My Top Gift Tips: Sarah Hollenbeck, Offers.com

Sarah is a big fan of experience gifts, such as a trip planned for her by a loved-one. Here are some of her other top gift tips she shared with us recently…

1. The best gift I ever received was…
“A new car. My old car was dying and I was putting more money into it than it was worth, but couldn’t afford to buy another one. My parents surprised me when I graduated college with a brand new car so I could get to and from work.”

2. The top gift on my wish list is…
“A trip or an experience. I love traveling even if it’s just a few hours away from home, and I think it’s really fun to see what someone close to you plans out and thinks you will enjoy.”


3. The best gift I have ever given was…
“One Christmas I gave my mother a framed picture of her dog in front of the Christmas tree. He had just passed away, so the picture meant a lot to her.”

4. The hardest person I have ever had to buy a gift for was/is…
“My father, because he wants to get the best deal on everything, so he buys what is on his wishlist himself to ensure he is getting the best price.”

5. The best last-minute gift is…
“A Groupon certificate for a massage or spa treatment!”

6. My hot gift buying tip is…
“Use a browser extension like the one from Offers.com to get the best coupons automatically applied to your cart at checkout- no coupon-hunting required!”



Sarah Hollenbeck is a Shopping and Savings Expert at Offers.com, a shopping and savings destination sourcing the best available coupons and deals for over 20,000 merchants everyday.

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Inspiring People: Winnie Mak Tselikas, One Dear World

There’s nothing like becoming a parent to make you re-think your purpose in life, and to consider the type of world you’d like your children to grown up in. This was true for Winnie Mak Tselikas, who founded One Dear World after the birth of her son. This is how Winnie started her business…

1. Tell us your story
I’m originally from Hong Kong with a traditional Chinese background. After moving to the UK in 2010, I married my half-French-half-Greek husband and gave birth to our 2 year-old son. After my maternity break, I started a business called One Dear World, ran a successful crowdfunding campaign and published my children’s book in November 2017. 

2. How did you identify the goal/s you wanted to achieve?
I took the time during my maternity break and thought deeply about what I wanted to do in life and what sort of world I want my son to be in. My parenting experience and the multicultural environmental in my family and in London inspired me to start this business, which produces multicultural dolls and storybooks that teach children diversity and inclusion from a young age.

One Dear World Rag Dolls


3. How did you work towards achieving your goal – did you have a plan and a deadline to achieve your goals? 
Without knowing if my idea would work, I broke down my plan into stages and started with the crowdfunding campaign. Then again I broke down the crowdfunding stage into small steps and tackled them one by one. And yes I did set goals with a timeline.

4. What was the biggest challenge you encountered along the way?
To better control the cost, I’m doing almost everything (PR, marketing, doll design, sourcing, writing the book, video editing, business development) by myself with support from my husband on the weekend while taking care of my son. So the biggest challenge was to prioritise the tasks and stay productive so I can accomplish as much as possible within the limited time when my son was in nursery.

One Dear World book


5. What inspires you and keeps you going when you encounter obstacles?
My husband encourages me a lot when I feel down and the thought of setting an example to my son keeps me going.

6. What advice do you have for anyone wanting to achieve a goal?
Make a plan and work on it everyday even the smallest possible task and celebrate your achievement. 



7. What are the next goals you hope to achieve?
I’m aiming to hit the Christmas gifting market with my dolls and book and to achieve my sales target by the end of this year, then make my dolls and book available to more toy and book stores. I would also like to publish another book next year.

Winnie Mak Tselikas is a mumpreneur with a 2 year-old son. Inspired by her multicultural family and London’s diversity, she founded One Dear World and created dolls and storybook that promote diversity and inclusion to young children. Learn more at www.onedearworld.com

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Summer Sale

Every year I try to pick a word that becomes my ‘theme word’ of the year. Last year it was ‘DARE’ and this year is it ‘SIMPLIFY’.

And ‘simplifying’ we are at Mr Gift this month. There are so many new products on our ‘wish list’ that we have to make some room. We’re clearing stacks of items at great prices – once they’re gone, they’re gone!

If you’ve got a few more birthday, wedding, anniversary, housewarming, and thank you gifts to buy this year we hope you can take advantage of these great ideas at great prices.

No discount code required for this sale – just lots of products at awesome prices!
 

PS: You can forward this email onto family and friends so they can enjoy these prices too.

Best Wishes,
Courtney and the Mr Gift Team
 


Gadget Gifts on sale

My Music Mini Speaker NOW $20 (was $24.95)

Fruit Clock

DIY Metal Detector

Weather Station

Grow Bags

Tweet Cone Bird Feeder

Leather Gardening Tool Belt

Burgon & Ball Tyre Plant Pot

Crumbz BBQ Apron

Brushtech Stemware Brush

Storage Box with Chalk Panel

Weights and Measures Mug

Boheme Leather Satchel

It's About Time Cufflinks

Bailey's Shoe Brush and Polish Kit

Boheme Leather Backpack

Beef Cuts Poster

Born to Golf Forced to Work wall plaque

DIY Wall Clock

Kobo Seeds Candle Siam Poppy

Troika Fresh Breeze Paperclip Holder

Labrador Leather Softcase

Made By Humans Eco Stapler

Troika Carbon Pen

Cognac Gift Set

Cantina Super Oxy Silver Funnel

The Triple Distilled Diagram Poster

Alife Design Washing Pouch

Cable Knit Heat Pillow

Kreafunk aMove Speaker

Wurkin Leather Passport Wallet

Best purchase under $100: The Cord Roll

Our Best Purchase under $100 series continues with a cool little travel companion, The Cord Roll, created by pilot, Shane Thompson. 

“I am a full time international long haul Pilot for QANTAS Airways here in Sydney… so I travel A LOT (!).

18 months ago I launched a brand dedicated to solving those small problems that we all face, particularly when travelling – that end up taking you away from ‘the moment’. 

With a passion for design that started as a child, my first product came from a very authentic place, after using my phone all around the world to listen to music and find my way. This first product is The Cord Roll. Made from full grain cow hide, it allows the user to keep their headphones and charging cables in the one spot, and UN-tangled.”

Learn more about The Cord Roll at www.afternoonswithalbert.com

Inspiring People: Damon Nailer, www.daril.org

Many people (myself included!) aspire to write a book. But how can you maximise the reach and impact your book has on your readers? If you are writing a non-fiction book, then creating an online course that complements your book could be a viable option. This is exactly what Damon Nailer did, and how he did it…

1. Tell us your story:
My name is Damon Nailer. I currently reside in Monroe, La where I serve as a consultant, educator, author, motivational speaker, and program/online course creator. On the personal side I am a devoted husband and proud father.

2. How did you identify the goal/s you wanted to achieve?
I had conducted research about creating various ways to earn income from your book besides books sales when I discovered the concept of converting your book into an online course. This idea truly resonated with me since I am an educator. Therefore, the goal was to create an online school by developing my book and newly released coaching program into two full-fledged online courses.

3. How did you work towards achieving your goal – did you have a plan and a deadline to achieve your goals? 
I devised a plan which was to convert 4-5 chapters a week which would give me about a month as a deadline to complete the course. 



4. What was the biggest challenge you encountered along the way?
My biggest challenges were carving out time to do the work as well as finding the most suitable platform to host my online course. I miraculously found time to complete the conversion and after research I discovered the best platform for the course. 

5. What inspires you and keeps you going when you encounter obstacles?
What inspires me the most when I face a challenge while pursuing any endeavor is looking forward to experiencing the exhilarating feeling of completing the task/attaining the goal after overcoming the obstacles.

6. What advice do you have for anyone wanting to achieve a goal?
1. Set realistic, tangible/measurable goals. 2. Make sure to create a timeline and set an overall deadline but be prepared to make adjustments in your time frame to accommodate unforeseen obstacles and circumstances that may arise. 3. Stay the course and remain focused until you reach the goal. 4. Have patience. Sometimes reaching the goal takes longer than you may anticipate. 5. Be flexible because you may have to alter your strategy or methods to obtain the goal.

7. What are the next goals you hope to achieve? 
My next goals are to create more courses for my online school and publish another book and inspirational eBook within the next 1-2 years. 

Damon Nailer is truly a “Renaissance Man” wearing the following hats: consultant, speaker, author, educator, and program/online course creator. Learn more about Damon at www.daril.org

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