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Gear Designs Toward Staycations
By Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. | August 18, 2008
With high gas prices and the uncertain economy, more people are staying close to home during their vacation time instead of going on pricey trips. That doesn’t mean they’re not spending money, but they’re just spending it closer to home, thus the term staycations.
Some marketing ideas that capitalize on this trend
- Pamper and spa gift baskets can aid relaxation at home or be given to guests at a girls’ night out parties.
- Some staycationers will check into local hotels in order to get out of the house. These local hotels can help lure their share of guests with incentive gift baskets.
- Museums, amusement parks and other local attractions are working harder than ever to draw local residents. They can boost gift shop sales with gift combinations that would appeal to local residents.
- Pets will get more attention during staycations, so consider gift baskets for pets and pet lovers.
- Tourism boards and travel agencies offer staycation packages to encourage locals to stay close to home. Your gift baskets can be part of the package
- Gourmet gift baskets with components for cooking at home are popular, such as pasta dinners, barbecue, cocktail party kit.
Look around your community for more ways you can jump on board the staycation trend.
Topics: custom designs, gift basket business, gift basket design tips, gift basket themes, staycation gift ideas, trends | Please Add a Comment »
Don’t Wear Flip Flops to a Corporate Presentation
By Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. | August 11, 2008
Once you’ve gotten the attention of a corporate client, you’ll be asked to give a presentation. How well you do in this presentation will determine if you capture the order.
1. Your dress attire says a lot about you. It’s the first thing your potential client will see. Even if the staff and supervisors attending the presentation are dressed casually, you should not. Flip-flops, blue jeans and halter tops are an absolute no-no. Choose casual business attire such as coordinated separates with a skirt or slacks, coordinated jacket and low-heeled pumps.
2. Learn the needs and budget from your contact person. Take no more than three baskets to the meeting that meet these needs. Find out how much time you will have.
3. Give each design a name and write a description of each basket listing the retail price. Prepare a handout with this information. Make copies for each person who will attend the meeting. Keep a copy for yourself in a folder where you’ll make notes during the meeting.
4. Even if you have a close relationship with the meeting attendees, keep your presentation formal, but comfortable. Introduce yourself, tell a little about your company background, and thank them for inviting you.
5. Present each design, telling about its contents and building up the joy it will bring to the recipients. Keep your presentation within the time limit you agreed upon.
6. Resist the urge to give a high tech presentation with Power Point and other technology.
7. Allow time for questions and for the attendees to interact with each other to decide what they will order.
8. Ask for the order. Be sure to write down the exact delivery date and other details as the attendees make their choices.
The way you dress and carry out the meeting must instill confidence. After all, you want to convince the corporate client to spend thousands of dollars with you. You also want the company to entrust you with their credit card information and provide repeat business. Following these tips will help you do just that.
Topics: gift basket business | Please Add a Comment »
You Get an A+ for Cashing in on the Back to School Season
By Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. | August 7, 2008
My children think I’m weird because I love school. I always have.
I couldn’t wait to start kindergarten when I was 4-1/2 years old. When I heard the teacher inform my mother that I was too young and would have to wait until I turned five, I went into such a fit of crying that the teacher succumbed, bent the rules and enrolled me promptly.
When I was expecting my first child I took a one year leave from teaching. I looked forward to this new baby, but on the first day of school as I watched the kids in my neighborhood filing out of their homes and walking toward the local elementary, I began to feel sad that I wasn’t returning to school. So, I promptly called the school district and arranged to go back to do some substitute teaching for at least a few months.
You may not feel as passionate about school as I do , but as a gift basket designer you can still benefit from the back-to-school season. Here are some theme ideas you could offer through your retail store or gift basket service.
- Freshman college survival gifts
- Monthly birthday gift program for students in boarding schools and college
- Final exam study snacks
- Teacher, bus driver and PTA appreciation
- Thank you gifts for computer salesmen, textbook representatives and other vendors to give school personnel following big orders
- Dormitory move-in day
- Military care packages
- Tailgate parties
- Fraternity and sorority orientations and celebrations
School start times vary, so you’ll have to research for schedules of school opening, testing times, sports and holiday events in your area.
Contact the coordinator of the programs you’d like to approach to discover their needs and budget.
Check out how the following gift basket companies have designed for this season then get busy creating your own back to school program.
Topics: college care baskets, gift basket business, increase profits | Please Add a Comment »
Wordless Wednesday
By Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. | August 6, 2008
Topics: gift basket business, gift basket containers, gift basket design tips | Please Add a Comment »
Gift Baskets Help Take the Bite Out of Going to the Dentist
By Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. | August 5, 2008
Many dental patients show up for their appointments, but not with eager anticipation. All that has changed for Dr. Mary Gharagozloo’s patients. She is a McLean, VA dentist who just opened her own dental practice about a year ago, and has changed the attitudes toward dental visits.
Dr. Gharagozloo wanted to start a practice that created a warm friendly environment that patients would enjoy rather than fear. And that’s just what she’s done.
Dr.Gharagozloo’s patients can watch episodes of popular TV shows while getting their teeth cleaned, and if interested, they are treated to a paraffin hand wax during treatment. The chairs give a gentle massage.
New patients receive a gift basket and a phone call after the first appointment.
One of her patients, a CEO of a management consulting firm, commented that this sort of treatment is rare. “Most companies don’t know how to treat customers right, and doctors are notoriously awful,” he said.
This dentist is not the only professional who offers superb service and uses gifts to show appreciation to her patients. Research the professionals in your community whose customer service stands out from the average and you will have found potential gift basket clients.
Topics: corporate clients, getting customers, gift basket business | Please Add a Comment »
Color Your Gift Basket Business Profitable
By Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. | August 4, 2008
A few years ago when I remodeled my home I was shopping for new items. I was amazed as I browsed through Target at how the new shades of color in towels coordinated perfectly with dishes, linens and even small appliances. It made my decorating so easy.
This, I later learned, was no coincidence. Like other successful retailers Target plans color coordination across the store to facilitate the consumer’s shopping experience.
How do retailers know what colors to feature?
They attend conferences offered by Color Marketing Group and plan their products around these. You can see what their 2008 color choices here.
See what the experts are saying in “The Profit of Color.”
Get more insight into the part color plays in profits from this Fox News video.
As a gift basket designer the manufacturer will have taken care of some of your color choices. The new products and supplies you see at current and upcoming gift shows will already be made up in the seasons’ new colors. But to ensure that you’re in step, it’s wise for you to keep up with color trends as well.
Topics: gift basket business | Please Add a Comment »
Seek Accounts With Hospitals That Pamper As Well As Heal
By Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. | August 1, 2008
Most patients want to make their hospital stays as short and painless as possible. Among the changes in healthcare, luxury hospitals are making hospital stays something to brag about.
For patients who want special treatment and are willing to pay for it out of pocket, luxury hospitals have sprung up. See the Forbes list of the top ten luxury hotels in the USA.
These hospitals differ from the norm by providing larger rooms, quality furniture, elegant china, a dedicated gourmet chef and more.
Another trend is the specialty hospital that limits itself to a single high-revenue procedure such as The Heart Hospital in Rancho Mirage, CA , where heart surgery is performed. Unlike the luxury hospitals, however, you don’t have to be rich to be a patient in these “boutique” medical facilities, just insured. With features like herb gardens and stress-reducing aquairums, these facilities are preparing for baby boomers who seek luxurious touches.
Consider proposing a custom gift basket design program to one of these luxury or specialty hospitals.
Topics: gift basket business, luxury hospitals | Please Add a Comment »
Sell Your Gift Baskets to the People Who Have Money
By Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. | July 31, 2008
Most gift basket designers begin with great enthusiasm and hope. They create a business plan, gather inventory, set up a studio, create beautiful designs and maybe even start a website. Soon they’re ready for business.
Sadly, the majority of these startups go out of business within the first year. There are many reasons that businesses fail, but one key reason is not earning enough money to realize a profit.
Business owners can sabotage their own money-making efforts by pricing their products and service too low, and marketing to customers who don’t have the means to use their service. If you want your business to thrive don’t fish in an empty pond. Consider marketing to the affluent.
There are several good reasons to do this.
1. The wealthy can afford your products and service. When famous bank robber, Willie Sutton, was asked why he robbed banks, he said “Because that’s where the money is.”
2. Many affluent are not sunbathing on a beach, but often work hard long hours and can be reached before and after business hours more easily than the 9 to 5’er.
3. The truly rich have worked hard for their money and don’t just throw it away, but they appreciate good service, convenience and quality.
Learn more about marketing to the rich from Thomas J. Stanley. He wrote the book.
(This article was originally published 11-21-05
Topics: gift basket business, selling to the affluent | 3 Comments »
Bags Make Great Gift Basket Containers
By Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. | July 30, 2008
The handwriting is on the wall.
Grocery stores are phasing out plastic bags.
In the future, if you choose to have your groceries put in paper bags you’ll pay for those bags. What better time than now to promote eco-friendly bags as containers for your gift basket designs?
A number of companies are offering eco-friendly bags that are not only great for the consumer, but can become a perfect container for your gift basket designs.
Here are a few to check out:
- EnviroSax at Apex Gift Foods (see photo above)
- ReusableBags
- Ecobags
- EnvironmentBags
- GoGreenBag
Get busy creating a design in an eco-friendly bag and not only will it be a hit, but it’ll be profitable.
Topics: baby boomers, gift basket business | Please Add a Comment »
Spark New Profits for Your Gift Basket Business
By Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. | July 29, 2008
During an economic downturn some businesses not only survive, but actually thrive. Direct sales is one type of business that continues to enjoy profits in all economies.
Tupperware, Avon and Mary Kay are some of the best known direct sales companies. They discovered long ago that taking the product to the consumer in the form of home parties worked well. This sales model still works.
One key to the success of home parties is the relaxed setting where consumers, usually women, can learn about a product without feeling like they are being “sold to.”
Another key is home parties encourage tasting and trying out the product without any pressure or obligation.
Finally, home parties are social events where you get to visit with new and old friends.
The gift basket business may benefit from this model by scheduling home parties to showcase certain themes or even the components themselves.
Watch this NBC news story about a company called Tealightful Treasures that sells scone mixes and teas in home party settings.
If you’re looking for ways to spark your profits during slow economy, offering gift baskets or their components in home parties may be the answer.
===Check out this related article===> Adapt or Die: Selling into a Falling Market
Topics: gift basket business | Please Add a Comment »