(organization)
Hello ,

Greetings from Ubud, Bali.
This week I have been in Yogyakarta in Java visiting our suppliers there. Then moved on to Bali.
Last week I was giving you my top tips for making the most profitable use of the Ancient Wisdom website. You can read it here.
I have some more tips for you below, but first I want to tell you about meeting a film star in Ubud... sort of.

Our man in Bali is called Ringo, he really is a star, and incredibly well connected and knowledgeable about anything to do with exporting giftware from Bali. Yesterday had been visiting suppliers, and stopped at a cafe on the way back to our warehouse, and somehow got talking about the film, Eat, Pray, Love. A portion of the movie was filmed around Ubud. If you have seen the movie, Julia Roberts character visits a wise man for advice. The wise man in the film, really exists, he is still here dispensing wisdom (for a small fee) from his home on the outskirts of Ubud. His home turns out to be a stones throw from our warehouse.

So we went to see the famed spiritual healer, he is called Ketut Liyer. We entered the family compound, a typical Bali living arrangement, several houses sharing a temple and open air living area, chickens running under foot, on one door a faded curing picture of Julia Roberts. We found a guy who Ringo knew, he was pleased to see Ringo, turns out he is the son of the Ketut. He explained that his father was very frail these days and not really up to meeting people. So we were just chatting and about to leave, when from nowhere Ketut appears, he is there large as life, just like in the movie, slightly stooped, holding Ringo's hand and pulling him towards the door of his house. The sons a little surprised, Oh, I'm wrong he says, seems he is game. Sitting down in the lotus position on a coconut mat on his porch, Ketut Liyer, Medicine man, healer and part time film star is offering me an audience, he pats the ground next to him eyes sparkling. Holding my hand, he starts talking quickly; your a kind man, he says, you are always helping people, you are successful and will be more successful. Then he just holds my hand for a while and smiles that toothless grin. He obviously has a gift, for telling you what you want to hear, or maybe he says the same thing to everyone. But there was certainly some warmth and a little magic about the old guy.

More top tips..

No.5 - Find out what your customers want and give it them..
It sounds kind of a no brainer, but how many businesses actually do this? In the early days of Ancient Wisdom, we were growing fast and needed a new warehouse, some of you might remember Lancelot Works, in Heeley, Sheffield. It was an old silver works, so very secure and blinking vast. I remember standing in the huge void of the place and saying to the landlord, wow it's big. What on earth are we going to fill this with? He just looked at me, paused (he had a beard, and could have passed for a wise man) and said, well young man that's a question you must ask your customers.
So now we do. And often, we have amazing customers who tell us what their customers are looking for, and we do our level best to find stuff.
Heck here I am in Ubud, a gift hub, within twenty miles of here maybe a million artisans are beavering away making handcrafted products for the worlds (discerning) gift shops. AMA!

No. 6 - The magic word.
What's the word, that will most guarantee profitable sales. If you read those behavioural economics books (and you should) most retailers think it is SALE, or BOGOF or HALF-PRICE.. but they are wrong.
No the word, shoppers actually find the most stimulating is... NEW.. certainly in the west. We are somehow programmed to take notice of new. The big advantage of NEW is of course, you don't need to cut your profit margin to achieve it. And new stuff is not so hard to organise. At AW we have always new stuff arriving (see below). The big advantage you have in buying new artisan stuff from us is that you can be sure it's not also in Boots, or Wilkinsons at some rock bottom price.

No. 7 - The race to the bottom.
Now listen carefully. YOU are in the gift business (we will assume if you are reading this, and if you are not in the gift business then please back off, close your computer and go do what you do, this is not for you). This, the Gift Business is a cool place to be. People buy birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, wedding gifts.. and so on. Unless they are mean buggers then the gift they are giving probably falls into a given price bracket. In other words your gift buyer is looking for a reason to spend money. So don't make the mistake of trying to compete with the Pound Shops. It's a race to the bottom you are going to lose. Instead be the best :)

No. 8 - Be smelly
Don't forget the aromatics, it's the one area that you can beat the online marketing world hands down. You can't smell a webpage. Plus the sensuality of aroma is a powerful sales motivator. You may have the odd (strange or asthmatic customer) who don't like smells.. don't let that put you off. A nice smelling shop means you can charge more for everything :)

That's all folks.
David

Our retail wooden chalkboards are perfect choices for occasions like wedding ceremony,birthdays warming parties,all kinds of gathering, decorations and even as a door plaque,message holder or a seat label.

Authentic wholesale rough minerals are set in silver plated frame giving them distinctive character and individual charm. Each pendant including the bale measures is unique and has different shape and size.

This perfectly designed range of White and Dark Art Incense Sticks with mouthwatering fragrance are now cheaper than ever. The carefully selected aromas will have your customers coming back for more.

This range of nightlights comes from Germany and is very popular in the whole Europe. Available in fourteen new mouthwatering fragrances. Nightlight becomes completely liquid during the burn and diffuses the scent evenly throughout the room.

Wonderfully collectable wholesale Metal Jewellery Caskets. Made of alloy they have a fantastic amount of detail and finished to a high standard. Come in nine different shapes and sizes.

At last, a great range of chess sets at reasonable prices. Chess is hugely popular and growing in popularity. Explore our Woodware Department.