Creative, Personalized Gift Giving for a Small Business

Anyone else struggles with thinking up really cool gifts to give to clients for the holidays?

It’s important to show your appreciation for the people who choose to do business with you! But sending sugary treats or another bottle of wine can seem so… dull! This season, get creative with your gift-giving for clients, staff, business partners, affiliates and anyone else who requires a more formal sentiment because they make your business a success. 

We want to help you make a statement without spending a ton. Here are a few of our favorite go-to brands for unique customizable gifts that are sure to “wow” your recipient AND save you time and money. You will be able to gift personal items without having to waste hours searching for “the right thing.”

1. BoxFox

Not your regular box with cookies and cheese that the corp world loves so much! No, @shopboxfox is on a whole other level of unique, personalized and effortless. The Box Fox allows you to pick a box (3 sizes available) and fill it with some really cool, custom, color-coded goodies for your recipient. Or you can pick from their amazing pre-curated boxes, range from sweets to pampering products, pasta dinners, game nights, coffee loves goodies, and so much more. It comes with a cute customizable card too! These gift boxes are sure to blow anyone away!

2. The Sill

Plants make people happy - that’s a fact! Who wouldn’t love a potted plant or a succulent on their desk? @thesill makes “plant-giving” seamless, easy and inexpensive. And wouldn’t that make a statement holiday gift? Pick from their enormous selection and ship the gifts right to the desk/home for each of your recipients. This is truly a gift that keeps on giving and you a sentiment that will never be forgotten.

3. Greetabl

Probably the most customizable service we found, and the cutest! Add a sparkle to your gift with @greetabl, a unique and personalized box that lets you upload photos into the design and pick a sweet little gift or treat to go along with a meaningful message you wrote. You can even add a gift card as a bonus.

4. Postable

Sending holiday cards? If you want a really nice card but don’t have the time to shop the aisle, @postable has all that you need and they mail them for you! All you have to do is pick a card design from their large gallery for every occasion, type the “handwritten” message and they will stamp and mail your card for you. And you can drop a gift card in there too! 5 minutes of your time to send the most thoughtful snail mail!

5. Simone Le Blanc

Luxury, curated boxes without the insane price tag or boring fillers. @simoneleblanc is your destination for thoughtful gifts that will inspire positive action like self-care, self-love and passions in others. 

6. A Signature Welcome

Another really cool “box” gift service that feels authentic, unique, luxury and thoughtful is @asignaturewelcome. They offer curated boxes for all types of gifts and occasions and have a whole holiday section ready to pick from to save you even more time.

Happy holiday shopping made easy for you!

Let us know what other gift services you love, so we can add them to our list.




YouTube Has a New Rival... Instagram!

Did #Instagram just declare a war on #Youtube?

Yesterday, it released a new update IGTV. Instagram now allows you to upload videos with up to 1-hour length. The feature is available inside the Instagram application and as a standalone app on your phone.

"IGTV will let anyone be a creator, not just big-name celebrities. People will be able to upload vertical videos through Instagram’s app or the web. Everyone except smaller and new accounts will be able to upload hour-long videos immediately, with that option expanding to everyone eventually." - via TechCrunch.com

So where Instagram is moving with this update? Many creators now have an additional platform for growing their reach, and we are guessing new advertisement opportunities are coming shortly. You can now subscribe to your favorite creators and get the notification for their latest vertical video. We are excited to start using #IGTV and watch how the new features impacts the direction of content marketing. #NEWisbetter

Content Ninja Needed! APPLY NOW

Straight Fwd Co hiring banner.jpg

WHO

Are you a smooth storyteller with an epic imagination?
Can you chop your words into a graceful flow?
Can you make an impact that leaves others breathless?
Do you have the mastery of weapons such as graphic design, video editing, and photography?
Can you hustle like a digital warrior?
If yes, we want you!

WHY

Boring, meaningless content is an injustice to humanity. People don't want to be sold to, they want to connect, be inspired and feel like they are part of a community. If you don't have a story, you don't have an audience. Epic stories rule the digital landscape and are the epicenter of every successful brand and person (who is a personal brand). We are in business of visual storytelling and need a skilled warrior to help us win the battle of content clusterfuck.

HOW TO APPLY
Use your creative and technical skills and tools to show us what you can do.

Please create an Instagram feed (or mockup) of 12 consecutive posts that tell us who you are, what you can do, and why we should bring you on the team. Showcase different types of content, including lifestyle images, graphics, videos, multi-image posts, and whatever else you think can blow us away. Submit a screenshot via info@straightfwdco.com.

Will be reviewing applications immediately and reaching out to the ones that grabbed our attention to conduct a formal interview.

WHAT YOU GET

  • Competitive pay

  • Cool employee perks

  • Awesome team culture

  • Flexible work schedule

  • Weekly team building opportunities

  • Working with Social Good brands

  • Being part of a growing startup

Thoughts on Turning 28...

Thoughts on Turning 28...

Today I feel on a verge of something great - a new chapter, a new adventure and the end of an era. Last night I celebrated my last day of being 27 by staying up past midnight and falling asleep with my makeup on - on purpose. That felt like the most rebellious thing I could do to cling on to my identity of a girl, but in reality I've never felt more like a woman than today...

2015 in Review

2015 in Review

If you grab a pencil with the toes of your left foot and try to draw a straight line - it would somewhat accurately illustrate the trajectory of my 2015. What a year it was! Full of surprise turns, consistently inconsistent yet ridiculously exhilarating, still exhausting but totally groundbreaking.

Starting with an intense need to ditch Florida that thankfully fell thru (but I nearly dropped everything to move to Austin, TX); followed by...