#win a $500 christmas gift package

[olivia6646]

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[bookersebastien]

some holiday hcs for nile’s first christmas with the guard

it’s nile’s first christmas since becoming immortal and she’s watching the season approach as they travel around the world, watching those who celebrate put up lights and trees and she enjoys the stops they make in a snowy place

she’s missing her family even more, having been a daughter of a man in the military the holidays were probably hard to deal with while he was deployed and then after he died her mom and brother, they all clung to each other. and now she has none of them

they all notice the change in her demeanor and the way she admires the decorations and the families strolling the streets and shopping together and they form a plan

joe and booker are sent to pick a tree, joe uses booker as a height comparison to make sure they get one with a good height and then there is the inevitable struggle of them tying it to the roof of the car because they can’t stop arguing about how to do it and joe suggest multiple times that booker can just hang onto the roof and hold the tree down

booker does not like this idea, but in joe’s defense he’s nearly as big as the tree so he could probably do it - ends with joe driving very slow while booker sighs loudly in the passenger seat

quynh drags nicky to get decorations, she’s spent 500 years in the ocean, doesn’t matter whether she celebrates christmas, she’d absolutely love all the decorations and lights and tells andy, “we need that giant light up snowman andromache please”

also competitive quynh making sure their decorations are better than anyone else’s in the area

no one knows who the fuck lives in that apartment but they know they DO NOT fuck around with christmas decorations

nicky gets lost in the store, admiring all the lights and decorations and he ends up getting a matching pair of the ugliest fucking christmas sweaters you’ve ever seen in your life and one of those stupid hats with the elf ears on it

he doesn’t care much of the holiday for celebrating jesus or whatever, but enjoys the festivities and the chance to wear ridiculous clothing with joe

joe and booker return with the tree, booker grumbling something about a squirrel attack while they put the tree in their small living room

andy is out with nile, keeping her out of the apartment and walking around the city. i like to think they took her somewhere in europe to see the christmas markets and enjoy the snow and get the full idealized christmas experience, she’s from chicago and snow to her is probably an integral part of the season

they buy small little trinkets and sweets, nile just thinks andy is indulging her, i mean when is the last time andy celebrated any holiday so fully

quynh and nicky arrive with way too many decorations that it makes their apartment look even smaller but they don’t care

booker has made eggnog that’s just more booze at this point but no one cares, him and nicky have started a competition to see who can string lights up along the ceiling the fastest (nicky is winning because joe is sneakily undoing bookers)

quynh has the best time putting all kinds of random decorations on the tree, the general baubles but also she got one for everyone. booker gets a little flask ornament, and somehow she managed to find sword ornaments for joe and nicky and an axe for andy, though it doesn’t look the same, and she gets one for nile of deep dish pizza and the sears tower

nile and andy finally come back and nile is in complete shock, standing in the doorway staring at what might be the most insane collection of decorations she’s ever seen. there’s a snowman, the grinch (andy’s favorite holiday movie), so many stars and mini christmas trees, lights are strung up all around the ceiling and the tree is massive, covered in a random assortment of decorations and with quynh’s eye it looks like a winter wonderland

and then she spots the ornaments for her and then she starts crying and everyone moves in for a hug - she still has family to celebrate with they tell her

and then there are presents to open

joe gives nicky a collection of poems and sketches, which booker helped him bind into a little book and nicky gets joe a wonderful and carefully crafted tea blend reminiscent of an old favorite of his he hasn’t had in a 100 years and then brings out the sweaters which joe has a good laugh over before making andy take a picture of them

nicky made sure to get the rest of them sweaters too - him and joes are stupid puns like “oh snap” with a broken gingerbread or “feline festive” with a cat, booker’s has a dog, andy’s has something obscene written on it, quynh’s is patterned while nile gets one that says “i sleigh all day” after he learned what slay meant

nicky gives booker the ugliest fake money you’ve ever seen, a child could’ve done better and nicky tells him that’s his winnings from the last bet - he drew a poor imitation of himself on the bills (booker absolutely loves it)

quynh gets andy a new necklace to layer with the other, a small bow and arrow pendant hanging from it while andy gets her a locket so she can keep a photo of them inside 

quynh gets roller skates from booker and she’s so excited she puts them on immediately and nearly wipes out had andy not caught her, but she’s still smiling and absolutely giddy

booker gives andy an old bottle of whiskey he found in another safehouse, they’ve both already drunk two bottles of vodka and he’s put three bottles of bourbon in the eggnog already but that doesn’t stop them from immediately opening it

joe gives booker a jacket he stole from him and gets the most deadpanned look from him before booker pulls out joe’s gift and he did the same thing with some of joe’s art supplies

and then everyone turns to nile, andy’s got a gleam in her eyes as she hands over the long, delicately wrapped package and nile’s eyes widen as she peels the wrapping paper off

it’s her very own sword, andy got it made for her. it’s long and slimmer than something like nicky’s sword, and light enough she can use it one-handed if needed, it’s got her initials carved into the hilt and it fits comfortably at her side

the rest of the night is spent watching classic christmas films and more booze, games are brought out and they sing carols while tipsy, booker and nicky are once again competing and this time it’s to see who can fit the most candy canes in their mouth (no one wins this one when they both spit them out over everyone after laughing at each other), andy and quynh are dancing in the kitchen, joe and booker are enjoying the cookies and joe is taking pictures of everyone while watching nicky begin to give nile pointers about her sword

it’s their first christmas like this ever and i think they’d keep the traditions around for a while

[aawesomepenguin]

Christmas is coming, and the Sonic Movie crew wants the fans to celebrate this event! Today they’re beggining the 12 Days of Sonic! 

If you live in the U.S., you can participate in a raffle to gain countless cool prizes! All you need to do is have a Twitter account and retweet @SonicMovie’s posts.

Today’s prize is Win a Trip for 2 to Los Angeles for an exclusive red carpet screening of the Sonic Movie! The actors and producers will likely go to this screening as well.

Here are the other prizes for the following 11 days:

Day 1, Dec 9 (Only 1 winner):

Grand Prize Trip To Premiere Event

Round-trip, economy flights for winner and one (1) guest to Los Angeles; Two (2) nights hotel in Hollywood with daily breakfast for two – one room, double occupancy; Private sedan transfers to/from Los Angeles International airport and Sponsor-selected hotel for winner and one (1) guest. Pre-paid gift card for meals in the amount of $250; Two (2) Hop-On-Hop-Off Los Angeles tour passes $25 arcade gift card to local arcade (Dave & Busters or similar). Two (2) passes to the SONIC THE HEDGEHOG premiere/family event.  Travel dates will be: January 24th, 2020 – January 26, 2020. The screening will be on January 25th, 2020. 

Day 2, Dec 10th (2 winners will be picked):

Personalized Message From Sonic

Custom video delivered via email featuring Sonic animation with voiceover message from the Sonic The Hedgehog voice actor. Winners will be asked to provide their name (or the name of the person who the message is for) and a few details about themselves.

Day 3, Dec 11th (3 winners will be chosen):

Set Of Signed Cast Posters & Spotify Premium Subscription gift card

2 signed Sonic The Hedgehog movie posters signed by one or more of Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz and Tika Sumpter. Day 4, Dec 12th (4 winners will be chosen):

1 SEGA Genesis Mini

Fans will get a SEGA Genesis mini for free.

Day 5, Dec 13th (5 winners will be chosen):

VIP Night At The Movies For 5

Limo rental for up to 5 hours of transportation within the Territory of Hollywood for up to 5 people, all of whom must be the age of majority.   Must be used by February 16, 2020. A pre-paid Amex card to use on your choice of dining in the amount of $500. Tickets for 5 people to see SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (provided via Fandango code, which expires on March 31, 2020). 

Day 6, Dec 14th (6 winners will be chosen):

Sonic The Hedgehog Movie T-Shirt Set 

2 Sonic The Hedgehog T-Shirts will be given for each winner.

Day 7, Dec 15th (7 winners will be chosen):

$100 AMC Gift Card

Each winner will be given a $100 AMC Gift Card to watch as many movies as you’d like within the cards’ limits.

Day 8, Dec 16th (8 winners will be chosen):

Three Dozen Chili Dogs

1 package of 3 dozen hot dogs + chili (shipped frozen within the Territory) for each winner.

Day 9, Dec 17th(9 winners will be chosen):

Fandango Ticket Family Four-Pack

4 Fandango ticket codes, which expire on March 31, 2020.

Day 10, Dec 18th (10 winners will be chosen):

Talking Sonic Plush Toy

1 Talking Sonic plush toy will be given to each winner.

Day 11, Dec 19th (11 winners will be chosen):

Sonic The Hedgehog Movie Prize Pack 

Selection of Sonic The Hedgehog branded apparel (1 t-shirt, 1 sweatshirt, 1 pair of socks).

Day 12, Dec 20th (12 winners will be chosen):

PUMA Prize Pack

1 hoodie, 1 t-shirt, 1 pair of shoes or gift card of similar value (in Sponsor’s discretion).

Visit the Sonic Sweeps website right now to have your chance!

[ticketgatewaycanada]

Hot Wheelz Car Show Midnight Club FEATURING Hector from The Fast and The Furious!!

Get Tickets on https://www.ticketgateway.com/hot-wheelz-car-show-midnight-club-featuring-hector-from-the-fast-and-the-furious-- Www.hotwheelz..ca

*********************⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️*********************

🔥SATURDAY ARIL 23 from 2pm to 10pm🔥 🔹HOTWHEELZ MIDNIGHT CLUB CAR SHOW inside Markham Fairgrounds

10801 McCowan Rd, Markham🔹 ⭐️Limited spots available register at www.hotwheelz.ca⭐️ All spectators are $25 or UPGRADE to VIP ALL-INCLUSIVE VIP SPECTATORS PACKAGE ONLY $100 ⭐️1pm Front of the line private meeting with Hector, ⭐️Photo with Hector, ⭐️Signed autograph, ⭐️Vip show gifts from our sponsors ⭐️Front of line to purchase Hector’s official merchandise. ⭐️Double Raffle tickets to have a chance to win a trip to Tokyo Japan for Tokyo Auto Salon ⭐️ You can also win numerous of fun awards at the show ⭐️Tons of giveaways and raffle prizes

LIMITED VIP PASSES AVAILABLE _________________________________________ 🔺 Saturday April, 23 from 2–10pm At the Markham Fairgrounds Show features 🆕⭐️Noel G aka “Hector” from The Fast and the Furious franchise ⭐️ 🆕✈️ Win a trip to Tokyo Auto Salon 🔹Over 50 awards, giveaways, games, fun, vendors, models, 🆕🔹E Sports NBA 2k tournament $500 prize 🔹Hype DJ’s and stage entertainment, 🆕🔹Miss Midnight Club Bikini competition $500 prize 🔹2 Step competition $200 prize 🔹Midnight Club sound competition 🆕 Win personal Fast and Furious awards from Hector himself! All the fun you can expect from the Hot Wheelz car show with and more. Toy donations don’t only happen at Christmas, we will have a toy donation for the Toronto Public housing. So let’s do good. Registration is now open!! REGISTER AT hotwheelz.ca.⚠️Limited spots available, register today! UPGRADE TO VIP while quantities last www.hotwheelz.ca.

For more information visit at https://www.ticketgateway.com/profile/user_profile_visit/rachel-contigo/12990461

[megamikethomson]

Final manual to 12 months-stop on line shopping activities 2019 (eleven. 11, black friday, cyber monday, 12. 12 & boxing day)

sa-le-brate the cease of 2019 with shopping occasions that offer reductions too excellent to be ignored. The season of epic purchasing is right here – once more! Starting in early-november and lasting until give up-december, these on-line shopping events provide large discounts across classes. So if you are thinking of crossing out your christmas gifting list or searching at gadgets to spruce up the house for the new yr, that is the time to start. Wondering while is the nice time to cart out your gadgets? Here’s a comprehensive manual to all five on line purchasing occasions. Bonus trivia: we bring you the memories in the back of every purchasing event and how they got coined. Eleven. 11 singles’ day                           boxing day

date: monday, martinmas 2019

web sites to go to: china and singapore-primarily based websites like aliexpress, taobao, tmall, qoo10, shopee, lazada, zalora, etc. Putting the tone for the relaxation of the 12 months-stop on-line shopping offers is 11. Eleven singles’ day sale. First made popular in china by way of chinese language e-commerce massive alibaba, you may assume primary rate slashes of up to ninety% throughout product classes, particularly on objects from china-based totally ecommerce stores. Even though this sale is technically over, there’s nonetheless promotions running via the week. For an entire listing of single’s day promo codes, read 11. 11 singles day offers and promotions in singapore 2019. Black friday

date: friday, 29 november 2019

websites to visit: us or uk-based websites like shopbop, asos, macy’s, urban outfitters, net-a-porter, bookdepository, and so on. Even as eleven. Eleven singles’ day kick-starts the year-stop buying occasions, black friday heralds the beginning of christmas excursion shopping. An annual sale that takes place at the friday following thanksgiving, it was once most effective held at brick and mortar stores in western international locations, but has for the reason that found itself online and in asia. Aside from the same old suspects like qoo10 and lazada, expect us and united kingdom brands (e. G. Calvin klein, teach, nike, superdry, etc.) to offer massive markdowns and flash income for the day itself, and over the weekend. Pro-tip: to get specific dibs or preview of the sale, subscribe to a logo or website’s e-newsletter or club as a minimum per week prior to black friday as they will begin liberating teasers a few days before. Stay tuned to this page for the listing of 2019 black friday offers and promotions in singapore. Cyber monday

date: monday, 2 december 2019

web sites to visit: us or uk-based websites like amazon, high-quality buy, ebay, and many others. Singapore-based web sites like qoo10, shopee or lazada. Are you able to agree with that cyber monday became truly created by retail shops to encourage consumers to keep online? Just like black friday, you could assume a huge variety of objects of sale – from perfume to power tools and apparel. In current years, many outlets and ecommerce sites have combined black friday and cyber monday into an epic weekend sale. Yes, 4 glorious days of purchasing! Pro-tip: whilst cyber monday comes round and if you have been maintaining out on certain gadgets for christmas gifting (hoping their price will drop similarly), you have to simply just cart out to save you undesirable festive panic. Contemplating feasible affirmation and transport delays because of the inflow of orders over the black friday weekend, your cyber monday package deal will most possibly simplest attain you sometime mid-december. This leaves you simply enough time to wrap and present them to your loved ones. 12. 12

date: thursday, 12 december 2019

websites to visit: china and singapore-based web sites like aliexpress, taobao, tmall, qoo10, shopee, lazada, zalora, klook, and so forth. Much like 11. Eleven, 12. 12 is some other ecommerce sale started with the aid of alibaba. You can assume most important price slashes of as much as 80% across product categories, particularly on objects which can be shipped from china. It may be proper to observe that as that is the final sale before christmas, you ought to certainly tap on it for any remarkable presents (simply ensure to opt the faster shipping alternative). Boxing day

date: thursday, 26 december 2019       boxing day

web sites to visit: us or uk-based totally web sites like amazon, fine buy, ebay, and so on. Singapore-primarily based websites like qoo10, shopee or lazada. The tale is going that this present day got its name because masters used to present a container of items to their servants and give them the time without work. Even as boxing day remains discovered as a holiday in britain, it has end up a day for maximum brands to maintain but every other sale (to clear what's leftover from their christmas collection)! Story keeps

seasoned-tip: the last sale of the year, and your very last risk to get yourself new garments and household items in instruction for chinese new year (25 and 26 january 2020)! Earn greater by means of buying on-line with the right credit score card

other than saving at the year-quit sale for vacation presents or a touch treat yo’self, you may make your purchases paintings harder for you (and even earn air miles or cashback rewards) in case you keep with the right credit score card! Citi rewards visa card

the citi rewards visa gives 4 mpd (miles according to dollar) on the primary $1k each month spent on on-line or offline purchasing, in singapore and remote places. As citibank’s t&cs define shopping as any expenditure at shops which sell bags, shoes, or garments, or branch stores, you may use the citi rewards card to earn four mpd at popular online traders like amazon, lazada, qoo10 and taobao. Observe now ocbc titanium rewards card

this card gives you 10x ocbc factors or 4 mpd for each s$1 spent (capped at $12,000 in step with yr), whether you’re purchasing online or at brick-and-mortar shops, in singapore or everywhere in the world. There’s additionally no minimal spend required, so you can start earning bonus factors from the primary dollar onwards. Now not to mention, your purchases are covered by an online charge guarantee and e-commerce safety, on hand inside the case of disputes. Ocbc titanium rewards card more

follow now general chartered limitless cashback card

the standard chartered unlimited cashback card is a no-brainer when it comes to making your purchases work tougher for you. Almost all spend qualifies you for 1. 5% cashback with none caps or minimum spend required to qualify for the cashback. And the pleasant element? You may get immediate virtual credit score card approval and issuance if you practice thru myinfo! Apply now dbs female’s international card

this dbs credit card rewards you four mpd for all your on line spending. Think air price ticket purchases, take hold of or cross-jek rides, film ticket purchases, appeal tickets and food transport. Now not to say, you may also use it for your regular online shopping at amazon, lazada, qoo10 and shopee. That being stated, there are nonetheless some exclusions. Dbs female’s global card more

observe now krisflyer uob credit card

earns three mpd on on line purchasing and gojek/seize rides, provided you spend at the least $500 on sia-related transactions in a yr. Only a note, converting your factors to miles takes a bit longer compared to different playing cards. Observe now

read those subsequent:singsaver’s 11. Eleven mega rewards promoting⁠ — win $18,000 in cash2019 agoda credit card promotions to ebook your holiday with1-for-1 buffet dining promotions in singaporehigh tea promotions in singaporecheapest sports goods beneath $20 at decathlon singapore

the post remaining guide to yr-cease on line buying activities 2019 (eleven. Eleven, black friday, cyber monday, 12. 12 & boxing day) seemed first on singsaver blog.

[breakingtechnews]

Best Buy's Black Friday 2019 sale: The best new deals for this week

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Best Buy's early Black Friday sale has now shifted into second gear. A number of the best discounts we saw over the weekend have now expired but a slew of new ones have emerged to take their place. The retailer got our attention last week with some of the lowest prices on Apple gear we've seen this year. Now, it's dishing up a new slate of deals on Lenovo's awesome Yoga convertible laptop, the 11-inch iPad Pro, a terrific Dyson vacuum cleaner and more. You need to be a member of My Best Buy rewards program, the basic tier of which is free, to take advantage of some of the best sale prices. Discounts are available online and in-store. And Best Buy has also revealed its Black Friday ad, offering many specific products it's selling for the real Black Friday timeframe later this month.  We'll keep this list up to date with the best deals in real-time, but the current highlights are below.

Lori Grunin/CNET We've long been fans of Lenovo's flagship Yoga laptops -- and the C940, which debuted in January, is one of a handful of Intel's Project Athena devices designed to make it perform more like a phone. The C940 wakes instantly from sleep and has a fingerprint reader that works in a second and Wi-Fi that connects just as fast. This model features a 400-nit FHD-resolution and up to 17.5 hours of battery life.  Read our Lenovo Yoga C940 preview.

Tyler Lizenby/CNET The Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Animal Allergy vacuum does its job without a filter -- and maintains suction over the long haul because of it. It's great with fine particles and bested the competition at deep cleaning. Our only beef is that it's too pricey -- and Best Buy has taken care of that. This is a steal. Read our Dyson Cinetic review.

Sarah Tew/CNET We love the UE Boom 2 -- a compact, durable wireless Bluetooth speaker that plays loud and sounds good. It's stain-resistant, shock-resistant and fully waterproof. Battery life is a strong 15 hours, and it can be paired with a second UE speaker for stereo sound. Read our UE Boom 2 review.

Sarah Tew/CNET Sure, this entry-level configuration has lower-end components (Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, 128GB SSD). But you're still getting the best Windows two-in-one tablet, with the Type Cover thrown in, for $700. This package was down to $600 last week -- but it's still a fantastic deal at this price. Read our Surface Pro 7 preview.

Best Buy deals that have expired (but are likely to return)

Sarah Tew/CNET Best Buy has Bose's SoundLink Revolve on sale for $120, which is the lowest price we've seen for it. This model is smaller than the SoundLink Revolve Plus, but it's a good compact Bluetooth speaker. Read our Bose SoundLink Revolve review.

David Carnoy/CNET Best Buy has the JLabs JBuds Air on sale for $30 through Sunday, Nov. 10. They normally retail for $50. JLabs makes a lot of true wireless earphones and this is its most affordable -- and frankly, the only one I'd buy. It's a decent set of true wireless earbuds that's a relative bargain at $30.

David Carnoy/CNET We saw this deal last year but it's still a good one: Sony's micro Bluetooth speaker, the SRS-XB01, is on sale for $15 at Best Buy. Read our Sony SRS-XB01 review.

Sarah Tew/CNET If you're less inclined to buy from Apple, Garmin's rugged fitness watches are great. The Fenix 5X cost $700 when it came out in 2017 -- now, Best Buy has it for $300. I've been using Garmin's lower-end Forerunner 245 and I like it a lot. The model on sale here includes all of its fitness tracking functions and adds an altimeter and barometer. Plus, you get topographic US maps, routable cycling maps for turn-by-turn navigation and a scratch-resistant sapphire lens. Read our Garmin Fenix 5X preview.

Ariel Nunez/CNET Walmart has been selling these headphones for about $120 -- a massive $80 discount off the $200 list price. Now, Best Buy takes it a step further by cutting the price to $90. Read our Powerbeats3 review.

More sales will kick off on Thanksgiving Day

Best Buy stores are opening at 5 p.m. local time on Thanksgiving, with the company highlighting the deals listed below (again, straight from its press release). These will presumably be available online as well. Save $350 on 70-inch Samsung 4K UHD Smart TV with HDR (sale price: $549.99) Save $280 on 58-inch Insignia 4K UHD Smart TV with HDR Fire TV Edition with free Amazon Echo Dot (sale price: $199.99) Save up to $250 on iPad Pro Save up to $100 on iPad 10.2-inchSave $400-$500 on the Note 10 Series (with qualified activation) 20% off haircare for My Best Buy members Save $80 on Google Nest Hello Video Doorbell (sale price: $149.99)Save $1,000 on Hydrow Connected Rower (sale price: $1199)

Free next-day delivery on some items, free shipping on everything else

Feeling the heat from Amazon Prime, Best Buy is now adding free next-day delivery on "thousands of items" purchased on its website. And it's also offering free standard shipping on everything else through Christmas Day, with no membership or minimum purchase required. Same-day delivery is also available for some online orders in dozens of US cities, too. 

The full list of Black Friday sales are online, too

Check it out here.

Now playing: Watch this: How to win Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2019 2:25 CNET Holiday Gift Guide 2019 Originally published earlier. Updated with our favorite deals now highlighted at the top. Source link Read the full article

[steampunkfan]

How I Sold $58,000 Last Year Selling Just Gift Cards for the Day Spa

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Robert Norberciak, Marketing Director at the Scottsdale, Arizona day spa, Mozaik Skin & Body, and one of the founders at Service Business Hustlers. 

People love shopping local. Even more so, people love buying gifts that are local. They want to treat their friends to amazing experiences at local businesses.

With my day spa, I don’t sell anything online except for gift cards. I don’t try to compete with e-commerce stores. I simply focus on the one thing that no one else does in my market well. I focus on making it easy for my customers to buy gift cards.

I had the joy on Mother’s Day to watch a family go into my competitor. They asked if they sold gift cards. The lady was like “No”.

They came over to my spa and walked out with $300 in gift cards that they bought for their mother. Guess who got the new customer?

Each year, I sell close to ~$23,000 of gift cards just online. We sell another $25-35k in-store. 

I’m going to break down for you my exact strategy on how I am selling so many gift cards through my website and in-store. 

Stop Offering Just Plain Dollar Amounts

If someone is going through the trouble of buying a gift card from a local business — they don’t want to go the easy route and buy them just a gift card. They want to buy them something special. In fact, I have attached a log of all my recent gift card purchases.

Where you see “-”, the customer selected a dollar amount. In fact, 19 out of my last 26 purchases of gift cards have been for packages. People love treating someone to something unique. It’s a win-win for everyone.

The person buying feels like they are treating someone to something special. When the recipient gets the gift card, they enjoy it a lot. They feel someone really put an effort into the purchase.

Do you know what the cool part about selling an experience is?

When that new customer comes with that gift card — they get a full experience from your place. If you give them an award-winning experience, then they’ll love your place forever.

For example, a restaurant might want to do a “3-Course Meal for $49”. You can use John Taffer’s method of identifying that it’s a gift card. You put down a “blue napkin”. The whole staff know it’s a gift card. You go above and beyond to deliver an amazing experience. The food is delivered fast.

Gary Vee and John Taffer talking about retention:

At the end of the meal, the manager comes over and makes sure everything went great and offers a special on their next visit with a coupon.

Using Pricing Anchors

While most of the time, our customers want to buy packages as gift cards, some still want to buy just a dollar amount. We use two types of pages for our Gift Card Checkouts. The first is the specific package they want to buy. The second is a generic page that we can use to sell generic dollar amounts (in our case $75, $150 and $300).

The prices you pick influence the actual dollar amount the customer is going to buy. If you put prices up $5, $10 and $15 — most customers won’t ask, “Do you sell a $50 gift card?”

Then again, if you sell every gift card from $5 to $500, in $5 increments, the customer is going to have a choice overload and probably pick something towards the bottom.

Pricing Experiments You Might Not Know But Can Learn From

There’s an excellent article on the effect of a pricing anchor. When we created our pricing choices for our gift card, we choose one really high card value and two that are closer to each other. The result is that the majority of our purchases are the middle pricing option.

Make It Easy to Buy Gift Cards

Include a Link in Your Header

Customers are not going to search your entire site to see if you sell gift cards. They want to know right off the bat. Just like you might have links to jobs and careers, you should have a Gift Card link to at least one type of gift card right off the bat.

Go Above And Beyond With Your Links

When you come to our site, you will notice every service menu item has a second link right after “Book Now”. The second link is “Buy as a Gift”.

We make it super easy for the customer to select the package they want to treat someone to. Not only that, but they also are constantly reminded that we sell gift certificates.

Test Your Platform

When picking a platform for your gift cards, it’s absolutely imperative that you test the purchasing path yourself.

When we used our Appointment Reservation system to process our gift cards, we didn’t sell many gift cards. While their platform is amazing at managing reservations, it wasn’t designed for the details around selling gift cards.

It’s a two-page checkout though that includes every possible option to purchase the gift card directly through their page. The complexity of it reduces the overall purchases.

Make It Simple for Your Customer to Buy

Last year, when we did our full website rebuild, we had a custom platform built and implemented into our system to create a super smooth and easy checkout system. Since then, we have sold an additional $15,000 in gift cards compared year over year.

Gift Card Season is 101 Days Away — Here’s Your Action Plan

In the first two weeks of May, I sold almost $4,000 in gift cards for Mother’s Day. The scary thing is, that’s still only 25% of the volume that you are going to do during December!

60–100 Days Out

Start Crafting Packages and Offers

Right now, you need to start preparing your business on which packages you are going to sell. As we have already talked about, people love treating people to experiences. That also means they are willing to spend a little more to get a little more.

We sell robes at the spa. Do you know that 90% of our robe sales are tied to our three major holidays? It’s because we increase our prices and include them in our packages.

This past Mother’s Day, we took our already popular two-hour package, added a robe in and increased the price accordingly. There was no problem selling these increased value packages. In fact, 90% of all the robes we sell are for our three major holidays.

Knock-’em-dead offers

If you are running out of ideas on what are popular packages, start using tools like Groupon and LivingSocial. While you do not want to copy their prices, you can use them as a research tool to discover what packages are hot and trending.

During Black Friday, we would do various types of promotions —

“Buy 3, Get 1 Free”

“25% Off If You Buy Over $100 in Products”

A lot of these people were already asking if they could buy them as gifts.

Black Friday -> Christmas transition

One of the biggest things about selling gift cards well is capturing that transition. For the two weeks leading up to Black Friday, you want to strategically plan ads that fit that shopping day.

Once Black Friday is done, you want to immediately transition into promoting your Christmas Specials. This is why it’s very imperative to have a well laid-out plan, so you can make the transition smoothly.

Pro tip: Depending on how deep you discounted and the popularity of the gift cards, you may want to consider doing an “Extended Promotion — Gift Card Sale!”.

60 Days Out — Start Planting Seeds and Distribution

Build Dedicated Pages for Your Offers With Simple Checkout

Every successful campaign requires a dedicated page for each offer. You want to sell the feeling of that package. You want to make the page easy and simple. We use a one-page and Stripe for our system.

You are going to use the landing page for all your promotional material online. For all your Facebook promotions, your newsletters, etc.

There are many articles on how to do single-product checkout. Ours is a form with a Stripe gateway behind it. We capture the most important information: To, From, Design, Note, the Package. We let Stripe handle the processing, and we send the gift through the emails.

You can also look at some pre-built solutions as well.

Email campaigns and social media

Last year, the very first email I got about Christmas from Groupon was on September 17th.

On my Facebook feed, I have already started to see “Days till Xmas” countdowns.

The sooner and earlier you start to plant seeds into your customer that you will have gift certificates, gift baskets and packages available, the better.

Here are some of the emails that I have sent with success:

2016 Holiday Gift Guide (11/15)

The Insider’s Secret Black Friday Spa Specials (10/31)

Running out of time for a gift? Grab yours today online. (12/21)

Overall, I will send roughly eight to 12 emails between October and November to all my customers to promote the gift cards that I sell.

In-store flyers and A-frame

If you run any type of brick and mortar, you absolutely need to promote that you sell gift cards anywhere and everywhere you can. Do not hold back. Within our spa, we distribute flyers. We leave our upcoming promotions flyer out right by the magazine.

We use flyer stands and have them at checkout, in the bathrooms and by the product.

We create a beautiful A-frame that goes out in front our store. We decorate it with festive colored balloon so it catches the eye.

We even update our window cling to show that we sell gift cards!

The more seeds you plant into your customers, the more likely they will come back and buy. Think about Black Friday. No one wakes up and goes, “Hey, today I am going to buy this!”. No, they already know what they are going to buy seven-plus days out.

AdWords

People still use Google to find gifts. They will type in things on where to buy them gifts, what to buy people, and so on. This campaign doesn’t need to be very elaborate because quite frankly, if you are in the local space, it’s easy to beat your competition.

Target keywords Like: “Portland Day Spa Gifts,” “Portland Massage Gift Card”.

“Portland Spa Packages & Gift Cards Available. Buy Online, Instantly Available.”

You will then send them to that pre-built landing page you have already designed for an easy online purchase. Guess what your competition isn’t doing? They are taking shortcuts and hoping the customer figures it out.

Last Two Weeks

Make sure your receptionists, front desk, staff and your whole entire team is ready to push gift cards.

Every time someone is checking out — “Were you interested in any of our Gift Card Packages?”

If your staff hear people are saying keywords like they have family in town, or that they are visiting — “Hey, I’m not sure you know, but we do have some really cool gift cards available during the Holidays.”

Help your customers out — don’t let them try to figure it out themselves. If someone needs help buying a gift card, just simply walk them through it. All too often, I see businesses be like, “Yup just go online and buy it”. Out of the hundred times I hear that, maybe two will buy it actually.

Final Pro Tip

Optimize your website, your social profiles like Facebook and Yelp to include the fact you sell gift cards. We don’t rank for any of main categories #1, but we do for gift cards. Guess what happens when someone in my city is looking for gift cards? They come to me.

 You can join me and four other service business founders who generate over $3 million a year, where we share information like this daily. Come join us: Facebook Group Service Business Hustlers. 

via Preneur Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/2vl1dWp

[topicprinter]

How I Sold $58,000 Last Year Selling just Gift Cards for the Day SpaPeople love shopping local. Even more so, people love buying gifts that are local. They want to treat their friends to amazing experiences at local businesses.With my day spa, I don’t sell anything online except for Gift Cards. I don’t try to compete with eCommerce stores. I simply focus on the one thing that no one else does in my market well. I focus on making it easy for my customers to buy gift cards.I had the joy on Mother’s Day to watch a family go into my competitor. They asked if they sold gift cards. The lady was like “No”.They came over to my spa and walked out with $300 in gift cards that they bought for their mother. Guess who got the new customer?Each year, I sell close to ~$23,000 of Gift Cards just Online. We sold another $25,000 in-store.https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*O5avpnrL4eQfF-zwuMEIBw.pnghttps://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*EMW9Tlvbzr-AwdDkhV7O_w.pngI’m going to break down for you, my exact strategy on how I am selling so many gift cards through my website and in-store.Stop Offering Just Plain Dollar AmountsIf someone is going through the trouble of buying a gift card from a local business — they don’t want to go the easy route and buy them just a gift card. They want to buy them something special. In fact, I have attached a log of all my recent Gift Card Purchases.https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*UWN1xB1rXL_yYtgdmVsQVQ.pngWhere you see “-”, the customer selected a dollar amount. In fact, 19 out of my last 26 purchases of gift cards have been for packages. People love treating someone to something unique. It’s a win-win for everyone.The person buying feels like they are treating someone to something special. When the recipient gets the gift card, they enjoy it a lot. They feel someone really put an effort into the purchase.Do you know what the cool part about selling an experience is?When that new customer comes with that gift card — they get a full experience from your place. If you give them an award winning experience, then they’ll love your place forever.For example, a Restaurant might want to do a “3 Course Meal for $49”. You can use Jon Taffer’s method of identifying that it’s a gift card. You put down a “blue napkin”. The whole staff know it’s a gift card. You go above and beyond to deliver an amazing experience. The food is delivered fast.Gary V & John Tapper Talking about RetentionAt the end of the meal, the manager comes over and makes sure everything went great & offers a special on their next visit with a coupon.Using Pricing AnchorsWhile most of the time, our customers want to buy packages as gift cards, some still want to buy just a dollar amount. We use two types of pages for our Gift Card Checkouts. The first is the specific package they want to buy. The second is a generic page that we can use to sell generic dollar amounts (in our case $75, $150, $300)The prices you pick influence the actual dollar amount the customer is going to buy. If you put prices up $5, $10, $15 — most customers won’t ask “Do you sell a $50 gift card?”Then again, if you sell every gift card from $5 to $500, in $5 increments, the customer is going to have a choice overload, and probably pick something towards the bottom.Pricing Experiments You Might Not Know, But Can Learn FromThere’s an excellent article on the effect of a pricing anchor. When we created our pricing choices for our gift card, we choose one really high card value & two that are closer to each other. The result is that the majority of our purchases are the middle pricing option.Make it Easy to Buy Gift CardsInclude a Link in Your HeaderCustomers are not going to search your entire site to see if you sell gift cards. They want to know right off the bat. Just like you might have links to jobs & careers, you should have a Gift Card link to at least one type of gift card right off the bat.Go Above & Beyond with Your LinksWhen you come to our site, you will notice every service menu item has a second link right after “Book Now”. The second link is “Buy as a Gift”.We make it super easy for the customer to select the package they want to treat someone to. Not only that, but they also are constantly reminder that we sell gift certificates.Test Your PlatformWhen picking a platform for your gift cards, it’s absolutely imperative that you test the purchasing path yourself.When we used our Appointment Reservation system to process our gift cards, we didn’t sell many gift cards. While their platform is amazing at managing reservations, it wasn’t designed for the details around selling Gift Cards.It’s a two page checkout though, that includes every possible option to purchase the gift card directly through their page. The complexity of it reduces the overall purchases.Last year, when we did our full website rebuild, we had a custom platform built and implemented into our system to create a super smooth & easy checkout system. Since then, we have sold an additional $15,000 in gift cards compared year over year.Make it Simple for Your Customer to BuyGift Card Season is 101 Days Away — Here’s Your Action Plan.In the first two weeks of May, I sold almost $4,000 in Gift Cards for Mother’s Day. The scary thing is, that’s still only 25% of the volume that you are going to do during December!60–100 Days OutStart Crafting Packages & OffersRight now, you need to start preparing your business on which packages you are going to sell. As we have already talked about, people love treating people to experiences. That also means they are willing to spend a little more to get a little more.We sell Robes at the spa. Do you know that 90% of our Robe Sales are tied to our 3 Major Holidays? It’s because we increase our prices and include them in our packages.This past Mother’s Day, we took our already popular two-hour package, added a robe in and increased the price accordingly. There was no problem selling these increased value packages. In fact, 90% of all the robes we sell are for our three major holidays.Knock Em Dead OffersIf you are running out of ideas on what are popular packages, start using tools like Groupon & LivingSocial. While you do not want to copy their prices, you can use them as a research tool to discover what packages are hot & trending.During Black Friday, we would do various types of promotions —Buy 3, Get 1 Free.25% off if you buy over $100 in Products.A lot of these people were already asking if they could buy them as gifts.Black Friday -> Christmas TransitionOne of the biggest things about selling gift cards well, is capturing that transition. For the two weeks leading up to Black Friday, you want to strategically plan ads that fit that shopping day.Once BF is done, you want to immediately transition into promoting your Christmas Specials. This is why it’s very imperative to have a well laid out plan, so you can make the transition smoothly.Pro Tip: Depending on how deep you discounted and the popularity of the gift cards, you may want to consider doing an “Extended Promotion — Gift Card Sale!”60 Days Out — Start Planting Seeds & DistributionBuild Dedicated Pages for Your Offers w/ Simple CheckoutEvery successful campaign requires a dedicated page for each offer. You want to sell the feeling of that package. You want to make the page easy & simple. We use a one page + stripe for our system.You are going to use the landing page for all your promotional material online. For all your FB promotions, your newsletters, etc.There are many articles on how to do single product check out. Ours is a form w/ a Stripe gateway behind it. We capture the most important information:To, From, Design, Note, the Package. We let Stripe handle the processing, and we send the gift through the emails.You can also look at some prebuilt solutions as well.Email Campaigns & Social MediaLast year, the very first email I got about Christmas from Groupon was on September 17th.On my Facebook Feed, I have already started to see “Days till Xmas” countdowns.The sooner and earlier you start to plant seeds into your customer that you will have gift certificates, gift baskets, and packages available the better.Here are some of the emails that I have sent with success:2016 Holiday Gift Guide (11/15)The Insider’s Secret Black Friday Spa Specials (10/31)Running out of time for a Gift? Grab yours today online. (12/21)Overall, I will send roughly 8–12 emails between Oct & November to all my customers to promote the gift cards that I sell.In-Store Flyers & A-FrameIf you run any type of Brick & Mortar, you absolutely need to promote that you sell gift cards Anywhere & Everywhere you can. Do not hold back. Within our spa, we distribute flyers. We leave our upcoming promotions flyer out right by the magazine.We use flyer stands and have them at check out, in the bathrooms, and by the product.We create a beautiful A-Frame that goes out in front our store. We decorate it with festive colored ballon so it catches the eye.We even update our Window Cling to show that we sell gift cards!The more seeds you plant into your customers, the more likely they will come back and buy. Think about Black Friday. No one wakes up and goes “Hey today I am going to buy this!”. No, they already know what they are going to buy 7+ days out.AdWordsPeople still use Google to find Gifts. They will type in things on where to buy them gifts, what to buy people, and so on. This campaign doesn’t need to be very elaborate because quite frankly if you are in the local space, it’s easy to beat your competition.Target Keywords Like: Portland Day Spa Gifts, Portland Massage Gift Card,Portland Spa Packages & Gift Cards Available. Buy Online, Instantly Available.You will then send them to that pre-built landing page you have already designed for an easy online purchase. Guess what your competition isn’t doing? They are taking shortcuts and hoping the customer figures it out.Last Two WeeksMake sure your receptionists, front desk, staff and your whole entire team is ready to push gift cards.Every time someone is checking out — “Were you interested in any of our Gift Card Packages?”If your staff hear people are saying keywords like they have family in town, or that they are visiting — “Hey, I’m not sure you know but we do have some really cool gift cards available during the Holidays”Help Your Customers Out — Don’t let them try to figure it out themselves. If someone needs help buying a gift card, just simply walk them through it. All too often, I see businesses be like, “Yup just go online and buy it”. Out of the 100 times I hear that, maybe 2 will buy it actually.Final Pro TipOptimize your website, your social profiles like Facebook & Yelp to include the fact you sell Gift Cards. We don’t rank for any of main categories #1, but we do for Gift Cards. Guess what happens when someone in my city is looking for gift cards? They come to me.There is also a full copy of this article with formatting at Blog Post. We also have a discussion going on at about more of these techniques at the FB Group Service Business Hustlers

[alexisbush-blog1]

Hayward Heath – Discover the hidden gems!

Are you Haywards Heath born and bred… or perhaps you are considering a move to this wonderful Sussex town?  The launch of ‘The Priory’ (stunning 1,2 & 3 bedroom apartments) has prompted this blog focused on amazing things to see and do in the area! We have uncovered a few gems… and, of course, made sure we have included firm favourites!

Wakehurst place

Our Haywards Heath blog wouldn’t be complete without a link to the stunning Wakehurst Place.  Having had many enjoyable walks – seeing the bulbs bursting through in the spring time… through to gorgeous blossom, enjoying a cup of tea, it is always a treat!

“Our wild botanic garden on the High Weald of West Sussex has over 500 acres of beautiful ornamental gardens, woodlands and a nature reserve. Wakehurst is also home to the Millennium Seed Bank, the largest wild seed conservation project in the world.”

Flinders Coffee Shop

This lovely coffee shop has come up in so many conversations we needed to share this with you… apparently it has (and we quote) ” the best banana bread in the world”,  Liam in our Move Revolution team loves Flinders and he is not the only one to give Flinders a fabulous review.

“First visit today. Excellent service and staff helpful and friendly. My sister and I had toasted banana bread and honey, very yummy. Latte coffee good as well. A lovely cosy place to chill and relax and no noisy music”

“Great coffee, amazing food, comfortable atmosphere and friendly staff 10/10″

If you can fit in a coffee break, or perhaps you would love to treat a friend – we can definitely recommend you popping in!

Ashdown Manna Cookery School 

Perhaps you love the idea of visiting a cookery school, with a friend as a birthday treat… this comes highly recommended by our Marketing Director Nici Jordan who visited Ashdown Manna Cookery School with a girl friend for a Macron Cookery Class. The results were brilliant – rhubarb flavoured macarons were her personal favourite, although her husband loved dark chocolate macron filled with chocolate and grand manier ganache!

With a wide variety of cookery classes to suit all tastes this is what the school have written about their classes…

“Welcome to Ashdown Manna, a small independent cookery school, offering inspirational half and full day courses from our converted barn in Blackham, East Sussex, on the edge of the beautiful Ashdown Forest. Looking to learn new recipes and techniques, or just brush up on your existing culinary skills? We offer over 30 different courses, suitable for all levels of ability. All of our courses are taught by experienced professional chefs who ensure your day is both fun and informal. With a maximum group size of 8-10 students per course, individual attention is always assured. We supply recipe cards, ingredients, aprons and even a kitchen assistant to wash up for you!”

Another recent recommendation is an interiors shop with a difference, although when you see Home Sweet Home from outside it immediately tempts you to have a look inside..

Home Sweet Home

A recent wonderful review gives a flavour to what is available in the Home Sweet Home…they have offer a bespoke painting service, beautiful new furniture and other gorgeous home accessories…

“I recently bought an upcycled sideboard from this store. I was also able to have it painted in a bespoke colour. Vicky took at look at some photos of our existing furniture, took the time to talk through the colour options with me and was super helpful! We love the finished product: the way it looks as well as the fact that it has a bit of history! We will definitely go back to @homesweethomesussex when We’re in the market for more pieces!”

�� Perhaps you are looking for somewhere special for lunch, Jeremy’s Restaurant comes highly recommended – as you can tell from the stunning photographs of their food!

Jeremy’s Restaurant

Perfect for a special night out with friends, perhaps an anniversary celebration or birthday – this looks an amazing setting 

  Another recommendation that keeps coming up time and time again is for Ockenden Manor…which is in the village of Cuckfield next to Haywards Heath. 

“A fine Elizabethan manor house with 28 lavishly decorated rooms, outstanding spa and an award-winning restaurant set in eight acres of beautiful grounds overlooking Cuckfield Park.

With its history and character, elegant sitting room warmed by a roaring log fire and cosy, wood-panelled bar, Ockenden Manor is a wonderful place to escape.”

With amazing reviews…

“Hidden within Cuckfield, arguably one of the country’s prettiest Tudor villages, this Elizabethan manor house is a haven for foodies, with a Michelin-starred restaurant and sweeping views of the South Downs. The peaceful hotel is an ideal base for exploring the stately homes of Kent and Sussex, or if you want to just stop, head down to their walled garden with a coffee and a good book. Bliss.”

Ockenden Manor

Repast Supper Club

This looks like great fun! Repast was born out of a passion for cooking, a desire to feed people and a fascination with history. Our team haven’t had a chance to enjoy a Repast meal.. please let us know what you think… the reviews are fantastic.

“Ultimately our suppers provide you with outstanding food in a relaxed and welcoming setting. The twist is that they have a historical theme. Rather than religiously reproducing the food that our ancestors ate we use old recipes as a reference point. Our menus may take inspiration from a historical event; a traditional celebration; a period of history or even a famous chef or food writer from our past. So one month we may be celebrating the work of Escoffier whilst the next we could be serving food inspired by ancient Rome. Sam and Neil were finalists in Channel 4’s My Kitchen Rules UK where they showcased their love of historical food.”

Who can resist a G&T? Or perhaps a few G&T’s… there are a wonderful variety of boutique Gin distillers throughout Sussex,  this is a fantastic opportunity to ‘sample’ a few of them all in one place, and especially when the setting is beautiful Borde Hill Gardens

Sussex Gin Festival

“Our gintastic outdoor festival will take place at Borde Hill Garden in Haywards Heath on Saturday 13th of July 2019. Supported by the wonderful team at Borde Hill Garden, this exciting outdoor festival promises to be one of the hottest tickets in town this year. And what’s not to like; a wide range of locally distilled Sussex Gins waiting for you to try, delicious hot and cold food, captivating demonstrations on all things gin, the famous grounds of Borde Hill Garden, and not forgetting our live programme of entertainment all day.”

Did you know that there are over 200 gin distilleries in Sussex alone? The county has become a hotbed for producing bespoke, small batch, and artisanal gins. Sussex Gin Fest will be celebrating the rich gin culture that has erupted in Sussex since the ‘ginaissance’ began in 2014.

We will be showcasing all there is to know about gin, from production, tasting methods, and cocktails, Sussex Gin Fest will bring you the best that Sussex has to offer. All of our gin partners will be operating a bar, which means you get to try all of these fabulous Sussex gins”

We understand this wonderful day will also include amazing local artisan food!

A short drive from Haywards Heath is Bolney Wine Estate – we have heard wonderful things about the estate 

Bolney Wine Estate

“Whether you want to pop in for our Trail, or enjoy one of our tour and tasting packages, we hope we have something for everyone. Families are most welcome on our Drop On Tours at Bolney Wine Estate

If you are looking for the perfect Christmas gift we offer gift vouchers and evouchers for our main tour packages at a range of prices – see below for our Taster Tour, Afternoon Tea and Grand Gourmet tours.”

We hope you will be tempted to visit one of these wonderful places and why not book a viewing at The Priory at the same time! Just call Mathew Gurr on 01444 657 657.

If you are thinking of moving or letting your home in the Haywards Heath area our team would love to hear from you, just give them a call on 01444 657 657 to book a valuation. 

source of this post came from Alexis Bush Blog https://www.moverevolution.com/blog/hayward-heath-discover-the-hidden-gems/

[clarencenicholsonata]

10 Amazing St. Patrick's Day Contest Ideas to Inspire You Today

Holiday contests are some of the best ways to boost brand awareness, social media engagement, and sales. Not to mention how much people love the fun of winning.

There’s no better time to host a contest than on an amazing holiday.

Interested in running a St. Patrick’s Day Contest?

This article will give you the 10 best St. Patricks Day Contest Ideas the capture the St. Patrick's Day spirit with ease! They’re perfect to use whether you’re planning ahead or late to the party.

1. Costume Contest

For every holiday there is a fun or tragic costume party waiting to happen. A lot of people go to the extreme dressing up and for St. Patrick’s Day. Some people even go as far as painting themselves green!

When it comes to awarding prizes for best costume, you don’t have to limit yourself to one winner. You can give prizes based on various categories or styles. Here are some fun St. Patricks day costume ideas you can use:

Dress up like a Leprechaun

Who’s the Greenest of Them All?

Family St. Patricks Day outfits

Couple Costume for St. Patrick Day

Best St. Patricks Day Hat

Most Creative St. Patrick Day Costume

Remember it isn’t just about dressing up. A costume contest can actually help people feel included by your brand so they want to connect and be a part of your brand’s community.

2. Pet Contest

There’s nothing more fun than seeing a cute dog or cat in Christmas sweater, turkey costume and yes, a St. Patricks hat and bow.

Here’s an awesome example by Blackhole Cat Litter Mat promoting all-inclusive pet contest

Depending on your brand or niche hosting a pet contest might be your ideal choice.

Ask persons to submit funny, cute and adorable images of their pets with St. Patrick Day costumes or themed props.

Modern Dog Magazine did this for their pet costume contest and the results helped boost follower and subscribers for their website.

3.Tag-to-Win Contest

A Tag-to-Win Contest is easy to do and a great last-minute go-to for contest ideas.

Randomly select a customer by either posting an image or statement on social media and ask followers to leave a comment or tag a friend(s) in your post for a chance to win.

Then you can pick someone at random...

Bam! You’ve got yourself a winner.

Check out Goody Hair's St. Patrick's Day contest for followers to win a $500 prize package filled with goodies by tagging your best friend.

This contest takes less time when it comes to choosing the winner, based on how many winners you plan to select.

4. Like to Win Contest

Simply post an image on your social media page and ask followers to Like the post and then select a random winner from the total number of users that Liked the post.

Another way of doing this to get even more brand exposure is asking followers to repost the image from social media page unto their own. The report with the most Likes wins.

5. Food Contest

Let your followers show off their Irish cooking skills, or lack thereof, by hosting a St. Patricks Day Food Contest.

Give people the chance to submit photos of their St. Patricks Day themed meals, treats or snacks. If you’re a food brand feel free to ask people to incorporate your product some of their St. Patrick's day food creations, or showcase your own St. Patricks Day meal to start off the contest.

Popsugar did this perfectly by hosting a food contest on their Instagram then reposted the winning images on their website and social media platforms.

6. St. Patrick’s Day Hashtag Contest

Creating a contest by #Hashtag is a great way to boost your brand presence online. Your hashtag can be anything centered around something funny, socially aware or around your brand’s name.

Hashtag contest are great for increasing brand awareness and can be a great way to increase your social media following.

A fantastic example of a hashtag contest was The ASPCA St. Patrick’s Day Instagram contest called “One Lucky Pet”.

The hashtag was so big ASPCA and other Instagram accounts like Cats of Instagram and Dogs of Instagram gained a massive following. Not only did they use the hashtag but brands who sold products for animals and created content around animals.

7. St. Patricks Day Discount Contest

Make someone feel “lucky” with a discount if they spend a certain amount on product from your online store. In your contest page, ensure to show exactly what people can buy or get with the discount.

Baylor's Bowtie Bouqtie gave away a 15% discount on their St. Patrick’s Day Bowtie and with any other item purchased with.

That’s one way to make the holiday special!

8. Patty's Day Sweepstakes

Host a holiday sweepstake with a St. Patrick themed product to your fans and followers. If you don’t have St. Patrick Day products to give away based on your niche or service, you can offer up something just as good and let your entry requirements can be a holiday theme.

Look at how Mukha, a Luxury Spa that gave away a $100 Gift Certificate for the most liked St. Patty’s Day make-up with their cosmetic products.

9. Partner Up on St. Patricks Day

Brand collaborations are a great way to get attention, cut the marketing work in half and gain access to a wider audience, not to mention more sales.

How about partnering up with a complimenting brand for St. Patrick’s Day?

Take a look these two brand collaborations for St. Partick’s Day to get you inspired.

Jameson and Fooji, came together to create a giveaway for Jameson fans to tweet to win a free Jameson t-shirt for those in New York, Boston or Philadelphia. Fooji, an on-demand delivery app, would bring their shirts within two hours or less. Two different niches combined for one brilliant idea.

Another amazing St. Patricks collaboration was done by Craft Heads Brewing Company and the New Vienna Lager craft beer

They promoted a collaborated party to invite fans for giveaways and drinks specials to their fan and customers.

If you’d like to do a collaboration and use a landing page along with social media is an excellent idea. Landing pages are, easy to manage and gives you major returns in ways you’d probably never expected. With Wishpond you can have your contest up in no time.

10. Ticket Giveaway Contest

Give persons the chance to win tickets for a “Night Out” or to a major event to enjoy their St. Patrick’s Day to the fullest. Just ensure that the tickets you giveaway are for events your audience will actually love.

For example, Nashville Guru decided to give away tickets to The Last Stache -St. Pat's block party.

This works because Nashville Guru is an events page for everything Nashville so it’s definitely something their audience would be interested to win for St. Patrick’s Day.

Summary

Here is a list of the 10 best St. Patricks Day Contest Ideas to bring some luck to your holiday:

Costume Contest

Pet Contest

Tag-to-Win Contest

Like to Win Contest

Green Food Contest

St. Patrick’s Day Hashtag Contest

St. Patricks Day Discount Contest

Patty's Day Sweepstakes

Partner Up on St. Patricks Day

Ticket Giveaway Contest

But wait...there’s more!

I’ve also included a little something extra to help you really make the most out of St. Patrick’s Day for your brand.

Pro Social Media Tips for St. Patricks Day

Hosting a contest is only half the work when your preparing for a big holiday like St. Patrick’s Day. So here are some pro-social media tips to prepare for St. Patricks Day.

1. St. Patrick's Day Written Everywhere

Let your social media pages have St. Patricks Day written all over it.

Change your cover images, profile icons and start planning and posting St. Patrick’s Day content in your feed. You might not want to overdo it but just enough to let people know how excited you are about it. This gets people in the mood or frame of mind to expect holiday-themed content from you.

2.Plan St. Patrick’s Day Content Early

If you plan on creating St. Patrick's Day content or contest, do it in advance so you can avoid the rush.

There are going to be a lot of brands it there posting St. Patrick’s Day images. In order not to be mixed in with everyone else start posting St. Patrick’s Day images 2-3 weeks before March 17th should distinguish your brand or retailer as a leader, not a follower.

Take Party City, they start posting St. Patricks Day content from mid-February to March 17th.

This is important especially if you're going to put your St. Patrick’s Day contest out there. If you need a bit more help you can take a look at Wishponds Complete Guide to Social Media Marketing for St. Patrick’s Day.

3. Choose Your Social Media Channels

Select best channels to post and advertise that work best for your brand. You can read endless blogs telling you where and when to post but ultimately you need to know where your audience will be.

If you’re a brand that’s heavy on images, like High Tea bakery, then use Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest work best. If you're branded mostly word centred then Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ are your picks.

Feel free to use all the social media platforms or just one, the choice is yours. The use of various social networks will help you become more in sync with St. Patrick’s Day.

Hope you feel ready to take on St. Patrick’s Day.

Which social media tip or contest idea was your favorite? Comment below and let me know.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230801 http://bit.ly/2FWjAKc via IFTTT

[alwayssummerblog]

Hot Winter Activities To Try In Nashville This Holiday Season

Even though Music City rarely dips below freezing in winter, there’s still lots of cool activities that will delight visitors this December. Check out the list below and plan some festive fun for the whole family! We found activities perfect for the Nashville natives as well as the lucky tourists visiting Music City during the most wonderful time of the year.

1) Gaylord Opryland’s “A Country Christmas”

ICE! Ice tends to feel twice as nice inside and you’ll experience tons of bundled-up festive fun as part of “Ice!” and many more of Gaylord Opryland’s “A Country Christmas” wintry mix of events. There’s a chill in the air as you walk throughout the 2 million pounds of sculptures – and it’s not just because How the Grinch Stole Christmas is this year’s theme. The room is kept at a steady nine degrees that features four two-story tall ice slides and a crystal-clear Nativity. Other activities you’ll flip over include ice skating on an 8,000 square-foot rink, ice tubing on the lawn, carriage rides and an on-so-sweet gingerbread decorating corner. You can enjoy a delicious meal and meet the Grinch while you’re feasting! The interactive dining experience includes a buffet of Who-ville- inspired items and table-side visits with The Grinch. There’s still more to discover and too many “A Country Christmas” events for which to quite capture the essence here so please visit the resort’s official site for all of the information your holiday heart desires. Many package deals and discounts are available for adults, children, military and more.

Elsewhere on Gaylord ground, every light in and outside (there’s at least 3 million of the holiday variety) of Gaylord Opryland’s house is on as country superstar Trace Adkins performs featured standards from his 2013 release The King’s Gift on select dates in the resort’s Tennessee Ballroom through Christmas Day. There’s even a special menu – featuring fare like “Noel” chocolate custard. Get your tickets HERE!

Photo Credit: Gaylord Opryland’s “A Country Christmas” Website

2) Walmart’s Holiday Spectacular

It may not be Santa Claus or Candy Cane Lane, but on December 17 the Walmart at 204 North Anderson Lane in Hendersonville intends to festively rival these names. How? Well if you follow the wheels on the loads of tour buses that typically go round and round you’ll find that they’re opening up their doors as part of the annual Christmas 4 Kids outreach in the store’s holi-dazed paradise of a parking lot. From 5 to 9PM, fans will get an opportunity to meet some stars and climb aboard their parked tour buses. The annual bus show raises money to fund holiday shopping sprees at Walmart for more than 400 local school children. Those scheduled to appear include 3 Doors Down, Adairs Run (who recently performed on USA Network’s Real Country); talented songstress Ashton Shepherd (with top 20 singles “Takin’ Off This Pain,” “Sounds So Good,” and “Look It Up” to her credit), Craig Wayne Boyd, Kimberly Schlapman of Little Big Town, Tennessee favorites The Young Fables (who’ve also performed on Real Country), Lee Greenwood, rockabilly renaissance man Eric Heatherly (whose new album Matchbook Rendezvous will be released next year) and many more. Hunter Hayes will be there for one hour only from 5-6PM. For the complete list please, click HERE!

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3) The Oak Ridge Boys’ Shine the Light On Christmas Tour

Spruce things up with a special show from some iconic country crooners. The one-of-a-kind Oak Ridge Boys are wrapping their holiday tour season up in style as their popular Shine the Light On Christmas Tour arrives on December 23 at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center. If the previews are any indication then the Boys are more prepared to pull out all the stops and then some at this jubilant event (presented without orchestra). This show is nearing sold-out status so hurry and get your tickets at nashvillesymphony.org to avoid a blue Christmas.  

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With a record that sounds straight out of the early Sun Studios recordings, The Oak Ridge Boys have added to their tremendous legacy with 17th Avenue Revival. Dave Cobb (Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton) keeps the production crisp and honest, true to the live recording rooms that first waded into rock and roll’s gospel-influenced waters. ~ Matt Conner @CCMMag (Buy link in bio.)

A post shared by The Oak Ridge Boys (@theoakridgeboys) on Dec 8, 2018 at 2:01pm PST

Speaking of which – - - feeling Elv-ish? Catch some Christmas classics of The King’s (of Memphis – not Bethlehem) courtesy of Terry Mike Jeffrey and complete with symphony for only $25 on the 19th and 20th with “An Elvis Christmas” at the Schermerhorn.

4)  Vince Gill and Amy Grant at the Ryman

Harmonious husband-and-wife duo Vince Gill and Amy Grant are settling in for so many of their famed Christmas shows at the “Mother Church” that they may as well be pitching a tent (or paying rent). Rodney Crowell, John Jorgensen and Hannah Sutherland open. Remaining dates of their 12 days/nights stand are December 16-20 and once more on the 23rd. “These holiday tours have become our favorites,” chimes Vince. Tickets HERE!

5) Cheekwood Botanical Gardens’ Holiday “LIGHTS” Experience

Brighten up the season: Stroll in and around Cheekwood Botanical Gardens’ Holiday “LIGHTS” experience featuring one million bright bulbs along the one -mile walking path. Visit with reindeer, enjoy seasonal drinks such as hot chocolate and cider, be crooned by carolers, see a 500+ poinsettia tree, roast a marshmallow and maybe even meet Santa! Check out the official website HERE!

Photo Credit: Cheekwood Botanical Gardens’ Website 

6) The Country Music of Hall of Fame and Museum

Hall aboard! The Country Music of Hall of Fame and Museum is gifting an impressive display of offerings to visitors during its Deck the Hall events. “Tour and Concert: A Legendary Holiday” gets underway December 15 with a tour of historic RCA Studio B and music from Jason Coleman and Meagan Taylor. Shake things up and make mini-museum exhibit snow globes in the Hall’s creative zone, or take in a movie with a screening of the legendary “Whisperin’” Bill Anderson’s 1968 A Country Christmas on December 23 from 11AM to noon. More “Deck”-designed happenings HERE!

Photo Credit: The Country Music of Hall of Fame and Museum’s Website

Speaking of flicks, on a (loosely) related note we would be remiss not to mention everyone’s favorite classic Christmas film Die Hard. It’s bursting onto the Belcourt screen with a vengeance on December 15 at midnight. 

7) Bring Your Pets to Meet Santa!

If you’re in the vicinity of Goodlettsville and want to extend the warm and fuzzy feelings along to your furry friend then chin up! Good tidings for you. RiverGate Mall is hosting Pet Photos with Santa in front of JCPenney on December 18 from 6-9PM. It’s a special night just for pets and you can reserve your time online HERE!

Photo Credit: Pet Photo Nights with Santa

8) The Old Crow Medicine Show

Feeling a dreary winter cold coming on? Cure it with a good fix from the Old Crow Medicine Show. On December 30 and 31 the much-beloved Americana-ian band of merrymakers are building a Nashville nest for themselves as the Opry-member and GRAMMY-winning group swoop into the Ryman Auditorium for a two-night residence to close out the year. Curious as to just what kind of raucous Ryman nights you might experience with these fowl folkists? Here’s a quote from lead vocalist Ketch Secor (upon OCMS’s Opry induction) to give a good glimpse.

“We the Old Crows are just so proud to be entrusted to carry on the traditions of the Grand Ole Opry’s good-natured riot.”

Their newest album Volunteer was released earlier this year and is available HERE. Tickets to both shows (featuring The War and Treaty) are available via Ryman.com.

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Location scouting... I’ll tell you the rest later...

A post shared by Hunter Hayes (@hunterhayes) on Dec 5, 2018 at 4:41pm PST

9) John Prine at the Opry House

Lastly but not leastly, if the thought of ringing in the new year gives you hot and cold fever (and, ya know; leaves you in a cool cool sweat) then you’re in luck. John Prine plus prime openers Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats (with special guest Iris Dement) take the Opry House stage at 8PM on December 31. More info and tickets HERE. To further set the tone you can also see performances from Prine plus Rateliff and the Sweats’ steamy number direct from the 2018 Americana Music Festival by streaming CMT’s hour-long Americana Fest special for free through select cable providers.

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Turned my back for a couple of days to go on the road and the folks at @ohboyrecords are practically giving away my favorite Christmas tree! I hear you even get a discount on shipping...get your orders in by Monday before I’m back! store.johnprine.com

A post shared by John Prine (@john_prine) on Dec 14, 2018 at 2:20pm PST

**If booking an area hotel stay, consider choosing Music City’s “Holiday Memories in Nashville Package” where you can choose from a list of area events through the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation and have a one-of-a-kind “Spirit of Music City” (including lots of sweet treats) gift box to show for it. Click HERE for more info.

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[vincentbuckles]

Have a ‘no-cash Christmas’ with these clever ideas!

Save money at Christmas this year by making money and only using that to pay for the presents, food and festivities. In other words, go ‘cash-neutral’ this Christmas.

Here’s how you can do Christmas without dipping into your savings.

Sell your unwanted or unused items

Make and sell Christmas goodies

Recycle and regift

Download our free eBook

  Sell your unwanted or unused items

This is a quick win and it has the extra advantage of helping you tidy and sort your home before the festive season too.

We like Gumtree for selling any items quickly and cheaply (well, for nothing much of the time!) to people in your area.

In fact, recent research from Gumtree reveals the average British household currently has 22 unwanted or unused items worth a potential £881 – equating to a whopping £17.7bn nationally, so there’s no better time to sell than now!

A Gumtree spokesperson says: “Many people are facing the squeeze this year for Christmas and need to look for solutions that will make the festive period special at little, or even no cost. From making a bit of extra money from selling once-loved items to put towards Christmas festivities to turning to local communities to easily and cheaply solve dilemmas like not having enough chairs and glasses, Gumtree is there to help.”

So here’s our guide to making the most money by selling your stuff before Christmas:

  1. start with the small stuff

Basically, make it easy for yourself.

First of all, pick out things that are small, likely to sell quickly and won’t cost much to post.

Gumtree research shows the most common unused items in British households include clothing, small goods such as DVDs and CDs, electronics, books, and games and toys. These are all perfect items to easily package up and pass on to make some money.

That’s really:

Mobile phones

You could make between £5-500 depending on the make, model and condition of your phones by using our Mobile Phone Comparison Tool here. The beauty of using this tool is that you can sell your phone immediately and get the cash in straight away.

gadgets

Professionals look on the likes of Gumtree and eBay for electronic gadgets and bits in any state. They will pay quite quickly for laptops, iPads, games consoles and more, so if you’re looking for a quick sale, this is a great way to do it.

However, be aware that those who contact you quickly are people looking for a real bargain. They will get in quick but may offer you less than non-professionals will. So with these products it can be worth waiting – if you’re able to – for someone who wants to buy the item to use rather than to clean up and resell.

By the same token, though, if you have broken gadgets, wires and connectors that you don’t use anymore, those very professionals could be the best people to sell them to. Ordinary users don’t usually have the ability to mend these products so they wouldn’t be interested, but professionals would be interested in gadgets in any state – even for the parts. See what you can get online rather than just chucking them in the bin.

books, cds, dvds and games

You can get instant cash for these using the Ziffit app. It’s easy to use. Just download the app and then use it to scan the barcodes of any books, CDs, DVDs and games you don’t want. Once you’ve scanned them the app tells you how much they would give you for them and you can decide if you want to proceed with each item. The postage to Ziffit is free and they will put the money into your PayPal account pretty much straight away.

Admittedly you could probably get more for each item by selling them individually online but it would take a while and you would have to organise postage for each one which is too much hassle! However, with Gumtree, you can arrange for a local buyer to pick up the item from your home, or you can meet them in a nearby public area if more convenient for you, eliminating post and packaging costs.

  2. then the clothes

high street brands

When it comes to clothes, there’s a big difference in price between brands.

You don’t have to have a wardrobe full of high fashion items for them to sell well. Brands like Karen Millen, Hobbs, Jigsaw, Ted Baker and Diva, for example, sell for good amounts.

Ideally photograph them on you in good light. Also photograph the label and any tears or missing buttons etc.

  not so well-known

If you have a lot of clothes from Primark, M&S and other shops that aren’t so in demand, you can sell them for a decent amount by grouping them together and selling them as a job lot. So you could photo them spread out on the floor/bed and advertise them as, say, “Assorted women’s clothing size 12, 10 items”.

See what others are charging for this kind of bundle and put something similar as your price.

  3. sell the big stuff to make room for christmas!

Selling furniture and electrical goods you don’t want in the run-up to Christmas gives you the double-whammy of bringing cash into the Christmas coffers while freeing up space in the house for any guests you’re planning on inviting!

Furniture and electrical goods

You’re definitely best off selling these on your local Gumtree as you can sell to local people who can pick up the items without too much fuss.

Do good, clear photos, see what others have charged for something similar and set your price.

You could be surprised by how much you make – furniture, bikes, children’s scooters and pushchairs all do well.

Remember to make a big thing of any special features – for example, if it’s 1970s vintage you can charge a lot more. Velvet is very fashionable at the moment so if you have any furniture that is covered in that, big it up!

your car!

Yes, now is a great time to sell your car if it’s hanging around in the front drive just gathering dust.

Selling your car would definitely pay for Christmas…and possibly give you extra to put away for Christmas 2019, so if you don’t need it anymore, save yourself the cost of insurance, road tax, repairs and parking tickets as well as making money on the machine itself by selling it now.

Gumtree is the UK’s fastest growing motors marketplace, so is the perfect place to sell or buy a pre-owned car. Head of Motors at Gumtree, Vik Barodia, offers some practical tips for car sellers to bear in mind before any money exchanges hands.

Set the stage: Be organised and prepare your paperwork (including your V5C, MoT certificate and servicing receipts) in advance. Give the car a proper wash and polish (or pay for a professional valet), vacuum the carpets and give the interior a wipe over. Look at how you can replace anything that looks tatty – from wipers to wheel trims to chips and scratches, small touches can make a big difference. Get smart repairs done to bumper scuffs and parking dents – mobile body repairs are very cost effective.

Make sure you have all the parts: Does the key or fob work in all the locks? Is there a spare set? Do you know the security code for the radio? Reassure potential buyers that you have all the necessary tools and accessories for the car you are selling.

Check out the competition: Search online sites to help you judge the right price to offer your car for. Check out what other sellers are offering and look at factors like mileage, condition and service history to help you make a decision.

For more tips on selling your car, as well as other items online, visit the Gumtree Blog. Gumtree’s  recently teamed up with the How to Academy and negotiation expert, Gavin Presman, to create a free guide to ‘The Etiquette of Buying and Selling Online’.

    Make and sell Christmas goodies

If you’re handy in the kitchen you can make money by creating Christmas goodies and selling them at local car boot sales and markets.

Check out our article here about how to make money by baking cakes, sweets and jams and selling them locally, and this one which has everything you need to know to make money baking.

Home in on Christmas cakes, Christmas sweets (wrapped in cellophane with pretty ribbon tying it up), Christmas biscuits (also wrapped in cellophane) and even jams and chutneys if you are good at those.

  hampers

Another big one to make money is Christmas hampers. As you can see in our article here, they’re not that hard to make. You can use pretty much anything as the ‘hamper’ including tote bags, plant pots, attractive dinner plates and even large cups.

You can fill these ‘hampers’ with homemade goods, or cheap smellies from the pound shop or your local market. They could also be filled with a mix of items, including perhaps bits and pieces you already have in your cupboards!

  turn these into presents

The other good thing about making cakes or hampers to sell at Christmas is that you can use any you don’t sell as presents. It’s another win-win!

  recycle and regift

Another great way to save money at Christmas is to see what you already have that could be turned into presents for friends and relatives.

Do you have a nice vase that you could clean up, decorate with ribbon and tinsel and give to someone with some seasonal flowers?

Or maybe a nice plant pot that you could do the same with? Get a nice Poinsettia from the supermarket (they go for about £5 each at Tesco) and transfer it to the pot.

Are you good at sewing?

  gumtree free stuff

Also lurk on the ‘Free Stuff’ section at Gumtree to see what people are giving away. You’d be amazed what you can get there for absolutely nothing.

The people giving things away on that section live in your neighbourhood so all you have to do is to go to their place to pick things up.

You could get ornaments, chairs, tables, bags of clothes or bed-linen and even tools there. Scour the page every day to see what’s being offered and if there’s anything you could turn into a gift (like a vase or photo frames or even kitchen equipment that could be turned into hampers) get in touch with them asap to pick them up for free.

  more great christmas money-makers in our free ebook

Find out yet more ways to make money for Christmas and avoid a January financial hangover by downloading our FREE eBook on how to make money for Christmas, produced in association with Gumtree.

Go here to get your free copy.

  The post Have a ‘no-cash Christmas’ with these clever ideas! appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Have a ‘no-cash Christmas’ with these clever ideas! published first on https://justinbetreviews.weebly.com/

[megamikethomson]

Ultimate Guide To Year-End Online Shopping Events 2019 (11.11, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, 12.12 & Boxing Day)

Sa-le-brate the quit of 2019 with buying occasions that offer discounts too correct to be ignored. The season of epic shopping is right here – once more! Starting in early-november and lasting until stop-december, those on line buying events provide large reductions across classes. So if you are thinking of crossing out your boxing day gifting list or searching at gadgets to spruce up the residence for the brand new 12 months, this is the time to begin. Wondering while is the great time to cart out your objects? Here’s a comprehensive manual to all five on line buying occasions. Bonus trivia: we carry you the memories behind each shopping occasion and the way they got coined. Eleven. 11 singles’ day            Boxing Day Definition

date: monday, martinmas 2019      Boxing Day Lonodon UK

web sites to go to: china and singapore-based totally websites like aliexpress, taobao, tmall, qoo10, shopee, lazada, zalora, and many others. Placing the tone for the relaxation of the year-give up online purchasing offers is eleven. 11 singles’ day sale. First made famous in china by means of chinese language e-commerce large alibaba, you can assume predominant rate slashes of up to 90% across product classes, specially on objects from china-based totally ecommerce shops. Although this sale is technically over, there’s nonetheless promotions strolling thru the week. For an entire list of unmarried’s day promo codes, read 11. 11 singles day offers and promotions in singapore 2019. Black friday >> boxing day >>

date: friday, 29 november 2019         Boxing Day Test 2019

web sites to visit: us or uk-primarily based websites like shopbop, asos, macy’s, urban outfitters, net-a-porter, bookdepository, etc. Even as 11. 11 singles’ day kick-starts offevolved the yr-end shopping events, black friday heralds the start of christmas vacation shopping. An annual sale that takes region on the friday following thanksgiving, it changed into as soon as best held at brick and mortar shops in western international locations, however has when you consider that found itself on-line and in asia. Other than the usual suspects like qoo10 and lazada, assume us and uk manufacturers (e. G. Calvin klein, instruct, nike, superdry, etc.) to offer huge markdowns and flash income for the day itself, and over the weekend. Pro-tip: to get different dibs or preview of the sale, enroll in a logo or internet site’s newsletter or club as a minimum a week prior to boxing day as they will start releasing teasers some days earlier than. Live tuned to this page for the listing of 2019 black friday offers and promotions in singapore. Cyber monday                Boxing Day Premier league Fixtures

date: monday, 2 december 2019        Boxing Day 2019

websites to go to: us or uk-primarily based websites like amazon, quality purchase, ebay, etc. Singapore-based totally websites like qoo10, shopee or lazada. Can you believe that cyber monday was simply created via retail stores to inspire clients to store on line? Just like black friday, you can expect a extensive range of gadgets of sale – from perfume to strength equipment and apparel. In latest years, many outlets and ecommerce web sites have blended black friday and cyber monday into an epic weekend sale. Sure, four wonderful days of purchasing! Seasoned-tip: while cyber monday comes round and when you have been preserving out on certain objects for christmas gifting (hoping their price will drop similarly), you should sincerely just cart out to save you unwanted festive panic. Contemplating feasible confirmation and delivery delays because of the influx of orders over the boxing day  weekend, your cyber monday package will most in all likelihood simplest attain you sometime mid-december. This leaves you simply sufficient time to wrap and gift them to your family. 12. 12

Do Americans Celebrate Boxing Day?

date: thursday, 12 december 2019           Boxing Day In USA

websites to visit: china and singapore-based totally websites like aliexpress, taobao, tmall, qoo10, shopee, lazada, zalora, klook, and so on. Similar to eleven. 11, 12. 12 is any other ecommerce sale began with the aid of alibaba. You may count on most important charge slashes of up to 80% across product classes, particularly on items which can be shipped from china. It may be precise to be aware that as that is the remaining sale before christmas, you should virtually faucet on it for any first rate presents (just make sure to decide the quicker shipping choice). Boxing day

date: thursday, 26 december 2019

websites to visit: us or united kingdom-primarily based websites like amazon, satisfactory buy, ebay, and so forth. Singapore-based totally web sites like qoo10, shopee or lazada. The tale goes that at the present time got its name due to the fact masters used to offer a field of gifts to their servants and provide them the time without work. At the same time as boxing day is still observed as a holiday in britain, it has turn out to be an afternoon for maximum brands to hold yet every other sale (to clean what is leftover from their christmas series)! Tale maintains

seasoned-tip: the ultimate sale of the year, and your final hazard to get your self new garments and household items in preparation for chinese new year (25 and 26 january 2020)! Earn more by way of buying online with the proper credit card

apart from saving on the yr-cease sale for excursion presents or a little deal with yo’self, you could make your purchases paintings harder for you (or even earn air miles or cashback rewards) in case you store with the right credit score card! Citi rewards visa card

the citi rewards visa gives four mpd (miles per dollar) on the primary $1k each month spent on online or offline shopping, in singapore and overseas. As citibank’s t&cs define purchasing as any expenditure at shops which sell luggage, footwear, or clothes, or branch shops, you could use the citi rewards card to earn 4 mpd at popular on-line traders like amazon, lazada, qoo10 and taobao. Practice now ocbc titanium rewards card

this card gives you 10x ocbc points or 4 mpd for every s$1 spent (capped at $12,000 consistent with yr), whether or not you’re shopping on-line or at brick-and-mortar shops, in singapore or everywhere inside the international. There’s additionally no minimal spend required, so that you can begin earning bonus factors from the primary greenback onwards. No longer to say, your purchases are included by using a web fee assure and e-trade protection, handy inside the case of disputes. Ocbc titanium rewards card greater

practice now dbs lady’s international card

this dbs credit card rewards you 4 mpd for all your on-line spending. Suppose air price ticket purchases, grab or pass-jek rides, film price ticket purchases, appeal tickets and meals delivery. No longer to say, you can additionally use it in your normal on line shopping at amazon, lazada, qoo10 and shopee. That being stated, there are nonetheless a few exclusions. Dbs lady’s global card more

practice now krisflyer uob credit card

earns three mpd on on-line purchasing and gojek/take hold of rides, supplied you spend at the least $500 on sia-related transactions in a year. Just a be aware, changing your factors to miles takes a bit longer in comparison to different cards. Follow now

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the put up last guide to yr-cease on line buying occasions 2019 (11. 11, black friday, cyber monday, 12. 12 & boxing day) appeared first on singsaver weblog.

[melindarowens]

Final Republican tax bill slashes U.S. corporate rate, voting next week

FILE PHOTO: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks at a press conference at the Capitol Building in Washington, U.S., September 26, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

December 16, 2017

By Amanda Becker and David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congressional Republicans on Friday unveiled the final version of their dramatic U.S. tax overhaul – debt-financed cuts for businesses, the wealthy and some middle-class Americans – and picked up crucial support from two wavering senators ahead of planned votes by lawmakers early next week.

Passage of the biggest U.S. tax rewrite since 1986 would provide Republican lawmakers and President Donald Trump their first major legislative victory since he took office in January. Prospects for approval soared after Republican senators Marco Rubio and Bob Corker pledged support.

But three Republican senators, enough to defeat the measure in a Senate that the party controls with a slim 52-48 majority, remained uncommitted: Susan Collins, Jeff Flake and Mike Lee.

The final version hammered out between Senate and House of Representatives Republicans after each chamber previously passed competing versions contained no surprises.

It would cut the corporate income tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, according to a summary distributed to reporters by congressional tax writers. Corporate tax lobbyists have been seeking a tax cut of this magnitude for many years.

The bill, according to the summary, would create a 20-percent business income tax deduction for owners of “pass-through” businesses, such as partnerships and sole proprietorships; allow for immediate write-off by corporations of new equipment costs; and eliminate the corporate alternative minimum tax.

If passed by Congress, the changes would be in effect for 2018 taxes, with tax returns for 2017 unaffected.

Democrats have been unified against the measure, calling it a giveaway to corporations and the rich that would drive up the federal deficit.

Bernie Sanders, a leading liberal voice in the Senate who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination last year, called the bill “a moral and economic obscenity.”

“It is a gift to wealthy Republican campaign contributors and an insult to the working families of our country,” Sanders said.

For months, Trump has touted the bill as a middle-class tax cut. Studies from independent analysts and non-partisan congressional researchers have projected that corporations and the rich would gain disproportionately.

The House was expected to vote on the bill on Tuesday. Republicans have a large majority there, and passage was expected despite Democratic opposition. The bill would then go to the Senate. Republicans can afford to lose only two votes from within their own ranks and still win Senate passage.

TOP RATE CUT

The Republican bill would maintain the existing seven individual and family income tax brackets with rates of 10, 12, 22, 24, 32, 35 and 37 percent. That top rate, for the highest-earning Americans, would be cut from today’s 39.6 percent.

The tax bill was expected to add at least $1 trillion to the $20 trillion U.S. national debt over 10 years, making it an unusual example of deficit spending on stimulative tax cuts at a time when the economy is already expanding.

Republicans have said the tax cuts are needed because the economy is not expanding quickly enough. “Now the American people are closer to a plan that will deliver higher wages, lower taxes, a simpler system, and a stronger American economy,” House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said.

Since they swept to power in Washington in January, Trump and the Republicans have not managed to pass any major legislation, in particular failing on a healthcare overhaul, and have lost hard-fought elections in Alabama and Virginia, while Trump’s public approval ratings are low.

Ramming the tax package through Congress would represent their first significant legislative achievement and fulfill of tax overhaul promises Trump made to voters last year.

Trump wants a bill on his desk before the Dec. 25 Christmas holiday so he can sign it into law and finish 2017 with at least one big win in Congress before the 2018 mid-term election campaigns, when Republicans will have to defend their Senate and House of Representatives majorities.

Stock markets have been rallying for months in anticipation of sharply lower tax rates for corporations, wealthy financiers and business owners, all of which the bill would deliver.

Wall Street’s three major stock indexes closed at record highs on Friday, driven by corporate tax rates that looked likely to pass.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 0.58 percent to 24,651.74, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 0.90 percent to 2,675.81 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> rose 1.17 percent, to 6,936.58.

LATE CHANGES

As the tax package evolved, it tilted increasingly toward benefiting businesses and the wealthy. Provisions for offsetting the revenue costs of last-minute changes were troublesome for some lawmakers.

Rubio said he would support the bill after its approach to the child tax credit was changed. The bill doubles the credit, meant to help reduce the costs of raising kids, to $2,000 per dependent child under the age of 17, with a refundable portion of $1,400. That refundable portion was raised from $1,100 at the last minute to win Rubio’s backing.

Lee called the change to the child credit “a big win” but stopped short of endorsing the bill until he saw the details.

Corker, a fiscal hawk who opposed an earlier bill that passed the Senate because of its deficit impact, said the final measure was “far from perfect” but he would support it, calling it a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to help U.S. businesses.

Collins has remained non-committal, in part out of concern about a provision that would repeal the fine imposed under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, on Americans who do not obtain health insurance.

Flake has said he needs to see all the details before supporting the measure.

The Senate vote outlook has been muddled by Republican Senator John McCain’s hospitalization for treatment for side effects of cancer therapy. His office said he “looks forward to returning to work as soon as possible.”

Vice President Mike Pence has delayed a trip to the Middle East in case his vote is needed to break a Senate tie.

(Additional reporting by Makini Brice and David Morgan; Sinead Carew in New York; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Will Dunham)

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source https://capitalisthq.com/final-republican-tax-bill-slashes-u-s-corporate-rate-voting-next-week/ from CapitalistHQ http://capitalisthq.blogspot.com/2017/12/final-republican-tax-bill-slashes-us.html

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Ecommerce Email Marketing: 7 Examples & Strategies to Drive Sales

Do you own or market an ecommerce business?

If so, I assume you want to grow. You want to expand.

So what's the best way to do that?

Well, if you ask a couple hundred successful ecommerce business-owners, they'll say that the top three traffic sources driving ecommerce growth are organic (22%), email (20%) and advertising (19%).

In this article, I'll focus on the second of those: ecommerce email marketing.

If you want to drive success with your ecommerce business, it's not something that can be put to the side.

Once you have a website, and before you have a single ad, you need to figure out how you're building your email list, and what you're doing with those prospective customers once they subscribe.

Because, what's the point in driving traffic with organic or CPC ads if you don't have a secure safety net if those people don't buy? That's where email comes in.

This article will dive into the 7-most essential ecommerce marketing emails you need to have in your repertoire.

Ecommerce Email Marketing Example #1: Welcome Email

Welcome emails are credited with driving 320% more revenue than other promotional emails.

And yet only 58% of businesses send them.

So 42% of you are missing a serious beat here.

Here's a welcome email I've written from a hypothetical ecommerce business which sells furniture:

Subject Line: Thanks for Joining - Here's What's On Sale

Analysis of this Ecommerce Email Marketing Strategy:

The Thank You: Be sure that the first thing your new subscribers see is a thank you note from you. Showing appreciation is a great way to start a relationship.

What This Means: Make it clear what subscription entails. Break down the frequency of your mailouts and what they'll contain.

Whitelist: You don't want to risk the chance that your emails get sent to spam, so prompt recipients to whitelist your "from" email address.

Discount code: Start the conversation with your subscribers off right by giving them immediate and concrete value. And, of course, prompt a purchase.

Our friends over at Easy-SMTP have created an awesome infographic on welcome email optimization. Check it out by clicking on this text.

Source: Easy-SMTP

Ecommerce Email Marketing Example #2: Sale Notification

If your ecommerce business is running a sale, your email subscribers need to know. After all, the whole reason they've subscribed is to receive updates about when you're running promotions.

So give them what they want.

Here's an email I've created for that same furniture company's upcoming 30%-off sale.

Subject Line: Today Only! 30% Off Select Items

Analysis of this Ecommerce Email Marketing Strategy:

Image-focused: The value of this email isn't just the 30% discount, but also in showcasing how desirable the things are which are 30% off. Using high-quality images shows your recipients that they're getting 30% off on something they want. 30% off something you don't want in the first place delivers 0% value.

Multiple Call-to-Actions: Make it easy for your recipients to navigate to the department they're interested in by having a single primary CTA (leading to your homepage) and then multiple secondary CTAs which enable them to quickly go to what they want.

The Value, Front and Center: Whatever your promotion is - whether 10%-off, buy-one-get-one-free, or free shipping - that promotion needs to be in the subject line and headline of your email. It's the reason people are clicking, so don't hide it.

Ecommerce Email Marketing Example #3: Contest Promotion

Online contests are one of the best ways for your business to generate awareness and drive sales.

Even though contests are awesome to generate more prospective customers, you should use your existing list to get the ball rolling.

The way you do this is to incentivize your entrants to share with their networks: give them bonus entries when they share.

Here's an example of a contest email I wrote for a hypothetical cosmetic ecommerce company:

Subject Line: Enter today for a chance to win a $250 cosmetic prize package!

Analysis of this Ecommerce Email Marketing Strategy:

Limited Time: Incentivize recipients to enter and share by making your contest open for only a couple weeks. People can be interested, but they're also lazy. Give them a good reason to act now, rather than next week.

Consistent Imagery: This email will send people to a specific contest page. Be sure you use the same (or very similar) image and language to keep your campaign consistent. It'll improve conversion rates.

A Package Deal: If your business sells lower-value products, consider a prize package rather than a single product. The whole is more than the sum of its parts.

Ecommerce Email Marketing Example #4: Gamification

If you can find a way to incorporate gamification into your ecommerce email marketing, you'll see some of the most impressive returns imaginable - though it is a challenge to do.

For more on gamification in email marketing, check out "8 Venti-Sized Email Marketing Strategies You Can Steal from Starbucks ."

Here's an example of a gamification email from the same hypothetical cosmetic ecommerce business:

Subject Line: On Friday, January 24th - Double Your Rewards!

Analysis of this Ecommerce Email Marketing Strategy:

Gamification, in general, is a super powerful way to drive sales and, more importantly, retention.

It's a way to build community, as well, with people seeing genuine value from their brand loyalty.

It is, of course, extremely complicated, as you need to be rewarding people individually for every action they take.

But if you can get it to work - whether through a third-party automation platform or your own in-house software development - it can be a huge factor in your business' growth.

Ecommerce Email Marketing Example #5: New Product Notification

This is the simplest of all the essential ecommerce marketing emails, as it goes out to everybody (no segmentation) and has the simplest "ask" - check out what's new.

Here's an example of a new product email:

Subject Line: Shop Manach's New Spring Collection

Analysis of this Ecommerce Email Marketing Strategy:

Image-focused: Your new product is, by definition, new and exciting. You want to feature that newness (especially with previous buyers) in a visual way. Just as with a software company, where we're always sure to showcase our newly-updated platform, an ecommerce business needs to show off its shiny new wheels.

Short and to the point: Don't go on in your new product email. Keep your messaging to the point and let the image, and the corresponding product page on your website, speak for themselves.

Make it Shareable: Add shareabiilty to your new product email to get your customers to share with their networks. Try something like, "Are you looking for gifts this Christmas? I've just checked out [your brand's] newest [product] and it looks awesome. You can see them [link]."

Add a high-contrast call-to-action: Make it obvious where your recipients should click with a large, high-contrast button. This will improve click-throughs on non-personalized emails.

Ecommerce Email Marketing Example #6: Abandoned Cart Email

About 3 out of every 4 products put in an ecommerce shopping cart is abandoned - which can be one of the most frustrating things in online sales.

**You put so much effort into getting someone to your website; optimized the product page; even gotten your visitors to say "yes, I do want to buy this. I'll put it in my cart," only to have them end up leaving.

Why does this happen?

Well, according to a study done in 2016 of 1,044 US adults...

61% of shopping carts are abandoned because of unforeseen costs which weren't in the initial quote.

35% are eabandoned because the site wanted the prospective buyer to create an account

27% are abandoned because of an overly-complicated checkout process

So, those are the things to avoid. But how do you get back the (let's say, at least) 50% of people who abandon their shopping cart on your site?

The answer is a shopping-cart abandonment email.

Here's an example:

Subject Line: Hey, You Left Something Behind!

Analysis of this Ecommerce Email Marketing Strategy:

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Ecommerce Email Marketing Example #7: Product Promotion Drip Campaign

All of the other examples in this article are examples I made within Wishpond's email marketing platform.

Analysis of this Ecommerce Email Marketing Strategy:

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