Thursday, April 8, 2010
By Cindy Sheets
Contributing Writer
Tough economic times
serve as a great motiva-
tor to look for ways to
stretch the dollar, and a
new Stillwater business
recently opened to serve
that need.
"Recycling is really big
n.ow," Larry Baker, Still-
Water Shoe Repair owner,
said. "But you don't hear
about people recycling
shoes."
Baker said the current
recession has caused
people to rediscover what
they had forgotten.
"Shoe repair is cost-
effective," Baker notes.
He added most people
don't think of bringing
new shoes in for preven-
tative maintenance, but
that will save money in
the long run..
Protective soles can
be put on new shoes,
then replaced over and
over again, Baker said.
Protective soles are also
helpful for older people as
it helps keep shoes from
being too slippery.
Stillwater Shoe Repair,
which opened March 1,
can repair and restore a
variety of footwear, such
as work boots, cowboy
i
boots, and women's and
men's dress shoes.
Baker also offers dis-
count resoles on Danner
boots for POlice and
firefighters. "i do them
for $60; the usual cost is
around $90."
Besides resoles, Baker
can also patch and stitch
shoes and boots.
"This is modern shoe
repair," Baker said,
noting he stays on top
of the Current technolo-
gies and methods of shoe
repair.
"I blend newtech-
nologies with traditional
ones," he said. "I'm
a little different than
people around here are
used to."
Baker owned and
operated two of the top
three shoe repair shops
in Omaha, Neb. for 19
years. He said after his
three children grew
up, he tired of big city
life, sold his stores, and
decided to look for a
small city where he and
wife Lucinda could enjoy
retirement. During a short
road trip, he discovered
Stillwater and knew he
was home. That was four
years ago.
"Retirement sounds
good until you get there,"
Baker laughs.
He kept himself busy
volunteering with Habitat
for Humanity, but finally
realized'a need for a Shoe
repair shop in Stillwater.
,I think it's a real
underserved market,"
Baker said.
He invites anyone to
bring their worn footwear
by for a quick quote or.
repair..
"I can usually do repairs
while you wait," Baker
said. "It's a great benefit
for out-of-towners."
During his career, Baker
worked on most kinds of
footwear and has even
presented seminars on
"Repairing the Unrepair-
ables."
He also offers advice
on maintaining your
footwear.
"You can double the
life of your shoes just by
conditioning them with a
leather conditioner like
Lexol," he said.
Most importantly, Baker
emphasizes shoe repair is
a great way to save money
while salvaging those
favorite shoes .or boots.
He also carries a vari-
ety of shoe maintenance
products, such as Lexol
Larry Baker, owner of Stillwater Shoe Repair, offers repair and maintenance for a wide
variety of footwear. The shop, which opened March 1, is located at the corner of Burdick and
East Sixth Avenue in Stillwater. Photo by Cindy Sheets
conditioner, Lincoln dress shoes (which usu-
wax and other polisheS, ally runs $45).
He can also order other Stillwater Shoe Repair
products, is located on the corner of
Stillwater Shoe Repairis Burdick and East Sixth
' offering several specials Avenue, in front of Locke
through April, including Supply and Sears.
half soles and heels for "All work is completed
cowboy boots for $39 on premises quickly and
(which usually costs efficiently with most
around $50) and $39 for shines and heels com-
pleted while you wait
or shop," Baker said.
"Almost everyone can
benefit from my service
even though most people
don't realize it."
For more information,
just drop by the shop or
call (405) 269-4098 or
email info@stillwatersh
oerepair.com.
T'p
lsF
Last month, I introduced
you to the business fan
page on Facebook. This
month's article will pro-
vide some tips for acquir-
By Dr.
ing fans and for making
your page more enjoyable
for your current fans. It's
a concept that Internet
Business Consultant, Peter
Fletcher. calls "building
community, ""
It's interesting to note
that "building commu-
nity" does not necessarily
include sales. This is a
somewhat strange concept
Suzette Barta
for businesspeople, but the
Faceb00k business fan
page is not designed for
sales. Hopefully, however,
you will connect with fans
who are interested enough
in your business commu-
nity that they will decide
to follow a link to your
website. It is there that'
you complete the sale. In
fact, it is considered some-
what tactless or gauche to
try to "close the sale" on
your Facebook fans. You
may lose them if you try to
d.o it too often.
.If you are serious bout
bringing fans to your
business page, one option
may be Facebook ads. (30
to www.facebook.com/
advertising for more
information. One really
cool feature of Facebook
The national celebration
of Arbor Day happens On
the last Friday of April,
although some states have
designated other dates
invest, consider putting
whatever you can afford,
however minimal, into an
IRA and a 401 (k) or other
employer-sponsored retire-
y Matt Hull
Edward Jones Investments
for their own Arbor Day
observances. Over the.
years, Americans have
planted millions of trees
on this day, improving
the environment, reduc-
ing erosion and leaving an
invaluable gift to future
generations. But the con-
cepts behind Arbor Day
can also be transferred to
other realms such as
investing. So this year,
why not take steps to
establish your own Finan-
cial Arbor Day?
Here are some ideas to
consider:
• Plantsome "seeds. "Even
the mightiest trees started
out small -- and the same
is true of the portfolios of
many successful investors,
If you're just beginning to
merit plan. If you've been
investing for a while but
still need to move closer
toward your goals, you
may have to seek out some
new fields of opportunity
and invest in them.
• Nurture the "roots." To
grow, roots need to be fed
through water, oxygen and
minerals. Once you've
planted the seeds of your
investments, they need
to be nourished, too. For
example, once you've
opened a 401(k), try to
boost your contributions
whenever you get a salary
• increase. Also consider
fully funding your IRA
Until yott've reached the
annual limits.
• Seek out variety. If you
look around your neigh-
borhood,, you will likely
find many different types
of trees. And that's a good
thing, because when Dutch
elm disease or some other
ailment strikes one type of
tree, you and your neigh-
bors still have others that
can thrive. The same prin-
ciple applies to investing:
If an economic downturn
or some other event pri-
marily strikes one type
of asset, and most of your
money is tied up in that
asset, you could run into
trouble. That's why you
should diversify your
investment dollars among
stocks, bonds, certificates
of deposit (CDs), Treasury
bills and other securities.
While diversification, by
itself, cannot, guarantee
a profit or protect against
loss, it can help reduce the
effects of volatility on your
portfolio.
• Be patient. When you
plant a seed, you know it
will take many years for
your efforts to reach frui-
tion. Over time, your tree
will lose some branches
and bark, and it will be
ads is that you can set up also announce your new
a daily budget, so you can fan page at a local Cham-
definitely do this on a
shoestring budget if you
so choose.
Other inexpensive
ways to advertise your
fan page include adding
it to your business cards
and brochures. If you've
already had brochures and
ber of Commerce event or
write a press release and
send it to area newspa-
pers.
Having a fan page is
not all about increasing
your fan numbers. It is
also extremely important
to make the page valu-
give your fans a reason to
interact with your page.
Perhaps the worst thing
you can do is to create a
page and then forget about
it. Have you ever become
a fan of a page and then
heard nothing more about
it? If you will go look at
that page, you'll discover
that the owner posted
cards printed up, add your
Faceb00k information to a
simple mailing label and
stick it on the back of the
card or brochure. It costs
nothing to add it to all your
outgoing emails. You can
buffeted by heavy winds,
scorching sun and driving
rains. However, if it has a
strong set of roots, it can
survive and grow. You
need to show the same
patience with your invest-
ment portfolio, because it,
too, will face a variety of
challenges over the years,
and at times it may appear
beaten down. But if you
follow a consistent strat-
egy, supported by a mix
of quality investments that
reflect your risk tolerance,
time horizon and long-term
goals, and if you have the
patience and discipline to
ride out downturns, you
can help yourself reach
your objectives.
When. people use their
shovels and hoes on Arbor
Day, they can create some-
thing that will literally last
a lifetime. And the same
thing can happen when you
declare your own Financial
Arbor Day -- so get out
Four investment "tools"
and get to work.
Matt Hull is a financial
advisor for Edward Jones
Investments in Stillwater.
able to your current fans. something when th,ey first
Pages become valuable created the page, but has
when you... 1) make the
page engaging and 2) add
value to the page.
A page becomes engag-
ing when the fans can have
fun with it and will interact
with it. For example, not
all of your posts have to
be strictly about the busi-
ness. On Aspen Coffee
Company's fan page, they
asked their fans to list their
favorite Will Ferrell movie
character. This has noth-
ing to do with coffee, but
it is fun and a lot of fans
left comments in response
to it.
Another technique
for getting your fans to
interact with your page
is to post pictures. For
example, posting pictures
of employees wearing
company t-shirts in front
of famous landmarks
serves two purposes--it
promotes the t-shirt and it
shows the personal side of
the company. Even better,
ask your fans to upload
their pictures and videos.
You add value to a page
when the fan gets more
than they expect from it.
For example, if you sell
.herbs, a posted recipe adds
value. So does a link to a
YouTube cooking demon-
stration. If you sell jewelry
or clothing, links to infor-
mation on how to dress
for your body shape add
value. These little extras
not posted since. For the
fan page to be worthwhile
for your business, you have
to consistently post on it.
Remember, every time
you post something, your
fans see it on their walls.
You don't want to go over-
board, but a post per day is
certainly reasonable. (Try
posting at different times
during the day to catch dif-
ferent users.) Plus, if you
get fans to respond to some
of your postings, be sure
to respond back to them
if possible. Admittedly,
this will be difficult to do
if you have thousands of
fans. but not so bad if you
have a couple of hundred.
If you would like more
information about a pub-
lication that discusses
Facebook fan pages in
greater detail, just email
me at suzette.barta@okst
ate.edu.
Dr. Suzette Barta is
an Extension Educator,
Community and Economic
Development, with Payne
County OSU Extension.
She is also an active
member of the Perkins
Community Chamber
of Commerce and the
Greater Perkins Area
Economic Development
Authority.To contact
her regarding the
content of this or other
articles, e-mail her at
sbarta @provalue.net.
