2013 Year in Review

As we ring out 2013 let's reflect on what a busy year we had at KJB Security! We continually introduced new or updated products, we added productmarketing materials to your Dealer Dashboards, and we implemented online ordering!

Several of our products were reviewed by The Honest Reviews and the Gadgeteer and scored very well. We ramped up our social media efforts and created lots of relevant content for our Dealers to use in their marketing efforts, including the successful Market Pro program.

Over 60 new products were introduced and we said the words Zone Shield®, Xtreme Life™, and SleuthGear® in our sleep!

Just a few of the best sellers from 2013 were:

• In the SleuthGear® line the Xtreme Life Smoke Detectors were the product of the year! 

• Our new Zone Shield® Clock Radio, introduced in September, has set records for clock radio sales.

• From the Tracking line we were very pleased with how end users chose LandAirSea's SilverCloud GPS Tracker and theTracking Key Pro.

• From the Detection and Audio Surveillance lines the Cell Phone Detector and the Rabbler Noise Generator were top selling items.

Get a list of all 60 products introduced in 2013 from the Dealer Dashboard where you can also click the tab to see Best Sellers.

Tune in in 2014 as we report from CES and launch mysleuthgear.com!

Sometimes Too Much Choice Is A Bad Thing

We all do it. We stand frozen in the grocery aisle overwhelmed by our choices. “Should I buy the whole wheat bread with fiber, the low fat honey wheat, the multigrain, plain white?” We stand there pondering and finally grab something so that we can simply move on. If toothpaste is next on your list, you should consider simply closing your eyes and pointing to a brand on the shelf. Not that some aren’t better than others, but even Proctor and Gamble’s director of global oral-care research and development stated, “We’ve come to realize that fewer is better.” The company (makers of Crest toothpaste) slowed down their production of oral-care products worldwide.

Fewer is better
An over-abundance of consumer options is not confined to bricks and mortar retailers; it’s a factor for internet shoppers as well. If your business is web based, you can and should be more picky about what “goes on your shelves.” Don’t clutter your site with any and every gadget or gizmo available. When you spend time reviewing and selecting the best product options to place on your site, look at it through the eyes of the buyer. If buyers have too many choices, they often make no choice at all. This study actually found that cutting product options by 75% resulted in more sales regardless of price.

Delete information overload
According to this study 'website navigation problems' and 'process was taking too long' are in the top 10 reasons shoppers abandon their cart. Fight information overload with these ideas:

• Consider “landing pages"  to promote a specific product line or special. Landing pages are easy to set up within the confines of the site and are easy to promote well qualified, limited options to customers. Landing pages also give online businesses the ability to test market certain products to see what is attractive to shoppers.

• Differentiate products but don’t go crazy. For example, when delineating Zone Shield® products use phrases like EASY TO SET UP or BATTERY OPERATED for Xtreme Life™. These phrases are easy to understand and set the product apart - but you can't use it on every other hidden camera on your page or it means nothing.

• Give top listing to products that do the most. Do your buyers have to wade through pages of hidden cameras that may be cheaper but also do less? If they have to decide which features they want on their camera then you are using up their patience and maybe losing your sale. Instead present your customer with the product that does the most. Think about that toothpaste aisle again - the whitening, brightening,  straightening, tartar busting, gum disease fighting super hero toothpaste is always right at eye level.

• List first the products that do the most for you. If your profit margin is higher or a returns lower on a specific model then throw down a bright shiny red carpet for your customer to stroll up and buy it. In the end time is money for both you and your customer. The less time they spend shopping for a good product or that you spend supporting their purchase the better the experience is for everyone.

Make MAP Pricing Work for Your Business

Feeling limited by MAP? Don’t be. Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) protects the market for everyone and keeps the profit margins high. MAP also reinforces branding, quality, and perceived value. A creative strategy can result in a win for you and for your customers. When thinking of successful retailers who adhere to MAP, think of none other than Apple. From the beginning Apple stuck to one price for their products though they occasionally ran specials on included software and hardware. And Apple's branding strategy was apparent - create demand for the product and don't devalue the brand by competing on price. Today, consumers will never find an Apple product pricing difference when shopping various retailers. Today their brand is one of the most recognized in the world and the perceived value of Apple products is off the charts.

If your budget is limited, no worries, your brand is limitless. No matter the size of your business, MAP is an integral part of retail sales. But it is not something dealers can type into a CMS and then be lazy about strategizing around. It just take a little creative energy to make it work for you!

5 Suggestions for Making MAP Pricing Work for You:

· Offer free shipping. Perhaps the biggest online draw is a break on shipping. With large retailers offering free shipping under certain conditions it's almost imperative that all online businesses do this on occasion.

· Offer free accessories. An example is LandAir Sea's current offer of a vehicle power adaptor with every purchase of the Tracking Key Pro.

· Offer a gift with purchase. Think gift cards from a retailer who may want to partner with you, subscriptions to print or electronic content that may support your industry or brand. Often you will receive reciprocal exposure from the company or product you partner with.

· Offer a discount on an additional item. Even if you can't discount the MAP item, chances are there is something on your site, related to the MAP item, that you can offer a discount on... even a steep discount in order to pique the customer's interest.

· Offer coupon codes on your website. Coupons for future purchases are a good way to get customers back to your site. Investigate coupon clearing house sites like RetailMeNot.com. Coupon codes are also good for occasional social media content. (To be safe, if you’re offering a coupon code, always mention which items are excluded from the promotion.)

What Dealers Need To Know: Why can I record audio on my iPhone but not on a hidden camera?

In October, we talked about the Wiretap Act and the due diligence that is required as a dealer in the sale of personal security products.

This month, we are going to address a question we hear all the time. And as dealers, we suspect you too, are asked to address this with your customers.

There are various forms of the question: Why doesn’t my hidden camera record audio? Can’t I simply record a conversation from my iPhone? Why can I record audio on my iPhone but not my hidden camera?

The answer varies when you consider Federal versus state laws, and when you take into consideration the design and purpose of the device. As long as one party consents to the recording of a conversation, you are not breaking any Federal laws. It gets stickier when you talk about state-by-state laws.

If you live in a one-party consent state, then the state law mirrors the Federal law. Though the person not giving consent must also live in a one-party state. And even so, your recording may not be admissible in a court of law. Two party consent states require both individuals to be aware that they are being recorded.

Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia are one party consent states. In the other 12 states, you must have consent of all parties to a conversation in order to make a recording.

The Intent of Design Is What Matters

You may record with an iPhone because it is not designed to be hidden. A phone is just that – it’s used for audio purposes and also has recording capabilities.

A hidden camera is designed to be hidden and therefore falls under laws governing surreptitious recording. Let’s say there was a voice recorder sitting on the table between two people. It’s not disguised; it looks like a tape recorder. You wouldn't have to be told that it could record something - that's what it's designed to do.

Now what if there was a plant sitting between the same two people. Anyone can see it’s a plant. What do you think might be happening? Well, nothing. Because it’s a plant. The intent of its design is not to record anything. But what if the customer slipped the tape recorder inside the plant? Now it's a hidden recorder! Simply by putting the recorder inside, out of sight, the intent has changed. That intent is what makes that recorder suddenly fall under the jurisdiction of privacy and wiretap laws. What if it were a video recorder that just happened to also record audio? It doesn't matter. If it records audio and is hidden in any way it falls under the jurisdiction of privacy and wiretap laws.

Dealers can sell tape recorders all day long and encourage people to record conversations with them. They cannot encourage customers to put audio recorders in plants and record conversations. Customers can buy tape recorders and record conversations with them. But when customers put recorders in plants their intent of use has changed. At that point they are intending to make a hidden recording. By selling any recorder already hidden in a plant, dealers are acknowledging that the use of the device is to record something without another person’s knowledge. In the US it is never legal for a civilian to make a surreptitious audio recording, even if the audio is just being picked up on video.

So, as law-abiding dealers, you certainly don’t want to sell hidden devices that could record audio. Customers should be aware of the implications should they choose to purchase one. If you do sell audio recoding devices, the products must be designed and clearly marketed as an audio recorder.

At KJB Security Products, we do not sell hidden audio recording equipment domestically, except to law enforcement. Only law enforcement can use audio/camera recording. Additionally, we include the following disclaimer on all marketing materials:

Some of the Product(s) purchased/sold by KJB are subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. Wire and Communications Act (18 United States Code §§ 2510-2522) (Act). The products include those with surreptitious listening devices, which are regulated by the Act. Additionally, the laws of some states, counties, cities or localities may prohibit the possession and/or use of some of the these products. It is the responsibility of the buyer to ascertain, understand, and obey any and all applicable local, state, and federal laws regarding possession and/or use of any KJB product. Diversion or re-export contrary to U.S. law is prohibited. ALL OFFERS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW

This article is in no way to be considered legal advice. Please review the laws in your own state and seek professional legal consultation as needed.

Honest Reviews Gives Recluse XT a Huge Thumbs Up

Read the complete review here! Plus check out their contest for the Recluse XT in the review here:

UnderCoverHiddenCameras.com Is Our Latest Market Pro

Proving that consistent blogging gets results KJB is happy to feature Undercoverhiddencameras.com as our latest Market Pro. In October they began a series of blogs about SleuthGear products, singling out particular lines and products such as the entire Zone Shield line, including Night Vision, and the new Recluse XT.

See the blog on SleuthGear's American designed quality click here.

Read how they helped spread the word about Zone Shield Clock Radio's positive review at The Honest Reviews.

And, while we're talking about positive reviews, it's always nice to share when our dealers believe the same things we do. When asked why undercoverhiddencameras.com was featuring SleuthGear products so prominently, principal Todd Karl said:

"I want and will continue to feature the KJB SleuthGear line mostly because your company has the same business values as I do, to give superior customer service along with superior products that are designed and born here in the USA. Not only do you offer these things but back it up daily."

Our Security Gear Can Save Thanksgiving: How To Be A Relevant Tweeter

Whether or not you've commenced eye rolling at investors rushing to buy shares in Twitter's IPO, you should be using its service. Recently KJB has introduced hashtags to help dealers tap into the rapid flow of conversation happening on the fastest growing social media site (read more here and here.) We know Dealers use hashtags for our brand names such #Sleuthgear and #ZoneShield and that's great, but it's not enough. So we thought a little Hashtag 101 was in order. First, to answer the question, "what is a hashtag?" A hashtag is a search term. Like when you surf Google and type in "Chicken and biscuits near Nashville," Twitter users are searching for their breakfast by typing in the hashtag "#chickenandbiscuitsnearnashville" The '#' tells Twitter to consider the following unbroken line of characters (i.e. no spaces) a searchable term. 

A Twitter search will net a user a lot more truth. While the chicken and biscuit place has more control over what's said on Google (especially if they advertise with search words) they have almost no control over the unvarnished opinions rolling from a tweeter's fingertips. That sounds scary right? Not really… consider the fact that customers were already talking about you behind your back. Words over water coolers have about the same shelf life as random tweets. Now you just know what they are saying. 

So how do you make this conversation work for you? Thats where KJB's hashtag campaign comes in. By all means, keep tagging Zone Shield and SleuthGear but realize it's only reaching the eyeballs of people who already know the product. The goal is to snag the attention of new people. Pretend you're at a Superbowl party thrown by a guy you'd really like to impress. Marching up to the dude and name dropping your brand is probably not an effective way to impress him. Instead you'd find out what he's talking about, simultaneously sort your thoughts, then relevantly inject your products into the conversation. In this analogy Twitter is the Superbowl party, all of its users are the guy throwing the party, and the hashtag is the conversation. 

Here's an example, instead of the Superbowl it's the Thanksgiving table: About a week before Thanksgiving everyone in America is going to vent their frustrations with impending family visits on social media. They'll most likely tweet about it with some version of the hashtag #ThanksgivingHassle. How do you make yourself relevant in that conversation? 

Like this:

Now a significant chunk of people tweeting #ThanksgivingHassle have just seen that you offer a product that might help them… at the very least it'll make them smile. Congratulations, you got the eyeballs of the people who didn't already know about your products - which is what the most effective marketing does. 

By the way, even if you cut out loudmouth sales tweeting don't decide that your new strategy is to type a constant stream of consciousness. This makes you the Twitter equivalent of the weird Thanksgiving relative muttering in the corner. 

Use these wider hashtags to get into the conversation and out of the corner. In addition to reminding our Dealers about relevant conversations, KJB also promises to retweet at least two of your own tweets every time you use the hashtags we suggest. The value here is that your feed becomes more relevant and stays higher in the larger conversation. All of sudden everyone at the table starts listening to you. Be relevant, be funny, be conversational and everyone on Twitter will keep listening. 

Now pass those chicken and biscuits down here please.

For news and tips on the evolving world of social marketing check out these links:
Four Tips for Tapping Into Twitter Conversations
How To Be Relevant On Twitter Without The Help Of Influencers