In This Issue:Selling Father’s Day 2Home-Based Marketing Ideas 4Candy Bou-tasket Instruction 6

GBR

O N L I N E

Gift Basket Review

Don’t let the summer slump put a drag on your sales. Rev them up with great sports themes for summer and Father’s Day. Plus, get a handle on some creative ideas for promoting a home business. economy picks up steam!2010

Summer Sizzlers

Summer is Snack and Grill Time!

Fire up sales by putting on the chill with grill-time summer gift favorites. Coolers make great summer containers to hold a variety of grill pleasers like sauces, accessories and snacks. Father’s Day and Fourth of July theme motifs sizzle the ‘gotta-have-this’ buyer appeal.

Summer is sports season . . . and a good time to think about how you make and sell gifts for men.

Designed by Basket Case, FL

Selling Fathers Day

Designing for HIM with an eye toward what SHE will buy is a classic retail strategy -- as long as the gift sets are packed with all the things Dad will love. Research from several sources proves what we already know: Dad wants something useful and practical. Take that advice straight to your design room and put it on your sourcing lists.

Get The Price RIGHTAccording to the Retail Federation of

America, the average expenditure on Dad is $53, slightly lower than what is spent on Mom. But you know your market. If a few customers will invest $100 or more — pack up just what they want. Also pack a few under-$25 baskets for those who would like to spend more, but just can’t afford it.

Get It SEENThe hardest part of selling Father’s Day

baskets is often getting them seen, sampled, and enjoyed by crowds of people. If you are not a retail-based basket business, your major hurdle to jump will be getting your baskets placed where people can see — and sample the goodies inside. Based on success other GBR readers have experienced, we suggest trying nail salons, with set times when you can open the baskets and pass around samples of the goodies inside. Of course, you will need to give a portion of your sales to the nail or hair salon. Another idea is to host a home party for women. It’s fun, inexpensive, and most gift basket retailers are absolutely enthusiastic about the results. A third option is to subcontract your services to

retailers who would like to make more sales for Father’s Day — like florists. You will need to lower your own prices in order to provide a healthy markup for the florists, and you will need agreements on how high the baskets can be priced if this will be a consignment agreement. Nonetheless, working with florists can be a win-win for both you and the florist.

Link It To Other RETAILERSWholesaling, or subcontracting with florists

is just one of hundreds of ways to link your Father’s Day baskets with other established retailers. Already, gift basket retailers are having success linking up with sporting goods stores, and with gift certificate sellers. With sporting good stores, the gift basket retailers often provide the container and a few “hook” items; the bulk of the goods are provided by the store. Agreements are reached for “packing” fees, which include the cost of goods provided by the gift basket retailer. For the certificate providers, gift basket retailers are often asked to provide small baskets or “tokens” where the gift certificate can be prominently displayed. Tool centers would be an excellent source to approach with this idea for Father’s Day.

Start Your Engines!

Surprise the NASCAR fan

with a Jeff Gordon cooler

packed with a winning

combination of man-

pleasing snacks. Make it

easy by arranging the gifts

in a cardboard tray,

wrapped and easy to attach

to the top of the cooler.

Designed by Laurie Scordo, IL

Desi

gnADVERTISEIt makes no sense to invest in Father’s Day

merchandise if you have no plans for advertising or marketing. BEFORE buying Father’s Day goods, sit down and map out a plan for a good marketing program. You may choose to use your Web site, along with a mini-catalog or sales fliers. Or a radio program backed up with fax materials directing interested buyers to your Web site. But do beware: not all shoppers use e-commerce, so be prepared with some old-fashioned advertising methods, too.

CALLPerhaps the easiest way to generate sales

is to pick up the phone and call your customer list. Find out which customers are interested in a Father’s Day gift basket and what type of basket they would want. Direct these customers to your Web site, send a brochure or mini-catalog — and then FOLLOW UP! Remind customers of your ability to ship coast-to-coast, and to produce a basket in any personalized theme.

VISITWith permission, set up a display in a large

office building of one of your friendliest clients. Pledge a certain percentage of your sales to the firm’s favorite charities. Then show and demonstrate the features of all the gadgets and gizmos in your baskets, plus share samples of the gourmet goodies.

Put It TOGETHER

By implementing even a portion of these ideas you should be looking at GREAT Father’s Day sales! Write GBR and tell us all about your success stories. We’d love to share them with your friends in the industry.

Gone Fishin’

A clever design like this

one will reel in a big

catch of orders! Choose

a useful fishing container

-- anything from bait to

nets to traps -- and fill it

with a selection of snacks

and fishing theme

accessories. This easy-to-

pack design won’t be one

that will let the big buyers

swim away!

Designed by

Marcia Roberts, MI

Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

Summer brings out the baseball enthusiasts ready to

celebrate any occasion in a home team theme. Fill up the

coolers with a variety of snacks and pack on all the team

colors.Designed by Brenda Stephenson, AL

Candy Bou-tasketBlend the best of candy arrays and gift

baskets into one “fan-tasket” design! Snacks fill the interior of the golf ball bank, used here as a container, while chocolates and candies ring around the top.

Step 1:Wrap a ring of double stick “red” tape

around the top half of the golf ball container, about one-inch from the bottom edge.Press mini chocolate bars onto the tape. About one-inch above the top of the chocolate bars, apply a second ring of tape, and press on the second row of candies. Repeat this step as new layers of candy are added.

Step 2:Cut a piece of cardboard to fit the open

slot in the top of the golf ball bank. Insert one end of the cardboard into the coin slot, bend it, then tape the folded cardboard end to the top of the container. Punch two holes in the cardboard and wire or tie the teddy bear to the cardboard. Tie the golf snack to the bear.

Step 3:Fill the bottom half of the golf ball

container with loosely crumpled packing paper. Wedge and press snacks into the crevices of the paper.

Step 4: Place the candy decorated half

on top of the bottom snack-packed half of the golf ball container.Tape the two sections in place at four points to secure the two halves together. Wrap the finished ball in cellophane.

Creative Marketing for Your

Home-Based Gift Business

You’re working in a home based business – locked into a zero visibility location. How do you get the message out of your house and soaring into sales?Since Father's Day planning is in season, this month's On the Homefront department takes a look at promoting, with a special eye on masculine sales. Here are some ideas you can use.CREATE A CLEVER CHARACTER

When you operate in a home based business, it's imperative to create a unique character for your business. One way to achieve this is by literally, creating a CHARACTER to deliver baskets. Be original! Create the Handy Helper or some version of a repair "man" (actually a repairwoman!) to help you score attention and get your business in the newspaper for Father's Day. You might devise a funny routine where the Handy Helper shows up to fix something in Dad's office. In the end, of course, the Handy Helper has been sent to fix up a mighty special message (Happy Birthday, Happy Father's Day, etc.).

If cavorting around isn't your style, create a different character — as in design and originality of baskets. Create a few of these and take them to the newspaper. You're still in the lead for a story!

EXPAND YOUR DISPLAY SPACE

That's right. If you don't have a display window - FIND ONE! Work with local sports specialty shops and prepare baskets using their merchandise. Help them move more merchandise and help yourself to a window display and better sales.

There may also be an opportunity to rent window space from vacant stores. Of course, there will be expense involved in renting the space, but it's often minimal. Such a display would most likely be more effective if several windows were secured citywide. Repetition is the key to better sales. You'll want to display your telephone number in large letters in each display, and deliver a strong message that you deliver and/or ship gift baskets.

BEEF UP TELEPHONE SALES

Promote your company name through advertisements, resourceful displays, newspaper stories, or whatever plans you may devise. Get your phone to ring!

Then, do you know how to sell — REALLY SELL — on the phone? Get the customer involved in saying "YES" to as many questions as possible. Don't just give customers a list of baskets you offer — weave in the benefits of the basket — the great selling points — as you relay information about your line of baskets. Paint an inspiring word picture over the telephone wires. Help the customer visualize the surprise and delight of the recipient when the basket is delivered. Describe the basket so that it sounds — and becomes — absolutely irresistible! You can learn more about

telephone sales in countless books, and pick up some specifics for gift basket telephone sales in Building a Better Gift Basket Business. (available through Festivities Publications, www.festivities-pub.com, or at www.gbreview.com). Are you still using an message system to pick up phone calls? You may be losing sales. Explore more high tech phone solutions.

SEASONAL FUND RAISERS

Once again, seasonal sales may mean its time to team up with a charity in your city for big, bigger sales. Father's Day is an outstanding opportunity for helping yourself while you help others. PTA groups might be a good organization to target for a fundraiser. By agreeing to serve, basically, as your sales team, you might award a substantial commission on each sale. You'll need to create sales forms, a presentation, and commission reporting and payment schedule. Projecting out their potential commissions based on various levels of sales volume might help nail the sale, too.

There's no reason your home based business couldn't generate enough sales on Father's Day to generate the cash you need to start making the move to a retail store. So — get out of the house and SELL!

Designed by Diana Freund, KS