Gift Basket Orders and Strange Situations Go Together
Fill in the blank:
“There I was in/on/at __________, when a customer called my cell phone to order a gift basket!”
You can be standing, sitting, or traveling anywhere when sales arrive, so I know you have a story to fill in the blank. Here’s mine.
A few years ago, my sister and I traveled by bus to Chinatown in New York City. She went there to pick up wholesale merchandise for her business while I accompanied her for environmental inspiration.
I stood on the sidewalk outside of a store while my sister continued reviewing products inside. The area was teeming with people and vehicles. If you’ve ever been to Chinatown, you know how crowded it can get, and the narrow streets make the experience a bit claustrophobic.
Suddenly, my phone rang. It was a customer ordering 12 gift baskets for an auction planned one month in advance. I whipped out my trusty pen and pad which I carry just in case an order arrives and started writing down the particulars.
At one point I looked around and saw several men staring at me. Was talking on the phone and writing at the same time a phenomenon they’d never seen before?
Within one minute of the conversation, I could hear sirens and horns in the distance, and the noise became louder within seconds. There was nowhere to escape. I had no choice but to ask the client to pause our conversation while the deafening sounds passed by.
When I removed the phone from pressing against my collarbone, I thanked the customer for her patience, told her that local fire trucks were being detoured through the area, and completed the order.
What’s the strangest situation you can remember happening around you when a gift basket order arrived? I bet you can top my Chinatown calamity.
Where Did You Learn to Make Bows for Gift Baskets?
Large pull bows were my choice to sit atop gift baskets before I attended a bowmaking class in the early 1990s at the California Gift Show.
That’s where bowmaker extraordinare, Juanita Lewis, conducted a tutorial guiding about 30 attendees to make bows during the 45-minute event.
At the end, our bows were grand and beautiful even though everyone thought “the other person’s bow” looked better. I was thrilled and remember bringing the bow home in hand on the 3,000 mile flight.
My first How to Make a Bow video, which you can watch through this link, has been an online favorite for several years. I’ve updated that video, which you can watch above, to include two types of ribbon.
You’ll find more information about where to find ribbon on this page at GiftBasketBusiness.com and more video tutorials at GiftBasketVideo.com.
Where did you learn to make your first bow? Was it at a craft store, watching a tutorial that played on a screen? Did a Web video show you the basics?
How Close is Your Competition?
How would you react if a competitor set up shop directly across the street from your location?
This problem occurs not only to retail shop owners but also to home-based business owners.
Before you answer the above question, make sure you understand who the competition is for you and who it isn’t. The article, Who is Your Gift Basket Competition? provides insight in case you’re not sure.
Years ago I interviewed two gift basket store entrepreneurs whose shops faced each other in a popular town 15 minutes from my location. Each of them told me that they weren’t concerned with the other’s business because they catered to different clientele.
Still, something about their body language told me that an uneasiness had set in between them even if it wasn’t mentioned during our conversations.
What’s the first thing you’d do if competition set up camp close to your business?
What Would You Change Today?
There wasn’t much support – no, let me update that – there wasn’t any support for me in 1989 when I began developing a plan to open my gift basket business.
One book that was written in 1983 existed, penned by a woman living in England, but there was no Internet to help me uncover that source.
More than a decade after my start, I found gift basket articles in magazines dating back to the early 1900s, but finding such resources weren’t on my mind when I began. I wanted like-minded people to learn from and a blueprint to help me decide what to buy and where to buy it.
Most of all, the one thing I would have changed when starting my gift basket business was opening the business in a storefront rather than at home. That one change may have forced me to be more business minded than I was in the beginning.
Still, I rose in the ranks to speak at conferences, appear on popular television shows, and write How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business and The Gift Basket Design Book, all which allowed me to support designers worldwide through my experience, but owning a store in the first years was a goal I did not achieve.
Looking back at your roots, what’s the one thing about starting your business that you’d change today?
- Did you make mistakes that cost you too many dollars?
- Which corporate client did you run from rather than towards?
- Was not having access to certain people caused unnecessary hardships?
What’s that one tweak that would have made a positive difference in the way your business is structured today or, by chance, did you get it right the first time?
How Do You Market Your Gift Basket Web Site?
What are some of the more-successful ways you get customers to visit your Web site?
Is it through postcard marketing, word-of-mouth promotions, your social media page, or contacting them by Email?
It’s important to establish at least two methods that you consistently deliver to your audience that convince them to see your Web site on a monthly basis.
There are many reasons to share with them on how your site delivers benefits, including:
- Finding a one-of-a-kind birthday gift
- Surprising a friend with a basket of cheer
- Thanking a neighbor for watching your property during a vacation
Chapter 7 of How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business is newly expanded with strategies that capture customers online.
What’s your secret for getting people to your site?
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