In a previous post, After BEA, the Work Begins, I mentioned a list of things I had hoped to accomplish after the trade show. I thought I’d give an update. Well, I’m happy to report, I’ve made some progress.

Teacher outreach has been oddly successful. In my other life I am a stand-up comic who also teaches stand-up comedy. One of our staffers met Elaine, the local school superintendent, at the store for lunch two weeks ago. I saw this as a golden opportunity to plug the store and my teaching as a staff training exercise for teachers. Elaine was intrigued and politely nodded. Well, she called me the next day and asked me to teach all sixteen principals in my county stand-up comedy at their annual retreat. Wow.

All sixteen principals in one place! It was heaven. I taught them comedy, they laughed and they did well, I plugged the store and all were receptive to me following up with them about the Flying Pig. I handed each one our last newsletter, a Flying Pig pen and our teacher brochure — if you work with schools at all, make one of these. It’s easier than explaining over and over again what your discount policy is, and it’s a tangible thing teachers can take back to the business office. Plus, it makes you look very professional. I made a real contact with the curriculum and development staffer and we’ve set up a meeting later in the summer to discuss how the Flying Pig can provide Continuing Ed credits to teachers.

My point is, if you do more than work at the bookstore, offer that skill, i.e. book talking, creative writing, team building skills, etc., to the schools and it might be a way to get into the school system. I know of one organization that hired a belly dancer to break up an all-day conference. Every time the principals or teachers see you and have a good experience, they are more likely to want to do business with you. I’ll continue to update as the news warrants. I’m viewing getting into the schools as building one relationship at a time. It’s a slow process, but I’m ever hopeful.

Trade show specials have been a huge boon for us this summer. I did the math and we’ve saved well over $1,000 on orders just since June 1st just by taking advantage of backlist deals. Sometimes, it’s too easy to just go to the distributors, but we’re now rotating all the major publishers weekly to maximize our discounts. Random House, Penguin and Simon & Schuster are pleasingly speedy.

We’ve also done two Business to Business orders for bulk orders, and that saved us hundreds. Business to Business is offered by most publishers and it’s a great way to save money on single-title orders of at least fifty copies per title. Every publisher is different on their rules on their Business to Business, so ask your rep about the rules. This is also a great thing to remember for the holidays and corporate giving.

Yes, while it may be the heart of the summer, it’s actually time to start thinking about the fourth quarter, if you can believe it.