By Joyce M. Rosenberg
The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Although the holiday season might seem remote at this point, savvy small-business owners are already thinking about gifts and other ways to thank their customers and suppliers.

Many don't plan to wait until December, and don't plan to send coffee mugs, pens or greeting cards.

Margie Fisher says she sends her gifts out right before Thanksgiving so they don't end up in a pile of packages delivered at the height of the season.

"My things stand out," said Fisher, who runs a public relations firm under her name in Boca Raton, Fla. "It works very well for me. They seem to appreciate it."

Fisher also looks for unique and interesting gifts, sometimes using products or services sold by one of her clients - beauty items from a spa service, for example.

Other company owners agree that sending holiday gifts early - and choosing gifts creatively - goes a long way toward cementing good business relations. And businesses shouldn't look on gifts as just some trinket; they should be looked at as a marketing tool.

"It's very important when the company thinks about what the gift is to be strategically and is thoughtful about it," said Samantha Ettus, president of Ettus Media Management, a public relations and branding consulting firm in New York.

A gift should help remind customers what a company's products and services are about, Ettus said. She advises clients to keep in mind that their competitors are also trying to be unique in gift-giving.

Ettus recalled a client, a restructuring firm, that gave as a gift a set of wooden blocks that recalled the company's mission to rebuild struggling businesses. Recipients kept the blocks on their desks, making them a constant reminder of the giver.

Traditional gifts such as a jar of chocolate kisses aren't necessarily wrong; they just might not be effective in marketing, she said.

Companies like insurance firms might be at a loss for how to market themselves through a gift. Ettus suggested an insurer could give customers a lock as a reminder of security. And if the insurer really does want to give chocolates, give them in a lock-shaped box, she said.

A growing number of companies try to tailor gifts to individual clients as a way of solidifying a more personal relationship. But this can be time-consuming, so start now.