I used to offer gift certificates for my services a few years ago with modest sales. I probably should do it again after I get my website revamped and coming up with a good design. Whitt's Image Works http://www.whittsimageworks.com www,whittartworks.com/backgrounds [img]http://www.whittsimageworks.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/assortedmedia.jpg.w300h210.jpg[/img]

Our company sends Starbucks Thank You Gift Cards $5 & $10 value to our new clients that sign on with us as well as to our existing clients for their referrals. We've been doing this for about three years and it happens to be a big hit!

I think this is a very inappropriate tip by Manta. Although it is true that some gift cards/certificates are not redeemed, Manta should not be promoting this as a reason for offering gift cards. Instead, do the right thing and work hard to make sure that 100% of your gift cards are redeemed. Gift cards are a great way to attract new customers, not improve cash flow because some are not redeemed. You should have a follow up system that tracks the purchaser of every gift card. Get their contact information when they purchase the card. If the card is not redeemed in a month or so, send them an email follow up to let them know. They'll be impressed and will appreciate your action.

In my Chaloracrafts business, everyone who purchases $20.00 of my products receives a free gift of my product. This holds true for any craft shows we go to or if I receive an order in the mail or e-mail. People love to get free gifts as it is something they did not order but it fits the item they are buying it for. Loretta Davis [url=http://www.chaloracrafts.com]www.chaloracrafts.com[/url]

We provide a [url=http://www.searchify.ca/marketing-services/google-adwords-audit/]free AdWords Audit[/url] and/or a [url=http://www.searchify.ca/marketing-services/free-seo-audit/][b]free [/b]SEO Audit[/url] for future clients. This way they gain insight into the opportunities and gains they can make before they start with us. However, it also means that we sometimes have to tell prospects not to start with SEO (because of technical website errors) or SEA (because of a bad website). This limit our sales, but ensures that we gain longtime ties to happy clients. That's fine with me, I'd rather spend time doing marketing consultancy, than dealing with unhappy clients! :)

I have offered Gift cards to Tricky Trays to promote business, Social Services as gifts to less fortunate to give back, Bonuses on gift cards (add $10 for every $20 purchased) for Organizations looking to give out my cards and bonuses to existing customers ($5 extra if $20 purchased) to increase cashflow...I find cards are used pretty regularly but for me November and December are the best months so I will start promoting in October - thanks for the reminder!

Here's the deal - people buy gift cards for people that sometimes do not want that particular gift card. In fact, far more than 2-5% of gift cards go unused, that is why gift card exchange is such an active sector of the industry and many companies in that field are multi-million dollar enterprises today. As for cash flow, if a merchant sells five gift cards per day (average $25 each), assuming the business is open 360 days per year, the business will generate an additional $45K in sales. This bump in revenue does not account for the additional spending gift card recipients spend above the card value, in the 30-35% range. The downside is that independent retailers are not in position to capitalize on gift cards in the same manner as big box stores, which is something my company addresses in a meaningful way.