An analysis of these findings indicated that “26% of these mobile advertisements were for consumer discretionary goods.”

Furthermore, “according to the Mojiva Mobile Audience Guide, 60% of mobile users click on mobile ads at least one a week”. Full report

Although advertising on mobile phones is still in it’s infancy, this topic may be something that you can  start investigating. Your gift basket business could be on the forefront of this new trend!

Check out The Future of Mobile Advertising for more information and perspectives on this subject.

Following are his 13 techniques. Read the full article to get learn how the author sees these working in his own business.

1. Program your giving.
2. Remember: Kindness is free.
3. Start with good service.
4. Think abundantly.
5. Have empathy.
6. Create more opportunity.
7. Be an active listener.
8. Give the benefit of the doubt.
9. Let everyone win.
10. Share information.
11. Give your time.
12. Be generous with yourself.
13. Share the credit.

Ari wrote an article called “12 Natural Laws of Business” to try to answer the question he’s often asked: “What’s the secret to your success?”

So here are Ari Weinzweig’s 12 Natural Laws of Business. Read the full article to really understand how these work at Zingerman’s.

The 12 Natural Laws of Business

1. You’re more likely to get to greatness if you have an inspiring and strategically sound vision.
2. If you don’t give customers compelling reasons to buy from you, they won’t.
3. If you don’t create a great, rewarding place for people to work, they won’t do great work.
4. If you want the staff to give great service to customers, you have to give great service to the staff.
5. If you want staff to give great performance, you have to give clear expectations and training tools.
6. Successful businesses do the things that others know they should do but generally don’t.
7. If you aren’t consistently getting better, you’re not going to get long-term greatness.
8. Success means you get better problems—but there will always be problems.
9. Whatever you’re good at is likely to also lead into areas of weakness.
10. It takes longer to make something great happen than people think. Profit is good.
11. Great organizations are appreciative and the people in them have more fun.
12. Appreciate all those people with whom you work: customers, staff, suppliers….and appreciate them everyday!

Does your company have an energy crisis? Are you asking yourself these questions over and over:

What’s wrong with all my employees? Why don’t they get it? Where are the customers who used to come in to shop? What happened to loyalty? Will the economy ever improve?

“The truth is that the (low or negative energy) issues starts with us as managers and owners. And, therefore, the solution starts with us: the people in leadership roles in any business, organization”.  Read the full article and learn 4 key points that will help you put the energy back in your business. And let us know what you do to put the energy back into your company.

As described in the current issue of Specialty Foods Magazine, business owners of Clif Bar & Company have chosen to give its workforce an impressive number of healthy perks and benefits. “Creating benefits that support the well being of our employees is as important as other more traditional business goals,” says Jennifer Freitas, Clif Bar’s human resources manager. “Our goal is to foster a work environment that supports a healthful work-life balance where employees feel supported in all aspects of their lives.” She goes on to say that not only do these benefits create a better work environment, but also add to the company’s overall success. Good benefits attract well-qualified employees and this positively affects the bottom line.

Even if you’re not able to offer premium health care packages, child care, and yoga classes, you can still provide other types of benefits to your employees. Encourage employees to exercise during their lunch hour by giving them a little extra time to take a walk or head over to the gym. If you have space, set up a small kitchen area with a microwave and refrigerator and so that employees can bring in “healthy meals” from home instead of eating fast foods on the run. A few comfortable chairs might also encourage employees to take a 15 minute power nap during their break or you can provide some reading materials that emphasize personal health and fitness. And if space is available, you might even set up an area where employees can do some light exercises or mediation.

Read the full article for more ideas about how you can provide benefits to employees with minimal costs and and maximum gains.

“If there’s one painful lesson that every investor learned when Wall Street crashed, it’s that you need to diversify. So when haven’t marketers learned that same lesson when it comes to their communications?”

This quote, from an article in the October issue of Deliver Magazine, published by the United States Postal Service, should be seriously considered by all gift basket business owners who are hoping to stand out from the crowd this holiday season.

Consider this: “the average consumer receives 14-15 emails a day from companies or brands…the average household received about 16 pieces of advertising related mail per week“. This means that regular “snail mail” offers some great potential for capturing the eye of the receiver.

But this doesn’t mean that we should ignore on-line marketing strategies. Our USPS piece of mail can provide an address to your web site, a nod to your Twitter and Facebook pages. Furthermore, you can actually get a sample of your product to the customer….what could be be more persuasive than a taste of the delicious products they’ll get in one of your baskets.

Check out the USPS for tips on getting the most from a direct mail campaign.

Other interesting notes and ideas from Pam Danzinger, president of Unity Marketing…

“consumers want more bang for their gift buck and want to give, and receive, gifts that are perceived to be high quality and more expensive than they really are”…With this perspective in mind, Gift Basket professionals should carefully consider the “extras” (keepsake containers, bows,  wrappings, ornaments, etc) that can be used to enhance the perceived value of their gift basket designs.

“as much as 44% percent of consumers’ gift -giving budgets are spent on personal gifts such as birthdays, friendship, anniversaries, baby showers, etc. that occur throughout the year”….This should remind us that gift baskets are a perfect solution for other special occasion gift giving. Consider giving a gift certificate for a future purchase to the buyer AND the recipient of  your baskets that they can use on a future purchase.

He also points out it that “costs seven times more to acquire a new customer than to retain a current customer”. Keeping that in mind, he proposes that we consider a customer “life cycle” in which there are different tactics for securing new customers, growing their business, and retaining their loyalty.

Read the full article article for some of the best marketing ideas I’ve seen!

Some things you’ll learn:

• Those in the 25-34 year age bracket are big consumers of specialty foods. With this in mind, you may choose to market your gift baskets in particular print publications and online venues that appeal to consumers in that age group.

• The specialty food consumer is concerned about sustainability of the foods he/she purchases.  This might prompt you to include products in your baskets that have been produced in an environmentally and socially responsible way.

Read the full summary, and look for the full report in the October issue of the NASFT’s Specialty Food Magazine.

You can learn more about sustainable food products at these web sites:

• Sustainable Food: http://food.change.org/
• Sustainable Table: http://www.sustainabletable.org/home.php
• Sustainable Food News: http://www.sustainablefoodnews.com/