Tag Archives: sales

Shopping the 10 for $10 Sales

It seems that all of the grocery stores around here are running a lot of multiple unit specials, such as 10 items for $10, or 6 items for $8, etc. Sometimes you can get some good deals with these sales. but unfortunately, most of the time you can get taken. Often, the sale price of the 10 for $10 is more than the item is without a sale! And even if the price is less with the deal, chances are that you can find the item in a better sale or find a generic version of the product for a … Continue reading →

Finding Ways to use up “Bargain” Products

Sometimes, those super bargains are not quite the great value we’re expecting. It happens. It’s just too good of a deal to pass up, or so it seems at the time, but later you find that it wasn’t really the bargain you bargained for. Still, once you have made a purchase, you don’t want to let the product go to waste. Maybe it isn’t as effective or convenient to use as promised, or maybe just not for its intended purpose. Recently, I made such a purchase. I bought laundry detergent -a decent brand name- for a fraction of the price … Continue reading →

Find Bargains Online

Finding bargains online while enjoying your time in your pj’s with a cup of coffee, is getting increasingly easier with all of the great sites for frugal living and deals that keep cropping up. Our own Deals Forum and Deals Blog is the jackpot of resources, but I did find a few other places to look for some real bargains. Sunday Saver is one of my favorite resources to save money on groceries and food. They collect the Sunday ads and sales circulars and compile them all together and available in one spot. You can just flip through and see … Continue reading →

How Can You Be More Convincing?

I recently read a little blurb in the business section of my local newspaper that said people’s overall opinion of “salespeople” remains quite low. When people hear someone is a salesperson, they equate that job with all sorts of unsavory practices. The reality is, however, that many of us have to do some sort of sales in our businesses, even if we don’t really think of ourselves as “salespeople” or really want others to identify us as salespeople either (especially if they have a generalized low opinion of salespeople.) Sales skills are important for most home businesses, however, and one … Continue reading →

How Buying Gifts Each Month Can NOT Be Frugal

Creating a title for this article was difficult, because I always recommend that people purchase gifts throughout the year to make Christmas a bit easier on the budget, it is an extremely frugal thing to do. People tend to overspend when faced with the daunting task of shopping for everyone on their Christmas list in November and December. I still hold true to that, but I have a bit of advice while you are doing it. Typically I suggest assigning a person to each month, which means that person is shopped for during that month. However this year we did … Continue reading →

Base Your Business on Offering Solutions

What do all of our various home-based businesses have in common (other than being based in our homes, of course)? We are all trying to fill a niche and provide valuable products or services to our clients and customers. This is the point we need to get across—instead of making people feel like we are trying to “sell” them something, we need to let them know that we are really about offering solutions to their problems… Think about it—we make most of our purchases because we are trying to get solutions? We buy laundry soap so we can get our … Continue reading →

Tips for Direct Sales (From a Customer/Hostess)

Recently, I hosted one of those parties–never mind what the product was, but it was the typical in-home party where I invite my friends and then a direct sales representative comes in and demonstrates the products. We sat around and ate fondue and chocolate mint cake, sipping sangria and the main event was the merchandise. I’ve had a few of thee parties and while I have never been tempted to become a sales representative myself, I do have some “critique” from this end that could be helpful to those who are… My first suggestion is to arrive early and get … Continue reading →

Other Thoughts on Black Friday

For some, today is not about shopping the biggest sales of the year. Many people will avoid making any purchases because today has also been designated, “Buy Nothing Day,” an event encouraged by AdBusters Magazine (but apparently not MTV). While the spirit of the event seems to make sense, avoiding commercialism, I have to wonder… does it really have an impact on retailers’ bottom lines? It may in fact hurt Friday’s sales, but won’t people simply stock up in advance or by more on Saturday and following days? People are going to buy Christmas presents, decorations, party foods, wrapping paper, … Continue reading →

What are you doing on this Black Friday?

Did you wake up before dawn reciting your attack strategy in your head as you dressed for the biggest shopping day of the year? Were you one of the brave ones who fearlessly faced the crowds vying for great gifts at unbelievable prices? If so, I hope it was all you expected. I’m taking the day off not only from Black Friday but also from housework. I have no houseguests this year, so cleaning will be minimal and there are plenty of leftovers so while some warming up may occur, there will be no cooking. I am going to eat … Continue reading →

Don’t Assume They Already Know

Assumptions can get us into trouble—whether it is in our personal lives or our professional ones. When it comes to our home businesses, we might assume that our customers or clients already know things about our products or services, or specific industry trends or other details affecting our work. It is better to err on the side of caution and assume that they do NOT know, instead of marching on as if there are “givens” that everyone is aware of. I have seen this issue pop up again and again in work situations. We have a tendency to assume that … Continue reading →