Did You Know?

According to the Promotional Products Association:

·         52% of people who receive promotional products do business with the company that distributes them.

·         Over 55% keep the promotional products they have received for more than a year! 

·         73% of people who used promotional items stated that they used it at least once a week. 45.2% used it at least once a day.

·         76.1% could recall the business’ name on the product that they had received in the past 12 months. This means you can reach customers for an extended period of time without spending a lot.

Drive Your Message Home with Key chains (Marketing Tips)

Giving out a promotional product that has a practical use will have a better chance of lasting longer in the hands of your prospects and customers – like key chains. Add your logo and tagline to a tastefully designed keychain and hand out at tradeshows, store promotions or send in the mail. You can also leave a bowl of them next to the register or near the door for people to take as they come and go.

Key chains can be large or small and the size you choose could depend on who makes up your customer base. If you predominantly target women, a larger keychain could be more effective as it will help them find their keys in a large purse. Smaller key chains would be more appropriate for male customers as they tend to carry their keys in their pockets.

Key chains also make good promotional products for businesses on a budget. Because they can be used for a long period of time, you won’t have to continually hand them out to the same customers. You should also consider buying them in bulk for a low price.

Out of all the potential career choices I could make, I decided that for me, I wanted to study the culinary arts.  I figured it would be a pretty secure career choice, since everyone needs to eat, right?

But the challenge that I was going to face was how I was going to pay for school.  Unfortunately for me, my parents never thought that saving money for their child for college was important, so I was not going to be able to count on them to help me.  I did have a bit of money saved up from mowing lawns, but I knew it was not going to be close to enough money.

My only choice was going to qualify for student aid, and I hoped that it was going to be a possibility for me.  I knew that my parent’s income was pretty low, but I hoped that it was low enough.  I filled out the application anyway, and I am waiting to hear whether or not I qualify.

I just hope that my dreams of going to school are not shattered by not having enough money – my whole life depends on it.

1. Switch to a solar-powered hot water heater. Go green and save a lot of money on heating your home!
2. Install fancy new light fixtures. Two brands to look at are Elk Lighting and Kalco Lighting.
3. Move everyone into new rooms. Shake things up at home by switching bedrooms with one another or turning a living room into a bedroom and vice versa.
4. Paint! Painting your home a new color is a great way to make a big change at a low cost.
5. Plant a garden. Start paying as much attention to your options outside as you do to your interior decor.
6. Get a great piece of new furniture. A really terrific piece of furniture can be a great statement piece for your home.
7. Open up your kitchen. Knock down a wall and expand your kitchen to make it a place where everyone can easily gather at once.
8. Put in a jacuzzi tub. This is such a treat and it’s not that difficult to do in most homes. Install in the bathroom or get one for outside.
9. Hang new art. Make your home personal and pretty by hanging up artwork, photos and cards that you’ve received over the years.
10. Decorate your ceilings. There are so many cool things that you can do to ceilings but most people never bother.

• Local website development. Let’s say that your Tampa-based business is already using a Tampa SEO company for website marketing. Make sure that they can do specific Tampa internet marketing at a local level if you want to get the most profits in 2010.
• Invest in a new company car. There are a lot of neat cars coming out on the market that can save you a lot of money because they are efficient with gas. Look into getting a new green car for your company this year.
• A company retreat or party. Celebrate the start of a new year and put your employees in a better frame of mind by having a big company retreat or party.
• Anything energy-efficient for the office. Green products are totally worth the money that they will cost you because they save you money in the long run.

These things are all things that would be smart to buy for your business in the year to come. Budget now to work these purchases into your financial plans for the near future.

Just last week, the store was broken into and the culprits made off with a bunch of cameras, and a large quantity of flash memory cards.  Thankfully we have insurance, so we will be making an insurance claim in an effort to get our money back.

But it looks like the process will take longer than the time that is left for the current holiday season, so we expect the store to experience a loss on the year.  Thankfully, my parents have savings in place for a “rainy day” like this one, so they should be able to weather the storm.

I just hope that they consider that it might be time to move the shop to a safer location in town.  Heaven forbid if they were robbed during the daytime and someone got hurt.  I just don’t know what I would do if I lost my parents.