 Matt cashed in helping to sell these furry little critters!
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"I Walked Out Of The Store With A Check For $1,500"
This information just made me 3000 dollars and on top of that an ongoing 250 dollars a month. There is a local pet store here that specializes in pure-breed "pocket" dogs. You know...the cutesy kind that Paris Hilton wannabes stuff in their Gucci bags and walk around in the mall with. I think these dogs look like rats and gerbils, but to each their own. These things sell for $1300 and up. The other day, after reading this thread, I found the website of said dog store and almost had to throw up at how terrible it is.
 I Walked Out Of The Store With A Check For $1,500
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-- Matt Jutras
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It is absolutely doing nothing for this persons business. It is the type of site that a business has made up just to say that they have a website and aren't stuck in the 17th century. So today I walked in and chatted up the owners, who also mind the store. I asked them how business was doing and they indicated it was lukewarm, mostly because we are in the post-holiday season. I then inquired what marketing they were doing: They have a yellow pages ad and do some local coupon ads twice a year or so. I then asked how many people come in the store, look around a little bit, and then claim that they'll come back at a later time when they see a dog they like (their "inventory" of dogs changes weekly). They said probably 95%. Of these 95% about half take a business card or flyer. Of those half, only about 5% come back and actually end up buying something. I said not bad but I can improve it, and spent the next hour explaining how...and then signing them up for a 3000 dollar complete site overhaul and 250 monthly fee for hosting and monthly update. I snatched the monthly fee by offering this service: they have their customers and potential customers sign up for a monthly e-mail update on what they have in stock. Customers can also go the website and opt-in, of course. I come in once a month and film their new inventory (using a Flip Video recorder). I will record about 90 seconds of video footage per mutt (they usually have around 12-15). Each dog's video clip gets uploaded to youtube. The monthly email gets put together, with a two or three paragraph blurb about the new dogs they have available and the 12-15 videos embedded in the email. The effect of this is twofold: customers that have already purchased a dog, will probably check out a video,fall in love with one of the dogs, and rush in to buy it. Customers who walk in, but don't like any of the dogs they currently have, can get a monthly audio/visual update on the stores inventory from the comfort of their home or workplace. So instead of losing a potential buying customer, the store can now put its product in the face of prospects once a month with ease. I estimate that it will be about 2 or 3 hours of actual labor per month. If I start getting too busy I know someone who I can pay 50 bucks to do it for me. So 200 bucks a month for sitting on my ass. Nice. 250 a month is probably cheap. But it's my first client and I'm learning. By the way I walked out of the store with a check for $1500.
Always get half up front, and wait until it clears before you start. Peace. Matt Jutras
Alpharetta, Georgia, USA
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