If you are planning to have your wedding in the spring then why not look at ways of involving this wonderful time of year in to yours. A really effective way of doing this is by presenting wedding favours to your guests that relate to spring and will tie in with the rest of the theme of your day.

For example if for the women at your wedding why not present them with a small bouquet of dried flowers that is created from the types you would normally see blooming in the Spring. Or the other thing you can do is present them with a small pot of pot pourri that incorporates the kinds of scents you expect to smell at this time of the year.

When it comes to presenting spring wedding favours to the guys make sure that it what you give them is a little manlier. One such idea is to present them with a few chocolates that are in a box of a colour similar to or matching the present given to your female guests.

However if your wedding is going to be taking place at Easter then consider selecting wedding favours that relate to this particular event. For the younger children who have been invited present them with a small cuddly rabbit or duck. Whereas for the older children it is worth looking at presenting them with small chocolate bunny or Easter chick. As for the adults why not go for something a little more unusual. For example why not present the women with gifts of hand painted eggs and for the men a key ring shaped like a rabbit.

Not only should you be making sure that you present the right sorts of favours to your wedding guests but also ensure that other aspects of the wedding relate to the time of year when your wedding is taking place. For example when it comes to the wedding guest book why not go for very something simple and then decorate it with ribbons that match the colours of your wedding bouquet or the decorations that you have chosen for the tables at the reception.

Another way of creating the perfect record when it comes to the wedding guest book is to get your guests to record a short video for you. Then once you have all these you can arrange to have them made into a DVD and where you can include images relating to the time of year that the wedding took place including place a boarder around each recording of flowers that will bloom in the spring or at Easter.

In this article we have offered some ideas you may find useful for presenting guests with the perfect wedding favours at your spring or Easter wedding. By keeping in mind what we have suggested you are providing all your guests with the perfect reminder of a wonderful day.

I know that you didn’t invite them, but someone did and you better figure out their role!

Hold on, don’t throw anything at your screen, ’cause I didn’t invite them either, but let’s sit down and figure out what roles people play. Remember the longer your sales cycle is the more people you’re going to meet. And the more group discussions you have, the more strangers you’ll have to deal with.

Let’s start out with, what I don’t mean by buyer roles. First I don’t mean personality types…even though I love the names I’ve heard. There was Seymour D’Tails, the analytical type that could never get enough details. There was Penelope Pincher, the CFO that only cared about purchase price. So even though it is helpful to understand social styles sales strategies (an old Xerox training program) I am really only writing about the role that people play in the buying process.

Let’s list the roles then talk about what you can expect from them, and how you should interact with them. Okay, get your pens ready. There are contacts, coaches, evaluators, users, key influencers, decision makers and…gatekeepers.

Contacts – They can be almost anybody in the prospect company. You will meet many of them over time, and sooner or later their role may change. So what do all contacts have in common?

- They are to some degree knowledgeable about their company.
- They probably have credibility in some parts of the organization.
- They are able to provide some information.
- They are willing to meet with you.

Coaches – From all the contacts you meet you’re going to have to find a coach. So what should you look for in addition to those listed under a contact?

- You know this person is credible within her/his own department and probably beyond.
- This person will share information freely with you.
- Additionally like all good coaches they will give you direction.
- Your coach will double check your strategy if you share it.

They win if you win, therefore they want you to win, and they will proactively position your case when you’re not there. Why? Because they see your product/service as the best business fit (and they might gain a little power)

Evaluators – These folks are tricky. First we know they have some credibility and they have some organizational tie to the use of your products/services. Why are they “tricky’? Because they generally focus only on the present and get very concerned about the details & specifications of your product/service (and sales people like to focus on the future and benefits, not features). When you’re dealing with evaluators you better be a product expert or bring one with you. They are also tricky because an evaluator that has enough credibility with the decision maker can easily become a key influencer. “Oh no…what’s that?”

Key Influencer- These folks are a special breed, and they are the most difficult to recognize. Key Influencers are the mac daddy of evaluators because of the credibility they have with the decision maker. Key Influencers can be delegated the authority to make decisions. So they are very difficult to spot because if that delegation of authority did not take place, these folks will still look like a duck, walk like a duck, quack like a duck but they’re not a duck.

Decision Makers – Sorry Anthony Parinello…I loved your book “Selling to VITO (Very Important Top Officer)” but decision makers are not always CXO’s. They can be, but they don’t have to be. Look, if each of the Fortune 1000 has 6 top officers then there’s only 6,000 decision makers for over 5,000,000 sales people to sell. So how do we recognize a decision maker?

- They focus on the future (just like us!)
- They focus on the health of their company
- They ask why a lot more often than they ask what
- They can say no, even when everybody else says yes (just like a key influencer)
- And…they can say yes when everyone else says no (AHHH a key influencer cannot do this!)

This is all you really need to know. So who’s left? Oh yes…the famous gatekeeper. Well there’s two kinds of gatekeepers. First there’s the administrative type that’s the air traffic controller between you and the person you’re trying to call. Let’s not talk about them because they’re just doing their job, and if you can’t find a way through or around them you should transfer out of sales.

Gatekeepers – Gatekeepers are usually graduates from the user role or the evaluator role. Don’t think of them as the enemy…but think of them as the anti-coach. Remember, a coach wins when you win? Guess what? A gatekeeper sees themselves as losing if you win. Don’t let your fragile ego worry about why…just accept the fact. So also accept the fact that while a coach will proactively support you when you’re not there…a gatekeeper will gladly point out your weak spots in your absence. And it gets worse. Almost every gate keeper is a competitor’s coach! But that’s okay, if you chose your coach wisely they will have more credibility and will gladly slay the dragon. Oh…and one more thing before you leave…sometimes gatekeepers smile at you during your meeting.

Well I’m almost to my self imposed 900 word limit so I think I’ve overdone this topic. If you have an opposing point of view feel free to register that by visiting my blog. In fact leave a comment on my blog anyway, it’s lonely here.

Your spouse, relative, neighbor or friend is a woodturner, and you are thinking of getting him or her something related to that interest. Getting them a fancy chunk of wood (called a “blank”) or a new tool or kit seems like an obvious choice. But before buying that present, here are a few things to consider before getting gifts for woodturners.

What do they turn?

Most turners tend to do one type of turning more than others. For example, some prefer doing spindle turning, making things like chair legs, baseball bats, boxes, or eggs. Others prefer bowls, bowls, bowls. Some do mostly hollow forms, such as vases, urns, and vessels.

Buying a pen kit for a turner who does pens might be ideal, but it wouldn’t work for a bowl turner. You actually need special equipment to make pens, so unless you are sure the person has everything else they’d need, and that they’d actually turn it, it’s best to skip the pen kit.

How big is their lathe?

Lathes come in several different sizes, from mini lathes, to heavy iron monstrosities. The “swing” is the measurement of the largest diameter piece of wood any particular lathe can accommodate.

A mini lathe has a swing of about 12 inches, and other larger lathes can handle 14, 16 inches, or more. If you get a wood blank for them to turn, you’ll need to know what size they can handle.

What is their skill level?

Beginning turners have many failures. My goal, as a beginner, was always, “a finished piece, not a masterpiece.” So spending money on tools that they wouldn’t even know what to do with is foolish. So is buying wood blanks that are likely to end up as an expensive pile of shavings.

However, if you know they can do spindle turning and have turned a tool handle, for example, you can assume they have the skills to complete a similar project, such as the handle for a cheese knife or ice cream scoop. One of those kits might be a great gift.

Are they purists?

Many turners start out working with wood only. Eventually they may venture into playing around with embellishments, such as stone or metal inlays, carving, coloring, and burning.

If you know for a fact that your turner friend does these things, you might get them something related. Or present them with a book focused on the type of embellishments they enjoy.

Believe me, nothing is more exciting to a wood turner than a related gift. But make sure you consider these factors, so you give gifts for woodturners that are a good use of your hard earned money, and something they will actually be able to make use of.

Your content presentation when blogging plays a role in whether you’ll have return visitors or not! What we’re talking about here is increasing the visual appeal of your blog content so visitors have a more pleasant reading experience! After all your success when blogging is dependent upon increasing the number of return visitors to your platform! The last thing any blogger wants to do is to discourage people in any way from returning to their site!

Here are 3 quick and easy to implement suggestions to increase the visual appearance of any blog content you offer on your platform!

Font Selection

The font selection you make should be done with your readers comfort in mind! Although there are some really cool fonts to choose from it’s best to stick with only those that will make the reading experience less stressful on the eyes! With that in mind studies conducted have suggested that the Times New Roman, Georgia and Verdana fonts are the best ones to use in terms of making your blog content easy to view!

Pleasing Color Use

Although many of us may be tempted to use our ‘favorite’ colors or the ones that really JUMP out at you, resist the urge! This pertains not only to what color you display your text in but also the background colors as well! Keeping your fonts dark but non-offensive makes the reading experience more pleasurably for people who land on your site! By non-offensive I mean dark colors such as purple or even red which can really put a strain on your eyes! Play it safe and stick with black or brown! Also keep your background light by choosing colors that are soothing such as all shades of white or even lighter shades of tan!

Reading Material

Selecting the right colors or fonts is all well and good however if your blog content stinks, your previous efforts are all in vain! People need to be interested in what you offer whether it is for the humor, insights or being just plain informative for them to even consider coming back! Remember., as a blogger having return visitors is the best indication you are doing something right!

The 3 suggestions offered above are easy ways to tweak your content presentation when blogging to improve the reading experience for viewers! The bottom line is that the biggest measure of success when blogging is the amount of return visitors your site gets! The bottom line is that if your blog content is difficult to read or holds little interest getting return visitors will be a challenge!

Dozens of years have passed since our first Christmas together, but I’ve never lost the joy of giving presents to my wife, Peggy.

My wife grew up in a large military family. She was second oldest and had six brothers and sisters. I was the oldest and have two sisters, but they didn’t come upon the scene until I was fifteen. Our family gave a multitude of presents. My wife’s family was lucky to see a few.

Peggy and I met at college in May. By the end of November we were married and living in a small studio apartment about a mile away from school. I remember shopping for presents for her. I bought her a selection of presents ranging from dime store items to real jewelry. On Christmas day she was astounded by the amount of presents from me. When we visited my parents, she grew embarrassed by the avalanche of gifts. She still talks about her feelings over that first Christmas.

In times of tight budgets I’ve always found money for gifts for my wife and children, but took myself out of the equation for receiving. Over the years I have always just bought whatever I wanted, not big ticket items, but everyday items. Now, I realize that this was selfish of me. By not allowing others to give gifts to me, I have stolen their joy.

I have to work at it, but I can generally be encouraged to make a list of items that I would like for Christmas. On her part Peggy enjoys receiving gifts from me, but I think she is happiest when she gives me a present that both surprises and delights me. Giving and getting. Isn’t that what Christmas is about?