Gift Basket Wholesale Supply - Gift Basket Supplies

I received an email today requesting help with marketing to real estate agents. The writer was having a hard time selling them on the idea of giving a gift basket to a new home buyer as most agents preferred to give Lowes gift cards.

I told her that there was no way I could give her all the info she needed on the topic but that she just needed to show the agents how much better a gift basket would be received and how that might result in a referral at a later date. But the best piece of information I gave her was to refer her to the Gift Basket Tips Message Board.

I took a couple of minutes and did a quick search for ‘market to real estate’ and found a great post from 2002 about selling to real estate agents. The post had a little bit of bickering in it but overall it was loaded with some great information. Here’s the link for anyone who might want to read it:

http://www.giftbaskettips.com/discus/board-auth.cgi?file=/4/2774.html

Also, for those of you selling to real estate agents, don’t overlook some of the great products offered that would be perfect for your market. The first that comes to mind is Too Good Gourmet, check out the adorable boxes at the bottom of this post that are perfect for those “Welcome To Your New Home” baskets. Be sure to click over and check Too Good Gourmet’s listing.

Reba

Whether it’s talking to your teen about sex or drugs, your spouse about finances, your employee about attendance, or your customer about late payment, the prospect of undertaking a difficult discussion is horrifying to many, if not most, people.

Since many of us dislike tackling unpleasant tasks anyway, we tend to procrastinate and then feel guilty about putting off something so important. It’s quite probable we will wind up feeling even more miserable and anxious about the upcoming conversation and might even lose sleep or make ourselves sick over it.

Initiating such a discussion doesn’t have to be nearly as painful as imagined. With the right mindset and a little preparation, you can learn to handle even the most difficult topic with ease and confidence. The following tips will enable you to do just that.

1. Realize that your goal is to benefit the recipient and others as well as yourself. Even though the recipient may not agree with you, especially at the time, usually they will come to understand the necessity for the conversation.

2. Focus on the possible positive outcomes of having the discussion sooner rather than later. The discussion wouldn’t be necessary if the situation wasn’t causing a problem for someone. Focusing on how things will be different when the problem is gone will make it easier for you to approach the discussion.

3. Prepare for any possible reaction to the discussion. Have a back-up plan for handling any response to what you say. You may be presented with anger, denial, silence or even disbelief. Knowing in advance exactly how you will deal with any of these circumstances will give you the confidence you need to proceed. You cannot control a person’s reaction, nor can you predict it, but you can always prepare for it.

4. Have a reward planned for yourself upon completion, especially if the topic was an especially difficult one for you.

Following these tips will help make you a more competent communicator, and who wouldn’t benefit from that?

Since rebuilding the website and making it a Wholesale Gift Basket Supplier Directory, I’ve been going through the pages of the site and “cleaning” things up. I used to maintain an articles directory and blog separately. Since that seemed more work than necessary, I decided to combine the two.

The article below was posted on the old blog a couple of years ago. Since it had so many comments and the information is still timely, I didn’t want to lose the information, so here it is again. For those of you who haven’t read it, I hope you enjoy the information.

Feel free to leave your comments.

Reba

Myths and Misconceptions About Starting a Gift Basket Business
By Reba Collins

Do you want to start a gift basket business? Are you overwhelmed with the many online resources that are available or concerned that you’ll lose money by investing in a program you don’t need? While starting a gift basket business sounds fun and easy, it’s still a business and needs to be approached just like the start-up of any other business.

So, how can you be sure that you can succeed at owning your own gift basket business? Learning to read ‘between the lines’ will better prepare you for what’s really involved. Here are some common phrases that I hear often when talking to people about opening a gift basket business and a little extra information that most don’t want to hear:

#1 - It’s Simple & Easy

Simple and easy depends on who’s speaking. A doctor may tell you it’s only a ’simple procedure’ but that doesn’t mean you should attempt it yourself.

As businesses go, a gift basket business IS simple to operate. Many people run their gift basket businesses from their homes or from a small office/warehouse. You just need a little creativity, some designs, some inventory, a phone, and the willingness to sell. If you understand how the business works you will be amazed at the simplicity - but getting to that point will require time and experience. You may have to invest in some training both in gift basket design and marketing and on how to run a business before you get to the point of being able to call it “simple”.

Those who have learned from experience can look back and see how simple it COULD have been if they’d known what to do all along. Getting some good training can be a great assistance to your business efforts.

#2 - Anyone Can Do This

Sorry - starting a business of any kind is stressful and requires a learning curve; a gift basket business is no different. If you are attempting to start your business out of desperation or the belief you will make easy money, you will face enormous obstacles. On the other hand, if you are truly seeking a business you can learn, work at and make a living from, a gift basket business can do that for you.

Studies of successful business people concur that those who “make it” have common qualities of persistence, patience and desire. These qualities are essential when trying to start a gift basket business as well - do you have them?

#3 - Turnkey

The term ‘turnkey’ used to mean that a business was set up and ready to go. You will find the term in business classifieds where the new owner can just step in and start running the business. Unfortunately some marketers use the term to suggest a gift basket business is fully automated - that there is no work involved. The term is often seen on eBay where marketers are selling gift basket websites.

I’m sorry to burst your bubble, there is always work involved when starting a business, no matter what business your trying to start up. If the business really is turnkey, then you will begin work right away because it has already been set to go. If you want an automated business, don’t go into the gift basket business, it will never be automated. There will always be gift baskets to design, make and get delivered.

#4 - It Won’t Cost Much

You absolutely CAN start a gift basket business with little money, but be prepared that a combination of little money and lack of experience will stifle your efforts immensely.

Most individuals who start or run a business with no money have learned how to make use of the their business experience. They have paid their dues by trying other businesses that cost money. Often they have spent time in and around the gift basket industry and they’ve been able to see where they can cut costs.

If you are prepared to spend a LOT of time researching before starting your business you may be one of the few who does it right the first time. For most people though, expect to pay something towards your gift basket business education before seeing results - you just can’t buy experience.

Beyond education, also expect to invest in the supplies and inventory you will need to fill your orders. Starting small is okay, just be sure you have enough money to invest as you grow.

#5 – I Won’t Have To Do Any Selling, I’ll Sell My Baskets On The Internet

Again, you absolutely CAN sell your gift baskets on the internet, however, building and marketing a website is not as easy as the old saying, “build it and they’ll come”. Internet marketing has become a sophisticated process that includes optimizing your website to get ranked in the search engines, building a newsletter list and email marketing, and creating content to draw your customers back to your site.

Recently there’s been a lot of talk about businesses marketing with their blogs and RSS feeds, do you even know how to do any of this? Again, either you have the experience, you spend the time and money to gain the experience or you hire someone to do it for you, but don’t think people will just “show-up” when you launch your website. And lastly, never think that you’ll be able to get out of selling because you have a website, business is selling, and this goes for a gift basket business the same as it goes for a Fortune 500 company.

Starting a gift basket business obviously has its share of work involved, but if you find you have a passion for creating, selling and running your own business, and love to create gift baskets, then a gift basket company can have enormous payoffs. As long as you are willing to sacrifice time and money to achieve success, running your own business is enormously satisfying and can give you more time to do what you really want to do in life.

Creating a successful gift basket business is within the grasp of nearly everyone who is prepared to stick to it. Face the task of starting your business with realistic expectations while continuing to dream big and you may just surprise yourself!

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About the Author:
Reba Collins is the owner of Gift Basket Wholesale Supply ~ http://www.giftbasketwholesalesupply.com. Stop by and sign up for our newsletter and receive our FREE 8-Day eCourse ~How To Make Beautiful Gift Baskets~.
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The other day I was writing a sales brochure for a West Coast manufacturer. As I got to what I’ll call the “proof” section of the brochure, I was rummaging around for testimonials.

The company already had a full-blown Web site and a solid PowerPoint presentation. So I was hopeful that I’d find some ready made testimonials or at least some material I could use to create some.

As it turned out, they had one case study with a couple of customer quotes. I pieced the material together to create one measly testimonial. It was less than adequate.

Well, maybe it’s no big deal. After all, I wrote strong copy. Why even bother with testimonials? I’ll give you four good reasons.

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I. BACKGROUND

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