Black Meetings and Tourism

Black Meetings & Tourism February/March 2009: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 86 LADY DII'S GIFTS & BASKETS BY VICTORIA HEAD Dianne Gamble has always enjoyed giving gifts to friends and family. When out shopping, she'd often see items that seemed the perfect fit for someone and would purchase them for upcoming occasions. One year, a friend presented Gamble with a gift basket; although this gift was thoughtful and greatly appreciated, Gamble couldn't deny the fact that it was also ugly. Family and friends pointed out to her that she had better looking things in her gift closet, which over years of gift collecting was bulging at the seams. With per- sistent nudging from those close to her, In June 2004, Gamble decided to start Lady Dii's Gifts & Baskets. "I was convinced that I could make a better product than many I had been seeing," stated Gamble. "I have a good eye for coordi- nating colors and putting together various themes; this makes the baskets more attrac- tive and appealing to the eye. All of my gift baskets are com- prised of practical items and assembled in such a way that the giver is proud to give it and the recipient is glad to receive it." Friends, relatives and associates were Lady Dii's first cus- tomers. During holidays like Mother's Day and Valentines Day, she did pretty good business just selling to them. One year a friend purchased gifts for her entire office from Lady Dii; word spread about the beautiful baskets she was making and Lady Dii's Gifts and Baskets really began to take off. Approximately one year later Lady Dii took her business to the world-wide-web and www.LADYDII.com was born. On her website she has gift baskets for both men and women, ranging in price from $20 to $80 with photos of at least 60 dif- ferent types of baskets. For $20, a shopper can purchase The Men's Shaving Kit or The Women's Bath & Body Set. However, on the higher end, Lady Dii offers much larger baskets like her #1 seller The Foot Spa, in which she notes, "includes everything but the water." The Foot Spa basket comes complete with a plastic foot tub, foot soaking powder, foot lotion, hand towel, manicure kit, massager, nail polish, toe separator, pumice stone and foot scrub brush. Currently, Lady Dii is working on what she has named Recession Busters, gift baskets that are more affordable for her customers; this also helps to offset the dip her business has taken during these economically unstable times. She also participates in trade shows and special events like a recent Black History function put on by the Alumni Association of Florida; as well as a fashion show presented by the Women of Color Breast Cancer Association. She subsequently sends out marketing mailers to contacts made at these venues. Lady Dii is a member of the Gift Basket Exchange, an online community where the participants share with one another various basket creating tips, information like where to buy needed supplies and band together to purchase and split large items sold in bulk; it is also a great source of cama- raderie and encouragement for its members. Lady Dii is considering starting her own Gift Basket Makers Association where she would stress to small business owners the importance of researching their business before getting started and utilizing resources like SCORE, a non- profit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and the formation, growth and success of small business nation- wide, as well as the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Lady Dii states, "by researching first, small business own- ers have a better chance at success; it's necessary to know what makes your product different or better than what is already out there. You will also gain some much needed marketing knowledge because, it doesn't matter how great your product is, if people don't know it exists." She also sug- gests doing a roundtable of friends and family to absorb the relevant expertise that is already around you. Lady Dii can be reached toll free at (866) 717-9001; email address – info@ladydii.com. GAMBLE, DIANNE

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