Gift Basket Newsletter Now Basket Biz
The newsletter which many of you receive from me by Email every Wednesday and Sunday is migrating to a new distribution service.
Decisions to make these changes are a process I think about long and hard beforehand. The main question I ask myself is, “How will this benefit designers?” If the benefits match my checklist, then I move forward.
Is that one of the questions you ask yourself about clients before deciding to go forward or stay on the same course?
Some of the items on my checklist include easier:
With this update, which will officially occur on April 1, the newsletter’s name changes from Gift Basket Newsletter to Basket Biz. It will continue to provide you with solid skills to increase your promotions and profits.
Please complete the two areas below to re-subscribe (or subscribe for the first time) to the newsletter. I truly appreciate your subscription and look forward to my continuation as your silent business partner.
If, for some reason, the form malfunctions (it should not happen, but technology can sometimes be challenging), you’ll find the same subscription form on the GiftBasketBusiness.com newsletter page.
Gift Basket News for You to Know
Gift basket news arrived in my Email overnight. The first one is very important to share with you.
Wine.com just announced that it’s recalling some gift baskets because of certain products that may include contaminated peanut butter. The products in question are made by Torn Ranch.
Read the article here to learn which specific items are on the recall list. Then check your inventory for similar products. Either discard them or call the supplier from which they were purchased for credit.
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A Florida-based gift basket retailer has decided to close her business. After five years, she cites the economy as the culprit.
“We rely on corporate gift basket clients and so many businesses are down themselves, so they were not able to do — or they had scaled back — for their clients this year.”
Earlier this week, I talked about business building tactics but certainly understand that not everyone will thrive. I wish this retailer the best in her next venture.
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On a positive note, a gift basket retailer based in Maine has purchased another gift basket enterprise and is merging it with her own. This quick-to-read story is found here.
Maine is a beautiful state, brutally cold in the winter, but gorgeous and friendly. I wish this retailer a mountain of success.
The recall article is from an online source, but the other two were found in newspapers, proving that publications are interested in all types of gift basket news. What newsworthy story about your business are you preparing to submit to your local paper? See this article for ideas.
How to Establish a Realtor Relationship
One of the my favorite cable television shows is House Hunters. It’s part of the HGTV (Home & Garden Television) lineup and features a person or family searching for a new home.
As a viewer, you get to tour the inside and outside of homes throughout the U.S., all from the comfort of your seat.
House Hunters International is also a favorite. It’s the same premise as the U.S. version, touring you through homes in Spain, Italy, France, the Caribbean, and other lands.
Some homes are breathtaking inside and out. Some are perched on a hill so that a full view of the landscape or ocean are positioned perfectly through a window or back porch.
The person or family searching for a home is guided by a real estate agent, and after looking at three homes, the realtor writes an offer for the chosen home. You then see the new home owner inside of their residence months after possession, happy as can be in the new surroundings.
At the conclusion of each segment, I want to see one of your gift baskets in the real estate agent’s hands, welcoming the owners to their new home. The potential to make this come true in your business exists.
Yesterday, I talked about how the media’s mission is to focus on the negative. This is also true about problems in the housing industry. But contrary to what the media says, realtors are still selling homes and earning commissions.
It’s your goal to network with them, develop relationships, and convince them to buy a quantity of gift baskets from you each month that coincides with the average number of homes they sell each month.
Developing a relationship entails:
Adding real estate agents to your client list is a goal you can achieve.
Someone is house hunting right now. What steps will you take to make sure that your gift basket welcomes them when the paperwork is signed?
Giving Up on Gift Baskets? Read this First.
There’s no doubt that the economy is changing many lives, unfortunately, in negative ways.
It’s all doom and gloom. Or is it?
I’m happy to say it’s not.
There are many bright spots in business. Don’t count on the media, in print or on television, to tell you where they are. Their agenda is to focus on bad news, and if there’s 60 seconds leftover at the end, they’ll tell you about a cute little puppy someone found in a storm drain, then track the puppy to death row because it bit the mailman.
I guess we have to listen to news due to habit. However, a better habit is to consistently look for good and usable ideas, insights, and information to find new customers and convince current ones to continue buying.
Here’s a great example. Last week, a designer called me after she learned, through her area’s chamber of commerce, that a business convention will arrive in three months. She plans to use the time wisely to contact the meeting planner, sending her samples and photographs of welcome gifts. This convention will host 1,200 attendees, so the opportunity for additional revenue is big.
Another designer regularly educates professionals on the art of gift giving and brings examples to the 15-minute talk. These events are held in her clients’ offices as part of their roundtable discussions. This segment guarantees monthly sales because of the relationship she’s developed.
These are just two methods, out of hundreds you and I can think of, that spark gift basket interest and sales.
So, before you close the door on your business, consider that:
This is a business that allows you to satisfy an untold amount of clients and create a lifestyle you richly deserve. Giving up is simply not an option.
Is Your Gift Basket Business Automated?
Automating your gift basket business may be one of the best ways to create a thriving enterprise.
Looking around your workspace, you may ask yourself,
“How can this business be automated?”
I bet you complete certain tasks all the time but don’t consider it as part of an automation plan. Here are some projects under that designation:
Do you doubt that these and other tasks are a natural part of your business flow? Look around your office and see what else can be part of your automation plan.
One designer tried automating a steady flow of sales by sending letters to hundreds of businesses. Unfortunately, it didn’t work the way she hoped, and she asked for my advice. You’ll find her question and my response at Ask The Gift Basket Expert.
What’s your opinion about using a mailing list to get orders?
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