How to Increase Profit Margins Part 1

The ideal gross profit margin for an ad specality distributor is in the range of 38-40% and you have to have that margin to grow your business and sustain your growth. Despite the current economic situation there are distributors that are succeeding and are able to maintain those kinds of margins.

But how do you get to, and maintain that level of profitability in the face of an increaingly price concious cleints?

1. Remember that attitude is everything.

You are not selling yourself or the cheapest item out there, you have to beleive in the product. You have to beleive that the product you are showing, because then the client will believe in the product as well. You have to add value to the transaction.

2. Provide top notch customer service.

One important way to add value is by offering your clients exceptional customer service during each step of the selling process. Price means nothing, as long as you are accessable and the order is completed and delivered without any issues. Keeping profit margins high mean keeping clients happy.

Stay tuned for more ways to increase your profit margins.

Small Business's, who normally have a small budget for advertising, ofter resort to unconventional methods to promote themselves. There are two most common types of advertising that small business's use and I will discuss them both.

The first is cross promotion. This is leveraging the success or popularity of another business for your own good. In a cross promotion you work with another business to increase sales for both companies. For example, you may offer free print work to any customer who buys a monthly subscription of your product. Or you could offer a free movie ticket to someone who purchases your product. Either way you are working with another company to promote sales. Associating with a business that is already popular and successful is the best way to go, because this can successfully raise the reputation of your company. It can be difficult to establish a rapport as a new business, but by working with someone who is already well known can do a great deal for your business. Had anyone ever heard of Dr. Phil or Dr. Oz until they started working with Oprah, heck no! So find the Oprah of businesses and work with them, your business should skyrocket!

News Flash! Use Flash drives!

Offer Big Marketing Opportunities USB flash drives - also often referred to as thumb drives or jump drives - act as reusable portable hard drives. These small units - about the size of a pack of gum - can easily be carried in a pocket, worn around the neck like a necklace or used as a key chain by your clients and prospects. There are even USB flash pens - with the flash drive "hidden" inside the writing utensil.

USB flash drives plug directly into your Universal Serial Bus (USB) port of a computer and are typically built to hold between 64 megabytes and 2 gigabytes of data. The popularity of flash drives have grown significantly over the past several years as storage capacities have increased and USB-enabled computers have become ubiquitous. The popularity and capabilities of flash drives has led to the advent of flash drive marketing.

The use of USB flash drives as effective marketing tools is continuing to evolve for forward thinking marketing professionals.

Thumb drives can be stamped with a company’s logo and as a result, custom logo USB drives have become trade show and convention favorites.

Companies are giving branded custom logo flash drives to key customers and prospects providing them with an instant reminder of your company every time they use the flash drive to transfer files or back up a document. Providing your customers (and potential customers) with a branded custom logo USB flash delivers a great way to market by keeping your brand in front of customers while giving them something of real value they will use over and over.

Taking Risk Part 2

This promotional strategy doesn’t require the risk to your company or your job, which you might initially assume.You give away cash or large prizes. Everyone likes to win and most people like to see others win. As long as you protect yourself and company with promotional risk coverage, you will also be the winner. Your prize offerings are based on the odds of a winner claiming the prize. As long as your promotional strategy does not include a guaranteed prize offering as the only prize, your company can include promotional risk coverage with the promotion. Promotional risk coverage can be found in promotions like you see on television, hear on the radio, read in newspapers, magazines, see online or in Internet marketing promotions. They offer the consumer a chance to win, and when there is a winner, your company is protected against having to pay the winner. Much like you insure your car from an accident or your home from a natural disaster, you can cover your promotion against a risk associated with the liabilities of giving away large valued prize amounts. The cost of promotional risk is minimal, literally a fraction of the prize value, and is based on the promotional odds, the prize value, and the number of chances given to win the promotion.

The strategy behind marketing promotions, which include promotional risk coverage, is simple and enables companies to differentiate brands in a very competitive market. Promotional risk covered promotions open up possibilities to offer larger prizes than most companies can afford, or would want to take promotional risk on. These large prizes are proven to increase registrations of online users, traffic in stores, and sales at any given time, leads generated both offline and online promotions, and build large brands through consumer loyalty.The strategy is to include a prize offering, which can be based on a game of skill, game of chance, or the redemption of an offer.

With Games of Skill, you could include promotional risk coverage in offering someone a chance to win up to $1,000,000 in a sports promotion.You have probably seen such games of skill in basketball promotions of a random fan shooting a basketball from half court.A football promotion might include a punt or throwing contest, or a hole in one coverage for golf promotions and tournaments.

Games of Chance are found in online marketing promotions and Internet marketing, with sweepstakes, online contests and games.You might see them in offline promotions for trade shows and events where B2B marketers or consumer marketers are holding drawings to increase traffic to events, increase customer response and generate leads.

Promotional risk coverage can be included in marketing promotions to protect companies against over redemption of coupon offerings and fix promotional marketing budgets for both consumer and B2B marketing strategies.Conditional offerings, such as conditional weather rebates, can add to marketing promotions to engage consumer involvement in the promotion and increase promotional coverage and public relations of the marketing effort.

Over redemption coverage allows promotional risk coverage to prevent the variable costs associated to budgeting of a marketing promotion when there is uncertainty about your program’s response rate or outcome. Promotional risk companies cover the cost of excess redemption's or responses, whatever the value of the prize, rebate, coupon, or premium. This allows you to plan promotional expenses to the penny, eliminate budget overruns for higher than expected response, and stretch promotional dollars for a maximum market impact.

The bottom line is magnified during the current economic climate, within every department of every business, small or large.To drive business in a recession, or any economic downturn, marketers must find new ways to gain and maintain market share.Those who realize that the success and longevity of their brand is in the hands of the American consumer will stand far ahead of the competitor.In order to engage the consumer and gain brand loyalty, the savvy marketer provides that consumer with benefits which will entice reaction.Consumers react to what they perceive is in their best interest.Find that formula in promotional risk coverage and you will benefit.

Should you take a risk!?

Promotional Risk… Is it worth it? Over the past decade, there has been tremendous growth in consumer and business product releases, bringing challenges to consumer and business to business marketers to differentiate brands. The ever changing media market increases the complexities, for both offline and online marketing professionals. The combined formula, with the recent recession and ongoing downturn of this economy, leaves marketers with an environment that is unique to any year in history, with a challenge that only the riskiest of marketers will survive. Are you willing to bet your marketing, advertising, public relations or promotions career on your willingness to take a risk? If you do not include this risk in your promotional strategy, while your competitor does, what will happen? Will your marketing competitor win market share that you have lost or will the safe road you have taken pay off? It is my experience that you must take the promotional risk.You are about to learn why you should include promotional risk coverage in marketing strategy to engage the consumer and secure a larger market share, during this recession.Follow these simple steps in marketing promotions strategy and build big brands that will stand the test of time.

There is no argument that consumers are responding to large cash and prize giveaways. Your marketing research can stop with the review of network programming you find in recent shows like Deal or No Deal, Price Is Right, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, and the many other network promotions which include large prize and cash offerings to both gain consumer loyalty and increase ratings. Radio and television stations, newsprint and magazine publications, online and offline companies alike are all tapping into the simplest of strategy to increase viewers, visitors and readership, while gaining promotional affiliations and sponsorships.The strategy is simple. They are taking promotional risk.

Choosing different promotions and giveaways!

Small businesses, which usually have limited advertising budgets, often resort to unconventional methods to promote themselves. Two of the most common types of "small business" methods are cross promotions and freebies, or giveaways. Let’s take a look at each, along with some pros and cons.

A cross promotion is leveraging the success or popularity of another business for your own good. In a cross promotion, you work with another business to (hopefully) increase sales for both companies. For example, you might offer free commercial color printing services from a commercial printer to any customer who buys a monthly subscription to your service. Or you could offer free movie tickets to any customer who buys your new product. Either way, you are working with another company to promote sales. The benefits of cross promotions are obvious. If you are able to work out a deal with an established and reputable business in the area, then you are on the right track. Associating with a business that is already popular can significantly enhance the reputation of your company. It can be difficult for a new small business to establish itself in the minds of the customers, but partnering with a business that is already well entrenched can really moves that process along.

There is a possible negative involved, however. If the company you have partnered with has a serious problem at some point, and loses some of its luster, it could impact negatively on your own efforts. This is not likely, and even if it did happen, the effects would probably not last long. Still, the possibility is there and is worth noting. If it were to happen, one way to help combat the negative effects is to actively promote your separation from the offending company. You can do this by designing an attractive commercial color printing that extols your own company’s virtues and qualities, and distributing that to as many customers as possible.

Freebies

Giveaways are another popular tactic used by start up small businesses. In a giveaway, you literally give away one of your products, or some of your services, to customers in an attempt to increase profits or to establish an identity for yourself. This is done in a variety of different ways. You could offer a free one-hour massage in the hopes that customers who take advantage of it will be so pleased that they will come back for more. You could give your customers a free ball cap for every two that they buy at regular price. Giveaways, if done properly, can enhance a company’s success, especially in its early stages. If you have a quality product or service and are just trying to introduce it to people, a giveaway can help you achieve that goal rather quickly. And if you are looking for cost effective advertising options, freebies are definitely an option you should consider.

However, you must use giveaways sparingly, and with care. Sometimes, freebies devalue your product. In other words, giving something away for free can lead customers to consider that product to be cheap, even if it is not. It becomes less valuable in the customer’s mind, which is certainly not a good thing. To avoid that problem, only give away a product for free if you pair it with another product that is already well established as a valuable item. If you are giving away a free service, do not overdo it by offering so much that it devalues your work. Basically, if you try to think like your customers, you will be fine.

Promotional Bags what a great idea!

Can there be anything more convenient at a sales event than a promotional bag? Promotional bags are particularly handy for sales and marketing exhibits and events where attendees invariably collect business cards, sales brochures and other items as they move from one sales area to the next. The best part of these bags is that the smart company who provides them knows they will be used over and over. With each use, the company name, clearly emblazoned, provides a wide range of exposure.

Choose a bag in regular logo colors or in a more eye-catching hue. The fabric from which these bags are made range from sturdy plastic to durable canvas. Bags with promotional power are often passed on from an original owner so that the company logo remains a potent promotion.


For special events of the non-sales kind, they are appreciated for the remembrance of an anniversary, birthday, club or organization picnic or virtually any special event where the convenience of these bags plays a large role. That’s why these bags really are "All-Purpose". With that kind of usefulness, it’s a great opportunity to display an appropriate logo. This makes company, group or event logo quickly recognizable and at once, a great opportunity for promotion. Logo recognition often takes time. This type of bag handily increases company name recognition by virtue of continued use.


The trend to use bags with logos as "giveaways" has been popular for decades because they are an inexpensive way of advertising. Advertising is costly. Promotional bags are reasonably priced for purchase in bulk quantities. Schools, libraries and museums love them as a measure of "appreciation". Banking institutions and athletic organizations consider these a regular promotional item for their advertising.

Finding new marketing ideas

Sometimes, the old methods are still the best way to go when it comes to building a business. In an ever competitive business world, this can often mean using promotional items to entice potential customers to become definite customers. The problem, of course, is you need to find some good "schwag" to entice them.

Promotional materials have been used by businesses for as long as one can remember. On the cheesy end of the marketing stick, you see them used in infomercials. You know, "…but that’s not all. You’ll get these handy, dandy knives plus…for only $19.99." You may laugh at these infomercials, but you would be wrong to do so. Why? They work.

Moving farther up the marketing scale, we find that promotional items are used all the time with "nicer" products. We often just don’t realize it. Consider a magazine like Sports Illustrated. How do they drive sales? They offer tote bags, clock radios, magazines customized to specific teams and so on if you will only subscribe for a year or two. Again, they wouldn’t be doing it if it didn’t work.

If you have a business, you need to think about using promotional items to entice your potential clientele. The problem most businesses run into is figuring out what promotional items to use. Many in the industry refer to these items as "schwag". So, what schwag should you use?

Schwag comes in unique and run of the mill forms. We’ve all seen the coffee cups, pens, note pads, hats, shirts and so on with company names on them. This is run of the mill schwag. Since it is not unique, the chances of it having a positive effect on prospects is nominal.

Unique schwag is a much better choice. Unique makes you stick out. Sticking out makes people remember you. So, how do you find unique schwag? Avoid the "promotional companies." Instead, look for companies that produce a real product that also happen to private label it.

Also, focus on companies making products that are associated with your business niche. Nomad Journals makes a great travel journal that is available for private labeling. If you have a travel agency or other travel related company, it would make a tremendous promotional gift.

What if you have a "dry" profession? What could a lawyer, for instance, give away that their clients would enjoy. How about a free "lawyer jokes" book? It would definitely set you apart from other lawyers and probably make your client feel a bit better. A happy client results in referrals.

Whatever your business area, promotional items can make all the difference between success and failure. Take the time to consider the possibilities. You’ll be surprised how big a difference they can make to your bottom line.

Show of your business with a promotional folder!

Customized, printed products are a popular choice for business promotion, especially when they will be used to hold materials at a conference or trade show. Savvy organizations and businesses turn to promotional products, including folders, in their overall business management and marketing strategy. While attending a conference, seminar, trade show or exhibition, promotional folders are one of the first products that an attendee will receive upon arrival. These folders are typically embossed or printed with corporate logos or details. They are used to hold all of the relevant materials for the event, and are commonly updated throughout the conference by the recipient. A quality folder will be used regularly during the conference while increasing the perception and visibility of the promoted company or brand name in a professional yet stylish manner.

Folders are also a great trade show or promotional giveaway item, especially when they are packed with information about you and your company such as a diskette / CD, marketing materials, sales kits, or customized presentation information. A well-designed marketing folder can have a significant positive impact on your company’s visibility, image, and bottom line. These folders are perfect for times or situations when limited distribution is required, small meetings, or informational seminars.

There are numerous types and styles of folders on the market today, including popular options such as leather, PU, silver trim, or koskin. Environmentally-concerned clients are also well pleased with the latest recycled board folders featuring professional lines, business card slits, and Velcro closures. Many folders come with additional amenities such as added utility space, zipped outer pockets, calculators, writing pads, and ringbinders. The discerning business client will find a wide variety of promotional folders, from the low budget variety to the executive leather folder.

Lipstick Pens

Need a great promotional product! Let me introduce you to the Lipstick Pen! This has become a must have for any business that has women as thier client's or as potential clients.

The lipstick pen is the size of a real lipstick and looks like a real lipstick until you pull off the "lipstick" to reveal a nice silver ball point pen. The "lipstick" comes in red, pink, purple, or blue.

These pens can be printed with your logo and contact information and are perfect for your next trade show. These are espically popular for bridal and beauty shows.

The pens start at $1.75 for 100 units- but the more you order the more you save. So ask today about our lipstick pens and how they can help get you noticed!

They don't follow up!

Here is where you can make or break your trade show experience- the entire point of having a booth at trade show is to get leads, and you must follow up with those leads after the show. Your job does not end when the show closes down, it's only beginning. You must follow up with your leads within 10 days of the show, the sooner the better. It can be an email, letter, or phone call, although it's always best to have voice to voice contact with your perspective contacts. Remember don't waste you time with the people who were not interested- you have already weeded out the time wasters- so you should only be calling interested parties!

Remember people will not call you, they most likely do not even remember you, they met tons of people at the show- you have to follow up with them and remind them that they need your products!

They don't recognize time wasters!

This is the most important part of trade shows in my opinion. You only have a set amount of time at a trade show- and most likely you have paid to be a part of the show- so you better get the most bang of your buck, and don't waste your time with people who are not interested in your products or are not your potential clients. Some people have no intention of doing business with you, but they love to chat and they love whatever it is you are giving away or they love whatever products are on your table. This is a qualifying issues- you need to learn to quickly assess the value of a visitor before investing too much talk time. You need to ask qualifying questions, "could you see yourself ordering 500 of these?" and show them a product. This may seem like you are pushing away smaller orders, you can still spend time with the smaller orders, but don't let that take all of your time. Get their card and call them the next day to talk. Or if you have someone that has a lot of questions explain that you would love to talk with them, and set up a time to either meet or just say I will call you tomorrow to continue this conversation. A trade show is not the time to have a 30 minute discussion with a potential client. Trade shows are a time to get leads, you follow up on those leads after the show, not during!
So remember QUALIFY FIRST, PRESENT LATER!

Do not ask "can I help you"?

A general rule in sales is to never ask a question that can be answered with a simple "no". You want to ask unique open ended questions that puts the visitor at ease, like "What unusual things have you seen at the show?" or "what have you seen that interests you?" These types of questions invite conversation. You want to converse with the show goers not bark orders and questions at them.

Or if you really want to be snazzy as open ended questions that quality the visitor, like "what types of promotional products are you using right now?" This allows you to determine if you can help them, that way you can not waste your time and their time speaking with someone who does not need, use, or want your products.

If you incorporate this with our booth positions tools you will give yourself the room to talk to your perspective new customers- by pushing your table back and standing in front of it you allow yourself to be in the mix of people without being on top of your fellow booth mates.

Booth Design

You know how in real estate the key is LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION! Well booth design at trade shows really isn't that different. Some homes are just designed wrong, and so are trad show booths! Is selling about building walls or is it about breaking then down or going around them? If, on an ideal sales call, you want to sit next to a prospect rather than having a desk between you then why would a trad show booth be any different?! Why would you design a show booth that sends the wrong message the thousands or trade show visitors?

One of us MUST cross over into the other's territory before anything good is going to happen. Remove ALL barriers, get out from behind the table, chair, display, whatever you have to. Interact with the people.

Your booth should be secondary- people sell things, not displays. Displays and booths grab attention, but people sell! Stand in front of your booth- actually the best thing to is is push your table back- and don't use the chairs and stand in front of your booth. This way you are not invading others space- everyone paid for a space- be considerate of your fellow trade showers. You should be handing things out- this is where promotional products come in handy. If a prospect has a question and you need some space or some peace and quiet you can step back to your table and talk one on one with the prospect.

So get out from behind your table and be one on one with the show goers!

Step 2 Create Continuity

You can build a bigger order and more profit by taking to your clients about continuity, such as a series of products that are distributed over time to an specific audience. When you do this you lay the groundwork for either a larger dollar order up front or a string a follow up orders over a set period of time, it all depends on how your customer wants to purchase product. Continuity programs are effective at securing future sales. For example a desk set, where each year or each quarter your customer adds to the set, one time a clock, the next a pencil holder, the next a letter opener, and so on, you get the idea. Your clients will benefit because they are more likely to remember an advertiser when a message is sent to the repeatedly over a period of time, this makes your customers investment more profitable. It's far better to spend more money up front and get a better returns on the back end than to save pennies only for lesser results.

Increase your profit!

With many financial gurus warning of a stalled economy its time to jump start your money makes, not put on the brakes. Fuel your own sales machine with some sure money maker techniques. This will be a seven part series that outlines seven proven methods used to boost sales in a dwindling economy.
Good, Better, Best!
Use this approach when responding to your client's requests, by doing this you will move a client to an increase in budget in exchange for a greater value. Most of the time you are given a budget by your client, in actuality the budget is below the actual amount of money that the buyer has to spend. So, show something lower in price than the given budget, then show something that is right at their budget and then something greater than the stated amount. As you show each product show more value for the money with each item.

Never ignore what you think to be an obvious advantage to your clients when it comes to showing value. Buyers may not be aware of the obvious, and it's very important to stress all the value and benefits of your products or services.

Once your client sees how those few extra pennies per unit will make a difference in the longevity of an imprinted item and the greater influence it will have on the recipient, you've got a bigger sale in the bag.

Battle of the Budget

We are all dealing with it now, its on every news station, in every news paper, and on every website- the failing economy! So how do we battle that when dealing with selling promotional products and how do you deal with the economy as a business trying to get your name out there to your potential customers.

Anytime our economy goes through a phase, such as the economic "crisis" as its been called, the first thought for business owners is to pull back on their marketing budgets. Which is WRONG, why in times of plenty everyone is spending tons of money on marketing but when you need money and business people pull back from marketing, how do you think you are going to get business? That thinking is all backwards. Now, why I understand where that thought process is coming from, because marketing is looked at as not as important as paying the monthly business bills, such as the phone bill or the rent.

Right now the goal when shopping for promotional products is to try and order in bulk, you will save more money over the course of the year, if you can order 500 pieces instead of 250 you will save money, its the same concept as shopping at Costco or Sams Club. You also want to find a product that is going to give you the most, snap, crackle and pop for you buck.

So remember, in this tight time in our economy you still need to market, its more important now then ever! To get the most out of your promotional products budget look for a product that will pop and set you apart from your competition and order in bulk to save money. One great product is better then five boring products, its not quanity its quality!

Clothing Makes the Person

You see them everywhere...imprinted t-shirts, hats,aprons,jackets, sweat shirts and sweat pants and all with a creative design. Think about every shop or restaurant you go into and start looking at the employees, most of them are wearing some sort of item with the company logo on it. Its a way of the company branding themselves as well as protraying a professional appearence, it also makes the employees look unified. It's also a great idea to give your clients items to wear that has your logo on it. Either something as simple as a hat or T shirt will keep your clients wearing them long after you give them away and giving other people the opportunity to see your logo, it's like having your customers advertise for you, for FREE, and we all LOVE free!

So think about for your next promotional campaign. Wearable apparel is one of the most popular types of promotional product. Think about different types of apparel, like jackets or even footwear to really make your message stand out from the crowd.

Choosing Promotional Products that Fit Your Business

Thousands of promotional products exist, from the commonly known pens, mugs, calendars, t-shirts, and key chains, to ones you might not have even thought of, such as candy wrappers, tools, coasters, or sports equipment. Along with each selection of promotional products also exists choice of colors or design at various quantities and pricing. Using your marketing plan, you should be able to easily choose products that will fit your identified marketing opportunities whether it is a trade show or a special occasion as well as how many products you need and how much you can afford to spend per item.

It's important to know what your end goal is when ordering promotional products. If your goal is to get people back into your store, then you need to give them an item that will require them to come into the store, or maybe send a coupon that they redeem in the store for a promotional item. For example a car dealership could send out keys asking customers to come into the store to see if their key starts the engine to a brand new car. Or maybe a coupon is sent out and the first 1000 customers that come into the store get a free T shirt or some other product.
If the goal is just get your name out there then you want to give out something that people are going to use on a daily basis so they see your company name every day.

Choose products that are appropriate for your industry as well as something your audience would enjoy. A pizza place that is looking for something to hand out to customers would do best with handing out a magnet with their contact info on it, because those magnets will go on people's refrigerators, and when they get home and are hungry and don't feel like cooking they be looking at the refrigerator and call the first number they see. Its about thinking who your target audience is. Imprinting your selected promotional product with your message or logo will be a powerful marketing tool in the hands of your potential customers.

Be sure to work with a professional promotional products consultant, because they have the knowledge and the information to help you pick the best products for your business and your audience.

7 ways to keep your business moving forward!

Here are 7 tips on how to keep your business moving and shaking and most importantly growing with promotional products!

1. Make your business card work for you long after you leave, by putting your info on a pen. You company message will be used and seen for many each and every day. Pens are an inexpensive and effective way to get your name out there.

2. Be Generous! Remember to give two of everything, one for your customer and one for them to give to a friend. Magnets or calenders work great for this, because they are both useful and inexpensive.

3. Thank your customers. Give them a gift that they can use everyday that is nice. A keychain or nice ballpoint pen in a nice gift box works great for this. Its a great way to say Thank you for doing business with us and we cannot wait to work with you again!

4. Remind customers to reorder. Place a calculator at near the bottom of their box of items so as they are running out, they will find a calculator with your contact info on it and they will remember to reorder, because they can use the calcultor to figure out how much stuff they need to reorder. Also keep track of how often they need new products. If you know a company goes through 500 pens in 3 months, then contact them after 2 months and start reminding them to reorder so they are never out of promotional products.

5. Prompt Action. Offer a coupon for a discount, and put an expiration date on it. People want to use coupons before they expire.

6. Create traffic. Offer a free gift with purchase. If you have a store, put a sign in the window.

7. Increase company awareness with wearable products. Hats, T shirts, and jackets are walking billboards. Wear your logo at the next lunch or networking event that you attend. Not only are you branding your self, but you are showing your customers what you do. You can make walking billboards for your customers as well. Also it shows loyalty in your company and product, you are proud of what you do.