Thanks to Kay LaFrance-Knight, director of Winnsboro Main Street in Winnsboro, Louisiana for sending us these photos. She commented in her e-mail to us..

Thought y’all might like to see Wade’s newest
window. Pushing the envelope to be sure,
but then that’s our guy Wade…totally shameless! New product called Poopourri…so popular
he’s reordered twice!

Wade is the very vivacious and personality-filled owner of Every Occasion, a gift store in downtown Winnsboro, and when Team HALO visited their community in early May, his windows were standout. However, he apparently listened at our seminars, interpreted in his own way and took them to the next level after we left!

However, the bottom line is still the bottom line. Having to re-order twice doesn’t lie. Sounds like the display caught some attention and got the job done. The window display sold the product – and during a slow selling season – summer in the south.

And while all of us aren’t in a position to pull off potty-humored windows successfully, we are in a position to sell our products more skillfully through the use of our window displays.

Are your window displays asking for the sale? Are they making a statement? Maybe its time for you to take it to the next level!

The last week in February, Andy, Trisha and I had the privilege of working with the Tunica Chamber of Commerce and Tunica Main Street on some strategic planning for the downtown district in the town of Tunica. We spent three days working on site where we got to know the wonderful people of Tunica – the leaders, the business owners, the customers. We got to experience the wonderful food of Cafe Marie, the Blue and White Restaurant and The Hollywood Cafe (where we attended a tourism familiarization tour event for tour bus operators and where Andy joined blues musicians on stage for a couple of songs – thank you Webster and Bill!). We got to tour homes at the new Tunica National development, and got to learn not just about the building and business inventory of their downtown – but the true heart and soul of the community.

The Town of Tunica has a tremendous asset in their downtown district. They have what many would only dream of having – they have millions a year visiting a major tourist destination located only a few miles away. We are so pleased to have had the opportunity to work in this tremendous community – made stronger by its citizens and the hearty dose of enthusiasm and energy that they all possess.

We made many friends – and we look forward to helping this downtown blossom by recruiting new businesses, working more closely with its partners to be a part of a total package both visually and
literally, and seeing the customers flock to enjoy this true Mayberry in the Mississippi Delta.

Photos: (top) Trisha, Bill Cantor with the Tunica Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and Marianna enjoy the music and fried dill pickles at the Hollywood Cafe in Tunica. (middle) View of Tunica’s Main Street. (bottom) Team HALO voted 1251 Place’s Southern Pecan coffee the very best around. Be sure to stop in for a sip and take home some for yourself. We found this delightful interiors and gift market to be top notch.

Gas prices, utilities, even milk and juice seem like they are more and more pricey all the time. Tonight that hit home when I purchased a gallon of milk and a gallon of apple juice for over eight dollars. I was shocked. Thats over 4 dollars a gallon for juice and milk!

It’s a fact, money doesn’t go as far as it once did. The economists are pessimistic, and the housing market is tightening (or plain depressed depending on where you are in America). What does that mean to small business owners and managers?

Talking to small business owners across the country, many have told us how slow business is right now. Sales in general are slower than usual for this time of the year, and that means regardless of how the economy shapes up as a
whole, those businesses who plan and are proactive will be better off
than those that don’t.

As the market tightens up, small businesses often experience cash
shortages. In tight times, the budget goes under the microscope and
categories get cut. Advertising and marketing budgets are often the
first to lose capital. Unfortunately, this is a poor decision.

This is no time to react to circumstance. Now is not the time to sit back and let the economy just happen to you and your business. It’s time for your small business to plan ahead – to get a game plan – a lean marketing plan – in place.

Someone once said "Failing to plan, is planning to fail." While this is true in many aspects in life, not planning ahead in marketing and business will prove fatal.

I once met a client who had spent $30,000 on a single piece of equipment (a capital investment) without first planning how the new equipment would not only repay his investment but profit the next $30,000. Together, we devised a plan that would pay for his equipment in a mere eighteen months and turn a profit for years to come. Unfortunately, this business owner invested all of his money in a piece of equipment before making a plan – and there was little left for operating capital. Learn from this business owner, don’t invest all of your money in product or equipment or buildings – they do not sell your business alone. Only a marketing budget that retains your customers and reaches out to new ones will generate the types of profits your business is capable of achieving. Planning makes a difference – a big difference.

So, when the doom and gloomers are out talking about tightening business budgets, you should be ready with a plan – a marketing plan – a plan that outlines how to keep customers and grow your business even in the slowest of markets.

It is sunny and calm today in Mississippi. Two years ago today, it wasn’t.

It’s hard to believe that it’s the two year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina today. Time has flown by, and so much has changed. The HALO team has had the opportunity over the past six months to meet and work with several of the coastal communities here in Mississippi through the Mississippi Main Street Association as well as some of our own projects. There has been an enormous amount of turnaround and recovery in this area in the past six months – the kind that you can really see and appreciate. Small businesses are opening back up and visitors are returning. The bridge that connects Bay St. Louis with the rest of the Mississippi Gulf Coast has reopened, and the coastal economy is experiencing a renaissance. Next week, I will visit Bay St. Louis and Waveland again to kick off a planning/implementation project focusing on two distinct areas: the Old Town Bay St. Louis district and the Highway 90 Business Corridor from the Bay to Waveland. I must commend the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce for their dedication and support of their small business owners. They have engaged in a practical project that will encourage solid area-wide promotion and marketing and equip their business owners with necessary tools for success. We can’t wait to get started and get to know these courageous business owners and volunteers better – and to learn their stories and see the next chapter written.

Two years ago tonight, Cheryl Fletcher, a friend and client, drove a precarious path from her home in Petal, Miss. to her downtown Hattiesburg, Miss. store to "check on things" after the storm had started to pass. She couldn’t get to her store – because the store roof was blocking the road. Cheryl, like so many others, experienced a total loss of her merchandise and equipment at her store, Forrest Paper Company. Yet, she did not give up. Today, two years later, Cheryl is an amazing testimony to the spirit that rose after the storm. Forrest Paper Company is remodeled and better than ever. It’s products were recently featured in a national stationery showcase, and she is invited to feature her products in exclusive gift shows across the South. The business is thriving, and next month, she will open a sister store next door, Forrest Bridal Company. Cheryl exemplifies an entrepreneurial spirit of perseverance in the midst of storms and struggles.
Let these stories be an example to us all.

Small business owners and communities – don’t let the storms of life drag you down. Don’t let them hold you back. Pursue your dreams. Persevere.

The benefits of listening to your customers are endless and obvious. It is so easy to get bogged down in your business and lose perspective. Even the most savvy, seasoned business owners and community leaders lose their understanding of the customer from time to time.

One of the easiest and best ways to stay in tune with your customer is to form a customer advisory panel or customer advisory board. These are a small group of your best customers – customers who are so supportive of your business that they refer business and have a personal interest in its success. They are able to be honest with you and give you frank feedback – both good and bad.

My firm, HALO Business Advisors, recently announced the final slate for our 2007-2008 Advisory Board. It has been posted on our new web site. Our Advisory Board will be asked to take part in semi-annual service surveys, to post guest articles on our blog, to engage in a networking event, to help us strategically plan for our future growth and to serve as a referral sources for our business. (Just between you and me, they’ll also get a few extra perks along the way.)

Your advisory board would do all that, too – and more. It’s not too late, form one today.

P.S. Don’t know where to start? Start with me. I’ll serve at no charge on the advisory panel or board for the first FIVE organizations or businesses that ask me!

Read related post: Does Your Small Business Have an Advisory Board?

Sometimes I get blurry eyes when I present the idea of Lean Thinking at my small business marketing seminars. At HALO, our entire marketing philosophy and coaching programs are based on lean thinking.

Matt over at 37signals wrote an article that might help remove some of the haze – he summarized the Toyota way of doing things (all based on Lean Thinking). Here are some excerpts from the article and comments.

Take a personal interest in your customer experience…

"Toyota’s chief engineers consider it their responsibility to begin a
design (or a redesign) by going out and seeing for themselves — the
term within Toyota is genchi genbutsu — what customers want in a car or
a truck and how any current versions come up short. This quest can
sometimes seem Arthurian, with chief engineers leading lonely and
gallant expeditions in an attempt to figure out how to beat the
competition."

Back office efficiency leads to success on the sales floor…

Improving efficiency in the factory, though, doesn’t
necessarily lead to greater profits. Savings on the assembly line can
mean a nicer dashboard without making the customer pay more for it. “If
you’re efficient in the things the customer doesn’t see, then you can
put it into the things the customer does see,” Ron Harbour, a
consultant whose company rates the efficiency of auto plants, told me.
A result is a car more popular with customers. Success on the assembly
line, in this way, begets success in the showroom.

Eliminate waste wherever you can and build a rainy-day fund…

Toyota’s systems and worldview derive from an
economy of scarcity. In 1950, the company’s near-bankruptcy during a
difficult year further defined its philosophy of frugality. Toyota soon
began to focus obsessively on reducing muda — or waste — and building
up a vast storehouse of cash for security.

The message really is as important as the media…

Toyota’s executives recognized early on that
improving the process by which cars are designed and built is just as
important as improving the vehicles themselves.

And from the comments – I hope this applies to us here at HALO…

”….the Japanese concept of the three actuals—go to the actual place,
work with the actual people or part and understand the actual
situation.” —Speed!

Last week a client of mine described what she said to another small
business owner about working with me: "I warned her not to expect
immediate results. That the first part of the coaching relationship you
made me muck through a bunch of stuff I didn’t want to do. But now that
it’s all come together, the results are huge." It’s that lean thinking
being applied.

Are you a Toyota? I hope we are.

Last week, I took Stacy Pair up on her invitation to come visit her Mississippi Gulf Coast region to visit communities, Main Street managers and to give a seminar.

Stacy is not only a phenomenal, energetic human, she happens to be director for the southern region of Mississippi Main Street – a job at which she displays tireless dedication to the task of rebuilding and revitalizing this area she calls home. Stacy was a fabulous hostess – thanks Stacy for your sweet hospitality, flexibility and patience with me during my visit!

My visit to the Gulf Coast was eye-opening. Things are both great and not so great. There are daily improvements – but the challenges are huge and will take years to overcome.

While in the region, I had the privilege of touring Bay St. Louis, Biloxi, Ocean Springs and Pascagoula. And through my visits with business owners and Main Street managers, I came to a somewhat simple, yet revolutionary, realization: they need us – to spend.

We all need to go the Gulf Coast – and spend. While there is no doubt you will be impacted by the surroundings (or lack thereof), you should stay in a casino hotel (for lux sparkling new spaces). Skip the gambling and go shopping in one of Ocean Springs 100+ retail shops – some of the most unique and exotic offerings I’ve seen anywhere. Eat in one of Ocean Springs 54+ independently owned restaurants – foodies just think YUMMO! on every possible level. There are also great little shops in Bay St. Louis and Pascagoula – and both communities also boast FABULOUS independent coffee shops you can’t miss.

Small business owners have overcome great obstacles to get their businesses reopened – or to even open entirely new businesses. Often, they’ve reworked their business before their home. Spending puts needed money back into this economy, and the customers (and related revenues) bring a sense of normalcy back to business ownership in these wonderful downtown districts.

Just think, we can contribute to the rebuilding by simply indulging in a bit of hotel escape, retail therapy, restaurant hopping or caffeine loading.

By the way, if you do make the trek down South, be sure to stop by the Ocean Springs Chamber. I hear the bathrooms are not only useful – but that they’ll slide Ocean Springs shopping literature under the door for you to read while you tend to business. How’s that for a memorable (and hilarious) experience?