Doing a little research I found that Custom Golf Balls were the most popular give-a-way to big clients, and high end pens were a close second.

The ever popular Koozie Can Cooler was used by many firms at tradeshow events.  The Gavel Stress reliever was right up there as well.

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

My business has grown over the years for a couple of reasons –

• I have build relationships with customers
• I have delivered or over delivered as promised
• I have always fixed without question any problem

In doing these small things I have retained customers 5, 10 and even 15 years and have gained their confidence, leading them to not think twice about giving someone my name when the need arises.
 
A referral is based on an outcome, an outcome that you can not control.  You can however influence an outcome by the actions you take in servicing your customers.

Referrals will only happen when these conditions have been met. 

• The referrer had a good experience doing business with you and your company.
• The referrer has a friend or associate who needs your product or service.
• The referrer is confident the person they are referring will have the same experience with your company that they had.
• The referrer wants to help both you and the person they are referring.

Another way I have received referrals without even intending to, is by just being helpful and informative to everyone possible.  Sharing the things I’ve learned with my network of friends, family and business associates has lead to unexpected referrals.

So you desire referrals, getting them is easy, just NEVER ASK FOR THEM, simply take care of your customers better than any competitor would. Work with your clients to understand what they are trying to achieve in life and in business. Help them get what they want and then some. Over deliver when they do business with you.

Do these things and your customers will naturally think of you when their friends and associates need the services you offer.

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

The results came back estimating 14 searches – which is not really that great, also in the mix was two related phases “Promotional Products For Law Firms” and “Promotional Products For Attorneys” both of these also with 14 searches.  So between these three long tail phases I am looking at generating 42 additional visitors just by ranking on the first page of Google for them – that’s free traffic.

In doing a bit more research on this quest for the almighty first page, I Googled these phrases to see how competitive they are (how many competitor pages come up when conducting a search).

• Promotional Products For Lawyers - 478,000 result pages
  Promotional Products For Law Firms -  364,000 result pages
  Promotional Products For Attorneys -  919,000 result pages

Due to the low estimated searches I found there are not many pages competing for these keyword phrases.  In reviewing the listings on the first page of Google I found the top ranking sites to be of low quality without many backlinks.

All these factors will make it pretty easy to get on the first page of Google in my opinion.

I am turning to the techniques I learned from being a long time user of a great product called SEO Elite.  I estimate I can be on the first page of Google for all three of these phrases in less than 30 days.

Stay tuned for future posts on the progress of this challenge.

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

The wide-ranging study was completed by a team of interviewers who surveyed travelers in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia*.  Respondents were asked if they had received any advertising specialties in the last 12 months and the majority were businesspeople over age 21.

Here is an overview of the findings:

• 84% of people remember the advertiser on a product they receive.
• 42% have a more favorable impression of an advertiser after receiving an advertising specialty.
• Nearly one quarter, or 24%, indicated that they are more likely to do business with an advertiser on items they receive.
• Most respondents (62%) have done business with the advertiser on a product after receiving it.
• Writing instruments are the most commonly-owned advertising specialty, with 54% of respondents owning them, followed by shirts, caps and bags.
• The majority (81%) of promotional products were kept because they were considered useful.
• More than three-quarters of respondents have had their items for about seven months.
• Among wearables, tote bags were reported to be used most frequently, with respondents indicating that they use their tote bags on average nine times per month.
• Bags deliver the most impressions, with 1,038 impressions per month on average.
• The average cost-per-impression of an advertising specialty item is $0.004, making it less expensive per impression than nearly any other media.  (According to Nielsen Media data, the CPI for a national magazine ad is $0.033; a newspaper ad is $0.0129; a prime time TV ad is $0.019; a cable TV ad is $0.007; a syndicated TV ad is $0.006; and a spot radio ad is $0.005).

These statistics conclude that marketers get a more favorable return on investment from advertising specialties than almost any other popular media, with a very low cost-per-impression, high recall among those who receive ad specialty items, and increased intent among recipients to make purchases from the advertiser.  

“During a time when we’re facing turbulent economic conditions, this research advises marketers and business owners to invest in advertising specialties now more than ever,” said Timothy M. Andrews, president and chief executive officer of the Advertising Specialty Institute.  “Advertising specialties provide measurable results for a very reasonable investment.” 

“Distributors and suppliers should use these results to educate their customers, prospects and end-buyers about the power of advertising specialties and how they increase sales and brand exposure,” Andrews continued.  “Ad specialties are essentially gifts that break through the information clutter, reach consumers on a personal level, and provide real impact in a creative way.”

Advertising specialties, or promotional products, are items branded with a corporate logo or message that are used as an incentive, a gift or as part of an advertising campaign; and the industry comprises a 13% share of the advertising marketplace, with $19.6 billion in sales for 2007. 

For all results of the Advertising Specialties Effectiveness Study from ASI, visit www.asicentral.com/study.  For more information, contact Larry Basinait, executive director of research for ASI, lbasinait@asicentral.com.

About ASI
Advertising Specialty Institute is the largest media and marketing organization serving the advertising specialty industry, with a membership of over 26,000 distributor firms (sellers) and supplier firms (manufacturers) of advertising specialties.  Supplier firms use ASI print and electronic resources to market products to over 22,000 ASI distributor firms.  Distributor firms use ASI print and electronic resources, which contain nearly every product in the industry from more than 3,500 reputable suppliers, to locate supplier firms and to market services to buyers.  ASI provides catalogs, information directories, newsletters, magazines, websites and databases, and offers e-commerce, marketing and selling tools.

*  Methodology – A web-based survey was also used to augment segments of in-person interviews, resulting in a total sample of over 600 respondents.

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.
Proud Member of the Advertising Specialty Institute®
ASI #140684

In a recent visit to an industry tradeshow I was exposed to a brilliant idea that will double tradeshow booth traffic.  This item that will make your booth stand out from all the other exhibitors that are just handing out a low cost custom printed pen. 

When someone stops by your booth you hand them a custom printed pedometer that features your company name and web address.  You then tell them to wear it and return to your booth at the end of the show, because you will be tracking the amount of steps each attendee has taken and the one with the most steps wins a prize, like an iPod or some other cool techno gadget.

This is a great concept that will excite the recipient and make them return to your booth a second time giving you an advantage over your competition that more than likely will only have one exposure to prospects attending the event.

To Your Success!

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

The Evolve line is California Prop 65 and FDA compliant – and BPA free.  Top rack dishwasher safe and microwaveable.  Evolve products are even shipped in eco-friendly packaging to reinforce the message of sustainability. 

For a limited time, we are offering FREE set-ups on 1-color imprints (1-location with standard lid and assembly). 
 
Here’s Just One Way Evolve Drinkware Has Been Successful as a Branding Solution:

A company sponsored a series of morning seminars at an industry trade show in Las Vegas.  They provided an assortment of gourmet coffees served in the Evolve Infinity Tumbler to help late-night revelers stay awake during their 8:00 AM product demonstrations.  The attendees appreciated the good coffee – and took home Evolve tumblers with the company’s logo and contact information. They had a 20% increase in business after this trade show over previous years.  Several attendees appreciated the fact that these mugs were environmentally responsible and the loved the fresh colors they came in, which livened up the look of the room for their early morning meeting.

The minimum order is just 96 pcs at $2.85 each (Plus Screen $50, Shipping/Tax/Art), production time is 7 working days.  The colors available are Black, Blue, Dark Green, Light Blue, Lime, Stone.

Visit our site for more Eco-Friendly Promotional Items.

To Your Success!
Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

To prove how powerful this new product really is, a box with a sample of the product was mailed out.  Sounds like a regular old product mailing, but the spin cycle on this mailing was simple – they wrapped the box with a basic white t-shirt.

You guessed it the t-shirt was not so white when it arrived at the recipient’s home, and what better way to test the product first hand.  This was so clever, the t-shirt wrapped box grabs your attention and gets your curiosity going – making you tear into the package to see what the heck is in side.

I would surely try the product on the dirty shirt – which was the intent of the promotion,  grab the consumer and make them take action – then impress the shirt off them and gain their trust in your product – which will lead to sales.

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

A series of collector’s cards, custom printed beach towels and a trip to Reykjavik, Iceland were the prizes offered in the sweepstakes that ran this past summer.  The collector cards were made up of four different scenes from the movie.  On the back of the cards was a maze that when completed it an image of a dinosaur or the outline of Iceland.  The cards were also coded driving consumers to the Dippin Dots website so they could enter to win the prizes.

The prizes included the trip to Iceland, DVDs, movie posters and a party pack that included a logoed beach towel. “Towels tie into summer,” Terry Reeves, communications director for Dippin’ Dots said the printed towels they used were a great way of advertising the promotion. The main goal was building a database of people opting into the loyalty program. Offering the collector’s cards [and other prizes] entices them to become repeat consumers.

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

Custom Calendars are hugh in the fourth quarter, so I thought I’d set up a Send Out Cards Campaign to stimulate the minds of my list and get them motivated to order their Calendars.

Over the next 5 weeks I will be hitting 115 different people in my SOC database with 3 Post Cards, 1 Greeting Card and finally a Wall Calendar printed with the Bizarre Promotions logo and information. This is an aggressive direct mail campaign and my goal is a 5% return (5.75 orders).

The campaign took me about one hour to put together, I selected the stock post cards and a greeting card from the Send Out Cards online catalog of over 12,000 to choose from.  I then plugged in some copy, uploaded my business card graphic (which will be printed on the post cards and greeting card), scheduled the campaign to start and selected who I was going to send it to.

Below is an overview of the post cards and greeting card I’ll be using, along with verbiage within each on.  I’ll report my results in a future post once the campaign is complete.

If you’d like to try out the Send Out Cards system, I have set my account up to let you send out a card absolutely free – give it a try right now!

 WEEK #1 – BAKING POST CARD~

It takes various ingredients to make up a successful Marketing Plan.

Adding a Promotional Product to the mix will spice up your results.

Calendars are a versatile advertising tool.

Remind Your Customers Everyday Of The Year That Your Brand Is There For Them.

~ALL CALENDARS ARE 15% OFF~

Visit our website at BizarrePromotions.com – Keyword “Calendars”

To Your Success! (insert of my business card here)

 WEEK #2 - CLOCK POST CARD~

TIMED RELEASE MARKETING

CALENDARS – are viewed countless times every day, all year long.

Careful targeting, clear messaging and long-term visibility make Calendars an advertising tool that offers high impact with multiple exposures at a minimal cost.

Compared to
NEWSPAPERS – High Cost One Day Exposure
MAGAZINES – High Cost 2-3 Week Exposure
RADIO – High Cost – consumers change channels often
TELEVISION – High Cost – consumers fast forward

~ALL CALENDARS ARE 15% OFF~

Visit our website at BizarrePromotions.com – Keyword “Calendars”

To Your Success! (insert of my business card here)

 WEEK #3 - MAKES CENTS POST CARD~

Advertise for just PENNY’S a day!

CALENDARS stretch your dollars further.

FACTS –
On average, a person looks at a calendar 12 times a day.

84 times a week.

Over 4,380 times per year.

83% of customers purchase products or services from the advertiser who supplied them with a calendar.

94% of all business people can recall the advertising message on their calendars.

~ALL CALENDARS ARE 15% OFF~

Visit our website at BizarrePromotions.com – Keyword “Calendars”

To Your Success! (insert of my business card here)

 WEEK #4 -  MONKEY GREETING CARD~

Left Side:

No More Monkey Business ~ It’s Time To Order Your Calendars!

~Visual Appeal For Your Brand
~Dominate Wall or Desk Space
~Controlled, Targeted Distribution
~Remarkable Cost-Effectiveness
~Many Themes and Styles To Choose From
~Year-Long High-Frequency Visibility
~EVERYONE uses them
~Business Offices average 2.5 Calendars

~ALL CALENDARS ARE 15% OFF~

Visit our website at BizarrePromotions.com – Keyword “Calendars”

To Your Success! Tim Somers, Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

Right Side: Calendar Graphic with price point

Large Selection Of Themes
Wall Calendars ~ Desk Calendars
Pocket Calendars ~ Magnetic Calendars

Remind your customers every day of the year that your brand is there for them.

WEEK #5 – Set Reminder To Mail Out Bizarre Calendar

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

Below is the email I received from Roscoe (posted with permission of course) and a great picture of Roscoe and his Dad Gary, decked out in the t-shirts (designed by Roscoe himself).

What I Did Last Weekend:

Chopper Show Detroit 2008 - Corktown Tavern, Detroit - next door to Old Tiger Stadium on Michigan Avenue - which was being demolished even as the event progressed. Saturday, August 9th 2008.

The shirts I designed for the Chopper Show Detroit 2008 last Saturday (Printed by Bizarre Promotions) went over pretty well.

The event was a LOT of work: I had to pack, unpack, put up, tear down, pack and unpack the tent, tables, displays and everything - so today I feel like I’m recovering from having been beaten up;

When the torrential rain started, I made a comment to Dad that “Rain is one thing, but I take exception to torrential rain.” As if on cue, the HAIL and high winds started, and the tent kept trying to take flight like a kite!

It was on and off like that for the whole evening, but old gnarly bikers on beer are made of tough stuff - and mostly stuck around. Made a lot of contacts for the shop; Dad ran into some of his old bike club brothers he thought must have croaked years ago.

I gave a lot of the Johnson Tattoo Shirts away as promotional freebies along with my “Bird Flip” Chopper Show shirts, which got completely soaked several times over.

I should have known that a bunch of old bikers would need lots of 3XL’s and even 4XL’s - Ran out of those really fast!

Thanks Roscoe!!

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.