Marketing Custom Made Gift Baskets Online

Q:I have recently started a small business which I am running out of my home. If anyone has some advice on how I could get the word out and increase my sales I would appreciate the help. The business is 'Custom Made Gift Baskets'. I have printed flyers and displayed baskets at numerous mini markets and craft shops. I have sold approx. 15 baskets through mostly word of mouth. This is good, but I would like it to turn into a full time venture.

A:Go to your local public Library. Ask for a book on self-promotion, such as the "Unabashed Self-Promotor's Handbook" or some such book. Get with SBA, the nearest SBDC, and get the help of SBA/SCORE. There is no cost on either, I believe. Get with the bulletin boards at laundromats. Pick the laundromat carefully and slant your poster toward the Yuppie Gift Market. There are other ideas that will occur after you think of this for a while. The "Guerrilla Marketing" books by Jay Levinson are excellent, as is "Streetfighting" by Jeff Slutsky. Once you start reading those, you may realize what kind of a task you are up against. Have you thought of hiring a marketing firm? Probably, for less than you think (a few hundred dollars) they could come in and give you some excellent direction, developing promotional materials and advertising avenues, as well as helping you develop an overall marketing plan. One possibility is certainly the Internet. If you're anywhere near a tourist area, offer theme giftbaskets that feature products made in your area. Buy or trade for space on a web site that features only local information and will cross promote you with banners on other pages within the site. How about local banks or insurance companies. They often send gifts to their clients and a custom gift basket that I've received is a very welcome present. Those free calendars don't go to the better customers. ;-)