Hi There!

Welcome to the fifth issue of the Basket Biz Cafe Newsletter! I'm so glad to have you as a member of our newsletter readers. Just a note here, if you see crazy characters in the text, it's to help this newsletter get through the spam filters to reach your inbox instead of your junk mail box, I really do know how to spell! The word S~A~L~E is especially vulnerable.

What's In This Issue

1. Editor's Note: Monthly S@le, Mother's Day (again) & Volleyball (AGAIN!!!)
2. Feature Articles: Work Hard At Working Smart! by Roy Primm (The Niche Man)
3. Gift Basket Idea of the Month: Make Your Own Bath Salts - Perfect For Your Gift Baskets
4. Business Tip of the Month: IStockPhotos.com - Really Affordable Stock Photography For Your Advetising and Web Design
5. New Inventory, Sa~le Items & Upcoming Items - New S*ale Items~! New Items Arrived Last Week! See Right Column For Details=>
6. Upcoming Events - Right Column =>
7. GBWS Sponsors - Right Column =>

Editor's Note

Mother's Day draws closer and closer. And can you believe it, we actually need to be thinking about Father's Day too! WoW!

This week we added a few new items for Mother's Day, check out the right hand column. Father's Day items still haven't arrived but I would love to hear from you guys letting me know what you need or would like to see us offer.

And just like every month, you're wondering WHAT'S ON SALE, SHOW ME THE SALE! Well, here's a link to this month's sale items. The sale will run through Sunday, April 17 and only while supplies last, so click on over to get the best prices.

S@LE! S@LE! S@LE! ~ CL|CK HE~RE!

Also, be sure to check out our new items. They've been up on the site about a week. There are some wonderful new Mother's Day and Graduation items, including some great photo album sets, a fantastic Victorian Shoe Jewelry Box and some plush stuffed bears themed for each holiday. We also got some new baby items, be sure to check out our New Arrivals category.

Also, don't forget to read our blog. You'll see that I've added the ability to post audio files. The first ones are a little raw, I don't really like my voice too much, however, I plan to get better at it. I also added an email update feature, you can find it near the top of the right-hand column. Just add your email address to our list and receive one email on any day there is an update to the blog. It's great for those of you who do not use feed readers. Here's the link to the blog, be sure to sign up!

http://www.giftbasketwholesalesupply.com/blog

And, what else is going on in my life? What else? Volleyball of course. This month was very exciting for our family, Brittany our daughter, verbally accepted a full-ride athletic scholarship to play volleyball at Texas State University!! It was a tough decision for her as there were other schools courting her as well, but she finally decided she wanted to be close to home and she absolutely LOVES the team and coaching staff. So, she has one more year of high school and she's off to Texas State! I posted about it on the blog, if you wish to leave a comment for her on the blog, feel free!

Well, in other volleyball news, the team went to Baltimore last weekend to compete in a National Qualifier for Junior Olympics. It's really hard sending her by herself but we couldn't afford for the whole family to go this time, so she's stayed with one of the other girls and her mom. They're took good care of her. The tournament started last Friday and went through Sunday. Our girls came in SECOND in the Open Division, that's the elite division and earned a bid to play at the Junior Olympic National Competition in Salt Lake City at the beginning of July. We're all so excited!!

Next weekend they play in the last Tour of Texas stop at Texas A&M campus in College Station, TX. It's tough for the girls to travel two weeks in a row but they know they have to do it and will be ready to beat the toughest field in Texas and maybe even the nation. There are four teams playing in the same division next weekend that have already earned their bid to Junior Olympics. No other state in the nation yet has that many teams qualified in the 17s Open Division. Texas is very strong when it comes to volleyball. Again, wish our girls luck!

And lastly, I talked a little about how the college coaches had been watching the team last month... well, now we have two who are committed, my daughter Brittany and one who is a sophomore who is committed to the University of Texas. Well, now at least four others have offers to colleges and one of them has multiple offers that I know of, isn't that exciting? Some are to schools here in Texas and some are to places as far away as San Diego and New Mexico. Once they accept, I'll tell you where they're going and who made offers. The more people we have rooting for the girls, the more the universe will give them. Heaven knows, they've worked hard for it!

If you want to follow the girls progress, we've set them up with their own blog at www.willowbrook17s.blogspot.com. Some of the dad's were using audio to update from the qualifier and the posts are hilarious! They seem to think they've started their own radio station -WASICS- and have their own call names - "Slim Jim and Tim in the Gym!" They're great, what a hoot!

So, that's it for my part of the newsletter for this issue, hope you enjoy the rest. As I told you last month, I'm going to keep the format the same each month so you'll be able to read it and find what you want quickly. If you would like to contribute a gift basket idea or article, by all means, please do, just email me. And don't forget to send me your feedback as well. So, I can keep your letters out of my spam filter, use the following email address - editor@giftbasketwholesalesupply.com

Featured Articles

Getting more done with less is an art,
It’s a quality requiring much heart,
But I must confess
How I turned failure to success
Was to work both hard and work smart.

I’ve heard two schools of thought when it comes to achieving maximum success in a minimum of time. The first school is to work hard, long hours; nose to the grindstone and burning the midnight oil. I’ve heard many people say that is the only sure way to a achieve lasting success.

The other school of thought says to work smart - not hard. The work smart philosophy says “less is better.” Delegate, use other people’s time, money, and hands as much as you can. They say this is the quickest way to success.

I must admit they both have their benefits and their limits. Through experience I’ve discovered the best way to achieve maximum success in a minimum of time is to work hard at working smart!

Yes, working hard at working smart will give you the best of both worlds - without the limits each one has by itself.

Here are 7 quick and easy ways to help you work hard at working smart everyday.

1. Work hard at being more adaptable to changes. Remember that every change that comes your way gives you an opportunity to move ahead of those that won’t or can’t adapt to sudden change.
   
2. Work hard at looking for shortcuts in everything you do.Always be alert to easier more efficient ways of doing your routine task. Can you cut out, reduce, speed-up or combine steps - without sacrificing effectiveness?
   
3. Work hard at planning ahead as much as possible. The best chess players always think one move ahead. You should always try to do the same. Prepare yourself mentally before you act physically. This alone will help you avoid wasting time and making costly mistakes.
   
4. Work hard at finding working hard at working smart role models. Always be on the look out for people who work hard at working smart. Here’s a hint; they’ll usually be the people who get more done in less time and with fewer resources than others.
   
5. Work hard at learning quickly from your mistakes and the mistakes of others. You’re smart if you can learn from your mistakes, you’re intelligent if you can learn from others mistakes - but you’re wise if you can do both.
   
6. Work hard at finding ways to wisely multitask. What’s most important about multitasking (doing 2 or more things at once)? Is knowing when to multitask and when not to. Routine task should be multitasked. Detailed, risky, and dangerous projects should not be.
   
7. Work hard at keeping current on the latest technology related to your task. Allow technology to help you work harder at working smarter. Whatever your task, their is a gadget, software program or tool that can help you do it more efficiently.

It is my hope that these 7 tips will inspire you to think of more ways you can work hard at working smart. The benefits and satisfaction will be well worth your time and effort.

About the Author: Roy Primm (The Niche Man) has written hundreds of articles on the subject of growing rich with tiny niche products and services others can't copy. To get the latest tips on exploding your sales, eliminating direct competition and tripling your repeat business ... without spending a dime ... go to www.NicheBrain.com

Gift Basket Idea of the Month

This month we are going to give you recipe for Bath Salts that will allow you to use the scent you choose.

I have tons of these recipes and will give you more as time goes on. This one is great because it is so versatile and the product can be used in your gift baskets. I'm giving this basket to the mom that took care of Brittany when they were in Baltimore last weekend.

I used to sell a line of lotions, shower gels and bath salts. During the research for making that line of products I found that you do not have to list the ingredients on your package for bath salts. However, if you want to, it would be very easy to do so as the recipe is so simple. Just copy the ingredients from each item you add to your recipe, it's mostly just salt, salt, and more salt with a little food coloring, baking soda and essential oils.

So, here's the recipe. If you like, click through to the photos I took while I was making it. Also, I want to note here, adding the color is NOT an exact science. I wanted this bag of salts to be a light yellow, I added yellow food coloring and the end product turned out much more peachy than I would have liked, so be flexible when it comes to color.

Custom Scented Bath Salts

1/4 cup Epsom Salt
3/4 cup Sea Salt
1/2 cups Baking Soda
1 tsp. Essential Oil(s)
2-5 drops Food Coloring (optional)

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a large bowl, stir to break up the lumps in the Baking Soda. Then add 1 teaspoon of Essential Oil in any fragrance or combination of fragrances. Stir. If you wish to tint the bath salts, clear an area in the bottom of the bowl and drop 2 drops of food coloring in it. Stir, and stir and stir some more. Once you are sure the color is spread as far as it will go, you can repeat to make the color stronger. Keep repeating until you have the color or shade you want. Store bath salts in a tightly capped container for 2 to 3 days before using. Makes about 1-1/2 cups.

I chose to use Grapefruit Essential Oil. Oh, it was wonderful when I was mixing it up, so fresh. It reminded me of spring so I decided to use the yellow ribbon and a daisy for the basket. I put the salts in a cello bag, tied it off with a twist-tie and tied yellow ribbon around the neck.

There are tons of ways to package your salts. You can use decorative bottles, cello bags, brown paper bags, plastic lined fabric bags, just use your imagination. You could also add a little wooden or plastic scoop to the ribbon so it hangs on the outside.

If you want to add a hang tag, you could use card stock and make something pretty on your computer.

From the experience I had when I sold my own pamper line, I want to add that you do not want to put the bath salts into cello bags to be stored for too long a period of time. The salt pulls the moisture from the bags and they will dry and crack and some cellophanes even turn yellow or brown. So be careful with the cello bags. If you want the salt to last a long time in it's container, use glass.

Here's a link to some photos I took while I was making my batch of grapefruit scented bath salts.

Making Custom Bath Salts - See My Pictures

Send ideas for upcoming gift basket ideas and I'll try to tackle the project. Just email me at editor@giftbasketwholesalesupply.com . I honestly welcome your input!! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Business Tip of the Month

I don't know about you but I do a lot of designing for my business and quite often I need photos to complete the designs. When I say design, I'm talking about my website, print ads, brochures, etc. Photography and professional graphics make a huge difference as to how you are portrayed to your audience and potential future customers.

Well, I had been using a great site called Clipart.com, actually, I've been a member for many years. They must have a million pieces of clipart and a million more stock photos. They charge a flat fee to join and you can use as much artwork as you want during your membership period. But recently I was finding that I wasn't using it as much as before and I didn't feel I was getting my money's worth from it, so I didn't renew. I thought I'd just renew when the time came that I needed to use it.

But today I was reading a newsletter I receive and it referenced a stock photography company called IStockPhoto.com. I went there and signed up. The membership is fr*ee and you can buy stock photos for as little $1.00. Yes, that's right, just $1.00. If you need a higher resolution, they are $2.00 and $3.00!! The agreement says you will only use any photo in only one place. Well that's fine, I usually only use it once anyway. What a savings for me and I don't have to maintain a membership that I might not even use.

Anyway, if you EVER need a photo for a brochure or a promotion, maybe you need a photo for your website design, whatever, IStockPhoto.com is worth checking out.

Until next month....

Want to Interview or Contribute?

If you would like to be considered to be interviewed for an article to be published in this newsletter, please email me at the following link: "Editor" We will consider gift basket companies and other vendors who supply the industry as long as they don't compete with our product offerings.

Also, if you would like to contribute an article, I will consider any article that would be helpful to our industry and I will include an "Author's Info" box and link to your website. Just email me at the following link: "Editor" .

We do not pay for articles or interviews and we reserve the right to only publish those we choose to use and think are appropriate for our audience.

Until Next Time

Thanks for joining in reading this great information. I'm hopeful that you learned a lot. So, I'll be talking with you next month, until then,

Good Luck, God Bless and Happy Gift Basketeering!

Reba Collins
Gift Basket Wholesale Supply
www.giftbasketwholesalesupply.com