Did you know that the Chicago NATO Summit Host Committee has swag bags to give away to dignitaries and journalists? Me neither. Curious about what's in the bag? Get a link to a sneak peek here. Curious about what I think about what's in it? Oh yeah, you'll find that here, too. And feel free to chime in. Stay safe during the summit my Chicago friends!…
Have you heard the term SMS marketing and wondered what it is, thinking you might be missing out on something? This post and video explains what it is and offers a tip to help draw people into your mobile text marketing program. Also includes link to live SMS text message marketing demo at PWPMobile.com.…
Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most misrepresented and misunderstood specialties in the entire realm of marketing. As a result, small and midsized firms frequently commit one of two major SEO errors and both alternatives are unmitigated disasters for almost any business. In this guest post, SEO copywriting expert Brad Shorr, Straight North Marketing, discusses essential things to know about SEO.…
"I just want my logo embroidered on this jacket. How much will it be?" My answer to that is, "It depends." Usually I hear a disheartened sigh on the other end of the line. Unlike ink imprinting, embroidery costs can be all over the map and it all depends on the stitch count and complexity of your design. In some cases, the embroidery decoration can cost more than the actual garment itself! What is stitch count? I provide an explanation, along with a money and time saving tip for your custom embroidered apparel orders.…
According to the American Pet Products Association, 62 percent of U.S. households own a pet which equates to 72.9 million homes. That's a huge segment of the American population! So using pet promotional products is a viable consideration for many businesses. However, there are several safety considerations when choosing pet promotional items which are discussed in this post and video.…
Heidi Thorne, editor of the Promo With Purpose Today blog (www.PWPToday.com), has just published a book titled Business Competitive Advantage: A Handbook for Small Business Owners, Entrepreneurs and Consultants. As the title suggests, this book helps small businesses and entrepreneurships discover their unique competitive advantage in the marketplace. It is available in paperback and on ...…
You open up your shipment of promotional products and, surprisingly, there are MORE than what you ordered. Or maybe there's LESS. Why is that? Can't they just turn off the machines in time? This video and post discusses overruns meaning, as well as underruns. You'll also learn things you can do to prepare and save yourself some money in these situations.…
Motorcycle season came early this year here in Chicago. Hubby (proud owner of four motorcycle "babies") was riding on St. Patrick's Day weekend. Motorcycling in mid-March in Chicago? Usually it's raining, cold and sometimes snowing. Global warming? Or a lucky St. Pat's day? Either way, it got me thinking about the combination of mobile marketing and motorcycles. In a recent MobileMarketing (UK) post, there was a story about how the Route 66 (Oklahoma) Harley-Davidson dealership used SMS text marketing (short message service) to build their "VIP Mobile Club" and build merchandise sales. See what they did and how you can rev up your sales engine with some of their successful mobile marketing tactics. Plus, there's a demo so you can see how a program like this could work for you.…
We all know that using reusable bags for shopping, events or trade shows are a great idea for the environment because it reduces or eliminates the need for single-use plastic bags. But we're fast approaching a time when their green value may have peaked. See why in this video. Plus, see tips for deciding when to buy and when to bypass them as promotional bags.…
I'm a major fan of two things: sports and books on business. So when my client and pal Mimi Altman, also an avowed sports fan, suggested that I read billionaire Mark Cuban's book, How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It, I quickly downloaded it to my Amazon Kindle. And with NCAA March Madness in full swing and the Chicago Bulls riding high so far this season, a book about basketball was a great selection. It was inspiring and instructive to read Mark's journey to billionaire-ship. His ability to seize opportunity when it knocks and change course when necessary is definitely worth modeling by entrepreneurs. I found his advice to be spot on throughout this quick-reading e-book. There are so many quotables, aside from this possible exception where Mark rags on swag for startup business. So is Mark Cuban anti-swag? Read this post and find out.…
