Gretchen Nielsen

I love promotional products and so do my buddies, San Francisco Giants Buster Posey and Sergio Romo

You like having your name and phone number at your customer’s desk, don’t you?  Well, a calendar does it – all day and every day.

How much do geeks like swag?

So much so that Gamespot.com used a “bag of swag” as an incentive for visitors to engage in discussion on their site.

Gamespot uses promotional items to build engagement

Gamespot is website of video game news, reviews, previews, trailers, etc. and E3 is the big annual trade show for the video game industry.

Gamespot.com finds a winning strategy, using promotional items to build engagement

These gamers figured out a winning strategy. Who won?

• Gamespot got new members and built engagement and loyalty
• companies whose swag was included got promotion and brand awareness
• the tradeshow enticed people to attend future shows
• the industry benefited from the excitement created at the tradeshow being sustained

Are you are recruiting, recognizing or marketing to techie types?
Level up, find new weapons (unique promo items) and win the game!

It feels good to say thank you. It feels good to be thanked.

Some people like to give their customers an unexpected gift, not as a marketing tactic or as a sales tool, but just as a way of saying “thanks” for their patronage.

A simple gesture like that helps retain customers, and we all know that it’s more cost-effective to keep existing customers than to acquire new ones.

There are many occasions that merit thank you’s

• project completion
• touring your facility
• attending an event
• viewing a demonstration
• request for information
• end of year and holidays

And people who should be thanked

• volunteers
• donors, fundraisers
• vendors
• employees (landmarks, anniversaries, training)

Your thank you gift shouldn’t be over-the-top expensive because that could seem extravagant. It depends on what you’re thanking them for.

If you are thanking a prospect for letting your company fly them to the Bahamas and put them up in a private resort to hear your presentation on capital investments, your gift probably should be expensive. For others, a more appropriate thank you gift might be a logo imprinted coffee mug full of chocolates.

Something that is tasteful and useful will be well received and won’t get thrown away or banished to the back of a drawer.

A thank you gift that ties into your business message and has your graphics custom imprinted on it will prompt your customers to keep coming back.

Huh – what did you say? I’m sorry, I was distracted…

Companies are clamoring for attention everywhere we turn. How do you get your message through?

The most basic way to get someone’s attention is to break a pattern, to do something surprising and interesting or maybe humorous.

A local IT Support company, The Computer Wizard, wanted something different, that would convey what they do, and found this effective and economical promotional item, a pen shaped like a magic wand
A local IT Support company, The Computer Wizard, wanted something different that would convey what they do and I found them this effective and economical promotional item, a pen shaped like a magic wand

How can you emerge from the clutter and get someone’s attention?

What are you trying to convey? I can help you find a unique item that captures the attention and gets your message across.

If you have a story and pictures to go with it, a custom calendar is a great way to tell it.

Your company’s custom calendar can have a picture for each month, with a blurb that tells that part of the story.

Stories you could tell with your calendar that will have a lot of impact:

• the evolution of a product
• the history of your company
• the design and manufacturing process of a product
• cool techno geeky machines and diagrams
• the seasons of your business

For example, your winery’s calendar could show pictures of your vines being trimmed in January, bud break in April, flowering in May, bloom in June, veraison in August, harvest in September, and bottling and Gold Medals in whatever months those happen.

If your company is known for a flagship product (let’s call it the Ultimizer for this example), your company’s custom calendar might show the original version of the product, the Ultimizer M1, in January, the Ultimizer M2 in February, the Ultimizer M2mkII in March, etc., with text explaining the brilliant improvements incorporated into each.

A record label’s story could use photos of their different artists, cd covers and Grammys for each month.

You may also choose to have little blurbs on certain dates, for example on January 16th there could be an entry “Our Company founded on this date in 1952″.

because a picture is worth a thousand words, a custom calendar is a great tool to tell your story

Selling is story telling. Because a picture is worth a thousand words, a custom calendar is a powerful tool to get your story across.

“Yes Your Honor, I understand – hefty fines, irreparable harm to my brand and lost customers.”

Fortunately, that scenario doesn’t apply to you because all products you order through Gretchen at The Vernon Company are safety compliant.

Of course you only want to give your customers and prospects something that is safe, that can’t hurt anyone.

But now there are Federal and state laws, like the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, with strong safety standards, especially for children’s products.

It’s not just children’s products, though. All products you select must be compliant with Federal and state regulations – it’s not optional.

Don’t worry. Promotional products are safe and effective for promoting your brand.

• Just be aware of the safety issue
• Ask the right questions
• Use the right promotional products partner

The Vernon Company

• has implemented strict supplier safety standards and works only with “safe suppliers,” who have provided us with compliance certification and documentation and extensive indemnification certification.
• Custom imports are sourced only through approved vendors with documented safety procedures and testing practices.
• Complete social compliance – all manufacturing processes are socially, ethically and environmentally responsible.
• Member of our industry’s Product Responsibility Action Group; helped establish industry best practices

Products you get through Gretchen are safe for promoting your brand.

Here’s an example of an expense – recruiting.

Recruiting quality staff is an expense for some businesses.

But, it costs less to keep good employees than to find new ones: retention costs less than recruiting.

Many companies have a tradition of recognizing the milestones of employees’ years of service, for example with 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 year awards.

There are also other occasions for recognition that don’t require waiting years and years!

When a project is completed, team members get recognized. Perhaps finishing a training program merits notice. How about people who learn or present at industry conferences?

We like it when employees come in under budget or come up with a cost saving idea – and we reward them in front of their peers.

Employees are craving more frequent recognition – and most employers aren’t giving it to them.

When it comes to company profitability, employee appreciation is key. Companies that are good at recognizing employees are three times more profitable than those that are bad at it, according to the New York Times Bestseller, The Carrot Principle.

Have a happy, engaged, productive staff.

Give your employees something they will value that says you value them..

Reduce your recruiting costs by using recognition gifts.

I get to do what I love doing (and have been doing for over 20 years), helping customers get their promotional products, and make a living at it.

And that contributes to your part in the success of the US Economy – promoting and growing your business.

Many of our customers and prospects respond very positively to products Made In USA because they help create and keep American jobs and maintain a strong economy.

We also like products Made In USA because of

• Quicker turnaround time (from order to delivery)
• Savings in shipping and customs
• Better quality control
• Less inventory/stock issues – if a manufacture is out of stock, they produce more.

So congratulations to you and me for our part in the success of the US Economy – we deserve a pat on the back!

Where is that business card? I can’t find it.

But if it’s a pen that writes well I use it – and it’s close at hand and has your contact info on it. Of course you have business cards, but it’s good that you have nice pens to give out, too.