Surely there can’t be that many people that would search out a shopping channel on the same channel number as, say, a kids channel? I can understand  people watching some of these shopping channels, but when they’re on a normal shopping channel slot. And yet, the habit seems to be extending to more and more channels.

OK, I guess it doesn’t cost much to broadcast one of these channels these days. It’s just that it seems totally pointless.

Thus you have a very wide range of differing entertainment mixes open to you depending on which hotel you go for. The most famous is probably Caesar’s Palace is probably the most famous but that’s only because it’s been around so long and more modern s like the resorts like the Stratosphere hotel are always fighting hard to attract your business so the entertainment options on offer can often be stronger than in the more established hotels.

The choice is truly massive with many aiming to attract the family market these days and thus having all kinds of things specifically for the kids whilst others aim at couples or golfing or whatever. That’s not to say that you can’t stay at one place and take in the entertainment at another because that’s exactly what many people do.

Even upgrading facilities is something best not taken too lightly. Surely not? If it’s an upgrade that doesn’t affect the price that you need to charge, then go for it. The problem is that almost all upgrades do affect the pricing structure. For instance, one really successful little restaurant chain that we generally aimed for ourselves is in the process of a major facelift. I stress “facelift” becase the offerings haven’t changed dramatically though the naming of the items on the menu has taken a distinct lurch upmarket which has been accompanied by a doubling to trebling of all prices on the menu. Net effect is that a restaurant that used to be packed pretty much all the time now has very few people eating there.

So, it’s with some tripidation that I see the hotel reservation promo over at Econolodge to accompany their new look. Still, at least they’ve heaps of market research muscle behind them so it should go really well for them.

Obviously you need the place to be clean and tidy both inside and out. However, beyond that where you can really score is through using settings that make your place stand out from the crowd. Clearly you don’t want to be spending a fortune on these but you don’t need to. For example, vessel sinks come in around the $500 mark but are something that will really make your vanity unit stand out from the sameness of most store bought installations.

Outside you should look towards more durable pieces. For example, whilst the plastic chairs might be cheap and work well, it’s much more appealing to get something in a wrought iron style.

These little improvements won’t cost a lot but can make the difference in being able to sell your home.

These tiny little things come as part and parcel of just about every piece of machinery that we use these days so the things are produced by the million right around the world and oodles of different sizes too of course. Although seemingly trivial these little items are naturally essential to keep the various moving parts actually moving: you definitely notice them if they’ve rusted up for sure.

And, of course, they’re used in those neat little puzzles for the kids.

How many times have we all received products that bear no relation to the product of the company? OK, it’s not always easy to think of a completely relevant promotional item but what’s very common is to come out with some really cute item which goes straight into the hands of people who have absolutely no say whatsoever in the purchasing decision for the products of that company.

In some ways the tired old standby of a pen with a name and phone number is better than many of the more expensive items that you see these days. At least, if it’s a relatively ordinary pen then it might not be scooped up by the serial trade show attenders and perhaps some of them will find their way to those with the purchasing authority in the company of your customers. For the less appropriate and more expensive items though that’s pretty much sure not to happen as we all know.

So, put a little bit of extra thought into what you’re going to give away to potential customers and make sure that if it’s at the more expensive end of the scale that it’s something likely to end up in the hands of those with the purchase decision power.

Fair enough, but no matter how high the traffic to the site may be, it doesn’t mean that you’ll actually make any money from it simply because the high traffic doesn’t equate to high conversion of viewers to customers. That’s where conversion rate optimization comes in.

That’s a big term for a big area. What’s entailed is a very full analysis of your site to ensure that it’s properly planned, the text is professionally written to maximise the impact for potential customers combined with analysis of how well it’s all working. Even small enhancements can mean quite substantial improvements in the effectiveness of your site in terms of converting views to actual customers.

Garden and household furniture is one of the most surprising that I’ve come across lately which are a whole class of item that I’d never have thought would have been economic to ship any kind of distance (which goes to show that we’re getting ripped off by the house movers!). At the other end of the scale there are Christmas cookies which sound like they’d be that little bit fragile to arrive in one piece but then again my last backup drive arrived in just that way with minimal packaging so either stuff is a lot more sturdy these days or the mailmen don’t handle the packages nearly so roughly as the joke assume.

Anyway, whatever you’re looking for at the moment, it’s worth having a look online. Large, heavy and fragile no longer seem to be showstoppers for shipping.

The sheer range of such products increases enormously every year so you’ve lots to choose from. However, the extra options don’t necessarily mean that they’re suitable for your business.

Ideally what you want is something 1) that the customer will keep, 2) that contains the relevant contact information for your business and 3) that is appropriate to your business. This, of course, explains the enormous numbers of diaries and addressbooks that we all receive as that covers the first two points easily enough. However, is a diary appropriate to your business? Sure, you can get one that lists, say, all kinds of electrical standards for those in the electrical industry but that doesn’t mean that it’s appropriate for your business.

You might think that it doesn’t matter that it’s appropriate and, to be fair, that’s in part just icing on the cake. However, if you do take the extra time to get an appropriate gift then chances are that it’ll be in the place in your customer’s business which is most appropriate too. For example, if you’re selling electrical gear to professionals then a little circuit tester with your details on might well be used by the people who’d be buying off you when a diary would end up in the admin section.

OK, sometimes funny t shirts were offensive to some, often rude and always with an irrereverant sense of humour. But, hey, isn’t all humour like that? The plain-Jane approach to humour doesn’t work for the most part: by and large, we need something that little bit off-colour to bring a smile.

So why not hunt an appealing one down and make a point of being different from the crowd?