About You and Me
This website is is all about helping YOU start and grow your business to success. That’s why it’s called the Success Express!
You are here to learn and I am here to help. I spent the last 30 years creating and building my own gift business. You can see it at ShopCreativeGifts That wasn't my first business, however. I've published a statewide newspaper and was a multi-million dollar Realtor. So I know a bit about marketing and growing a business.
All too often, new business owners come on strong when they start. They spend lots of time and money telling people all about their new venture. But then they run out of ideas and slow down. They sit by the phone waiting for it to ring, all the while wondering why people have forgotten about them.
Getting people to pay attention to your business takes more than money. Yes, it takes even more than time.
It takes a willingness to think past the obvious and explore the unique and different.
We pride ourselves on being creative with our products.
We must be equally creative with our marketing.
Standing out in a sea of businesses boasting similar offerings can be difficult, which is why entrepreneurs need to strive to differentiate themselves and their products or services from the competition.
If you are in the planning or beginning stages, then begin reading about how to start a gift basket business and then return here for more information, ideas, and tips.
All About Starting and Growing Your Gift Business
But for those of you who already have one, you’ll find lots of creative ideas about the gift basket industry and marketing by reading the following articles.
Why people join communities.
Just read an interesting post on another blog. You can read the whole post at PamMarketingNut but here is part of it: “People no longer are amazed by the latest commercial, …
Are you still putting off that project?
How long have you been working on that new project? Why haven’t you gotten it off the ground? What are you waiting for? If you’re like many of us, you’re …
A lesson from a Great Entrepreneur
Thanks to DrewsMarketingMinute.com for this great post. “What can the average Joe learn from Steve Jobs?” I can’t remember a world mourning the loss of a business leader like we’ve …
The Girl with the Grandmother Face
There are times when something makes you think of your own mortality. One of these times was when I read the other day that Steve Jobs died at age 56 …
And he changed the world.
Steve Jobs is one of those rare people who are able to think in ways that many of us cannot. He will be truly missed. I wrote about him back …
Unexpected Moments of Inspiration
You never know when you’ll suddenly happen upon an unexpected moment of inspiration. I’ve visited the Grand Canyon many times. I’m not sure what I was expecting but the first …
A reader told me to get off my * * * and start blogging again!
In a nicer way, of course. She said she missed reading the posts on my blogs. And that the personal touch of combining tales of life in Flagstaff with good …
Feeling overwhelmed? Not enough time in the day?
Owning your own business can be exciting but it can be equally frustrating. There are times when we all feel so overwhelmed that, like the ostrich, we just want to …
Twenty Government Sites to Help Small Businesses
The website Practical Ecommerce posted information about 20 government websites that are created to help small businesses succeed. You might find the article helpful and useful: Do-it-yourself small businesses …
Talent – Use the ones you have and develop the ones you want
When I was in elementary school (many many years ago), I was assigned to a choir for a school play. When the teacher told me to just mouth the words, …
Chasing Dreams or Creating A Lasting Business?
An article, written by Marilyn Gardner of The Christian Science Monitor, was reprinted in my local newspaper. It talked about people, who are laid off from their jobs and are …
Humbled and honored by nomination
I’ve been notified that I was nominated for one of the 2011 Small Business Influencer Awards as a small business guru. These awards are being given by Small Business Trends. …
How Do You Handle Your Incoming Email?
How many email messages are in your “inbox” right now? If the answer is more than one hundred, you may want to think about your “email strategy.” There are many …
Five Tips for Increasing Your Website Traffic
Okay, you’ve researched your keywords and determined what people are searching for. Here are five quick and easy tips to use those keywords to increase your website traffic. Tip #1 …
Avoid the Pricks in Your Business and Life
I don’t know who wrote this as it came as an email but applies to us both as business owners and as people: Fable of the porcupine It was the …
Business Lessons from a musician
There are lots of interesting bloggers on the web. You could spend all your time reading blogs if you aren’t careful, so you have to be selective. One of the …
Need Hosting? 4th of July Special
Need Hosting for your website or a new blog? I don’t often post this sort of ad but this one is too good not to take advantage of if you …
Do you have a Follow-Up Plan?
You’ve contacted a potential customer — or perhaps he contacted you. Maybe he’s interested. Maybe not. But how can you make sure that his memory of that initial contact isn’t …
Dirt Roads
I was visiting the Pioneer Museum here in Flagstaff on Saturday and discovered that someone had left a stack of copies of something that newscaster Paul Harvey wrote. This isn’t …
Two Rabbits
My grandma used to tell me that “if you chase two rabbits, both will escape.” She must have known that I was an idea person. I love creating ideas but …
Take Just a Minute
Take just a minute . . . to step into your customer’s shoes. Ask your employees to sit quietly, with their eyes closed, for 60 seconds. Or try it yourself …
How We Spend Our Days
There is a quote that says “How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.” It’s a reminder that today isn’t a rehearsal for our real life, but …
Creating a Business Fan Page on Facebook
Making a business page on facebook is a simple process. Before you can create a Facebook fan page, you must first have a Facebook profile and be logged in. Think …
What is your ROI?
ROI is much more than just an accounting term. It can be Gold at the end of the rainbow! ROI (Return on investment) should be an important part of the …
The Life of an Entrepreneur
Becoming an entrepreneur can be very exciting but is rarely very glamorous. Managing the daily activities of running a business can be anything but a dream. Unless you’re just working …
Business Systems – Do you really need them?
Do you often find yourself with a bunch of projects that need to be done and don’t know where to start? Do you or your employees answer the phone with …
Crazy enough to think they can change the world. . .
Occasionally, we find a quote from someone that we think is Right On Target! Here is one from Steve Jobs: “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the …
Time Management- Creating more time in a 24-hour day
One of the most difficult things for a small business owner is time management. There are only so many hours in the day. We can’t create any more than we …
Staying in Business Takes Patience
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 …
It’s the Right Thing to Do!
One thing that I’m frequently asked is “How many times during the year should I contact my customers?” My answer is simply “When you have something to say or something …
Make Time by Saving Time
A question that I’m frequently asked is: “How do you manage to do so much without getting burned out?” The answer isn’t a simple one. I could say that it’s …
Increase Business Profits with Bright Ideas
A business has two functions: To serve its customers better than anyone else To make a profit If your business fails in either function for any length of time, the …
New Gift Basket Online Magazine Announced
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 …
Money – Where should you spend it in your business/
You only have a limited amount of money to invest in your business. One of my readers asked me, how it should be broken down and how much should she …
Using Microsoft Word to create text for your web pages?
Are you creating text in Microsoft Word and then copying and pasting it into a web page? If so, don’t. And here is the reason why. Microsoft Word creates all …
A Sixty-Five Year Old Marketing Campaign
When I first saw Smokey Bear at the Washington National Zoo, he was already ten years old and well-known to kids everywhere as the symbol of the U.S. Forest Service’s …