The Gift Professional's Guide to Building Long-Lasting Business
the report
Holiday Planning Bonus Issue 2011 $6.00
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The Basket Whiz Report… A Magazine to Build Your Business! Advertise in our Inaugural Issue… for Targeted Marketing that Pays! This is no time to cut back on advertising. Create a buzz about your business with the Basket Whiz Report, a magazine designed to market your business and generate more revenue… with many tools and resources GALORE! With pertinent trade industry information and highlighted vendors; educational and promotional ideas, and more… gift companies are searching for your products to offer their customers! Gift Professionals Want to Find Unique Products. This is the time to showcase yours! Ad space is very limited. We’ll feature a vendor of the month in each regular issue. You may be given a FREE SPOTLIGHT in conjunction with The Basket Whiz Report online! Some of the upcoming features include: Marketing and Marketing Mix Articles; How to write a marketing plan; Business Resources and useful websites; Hot industry products/services; Applying Social Media; Balancing Business & Family; Finance & Accounting; Business Systems Articles; SEO/Website Articles; Solutions; Wisdom; Gift Basket Ideas… PLUS 2 BONUS ISSUES ON Generating Revenue During Slow Months and Holiday Frenzy!
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Table of Contents
Holiday Bonus Issue 2011 7
8
5 Tips To Market For A Happy Holiday Season
2
Color trends for 2011 Holiday Season
6
Don’t become a business victim of credit card fraud
7
Entrepreneurial traits that drive sales; Personality, Fear...
8
Get your gift business ready for the holiday Rush
10
It’s never too early to plan ahead
12
Save money and time by preparing early for the holiday season
13
Industry Hint
14
Table of Contents
13
12
10
In search of... Christmas themed products
16
Words to motivate and inspire
18
Tips to getting your website ready for the holidays
19
Pearls of wisdom
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Editor’s Note
the report
DIRECTORY Editor-In-Chief & Publisher Kimberly Cole kimberly@basketwhiz.com Chief Financial Officer Jerry Cole Contributing Editors Carmelita Collier Shirley Tolbert Anissa White
One great motto to adopt when in the gift basket business is, “it’s never too soon”. Meaning that you can never start early enough to get everything ready for your next big promotion or season that you service. The further ahead you think the far more prepared you will be. If you think of it as reversing the seasons while you are prepping for your marketing materials you will avoid last minute rushes which can cost you money by making a mistake. Promotional and marketing material is one area that you really need to make sure is error free. Most of this material is comprised of print media and it’s difficult to undo a mistake even if it’s on your webpage. By planning all of your strategies, and then putting your plans together and implementing them early it serves to save you money, keep you organized, and allow you concentrate on the sales area of your business as the occasions arise. So don’t put off to tomorrow what you can do today, which is getting those baskets ready for the upcoming holiday season. This issue will serve as your impetus to get moving and to get inspired.
Art Director Paolo Dela Rosa Kimberly Cole, MBA Account Executive Paulette Vildberg advertising@basketwhiz.com
Editor in Chief/Publisher The Basket Whiz Report www.basketwhiz.com
Staff Writers Jim Aldrich Lynn Keeler SL Ruffdan Guest Writers Sharon Senter Southern Fulfillment Gift Professioanl Contributors: Lisa Bevan Michelle Peruski Industry Hint Designers: Tina Ashburn Sherrill Barbary James Hartier Maple Ridge Farms Michelle Peruski Martha Smith
The Basket Whiz Report, a Division of The Confetti Group, LLC 2214 Main Street, Porterdale, GA 30014 is published 8 times a year (6 regular issues and 2 bonus issues). One year subscriptions are free to companies in the industry and $39.95 to non industry subscribers. The Basket Whiz Report is a digital publication that is delivered by email on the 15th of the issue month. COPYRIGHT © 2011 BY THE CONFETTI GROUP, LLC. All rights reserved. Material in this publication may not be stored or reproduced without permission from the publisher. Requests for permission should be directed to The Confetti Group at: thebasketwhizreport@basketwhiz.com or call: 1-866-635-9990.
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BUSINE
SS
Tips to Market for a Happy Holiday Season to You! t f i G r u O
Whether Christmas, Hanukkah, or Thanksgiving the upcoming holiday season will be here before you know it. It is never too early to get ready. For this reason, The Basket Whiz Report would like to offer you this gift; a few tips on having a happy and prosperous holiday season for your gift basket business. All the news these days is focused on a bad economy. As this article is being written things seem to be getting worse. For almost every industry involved in retail sales it is the holiday season that serves as the benchmark for their success. In the upcoming holiday season what would bring a smile to your face quicker than increased visibility and sales? Hopefully, these tips will be useful.
By Jim Aldrich
1 2 3 4 5
Plan on delivering more for less this means looking at your product line and inventory to find ways where you can overlap your line. That Thanksgiving table center piece, why not replicate it for the other holidays making slight modifications in its presentation suitable for each special day? When ordering design materials always ask “can this be used for other items in our line?”
Focus, focus, focus! Depending on the size and resources of your firm it may be the season to re-examine your line and your priorities. In today’s economy even larger firms may need to make tough decisions regarding what they take to market this year. If you have proven holiday sales winners in your line, keep them. If some products have questionable profitability take a close look at what you do with them.
Pay attention to the small things Today most businesses find additional sales by taking a detailed look at their overall operation. This examination should become a micro look at your holiday marketing plans. Look at these details with fresh insight. Is your company holding on to approaches in a “same old, same old” manner? Just because it has worked before or that is the way you have always done things does not mean you should continue.
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Why not trade in your old ways for a new way? Throughout this article, one theme has surfaced. That theme is this; always be on the lookout for a better way to do things. There are several ways to accomplish this. Attending trade shows, networking, using local and national resources specifically serving business are just a few. Don’t be afraid to try something new. The worst that can happen is that you will go back to your old ways of doing things.
Dare to be different has your line grown tiresome? Has all the fun gone away? Find one out of the ordinary holiday idea and see what you can develop from it. Don’t spend a lot of money, just have fun. If you have fun, your customers will recognize that quality in your product.
Now for a word of caution; each of these ideas has value. However, implementing them takes not only courage, but a degree of discipline. Discipline in that a novel idea can sometimes become the tail that wags the dog. Always hold on to the focus and purpose of your firm while integrating new ways. We wish you the best of luck and a successful holiday season.
Advertorial Twenty-Four Ways To Boost Your Sales And Save Your Sanity This Holiday My grandfather Steve Nibbelink, an old Dutch farmer from Pella, Iowa, always told me, “Bob, when the sun is shining, you gotta’ make hay.” Well, the Christmas season is our season to make hay. Here are my twenty-four favorite ways to boost your sales and save your sanity this holiday season. There’s no single Christmas miracle on this list, but the combined power of these tried and true ideas is truly miraculous! We guarantee it. Read on. 1) Attempt to add-on to every sale. Pick an item or two with high margins and universal appeal. Then get everyone on your staff to ask every single customer if they would like one. This simple act will generate thousands of dollars in sales. 2) Load up on impulse items and display them all over your store. Think stocking stuffers. 3) Sell up. ‘Tis the season to be generous, so always show your better quality merchandise. 4) Keep demonstrating - “Show, show, show until they say no”. 5) Making shopping easier by using as many signs as possible. Good signage is like having an extra salesperson on the floor. 6) Eliminate buying resistance by clearly communicating any and all guarantees any of your products might have. 7) Make the holidays easier for your customers by offering gift wrapping. 8) Get out on the selling floor. Now is the time to lead the charge, and it can’t be done from the quiet and comfort of your office. 9) TRAIN AND COACH YOUR STAFF! The time is now. If your staff, including seasonal help, is not well trained and coached you are probably losing thousands of dollars in sales. 10) Keep a close eye on your best sellers. Running out of your most popular items not only costs you sales, it’s bad customer service. 11) Always know the status of important orders. If that huge order of your most popular thing-a-ma-bob isn’t coming in on time and you don’t make adjustments it’s going to cost you, and maybe cost you big. Don’t take any chances that your best sellers didn’t make it to the warehouse in time for this years’ holiday season. Be proactive! continued on next page The Basket Whiz Report
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Advertorial
12) Increase your store hours. During hay season my grandfather, the farmer, was out in the field at sunup and didn’t come in ‘til sundown. There was money-making work to be done! 13) Make shopping FUN. Fun sells, especially during the holidays. It doesn’t have to be hard, or fancy. Have a “guess the number of candy canes in the big glass bowl contest” or something of the sort. Let your imagination run wild; get into the spirit of the season! 14) Have lots of sales games for your employees. Sales games make the season fun for your staff. They also appreciate the chance to make a little extra cash or get merchandise they can use as gifts. 15) Put a “spiff” on high-margin, high volume items. It’s a great way to get your staff selling what you think is important. A “spiff” is a payment for selling a particular item – for instance, $2 for every $150 turbo-charged, turquoise widget sold. 16) Markdown slow moving merchandise on time. It’s much easier (and more profitable!) to sell slow movers at 20% off in December, than at 50% of in January. 17) Use bag stuffers. Stuff bags with a schedule of events, a coupon good in January, or an invitation to your winter open house. Get your holiday shoppers back in your store after the holidays are over. 18) Collect names and addresses. Knowing who your customers are allows you to contact and sell to them during the rest of the year. 19) Decorate your store, and the bigger, the better. Get in the holiday spirit and your customers will, too. 20) Make your regular customers feel special – because they are! Don’t let them get lost in the crowd of holiday shoppers. 21) Wear good shoes. 22) Eat well and drink lots of water. Staying healthy and physically strong is a challenge this time of year. A healthy body will help you be mentally sharp. 23) Get as much sleep as you can...Zzzzzzzzz. 24) Smile. Remember, it’s Christmas! By Bob Negen
Ho! Ho! Ho! Have A WhizBang! Holiday Season.
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Advertorial
Want more great tips? Sign up for Bob’s FREE WhizBang! Tip of the Week. You’ll get great business-building information delivered directly to your inbox every week. These tips are not high falutin-academic theory or pie-in-the-sky fluff, they are practical, proven ideas to help you run a success full retail store. Here is what one reader said about the Tips… “As the dust settles on 2008, I wanted to drop you a note letting you know that due in large part to you WhizBang! Tip of the Week ideas, our wild bird supply store had a record year and we ended up 25%. Tell your readers that the WhizBang! Tips lead to actual positive results; they are not just words printed on paper. Thanks again, from each of us at The Birdhouse of Freeland.” Dick Beekman, a.k.a. One Happy Camper! Get complete in-depth information on the 11 critical skills every retailer needs to be successful in the Retail Mastery System. For retailers, it’s a Harvard MBA at a community college price! “The Retail Mastery System is the best training system that I have seen in my almost 20 years of retailing. Since implementing these ideas we have increased our sales by 30% this year alone! That is an increase of over $270,000! And my profit has gone through the roof!” Russ Herman, Pet $aver Superstores
Bob and Susan Negen
233 Washington Ave. #213 Grand Haven, MI 49417 Phone: 616-842-4237 Fax: 616-842-2977 E-mail: info@WhizBangTraining.com
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Color
Trends
for
By Lynn Keeler
2011
Holiday
Season Trends for 2011: Merry and Bright! Blues Browns Silver Dust White Frost Snow Purples
Red Silver Gray White Vibrant Green Light Green
Orange Lemon/Yellows Gold Glitter Swilrls of Red & White
Join BasketWhiz on Facebook and post your Holiday Creations!
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When it comes to the Holiday Season it’s really hard not to just play it safe and stay with the age old traditional colors of red and green. Although it just wouldn’t be Christmas without seeing a huge array of these old favorites, it’s also important to remember that we are dealing with a modern trendy target market of clients. It’s an almost anything goes type of scenario in this group. If you really want to be sure that you have all of your target market covered, then take a close look at what the general trends for 2011 have been even though the year is drawing to an end around this time. The fashion colors of the year are still very much alive in the minds of your customers. One of the most reliable sources to rely on for color savvy information is the major paint manufacturers. They spend big dollars every year researching what the trend is going to be in colors and in fact play a major role in setting the trends. So how do these fit in with the festive season? Well the general consensus is that the “getting back to basics” has been the theme of the year. In fact there have been signs on the horizon of history repeating itself with the strong appearance of the 70’s colors surfacing again. Shapes play a big part in the overall color theme, such as those you will see in the gift wraps. Here it seems bright bold circles have been the shape of choice At the opposite end of all of this has been the fantasy look which demands the need for satin, pearl and frosted finishes. These are the ones that you will want to focus on for the holiday season. So with a good mix of the traditional colors, the bold shapes, and any of the must have golds, silvers, blues and purples enhanced with pearl and frosted finishes, your gift baskets should fit right in with the 2011 trends, and yet satisfy all the needs of the large range of customers that fall within your target market.
Don’t Become a Business Victim of Credit Card Fraud By Lynn Keeler
Making a success of your business is difficult enough without getting cheated out of your hard earned money. Credit card fraud is right up there with shoplifting. At least with your online business you don’t have to worry about theft but you sure to do have to keep a keen eye for credit card fraud both online and in an onland store setting.
For your online purchases
Ensure that your online purchaser has the credit card in their possession. Depending on the size of your online business you may be handling your sales manually where a customer places an order then you contact them for the payment and shipping information. Or you may have set up some type of payment gateway. In any event whatever system you use, be sure you get the three digit number from the back of the credit card. This will work if the purchaser only has the credit card number and is not actually holding the card in their possession. If they have stolen the credit card ,then they will have access to this number. You can also use an account verification system which cross references the address that the purchaser gives you to what’s on file for the actual credit card holder. Finally watch for the email addresses, most individuals that are trying to commit a credit card fraud will use a generic email such as hotmail or yahoo. Now that doesn’t mean to say anyone who uses these
is committing a fraud. It just means to be a little more cautious.
For your in store purchases Take the time to compare the signatures on the transaction slip against the signature on the card. Don’t let your guard down. Those that are attempting to use an unauthorized credit card will do a couple of things…
they will shop when you store is at its busiest time so you are less likely to scrutinize the card for signature or call in for verification. they will observe whether your telephone is on your checkout counter where you can check out customers while answering inquiries on the phone. If this is the case they may get a co-partner to call and distract you while you are checking them out. Many credit cards allow a purchase limit without verification. The unscrupulous individual will be sure to stay under the limit. If there is anything that is making you wary about the way the individual is acting. Just tell them you need to get a verification. You can almost bet if they are trying to commit a fraud that they will make a quick exit. The best defense you have to avoid credit card fraud is to remain alert and trust your instincts. The Basket Whiz Report
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Entrepreneurial Traits that Drive Sales;
Personality, Fear…. By Sharron Senter
professional portrait of you and your family and your personal story describing how your business began. If you’re an attorney, try displaying a small 8.5” X 11” picture frame on your desk that describes your background, your personal interests and hobbies. If this is too personal for you, try displaying a few photos on your office wall, including the photo of you rowing in college or the one that depicts your fabulous smile playing soccer with your six-year-old. If you’re not the smiling-type, a human interest photo showing you in a common setting will help put your prospect at ease. Ultimately this person will see the photo of you and your son above your shoulder and think, “He’s a dad too. He knows what I’m going through.” When you allow your customers and prospects a “peek” at who Show Your Personality Customers want to know who you are. That’s great that you really are, they’ll begin to feel more comfortable and able to express their needs, an incredible you offer the fastest tax services in town, or your gift competitive edge. You’ll see a notable increase in sales baskets can be custom-made and delivered anywhere as customers identify more with you. in 24 hours. But who are you? Your customers and prospects want to know. Especially if you’re facilitating Use Your Fear business on the Internet, building trust is key to making a prospect feel comfortable buying from you. One of my greatest fears is having to return to the workforce. I’ve been self-employed for almost three One of the most effective ways to build trust is to years. However, I didn’t just one day decide to start express your personality. a business. Although I’d always dreamed of working for myself, the dread of failure held me back. It wasn’t How can you express personality? Even conservative until the company I worked for was purchased by introverts can develop indirect methods of exhibiting another and I was laid off that I decided to launch my their personalities. Here are some examples -- If business. I use this same fear to push me to succeed. you own a store, at the entrance, try displaying a Frequently overlooked and hidden deep within our marketing tool box is the ultimate marketing vehicle for your business – you! Many small business owners are so busy figuring out how to increase sales and revenue they forget to grow themselves as business owners. If you aren’t evolving yourself, aren’t you being counterproductive to your business development? Marketing our businesses isn’t just about what ads to buy or what networking event to go to next; it’s about us as people, as entrepreneurs. The following marketing traits are often overlooked by entrepreneurs but are pivotal to your long-term success. What’s more, they cost very little yet earn a savvy entrepreneur a lot.
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As you know, fear can freeze an entrepreneur right in her tracks. I’ve seen it time and time again. Fear can consume us, keep us from making any marketing decisions at all. Rather than wrestle with your fear, acknowledge it, let it push you to where you need to go. Use it to make marketing decisions, rather than no decisions at all. It’s better to have several failed marketing programs then none at all. Smile and Applaud Whether you have employees or you’re a one-person show, it doesn’t matter. You must smile at and applaud the people within your network including employees, associates, vendors, friends and family. When you say “thank you,” “please,” “nice job,” “I love the design you did for me,” “I really appreciate your waiting for that report,” “thanks for delivering it,” “It was nice meeting you,” “I enjoyed your presentation,” you leave a positive lasting impression on people. As a small business owner, you can’t afford to miss out on what I call, “moments of positive impressions.” These moments accumulate over time. Before you know it, you’ve created a positive reputation for yourself. Smiling and applauding are fairly easy traits to acquire and can be the competitive edge you need to separate you from the stuffy entrepreneur down the street. Keep Away from Certain People Nothing will stop you dead in your tracks faster than
someone who’s “questioning” your entrepreneurial instincts. I’m not saying ignore these people altogether, because they may have a good point; however, don’t stop doing what you’re doing just because people don’t completely support your ideas. Many of these naysayers are employed by someone else. How could they understand or support your ideas? They’re on a completely different life track than you. They can’t possibly understand what it’s like to have to be responsible for making your own money. Surround yourself with other successful-minded people who have to make their own money. Stay Focused You must stop flip flopping with your marketing ideas. Pick 10 of them, and repeat them continuously for more than a year. Pick a direction and stick with it! Reprinted by Permission. About The Author Sharron Senter is a New England-based marketing consultant, speaker, writer and founder of Senter & Associates, a marketing communications firm that helps small businesses deploy low-cost marketing strategies. Sharron is best known for her free weekly emailed marketing tips, found at http://www.sharronsenter.com. She is also the author of several marketing reports that illustrate affordable ways to grow a small business, including: “14 Image-building Dos & Don’ts” and “Email Secrets, Strategies & Etiquette Tips.”
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y d a e R
By Southern Fulfillment http://southernfulfillment.com
Us
The holiday season is one of the busiest times for a gift business. Successful gift business owners know that preparing in advance for the holidays is the best way to sell as many gifts as possible during the holidays. People are waiting until later and later each year to buy their holiday gifts which means that gift businesses have to be ready for an onslaught of sales in order to be able to meet customer demand. One of the ways that businesses can prepare for the holiday sales season is by making sure they have enough items in stock and ready to be shipped. Customers will not have time to wait while items are shipped to a retailer and then shipped to their homes. Working with a fulfillment company is a good way to get the extra space you need to stock up on products before the holidays because fulfillment companies have flexible space arrangements that allow you to use as much, or as little, space as you need at any given point during the year. You can pay for extra storage space in the quarter before the holiday rush to ensure you have the space you need and then reduce your warehouse space after the holidays so that you’re not paying for space you don’t need.
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rvices
ent Se m l l fi l u F ing
Another way that businesses can prepare for the busy holiday sales time is by making sure they have enough customer service support personnel. Contracting with an order fulfillment center is a great way to get well trained, high quality customer service reps who can handle Internet and phone orders without having to invest a lot of money or time in hiring new employees. Employee turnover costs businesses millions of dollars per year, but your gift business doesn’t have to be affected by employee turnover. Sign up with a fulfillment company to get the help you need for the holiday rush without the hassle. The best way for businesses to prepare for the holiday season is by hiring a drop shipper to handle the packing and shipping of orders. This is the part of the ordering process where many small businesses fall apart. Gift business owners can be quickly overwhelmed when there are a lot of orders that need to be packed and shipped but a fulfillment center has a full staff of trained logistics professionals who can make sure products are packed well and shipped on time no matter how many orders come in. Reprinted by Permission.
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It’s
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rly
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Plan Ahead by Jim Aldrich
“Tis the season…” do people ever get use to running their gift basket business six months ahead of a given holiday? We at The Basket Whiz Report understand this. For most gift basket industry businesses the time between Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah are the make or break times. Success in our industry is measured on how well your business does during this upcoming holiday season. If we had to depend on birthdays, anniversaries, and graduations for our income we would be caught between a rock and a hard place. For you, this holiday season serves as the benchmark for annual sales.
a catalog?” can quickly add up to future business. It is important that your business add a special touch to what you deliver during this time of the year. Here are some suggestions: »» Inclusion of extra ordinary business cards »» Catalog availability »» How to learn more about your business »» Maybe even a self addressed postage free mailer
Planning for the Season Hopefully you are already thinking about the upcoming holidays. Your planning should include what you will offer this year, a review of previous marketing and advertising plans in order to choose those that have had the best return, as well as supplies.
It should go without saying that the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah holidays need to be a part of your marketing plans. But each one has its own special identity. Be sure to plan What’s Hot for the Season? accordingly. The type of gift and its Trying to get a handle on what’s use will differ. For example, during hot can be a real challenge. Trade publications will be filled with ideas. thanksgiving the most popular items are center pieces for the Another source rich with ideas is In this article we will discuss the dinner table or a thank you gift to conduct an in depth search of importance of fourth quarter what others are offering. Using your for the invitation. Hanukkah and marketing, which of course means friendly computer search engine do Christmas may include these items, the Thanksgiving, Christmas but expand well beyond those some homework. Search for things and Hanukkah holidays. What’s like “holiday ideas for the gift basket parameters to include personal and hot, planning for the season, and business gift giving. industry” or “gift basket ideas for delivering your best. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Another idea is to get the creative Hanukkah”, or do a separate search Delivering Your Best juices flowing and come up with for each of the holidays. Each of Let’s begin with the last item first; one entirely new and exciting these will return hundreds of links delivering your best. This is a golden to resources of interest. product. If your firm is able to do it, opportunity for your business. this can be an especially good time In your quest for something new One that can carry over for the to be a bit daring, try for something and exciting, don’t overlook those entire year if correctly carried out. different. products that have always been Imagine for a moment giving the Whatever your holiday season popular. This is a season filled with gift that has the recipients talking traditions. A simple rearrangement plans, there is no better time to about it. Questions like “where begin the planning for them than or an added feature to an already did you find this?”, “do they have right now. popular seller can never be wrong. other items?” or “where can I get 12
The Basket Whiz Report
By Lynn Keeler
By the time the holiday season rolls around it’s not just the beginning of all the tasks that needs to be completed to meet the demands it brings with it. It actually should be the end of your preparations for the season, and you should be in a position where you can concentrate on your sales. First thing you want to do is design a plan. This will mean planning your promotions, your special occasion baskets and then ordering your inventory. By ordering your inventory early it will serve several purposes for you. To begin with, you should experience very few disappointments due to items being out of stock. If this is the case, it still leaves you plenty of time to find the proper replacements. You may be able to enjoy some extra savings as well. It may not be uncommon for the prices of the items that you need to go up as it draws closer to your supplier’s peak time. Once you have received all of your inventory, now comes the time to at least start the preliminary steps such as getting your items organized and making the bows and enhancements that you use for your baskets. You will find that because you are not rushed that you will probably put a little extra care into preparing these incidentals which will be good for sales.
photographs in your promotional materials. Again by preparing your promotional materials early may save a few dollars here as well before prices go up. Most likely you are going to have to plan your website to include your promotion. If you maintain your own website, then by having everything done early so you include your selection on your site means you will have lots of time to work on it. Then it means when the launch date draws near you simply need to load your pages. For those that have an on-land store it’s not unusual to have to have to totally re-design your store front and layout to make room for the extra stock. If you have everything made ahead of time you are going to know exactly how much space you will need. This will make the usual big task of juggling to get everything displayed for the holidays season a simple and easy one. Finally with everything being done early you are not going to be exhausted when it comes time where you are bombarded (a good thing) with orders. You are going to be ahead of the season and well prepared for it. This makes for good business all way around.
Also by fully preparing a entire selection of baskets way ahead of time, you will be able to also use them for
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Industry Hint
! r e t r a u Q h t 4 . . . e k i l t o l a k o o L o t g in
It’s Beginnn
Here are some designs to get your creative juices flowing! Share your Q4 designs on the BasketWhiz Facebook page!
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TwistedBasket www.twistedbasket.com Taylors, SC
Industry Hint www.mapleridge.com Mosinee, WI
Daughter of a Rose www.daugherofarose.com Atlantic City, N
Baskets Full of Joy www.basketsfullofjoy.com Edmond, OK
Basket Express www.giftbasketsbytina.com Phoenix, AZ
Classy Gift Creations www.classygiftcreations.com Maryville, TN
By Michelle Peruski
CHRISTMAS THEMED PRODUCTS Well, here we go… fourth quarter is around the corner and it is that time again. Time to search through the catalogs, hit the drawing boards and decide how to make the best Christmas Gift Baskets ever. This year I had the pleasure of attending Americasmart in Atlanta. It was quite overwhelming, but through the process I found some great new products and adorable Christmas-themed components. I would like to share some of my Christmas finds with you.
First, I would like to highlight Too Good Gourmet (http://www.toogoodgourmet. com). If you have been in the business for any period of time, you have probably run across this company and their fabulous products. Too Good Gourmet is based in California and is run by a mother/daughter team. Their unique selling point is adorable packaging – perfect for gift baskets or standalone gifts. Use one or two of their products as the focal point in your gift basket and you can turn any standard gift into a wonderfully-themed masterpiece. They have too many different products to name, but some of my favorites are the Holiday Snow Globes, Christmas-Tree shaped cookie packs, and their Holiday Chapel. For a standalone gift that will save you lots of labor time, you should also check out their Cookie Towers and Dip Gift Set. Too Good Gourmet products are all specialty-packaged and have great Christmas colors. Their lines include cookies, teas, dips, candies, cheese bites, drink mixes, and cocoa.
Another great company I discovered is Pelican Bay (http://www.pelicanbayltd.com). Pelican Bay is a Florida-based family-owned business that was started in 1982. Their product line is based mainly on mixes – cookie mixes, drink mixes, dip mix, monkey bread, and pancake mix. One nice thing about their packaging is that many of their boxes contain an extra component attached to the bow, which I think is a nice touch. For example, the Nosewarmer Punch has a small wisk attached to the bow. Definitely, not something you see everyday. One of my favorite Christmasthemed products is their Cinnamon Sticks, which stand out packed in a clear tube with red accents, ribbon and a mini grater.
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When shopping their site, don’t forget to check out their Snowman Poop Another great find I would like to tell you about is Simply Scrumptious (http://www.simplyscrumptious.com). Simply Scrumptious is a family-owned California-based company that has been in business since 1992. By far, my favorite of their Christmas products is their beaded Starlite Peppermint Box filled with peppermint crunch candy. It is stunningly gorgeous. Another unique product is their ornament box. These boxes are hand-sewn with sequins and beads and are also filled with peppermint crunch candy. They are beautiful enough to be a keepsake. In addition to their candy, they also carry cookies, bark, and pretzels and other crunchy treats.
Although we all love tasty food products, I would be remis in not mentioning the option of theming with non-food items. In this category, my favorite is Brownlow Gifts (http:// brownlowgift.com/Scripts/PublicSite). Brownlow Gifts always carries some nicely packaged products for notes, stationary, pens and the like. For Christmas they have developed a few special lines - The Noelle Collection, Christmas Bells, and Traditional Christmas. Christmas Bells is a gorgeous design in red and white damask and would make a very elegant looking gift. The Noelle Collection is more whimsical in their pink/green with polka dot look. The Traditional Christmas line is as it says – traditional, homey Christmas feel.
Whether you chose to theme your holiday gift baskets with food products or other items, you will not be short of options. There are plenty of companies out there with lots of Christmas-themed products and lovely packaging. Although it is only August at the time of this writing, all these wonderful products have inspired me and I have been bitten by the holiday bug. I cannot wait to start developing my Christmas baskets for this year. Happy Shopping! The Basket Whiz Report
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Words to Motivate and Inspire
Leadership is an art By SL Ruffdan
At its core is an open-mind, a willingness to accept the contributions of others, and a motivation to achieve an ultimate goal. When you first start a business, your canvass may be empty. However, that does not mean that you don’t have the ability to organize and guide a team with passion, empathy, and integrity. With or without formal training, your business can be strong and successful. In time you may see that people will take notice, and the beauty of it all is that you have and continue to lead from the heart.
Ad Space for Sale Readership: Gift Basket Companies Florists Event Planners Wedding Planners Gift Shops Balloon Designers Gourmet Food Shops 18
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Tips By Lisa Bevan
to Getting
your Website
Ready
for the Holidays
Did you know that there will be more holiday shoppers hitting online stores this year? Is your website ready to meet their needs and generate as much revenue as possible during this key time of year?
like, they will leave. Make sure that your images are clear and avoid gray or dark backgrounds. Also, you should always have 10-12 images on your homepage so that shoppers see a variety of options as soon as they enter your online store. Lastly, those images should Over 30 percent of consumers say they’ll be shopping be clickable to the “detail/add to cart” page so that online this year for the holidays. It’s convenient, easy to they can buy it without having to search for it. If you price comparisons shop and especially to avoid crowds. decide to make the images as “categories”, then when a shopper clicks that image, it should appear as the very If your website isn’t already in shape for the holiday first option in that category. season, now is the time to give it a makeover. Here are a few tips for getting your website ready for the holidays: 3) Add Video You may not be aware, but Google bought YouTube 1) Optimize your website with Holiday keywords. a few years ago. What does this mean? It means that I’ve made the mistake in the past and just guessed what if you add a video to YouTube, it raises your chances keywords I should use when writing content, updating of being seen in Google. For $65, you can have a meta tags, writing articles, etc. Once I found the Google professionally completed holiday video in 2-3 days Keyword tool (http://www.googlekeywordtool.com) by contacting travis@dinosoarstudios.com. Once I quickly found that I had no idea what people were you approve the video, he will add it to his YouTube actually typing into search engines. This tool will help account with your keywords and also give you access you see how many people typed a specific keyword in to the code so that you can add it to your website. the last 30 days. An example of a keyword would be “Christmas Gift Baskets” or “Holiday Baskets Delivered” 4) Offer free shipping It’s still a tough economy, and shoppers will be looking Once you have determined what keywords you want for incentives to shop at your online store. If you fail to focus on, you need to optimize your site with those to offer free shipping this holiday season, you might words. The first thing is to update your title and meta as well be one of the few online stores that doesn’t. tags. If you are not technical and have no idea what Get the word out by listing your free shipping offer on that means, just let the person who built and maintains Freeshipping.org. They will include your logo on a list your website know what keywords you want them to of websites that offer free shipping for a day on Dec. 17. add to your title, meta description & meta keyword tags. Make sure to also promote any holiday offers on your homepage as well as your social networking sites, The next step is to have the same keywords on your newsletters & press releases. homepage. Write a holiday welcome piece or add a special holiday section to your website but be sure Lisa Bevan is the owner of MyGiftBasketIdeas. that whatever you decide to add to your new holiday com. She co-authored a book with section has all your keywords included in the content. Debbie Quintana called Fundamentals 2) Update your images You have seconds to impress new shoppers coming to your online store. If they do not see anything they
(giftbasketfundamentals.com) and is also an SEO Consultant (lisabevan.com)
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Pearls of Wisdom
E ntrepreneur a person who organizes and manages any enterprise with considerable initiative and risk
“The entrepreneur is our visionary, the creator in each of us. We’re born with that quality and it defines our lives as we respond to what we see, hear, feel, and experience. It is developed, nurtured, and given space to flourish or is squelched, thwarted, without air or stimulation, and dies.”
Michael Gerber Ross Perot
“Most new jobs won’t come from our biggest employers. They will come from our smallest. We’ve got to do everything we can to make entrepreneurial dreams a reality.”
“Many succumb to despair and fail without realizing that they already possess all the tools needed to acquire great wealth.”
Og Mandino
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