Any Time is a Great Time to Buy Promotional Products
Promotional products, sometimes called ad specialties, are perfect for promoting your company and thanking employees and customers year-round. Here are some great reasons to buy promotional products:

New Product Launches: Don't even think about introducing a new product or service without ordering promotional products. Magnets, Rolodex(TM) cards, self-adhesive notes and mouse pads are inexpensive ways to get the word out.

Customer Appreciation Events: Do you have an open house or customer appreciation luncheon in the works? Consider pens, desk accessories and gourmet food items to thank your best customers.

Employee Recognition: Whether you are recognizing an employee of the month or handing out awards for exemplary safety records or perfect attendance, your distributor can help you select the appropriate item. Plaques, crystal clocks and desk accessories are among the most popular for such occasions.

Company Outings: If you plan on holding a picnic or party for employees, you'll want to hand out party favors. Tote bags, beach balls, sunglasses, and sports equipment are perfect for summertime events.

Casual Fridays: Does your office have a casual dress code part of the week? Or, are you planning a trade show or employee retreat? If so, provide apparel with your company's logo on it. It could boost morale, add to the team atmosphere and help you present a uniform image at industry events. Denim shirts with embroidered logos, sweatshirts and golf shirts are favorites with employees.

Thank-you Gifts: During the holidays or the end of your fiscal year are appropriate times to thank good customers. Watches, food items, and apparel are always appreciated.

Tips for Ordering Promotional Products

• Have a budget per item in mind. For many products, a wide variety of items is available in different price ranges. For example, there is a huge difference between the price of a standard ball-point pen and the price of a deluxe fountain pen. By knowing in advance what you want to spend, you can expedite the ordering process.
  
  
• Plan ahead. A retiring employee doesn't want a gift the day after her party, and shirts ordered for a trade show will be useless after the event is over. Talk to your sales rep at least four months in advance about items for a special event or product launch.
  
  
• Proofread carefully. Promotional products are billboards for your company. How would a potential customer view your firm if your pens say "We Am to Please" instead of "We Aim to Please"?
  
  
• Remember to present a consistent image. If your company sells high-end automobiles, don't buy cheap pens to hand out to customers. Be consistent about the use of corporate logos and slogans. At the same time, realize that ink looks different on various substrates, and designs on clothing naturally look different than designs on paper. If you are a stickler for color matches, ask us for the best ways to accomplish this before you place an order.
  
  
• Voice special concerns. For example, if you want to buy only apparel that is made in the United States, say so early on in the product selection process.
  
  
• Be prepared to pay for part of the order up front.
  
  
• Ask for samples. Seeing an object up close can tell you a lot more about product quality than a picture in a catalog does.

Hot Promotional Products
So you know you need to order a promotional product for a special occasion, but you don't know what to order? Here are some of the most popular promotional products:

• Apparel
• Beverage Coolers
• Coffee Mugs/Cups
• Desk Accessories
• Flashlights
• Golf Items (balls, towels, club-head covers)
• Magnets
• Mouse Pads
• Sports Balls
• Stadium Cushions
• Sunglasses
• Tote Bags
• Umbrellas
• Utility Knives
• Watches

Make Your Company Stand Out with Promotional Wearables
Instead of giving away pens, self-adhesive pads and cups at trade shows, make a bigger splash with promotional wearables, such as shirts and hats. Wearables aren’t just something for your clients and prospects to wear around—they allow you to actively promote your business. It’s like having a billboard that’s flashing all the time.

Rely On Us For Your Wearables Needs
When choosing promotional wearables, do you consider the ages of the recipients and activities they'll be doing while wearing the clothing? Younger people often prefer tighter clothing, but such clothing might not be another person's idea of leisure wear. Baggy clothes can be dangerous around some machinery. Also, some unisex clothing fits men and women differently. Rely on us to help you select the right wearables for your needs.

Awards and Incentives Keep Employees Happy
Many employees say they want to be rewarded for a job well done with a salary raise. But often times, they’ve forgotten about that raise a week later, and they’re looking forward to the next raise. But employees never forget when they win an award. In fact, a Baylor University study found that employees like receiving awards and incentives, are motivated and work harder to win them, and encourage their coworkers to work to win them as well. Whether you’re looking for plaques, trophies, etched glass, emblematic jewelry, glassware or desk clocks to award your employees, we can provide the answer.

Promotional Wearables Can Improve Your Company’s Image
Do you want a cleaner, sharper image for your company, but don’t want to require that employees wear suits and ties? Promotional wearables are the answer. We can supply denim, golf and Polo shirts, and more sporting your company’s name and logo. Not only will promotional wearables improve your company’s image among customers and prospects, they can also boost employee morale and camaraderie.

Keep Your Company’s Name in Front of Clients and Prospects
It’s hard for companies to break the habit of calling their old suppliers rather than the new guy. You’ve got to keep something in front of them to say, ‘Remember us?’ Promotional office supplies and desk accessories are the answers for businesses like yours trying to achieve name recognition and build customer loyalty. With promotional office supplies and desk accessories, you’ll have your name in front of clients all the time. From pens to paper cubes to desk calendars to mouse pads to coffee mugs, the promotional possibilities for your company are seemingly endless.

Market Your Company with Promotional Products That Match Your Industry
Calculators are good promotional product choices for CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, but they generally won’t benefit athletic associations. Similarly, pens and paper cubes won’t necessarily set you apart from competitors or businesses in other industries. Let us help you put your best foot forward with promotional products that match your business and your specific needs.

Market Your Company with Promotional Products
Promotional products are a great way to keep your name in front of customers and prospects, but pens and paper cubes can sometimes get lost in the shuffle. How can you be sure your company’s name is seen? Try a creative approach. Send clients boomerangs featuring your company’s logo and touting, "Come Back to Us." Send prospects pizza cutters engraved with your company’s name, followed a few days latter by pizzas delivered at lunch. Hardly anyone’s going to refuse a pizza and it puts your company in the spotlight. Whatever your marketing needs, we can provide creative promotional product solutions.

Do you think of ad specialties as "trinkets and trash"? Let our products and services explode your expectations. From useful, personalized giveaways to effective incentive programs with valuable gifts, our creative new solutions can help you improve your image, increase productivity and boost your sales.

Improve Your Company's Image with Promotional Products
The worst thing that you can do is put your name on promotional products that will make your business look bad. For example, how would clients react if you gave them pens imprinted with your company's name…but the pens wouldn't write? Rely on us to supply your company with promotional products that will make your firm stand out in positive ways.

Market your ad specialties by including photos of them on your Web site. Don't overwhelm visitors by cramming all the photos onto one page. Instead, create an image of quality and specialized expertise by selecting a few lines of ad specialties and giving each its own page or Web site.

3 Reasons to Buy Promotional Products

1. They help people remember the advertiser's name. Schreiber & Associates, Peoria, Ill., found that 39 percent of the people receiving a promotional product could recall the name of the advertiser as long as six months after receiving a promotional item.
   
   
2. They boost direct mail response rates. Used in direct mail solicitations, promotional products can boost response rates by up to 75 percent, according to a study by Baylor University.
   
   
3. They help customers reorder faster than coupons. Customers receiving promotional products reordered up to 18 percent sooner than those who received coupons and up to 13 percent sooner than those who received no promotion, according to a study by Southern Methodist University.

Source: Promotional Products Association International

MARKETING TIP for PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS
[Include a picture of a trash can. The can could be overflowing with low-quality promotional products. Or it could be a picture of a businessman wearing a trashcan on his head. Or it could be a picture of a businessman standing in a giant mesh trash can. Whatever image you select, make sure it's compelling.]

Do you want something more than trinkets and trash?
[your company name] offers high-quality, cutting-edge promotions that bring results. We know that your promotional products represent your company's image. And the trash is the last place you want your image to be. Let [your company name] bring new ideas, new creativity, and new energy to your promotions. Tell us your goals. We'll help you reach them.

Thank Customers and Motivate Employees
with Promotional Products
Customers love when they're remembered. With the current state of the economy, many companies also are realizing the need to motivate and recognize employees. Show your appreciation for your clients and employees with promotional products. We can supply a variety of appropriate items, including executive desk sets, leather organizers, desk clocks, wine totes, leather photo albums, watches, business card holders, crystal paperweights, putter sets, luggage, edibles, crystal vases, wearables and more. Rely on us for your promotional products needs.