Creative Entrepreneurs are open to new ideas, new thoughts, and new ways to grow their business. Welcome to our blog and we hope you find it interesting and worthwhile. Please join in and contribute to the discussions. There are two ways to participate:
We all want to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Regretfully, the scam artists are are attempting to collect donations by posing as charities. One reliable source of information – including a list of legitimate charities – is the following link:
http://www.weather.com
I’d like to thank Mike Neese of Imperial Foods for the following:
I am pleased to announce that I have signed on as a staff writer for this new, exciting venture.
With the expertise of Joyce and the rest of the leadership group she has assembled this has a great chance of success.
All we will need are people to subscribe and vendors to advertise. As musch as I hate to see something as tremendous as Rave Reviews become a memory, rather than a product of Cherie’s vision that we could hold in our hands, we must realize that times are changing.
I too long for the old days in many respects, but we have no choice but to move forward. Think of what our parents thought about change as the 20th century progressed.
From the Wright brothers to men on the Moon. From crystal radios to the Internet. From tiny black and white televisions to video sytems that cover a wall.
Progress comes with change and there isn’t a whole lot we can do but accept it. I used to read two to three real newspapers a day. Now I get my news, weather and sports online and in less time.
Our industry is changing and those who are still in it are survivors. We have just finished a decade that saw terrorism expand, economic hard times, wars being fought on several fronts and had many of the major financial and industrial conglomerates fade into our memories.
Yet, with all that negativity, I feel a revitalized spirit. I see people that say the cup is half full, not empty. I see more people saying we, not me.
I see people looking for someone to tell them it’s ok to be scared. I see a need for people to pull together, pooling thoughts and strategies.
We will miss Cherie Reagor and the old days. If anyone ever writes about the history of our industry, she will be a prominent part of that history.
Now, as we begin a new decade, it’s time to band together. Being a community online is not unlike living in the same small town 100 years ago. Now with the Internet and forums such as this we are bonded as vendors and gift basket professionals.
Like I keep saying, and as I wrote in the several articles I wrote for Rave Reviews last year, we’re all in this together.
People have been looking for someone to step forward in our industry and assume a leadership role.
I think by that someone has indeed done that. Hat’s off to Joyce for not saying, yeah somebody should do that. No, she took the bull by the horns and said let’s do it.
Now it’s important to realize that a person in that role is more of a wide scale monitor, or catain of a ship. It’s not a my way or go away type of role.
Joyce is perfect for this because she knows that it takes a team to make something work. She is well known and respected throughout the industry and has demonstrated an ability to pull people together.
This e-zine idea fills a void that is necessary and I am looking forward to being a part of it.
Mike Nease
It’s a New Year and a great time for all of us to move forward with fresh starts, new ideas and something new on the horizon.
We’re excited to announce “Gift Entrepreneurs”, your new online magazine for the gift and gift basket market.
Gift Entrepreneurs believes in the success of gift retailers and vendors and offers the tools to enable all of us to maintain and grow our businesses. We are committed to providing an online publication that is user-friendly, creating positive relations and integrity within the gift industry.
You’ll find insightful business articles from a wide range of experts, marketing calendars and ideas, trade show calendars and so much more. And of course you’ll see design photos from people that work the gift business every day.
Gift Entrepreneurs’ first publication launches with the March/April issue, absolutely free.
We’ll let you know where to find it online and are sure you’ll enjoy it and find it useful in your business.
Joyce Reid Editor-in-Chief
Sandee Overstreet Managing Editor
Pam Monroe Staff Writer
Lisa Allen Staff Writer
Sometimes we stumble upon marketing ideas in unexpected places. Even if they are in no way involved in our own industry, they can be molded and used within our business. I get lots of marketing emails from lots of people trying to sell me something, but my email yesterday contained one that caught my attention enough to read rather than to just hit the delete key.
Many of us create our own websites using either FrontPage, Dreamweaver, or Expression Web. Pat Geary and Tina Clarke, owners of the website www.frontpage-to-expression.com , provide a wealth of information for FrontPage users who want to migrate to Expression Web. If you have any interest in learning how to use Expression Web to create a website, this site is one that you should visit.
But back to this marketing idea. . . the two ladies have created a giveaway with prizes that any user (or potential user) of Expression Web would love to win. All you have to do is write about the giveaway on Facebook, a blog, etc. and let them know about it. Some lucky writers will be the lucky winners of the great prizes.
This is my entry because I would love to win any of the awards but also because I think they provide outstanding information to anyone interested in the program. I’ve made it a practice to never recommend something that I wouldn’t use myself and this is not an exception.
Now that I’ve encouraged you to enter that giveaway, let me also suggest how you might use a similar idea to market your own business. People love FREE. They love the opportunity to win something. And they rarely hesitate to enter their name in a contest that is giving away something they want. But what makes this marketing technique different is that you have to tell others about their product if you want to win it. In other words, you give to receive.
Some gift basket companies have a monthly drawing for a free gift basket in order to collect email addresses. Why not make those entering your contest work a little bit for it? Enter their names in your drawing if they mention your business on Facebook or write something about you in an ezine or newsletter or blog. That giveaway gift basket (and you could make it even more enticing by adding a few other simple prizes) then provides a return on your investment. And isn’t this what marketing is all about?
So go check out their giveaway at Expression Web Giveaway and create your own marketing campaign.
As gift basket company owners, we have to be aware of product safety. Most of us are aware of the requirement for testing and certifying some children’s products. Here is the latest news.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted unanimously this week to extend the stay of enforcement for testing and certification of some children’s products until February 10, 2011. These products still must comply with existing applicable rules and bans.
Products covered by the stay include:
- children’s toys and child care articles with banned phthalates
- children’s toys subject to ASTM’s F-963 toy safety standard
- caps and toy guns
- clacker balls
- durable infant products
- electrically-operated toys
- youth all-terrain vehicles
- youth mattresses, children’s bicycles
- carpets and rugs
- vinyl plastic film
- children’s sleepwear
The commission also voted 4-1 to extend the stay on certification and third-party testing for children’s products that are subject to lead limits under CPSIA until February 10, 2011.
Under today’s decision, some children’s products manufactured after February 10, 2010, will be required to have third-party certification beginning on that date. These include bicycle helmets, bunk beds, infant rattles and dive sticks.
Additionally, general certificates of conformity (GCCs) will not be required for children’s products, but some nonchildren’s products manufactured after February 10, 2010 will require GCCs. These products include:
- candles with metal wicks
- contact adhesives
- cigarette lighters
- multi-purpose lighters
- matchbooks
One of my favorite blogs is written by New Zealand blogger Sean D’Souza and this particular blog entry is a perfect reminder for all of us at this time of year. By the way, his blog and website is a wealth of…
Ken Auletta, in his new book Googled: The End of the World as We Know it, gives us ten basic business lessons that we should learn from Google. CNN Money.com recently featured an article written by Auletta which should be read…
A question to ask yourself each night is:
What have you done to promote your business today?
Other valuable questions are:
When we first start our business, we are told to research, to find out what works for others and to determine how we are different. But many of us are afraid to take that step that would keep us from being …
Enjoy another great article from our guest blogger, Susan Placek, owner of “Popcorn Greetings“.
As an entrepreneur I know about the headaches and hassles small business owners have to deal with every day. We invest a…
