Chris Russell
Tuesday, 23rd January 2007, 01:48 PM
Last week we sent out our Newsletter to over 2500 teddy bear people on our database. What was the result? ................. Nothing!!
Yesterday I started to phone around to gauge reaction and was met with a wall of pessimism. Everything is going wrong! Fairs are closing down! Shops are closing! E-bay's not so good these days! Where have all the customers gone? Oakleys, Merrythought etc have gone! I'm waiting for something positive to happen before I commit myself. How am I going to sell my bears now? etc.etc. Well, that's all in the past............The future starts HERE AND NOW!
Without a doubt there is great uncertainty, but the potential market still exists, all we have to do is get out there and explore the opportunities with the tools we have available. We at Christie Bears have a constant relationship with our buying customers and the feedback that we're getting from them is that they are still very busy. Our perception is that they are also very professional. Their marketing and customer relations are a very important aspect of their continuing success, their websites and particularly their images are of the highest quality (just check around this Forum). They go out looking for new customers if there is even a small gap in their order books etc etc.
Why Teddy Bear Fair? Well, the internet is now dominating retail selling but only 10 people can be on page 1 of Google with their own website, there are just too many of us for everyone to be there in their own right. But if we all get together in one place then perhaps we can all be there. Hey! just look at the stats in the Newsletter, it normally takes the best part of a year to attain what we have done in a matter of weeks.
Even if you don't have your own website yet, you can still be on the internet by having your own web page on Teddy Bear Fair.
Why visit the Doctor, Dentist or Hospital? Take some of your old teddy bear magazines and leave them in the waiting room like I do. Let them bring a bit of sunshine into the lives of people when they need it. And who knows.... we might just start to grow the market again and improve our own outlook on life. As they say in Tesco....'every little helps'............. (and look at the size of them now!)
2007 is going to be a good year if you're up for it. Have fun.
Chris:)
Yesterday I started to phone around to gauge reaction and was met with a wall of pessimism. Everything is going wrong! Fairs are closing down! Shops are closing! E-bay's not so good these days! Where have all the customers gone? Oakleys, Merrythought etc have gone! I'm waiting for something positive to happen before I commit myself. How am I going to sell my bears now? etc.etc. Well, that's all in the past............The future starts HERE AND NOW!
Without a doubt there is great uncertainty, but the potential market still exists, all we have to do is get out there and explore the opportunities with the tools we have available. We at Christie Bears have a constant relationship with our buying customers and the feedback that we're getting from them is that they are still very busy. Our perception is that they are also very professional. Their marketing and customer relations are a very important aspect of their continuing success, their websites and particularly their images are of the highest quality (just check around this Forum). They go out looking for new customers if there is even a small gap in their order books etc etc.
Why Teddy Bear Fair? Well, the internet is now dominating retail selling but only 10 people can be on page 1 of Google with their own website, there are just too many of us for everyone to be there in their own right. But if we all get together in one place then perhaps we can all be there. Hey! just look at the stats in the Newsletter, it normally takes the best part of a year to attain what we have done in a matter of weeks.
Even if you don't have your own website yet, you can still be on the internet by having your own web page on Teddy Bear Fair.
Why visit the Doctor, Dentist or Hospital? Take some of your old teddy bear magazines and leave them in the waiting room like I do. Let them bring a bit of sunshine into the lives of people when they need it. And who knows.... we might just start to grow the market again and improve our own outlook on life. As they say in Tesco....'every little helps'............. (and look at the size of them now!)
2007 is going to be a good year if you're up for it. Have fun.
Chris:)