I added a new drinkware video to our product review movie line up:

This video displays and explains the features of the Hampton Tumbler.

Why does American Promotions make these videos? Mainly because it's helpful to the buyer! It's helpful to get a peek at a product before buying it, and the videos explain the product too.  After all, if we are going to spend money on a product, we want information before committing the funds.

Helping our customers is why we do product videos at American Promotions, and why we will continue to make them! Hope you find them helpful! Which are your favorites?

A Heart In My Hand

I am holding in my hand a glossy red heart pencil just like the picture to the left (except for the logo). The pencil is from a client that makes a heart pump which is saving lives all over the world. It's feels nice to have a small connection to a business doing amazing things world-wide.

It's also a good promotion! It's memorable, useful and exactly represents the company. I don't know if the pencils go to the patients who are on the pump, or if they go to doctors who install the pumps. But wherever that pencil travels, it will remind people everywhere of the heart pump company.

Do your promotions represent your business as well?

My Favorite Tumbler Just Got Cooler!

I crossed paths with my sister-in-law, and she was drinking out of a clear Spirit tumbler with a Costco logo. That same day, I ran into a shelf of these same acrylic tumblers at a local craft store. 


Why do I love this cup? Could it be the straw??


They are EVERYWHERE. Since they are one of my favorite cups, I can understand why everyone wants one! So when the manufacturer makes these acrylic tumblers even better...well, I have to blog about it. The acrylic tumbler now has a version with a HUGE added feature: It keeps drinks as cold as ice does--without the ice!

The Chiller is Chillin'

This Sedici Cool Gear Chiller is a tumbler that acts like a cooler for your drink. After four hours in the freezer, this Cool Gear Chiller is ready to chill your drink. And it can re-freeze over and over. And it doesn't water down your drink like ice does (Note: make sure you don't freeze the lid and straw).

This is NEW and it is an improvement on my favorite tumbler and now I have one. Do you?

Kitchen Timers as Ad Space

I use kitchen timers, do you? I time all kinds of things! I use a timer when a child is doing their reading homework or playing on the computer. I use a timer to clean the house (telling myself that I can accomplish a lot of cleaning in just 15 minutes). I carry a timer when I have something in the oven, because I can't hear the oven timer ring when I'm downstairs.

Kitchen timers make useful promotional products because they are used, carried, viewed daily and in a high traffic area of the home, the kitchen.

Now I mentioned kitchen timers in last week's blog post on kitchen products. In fact, that's what got me started on today's post. These kitchen timers are Too Cute! So I'm going to write a whole post on kitchen timers that can be custom imprinted.

These cuties come in Lemon, Potato, Pear, Red Pepper, Pumpkin, Red Apple, Corn, Eggplant, Carrot, Cabbage, Green Pepper, Tomato, Egg, Rooster or Chicken! Each of these timers can be set up to an hour, and carried around handily.

Fruits and Vegetable Kitchen Timers

 Take a look at this rotund chef kitchen timer.

Don't you want to time your cooking with this wee fellow?

And we have a shining pot kitchen timer:

Shiny Timer!

But that is NOT all! This gleaming pot timer is also available in the shape of a Toaster, Blender, Pepper Jug, Coffee Pot, Kettle, Stock Pot, Frying Pan or Champagne Bottle!

All these kitchen timers are 2" x 3" and have imprint areas of 1/2" x 3/4" for a logo.

What a fun promotional product!

The Kitchen: Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Kitchen products make useful promotions because they are viewed daily in a very high traffic area of the home, the kitchen.They catch a lot of logo impressions which increases the value to your business.

What promotional products are in your kitchen? On the front of my refrigerator I have a magnet notepad and a logoed pen. On the side of my refrigerator, I have a promotional magnetic calendar, two magnetic business cards (my dentist and doctor) and in my utensils drawer I have an imprinted jar opener and bottle opener.

I don't think I am out of the ordinary in keeping and using personalized kitchen swag. So I have picked out four kitchen promotional products that I like, to give you ideas on how to harness the kitchen to advertise your business:

This refrigerator notepad:

Add your business card to the refrigerator

I appreciate how you can take your normal business card, and turn it into something useful and highly visible, a notepad on the fridge, rather than the card getting lost in a desk drawer.

Add to the refrigerator notepad this Bic magnetic pen --your business will be remembered fondly every time a pen is so easily located. I want one! My current logoed pen rests on top of the fridge and I would like it better stuck to the side so it doesn't risk rolling off.

Help them find a pen, and remember your company name, at the same time

These adorable kitchen timers:

In fact, looking at these charming kitchen timers reminds me how much I use and like timers. I think I'll blog next week just on kitchen timers.These ones are too cute to be ignored! 

This food grade polyester plastic cutting board:

Yes, that is the printed logo on a cutting board. Neat idea for this display logo to show full color food and include a recipe. That's a lot of space for a logo, 11x17", and there's a smaller 8 1/2x11" version available too.

People spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so placing your logo onto kitchen products helps your business get remembered!

What custom printed products do you have in your kitchen?

Happy Jump for Jelly Beans Day

Today is actually Jump for Jelly Bean Day. Who knew? In honor of this auspicious day, I found some fun jelly bean facts from the Fun Facts About Jelly Belly site:

1. The first jelly bean was created by an unknown American candy maker in the 1800s.

2. An 1861 advertisement recommended sending jelly beans to soldiers fighting in the Civil War.

3. Jelly Belly donated 288,000 jelly beans in 47 different flavors for the world's first jelly bean stop-motion animation music video "In Your Arms" by Kina Grannis; released November 2011. It's AMAZING! Have you seen it (see it below)?

4. Americans consume 16 billion jelly beans at Easter, many of them hidden in baskets. If all the Easter jellybeans were lined end to end, they would circle the globe nearly three times (according to FactMonster).

That's a lot of jelly beans! They are a popular candy, so of course, jelly beans make for good promotions. Here are three of my favorite jelly bean promotions:

The fake-prescription bottle promotion:

Fill a Personalized Pill Bottle with Jelly Beans

These pill bottles are a giveaway with a sense of humor. Printing your logo on these large bottles gives a good laugh--and laughing makes logos memorable.

Put the jelly bean candy into a custom printed champagne bottle:

Fill a Champagne bottle with Jelly Beans

Fill a champagne bottle with jelly beans, for Jelly Bean "Bubbly!"

And the classiest jelly bean promotion, the custom firebranded Beech Notepad holder with Jelly Belly Jelly Beans (which is the most well-known company making jelly beans).

Jelly Beans with Notepad and Beechwood Holder

I like how this promotion is triple layered: first, eat the candy, second, use the notepad, third, refill the notepad because the beechwood holder lasts practically forever.

Do you like jelly beans?

What Music Needs Everywhere

I love music and my teenage daughter loves it even more. She is hoping to get started in guitar lessons when school starts up again. We are looking for a good guitar teacher.

There are a lot of music teachers who live around here. How do we choose who to go to? Word of mouth. Facebook (which is word-of-mouth on steroids). It's through people. People will recommend the name of the music teacher who taught their kids so well. Let's hope they remember the phone number too. You know, it would be very helpful if there was a phone number, with their name, on something they could hand to me!!

Enter promotional products. This is where they shine. To help the word-of-mouthers pass the correct information along. Wonderful guitar music teachers of my area, please give everyone around you something with your name and phone number on it.

Maybe this inexpensive refrigerator magnet? It will reveal your name, phone number, email address and mailing address in up to six colors for 62 cents each.

Music Note Magnet

Even better, make it a magnet more eyecatching--and guitar shaped. Just print your name and number, and we will find you!

Guitar Magnet

This pencil comes shaped like a guitar...or as a note, even a french horn (but I'm not looking for a french horn teacher).

Oh music teacher in my community, I hope you promote yourself so I can find you.

We can't depend on the school music program being there for my child. In fact, perhaps what music needs everywhere is a little promoting!!