The Giving Plate

I recently read the book "The Go-Giver" by Bob Burg. It's an easy read and I highly recommend it! This pop by idea was a result of brainstorming some ideas on how I could be a better "giver". It's called a "giving plate" and the idea is to pay it forward. The message that is hand printed on the plate says:

This plate shall have no owner

for its journey never ends...

it travels in the circle of

our family and our friends.

It carries love from home to home

for everyone to share...

the food that's placed upon it

is filled with love and care.

So please enjoy what's on this

plate

then fill it up again

and pass along the

love it holds

to family and your

friends!

I purchased 5 of these plates and had them customized on the back with my contact information. I am loading them up with goodies and giving them to 5 friends...who will in turn give it to a friend...who will give it to another friend...and another...and another...It's the pop by gift that keeps on giving! 

You can purchase your own customized plate from the shop I found on Etsy, CelebrateFun. Be sure and mention that Mary referred you!

And if you have family or clients that are moving to beautiful San Diego, I am never too busy for YOUR referrals!

Celebrating Moms with a Client Appreciation Event

I decided to celebrate moms with a client appreciation Mother's Day event. Teaming up with another agent in my office, we discreetly went through our databases and invited all the dads to come by and pick up a free spring bouquet for the moms in their life.

Working with a local florist, we assembled small bouquets of flowers and had them ready for pick up on the Saturday prior to Mother's Day. We set up tables in the office parking lot and provided some refreshments and some easy crafts for the kids to make for mom. It was a fun afternoon and the dads loved being able to bring the kids to participate!   

Here's just a sampling of the feedback I received:

"I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for all of the Mother's Day treats. You are always so creative and thoughtful. Lily was SO proud of her card, mug, and flowers. It all was beyond adorable. Thank you for helping the husbands out!!!  Andrea

I've heard of another agent who used this way of appreciating her clients by giving away pies at Thanksgiving. She was my inspiration! It got me thinking ...it doesn't have to be limited to Thanksgiving, or any holiday for that matter. Finding a way to say thank you to your clients for their business and their referrals works any time of the year!

I'll take this opportunity to say thank you for YOUR business! If you have clients coming to beautiful San Diego, I'm never too busy for your referrals!

Orange Picking!

It's orange picking time in southern California and I was invited to an orange picking party at the home of one of the landscapers in my business to business network. I could pick all the oranges that I wanted, so I picked enough to put together some pop by gifts and do some cross marketing. You can do the same thing just by picking up some oranges from the grocery store!

I purchased some brown gift bags from a bag wholesale company at 62 cents each. Then I made a pop by tag that read:

"Orange you glad to see the housing market making a comeback? Call me if you would like a housing market update on your neighborhood."

On the back: From the grove of...and attached my clients business card.

Easy and inexpensive! Hope you enjoy dropping off some bags of oranges to your own clients. And don't forget...If you have any family or friends moving to San Diego, I'm never to busy for YOUR referrals!

My Idea of a SUPER BOWL!

Ready to call on your clients and give them something to remember you by? Here's an idea that capitalizes on the Super Bowl theme. A Maxine cartoon was my inspiration.

The cartoon said, "My idea of a Super Bowl is a toilet that cleans itself." Don't you just love her humor! I went down to my local dollar store and found some blue toilet bowl cleaners. You know the kind--cleans with every flush--just drop in the disc and it goes to work! Wa-lah!

I clipped a picture of the Maxine cartoon off of the internet and created a tag on card stock to fit the back of the packaging (6x6). "Now every time you flush you'll think of me...Ha!"

Here's the finished pop by gift:

Hopefully this is something for you to remember ME by :) If you have any clients moving to beautiful, sunny San Diego, I'm never too busy for your referrals!

We're having a Christmas party!

I've teamed up with another agent in my office to throw a party. What better time than Christmas! I would love to share our idea with you.

Since Christmas is more about giving than receiving we decided to make it a pajama drive to benefit children in need. Leez PJ's 4 Kids is a local organization that distributes the pajamas to various organizations that assist the homeless. They also distribute to military moms. We like that too, because San Diego has a huge military presence! Choose an organization that is near and dear to your heart. It doesn't even need to be Christmas time.

We created a music video invitation on Animoto.com. Very easy! You just select your template design, choose your music, insert the text, and add any pictures that you want. Here is our invitation:

You're Invited! 

In addition to the music video, we created a flyer to share. (flyer) It would have been great if we had taken the time to pass them out to the local businesses around our office...maybe next year :)

You can create an event on Facebook, tweet, and email to all! Leez PJ's for Kids provided us with a drop off box at our office and everyone has been coming by to drop off pajamas and say hello! It's been a great way to connect. We are excited and hoping for a great turnout for the Saturday brunch and pictures with Santa!

Here is the goody bag that we created to give to the children. Each little bag has 8 whoppers & 1 cherry sour tied up with a ribbon--Reindeer Noses!!

                           
Once again...it was pinterest to the rescue for inspiration! Here is my pinterest board that I use to clip inspiration for future pop by ideas. Maybe you will see some of these in the future adapted for a pop by. Maybe it will inspire you, too!

My pinterest marketing board

I hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas! And oh by the way!...If you have any clients moving to beautiful, sunny San Diego, I'm never too busy for your referrals!

Halloween Booty Bag!

The holidays are always a great time to drop in on your clients and say hello. Beginning with Halloween, I have a couple of fun things that you can try! I was at my local craft store today and picked up a Martha Stewart book on holiday craft ideas. I will be the first to admit that I am no Martha Stewart...not even close, but I did get a little inspiration from the book which I decided to adapt for a pop by.

Back to the brown paper lunch bag...I love this because it's so cheap :) You can decorate your bags any way you want to, but since I'm not the most creative when it comes to decorating, I needed a little help. I found some black "caution tape" with a pirate head that I thought would be super easy. $4 for the roll and I was ready to get started. My first challenge was what to put IN the paper bag. Naturally, since it's for Halloween, candy is the first thing to come to mind. But I was thinking more along the lines of popcorn just in case I had to leave it on the front porch, so that's what I went in search for. What I found were these cute individual bags of white cheddar rice & corn puffs. They were in Halloween pirate wrapping and for just a little over $5 for a package of 6. I bought 3 bags, so for approximately $19, I could make 18 pop bys!

Here is what I did: I took the lunch sack and turned down the top about 2 inches. Then I wrote Trick or Treat? I stuffed the pirate bag of white cheddar rice & corn puffs inside the paper bag and turned down the top. I attached the pop by tag to the back of the bag like this:

It says: I know just the TRICK. Refer your friends & clients to me and I will TREAT them with the highest level of service! Be sure and add your name & number. Then I just wrapped a piece of the caution tape around the bag and here's the finished product!

This cute little pumpkin was my pop by idea last year. Same tag, just printed in color and stuck in the pumpkin with a toothpick. Be creative and decorate your pumpkin any way that inspires you!

Have a safe and happy Halloween! And remember, if any of your friends or clients are moving to San Diego, I'm never too busy for YOUR referrals!

Here's another idea to put those business cards that you collected to good use. If you capitalize on the tools available to you under the coaching program through Brian Buffini, you have access to your very own online Business Directory! Log in to your members area and then click on Business Directory. You can choose a template, input all the information from your business cards, and customize your link. Don't forget to set up your profile and a link to your website. Now you are ready to send it out to your client database as an item of value! Try facebook, twitter, an email blast, etc. And let those businesses know that you are working for them. They will do the same for you!

Here's what mine looks like:

My Business Directory

And don't forget...if you have clients moving to the San Diego area, I'm never too busy for YOUR referrals! Have a wonderful weekend!