Time to Move In business you have to be moving forward, if you are not then you are falling behind.  So your marketing strategy has to be constantly evolving and moving ahead so that your name is out there and recognizable to a lot of people.  That said, one of the easiest and cheapest methods of getting the word out is to use promotional products. You Don’t Have To Spend a Lot The great thing about promotional product giveaways is that they can cost as little or as many dollars as you have in your marketing budget.  There are thousands to choose from so there is great flexibility: Different items can be targeted for different customers There are large items which show your name in …

Ideally, marketers would just be able to sell the virtues of the product we represent, the products would fly off the shelves, the client would get “puff” interviews on CNN, and we’d win awards and kudos from the trade association for our creativity. But it doesn’t always work that way. There may be a product that is no better, but more popular than yours. You may develop a personal distaste for your competitor, or wonder why consumers can’t see that your product is light years better. Maybe we should spell it out for them. Thus, the urge to “go negative.” In politics, this is expected. If you can get voters to loathe your opponent, they’ll vote for you. It’s an either-or kind of marketing decision. …

Check Out Your Options While considering your choices for marketing your company you have to bring every option into consideration.  Of course you want something that will make a statement, be easy to accomplish and catch your customer’s eyes.  One of the best ideas to consider are promotional products, they are a very popular way of spreading the word about your business. So What to Choose? You do have a wide array of options when you begin to research promotional items, but there is a new one on the scene that is very popular, it is a promotional tumbler with a straw.  These became very popular when the coffee houses started using them for their iced drinks.  Now everyone is walking around with their own …

The game is on, and the family is gathering around the TV set, but increasingly they’re bringing something else with them, be it a smartphone, or a laptop or a tablet. They’re watching this while they’re watching that. An infographic describes this new phenomenon as the Rise of the Second Screen, when TV went social. If millions of people are watching the game on TV, and millions more are commenting on it on Twitter or Facebook, from a marketing perspective, your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to find a way into that conversation. Infographic Credit: Visual.ly For example, let’s say we were in the pizza business. We could have an ad on TV that contained a call to action for some fantastic …

Social is one of the most overused words in the language, and it probably means different things to different people. We tend to use it in many different contexts too. Social Security doesn’t refer to our ability to get a date, it’s a pension program. Social studies is a course that teaches “civics”–the Constitution, the government–one could be a total hermit and still ace social studies. Then there’s the “social media,” which consists largely of typing words in a box and sending them to people we may not even know, or who may not be using their real names. It’s OK, we still consider that social. Let’s break down the stages of social. Recognition. They’ve come to your Website, that’s a big step. Interaction. They …

Trade shows can be profitable, educational and entertaining, but trade show survival is vastly different than your routine around the office. Here are some tips to make the trade show experience valuable and pain-free as possible. Prepare as much as you can before you leave for the show. Have your talking points and schedule laid out for you to reduce hassles. Prepare the one “engaging” question for your booth attendees. “Are you enjoying the show?” is OK, but trite. “Have you seen our latest promotion?” is better. Leave your new shoes at home. Ah, but you bought new shoes for the show. Leave them. Most large trade shows are housed in convention centers or other airplane hangers where you can expect to be walking on …

Which Do You Prefer? Finding a way to put some muscle in your marketing plan can be as simple as using a proven techniques, promotional product handouts.  This is an easy method to spread the word about your company: Make everyone happy with a free gift It’s a no brainer because you want to make your business name more visible They are generally cheap for your budget The plan is easy to implement Put the Press on Stress One of the more popular items and an easy one to give out in all circumstances is the promotional stress toy.  People all over love this one so you will get plenty of smiles when you give it away.  Everyone needs something to do with their hands …

Need a New Marketing Idea? Your business can never go wrong with handing out promotional products because everybody loves to get a gift and that is basically what you are doing.  If your company has used promotional products before and didn’t see an impact then you might have chosen the wrong one. What’s For Lunch? In these tight economic times carrying a lunch bag is not just for kids anymore but adults are going to need something a little sharper than a Star Wars lunch bag!  You need to take a look at all the promotional lunch bags available out there and see if it is something that will make an impact on your customers. Pick a Good One! This is a product where you …

Business people have such wildly differing views of what their attendance at the trade show is meant to accomplish that it’s useful to take a fresh look at what attendees can hope to accomplish and how to achieve it. If you were to make a checklist of the goals of the trade show, it might look like this. 1)  Face-to-face meetings with companies we’re doing business with to get signed deals, or deals that can be finalized and signed shortly after the show. 2) Find out what the competition is up to by talking to your customers or to the competition itself. Don’t make this look like an inquisition, competitors are always talking and can gain valuable information from each other, as long as you …

What to Do? You may be wondering how to best promote your business or services.  The most popular way to do some promotion is to give away promotional products.  If you have not used this method before you are going to be extremely pleased with the results. Really? Promotional products are free items you give away to your clients and prospective clients.  Then they have this item on their desk, on their person, in their car or somewhere and they are always seeing your company name.  This works a couple of ways, they are happy to have a free gift that is useful and they are reminded of your company and how generous you are. Make a Choice Here’s the issue though, there are thousands …