Category: Shirts

Submitted by: Robbie T. James

The sight of a generously-endowed and beautifully-arranged food gift basket brings to mind images of joyful parties, delectable treats, good friends, and festive times. A food gift basket is a truly thoughtful gift that will be appreciated by its recipients, no matter what the occasion.

One of the most important elements of a well-made gift basket is the arrangement itself. Careful attention to the right details will make the gift recipient’s mouth water while their heart simultaneously fills up with feeling of good will toward you, the giver.

Another essential element, of course, is the choice of the foods themselves. Giving the wrong food is of course a no-no, especially if the recipient is allergic to certain foods or for whatever reason just avoids them. But, by the same token, the difference between a so-so food choice and a great one will determine whether you are set apart in the recipient’s mind as a truly great gift-giver.

If you are looking for ideas for making or buying a custom food gift basket, here are 5 ideas that will get you onto the right track:

1. Find an attractive, inexpensive basket at a local hobby store or garage sale:

Start by getting your hands on a basket or other type of container such as a tray or planter. You may already have some around the house. Or, check your local hobby store or garage sale.

2. Buy or make your own filler materials:

Great filler materials for gift baskets are shredded paper (brown paper or the newspaper comics work great) and excelsior (which is shredded natural wood, like you see inside Easter baskets).

3. Match your food choice to their personality and eating preferences:

Your choice of food or a food theme is one of the most important decisions you will make in assembling your food gift basket. Make sure to take into account any allergies and dislikes the recipients have – and of course avoid those foods. At the same time, if they are known to be lovers of a certain type of ethnic food, BBQ, etc., make that your theme!

4. For a gift that will last for a long time, choose non-perishable foods:

It goes without saying that unless you plan to give your basket right away, you will need to fill it with foods that are non-perishable. For example, for an hors d’oeuvres-themed basket, try olive oil, artichoke spread, olives, and crackers. Or, for a pasta-themed basket, fill it with 2-3 types of dry pasta, jars of pasta sauce, sauce packages, and dry spices like oregano and basil.

5. Or, for a fresh treat, fill it with fruits or baked goods:

On the other hand, if you plan to give the gift right away, you can also choose to fill it with fresh fruits or baked goods like cookies, scones, or muffins. (Note: cupcakes are not a good choice, however, because the basket wrapping will smear the frosting).

Bonus: for extra-special packaging of fresh fruits, see if you can obtain crates or fruit baskets from your store’s produce section manager. They just may oblige you, if you ask!

Try these 5 ideas for a custom food gift basket that your recipients will love.

About the Author: Get more creative food gift basket ideas at:

Creative Food Gift Basket Ideas

.

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By Anthony J. Namata

When you go back in history, it is when there was a recession when some people got rich! This is the beginning of 2008, and after President George W Bushs speech, markets are jittery due to fears of a recession in the US economy. Americas impending recession, however, brings that window of opportunity, yet again, for the American people – and thanks to the global village that this planet has become – for people around the world to cash-in on Americas sagging economy. And please dont get the wrong end of the stick, Im not rejoicing over this, in this article my intention is to state the obvious and to guide you as regards where, when and how to step-in-to-cash-in on a recession. My timing couldnt have been better.

The United States Recession of 1937 -38 was a sharp economic downturn. In two months, unemployment rose from 5 million to over 9 million, reaching almost 12 million in early 1938. As unemployment rose, consumers expenditures declined, leading to further cutbacks in production. During the recovery phase that began in mid-1938 and when the war came, manufacturing employment leaped from 11 million in 1940 to 18 million in 1943. Back then the manufacturing industry saved the day, but today, with the advent of information technology that has in recent years been pioneering the telecommuting lifestyle, network marketing – otherwise known as multi-level marketing (MLM) – is set to come to the rescue of those brave and sharp enough to grab a work-from-home opportunity when they saw one.

Typically, large layoffs, outsourcing, and a jobless recovery are the adverse effects that afflict an economy in crisis following a recession. Formerly high-paid employees are forced into much lower paid service positions. Many credit homeowners take-out second mortgages on the added property value and use the funds to boost consumer spending at the request of elected officials who back in the 2000s recession told Americans it was patriotic and that they should spend their way out of the recession. There is now debate as to whether these actions were wise. That said, it is now extremely easy for the qualified professional to find outsourced work with the click of the mouse. Nowadays, anyone anywhere in the world can bid for work that is outsourced to the developing world where rates are lower and hence favorable to companies in the west as a cost-cutting strategy. When the recession in America hits, youll want to be in that booming outsource workforce. For one, English being your first language in itself, makes you more marketable. And although the pay is perhaps lower than your local wage package, the strategy to success here is to take on as many jobs as you possibly can, and to combine that with other forms of online residual-income-generating vocations available on the Internet. Like self-publishing, network marketing and so forth.

Money-Saving-Coupons are a great way to save money on your purchases. In a recession, people will want to save money wherever they possibly can. But did you know that now, you can also make money giving-away free money-saving coupons? Thanks to the modern day work-from-home gurus this opportunity is now available as an online-based business opportunity for anyone anywhere in the world.

In summary: A recession can be your ticket to financial freedom, but only if you act fast and with calculated precision. You may have a day job at present but one thing you dont have, unfortunately, is immunity to having your head on the chopping block when your boss decides to slash overheads to stay afloat. Employees are usually the first to go. So be very wary, no job is secure. It never has been. But you can prepare yourself by joining a work-from-home opportunity as well as making yourself available to the outsource market and working it part-time until youre earning as much as your day job or more. Then, you decide whether or not to fire your boss!

About the Author: Anthony J. Namata is a successful Internet Marketer and author of How to Become an International Gemstone Dealer

thegemsreport.com

and

DiaryOfAnInternetMarketer.com

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By Paul J Leonard

Marketing means lots of different things to different people. To some, its simply another term for advertising. To others, it extends beyond advertising to all forms of business promotion and communication. But whatever your take on marketing, one thing is certain; language and the art of persuasion hold the key to communicating with your audience.

Marketing and your brand

At Caboodle, we believe marketing is the most obvious, accessible and vulnerable incarnation of your brand. While it doesnt define your brand, its more than simply a vehicle for your branding its everything and anything that you put out there, into the big wide world. It projects your image. It communicates your thinking. As such, the language you use across your marketing from press ads to TV, from on-hold messages to 140-character tweets is vital in shaping the way people think and feel about you, your business and your products or services.

Enough of the theory

With our brand vs marketing rant out of the way, here are our copywriting and marketing consultants top 10 tips for giving your marketing a more human, empathetic and engaging tone of voice.

1 Think before you type

If I walked into your place of business with a stopwatch and a potential customer, and I gave you 10 seconds to convince them to become a paying client, youd want a bit of time to think, wouldnt you? Youd want to gauge your audience, organize your thoughts and get your message straight. Well, copywriting is exactly the same. Take a minute to think before you start bashing your keyboard.

2 Write to someone and use you in your copy

Copywriting isnt simply about spelling and punctuation. Youre trying to connect with someone, so imagine a client (or potential customer) sitting in front of you. How would you talk to them? You wouldnt just reel off the benefits of your business offering. Youd try to engage them, woo them. Youd appeal to their emotional right-brain, as well as their logical left-brain.

3 Just do it already

Remember writing that all-important essay at school? The opening paragraph always seemed to be the hardest part. One way around this is to forget it, or at least not get too hung up on it. If youre not sure how to start, sketch out the thread of your argument. Try writing the bits youre comfortable with. Once youve got something down on paper (or up on your screen) it suddenly becomes much easier to fill in the blanks.

4 Getting it wrong is OK

Dont be afraid to get it wrong. Even the best copywriters have to rewrite things edit, refine and improve. In fact, thats the discipline that distinguishes the best writers from the hoi palloi.

5 AND, OR and BUT

When you were at school, your teacher probably taught you not to begin a sentence with a conjunction (or conjunctive), such as and or or or but. Well, your teacher was wrong. People dont speak as if they are Victorian English teachers, so why would you want to write like one? And besides, conjunctions at the start of sentences are everywhere your newspaper, the latest best seller, right through to Chaucer and the Bible. If it feels right, do it. Or dont, its up to you.

6 Punctuation: the key to personality

Punctuation ties people in knots. Where do I put a comma? When should I use a full stop? Truth is, punctuation isnt something to be feared. It should be embraced. It helps people make sense of what youre saying. It helps you inject personality.

Sometimes, you might require a more formal style, like this, with a series of clauses created using commas. Other times, you might not. Clipped sentences might be better. To help you make a point. Like this.

Dont be afraid to experiment and ask other people for their opinion.

7 Questions engage your audience

Questions are great, arent they? Havent you noticed? If someone asks you a question, theyre immediately engaging you, especially if its a question that calls for more than just a yes or no answer. When was the last time you were asked a question that made you think?

8 Cut it by 30%…then another 30%

When you think youre finished, think again. Chances are you can cut your word count by 30% without losing any of the good stuff. With attention spans shrinking all the time (thanks Mr Internet) people are becoming less and less likely to read long copy. So keep it short. And sweet. Be ruthless lose everything thats unnecessary.

9 Give it the 24-hour test

When youve cut your word count by 30%, then by another 30%, its time to relax. Put your masterpiece to one side and forget about it for a day. When you come back to it, youll find that its much easier to spot all the little mistakes and even ways to restructure the content to make it better, more succinct, more interesting and compelling.

10 Read it out loud

OK, so you might feel a bit stupid reading your copy out loud, but its the best way to make sure it sounds natural. If you stumble or struggle with a sentence when youre reading aloud, it probably needs to be reworked.

About the Author: Paul Leonard is a founder of

Caboodle Copywriting, a freelance copywriting team in Perth, Western Australia (WA)

. He has extensive international advertising and website copywriting experience, having worked with brands including Harrods, IBM and Amnesty International. www.caboodlecopy.com

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