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Newsletter #723: The “Make the Kids Happy” Issue

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Making kids happy usually makes parents happy. Think of the kids and you'll
bring in the parents.

1> Give the kids something to take home

2> Let the kids play

3> Make it a family event

4> Check it out: Things My Beard Can Lift

1. Give the kids something to take home

Kids love a nice takeaway from a store, and it also offers the parents some
leverage in keeping their children from misbehaving. How many times did your
mother warn that you wouldn't be getting a sucker on the way out of the store if
you didn't shape up? Trader Joe's gives kids something to look forward to with
their free balloons near the door that are both a fun toy for the kids as well
as a nice piece of word of mouth that tell everyone the family sees that they've
been to Trader Joe's.

The Lesson: Have something fun that kids can take home and parents can use to
reward good behavior.

2. Let the kids play

Offer something fun for the kids to do in your store and you'll take some
stress off of the shopping parents. Ikea does this with a supervised play area
for kids in each of their stores, which allows the parents to browse longer than
many of them probably could with their kids. You could do a simpler version of
this by having a "kid kit" on hand with toys and books that can help keep a bored
kid entertained.

The Lesson: Entertaining the kids helps parents spend more time in your
store.

3. Make it a family event

Give families a reason to bring in everyone. Tillman's Roadhouse in Dallas,
Texas turned otherwise slow Tuesdays into game night, where customers play games
like Scrabble and dominoes and order from a finger-food menu. Since starting
game night, Tuesday sales for the restaurant have been up 30 percent and the
evening is so popular they had to buy more games.

The Lesson: When it's fun for the whole family, kids and parents alike will
look forward to coming to your restaurant or store.

4. Check it out: Things My Beard Can Lift

Here's something the whole family can enjoy: Check out Eamon Daly, who
started growing his beard in August 2008 and recently came to appreciate its
power to lift heavy objects (and the human spirit). For every dollar supporters
donate through his site for Chicago's Off the Street Club, Eamon increases the
weight of his weekly lift. In addition to seeing his impressive lifts, you can
also go to his site to download your very own beard, some heavy things, print
them, and take a picture of yourself showing off what your beard can lift!

Check it out: Things My Beard Can Lift

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