Celebrations happen throughout the year, the most popular and common celebrations are birthdays. When you find a great gift for a loved one, friend or family member, you want to present it in the best possible way and that is what gift wrapping is for.

Ribbon will be your best friend when it comes to gifting wrapping. The ribbon gives the gift extra charm and allows you to experiment with your creativity. You could, if you wanted to, make your own ribbon. Making ribbon is the best part of this task. You can think of interesting ideas such as making the ribbon strands out of newspaper thus giving the gift a retro look. The headlines won’t be the noticeable part but it will look great as part of the design.

You can create ribbon decoration from colourful paper strips. It won’t have that nylon bouncy effect but you will be able to achieve a neat appearance. To give it a similar effect to the nylon, take a pair of scissors, place the paper between one blade and your thumb then pull it outwards. This will curl the material giving you that curly playful look. Be gentle when you do this as to not tear the paper strips.

Stick the ribbon in a diagonal pattern. Take multiple colours and put them against white wrapping paper. Notice how the colours will stand out. No amazing tying techniques will be required to do this nifty wrapping trick.

Lace is perfect for decorating presents. It might be slightly more costly than ribbon but it can be reused by the gift receiver. The patterns on the lace are so detailed that two strips of it will be enough. Try and pair it up with the simplest paper to avoid any decorative clashes. All you need to do is stick to lace strips across the whole present in a parallel manner. This will give the gift a wonderful vintage appearance.

Twine, string or cotton is a stunning technique you can use to detail your presents. The simplicity of the material gives you leeway to play with different colours as the base. There are also many ways to give the string more character. Braiding is a fancy yet pretty way to detail surfaces as well as twisting and looping.

Sometimes doing projects and tasks for another person at home is the best way to tell them how much they mean to you. Show off your skills with these craft objects that can be easily found in bulk at a cash and carry wholesaler and be creative with those gifts.

Businesses are often judged on their appearance and how they present themselves to customers. It may not be fair as that has nothing to do with the products or services, but that is how it works. This is when you need to go the distance with your presentation. A great deal is riding on an outstanding exhibition booth design in place.

Don’t let this fall to the wayside and hold your business back. Go into the trade show with something you are confident about. It will show your customers you are a business they can trust. It will show them you offer quality products or services. What you have in place can help them to decide to buy from you and not one of your competitors.

Avoid Common Pitfalls

You need to avoid common problems that too many fall into with this type of set up and design. You need something amazing to get attention, but it also has to be practical. You need an exhibition booth design that is simple to put up and take down. It shouldn’t be hours of time involved to get it set up and then taken down. You have to think about transport too.

Keep in mind what the space will be that you are allocated at most trade shows, If your materials are too large, you aren’t going to be able to set them up. You may have to buy two spaces, but then you will have too much extra room. It is going to look out of place and out of proportion. While consumers won’t be able to really put their finger on what is out of place, they notice.

You also need to avoid working with the wrong entity. You need the best professionals available to complete your exhibition booth design. You need to trust them, to communicate with them, and to love previous work they have done for others. The more you can learn about such businesses, the easier it is for you to make a choice.

Trust the Provider

When you get a great provider in place, you can trust them to make the outcome spectacular. You should be involved with that process though from start to finish. They should be able to give you a timeline for it to be completed. They can also give you several choices and then you can decide what you would like them to make for you.

Don’t be stressed about the exhibition booth design you will use. Think about your niche market, conduct research on what consumers are looking for, and offer something that makes a connection for them. Use plenty of colours and something that is appealing to the eyes. It should draw them in from the moment they see it!

Cost

You may be worried about the cost of getting your exhibition booth design created. You can get quotes before you hire anyone to do it for you. This can help you to budget well for the process. It is a great investment when it is done correctly. It is an opportunity to get your business plenty of positive exposure. You need to get that business name out there and wonderful reputation.

You should be able to get all you invested in exhibition booth design back as well make plenty of money from such exposure. If you do have a wonderful product or service you deliver, many of those initial buyers will become repeat customers. They will also tell others about what you can offer to them. Go the distance with this – do it right so you get results!

It was the sixth house Mark and Andrea had looked at in just one day, and they hoped it would be better than the previous five. The house was slightly out of their price range, but the real estate agent had insisted they at least look at it. Pulling into the driveway, they couldn’t help but gaze at the house, perched so peacefully beside the Maumee River and illuminated by orange tint of the sunset. At first they tried to hide their faint smiles from the real estate agent, but as soon as they walked through the front door their stoic resistance melted. Their eyes followed the spread of the natural wood floors, and climbed up the arched passageways towards the detailed, historic ceiling. Through each passageway and opened door, the house revealed its beautiful features and distinct personality. Mark and Andrea couldn’t help but smile at each other. In the living room, they envisioned their children laughing and playing on the soft, beige carpet. In the kitchen, they saw their family making meals together around the large center island. Andrea gasped in sheer delight at the sight of the roomy master bathroom, where she would finally have space to get ready every morning. Mark nodded in proud approval of the spacious garage, where he could store his tools and new fishing gear. With just one walk-through of the house, Mark and Andrea felt they were at home.

The inevitable details of the sale came only after they became emotionally invested into making the house theirs. What was it that captivated Mark and Andrea? It wasn’t the age of the house, price of the house, or even its new roof. It was the pictures they had in their minds as they walked through the house and saw it as their own. It’s hard to find a more emotional purchase than that of buying a house, yet that powerful element can be implemented into any sales presentation, regardless of how ordinary or routine the product may be. When you create an emotional and visual experience in your sales presentations, you completely change how a customer’s decision is made. You make your customers fall in love with your product simply by envisioning themselves using it. If they can see how your product will make them happier, they will want to buy it. The rest of the sale (even the price and contract terms) is just a detail, and as long as the details are in the ballpark of what the customer can do, the sale is made. Before a customer can see themselves using your product, they must have the interest to do so. A unique sales presentation is the best way to spark curiosity and engage customers. Don’t resort to brochures, comparison charts or the dreaded power point presentation. Be bold. Be different.

If you’re not sure how to do this, ask yourself two questions: “What are my competitors doing?” and “What is the customer expecting me to do?” Your sales presentation should not be a part of either answer. Blow them out of the water with something exceptional, and your customers will want to know more. Feed their interest by choosing a sales method that will inspire them visually. Paint a picture that demonstrates how your product leads to success and happiness. Not just anyone’s success and happiness – theirs. If they can see themselves enjoying your product, it will feel right to them. This is what will determine the sale. Getting your customers emotionally involved with your product will change how they make the decision of buying it. The details of the sale will be just details, rather than decisive factors. The strength in the sale will be in the emotional investment the customer makes with the product the very moment they can happily see it as theirs.

Being a professional and speaking like a professional are two very different things.

Before you can speak like a professional, you need to be certain that you believe that you are a professional. This may sound like an odd statement to some readers, however, many small businesses are successfully started and run by those who are more accustomed to working behind the scenes than in front of the microphone and camera. The fact is, no one is born with an innate ability to speak well before large groups and it is a skill best learned through experience and practice.

If you have confidence issues, stammer or are at a loss for words when someone asks you what you do, don’t ignore the problem! Immediately after reading this post, visit www.toastmasters.org and search for a ToastMasters Club near you. This not for profit was started in the 1920′s with the mission to assist anyone to learn better communication and leadership skills.

Learning to speak publicly is an emotional journey for most. Statistics rate public speaking as the second most common fear – surpassed only by death! Therefore, it helps to feel comfortable with those in the room. That is why ToastMasters encourages guests to sit in on an actual meeting or two – with no pressure to join or fee of any kind.

Each ToastMaster Club is run by volunteers and each Club has a different meeting schedule and for lack of a better term, style. All Toastmasters Clubs, however, have the same goal and that’s to help each of their members become better communicators.

For those of you who are fully capable of standing before a live audience and comfortably presenting your topic for 45 minutes, bravo! Now keep your hands up if you have actually spoken before a live audience within the last year. Bet that one got a few of you!

You would be surprised how many experienced speakers fall back on umms, ahhs and other filler sounds. Even if you can present like a pro, you should still join ToastMasters as each Club is made up a willing audience of at least 20 ears – all there to help you improve your presentation by supplying constructive feedback as part of ToastMasters’ positive learning experience.

There is no cost to visit a ToastMasters Club and if you do join, there is a one time fee of about $20.00 for the manual and semi-annual (every six months) dues of around $30.00 (Club costs vary).

For your $20.00 you will receive a manual developed by ToastMasters International which is used by each of its 10,500+ Clubs worldwide. This manual contains ten (10) speech projects, each with a different objective and time requirement. For instance, the first Speech is known as the “Ice Breaker” and it is 4-6 minutes presentation about yourself. Other objectives include information organization, vocal variety, use of visual aids and so on. Upon completion of the 10th speech, you are awarded your Competent Speaker pin and are then able to move on to more specialized Advanced Courses.

Truly, if you wish a positive learning experience while you develop or hone your presentation skills, look not further than your closest ToastMasters Club!