Stix figures throw opportunity at entrepreneur - Business

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Anyone with opposable thumbs and a pencil can draw a stick figure, but not many people would turn that simple drawing into a lucrative clothing line; but one exists. Stix Bristol, a native New Yorker, began vending his clothing line, Stix-N-Phrases, out of the trunk of his car nearly four years ago. Currently, Bristol owns three stores in Maryland, one in Gaithersburg, VA, and sells everything from hats to sweat suits and socks.

The idea came about in a casual conversation one night some time after he had been laid off. "My wife and I were sitting in the living room one night, and I told her how tired I was of going back and forth to New York to find clothes I like. She said, 'why don't you just start your own clothing line,'" he recalled. "And I said, 'how? I can't draw anything but stick figures.'"

"And there you have it,"replied his wife. Stix called a friend who was more artistic, and together, they came up with the concept for Stix-n-Phrases -T-Shirts with a stick-figure illustration of a theme, coupled with a catchy "Stic" phrase. They made a few shirts, found a receptive audience at Howard University's Homecoming, and with that, began selling right out of the trunk of his car.

Then he made the biggest sale of all - Clinton Portis, runningback for the Washington Redskins, loved his shirts, and before he knew it the Redskins were sporting Stix-n-Phrases. He quit his job to concentrate on making Stix-N-Phrases T-shirts.

"The hardest part was trying to fill up the store!" Bristol said, surprised. "I didn't have as much stuff as I thought I did, and then you have to find companies that give top quality supplies" at an affordable rate. And then there was the problem of visibility. Although Bristol already had a fan base where the store was located, his store's entrance was in the back of the building.

"I would stand on the street and have to walk people to my store through this alleyway," he said, remembering customers' awkward apprehension on this walk. "But people know where I am now. I have been blessed to be so successful," he said.
The success has eliminated the thought of quitting from his mind. Just two months ago, he turned down a job offer from MCI in the IT department. "I just can't see myself going back to that rat race," he reasoned.

Bristol credits the success to the combination of a great team - his wife Lanetta, airbrush artist Kevin Malone, and the artist who brings Stix's visions to life, Siaka Hines. "You've got to stay focused, and stick to it," Bristol asserted, quoting one of his T-shirt phrases. "Anything you do is going to take time."

His business has afforded him the opportunity to serve his community. He engages with every customer like an old friend and will even forgo profit in the name of helping out. Oftentimes, he has given newly released inmates clothes for free, and even sent a shipment of clothes to an orphanage in Africa that one of his customers had visited.

"I want to be there and open stores in the black community," he said. "It's the best feeling in the world when customers come in and say, 'thank you, we needed this.'"

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Kids Entertainment Salon Franchise Taps Growing Children's Sector in $5 Billion Hair Service Retail Industry

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NATICK, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Haircutting has gone the way of pediatric dentistry, children's clothing retailers and indoor fitness centers - to the kids - and the money has followed.

Gone are the days when parents have to shell out adult-prices for little Johnny's first trim at grandpa's barber. Offering a no tears and a great fun alternative, privately-held Snip-its (www.snipits.com) is leading a newly recognized and lucrative sector of the hair care market with a children's focused franchise concept that just marked its 52nd store opening in Cortlandt, New York. Its 67 percent growth in 2006 has set the pace for 2007: already 20 new franchise commitments in 13 states are in place across the US and more are expected. Even movie studios, such as the Weinstein Company, have found Snip-its a powerful partner for coifing the youth market. The companies recently partnered on a cross promotion to push the Weinstein's film, Arthur and the Invisibles. Movie sets are actually familiar territory to Founder Joanna Meiseles - her father was famed producer Robert F. Blumofe, credited with Yours, Mine and Ours and she's also the granddaughter of comic legend Jack Benny.

"For parents and children, visiting a Snip-its is unlike any other salon experience," said Meiseles, Snip-its president and mother of four, who founded the company in 1995. "It's a welcoming, uniquely sunny destination for kids who look forward to coming back because it's like being inside a Saturday morning cartoon."

Meiseles attributes the salon's distinctive concept to its endless entertaining fun with propietary wholesome singing characters, bright primary colors, plus animated gadgets and computer games. The salons are designed for children and geared for happy results.

"Children leave smiling with a picture-ready haircut," said Meiseles. "Our services don't stop at a trim either. Snip-its makes grooming enjoyable with fun mini spa treatments, birthday celebrations and even 'Glamour parties' where children receive a full celebrity-style pampering, from hair-dos and make-up to dress-up and fingernail polishing."

Snip-its Listed as Top Franchise Opportunity

Snip-its' franchise growth strategy has hinged on the swell of parents nationwide for whom discretionary income is strong enough to secure the best experiences for their children. It also reflects the increasing impact of entrepreneurial moms who are creating successful business ventures that fit with their lifestyles and personal experiences. With a low cost, convenient service and an initial investment of approximately $210,000 that generates high returns, Snip-its' success has spawned would-be competitors.

"In developing Snip-its, I took all of my personal worst customer experiences with my kids and created solutions to prevent them," said Meiseles. "I wanted a place where kids could feel happy and comfortable, where strollers and baby gear weren't a problem and stylists really understood the trepidation of the youngest of clients. My father loved Snip-its and told me just like a Hollywood producer, I can make anything happen. Snip-its has become my Academy Award winning production."

Meiseles Offers These Lessons to Entrepreneurs

1. Brand Your Product. Brand loyalty starts at a young age and the larger-than-life Snip-its cartoon characters are the equity. Meiseles' Snips and his hair care friends (Curly Comb, Flyer Joe Dryer and the Clip-ette Sisters) help associate the brand with grooming. The characters appear in the salon interior, in videos and games, on products and in the waiting area. Soon Snip-its will launch its own book club.

2. Understand Your Customer Needs. Children feel more comfortable with their parents beside them. At Snip-its, each styling station has a cushy parent's chair next to the child to ease all involved in the cut from the little customers to the stylists.

3. Provide Incentives So Customers Return. At the conclusion of each haircut, children receive a prize from the "Magic Box" in exchange for a lock of hair and loyalty card customers are awarded a 9th haircut for free.

4. Apply Customer Service Principles. Customer's brand perceptions are shaped by every interaction with a company from the front desk to the website. As Meiseles knows first hand, "Customers return if treated right." Snip-its fine tunes processes that don't work and trains its franchisees to reflect its founding principles: quality haircuts, positive interactions and sanitation.

5. Bring the Experience Home. Snip-its offers a line of self branded all-natural, tear-free shampoos, body washes, styling products and brushes that kids can call their very own. The cleverly packaged product line outsells early forecasts at more than 1,000 bottles per week, sold at salons and online.

6. You Can't Be All Things To All People. Stick to your core product and focus on one or two items that your company does very well. Don't compromise your quality or the brand. For example, Snip-its only cuts children's hair, not adults.

7. Become an Expert. With blogging in vogue, Meiseles recently launched a blog to share her challenges and rewards of being a working mom and an entrepreneur. The Great Working Mom Adventure can be found at: http://greatworkingmomadventure.blogspot.com.

"Our best customers are kids and parents who love the Snip-its experience and share information with friends" said Meiseles. "Originally, I just wanted to solve a tedious customer service problem of salons not catering to children. Now, my goal is to build the brand and make visits to Snip-its one of the most positive experiences in a child's life."

The Snip-its Corporation is based in Natick, Massachusetts and is the fastest growing franchise of children's hair salons in the United States. The salons are designed to untangle the hair-care challenges of children and their parents. Founded by Joanna Meiseles after a heartbreaking salon experience with her then young son, she discovered a business opportunity for salons to cater to children and offer a unique entertaining experience. Today, the company has salons in more than 21 states and provides cuts for nearly one million children annually. For more information, visit www.snipits.com or call 877-SNIP-ITS.

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Website Writting Tips From a Copy Veteran

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When I joined my first London ad agency 40-something years ago, the copywriting department was presided over by a lapsed genius who beat into me a number of immutable copy principles. These precepts, which are as valid now as they were then and which have helped me shift truckloads of product worldwide, apply to all types of promotional writing. They apply even more so to selling on the Internet, where do-it-yourself copy is the norm rather than the exception. In the old days, very few serious advertisers wrote their own material. Today, they do so as a matter of course simply because the technology allows it.

Anyway, this little article is aimed at those who write their own web pages and also at those who hire a writer and may wish to check that he or she is working on the right lines. Below you'll find just a few principles of good promotional writing. If the editor wants more, I'll gladly provide them.

Keep it very simple

All copywriting should speak to its audience in everyday, uncomplicated language. People don't like to be talked down to. And they grow tired of clich's and buzzwords. Also, keep your sentences short and punchy, with the minimum of clauses. Long and involved sentence structure is death to readership. (The six sentences above are examples of what I'm talking about. They are easy to scan and understand.)

All web pages should carry a headline

But this must be a pertinent headline. A selling headline. This headline will be, or should be, powerful enough or intriguing enough to draw your target into the compass of the body copy. If it can do that, you are on a winner.

It may go without saying that the entire thrust of your webpage should revolve around an offer or a promise. This offer or promise will be unique to you - it's your unique sales proposition. It's the one thing that sets you apart from your competitors; and it can be price, performance or service related. Given this, the headline should be a snapshot of the sales message - a pr'cis of your offer or promise. In other words, a headline that says: Buy this product and get this benefit. I'm sure you already know that people don't buy products, they buy the benefits of owning those products.

And when I say that every page of your site should carry a headline, I mean every page. Experience shows that a person will read a headline before looking at any accompanying pic or body copy. They do so preparatory to scooting off to someone else's site. But if your on-going headlines tell them things of interest, they will almost certainly hang around to explore the site more fully.

Keep headlines relevant

Around 30% of all headlines on the Net are both useless and irrelevant. The worst of them are so convoluted, so desperate to say everything all at once, that they are unintelligible. The offending lines also employ tired buzzwords. The word leverage, for instance, in completely ungrammatical context; and words like solutions and focus are thrown around like generous confetti. The moral is this. State your sales proposition cleverly, wittily, stridently or emotively, but never, ever employ a clich device simply because it's the easy thing to do. If you can't be original, at least be positive. And if you honestly don't have very much to say, there are some really clever ways of saying nothing that will endear you to your audience.

Emphasise the benefit

Copy should be more than just a description of your product. All body copy should make some kind of selling proposition. If it doesn't, it isn't advertising - it's an announcement. So many writers these days fail to understand that copy is nothing more than salesmanship in print. They describe every conceivable facet of their product, what it does, how it does it and why it does it, without once producing a decent argument for buying the damned thing! They lose sight of the fact that they should be trying to sell something.

Thus, copy must use the psychology of the salesman; and it must say, right up front: Here's what's in it for you. Nobody ever went broke promoting the benefits of owning their product.

Raising value

All copywriting should be geared to fulfilling one very important task. And this is to raise the value of your product or service in the potential customer's mind. This has nothing to do with a policy of low pricing or, indeed, cut-price offers. But it has everything to do with making a sales pitch that immediately demonstrates the outstanding value of your goods and services - no matter how much you are charging for them.

Look at it this way, a gallon of petrol costs around 5, but if your car runs out of gas on a lonely, rain-swept moor in the middle of the night, with the prospect of a 30-mile walk to the nearest filling station, how much would you pay for a gallon of petrol from a passing stranger? 10? 20? 50? It all depends on how badly you need it and how the circumstances have raised its value to you.

Raising value isn't difficult to do when people are in the market for your product. They come to you with certain preconceived notions, they are excited about owning whatever it is you make, they can already picture themselves using it, they want it now. All you have to do is exploit their desire. Bear in mind that advertising doesn't create desire, desire creates advertising.

Say it, then say it again

It has been scientifically proven that most of us take in only around 40% of what we actually see. Our brains edit out the other 60% of visual information as unimportant. On these grounds, if you have a serious proposition to make in your website it would be wise to repeat it. And not just once, but several times.

Just because you are deeply immersed in your offer or promise, it doesn't follow that your market will be likewise informed after only one reading. Websites are the most negligently read materials on the planet. Aside from you, nobody has any real or abiding interest in them. Always remember that you are preaching to the indifferent.

Resist the urge to talk about yourself

A lot of website writers seem compelled to talk about themselves. They talk about their business, when it was founded, why it was founded and by whom. Not content with this, they tell us all about their employees one by one; about the size and location of their offices or plant; and about the lengths they go to in order to satisfy their customers.

A little of this sort of thing goes a long way, but a lot of it goes right over people's heads. And they lose more customers than they gain with such naval-gazing.

The simple truth is that nobody gives a damn about other people's achievements. All most of us are interested in are our own achievements. Good enough reason, then, when writing your next website is to talk more about your potential customers and what you can do for them, than about yourself. Six-to-four, you?ll get a bigger response.

If this has been helpful, maybe you'll let me know.

---

About the Author: Pat Quinn is an award-winning UK copywriter who also operates a search engine optimisation service. Because it's all in the writing! Here: http://www.search-engine-mechanics.co.uk.

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Hurricanes inspire winning invention

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Kristen Nevils wowed the Venture2 "Inventor Search" judges both with her husband's "Watersafe" invention idea and her presentation polish.

On Thursday in Delray Beach, Nevils, 37, proudly unveiled the emergency water storage product that she and husband Michael Nevils, 44, developed after South Florida was hit by hurricanes two years in a row. The Fort Lauderdale residents' product is a solution for the homeowner to keep up to 65 gallons of emergency water supply in the bathtub or sink, avoiding the prehurricane scramble for bottled water.

"When you see those palm trees starting to bend, you fill it up," Nevils said, demonstrating how the plastic storage bags are filled with tap water and secured.

On Friday, the couple were named the contest winners. "I'm blown away. I'm so excited," Nevils said. "I love my product and see so much in it. But to have other inventors say, `You really have something here,' that's amazing. That legitimizes it."

The contest was sponsored by Venture2, a consulting firm founded by Michael Docherty, a former consumer products guru for Sunbeam.

"It wasn't an easy call," Docherty said about the contests' three finalists. A gift-wrap cutting and storage product invented by David Richards, 52, of Palm Harbor, for example, "was less developed, but potentially bigger opportunity," he said.

"In the end what pushed us toward Watersafe is that they were the ones who took the total business approach," Docherty said. The Nevilses also are willing to devote their time to developing the product, he added. Several contestants were looking for someone else to market their invention.

The winners receive 60 days' consulting from Venture2 in refining their concept and licensing or launching their product in the marketplace.

Judges ranked inventors on whether their idea addressed "unmet customer needs, was unique, and an attractive financial opportunity."

Nine inventors were chosen to make presentations, set up American Idol-style with three judges giving on-the-spot feedback. But the judges, who included Docherty, inventor Bob Robbins and MIT Enterprise Forum of South Florida President Amer Akhtar, were gentler in their advice than judges of TV fame.

The judges liked the Nevilses' water storage product, but questioned how Kristen Nevils arrived at the price, $34.95 for the large and $12.99 for the "mini" version.

The judges praised Eva Thomas, a Boca Raton inventor, for her passion, but couldn't see the potential that she does in her locking mailbox designed to make homeowners safe from identity theft. "Drive along A1A. They have multimillion-dollar homes and they have $10 mailboxes. It drives me nuts," she said.

"You're underestimating what's involved in trying to build a business around this," Docherty told her.

Finalists John and Gwendolyn Corn drove from St. Petersburg to participate in the contest. The couple invented what they call the "Bath Fiddle," a back scrubber made of quick-dry, exfoliating material.

"It's a great idea," said "Judge" Robbins, who has invented many products including the Conair hair-braiding device for teenagers. He recommended the couple take their back scrubber to a bed-and-bath trade show in Las Vegas.

"I like it, too," added "Judge" Akhtar, who saw potential in using the product to put on suntan lotion at the beach. "I would buy one."

Robbins saw potential in Richard's gift-wrap idea, saying his device to cut paper was more valuable than the storage idea. Even though he didn't win the contest, Richards said he found the judges helpful. "I picked up a lot of information, and they're open to providing guidance on this.

"I didn't know how to proceed. I haven't done this before, and I don't have much time because I have a family and a job. It was a great experience."
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Study: Wellness Programs Catching On

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More employees are taking part in workplace health screenings and wellness programs, according to a survey releases this week by the Principal Financial Group.

Out of 1,197 employees polled nationwide, as many as 79 percent said they took part in a workplace health screening last year, compared to just 68 percent in 2005, the survey found.

Another 60 percent said they took advantage of fitness-facility benefits when provided, up from 38 percent in 2005, while more than half said an employer-offered health program helped improve their performance at work, the study found.

"As employers offer more wellness programs at work, employees will use them," Jerry Ripperger, Principal Financial's director of consumer health, said in a statement. "We've already begun to see the financial impact of what's been done to date." he said.

Ripperger added that healthier workers also result in healthier bottom lines for employers.

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How to Delegate Effectively

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Many small-business owners believe they can save time by telling their employees both what to do and how to do it. After all, in most cases they initially had to do all of the jobs now held by their employees, so it makes sense to save them the effort of trying to figure things out for themselves…right?

Wrong. Delegation is a better approach, because it launches employees into effective, independent action and saves time and resources in the long run. Each situation and assignment is unique, but there are three simple yet powerful steps that you can take to delegate more effectively:

1. Understand whether you are making a request or issuing a command. A request allows the person to say, 'No, thank you,' whereas a command is not optional.

2. Be sure to make your request or command clear by including the following points:

The task you want done.
The reason it needs to be done.
When it needs to be done.
What resources (people, dollars, technology) you are making available for its completion.
What you expect the final product to look like.
How you will make yourself available to answer any questions.
An agreement on a midpoint check-in.

Faulty assumptions in any of these areas can result in problems and delays.

3. Don't skip your midpoint check-in. If, at that point, you find the person or team way off base, you may be tempted to micro manage the remainder of the project or task. Don't. Instead, reassess whether you made a crystal clear request and whether your people are capable and motivated. If you need to clarify your task then do so. If your people are not capable and motivated, then reassign the task.

Delegating effectively helps you make the most of your resources, allows for greater overall productivity, and launches your employees into effective, independent action.

David Peck
Founder
Leadership Unleashed
San Francisco, Calif.

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7 keys to making more moolah from your copywriting

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Before you write one single word!

#1: Know what the heck you’re talking about. In other words, do your research. Spend time getting into the mind of your prospect.

Convince yourself this is the best product ever and everyone needs to know about it. Use the product!

I always request samples and use whatever I’m working on (with the exception of the male potency stuff. Doesn’t work for me and my husband swears he’ll never need it).

I want to see and feel a difference the product makes on ME. In other words, I’m convincing myself before I try to sell anybody else!

Many times, I’m so certain the product works, I write my own testimonial in my package!

If you’re working on a product and don’t believe its value -- do yourself a favor and turn down the job. The odds of failure are great — and why do you want to sell a crappy product anyway?

#2: Work with a few clients – and really get to know their business! I’m in my 8th year as a freelance copywriter. And I’ve found the years I worked with just 2 or 3 clients produced more revenue than when I worked for 6 or more companies!

Of the 14 packages I wrote last year, 9 were from one client. They were a variety of nutritional products – but all were going to the same demographics and files! That means I knew immediately whom I was writing to.

I didn’t have to “learn” my market every time – just had to get into the benefits of the product. And because I was familiar with the company, I knew their risk tolerance. That helped avoid a lot of edits from the legal department!

How to handle “writer’s block”:

#3: Stop staring at the blank screen! If ideas aren’t coming to you, get up and do something else. Give yourself permission to goof off. When I’m stuck, I take my 96-year grandmother to Wal-Mart...tackle a new recipe in my favorite crock-pot cookbook...or take a nap. Sounds contrary to SPEEDwriting, doesn’t it? Well it’s not. Here’s why...

Before I enjoy these diversions, I tell myself, “Ok, Carline, you can take a break, but you need to come up with a headline, or lead.” Then I get up from my computer.

What I’ve done is given my subconscious a direct order to start working. While I’m “goofing off”, my subconscious is free to be as creative as possible.

Many times I’ve burned a recipe because right in the middle of cooking, an idea pops in my head. I start writing it down and am usually back at my computer and raring to go!

Don’t believe me? Then read the book, "Psycho-cybernetics" by Maxwell Maltz. You'll discover how to unleash the power of the subconscious mind. Then, try it for yourself. I promise—it’ll work for you!

#4: Never start with a blank screen! You get writer’s block ‘cause you don’t know what to say. Plus that blank page can be very scary!

So the first thing I do when I start writing is to quickly fill up the blank page. For example, you know you’ll need an order form, guarantee, testimonials and other static elements—so go ahead and cut and paste some standard ones into your document.

Then write the words, “Big freakin’ headline goes here!” – Hey, look, you’ve already got at least 3 pages of copy — and you haven’t even written a word yet!

Don’t worry, you’ll eventually tweak your original headline and make it stronger — but at least for now, you’ve got something!

#5: Take rest breaks: Tell yourself you’re only going to write for 15 minutes and then you’ll take a break. That’s easy right? What you’re doing is called “baby steps” – take a huge project and break it down into easy to handle segments.

After 15 minutes, you can take a break. But most likely, you’ll find you’re writing for 30...45...even an hour or more!

#6: Don’t reinvent the wheel: Ask clients if they have standard elements of a package they prefer to use.

For example, one of my clients uses a standard order form for his promotions. Why spend time writing a new order form when it’s going to get dumped and replaced by the standard one?

Instead, focus your time on writing a strong headline for the order form and killer copy for the positive acceptance statement (the “YES! I want to ... section of the order form).

#7: Minimize distractions: When you’re in heavy-duty writing mode, keep your momentum by eliminating distractions.

In the movie, “The Pursuit of Happiness”, Will Smith’s character found out he could save 8 minutes a day just by pushing the button instead of physically hanging up the phone after every sales call. And he saved even more time by not drinking water so he wouldn’t have to go to the bathroom.

What he did was maximize productivity by minimizing distractions. You can too.

Put your phone on mute while you’re working. Contact your client and request any additional info by e-mail only...let your neighbors know you really do have a job and not to “pop in”...and post a sign on your door that says “WARNING: DON’T BOTHER ME UNLESS YOU’RE BLEEDING!” In other words, do whatever you need to protect your writing time!

I know I promised you 7 keys to speedwriting. And I hope these are helpful to you. But a good copywriter always delivers more than promised. So here’s probably the real key to my success...

#8: Love what you do and “niche your passion”. When I first started copywriting, I took whatever job I could get. I needed the money and the experience. But I didn’t achieve real success until I focused on just one area and made myself an expert.

I love the alternative health field and I love writing about nutritional supplements. So now, 90% of my projects are for the nutritional health field.

I turn down projects that push me too far away from my niche. That way, I stay focused on the pulse of my market...and write faster, more profitable copy!

Carline Anglade-Cole

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