Many gift basket retailers email, call and write to me asking where they can get help for their businesses in their area. There is much help available, but you just have to find it.

Today I received an invitation to a free Lunch and Learn Seminar being offered by my city in partnership with the county’s Small Business Development Center. The topic is “The Fine Art of Being the Market Leader Forever,” and lunch is provided. I reserved my spot immediately.

Wanting to see what other seminars the County Small Business Development Center offers, I visited their website. There were seminars on Quick Books, employment law, driving traffic to your website and more ranging from free to no more than $25.

Small Development Centers are part of the national Small Business Administration. Use the SBA’s locator to find out where the Center is near you.

You run a gift basket business and have mastered the design skills essential to your success.
But what about the business skills that will keep you on track and help you increase your profits?

• Have you considered learning software such as Word or Excel, but thought you didn’t have time to sign up for classes?
• Or perhaps you’ve wanted to create your own marketing materials but don’t know how.
• You know that you could manage your company books better if you knew how to use QuickBooks, but you fear that lessons would be expensive.
• Perhaps you’ve wondered if there is a way to master email.

You can learn these and many more skills at hundreds of  classes offered free online.  Besides their around the clock availability, online classes also provide instructor feedback, discussions where you can interact with classmates and self-evaluation tools to allow you to monitor your progress.

 Two primary sources make it easy to sign up and complete free quality classes.

HP Learning Center is offered by Hewlett Packard. It’s a good place to start looking for classes of interest. If you don’t see the class you want, sign up for their newsletter so you’ll receive notice of new classes as they are posted.  Current classes include

• Customizing business envelopes and automating postage
• Marketing writing tips
• Promote your business with social networking

Pendaflex Learning Center is owned by Pendaflex and offers courses in four categories: starting your business, marketing your business, managing your business, and growing your business. Current courses in their free instructor-led, 24 hr courses include

•  Start-up basics for the first-time entrepreneur
• Online marketing tips
• Advanced Microsoft Word 2003
• Touch up digital photos with Adobe Photoshop Elements software

Use your time, especially during business slow-downs, to build your skills. These skills will serve you well when the business cycle begins to swing upward again.

Every week I receive calls and email from new gift basket designers or gift retailers wanting to add gift baskets to their store or service. When I suggest classes, consultation or educational materials, many of them are deterred by the time and cost involved. That’s too bad. There is tremendous value in investing in your training and skill development.

Let’s face it. You could learn all the gift basket techniques, trends and sources on your own without spending your money. But there’s no way you can gather all this without spending a disproportionate amount of time–years, even decades, not to mention the ups and downs of trial and error.

It has taken me 18 years to get to this level. Each expert who shares information with you represents many years of training, experience, and practice. There will still be a learning curve, but you can make that trip smoother and shorter by going to the people and resources who have already succeeded at the goals you now pursue.

To grow a successful gift basket business you will need to master not only design skills, but business and marketing skills as well.

It’s always a good idea to start with as many free sources as possible, but don’t neglect to invest in pay services and products that will help you reach your goals faster. This week I will share many sources available to help you grow your business and increase your profits.

Let’s begin with the two premier gift basket websites in the world.

Check out this list to see my entire list of sites.

GiftBasketBusinessWorld.com, my main website, offers your first steps to finding sources and resources for products, techniques, and business tips for growing a successful and profitable business. When the information exceeded 400 pages, it was too much for one website.I created spin-off websites that focused on specific aspects of the business such as starting a website, specific product wholesalers, design specifics, and more.  In addition, I publish a weekly newsletter, Gift Basket Business World Newsletter and a blog Gift Basket Business World Blog to give you current and timely information on trends and changes in the gift industry.

GiftBasketBusiness.com is the main website of Shirley George Frazier, well known for the best selling books How to Start a Home Based Gift Basket Business and The Gift Basket Design Book. Sharing her 19 years of experience, Shirley offers not only gift basket design tips, sources and resources, but  also a wealth of business information from writing effective business letters to how to get customers and more.  In addition, Shirley publishes a twice weekly newsletter and an informative blog. Like me, Shirley also created specific websites to better meet your needs.

Visit here to see Shirley’s entire family of websites.

In addition to maintaining our websites, newsletters and blogs, Shirley and I have both taught classes at major tradeshows and produced DVDs, audio CDs, product directories and many other quality products to help you reach your goals. Take time to explore the many sites, services and products we have created for you.

Take advantage of the decades of help we offer and you’ll see your business succeed and prosper.

Tune in tomorrow for more sources to help you grow your business.