Gift Basket Business Blog

Holiday Planning with the 5 W’s: Part 2

November 26th, 2006 at 07:20pm Lorie Obernauer

This is the second in a series of entries: Holiday Planning, Use the 5 W’s. In the last article, I suggested using the 5 W’s to ask yourself some questions that could help with holiday planning: “WHO are your customers” and “WHAT are you promoting”. In this entry, I’ll make some suggestions about “WHERE you are going to promote your line”.

Once you decided on your target audience, and created the designs you want to sell, you need to think about WHERE your customers will be able to see your line. Certainly, you can print a brochure, create a web site, or if you have a storefront, set up gorgeous displays. Whichever method you choose, put your efforts into making it great!

One way to decide how to proceed with any of these marketing approaches is to look carefully at what others have done and identify the things that appeal to your sense of style as well as to your common sense.

For example, if you decide to show your products on the internet, go to established web sites where you like to shop. As you click through the site, think about what makes the site attractive AND what makes the site easy to navigate. How does the home page invite you into the web store? Are the products organized in any particular manner? Are lots of photos used? Lots of text? Keep thinking about what you like about the web site and make notes so that you can include those features in your site.

Use this same approach if you’re printing a brochure or setting up store displays. Gather lots of catalogs and brochures from other businesses and ask yourself what makes you browse through certain printed materials and throw others away without opening. Likewise, visit other shops in your neigborhood. What makes you stop to look? Check out the lighting, the way displays are set up, colors chosen, whether products are grouped in any particular order.

This type of planning should be undertaken well before the holiday season starts. And there are many resources that you can refer to. Listed below are two of my favorite web sites that offer loads of information specific to the gift basket industry.

Shirley Frazier’s web site: Gift Basket Business.

Flora Brown’s web site: Gift Basket Business World.

Entry Filed under: Business Tips