A corporate gift certificate makes a great gift for your employees or customers for any occasion. Whether you want to say thank you or happy holidays, consider using gift certificates the next time you are looking for something special to hand out. It is a good idea to purchase gift cards for stores and retailers that offer a wide range of products, as everyone has varying tastes when it comes to the perfect gift.

It is a good idea to get an idea of some of the available gift certificates. Think about these suggestions when making your decision:

1. Show your appreciation with custom gift certificates such as prepaid credit cards.

2. Illustrate to them you understand the strain of fuel costs with gas gift certificates for business.

3. Let them choose their own delicious foods with a gift card from a gourmet food store.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Give prepaid credit cards as business gift certificates

Business gift cards that are prepaid credit cards are a great idea for those employees or customers that you never know what to get as a thank you, holiday gift or incentive. They can be used anywhere that specific credit card is accepted.

I recommend: Choose from the different types of American Express gift certificates for loyal employees and customers. They even have custom gift certificates. MasterCard offers a number of options when it comes to prepaid cards.

Help them out with high fuel costs and give them business gift cards good for gas

Business gift certificates for gas will suit just about everyone. Giving this type of incentive gift certificate is a practical way to show your appreciation while being sensitive to the economy. This is one of the most common corporate gift cards.

I recommend: You can’t go wrong with a gift card for gas from Citgo. You can buy a gift certificate at your nearest station. Choose the perfect BP gas gift card for the occasion. They offer different kinds of prepaid cards so you don’t have to be stuck with one that looks like a present if you are aiming for something more professional.

Treat them to their favorite goodies with gift certificates for delicious foodstuffs

Instead of your typical gift basket, consider using gift certificates for gourmet food gift baskets. This way, customers and employees can choose the type of food and treats that they will enjoy the most. Who knows, they may even use the corporate gift certificate for a future gift for you.

I recommend: Omaha Steaks not only offers mouth-watering steaks, but seafood, poultry and desserts as well. Harry & David is the place to get them a gift certificate if they love treats of all sorts. These come with beautiful greeting cards as well.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you are in a bind, consider sending out online gift certificates. Once you purchase them, they are immediately sent via email to the recipient with a personalized message from you.

Many small businesses, particularly those that offer a service or specialty products, can benefit by having business gift certificates available to customers. Whether you choose paper or business gift cards, your customers will be able to give your services as gifts to their family members and friends. Gift certificates for business make good sense for a number of reasons.

1. You can gain new customers who are given custom gift certificates to your business.
2. Corporate gift certificates make great birthday and holiday presents.
3. Custom gift certificates allow recipients to choose the gift or service that they’d like.

Business gift cards and certificates are easy to use. In addition, depending on your business, people will assume that gift certificates are available. Restaurants, spas, specialty retail stores and other service locations can increase their business exposure and potentially customers by providing gift certificates and making it easy to buy and use them.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Choose between gift cards and paper gift certificates for business

Each option has pros and cons and which one is right for you will depend on your business and how you will use the business gift cards and certificates.

I recommend: Compare gift card options with B2B Exchange’s comparison tool. Data Management offers a gift card program that runs off your existing computer with no equipment or software to buy.

Decide whether to order gift certificates online or use blank gift certificates

Your corporate gift certificates will look more professional if your business information is already printed on the gift certificate and it's printed on quality paper. The appearance of the gift certificate will reflect back on your business so do it right.

I recommend: Office World has gift certificates that you can create and print yourself. Print E-Z also has a number of different gift certificate styles to fit your business. Spa and Bodyworks has gift certificates especially for spas and salons.

Keep track of custom gift certificates

You'll need some way of record keeping for your business gift certificates. Depending on the method you choose to create your certificates with, you can use carbon copies, record tabs or online tracking.

I recommend: Ticket Printing has gift certificates with record stubs to help you keep track of each certificate. Get a quote on gift card printing and services.

Sell online gift certificates

More people are shopping online today than every before. By offering gift certificate sales online, you can reach more of your existing and potential customers.

I recommend: The gift certificate program offered by eGiftworks gives you the option of selling gift certificates online through your existing website. Giftango provides electronic gift card delivery, making it easy for you to offer gift cards to your customers.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Make sure that you know the laws of your state in regards to gift cards and gift certificates for business. Some states have recently changed their laws, creating minimum expiration time frames and accountability for unused cards.

Business gift cards make a wonderful selling opportunity especially around the holidays. Customers like to stock up on them to use them as gifts, and in a pinch, they can keep on or two back for themselves if they feel like it.

Business gift certificates can serve many purposes. You can print them as sales items for customers. You can print them as recognition items for employees. Whatever the creative person behind the template comes up with is the only limitation to what will go on the paper. business gift certificates can be text only. They can be color, or black and white. They can have pictures or decorative trim. Use your imagination, and make the most of your branding on each one.

For more information on gift certificates types and styles:

1. Purchase business gift cards as giveaways both for your clients and as employee incentive items.

2. Have blank gift certificates professionally printed for you. Most heavy card stocks won't run through your printer, so leave the color, alignment and hassle of printing gift certificates to the professionals.

3. Consider printing your own gift certificates for business if you are on a budget.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Buy gift certificates for business that act as gift cards

A corporate gift certificate can act in a gift card capacity for a program. Many companies offer their corporate gift cards for redemption for products outside of their own company such as to other national retailers or restaurant chains.

I recommend: Buy the SuperCertificate from GiftCertificates.com, and your recipient can choose from over 200 retailers of their choice from whom the card can be from. Save 60% on your purchase when you order restaurant gift certificates from Restaurant.com. Check out the gift certificate program that has been featured both on Good Morning America and the Today Show.

Have your next corporate gift certificate order professionally printed

Leave your next corporate gift certificate print order to the professionals. Collaborate with them on the design, but let them print the certificates themselves on high quality card stock paper.

I recommend: Order custom printed gift certificates through VistaPrint. They come customizable with your company's name and logo. They are done with full-color printing on heavy card stock, and white envelopes included with your purchase. Design and have printed gift certificates through Certificate Wizard.

Design and print your own custom gift certificates

Find low cost or free templates to design and print your own custom gift certificates. Make sure when creating your own business gift certificates that you clearly state your terms and conditions as well as your expiration date.

I recommend: Download Microsoft Office gift certificate templates from Microsoft Office Online. Find free gift certificate templates from Giftango Corporation. You can use their template and easily add your business name, address, terms and conditions and even your logo.

If your business offers a fairly inexpensive service, or you own a retail store, you can definitely benefit from offering business gift certificates. If it doesn't fall into one of those categories, such as a real estate firm, you may be more interested in using a corporate gift card program to give employee morale a lift.

In some cases, business owners use both. They offer gift cards for their business to customers and gift cards to other businesses as employee incentives. Here are some steps to take before you launch your gift card initiative:

1. Think about whether offering paper custom gift certificates or plastic gift cards is feasible and cost effective.

2. Look into employee incentive programs that feature gift cards as rewards.

3. Learn how to effectively market either of these gift card programs.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Consider selling custom business gift cards

A good thing about having a gift certificate system in place is that it not only encourages current customers to come back, but it can also be a promotional tool to bring in new customers. Oftentimes, customers who are happy with your business will buy gift certificates to give to friends, especially if you offer a promotion.

I recommend: If you don't have your own high-end printer order preprinted paper gift certificates from a company like Smart Resolution. If your certificates look very amateurish, people might think the same of your business. Consider plastic gift cards, such as the ones from Plastic Printers. if your budget is a bit bigger. Note that you will need a cash register that can read the cards, unless you require customers to use them all at once -- like coupons.

Look into gift certificates for business incentive programs

It's a pretty good bet that, if you offer an employee an incentive gift certificate, he or she won't want to use it at the workplace. The employee is probably more interested in shopping, traveling or dining out elsewhere. Thus, if you want to really reward employees for increasing sales, generating leads and the like, consider purchasing gift cards from other businesses or joining a points-type incentive program.

I recommend: Check out PlasticJungle, a company that sells gift cards at a discount on their face value. Or, contact the business you'd like to buy from and ask if it reduces costs if you order in bulk. If you don't want to do the heavy lifting, hire a company like Perks. Then you can simply reward employees with points they can use to choose a corporate gift certificate from an online or paper catalog.

Learn how to market your gift certificate program

Another important point in gift certificates basics is knowing how to promote your gift certificate program. If you have it in place and no one uses it, you are out your time and money for no reason. The good thing is, once you get people excited about it, word of mouth will make your job a lot easier.

I recommend: Food and Beverage Underground has some good ideas on getting customers to buy gift cards, such as placing an ad at the bottom of each register check. If you're looking into starting an employee incentive program, read Winston J. Brill & Associates' article on the matter. It will give you some advice on seeing it through.