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.

I had about 30 Calendars left over – so I wanted to give the first 30 people who respond to this blog post a chance to claim one of them this year.

Just plug in your mailing address and I’ll send you this great 2009 Full Color Custom Calendar featuring a different motivational message each month.  The Calendar actually starts December 2008 so you can start using it right away.

Click Here To Claim Your Free Calendar While They Last.

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.

But I’ve been doing it all wrong!

Being so excited to connect with people, a lot of people; I lost focus on the networking skills I have developed over the last 19 years while being in the Promotional Products industry.  Attending local networking events offers personal contact, one on one, face to face dialog with people,   I always listen to the people I met and talk very little about me and my business.  This is basic networking 101 and I have build some great friendships that have lead to a ton of business and referrals that have been priceless.

I didn’t realize I was becoming a borderline Social Networking Spammer until I received some harsh to the point words of wisdom from a Social Networking Professional.

If you are going to use Social Networking as an avenue to network and connect with others you really need to take the following message to heart.  It opened my eyes and I will be a better online networker because of it.

This is the reply that I received after blasting off a message and posting all about me.

Tim,  please take this as feedback not criticism…

There are million pages indexed in Google for what you are offering and each page means nothing to me. Why do you think your pages are any different? Is it because you and I are in the same Facebook group?

When I need a solution for what you have to offer I will turn to the network of people I like, trust and have built a relationship with to find it.

Likewise, I listen to people I like and trust so they are able to convince me I may need a service such as yours.  I would only ever consider doing business with someone I really know and have built a relationship with.

That said, if the desired outcome of you introducing yourself to me is to have me buy from you, do business with you or in fact collaborate with you on any level your strategy is counter productive since at this point we do not know each other nor has anyone in my network referred me to you.

I will never listen to anyone who tells me they are interested in building a relationship with me then follows this statement with a self serving links all about them, their product or service.

That’s not social networking. It’s spamming and to think people of that caliber that have congregated in any social network see it any other way is miss-guided.

My point is, I am always open to meeting new people, new business relationships and opportunities. What frustrates me is that neither will be achieved by two people coming together to promote themselves.

Rather than ignore approaches like that I offer my un-filtered, heart felt feedback in reply.

Some people thank me for telling them the way I feel and we start over again, all of whom are now trusted connections, who I do like and listen to…they don’t even realize they do it…Others say f&$#k you then, I don’t hear from them again.

I hope you’re not one of them…

Can I suggest you have another pass introducing yourself with a focus on a desired outcome of you being “”Interested”, not “interesting”.

Tim Somers (aka x social networking spammer)
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

What are Spec Samples you ask – basically they are a actual product proof, printed with a logo or message. They are most often produced with larger orders or with complicated artwork so the end user (you the customer) can review and approve the promo item to be printed with your information.  Normally the charge for this ranges from $50 to $100 depending on the item and imprint colors.

Lanco and many other suppliers are looking at Spec Samples as a way to sell product.  Nothing is more enticing then opening up a package only to find a custom printed promotional product decorated with your company logo – this excites the recipient and makes it an easy decision to say “these are cool, I’ll take 500”.

The two items featured for the month of November 2008 are the Alpine Mint Tin SBF420 and the Grip Pen PWT430.  As a top distributor for Lanco we can offer our customers a Free Spec Sample of each item.

So if one or both of these items might fit your promotional needs we would just need your logo in high res, eps or ai – vector format.  We’ll even pick up the shipping cost so you will not have to pay one cent for the samples.

Contact Us Now!

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

I had to sit back and just listen; I really was thrown back and speechless for the first time in a long time. Normally I would have gave my 2 cents sharing the great experiences my company has had since I started using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to name a few.  But I was actually scared that this guy was gonna go off the deep end if just one more person spouted off about it.

This guy may have a point to some extent; it is easy to get wrapped up in the whole social networking thing.  You can easily find your self trapped in an endless loop of posts, pictures and links only realizing 3 hours have flown by and you have not generated any new business.  Time management is key to maximizing your online networking efforts.  I spent 30 to 45 minutes tops per day on all the various networks I participate in, anymore could just be a waste of valuable time as “Mr Facebook Sucks” was preaching.

I can say that using these networks have opened the doors to many new customers not to mention I have reconnected with past customers opening opportunities that would have not been available otherwise.  I am a social network success story that would never consider these avenues a waste of time.

Here are some quick points to remember with using Twitter

Remember, you have only 140 characters for your tweet (Twitter post).

1. Tweet about how you helped a client today. Example: “Today we shipped 1,000 Pens to Purple Banana Construction for their 2008 Convention”

2. Tweet about what you are doing in your business today. Are you blogging, prospecting, sending thank you cards, finalizing a quote for a client?

3. Tweet about a useful tool you are using to increase your productivity. Example: Just downloaded a new Firefox Plug-In that saves me time doing…

4 Tweet a question.  I need a new Fax Machine – any suggestions?

5 Tweet a survey. Example: I am considering a new laptop – should I get a Mac or PC?
 
6. Respond to others with advice or answers. Building relationships is key to maximizing Twitter, so help your Tweeps, if someone asks a question chime in or ask a follow-up question.

7. Acknowledging new followers is huge. This will help out the new follower because it exposes their Twitter profiles to others who may have never heard of them. So, to thank your followers, you’d tweet, “Welcome new followers @twittername, @twittername, etc.”

10. Automate your tweets. TwitterFeed turns all of my blog posts into tweets. aWeber.comturns each ezine issue into a tweet. EzineArticles.com tweets my followers every time I publish an article through their service. You just need to connect the particular service to your Twitter account. Once all the services are connected, you get free and automated Twitter posts with no effort.

Twitter can be a great time-waster or an amazing way to market your business and build relationships that will last a life time and increase your bottom line.

Follow Me On Twitter

Friend Me On Facebook

Connect With Me On LinkedIn:   tim (at) promostuff4u.com

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

- 23% of respondents have cut staff

- 36% of respondents have decreased business travel

- 36% of respondents have minimized marketing efforts

- 29% of respondents have put a freeze on bonuses and raises

Being in the promotional products industry with a marketing and advertising background the third most popular cut, minimizing marketing, raised my eyebrows for sure.  I am amazed that any business would even consider cutting their marketing and advertising in a slow economy.

Marketing has never been more important for a businesses survival, if you are not marketing your business consumers may forget about you or assume that you have fallen victim to back economic times and gone out of business.  Keeping in touch with current customers takes even more marketing dollars for the same reason.

Beefing up your advertising and marketing lets your current customers and potential customers know that you are a strong company and ready to service their needs in these rollercoaster times.

If you still find your marketing budget needs to be cut here are 8 low-cost or no-cost money saving tips that any business can use.

1. Word-of-mouth marketing, ask for referrals – better yet, give referrals and you will get them in return.
 
2. Generate an eNewsletter, market to current customers.

3. Create YouTube Videos. Video is a very strong and free way to get your business noticed.

4. Post on forums and message boards. Posting valuable comments will build your reputation and lead to more business.
 
5. Start a Blog. A business Blog is a must these days, you can advertise, review your offerings and give free tips as often as you’d like without worrying about running up your budget all while building traffic to your brand.

6. Get your clients to advertise for you. Trade blog posts or email blasts with customers.

7. Join trade associations. You’ll get industry-specific information, advice, sales opportunities and other member benefits.
 
8. Double Up. Include advertising material in all your mailings such as invoices. You can also drop a small ad into every email you send.

To Your Success!

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

This video showcases 7 hot promotional products featured at the Chicago event.

Visit our website for pricing on any of these items as well as over 750,000 others.

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.