Sell Your Own Gift Cards & Certificates Online:

Not only are gift cards a way you can increase your company profits, you are doing your customers a favor - giving them an easy gift-giving solution. It's also a great way to increase customer referrals without having to ask for them ("What's that?... Free advertising?").

The challenge is actually creating a professional-looking gift card and making it easy for customers to purchase and redeem them. You want more money - not more work!

Here are 4 Ways You Can Do This:

1. You can get gift certificate templates that you can customize on your computer, and then print them out and give them to customers. Microsoft Office has some template designs that you can download for free and create yourself. This can be a simple and cheap solution, but what if you want something a little more professional or you want to offer gift cards?

2. VistaPrint.com has gift certificate templates (in the "Promotion and Events" section of their website) that you can also customize - but they will print them in full-color on high-quality paper so you get a professional product that you can be proud to give your clientele. The more you buy, the cheaper they are. At the time of this writing, you can get full-color printed 100 pieces with envelopes for about $35.

3.PrintingForLess.com will print gift cards for you on plastic cards. These, of course, are more durable and a better solution if you plan to use them for a customer loyalty program or pre-paid cards that customers can refill. The minimum order is currently 500 cards, which comes out to a little over $200.

So what if you want a "Set it and Forget it" gift certificate program? You don't want to have to design, print, stock and hand out gift certificates to customers. You want shoppers to be able to purchase gift certificates from you 24 hours a day through your website. Buyers can pay you money and download their certificates instantly without you having to lift a finger.

4. Sound like a dream? Think again. The Gift Card Cafe will do all of that for you, and for as little as $29.95 to get entirely set-up. There is a small per-transaction fee for each certificate issued, but of course you only pay this if you are generating income.

All four gift card/gift certificate strategies are viable ways to increase your business profits and attract more customers. The method best for your business will depend on your clients. Would they prefer to have a printed gift cerficate in-hand, or an instant gift certificate they can download online?

Once you have decided on your gift card program and have certificates available, make sure to let your customers know about them. Promote them on the home page of your website, in a highly-visible area of your shop, on your business cards, customer receipts, in advertisements, etc...

You never know when someone will need a last-minute gift!