Gift biz unwrapped episode 70.
If you don't see the potential in the opportunity,
let it go.
Hi, this is John Lee,
Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
and you're listening to gifted biz unwrapped,
and now it's time to light it up.
Welcome to gift biz,
unwrapped your source for industry specific insights and advice to develop
and grow your business.
And now here's your host,
Sue Monheit.
Hi there.
I'm Sue and welcome to the gift biz unwrapped podcast.
Whether you own a brick and mortar shop sell online or
are just getting started,
you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your
business. And today I have joining us,
Shirley, George Frazier,
for those of you who don't know Shirley yet,
she is recognized as a world authority on gift baskets and
starting a business from scratch in business.
Since 1990,
Shirley is head of baskets.
Tologist at gift basket business.
She helps creative people and aspiring entrepreneurs to create a great
life for themselves and their families.
By turning their passion into a fun and rewarding business Shirley's
books include how to start a home-based gift basket business,
the gift basket design book and marketing strategies for the home
based business.
Surely conduct seminars at conferences and trade shows and provide small
business advice on CNBC.
Most of all,
she loves helping entrepreneurs just like you.
And I decide how to start a business that stays as
small as you want or grows as large as you dream.
Wow, Shirley,
thank you for joining me and welcome to the show.
Oh, Thank you so much.
It's a pleasure to be here with you and the audience.
Yay. I like to start off by taking a little bit
of a creative approach and getting to know you in a
little bit of a different way,
and that is by understanding your ideal motivational candle.
If you were to create a candle that represents you,
what color would a candle be and what would be the
quote on that candle?
Oh wow.
My candle color would be a balance between orange and red
love. Love orange.
Red is such a powerful color that that's why I would
milled in a way combined the two colors.
And on that candle,
it would say stay outside of the lines.
Why stay within a small area when all the outside is
where the creation lies.
So it would be stay outside of the lines.
There you go.
You're right.
Staying outside of the lines allows you to create something new
and be something different that will attract people to you because
it's not something that they've seen before and it tests you.
It makes you stretch further.
That's right.
Love that.
All right.
Now, surely I just have to share with all of our
listeners when I left my corporate world and decided it was
a whole long story,
I'm not going to go into that right now,
but decided that I was going to start a gift basket
business. The first thing that I did is what I always
advise people to do is research,
go find out what's out there,
learn what other people have already done.
And the very first person I saw in this space was
you, you did a meeting in Chicago.
I don't even remember what year it was.
It was way back when.
So it's so exciting to see how you have evolved.
And then here I've evolved past a gift basket business into
some other things.
It's really cool to be talking to you in here in
your story from today,
you know,
where both of us are today,
take us back to the early part of gift basket business.
How did you decide this was something you were going to
embark on in the first place?
I have entrepreneurs in my family that go back as far
as I can.
Well, not that I can remember.
I was told by my grandparents and my mom and my
dad that we've had entrepreneurs since about 1900 in the family
and probably earlier than that,
but no,
one's around to share that information.
I have a great grandmother who grew strawberries in Virginia and
shipped them to Manhattan.
I have an aunt I've never met,
never met any of these people who had a fudge business
in Brooklyn,
which is where I'm from.
And my mom was one of her delivery people.
My dad was a color chemist.
He had his own color company back in the 1970s.
And so that was the foundation for my feeling,
the entrepreneurial bug.
And I was deciding while I was working downtown New York
city in the former world trade center,
deciding if I was going to have an intimate apparel shop
or what kind of business I was going to have,
and my husband made a small gift for a friend.
It was a,
he wrapped a small core bottle with rocks glued to the
bottom of it that he just found in the backyard.
He wrapped it in saran and presented it to her.
It was a gift that just lifted her spirits figuratively.
And from that I thought about gift baskets.
It had nothing to do with baskets.
It was just a sweet gift that really went to the
heart of bringing her out of the funk that she was
in. And I thought about gift baskets and started my research
as you had started to when we met in Chicago,
which like you said was forever ago.
I started looking for different.
I started going to trade shows.
A lot of research went into that foundation.
And that's where things started with that small bottle of liquor
and the rocks attached to the bottom.
Oh, with a shot glass attached to the whole thing as
well. Well,
of course,
Oh my gosh.
It's so interesting because it was that emotional connection you had
with the product and that whole experience that made you think
I want to pay it forward.
I want a business that is fulfilling and provides that feel
good. That recognition,
that appreciation that relationship between people that then led you into
this business.
Absolutely. And how established really was a gift basket industry.
At that point,
It was picking up speed.
And this was the early,
very early 1990s,
like many industries gift baskets have come and go as a
focus for gift giving.
They've never really gone away,
but there is that flow of popularity.
And then it pushes back gift basket to have been around
from my research since 19,
even 1913 or 1916,
when gift baskets started through a baby's changing station,
being the foundation,
not a basket,
but an actual changing station with the bibs and all kinds
of things that you give to a baby wrapped in cellophane.
And from there,
it's moved through the depression in the 1920s and thirties,
it was a ration gift that was given to the rich
during world war two.
So gift baskets have come and go in popularity,
but it's never gone away in the 1990s gift baskets again
was picking up speed.
There were people who are giving gift baskets in the real
estate industry.
They wanted them made by people like us to give to
their clients for different industries in different occasions.
So when I started in gift baskets,
the popularity was there and it was also confirmed by a
magazine called gift basket review.
That started a month after I came into the business.
So it was a really great time to start to dream
in a way of how a gift basket business could be
built and how it could bring value to the world.
Wonderful. So you started the business,
got experience with the gift basket business and marketing and all
of that type of thing.
Did you have experience with that in the corporate environment before
you started your gift basket business?
Or how did you learn what you now teach?
Even though I was not built for the corporate world,
I had to put food on the table in some kind
of way.
And I do credit the corporate world.
I, and I was an administrative assistant at the time.
I do credit the corporate world for giving me a great
foundation in terms of understanding organization and time management.
The training that I received through secretarial school helped me with
shorthand and typing and those kinds of things to help me
then build my business in the business sense.
I had to learn the design part because I have to
tell you my designs at the very beginning of the business
were horrendous.
Oh, they were so awful.
I still wins.
When I look at what I created,
the passion was still there.
And even if you don't have a design sense or a
business sense,
you can still build on that.
You can still learn what you have to learn because you
have the passion for that particular industry and bringing people and
corporations together.
So that's how the corporate world helped me with the focus
on building a good business and how that's done.
I want to bring up one point here.
Actually two points.
Men you've led into it very nicely.
A lot of our listeners are,
you know,
everyone is in like the gifting,
baking, crafting,
designing industries.
And all of those are different types of things like gift
baskets is different.
Your, you know,
your product is different.
Maybe you're a candle maker or jewelry designer.
The product is different.
The basic core issues of building a strong business remain the
same regardless.
So that's why I like in this podcast where we interview
different industries.
And even if you know nothing about the gift basket business,
all of you gift biz listeners,
if you are in a creative business or looking at turning
your product and craft and passion into a business,
all of these guests we have and topics,
we talk about remain the same when they're so business focused.
So that's number one,
number two,
surely I know you feel this way because practically everybody who's
been in the gift basket business has to address this issue
at one time or another.
So just for a little more depth into the industry,
I want to talk about it for a second.
So many people will say,
Oh, gift basket business.
You know,
that's just such a fluff fun,
and you know,
busy like little hobbyish type business.
Oh, how cute?
Oh, how sweet,
you know,
you get that kind of thing.
Yes. Let's talk about what the business really is like before
we move on.
Sure, sure.
My husband was in that frame of mind that you just
described saying,
Oh, anyone could put items inside of a basket.
Anyone could make a gift basket.
And I had to read him his rights and let him
know that yes,
anyone can throw items into a basket or container and call
it a gift basket because gift basket is the universal and
umbrella type of term for the actual item.
But making a gift basket takes quite a bit of skill
and it takes knowing where to find the product so that
if you are truly in business,
you are making money.
You can go to any dollar store or any local store
and buy some grass,
you know,
versus shred,
which is what we buy as designers,
as professional designers.
And you can use saran wrap versus high quality cellophane or
shrink wrap,
and truly put a collection of products together that focuses on
the emotions that need to be unveiled through whatever wrapping is
used to hold that collection of products together,
knowing how to keep items upright and finding the unique or
the basic Eden enjoy products is what we look for.
We don't just go to the grocery store and pick up
Lay's potato chips.
And I have nothing.
There's nothing wrong with that brand,
but we look for unique and clever and enjoyable products that
represent a theme and occasion,
and not everyone can do that.
Anyone can just throw items in a basket,
but it's a whole other mindset when you are creating a
presentation that will last forever in memory,
Exactly creating a presentation and then making an impact,
you know,
with whatever the message is supposed to be building a gift
basket. There's the foundation,
there's the structure.
There's the visibility of the different products,
all leading to an end result,
which is the presentation and the impact with whatever the message
is supposed to be.
Whether it's a Getwell appreciation,
birthday celebration,
whatever it is I've seen.
The other thing is I know this,
that when you're especially working corporate,
where you're doing hundreds of baskets,
it is hard work.
Oh my gosh,
who knew not me.
It is physically hard work.
Absolutely. A lot of labor,
The baskets,
those are heavy or pasta with the pile.
Oh my gosh.
Yes. So true.
Surely take us to a time just so that we can
learn, take us to a time in the business when you
met up with something that was really unexpected or really like
a really bad time,
because we all have them in business,
you know,
business, isn't all beautiful and seeing the dollars coming in.
Can you think back with something that happened specifically in the
business where you were really,
really challenged and then how did you overcome that issue?
Could I be challenged in this industry when everything,
as you say,
as you allude to is roses and light,
I could not have had one challenge,
right? So,
Well, the biggest challenge,
two big challenges that I can think of was the first
time I started working with a corporate person.
And I didn't realize that I was working on the corporate
level until I stepped back and looked at the sales for
a person and realize that this one individual was a corporate
person that I was working for.
It's not always the building with 500,000
people inside of it.
A corporate company could be just made up of one person.
And my challenge with that one person was watching my time
with that person,
just like in building a gift basket,
you watch your time.
You certainly have all the products,
but you don't want making the basket to take an hour.
I started to have to watch my time with this particular
corporate person and not spend hours with her to get a
$50 gift basket.
What did she keep making changes or something?
Well, it wasn't changes.
It was her,
it was balancing following her,
but her,
how can I say this with following her?
Like You track her down for approval or getting the information
or no,
actually she would Me for a meeting to understand what kind
of gift basket she wanted to make.
But her role in the education system meant that she'd be
in her office.
But then I had to walk with her to other people's
offices for quick meetings that she was having with them.
I felt like I was being strung along with out a
gift basket in mind.
And then finally,
after 90 minutes,
she knew what she wanted me to make.
And then I would go and make it and then present
it to her.
And it was fine.
But the meeting itself just took too many turns.
What'd you do about it?
I had to school her as we have to educate our
customers to let her know that I appreciated her as a
customer. However,
I was not able to track her throughout her offices to
finally get to what she wanted me to create.
So I told her that I was happy to meet with
her, but it would only be for 20 minutes because of
other business that I had to take care of.
And even if I didn't have any other business,
I had to help her to understand my time limit.
Right. And it said to you in a professional light too,
you only have a certain amount of time and give his
listeners. Also,
this is a perfect example,
just because people are interested in purchasing from you doesn't mean
that you select them as a customer.
There are sometimes customers that,
you know,
think it sounds like you coached her enough to see that
this is how we have to work moving forward.
Or also I'm gonna have to charge a fee on,
you know,
$150 for that $50 gift basket.
But there may be times customers don't get it and you
just need to walk away from the business because it ends
up being more output on your end than you're getting back.
It's a hard thing to consider specially in the beginning when
every single sale is so precious,
but something to know right in the beginning is especially with
corporate people,
you can teach them how to work with you,
right from the start.
And I think you're more appreciated and recognized as more credible
if you do that as well.
Very true,
really interesting.
And I think you said you had two challenges.
So that was number one Second was when years later,
when I started working with a wine company that called me
out of the blue,
they found my name on the internet.
They needed a prototype that would be made.
Thousands of gift baskets would be made from this prototype.
And the big challenge with them was that they thought,
as we talked about that gift baskets were easy to make.
Surely it's just going to throw this together and we don't
have to pay her much where a giant wine company and
we're going to save money.
And another person who is very popular in the gift basket
industry said to me that these people have probably tried to
get others,
to make this prototype for them.
And it didn't work out.
And now they're trying to get you to work for the
same pennies that the other person was going to accept.
So again,
it became education,
the prototype itself wasn't difficult to make,
but the,
there were a hoops that large companies expect you to jump
through. And even if you have never worked with such companies
before, you have to take your time and not be so
overwhelmed with this is a big company.
The fact is that they've come to you because they don't
know what to do.
So it is okay for you to sit back,
determine what they want,
how you can deliver it,
if you can deliver it and what your fee is going
to be,
you may never have been in this realm before,
but whatever fee you decide,
you're immediately to double that fee because they are going to
take you through your paces.
And you're going to shed a few tears and you are
going to get stressed.
So you need double of what you think you ought to
get. And I got double and the prototype was made.
My key to this is not being so excited about working
with a big company,
find out what they want and decide if you are the
person who is going to help them,
let the lesson and let the business allow you to grow.
And if you don't see the potential in the opportunity,
let it go.
Don't be stressed.
Don't cry.
Don't shed a tear.
If it's not going to going to work,
then it's not what happened to work out.
Talk about how it worked out.
But I want to just mention a couple of things right
here as a focus.
You're so right,
because when large names come to you and approach you,
it's an ego thing and you want that business because you
associate it well.
Oh my gosh.
If I'm working with this ex large company,
that means I'm growing and I'm getting better and all of
that, which is true,
but it can also knock you to your knees because if
they cut your price so low,
you may actually lose money by doing the business.
You might then not be able to accept other business.
That's more profitable because you're in production with this big company.
And if it ends up only being a one-time thing,
really, what has it gained?
You absolutely practically nothing.
And I'm so glad you bring this up because I see
this over and over again,
even today,
Shirley, I'm out of the gift basket business,
I'm into another business.
And I will see when I'm working with the larger companies,
multi-store chains,
they want to get as much out of you as they
possibly can.
And you have to make sure that you're putting together numbers,
that you can live with term because they're not probably ever
going to go up in a once.
They've negotiated you down.
And it's something that you can actually live with really important
point. Shirley.
I'm really glad you talked about it.
All right.
So we talked about this prototype that you had,
that was thousands and thousands of baskets where you guys then
producing all those baskets.
No, we didn't.
I decided in our negotiations that I would find an assembly
type of company,
a company that imported a temporary employees to be able to
make the gift baskets in an assembly type situation,
within a workspace.
And I found a place in Virginia that was interesting in
itself as well.
So the answer is no,
we did not make those thousands,
but it went through your company.
Yes, it did.
Yeah. So,
but you outsourced the business.
Absolutely. Yes I did.
Got it.
And so you said that was interesting.
Is there anything else to share on that topic?
I was just going back,
talking to another person who was in the gift basket industry.
I was very pleased to not to just talk to my
staff, but to also get an outside look.
And I know the words are not love,
but outside motivation from another person to decide whether or not
that business,
that opportunity was for me.
So sometimes you can't just talk to your staff or if
you don't have staff,
it's not enough to talk to yourself because your mind will
set till you either yes or no,
without more information that you can't get from your mind.
Because if,
if it's not there,
you're not going to get it,
Or you're too close to the situation.
Right? So getting affirmation or reinforcement that your thinking is on
point, you know,
you can do that with someone else who's in your business.
I just recently got back from a gift basket conference.
And we talked about the fact that a gift basket company
that is in somewhat close to your town or the neighboring
town, or wherever does not have to be your competition.
They can be your friend,
because if you're going on vacation,
you may need some assistance,
especially if you're still a one person shop.
And just like Shirley's now talking about just for,
I don't know that you had mentioned who the company is,
but just for some reinforcement together,
and boy,
you know,
surely another option.
And I'm just bringing this up as ideas for everybody,
not just gift basket people,
if you would have seen that you couldn't outsource it,
that other gift basket company might've had production people and been
thrilled to help you produce those products,
you would have paid them something.
So it would have come off of your margin a little
bit, but still.
So don't always think about someone in the same industry as
a competitor with you.
Another place to look for information is other people that,
you know,
locally, who are also in business.
So people,
you know,
from the chamber or any of your other networking groups,
that's a great reason to be connecting with other business people
too, is not always just to trade leads and get business,
but as support for your business.
Absolutely on point.
I want to talk now a little bit about how you
turn. So you're making your in the gift basket business,
but now you pivoted and you're doing more teaching and training
and coaching.
At what point did you do that?
And why did you do that?
I started with training and coaching in my fifth year of
business. And I did that because I felt that I had
turned a big corner in business by not only working with
quite a few corporations in the insurance industries and other industries.
I had also been on several cable broadcast shows.
I had been on CNBC.
As you had mentioned on the food network on New York
morning shows,
I felt that I had enough information to share with other
gift basket professionals,
how they could build their business one step at a time
and not stay at a certain level that they felt that
they were finished with working with more corporations,
getting more influence,
whether it was through radio or through broadcast television at the
time the internet was not around yet.
So there was no social media and such,
but I've always loved writing.
I've written stories since I was in first grade.
And I felt that I was a good enough writer to
start writing articles,
which I did for several magazines.
I also spoke at gift industry shows,
not only gift basket shows,
but also the big gift trade shows in Chicago,
New York and,
and such.
And that's where the term was made.
I, I was still making gift baskets for customers,
especially those in education and the other sectors,
other corporates.
But I knew that by giving back,
so to speak to those who were in the industry coming
up after me,
even though it was just a mere five years,
it would help to strengthen the industry.
So even if I didn't get some business,
I knew that others in the industry would,
and I didn't mind stepping back or reaching back and bringing
others with me to share their expertise with the customers that
they knew that they could get in the future.
I love that visual that you just said,
surely reaching back and bringing others with you.
Haven't heard that before I am going to be repeating it
and I will accredit it to you.
And for you to share that,
does this Get your wheels turning you guys?
I mean,
are you a candle maker or you know how to knit
and you've been doing it for a long time,
perhaps you're in business.
Maybe you're not,
maybe you're thinking about a business.
Is that business producing your product or is that business teaching
others how to do it?
Just something to think about just a little side note,
based on what Shirley's been talking about here,
all right.
On the sales.
And do you have any tips for people about how to
capture business?
What has worked for you back then,
or even today what's applicable in terms of drawing in the
business? Drawing in business,
I believe goes right back to when we talked about the
motivational quote on the candle,
which was staying outside of the lines.
Once I believed in and was committed to making and selling
gift baskets,
I saw no reason to only send out postcards and letters,
which is a great base because that does keep your base
influenced and keep your,
it also keeps your business top of mind.
And it's not that I'm in the New York area that
had me thinking about what I did,
but knowing that I was in a decent metropolitan area,
I started approaching larger companies visiting them,
just so that I could speak with people face to face,
whether it was people who I knew who were connected with
other corporate people or in the case of broadcast media,
going to where the media center was and delivering my information
to them so that they could consider having me on television
showing gift baskets to millions of people instead of a one-to-one
kind of interaction with people.
Also in today's day,
social media is talked about a lot and social media can
be a big help in connecting you with the audience and
with the prospects you want to become clients.
One way that I connected with a person was through Twitter
and that person was sharing different tweets,
as it said.
And from time to time,
I would share a comment with that person and this doesn't
always happen.
And I rolled my eyes when I read it.
Other people had done this,
but the person started to communicate with me.
And from there,
I was not only able to make gift baskets for the
person, but also get referrals from that person.
Another person on Twitter that I commented with,
that person contacted me.
And I ended up being on a television show with that
person. So things can happen if you,
again, stay outside of the lines,
don't stay in a comfort zone and just try what you
believe could possibly happen.
Take the chance.
Absolutely. And you will not fall on your face.
That's the beauty of having a business and knowing that you
can go in any direction,
you can,
you will not harm yourself,
so to speak.
You're not hurting children or animals.
So you're just taking a chance to see where a connection
could go as you move forward and build your business.
But it needs to know that you're doing it.
So your ego might get bruised.
If something,
you try doesn't work or you get rejected at the door
or whatever,
but it's not like you're in a corporate environment where people
have to know you even did it.
And what if it works?
I mean,
surely being on TV several times and being in trade magazines
and all of that never would have happened unless you took
the champs.
That's right.
Another thing is that quite a few publications will put their
editorial calendars online,
not all,
but some will you have the chance to look at that
editorial calendar because there is a link to it on the
magazine or the publications website,
and you can see what issues they are going to report
on. If an issue matches up with some information you want
to share about your particular craft,
your particular business,
you can send the magazine information,
you know,
three tips or something that you believe is going to be
of interest to their readers,
just plant a seed so that the editor or the reporter
can possibly contact you so that you do get your name
in the news.
So that's another way that you could expand your business.
Absolutely great tip.
And also just mention this while I'm thinking about it.
I don't know if all of you are familiar with Herro
help a reporter out another great option.
If you just go online.
I don't know if it's herro.com
or if you do just Googled help a reporter out,
you can sign up to get notifications.
And what happens is people who are writing articles need interviews,
you'll need information from people.
You can get notified based on certain categories.
You check.
If someone is looking for an area of that,
you have,
and that's a great way to get some additional PR for
yourself as well.
So true.
Okay, Shirley,
let's go in now to the reflection section.
This is a look at you and some other ways and
avenues that have helped you to be successful.
If you were to identify one trait that you call upon,
that's a trait that you've really had all your life.
That's helped you drive to the place where you are now.
What would that be?
Man would be integrity.
I frown for myself,
frown on stepping on toes or harming other people in the
industry in some kind of way,
having some kind of backlash or some make-believe problems with other
people in this industry or in business in general,
I've always had integrity.
I do what I say and if I don't,
I own up to it.
So at the end of the day,
you could always be proud of the actions that you've taken.
Absolutely. I rest my head at night very,
very easily,
knowing that I've done the right thing.
Yeah. Bad Day.
And what tool do you use throughout your business day or
action that you take either to help you propel forward or
to create balance in your life?
The tool that I use is my pen,
my pen and paper.
That is the general tool that helps me to map out
how I can be productive and what I need to do
to keep balance.
There's nowhere on this planet where I don't bring pen and
paper, a computer 10 fail on you.
We can black out or whatever it does,
but I will always have at least two pens.
I'll put it like that with me.
And some kind of paper to write.
Plus, you might not have your computer.
You might have your phone,
your notes app of your phone or something.
But you,
if you have an idea,
you just want to capture it right then and there,
because I don't know if you guys are like me,
but ideas can be fleeting.
Absolutely. Even a minute later.
It's like,
what was that idea?
That's right.
So true.
Oh my gosh.
Surely have you read a book lately that you think our
customers could find value in?
Oh, I'm in the middle of a book now that I
believe would be very beneficial.
It is called the path P a T H and the
subtitle is creating your mission statement for work and for life
it's by Laurie Beth Jones,
it is a stellar book in my opinion,
that not only gives you the keys to mapping out your
path, but also to staying true to what you truly want
to do in life.
And I have to tell you,
I purchased this book for 50 whole cents,
add a Bazaar.
It was sitting up prominently on a shelf.
It was the last day of the Bazaar.
And my sister looked at the book and said,
Oh, that looks like it's good.
And I picked it up and I haven't put it since.
Wow. The path Path we'll give biz listeners just as you're
listening to the podcast today,
you can also listen to audio books with ease.
I've teamed up with audible for you to be able to
get an audio book,
just like this one,
the path,
which sounds so interesting for free.
All you need to do is go to gift biz,
book.com. And if you haven't already then make a selection.
And the first book is on me.
That's gift biz,
book.com. All right,
Shirley, I would like you now to dare to dream,
I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
So this is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable
Heights that you would wish to obtain.
Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
What is inside your box?
Oh, I do accept that gift.
First thing I would love is partial ownership of an ex
Oh, charter jet.
Yes, I would.
Let's go to the top.
Yes. And I don't want full ownership because then I have
to find the place to dock the plane and clean the
plane and all that partial ownership will work.
So that plane is where I needed to be so that
I can board it along with may and Pepe,
my two Yorkshire terriers.
And we can fly to many places where entrepreneurs are and
speak with them about their dreams,
about their goals and help them to succeed.
That would help me to get to a lot more people
in a shorter amount of time.
Nice and efficient.
Absolutely. Yes.
I would also accept a facility.
It doesn't have to be large,
but a good size facility.
And when I say good size,
it's a place that would hold at least 200 individuals somewhere
between 200 and 300 individuals.
So again,
we can explore the opportunities that allow all of us today
to dream,
to come out with an action plan that helps all of
us. Each of us reach our potential without any thought of,
of any obstacles or barriers.
I would also accept a pair of Rockport shoes.
Let's go down to getting comfortable so that when the gatherings
are over or after I get off the jet to meet
with so many of you,
that my feet feel good.
That's the one thing that I cannot put on a back
burner. There have been too many times when I've come off
stage and my feet are look like potato chips.
They are just crumbling from anguish.
And I will take a pair of Rockport shoes,
size 10,
nice and comfortable Who she cushy bottoms in,
but attractive got to stay in style.
Absolutely. Your gift is so fun because true to form of
who you are,
your gift is also a gift to all of us,
with your learning,
your direction,
your knowledge and sharing.
And that's what you've been doing here too.
Yes, absolutely.
So on behalf of all of us,
we've so appreciate all this information.
Now, surely some of our listeners are on the run.
They're not near a computer.
Our show notes page will have all of your contact information
if they end up jumping over onto the computer,
but for people who are out and about and just listening
and would like to be able to reach out and learn
more about you,
where is the single location you would direct somebody online?
I would direct them to gift basket,
business.com. Okay.
So the website?
Yes. Okay.
Super. So if you want to learn more,
then jump over to gift basket,
business.com. And again,
if you're near the computer and pull up the show notes
page, you'll see all the additional information as well.
Shirley, thank you so much.
I knew that this was going to be a value packed
conversation and you clearly came through with that,
for sure.
Thank you so much for all the information,
taking your time sharing.
I look forward to seeing you again.
I'm not sure exactly when that will be,
but I know it's in our future.
And may your candle always burn bright.
Thank you so much.
So it's been an honor.
Pleasure. Learn how to work smarter while developing and growing your
business. Download our guide called 25 free tools to enhance your
business in life.
It's our gift to you and available@giftbizonrap.com
slash tools.
Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for the
next episode.
Today's show is sponsored by the ribbon print company,
looking for a new income source for your gift business.
Customization is more popular now than ever grant your product of
your logo or print a happy birthday,
Jessica ribbon to add to a gift,
right? A checkout it's all done right in your shop for
cross studio in seconds.
Check out the ribbon print company.com
for more information after you listen to the show,
if you like what you're hearing,
make sure to jump over and subscribe to the show on
iTunes. That way you'll automatically get the newest episodes when they
go live.
And thank you to those who have already left a rating
and review by subscribing rating and reviewing you help to increase
the visibility of gift biz on ramp.
It's a great way to pay it forward,
to help others with their entrepreneurial journey as well.