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If you’re an independent retailer or small business owner, I encourage you to find out why The Retailer's Advantage is absolutely your fastest, easiest and most economical way to keep yourself and your business sharp in these tough economic times without the expense of travel and conference fees.

The Retailers Advantage is a private educational resource website that is committed to being a true advantage to retailers.

You will find a weekly updated collection of:

Live (online) Events weekly with people who can make a difference in the life of a retailer.
Tools to use to evaluate and expand your retail business.
How-To Articles, Audio and Video programs to help you improve your business.
A community of retailers sharing information with each other in a networking format that will bond colleagues who will become friends and then partners in success.
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What Did You Learn Today?

I had a close friend that I went to school with from first grade until we graduated from high school whose mother would ask him one question every night before he went to bed. She would say, “Jeffrey, what did you learn today?” The reason why I was even aware of it was because his mother was a real task master and really got annoyed when Jeffrey didn’t have something to report to her. Because of that, I would always see Jeffrey writing notes - sometimes in the classroom, sometimes in conversation with other people, and even sometimes when we were playing various sports. Jeffrey was a smart kid and understood the system well, because he started to store up one thing for the day. He went on to college and eventually became a corporate attorney. However, Jeffrey was also a whiz at trivia/weird facts which he credited to his mother and their nightly conversation.

If you're ready for your retail business to graduate to the next level, meet ...

Rick Segel, CSP

... a seasoned retailer of 25 years and the author of twelve books. Rick's common sense solutions and creative retail marketing ideas will absolutely make your business more profitable.

www.RickSegel.com

So what does this have to do with being in business in 2009, smack dab in the middle of a recession? Just about everything!

We need to learn new ways of doing business.
We need to learn new ways to attract customers.
We need to learn new ways to keep customers coming back.
We need to learn new ways to motivate our employees.

So let me ask you the question, what did you learn today? What technique? What idea?

This week I spoke at a convention in Cancun, Mexico that has been an annual event for 25 years. I met a couple from Ohio who had attended every conference. The wife said that they were going to be there for 6 days and they had one goal. They would attend all of the educational sessions, listen to the keynote speakers, and network with their colleagues to find one idea that they could take home and implement immediately. She said that they would leave with about 20 ideas and at home would review all of them, and then start to narrow them down. They end up implementing 4-5 ideas, but without fail, there would be one idea (it’s usually one that they least expect) that becomes the winner.

I bring this up because of a scary trend that is happening. Because business has been tight, attendance at trade shows has come down. Educational offerings at many of the trade shows have been cut significantly because of the lack of attendance. Yet I believe that the strength and the backbone of any industry rests with the educational offerings that they embrace.

“The only things worth learning are the
things you learn after you know it all.”
~ Harry S. Truman

As most of you are aware, in September I launched The Retailers Advantage which is a private educational resource website that is committed to being a true advantage to retailers. It is broken into 4 categories:

Weekly Live (online) Events which is comprised of interviews with people who can make a difference in the life of a retailer, monthly website review of 3 members, roundtable discussions with 3 members discussing pertinent issues (for example, returns and refunds), Q & A programs, and tech talk with Roland Lacey, our web guru. We are so committed to this event section that we even hired an event coordinator. We are planning on offering between 1-2 events per week.
Tools to use which include my inventory control system (which I call my Open to Thrive), a promotion finder, a resource for newsletter articles (quotes and jokes) and even a section on Ask the Pro where we guarantee a response within 24 hours. In the next couple of weeks we will be adding a tool on how to evaluate your retail business.
How-To Articles, Audio and Video programs to help you improve your business.
A Community of Retailers sharing information with each other in a networking format that will bond colleagues who will become friends and then partners in success. Community which is probably the most important aspect of the site. Here we have opportunities for the members of The Retailers Advantage to network with each other. I believe that the best form of education is when retailers can share information with each other and we have a started a networking format that will bond colleagues who will become friends and then partners in success.

“A Master Mind is the harmonious alliance of two or more minds that create a friendly environment to gather, classify and organize new information for fast and effective implementation.”
~ Napoleon Hill

When we launched The Retailers Advantage we had limited the membership because we wanted to get the bugs out of the system - not that we had anticipated anything, but stuff always happens. We are now opening the site for additional members for a limited time (we need to manage growth in order to serve our members better). I am writing this because I am frankly damn proud of what The Retailers Advantage staff has created. This venture is the most expensive and time consuming initiative that I have embraced since my days as an active retailer. However, when I get an email from a member saying what a great thing that we have done, it makes it all worthwhile!

I invite you to check out The Retailers Advantage. The cost is $595 a year which is billed on a monthly basis of $49.95 per month with no long-term contracts. I believe that this is one of the best educational values you could even buy, especially in times like these. This site will make you money!

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Absolutely risk-free for you!
Sign up for The Retailer's Advantage today. If during the first 30 days you are not completely satisfied that you are getting more than your money's worth just let us know and we'll refund the first month's membership.

The risk is all mine. I am that sure that you will agree that this is a resource for retailers unmatched anywhere else.

We are committed to making a difference and easing the pain that we all share as active retailers. We can be high one day and down in the dumps the next when half the stuff we sold comes back…with an attitude. So ask yourself this question, are you prepared to face 2009 with all of the tools and resources that you need to survive and succeed? To steal a line from President Obama, Yes, we can! And I am committed to help you answer the question every night, what did you learn today?