Treat Your Ribbon Right

May 12, 2008 · Filed Under Products and Supplies · Comment 

What happens to ribbon when it arrives in your studio? Here are four options.

  • Add it to a dowel so it’s immediately usable
  • Toss it into a container with the other ribbon
  • Leave it in the bag or box until it’s needed
  • Forget it’s available until it’s too old to sell

    • Ribbon wastes your money if it’s not coordinated and ready for placement either on a gift box or fashioned into a bow for a basket, as you see displayed in the ribbon section of this site. That’s what happened to ribbon in the picture on the Gift Basket Design Studio Extreme Makeover page.

    When ribbon arrives in your workspace, whether in a delivered box or carried by you from a warehouse, add it to your design area right away.

    Treat your ribbon right, and it will reward you with sales and smiles from happy customers.

    Learn more about ribbons and bows at Retail Wraps.

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    Gift Basket Questions, Answers and More

    May 9, 2008 · Filed Under Sales and Marketing · Comment 

    An aspiring gift basket designer in Scotland asked about marketing strategies and finding trade shows in her country and in the U.K. I’ve responded at Ask The Gift Basket Expert, where you’ll find past questions and are welcomed to submit your own.

    Lorie Obernauer of Apex Gift Basket Pros shares three tips to advance your Web marketing skills. I’m planning a series on this subject to help you reach as many targets online as you do through traditional mail and networking.

    Flora Brown of Gift Basket Business World shares a story submitted by contest winner Melissa Schultz. It’s a riveting account and great lesson in preparing alternatives in case the first plan fails.

    My thanks to all of you who submitted your responses to the survey I launched in Wednesday’s newsletter. The brief, multiple-choice questionnaire will allow me to create better tools, services, and resource materials to build your business.

    Please click this link to participate. The deadline is Thursday, May 15.

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    Where are You When Orders Arrive?

    May 8, 2008 · Filed Under Sales and Marketing · Comment 

    Thank goodness customers can’t see where we are when writing their orders. Our personal and business lifestyles find us in many places outside of the office when the phone suddenly rings.

    I remember taking and placing phone orders in offbeat settings. But the location didn’t matter. The bottom line was that I got the order. I once:

  • Returned a call on a pay phone in my employer’s lobby. This happened in my first year of business, before the Internet and cellular telephones became the norm. Today, I don’t recommend returning a call in this location.

  • Called a client on a pay phone while sitting in my vehicle. I did this many times on my lunch hour while working for someone else. These drive-up phones still exist today.

  • Captured an order while walking on a street in New York’s Chinatown. The most-challenging part was when a fire truck and its ear-piercing siren sped down the street while I wrote the customer’s credit card number. I told the client, “Fire trucks are temporarily being re-routed through our industrial park.”

    • This topic, though not addressed in How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business or The Gift Basket Design Book, is one that’s under the radar but critical to earning a living. Be ready to get the sale no matter where you are.

    What’s the most-memorable place you’ve captured an order?

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    How to Plan a Party for Clients

    May 7, 2008 · Filed Under Networking and Relationships · 1 Comment 

    A few weeks ago, one gift basket shop hosted their long-time clients to at an invitation-only event in their facility.

    They wanted to accomplish three things: 1) thank clients for their patronage, 2) introduce new products through taste testing, and 3) boost revenues now and in the future.

    I don’t know if the event was considered successful or dismal (probably the former because of the shop’s reputation), but it’s evident that owning a store made this event easier to plan than if they did not have a facility.

    What’s available if you want to host the same type of event but don’t have a store to create this same great experience for your customers?

    1. Ask a service provider to sponsor the event. Most corporate clients have board rooms that can double as your event space. I’ve attended these types of events at accounting firms, so consider asking your accountant if he’s willing to partner with you.

    There may be some insurance issues for the host to research (number of people allowed in the building at one time, etc.), so be sure to discuss this with him before a date is determined.

    2. Learn where other groups meet. Each week, local newspapers list group meetings and locations. This information may provide you with solid ideas on where to hold your event.

    Consider giving away some type of parting gift at the end.

    The final answer is not here, but these two options are the starting point to bring your customers together for a memorable event where the cost is low compared to the return.

    Have you hosted a party for your clients? What did you learn, and are you planning another one?

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