Fashion and Shopping Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Successful’

The successful campaign of President Elect Barack Obama has just written a landmark page in the history of the United States. Undoubtedly, and admittedly, Mr. Obama’s election was greatly due to a masterful campaign plan. Is it doable that even his fashion choices and statements about his wardrobe were part of that plan? The answer is quite possibly, “Yes”.

In all the controversy over fashion in the current presidential race, two things about Obama’s attire were notably emphasized by the press: his preference for wearing his suits with an open collar and without a tie, and his statement that he normally purchases five of the same suit and wears them repeatedly. Whether we can anticipate either of those habits to change when he takes his place in the White Home remains to be seen, but let’s look for a moment at the strategic value of both of these items.

First, think about the claim that he builds his wardrobe on five different colored, but same suits.

Letting it be known that his suits were, in Mr. Obama’s own words, “fairly standard”, and that he typically purchased five of the same suit, was in a word, brilliant. That easy statement helped to establish the candidate as a “regular guy” that we could refer with. Never mind that his suits are tailored, and that the price attach for apiece is in the neighborhood of ,500.00. In fairness, that isn’t an overwhelmingly exorbitant price, but in these tough economic times, ,500.00 for five suits isn’t a drop in the bucket for many of us. Nevertheless, the impact of the statement itself appears to have been positive.

Second, let’s analyze wearing the suit without the necktie. From the outset of his campaign, then Senator Obama needed to connect with as many factions of the American public as possible.

The presentation of a clean-cut, well-dressed African American personality was well planned and perfectly executed. In repeatedly appearing without the tie, another important connection was made, to the younger voters. Sadly, even in professional fields, today’s young adults often tend to think about men’s neckties a fashion accessory rather than a requirement. The record turnout of young voters in this election confirms how successfully Mr. Obama connected with young Americans.

Let the reader comprehend that I am in no way claiming that Mr. Obama’s attire was the deciding bourgeois for any voter, nor that there was any attempt prefabricated to mislead voters. My point is that fashion has a profound impact in the way we’re perceived, and that the President Elect’s campaign managers used this to his advantage wisely. I am confident that when our new President is involved in publicly representing our country, we will see a silk tie neatly and properly tied around his collar, as befits our Nation’s leader.

Although finally kids will come under the influence of schools, media, world wide web and peers, all of which might be beyond the control of parents, the family needs to remain the primary instructor for character building and instilling of values. Parents, as part of the immediate family, play a critical role in this aspect. So how to help parent become successful role model for children?

Below are some strategies to help parent become successful role model for kids by strengthening their abilities to make right decisions in their each day life and help them become adults who can lead healthy, happy and meaningful lives:

1. Model appropriate behaviours: Kids tend to learn by observing. As such, they take their activity cues from what they see their parents do. Set as example of the character trait for yourself and your children. Example – keep the promises you make with your child; be on time for activities that you have scheduled with your child; talk kindly and respectfully, manage your anger appropriately, etc.

2. Communicate effectively: Spell out expected behaviours, outcomes, rewards and consequences clearly and positively to children.

3. Provide ample opportunities for practice: Grant kids to set goals for themselves, make choices and solve problems whenever possible. Example – involve them in deciding how they wish to maintain cleanliness in their bedroom; making choices in healthy menus or television programmes they wish to watch for the day; etc.

4. Set natural and logical consequences: Grant kids to decide on the consequences for their action and help them find solutions to the problems that might result.

5. Praise and encourage generously: When an effort is prefabricated for the desired behaviour, shower kids with lots of praise and encouragement. An encouraged child who has establishment in himself would most likely to co-operate and be intrinsically motivated to behave well.

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Greg Sands does not worry about where his next customer is coming from in any of his 20 repair shops crossways the country. The reason is, Sands who owns and operates repair shops in Georgia, Texas, and Colorado, is also the founder and CEO of Mudlick Mail, an auto repair service direct mail provider.

In Colorado, Sands’ shops operate under the Service Street moniker. His Thornton-based Service Street store opened last March, and is achieving a monthly repair order (RO) count that’s higher than his 650 average crossways the country thanks, in part, to his targeted direct-mail campaign.

Sands stated the key to running a successful repair shop is getting customers in the front door to increase automobile counts.

“Mudlick (Mail) is really the secret,” Sands stated during a current interview at his Service Street shop in Parker, which opened in 2008. “Most don’t do anything to get more automobiles in their shop. There are a lot of ways to do direct mail wrong.”

Sands stated he developed his understanding of the automotive service industry in Texas, where he was a minority owner and president of a chain of 38 Goodyear stores.

“I wanted to take all the things I learned, minus what I didn’t like, and make it my own,” Sands stated when developing his repair shop concepts that operate under the obloquy Service Street, Driver’s Auto Repair, and America’s Service Stations.

Two years in the making, Service Street repair shops feature ’50s architectural style, good curb appeal, and offer an environment where women like to shop, Sands said.

“We wanted to design something unique, especially structurally,” Sands said. “We wanted to be different.” In addition to the two Colorado locations, there is a Service Street shop in Atlanta.

“I like to go in an area where there still is demand,” Sands said, pointing out that the Denver market can support up to 16 stores. The business model uses a combination of demographics, income, and visibility, he said.

When it comes to staffing the shops, Sands stated he’s discovered over the years that non-industry people work out pretty well, especially managers from the food service industry.

“The reason is that we want to raise the level of customer service,” Sands said, pointing out that food service people have typically gone through formal customer service training, know how to multitask, and are concerned with cleanliness.

Each shop’s service manager, usually an experienced one, delivers the necessary industry knowledge to make the shop run smoothly, Sands said.

“There are a lot of things that happen behind the scenes in a repair shop that require multitasking,” he said, such as service writing, ordering parts, communicating with technicians, picking up a customer, and dropping them off.

“A automobile breaking down is a real stressful time for the customer,” Sands said. “We want to take out as much stress as possible.”

Even though auto service customers crossways the country generally anticipate the same type of service once they enter the shop, the trigger points for getting them in vary drastically, Sands said.

“You don’t want to under-price yourself in a high-end market,” Sands said, pointing to Colorado as an example. The median income in Colorado, for example, is much greater than that of Nebraska, he said. “You must match appropriate pricing by market. That’s why I started Mudlick Mail.”

Running Mudlick is President Tim Ross, who works with more than 300 shops crossways the country to create custom-tailored campaigns for shop owners, who enjoy exclusivity in apiece of their markets, Sands said.

Unlike coupon mailers that go to both low-end and high-end people, direct mail can be plain to geographic areas, demographics, income, or automobile make, he said. “Coupon mailers worked, but they tended to attract the low-end customer.”

Even though his method is more costly than mass coupon mailers, it is much more effective, Sands said. What he discovered is that high-income customers are non-coupon shoppers who use the direct-mail piece as a trigger to visit the shop, even using the map on the back for directions.

“For the higher-end customers, the coupon simply serves as a point of reference. The offer is less important to them,” stated Sands.

A common pitfall that many shop owners make when evaluating direct-mail campaigns is counting the amount of coupons collected, Sands said. Moreover, they compare that month’s income with the previous month’s.

A more accurate barometer is comparing the direct-mail income for one month with the same month’s income in the previous year, Sands said. If a shop is experiencing a income problem, it’s either low ticket average or automobile count, he said.

Forging ahead, Sands stated he is currently working on a new shop concept in Farragut, Tenn., with a Mudlick Mail customer to open 1st Choice Automotive, where he’s bought the land and the building for the owner. It is one of six shops planned to open in 2011, he said.