arty' and creative, but like a graphic designer, cake decorator and many other artistic trade, maybe not a work of art. There are so many fantastic artists in our industry, the entertainers who use balloons within their acts, the extremely talented artists who can make stunning balloon dresses, with incredible style and precision, the artists who can create sculptures on a grand scale working with 1000's of balloons and the twisters who can turn one balloon into a masterpiece. I am in awe of the art and creativity that can be made from the humble balloon.