ETD: 712 What to do during slow periods; Submitting articles;
E-Tailing Resources Needed; Retailer Excellence Awards; Nasty worm
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post@gapent.com
Wed, 13 Aug 2003 22:06:01 -0400
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0712 August 14, 2003
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem@gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
==================================================================
CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] What to do during slow periods
[3] Submitting articles
[4] E-Tailing Resources
[5] Retailer Excellence Awards
[6] Nasty worm
==================================================================
[1] Greetings.
==================================================================
Hi All:
An early issue, as I have to catch a 5:30 AM plane. I will be travelling
extensively through the end of September and sure could use some special
reports. List member Jeff Haefner asked for some details, which I answered
in 3 below.
I had a bazaar retail experience that I have to share. It has to go in the
"why would they do that" section of dumb retailing. One of my sons is
getting married and they registered at three retailers. As we all know, a
bridal registry is where the bride registers, and folks look to see what
they can buy the happy couple. Well, at the Pottery Barn site, you need to
enter a password! I guess they are afraid that somebody may buy something
for the bride who the bride doesn't authorize! Wonder what genius dreamed
up that system?
Normally I don't like to publish anything about viruses or worms, but this
MS Blast is nasty. My wife got it, and I wouldn't wish it on anybody. So,
rather than having you suffer with where to find the fix, I published it in
section 6 below.
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem@gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
==================================================================
[2] What to do during slow periods
==================================================================
Some of you wrote asking what should be done during slow periods, e.g.,
summer months for many. Should you go on vacation? Keep trying to get
business? Charge your batteries?
The answer is yes. If you can take a vacation, do so. Be sure you do stay
in front of your prospects. While vacations may prevent them from making
decisions, they still need to know you are alive. If you don't already
have one, create a newsletter and send it out frequently. I assume all
customers/prospects with whom you have been in contact (or entered your
store) you have e-addresses. Do an electronic newsletter - they're fast
and cost effective.
Perhaps it's time to retool. Maybe give your store a new paint job. Or
re-arrange the work flow so that things sell better. Don't forget those
"gotcha" items at the register - those little things with high profit
margins that customers can't resist.
If you're selling a service, plan for the activities that will happen in
the fall. Stay in touch with the customers. Beef up your
presentations. If you use Power Point, revise them to be more
effective. Create new product literature. Develop a new "package" for
your products or services, i.e., put together existing products/services
into a package for a particular industry or market niche. For example, one
software company for whom I was consulting targeted the medical supply
industry. When I analyzed the software, I found it was perfect for the
wholesale giftware industry - complete with rebate control, spiffs, co-op
advertising and other such features. Another CPA client had a number of
clients in the retail industry. So we put together a package specifically
for that industry, and they became the retail pros.
So, take advantage of these slow times. Use your time and resources
wisely. And don't panic. If you plan well, and if you understand how
business works in cycles, you'll pull through.
BTW, for those who sell the small businesses, guess what month owners of
that target takes their vacation? February.
And while December and November may be the best months for most retailers,
you'll be surprised to know that August is the third best month.
George
==================================================================
[3] Submitting articles
==================================================================
I've been getting your E-Tailer's Digest Ezine for some time now and wanted
to ask what guidelines you had for article submissions.
I really think your readers would enjoy and profit from the articles I'm
working on.
Thanks.
Jeff Haefner
www.possoftwareguide.com
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
My guidelines are very simple - anything relative to retailing/etailing and
that doesn't blatantly sell your product/services. And it should be 1,500
- 2,500 words. I will make it a Special Report, devoting an entire issue
to the article. And it will be published for posterity at our ETD
resources site http://etailersdigest.com/resources/Specials/ BTW, I get
frequent requests to publish articles from that section in various
publications.
As I said before, I have a number of trips coming up through the end of
September- a week in Atlanta; three days in Orlando; four days in
Chicago; two three-day trips to London; four days in Nashville. So, I
would appreciate any and all special reports that anybody would like to share.
George
==================================================================
[4] E-Tailing Resources Needed
==================================================================
In regards to Diana Marin's request for "Information about how to set up
and successfully maintain an online store for our jewelry," I would suggest
she look at osCommerce at www.oscommerce.com. This is an open source
e-commerce solution that has built-in shopping cart, product catalog,
customer management, customer reviews, built-in specials module, affiliate
tracking, integration with many popular payment systems and a lot more.
Since it is open source, her cost for a full e-commerce enabled site can
drop dramatically. And no, I don't make any money if you purchase through
the above link. My firm teaches people to market successfully online and
builds successful web sites using tools like osCommerce.
I would be interested in other reader's experience in using open source and
other alternatives common software programs.
"Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake
when you make it again.." Franklin Pierce Jones
-------------------
Garland Coulson, "The E-Business Tutor"
For your FREE guide to Web Site Promotion on a Shoestring, visit
http://www.ebusinesstutor.com
==================================================================
[5] Retailer Excellence Awards
==================================================================
Gifts & Decorative Accessories presented awards to top retailers from
around the country at the 52nd annual Retailer Excellence Awards dinner
August 10 at The Plaza hotel. Gold "REA" Awards were presented to
Ross-Simons of Durham, NC, for store design; Zinc Details of Berkeley, CA,
for visual merchandising; Ruby & Begonia of Ogden, UT, for community
service; and Scarsella's of Laurel Hollow, NY, for store promotion. Silver
"REA" Awards were presented to The Little Shop, Johnstown, PA, Santoro &
Co., Bridgeton, NJ, and toto, Pittsburgh, PA for store design; and to
Hart-Hall Ltd., Meridian, MS, Inside-Out, Racine, WI, and Room in a Kit
Vignettes, Indian Harbour Beach, FL for visual merchandising. The awards
gala was sponsored by George Little Management. Co-sponsors were the Dallas
Market Center, DMG World Media, Western Exhibitors, Whereoware.com, 225
Fifth Ave., 230 Fifth Ave., and 41 Madison Ave.
Quinn Halford, Editor In Chief
Matthew Kalash, Editor
http://www.giftsanddec.com
==================================================================
[6] Nasty worm
==================================================================
My wife got hit with that MS Blaster worm, and it is nasty. Her laptop
kept crashing, and she couldn't keep it on for any period of time. For
Windows users, search your Windows System32 directory for msblast.exe
Apply patch found here
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/bulletin/ms03-026.asp
Details are here...
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/virus/alerts/msblaster.asp
And the explanation from CNET is...
Windows worm starts its spread
By Robert Lemos, CNET News.com
A worm that takes advantage of what some security experts have called the
most widespread Windows flaw ever has started spreading, fulfilling the
predictions of many researchers. Dubbed "MBlast" by its author, the worm is
spreading quickly, according to an initial analysis posted to the Internet
Storm Center, a digital threat-tracking site.
EVER SINCE MID-JULY, when Microsoft announced a vulnerability in a
widespread component of Windows, security experts have been waiting for
some online vandal to create a worm that takes advantage of it.
"It is pretty widespread," said Johannes Ullrich, chief technology officer
for the storm center. " It is sort of getting to the point where it is
causing some slowdown."
Some system administrators posting to a mailing list run by the North
American Network Operators' Group, a popular forum for engineers who
maintain large networks, believe that as much as 10 percent of the data
coming into their networks has been created by the worm.
The worm contains two messages in its code. The first apparently is a
"greet"--a message of greeting or recognition to a friend or peer--while
the second takes aim at Microsoft: "billy gates why do you make this
possible?" the second part of the message says. "Stop making money and fix
your software!!"
Starting with a random Internet address, the worm sequentially scans for
computers with the vulnerability.
MBlast installs the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (tftp) server, and runs
the program to download its program code to the compromised server. It will
also add a registry key to insure that the worm is restarted when the host
computer is rebooted.
The worm attacks Windows computers via a hole in the operating system,
which Microsoft warned of July 16. Nine days after the software giant
announced the flaw, hackers from the Chinese X Focus security group
publicly posted a program to several security lists designed to allow an
intruder to break into Windows computers. The Windows flaw has been
characterized by some security experts as the most widespread ever found in
Microsoft's OS.
The flaw is in a component of the OS that lets other computers request that
the Windows system perform an action or service. The component, known as
the remote procedure call (RPC) process, facilitates activities such as
sharing files and allowing others to use the computer's printer. By sending
too much data to the RPC process, an attacker can cause the system to grant
full access to the system.
The Chinese code worked on only three variants of Windows, but other
hackers have since refined it. Nine days ago, a hacker posted an attack
program to a security mailing list. Many facets of the current worm seem to
be similar to that program.
Experts have feared that a worm created to take advantage of the Microsoft
flaw could have an effect similar to that of the Slammer worm that downed
corporate networks in January.
Slammer spread to corporate networks worldwide, causing databases to go
down, bank teller machines to stop working and some airline flights to be
canceled. Six months earlier, a researcher had released code that exploited
the major Microsoft SQL vulnerability used by the worm to spread.
Security experts and network administrators are working to identify the
worm and patch their networks.
==================================================================
Links to follow
==================================================================
GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.gapent.com/
Sarbanes-Oxley 2002 http://www.sarbanes-oxley2002.com
E-Tailer's Digest http://www.etailersdigest.com
ETD Archives: http://topica.com/lists/etailer/read
Prior to 29 Dec
1999 http://etailersdigest.com/archives/index.htm
Marketing Your Web http://www.gapent.com/myweb/
Automated Press Releases http://www.automatedpr.com