Elegant Candle Decor Sale!

Save 25% on select candle holders and lanterns now at Koehler Home Decor!

KHD Cosmopolitan Hurricane Lantern 

Cosmopolitan Hurricane Lantern #D1030
Bold glass hurricane lantern features a dramatic finish and generous freeform shape.  Makes a serious style statement!

KHD Palace Candle Centerpiece

Palace Candle Centerpiece #D1283
Turns any occasion into a memorable one when you entertain with this stunning centerpiece!

 

 
KHD Solara Votive Candle Stand

 

Solara Votive Candle Stand #D1025
Burnished colors and intricate interlocked shapes create a dramatic candle stand that enhances any decor!  

 
Koehler Home Decor is an established, reputable provider of wholesale home decor accessories and unique gifts.

You’ll find high quality wholesale home decor accessories at Koehler Home Decor!

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New Shipping Policy in Effect

Effective May 8, 2012

When Will My Order Ship?
Ground orders ship in 1-2 business days.
2nd Day orders received by 9:00 a.m. PT ship the same day.
2nd Day orders received after 9:00 a.m. PT ship the next day.

Orders weighing less than 10 pounds will ship via UPS Smart Post and deliver via the United States Post Office. UPS Smart Post includes Saturday delivery.

Koehler Home Decor UPS Transit Tome Map

 

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Email Marketing Best Practices

Email marketing is a wonderful way to remind customers that your company has goods and services to offer them. Whether you are just beginning an email marketing campaign or have an ongoing one, you may be looking for ways to make your campaign a more successful one. Here are few simple ways you can make your email marketing campaign more user friendly and convert those time consuming emails into bottom line boosting sales.

Easy on the Emails Please
Your customers, more than likely, do not want to wake up to multiple emails from you every morning. No matter how great your customer service is, they probably do not want to wake up to your emails every other morning either. One of the best ways you can prevent customers from hitting that “Delete” button is to limit your emails to no more than one per week. The idea is quality over quantity and you want your customers to look forward to receiving your company’s latest and greatest announcements.

Enhance the Content of Your Emails
When composing your email, ensure that it is as interesting and captivating as possible. Most of the popular email servers and clients provide the recipient a view of the subject line and some even include the first sentence of the email, so content is extremely important. That means if you desire your email be read rather than deleted, make that subject and first sentence interesting ones. Instead of overwhelming the reader, direct the focus of your email on one specific point such as that exclusive deal you are offering and put that in the subject line. Use that first sentence to re-iterate the benefits of opening your email and the use the body of the email to complete your message.

Convey a Sense of Urgency
A common problem in email marketing is that although your customer may have opened and read your email, they simply forgot about it. Combat this by creating that sense of urgency and simplifying tasks for your customer. If the email pertains to that exclusive deal you are offering, include a link to the deal and clearly mark the expiration date on the deal. Perhaps your email is about an upcoming event and if so, requests an R.S.V.P. with a mailing address. This will enable you to follow up at a later date with a reminder or tickets to the event without exceeding your weekly email allowance.

Email marketing is one of the simplest, most affordable, and vital avenues for increasing company revenue and keeping your customers informed. The emails you send are a direct reflection on your company and paint a vivid picture of how your company operates. Use these tips to bring that email marketing campaign up to speed, deliver that professional and enticing message your customers are looking for, and turn those emails into sales.

Koehler Home Decor is an established, reputable provider of wholesale home decor accessories and unique gifts. You’re sure to enjoy repeat customers when they experience the satisfaction of owning an exclusive accent hand-picked by our seasoned buyers. Whether you’re a new entrepreneur searching for great business tips or an online merchant seeking free drop shipping services or a long established store seeking exciting new inventory, you’ll find high quality wholesale home decor accessories at Koehler Home Decor!

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Writing an Effective Business Plan

The formulation and presentation of an effective business plan is a crucial component in securing investors and capitalizing on what they are willing to offer you in terms of financial and material assistance. It is an absolute imperative that you present ideas and concepts that are rich in detail, as well as a plan that paints an informative picture about your company. If you want what investors have to offer, you have to package your ideas and concepts into the most informative, descriptive, and attractive way possible.

Take Advantage of Available Resources
To maximize your chances of a success, a smart business owner will utilize all available resources at his or her disposal. One of these resources is the U.S. Small Business Administration. This government agency maintains offices in most major cities and provides a wealth of information to the potential small business owner. The SBA provides access to statistics, sample business plans, and can assist you in conducting the valuable research necessary to launch your small business.

Take the Reader Down the Path of Your Success
Compose a business plan that goes beyond the typical. Instead of simply providing information about the type of business you are proposing, take the reader down the path of your success. Introduce the concepts and methodologies that are central to your business and ensure the reader understands them. Provide a plan that not only details how your company will achieve success, but how it will sustain it. Demonstrate that your concepts are well thought out and that your business plan contains solid and viable solutions for overcoming adversity.

Build on the Basics
When you compose your initial business plan, keep in mind that it may take you more than one plan to get you where you want to go. Dissect your thoughts and concepts, make notes, and attempt to define future flaws and how to best implement solutions. Always strive for improvement and apply what you learn to your basic plan. If you are seeking financing, ensure that you are able to demonstrate what it will provide for your company and how it will be managed. If there is excess cash, where will it go? Show potential lenders that you are fiscally responsible and fully capable of managing the financial aspects of your proposed business.

Success in small business requires a plan that not only envisions success but provides a detailed map on how to get there. It stands ready to overcome obstacles as well as lays the foundation for growth by providing the small business owner a lighted path to follow through the thick and thin of the small business world.

Dropship wholesale home decor from Koehler Home Decor!

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Does Your Business Need a QR Code?

A quick response code or QR code is a code that is in the shape of a square and can be read by anyone with a QR reader application on a smart phone. While QR codes are fairly new in many countries, they have been used for so long in Japan that they are now commonplace. QR codes are very versatile, so they can help almost every business that is trying to gain new customers and increase the bottom line. Regardless of what type of advertisements you use, your company can still reap the benefits of QR codes.

Add a QR Code to Your Business Card
Business cards can get lost or damaged. Instead of trying to rely on your customers keeping your business card forever, you can add a QR code on it that contains your contact information. When your customers scan this code with a smart phone using a QR reader, the information is easily stored on the customer’s phone. Now, the customer has your information when it is needed. You don’t have to limit the QR code information to only a phone number; you can also add your company’s address, website and physical address.

Place a QR Code on Your Print Advertisements
If you place a QR code on your print advertisements, you can give customers who have smart phones an instant way to find out more about your company or the product you are advertising. In the QR code, you can embed links to your website for instant ordering. If you are offering a special price or discount to people who use the QR code, you can include that information or a link to that information.

Put QR Codes on Products
When you are developing packaging for your products, you can include QR codes that can give the potential customer more information about the product. You can also include links to ratings and reviews about the product. You can include safety considerations, tips for using the product or suggestions that aren’t commonplace knowledge about the product.

Using QR Codes on Sales Pages
If you have a website in place to sell your products, you can use QR codes on sales pages. These codes should include a link directly to the page, which enables users on smart phones to easily share the link. It can also include information about the product, promotions available for the product or information to complementary items.
The benefits of QR Codes are too great to be ignored. QR Codes are easy to get and can benefit your products. Find out more and get your free QR code at Quirify

Kohler Home Décor is committed to your business success.
Popular wholesale products at Koehler Home Décor.

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Sourcing Wholesale Products Through Trade Shows

One way that you can find wholesale products or sell wholesale products is through a trade show. At a trade show, people who are leaders in the industry, as well as those trying to break into an industry can meet up, exchange ideas and find contacts for products. Just going to any trade show isn’t going to work. Instead, you must find a trade show that is geared toward your industry and that will have a good sampling of products available from that industry.

Where Are The Trade Shows?
The Gift and Home Accessories market presents several trade shows a year. Great Rep has a complete listing of 2012 Tradeshows that will point you in the right direction.

KoehlerHomeDécor.com features thousands of wholesale home décor gifts that you can peruse at your convenience with no traveling required!

What to Look for When Considering a Trade Show
When you find a trade show in your area or one that you are willing to travel to, you should first check out what companies have committed to attending the trade show. For example, you aren’t going to find clothing manufacturers at the South Minneapolis Housing Fair. Instead, you will find household consumables and home improvement products, which would be a good choice if you are trying to get items in that industry.

When you find out what companies have committed to attending the show, you will find out if they align with your needs. Going to the South Minneapolis Housing Fair won’t be a good idea if you need house wares, but only companies like Maytag have committed to going.

What to Take to the Trade Show
The items you will need to take to the trade show varies from one show to the next, but at a minimum, you should have a business card and company identification. Do not be turned away because you did not check and comply with show entrance requirements.

If you have a booth at the trade show, you need to get your exhibit together. This means that you have to have items that will let you stand out above everyone else. This is the time to get the best-of- the-best products together to bring with you.

What to do at the Trade Show
Once you are at the trade show, it is time to start networking with the other attendees, but don’t be tempted to automatically gravitate toward the industry leaders. You may find that you get some of your best deals and highest-quality products at the smaller companies. Many of the smaller companies will have demonstrations and models of their products and goods available, so make sure that you scrutinize these items.

When you find a product that you are interested in carrying, get the contact information for the person in the booth. Let this person be your main contact until he or she instructs differently. Hopefully, you’ve found a successful product for your inventory line.

Attend trade shows often to keep current with product lines and offerings.

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Taking Your Business Mobile

If you want to keep up your sales figures, you have to keep up with the times. Sure, some small business owners make tons of money without ever using an online shop. Some even make money without ever placing an advertisement anywhere. These situations are very uncommon, however.

In keeping up with the times and using technology to help you increase your income, you may be considering adding a mobile version of your online shop to your website. Before you make that decision, be sure that you are ready to deal with the challenges this may entail.

Mobile Browser Security
Some mobile browsers aren’t as secure as others. In order to ensure that your customers stay safe, you must use the best security available for your online store. This is especially important during the checkout phase of the customer’s experience. You always want to make customer security your top priority, not to mention the bad publicity you’ll receive if information is stolen while using the mobile version of your store.

Appearance of the Mobile Store
You have to consider the customer’s experience with the store. Mobile phone screens and Internet-enabled e-reader screens are smaller than computer screens. This means that your mobile shop is going to show up very small on the customer’s phone. Because of this, it is vital that your shop has nice-sized icons for the customer to click on for information about a product.

Once the customer clicks on an icon for a product or service, the information about the product should appear. Again, the screen is small, so you don’t want to give the customer a lot of wordy information. Instead, use bullet points to offer quick snippets about the product. This lets the customer know the highlights of the product without having to read through too much information.

Usability of the Site
Shoppers want a positive and quick experience while using the mobile version of a store. You must ensure that the customer can get what he or she needs with as few clicks as possible. Ideally, shoppers should only have to click a few times to add an item to the cart and only two more clicks to pay for the item. When you are designing the browsing and checkout functions of the website, remember that customers may have to pay data fees based on the amount of information downloaded with each click. Keeping your mobile site simple is one way to ensure that shopping with you on a mobile phone doesn’t cost the customer too much money. This also means that you need to downsize your photos and graphics as much as possible without detracting from the product.

Internet Retailer reports eBay says it’s on track to hit $5 billion in mobile sales this year. The internet is always evolving and consumers are looking for the fastest, easiest way to shop. Taking your business mobile could be the answer to increasing your sales.

Visit Koehler Home Décor’s mobile wholesale store!

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Organize Your Records for Business Taxes

Keeping good financial records is imperative in business. Not only does keeping good financial records make it easy to run your business, it also makes it easier to get taxes done when it’s that time of year. Plus, if your business gets audited, good recordkeeping can greatly simplify the process. Getting to the point where you can put your finger on a financial file or receipt at the drop of the hat is fairly difficult; however, with a few simple tips, you can do just that. Once you get your records organized, it is much easier to keep up with the organization.

What Should I Keep?
At a minimum, you must keep any records that show how your business made money and how your business spent money. Income statements, receipts from purchases, and bills paid are some of the basic records you need to keep. In sales, you must keep record of your merchandise sales, your shipping income, any discounts given to customers and customer refunds. For purchases, keep detailed records for all the products and services purchased less any vendor discounts. You should also keep detailed payroll records, including the pay you have given to yourself.

How Long Should I Keep My Records?
All financial records that you use to do your taxes should be kept for seven years. Of course, there are some exceptions to this time frame, but if you keep everything for seven years, you will be safe. One example is payroll items. You are required to keep these for four years; however, with the system you will use to keep track of your finances, it will be much easier to just keep these records with the others until they can all be destroyed.

How Should I Organize My Documents?
First, don’t just toss the documents into a box and forget about them until it is time to do taxes. Instead, get a banker’s box that can hold hanging files. Label these files with some of the most common expense categories you have. Some examples include contract labor, electric bills, charitable donations and basic operating supplies. Any time you spend money on something in one of these categories, file the receipt in the appropriate file. If you have a lot of documents for each category, you can subdivide the items into months. If you don’t want to have a bunch of files for each category, take the time at the end of every month to organize the receipts. Tally them up and place them in an envelope that is clearly labeled with the category, month, year and total of the receipts.

Because you may need to know the amount of sales tax you paid when you file state business taxes, you should also tally up the sales tax and jot it down.

You can follow the same system for income. If you are using a ledger to document income, simply start each month on a new page. You can tally up the previous month’s information and document it in an index card paper clipped to the corresponding pages for that month.

Once you become accustomed to good record-keeping, you will better able to just file things away where they go. As your business grows, invest in Quickbooks or another type of accounting software that will allow you to keep the most accurate records with minimal effort.

Koehler Home Home Décor is committed to your success and offers thousands of wholesale home décor gifts dropshipped free!

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Using Social Media to Drive Traffic and Sales

In today’s business world, everyone is talking about social media. Successful social media marketing increases traffic to your website which translates into increased sales. It’s just a matter of getting the attention you deserve. Understanding search engine optimization (SEO) techniques may be very important, but getting your website to be passed around on social media can catapult your website at the top of search lists faster than any keyword laden text. There are a lot of theories about the best ways to get the attention of consumers, and how best to insert yourself into the social media fray, but a few things stand out as consistently helpful.

First, you should offer more than promises of having the best. Sure, people want to buy what you are selling, and knowing about a website where they can buy good products will encourage more traffic and sales. Some online businesses try to create a catchy, funny, or exciting short film that can be passed around from friend to friend on Facebook or tweeted about on Twitter. A popular video message can result in better search engine rankings.

Other businesses have a sale to start off their marketing campaign. A great sale will introduce your products to new customers who may in turn share the link with their friends via social media. People have a reason to share your website using social media, because a great sale is a popular event.

To effectively use social media, you have to understand that every time someone posts your website to their Facebook page or on Twitter, your search engine importance improves. Every person who clicks on your link, no matter how much time they spend on the website, may improve your search engine ranking. If you can get your search engine rank onto the first page for your products, you reach the people who are looking to buy. Social media marketing can bring up your ranking and you will see significantly more traffic as a result of your efforts.

It may seem difficult to use social media to drive traffic and sales, but once you start to understand how social media works, you will find it is worth your time to do some learning. Starting with your friends and contacts is a good first step. Maybe you have a few hundred Facebook friends and you haven’t really reached out to anyone to attempt to increase that number. Now is the time. Start “friending” anyone and everyone who you know or who you have known in the past. Say hello and tell them about what you are doing, including your business and a link to your website. While some people will go to your website to support you, others will post the link to their page and then their friends will pass it along to their friends.

Using social media to drive traffic and sales is effective, free and should be utilized as part of any marketing plan.

Buy wholesale home décor at Koehler Home Decor

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Web Marketing on a Budget

If you are hoping to profit by servicing the vast sea of consumers who do all or most of their shopping online, learning about web marketing is a very important step. All small businesses try to find as many ways as possible to limit their expenses while maximizing income and profit. Feature great wholesale gifts from Koehler Home Decor and a professional looking and easy to use website and you could be well on your way to making a reasonable income. However, successful web marketing is the key to your success.

You will need to make a small investment to set up your website, but you can do this very inexpensively. When choosing a domain name, choose something unique but is easy to remember and pertains to your products. Web marketing begins with a good keyword driven domain name. You may be able to purchase the domain for one year or you can pay for a few years up front and get a slightly better rate.

Get your name out there by creating quality content. Include more than just products on your website; include informative articles on topics that people searching the internet will want to read. Unique content is what search engines are looking for. Providing fresh quality content to the search engines can benefit you by allowing your site to come up on page one of popular search terms. Ranking well in organic search engine results is the most cost effective web marketing available as it is free. The information has to be good in order to make people want to share it.

Buying a book or two on the topics of SEO and web marketing may be helpful but the internet is full of free advice. Your marketing tactics should include linking with non-competitive sites and trying to get your site listed in free directories that include products like yours. If you do buy a few books; purchase recently published material; to ensure you learn the latest skills. Knowledge imparts the power you need to excel.

In many ways, learning how to market your website on a budget will teach you much more than web marketing. In fact, the more you learn about SEO and other tools that have made websites successful, the more you will want to learn. And luckily, learning is free. Naturally, you want to make the most of your time and teaching yourself the tricks of the trade will be a great investment in the future of your sales.

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