Speaking of marketing, I found an interesting albeit brief article of one company’s venture into selling via the web. It’s entitled Andrea’s Beau: Branding A Business On The Web. Andrea’s Beau is wholesale so I don’t know that it applies to those of you who retail your products, although it was interesting to read that many retailers still don’t have fax machines so that should mirror your own experience with suppliers.
The web site where I found this is James Girone and you should see the wealth of links and resources -it’s amazing (I’ll be adding this to my side bar). While the site focuses mainly on the retail side of Children’s wear business with everything from trend and show reports to advice for retail operations, I’d think there’s plenty to explore for many sewn products businesses too. For example, manufacturers rarely think about shows from a retailer’s perspective and the article How To Attend Your First Show without Having a Meltdown in the Ladies’ Room offers insights you’re not likely to get otherwise. Similarly, here’s an article offering retailers advice in size selection. I can’t help but think that structuring your selling policies to facilitate these kind of issues would be anything but beneficial. This is a great site.