When I go on the Shelf Awareness website, it seems like the message is -- "Don't worry. Independent bookstores still have a place!" But then they go and subvert the message, by making nonsensical arguments that We Too can sell e-books. Which I simply don't believe.
Five years ago, the message the American Booksellers Association was pawning off was: Be interactive! Have events! Coffee and magazines! Book signings! Contests! Wine and Circuses and Clown costumes!
(They still say that, though it doesn't seem to be working...)
At the same time, the ABA seemed to be telling all their members to sell online. Maybe that's the salvation of independent bookstores!
(Only that didn't seem to work either...)
Now they are saying we should sleep with the enemy -- if you can't beat them join them -- cut our own throats. Sell e-books!
Whatever.
So the numbers I'm hearing is 2200 indie bookstores left. Ouch.
Central Oregon has 5 full service independent bookstores -- which is probably about 4 times more than most metro areas our size. (Not that there is anything wrong with this -- the other areas need more bookstores, you know?)
Shelf Awareness is constantly posting the closings of stores; and/or the selling of stores. They try to counteract this negative news with positive messages from new owners.
Thing is, the voice of experience -- closing or selling, have a whole lot more weight with me than the starry eyed declarations of new store owners -- either those who buy an existing store or those who are opening new ones.
A significant development is that Looking Glass Bookstore in Portland is going to close if they can't find a buyer by March. My memory of this bookstore was that it was the kind of bookstore I wanted to be when I grew up.
I don't think e-books are putting independents out of business -- but they are the straw that breaks the camel's back. Years of competition from the likes of Barnes and Nobles, followed by years of Amazon and other online retailers, followed by mass market incursions from Walmart and Costco, and ---now -- e-books. Only so many battles you can win before you use up all your soldiers.
I'm fortunate that I'm coming from a different direction -- everything but e-books was in place before I started buying new books. I call this coming up from underneath the problem (instead of having the problem cut out the ground beneath you.)
But I make no pretense of being a full service bookstore -- just a store with good books. I pass almost entirely on non-fiction, except popular authors like Tom Wolfe and Hunter Thompson and Jon Krakauer and/or pop culture books. I don't spend a whole lot of time pouring over new releases, unless they already interest me. I'm picking off the low-hanging fruit; books I know will sell.
Classics, favorites, cult, and quirky.
I still think independent bookstores are going to be around when all the dust settles; they may handle the e-book phenomenon better than the big chains even.
But it isn't going to be easy.
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Trying to jump on SOME of the "new" promo ideas couldn't hurt. I like that you have a "staff recommends" shelf now, with little cards a la Powells. You should put that stuff out there. Say, on your Twitter feed.
Once a day, recommend a book or product with a quick, 140-character plug. Offer 5% off if they mention they heard about it on Twitter. Then you could even track how effective it is.
You have 110 followers! Surely that could turn into at least one sale per day? Or at least one a week?
Not to mention it creates conversation and could give you a chance to plug other stuff. "Oh, you didn't like X because of Y? Then you'd probably really like Z."
Plus, all it costs you is a few minutes per day.
I gotta tell ya, the staff recommendations have had almost no effect on sales....
I don't understand this -- I sure like them when I see them at Paulina Springs or wherever. Can't remember, though, if I actually bought books because of them...
Do you think it's fair to say that most of the reliable money that comes into your store is in the pockets of people who already know what they're looking for?
Perhaps getting the message "out there" about great products would bring more people in looking for it.
Actually, being downtown we get a fair amount of foot traffic. Enough to pay the extra rent, probably.
Anyway -- promotion is just a big bugaboo. No matter what I say, I'm going to come across as negative, which I don't want to do.
Advertising is too expensive and ineffective -- as well as mostly creatively lame. I'm paying the rate to reach 100% of the populous, when what I sell only appeals to, say, 5% of the populous.
What about books and games? They appeal to more of the populous, but they are much smaller part of my store.
It's a catch-22.
I also don't believe MOST advertising works, period.
I think what you're talking about is what I'd call "guerrilla" marketing. I think this CAN be effective, but you have to do a great deal of experimentation, and even then, whatever works at first usually dissipates.
Nothing is free -- even "guerrilla" advertising -- what you're not paying in cash, you're making up in time and energy.
One final example. The Bookmark has been on what is the certified most busy corner in Eastern Oregon. We have the biggest signs the city will allow. We have more writing in the window, again the biggest allowed. We have big windows and leave lights on at night, and we leave books in the window.
And yet, I'd say MOST of the locals I tell about her store haven't seen it!!!!!
So, if they are that oblivious to what is Right In Front Of Them, how much chance does ads of any kind have? Seeing as how most people are Ad Blind?
In the end, I fall back on word of mouth.
I did advertising in my first decade. Every kind. Not once did I feel I got my money's worth.
I would end up the month spending 2k on ads, and being 2k short on funds. The next month, I'd spend 3k and be 3k short; the next month 1k and be 1k short.
I quit buying ads, and I quit being short!
Finally, if you will, the proof is in the pudding. I'm still here after 30 years, when almost No One Else Is. I stock the store, I pay the extra rend to be downtown, and I order for the levels I sell.
After than, I depend on the slow accumulation of customers through accidental finding and word of mouth.
Oh, and I always like to mention that I had the equivalent of huge ad success many times, if what counts in the number of people in the door and who know about you.
Pogs, beanie babies, comics, cards, and others all brought in huge crowds of customers; ten times a normal number, say, but...when the fads were over, the effect wore off.
These were people who just didn't find about us through ads or promotions, but were ACTUALLY in the store and ACTUALLY buying stuff.
Yet, in the end, they disappeared when they were through buying what they wanted.
They all saw what I had other than the fad -- and obviously didn't care.
So a major ad success would be reaching ten times my customers -- and I suspect I'd get the same results.
I have to sell to people who want what I have, and they'll come in if they want it. They can always google, or read my blog, or look me up in the phone book.
I guess that's the beauty of Twitter, though, is that it's not just a big sign that you're hoping they'll see. They've already found you. It's a channel they tune in to.
Here's a related example: I follow several indie record labels on Twitter, and they offer quick reads about products that there's a good chance I'll want. And I often give them money for products that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. And then I tell other people about it. It works.
Likewise, I'm always on the lookout for new books to read and comics to follow, and recently I've discovered several by following artists and authors on Twitter.
A local bookseller that regularly recommends good books on Twitter would appeal to me, and probably at least 110 other people. It's an extension of the word-of-mouth that you're talking about.
"The Bookmark has been on what is the certified most busy corner in Eastern Oregon. We have the biggest signs the city will allow. We have more writing in the window, again the biggest allowed. We have big windows and leave lights on at night, and we leave books in the window. And yet, I'd say MOST of the locals I tell about her store haven't seen it!!!!!"
Zero foot traffic in that area, plus it's set pretty far back from the street. People zip right by.
Foot traffic is crucial to the success of a business like yours. Do you think you would have survived if you were in a strip mall on S. Highway 97?
I think you have to have either/or.
You can have high foot traffic (probably not car traffic friendly)
or high car traffic (probably not foot traffic friendly.)
I'd be hard pressed to find a location that has both.
Then you design the store for that situation.
Those aren't small questions, Jake.
If you can, try working in the type of store you're wanting to open, and watch what sells and what doesn't.
Lists, of course. Recommendations from the wholesalers.
Big mistake I see most newcomers make is buying too much of the same thing. Spread out the risk, buy smaller quantities.
Once something sells, get another one, and if that sells, get another...
Eventually you'll have a rough estimate of what sells.
As far as an online store -- just getting my stuff in order would be such a huge job, it would never pay for the time and effort. (I even gave up on putting my inventory on a POS. But I guess if you're starting from scratch.
But I can't believe an online store is any easier, in the long run. Work is work.
Thanks for the response, Duncan. This is Jake, btw. I updated my google identity.
I appreciate the advice. The one thing in particular you mentioned that I hadn't considered was to buy in smaller quantities. I just always assumed buying in bulk (in my case, it would be cases of sportscards) would help me save money over the long run, but I guess if the boxes aren't much more expensive than buying them by the case, then it would make sense to buy less of one product and be able to have a wider variety for sale.
As far as the maintenance of an online store goes, I just had this picture in my head of having too much idle time in a physical store that would be put towards hunting down product and updating the online store. There's also the overhead of the physical store, so that's why I was leaning towards just the online store. It would be less overhead and the hours, although still heavy, would be at my discretion.
I also hadn't considered working at a card shop before I opened one. Now that you mention it, it would be a very smart move to ensure that I would enjoy it and to gain experience while still getting my inventory ready for my own store. It would work well if I could work in a shop for 3 to 5 years before I started my own.
Thanks for the advice! I haven't done much research about the business aspects of it all yet. I suppose that is a clear indication of what I should concentrate on next.
I'm not against online stores it's just that I'm not very techno -- and at this point, don't much want to be.
But if you already are, then an online store makes sense, especially for sports cards. It think a brick and mortar card shop would be very difficult.
Yeah, get smaller quantities -- you can always get more.
3rd & Greenwood is not a destination. It's just a dang intersection! It's kind of a dead zone too. Except for that gas station on the corner and the flower store that I rarely see anyone at... that leaves the furniture store that went out of business and the slummy pet store.
Recommendation to the Bookmark: Paint the exterior of the building if the owner will allow you to. Anything but what you have now. You know, something not bland. That will advertise all you need and cost you just as much.
Oh! and for indie stores doing something to attract business... do something weird like have a punk rock show or open up a Malaysian restaurant inside.
hahah
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