Check with your Chamber of Commerce and find out what events are scheduled to take place in your community. Then, get involved. Most community festivals include opportunities for business owners to display their wares. Set up a booth and show your unique gift basket designs. If the booth rentals are expensive, share a booth with another business.  If the event will include any type of raffle,  submit one of your baskets as a prize. Be sure to take plenty of gourmet food samples to the event. Consider a small giveaway for everyone who stops at your booth and be sure that it includes all of your business information. You can even pass out coupons that could be used for future purposes.

Don’t pass up opportunities to showcase your unique designs and get to know potential customers!

First, most of the major gift shows include a gourmet marketplace: an area devoted to showcasing gourmet food products that you can use in your baskets. You’ll have an opportunity to see new products and talk with suppliers of those products you already include in your designs.

If you’re not already including gift items in your gourmet designs, you’ll see 1000’s of innovative products from premier manufacturers. Think about how you might add these products to your designs:

• Candles
• Photo frames
• Cookbooks
• Tableware such as napkins, coasters, & placemats
• Small cookware items including  decorative and practical utensils
• Plush
• Stationary
• Mugs & Small Ceramics

Most shows include educational events that offer “best practices” for any type of business. You could learn about internet marketing: building web sites, social media marketing blogging. You can get new ideas for merchandising, branding, and more. You’ll have opportunities to talk with others and share ideas.

This summer and fall, you can attend a gift in cities across the country. Some of the largest shows include:

• Dallas Gift Show, June 21 – 28
• Atlanta Gift Show, July 13 – 20
• Philadelphia Gift Show, July 24 – 27
• Las Vegas Gift Show, August 1 – 5
• San Francisco International Gift Show, August 6 – 9
• Seattle Gift Show, August 13 – 16
• New York International Gift Fair, August 13 – 18

You can also find regional shows on-line web sites:

• Great Rep
• Sullivan’s Gift Shows & Showrooms

I was just browsing through some of my old blog posts, and came across an article that I wrote about GBA: the Gift Basket Association. Since Debbie Quintana founded GBA in 2009, the organization has grown to over 500 members and includes many new resources that will benefit you and your gift basket business.

Visit the Gift Basket Association web site and learn the 12 reasons to join the organization. Join discussion forums, shop the Gift Basket Supply Marketplace and enjoy discounts from supplier members. Get unique ideas from Trends and Tips Magazine and if you’re so inclined: become a contributor! Learn how you can creatively use internet marketing to promote your business.

Join the Gift Basket Association and become part of a collaborative effort to “uplift the global gift basket industry in the spirit of support and collaboration”.

1. April 1: April Fools Day
2. April 2: International Children’s Book Day
3. April 6: National Day of Hope
4. April 10: National Siblings Day
5. April 16: Husband Appreciation Day
6. April 17: Family History Day
7. April 19: Passover
8. April 23: Movie Theater Day
9. April 24: Easter
10. April 27: Administrative Professionals Day: Check out the photo above. A calculator, a picture frame, a decorative pen and pencil holder plus some chocolates, snacks and candies, all wrapped in beautiful papers. What a terrific gift for any professional!

For more information about special holidays and events, see the “Idea Calendar” in the March issue of Gift, Gourmet & Decor magazine.

Three days of seminars will include design and business tips, information about social media marketing, and book signings by well known industry authors. Vendors from across the country will be displaying their wares.

Don’t miss this opportunity to attend this convention filled with 13 hours of seminars, demonstration classes hands-on workshops, 10 hours to browse the trade show plus unlimited opportunities for networking.

Check out the Ultimate Gift Show and the National Gift Basket Convention today.

I know that you’re still recuperating from the Christmas rush, and you’re still winding down from Valentine’s day, but this is a perfect time to start researching ideas and trends for Fall & Christmas, 2011. Additionally, take the time to talk with your staff to find out what products were most popular from the 2010 season. Put all this information together and you can start talking to your suppliers about the products you might consider for the upcoming season.

Check out these resources for more ideas and trends:

Specialty Food Magazine

Gourmet News

Gift, Gourmet & Decor Magazine

Fancy Food Magazine

One highlight of this show will be the Sofi Awards Showcase. Here you’ll see the 150+ products that are recognized for excellence in specialty food and beverages in 33 categories. There will also be a display featuring a targeted area where you can find new products as well a products in  Gift & Holiday and Natural & Organic Foods categories.

You can register now or keep checking back at specialtyfood.com, the web site of the National Association for Specialty Food Trade. If Washington, DC is a convenient destination for you and if you can take time from work, I’d strongly suggest that you check out this show. Each time I attend a NASFT show, I gather a tremendous amount of information that is pertinent for all gift basket businesses. By browsing the aisles, I can see the newest color trends for the upcoming season. I get a first hand view of the most popular products that will be advertised in the magazines that my customers will read. I get to talk with gift basket business owners and find out what products they like, what services they offer to customers…i.e. how they run their businesses.

Give your self an opportunity to learn….and grow your business.

In this same issue, I found several articles that prompted marketing ideas that could be applied to any gift basket business. For example, the article entitled “Lasting Ties” talks about how you can promote your business in the collegiate market. Another article, “Plush Perfection” lists the latest products and news from the plush toy industry. (Stuffed animals have long been a popular addition to many gift basket designs.) After reading “Not Your Mother’s Diaper Bag”, I realized that a diaper bag might in fact, be a terrific container for a New Baby gift basket!

Don’t miss future issues of Gift, Gourmet and Decor magazine. There’s a lot to learn! Go to Gift, Gourmet and Decor Plus to receive your own free, digital copy.

“Among the trends identified were:

• Chocolate for Breakfast, including tea, Belgian waffles, granola and hot chocolate on a stick.
• Foods for Healing, such as ancient teas, aloe and cucumber drinks, plus micro-batches of healthful beverages.
• New Noodles, made of ingredients such as yam, kelp, farro and spelt.
• Heat with Flavor, including ingredients such as ghost peppers and wasabi paired with yuzu.
• Creative Chips, made with ingredients such as pinto bean, naan, peas, mung beans, kale and wild rice.

With this list in mind, ask your current suppliers whether they carry any of these categories of products. Or, go to the NASFT web site and check out “What’s New, What’s Hot” for an extensive list of products shown at the 2011 Fancy Food Show. Included is a complete directory so that you can contact vendors directly for more information.

Note: In the January issue of Specialty Food magazine, you’ll also find an article “2011 Trends: What to Expect in Confections”.