I don't know about you, but starting in mid December my
office is full of cookies and candies from the many vendors
I use throughout the year. I love it all, however getting
the jeans to fit in January can be a bit of a challenge.
It got me thinking of some alternative gift ideas, and I
share them here with you.
Consider these options:
Give a resource - one year after a recent postal increase,
I printed rack cards with the new rates for first class and
standard mail. Through the course of the year, I saw these
taped to walls and put on bulletin boards as a reference.
Of course, I had my logo and phone number on the rack card,
reminding those who might be confused by the rate chart to
give me a call and allow me to help. It worked as I
actually reactivated an old client who hadn't done a
mailing in a while.
Make a donation - It's always nice to make a donation to an
organization. What about making donations in honor of your
clients and sending them a note letting them know what
you've done. This is a win-win because you help a
non-profit and receive a tax deduction for your donation
while creating goodwill with your clients/customers. This
can be very effective if you've got many customers because
you can make a donation of any size your budget will allow
and send them all a letter notifying them of the generic
gift.
Magazine subscription - Why not give a magazine gift
subscription to your clients. You can select the magazine
title that most interests them. I really like this because
you can customize each gift and it arrives every month - a
constant reminder of you and your company. I suggest
sending your own letter notifying them of their gift - even
if the publisher offers to send one for you. It's just
another reason to communicate and send them another
business card. You can find greatly discounted magazine
subscriptions here and get it all done today
http://tinyurl.com/3cfttt
Another really great aspect of
a magazine subscription - no wrapping and shipping.
The goal with any holiday gift giving is to stand out from
the crowd and to make it something your clients will like
and use. Time is ticking; don't mist this great
opportunity to create good will and be remembered all year.
Copyright, All Rights Reserved, Nicole M. Shields,
www.7stepmarketingplan.com
----------------------------------------------------
Nicole Shields is the creator of the 7 Step Marketing Plan
which simplifies the overwhelming task of creating and
managing a profitable marketing plan for small businesses.
It includes forms, formulas and worksheets in a Quick Start
Kit full of Word and Excel files. Sign-up for the f'ree
marketing course, too at http://www.7stepmarketingplan.com
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