So say somebody gives you a roll of duct tape, and when your face wrinkles up in confusion they say: “Hey, it’s the thought that counts.” Is that going to be compelling to you?
Unless this hypothetical gift giver bought you something else, and the duct tape was a joke, such a gift is likely going to be something which not only doesn’t make you feel good, it’s a bit annoying—even if you need the tape.
A gift needs to be worth something. It can’t be just a placeholder–or worse, a chore. Nobody likes gifts that represent an assignment they won’t be interested in undertaking. Give somebody with a fear of clowns tickets to the circus, and they may not be as thankful as you’d expect.
Certainly, the thought counts—but when it comes to solid gift giving, there’s a little more to it than that. In this writing, we’re going to explore three ways you can be a better gift giver to those in your life who are most important to you.
Give Gifts Based On What The Recipient Actually Likes
What if you’ve got someone who loves whiskey, even though it’s bad for them. However, this happens to be the only thing they like—what do you do?
Well, you could buy them a bottle of their favorite whiskey. Alternatively, you might give them a box of candies infused with varying whiskies. Maybe you get them a whiskey tasting package with multiple shots. Perhaps you buy some sauces which have a whiskey element to them.
There are ways of giving someone what they want without doing so directly, and yet still providing something satisfactory. The thing is, just because what someone wants isn’t necessarily “good” for them doesn’t mean you should buy for health alone.
If they like whiskey, give them whiskey; not some wrapped box of La Croix (unless the sparkling water is for mixing with whiskey, of course.) You don’t have to give them a massive quantity.
Jazz It Up In Terms Of Wrapping
Today’s decentralized marketplace vis-a-vis Amazon and eBay have made it so that unique gifts are more tangible than ever. One way of making a gift unique and memorable is to order some sort of unique packaging design. We mentioned whiskey earlier—are you familiar with the royal purple drawstring pouch of Crown Royal?
Well, as it turns out, you have the ability to design custom drawstring pouches and have them ordered to your location. From there, you can use them to wrap whatever you’re giving.
Especially if you customize the pouch to match particular idiosyncrasies of the recipient, that can be memorable. Also, the pouch can be put to secondary use. Plus, it acts as wrapping if you’d like–though with some gifts, the shape-conforming nature of the pouch might give it away
Shotgun Giving: Many Small Gifts Instead Of A Big One
With a shotgun, there are a hundred little BBs inside one of the cartridges fired by the weapon. The idea is to send basically a cloud of destruction wherever the gunman has aimed. This increases the likelihood of scoring a hit and is one of many reasons shotguns are so popular when hunting airborne games like geese or pheasants.
Meanwhile, a sniper rifle has one bullet designed for one target. The sniper courts precision, the shotgun-wielding gunman goes for a more generalized approach. In terms of gift giving, you might take the shotgun approach over the sniper.
Instead of getting one specific gift that’s going to be precisely what the person to whom you’re giving wants, maybe buy ten or fifteen little gifts that you know they’ll like.
It’ll cost around the same money, and you may find some bauble or trinket ends up being more entertaining to the person to whom you’re giving than a big thoughtful gift would have been. With more gifts, you’re more likely to hit the target. That said if you’ve got the gift marksmanship skills to “snipe” that perfect gift, do it!
Giving Gifts That Truly Demonstrate How Much You Care
Consider the “shotgun” approach to giving, jazz up whatever you give with unique wrapping like a custom drawstring pouch, and assure whatever you do, your gifts directly match the actual wants or needs of the recipient. When gift-giving has these qualities, your loved ones are a lot more likely to cherish whatever you give them.
