We take pride in our marketing efforts here at Data Age and in turn often get the opportunity to answer our customers’ questions about marketing and promotions. Shop owners often want to know how they can go about marketing their business online. We’ve put together a starter’s guide to Social Media Marketing to help you get a leg up when promoting your business online.
(This article originally appeared as “Pawn Connections” in the Fall 2018 issue of National Pawnbrokers magazine)
I remember when Facebook first came to my attention back in 2005. My college classmates were talking about a website where you could “connect” with one another and post messages on each other’s “walls”. Our school had just become eligible to be part of this “social network” and I though hey, why not sign up and see what this is all about. Little did I know that within a decade, this Place for Friends (Facebook’s original tagline) would expand into the realm of marketing and sales, eventually becoming the third most visited website in the world. (more…)
These days almost everyone is shopping online, or at the very least doing online research before making a purchase. eCommerce is becoming a part of our national fabric, and retailers need to be ready to roll with the changes. Now you may say, “Wait, I’m not a retailer. I’m in the pawn business.” But think about it—I’m sure that you’ve noticed a shift in the amount of items you’re selling in your shop.
According to IBISWorld Reports, 55% of all pawn shop revenue in 2017 was generated from merchandise sales. We’ve been following the eCommerce trend for years at PawnMaster/Data Age, so this statistic doesn’t surprise us. We want our customers to be able to extend their reach as far as possible, and our e-foro integrated listing tool gives them this ability. e-foro is a powerful tool on its own, but you need to have an understanding on how to best prepare your listings for each marketplace in order to maximize your earning potential.
Picture this—it’s Monday morning and you show up at your shop, everything is looking great for the week. You have a monumental event planned and you cannot wait to see the amount of sales and loans the week coming up has in store. You get your shop set up and ready to go, you start to disburse the cash drawers to your employees… and your computer won’t unlock. You try logging again and still nothing. You check another computer, it’s not working either. This never happens! Nothing is working as it should, something’s up. You quickly resort to taking cash payments and sales as everyone works to figure out what the issue is. Then it happens—you get an email on your phone from a strange address telling you that your computer files are locked, and to get them back you must pay $15,000 for the passcode. You have 72 hours to pay the fee or your files are gone.
We take pride in our marketing efforts here at Data Age and in turn often get the opportunity to answer our customers’ questions about marketing and promotions. One of the things we get asked a lot is “How can I get more people into my shop?” Let’s break it down and take a high level look at what it takes to successfully market your shop. (more…)
We’re big about giving back here at Data Age/PawnMaster; we hold charity drives on an almost monthly basis, and blood donations every eight weeks. It’s important to us to be seen as part of our community, and we love being able to give back in any way we can. When we heard about how one of our customers reached out and gave back within their own community, we were blown away.
For most people, if you ask them about pawn shops, they’ll imagine something like the store from the TV series, “Friday the 13th” where everything sold is cursed. Or the shop from Stephen King’s “Needful Things.” Also cursed.
In reality, very little sold in pawn shops is cursed. Avoid the monkey’s paw, and you’ll be fine. To help illustrate the more interesting side of pawn shops, and to share stories from pawn shop owners, we’re starting this erratic series of … (cue scary music):
I’ve been in insurance for a long time, and have seen a good number of business owners and their employees sustain injuries—many very minor, some permanently life-altering, and a few unfortunately resulting in death. Most of these injuries could have been prevented, but there are circumstances that are 100% out of the control of any business owner. No matter the end result, the bottom line is that someone has suffered a work-related injury. So as a business owner and the person responsible for coverage in your shop, what’s the first step?
For most people, if you ask them about pawn shops, they’ll imagine something like the store from the TV series, “Friday the 13th” where everything sold is cursed. Or the shop from Stephen King’s “Needful Things.” Also cursed.
In reality, very little sold in pawn shops is cursed. Avoid the monkey’s paw, and you’ll be fine. To help illustrate the more interesting side of pawn shops, and to share stories from pawn shop owners, we’re starting this erratic series of … (cue scary music):
The pawn industry is alive and well, full of bright and forward thinking professionals as well as seasoned veterans who have seen it all, or at least know someone who has. Even with that much collective experience, the unexpected can and does happen. For nearly three decades, UL&C (PawnInsurance.com) has been providing comprehensive insurance to pawnbrokers nationwide. Through the years, we have seen a trend of pawnbrokers and their agents attempting to reduce their cost of insurance by not securing enough coverage for their Business Personal Property (furniture, fixtures, and equipment) and Tenant 
Improvements and Betterments (covering alterations made to the the physical building).
(more…)