Posts filed under 'Marketing'
So why does your business need a web site? According to an article I recently read, we all need web sites because “websites work”. No matter what your business or profession, a website can generate business, promote goodwill among customers and prospects, and deliver strong marketing messages.”
Even if you’re not ready to sell your gift baskets on a web site, you can still set up a web site that will describe the products and services that you offer and methods that customers can use to get in touch with you. “The vast majority of business websites are still information and communication rather than purchase-oriented”. If you want to set up this type of site, read about 4 simple steps to take to set up your site.
If you’re ready to set up an e-commerce sight so that you can sell your gift baskets on-line, be sure to check out Web Sites: How to Create, Promote, and Profit On-Line” by Shirley George Frazier. Shirley is a “professional speaker and Internet entrepreneur with more than 25 profitable Web sites, shares quick and easy steps to create and market your online space.”
March 9th, 2010
In addition to the popular national holidays that we traditionally celebrate, there are hundreds of organizations that celebrate their causes through a day or month of recognition. For example, you may not be aware that March is:
- American Red Cross Month
- Irish-American Heritage Month
- National Nutrition Month
- National Noodle Month
- National Peanut Month
- Women’s History Month
- Workplace Health and Safety Month
Any of these can serve as a basis for marketing your gift basket business.
And most of these have web sites that include information to support your promotional efforts.
For example, the American Red Cross offers a multitude of opportunities for Americans to donate time and money to many worthy causes. Have you ever checked in with your local Red Cross office to find out about their activities? Maybe you can arrange to have some percentage of your gift basket sales donated to the Red Cross? Your customers may appreciate this opportunity to have their gifts also be a “gift” for someone in need.
You might check out the National Irish-American Heritage Month web site and get some ideas about what local communities may do to celebrate. If you find that local organizations in your community are holding a parade or some type of special event, you may be able to promote your gift basket business by joining in the festivities. Donate a basket to giveaway or set up a booth on the parade route.
National Peanut Month or National Noodle Month provide opportunities for you to design and promote a special basket featuring those products. If you do more research on the web, you can find recipes that you can add to a “pasta” basket or “fun facts” that you can use to make your “peanut” basket unique. (Did you know that four of the top 10 candy bars manufactured in the USA contain peanuts or peanut butter…how about a peanut butter candy bar basket?)
Spend a little time on the web and use your imagination to learn about these “national holidays”. Then, create exclusive basket designs and unusual marketing opportunities to promote your gift basket business.
February 12th, 2010
Are you trying to attract a new customer base to your gift basket business? Think about using direct mail advertisements. I just read an article that suggested while we may believe that the younger generation is only interested in all things electronic, direct mail may still offer a good way to deliver a message to the younger generation about your gift basket business.
Read the full article “Reaching Younger Generations in the Mail” for author Ethan Boldt’s ideas. But here’s one interesting idea from the article that caught my eye: “According to Keith Goodman , vice president of corporate solutions for Modern Postcard, seniors and boomers are more receptive to the more traditional letter-type formats, while Gens X and Y are more receptive to postcard and other self-mailer formats.”
So if younger buyers may still be attracted to direct mail attempts, I started to think about sending postcard promotions. This led me to check out the United States Postal Service where I found a link to the “Premium Postcard.com”. USPS now provides a way for businesses to create and send postcards to promote products or special events. Check out this web site and find out about all the options that are available including a variety of postcard sizes, many different template designs, design and graphic services. You can use your own mailing list and buy new mailing lists. Be sure to look into this great service offered by USPS and use direct mail to attract many new customers to your business.
February 7th, 2010
Well gift basket business owners: if you weren’t able to get to San Francisco for the Fancy Food Show, January 17th - 19th, you can still read about new products in the marketplace and expected food trends for 2010. For those of you who have never attended, the Winter Fancy Food Show had over 80,000 products displayed. Displays included products for restaurants, large and small grocery stores, gift stores, hospitality venues,and yes….gift basket businesses. Although you may have missed tasting all the interesting and exquisite new foods, you can still learn a lot that will benefit your business.
According to a blog posting from Gourmet Retailer, “a panel of food experts selected the top five food trends for 2010, including good-for-you foods; coconut; gluten-free; exotic citrus; and nostalgic foods.” While it may be difficult to relate these trends directly to your gift basket business, i think it’s important to read the articles and blog postings about the show so that you can get a “picture” of what consumers will be seeing when they visit their grocery and gourmet food stores. This may lead you to making certain choices of products for your baskets. For example, if you frequently use fruit drinks in your designs, you may consider a coconut flavor or citrus flavor for 2010. If consumers are interested in “nostalgic foods”, then you may want to design a breakfast basket with pancake mix and maple syrup or a basket filled with soup and biscuits mixes.
I’ve listed some links below that will take you to articles and blogs about the Fancy Food Show. Some will be very useful, others will just be fun to read. Take some time to look at these, then keep your mind open to the possibilities when you plan your designs for 2010 gift baskets.
February 1st, 2010
I recently read an article in Incentive Magazine about corporate holiday parties. “After a brutal year of highly public censure of meetings and events, corporate planners will devise their holiday parties very carefully….the current environment makes 2009’s year-end functions golden opportunities for corporate social responsibility”.
It occurred to me that 2009 could also be the perfect time to incorporate charitable giving into our daily business activities. How about promoting a particular gift basket design by donating a percentage of sales to popular charities in your community? Involve the charity that will benefit by having them announce your promotion in their newsletter.
Or, think about asking your customers to help out with your charitible giving program. When customers place their orders, they might also purchase one or two extra products ( eg: a box of cookies or chocolates; a package of popcorn or nuts) that you will include in basket to be taken to a local nursing home before the holiday. The more products purchased, the more baskets you’ll be able to create, the more nursing home patients and staff will benefit!
Think of ways that your business can provide opportunities to give to others. Your staff will be proud to participate in these giving programs and your customers will support you with their loyalty!
October 26th, 2009
As we attempt to come up with ways to attract new customers to our businesses, we might revert to discounts and price slashing. These days, as buyers are more careful about their spending, we can easily start to believe that we have to lower our prices in order to get their business.
If instead, we present our products and services with clarity and confidence, we may find that customers are happy to pay the prices we are asking. When showing a gift basket design to a potential customer, describe in detail, what is included in the basket. Do your research on the products that you offer. Many manufacturers have web sites that you can access for details about their products: ingredients, nutrition, etc. These web sites also can give you some interesting ideas about the history of the company and product line which will help to convince your customer that you “know your stuff”.
Also, be sure to be very clear about the services you offer and how those will benefit the customer. Be thorough in describing your delivery policies, shipping procedures, any follow-up that you might do after the basket is delivered, how you handle special requests, orders for special occasions, etc.
The more concise you are about what you offer, the more confident you are when making your presentation, the more likely you can get the price you want for your gift baskets.
August 29th, 2009
As we move into the Fall and Holiday season with assurances that the economy may be making a comeback, we still need to think about ways to attract customers. Many people are still being very careful about what they spend. So it’s up to us to think about ways to assure our customers that we are still trying to give them the best quality products and service that we can offer.
With this goal in mind, Apex Gift Foods is introducing several new programs this year.
- With the “Apex Xtras Value Priced Items” program, Apex has designated many popular products that have been priced so that customers receive the best values in the marketplace. These are all “name brand” items from major manufacturers who cater to gift basket businesses such as Ghirardelli, Mille Lacs, First Colony, Vision Pak, Lindt, Walker and Nikkis Cookies. As a buyer for your gift basket business, you can be assured that your customers will receive high quality gourmet items while you save on your purchases.
- A new line of “Recession Buster Gourmet Assortments” is also available this year at Apex. The same fine quality nuts, snacks, candies and chocolates that Apex has sold for years, have been repackaged in smaller bags. Once again, you can feel confident that your customers will receive the excellent products they have grown to expect in your gift basket designs.
In your gift basket business, you can offer the same type of “value” in the baskets that you design. By pricing your most popular baskets at prices that are a lower than in the past, you may make up in volume what you will lose in your mark-up. For customers who are willing to spend a bit more, offer similar designs that include more products, a fancier container, or more enhancements.
You may also want to consider a line of “Recession Buster Baskets”. Design a line of gifts that are a little simpler than some of your current baskets. Use a fewer products or choose a less expensive container. Take advantage of sales offered by your vendors to purchase the products that you like. Continue to offer “good value” by creatively presenting the basket design accented with an inexpensive, colorful wired ribbon bow. Show these “Recession Buster Baskets” alongside more expensive versions of the basket for those customers who are willing to spend a bit more.
Now is the time to think creatively. Let your customers know that you have their needs and concerns in mind. You’ll be satisfying your existing customers while attracting a new group of buyers who will come back again.
August 16th, 2009
Many successful gift basket businesses started as home based businesses. And if you are interested in starting such a business, be sure you check out Shirley Frasier’s “How to Start a Home Based Gift Basket Business” and learn how to create a business plan, find suppliers and new products, set prices, market, stay profitable and much more!
But once you’re up and running, the work has just begun. There are still many things you can do to continue to grow your home based business. Read this article on Entrepreneur.com: Ten Ways to Grow Your Homebased Business.
Here are a few of the ideas that will help you be successful.
1. Start by focusing on a specific product or group of products. Think about what you love: are you a sports fanatic? Did you just have a baby? Draw upon your interests to find the best products and create the most unique designs one or two categories. You may also want to read Flora Brown’s blog: “Three Ways to Determine Your Niche Market” for ideas on how to choose the focus for your business.
2. Expand your product line to offer complementary products or services. If you specialize in gourmet and gift baskets for weddings, think about adding wedding accessories such as invitations or wedding favors.
3. Join forces with another company to promote your business. Remember those wedding baskets? Ask your local florist to pass out your business cards to brides. Likewise, you can distribute the florist’s cards to your all of your customers.
Learn more and grow your home based business into a powerhouse!
July 9th, 2009
It’s often difficult to stay upbeat when we’re worrying about the financial stability of our businesses. We can become obsessed with cutting costs and forget about all the creative things we’ve done in the past to build our businesses. But in order to be creative and flexible and open to new ideas, we have to feel creative and flexible and open to new ideas! While we may think that putting in 10 hour days is what is needed to get our businesses in shape, it is often that unrelenting focus on problems and how to “fix everything” that is our worst enemy.
Read “Learn to Glow” from Incentive Magazine to learn how to make the shift from problems to possibilities. According to the author, people who “glow” are able to motivate themselves (and their employees) to be energized and embrace innovation (a necessary ingredient to success in difficult times). “People who Glow have mastered three distinct areas of their life:
•They have built deeply trusting and cooperative relationships with others (a co-operative mindset).
•They have extended their networks beyond the obvious to encompass the unusual (jumping across worlds).
•They are on an inner quest that ignites their own energy and that of others (igniting latent energy).”
Read the full article for more ideas on how to turn on your “glow”. Look for new ways to ignite your own energy: exercise, meditation, or hobbies. Don’t deprive yourself of these important activities that help us be the best we can be. When we take care of ourselves, we are better positioned to take care of others and deal with difficult situations in new creative ways.
June 19th, 2009
I was contacted a couple of months ago by Beth Groundwater, the author of two mystery books. Beth just published her second novel: “To Hell in a Handbasket” and the principle character in the book is a gift basket designer. To promote her new book, Beth has offered to write a post for this blog that will be posted on Thursday, May 28th.
Join Beth Groundwater on her book blog tour right here at Apexgiftbasketpros.com. She’ll discuss her new book release, “To Hell in a Handbasket“, give behind-the-scenes glimpses of how the book was created, her life as an author, and answer your questions about her blog posts. You may even get a chance to chat with her protagonist, Claire Hanover, and other characters from the book!
In addition to discussing her book, Beth will make some suggestions for creating a Mystery Lover’s Gift Basket. With summer quickly approaching, customers start to ponder their “beach reading” and this might be a great gift idea for your customers who want to share a new mystery novel with their best friend, spouse, boss or anyone who is a lover of mysteries.
If you comment on Beth’s blog post, which will appear here on May 28th, you will be entered into a drawing for an autographed set of both books in the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series: “A Real Basket Case” and “To Hell in a Handbasket”.
May 11th, 2009
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