Custom Promotional Products can be used for so many  different purposes and there are so many types of promotional products to do this with. As a matter of fact, think of just about any product you can and chances are we can offer that to you with your custom logo imprint. They are used by schools, businesses, organizations, charities, fundraisers, parties, and for retail purposes. They are one of the most effective forms of marketing as well as one of the least expensive ways to market your business. Promotional items and printing should be part of your monthly marketing budget. You should arm your employees with as much branded material as possible. Not only branded items to give to clients, but also for your employees to use. After all, the more your employees are exposed to branded items from your company, the more they will believe in the business and promote it to potential clients. The more your potential clients see with your logo, the more trustworthy your company will look to them.  And the bonus on top of it all is that promotional products are one of the easiest forms of marketing to track and effectively monitor the results.

Below are just 26 ideas, in no particular order, on how to use your promotional items.

1. Marketing for an event.
2. New product launch
3. General branding.
4. Christmas gifts.
5. Company anniversary celebrations.
6. New business opening.
7. Grand re-opening celebrations.
8. Corporate awards.
9. General marketing campaigns.
10. Facebook contest giveaways.
11. Free gifts with purchase.
12. In Store contest giveaways.
13. Employee incentives.
14. Follow up giveaway to a mailout.
15. Thank you gifts.
16. Birthday parties.
17. Marriage anniversary parties.
18. Retirement celebrations.
19. Corporate gifts.
20. Achievement awards.
21. Sports banquet gifts.
22. Celebrity autograph signings.
23. Office items used daily.
24. Marketing a new employee.
25. Promoting sales.

Our hope for you as we reach the start of a new year is that in 2011 you experienced more growth and positive results than 2010. However, it was overall a slower year for most companies due to many economic conditions and uncertain changes. The outlook for 2012 shows a year similar to 2011 or just slightly better. 

It is more important than ever to revise your business plan

and have a firm marketing plan in place for the new year!

  It’s easy for businesses to get lax and complacent with their marketing efforts during spikes in business. Then when it gets slow, most business owners hit the marketing very hard. This pattern continues to repeat itself lending ups and downs throughout the year in sales. The most effective way to keep a steadier sales pattern is to continue your marketing even when you are busy. This will help prevent those slow times. Now for many small businesses, the owner is the “marketing director”, the “customer service representative”, the “accountant”, and the many other hats required for the business. However, strictly following your marketing plan is a must to keep a steady cash flow.

Within your marketing plan, we suggest a good mix of promotional products, print ads, local sponsorships, social media, email newsletters, and online marketing. Some companies benefit from doing direct mail campaigns and others benefit from TV or radio commercials. In your marketing plan, be sure to specify 1) What task you are doing, 2) When that task should be done, 3) Who is responsible for doing the task, and 4) How much will that task cost. After your plan is finalized, print it and hang it on your wall right next to your computer monitor so you will see it everyday. 

Be sure you are tracking results of each marketing task so you will know whether or not to continue or discontinue that particular task. 

Revise your marketing plan as often as necessary.If you don’t have a marketing plan, be sure and create one now. If you don’t, you are leaving your business at risk for failure. Spread out your marketing efforts to reach your target audience with as many communication channels as possible. A good mix or promotional products, printing, social media, text message marketing, and good old fashion phone calls will make sure all communication means are used. Check out www.goimprint.com for additional ideas. And remember that with the right plan and the ambition to stay on plan, your business will be successful and grow in the new year!  We're here to support you in any way we can!  

We have learned many different marketing tactics and marketing styles along the way and have also observed many styles used by businesses all over the United States. Some are very successful marketing plans and they know that their marketing efforts are working, but the overwhelming majority have no idea which, if any, of their marketing efforts are working. These businesses are paying monthly fees for newspaper ads, radio advertisements, pay per click advertising, yellow page ads, and many other marketing strategies. Each form of the aforementioned advertisement options cost a significant amount of money. Some may be working and therefore worthwhile, but my guess would be that several of these options are just draining your bank account and not paying for themselves. 

Any type of marketing should be an investment and NOT an expense. 

With any investment comes risks; therefore, it is very important to track all forms of marketing and advertisements that your company partakes. Do you know how many sales your marketing tactics are bringing to your company? You should know every month that your $200 weekly newspaper ad is bringing in “X” amount of dollars. If that investment is paying off, then you continue it. If not, consider revising your ad content to something a little more eye catching. If after a set amount of time, that ad is not driving in at least enough business to pay for the ad, then nix it. The same goes with all of your other forms of marketing. Make sure you track the results so that you can continue and eventually increase the forms of marketing that work for your business. If you go with a random marketing campaign and you don’t track your results, you are setting yourself up for an empty bank account, because all forms of advertising don’t work for all businesses. So how do you track your marketing? If your business does any kind of volume, you can’t always just ask each person how they found you. One of the best methods is to create unique coupon codes for each of your marketing schemes. For example, if you have a newspaper ad, offer a $10 off coupon with ad and include a unique coupon code to be scanned or entered with your point of sale software. Most point of sale software these days are capable of accepting discount codes. Then at the end of the month, you simply run a report for all sales relating to that specific coupon code. You then compare your sales from that unique code versus the amount you spent for that marketing campaign and determine whether or not this investment is paying off. If not, consider tweeking it a bit or doing away with it altogether. Another option is to mention a free gift when you mention this advertisement and give away custom imprintedpromotional products to  that customer. The best way to track this is to treat the giveaway like a sale item with a $0 price tag so that it gets scanned into your system. Then just like the previous example, compare the amount of sales to the cost of your Free Gift campaign. For Yellow Page ads, use a different phone number that can be tracked. The yellow page ad for my company has a separate local number only used for that specific ad and phone book so I can track the amount of calls from that ad. I only pay $5 per month for that line but I know how much the ad is or isn’t used. There are a lot of debates now about whether or not print is dead in relation to Yellow Page directories, so this is a sure way to know if it’s working for your business. It may also be a way to judge whether or not you should advertise under a different category in order to be found easier by those looking up your services.It is important to mention that some of your marketing is done simply for branding purposes. Many of these marketing tactics won’t directly bring in business, but they keep your brand and your company at the top of consumers’ minds. An example would be sponsoring local middle school and high school sports teams. Your logo is printed on their sports programs or t-shirts and your money goes to support their team. While you often don’t see direct sales from this type of marketing, you do keep your company in the spotlight so when those exposed need your services, they will contact you first. Also, helping your local community with sponsorships is a great way to win the hearts of your own locals. Again, I ask you, “Are you measuring your marketing efforts?” If not, I highly encourage you to do so. Your marketing should be spread through several different channels to reach the majority of your buyers. This should include online and offline advertising. Make sure each one of your marketing tactics is trackable in some way so you can measure the results. Marketing for each business often starts out as trial and error and then modified for maximal success. In order to know how to modify your marketing strategies, tracking is a must. Don’t waste any more money, start tracking your marketing today! www.goimprint.com

What a great idea/design for a imprinted t-shirt!  This shirt not only advertises but also is a "Call to Action" causing people to think about the company and the fact that they have a facebook page that others like.   http://www.goimprint.com/store/product-categories/apparel-scrubs/anvil-heavy-cotton-t-shirt

The vast majority of people selling in the promotional products industry are not selling to their full potential. This article is meant not to criticize, but to inspire sales professionals to be authentic and inspect the strategic foundation to take their business to the next level. In a perfect world, a sales professional would be selling big orders on a high margin with great customers that are extremely loyal. This book of business would grow annually by 30-50% (regardless of the economy).

This is a great goal but for most it is completely unrealistic. In my opinion, very few professionals in the promotional products industry ever achieve this high-level of sales nirvana. The reason is simple; they have very little to no leverage within their business and take a reactive approach to managing their business.

Let’s look at 3 different points that all sales professionals should incorporate into their business:

1. Customer Leverage – If you are servicing a high diversity of clients with a broad subset of needs – you may still be writing business, but you’re creating very little leverage across your customers. To gain customer leverage, you must find an industry vertical where you can be the top in that space and be considered an expert in the field driving repeatable business that maximizes your domain expertise.

2. Selling Leverage – My skin crawls when I hear of a professional doing collections or calling on suppliers to check order status. As a sales professional you make the most money in front of customers, selling your products and services. Anytime spent on back office or administrative duties is negatively impacting your earnings. A simple formula to measure your selling leverage is identifying what your earnings/hour. Then go a step deeper and what you make per hour when you are selling. Start outsourcing everything lower than you get paid per hour.

“If you spend your time, worth $20-$25 per hour, doing something that someone else will do for $10 per hour, it’s simply a poor use of resources.” – Tim Ferriss, Author of The Four Hour Work Week.

3. Technology Leverage – In today’s economy the majority of professionals do not have any technology leverage.  By technology leverage, I am specifically speaking about technology that gives you the ability service 3X the number of buyers, market to 10X the number of prospects and build a business that is more sustainable with the technology-savvy buyer demographics. My fear for most industry professionals, they position themselves to lose relevancy if they don’t incorporate technology leverage into their business. (Need proof – see the travel agent industry).

“In this new wave of technology, you can’t do it all yourself, you have to form alliances.” – Carlos Slim Helu, Wealthiest man in the world in – 2010

So my formula to grow by 200% over the next 2 years:

A professional should be seeking leverage in three areas of their business. Only embracing 1 or 2 will leave money on the table.

Happy selling… let me know your thoughts on other solutions you have found to create leverage within your business.  www.goimprint.com

Promotional products are a cost-effective way to reach and to motivate key decision-makers.  First, they get in front of them.  Second, and perhaps most importantly, they remain in front of them. 

Perhaps the most significant reason for the popularity of promotional products is the frequency of exposure and reasonable cost per impression. 

 An article in the wall street journal stated that a coffee mug with an imprinted marketing message may be seen by the designated recipient as often as five times in a day?   Wow.  What about radio?  Or even newspaper?  

If an imprinted note pad has 100 sheets, you can expect a bare-bones minimum of 100 impressions. If each note is then passed to just one other person it doubles the exposure.  But the advertising and the impressions don't stop there.  They continue for as long as the item remains in use or in sight. 

Multiple impressions generate brand awareness, which is one of the keys to increased market share. And increased market share is one of the keys to success in any business.  

Let our Go Imprint team know if we can support you or advise you in anyway.  

Also, today we would like to recognize these particular promotional item markets to better serve you!  

New York City Promotional Products      

Los Angeles Promotional Products 

Chicago Promotional Products 

Houston Promotional Products 

Philadelphia Promotional Products 

Phoenix Promotional Products 

San Antonio Promotional Products 

San Diego Promotional Products 

New Market's Revealed- December 4, 2011

As we continue to grow and serve you better, we want you to be able to reach us easily.  So we’ve expanded our website to serve many local areas throughout the US.  Here are our local pages for you to check out and get in touch with our team a little easier.   Better customer service...here it comes!  

St Petersburg Promotional Products 

Tampa Promotional Products 

New Orleans Promotional Products 

Alexandria VA Promotional Products 

Chattanooga Promotional Products 

Buffalo NY Promotional Products 

Rochester NY Promotional Products 

Go Imprint Promotional Items

Jacksonville Promotional Products 

Ogden UT Promotional Products 

Holland MI Promotional Products 

Des Moines IA Promotional Products 

Manchester NH Promotional Products

www.goimprint.com

There are reasons why certain custom promotional products just simply sell better than others. The reason is due to the fact that they work. The products that are ordered continually by companies looking to market their company or brand have been tested over and over, and proven great results have been seen. Customers respond better to some items than they do to others; therefore they are
likely to remember your company name, and at the end of the day they will do business with you. 

There are thousands of promo items out there and instead of experimenting with products, it may be a smart move to start with the proven promotional items where there is a really high probability that you will see great results. Let's take a look at the top 5 best selling promotional items on the market now.

1. Custom Water Bottle 
The custom water bottles are by far the best selling promotional item on the market today. There are several reasons why, but we can start by saying that the water bottle is so successful because it has a basic functional value. Humans need to drink water, and water bottles hold water. This simple equation equals the fact that people are definitely going to have some use for a custom water container.

Another great quality about the water bottle is its versatility. While some promotional products can only be used for certain occasions and in specific industries, this item is perfect for promoting any company, political cause, or awareness event. Not to mention, the custom water bottles have an excellent area for an imprinted logo to appear.

2. Nylon Sports Pack 
This simple drawstring backpack can go a long way towards getting the word out about your brand. Once again this promotional item serves a basic function for the recipient: to carry their personal belongings. The promotional drawstring backpacks are lightweight, yet they will hold a heavy load. The shoulder straps of the bag also act as the open/close mechanism, a good example of why simple is better. The nylon sports pack also comes in a variety of colors which will make it more enjoyable for the owner, as well as more likely to attract attention towards your company logo in the center.

3. Seattle B Ballpoint Pen 
Moving on to one of the most popular writing utensils being used today, the Seattle B ballpoint pen has plenty to offer. There are literally hundreds of promotional pens on the market, so it all depends on what you are willing to spend. The great thing about this pen is that you get a great value for an affordable price.

Simple yet effective, the barrel of the pen is vibrant and solid-colored and the clip and plunger are white. This seems to be a good contrasting color combination that people respond well to. A solid color won't divert any attention from your logo across the barrel, and there are plenty of colors to choose from. People also like a pen with no cap, and the click action here takes care of that request. The great thing about pens is that they are used everywhere, and sometimes traded around. So one of your potential clients may end up with this pen in their hand and you never even expected it.

4. Custom Awareness Bracelets 
At this point, everyone is familiar with custom awareness bracelets. Made famous by Lance Armstrong to promote the fight against cancer, these bracelets are now commonly seen on wrists around the country to represent literally any cause that you desire. The silicone bracelets are obviously very effective for promoting an awareness event, but you can use them for the advertising campaign of your business as well.

The cool thing about these custom awareness bracelets is that the public has already warmed up to the idea of them, so you aren't introducing anything new here. All you have to do is have the message that you want debossed into the body of the bracelet and then distribute them wherever you wish. They come in any color that you can think of, which can either be used to represent the official ribbon color of your awareness event or simply to generate visual appeal.

5. Plastic Sunglasses 
For the last of our top five promotional products, consider these plastic sunglasses. This is an item that perfectly blends the concepts of function and style - recipients can protect their eyes from the sun and look good doing it. The sunglasses have tinted lenses so that they will be really effective when the sun is super strong. You will find that the best places to distribute these sunglasses are at outdoor venues like concerts, picnics, or the beach. Anywhere that the recipient will be able to wear them right away is perfectly acceptable.

While people may continue to wear these sunglasses after the event, this is the type of product that you want to generate attention with instantly. So, areas where large crowds are present are the best. This way, people can come up to the recipient and say, "Hey, cool sunglasses" and then check out your imprinted logo on the stick.

By incorporating these top five promotional items into your next marketing operation, you can feel confident that people will focus on your company in a positive way. Once you get this down, you can begin to test out some other promotional products that are more specific to the type of industry that you are in.   Check out: http://www.goimprint.com/ or http://www.goimprint.com/store for additional ideas.