- A good promotional product can make a cold call a little less cold
- The right promotional product can be a conversation starter
- A useful product can keep you top of mind
- A creative product can generate leads for your business

We find that products are a vital tool when there is a large amount of intellectual property held by very intelligent, highly creative individuals, who are great at what they do, but come up short on the sales side.

If your organization has a sales force that needs people in front of clients or on the phone with prospects, promotional products are an excellent tool. In a recent presentation with Jack Daly he stated that 80% of all sales occur when the sales person has had between the 5 – 12 contacts with the prospect “Vistage webinar February 2012”. Using a variety of contact methods is just as important for the sales process. Below we identify a few ways to incorporate product into the sales channel.

- Send the right product in advance of initial contact and follow up with a phone call
- Need a meeting? Call the prospect and let them know you have a little something for them
- Already have the meeting. Give a promotional product as a leave behind to keep top of mind
- Send a promotional product as a thank you
- Distribute a creative product at a tradeshow to generate leads

For example, we did this with a client recently where a time planner was suggested and we incorporated a custom insert, in this case it was a useful item for the recipient. The interior was a checklist reminder and an informative tool for the targeted recipient. The idea in cases like this is to find or create a good product that can easily lead into further discussion on a topic of mutual interest.

Collaboratively we identified goals for the piece. The product needed to be useful, informative and ideally something that would create a dialog between the company representative and the client. Keeping price in mind, it needed to be a piece that would keep the client top-of-mind as a customer or a referral source. The product is now complete and we will remain in touch with the client to track their return on investment.

We cannot stress enough that promotional products are a tool and a “touch” to be integrated into the sales process, not the solution that will get you the sale.

Written by Jenalyn Miller, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Blink Product Design

Whether your company has a corporate wellness program or plans on starting one, perhaps one of these products will inspire you to take action!

1. Just because it is cold outside does not mean that the sun’s rays are not potentially harmful. SPF 30 Sunscreen packets are a great way to show your company cares about skin health, even on the ski slopes.

2. Do you have a trade show coming up? Pedometers are a fun way to get employees and clients moving! At your next trade show, consider giving pedometers to everyone who visits your booth. Encourage them to wear the pedometer all day to track their steps, and return to your booth at the end of the day. When they return to your booth, congratulate them on their number of steps and calories burned. Make the visit even more memorable by treating them to a water bottle for all their hard work! This is a great way to get people to visit your booth twice.

3. In the United States, Flu season is October through May. Hand Sanitizers are a great way for employees to kill germs on the go, potentially decreasing the number of sick days. This Hand Sanitizer has a 3-year shelf life and a travel-friendly neoprene sleeve and clip.

4. Start a “Bring Your Lunch to Work Day”. Encourage employees to save money and calories by bringing a healthy lunch to work. This StayFit Deluxe Salad Kit features a freezable gel tray that keeps your salad, topping & dressing cold.

5. Support New Year’s Resolutions with a Fitness Journal. This 90-page journal includes pages to log daily exercise routines and daily nutritional information.

Principal Financial’s recent Well-Being Index^SM survey found that about two out of five employees (41%) strongly agree or somewhat agree that wellness benefits encourage them to work harder and perform better. Let’s work together to make 2012 the year of health, wellness and productivity! Stay tuned for more ideas to support your health and wellness goals as we continue throughout the year!

For more healthy ideas, information or pricing on any of the products shown above, please contact us at 206-397-3460 or info@blinkproductdesign.com. 

Written for you by Katie Mack, Health & Wellness Product Guru

Alpine Ascents International is a Seattle-based mountaineering guide company. They wanted to enhance their direct mail with a customized padded envelope. We worked with Alpine Ascents to create a full-color image of their highly sought-after Mount Everest climbing route. The resulting USPS-approved envelope stands out from boring manila mailers, is instantly recognizable and represents Alpine Ascent’s brand. If you want to know more about Alpine Ascents’ mountain climbing expeditions, visit their website.

Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital, based in Snohomish, WA, wanted a calendar. Blink suggested that Pilchuck create a monthly Calendar Contest internally and on Facebook. This connects Pilchuck with their clients in a fun and personal way, while creating a buzz around the calendars. The pet photos are coming in with increasing numbers and Pilchuck’s Facebook followers have increased, as well. If you have an animal, large or small, that you think could qualify for the calendar, visit the Pilchuck Facebook pages at https://www.facebook.com/PVHcompanion and https://www.facebook.com/pvhequine.

We’ll take the next five days to highlight some of our favorites from 2011.  Maybe you can apply one or more of these ideas to your New Year’s Marketing Resolution List for 2012!

1. Merchandise Your Brand

Barre3 is a chain of fitness studios with 20 locations and counting. We partnered with the studio owners to create a cohesive collection of apparel, drinkware, hats and totes that fit the Barre3 brand. Each studio owner received access to a complimentary client account on Blink’s website, where they could see pricing for their branded items and place orders in a variety of ways. We continually work with them to find new products and ways of keeping their costs as low as possible. Click here to see if there is a Barre3 studio near you!

I recently attended the Puget Sound Business Journal’s “Grow Your Business” Expo at the Washington State Convention Center. The event provides business owners the ability to network with local professionals and create future business opportunities.  I represented Blink Product Design as an attendee to meet the exhibitors, visit current clients and to check out the promotional products being distributed.

Tote bags are a common trade show giveaway item, and this Expo was no different. Upon entry, I was handed a green reusable tote bag decorated with the logo of an event sponsor. A basic tote goes a long way at a tradeshow where literature and giveaway items accumulate quickly. Totes provide easy storage for all the trinkets (and trash) that are collected from the exhibitors. From an exhibitor’s standpoint, sponsoring the totes is always a smart move because the totes offer a large logo imprint area for maximum visibility. The attendees literally become walking billboards for your brand.

Armed with my tote bag, name badge and stack of business cards, I made my way into the main exhibition room. I arrived at 3pm and attendee traffic was light, which gave me plenty of one-on-one time with the exhibitors. I took a quick glance at the map of the expo, getting a lay of the land and determining where my clients were set up so I was prepared to say hello when I came across their booth.  Right away, a booth caught my eye.

The Marriott SpringHill Suites Seattle Downtown hotel set up a booth that featured a small yet appealing-looking bed with white, fluffy sheets and oversized pillows. On the table was a doorknob with the standard hotel electronic card swiper. The naturally friendly woman working the booth handed me a postcard with a hotel room key attached. She explained that they were raffling off a two-night stay in the hotel, and all I had to do was swipe the hotel key in the slot. If the light turns green, you win! My excitement was obvious, and I swiped with the hope of a roulette player at a casino. To my dismay, the light turned red. The exhibitor sensed my disappointment and offered me a consolation prize of a customized water bottle. I lingered at the booth for several more minutes and learned many things about the hotel, all of which were important to shaping my future decision to recommend their hotel to others.

This interaction was significant on many levels. First, it was memorable because of the unique method of entering the contest. It was relevant, because everything related back to the hotel. The postcard that the hotel key card was affixed to was actually an offer for a buy-one-get-one free drink at the hotel bar. The booth was set up to mimic one of their hotel rooms, which caught my attention. The set up inspired conversation about the hotel with the knowledgeable staff and I walked away with an item I would use.

Moving on from the SpringHill Suites booth, I passed by many unfortunate-looking tables with wrinkled tablecloths, bored company representatives and little signage. I saw several reps texting or even talking on their cell phones. As an attendee, why would I ever want to stop by an uninviting booth manned by someone who is so disengaged?

Instead, I chose to stop by the booths with welcoming staff. I do not believe that a company needs to invest in a huge, expensive, multi-faceted booth to bring in traffic. A friendly smile and a hello is sometimes all it takes for people to stop by a booth. The SharedBusinessSpace.com booth was a great example of this. The ladies of SharedBusinessSpace.com were enthusiastic and engaging. The selection of promotional products complemented her signage and company colors nicely, making her booth look cohesive and well thought out. Although not elaborate, her booth was effective in its simplicity.

After walking through the entire venue, it appeared that two most popular giveaways at this particular event were edible items and, not surprisingly, pens. The edibles included cookies, bowls of Halloween candy, and cake pops on a stick. The cake pops on a stick were from a real estate company, Morris Piha, who “took the cake” for getting people to their booth to try the unusual treats.  In general, edible gifts are short-lived branding opportunities, but if used properly, they can offer a memorable impact.

The Build Your Business Expo was a study of the dos and don’ts of exhibiting at a tradeshow. Take the time to create a captivating booth, which is as simple as clear signage and a nicely pressed tablecloth (or better yet, a tablecloth made out of wrinkle-free material).  Most importantly, have a call to action for the attendees, or at a minimum, a goal set for your booth.  Findcreative ways to reach that goal, such as a bowl of candy for everyone but a raffle for the “lucky ones” to increase your database of contacts.. Ensure that your staff is enthusiastic and refreshed, even if it means rotations throughout the day to avoid burnout. And if you need clever ideas for promotional products to give to attendees outside of cookies and pens, please give Blink a call!

Written by Katie Mack, Sales and Marketing Specialist, Blink Product Design 877.557.1924

Empire Wood Grain Pen

Pens are a great way to reinforce your name and your brand if you choose the right pen.  We give even choices like pens a lot of thought.  The pen should look and feel similar to the brand.  We would not recommend a cheap pen to a high end company if they were trying to impress their “valued” customer.  If you are a small business just trying to get your name recognized in the market place we might suggest a less expensive pen but would encourage a packaging concept that would allow you to communicate your message as well.

We are advocates of marketing a business not putting a name on just anything and handing it out to the masses.  What do we recommend?  We have seen and tested many pens there are a few tried and true:

• Say what you will about a cheap pen but we love the Bic stic pens -available in clic or straight stic.  This is a nice pen for non-profits or events where people might need to fill out a form.
• Our favorite is our own Essential Pen.  It’s the best ballpoint on the market at the best price.  This is a great universal pen.  This looks and feels quality enough to impress people and it can be dressed up with packaging or accompanied with a journal for an extra special gift.
• Our favorite Rollerball is the Empire pen, mostly because of its unique look but also because we haven’t found it in the promotional product industry.
• Another Rollerball we love is the Executive Rollerball.

Perhaps you are wondering what the difference is between a Rollerball and a ballpoint pen.  Ok maybe you aren’t, but at Blink we ask questions like this fairly often and unlike some people we tend not let these tedious little details float into gray matter.

Essential Ballpoint Twist

From our research, we found out that Rollerball pens use water based inks.  And we’ve discovered that people often prefer these pens because they write smooth and they don’t require the same about of pressure as needed for a ballpoint.  We’ve also ascertained that Rollerballs make good substitutes for those that love their fountain pens.

Rollerball pens are typically made of better quality material; however, they do not last as long due to the fact that the Rollerball releases more ink onto the writing surface.  Use a thin piece of paper and you’ll notice that the ink bleeds through to the other side of the paper.  Hate it when that happens!

Ballpoint pens are oil based and, as a result, dry quickly as soon as the ink hits the paper.  Ballpoint pens are the most commonly used pens and the cost is consistently less expensive than other styles.  Some of us have experienced that these pens are not the best for writing upside down.  Ballpoints are the pens we go to when we need to write on high gloss surface or over top of white out.

You can find ballpoints either as disposable or refillable.  The great thing about refillable ballpoints is that you can uncover many styles varying in point size and typically a greater selection of color.

Of course there is a great deal more information that can be initiated on the differences between these two pens types, but we wanted to cover the basics.  There are numerous other pen styles out there and if anyone has a question beyond a Rollerball or a Ballpoint we’ll research it.

What pen identifies you?

Written by Jenalyn Miller, Vice President of Sales, Blink Product Design 877.557.1924

Consider the last statement for a moment….  Your brand, your money, being thrown into the garbage purposefully by a customer or potential customer!

That ever important first impression has diminished.  Below is an example of a giveaway that came in the mail direct to the customer and had never even been used!  What would you think if you received something like this?

Someone received this brand new never used USB

We’re coming into the holiday promotional season and we’d like to say don’t just look for a company that offers the least expensive item (understand what you are paying for).  Don’t settle for a company that does nothing more than take your order, show you a catalog, or give you the cheapest price.

Ask questions and allow yourself or your vendor to be creative.  Have your promotional product vendor deliver the marketing messages and impressions your company deserves.  And if your current people can’t do that….call us!

We at Blink are passionate about the fact that you can market smart, spend wisely and maintain what is critical to your brand – a positive first impression.

Written by Jenalyn Miller, Vice President of Sales, Blink Product Design 877.557.1924