Lately, I have been discussing a few ways that we can support people who work from home with our holiday gift purchases this year. Now, let’s look at some of the things that work-at-home professionals have on their holiday wish lists this year.
Gifts that get them out. Whether it’s a gift certificate for a romantic dinner for a work at home friend and their spouse, concert tickets, a gift certificate to his or her favorite lunch spot, movie tickets, theater tickets, or a gift card to a local coffee shop, work-at-home professionals love to go out. This is probably an obvious suggestion, because even if you do not work at home and even if you live in a nice home that you enjoy spending time in, after a certain period of time you probably feel a need to leave the house, even if only for a little while. If you would like to give the super-deluxe version of this gift, just add a card with some cash for a babysitter or a note that says that you will watch the kids while the recipient goes out to use the gift certificate.
Some work-at-home professionals do not have business cards either because it is not in their budget or because they think that they do not need them. The truth is, business cards are not only affordable; they are a great way to spread the word about your products or services. If the work-at-home professional on your holiday shopping list does not yet have business cards, you can order some for them or give them a gift certificate to get some made. Do not forget to include a nice case for them to carry their cards in. I gave business cards as a gift a couple of years ago, not for a home-based professional, but for my brother in law, who was in law school at the time. Both the business cards that I made for him and the personalized silver business card case from Things Remembered were a big hit.
A third gift idea for a home-based professional is to give them something for their home office. This works especially well if you know them very well and have seen their home office. Do they spend hours sitting in a rickety old chair with no back support? Get them a supportive, comfortable office chair. Do they use a paper planner that will need a refill for the upcoming calendar year? You can get them a refill. If you know where they shop for office supplies, a gift certificate to that store would be much appreciated. Take a look around their home office and you will likely come up with just the right gift idea.