Offering Gift Cards This Christmas?

According to blogger Rieva Lesonsky, every business should be offering gift cards.

Buying gift cards is not a casual consumer purchase. The stats show that in 2008 Americans bought more than six cards (on average), spending an average of $52 per card.

Even better for entrepreneurs is the fact that, according to Contardi, there is generally a "15 to 30 percent uptick" in what Contardi calls the "basket ring" (amount purchased) when consumers shop with their gift cards. In fact, the survey reported that 69 percent of gift card recipients spent more than the value of the card when they shopped.

This sounds like an excellent idea, but I offered gift cards one year and don't know that I want to offer them again. Granted, I did make quite a bit on the gift card sales, much of which was never redeemed. This really ate at my conscience. To top it off, two or three years later, I was still getting random calls from people who wanted to redeem the old gift cards... usually at times when it was a financial strain for me to honor the cards.

If you are thinking about offering gift cards, I urge you to do the following:

1. Put an expiration date on the gift card. A small business should be comfortable putting a one year expiration date on the card. I would do 18 months at the most.
2. Put a portion of the gift card income in a separate account to use when people want to redeem the cards.
3. Get over the guilt of making easy money for unredeemed cards.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Marketing at Christmas Parties

I went to a holiday party on Friday Night, and my kids have been to two so far. It is said that yesterday, December 15, is the biggest party night if the year.

At the party I attended the other night, I didn't bring any business cards... what was I thinking. A holiday party is an awesome networking opportunity. I spoke to people I hadn't seen in a while. I met new people too. We talked about personal stuff, and we talked about business... people asked for business cards and I did not have them!

Sigh. Maybe I will go to another party or two before the season is over.

If you are going to a holiday party, don't forget YOUR business cards.

7 Quick Fixes To Gear Up For Holiday Shoppers

Author: Karen Scharf

As the holiday shopping season is drawing near, it's time to get your website ready for what could possibly be your busiest time of the year. Here are 7 quick fixes you can easily implement on your site in one single afternoon:

1. Ask for the sale! Don't be shy about asking your customers to make a purchase. There's no need to wait until the very bottom of the page before you include an "Add To Cart" button. Your site visit might be ready to make a purchase after reading only one paragraph of your sales letter. Add multiple buy buttons to each page.

2. Help the shopper make a decision. At this time of year, there are so many gifts to buy for so many people; it's easy to get overwhelmed. Help your site visitors choose a gift by breaking your merchandise into categories. Can you create a "Gifts For Men" directory, a "Gifts For Pets" directory, etc?

3. Include options for visitors not yet ready to buy. Maybe your site visitor is in a "just browsing" mode, or is comparing several different merchants. What kind of compelling offer can you make to grab this visitor's contact information? He will probably be ready to buy sometime in the near future.

4. Beef up your guarantee. Guarantees are most effective when they are completely spelled out. Don't leave your visitor guessing. What exactly does "Satisfaction Guaranteed" mean? Who will pay for return shipping? How does a shopper request a refund? Include a link to additional information about your return policy and your complete guarantee agreement.

5. Make everything clickable. Studies show that website visitors click a lot more often than webmasters expect. If you have a graphic or an image, make sure it's clickable. Make sure headlines are clickable and include text links in addition to buttons.

6. Take advantage of your thank you pages. Believe it or not, after a buyer has made a purchase, he is most likely to buy again. Maximize this opportunity by including complimentary items on your order confirmation pages.

7. Take advantage of your transactional emails. Studies have also shown that transactional emails are opened nearly 75% of the time. This is another awesome opportunity to present complimentary items and increase your sales volume.

Time to implement: Each of the fixes can be applied in less than an hour or two. Take a day, or spend the weekend, reviewing your site and implementing these suggestions. You're sure to see an increase in your holiday sales.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ecommerce-articles/7-quick-fixes-to-gear-up-for-holiday-shoppers-246954.html

About the Author:Karen Scharf offers several whitepapers, free reports and checklists, including her FREE Can-Spam checklist and FREE email pre-flight checklist to ensure your emails get delivered, get opened and get read. Download your copies at http://www.modernimage.com/

Last minute Marketing Ideas for Halloween

It's Halloween, and you are going to have dozens, maybe even a hundred or two people knocking on your door, (depending on where you live). You can take advantage of this traffic and market your products. Here are some ideas you can use.

• If you sell beauty products, have a basket of samples next to your candy basket. Make sure your business card is attatched to the samples with bright ribbon. When you give the kids candy, give mom and/or Dad a "treat" too.
• Give out the best candy and add a business card to it. Your neighbors may not know they have an accountant, house cleaner, or home chef on their block.
• Make a knockout Halloween display and and a large sign that says 'compliments of XYZ business'
• If you have a business sign or magnet on your car, park it in such a way that the sign is visible to all who pass.

Taking Advantage of the Holidays

Many stay at home mom businesses can take advantage of the holidays. There are some exceptions of course like people who offer business services, but you can still have end of the year specials. Here are some things you can do to boost your sales this holiday season:

• Make and promote gift baskets
• Tailor your product for holidays (a muralist can make business or play backdrops, and a jewelry maker can make ornaments and special holiday earings)
• Participate in holiday fairs and group sales
• Offer holiday gift certificates (put expiration dates on them)

Do you have any unique ideas that you use during the holiday season? Leave a comment. Let us know.