230 – How Deborah Gets in Front of Corporate Decision Makers with Deborah Wasylko of Baskets Galore

Deborah Wasylko of Baskets Galore

Deborah Wasylko is an entrepreneur, engineer, show host and author noted for her work in corporate sales and award-winning gift design at Baskets Galore.

Her personal credo is to create a life that she doesn’t want to take a vacation from.

Deborah launched Baskets Galore in 2003 and has earned the “Top Corporate Gift Company of the Year” award three years in a row from Cleveland Business Connects magazine.

Her clients include Fortune 500 companies such as Sherwin Williams, Moen, Parker Hannifin, the Cleveland Indians, the Cleveland Cavaliers and National Public Radio.

She received a U.S. Patent for her unique 360 gift and packaging system. She also is the author of a new sales concept book called the Tasteful Break. The book is designed to give you all the tools and steps you need to grow the corporate side of your business.

The busy woman that she is, she find time to host a Saturday morning cable show called Business BEAT. Now in it’s 200th episode.

Deborah lives by the ideal that kindness is never forgotten and coaches her team to execute to the highest standards – giving first while helping others succeed.

Business Building Insights

  • What you focus on expands. Expect great things to happen everyday.
  • Spend your life doing something you enjoy and provides a living salary.
  • It’s by setting goals that you can make things happen.
  • Providing top service and making your clients’ lives easier will win you the business.
  • You don’t have to break the bank to do something that gets corporate attention.
  • To get an introduction into a large account, start with people you already know who have connections and can champion you.
  • Give your clients something that they can’t get anywhere but from you.

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn

Gift Biz Resources

Join our FREE Gift Biz Breeze Facebook Community

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 230 you want to give your clients

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something that they can't get anywhere else,

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but from you At Tinton,

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gifters, bakers,

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crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.

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Whether you have an established business or looking to start one,

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now you are in the right place.

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This is gift to biz unwrapped,

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helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.

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Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,

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resources, and the support you need to grow your gift biz.

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Here is your host gift biz gal,

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Sue moon Heights.

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Hi there,

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it's Sue And thank you so much for joining me here

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today. I know I say this each episode,

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but I truly appreciate the fact that you're here and that

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you're learning from the shows.

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I know this because of your emails and the reviews and

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if you haven't left a review already,

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I'd really love for you to do so.

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That helps spread the word and together we can help each

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other grow our businesses.

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Along those lines,

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I'm delighted to tell you about my upcoming masterclass.

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It's totally free and specifically for those of you who are

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in the beginning stages of your business development or if you're

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just now considering starting a business from your handmade products.

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When you attend this master class,

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you'll learn the single biggest thing that people are missing when

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they start a business.

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Four critical elements to include when you're pricing your product,

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how to attract customers and the secret to making them loyal

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customers who will buy from you again and again.

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The exciting news is the category of handmade small business is

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steadily growing,

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right as the big box stores are seeing declines.

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We get into this too,

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all in the masterclass.

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To join us,

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go to gift biz,

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unwrapped.com forward slash masterclass and select a day and time that

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works for you.

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Again, that's gift biz on wrapped.com

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forward slash masterclass switching gears today,

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I have a topic coming your way that answers a question

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many of you established business owners have.

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How do you get in front of corporate decision makers?

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I'm not talking about getting your products into wholesale.

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That's a different episode.

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We're talking here about selling into regional businesses that could purchase

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your product for client and employee gifts and perfect timing.

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Yes, the holidays are right around the corner and it's go

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time to make those connections and sales.

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Let's talk about how to do this right now.

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Today it is my pleasure to introduce you to Deborah was

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Silco of baskets galore.

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Debra is an entrepreneur engineer show host and author,

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noted for her work in corporate sales and award winning gift

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design. Her personal credo is to create a life that she

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doesn't want to take a vacation from.

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Oh my gosh.

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Doesn't that sound great?

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Debra launched baskets galore in 2003 and has earned the top

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corporate gift company of the year award three years in a

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row from Cleveland business connects magazine.

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Her clients include fortune 500 companies such as Sherwin-Williams,

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Mowen, Parker Hannifin,

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the Cleveland Indians,

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the Cleveland Cavaliers,

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and national public radio.

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Debra lives by the ideal that kindness has never forgotten and

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coaches or team to execute to the highest standards giving first

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while helping others succeed.

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Debra, welcome to the gift ms on wrapped podcast.

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Thank you so much Sue.

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I am thrilled to be talking with you today.

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Absolutely thrilled Me too.

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And we have actually been trying to get a podcast going

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together for probably six months or so.

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Finally. Yay.

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Yes, you are everywhere.

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And I just love listening to you and learning about all

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the makers and just how you're giving so much exposure to

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so many people.

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What fun.

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Well it is super fun and thank you for that and

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I am just so happy that you found the time to

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be with us today.

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Of course.

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But we're starting off in a creative way.

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And you already know about this because we have so many

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listeners who are creators and makers.

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I like to have you describe yourself by way of a

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motivational candle.

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So if you were to create a candle that spoke all

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about you,

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Deborah, what would be the color and what would be the

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quote on your candle?

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So my candle is on Bray,

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so think of it as different,

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like intensities of color and I'm a big color person so

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it was really hard for me to pick one.

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Just one.

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I did pick the color orange this year.

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Orange is energy to me and I believe that energy is

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really important because we attract the same kind of energy to

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us and abundance to us based on our vibration and orange

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just vibrates high for me.

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My quote is something great is going to happen,

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something Great's about to happen,

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something great is going to happen and I just love that

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quote because there's gifts that are given to us all the

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time through people,

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through opportunities,

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through calls,

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through angels,

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through just people in your life,

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clients calling you,

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people walking in the door,

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people you meet at the grocery store and there's so much

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opportunity and things out there and I just believe what you

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focus on expands.

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So I focus on great things happening every day.

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I really like that.

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When you talk about your color being orange and energy,

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I mean I think the energy that we give out in

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terms of optimism and all of that is also what comes

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back to us.

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And that's the field that you're Layering into your quote,

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optimism that something great is going to happen.

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Yeah, I think so.

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And I think what we look for,

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we find what we focus on expands.

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And I can tell if I'm having a crappy day and

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I'm vibrating low,

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things aren't going so well.

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I mean,

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I'm attracting junk.

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It's kind of like if something bad happened,

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like someone cuts you off or something on the way to

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work, and if you focus on that,

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then it pretty much sets you up to have a bad

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day the whole way through.

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Versus if you're just like,

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Oh, that was a bummer,

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you know,

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whatever happened.

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But then you let it go.

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So true.

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You just stay focused on more positive.

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Well, that's why you and I are friends because we're both

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that way.

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We're both more positive.

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It's not worth it.

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Honestly. No.

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Right. We've got a choice,

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right? We definitely do.

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Well, you do have a choice every day of how we're

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going to make our day.

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Fabulous. Absolutely.

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Yeah. Okay.

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So let's talk about how you got to baskets galore because

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even though I've known you for what,

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maybe even 10 years or so,

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I'm not exactly sure how long,

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but I don't know that I know the story of how

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you've advanced into your super successful business.

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Well, thank you.

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I think we met at the national gift basket convention bright

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Years ago.

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I don't even remember when.

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Years ago.

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Probably at the first one.

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I don't know if you were in San Jose eight years

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ago. I can't even believe it's been eight years I've been

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there. We must have met when I did have my gift

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basket business.

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Oh wow.

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Cool. Super cool.

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Yeah, so that was way long whenever.

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Okay. So anyway,

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yeah, so we met forever long ago.

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Yeah, I mean the short part of it is I wasn't

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industry. I worked for a medical device company and I'm a

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quality process engineer.

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That does not sound anything creative,

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Deborah. It doesn't,

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but you know what?

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People say that to me,

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but really engineering is problem solving.

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And so when people say,

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I'm going to engineer this or I'm going to reengineer this

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problem solving is creative,

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and people always said,

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what are you doing?

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But I think I test right in the middle.

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SU, I can go left or right.

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I can go technical or I can go creative.

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I think I'm a little stronger with my creativity and so

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it's easy.

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I go back and forth and problem solving is creative.

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That's what I did for 20 years working in industry and

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having a team of people.

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It was the company that I worked with was bear diagnostics.

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You know the aspirin company?

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Oh yeah.

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They had a division that was medical devices and so I

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worked with hundreds of engineers.

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This was during the time where there weren't many women in

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the industry in the eighties and I finally went through all

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the way up to 1999 when I had my last child.

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But anyway,

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I did that and then they wanted to relocate us.

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That's when I just had kids.

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My mother was going to need assistance,

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was elderly and my husband loved his job and they wanted

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to relocate me to Tarrytown,

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New York to lead a hundred engineers in configuration management.

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And I just didn't want to leave.

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So that was a pivotal point then Was a pivotal point.

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There was a lot of moving parts in my life.

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And that's when I said,

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okay, what are you going to do?

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Are you going to go back?

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Are you gonna consult in this area?

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Are you going to stay in the area?

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Are you going to reengineer?

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And at that time I thought,

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you know what,

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I, you know,

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something life changing also happened during that time where I was

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carrying twins and my son,

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I have Hannah and Michael.

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Michael passed away.

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Oh my.

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And so it was at that time that I just kind

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of said,

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what else?

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It was horrible.

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Thank goodness I'm a Christian and I have the Lord.

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Well, as perspectives changing your job is nothing compared to losing

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a son.

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Right? And so it was just very pivotal in a number

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of ways.

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And that's when I said,

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you know,

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Hey, life is too short.

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That's when I still wanted to kind of raise my kids

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while I was launching a new business.

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So I did research and I came up with corporate gifting

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and gift baskets cause it was really,

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we were in the middle of it at the time and

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I thought,

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I love design and I love business and I wanted to

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be an entrepreneur and I wanted to raise my kids too.

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And so I just threw it all in a bag and

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shook it up.

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And this is what came out is my business.

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I love you saying that you didn't use a basket,

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you used a bag.

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I did,

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yeah. It was a beautiful,

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like a travel bag that was just a gorgeous nubby bag

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that you would use in a hotel.

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It was just so cool.

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So you chose gift baskets,

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corporate baskets,

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which that was my same story,

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right? Coming out of corporate,

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making a change,

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wanting to be with the kids.

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So very interesting how we kind of walk the same path

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there. So for people who are either in a situation like

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that where they are being forced out,

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deciding by their own will,

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they are looking at leaving and just want to change however

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it is.

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What were the first few things that you started doing to

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actually form your business?

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So the first few things were I went to the library

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with my kids and I was researching everything I could read

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about gift basket businesses in a home business and starting a

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business. I just went to the local library.

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I remember it so well putting the kids by the trains,

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that one train that has a face on it and I

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can't even remember now.

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Thomas the tank engine.

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Yeah, yeah,

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yeah. I mean I think he's still cool.

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I know Arthur is still out there.

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I love Arthur.

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So I put the kids there and I would go to

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research and actually the woman that would help me with the

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research, she became like the whole director of all of our

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libraries all in Medina County.

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And so she watched me from when I brought my kids

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in that were like two and four.

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Hannah was two and five or whatever and she watched me

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just go through this whole metamorphosis of I read things and

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then I started playing with design simultaneously.

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I think Sue,

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the difference is I didn't work in the industry like for

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someone else,

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like many people that are florists or they worked for a

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gift company,

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they decide then they have like the domain expertise and then

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they're like,

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I'm going to break out on my own and do it

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myself. I had nothing.

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I mean it was just a hunch that said,

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Hm, I really enjoy giving gifts and I love design and

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I like putting together baskets,

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but I want to make it really more artistic.

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I want to make it a little different.

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I want to make it not like huge.

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See, I like whimsy but not like cutesy,

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but I want it to be something more artistic.

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I wanted a different flair on the baskets.

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So was your research how to start a business or was

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your research,

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what is a gift basket or a corporate gift business all

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about what's already out there.

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How can I be different?

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Like trying to narrow in on your design or what was

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the goal of all the research that you were doing?

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Yeah, I think it was to figure out what the needs

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were in corporate and I was doing this simultaneously,

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so part of it was going to be the business and

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then creative part was going to be where I benchmarked and

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looked at other businesses and I actually would go onto the

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internet and study and compare in,

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get ideas in to see how this could be a viable

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business that made money.

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Not just a hobby,

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but something that I'm like,

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darn it.

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I love the process engineering part.

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I like it.

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It made a lot of money,

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but I want to do something now that I enjoy and

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that I can make a living from.

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I think I switched the paradigm,

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switched from liking what I did to something that I love

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that just was something I was going to be passionate about.

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Okay. So you went into it right away with a very

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professional mindset in that I'm going to start this business,

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I'm going to focus on corporate and it's going to make

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me money.

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So we have that.

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How long I want to make sure that we leave enough

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time so that we can really talk about what you know

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in terms of corporate and getting into corporate.

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Because I think that's going to be really,

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really relevant to our listeners.

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But I do want to finish up this development part too.

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How long were you in the research mode?

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You know,

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I'm gonna say very short.

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I started maybe six months cause I was doing things with

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my kids.

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I was taking them to preschool,

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I was starting to take care of an elderly mom.

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So I only had part time,

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time to work on the business.

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I'm going to say six months.

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I started letting people know,

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Hey, I'm starting this,

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I'm going in,

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I'm looking into this.

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And I knew I was going to have to start networking.

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So I'm going to say six months.

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Okay. So you were researching and I'm sure you got more

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and more clarity as time went on.

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And so then did you put a set date on the

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calendar that this is when I'm opening for business or how

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did you make the transition from research to actually having a

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business? I want to be totally transparent about this.

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I did it kind of in a relaxed way because I

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felt like this is going to happen.

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I kind of gave myself,

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I'm going to say a year to start selling and being

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able to sell baskets and that I would be producing and

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making some kind of money.

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The stream would start coming in.

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I think if I had to do it again,

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I would have been more deliberate about setting a date because

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I know the power of setting goals and how they're realized

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and how God in the universe and you make it happen

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when you set goals.

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Like I write them now on my board in front of

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me, so I see them every day.

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I felt at that time like,

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you know what?

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I know I want to start a business,

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but I know I'm doing a lot.

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At the same time I'm learning about a small business.

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I'm learning about the needs of gift baskets and I'm raising

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kids and I knew that I just gave myself like a

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year you're going to make this happen and start making money.

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I actually liked that you are able to say that you

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started that way because I think a lot of people who

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are listening are also juggling a lot of things and that

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what you're showing is there isn't just one right way to

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do it.

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And yes,

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everybody talks about set the date,

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action plans make the goals and I also believe in that.

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But that doesn't mean if you don't start that way that

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you're not going to be successful.

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Look at you now.

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Right. So I mean everybody does it their own way.

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I guess I would say just because you're not doing it

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exactly like somebody else does doesn't mean that it's right or

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wrong, but your way of doing things.

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Okay, so you started basket school,

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or if you were to look back and say there's one

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thing that I would recommend to other people who are starting

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that I would have done differently,

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what would that be?

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I think the one thing that I did is I stayed

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in networking groups that were in serving me.

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Ooh, that's interesting.

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Talk more about that.

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Like it wasn't a BNI and those have different personalities,

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but I wasn't a couple local women's groups that were small

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businesses and I was trying to show them how gifts were

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relevant to what they,

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to help them,

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but I really didn't hone deck,

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like they really didn't need me as much as corporations did.

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So was it the comradery and kind of feeling like you

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were working without really seeing the results?

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Yeah. Okay.

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But I think that's a really important point because you and

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I am such an advocate of networking,

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and I'm not sure if we're going to be talking about

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that a little bit more or not.

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I talk about it all the time on the podcast.

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Yeah, yeah,

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yeah. But action has to produce results and going to networking

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meetings. Either you're not approaching the networking meetings properly or to

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your point it's not the right networking meeting.

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It's really easy for us to miss guide ourselves by thinking

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we're doing that's constructive for the business cause we're taking an

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action but it might not be the right action that's going

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to produce business.

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Right. I think I did a for socialization,

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So there was a need there for awhile,

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right? I mean you could say that.

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Yeah, there was a need there.

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You could say that that was the right thing to do

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for some time,

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but you think you held onto that too long.

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I held onto it too long and I was with people

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that didn't have the ambition and didn't want to produce as

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much as I did too.

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Like it was almost enabling.

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I don't know how to say it like it was.

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Well it served your need for a time.

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I think you're saying you would have cut it off a

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little bit sooner,

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but I think that's also a good warning and you tell

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me if you agree with me.

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I know there are a lot of people,

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you know,

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it's fun to say you have your own business or you're

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an entrepreneur or you know all of that.

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But I do see a lot of people who play having

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their own business and aren't as serious and dedicated and committed

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as other people are.

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Right. And that's okay.

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They can be that way.

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You know,

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everyone can do their own thing.

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Right? Right.

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But if our interest in our goal is to make money

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from our business,

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possibly replace a nine to five,

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you have to be more serious than that.

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You can't be just playing.

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And Sue,

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the other thing I wanted to mention,

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which was a really big deal is I was good at

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like setting up the business,

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the operations.

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But I was afraid of sales because I'm an engineer and

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I was told somewhere in my life or I had this

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barrier that you're good at the money,

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you're good at handling the money and setting up operations and

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your product and your service.

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But my messaging wasn't clear when I did network.

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I wasn't clear about how I can help others with gifting.

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When I first started,

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I was focused on this you can give to your clients

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for their birthdays or,

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but I wasn't focused on specifics of how gifting is strategically

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high touch and that how we could help you with lead

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conversion and retention and that connectivity and referral.

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Thank you.

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I wasn't focused on my messaging in clear about how gifting

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really is.

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There's a need and it's a big deal and unexpected surprise

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trumps everything in business.

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The good kind and I really wasn't clear very early on

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about conveying the message of how gifting can be used strategically

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in business.

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Very interesting.

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First off,

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that shocks me because knowing how good you are today,

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it's really interesting to hear you saying that that was something

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that you really hadn't had totally dialed in right from the

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beginning. I sucked.

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I saw it was so funny.

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I sought and I hired someone to help me with sales

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and that was a disaster,

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but anyway.

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Okay, well let's not go there yet because I want to

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make an underline this point that you just talked about for

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all of our listeners too,

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and this is a question for you guys to ask yourself,

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is your messaging aligned with what your business offers your customer?

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Because I think what Debra's saying,

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and correct me if I'm wrong,

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but I think I'm right,

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is you had a very clear vision that you were going

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after corporate accounts right from the beginning,

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but your messaging wasn't speaking the same thing.

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It wasn't strong and it wasn't clear and it wasn't sharp

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and it wasn't sweet.

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Okay then.

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Alright, so give us some of your goodness.

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Because you are all these awards.

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You get top corporate gift company of the year,

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three years in a row.

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Give us some advice,

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some thoughts,

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some direction on all of that.

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How do you get there?

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Well, I learned there was this big company,

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very powerful in Cleveland called CBC,

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Cleveland business connects and they would run contest every year for

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events. It would be,

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you can be nominated in venues and entertainment and gift design

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and awards and you would have to be nominated and then

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people would have to vote for you every day.

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And it was a big deal here.

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It was the best of the best in Cleveland would go

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and try to be nominated and get this gorgeous award and

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they don't do it anymore.

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They stopped doing it two years ago.

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And so I found out about it by accident when I

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just had moved my business out of the home and to

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a brick and mortar and I'm like,

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we're going to go for this.

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I wasn't expecting anything.

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I just said,

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let's just go for it.

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And I followed the rules and encouraged people to vote,

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you know,

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like how they have those in your community.

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But this one was like a more of a bougie one.

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Like I saw the local ones from the newspaper,

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blah, blah blah.

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But this one like was a bougie one.

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It was like a big one.

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We weren't expecting to win at all and we didn't even

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know what we were doing.

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We just,

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I made my husband go,

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I took a couple of my staff members,

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we went to this dinner,

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no one knew who was gonna win and then they presented

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you with these gorgeous like square pieces of artwork.

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That was the award.

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Oh my gosh.

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Okay. So what is it that you've done for your business

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that positions you to be the gift company of the year?

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I think it was really servicing the client and how we

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made our client's life easier is how we aligned with their

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goals, how we started doing these touch gifts instead of the

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gift basket.

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And I started off in gift baskets,

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but then as I talked with clients and learned what their

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needs were,

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SU, I learned that the gift baskets not going to be

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for everyone.

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They don't want to start at $50 or whatever.

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They need something smaller to get the job done,

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do what's required in business.

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And so we had like change in turn on a dime

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and think,

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okay, wait a minute here we got to do like little

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touch. I call them touch gifts.

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People come Popeye's mini gifts,

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whatever. But I called them touch gifts because touch is a

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word that people use in sales,

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high touch,

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low touch.

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So I just picked touch gifts and my salespeople got it

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right away what we were talking about.

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And these were little things that like cost two or $3,

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but they looked like little gifts and so people were responding

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to this.

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That's one of the things that got us the award.

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We had to write like a whole paper on this award.

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Oh that's right.

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We also had to submit how we helped clients and what

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the outcomes were and what we did to change their lives

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in the year.

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So how your business had an impact on your clients?

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Yeah, I forgot about that.

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We had to write like a whole paper and it was,

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Oh and this was judged too.

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So this was just not a popularity contest award by any

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means. Okay.

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So let's get to this cause I want to stay with

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things that you are,

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nuggets that our listeners will be able to take and use

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themselves. So I will want to circle back at some point

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and ask you what your technique is for getting an audience

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with corporate clients to start with,

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but because we've already been talking about this,

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you could have been,

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so looking in at what the goals and the missions are

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of your gift basket business and trying to continually resell gift

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baskets and re-explain why gift baskets were the solution and just

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try to change the client.

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But instead you were open enough and really listened to the

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fact that okay,

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gift baskets as we're currently doing them aren't necessarily right for

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in whatever client you were in front of.

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And then did you see that continuing to happen with multiple

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clients, which is then you're like,

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okay, there's something else I should be doing here.

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Yes, That's exactly it.

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The more we talked to HR people like different personas,

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different industries,

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realtors, admins is another big audience of ours.

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Healthcare. As we were talking to sales people,

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event people,

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hotel people,

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decision makers,

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we were getting feedback.

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When we would mention gift basket,

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we would scare them away and they would say,

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we don't need that.

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What was it you were seeing that leads you to believe

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you were scaring them away?

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We weren't being invited in to talk about ideas.

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Okay. And how we can make their lives easier and connect

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and build those relationships.

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Okay, so they weren't seeing a solution in what you had

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to offer?

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Correct. Okay.

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So then now you're going to go back and rethink all

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of this?

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I guess.

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So take us there.

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What happens then?

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So then it was like,

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we can do little gift baskets,

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but that's going to be like $25 And that's labor And

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that's labor and it's cost just as much like you said.

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Yeah, it's labor,

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it's labor intensive.

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Or we can come up with these little touches that either

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we make or client or people already sell like sweet you

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believe. For example,

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in Pennsylvania they make these little like double pretzels that have

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a bow on them and they're done and you buy them

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and you just sell them.

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You just double the price and you sell them and they're

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flying out of here like crazy.

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Or you can add their printed ribbon.

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So it was really asking questions.

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Okay, if the gift basket is not the answer,

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what is the answer and how can we retool this?

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Again, problem solving.

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I think that's like a big deal.

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Okay, so this is such a great example,

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but you identify the problem,

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you go back and you think and then you come up

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with ideas and then did you run them by some of

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your corporate clients?

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Yeah, we tested it.

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We said,

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what would this better meet your needs?

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And people just started to respond to them.

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Ah, so you saw it right away.

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We saw it right away.

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Like when we would present and we would give a tasteful

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break, we would,

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instead of,

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we would give people a tasteful break.

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When we were able to go in and present a corporation's,

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when it was like a larger group,

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we wouldn't just give them a snack box or something.

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We would actually lay out food.

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Okay. You've got to go back and tell people really quickly

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what a tasteful break is.

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A tasteful break sounds right up my alley.

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We'll hear all about it.

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Right after an information break from our sponsor.

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for more information.

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So a tasteful break is how I presented to our first

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corporate client,

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which was Parker Hannifin and they're big and Cleveland and they're

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like in California and other places.

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They're worldwide company,

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but they make parts and big engineering company and the admins

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brought us in and I remember everybody's showing up and I

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was like,

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wow, like this was my first one and so I was

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scared. I didn't know what I was doing.

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I brought too much Showing up to the meeting.

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Yeah, everyone was there.

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All the admins,

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HR came in,

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they were like,

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Oh wow.

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Oh I like the baby.

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We. So we did still the baby stuff and all their

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needs like cause they have to do wedding,

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get well condolence gifts on boarding.

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But we fed them,

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we fed them at a pretty display.

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We laid out just like you're going to have people over

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for cocktails or appetizers.

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We laid that out.

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We talked about our snacks so that they can see the

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quality of what's going in them.

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And then we also showed those little touch gifts and they

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responded to this,

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Oh, wouldn't that be nice for visitor gifts?

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Or when somebody comes in for an interview or for takeaways

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at an employee picnic or the salespeople were,

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Oh, wouldn't this be nice to thank them for the appointment?

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Or just stay top of mind during the year.

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Oh my gosh,

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isn't it great when your client is thinking of other solutions

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for your product,

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Right? Yeah,

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yeah, yeah.

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So yeah,

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I mean that you've won then.

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Right? So there we're seeing how it can be used in

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other situations and you can tell when people are engaging with

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you. The other good thing about having a group of people

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together is they play off of each other.

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So you don't have to talk about how fabulous it is

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they're doing it.

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So you just turn the floor over to them.

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Right. And so what does it look like today?

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Is this the same area of interest today in what you

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mostly provide?

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So we do the touch gifts quite a bit many gifting

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and we actually set a programs for it.

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So like realtors could send out 10 or 12 or 20

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or 50 boxes,

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little touch gifts and glamour envelopes or pretty boxes,

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these colored boxes a month or a quarter.

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And we set up a whole program for it.

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So it's turnkey for busy people to stay top of mind

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with their influencers and what their referral base.

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So we just automated it and made it bigger and we

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still do the tasteful breaks and we wrote a book about

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it so that others can learn how to have a captive

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audience and how to not just make it special so that

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they want to bring you in for tasteful Bray.

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Right, okay.

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If we have people who are listening who are in the

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consumable industry,

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because I guess that's what you need for a tasteful break,

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where could they go to get this book So they can

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contact me at wow.

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At basket skull or gifts.com

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and we will send them a form or they can go

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to Facebook baskets galore and just DM me,

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direct message me and ask me and we'll send them a

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form and that's how they can just ask for it and

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we send them a form to complete and we send them

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the whole kit.

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It's a whole kit.

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Oh, it's a whole kit.

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Okay. So gift biz listeners,

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if you are interested,

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I will put all the information on the show notes page.

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So just access the show notes page and you'll have all

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the information if you're interested in knowing more about the tasteful

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break and getting the kit.

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So let's leave it with that for now.

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Okay. So what would you say percentage wise are tasteful break

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or touch point products versus your overall mix of products?

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So the touch products are still a small,

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I mean I'm going to say 25% of our business.

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So would you say they're an entrance point into corporate accounts?

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Would that be fair?

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It's great.

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Yeah. Or I would say it's an entrance point for to

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starting to work with certain personas.

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Yeah, like sales people respond to that and health,

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healthcare, anybody in sales,

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they like that.

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Like touch pop by and then it is one category of

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gifting that you can offer and I'm recommending you offer it

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because you can say,

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let us help you stretch your budget,

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let us help you touch people throughout the year,

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but it doesn't have to be launch.

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You can spin that on a way to stay connected and

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do something special without breaking the bank.

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Okay. All right,

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let's move on.

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I know that a lot of people,

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just the idea of corporate is scary.

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People get the fact that there's money to be had in

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corporate. Corporate accounts are great because it's higher volume.

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They're usually budget and if you're really thinking you can contract

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that business for lower prices,

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you can negotiate things,

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but none of it gets started because it's scary.

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Like how do you get into a corporate account?

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Right. Can you share with us a little bit of how

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you're able to do that?

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Sure. So it all starts by you start where you're at,

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who do I know that works in a corporation or through

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networking at your groups and just meeting people and networking at

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corporate events.

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Who can you just start talking to but you want it

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to be people that are willing to champion you and host

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you to start working with them.

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So you start with your friends and your people that love

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you, know you trust you and they will either bring you

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into their company or they would be a decision maker to

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start that process,

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But they don't necessarily need to be the one who makes

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the decision.

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They might just be working at the company,

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but they have internal access to the place where you need

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to be the person you need to be talking to.

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Exactly. Okay,

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got it.

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And just like you do a warm referral or an introduction,

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you kind of get your system in place and make sure

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that you're setting yourself up to be credible.

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It just takes one.

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The reason I got into Parker Hannifin was because of a

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haircut. Oh,

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tell that story.

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That's interesting.

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My sister is a hairdresser and she cuts one of the

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officer's hair and she was all,

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my sister has this gift company and then once like she

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had something displayed at her company or was giving a big

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gift and he just saw the quality of the work and

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said we got to get her into talk to the admins

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and then he said,

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have her call Sue,

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blah blah,

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blah and set up.

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And so he was my champion because of my sister,

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their connection.

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And he didn't really know me,

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he just knew my sister and was going to help me

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out. And he saw the quality of work because people aren't

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going to take that risk necessarily unless they know something about

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you too.

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So that's why it's good to be visible or have something

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there to show something.

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Yeah. And then he said,

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call my assistant and she's going to set up,

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have her come in and present or meet with Sue.

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And that's when I says,

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well how about if we,

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do you think the other admins,

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it's all asking questions without being pushy.

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What if we bring in snacks for everybody?

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We can do it during their break,

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we can do it.

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It's easy,

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it's convenient,

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it's turnkey for them.

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I'll send you an invitation.

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You can send it out to your people,

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get them to sign up,

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and then what are their interests so I can make their

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needs when I bring in and present.

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And then you handle the rest.

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You make it super easy for them.

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So that's all they're doing is sending out an invite or

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scheduling it on people's calendar.

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They have internal things.

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And it was because of that haircut that I got into

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Parker Hannifin and that was my first presentation.

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You know that is crazy because I have to share with

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you now also how I got into my first big corporate

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account. When I had my gift basket business.

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I was in line at Starbucks and one of the city

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officials who I happened to be friends with our children went

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to preschool together,

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was sitting with somebody at one of the local banks here.

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They've just recently sold,

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but they were MB financial.

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And she says to me,

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Oh my gosh,

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Sue, you need to meet so and so.

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And he was one of the branch heads.

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He wasn't really in corporate.

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And he says,

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Oh, I'll get you the name of the person.

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Like same type of thing.

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One thing led to another in an,

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I'm going to say quote unquote unprofessional environment.

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Like you were getting your hair done.

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I was standing in line for coffee.

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And the thing that's so cool about that,

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well first off,

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it's a good point to make that you never disconnect from

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your company and think that because you're not in your office

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or your studio that you shouldn't be talking about your company

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now. Not all the time.

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Right. But just those connections.

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And then the really cool thing,

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and I don't know if this is how this happened to

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you, but not that I could talk about the fact that

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that was a company I was using,

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but it kind of,

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once you're into a couple of corporate accounts,

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you learn the ropes,

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right? And then you can save things like one of our

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other corporate accounts.

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You don't share the strategy,

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right? But you start putting yourself at a different level.

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I guess it is.

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But for me it was for my cup of coffee.

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For you it was in the salon.

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Yeah. So you never know where your business is going to

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come from.

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Exactly. And then yes,

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as you do get one then you're establishing credibility and you

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can name drop and you're doing it strategically not to be

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a jerk.

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Like not to be,

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Oh these are my clients.

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But I mean I don't like doing some of this stuff

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cause it's not me to name drop and stuff.

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But I had to put MBA after my name when I

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would send out emails.

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Otherwise they would think I was aunt Martha making baskets in

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the basement.

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Right. Cause I was a home business for the longest time.

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I had established instant credibility.

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So you do that by your persona,

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how you dress,

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how you look,

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how your cards look,

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all that adds up to your credibility.

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It all matters.

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It all matters.

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And I hate and I took off the MBA after my

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name now,

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but for the longest time I kept that there,

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my credit stations,

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because I know it just sounds like I felt like such

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a snap.

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But if you don't have confidence in yourself,

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how are other people gonna have confidence in you?

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They will eat you.

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They won't pick that up so far.

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Absolutely. I agree with you.

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Totally. It's so true.

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Use what you have.

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I mean namedrop yeah,

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you know we do gift,

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I don't like to do that,

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but you got like 10 seconds to establish credibility.

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Well, it does add credibility and actually I think you have

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to be careful of what the industries are.

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I used to work in grocery in my corporate world and

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man, those grocers,

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one against another pricing of produce and stuff.

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I mean the security and the privacy was so intense.

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But other types of businesses are a little bit different.

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And sometimes I don't know about you,

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but I would ask them,

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is it okay if I feature some of the gifts that

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we used to do?

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Not the ones that we're currently doing but that we used

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to do and they'd always say yes because it's extra visibility

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for them.

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Right. You're right,

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and I was just going to make another point here,

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since we're talking corporate that I'm going to ask you one

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more question and then we're going to have to start winding

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it down.

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But without saying too much in the banking industry,

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I ended up having three or four different banks because once

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you start getting into an industry,

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you start learning and understanding them,

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but I would never share what one was doing with another.

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Right. I was very clear about that.

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They didn't even know I had other banks necessarily,

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but the interesting thing here is each one of them used

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their gifting in a different way and a pretty significant different

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way. So I just bring that up for you guys who

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are listening.

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If you're thinking that one industry,

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okay, you know how they're going to do it for a

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specific industry because you already have been working in that.

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That doesn't mean that those are the goals,

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the needs or the pain points of another company.

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That's in the same industry.

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Oh my gosh.

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That is so true.

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Yeah. So when you're going in and you're finding out about

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them to the point of discovery or doing the tasteful breaks

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and understanding how this could work,

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don't go in with assumptions because it could be totally different.

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Yeah. You got like open-minded,

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nimble. Here's a real quick example.

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We do gifts for various companies and manufacturing lots of them.

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And then my husband,

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out of all things,

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did a cold call to RW Beckett in Cleveland,

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Ohio, and they're really wildly successful,

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but they like to do their Christian company.

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And when John just was talking to this gentleman in HR

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on the phone,

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we don't do cold calls.

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I mean,

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you don't need to do,

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but my husband was bored one day.

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He's just,

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my husband's quirky,

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so he just was like,

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I'm just going to drop something off to this company.

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And they gave it to HR and then my husband follows

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up with HR and the gentleman was like,

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yeah, come on in.

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And John was like,

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John knew how to speak their language.

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What are you doing for onboarding?

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Do you need any Getwell or,

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and then we went in there and we found out they

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were Christian company and he wanted to put like a keepsake

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or have a prayer gift for their prayer group.

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And so in their sympathy and get well in visitor gifts

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we put something that's faith based.

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Now you don't have another company that does that.

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We have a lot of those things cause we have a

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lot of spiritual things here.

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But that's an example of how you got to kind of

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be openminded in think what is their culture and maybe make

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recommendations based on their culture or really listened to them because

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you want to give your clients something that they can't get

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anywhere else but from you.

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Bingo. So they were using edible fruit but then edible fruits

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not going to put in a devotional or a wood shelf

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sitter. That's what scripture.

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But we do.

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And a lot of people wouldn't even be open enough and

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listening to identify that this was a question whether they could

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do or whether this was a need,

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whether they could do it or not.

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Yeah. And so you might start off with working with HR

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but then if they love you and you establish trust,

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they're going to need holiday gifts and they're going to need

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visitor gifts cause they have this new showroom and then they

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can introduce you to salespeople that have key clients that are

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going to need promotion gifts or things when they get a

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promotion or,

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so you got to look at the bigger picture like suicide.

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You got to really be flexible.

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Yep. Oh my gosh Debra,

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this has been amazing.

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You can clearly see why you are rocking in the corporate

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world. I really appreciate the whole idea of corporate gifts is

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fabulous. Your story in terms of how you started and where

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you are now is so inspiring to people who are just

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now in the beginning to see where you can go and

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I really liked the fact that you didn't start out,

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you came from corporate,

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like engineering is a little bit scary to me because it

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sounds so detailed.

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But you approached your basket business in a little bit of,

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I'm just going to say softer cause I can't find a

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way to say it differently but softer because you were also

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balancing your children,

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difficult life issue,

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et cetera.

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And look where you are now.

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Super successful being recognized,

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having fortune 500 companies,

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all of that.

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So I think it's very motivating to everybody where you can

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go. And again,

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the point is I think doing it in your own way.

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Yes. I also thank you for the advice on how to

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get into corporate because that seems very doable for some of

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us who have been hesitant to do it in the past.

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So I love that.

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And so what I like to do now is an exchange

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for all the value you've given us.

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We would like to then give something to you and it's

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by way of a virtual gift.

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So this is a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your

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future. It's your dream or your goal of almost unreachable Heights

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that you would wish to obtain.

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So please accept this gift right here in our presence and

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open your box.

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Thank you.

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Tell us what's inside.

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Okay, so I opened my box and an orange candle comes

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out. No,

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I'm just kidding.

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No, it could be in there.

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I like that.

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So I'm digging in my box.

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So in my box,

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the gift that you gave me is my second book and

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I want to write something more sales-based to help people.

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And then also in my box is a list of speaking

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engagements because I love to talk about how to connect and

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sell. I just love it and we all need it.

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That topic never gets stale,

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that's for sure.

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So that's what's in my box because this year we're finishing

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a new website and I did put the outline for the

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book on the side cause I had too many things on

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my plate and I wasn't doing anything well.

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And so the second book,

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and I just love speaking and training,

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pumping people,

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I'm just like them.

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That's why I like this is because I'm just like everyone

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that's in this field.

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Well, I think your gift is a win win because you're

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just sharing with us how much you like it And we

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all need it,

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so let's do it.

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Thank you so much Sue.

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Let's make sure that this happens for sure.

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This was like too much fun so I could talk to

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you all day.

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Honestly, this was big fun here.

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Big fun.

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I know.

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Likewise. Well thank you so much for being on today.

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I really appreciate it.

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It is my pleasure and Sue,

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thank you so much for having me on this podcast.

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I loved every minute of it.

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All right.

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You just heard how to get in front of corporate decision

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makers, but I know what happens.

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It all sounds good but then you never act on it.

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Tasks get in the way and soon it's completely off the

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radar and this holiday opportunity might just pass you by.

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Think of it this way,

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these marketing and HR managers need to find and purchase customer

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and employee gifts.

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It very well might be written into their job description,

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so you're doing them a favor by presenting your product as

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an option for them without them having to seek you out.

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Make it easy for them.

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Land just one or two of these accounts and you'll be

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Oh, so glad you did.

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Okay. Promise.

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I'm believing in you next week.

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I have a dear friend joining us to talk on a

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topic we've never covered here before.

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I'm going to leave you in suspense until next week on

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that because as we end the show,

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this is the perfect time to jump over and register for

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the masterclass I was talking about in the beginning.

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That link again is gift biz unwrapped.com

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forward slash masterclass couldn't be simpler.

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Go do it now.

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Before you forget and I'll see you next week.

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Bye for now.

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I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook

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group called gift is free.

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It's a place where we all gather and our community to

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support each other.

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We've got a really fun post in there.

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That's my favorite of the week.

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I have to say where I invite all of you to

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share what you're doing,

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to show pictures of your product,

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to show them what you're working on for the week,

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to get reaction from other people and just for fun because

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we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody in

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the community is making.

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My favorite post every single week without doubt,

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wait, what aren't you part of the group already?

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If not,

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make sure to jump over to Facebook and search for the

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group gift biz breeze.

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Don't delay.

2 Comments

  1. Rosemarie Bohinek on September 16, 2019 at 1:51 pm

    Absolutely awesome podcast!

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