My Jill-e Bag

I got it! I finally GOT ONE! I saw Jill-e camera bags at PMA in 2008 and immediately fell in love. These are the "Coach purses" of camera bags and I've never seen anything like them before.

So, after begging my husband for a year to buy me one as a gift, I finally just went ahead and got one for myself after seeing them again at PMA 2009.

Meet my NEW CAMERA BAG! My Sony Alpha 100 is right at home in it. In fact, so is my extra lens and my Flip with room left over. It was much roomier than I thought and I could seriously also throw my wallet, keys and cell phone in it and call it a purse, too (it's cute enough to carry as one). As I add lenses, there is plenty of space in there to fit them.

The cool thing is that the dividers on the inside are held in by Velcro on the sides of the bag so you can totally reconfigure the inside of the bag to fit whatever you need to fit in it.

Someone asked me if the bag was good quality. Yes, it is! It's leather and really pretty heavy (note to you smaller peeps, you might find this bag too heavy to carry). There's nothing "cheap" looking about the bag and the lining is so cute - it's cream with big polka dots.

I've already had a couple of friends ask where I got the really cool camera bag. I was happy to toss my ugly black nylon one into the Goodwill pile last week. Wait, maybe I should get it out again so my husband will carry my camera once in a while. Nah, I'll just have to buy him a Jack bag...

Twitter Wisdom

This was re-tweeted by someone I follow today. It's very sage advice:

Never fall in love with an idea until you've crunched the numbers.

One of the biggest failings of retailers in the industry, in my opinion, is that too many of them made the decision to open a scrapbook store without ever thinking for 5 seconds about whether or not it made any financial sense. I have been begging people for years to think on the profitability of a store rather than the "fun" of owning one. You can't pay the bills with "fun" and when the bills pile up, the fun is over!

• Stats, Math and Scrapbook Stores
• Do the Paper Numbers Add Up?

There is a really nice European shopping street-type area near me surrounded by upscale neighborhoods. The area opened about 5 years ago and many of the leases are coming due this Spring. Guess what's happening? Many of the businesses are closing leaving lots of empty space. It's still a very nice area, though, and it makes me a little sad to see so many shops and restaurants close.

I would love to see a little upscale paper craft store go in like a Paper Source store but with more scrapbook products. But, then, when I crunch the numbers in my head and realize that 10 scrapbook stores have come and gone in my area in the last 8 years, I know in my heart that it wouldn't make any sense.

But, a girl can still dream, can't she? The problem is that many dream without thinking it through and would do it anyway.

Just in Time for National Scrapbook Day!

News reports today indicate that consumer confidence is edging up. Retailers are reporting that while consumers aren't making more shopping trips, they are buying MORE each time they shop. Receipts are getting larger.

So, how do you respond to that? BUNDLE! With National Scrapbook Day coming up, now might be the time to encourage consumers to buy more by putting together some great bundles of products they use the most.

Adhesives, cardstock, pens, and albums are things scrappers buy over and over. Give them a great price on a great pack of products to celebrate a special day!

One Day Retailer Event

The Creative Leisure News had a bit yesterday about a great opportunity for retailers who are in the area of GASC. I knew this was being planned and I'm glad it came together.

If you are a retailer in the Arlington area and plan on attendting GASC, you can't go wrong by attending this one day special event just for you! Tamara and Beth will surely have some fabulous classes to share with you!

SEMINARS. F+W Publications is sponsoring the Great American Retail Conference in Arlington, TX on June 3, the day before the Great American Scrapbook Convention. The one-day seminar will be presented by Beth Mauro, former editor of Scrapbook Retailer and CNA, and author/retail consultant Tamara Lipori. Sessions will address trends and strategies for generating store traffic during a tough economy. For info, email Beth at beth.mauro@fwmedia.com. For info on the Convention, visit www.greatamericanscrapbook.com.

PMA 2009 Attendance was UP!

Wow! Check out this news about PMA 2009 from PMA Newsline:

The PMA 09 International Convention and Trade Show recently held in Las Vegas, Nev., drew more than 40 percent increase in attendance from both the pro photographer and specialty retail photo store segments compared to PMA 08. Attendance from both the mass merchandising store and internet/online retailer categories also increased by approximately 20 percent.

That's interesting given that many trade shows, including CHA, are reporting a decline in attendance. That says something about the photo industry - they get it. They get that when the chips are down, you don't run and hide, you come together to network and figure it out.

We (the scrapbook industry) could learn from that. So many people say, "I don't need a group" (like ScrapBiz and PSRO), but honestly, you DO! This is a time to come together with like-minded people and talk about the issues the scrapbook industry is facing. You almost can't afford to NOT be part of these think-tanks and networking groups.

My hat is off to PMA for a wonderful show. The educational programs at PMA are fantastic - the best I've ever attended. It's worth going to PMA for those alone. Just insert "scrapbook retailer" whenever someone says, "Photography studio" and you'll be well-fed.

How Much Moola {$} Can I Make with PhotoBookBiz?

One of the top questions I get about PhotoBookBiz is "How much will I make?" Well, that's not an easy question because the products all have different profit margins. But, above is a chart (click to enlarge) with a few of the most popular products from prints to lay-flat photo books. The average profit margin on this products is 23% but that can be more or less depending on where you set your prices. These prices are assuming MSRP, but, as I said, you have the ability to set your OWN prices.

Things to remember about this fantastic program:

• It's only $49 a year to join
• You don't ship anything to anyone
• You don't stock any products
• You don't have to process credit cards
• Customer service questions and technical issues are handled by Rocket Life
• You can set your own prices
• You can offer your own unique sales
• The feature-rich software is customer-approved and award winning for it's innovation and ease-of-use

PhotoBookBiz is a GREAT way to tap into digital scrapbooking without risk or investment. As fast as you can sign up, you can be in business. CLICK HERE for information or to sign up!