360 Promotions – let's brand together

By now you might be thinking….Wow – Promotional Products require a lot of thought????  Actually, that is what we are here for – we can break it down with just a few questions…..One of the many great things about us Promo Gals!

No more suspense – here are the 4^th and 5^th things to consider for your advertising –

·        Budget – What kind of quality are you looking for?  How many do you need? Do you need a custom product?  Can you do more of several items to tie in throughout the year?  The greater the quantity…the lower the per piece price!

·        Message – Many times we can tie your message to an item that is a perfect compliment!  Share the message with us and we’ll barrage you with ideas!

All of this (with a few more to come) is our way of helping you to effectively incorporate Promotional Items into your Marketing and Advertising – it really is the number one way for people to keep on remembering you and your company…and keep on….and keep on….!

The Single Most Important part in the life of a promotional product is….(drum roll)…..Finding the right one!  There are literally hundreds of thousands of promotional products so this can seem like an overwhelming undertaking.  We have a search function on our website ( www.360promos.com ) that I have a love-hate relationship with – I love that it is available for people that love to shop and browse on the web…or want to order koozies at two in the morning!  But I also hate that it can seem like SO much….I mean, how will you ever choose from all of the cool ideas?

 Here are some “Rule of Thumb” guidelines for narrowing it down –

·        Again with the objective business…What is your objective?

·        Do you need to tie your item to a theme?

·        Are you trying to convey a specific message?

·        Are you trying to educate your target audience?

·        Do you have a purpose?  If not, let’s get one!

Remember….this is your company’s brand and image and we want to help you make it the absolute best that it can be!  Theme of the week – USE your Promotional Products Specialist!

……..Part 3…….Tomorrow!

My soapbox has been eyeing me from under my desk for a few weeks…so I thought before the looks turn evil, I would take it out and step up for a bit.  So, my soapbox rotation for the week is “USE YOUR PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS COMPANY”!!!  (the soapbox is thrilled to be out for a whole series!)  We are here to help, we want to help – please use us for more than someone that fills your orders (although we are great at that too!).

How can we help you “Get Some Groove to Your Giveaways”?

• Help You to Define Your Audience – A focused objective is crucial to your success and we can help you break that down.  Are these giveaways for key customers, prospects, employees or everyone that passes by?  Do you need something for all of the above?  We can help you to establish a Tier program for giveaways that meets your budget and creates the desired impact.
• Goal Setting – All promotional item purchases should be made with this in mind…”What do you want to achieve?”  Are you trying to launch a new product or idea,  are you trying to incite action or are you trying to increase your recognition with a particular audience?  We can help you make an impact with your message and with your promotional product by bringing the two together.

Look for my next posts for more ideas to help you get your……

July is a month of “EXPLOSIVE” celebration…..at 360 Promotions we like to focus on “CREATIVE” celebration!  What I’m saying is…..it’s time again for our list of fun and funky holidays that can spruce up your marketing and employee programs for July –

• July 2^nd is I Forgot Day – While I firmly believe that I personally have many more than one of these days…it’s nice to know that there is a day that actually recognizes and celebrates my “Senior Moments”.  This is a great day for Memo Pads or Recycled Journals that are accompanied by a pen – drop them off for clients and let them know that….They are Never Forgotten!
• July 10^th is Cow Appreciation Day – This day is nothing to “Moo” about!  One of the suggested methods of celebration is to kiss a cow – so…..since this seems a bit extreme for most of us we’ll just leave it at…celebrating cows is a great fun way to do some marketing!  Imprinted glasses for an ice cold glass of milk or a grill set for firing up some burgers. Restaurants and Grocery Stores often celebrate this holiday with specials….and that’s no Bull!
• July 23^rd is National Vanilla Ice Cream Day – Chocolate may be the number one ice cream seller in the United States, but Vanilla keeps it on it’s toes!  A “Cool” idea for celebrating is Ice Cream Floats in the Break Room where everyone gets an Imprinted Ice Cream Scoop!  This is another holiday where you should be on the lookout for special promotions at Ice Cream Shops and Grocery Stores!
• July 31^st is National Mutt’s Day – Every dog has it’s day and this is the day for one of our all time favorite type of dog…The Mutt!  What a great time to team up and volunteer at an animal shelter – you can do it within your organization and encourage your clients to come out and give a helping hand!  There are numerous ways to highlight a Dog Day, but bandanas are one of my favorites – they’re great for the poochies and their humans!

If you need more inspiration to celebrate July with “CREATIVITY” feel free to give us a call!  We’ll GET out and BE CREATIVE together!

One of the most common questions I receive, in regards to artwork, is “can you take a jpeg?” Well, the answer to that question is yes, but 98% of the time we will have to have the art redrawn to an EPS format because it’s the standard for artwork.

Wikipedia defines EPS as “Encapsulated PostScript, or EPS, is a DSC conforming PostScript document with additional restrictions intended to make EPS files usable as a graphics file format. In other words, EPS files are more-or-less self-contained, reasonably predictable PostScript documents that describe an image or drawing, that can be placed within another PostScript document.”

Do you understand that definition? Me neither! To put it simply EPS is a type of file that is created in specialized graphics programs….i.e. Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw. It allows us to make your art bigger or smaller, depending on the imprint area, without changing the original image.

Original File in EPS

If you’re thinking of creating a new logo it’s always a good idea to have the designer draw the original in EPS. The cool part is that from an EPS file you can save it as a jpeg. or PDF.

In turn, if you’re not sure what format your current logo is in or you need to have it redrawn as an EPS, just let us know and we can help you with that– and save you a bundle, too!

Blogging is a new adventure for me so when Ricci Neer told me that she was going to host a blog club once a week, I was ecstatic!

For those of you who don’t know her, Ricci is a  New Media Personality, blogger, live tweeter, emcee and all around social media diva who is super nice and willing to help out the *newbies* -many, many thanks! It’s always cool to learn from the best

Our first meeting was yesterday and it was great! There were some people in our group who signed up for their first Wordpress account and others who have been blogging but still want to learn more.

The plan is to meet every week and blog together- Not only am I excited about becoming a better blogger but it’s also good for the accountability factor!

I recently referred a business to a friend that was in desperate need of their services – my friend immediately hung up with me and called Company A.  Company A had a recording on their line that gave an e-mail address and advised that communication would be conducted within this medium.  My friend is a busy person and she doesn’t have the time to keep this on her To-Do-List.  She is now on the path, so she just starts calling people that she finds under that type of service for our area under Google.  Company B is found, interviewed, hired and my referral status has just been demoted!

This is another one of those hmmmmm……moments for me.  The same practice has recently happened to me several times and I am wondering if this is the start of a trend?  A few months ago we had a wonderful person that we hired for a very important project at home – we loved her and the people that worked for her!  Problem….whenever I tried to schedule follow-up visits they would e-mail me dates and times.  I would e-mail them back and those times would now be unavailable.  We would try and again – yadda, yadda…down the road and still no appointment.  It was becoming too much work for me to spend my money with this company – why can’t we take care of this in one five minute phone conversation????  Since this happened I don’t even bother with companies that I have encountered that want me to e-mail them.  I do the same thing my friend did and keep going down the line – Let’s face it….there are very few industries that have only one person that does what you need! 

Why don’t I mind leaving a message, but I do mind e-mailing?  If I leave a message I have placed the ball in the court and anticipate a phone call where we will wrap up the business in less than 5 minutes.  It gives me the feeling of being really close to checking that task off of my MILE long to-do list.  Maybe it is a case of “Voice Mail Compassion”, – since I also work for a small company and while we have tried a million and one things to prevent calls from having to go to voice mail – The closest we get to the Magic Solution is that we immediately return phone calls!

So, my questions is….what is the logic behind this method?  Right now, it  feels like “They’re Just Not That Into Me” !

Shipping is part of everyday life for us as we have multiple packages in transit daily with UPS and FedEx. We track all packages from the time they leave the factory until they show up at your door and we have experience shipping everything from a 2”x 2” x 1” gift box to pallets that have to be offloaded with a fork lift. I know the UPS days in transit schedule better than I know my own schedule!

With that said, one of my biggest pet peeves is outrageous shipping charges. Last night I purchased a paperback book from a well know online retailer and when I checked out the s/h charge was $12.  I know from experience that I can ship a 48” x 8” tube of umbrellas that weights approx. 10 lbs. from Texas to New Jersey for $13.42. Something seems a little off, right?

I am obviously a pro-business person and don’t begrudge anybody running a profitable business. However unless you’re UPS, your profit model should not revolve around gouging customers on shipping charges. I can promise you that is not something we practice nor will we ever. In fact, I give clients the option to use there own shipper number.

360 Promotions specializes in helping companies gain brand recognition and shipping is just a means to an end. Don’t get sidetracked and loose focus of your true specialty – work hard to be the best in your field and the business success and profitability will follow. 

Some of us are dipping our toes into the Social Media waters and as we get used to the “temperature”….here are some tips that we have learned while getting wet –

·        Don’t mix your personal pages with business pages….for example – Facebook allows you to create a “Business” page within your personal account.  Don’t do this!!!  Your personal Facebook friends will be annoyed by all of your business chatter and the purpose of Social Media is to drive interest to your page – Not to force people into it!  Create your business page separately – mix up your content, keep it interesting and follow-up often!

·        When starting your adventure in the land called “Twitter” ….remember this one piece of very valuable advice that we were fortunate enough to receive…..Tweeting is all about building relationships and community.  Only 2 out of every 20 or so tweets should mention  your product or service.  Taking the time to build the relationships is what works. I know it seems odd to be able to do this in 140 characters or less…but trust us – this is the Twitter way!

·        Thinking about blogging?  Be prepared for the commitment of writing a minimum of 3 times per week and make sure to register your blog at www.technorati.com so that others can find you.  This has actually been my favorite leap into what my idea of keeping up with technology is – Keeps your writing skills sharp and I learned that I have a lot more to say than I thought!!  Ok – my husband would tell you that I have always had a lot to say J!!  This is different right?

·        Manners are crucial – if you wouldn’t say it to someone in person….you should probably not say it online!!!

As we learn more….we’ll share more!!  In the meantime -Jump in the Waters…it’s fun!   If you have any questions or tips of your own please feel free to comment-

Most days I forget to eat lunch until about 4 o’clock and then I start feeling like I might faint at any given moment. Last month I decided that enough was enough and I needed to start eating but I wanted something quick and relatively healthy. I decided on Lean Cuisine Original Pepperoni Pizza.

I’m not joking when I tell you that since the first of April I have eaten this, for lunch, at least four times per week.  3 minutes and 30 seconds in the microwave and viola – lunch is served! However, today the thought of eating another pizza makes me cringe; I am officially “totally burned out” from eating the same thing over and over.

 You’re probably wondering what my eating habits have to do with marketing? Companies tend to start a marketing campaign and when the results are successful, the tendency is to continue with the same campaign. Eventually your target audience will get “totally burned out” just like I did with lunch. In order to keep your marketing fresh you have to mix it up! 

A few simple ways to mix it up: 1.) Try adding a new color scheme 2.) Plan a year long campaign and have all of your collateral tie together but have slightly different items each quarter 3.) Consider packaging options. 

If you need help or just have a question, send me an email at jennifer@360promos.com!