Gift Basket Business

Ten Time Management Tips That Work for Me

August 22, 2009 By joyce 3 Comments

Having trouble getting everything done each day without getting sidetracked? Going off into a million directions and never finishing anything? You’re not alone.

I am one of the worst people in the world to tell you how to manage time. I’m a procrastinator. I like doing what I like to do and tend to neglect the other stuff. But, you can’t manage a business that way. So I’ve created a system that works for me.

Hey, try it! It might work for you.

1. The Spirit of Work

Call it spirit. Call it mindset. Call it an established routine. Call it whatever you like but basically it’s just making up your mind that if you won’t to succeed, you have to work.

Here is how I do it.

Since many of my orders come in overnight, I’ve created the habit of turning on the laptop while making coffee the first thing each morning. Before even getting dressed (and this is just the opposite of those who say you have to get dressed for business in order to do business), I check and print out the orders, take care of any that have to be emailed to dropshippers before 9am, and put the others in the orders folder to be filled later that day. Then I quickly scan through the emails, answering any important ones. It’s hard but I avoid opening any that aren’t important until later in the day.

By now, I’m in the mood to work. But first, I take time for breakfast and get dressed for the day. You may think this breaks the mood. But, for me, it just gets me moving faster.

2. Running To Do List

I’ve read in time management books that you should sit down each evening and create a To Do list for the next day. Heck, by evening, that’s the last thing I want to do. I have to have lists to remember things but I’m not a heavy-duty list maker.

What works best for me is a “running to do list.” As I think of something that needs to be done (including personal chores and networking meetings), I add it to the list and cross it off when completed. I look over what’s left on the list each morning, and do the more important things first. By the time, they are done, I move on to the more boring ones, knowing that the faster I get those things out of the way, the sooner my work day is over. Crossing each task off when finished makes me breathe easier when the list is long.

3. Handling Distractions and Personal Chores

This is probably easier for those of you who have an away-from-home office or retail location. For those of us who are homebased, it is much harder.

I try to take advantage of the benefits of working from home such as less travel time and the ability to multi-task personal with business chores (but I’ll talk about the downfall of that later).

I can let the washing machine work its magic while I accomplish business chores and can vacuum when I need to take a break from a long work session that requires a lot of sitting. My retired husband is probably the biggest distraction as I have to consider his schedule (or lack of one) as well. But since he’s been retired since he was 50, we have worked out that pretty well. But it was h#%& the first year he was home all the time.

Email is a big distraction. I check it regularly throughout the day. It only takes a few minutes and I don’t read the ads and other stuff that can wait. The important bits are orders and emails from customers and my GiftBasketNetwork members. Those are top priority.

The big advantage of working from home is that I can take time out of the middle of the day to do other things knowing that I can finish up needed chores in the evening if necessary.

As most of you know, I operate a number of website businesses. I’ve been asked how do you fit the computer work into your day. The answer is “I don’t”. Ever since I was growing up in the 50′s when we had the TV on in the living room while doing homework, I’ve learned to listen to TV while working–and I do it quite well. I have a desk with my laptop and needed files in the family room where my husband watches TV in the evening and I work on my website stuff. If there is a program that I want to devote my full attention to (like Mystery and Masterpiece Theatre on PBS), I simply take a break and watch it.

4. Take notes and put them aside

What? If you don’t do it now, it doesn’t get done?

Of course, you have to act on your ideas and notes but the timing is crucial. If you act on every idea or every note you make that very minute, you’ll find yourself going off into a thousand different directions. The end result is nothing gets done. This is when multi-tasking is not good and just creates more problems.

So think while you work, make notes, and then act on them when you finish what you are currently working on or add them to the running to do list.

6. Learn to Say NO!

If you agree to do everything that is asked of you, you’ll never get any work done. People who work in offices tend to think that because you work at home, you don’t have a “real” job and can take on those chores that they don’t have time to do.

I’ve learned that if the request is not something I want to do, does not benefit me, or I don’t have time for, I politely decline. When I explain that I have “blank number of orders that I have to get ready to ship out before the UPS man arrives”, it helps put my “homebased business” in perspective for them.
7. Learn to delegate and automate as much as possible.
I’m one of those folks who believe that no one can do something as well as I can. Well, that’s a belief that I’ve had to get over. As a result, I’ve discovered that there are people who can actually do certain things better than I could ever do.

I’m still working on this and don’t know if I will ever completely handle delegation as well as I should. . . but I’m working on it. If you have the same problem, begin with those little tasks, like hiring a teenager to handle addressing and mailing those marketing letters or postcards.

There are times when it takes a lot of valuable time to learn how to do something that could be better spent doing those things you are good at. Computer programs and marketing are good examples. I learned Frontpage and Search Engine Optimization back when my business was slower and I’m glad I did as I save a lot of money by doing these things myself. But if you don’t have the time to learn, it is a much wiser use of time and money to pay someone else to do them for you.

When I started the new website GiftRetailersNetwork.com, I knew that I wanted it to be an “authorized access only” website since it was being provided free to those in the gift and gift basket industry and I didn’t want the search engines to access the forum or other parts of it. I could have spent days learning how to do this myself. Instead I hired Laura at Firelight Web Studio to build it as a joomla site instead of an html site. She was reasonable, taught me how to handle all the data entry myself, and saved me a lot of valuable time and frustration.

8. Take Periodic Breaks

I try to break my work schedules into two-hour segments. That’s about as long as you can concentrate effectively on one chore. I work for roughly two hours, then get up and walk around, have something to drink, play with Delilah (my mini dachshund), or make personal phone calls. Sometimes, I’ll take Delilah up to Buffalo Park for a walk or go do something with Ron (the wind beneath my wings). Then, when I’m ready to get back to work, I’m refreshed and can do a better job.

9. Create Balance

I admit it. I’m a workaholic. I enjoy what I do and it has a major priority in my life. The older I get, the more I want to share all that I’ve learned about business in general, computers, and the gift basket business specifically with those who are looking for knowledge. Most weeks, I work all seven days and you may find me on the computer at 6:00 some mornings and at 10:00 some evenings.

BUT, I do have a life and try to keep a good balance between business, family, and my own personal needs. I’m not the typical “cookie baking” grandma but I do take time for my daughters and grandchildren. Last Saturday, I took the whole day off and went to my grandson’s Eagle Scout Court of Honor. Yesterday, I took the afternoon off and babysat one of my daughter’s children and foster children while one child had foot surgery. When Ron comes home, I take the time to stop and visit with him and I usually have lunch with him each day.

Balance is the one thing that can make the most difference in your busy life and will make the difference in how you are remembered long after you’re gone. I really don’t care if I’m remembered by how many gift baskets I made and delivered or how many websites I created (although these things are important to me right now). But what is more important is how my husband, daughters, and those grandkids remember the celebrations we shared, the fun we had, and the fact that I was there when they needed me.

10: Create Your Own Time Management Techniques

When I was a young mother, I read just about every time management book and article I could find. Some of the ideas worked for me while others used more time to manage the technique than just getting the job done.

The above are some of the ways that I organize my day, and as you can see, it’s far from organized. It’s more about managing my time than organizing it. This works for me. It may not work for you. It all depends on where you are in your life (and that changes), what your needs and responsbilities are, and what time you have left to manage. If you’re working a full-time job outside the home, those hours are already managed for you. All you have left to control is the time you have outside the job situation.

If you’ve created some time management techniques/skills that work for you, I and my readers would love to hear about them. If you’re reading this via email, you will need to go to the blog itself and post your ideas.

Filed Under: Be Organized, Up Close and Personal Tagged With: gift basket business, Time Managment

Why don’t my gift baskets look like those in the magazines?

July 20, 2009 By joyce 2 Comments

Have you ever looked at one of our trade magazines, delighting in the exquisite designs and huge variety of products used in each basket, and then asked yourself: “Why don’t my gift baskets look like that?”

The designs in the magazines are what those new to the industry see and try to emulate. When they either fail to achieve the same effect OR have accumulated cases of the many products OR can’t sell the completed designs because they cost too much, they consider themselves a failure.

What they don’t realize is that there is a big difference between many of the baskets designed for the magazines and those that sell to our customers. The next time you receive a trade magazine, with its many gorgeous designs, take a more careful look at those designs.

Yes, they are gorgeous. Yes, they entice you to strive for a higher level of design. Some of them are even designs that we can emulate and sell. But there are many that I could never create and sell in my market area. They are the type of baskets that I would produce as a donation when I want to really impress but could never sell and make a profit. They were designed to give you ideas and to encourage you to strive for more than just an “everyday” look. They were designed to sell advertiser’s products. Many of them are winners or entries in design competitions at the last Convention. They were designed for the design effect with little thought given to cost or whether the design will sell.

Ask yourself how these designs will look wrapped in cello–which is essential to keep the products in place. Can they even be sucessfully wrapped in cello at all? How will they look when the bows, perching promptly on either side or front of the basket, are suddenly moved to the top of the cello? How much does the excellent photography techniques used affect the appearance of the basket?

Look at the products used to create the basket. Are they primarily high cost products or a mixture of high-end and reasonably priced ones? How much of the cost of the basket is dedicated to gorgeous enhancements and floral treatments? Think about how much time was spent designing this particular basket. Do you have that kind of time to devote to each and every basket that you sell? If you’re familiar with wholesale prices–and most of you are– sit down and calculate what you would guess the basket would cost to create. Then use your formula to determine what you would need to sell that basket for.

Look at the holiday themed issues. Count the number of holiday specific themed products are used in one basket. Can your business afford to buy cases of a dozen or more holiday themed products for a holiday such as Halloween? My business certainly couldn’t. I’d be eating Halloween candies and cookies for the rest of the year.

Now that you’ve looked at these gorgeous works of art and asked yourself the above questions, look at them as they were intended. Most, but perhaps not all, were not intended for you to copy and sell off your store’s shelves or website pages. They were intended to give you ideas and to encourage you to buy advertiser’s products.

With that in mind, take the bits and pieces of what you like about each design and create your own. Create designs that you know will sell for you. Use your imagination and design talents to create something similar, but more practical, with products that you can use in a large number of designs. Incorporate one or two themed items and even some florals and enhancements (if that is your style) keeping a careful eye on the total cost of products and labor.

When you are finished, you probably won’t have a gift basket that looks like the ones in the magazines but you’ll have a design that you can sell and make a profit on in your local market. And isn’t making a profit what being in business is all about?

And, just in case you are wondering, the basket shown above is one of mine that was created specifically for the 2007 Designer of the Year competion. It won second place as “Best Corporate Design” and, no, it’s not a design created to sell. It was created for a specific purpose and served that purpose well but the cost of the products used and time involved to create it would make it a difficult one to sell for a profit.

Filed Under: Gift Baskets, Uncategorized Tagged With: gift basket business, Gift Basket Design

What If?

July 12, 2009 By joyce 2 Comments

What if you discovered you only had one year to live? Morbid subject? Perhaps. But it’s a question that we should all stop and think about occasionally.

What would you do with that last year? What would you do differently? Would you stop spinning your wheels, attending to all the little details, being a perfectionist, taking care of the mundane tasks that don’t make much difference? Would you spend more time on your business? Travel? Your friends? Your family? Your personal and spiritual life?

Each of us would answer that question differently. Each of us sees life through different eyes. All of us are at different phases in our life. Each of us has different values, different goals, and different dreams. And most of us think that we have all the time in the world to accomplish those goals and dreams. But it ain’t so!

I don’t claim to be a philosopher and I certainly don’t have all the answers. But each day that is added to our lives adds additional knowledge and growth. And as of today, I’ve had 24,028 days to accumulate the joys and pains of daily living.

So, since I can’t speculate on what you would do, I’ll talk a little bit about me. For me, my life is my job. And that life includes family, friends, my own goals and dreams. At this stage in my life, I find myself asking “Is what I am doing making a difference?”

I’m at the point in my life where I can do just about anything that I want to do. I have enough money to live comfortably. I’ve raised my daughters and take time to enjoy my grandchildren. My husband and I will soon be celebrating 49 years of a happy marriage. So why would I spend my time building internet businesses, writing blogs, and sharing what I’ve learned about business in general and the gift basket business specifically?

Part of it, of course, is the competitive spirit and challenge of creating a successful business that is as much a part of true entrepreneurs as breathing is. But even more is the drive to do something that matters as I conduct business in a humane and ethical way. The approaches I use to achieve my goals are as important as achieving them.

Take this blog, for instance. You see the ads in the right hand column. They’ve been carefully selected to include only those opportunities that I have personally use and can recommend instead of all those opportunities that could perhaps make me lots more money. This blog was not created to be a money-making blog. It has other goals.

The older I get, the more I require the freedom to express my own feelings and to tell things as I see them. I’ve seen the backside of the results of the need for paying advertisers — even in our own industry. For example, when you attend conventions and tradeshows, the products you are going to see pushed in the classes are not necessarily those that the speaker would have recommended if given the freedom to do so. They are the products supplied by the vendors. And if a speaker knows something negative about a vendor or personally feels that they aren’t a good match for our industry, the freedom to say so isn’t there.

I remember attending a “Jubilee” a number of years ago. All the speakers had this beautiful peacock printed cello that they used on their baskets. Of course, it was available from one of the vendors. And, impressed by the recommendation of the speakers that this was going to be the “hot” look for the season, I bought a roll. That roll–and it’s almost a full roll– is still sitting in my bucket of cello. Anybody want a roll of peacock-print cello?

Writing is one of the talents I’ve been given and I’ve learned the techniques to make it work well for me. I’ve used that ability in the past to teach some of the knowledge I’ve accumulated in a column for one of our trade publications. But the freedom to express my feelings about a paying advertiser wasn’t there. As a result of overstepping that limitation, that column is no longer in the magazine.

So, this blog is the result. I can say what I want without having my hands slapped. I can be honest and express my opinions. I am beholden to no advertiser. Of course, there are still the limitations of not writing something that is untrue and can’t be proven. But I wouldn’t do that anyway. This blog allows me the opportunity to share what I have learned through the years and perhaps, as a result, help others create success.

The same is true of my website at www.giftretailersnetwork.com . It allows me to provide information and the ability to communicate with each other for the members of my other website at www.giftbasketnetwork.com . And, I am beholden to no advertiser. The vendor members at the site don’t pay a dime for membership. They have to contribute to the cause, however, by providing a discount to the members. In exchange, they receive the ability to communicate with the gift basket companies through the private forum. It’s a win-win situation and part of my way to give back to the industry.

This post is a lot longer than most — and more personal. But, I’ve been asked: “What is the reason for this blog? What do you hope to accomplish?” And, I’ve felt the need to explain.

This blog is simply the answer to two questions:

My life is my business. What am I doing with it?
Is what I am doing making a difference?

Back to the original question of “What If? ” I’ve talked about the business part of my life. The rest of it is too personal to share in a blog. But if I died tomorrow, I could tell myself, “I’ve accomplished my goals. I’ve allowed the most important parts of my life–family, friends, faith, entrepreneurship–to influence each other and, hopefully, I’ve made a small difference in someone’s life along the way.”

Filed Under: Blogging, Gift Baskets, The World Around Us, Up Close and Personal Tagged With: gift basket business, Independently owned business, One Minute Wisdom

Is Internet Progress Overrated?

June 15, 2009 By joyce 1 Comment

Has progress on the internet taken us to a better place? Has it helped us grow our business? Are all the new-fangled opportunities for “social networking”, videos, and streaming javascript worth the time and effort involved in using them?

I’d say “yes” and “no”. The internet has provided us the opportunity to operate a business model that can compete with the big corporate giants that are able to outspend and outemploy more than we ever could. The internet allows us to expand outside our local market and sell to people all over the country–or even around the world, if that is our goal. Yes, the internet has definitely helped us grow our businesses.

Social networking and all the other new-fangled ideas, such as blinking pictures, videos, podcasts, flash pages, streaming javascript (which allows us to have constantly changing photos or text on our site) are another story however. They’re cool! They’re neat! They’re fun! But do they really increase traffic and sales conversions?

My answer is a resounding NO! That is why, even though we have the knowledge and capability to do so, we don’t incorporate most of these new techniques in the websites that we own and seriously want to convert. And the reason is simple. These are gimmicks that are intended to make a website look “professional”, “up-to-date” and “cool” . But, in reality, except for the “under 30 age crowd” (which are only a very small minority of my customers), most customers dislike them. And, unless they are incorporated very carefully by someone who understands search engine spiders very well, most search engines dislike them even more.

Many users of the web are technically-challenged. That’s true of even many of our gift basket company owners. They don’t understand all this new-fangled stuff and prefer to avoid it. But it’s all too easy for a webmaster, who enjoys adding this type of glitz to a shopping website, to convince you that it’s the thing to have if you want to be “up-to-date”. But what is much more important is how does it help you convert visitors to buyers? Does it make more money for you?

If used correctly and you have the time to spend on it, social media has its place and can help to a degree. Social media doesn’t yet come close to competing with search or email in terms of effectiveness. But marketers are still asking themselves whether that is because social media is ineffective or simply because, despite the hype, a huge percentage of people online aren’t actively or regularly engaged with social media sites and channels.

By social media, I’m referring to Facebook, My Space, Linked In, Twitter and the many others out there. These social networking sites can be used to promote your business. I use them for that purpose. But they are just a tool and are not nearly as effective as other means of driving traffic to your website. There are ways to automatically post your blog posts on your Facebook wall and as a Twitter. But you have to understand how they work and how best to use them. And learning that takes more of those precious minutes.

Forums and Blogging are two other forms of social networking that can be very effective.

How much time do you have to spend on all these sites? When I asked the members of my Gift Basket Network what their biggest problem was, the most frequent answer was “Not enough time in the day to do everything that needed to be done for their business”. Add to “not enough time” such activities as posting “I’m going to my son’s ballgame tonight” on your wall on Facebook or “Today is a beautiful day. Just don’t have time to enjoy it” as a Twitter post and what do you have? Not more traffic to your website, that’s for sure. You’ve just deducted precious minutes from those hours that were already filled with your “have to do” list.

Blogging, posting on related blogs, and posting in forums can help build your business…once again, only if used correctly. A blog, that is built specifically to drive traffic and is properly optimized, is a fast, effective, and efficient way to communicate with your customers and prospects — just as I am communicating with you. It can make you “real” to those customers and help them to get to know you as a person. It can also be used to sell products if done right. But you need to know the techniques necessary to do it. Posting on blogs, that are related to your website and have good search engine visibility, can help your own website’s seach engine optimization by providing valuable links to your site. And you don’t have to have any technical savvy to do that.

Forums that are related to your industry can’t be beat for effective communication with others in the industry. In the gift basket industry, there are a number of them that you can participate in. You need to be selective and use those that are used by others who have information to share. But, as with anything, you must give in order to receive. Just signing into a forum, reading what others have shared, and signing out is not enough. You need to contribute as well if you hope to receive that info you must have when the time comes and you’re desperate for an anwer to a question.

Post Foods ran a Shredded Wheat ad recently that asked this very question about progress and answered the question with:

” Honestly, what thanks do we owe progress? We’re up to our necks in landfill, down to the wire on resources, and climate change is out to get us — or at best leave us with a nsasty sunburn. Historically, civilizations are destroyed by progress. Just ask the Pharaohs…”

And, just as the ad went on to say, “That’s why at Post Shredded Wheat, we put the “no” in innovation”, we, as owners of Gift Basket Network have also said “no”.

I created Gift Basket Network about six years ago. One person (me). One ingredient (professional gift basket company owners that wanted more traffic to their websites). One website. It was simple to navigate. No add-ons or plug-ins. Heck, it was even built in basic html and optimized following the severe requirements of the search engines. We didn’t give it a fancy name or a lot of glitz. Our market was not the gift basket company owner. Our market, at that time and still is, the potential customer who is ready and willing to buy a gift or gift basket and is just looking for a place to do it.

We market to the gift basket company owners in other ways. One of these was in the form of Gift Retailers Network after we had clearly established Gift Basket Network one of the top gift basket directories on the web. This blog that you are reading right now is another way that we market to you. It is our way of demonstrating to you that combining the tried-and-true methods of internet marketing with a few carefully selected “social networking” methods is using progress to build your business.

Does it work? History has proven it to be true so far. But time will tell.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Blogging, business networking, gift basket business, Independently owned business, Internet Business, making money on the internet, website business

Don’t quit too soon!

June 12, 2009 By joyce Leave a Comment

Some people fold after making one timid request.
They quit too soon.
Keep asking until you find the answers.
In sales there are usually four or five “no’s” before you get a “yes.”
Jack Canfield

There are a number of reasons why a business folds and closes its doors. But many of them quit too soon. They become discouraged. They are tired of being told “no” or “I’m not interested” when making a sales call. They listen when others tell them that they’re never going to make it, that they are foolish to keep pouring good money after bad.

How long should you hold on? That is a personal decision. But don’t quit until you’re absolutely sure. Don’t leave yourself room to look back and reminisce on “what might have been”.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: gift basket business, Independently owned business, Small Business

Staying in Business Takes Patience

June 8, 2009 By joyce 2 Comments

Businesses go out of business for many reasons. But one of the major reasons is just not sticking it out long enough.

Starting a business is easy. It’s sticking it out and growing your business that is hard. All of us have had days, weeks, or even months when we’ve wondered if it is worth it. No matter what we did, few people seemed to be interested and even fewer were buying. Money is tight. Inventory is sitting on the shelves with expiration dates ticking down to the wire. During that period of our business, it’s all to easy to just throw up our hands and say, “Enough is enough! I quit!”

But if you are truly a “Creative Entrepreneur”, you know that even if you quit, you’ll be back sometime, some day. And that is exactly the reason you shouldn’t give up. It’s much harder to restart your business later than it is to change from a growth mode to a maintenance one and patiently do whatever it takes to stay in business.

A Personal Example

I operate my business with no full-time employees. I made that decision early in the game and created ways to grow the business and profits without depending on employees. That’s great as long as I’m around and am healthy. But a few years ago, the flu turned into pneumonia that wouldn’t react to antibiotics and I ended up in the hospital for two weeks. Recovery at home was slow and operating my business was tiring. It would have been all to easy to just pull back into my shell, like a turtle does when disaster strikes, and give up on the business.

But I knew that once I was feeling better, I would regret it. I would want to be back in business. And, I also knew that if I gave up at that moment in time, restarting would be difficult. Of course, for several months I was too exhausted to maintain the pace I previously had. But Instead of closing my doors, I simply shifted down and went at a slower speed. Friends and family helped me fill the essential orders. My grandson took over the creation of my apartment gifts and discovered that he loved doing it. Explanations were made to loyal customers who were willing to wait. And, I discovered that if disaster strikes an Internet business, a message of explanation can easily be placed on the website. Of course, I’m sure I lost a few customers but I also saw how loyal many of my existing ones were.

Disaster can strike at any time. A husband becoming very ill. Death in the immediate family. Hurricanes. Tornados. Earthquakes. They can all slow you down. These will be times when you feel that you’ve reached the end of your rope and simply want to give up.

But unless you’ve made the decision to go out of business permanently and know that you won’t want to start it up again later, do what you can to slow down the pace, put as much as possible on automatic pilot. Patiently do as much as you can, without stressing yourself out, to maintain what you have created. Call on others to help you–or if you’re discouraged–find someone to mentor you and help keep your spirits up. You’ll be amazed at how much others are willing to help and how understanding most (but unfortunately not all) customers can be. And, then when the disaster ends, you can switch to the growth mode once again without having to start all over.

Have you ever been tempted to close your business during a down time or a disaster, but had the patience to stick it out? Do you credit that to the existence of your business today? I’d love to hear your experiences as well.

If you’re receiving this post as an email, you can click on the title and you’ll be whisked to the blog where you can share your experiences in the comments area.

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Gift Baskets, The World Around Us, Up Close and Personal Tagged With: gift basket business, Independently owned business, Inspiration, Internet Business, Small Business

Create a PDF easily and for FREE!

June 5, 2009 By joyce Leave a Comment

So you want a brochure or a document that your customers can easily print out to your website. There are lots of different programs and ways to create PDF documents but I’m going to share with you one that incredibly easy to use and best of all, it is free.

Change your habits and don’t begin by creating the document in Word. Instead go to OpenOffice.org and download Open Office for free. It is very much like Microsoft Office and is similar to use. But there are some differences.

Once you have the program installed, open it and choose Text document. It will open a word processor program called Writer. It’s very similar to Word so you should find it easy to use. Just as in word, you can add images or screen shots to the document. And you can create links that work.

Now comes the best part. To convert your document into a PDF, all you have to do is click that little PDF button at the top of the screen. You’ll be asked for a file name. Name the document and click “save”.

Don’t forget to save your original “writer” document as well. In case you ever want to make changes, you can make them in the original document and then convert it into a pdf as many times as you want to.

Try it. It’s easy. And what could be better than FREE.

Filed Under: Copywriting Tagged With: copywriting, gift basket business, Independently owned business

The Other Shipping Company

June 1, 2009 By joyce Leave a Comment

Shipping packages is not cheap. Once DHL Express dropped out of the market in January, Fedex and UPS took advantage of it by imposing the highest rate increases in history.

But there is another option. It doesn’t work for all packages and it’s not always the cheapest way to ship. But many times, it costs much less than either of the two private shipping companies. The U.S. Postal Service has developed some competitive shipping options and pricing incentives that benefit all of us. And it is going after business in a big way–including television advertising.

I’ve found that I’m using the priority mail as my shipping choice more than ever. The Post Office offers FREE package pickup six days a week. You just have to get your request in by 2:00 a.m. that morning. There are post offices everywhere, so it’s easy to drop off a package if you’ve missed the pickup deadline. And they can do things that neither Fedex nor UPS can — provide free Saturday delivery, deliver to P.O. Boxes and residential mailboxes and they don’t charge extra to do it. And they provide FREE shipping boxes in a variety of sizes. Gifts created in the small Boxco boxes fit perfectly inside the new Shoebox size boxes.

For packages that are less than 1 cubic foot and weigh less than 2 pounds, the postal service is hard to beat. Heavier products that can fit in one of the Flat Rate Boxes (and there are three different sizes), can be shipped inexpensively (not cheap — no shipping is cheap–but inexpensively) and arrive from one coast to the other in 2-3 business days. Ground shipping with either Fedex or UPS will take 5 to 6 business days.

Sign up for the USPS online service and receive a discount of approximately 5% off post office prices for Express Mail and 4.7% for Priority Mail. I can print out my postage online, order a FREE pickup, or drop it off at the post office (with no standing in line) when I’m out and about. If you’re a high volume shipper, the discounts are even greater.

They’re not perfect by any means. Processing your postage online includes free delivery confirmation but unless you stand in line and have the package checked in at the counter, the shipping receipt time is not recorded. And unlike the other shipping services, you can’t really track the package until it has been delivered. For other than express mail, delivery times are not guaranteed. However, with a few rare exceptions, delivery from Arizona to the Northeast has been as little as 2 business days for many of my packages. But for those occasions when a package has to be there on a particular day, I still pay the extra charges and use UPS with its guaranteed delivery date.

For your bigger gift baskets, UPS or Fedex is going to have cheaper shipping in most cases. But for those smaller gifts, the USPS is hard to beat. Compare prices the next time you ship and you may be surprised.

Filed Under: Daily Surprises, Entrepreneurship Tagged With: gift basket business, Independently owned business, shipping

25 Easy Tips for Creating Happy Website Visitors

May 29, 2009 By joyce 2 Comments

Is your website attracting traffic but no sales? Do you wonder what you can do to make those potential customers stay at your site instead of clicking on to the next one?

As the owner of giftbasketnetwork.com, my directory can send you potential customers that are ready and willing to buy. But it’s up to you and your website to convince those customers that you’re the company they want to buy from. Here are 25 easy tips for creating happy website visitors.

Filed Under: Internet Business Tagged With: copywriting, gift basket business, Independently owned business, Internet Business, making money on the internet, marketing, Small Business, website business

Gift Basket Company Owners: Have you considered this market?

May 22, 2009 By joyce Leave a Comment

We, as gift basket company owners, are so busy marketing to the corporate market that we tend to overlook some other markets that can be profitable.

One of these is the church market. The marketing is much the same. Many of the products may be the same as well, but others are unique. Church budgets don’t allow a lot of money for gifts but it all depends on the individual church. If the church itself doesn’t have a budget, women’s groups within the church may.

Of course, this would be an ideal market for new baby gifts, sympathy gifts, and wedding gifts. Some churches have annual Conferences or guest pastors and a “Welcome to Our Church” gift basket would be an ideal gift for the speakers.

If the churches you contact don’t already provide small “Welcome” gifts to visitors to their congregation, this is something you could suggest. These are usually small gifts and can be as simple as an imprinted mug or tote bag filled with info about the church and perhaps a packet of coffee or chocolate. And, don’t forget the kids who visit. A small canvas tote bag, with something cute like “Sunday Sack from xxx Church” added with either an iron-on transfer or imprinted if large quantities are needed, can be filled with inexpensive things to keep the child busy during a Church service. These would be low-cost gifts but, in quantity, small can be beautiful.

Filed Under: Marketing & Sales Tagged With: gift basket business, gift basket markets, marketing