Tag: American Quilt Retailer

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Crafting Social Media Posts

Crafting social content

Social media may be time intensive but everyday it’s becoming a more essential piece of business. Check out these tips to make the process easier (and boost your sales along the way).

Writing Social Captions

Instagram allows up to 2,200 characters, but not all text will appear when customers are scrolling. An option to “read more” will appear they can click on, so make sure your most important information is at the beginning.

Also consider adding hashtags to your caption. Hashtags make it easier for new customers to view your post. Hashtags can go at the end of the caption, or in the first comment of your post.

Instagram also allows up to 30 hashtags. You don’t have to use that much, but a combination of specific and general hashtags will optimize your post for the most views.

What to Post

There’s a variety of content you can post. We separated the topics into three categories:

  • Excitement: This post is perfect for promoting events. Make sure your caption stresses why they should come, and what makes the event unique.
  • Engagement: Think of this post as having a conversation with your audience. I’m sure you’ve heard of algorithms, but what you need to know about Instagram’s algorithm is the more engagement your post has, the more your followers will see it in their feeds. You can boost engagement by liking and responding to comments.
  • Selling: Have a new product? Tag the company in your post and write a call to action in your caption such as “click the link in the bio to buy this today.”

What are you waiting for? There’s no time like the present to step up your social media game. Put your best social media foot forward with these Instagram tips.

Inspiration for this post came from IG 1, 2, 3 by Kate Colleran, Joanne Hillestad, and Kris Poor published in the February 2020 issue of American Quilt Retailer.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you.

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Sharing Visual Content

Sharing visual content on Instagram

Quilting is visual. Instagram is the best platform to promote those visuals. Read on to find out how to optimize your business’s Instagram account.

Back to basics

The first step to optimizing your account is to make sure your page is set to business. The good news is you can convert a personal account to a business one.

Second, make sure you keep your branding specific. For instance, your Instagram name should be the shop’s name, your username (or the words that come after the @ symbol) should be the same (or some variation of your business name), and your profile image should be your logo (for ease of recognition).

Cross promoting

Your Instagram profile can have one link, so it’s wise to use your business’s website link, and have a contact page in your website to direct customers to other pages.

You’re also going to want to connect your business Instagram account to your Facebook account so you can save time by publishing two posts with just one click.

Other Visual Tips

Be sure to include a bio at the top of your profile. What do you want your customers to know in 150 characters or less? And of course, include your business contact information so customers can contact you as well.

As for category, choose what’s best for your business. For example, “Shopping & Retail” might hit the nail on the head, but “Fabric Store” might be an even better option.

Last but not least, keep your display on public (not private) so anyone can see your amazing content if they come across your account.

That’s it for this week. Stay tuned next week for more information on photos, captions, and what type of content to share.

Inspiration for this post came from IG 1, 2, 3 by Kate Colleran, Joanne Hillestad and Kris Poor published in the February 2021 issue of American Quilt Retailer.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you.

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Spring AQR Academy

Spring AQR Academy

Need some education and networking in your life? Tune into Spring AQR Academy happening this Thursday, March 4 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. CST. Trust me, you’re not going to want to miss out.

Spring AQR Academy Sessions

Below are just some of the topics you’re going to learn. Sessions include:

Other information

Still not persuaded? Firstly, we should mention that attendees will receive a swag bag stuffed full of goodies. Second, you’ll also receive a recording of the day’s events, as well as a digital recap including handouts and information. Last but not least, the cost is $95 for subscribers and $195 for non-subscribers to attend.

Thanks to our sponsors QT Fabrics, Jaftex Corp, Virtual Quilt Market, and Mettler Thread for helping make this event happen.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you.

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Preparing for Tax Season

Tax Season

Tax season is upon us. If you’ve already completed your taxes, great work. If you haven’t, check out some of these tips to tackle your taxes like a pro.

Tax Deductions on Travel Expenses

Many business owners aren’t aware they can deduct taxes from a business trip combined with a vacation. Outlined below are a few examples of deductible travel expenses.

  • New business: Looking for a new location? Travel to and from the location on days meetings happen are deductible.
  • Conferences: This is most often the work and play trip combined into one. Travel to and from the conference is deductible, but days that business doesn’t take place are not deductible.
  • Board meetings: For board meetings to be deducted, there must be a reason why the primary location is not suitable for the event. For example, to get more board members to attend the meeting would qualify.
  • Spouse/Children: Travel for children is typically non-deductible, unless there’s a reason. If your child is your videographer and attends the trip to work with you, then that would qualify as a deductible expense.

Home Office

If you have a home office, the home office deduction won’t cost any more than what you already pay. The home office turns a percentage of your personal home expenses into tax-deductible expenses. Speak with your tax person to calculate the amount of savings this deduction can influence the amount you may owe.

Follow these strategies to get your personal and business income taxes to the lowest legal amount. Stay tuned next week for more tax tips.

Inspiration for this post came from “Tackle Taxes Like a Pro” by Jacob Curtis, CPA, published in the February 2021 issue of American Quilt Retailer.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you.

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Interactive Sales with Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality

Getting a customer off the street is much different than getting a customer online. Many businesses are trying out augmented reality due to the conflict of in-person shopping during this global pandemic. Find out what AR is and how you can include augmented reality in your business.

What is augmented reality?

Augmented reality allows customers to try out products online. The most commonly used version of augmented reality is through online glasses companies; simply upload a photo of your face and you can “try on” glasses without leaving your home.

A growing segment of AR allows customers to try pieces at home. This can include seeing how a quilt would look on a bed, holding up patterns for curtains, or seeing the way fabric moves when styled as a skirt.

How to get AR

When it comes to implementing AR into your online presence, start small. Consider adding augmented reality to your business card, with a personal video from you, the owner, or a video highlighting a new product.

From there, start with one product (ideally one you’d like to create a campaign around) and test it. This means hiring someone to create a 3D model of the product and placing it in an augmented reality experience on whatever medium best meets your business goals (app, social media, website).

For more affordable options, check out if there’s an AR app already available. For example, InteriAR is an AR app that showcases furniture, AR-Watches lets customers try on watches, and Jarit allows patrons to preview dishes before ordering.

AR is likely to grow in the next few years. Jump on this train before it’s too late.

This concludes our tech savvy series, with inspiration from the article “Get Tech Savvy” by Sommer Leigh published in the December 2020 issue of American Quilt Retailer.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you.

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Omnichannel Marketing as a Quilt Retailer

Omnichannel Marketing

Continuing our series on tech savvy-ness, we thought we’d take a deep dive into omnichannel marketing. In this article, you’ll learn about this new marketing tactic and how your business can benefit.

Omnichannel vs. Multichannel

There are many differences between omnichannel marketing and multichannel marekting. Firstly, multichannel marketing casts as large of a net as possible to get customers. In comparison, omnichannel marketing caters to the customer. For example, omnichannel marketing’s goal is to create the most seamless shopping experince for the customer across all platforms.

This means that regardless if you have a customer walk into your store, stumble across your products on Instagram, comment on your Facebook page, or any of the other ways a customer can manage to contact you, you deliver the same quality service.

Moreover, the thought behind omnichannel marketing is novel. Essentially the thinking is you already have the customer, and you are guiding that customer through the most seamless shopping experience as possible. Interesting stuff, right?

What are the benefits?

Businesses who do omnichannel marketing see a 91% higher increase year-over-year in customer retention compared to those who don’t. In conclusion, omnichannel marketing gives you the extra push to develop your brand and keep it consistent across all your platforms. A great place to start is by having all your links redirect back to your website across all of your social media channels. As a result, your business will see the benefits of omnichannel marekting immediately.

Inspiration for this post came from “Get Tech Savvy” by Sommer Leigh published in the December 2020 issue of American Quilt Retailer. Stay tuned to get more tidbits on how to stay tech savvy in our technology solution series.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you.

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Personalize the Shopping Experience

Personalize with e-commerce

Nobody likes to feel like just another number. Personalize the shopping experience for your customers with these e-commerce tools

Personalize through data

The internet has brought everyone closer. But the internet has also given us the age-old realization that we are just one in a million. That’s why sales is moving to a more personalized method; every customer should feel noticed. Make sure you have methods in place to make that happen.

One such way is through e-commerce tools. E-commerce tools track and record your customers habits. Let’s say you have a customer who purchases the same product every three months. Your e-commerce tool can highlight this data point, and help you increase the likelihood of more sales through targeted outreach. A good place to start is by scheduling a coupon to send one week before the next deadline approaches.

E-commerce tools

Check out some of the e-commerce tools available to your business.

  • Google Optimize: This tool integrates best with Google Analytics, and offers A/B testing so if you’re struggling on how to best communicate with your customers, this may be the tool for you.
  • Personyze: Personyze offers personalized content across multiple channels (email, website, and app) so your message remains consistent. Small businesses can get a free version or you can pay a monthly fee for trafficked business.
  • Segment: Does data seem overwhelming? Segment tracks data and translates it into an easy-to-consume format. This platform starts free then changes to a monthly fee.
  • Apptus: Sell, baby, sell. Apptus does everything it can to get your customer to click that “checkout” button. This is also a good option to create personalized product, email recommendations, promotions, and banner ads as well.
  • Geo Targetly: If your audience is spread over a wide geographic region, this may be your best approach. It offers a great way to make your customer feel seen while offering the small business feel.
  • Qwardo: You know those chat robots that respond automatically? Well you can have one too thanks to Qwardo. This platform also offers A/B testing so you can also provide a tailored message to each customer.

Inspiration for this post came from “Get TECH Savvy,” by Sommer Leigh published in the December 2020 issue of American Quilt Retailer. Stay tuned for more ways to remain tech savvy.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you.

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Check in on those goals

Goals

Before we jump into today’s blog, we wanted to let you know about an event were throwing next Thursday, February 4th at noon CST.

The first AQR Academy will be a Zoom workshop dedicated to making social media work for you, including Creating Content to Sell and How to Get Your Social Media Moving.

Still not convinced to join? We forgot to mention the workshop will feature internationally sought out content strategist Kristy Honsvick and social media strategist, consultant, and trainer Hollie Clere.

Feel like you’re missing out? You can still purchase the recordings and digital recap from 2020 Academy events.

Now, on to those goals.

Goals, goals, goals

We’re already one month into 2021, which means it’s the perfect time to check in on how your goals are doing.

What was your focus for this year? Reducing expenses? Increasing efficiencies? Improving customer experiences? Whatever it is, know that if you don’t have a metric to measure progress, you’re going to want to find a way how.

As we know, data can be extremely helpful, but don’t get bogged down in having too much of it. Similarly, some employees can be extremely motivated by data. Find a way to publicly post metrics. Of course, you don’t want to make anyone feel bad about their performance, so encourage each employee to hit the same goal each week. If you have a weekly training, schedule time for questions so they can talk to each other about what works (or doesn’t).

Then, check in on the status. If you’re not on track to reach your goal, consider changing your performance (or even altering the goal itself).

Good luck from us friends at AQR! We know you can do it.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you.

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No-Stress Notifications

notifications

Some days, technology feels like an added stress. If clearing out notifications is a trigger for you, check out these tips to manage that sense of urgency.

Turn off notifications

The best way to stay on task is to turn off notifications. If you have a schedule and stick to it, you don’t need to know every time a new email comes in or someone likes your photo.

If sticking to a schedule seems daunting at first, limit yourself to checking email and social media to every 15 minutes. Once that becomes easy, move it back to every 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and eventually to every hour.

Another healthy habit to get into is keeping devices away from your bed. Many of us are spending more time at home, and healthy boundaries are more important to keep than ever. Bedrooms are for sleeping, living rooms are for living, and the office is for working. Sticking to these rules and your life will improve in more ways than one.

Declutter

Sometimes apps that take us away from the task at hand. Clean out your apps periodically. Delete apps you don’t use anymore, but also consider deleting apps that are available online (Facebook, Pinterest, etc).

One great way to limit how often you pick up your phone is to invest in a smart speaker. This way you can set a timer, listen to podcast, or stream music without getting pulled into a phone blackhole.

Inspiration for this post came from “Digital Decluttering” by Beth Montpas published in the October 2020 issue of American Quilt Retailer.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you.

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Social Media Magic

Social Media Magic

If everyday tasks get in the way of daily social media posts, check out these tips and tricks.

Plan your posts

Choosing a topic is the hardest part of social media. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be; pick a theme, and post it. This could be a new line of fabric or an interesting tool. Some people prefer to post based off the day of the week, such as “Top Tool Tuesday,” “What’s New Wednesday,” and “Show and Share Sunday.”

Don’t be hesitant to repost the same topic again; in the world of marketing a consumer has to be exposed to a topic or product seven times before they’re compelled to take action.

Take the photo

Now that you know what you want to post about, take a photo. Use your phone and remember these three rules: lighting, background, and focal point.

Make sure your product is the focal point of the photo, there’s good lighting, and the background is not distracting. Be sure to take several photos at different views and angles. The more photos you post the better.

Write a caption

Writing a caption is the second hardest part of social media. If you’re struggling to come up with copy, answer these three questions:

  1. What is it?
  2. Why do customers need it?
  3. What do you want them to do? (Call to action.)

Simply answer these questions as if you were talking to a friend. If you’re posting a product, don’t forget to tag the company and add a hashtag so your image is exposed to as many customers as possible.

Keep a consistent social media schedule

Now that you’ve got content down, create a schedule so you can stay up to date. Google calendar offers an easy, color coded way to plan your social media posts. Make sure to display holidays, events, and classes, and fill in accordingly.

Inspiration for this post came from “Social Media Magic in 5 Minutes,” by Kate Colleran, Joanne Hillestad, and Kris Poor published in the October 2020 issue of American Quilt Retailer.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you.