Thanks to input from many of you, this month we’re unveiling a new Golden Basket Club membership level.

The Bronze level includes a monthly video and a premium newsletter.

Both parts focus on the corporate side of business and basic to advanced design techniques.

Click here to read more about Bronze membership at Golden Basket Club and sign up to receive charter member gifts valued at over $100.

July and August are months when corporations make their decisions about how they’ll profit, what they’ll pay employees, and into which departments monies will be distributed in the upcoming year.

This is a wise time for you to make commitments about your business as well for end-of-year sales and your 2011 action plan.

  • Start by reviewing last year’s sales and deciding to increase that amount by a certain percentage such as 15 or 25 percent.
  • Then begin deciding how you’ll contact new and current customers to capture their early holiday orders.
  • Finally, write on paper your big goals for the new year and objectives that will secure those plans.

What I share above is how I developed plans for my business many years ago. My percentage increase plan was 20 percent, and that was exceeded by gaining accounts from my bank’s manager and insurance agent.

Postcards were my big contact plan along with sales that came from a newspaper feature story about my business. Television appearances were my big goals for the next year, a feat I once thought was not achievable but transformed my business for the better.

The GiftBasketBusiness.com blog post, Four Ways to Woo Corporate Clients, shares insights that were inspired by designers’ questions about getting corporate sales.

Your success story will be different than mine, and most of all you will accomplish more and increase sales quicker because of the low and no-cost promotional opportunities available to you today.

Plan to succeed, or don’t plan at all. You’ll receive whichever reward fits into the category of your choosing.

No matter how much a company downsizes, support staff continues to be the backbone of every firm.

This highly-skilled position, whether called receptionist, clerk, secretary, or administrative executive, is prized because the person in charge knows how to balance duties and discretion.

Selling gift baskets to large and small companies for Administrative Professionals Week begins by reviewing contacts in each company. It doesn’t matter if you know the janitor or junior vice president; the key is to ask the person for support to contact people in charge of purchasing in one, several or many departments, depending on how the company is structured.

Your inventory must be comprised of products that will reward those who serve in the front office and board room. If you’re ready to show your best, prospects will buy from you to thank their support staff for a job well done.

10 Sure-Fire Ways to Cash In on Administrative Professionals Week addresses this topic more extensively. Click here to learn more about this business building CD.

It feels like the end of the world when you make a mistake during a corporate presentation.

Did the mistake:

  • Close your business permanently?
  • Cause you physical harm?
  • Make you faint on sight?
  • If none of these occurred, you can recover quickly. In fact, the client doesn’t know what happened, so you can proceed with your presentation and think before making another error that drains your profits.

    Don’t be afraid to tell the client you’ll call with the correct information if you cannot answer right away, which is one savvy marketing idea from the book, 101 Ways to Market Your Gift Baskets.

    This practice will show that you’re a considerate designer who cares about clients’ needs.

    What’s the secret to capturing business from customers who will only turn to you for holiday gifts?

    That’s what you’ll uncover in this week’s issue of Basket Biz, and you’ll also find many ideas to increase your holiday sales in 101 Ways to Market Gift Baskets.

    Join the Basket Biz membership by clicking here. You’ll receive a weekly Email newsletter, monthly print newsletter, and link to watch a monthly video.

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