Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Are you making these 3 mistakes while operating your small business?

Are you making these 3 mistakes while operating your small business?
Is your business struggling to get customers in the door? Are you making these 3 mistakes while operating your small business? I've seen businesses come and go in our small town. Lack of sales, results in them closing before they really get going. Are they giving up too soon? These are some suggestions when looking to increase foot traffic into your establishment. You can adapt these to fit your stores needs.
Are you invisible? Make sure your business is visible and easy to be found. A sign from the local printer can be worth its weight in gold. You can choose from metal and wooden signs or even vinyl graphics applied to your store front. Make sure and add your phone number and website so it’s easy to contact you. Consider putting balloons out for your grand opening. The bright colorful bouncing balloons will catch your customer’s eye.
Are you keeping the store hours you set? Business is slow so you decide to head home early or taken an extra hour for lunch. As soon as you leave because business is slow, a potential customer will shop up. That is Murphy’s law. You want to portray a consistent business that does what they say they will. If you find you need to cut hours, remember to change your store hours on your sign in the front window, so your potential customers know of the change and can hopefully make plans to visit you again.
Are you advertising where your customers are? Do you have a way to reach your customer to let them know about your next big sale? The key to advertising is reaching your customer. Narrow down your niche and who your customer is. Get to know them and advertise where they are. Create a newsletter with a giveaway each month and/or hand out scratch off cards to be redeemed on their next visit.
Give your customer a reason to return. Give them a free scratch off card to be used on their next visit with an expiration date. They can scratch it now to see what the win or you can do a no scratch campaign and have them scratch when they return. The no scratch campaign promotes the excitement that comes with scratching off to reveal what they have won.
To be a successful, it requires hard work, motivation and changing something if it's not working. Listening to your customers and what they want is the key to keeping and maintaining a happy customer. Happy customers tell others. Nothing beats word of mouth advertising.
To find out how you can increase your business, visit www.easyscratchoffs.com for more business building ideas.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

5 Common Mistakes Businesses are Making

Common Mistakes that businesses make -loss of traffic, customers and sales.

Out there on the world wide web, I'm always surprised at the simple mistakes I see.

If you're running a recipe blog and want to build a following, make it easy for your followers to pin those recipes to Pinterest. Add a plugin, lots of them run on wordpress.
What I've seen a lot lately and just love is "Pin for Later". There's no doubt that with information overload we just don't have enough time to do everything we want. Pinning it allows your followers to find that great recipe, brag about your business and perhaps buy your cookbook. Pinning is in, do it.

On your Facebook business page, put your website address front and center in the about us section.
Make sure it's clickable. How easy is it to contact you? Have you used your keywords in your about us section? That is prime real estate, take advantage of it.

We've all heard not to put all your egss in one basket. This is so true. Diversify. Do not depend on google for all your traffic. They keep changing their search optimization requirements and a "slap" from google can really hurt you. Look at other avenues to advertise or sell on. Amazon, Etsy, Ebay are just a couple examples. They already deliver the traffic, take advantage of it.

Know your audience. It's so much easier to serve your customers when you know who they are.
Do a survey, interact with them on social media and learn what they like and what they're looking for.

Don't depend on one social media for all of your social media. Create a schedule for social media and track your results. Don't fall into the trap of being on social media hours and hours a day "working".

This is so important, build a newsletter. There are free and low cost ways to do this. I recently changed over to Aweber. Free trial and $19 a month. Mailchimp is free.

How to Make Scratch off cards

How to Make Scratch off Cards in

6 Easy Steps

It’s easy to make scratch off cards and I’ll show you how. Once you’ve made them you’ll wonder why you haven’t tried it before.

1. Gather your supplies. You’re going to need card stock, scratch off stickers, printer.

2. You can design your card in your favorite graphics program or use a free scratch off template.

3. Once you have your card designed, you’re ready to print.

4. Print your scratch off card sheets onto cardstock.

5. Apply scratch off stickers over the prizes.

6. Cut your scratch off cards apart with scissors or a trimmer.

That’s it! Now you can see how easy it is to make your own scratch off cards. You can visit www.easyscratchoffs.com for more free scratch off templates and a variety of scratch off stickers.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Scratch off stickers-SO Many new ones

Have you heard? We have added more scratch off sticker sizes to our line. Choose from different sizes, colors, and shapes.
We have our most popular silver scratch off stickers available in:
1/2 inch circle
3/4 inch circle
3/4 hearts
1 inch circle
1.25 inch circle
1" square
2x1 rectangle

Our gold scratch off stickers are available in:
1" circle
1" square
1.5x1" rectangle
2x1" rectangle

We also have 1" circles in these colors:
Red
Navy blue
Green
Autumn harvest
Sparkling holograms

We also have several shapes:
Red Hearts
Retro hearts
Footballs
Shamrocks
Diamond holograms

You can use scratch off stickers to make scratch off cards for party favors, direct sales incentives, and business promotions.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Scratch off stickers are not sold at Big box stores

I wish there was a place to report the fraudulent advertising that the big box companies are using. It hurts the smaller businesses by driving up the keywords unnecessarily. We have sold scratch off stickers for the last 7 years. Our most popular scratch off sticker continues to be the 1" circle in silver.
Our newest scratch off sticker is going to be great for school fundraisers. The mini scratch off sticker is smaller than a dime and you can fit 5 of them on one business card without it being crowded.
Think of the possibilities and how you can design scratch off games for parties and even trade shows.
We can design scratch off cards or we can print your design at no charge. We offer a flat rate and we don't hide our pricing. Call and ask us for a free quote for your next scratch off printing project.

Making your own scratch off cards is faster than doing it with the paint and tape, although that is a great option for those that are crafty and enjoy it. If you're short on time, you can purchase a 100 scratch off stickers for $5.00. When you make your own scratch off cards, you peel our scratch off sticker from the liner and apply over prize printed on your card. If you need some ideas, visit our website to get the juices flowing. Etsy is also filled with great ideas and adorable designs.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Scratch off sticker- Sale

Sale on Scratch off stickers

We're working on inventory and have put our 1" square scratch off sticker on SALE. Not just a little sale, it's more like oh wow, I better stock up at these prices sale! Best of all you can purchase a 1,000 with 1st class shipping. You can get 1,000 with shipping included for under $25. Retail for 1,000 with shipping is normally $40.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Best homemade laundry soap

My mom told me about this laundry soap she found on Pinterest. She sent me over some samples and I was in love. I made up my own batch for less than $15. I use 1 tablespoon. This stuff gets out blood, stains and puppy messes. I'm in love with it. My husband is allergic to some brands and so far we haven't had a problem. Warning this makes a large batch. I mixed mine up outside in a 5 gallon container with lid. I do a lot of laundry, 3-4 loads a day and I predict this batch will last us 3-4 months. That's a lot of savings!

We purchased a box of:
Baking Soda
Baking soda wash
20 Borax Mule
3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap- I put mine in the food processor, worked perfectly. Much faster/easier than grinding it.

http://beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/2010/11/homemade-laundry-soap.html is where I got the directions. I didn't add the oxyclean and I've been thrilled with the results.
This summer I've been mama to newborn puppies and kittens, bottlefeeding, changing, washing, bathing towels, rangs and more towels. This laundry soap has been wonderful for this. Highly recommended. We love it!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Where can scratch off stickers be found?

Walmart is not selling scratch off stickers, so why are they stealing ad space promoting that they are selling them? Our scratch off stickers are proudly made in the USA. I can guarantee you that if Walmart starts selling them they will be made in China and who knows what they'll put in them. Whatever is cheapest is Walmarts way. Our scratch off stickers are safe for children and non-toxic. Can Walmart say that about theirs if they were to manufacture them? I doubt it.. scratch off stickers that are made in the USA, tested before and professionally manufactured are available at http://www.easyscratchoffs.com

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Small business rights

Small business rights.
When you're a small business, do you have more or less rights than the big box stores? If you own two business, do your rights double? If you're a sole proprietor does that mean you have less rights than a business with an LLC?
Recently a friend rented a space on a corner lot in a small town in Southwest Missouri. She was so excited to have the space she wanted with the light streaming in. Less than a month later, she got neighbors on each side of her, with her in the middle.
It soon became clear that they wanted to run her out so they could have her space. They started out by having the storage area she was given taken away.
It came down to numbers and money. They brought in double the rent so it appeared the landlord was making concessions to them. As soon as the weather warmed up, they opened up their ice cream store and put their tables in front of my friend's windows. If that wasn't enough they decided to start having "garage sales" on my friend's sidewalk, to bring in more business. The final straw came when my friend was hosting an event at her place of business and placed a table outside on her sidewalk that she rents, just as they do. Her neighbors started a scene, demanded it be taken down and ended up throwing it.

At this point you wonder, why are they so territorial? My friend called the police to help settle this as she was also concerned at how violent and in your face this had gotten. When the police officer showed up, he listened and proceeded to tell her that times were hard and to share the space. My friend doesn't mind sharing the space, if they would let her use her space in the first place.
When does it become right for one small business to push out another? Why would the landlord not set the rules on outside usage? Why would the landlord not abide by the lease-where it states tenants agree on shared outside space?
According to Missouri laws, when you rent a space, you also rent the parking and sidewalk usage as well.
Why can't the ice cream shop put their table in front of their own store instead of infringing on my friend's place of business?
When someone threatens you and you damages your stuff, why aren't the local police doing anything about it? Why did they refuse to let her file a police report?
The last straw was when my friend was in a session with a customer and the neighbors bared in screaming and yelling with obscenities thrown out . My friend had no choice and contacted a lawyer who drafted a letter to the landlord asking for her rights to use part of the outside space.
She got her response yesterday, you're out of your lease, move.

My friend put a lot of time and money into renovating her store and now the landlords will profit from it, and they know it. Where does it become fair in business to not abide by rules? Does a handshake mean anything anymore?

Sometimes in life you just want to cry. Unfair! Not Right! Why me?

Old Glory ice cream shop and Old Glory Antique shop in Southwest Missouri and Teresa's Photoworks. The small building nestled in is the photography studio, hard to see when her signage is blocked.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Scratch off templates to make your own scratch off cards

Saturday, April 7, 2012

How to make scratch off cards

How to make scratch off cards

How do you make scratch off cards? There are two different ways to do it. The hard way and the easy way. It’s really not hard, but it can be time consuming and a little messy. Definitely a fun way to get the kids involved.The first way is to buy soap, paint, tape, contact paper and card stock. You mix the paint and soap together. Cover up your paper with tape, brush on your soap mixture and let it dry. Once it’s dry you can scratch off to reveal what you’ve hidden. Artmind has a tutorial with pictures and lots of fun craft ideas.
Here are her results using the scratch off paint:

Make scratch off cards with paint

If you’re looking for a faster way to make scratch off cards you can get scratch off stickers, peel them from the liner add them to your scratch off cards and they’re ready to scratch. Which way do you prefer? You can also get different shapes such as heart scratch off stickers, football scratch off stickers and red scratch off stickers.

If you need to make a lot of scratch off cards and want to add to your business cards, I high recommend scratch off stickers.

If you’re wanting to have fun with the kids for party favors, either one will work. Just remember to plan ahead for drying time and trial runs. I’ve heard from some that theirs didn’t work and others that it just took a lot of time and they wanted more professional results.

Whenever you’re making scratch off cards, always do a test run before printing on your cardstock paper. Make sure your scratch off sticker will fit over your prize or picture you’ve put on your scratch off card.

Making scratch off cards can be a fun inexpensive way to market your growing business and create party favors for the kids.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Like scratch off stickers, win a Kindle Fire and Amazon Gift Certificate

Who Wants to Win a Kindle fire? Become A fan and it could be you!

We are so excited to be giving away a FREE Kindle Fire plus Case and Amazon Gift Card to one lucky winner.

We have partnered with some amazing business on Facebook to offer this great prize. The event starts at 12:01 am 04/01/2012 and ends 12:01 AM 05/01/2012.

The rafflecopter app will be facilitating the event. Please read the terms and conditions before entering. Some restrictions apply. Event hosted by MY PRECIOUS KID . One winner will be selected and contacted by email 05/02/2012.

a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you're not already, please become a fan of each of the sponsor pages at:

Free shipping for scratch off stickers

We're offering free shipping for scratch off stickers in April. Great time to make those scratch off cards for party favors and business incentives. Free templates are available when you become a fan on facebook

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Kindle Fire Giveaway when you like scratch off stickers

I'm so excited to partner with a great group of businesses to give away a Kindle fire!
All you have to do is become a facebook fan for more details. Contest starts April 1st, 2012!

Don't forget to check out our website to see the newest scratch off stickers we've added!
We have retro hearts, footballs and four leaf clovers.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

How to start a business using scratch off stickers

One of the most important aspects of starting a business is marketing. Every business has to engage in some sort of marketing. Many businesses use scratch offs as a form of marketing to attract new customers, to encourage sales, and to show customer appreciation. Car dealers use them, craft stores use them, beauty shops use them, and direct sales representatives use them. Any business can use scratch offs to promote their business and to generate new leads.

Scratch off stickers can be used on personalized candy wrappers, as personalized party favors, and as incentives to go the extra step. Customers will be incentivized to buy the extra shirt, book a party, close the deal, or otherwise do something a little extra due to the scratch off. People like having a chance to win so scratch off party favors are excellent additions to your business start up.

Create buzz for your business by having a grand-opening, giving out personalized candy wrappers, and scratch off party favors. The scratch offs can offer the chance to win a really big prize with a lot of smaller prizes. You can offer any prize you want, a trip to France, a 1000 dollar shopping spree, percents off, or BOGO offers. You can offer the percents off on today's purchase or future purchases, it's completely up to you.

If you have a business where you buy wholesale, and sell retail, you can include a scratch off ticket with the packing label along with a catalog of your other products. The scratch off can offer special coupon codes, percents off and other offers. If you are a book seller, you can go beyond typical scratch offs and include scratch off bookmarks in each book you sell. This a nice gift, but also can encourage repeated sales.

Since you can put any picture you want under the scratch off, a really great idea is to put a QR Code under the scratch offs. This will bring traffic to your website, get newsletter sign ups and make for a fun time for your clients and potential clients who were lucky enough to receive a scratch off promotion from you.

Starting a business using scratch offs as a marketing method can make your marketing dollars go really far because you can make one type of marketing collateral go farther. For instance, if you create business cards you can include a scratch off sticker. This will encourage people to look at your business card again, and hopefully buy from you.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

New scratch off stickers

I announced on facebook today our new scratch off stickers that are coming.
Are you a fan? If not, you're missing out.
Free printable scratch off templates for Christmas were also added to the website.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Christmas scratch off templates

They're here. Free printable Christmas scratch off templates, ready for you to personalize and print.
Follow the link, download the pdf file and print on your printer. Card stock paper works great. 110 lb Wassau or Index card stock.

This template uses our 1" scratch off stickers. You can choose from red, gold, blue, green, silver scratch off stickers.

We also have other free scratch off templates for you to use.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Win a sampler pack of scratch off stickers!

You could win a sampler pack of scratch off stickers from http://www.easyscratchoffs.com/! It's fast and easy. Best of all no forms to fill out. Click the link, Like us on facebook and then enter our contest. Tell your friends and you could both win free scratch off stickers, a $20 value!

How are you going to use the scratch off stickers if you win?
How easy are they to apply to your projects?
Have you ordered scratch off stickers before?
What is your favorite color of scratch off sticker?
Do you like to be surprised by scratch offing to reveal your prize or discount?
Do you think your customers would like to feel the same way?

Scratch off stickers are used to create your scratch off cards, just like the lottery tickets. They're easy to make yourself with our free scratch off templates and your imagination. Whether you are a school, small business owner or mom planning a birthday party, you can use our scratch off stickers to make your next event a fun and memorable one.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Scratch off stickers in your business

Looking for affordable and unique business promotional products is not always easy. Most businesses use the same old products including pens, pencils and magnets. Most people have a draw full of these items at home. What can your business do to stand out above the rest?

Customers like to feel appreciated. They also like to feel like they are winners. How can you make your customer feel like a winner, yet have it be an affordable advertising option for your business?

Scratch off cards equal FUN. Everyone loves to “scratch”, and your customers are no exception.

Scratch off cards can be created to look just like a lottery ticket. You can easily create your own cards using scratch off stickers.

The first thing you would need to do is create your special promotion on a business card or post card. You need to decide if you want to offer a special discount or free gift. If you want to get more elaborate you can have letters printed on the cards that customers have to collect to spell out a special word in order to win a prize. The possibilities are endless and you are only limited by your imagination.

You will need some form of a graphics design program. Many computers already have some form of a design program. Graphics programs are also available for purchase. You could also hire a graphics designer to assist you.

After your cards are printed you will need to apply the scratch off stickers to them. You can apply the scratch off stickers directly over the promotion (discount, prize, letter…).

To apply the scratch off sticker you need to peel the scratch off sticker from the liner and apply over the promotion. It’s that easy! Now your promotion is a scratch off card ready for your eager customer to scratch and get rewarded. Best of all your promotional product will not end up in the trash or in a junk drawer.

Scratches off stickers are also very inexpensive. Your customers will have fun and you won’t have to spend a fortune on promotional products.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Scratch Off Stickers-an incentive for your business and a Facebook Promotion

Kay Green at MyPreciousKid., the leader in child safety products , is using our scratch off stickers to create her own scratch off cards. She is instructing her Facebook fans to call their order in and they'll receive a special surprise. This is generating excitement among her fans as well as instant gratification with receiving a coupon code in a fun interactive way.
When I heard this, I thought what a great idea! It's a way to reward her current customers and get to interact with them at the same time. When her customer calls in an order, her assistant chooses a scratch off card and scratches it off to reveal a discount. The result is an excited customer who is excited to have won something and got it at a discount.
How will you use scratch off stickers in your business?

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