070 – Starting a Biz – Gift Baskets and Beyond with Shirley Frazier

Shirley George Frazier

Shirley George Frazier is recognized as the world’s authority on gift baskets and as one of the foremost experts on starting a business from scratch.

In business since nineteen ninety, Shirley is head basketologist at Gift Basket Business dot com. 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 at home, in a store, or other setting.

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.

Shirley conducts seminars at conferences and trade shows, provides small business advice on CNBC, and publishes articles in worldwide newspapers and magazines. Most of all, she loves helping entrepreneurs like you decide how to start a business that stays as small as you want or grows as large as you dream.

Business Inspiration

Shirley is from a long line of Entrepreneurs but here is the moment that sparked her idea. [3:60]

Candle Flickering Moments

The eye-opening experience of working with her first corporate account. [15:03]

Working through the surprises of a HUGE wine company project. [18:21]

The Gift Basket Business

The history of the gift basket business … and where it is today. It’s an interesting story! [7:02]

The reality of being in the business of gift baskets. [11:31]

Business Building Insights

The impact her time in the corporate world had on Shirley’s future. [8:39]

The value of getting another set of eyes on the situation when issues arise. [22:52]

Shirley’s pivot from her gift basket company to training and coaching. [25:07]

How to bring in business by going towards the opportunity, not waiting for it to come to you. [28:05]

Tips on how to get your name in print. [31:14]

Success Trait

Shirley holds integrity as one of her top personal values. She gives a powerful statement here. [33:03]

Productivity/Lifestyle Tool

The traditional pen and paper are Shirley’s go to tools.

Valuable Book

The Path: Creating Your Mission Statement for Work and Life by Laurie Beth Jones

Free Audio Book

Contact Links

Website 1

Website 2

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn

If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
Transcript
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Gift biz unwrapped episode 70.

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If you don't see the potential in the opportunity,

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let it go.

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Hi, this is John Lee,

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Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,

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and you're listening to gifted biz unwrapped,

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and now it's time to light it up.

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Welcome to gift biz,

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unwrapped your source for industry specific insights and advice to develop

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and grow your business.

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And now here's your host,

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Sue Monheit.

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Hi there.

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I'm Sue and welcome to the gift biz unwrapped podcast.

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Whether you own a brick and mortar shop sell online or

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are just getting started,

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you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your

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business. And today I have joining us,

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Shirley, George Frazier,

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for those of you who don't know Shirley yet,

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she is recognized as a world authority on gift baskets and

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starting a business from scratch in business.

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Since 1990,

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Shirley is head of baskets.

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Tologist at gift basket business.

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She helps creative people and aspiring entrepreneurs to create a great

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life for themselves and their families.

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By turning their passion into a fun and rewarding business Shirley's

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books include how to start a home-based gift basket business,

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the gift basket design book and marketing strategies for the home

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based business.

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Surely conduct seminars at conferences and trade shows and provide small

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business advice on CNBC.

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Most of all,

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she loves helping entrepreneurs just like you.

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And I decide how to start a business that stays as

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small as you want or grows as large as you dream.

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Wow, Shirley,

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thank you for joining me and welcome to the show.

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Oh, Thank you so much.

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It's a pleasure to be here with you and the audience.

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Yay. I like to start off by taking a little bit

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of a creative approach and getting to know you in a

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little bit of a different way,

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and that is by understanding your ideal motivational candle.

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If you were to create a candle that represents you,

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what color would a candle be and what would be the

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quote on that candle?

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Oh wow.

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My candle color would be a balance between orange and red

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love. Love orange.

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Red is such a powerful color that that's why I would

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milled in a way combined the two colors.

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And on that candle,

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it would say stay outside of the lines.

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Why stay within a small area when all the outside is

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where the creation lies.

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So it would be stay outside of the lines.

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There you go.

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You're right.

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Staying outside of the lines allows you to create something new

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and be something different that will attract people to you because

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it's not something that they've seen before and it tests you.

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It makes you stretch further.

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That's right.

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Love that.

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All right.

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Now, surely I just have to share with all of our

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listeners when I left my corporate world and decided it was

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a whole long story,

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I'm not going to go into that right now,

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but decided that I was going to start a gift basket

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business. The first thing that I did is what I always

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advise people to do is research,

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go find out what's out there,

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learn what other people have already done.

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And the very first person I saw in this space was

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you, you did a meeting in Chicago.

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I don't even remember what year it was.

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It was way back when.

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So it's so exciting to see how you have evolved.

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And then here I've evolved past a gift basket business into

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some other things.

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It's really cool to be talking to you in here in

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your story from today,

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you know,

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where both of us are today,

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take us back to the early part of gift basket business.

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How did you decide this was something you were going to

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embark on in the first place?

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I have entrepreneurs in my family that go back as far

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as I can.

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Well, not that I can remember.

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I was told by my grandparents and my mom and my

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dad that we've had entrepreneurs since about 1900 in the family

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and probably earlier than that,

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but no,

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one's around to share that information.

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I have a great grandmother who grew strawberries in Virginia and

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shipped them to Manhattan.

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I have an aunt I've never met,

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never met any of these people who had a fudge business

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in Brooklyn,

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which is where I'm from.

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And my mom was one of her delivery people.

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My dad was a color chemist.

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He had his own color company back in the 1970s.

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And so that was the foundation for my feeling,

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the entrepreneurial bug.

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And I was deciding while I was working downtown New York

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city in the former world trade center,

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deciding if I was going to have an intimate apparel shop

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or what kind of business I was going to have,

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and my husband made a small gift for a friend.

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It was a,

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he wrapped a small core bottle with rocks glued to the

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bottom of it that he just found in the backyard.

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He wrapped it in saran and presented it to her.

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It was a gift that just lifted her spirits figuratively.

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And from that I thought about gift baskets.

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It had nothing to do with baskets.

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It was just a sweet gift that really went to the

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heart of bringing her out of the funk that she was

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in. And I thought about gift baskets and started my research

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as you had started to when we met in Chicago,

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which like you said was forever ago.

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I started looking for different.

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I started going to trade shows.

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A lot of research went into that foundation.

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And that's where things started with that small bottle of liquor

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and the rocks attached to the bottom.

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Oh, with a shot glass attached to the whole thing as

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well. Well,

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of course,

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Oh my gosh.

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It's so interesting because it was that emotional connection you had

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with the product and that whole experience that made you think

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I want to pay it forward.

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I want a business that is fulfilling and provides that feel

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good. That recognition,

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that appreciation that relationship between people that then led you into

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this business.

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Absolutely. And how established really was a gift basket industry.

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At that point,

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It was picking up speed.

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And this was the early,

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very early 1990s,

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like many industries gift baskets have come and go as a

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focus for gift giving.

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They've never really gone away,

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but there is that flow of popularity.

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And then it pushes back gift basket to have been around

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from my research since 19,

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even 1913 or 1916,

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when gift baskets started through a baby's changing station,

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being the foundation,

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not a basket,

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but an actual changing station with the bibs and all kinds

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of things that you give to a baby wrapped in cellophane.

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And from there,

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it's moved through the depression in the 1920s and thirties,

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it was a ration gift that was given to the rich

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during world war two.

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So gift baskets have come and go in popularity,

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but it's never gone away in the 1990s gift baskets again

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was picking up speed.

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There were people who are giving gift baskets in the real

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estate industry.

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They wanted them made by people like us to give to

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their clients for different industries in different occasions.

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So when I started in gift baskets,

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the popularity was there and it was also confirmed by a

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magazine called gift basket review.

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That started a month after I came into the business.

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So it was a really great time to start to dream

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in a way of how a gift basket business could be

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built and how it could bring value to the world.

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Wonderful. So you started the business,

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got experience with the gift basket business and marketing and all

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of that type of thing.

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Did you have experience with that in the corporate environment before

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you started your gift basket business?

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Or how did you learn what you now teach?

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Even though I was not built for the corporate world,

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I had to put food on the table in some kind

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of way.

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And I do credit the corporate world.

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I, and I was an administrative assistant at the time.

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I do credit the corporate world for giving me a great

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foundation in terms of understanding organization and time management.

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The training that I received through secretarial school helped me with

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shorthand and typing and those kinds of things to help me

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then build my business in the business sense.

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I had to learn the design part because I have to

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tell you my designs at the very beginning of the business

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were horrendous.

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Oh, they were so awful.

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I still wins.

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When I look at what I created,

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the passion was still there.

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And even if you don't have a design sense or a

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business sense,

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you can still build on that.

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You can still learn what you have to learn because you

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have the passion for that particular industry and bringing people and

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corporations together.

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So that's how the corporate world helped me with the focus

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on building a good business and how that's done.

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I want to bring up one point here.

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Actually two points.

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Men you've led into it very nicely.

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A lot of our listeners are,

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you know,

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everyone is in like the gifting,

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baking, crafting,

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designing industries.

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And all of those are different types of things like gift

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baskets is different.

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Your, you know,

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your product is different.

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Maybe you're a candle maker or jewelry designer.

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The product is different.

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The basic core issues of building a strong business remain the

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same regardless.

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So that's why I like in this podcast where we interview

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different industries.

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And even if you know nothing about the gift basket business,

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all of you gift biz listeners,

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if you are in a creative business or looking at turning

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your product and craft and passion into a business,

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all of these guests we have and topics,

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we talk about remain the same when they're so business focused.

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So that's number one,

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number two,

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surely I know you feel this way because practically everybody who's

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been in the gift basket business has to address this issue

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at one time or another.

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So just for a little more depth into the industry,

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I want to talk about it for a second.

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So many people will say,

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Oh, gift basket business.

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You know,

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that's just such a fluff fun,

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and you know,

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busy like little hobbyish type business.

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Oh, how cute?

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Oh, how sweet,

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you know,

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you get that kind of thing.

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Yes. Let's talk about what the business really is like before

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we move on.

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Sure, sure.

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My husband was in that frame of mind that you just

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described saying,

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Oh, anyone could put items inside of a basket.

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Anyone could make a gift basket.

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And I had to read him his rights and let him

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know that yes,

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anyone can throw items into a basket or container and call

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it a gift basket because gift basket is the universal and

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umbrella type of term for the actual item.

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But making a gift basket takes quite a bit of skill

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and it takes knowing where to find the product so that

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if you are truly in business,

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you are making money.

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You can go to any dollar store or any local store

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and buy some grass,

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you know,

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versus shred,

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which is what we buy as designers,

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as professional designers.

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And you can use saran wrap versus high quality cellophane or

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shrink wrap,

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and truly put a collection of products together that focuses on

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the emotions that need to be unveiled through whatever wrapping is

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used to hold that collection of products together,

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knowing how to keep items upright and finding the unique or

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the basic Eden enjoy products is what we look for.

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We don't just go to the grocery store and pick up

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Lay's potato chips.

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And I have nothing.

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There's nothing wrong with that brand,

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but we look for unique and clever and enjoyable products that

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represent a theme and occasion,

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and not everyone can do that.

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Anyone can just throw items in a basket,

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but it's a whole other mindset when you are creating a

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presentation that will last forever in memory,

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Exactly creating a presentation and then making an impact,

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you know,

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with whatever the message is supposed to be building a gift

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basket. There's the foundation,

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there's the structure.

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There's the visibility of the different products,

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all leading to an end result,

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which is the presentation and the impact with whatever the message

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is supposed to be.

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Whether it's a Getwell appreciation,

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birthday celebration,

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whatever it is I've seen.

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The other thing is I know this,

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that when you're especially working corporate,

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where you're doing hundreds of baskets,

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it is hard work.

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Oh my gosh,

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who knew not me.

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It is physically hard work.

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Absolutely. A lot of labor,

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The baskets,

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those are heavy or pasta with the pile.

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Oh my gosh.

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Yes. So true.

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Surely take us to a time just so that we can

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learn, take us to a time in the business when you

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met up with something that was really unexpected or really like

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a really bad time,

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because we all have them in business,

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you know,

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business, isn't all beautiful and seeing the dollars coming in.

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Can you think back with something that happened specifically in the

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business where you were really,

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really challenged and then how did you overcome that issue?

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Could I be challenged in this industry when everything,

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as you say,

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as you allude to is roses and light,

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I could not have had one challenge,

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right? So,

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Well, the biggest challenge,

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two big challenges that I can think of was the first

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time I started working with a corporate person.

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And I didn't realize that I was working on the corporate

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level until I stepped back and looked at the sales for

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a person and realize that this one individual was a corporate

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person that I was working for.

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It's not always the building with 500,000

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people inside of it.

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A corporate company could be just made up of one person.

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And my challenge with that one person was watching my time

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with that person,

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just like in building a gift basket,

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you watch your time.

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You certainly have all the products,

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but you don't want making the basket to take an hour.

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I started to have to watch my time with this particular

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corporate person and not spend hours with her to get a

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$50 gift basket.

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What did she keep making changes or something?

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Well, it wasn't changes.

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It was her,

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it was balancing following her,

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but her,

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how can I say this with following her?

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Like You track her down for approval or getting the information

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or no,

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actually she would Me for a meeting to understand what kind

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of gift basket she wanted to make.

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But her role in the education system meant that she'd be

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in her office.

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But then I had to walk with her to other people's

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offices for quick meetings that she was having with them.

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I felt like I was being strung along with out a

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gift basket in mind.

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And then finally,

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after 90 minutes,

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she knew what she wanted me to make.

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And then I would go and make it and then present

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it to her.

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And it was fine.

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But the meeting itself just took too many turns.

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What'd you do about it?

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I had to school her as we have to educate our

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customers to let her know that I appreciated her as a

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customer. However,

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I was not able to track her throughout her offices to

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finally get to what she wanted me to create.

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So I told her that I was happy to meet with

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her, but it would only be for 20 minutes because of

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other business that I had to take care of.

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And even if I didn't have any other business,

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I had to help her to understand my time limit.

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Right. And it said to you in a professional light too,

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you only have a certain amount of time and give his

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listeners. Also,

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this is a perfect example,

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just because people are interested in purchasing from you doesn't mean

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that you select them as a customer.

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There are sometimes customers that,

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you know,

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think it sounds like you coached her enough to see that

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this is how we have to work moving forward.

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Or also I'm gonna have to charge a fee on,

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you know,

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$150 for that $50 gift basket.

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But there may be times customers don't get it and you

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just need to walk away from the business because it ends

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up being more output on your end than you're getting back.

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It's a hard thing to consider specially in the beginning when

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every single sale is so precious,

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but something to know right in the beginning is especially with

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corporate people,

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you can teach them how to work with you,

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right from the start.

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And I think you're more appreciated and recognized as more credible

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if you do that as well.

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Very true,

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really interesting.

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And I think you said you had two challenges.

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So that was number one Second was when years later,

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when I started working with a wine company that called me

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out of the blue,

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they found my name on the internet.

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They needed a prototype that would be made.

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Thousands of gift baskets would be made from this prototype.

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And the big challenge with them was that they thought,

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as we talked about that gift baskets were easy to make.

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Surely it's just going to throw this together and we don't

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have to pay her much where a giant wine company and

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we're going to save money.

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And another person who is very popular in the gift basket

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industry said to me that these people have probably tried to

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get others,

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to make this prototype for them.

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And it didn't work out.

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And now they're trying to get you to work for the

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same pennies that the other person was going to accept.

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So again,

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it became education,

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the prototype itself wasn't difficult to make,

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but the,

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there were a hoops that large companies expect you to jump

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through. And even if you have never worked with such companies

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before, you have to take your time and not be so

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overwhelmed with this is a big company.

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The fact is that they've come to you because they don't

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know what to do.

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So it is okay for you to sit back,

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determine what they want,

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how you can deliver it,

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if you can deliver it and what your fee is going

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to be,

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you may never have been in this realm before,

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but whatever fee you decide,

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you're immediately to double that fee because they are going to

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take you through your paces.

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And you're going to shed a few tears and you are

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going to get stressed.

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So you need double of what you think you ought to

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get. And I got double and the prototype was made.

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My key to this is not being so excited about working

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with a big company,

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find out what they want and decide if you are the

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person who is going to help them,

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let the lesson and let the business allow you to grow.

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And if you don't see the potential in the opportunity,

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let it go.

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Don't be stressed.

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Don't cry.

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Don't shed a tear.

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If it's not going to going to work,

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then it's not what happened to work out.

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Talk about how it worked out.

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But I want to just mention a couple of things right

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here as a focus.

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You're so right,

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because when large names come to you and approach you,

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it's an ego thing and you want that business because you

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associate it well.

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Oh my gosh.

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If I'm working with this ex large company,

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that means I'm growing and I'm getting better and all of

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that, which is true,

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but it can also knock you to your knees because if

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they cut your price so low,

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you may actually lose money by doing the business.

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You might then not be able to accept other business.

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That's more profitable because you're in production with this big company.

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And if it ends up only being a one-time thing,

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really, what has it gained?

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You absolutely practically nothing.

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And I'm so glad you bring this up because I see

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this over and over again,

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even today,

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Shirley, I'm out of the gift basket business,

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I'm into another business.

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And I will see when I'm working with the larger companies,

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multi-store chains,

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they want to get as much out of you as they

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possibly can.

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And you have to make sure that you're putting together numbers,

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that you can live with term because they're not probably ever

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going to go up in a once.

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They've negotiated you down.

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And it's something that you can actually live with really important

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point. Shirley.

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I'm really glad you talked about it.

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All right.

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So we talked about this prototype that you had,

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that was thousands and thousands of baskets where you guys then

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producing all those baskets.

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No, we didn't.

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I decided in our negotiations that I would find an assembly

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type of company,

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a company that imported a temporary employees to be able to

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make the gift baskets in an assembly type situation,

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within a workspace.

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And I found a place in Virginia that was interesting in

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itself as well.

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So the answer is no,

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we did not make those thousands,

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but it went through your company.

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Yes, it did.

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Yeah. So,

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but you outsourced the business.

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Absolutely. Yes I did.

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Got it.

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And so you said that was interesting.

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Is there anything else to share on that topic?

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I was just going back,

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talking to another person who was in the gift basket industry.

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I was very pleased to not to just talk to my

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staff, but to also get an outside look.

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And I know the words are not love,

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but outside motivation from another person to decide whether or not

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that business,

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that opportunity was for me.

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So sometimes you can't just talk to your staff or if

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you don't have staff,

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it's not enough to talk to yourself because your mind will

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set till you either yes or no,

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without more information that you can't get from your mind.

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Because if,

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if it's not there,

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you're not going to get it,

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Or you're too close to the situation.

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Right? So getting affirmation or reinforcement that your thinking is on

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point, you know,

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you can do that with someone else who's in your business.

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I just recently got back from a gift basket conference.

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And we talked about the fact that a gift basket company

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that is in somewhat close to your town or the neighboring

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town, or wherever does not have to be your competition.

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They can be your friend,

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because if you're going on vacation,

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you may need some assistance,

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especially if you're still a one person shop.

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And just like Shirley's now talking about just for,

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I don't know that you had mentioned who the company is,

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but just for some reinforcement together,

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and boy,

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you know,

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surely another option.

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And I'm just bringing this up as ideas for everybody,

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not just gift basket people,

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if you would have seen that you couldn't outsource it,

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that other gift basket company might've had production people and been

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thrilled to help you produce those products,

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you would have paid them something.

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So it would have come off of your margin a little

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bit, but still.

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So don't always think about someone in the same industry as

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a competitor with you.

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Another place to look for information is other people that,

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you know,

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locally, who are also in business.

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So people,

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you know,

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from the chamber or any of your other networking groups,

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that's a great reason to be connecting with other business people

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too, is not always just to trade leads and get business,

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but as support for your business.

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Absolutely on point.

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I want to talk now a little bit about how you

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turn. So you're making your in the gift basket business,

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but now you pivoted and you're doing more teaching and training

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and coaching.

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At what point did you do that?

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And why did you do that?

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I started with training and coaching in my fifth year of

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business. And I did that because I felt that I had

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turned a big corner in business by not only working with

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quite a few corporations in the insurance industries and other industries.

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I had also been on several cable broadcast shows.

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I had been on CNBC.

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As you had mentioned on the food network on New York

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morning shows,

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I felt that I had enough information to share with other

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gift basket professionals,

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how they could build their business one step at a time

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and not stay at a certain level that they felt that

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they were finished with working with more corporations,

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getting more influence,

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whether it was through radio or through broadcast television at the

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time the internet was not around yet.

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So there was no social media and such,

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but I've always loved writing.

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I've written stories since I was in first grade.

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And I felt that I was a good enough writer to

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start writing articles,

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which I did for several magazines.

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I also spoke at gift industry shows,

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not only gift basket shows,

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but also the big gift trade shows in Chicago,

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New York and,

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and such.

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And that's where the term was made.

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I, I was still making gift baskets for customers,

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especially those in education and the other sectors,

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other corporates.

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But I knew that by giving back,

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so to speak to those who were in the industry coming

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up after me,

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even though it was just a mere five years,

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it would help to strengthen the industry.

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So even if I didn't get some business,

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I knew that others in the industry would,

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and I didn't mind stepping back or reaching back and bringing

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others with me to share their expertise with the customers that

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they knew that they could get in the future.

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I love that visual that you just said,

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surely reaching back and bringing others with you.

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Haven't heard that before I am going to be repeating it

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and I will accredit it to you.

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And for you to share that,

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does this Get your wheels turning you guys?

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I mean,

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are you a candle maker or you know how to knit

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and you've been doing it for a long time,

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perhaps you're in business.

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Maybe you're not,

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maybe you're thinking about a business.

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Is that business producing your product or is that business teaching

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others how to do it?

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Just something to think about just a little side note,

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based on what Shirley's been talking about here,

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all right.

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On the sales.

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And do you have any tips for people about how to

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capture business?

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What has worked for you back then,

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or even today what's applicable in terms of drawing in the

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business? Drawing in business,

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I believe goes right back to when we talked about the

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motivational quote on the candle,

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which was staying outside of the lines.

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Once I believed in and was committed to making and selling

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gift baskets,

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I saw no reason to only send out postcards and letters,

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which is a great base because that does keep your base

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influenced and keep your,

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it also keeps your business top of mind.

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And it's not that I'm in the New York area that

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had me thinking about what I did,

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but knowing that I was in a decent metropolitan area,

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I started approaching larger companies visiting them,

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just so that I could speak with people face to face,

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whether it was people who I knew who were connected with

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other corporate people or in the case of broadcast media,

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going to where the media center was and delivering my information

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to them so that they could consider having me on television

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showing gift baskets to millions of people instead of a one-to-one

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kind of interaction with people.

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Also in today's day,

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social media is talked about a lot and social media can

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be a big help in connecting you with the audience and

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with the prospects you want to become clients.

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One way that I connected with a person was through Twitter

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and that person was sharing different tweets,

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as it said.

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And from time to time,

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I would share a comment with that person and this doesn't

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always happen.

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And I rolled my eyes when I read it.

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Other people had done this,

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but the person started to communicate with me.

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And from there,

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I was not only able to make gift baskets for the

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person, but also get referrals from that person.

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Another person on Twitter that I commented with,

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that person contacted me.

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And I ended up being on a television show with that

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person. So things can happen if you,

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again, stay outside of the lines,

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don't stay in a comfort zone and just try what you

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believe could possibly happen.

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Take the chance.

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Absolutely. And you will not fall on your face.

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That's the beauty of having a business and knowing that you

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can go in any direction,

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you can,

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you will not harm yourself,

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so to speak.

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You're not hurting children or animals.

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So you're just taking a chance to see where a connection

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could go as you move forward and build your business.

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But it needs to know that you're doing it.

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So your ego might get bruised.

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If something,

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you try doesn't work or you get rejected at the door

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or whatever,

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but it's not like you're in a corporate environment where people

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have to know you even did it.

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And what if it works?

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I mean,

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surely being on TV several times and being in trade magazines

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and all of that never would have happened unless you took

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the champs.

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That's right.

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Another thing is that quite a few publications will put their

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editorial calendars online,

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not all,

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but some will you have the chance to look at that

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editorial calendar because there is a link to it on the

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magazine or the publications website,

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and you can see what issues they are going to report

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on. If an issue matches up with some information you want

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to share about your particular craft,

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your particular business,

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you can send the magazine information,

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you know,

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three tips or something that you believe is going to be

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of interest to their readers,

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just plant a seed so that the editor or the reporter

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can possibly contact you so that you do get your name

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in the news.

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So that's another way that you could expand your business.

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Absolutely great tip.

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And also just mention this while I'm thinking about it.

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I don't know if all of you are familiar with Herro

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help a reporter out another great option.

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If you just go online.

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I don't know if it's herro.com

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or if you do just Googled help a reporter out,

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you can sign up to get notifications.

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And what happens is people who are writing articles need interviews,

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you'll need information from people.

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You can get notified based on certain categories.

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You check.

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If someone is looking for an area of that,

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you have,

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and that's a great way to get some additional PR for

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yourself as well.

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So true.

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Okay, Shirley,

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let's go in now to the reflection section.

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This is a look at you and some other ways and

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avenues that have helped you to be successful.

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If you were to identify one trait that you call upon,

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that's a trait that you've really had all your life.

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That's helped you drive to the place where you are now.

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What would that be?

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Man would be integrity.

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I frown for myself,

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frown on stepping on toes or harming other people in the

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industry in some kind of way,

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having some kind of backlash or some make-believe problems with other

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people in this industry or in business in general,

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I've always had integrity.

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I do what I say and if I don't,

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I own up to it.

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So at the end of the day,

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you could always be proud of the actions that you've taken.

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Absolutely. I rest my head at night very,

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very easily,

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knowing that I've done the right thing.

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Yeah. Bad Day.

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And what tool do you use throughout your business day or

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action that you take either to help you propel forward or

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to create balance in your life?

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The tool that I use is my pen,

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my pen and paper.

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That is the general tool that helps me to map out

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how I can be productive and what I need to do

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to keep balance.

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There's nowhere on this planet where I don't bring pen and

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paper, a computer 10 fail on you.

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We can black out or whatever it does,

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but I will always have at least two pens.

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I'll put it like that with me.

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And some kind of paper to write.

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Plus, you might not have your computer.

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You might have your phone,

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your notes app of your phone or something.

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But you,

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if you have an idea,

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you just want to capture it right then and there,

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because I don't know if you guys are like me,

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but ideas can be fleeting.

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Absolutely. Even a minute later.

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It's like,

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what was that idea?

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That's right.

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That's right.

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So true.

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Oh my gosh.

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Surely have you read a book lately that you think our

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customers could find value in?

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Oh, I'm in the middle of a book now that I

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believe would be very beneficial.

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It is called the path P a T H and the

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subtitle is creating your mission statement for work and for life

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it's by Laurie Beth Jones,

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it is a stellar book in my opinion,

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that not only gives you the keys to mapping out your

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path, but also to staying true to what you truly want

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to do in life.

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And I have to tell you,

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I purchased this book for 50 whole cents,

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add a Bazaar.

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It was sitting up prominently on a shelf.

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It was the last day of the Bazaar.

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And my sister looked at the book and said,

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Oh, that looks like it's good.

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And I picked it up and I haven't put it since.

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Wow. The path Path we'll give biz listeners just as you're

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listening to the podcast today,

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you can also listen to audio books with ease.

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I've teamed up with audible for you to be able to

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get an audio book,

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just like this one,

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the path,

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which sounds so interesting for free.

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All you need to do is go to gift biz,

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book.com. And if you haven't already then make a selection.

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And the first book is on me.

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That's gift biz,

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book.com. All right,

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Shirley, I would like you now to dare to dream,

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I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.

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It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.

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So this is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable

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Heights that you would wish to obtain.

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Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.

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What is inside your box?

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Oh, I do accept that gift.

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First thing I would love is partial ownership of an ex

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Oh, charter jet.

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Yes, I would.

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Let's go to the top.

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Yes. And I don't want full ownership because then I have

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to find the place to dock the plane and clean the

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plane and all that partial ownership will work.

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So that plane is where I needed to be so that

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I can board it along with may and Pepe,

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my two Yorkshire terriers.

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And we can fly to many places where entrepreneurs are and

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speak with them about their dreams,

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about their goals and help them to succeed.

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That would help me to get to a lot more people

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in a shorter amount of time.

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Nice and efficient.

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Absolutely. Yes.

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I would also accept a facility.

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It doesn't have to be large,

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but a good size facility.

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And when I say good size,

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it's a place that would hold at least 200 individuals somewhere

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between 200 and 300 individuals.

Speaker:

So again,

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we can explore the opportunities that allow all of us today

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to dream,

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to come out with an action plan that helps all of

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us. Each of us reach our potential without any thought of,

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of any obstacles or barriers.

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I would also accept a pair of Rockport shoes.

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Let's go down to getting comfortable so that when the gatherings

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are over or after I get off the jet to meet

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with so many of you,

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that my feet feel good.

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That's the one thing that I cannot put on a back

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burner. There have been too many times when I've come off

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stage and my feet are look like potato chips.

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They are just crumbling from anguish.

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And I will take a pair of Rockport shoes,

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size 10,

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nice and comfortable Who she cushy bottoms in,

Speaker:

but attractive got to stay in style.

Speaker:

Absolutely. Your gift is so fun because true to form of

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who you are,

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your gift is also a gift to all of us,

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with your learning,

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your direction,

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your knowledge and sharing.

Speaker:

And that's what you've been doing here too.

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Yes, absolutely.

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So on behalf of all of us,

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we've so appreciate all this information.

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Now, surely some of our listeners are on the run.

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They're not near a computer.

Speaker:

Our show notes page will have all of your contact information

Speaker:

if they end up jumping over onto the computer,

Speaker:

but for people who are out and about and just listening

Speaker:

and would like to be able to reach out and learn

Speaker:

more about you,

Speaker:

where is the single location you would direct somebody online?

Speaker:

I would direct them to gift basket,

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business.com. Okay.

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So the website?

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Yes. Okay.

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Super. So if you want to learn more,

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then jump over to gift basket,

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business.com. And again,

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if you're near the computer and pull up the show notes

Speaker:

page, you'll see all the additional information as well.

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Shirley, thank you so much.

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I knew that this was going to be a value packed

Speaker:

conversation and you clearly came through with that,

Speaker:

for sure.

Speaker:

Thank you so much for all the information,

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taking your time sharing.

Speaker:

I look forward to seeing you again.

Speaker:

I'm not sure exactly when that will be,

Speaker:

but I know it's in our future.

Speaker:

And may your candle always burn bright.

Speaker:

Thank you so much.

Speaker:

So it's been an honor.

Speaker:

Pleasure. Learn how to work smarter while developing and growing your

Speaker:

business. Download our guide called 25 free tools to enhance your

Speaker:

business in life.

Speaker:

It's our gift to you and available@giftbizonrap.com

Speaker:

slash tools.

Speaker:

Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for the

Speaker:

next episode.

Speaker:

Today's show is sponsored by the ribbon print company,

Speaker:

looking for a new income source for your gift business.

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Customization is more popular now than ever grant your product of

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if you like what you're hearing,

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make sure to jump over and subscribe to the show on

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iTunes. That way you'll automatically get the newest episodes when they

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go live.

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And thank you to those who have already left a rating

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and review by subscribing rating and reviewing you help to increase

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It's a great way to pay it forward,

5 Comments

  1. Shirley George Frazier on August 8, 2016 at 9:14 am

    It’s an honor and pleasure to share ideas and information with your listeners, Sue!

  2. Cynthia Pringle on August 11, 2016 at 6:17 pm

    Thank you so much Sue and Shirley. Shirley is such a inspiration to me and have been for many years. Her knowledge and willingness to help others are so amazing to me. I pray i meet her one day.
    Thank you Shirley for all you have contributed to the gift basket and other industries.
    We appreciate you greatly.

    • Shirley George Frazier on August 15, 2016 at 2:11 pm

      Cynthia, your kind words humble me, and I’m very glad you made time to hear this podcast. May it continue to inspire your ideas as you bring value to your customers!

  3. Denise Sayles on August 13, 2016 at 12:12 pm

    Shirley Frazier. What an inspiration
    Thank you

    • Shirley George Frazier on August 15, 2016 at 2:13 pm

      You’re very welcome, Denise. Your comment inspires me to continue sharing words of wisdom through spoken and written content!

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