Many of you are familiar with cellophane wrapping around a gift basket. After navigating through tricky folds and unmanageable gathers, you finally understand how to smooth the appearance so each design is professional and polished.

If you’re new to gift baskets, enclosing cellophane around a gift basket may not be as simple as you first thought.

If that’s true, this above video shows how to wrap with cellophane and do it the right way before loosing your patience and love for gift baskets.

Even if you’re versed in design, my hope is that this video shares a technique that makes cellophane wrapping quick and easy.

Shirley George Frazier

Shirley George Frazier is recognized as the world’s authority on the gift basket industry. She is head basketologist at Sweet Survival LLC (known on the web as GiftBasketBusiness.com), which assists creative people to turn their passion into rewarding businesses. Shirley is also author of How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business, The Gift Basket Design Book, and Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business. If you're looking for a speaker who's easy to work with, one that attendees will thank you for bringing to the event, contact Shirley at 973-279-2799 or Shirley@ShirleySpeaks.com.

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People tend to become butter-fingered around gift baskets, which means this sometimes-fragile design will come apart before it arrives at its destination.

I’ve watched employees at UPS and the U.S. Postal Service drop my boxed packages right before my eyes.

Even my family, as caring as they are, bust cellophane or, like shippers, handle designs roughly.

Destructive things can and will happen to gift baskets, so do everything possible to keep each design intact.

• Firmly apply tape or glue substances in-between products.
• Practice weight distribution so one side isn’t heavier than the other.
• Wrap completed designs tightly with bubble wrap before inserting it into boxes.

What’s the one thing you fear about your gift baskets coming apart?

Shirley George Frazier

Shirley George Frazier is recognized as the world’s authority on the gift basket industry. She is head basketologist at Sweet Survival LLC (known on the web as GiftBasketBusiness.com), which assists creative people to turn their passion into rewarding businesses. Shirley is also author of How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business, The Gift Basket Design Book, and Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business. If you're looking for a speaker who's easy to work with, one that attendees will thank you for bringing to the event, contact Shirley at 973-279-2799 or Shirley@ShirleySpeaks.com.

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People want acknowledgement that confirms that what they do for others is important and appreciated.

This is true no matter where you live.

People need to know that others care. That’s the fuel that convinces them to continue helping, continue working at the same place year after year, or continue with personal and professional relationships.

This is also why your appreciation gifts and baskets are popular, selling quickly every week to people who recognize the value of their friends, family, customers, and employees.

If your appreciation gifts are not selling briskly, it’s for one reason: you’re not consistently focused on marketing them.

This month’s Golden Basket Club video highlights a variety of appreciation gifts and baskets that designers create for their customers and how to customize these gifts to receive appreciation orders every month by phone and through online shopping carts.

Last month’s video on How to Create Nested Gift Basket Designs is also available in the Club, but it’ll be gone this week, so join us today to see these business-building videos.

Which of your appreciation gifts and baskets do customers buy often?

Shirley George Frazier

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Tonight, I’ll lead a group of students who will create bountiful Mother’s Day gift baskets, and for most of them, it will be the first time they receive expert instruction that they’ll remember for a lifetime.

My husband once believed that anyone could make a gift basket, and for the most part, that’s true. However, after he accompanied me in March to a gift basket class I conducted in Washington, DC, his opinion has changed.

Although anyone can put a group of items into a basket, there’s a big difference in professional styling and presentation when you follow an expert’s blueprint.

If you’re unable to attend a class led by an expert, training is available on DVDs, and you can also get tips from online videos.

Where did you learn how to make a professionally-styled gift basket, and how did that training boost your confidence?

Shirley George Frazier

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Last year I asked you to comment on your favorite type of inner basket material (what you use to stuff the inside of the basket) and whether it’s newspaper, Kraft paper, or another type of filler.

Like basket stuffing, shred comes in many forms. There’s:

• Crinkle (also known as Sizzle)
• Tissue
• Mylar
• Parchment
• Excelsior

I had no idea, when first starting my business, that so many types of shred were available. I was most familiar with crinkle and parchment and then learned about the others.

When I began teaching gift basket classes, I brought samples of shred with me to show students. I didn’t want the shred I frequently used to be the only one they knew about, as that wouldn’t be fair to students who want to create a variety of designs according to customer orders.

The shred that works best for me is the one that resonates most with the person receiving the basket. The one chosen for each design also depends on the occasion.

Which is your shred of choice, and what makes it the one you go to most often?

Shirley George Frazier

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How many times do customers request gift basket designs that are different than what’s shown on your website?

While it’s important to show customers what you can create, they often like what they see but have something else in mind for the occasion.

This is why you need to let customers know that what they see isn’t all you have to offer.

You can create a page within your website that’s titled, “Looking for something different?” or similar title to alert visitors about your versatility.

How do you let prospects know that your designs don’t stop at what’s shown on your site?

Shirley George Frazier

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One of the defining appearances of gift baskets that draws in customers is color.

Some want bright and shiny tones on the bow, shred, and product packaging while other clients appeal to Earth tones that are natural and warming in hue.

There’s always one choice that customers appeal to most often. Their preference may be due to geographic location or their age or lifestyle.

For example, clients that live in New York City and those in Midwest towns appeal to different styles. If your gift baskets are glossy in an area where muted tones are more acceptable, customers will be turned off and look elsewhere for what they prefer.

After attending a color trends seminar hosted by The Color Association of the United States, I began experimenting with color and watching how clients reacted as they viewed my designs. Their expressions and feedback were key for me to making better buying and styling decisions, and that produced a lot more sales than if I hadn’t learned about color.

What are your customers preferred gift basket colors?

Shirley George Frazier

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Every day something, somewhere positions itself as the focus for your creativity.

It may be looking at a sculpture, viewing competitors’ designs, seeing a vase of flowers delivered to a co-worker, or watching the background scenery on your favorite television show.

All of this and more provide a healthy dose of options from which springs new ideas, shapes, and designs for your gift baskets.

One of my favorite places that heightens my creativity is looking through magazines of all types. The ones I’m checking out these days are about business, fitness, health, and pets.

Where do you find creative inspiration for new gift basket designs?

Shirley George Frazier

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