Use social media to help you pick the best gifts all year round.
Christmas, birthdays, and every other gift-giving holiday can become downright drudgery when you just can't think of the perfect gift for that special someone. Christmas is especially frustrating for some people. Even if you think you're giving great gifts, the person on the receiving end may not be entirely pleased with what they got.
The secret behind giving a great gift is to find something that the other person really wants without actually asking them directly what they want. How do you do this without being a mind-reader? Usually, it requires that you pay attention throughout the year and take notes. Either that, or you have to keep mental notes. Your only other alternative is to use technology.
I'm amazed at how much easier it is today to find good Christmas (and other holiday) gifts using two websites that virtually dominate most people's lives. Yes, I'm talking about Facebook and Twitter. Sure, there are other social websites out there, but these two seem to be the most popular (though there's no reason you can't do this with any social website).
Hop onto Facebook or Twitter and search for the people you want to buy gifts for. Do you know those little "like" buttons and links that litter Facebook? Those "likes" are a huge clue as to what your friends and family really like. People tend not to click those links unless they're serious. Sites like etsy.com even have a search feature that allows you to search their catalog of gifts based on what someone "likes" on Facebook.
Outside of that, look on a person's "info" page for what interests them. Comb through old wall posts to see if they've mentioned that new country music CD or that scary movie that just came out on DVD that they want but haven't gotten yet. Maybe your friend wanted that cute necklace she saw at Macy's or on QVC. Didn't she post about that last week? Let's find it. Look, she even posted the item number on her Facebook wall. You can even comb through their photo album to see what kinds of clothes they wear. Amazing. All the gift-giving info you need is right there in front of you.
The exact same thing can be done with Twitter. People's tweets are like a stream of consciousness, capturing whatever happens to be around them. Some of this stuff is useless, but some of these tweets are infinitely valuable. How many times have you read someone's tweets while they were on vacation? Have you ever read someone's tweet that went something like this:
I wish we could have gotten a picture of the sunset on our trip. I've heard it's so beautiful here, but we just missed it.
That's an idea for a gift. How much would it really cost you to contact a local bed and breakfast, or post something on Craigslist, and hire someone to take a picture of that sunset for your friend or family member and frame it for them?
...and those kinds of gifts probably carry far more meaning than 20 "stocking stuffer" junk gifts you can pick up at Walmart for under $5 each. This is the real secret to using Facebook and Twitter to save yourself some money when shopping for gifts. Instead of spending a lot of money on gifts that you're not sure the other person will like, why not just find out what that person likes and focus only on those gifts? That way, you don't end up with a lot of last minute gifts, gift cards, and miscellaneous stuff that you bought just to make sure that you got "enough" for the other person.
I think this happens more than most people are willing to admit. Instead of focusing on quality, some people focus on sheer volume. Have you ever done this? It's totally unnecessary and, sometimes, it's inappropriate. If your gifts are really sentimental, or meaningful, you can definitely trade quantity for quality and you'll become a master gift-giver without going broke in the process.
You might also like
_________________________This entry was posted on December 24th, 2011 by David C Lewis, RFC. Edits may have been made to keep this entry current. · No Comments · Budgeting & Money Management
No Comments so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.