Corporate Gifts - A Few Ideas

Corporate gifts are a great way to express gratitude for an employee’s excellent service or a client’s loyal relationship. These kinds of relationships are essential to your business. Taking the time to show a little gratitude for everyone’s contribution and they’re likely to stick around for years to come. Business gifts can be big or small, given to an individual or a group. Whatever you decide, a little thoughtfulness will insure that your gifts will be not only well received, but well remembered. Here’s a few corporate gift ideas:

Gift baskets are great, classic business gifts. They never go out of style. This is a good idea whether you know what they like or don’t. It could be for a singular person or a whole team. There are the traditional fruit, coffee and tea available. Of course gift baskets can be highly personalized too.

Charity contribution to their favorite charity in their name. This is a surefire way to give a thoughtful gift that keeps on giving. Charity contributions show awareness compassion and a willingness to take responsibility for what’s going on around you .

Eco-friendly gifts are becoming increasingly popular. They’re not just a fad anymore. They are responsible gifts. Giving a green gift doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, just about anything one can think to give, can be done in this fashion. There are organic gift baskets, electronic gift cards, and bamboo golf shirts. Even the good old fashioned thank you card comes in many environmentally friendly options.

Gift cards are another great corporate gift idea. Ask any employee and they’ll tell you that something as simple as a gift card to Wal-Mart, Target or the local grocery store is a wonderful idea. It may seem impersonal but it’s one way to guarantee your staff gets exactly what they want or need. If you have a corporate account, you may be able to receive a discount for buying in bulk.

If you would still rather buy a gift, many popular retailers offer corporate gifts as well. Special selections may be available as opposed to gifting from that retailers regular selection. Again, you can receive the corporate discount and insure that the recipient will appreciate the uniqueness.

Last but not least, there’s the option of gifting cash. Many consider this to be the easiest corporate gift idea of all. Most employees will tell you it’s the best, and look forward to a bonus at year-end. Cash can also be given in the form of a gift card. MasterCard, American Express and Visa as well as some national banks offer these as an alternative to cash.

Whether the recipient is a client or an employee, they are essential to your success. No matter how big or small their role is to your bottom line, their contribution needs to be recognized. You can either respect what they bring to the table now or risk losing them to your competition just when you need them most.

Can You Recognize the Symptoms of Gluten Intolerance

Gluten intolerance, otherwise known as Celiac Disease, is an auto-immune disease.  This is where you body treats what should be a harmless substance, as a dangerous threat. In this case, that substance would be gluten. This reaction causes damage to the small intestine. This in turn, causes your body to lose the ability to absorb nutrients.

What exactly are the symptoms of gluten intolerance?

The most obvious and tell-tale signs are:

Bloating
Diarrhea that comes and goes
Abdominal pain

Most often the signs are less obvious like:
 
Anemia
Weight loss
Muscle cramps
Depression
Fractures
Foul smelling stool
Tingling and numbness
Skin rash
Fatigue
Joint Pain
Poor growth (in children)

Symptoms of gluten intolerance can range from mild to severe to non-existent. In fact, when it comes to recognizing Celiac Disease, there are no typical signs. Much of the above can easily be attributed to other conditions. Gluten intolerance itself has also been known to cause or contribute to several conditions such as:

Osteoporosis
Kidney Stones
Lactose intolerance
Lymphoma
Miscarriage or birth defects
Seizures
Malnutrition
Infections

Gluten Intolerance seems to occur more frequently in people with other auto immune issues like:

Type 1 diabetes
Thyroid disease
Liver disease
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Lupus

The only way to know for sure if what your experiencing is gluten related, is to get tested. Currently, there are two tests available. First, is the antibody test. This is a blood test in which the doctor looks for both the presence and level of certain antibodies. High levels indicate that the body perceives itself to be under attack. What this test won’t tell you is what your body is trying to fight off. Then, there’s a biopsy.  In this procedure, samples of the small intestine can be examined for signs of gluten intolerance. This would be the most accurate option. Biopsies are critical in cases where you have symptoms that can be attributed to other conditions. They are even  more important if you are someone who suspects an intolerance yet hasn’t any serious issues like those stated above. Again, The only way to know for sure is to get tested.