Classy Pencil Set

One of our higher education clients bought a large order of this pencil set. Until the order came across, I didn't even realized we carried this set, but with a closer look, I realized that this is a very slick and classy promotion.

The Black Beauty Pencil Set is 12 colored pencils with dark handsome blackwood barrels, an eraser, and a sharpener all in a compact travel case. Of course, it comes with a one color pad print for your message.

Trying To Eat Less Sugar

I have an addiction to sugary snacks. I like theater candy, candy bars, hard bulk candy, all kinds of sugary deserts and so on. I decided it was getting out of hand, and I made a resolution to not eat sugary snacks or desserts with white sugar between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I determined that it would still be alright to have honey, sugar on my cereal, jams, dried fruit and that kind of stuff. I haven't been perfect at it. I've had some marshmallows since I started, some dried, candied mangoes (which is really pushing my definition) and two small pieces of hard candy. Nevertheless, I've seriously cut back and I haven't had a serving of desert for more than a week. Here's to hoping I can keep it up.

Ogilvy On Advertising

David Ogilvy begins his book Ogilvy On Advertising:

I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form but as a medium of information. When I write and advertisement, I don't want you to tell me that you find it 'creative.' I want you to go out and buy the product. When Aeschines spoke, they said, 'How well he speaks.' But when Demosthenes spoke, they said, 'Let us march against Philip.'

The purpose of advertising is to sell. It can amuse, delight, alert, wow or otherwise entertain a person, but if it isn't designed to sell and if it is not successful at doing so, it is not doing it's job.

I just discovered this book by David Ogilvy, and I'm definitely going to read it. I will publish a more extensive post on it (or more) on the website when I do.

American Promotions has done multiple jobs for Ogilvy and I'm enthusiastic to learn more about this fascinating and legendary adman.

Plastic cutting board is inexpensive way to promote

Two months ago, we did a 1000 piece order for this plastic cutting board. It is an inexpensive way to promote all types of businesses. For less than three dollars, you can give someone something of value that they will use frequently.

A promotion like this is a natural for a celebrity chef, a food products company, a kitchen cabinet shop, or as a gift with sale at a kitchenwares shop. However, I can see how this could be used very creatively as well at a community barbecue, by government entities or at a county fair. It is a very unique and affordable promotion, and more unique than your standard promotional fare.

We also have another promotional cutting board, which has more of a billboard quality as the entire billboard can be imprinted with a full color image. It is a fully flexible Dice and Slice TM plastic cutting board which can be rolled into a tube. I like it because it has great messaging potential.

Here is an inexpensive promotion ideal for a veterinarians, pet stores and grooming businesses. It is a dog bone shaped promotional magnet. The classic promotional items still can work great to keep your name in front of your customer. And the little secret is they are often still the most economical.

Jackets by North End and Ash City

The North End line by Ash City is one of our better selling outerwear brands at American Promotions. We sell lots of jackets and vests by this Canadian outerwear manufacturer. We seem to sell more of the womens styles than we do the mens. I encourage our readers to give them a look. Check out Ash City's nice website.

We offer a lot of these Ash City jackets and vests here.

The Office is Deteriorating

My wife and I enjoy the show The Office. Both of us studied English in college and my senior colloqium course was on American humorists. In my opinion, The Office is one of the great examples of American humor. The Office is actually based on a British sitcom of the same name, but this is a thoroughly Americanized version with its own characters and plot lines.

The show constantly riffs on the tensions, diversions and political correctness of the modern workplace.

We actually are not television watchers, so we usually rent it on DVD or more recently we watch it on Hulu (which I highly recommend for watching TV) We missed a good portion of the season 5 episodes, and I haven't taken the time to see if they are available on rental yet. I don't need to own them.

We watched episodes 2-4 last Friday night of Season 6, and I think the humor has become even more unnecessarily sexualized (it has always had a lot of wink, wink humor in it and a fair dose of sexual situations and relationships), but for the most part, it is done in at a PG - PG-13 level

Anyway, I still enjoy the show, but with more reservations than before, and I'm disappointed that it went up a notch in that type of content.

The Office has an entire swag culture surrounding it with all kinds of t-shirt websites and single piece imprinters like Cafe Press purveying apparel and aprons and stuff riffing on the jokes and one liners and the company name Dunder Mifflin. Naturally, NBC has its own promotional items and kitsch shop with promotional items based on The Office

Interviewing My Son

I had a memorable and important experience last Sunday night. I took the evening off from the computer, and I took the time to play two games of chess with my 10-year-old son and just ask him all types of questions about his life, what he is reading and thinking about, about his schooling and about his spirituality.

I frequently take the time to spend time with my children. I have six of them, and we have a Family Home Evening every Monday night, and a Family Council most Sundays. We also try to do a couple of family activities every month. This is in addition to our help with their schooling and so forth.

For awhile, I was also lunching with one of my children each Friday, but I have not done that for a couple of months and I need to get back to it.

However, last Sunday evening was a little different, because I actually approached it from the standpoint of having a one on one interview with my son, and seeking to understand his place spiritually and the things he like, the things he wants to accomplish and the spiritual condition of his heart and mind. It was a chance to really seek to know him. I have friends who do this over lunch or dinner with their kids.

My friend, Damian Idiart authored this article about the importance of periodic interviews with your children.

I highly recommend this practice as a way to strengthen family relationships and to combat the morally debilitating social forces which attack our children.

Custom Sandals and Flip Flops

Custom sandals and flip flops are now available at American Promotions. We offer a wide variety of customization options for this unique and creative promotional product. You can customize the colors of the straps, the fabric (where applicable), the footbed, the foam. Another awesome option is the ability to have a logo foot print, which leaves an impression in the sand in the shape of your text or logo.

If your club, business or organization is having a beach party or a reward vacation or cruise this year, custom sandals and flip flops will bring out the sun and the fun.

A Sweatshirt Blanket in Tie Dye

Sweatshirt blankets are among my favorite promotional items. They remind people of football games, picnics and their favorite school or college. I don't know anyone who doesn't love wearing a Saturday sweatshirt. And a sweatshirt blanket conveys that feel in a nonwearable. They are attractive to give as they can be rolled up nicely and trimmed with a custom hang tag.

One of American Promotions' suppliers has created more sweatshirt blanket options than any other supplier out there. MV Sport has created two separate sizes of blanket. The first is the most popular and is a large heavyweight sweatshirt blanket measuring 54" x 84". The second is a considered a throw (although it is about the size of most comparable fleece blankets). It measures 40" x 52". It is perfect as a baby gift or when you want to give away a nice promo blanket and save about 30%.

MV Sport has created sweatshirt blankets in most collegiate colors. They also have a line of "fashion" pattern sweatshirt blankets which include this awesome one in tie dye - very unique cool.

Another thing I really like about sweatshirt blankets is that they actually lend themselves more to screen printing rather than embroidery, and are more attractive with a large 1 or 2 color screen print than with a small embroidered logo.

American Promotions carries the full line of MV Sport sweatshirt blankets. Check them out here. The tie dye one is sold here.

Bamboo Photo Frame

I think this bamboo photo frame would make a nice eco-sensible holiday gift. Consider it for your promotional gift giving.

A Few Thoughts on the Economy

*This post was written on more than a year ago on 9/12/08, but was left in my drafts, because I wanted to do a more in depth treatment of the subject. I decided to publish it as I was cleaning out my blog drafts, because I realize that much of what I said at the time has proved to be increasingly relevant and true. I did not alter the original draft except the final paragraph where I suggest a blog to follow.

Begin post of 9/12/08

My mind has been on the economy a lot lately. It is not news to anyone that the national and even global economy is not healthy. When commodities, debt, and equity markets are wildy gyrating and the country's biggest banks and financial institutions are struggling for survival, it is clear that there are systemic structural problems. I look at the death spiral of Washington Mutual, Lehman Brothers, the implosion of Bear Stearns, the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the unprecedented efforts by the Federal Reserve to loan treasuries in exchange for junk debt to member banks and investment banks, and the list goes on, and I begin to wonder if I am going to wake up to panicked lines at the bank and empty shelves at the grocery store.

It is an immeasurable blessing to be a citizen of this wonderful country, the United States, and to have lived my life in such a time of prosperity, relative peace and unparalleled innovation. But, we are seriously in trouble. We have forgotten our great Constitution. We have permitted our government far too much power. And as government at all levels has meddled and tinkered, sometimes with the best of intentions, and other times purely to accrue more power and money, it has shown almost universal ineptitude in trying to solve problems which can only be solved by free interchange of commerce and ideas.

I am a believer in the free market, and I think the most recent economic catastrophes are the result of greed and unsound investment coupled with government interference which botches almost every problem it tries to solve. I'm an optimist at heart, but there seems to be a perfect storm for a protracted recession or worse.

I follow a couple of blogs, which I started back in 2005 when we were shopping for our most recent home, and the economy was rocketing on loose credit and a huge influx of foreign money.

9/26/09
One of the blogs I follow is globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com. I strongly recommend it. Michael Shedlock is right on the money, both in his predictions and his general political principles, and has been now for years.

Great T-shirt Design Contests

I really like contest based t-shirt websites. Threadless is the undisputed leader in this category and they have created an entire art community around their concept and a $30-$40 million business. shirt.woot comes in a close second. They also have created a serious cult following around their business model, and they have an oh-my-gosh-that-is-so-bizarrely-funny writing style that is simply awesome to behold. There are some good second tier sites as well. Teextile is a great one and I have purchased their product before. Design By Humans is also one that produces top notch artistic product.

American Promotions used to sell thousands of screen printed t-shirts a year, when we were more of a bricks & mortar business with a local customer base, but we really don't sell a lot anymore, because we frankly aren't real competitive in that area.

I do have a partial ownership with my family in a great facebook application t-shirt design website called Status King. We're selling one off t-shirts there but it is a pretty limited niche market.

For Firemen and Those who Love Them

Yesterday, I posted about the terrible wildfires we had in two locations on the mountains circling our valley. As firemen from all over the area and the US Forest Service swarmed to the sites, and the aircraft loaded with flame retardant soared overhead, it gave me pause to think about the folks who choose that dangerous line of work. I admire and respect them.

Here are three nice promotional items to celebrate the heroic fireman.

Imprintable Stress Toy Fire Helmet

Fire Hydrant Cookie Keeper


Firehouse Mug

Halloween Themed Promos

We just sent out our second subscriber email for American Promotions using the RatePoint system today. I love it. The design tool is great. It takes some getting used to for the non web designer types like myself, but it is easy enough for anyone who posts a blog or uses WordPress to get the gist of. I have a designer on staff who does some of our work, so we are able to put together some pretty nice designs, but I don't think that kind of training is at all required for the RatePoint system.

Anyway, our second mailer to our subscriber list was for Halloween Themed Promotions. The RatePoint generated webpage for it can be found here http://bit.ly/zWJJF

Promotional Retro Stuffed Animals - Sock Style

These retro style knit sock stuffed animals are a unique alternative to the standard balls of fur in a logo t-shirt. They have classic good looks and a great comfortable feel. They are on the spendy side for a promotional stuffed animal, but the right recipient will be so thrilled with the quality and adorable style, they are worth the extra money.

Theo the Tiger stuffed animal
Freddy the Frog logo stuffed animal
Buster the Dog stuffed animal with tee, tie, medallion or bandana
Miles the Moose stuffed sock animal
Morris the Monkey stuffed animal

Here is a glamor shot of Theo:

Unique products from the Las Vegas ASI Show

Tim Andrews, the CEO of ASI put together a little two part video of unique an new products at the Las Vegas ASI Holiday and Incentive Expo. Here are the links:

First 7 featured products

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj9lf44V4AI&feature=channel

The full color denim stainless steel bottle, the bamboo plate, and the 2 gallon full color cooler are all real standouts. The watering device for your Christmas tree is one of the ugliest things I have ever seen. It is one of those inventions that makes you realize that the recession has not gone long enough as we are still creating all kinds of things that people simply don't need.

Here is the 2nd video with 8 more products. I liked the light up ice cubes, the light up cup, and the full color digitally printed umbrella.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I6ykx9tlUs&feature=channel

Want the parents to love you?

Are your customers young parents? Want them to love your brand? Outfit their baby with adorable snap front reversible jacket by Precious Cargo. It's ready made for your screen printed message - on both sides.

Fire in the Rogue Valley

Yesterday was an eventful day in the Rogue Valley. There were two major fires scarring the mountain sides and dozens of homes were threatened and at least one burned to the ground. There was a fire on Roxy Ann Peak and another one down near Ashland, Oregon. We have had very hot, windy weather - I believe that it hit 109 today in Central Point.

Here is a picture (credit to the Mail Tribune) for the Roxy Ann fire.


Whenever a major fire like this hits close to home, I think about how vulnerable we are where we live. We also live in a heavily treed and sometimes dry mountainous area. Granted our house has been around since the 1930s, so I think it has a decent chance of survival as it has survived pass fires. It is just one of those days, where I am reminded that nothing is permanent, and a healthy person emotionally needs to be ready to part with their material possessions or accept Nature's sometimes destructive will when they cross Its path.

Baseball Themed Promotional Products

Since my last post was on Tommy Lasorda, I think a few baseball themed promotional items are in order. Here are a few of the favorites from our website:

Baseball cushion seat (I love this one although I don't know how durable it is over the long haul)
Baseball tin with mints
Baseball cell phone holder
Baseball metallic balloon
Baseball clip

And here are five more from elsewhere on the web:

Baseball Foldup Flyer
Baseball Bat and Magnetic Pen
Baseball Sunglasses (you'd have to be with the right crowd for these as they look really cheesy)
Baseball Antenna Topper
and now for something authentic
Authentic Major League Baseball caps

Tommy LaSorda in National Portrait Gallery

On my way home from work today, I heard a wonderful radio piece on NPR about baseball great Tommy Lasorda. Today is Tommy Lasorda's 82nd birthday. Happy Birthday Mr. Lasorda.

I learned a lot about this remarkable man I did not know.

• He has been with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization for 60 years, 20 of them as manager.
  
• He worked himself up through the organization with a dream to pitch in the big leagues, but only ended up playing 26 games.
  
• He didn't achieve the level of success that he wanted to as a player, but he seems to have no regrets.
  
• He seemed to me to be completely at peace with his path in life and he talked about how each decision changes who you become - the trajectory of life.
  
• His greatest accomplishment, in my opinion, is that he credits his path in baseball with meeting his wife, and he has been with her for 59 years.
  

It was a wonderful store and can be found here. I suggest you listen to it and read it. It sounds like he has mellowed in his own age as he was no saint.

The painted portrait is found in the National Portrait Gallery, a branch of the Smithsonian.

Nightmare!

Well that gave us a scare. We had switched a lot of our emails over to the americanpromotions.com domain because of problems with spam. However, in so doing our domain provider renewal notices were not getting to us, and we didn't know that the domain registration expired today. Then without notice, the screen went to an expired domain page and we all panicked.

With immeasurable relief, I got right on the phone and learned that it was not too late. $64 later, we are fine for the next four years.

Upgrade your stadium cushion

This self-inflating stadium cushion is an upgraded variation from your standard foam style. It has a 5" x 5" imprint area. I ought to try it out to see if it is actually more comfortable. I'm sure it functions like the Thermarest cushions I use when I camp.

Close to Marketing Fame

Earlier this year, we were contacted by a professional balloonist about putting together a promotion involving a now famous movie which I won't name here, which prominently featured balloons as one of the central plot devices.

After considerable research and some scrambling to put together prototypes, we came very close to winning a promotional contract to help premiere one of the biggest movies of the year, but we ran into one problem, our giant $75 balloon prototype, (of which our customer wanted to do 800 for the full order) popped!

Sometimes, marketing glory is just not meant to be ;)

Holiday Moose

I'm already starting to see holiday promotions on our vendors' websites, and we are starting to sell some cool weather items. This Bellisimo Moose would be the perfect winter promotion and way to show you care for the company working to convey a feel-good and fun gift.

Nine Ways To Motivate in Tough Times

Here is a great article by contributing writer Kenneth Hein to the Counselor magazine about motivating people in tough times.

http://www.asicentral.com/asp/open/content/content.aspx?id=3706

The 9 ways are:

1. Lead by Example
2. Offer Incentives for Strong Performance
3. Be Flexible
4. Buy Them Lunch
5. Keep People Informed
6. Invest in Marketing
7. Make Them Better at Their Jobs
8. Image Matters
9. Create Clear Goals

This has a lot of good nuggets for getting your organization through the recession.

Keeping out the skunks

We live in the country, and we try, albeit pathetically, to be country people. Currently, we are raising a rooster and 11 laying hens. One of my sons is expected to do most of the work, and we buy the eggs from him so he can earn extra money. The problem is, we are very inexperienced in the shelter of chickens, and we seem to lose more to predators than we keep. We have lost a couple dozen hens to predators over the last couple of years, and we are really putting forth a concerted effort to do better with this set.

One of the arch enemies of our chickens is a small family of neighborhood skunks. They also frequently territorially mark our property with their trademark scent. Tonight, a good friend came over with his kids and set special traps to catch the skunks. He has captured and killed three of the critters in the protection of his own flock of chickens, and now we are hoping we can use his resourcefulness up here.

I actually like skunks, in that I think they are very interesting and cute animals. Nevertheless, we cannot have them ravaging our poultry investment, and I don't have the courage or the time, or the desire to try to manage a catch and release which means transporting them in my car.

Skunks can be great marketing mascots, because they are so memorable. One of America's best franchises, Aire-Master uses the skunk to market with winking irony.

Here is a cute skunk promotional stress toy which could be used to remind your customer service staff to not let their customer service stink and for other fun applications.

Princess Leia Headphones and other rejected Star Wars promotions

I found a fun gem of a link of concept art for Star Wars promotional products which didn't quite make the cut. My favorites are the Bantha slippers and the Leia Headphones as pictured below.

Link and picture courtesy Action Figure Insider and the Ottertorials blog.

http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/ottertorials/2008/02/10/rejected-a-long-long-time-ago/

Chris Jones remembers 9-11

Chris Jones is not only one of my dearest friends, but he is also one of the best writers I know. His September 11th blog post is well worth the read.

http://thechrisjonesgroup.com/chrisjonesmortgage/2009/09/11/never-forgetwhat/

My favorite paragraph reads:

"So on this 9/11, I’ve decided to remember these two things: one, that I never know what day will be my last day, what hour my last hour, what act my last act, and those days, those hours and deeds are precious beyond expressing. And two, because that is true, if I truly remember that, then every hour and action should be one that I am proud of. That if this turns out to be my last communication with the world, I want to be proud of it."

Amen.

Promotional product distributors I admire

I'm in the business of selling promotional products. I founded American Promotions, Inc. in 1996 while I was still in college. In recent years, our company has moved online, and we have found that most of the more innovative businesses in our industry have a substantial online presence.

So when I see competition which are web savvy and doing it right, I take notice.

I've decided to give some of the competition a sincere hat tip:

1. 4imprint.com They are one of the biggest, but one of the best. I admire everything about the way they do their website. They are innovative. The Slide tool is ingenious and patent pending (darn it!). They are the industry leader in building trust.

2. promopeddler.com These folks are fellow Oregonians. They are very smart with their search engine optimization and the "Ideas Guru" blog and videos are a lot of fun as well as a good way for buyers to get the creative juices flowing.

3. discountmugs.com Technologically, these guys are awesome. They allow you to design the image and artwork on your drinkware right on the website, and they direct sell a good percentage of the merchandise on the site, so the pricing is fantastic. I have read reviews that their product quality isn't very good. Maybe that is why buyers continue to find little sites like ours. ;)

4. inkhead.com The name and the logo rock!

When the competition is as good as the companies above, I don't mind saying so. One day our site will reach those lofty levels.

SIGG cited for BPA liners in water bottles.

Iconic Swiss water bottle manufacturer SIGG has admitted in an official letter from the CEO, that water bottles manufacturered prior to August 2008 contain bisphenol-A. In the past SIGG had dishonorably kind of skirted this issue by maintaining that their bottles did not leach BPA, but they remained opaque about the actual chemical makeup of the liner in order to keep their product appealing in the marketplace with BPA so prominently and negatively portrayed in the news. Here is the full article from the Advertising Specialty Institute http://asicentral.com/asp/open/content/content.aspx?id=3760

9-11

I logged onto the Drudge Report this morning and saw this picture. No caption. No link. Just the picture. I was struck with poignancy. It has been 8 years. I quietly shut my eyes and prayed.

Great Geek Promo for Your Office Party

This is an "empowering" geektastic promo for your next Star Wars themed party. I mean who wouldn't want a "light sword" (code for avoiding the trademark folks over at LucasFilm) proudly emblazoned with the corporate logo?

Gravatar

I just set up a Gravatar account, a global avatar, which follows my posts. I don't think it will work on this blog as I am using a different email address. I was bugged by the fact that the account is undeletable and their terms of use seem way to broad to me, but I need the tool as I'm going to be blogging a lot more directly to the ameripromo.com website.

Enjoying RatePoint

RatePoint practices what it preaches. The website's motto is "Reputation is Everything" and RatePoint is definitely living up to it. I wrote about this company about a month ago, and they continue to impress.

American Promotions has been signed up with their service for about five weeks - first for a free trial period and now with a paid subscription. Soon after signing up, I received a personalized email with a representative of the company offering to set up a time to walk me through the service. I went ahead and set up an appointment, and the rep spent a solid 20-25 minutes with me on the phone showing off the features. Talk about ease of use! The service imports your contacts like any other service does, but the power comes in the tools used to manage those contacts and to get feedback both negative and positive from a business's customers.

RatePoint is similar (from what I understand) to Constant Contact. It is an online contact management service which enables a business to send email communications to opt-in lists of contacts. It is subscription based, and is very affordable starting at about $17 - $18 a month.

The service differentiates itself with their customer feedback and surveys which I'm excited to try out. My graphic designer and I are also very pleased with the email design building tool. There are over 100 templates predesigned to choose from, and every component of the template can be easily modified with basic skills to produce a slick and professional looking product.

After spending more than an hour toying with the various features of the email design system, I wanted to go over it with our in-house graphic designer. I quickly used the live chat with a RatePoint CSR and to learn whether we could both go into the design editor remotely on the same account and review it simultaneously. I learned this is totally possible, and you can even collaboratively edit the same template together (similar to Google docs). However, it is not recommended as it requires frequent refreshing or you end up undoing each others work.

I'll post more about the service as I learn more about it and use it. Continually impressed.

Polyconcept: A promotional products juggernaut

Leed's is the most powerful player in the U.S. promotional products market, which is something I've known for a long time. I've always been impressed with their remarkable efficiency, their innovation both in products and in decorating and delivering those products. They are a huge company, which makes them all the more remarkable.

I personally prefer working with smaller businesses, because it represents my values. I like to support smaller family companies. However, all companies want to get bigger, and I don't begrudge a large brand because of their success - only if they begin to be arrogant and abusive to their customers.

Leed's is one of those companies that started out as a smaller family business and became much larger and did it well.

What I did not realize is the scope and the power of the company behind Leeds: Polyconcept. Polyconcept is a Dutch company and appears to be a promotional products juggernaut. They are approaching 700 million euros a year in sales, and about 50% of those come from their business divisions in the United States and Canada.

Polyconcept's service brands in the U.S. and Canada include Leed's, Bullet Line and Journalbooks, three of the largest brands in the promotional products industry. American Promotions, Inc. is a distributor for all three of these fine brands, but I simply had no idea that they had all consolidated under the same corporate umbrella.

I wonder if it is any indication of more consolidation to come in the industry's future.

Custom Sandals: Make your imprint your footprint

We recently more than tripled our collection of custom imprintable sandals. American Promotions is an authorized distributor for Neet Feet custom sandals, the industry leader. With custom sandals, the straps, the colors, the foot beds and most uniquely the soles of the sandals can be customized to create a custom logo footprint leaving your message in the sand wherever your customers walk.

Check out our great selection of custom sandals here.

Pbase is cool too.

My last post contained my raving review of istockphoto.com. I also enjoy pbase.com which is a photo sharing site featuring professional and aspiring professional photographers. The photography is gallery quality, and there is a strong community on the site where the various submitters are able to respond, critique and admire each other's work. It seems to be a very supportive and positive community for someone who is looking to have their photography get more notice.

I discovered pbase when I took a particular interest in the growth and development of the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and I came across the travel photography of Brian McMorrow. He has a breathtaking gallery of the buildings and vistas of Dubai, and a really great photography collection from all over the world as well. Here is his Dubai gallery.

Istockphoto.com : Anyone can feel like a great designer!

When creating artwork and website wire frames for ameripromo.com, our online promotional products business, one of my favorite resources is istockphoto.com. This is a marketplace for royalty free graphics, audio and video bits and most importantly, photography which can be used in all kinds of corporate advertising and communications. The quality of the photography is generally very good and some of it is exceptional.

We have a graphic designer on staff who adapts the images to our needs. What I love about it is the point/credit pricing is so affordable that I can purchase images for a couple of bucks when we are going over design ideas and not worry too much about the cost. The service is even affordable enough for dressing up personal websites, family blogs and the like. There are all kinds of sweet downloadable buttons and vector graphics.

Although, I wouldn't consider myself a professional designer, I can make my way around Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I have been in the logo imprinting business for long enough, that I have done work for clients to dress up or convert their corporate designs to usable formats. It is tools like this which really increase my confidence in creating really nice design.

If you want to make money from your best photography, I've also heard that there are photographers on www.istockphoto.com who are pulling down several thousand dollars a month, although I have not independently verified it.

PRIZE-A-TRON

I found a fun little blog a couple of days ago. at http://www.prizeatron.com. It is a blog which specializes in guiding the reader to giveaways and contests for free stuff all over the web. From what I can gather, this blog has a particular focus on the cottage industries and cottage web etailers selling items for mothers and their young babies and children. I showed it to my wife and she got very excited and had me bookmark it.

We have been giving away prizes at American Promotions and hosting trivia contests which we promote on Twitter. Naturally, this little blog piqued my interest. Our success so far has been marginal, but there is always a learning curve with these kinds of things.

Doing God's Work? Image Can Still Matter.

In a brand and image conscious world, there is something to be said for quiet, unrecognized service. Unadvertised, unheralded service of one's fellow man is, in my view, one of the most valuable human endeavors. There are so many good, salt-of-the-earth people I know who spend large portions of their time volunteering, reaching out and privately giving without ever expecting or even wanting the acclaim and notoriety of others.

Yet, there are other times, when promoting service (whether Christian or of another faith) is the only way to help the larger world understand and receive the religious message.

Promotional products can support and spread the message in a more permanent and memorable way than other forms of media. Take for example the Mormon Helping Hand's efforts. This is organized (usually community service and clean-up) organized by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The organizers have the option to order yellow t-shirts or vests from the church with the Mormon Helping Hands logo and imprint. (They are actually encourage to download the necessary artwork and to print the t-shirts locally.)

The Mormon Helping Hands brand has increased the visibility of the Church. It brings almost uniformly good press, and it shows the wider community that the Mormons are people who are willing to give back.

Ameripromo is on Twitter

Ameripromo.com is on Twitter sharing tidbits of my life, keeping followers up to date on the latest promotional products, my thoughts about small business and politics and giving away awesome stuff from our product line to the smart people. Come follow: http://twitter.com/ameripromo

Great Customer Experience

I had a great customer experience today with an email marketing firm named RatePoint, and I don't hesitate to give a plug when the service and help the company gives is this good.

RatePoint is an email marketing / survey administration technology provider with what appears to be a very strong and complete suite of services for the small to medium business. I signed up for RatePoint on a 30-day trial basis through ASI (Advertising Specialty Institute) of which I am a member. Within about 24 hours of signing up, I received a call from Steve at our home office asking to set up a time to go over the software and features with a walk through. After a bit of phone tag and exchanging emails, Steve and I talked today, and he did a great job in walking me through the value their company provides. Steve used glance.net, (a very cool service itself for sharing what you are doing on your desktop remotely with your client or prospect to give them a personalized presentation) and he walked me through at least three aspects of the RatePoint service. He helpful, respectful, not overly salesy, and he agreed to make himself available for future questions to cut down on my learning curve.

I was very impressed, and the pricing is affordable for any company which takes online marketing seriously.

I haven't given the company the full trial run, but I wanted to get my initial impressions out there. My hat is off for great customer service.

Helping Hands

I had a great weekend. I participated in a service project with other members of my church. I live in gorgeous Southern Oregon, and we have a long hiking, jogging, cycling, horse riding path named the Bear Creek Greenway.

Saturday morning, I took three of my boys and my wife and we joined more than 800 others in removing blackberry brambles, weed eating long grass and weeds anc clearing a roughly 1.5 mile stretch of overgrown area back from the sides of the Bear Creek Greenway. It was a hot, hard and very enjoyable work. Here is an article "Helping Hands" from the Medford Mail Tribune.

Digital Jump Roping-For Those With a Will but not a Wii

Maybe I'd exercise more if I had a digital jump rope. A digital jump rope doesn't require a T.V. (unlike exercising with a Wii--although jump roping does feel like you're holding two remotes). This digital jump rope has a non-tangling cord, which I think would be pretty important, since I haven't jump roped in a very long time.

What's appealing about exercising with a jump rope is that it's small and portable for indoor exercise (unlike a treadmill or bike). To motivate the exerciser, it has a timer, an audio pacer, and calorie counter. It also digitally tracks best records. Well, depending on how well I jump, that feature might be encouraging.

American Promotions sells digital jump ropes here.

Pen-Highlighter-Flag in ONE

We use flags in my office. You know, the post-it notes that say "Sign here" or are a post-it arrow to draw your attention to something on a page. I have those flags in my desk drawer--and I have to move aside some paper clips and pens to get to them. Every time. That's why I like this 3-in-one pen-highlighter-flag. The pen barrel comes with 50 flags pre-loaded. And the pen writes with a smooth motion. Convenience in one pen.

Instant Group Seating-Wow

This insta-bench unfolds out of a bag, just like a camping chair, but it can seat up to 6 people (at 250lbs per seat).

I like camping. I have Cub Scouts. I've done the Little League thing. This bench seats a crowd--and it only weighs 19 lbs..

American Promotions sells it here.

Portfolio to Keep Us Oganized

This classy portfolio has special pockets for all the tech gear that we end up carrying around.

I actually get ripped pocket seams in my slacks from carrying gear. This portfolio's pockets are perfect for my stuff. I also like how the interior pockets hold things, but don't hide them. I only wish it had a locator beeper--then I'd never lose anything again.

This BBQ Apron Has it ALL

I really like the innovation in these BBQ aprons--they have an insulated pocket for a drink! Why is this the first time I've seen a pocket cooler for a drink in an apron? It's genius and yet obvious.

The aprons also include a bottle opener, padded oven mitt and a towel, and multiple front pockets. It's like a whole BBQ kit, ready to hold everything a grill cook needs. We sell them here.

Music to A Dog's Ear

This is a new take on the classic giftcard: a metal Dog Tag.

I really like how the dog tags add uniqueness and wearablity to what is really a music giftcard.

Made without lead, each 4-color imprinted tag comes with 5 prepaid songs that is compatible with iPods, MP3 players, PCs and Macs.

American Promotions sells them here.

I wish I had one of these

Many years ago, I was driving an RV from Utah to Southern Oregon with my wife, her sister and a bunch of college friends who were returning to Oregon for the holiday. It was my wife's parents' RV. It was 1 in the morning, in the middle of barren Nevada desert, and we missed our turn. Since we hadn't seen another car for a long time, we decided to turn the RV around in the middle of the highway. Well, we underestimated how narrow the highway was, and we ended up forced into inching back and forth, trying to get the beast of an RV turned around. As we were broadside, a semi truck appeared, heading our way. We had no headlights or tail-lights pointed toward him to even let him know we were there. In desperation we drove off the road and promptly got stuck in the mud. Eventually we were rescued--but I could have used these emergency flashers.

I like the magnet in the base that holds the emergency flasher to the top of the vehicle. The design is clever, and I want one for my car. And my in-laws' RV!

American Promotions sells these flashers here.

Reusable Photo- Drinkware

Plastic drinkware just got more exciting. With a new printing technology, these white plastic cups are printed with photo quality images that entirely surround the cup. The image quality is over 300dpi. Plus the cup is reusable, dishwasher safe (in the top shelf), and totally recyclable.
American Promotions sells this cool cup here!

This frosted plastic cup version turns clear when filled with cold liquid:

Designer Neoprene Laptop Sleeves

Put a wetsuit on your laptop. Honestly, I would not advise submersing your laptop underwater. These are not waterproof, but the slick feel of neoprene fabric makes for a hip laptop cover and gives you some cushioning and climate control for your computer. You can have these laptop sleeves made up in dozens of color and size combinations, with fashionable designer fabrics to integrate them with as well.

Here is a a design by P.K. Reese



Here is the standard solid color style



And here is a cool two-tone, which is perfect for school color applications

Free Design With Purchase of Promotional Item

I saw something for the first time today which I think is potentially going to be a major trend in promotional products marketing. ETS Express, one of my favorite promotional products suppliers is now offering ready prepared designer graphic wraps for several of their stainless steel water bottles.

These wraps are colorful, customizable and you can just insert your logo and order. They really aren't anything more than graphic design done for you, and included in the price of the water bottle. They are also very smart, on ETS part, because they encourage additional upcharges as the customer needs to pay additional run charges to replicate some of the designs. And several of the retail water bottle companies have bright colorful designs like this, and so I can see these being popular in the promotional arena as well for those that can afford them.

I think we may see more pre-designed graphics which can be used in connection with a corporate logo to really dress up the look of a promotional product. In an earlier post, I mentioned designer neoprene computer sleeves, with the designer stripes already worked in.

I see this high level of customization becoming more and more prevalent in the industry.

Slinky Adhesive Notepad

A note pad which looks and plays like a classic slinky. It looks fun and surprising. American Promotions sells the slinky notepad here in five separate colors.

Icefil Performance Cap

The Icefil Performance Cap by CapAmerica is very innovative. The Icefil technology takes sweat and converts it to a refrigerant cooling the wearer's head faster and more efficiently than the sweat alone. The fabric contains Xylitol, the same ingredient in an "icy" chewing gum. The cap also shields the wearer from IR and UV rays.

It is moisture absorbing, fast drying, have 2 way air circulation and an anti-bacterial coating. So ditch your basic fabric poly cotton caps and put your org's logo on the coolest cap of the year.

American Promotions, Inc. sells the Icefil Performance Cap here.

Fabriko Ship-N-Tote Bag

A very cool way to get your package opened, provide a gift with a big "Gee Whiz!" factor and be green all at the same time.

The Fabriko Ship-N-Tote Bag is a mailing packet which converts into a tote bag after it has been opened. It can be all over printed.

It comes in a drawstring bag and shopper's tote variations.

Awesome Floating Globe

This awesome floating globe is the type of thing I can't have on my desk, because it would be hugely anti-productive. I would just spend the whole day spinning it and playing with it. The globe floats via magnetic suspension. This reduces all friction except the air around it, so it can spin effortlessly.

This is the perfect gift for letting an employee or a great customer know you can work magic. I want one!

We sell the magnetic floating globe here.

14 Best Designed Products of 2009

I'm a fan of ASI, the Advertising Specialty Institute, which is a major information provider and technology developer for the promotional products and advertising industry. They have a great website at www.asicentral.com. The best stuff is for distributors only, but there is all kinds of neat promotional ideas for the general public as well.

Not everything about ASI thrills me, but for the most part, they provide more utility and service for the promotional products professional than any of the their competitors (of which there are only a handful).

I was reading on ASI's website today, and I found an article featuring the 14 best-designed products of 2009 and all of them are very cool and unique - true standouts among the literally hundreds of thousands of promotional items in the marketplace. I liked them so much, that I have decided to feature them on this blog, with my own comments - 1 per day for the next 14 days (Sundays not included.)

MoMA Magnetic Perpetual Calendar

Uniquely designed functional art which gives you the date and month. Sits on a desk or on the wall. Perfect for an advertising agency or a design centric client.

And you get to put your logo on it!

MoMA Magnetic Perpetual Calendar

Tire Key Tag

This is an example of a U.S.A. made soft vinyl key tags. A vinyl key fob is a promotional standby. It comes in hundreds of shapes, and custom shapes are not out of reach for most budgets. High contrast imprints display well on this item.

I like this tire shaped key tag, because it is simple and the message is clear: "Let's go." This is a budget promotion for lean times to help your customers feel appreciated and remember your business.