“Hi! Um, my name is Sam and I’m just calling to see if you’re interested in [click]” Ugh! Cold calling is the worst, right? It’s an unfortunate part of business, though, one that everyone must do at some point in their careers — especially if they are trying to sell promotional products to new customers. How else do you reach people beyond the ones you already know?
February 27, 2018
If Cold Calls Make You Shiver, Tips to Take Away the Chill
Submitted by Kelly Glass
February 20, 2018
How Promo Products Companies are Winning the Winter Olympics
Submitted by Kelly Glass
The 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games may be wrapping up over the next week, but for some promotional products companies, the benefits will be felt for months. This season’s competition, as is common with the games, has led to a boost in Olympics-branded merchandise sales.
February 13, 2018
Embracing Embroidery Trends of 2018
Submitted by Kelly Glass
In January, Laura Gomez — a content specialist with Ricoma Embroidery Machines — called out a few embroidery trends she saw in 2017 that she expects to last throughout this year: embroidery on denim, embroidered baseball caps and Instagram-ready embroidered sun hats for women.
February 6, 2018
Get Familiar with 2018’s Marketing Design Trends
Submitted by Kelly Glass
Every year, billions of customers search Shutterstock’s database of 170 million images, videos and music, often hunting for something to be used in the film, media and advertising industries. When those searches get analyzed—say by a team of data scientists, content reviewers, and creative professionals — we’re left with a wealth of data showing what designs are trending and exploring what we’ll get used to seeing in the marketing design world throughout the following year.
January 30, 2018
5 Dos and Don’ts of Branding for Small Businesses
Submitted by Kelly Glass
Branding: it’s not just for high-profile businesses. The definition of branding is “the marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products.” As a small business, you can have great products, services and employees but still struggle. The problem could be that your brand isn’t buttoned up. Here are a few dos and don’ts for mastering the art of branding.
January 23, 2018
Resolve to Improve Your Marketing in 2018
Submitted by Kelly Glass
It is important for business owners to stay current on the latest marketing trends, but that can be difficult if you are wearing many hats. It is especially hard when you realize that marketing is constantly changing and what worked at one time for your company might not be very effective today. Plus, there are always new tools and tactics to learn that could set you apart from the competition.
January 16, 2018
The Basics of Typography for Logo Design
Submitted by Kelly Glass
Typography is more than the font options in the drop-down menu of a Word document or the Adobe Creative Suite. There is far more complexity to each font that it is important to know before you make selections for your small business or your customers. Typefaces have personality and can evoke emotion and even inspire potential customers.
January 9, 2018
5 Tips to Delivering Winning Sales Pitches
Submitted by Kelly Glass
The stage is set. You’ve greeted them with a handshake and exchanged pleasantries. Now it’s “show time”. You must win over your potential customers. As you begin, the last thing you want to do is flub your lines. And winging performances works for virtually no one.
January 2, 2018
Ringing in the New Year with the Promotional Product Trends of 2018
Submitted by Kelly Glass
2017 is a wrap! Now it’s time to focus on propelling your business and your clients’ companies forward into 2018. To succeed, it’s important to thoroughly evaluate the marketing landscape. You should take the time to ask, what are the top trends in promotional product marketing going to be in the new year?
December 19, 2017
Gifts That Make Clients Grateful
Submitted by Kelly Glass
‘Tis the season for gift giving! As the holidays wind down and shopping lists shorten, your customers may get stumped on what to get their clients. Advise them to never pass up the opportunity to say thank you to existing clients or even to gift competitors’ customers — more than half of companies do this!