With so much talk about vacations and staycations, you might still overlook taking a necessary break from gift basket making.

I know it’s not easy for each of us to get away. Family and full-time job obligations might keep you in one place.

That’s okay.

You can still fit in time to do the well-deserved, little things that put a smile on your face.

Here are 10 ideas, and my hope is that you can add one of these to your summer plans.

• Treat yourself to a movie if you haven’t seen one in a while.
• Go out to dinner, even if “out” is sitting in your car and enjoying a meal.
• Put your feet in ocean, river, or lake waters, and no, your bathtub doesn’t count.
• Take photographs of the people, places, or things you enjoy most.
• Learn 10 phrases of a new language, or learn the whole language.
• Go to an amusement park and ride a ferris wheel or play an arcade game.
• Get a massage; have your finger nails and/or toes painted.
• Visit an upscale retail store and choose an item you’ll soon buy (or buy it now).
• Read a guidebook for your area and visit a city or monument you’ve never seen.
• Learn how to properly crack and eat lobster.

What are your vacation plans?

Shirley George Frazier

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Whether you plan a vacation, staycation, or another variation of the getaway theme, I urge you to consider staying away from and not thinking about your workspace for a minimum of 5 days this summer.

Five days, that’s all!

Here’s what will happen on those days.

1. Have pen and paper available with you at all times, as fresh, new perspectives will occur when you’re not thinking directly about business.

2. Business opportunities have a habit of coming to you when you’re “away.” Don’t analyze the reasons; don’t question it. Just let it happen.

3. Keep a camera in your bag, as color and design ideas will appear at places you visit. Snap, capture, and review the photos when you return.

Time away from your office is taken all at once or in spurts if you’re not traveling to a specific place. For example, I’ll take two vacations this year. One is five days in length, and the other is four. I’ll head in different directions by car and travel along the Atlantic Ocean to arrive at a seaside destination where peace and tranquility will act as my muse.

If you don’t travel, create your own oasis at home. Choose an area where you can decorate it with items that encourage lots of smiles and laughter. This is what I did in my home when spending money on airfare and hotels wasn’t an option.

How do you plan to reward yourself this summer for all the hard work performed to inspire customers’ happiness?

Shirley George Frazier

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It happened just after a successful exhibit at a business women’s conference.

My booth space was in a good position on the show floor, directly inside of the entrance door where my balloons and promotional messages attracted many attendees.

I talked with practically all who attended. I collected business cards and gave away one of my corporate baskets in an on-site drawing.

I was thrilled with the results and possibilities for future sales, especially since some of the women (and men who were also there) told me their offices had an immediate need for employee gift baskets and gifts for out-of-town clients.

I drove to the office afterwards with a huge smile on my face. But there were two reasons for the smile.

1. Following up with the conference attendees was very important, and my plan for connecting with them was being developed in my head as I drove.

2. A vacation to Antigua planned months before was just a few days away, and I couldn’t wait to travel with my honey to enjoy rest, relaxation, fun, and great food in an exotic location.

Three days later, I packed my gear to leave home and the office for a week in the sun. Then, 36,000 miles in the air, it hit me. I didn’t change my telephone answering message to tell callers the office was closed until the following week.

There was more. I didn’t have the access code to my office phone, so I couldn’t call the machine to learn if anyone had placed calls or orders. My heart sank.

My time in Antigua was fabulous, but I had sporadic panic attacks wondering if I had sabotaged my sales. Isn’t that a shame?

Just think: you’re frolicking in the sand and sun, enjoying freshly-caught seafood and fruit plucked directly from trees just yards from the hotel, and you’re wondering if a sales call came through. That’s not the way to enjoy a vacation.

When I returned to the office, I immediately checked the phone. Eleven calls were registered. Six were hangups, two were telemarketers, and three were calls placing corporate orders.

I quickly called the three clients to apologize for the delayed response. One of them placed her order with someone else because I hadn’t responded, but I was able to salvage orders from the other two. I was very lucky.

How do you handle business when you go away? Do you have a check list of priorities to complete before leaving, or are you the way I used to be, keeping lists in your head and hoping you remember every detail?

Changing your telephone message or forwarding your phone number to a responsible person or professional service is one of many tasks to keep your marketing at full speed while you enjoy life.

All of this is just as important as the gift baskets you create each day, and it may be even more important. If you don’t complete the marketing tasks that get you sales, how will you move the merchandise?

Both ends fit together, similar to puzzle pieces. One cannot survive without the other. This is one reason why I created the Gift Basket CD Success Pack, six audio CDs all about marketing, corporate sales, organizing, and the law to pull all the pieces together in your business. You can read about the Success Pack here.

One thing I’ve learned in 19 years in business is that to thrive, it’s critical to have all areas that ultimately make the phone ring working together flawlessly. And speaking about the phone ringing, that area must also be covered, as my story shows.

I like taking vacations, and I bet you do, too. How do you make sure that phone calls are managed when you decide to rest and relax?

Shirley George Frazier

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