Baskets By Rita's blog: 2012

Monday, November 26, 2012

Make this Holiday Season stress free!

Holiday gift giving is now a question. The older simpler days of giving a scarf or mittens or a sled are over. Everyone wishes technology gadgets. You can't give household products because people by now have them or they are more finicky about kitchen, household, and personal items that they want specifically. The dilemma is that now with internet and huge stores and even greater selections of products, we each can choose from a multitude and range of possibilities for each item. Plus most people go out and buy those items themselves. I am in a real problem of what to get people this year. Let me give you some good examples. My mom wants a particular set of serving dishes and she already obtained it yesterday in an early Black Friday special. My nephews presently have more electronic games than they can even play and my brother acquires them the newest one immediately when it comes out. My sister wanted first-class luggage and told me yesterday at Thanksgiving dinner that she found one online and has already bought it for herself. My dad was up early this morn to buy new power tools for us for Christmas and I just know that he got himself one of each too. The last few years I requested my family at Thanksgiving for lists and that definitely helped me. Yesterday at Thanksgiving meal no one was able to come up with a checklist of things. This has been a increasing situation over the years. I don't have as enough time to shop and I detest to fight the crowds. My wife and I decided to go to a scheme holidays and buy everybody something by the topic of the year. One year while at a neighborhood book shop we started buying books and then went to a big box book store to pick up not only books but calendars and games and they even wrapped a lot of them for us. It turned out to be quite expensive but it did work. The next year we had been so busy that we just went to the food market and bought gift cards for everyone. That was totally easy but it was pretty detached and we didn't have time or want to take the effort to wrap them, so we ended up feeling cheap when we handed people just an envelope. Plus it wasn't cheap in the long term and the thank you letters confirmed that people got our gift cards and amounts mixed up with other people's gifts. They appreciated them and could use them but we noticed that we forgot to use our gift cards or lost them which was a absolute waste of money. In fact it was documented that stores like gift cards because so many people never use them or find them beyond the expiration date or misplace them. The next year we individualized it a bit more and purchased food and restaurant coupons we thought each person would appreciate. It was fine. Yesterday my wife and I were bemoaning the fact that gift giving has plainly become a gift card exchange and lost its whole appeal and intent. We lost for the older days of taking time to shake and open packages or people excited about something they have been wanting realized in a gift. Those days have simply vanished. People go online and just buy what they really want. A lot of her family members are downsizing and do not need more junk. When they need or want something they go buy precisely what they want and our gifts are either regifted or go to Salvation Army. This year we want to make an impact. Quite honestly we are usually doing our shopping at the last minute. We went online last night and decided we are going to either order or go out and battle the crowds today and do our shopping. This year we want our gift to be the first one people get. So for the friends and colleagues and extended family we won't see, we found a website and nearby company right here in Denver called Baskets by Rita. There are all kinds of holiday baskets to send. We ordered online those baskets to be delivered as soon as they can. Will they ever be shocked. Not only will ours be the first one there, but the packaged baskets are wrapped so nicely with holiday ribbons that will probably be put on exhibit in their house as a decor. It was so easy. We are done and don't have to panic about those gifts. Then we discussed about going to our relatives houses for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and we want to take the gifts ourselves so we didn't order baskets to be sent to their houses. Then we had a good idea. Why not order those gift baskets and have them shipped to our house and then we will have them to take. We are excited because we can walk in with a gift that is WOW and that is not the common mail order basket from the big companies. The baskets we are ordering today for family members are bundled with gourmet food items and that is just fine. Plus we decided that is one of the only things people don't buy for themselves. My mom just goes out and buys fresh flowers when she wants them. But none of us order a gift basket for ourselves. Perfect. We are placing the order today and guess what? We can now relax. We will have sent and gotten the gift baskets even before December l. That buys us not only gifts but the total freedom of not scrambling. The gift baskets to take Dec. 24 and Dec. 25 will be on display on the shelves in my home office ready to go. This year we will go to holiday parties and watch other people worry while we are eating out, going to movies, holiday parties and relaxing. Not only is Baskets by Rita doing all the work of buying, wrapping, and sending the gifts, but it turned out to be more affordable than what we usually spend because we already paid for shipping, wrapping and bows and all the extra costs that go up each year. Perfect. We are placing the order today and guess what? We can now rest. We will have sent and gotten the gift baskets even before December l. That buys us not only gifts but the whole freedom of not scrambling. The gift baskets to take Dec. 24 and Dec. 25 will be on display on the shelves in my home office ready to go. This year we will go to holiday parties and watch other people stress out while we are eating out, going to movies, holiday parties and relaxing. Not only is Baskets by Rita doing all the work of buying, wrapping, and sending the gifts, but it turned out to be cheaper than what we usually spend because we already paid for shipping, wrapping and bows and all the extra costs that go up each year.

Make this Holiday Season stress free!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Don't put off tomorrow, what you can do today!

The best 2 strategies for corporate smart gift giving at holiday time: give a gift with that is impressive and not gift cards and make yours the first gift your clients or perspective clients or clientele will get. Best two mistakes for firm gift giving at holiday time are: Not getting the gift promptly enough and giving gift cards or gift certificates. Let's begin with screw ups.... Not preparing/tardiness. By sending it late your gift gets mixed up with all the others in a mound or in the break room and persons are likely to forget about what they got from who. The cards get shuffled and in the flurry and hustle and bustle in the days before Dec. 25 your gift is misplaced and you have lost money by now. Administrative assistants are normally in the position of giving the holiday corporate gifts and bosses, you need to pay attention. Don't come to your administrative assistant at the last second and expect her or him to work wonders...lateness on your part should not be an emergency on their part. You are putting them in a really tough place to scavenge and acquire last minute products or gifts and to get them mailed. Many times gift companies, especially holiday basket companies like Baskets by Rita in Aurora are flooded with last minute frantic requests. This year seems like a great one so don't be shocked if local and national basket and food companies run out of stock. Your secretary will be squandering time and spending way too much time on your tardy gift giving task and it not only will stress them out but take away from their typical duties. The solution to last minute gift giving difficulties is to plan early. Give them a chance to make an order and get the gift at the price point you want to spend. Did you know that most people and companies who put it off end up spending a lot more than they had attended? The items they wanted are sold out and they have to take what is remaining even if it costs more. So the two downfalls or problems with sending it late or the hassle itself and the cost of over spending and more importantly the less optimistic impact for your money. So what do you do? First of all in timeliness, give your administrative assistant a budget and time to make the order. Be sure it arrives as soon after Thanksgiving as possible to have that extremely positive effect at your clients and customers businesses. Secondly, fore go the gift card and gift certificate plan. Those have been preferred in the past but in past years everyone gets and gives gift cards and they have lost their luster and impact. It also is the most effortless way to go..it shows they weren't really worth the time or effort or they were a last minute gift thought. Gift certificates to restaurants have worked in the past too except someone is now in charge to order the food and go get it. Choose a gift that comes with a cheerful wow isn't that great or how nice or isn't that pretty. These days individuals buy practically what they want, so send a gift that comes with bling and a bow and the gift basket is probably your best. Check out local places where you can probably just go and pick them up to save shipping costs. In Denver or Colorado Baskets by Rita in Aurora is a good start.

Don't put off tomorrow, what you can do today!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

This the season not to delay!

This year I will plan to ship corporate holiday gifts ahead of time. Horror story. Last year I thought there was no hurry and that I would get true deals by waiting until mid December to buy gifts for my clients. Client gifts of appreciation for their business is very important and if you falter to send a holiday gift you have botched the regular gift that has come to be expected yearly. Don't forget how important and necessary these thankfulness tokens are. Three years ago I decided to forego the gifts because of a budget crunch. Thinking it made little or no difference I felt quite glib about the amount of money and time and headache I would save for this extra frivolous expenditure. Was I ever completely wrong. In fact many of us were wrong. The other firm people I meet with weekly all talked it over and were in agreement that one year couldn't make that much difference and we were quite smug about our money saving tactics. In my business my major competitor is someone who has tried to get my clients but I've always won their allegiance. Unfortunately for me he chose to take the risk and send out gifts early. The next year I found I was losing some of my clients because they had decided to take a look at other organizations that could deliver the same or equal service. As we asked new clientele many of them had already signed up with the major competitor and my laid back and risk-free style that I would easily keep clients was slipping away. I had to work really hard to keep the clients I had and put in a lot of time and effort for the next few years to get some of my primary companies loyalties back. Maybe it wasn't just the holiday present, but the next year I took note. Listening and asking questions of buddies and relatives about what made them devoted and things that made a difference I noted that follow up letters of thanks,telephone calls, and gifts aren't just tokens they are are reminders and stamps of assurance for the clients. So two years ago I made sure I had money for gifts at holiday time calculated. I started looking for gift ideas and sent them out the first of December. What I observed was that I immediately got cards and calls from clients. They loved them plus mine were the first gifts to arrive at their workplace. My secretary and I were talking and she pointed out the gift we got at Thanksgiving one year with the note that here's your first holiday gift to enjoy. Since it was the first and only gift at that time it did make a difference. Most gifts of food, gifts baskets, and cards come that last week before December 25 and although we appreciate them they sometimes get tossed in and mixed up and we can't remember exactly who gave what. Besides workers are bringing in treats and food for each other all week. So my secretary and I started talking and analyzing that the first gifts that come in are the most observed and appreciated and you normally remember them. That brings me to our plan for this year. We have already contacted a basket business to send out holiday gift baskets to be delivered no later than December l. Why? Because last year we thought we'd order them later and they were sold out of the one we really wanted. Since we have clients in 10 states we had failed to note that many would not arrive on time because of shipping days needed. We gave up after checking about sending flower arrangements or poinsettias which seemed useless for a few days in the office. As a last resort we scrambled to get gift cards for nearby restaurants or bakeries near each client. It took way too much time. We were able to find some gift cards in grocery store, but they were not the right denomination. We also felt uneasy that the exact amount we were spending was obvious, putting a dollar value on the client. But we got the cards sent out. It was fine and at least we sent a gift. However one of the more vocal and brazenly honest secretaries called to thank us and did say she preferred the gift baskets because she was the one who had to order and go to the eatery to bring back what was ordered with the gift card. She also made it clear that to feed everyone they had to add more money. Yikes, not a good strategy. This year I called Baskets by Rita the first of October and placed my order for gourmet gift baskets and Rocky Mountain Gift Baskets to be sent out just before Thanksgiving so they will arrive that first week of December. They explained to me that they have to order all holiday products in August and September to have enough stock to not run out in addition suppliers run out early. We're feeling really smug. Our clients will know these are gifts of appreciation, there are food items to be shared by all, they come packaged amazingly giving that WOW factor and our card and gift will be the first one they get and will be hanging around the break room all holiday season. It won't get lost with all the other gifts. Since there is not a dollar amount attached you are not blatantly telling them what money amount they are worth. Plus my secretary is so happy because this is a slower time for us and she was able to make all preparations in a more relaxed way. We discovered another money-saving hint for giving holiday gifts. We will have baskets shipped to 9 other states, but the majority are in the Denver area. My secretary has arranged to save some of the shipping and delivery costs by going to pick up most of the baskets and deliver many herself. We've added a wine and cheese FAC the first Saturday in December in our office for clients and we'll give most of them out then. If not, it would be good for me to take them and give them myself and make the personal call. The lesson of the story is do not underestimate the power of the holiday thankfulness gift and order early.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Do you need an idea what to give your clients this year?

With competition for your business, it has become absolutely necessary to give a thank you and appreciation gift at holiday season time. Like it or not the approach of saving money worked for only a couple of those hard economic years. The accepted craze was temperateness and we all assumed and privately hoped it might become tendency and a way of life. Most of us cut down on everything. We cut down the additional items like travel and vacations, Starbucks, newest fashion pieces, new cars, and entertainment. We also monitored our pennies as we were cognizant of multi-tasking errands to cut gas costs, attentive to food price tags and shopping the special offers, turning off lights and turning down heat, making gifts or regifting. It was interesting and some parts of it made us discover we do spend. However, we also understand how much we love spending our time and money on things we love. Take Jason from Denver, as an example. He missed not skiing, not going to Avalanche or Nuggets or Broncos games, not eating out and indulging in a movie. He dived into the economic recession with vigor and mentally told himself he could cut personal and business expenses and that would be the best way for him to manage both operations. He didn't like it but he was shocked at how much money he could save. He watched games on television. He shopped at the food market instead of take-out food. He give up his gym membership and used the exercise equipment in his place. At first it was a unique experience and definitely eye-opening. In business he trimmed out one of his workers and spent more time doing the work himself. He cut the usual treat Friday by not bringing in breakfast and his employees understood when he told them times were tough and to keep jobs it was regrettable but there would be no Christmas party or holiday gifts or the traditional birthday gift. It absolutely saved money. There were three major complications. One was that cutting the extras in his personal life touched Jason's mental and emotional health. He found himself missing something and becoming more irritable. Second was that cutting business extra perks greatly impacted the morale and spirit in his business for the employees and for Jason himself. Before long productiveness went down and the setting of a positive place to work took a turn for the horrible. The accommodating teamwork turned to competitive existence as employees thought who would be cut next and missed those small birthday and holiday perks. Jason himself found that he missed the optimistic vibes he got at work which were now replaced with uncomfortable silences. The third major problem was that his main competitor had taken the total opposite strategy and as he and others cut costs and services the competitor decided to keep and even raise the bar. That Denver based company hired a few additional workers and took a vigorous approach to steal customers away from the competitors who were cutting everything. It even hired away one of Jason's most effective employees. It chose to take a risk and go into debt to keep workers and keep giving gifts for birthdays and Christmas. Take the holiday gifts for example. The Denver company ordered their regular thank you and appreciation holiday baskets from Baskets By Rita and maintained their regular customers. Why? Because the customers had few other gifts, so when the holiday gift basket arrived it endured alone. The customers reacted with calls of gratitude and acceptance of using that company for the next year, since they seemed to be the strong one that would be there for them. The Denver company even put out more by ordering the Grand Gourmet basket to send to their competitors' best clients. For Jason it was a disaster because he lost two of his strongest. When he contacted them they said they were wondering if he still was in business and they knew the competitor seemed to be doing well. Jason decided it would be economical to make phone calls to his clients to keep contact. That worked for some, but he had lost some clients who would didn't come back. The next year he called Baskets by Rita in November to set up an order for baskets. He ordered a less expensive basket but had them sent in mid-December. It did serve. He also ordered a huge basket filled with candy bars and individual treats for the staff workroom. It arrived with a big bow and he was amazed at the results of his $200 investment on morale. The next year he did the same thing but also called Baskets by Rita and ordered small baskets to give his employees at their annual pot-luck lunch before the holidays. They were pleased and he felt he got so much more appreciation than just giving them cash or a gift card. It was a noticable Wow and a festive gift instead of a card. Also they didn't know how much he had spent where they used to know their value by the value of the gift card. This year Jason called Baskets by Rita the first of November and mentioned he needed a few grand baskets and gourmet baskets sent to competitors' clients. Jason jumped at the next option they gave. They suggested he send them out to be delivered right after Thanksgiving. Their motto is to be the first holiday gift received. The first gift creates more bang for the buck because they take time to read the card and it's around for a while. Some even hang the cards and the top one is yours for folks to read over and over again. Jason did remember there were clients before who had seemed to forget which company sent which gift because they all arrived at once. Baskets by Rita said to let yours be the first and rock star gift for a lasting impression. Jason is thrilled because his Good Earth Gift Baskets will arrive early not a few days before December 25.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Getting the Most from your Employees

A head of a company in the Colorado area granted an interview to a friend's son, a graduate business student, getting ready and preparing his thesis statement. The young man asked questions about marketing, budgeting, and the most beneficial market procedures. The discussion and questions also including corporate and business hurdles and challenges, protecting assets and the problems and practices in increasing sales. The CEO admitted that managing a firm's long-term reserves had always been at the heart of his energy and determining stakeholders was important. Weighing choices in every aspect was his solution to the question about best decision-making practice. The 60 minute interview was almost over when the graduate asked his last question about what was the biggest liability and what was the greatest asset in the company. After bumbling through a list of financial jargon, the CEO stopped unexpectedly and thought carefully before saying that all of that was secondary because the employees could be the greatest asset or they could be the greatest liability. The men and women working for you can make or break the company. Simple as that. The CEO then took our friend's son out to lunch and they continued to dialogue. The conversation included examples from the CEO's experience when he worked at a restaurant through college and when he managed various establishments. He had many examples of how good workers actually made the company money and the managers and owners did not always know it or recognize it. At the same moment, a rude or incompetent or an employee with a bad attitude could ruin not only the sale at the time, but later. They talked about the television show Undercover Bosses where CEOs pretend to be new employees on the ground level for a week to actually get some in field experience and insight. The CEO admitted that he had thought of doing that. The two of them throughout lunch talked about different episodes and came to the summation that employees do make or break a company. And usually what they want most even more than money or raises is to be treated respectfully and to have their efforts acknowledged. They want a thank you of some kind whether it be just a sincere thanks, a gift card, money, a promotion of a gift. The graduate revealed that his mom who had been an administrative assistant had just quit her job the week before saying she had just had enough. Her boss not only did not see what she had done but did not seem to care about rewarding anyone. When she suggested he give gift cards he said that was fine but she would have to give them and write the note and he put her on a small budget. After a year she suggested they give time off to employees but he refused saying. She noticed morale was extremely low and he did agree and she was to come up with something. She told him to come into the next morning meeting, which employees hated, with food. He told her to get some cheap donuts from the grocery store. She started just standing up to him and said no, he needed to spend some bucks and get quality pastries or food and quality coffee boxes from the Panera Bread down the street. He delegated her to do it and to be sure it was there on time. It did the trick and employees liked it. She needed a different idea for the mid afternoon meetings. So when she saw the huge basket delivered next door with all kinds of treats for employees she was impressed and contacted the basket company, Baskets by Rita. For the same money they put together a huge basket with goodies to put in the break room for everyone to enjoy. It was large and they delivered it to her that day. The boss walked in with the Stress Relief Gift Basket and there were cheers from the once tired employees. The student made an appointment the next day with his adviser to change his thesis topic to center on the importance of gratitude and acknowledgment for employees contending that they are the most valuable long term investment.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

unique and different gift

All my pals know that they will get either beer, a bottle of wine or flowers I grabbed on the way to see them. It worked for a while, but now it seems to be just too expected. Looking for a completely different birthday gifts can take a lot of time. Today I went looking for my best friend which should be easy. I know exactly what he will like so it should have been very easy. I ended up just running to a big box store and finding a gift card. They used to have small cool wooden crate type things to put the gift card in but not anymore. So that was Okay but really tiresome. Last weekend my spouse was out of town and asked me to go out and get items to put in a basket for her cousin who was bringing her daughter to Colorado to start college. My wife emailed me a list of all the wares to buy for the basket so I went to find it. She puts in mostly Colorado products like goodies, potato chips, salsa, tortilla chips, nut products, Colorado water, tea drink, coffee, beef jerky, cheeses, crackers, and honey sticks. First I could not find a basket in the food market and only a few of the merchandise. I finally gave up because it was taking forever to look and be sure I had Colorado made foods. My neighbor was also shopping and I revealed my frustration when she recommended just going to our business district and going into the large kitchen specialty shop and having them help me. I did that and it was helpful but I was shocked at how much it cost, including the basket. They proposed to help me put it all together in the basket and put on a nice big bow. It looked great and my wife was not surprised at the cost of buying the stuff there. She goes to 7 or 8 different places to buy all the merchandise and saves about twenty dollars. Now that is just way too much work. An easier way is just to go online and find a gift basket shop that will do it and deliver it. My wife and I argued over the expense, so to show my point I found a several of baskets at Baskets by Rita which is a Colorado based company. They have a Colorado wooden crate that is cooler than typical baskets. Even after the delivery cost, it turned out it was less costly than us doing it ourselves. So getting back to the birthday gift idea I saw the crate and decided to order one and have it delivered to my house so I could see how it looked. It came and was excellent. My wife and I concluded that they do a much more professional job of putting it together and it looks amazing. Plus it turned out to be more affordable than doing it ourselves. They have a great selection so that is my plan from now on when buying Beer Birthday Tub. http://www.basketsbyrita.com

Monday, October 15, 2012

Making a Good Impression is so important!

Making a good first impression is at the heart of management and profession skill musts. Whether you are applying for employment or managing a task it is a strategy tool that ranks among the most essential. You want to get off to a excellent start. One article contends that within 3 seconds someone judges you by your appearance, your body language, you mannerisms, and the way you present yourself. We make impressions by our moves, what we say and by what others say about us. To make a good impression you must know what was said about you or how you are perceived. If it is beneficial you come with a good character. If it was not you have a chance to change that impression. How you present yourself IS the impression. That first impression must be powerful enough to show confidence to establish trust. However over-confidence can destroy trust. It is a fine line. Courteous, attentive, on-time, positive, appropriateness and sincerity go a long ways. Fortunately you do not have to sign up for a workshop or school, but simply google making a nice impression to find numerous sites with free and priceless information. The difficulty lies in finding out what others have said about you and what information they already know. That means investigating. So that takes care of the first impression. The key is keeping a great impression. Once that you have landed that deal or sold that house or secured that client your impression skills are not locked in. You must expand that impression that they made the right choice and that you truly appreciate them. You do that in your text with a letter or note or a phone call. You do it in your conduct with making face to face timely visits when possible. And you are sure to spend a few bucks to maintain that impression. It might be with food or gifts, and not just holiday expected gifts. When you first land the sale follow up with something. My neighbor is a real estate broker and used to send a restaurant gift card to her clients after the closing. He now walks into the closing with an impressive and festive gift basket from Baskets by Rita. He already knows the client, so whether it's a beer tub, wine gift basket, gourmet gift basket he pays the money for it to be a wow factor and make the great impression as he walks through the door. He said the day he came into the room with a baby gift basket for the couple about to become parents they were so excited. Lasting impressions have rewards and he says that the wow factor and the oohs and aahhhs he gets from them carry through. As they thank him as they are leaving, he mentions he would appreciate any referrals they would send his way. When they refer, he has another gift basket sent to their house. He claims this impression has definitely increased his client list. So good impressions are very important.

Medical Student Gift

Individuals who already know individuals who are either applying to medical school or preparing to take medical licensing exams already know of how stressful they are. Just because everyone is cheering on a prospect does not take off the very intense pressure they really feel. Whether it is the medical students entrance exam or one of licensing exams they have a lot at risk and feel their whole future is resting on that specific test. Financially each exam not passed brings on more financial problems to them and they probably have already built up high loans. So whether a person is taking the MCAT the Medical College Admission Test as a med school entrance exam or the the USMLE the United States Medical Licensing Exam or FSMB Federation of State Medical Boards they all mean high stress. No one can take the exam or go through it for them so all others can do is support them to continue the degree programs, whether it be for a Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine or Doctor of Podiatric Medicine or even a masters of physician assistant program. Since so much is riding on the licensing in getting the medical degree phone calls of encouragement are supportive but phone texts are even better since they can read them at their convenience. A med students routine is heavy and free time and sleep are minimal. It is always good to let them know you are thinking of them and you know how challenging these times are and that they have your help. You can send a card. You can order a stress and anxiety relief gift to be delivered to help them through those long study hours. University of Colorado med students have enjoyed the Med Student Care Package and Board Exam Gift from Baskets by Rita of Aurora. Located just down the street Baskets by Rita does ship across the United States so care packages are not limited to the Denver area or just Colorado. They are quite pretty and come in a doctor RX box. They have also been used for doctors to send to particular patients or students they have mentored or as a thank you from a med student to thank a professor/doctor. Set up as the med student care package and board exam gift for support might have been the intent but they will customize it for a patient to send to thank a doctor or even for someone to send as a get well gift with a card saying just what the doctor ordered for you to get well. Minimizing tension and showing emotional support are a definite positive impact on good mental health. Treats and good wishes are always welcome and relieve stress and show thanks, concern, care, best wishes.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Are you hosting a Conference in Denver?

Conferences are not inexpensive. They can make a big effect and comprehensive planning is necessary. Not only are thecorporate seminars expensive for the presenter, but also for the participants. Participants and companies are not easily parted with their dollars and they want to be assured and reassured that they have vested their time and funds well. Post reviews show that modest details make a major difference. Throwing a conference or convention together without focus to the smallest details can spell failure. So the steps to take as a promoter and host for the conference/convention are to find a great spot. Knowing your prospective attendees is important whether you choose a location that is a short distance for them to drive or choosing a great getaway for companies to see and experience a new city. Check out the cost of the building and ask for details. Do not choose busy times of the year for holidays, family vacations or a busy time for the businesses targeted. For example, as retailers do their buying for summer sports equipment, late spring and early summer or not the time to entice them. They are preoccupied and they have already obtained their items for the year. Next you must analyze the schedule to be sure the timing is good. If you overbook they may not have extra time to enjoy themselves. If you do not offer ample workshops or variable schedules of interest, they will not think they gained anything from the conference or convention. Try to get a key speaker or two to draw a crowd. Promote early to get them to lock into your event first on their calendars. It even works to offer a discount incentive for early signup. Do assign an pro to offer all information the convention goer will need from airport transportation to hotel registration and maps. Of course your important concern will be the conference content itself. So plan to keep it going, keep it efficient, keep it stimulating. It is better to have more short sessions with question/answer free time to chat and connect than to have participants leaving lengthy sessions because they are tired or feel they are hearing repetitive information. The first impact will make a huge difference. Efficiency and getting information to help airport/hotel/conference center logistics run smoothly will set off the tone of the convention. It is also important that when they arrive there are lots of welcome folks available to set that upbeat favorable tone and answer questions. The registration table should include all the info they will need. And you always must be willing to put out the money for freebies. Our company attended a conference in a small city in a mid-western town. It was obvious they were trying to save money and got the conference center and food cheap. We paid a alot for a rental car to drive the 2 hours to the locations and stay in a small 2 star hotel/motel conference center. The pretzels and vats of bad coffee set the tone for a long two days ahead. The next year we chose to go to the Denver Convention Center and what a significant difference. Flying into DIA was so impressive with those beautiful mountains as a backdrop. Our hotel was attached to center and there were all kinds of restaurants, night life, shopping nearby. We found a cool Wine Welcome Gift Basket from a local basket company in Aurora. It was a box with all sorts of Colorado snacks. That convention rocked and we will go again next year.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Football Beer Gift Tubs for my friend!

So how is your favorite team doing this season? It is football season again and for those of us who really like football we live for this time of year. Not only is it gorgeous weather to go to games but we begrudge the fact it has been a lengthy dry season in the sporting world since Superbowl time last year. Hopefully each of us is looking at the teams, playing fantasy football and making predictions. For guys it offers a piece of debate for any place we find ourselves. There is also the unfamiliar and best hopes for our popular football team to do well this season. Everybody seems to be talking about the replacement refs and how soon will normal football refs be back on the fields. It is way too convenient to get so mad about it that you find yourself ranting and raving. That is what has been happening at my place. I whine and moan and groan and am quick tempered with my wife and she does not warrant that. She is such a clever football wife that to get angry is not the way she handles things. She amazingly uses good will and sense of humor. I am so fortunate. After this weekend and my horrifying mood I did not deserve to get anything for my birthday yesterday. I was in Denver and she had a beer and nuts gift basket from Baskets by Rita delivered to my hotel. Since one of my favorite teams was the Denver Broncos the tub she ordered was a Bronco one and she wrote a great message using her awesome humor to help get me level-headed. It was amazing. I called her and made the decision to have flowers sent the next day. I normally do that. So since I'm gone for a week, I called the lady at baskets by Rita and she's sending a gourmet wine basket to my wife. Good move on my part because my wife will not expect it. Us guys are not very creative or good about gifts but I am quite darn proud and pleased with myself. My stepfather is a diehard Green Bay Packers fan so I sent him a sympathy basket. He will really like it and really get a kick out of it. My stepmother was raised and is loyal to the Giants, have been raised in NYC, so I'm having a Congratulations basket sent to her arriving the same day. Can hardly wait to speak to my parents. They are always coming up with gifts and ways to help my wife and me so this would be great. This ref strike has certainly got everyone talking. The good news is that it gives friends something else to talk about besides politics. Our secretary really gets on all of us though and she says we should be feeling sorry for those poor replacement refs. Without them we couldn't watch any football at all. I guess that is true cuz

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Building good relationships with you employees

Today's article features suggestions garnered from a few companies about how to boost morale and not lose excellent employees. Striving to keep the workplace positive should be of major concern to CEOs and bosses. Losing money and time is a huge concern. If workers are content and like to come to work production grows. If they feel that they are part of the team and that they are appreciated they become engaged to the company. Factory produced thank yous and anticipated pats on the back even raises and the exact same bonuses or gifts or treats lose their impact after awhile. In fact employees begin to bank on predictable gratitudes and gifts and treats. If you provide donuts every Friday it becomes the norm and just a normal part of the work schedule. If you give a gift card for every 10 sales it becomes expected and if you miss one you will get resentment instead of thanks for the gift cards you have given. Remember the movie with Chevy Chase in the Christmas movie where he banks on the yearly bonus from work and when it is not given one year the boss becomes the bad guy in everyone's eyes. In the movie and in real life people just expect the bonus, money gift, turkey, whatever is the norm every year. Often they order products or spend the money before it even comes in. For that reason firms need to be very careful not to do the same thing week after week or month after month or year after year. Food treats should not be the common because they become anticipated and actually become rather lackluster. Some would say that money is always the best way to go because everyone can spend it however they want. True, but it also can get repetitive. If you toss out a dollar at the weekly meeting one week for something, the next week you bring in a gourmet coffee cart. If you give a grocery card for Christmas one year you need to deliver a gourmet gift basket the next year. If you provide lunch a day one month you need to do something diverse the next month. Most executives feel that this type of creativity is not a part of their jobs and it is not crucial. Morale boosters are very essential. corporate appreciation gifts are the best way to say thanks for a job well done and to encourage hard work in the future. Most of the time companies use administrative assistants to find ideas and put together the thank you. For women flowers and spa packages and gift cards work. For men beer tubs, hardware/home improvement gift cards are great. Restaurant gift certificates are good too. You just have to get ingenious. Corporate Gifts or Company gifts can be difficult when you are including a lot of people in one office--it could be a gesture of encouragement or a thank you gift to a whole office or company. You either have food delivered or if you are worried about food spoilage send a huge corporate gift basket with various items. My company has put the burden on me, the administrative assistant, to come up with two new ideas each month to spend only $300 on the 20 employees. They said I need to find gifts of thank you gifts to include everyone. I am looking for new tips for next month but this month we have seen a huge difference in positive attitude around the office after my two appreciation gifts were done. The first was for each employee to find one dollar bills in various places during a week. This last week to thank them for their efforts, we had a huge Wine and Cheese Gift Basket arrive to overpower the snack table. After hearing workers talking about the Aurora movie theatre shooting victims, we chose an Aurora gift basket company, Baskets by Rita and we were not disappointed. So remember to thank your employees and show appreciation for a job well done and to encourage hard work.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Special baby gift

Superb idea for mailing a unique, cute, adorable and unusual baby gift is to order a baby girl or baby boy welcome wagon. The cute small red wagons carry lots of baby gift goods that are practical for newly born children. Knowing that it is always fun to send something uncommon for the new baby is a difficult task. Usually individuals call the medical center gift shop for the same, boring gifts they have. They have the usual blue and pink flower arrangements which are nice but do not last and are challenging to transport home. That sort of baby gift is soon forgotten. They also have baby gift baskets but you may find that the parents have already received at least one or more from the hospital gift shop. Asking the gift shop worker does not assure you that visitors have popped into the gift shop and procured the same gift. I was embarrassed to stop in and buy a cute basket and went up to her room to see two matching baskets from other people. That meant I had to go back down and switch it for something really common in the gift shop. The worst part was that it definitely took the excitement of my gift giving away. They were apologetic as was I apologetic and embarrassed. When the the gift shop person just rolled her eyes about wanting to exchange it, I had just had it and instructed her I wanted a refund. In the parking lot of the Denver hospital I met a man and gal carrying in these adorable pink baby girl and blue baby boy gift red wagons. That is exactly what I had wanted to walk in with something that caused the couple to ooh and aah about. I just flat out stopped them and asked where they got them. They had ordered them from a basket store near the Denver hospital called Baskets by Rita. Cut little welcome baby wagon that were the fantastic birth gift. They were definitely unique baby gifts and pragmatic and enjoyable. They told me Baskets by Rita also has a big brother/sister line of baskets that they gave one time. I got on my iphone and instantly called Baskets by Rita and ordered one of the little red wagon as a baby welcome gift for the newborn baby. It was quick to arrange to have it delivered to their house when they got home from the hospital. When they got home with the new baby and got the Little Boy's Gift Basket, they immediately called me and said I just had to come over to see the new baby and the adorable wagon. So from now on the hospital gift shop will not be my first choice for sending gifts or flowers.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Back to School

Just can't believe that school is almost beginning since August has already came. Summer goes quick. Youngsters are back in college and for me it is hardest to say goodbye to the young adults who are my family members who are going back to college. It was so cool to see them all summer and now some are packing up getting ready to go to college. Most of the kids I know go to Colorado State University in Fort Collins or Colorado University in Boulder. Two are going to Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Actually there are two of my cousins kids who are coming to schools in Colorado. My friend is making up little gift bags for each kid with cookies and goodies from the supermarket to assist get them stocked up for dorm life. She has bought chips, dip, candy, nuts, and snacks and put them into a bucket. They turned out quite cute. When I asked her how much it cost she said she had no idea. I had a tough time finding a bucket and filling it with stuff to look good. It just did not appear to be enough. Then I started adding up the cost because I knew I needed to go purchase more stuff to make it look good. I just that wow factor for college students when they get to school. I know they may be a bit homesick and this is the nicest thing I can do for them and probably more for their parents. Shoving the products in the bucket is alright and it gets the task done. After making two of the buckets best friend suggested I look at Colorado Gift Baskets. She told me this after she was surprised at how much I had spent on each gift. Her business uses Baskets by Rita for all the gift baskets they send to visiting clients. There are great wooden crates with mountains and the word Colorado on them stuffed with products from Colorado. After checking out the website of Baskets by Rita I do not dare tell my husband that I actually could very well have sent a Colorado crate for the same price or even cheaper than I spent on my own. http://www.basketsbyrita.com

Monday, August 27, 2012

Gracias, A way of saying, "Thank you!"

It is difficult to come across unusual and sincere and special ways of saying thank you to someone you value or endorse. To pay honor to their skills and work by commending them for support. You want them to know of your gratitude what they have achieved for you or for others or for the agency. To recognize that is the first step. To let the person realize you sincerely and truly appreciate them and acknowledge them is extremely important. Delivering thanks is not just for Thanksgiving anymore. You must offer and endorse the behaviors you want to see continue. So the first phase is to be aware of showing appreciation and acknowledging it. That does not mean going overboard all the time and having to give lots of gifts or money for every little thing. Research have found that people respond to acknowledgements of even the slightest kind such as a nod or look of approval or an actual pat on the back. Even a smile and a look of facial gratitute might be ways of endorsing self esteem and showing you just like and recognize what has been done or said. These words of appreciation and acknowledgment display tribute to the person and show that you value them. Saying thank you works. Now if you overdo it for every little thing it thanks and appreciation lose their value. It has to fit your personal way and must be real. Sincere gratitude and the word here is sincere is enormous. For a business applause of any kind is good but eventually and periodically you need to put your money where your mouth is and deliver something as appreciation of services and recognition of gratitute. That token of appreciation could be money such as a raise or cash with a thank you note. And you have to mix it up a little bit too. If you know the person shops at a certain store or enjoys a particular coffee house or restaurant you could give gift certificates. They are always appreciated. This works if you also do not want to make a big deal or applaud out loud for everyone to see or hear. Sometimes you do and you want others to step up so they too will get those monetary awards. So the looks, the thank you words, the notes and the occasional gift cards work. If you feel you want something with more of a wow factor then consider an actual gift that wows. The problem with money or gift cards is that they are definitely appreciated but have an exact value and the amount given one employee can be perceived by others as a rating scale by what they get. My business has small gift cards that are consistent for certain things then we started going to get plaques engraved and people displayed them for a while but are now gone and seem to be old hat to everyone. The secretaries said it is taking too much time to go out and shop for these prizes and that employees compare how much we spend on one compared to another. One of our secretaries found an Aurora based gift basket company that she now calls and has a gift basket or pail made up and delivered to us. It is so simple. Sometimes she just orders one of the baskets online from Baskets by Rita and tells them what to put on the card. More often recently she has been writing a note on the order or even calling and asking that the basket be unique. She just gives the price we want to pay and they put together a different gift basket crate box or pail every time. That way employees have no idea what amount we spent and theirs is unique. It is great way to say, "Thank You!- A Thank You Gift Basket." http://www.basketsbyrita.com

Gracias, A way of saying, "Thank you!"

Monday, July 23, 2012

Wedding Gift Baskets

We went to a wedding Thinking I'd just go to their wedding registry but they chose not to register anywhere. That meant just putting money into an envelope. Does anybody else feel a bit bizarre about that sometimes? First of all, I'm always second-guessing how much money and secondly, I know what I do when I get cash as a gift item. I just put it in my pocketbook and end up spending it at the grocery store or the parking garage. True--maybe they could use it to buy gas for the car. I don't want to do that any more. I have a couple wedding presents I still use and think of the people who gave them every single time I use them. But I don't know the tastes of this couple well enough--I called her mom and found out they love to go to the local park for picnics with a basket of wine and cheese. Problem solved! I found a great wine basket at Baskets by Rita and called to ask if they'd help me personalize a couple items. They were so nice and helpful. No, I talked to the real person, not somebody in a foreign country, who was going to put the basket together for me. The baskets are not mass produced and sitting on a shelf. They make them individually after they get the order. The wedding invitation was covered with sunflowers and the wedding was at a site with a sunflower background. I requested the basket contents and ribbon include the bright sunflower yellow color. I had it delivered to my house and I was so excited! It was cool--when we arrived at the wedding, there were only plain enveloped on the gift table--the Wine Basket made a huge impression did I ever get a huge bling for my money. It definitely made an impression. From now on, I'm walking into birthday parties, anniversaries, etc. with a basket. http://www.basketsbyrita.com

Saturday, May 5, 2012

A Good Old Fashioned Thanks

It appears as if the craft of giving thanks has become lost over time. Mailing a personalized thank you note was at one time habitual for both personal and business situations, but now many people believe it's enough to quickly shoot off an email with a quick "thanks" before getting back to their chaotic day to day lives. Now don't take this the wrong way. I know that the world is much more fast paced than it was previously and the majority of people barely have a second to sit back and catch a break, but thinking about it, that only gives you all the more reason to send a sincere thank you. Given that we've become less used to getting an official thank you, it makes a much greater impression when we do get one. It certainly is a lovely surprise to see that someone bothered to say "thanks." I haven't even mentioned the impact it can have on your business. By simply taking a second to write a personalized thank you, you are able to express to your customer how important their business is to you. By establishing personal connections with your clients, you are guaranteeing their confidence and giving them a reason to conduct business with you as opposed to your competitors. If I haven't yet convinced you that sending a thank you gift or note is worth the effort it takes, why not think about doing something that takes virtually no time at all? Sending flowers or a gift basket from an online site takes about as much time as sending an email, yet leaves a much greater impression. Gift like Thanks A Million Gift Box When you want to say thank you in a big way and still stay within your budget we have just the thing. Here is our thanks a million budget box filled with caramel corn, pretzels, fruit snacks, raspberry filled cookies, tea, cookies and a Chocolove chocolate bar. This assortment of gourmet treats will make a great impression as well as communicate your appreciation. Great for employee and customer appreciation or anytime you want to say thank you. Forget all objections and exercise some old fashioned courtesy the next time you have the opportunity to say thank you. Baskets By Rita is one online business that has a fantastic selection of gift baskets for all occasions. (Insert database). Thanks for listening! To give someone the hint or pass on this excellent advice, repost this blog on Facebook or Twitter! http://www.facebook.com/basketsbyrita http://twitter.com/#!/basketsbyrita

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Baskets By Rita, a Colorado Gift Basket Company, Celebrates its 20th Anniversary

Ten years after being laid off from Agilent Technologies, Marge Van Woerkom and her business, Baskets By Rita, are still going strong. As a previous Reporter Herald article outlined, Van Woerkom was one of many Loveland residents who found themselves unemployed in 2002 when HP and Agilent downsized. After 19 years of working for HP and Agilent, Van Woerkom refused to be a victim of her situation. She pulled herself together after the lay off and bought an existing business in Aurora, Colorado. She chose not to change the company's existing name, Baskets By Rita, which already had a strong reputation in the Denver metro area and this choice has served her well. "We've built our business on the philosophy that the customer come first" says Van Woerkom.

Since Van Woerkom took ownership of the company, she has managed to grow sales despite the economic recession of the past few years. In addition, she has grown the company's clientele and web presence year over year with the help of her staff and dedicated members of her family. As a sign of its ongoing growth, Baskets By Rita began plans several months ago to create a sister company, Gift Agent. Gift Agent will offer customers a slightly more specialized product line packaged in specialty boxes which will allow the company to be more eco-friendly and create more of a recognized brand identity. The hope is that receiving a gift from Gift Agent will be comparable in recipients' minds to receiving a box of Godiva chocolates. While Gift Agent gives cause for much excitement at Baskets By Rita, that is not the only exciting news for the company.

This year, Baskets By Rita is celebrating it's 20th year of business. While many other gift basket companies have gone out of business, Van Woerkom and her staff have managed to maintain steady growth despite the public's growing need to economize. To show their gratitude for the continued support of their customers and celebrate their 20 years of success, Baskets By Rita has planned a series of sales promotions for each month of the year. These promotions include deals such as 15% off when you spend $50 or more and a gift of a free basket for the winner of a video commercial contest. For every dollar saved by their customers through these ongoing promotions, Baskets By Rita will donate a dollar to a local charity. Each month, the company will choose two local charities to support and they will match the savings of their customers to determine the donation amount. The best part of this campaign is that customers are encouraged to vote for their favorite charities so that everyone can be involved. As a local business, Baskets By Rita does its best to support local programs and Van Woerkom is excited to have an excuse to give back even more than her usual holiday charitable donations. Like us on Facebook and vote for your local charity. When doing so we will send you a coupon code for 20% off your next purchase.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

A Story Of Easter's Origin

Easter Origins Have you ever asked yourself where the legend of the Easter Bunny came from? I mean really, do rabbits and colorful eggs really say anything about Jesus' resurrection? The response is no. The tradition of the Easter Bunny was created in the 13th century and comes from pre-Christian Germany. The pagan people of that time period worshipped numerous gods and goddesses. The goddess of spring and fertility was known as Eostra, which is where the name Easter came from. As you may know, spring is the time for rebirth. Because of this, Eostra's sign was the rabbit. The rabbit signified regeneration since rabbits are well renowned for their significant rate of reproduction. With time, this representation of Eostra result in other myths and in the 1500s, the earliest fable of the Easter Bunny was published. Now since you know where the Easter Bunny came from you are likely asking yourself to know about the eggs. Eggs have been a symbol of fertility for years and were likely included in early pagan festivities of spring. As Christianity became more widespread in Europe and in Germany, previous pagan customs began to mesh with modern Christian celebrations. Nowadays, we know that Easter eggs signify Jesus' resurrection. Over time the Easter Bunny myth developed still further and turned into what we know it as today. Comparable to the myth of Santa Clause, German families would convince their children that if they were well behaved the Easter Bunny would arrive and bring eggs that they could trade for sweets and various other treats. People began the tradition of creating nests for the eggs and these nests ultimately morphed into the cheerful colorful Easter baskets which we have today. The fable of the Easter Bunny first found its way to the US in the 1700s when German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania. These days, this Easter belief is a widespread part of our traditions as are tons of other norms which come from the homes of our immigrant forefathers. If you'd like to play the Bunny this Easter, purchase a basket such as our Girls Easter Basket for somebody you love. Baskets By Rita provides numerous Easter baskets to choose between and is offering 10% off all Easter gift baskets for the month of March. Girls Easter Basket filled with special goodies for Easter giving. This small Easter basket is the perfect combination of toys and goodies for a child. We filled our white willow basket with a butterfly coloring sketch pad activity book and 4 pack of crayons, plastic Easter eggs filled with candy, M& M's, Starburst candy, Disney fun straw, Jelly Belly sour jelly beans, Gold Fish crackers, Plush Easter Bunny and a silk butterfly. Follow is on Twitter or find us on Facebook. http://www.basketsbyrita.com