Send Your Tagline To The Beach

With the way things are going in the economy it is imperative you get your message out to your potential customers.  As we approach Spring and Summer that means giving your message a vacation.  Promotional totes are usually inexpensive and are almost always kept for use by customers.

The Leeds Smartt Deluxe Carry-All Tote is available at a reasonable price and is very versatile at just under nine dollars.  This particular tote continues the trend of mixed messenger bag and sling tote usage in 2008.  By having a multiple use handle these totes can be marketed with multi-functions which makes them more valuable as a promotional item.   Yes the spelling is correct – for whatever reason this was the name given to this product.

Stepping down the price scale the Leeds Saturn Sling is available for under five dollars and is available in a series of attractive colors that match many logos.  This is a smaller bag which will not carry as much in terms of items but it is at a great price point and again the color availability alone make it very popular.

Crossing the line back to larger bags the Leeds Excursion Cargo Messenger Bag is certainly more expensive but is huge compared to the previous two.   This particular bag also has a watter bottle pocket and large comfortable shoulder strap while maintaining handles for carrying as a traditional bag.   This is a new item which we expect to do quite well.  It is hindered a little by the lack of colors but that flexibility can be achieved through creative printing of the logo.

The Leeds Slant Messenger will not appeal to everyone as it is decorated with vivid colors.  It does serve the purpose of getting the message out and at a  very moderate price point.  Like the other bags discussed so far this messenger has both hand carrying handles and a shoulder strap that is adjustable.  This bag takes it a step further by having a padded haul handle making it even more comfortable.

Switching it up we move to the Gemline Emerge Messenger Bag which is also brand new on the market.   We really like this bag as the color schemes are attractive and the price makes the bag affordable to a large audience.  The bag has neat lines, a water pocket and can help protect your MP3 player by allowing for headphone passage through the built in port.

Last but not least we head to a more executive type bag in the Leeds Incline Urban Messenger Bag which is definitely geared more towards the casual business user.  The front pocket is great for holding your PDA or other digital device while keeping it protected.  This bag also offers the headphone port and Velcro closure to keep all of you valuable electronics secure.

All of these bags are available blank or with custom logos.  Obviously if you are looking to promote your brand you will want to get your logo or tag line printed on each bag.   Space permitting it is always an excellent idea to get your web address or phone number in the message.   We generally recommend against incorporating your email address for privacy reasons although some customers still prefer to use email over the web address.  Each year new options become available and as they do the quality continues to increase to the point that the bags available in the commercial market are of the same or higher quality to what you would see in the stores.   Remember, your message is only as good as the item it is printed on.  Spending the extra dollar or two for a quality item goes a long way with your customer.

Making Sure You Get Paid

As the recent article in the New York Times demonstrates there are no truly sure bets when it comes to collecting payments.   With news that an active political campaign is months behind paying bills it leaves no doubt that there are no absolute guarantees in getting paid.   There are steps however you can take to give your organization a better shot of getting paid.  The promo items industry is no different than any other industry. 

First for most orders you should run a credit check on your client.  This is something you should disclose to them prior to ordering with you.  There are many outlets for this information with D&B still being the most popular.  Keep in mind business credit information is notoriously inaccurate and is usually far worse than even personal credit histories.  Take what is in the report with a grain of salt looking more for trends and other negative information like suits or collections.

After reviewing credit be prepared to offer your client terms.  Most clients will expect net 30 terms with most large businesses, educational institutions and government agencies requiring anywhere from 30 to 60 days.  The time value of money comes into play here with the longer a client goes without paying you the lower your margins ultimately end up being.   Find a compromise and track it closely.  Do not offer your clients more in total credit than you can afford to lose in a percentage.  Figure worst case of a ten percent loss, if you can afford $50,000 in outstanding debt lend your clients no more than $55,000.  Never extend yourself to the point that you cannot pay vendors as they are your lifeline.   Have the expectation that most customers will not pay until 5-7 days beyond the terms date as many organizations use the date they receive the invoice versus the date you place on the invoice.

 Now you have extended credit and your customer does not pay.  What are your options?  First make sure you are diligent about calling within a set period.  If your invoices are due in 30 days call on the 35 day every time for every client.  Call again ten days later if the invoice remains unpaid.   Over the years we have found that by day sixty the chances of getting paid in full exponentially decrease.   There is one notable exception which is in dealing the government.  As sad is this is government agencies are notoriously among the worst payers.  Take that into consideration when bidding on your next government contract.    By day sixty the choices diminish.  Many advise a certified letter be sent so you create a paper trail.  This is confrontational though and may totally alienate your customer.   On the other hand if they have repeatedly broken payment promises you may  no longer want them as a client and may value the paper trail.   If after receiving such a letter in which you demand payment they still do not pay you really have no choice but to use a collection agent.    D&B operates their own branded collection services and although the fees are exceedingly steep you can be assured when using D&B they will notate the credit files of those that they are actively trying to collect balances upon.   The mere threat of a collection will often get clients paying.

We tend to error on the side of caution and have never had to use most of these tactics but do follow strict policies regarding following up on late invoices.  A majority of the time your clients simply misplaced the invoice and need a nudge to get a copy of it paid.   Hopefully some of these practices will help you in the future.   They’ve certainly helped maintain a sense of order for our logo apparel business.

The Brilliance of Obama Marketing

The staggering rise of Barack Obama over the last ninety days carries many lessons that can be applied unilaterally in the corporate world.  His meteoric rise to the front runner position for the Democratic Party Nomination is nothing short of a marketing coup of unprecedented proportions.   Indeed what he and his team have done over the past few months will be studied for decades.   In this article we will take a closer look at the brilliance behind his campaign marketing.  To be clear this article states no opinion or preference of which candidate or party is to be preferred, this is merely a discussion of what has become one of the most successful marketing campaigns of all time and how the techniques can be applied to normal business operations.  As we continue to analyze the strategies behind his campaign we are constantly figuring ways we can apply it to our promo items business.   Some of what we have taken from this is discussed in the following paragraphs.

A few months ago the dominance of Hillary Clinton was so uncontested that Saturday Night Live host Brian Williams joked in skits that it was a foregone conclusion.  In the skit he quips about how the media had already ordained her the winner and paraphrasing that it was a waste of time for other candidates.  Skip ahead a few months and hardly a commercial passes on the evening news without some coverage of Barack Obama even on off election nights.  What powered the transformation was absolutely brilliant personal and viral marketing at all levels.  Merriam Webster defines marketing as the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service.   Barrack Obama is both the product and the service of course as his entire campaign has been astutely directed like a well defined marketing campaign.   Tuesday night witnessed the tenth straight campaign victory for Obama and it is now all but impossible for his opponent to end up ahead in pledged delegates.  In short regardless of the outcome his marketing campaign was so successful that he has achieved absolute victory.  The strategy they followed was simple and perfectly executed.

Senator Clinton started out with more money, more support and was an established name.   She was very much akin to the large established competitor in a marketplace with a dominant position and substantial infrastructure in place throughout the country.  Meanwhile Senator Obama was the new kid on the proverbial block with not much in the way of resources and an undefined brand.  Rather than trying to take on Senator Clinton no her “turf” the campaign attacked on the edges foregoing some of the larger but fewer delegate rich States in favor of more but smaller States.  Instead of concentrating his efforts in a few areas which could have ended his campaign if resources and efforts went into a failure he went after the overlooked regions.  This is akin to a competitor targeting an old trusted client that doesn’t get the same level of service or attention as a new client you are actively trying to capture.  Perhaps an even better analogy would be that Barrack Obama did not try to compete by selling the hottest item on the market in direct competition with the largest player in that market but instead picked a product not heavily marketed by his competition and sold it heavily to smaller niche markets.  

The campaign also banked heavily on word of mouth and subsequent momentum to further the dollars they spent and in turn generate even more revenue.  By gaining support like he did in each area he rapidly built up a base of dedicated supporters actively selling his message to more and more people.  Just as important to his success was the geographic and demographic dispersion of these supporters which is clearly being illustrated in his growing dominance across all demographics.  Sure he is spending money at unprecedented levels as well but his victory margin arguably is coming from the initial efforts of individual supporters that has snowballed across the country.  It is the equivalent of immensely successful viral marketing.

The lessons to be learned and applied are simple: don’t overlook the smaller clients in favor of the big prize as ultimately the smaller clients are your stable base, utilize this base to promote your message through innovative marketing programs and more importantly conventional wisdom is often much less valuable than actual results.   The Senator has turned many old marketing premises on their respective heads and has fully utilized “Web 2.0″ in a way never before seen.   Whatever the outcome of the race what he and his campaign have done will be studied for decades to come.

Editors Note:  This article in no way endorses any political candidate.   As hundreds of millions of dollars are spent in advertising and marketing during a campaign season it is a valuable exercise to study the overall success of these efforts as a promotional marketing business.  Tens of millions are spent in each campaign cycle on promotional items and other items specific to our industry.  PromoManagers does not endorse or contribute to any campaign.

Promo Items Grind

January and February witness the release of dozens of new products onto the promotional products market.  Most were soft launched later in the previous year but are typically not mass released until the catalogs arrive in January.  This year it seems many of the more popular products are short stocked and our only guess is vendors were busy reading news reports of a bad economy and cut back on their initial purchases.  As a result there are literally hundreds of products already sold out into mid spring.

 As a consequence we are being careful to list promo items that are almost certainly going to be in stock, or will return to stock shortly.  We figure nothing aggravates a customer more, particularly a new customer, than placing an order only to find we are out of stock.   Why does this happen?  Well the technology is still not in place to absolutely guarantee the data coming from the vendors is accurate and not enough of the vendors – particularly the smaller to mid-size vendors – are participating in XML data feeds.   Until the data is accurate enough that it can be fully trusted we are going to continue to offer only products we know are typically in stock.  Hard to get items, or promo items that are closeouts or in short supply we will not stock on the site.  So what do we do if you order an item and we still cannot get it?

Typically we will provide the customer with a discount if an order is placed that we cannot fill if they are willing to wait.   If the customer is unable to wait for one reason or another we will offer an upgrade at our expense to an item of equal or greater value.  If no upgrade is immediately available we will provide the customer with a discount code for future purchases on the site.   As this is a business that requires extensive product customizations there will always be instances where items are not stocked as expected.   We will always make every conceivable effort to make the customer happy.

 We were busy over the holiday weekend rolling out some new products including the Leeds Excursion Saddle Bag which is new this year.  This particular Saddle bag is priced right and works for both men and women in the workplace.   We expect to have a busy week of adding new items as typically the school vacation weeks are among the slower weeks in the industry. 

The Politics of Promotional Products

During the months leading up to an important political election sales of politically oriented promotional products can jump by as much as 50% over yearly averages.  With the extremely competitive nature of the campaigns this year it is no surprise that this number is being exceeded.  In fact most major media outlets are reporting record setting fund-raising drives by both candidates from the Democratic Party.  Indeed over the last ten days the Clinton Campaign reports raising over ten million dollars which is is absolutely astonishing.

 So far this year our political promotional items business is up over 80% from last year with the core purchases coming from the discount promotional items segments.  As is typical many of the purchases involve lower end items that can be mass distributed such as bumper stickers, signs and other related political promotional items.   Surprisingly this year money is being spent on longer lasting more durable goods such as promotional mugs and drinkware.  This puzzled us a little bit until we sat down and contemplated the shift from less expensive items.   With at least two candidates now out of the race in 2008 the idea of having a longer lasting promotional tumbler carrying their message in years to come makes perfect sense.   With several of the candidates likely to run in future elections the branded promotional products that carry the slogan and name of the candidate but not the year can be reused in the proceeding years.   This is not to say promotional pens haven’t been as popular as in previous years but overall I think we have reached a saturation point on political gadgets with a desire this year to give supporters something new.  Promotional banners and any type of signage continue to lead the way for us in 2008 in terms of political promotional items but mugs may end up taking the largest share by the end of the political season.

The races themselves are quite interesting with Senator Obama continuing to sweep State after State over the last few days.  Our local candidate former Governor Romney dropped out of the Republican race earlier in the week as it became clear the delegate count was breaking towards Senator McCain.   It was a wise move for the former Governor as he is a young politician by modern standards and rather than continuing to waste money and time on a lost caused he stepped aside.   Whether or not he will be offered a position within the McCain ticket is unknown but it certainly seems unlikely given the very public animosity Senator McCain demonstrated during the campaign.   In any case it has certainly been an exciting race and fortunately for all there are centrist choices on both sides of the aisle.

 The push towards green promotional products continues to be quite strong.  The major dilemma is stocking and availability issues as demand is rapidly outstripping supply.  There is also still a limited number of available recycled products with few color choices and even fewer designs and models.   That appears to be continually changing as several vendors have released new products in February in response to the incredible demand.  Before offering these new products for sale we are bringing in samples to check for quality, consistency and durability.  A recycled product does no good to anyone if it does not stand the test of time and falls apart at the hands of our customers and in turn your customers.  We expect to be able to offer reviews on some of these items by late this week and expect to get them on the website shortly thereafter.  We added the new Anvil Organic Tee ten days ago and have received over a dozen orders already so no doubt organic promotional items  will be huge in 2008.

 In the meantime remember we have hundreds of high quality promotional items available with dozens more being added each and every day.  If you cannot find what you are looking for on the site feel free to contact us through email or the contact form.  In many cases we offer discounts to customers on the spot if they are unable to find a product we later quote.   We figure it is the least we can do in those circumstances.

One last note related to comments on this and other blogs.  We recently were forced to delete several comments that were blatant spam.   A quick Google search revealed the same messages in hundreds of similar blogs much to our shagrin.   I use that term because we held one of the organizations involved in the highest regard and were really suprised to see that they had someone actively spamming blogs on their behalf.  We openly discuss competitors here and have publicly praised several over the course of this blog.  We also welcome comments so long as they actually add some value and aren’t a blatant advertisement.   WordPress appears to be actively marking more and more comments as spam likely based on other bloggers checking the spam box when deleting.   Enjoy your week!

Weakest Recorded January Retail Sales

As if further evidence was needed that the Federal Reserve actions of January are a case of too little too late, the UBS-International Council of Shopping Centers released their initial survey Thursday showing a meager .5% growth rate in January 2008.  This is sharply below the already bleak 1.5% expected by most retail experts.   This anemic growth comes on the heels of a very weak December report.

 It’s about as obvious as it can be the economy is contracting rapidly.   Beyond the hard data released today it is readily apparent to anyone visiting a shopping mall that customers are absent.  Every facet of the economy is currently being negatively impacted with businesses ranging from health and fitness centers to landscapers reporting slow sales.  Worse yet reports surfaced this week of a massive elimination of available equity by big banks such as Countrywide which have reportedly slashed equity lines by up to 30%.   With these decreases approximately 50 billion in available purchasing power has been wiped from the domestic economy seriously blunting the potential positive net effects from the coming stimulus package. 

 On the job front claims for first time filers decreased this week as the effects of the MLK are dampened out.   However the overall decrease was considerably smaller than economists expected which leads me to believe the next report will show growing weakness in the job market.  With overall productivity also down as reported earlier in the week the picture is not bright.

Worse yet there has been wide speculation this week about the state of the commercial mortgage market.   The Financial Times reported this week that a leading New York investor is in the process of defaulting on almost $6 billion in Manhattan buildings after he failed to secure new financing.  With the prospects of increased commercial defaults growing each day it appears we may be entering a “perfect storm” of economic difficulty in the US.  With the residential mortgage market battered and bruised any prospect of the commercial sector turning sour is sure to keep bankers up nights over the coming months. 

 Is there a silver lining anywhere?  Probably not, but the Fed rate cuts will certainly help to blunt the downward swing but it’s clearly too little too late.  With so many sectors of the economy being adversely effected by the real estate bust it’s inevitable that our economy go through a very rough patch.  With consumers now taking it on the chin – even those paying their bills on time at the hands of banks afraid of continued losses it’s hard to believe any economic stimulus package will have dramatic effects.   There is some promising news, AAA reported yesterday that gas prices may drop up to fifty cents by spring.   This would hopefully have an immediate effect in that consumers would feel as though, and actually have more money in their pockets each week as their gas bills drop.

It’s not pretty out there right now, high oil prices, high gas prices, a weak job market and tumbling housing prices have definitely put the economy under tremendous strain.  So much time and money has been spent by the Presidential Candidates with very little actual insight as to how they will improve the economy.  As the dust settles on the Democratic side next month and with Romney dropping out today hopefully we can start to hear how any of our potential future Presidents will help the current economic crisis.

Mixed News Continues on Economy

The economic news today was mixed ending a two week period of up and down information.  On Monday Wall Street retreated as investors continued to show caution and cashed out profits from the rebound last week.  The fall Monday was partially expected given the success last week and at .85% although significant was not considered a major drop.

Surprising strength in factory orders initially had sent stocks up in early trading.  U.S. factories saw demand increase 2.3% in December up sharply from the 1.7% gain posted in November.   Overall factory orders increased at a higher rate than any time since July – prior to the credit crunch and subprime fiasco.  The number was also significantly better than the 2% expected by most economists.

 Orders for durable big ticket goods such as cars rose by 5% in December over a tepid .5% increase in November.   Demand for nondurable goods dropped by .4% compared with a 3% rise on November.  With most holiday shopping items falling into the non-durable goods category the news was certainly mixed.  For the entire year factory orders increased by a meager 1.4% which was the worst performance since the post 9/11 troubles in 2002.  On the job front the news was even worse with 28,000 jobs lost in January 2008 and almost 270,000 factory jobs lost in 2007.   That is an absolutely staggering number and reflects the continued weakness in U.S. manufacturing.

 On a wider and more resounding note the economy shed 17,000 jobs last month.  That marked the first nationwide loss of jobs since August 2003.  The ISM index of factory activity did rise in January above the critical threshold indicating the potential for some growth in the sector.  

 On the macro economic front about half of all economists polled expect to see a net decrease in GDP for the first quarter of 2008.  It is pretty clear the economy is treading water at best and has probably shrunk in the December to January time-frame, but whether or not that continues through March is any-ones guess.   Privately it would seem the economy contracted in January and will likely continue contracting through mid-February but barring any significant events should show some signs of rebound in March.

 On the promotional items front, we’ve released several new items in our portfolio category.  The term portfolio varies from vendor to vendor but for our purposes it includes any large padfolio type accessory with room for a calculator, extensive storage and often a ring binder.   Among the new entrants is the Leeds Neotec Ultimate E-Organizer Case which has room for your MP3 player, phone and PDA.   It’s part of the popular Neotec line and offers a tremendous value.   Stepping it up a notch the Leeds Millennium Leather Presentation Portfolio comes in at a higher price but includes the calculator and as the name implies is full leather.   The Leeds products continue to be incredibly popular.

Not mentioning the intensely popular and colorful Gemline Color Block E-Organizer would be negligence on our part.  There have been so many plain colored and at times boring portfolios on the market it’s  nice to see a vendor adding some color.  This has been a growing trend in new product releases in 2008 and it is clearly a welcome change.