BNoticed: The Blog

Customized calendars continue to be a valuable marketing tool for businesses.  They provide 365 days of advertising impressions which is among the longest durations of any advertising options.  In addition, calendars continue to serve a useful function for work and home based recipients.    

To really capture the marketing potential of a custom calendar, organizations should leverage the innovative features offered by many customized calendars including using custom photos, personalization, and custom date grids.

Beyond their marketing potential for businesses, Calendars can be valuable for non-profit organizations and schools for fundraising and outreach efforts.   For example, a non-profit organization can customize a calendar with photos from past events, illustrations featuring their services, or images of their beneficiaries and sell it as part of a fundraiser or distribute it as part of an outreach effort.  Similarly, schools could also customize the date grid of a calendar to identify school holidays, annual events, PTA meetings and much more. 

 For 2011, there are a wide range of custom calendars available which can capture much more than just a logo.  BNoticed’s pick for the Top 10 Custom Calendars for 2011 are:

1.            Image Personalized Calendars

In addition to featuring the sender’s logo on each page of the calendar, these highly innovative calendars integrate the name of the recipient into each of the 12 different photos in the calendar.  There’s a large library of photos to choose from as well as fully custom photo options available.  Organizations can utilize their own name in place of the recipients when ordering extra calendars for unplanned requests.

2.            Custom Logo Wall Calendars

Custom Logo Wall Calendars feature customized images for each month.  These calendars enable organizations to tailor the calendar with photos from past events, images of their products or services or unique artwork targeted to their preferred demographics.  In addition to the organizations logo, the date grid section of the calendars can be customized with key organization or community events.  These calendars can create a one-of-a-kind product for gifting, fundraising, outreach or resale.

3.            Custom Desk Pad Calendars

With options similar to the Custom Wall Calendars, these desk blotter styled calendars continue to be popular in the workplace.  Consider smaller styled versions designed specifically for cubicles and workstations.

4.            Logo Coupon Calendars

These custom calendars are great for retailers and restaurants that benefit from coupon promotions.  In addition to featuring custom logos, photos and date grids, these calendars include perforated sections on each page below the calendar grid for custom coupons.   These calendars deliver a full year of monthly coupon promotions at once offering the potential to reduce monthly direct mail costs.

5.            Imprinted Themed Calendars

There are a variety of themed calendars featuring stock images and information such as Pet Calendars, Beach Calendars and Auto Calendars.  Some, like Recipe Calendars, even provide how-to instructions.  Organization logos are imprinted to appear beneath the date grid.

6.            Custom Mouse Pad Calendars

For business to business marketing, Mouse Pad Calendars can help keep an organizations logo in front of potential customers.   In addition to calendars applied to more traditional Mouse Pads, businesses should consider some of the more innovative alternatives like a Recycled Paper Notepad Mouse Pad Calendar that features monthly tear-away sheets that can be written on.

7.            Custom Calendar Magnets

Calendar magnets are popular items that are particularly well suited for consumer marketing and outreach programs since many people will retain these magnets on their home refrigerators for easy reference throughout the year.   Calendar magnets can be fully customized to include listings of key events (e.g. sports schedules, etc.), custom images and calendar grid customization.   Photo Frame Calendar Magnets are increasing in popularity with consumers who can display their personal photos within the calendar frame.

8.            Planners

There are a wide range of Custom Planners available with features including weekly/monthly formats, cover options ranging from imprinted to custom full-color to embossed leather and sizes ranging from pocket to desk top sizes.   Consider an innovative dual format calendar that features ½ page daily pages against a weekly planner grid.

9.            Perpetual Calendars

Perpetual calendars are desk top products that can be reconfigured on a daily, weekly or monthly basis for continued use for years to come.  These calendars offer even longer marketing potential with an imprinted, etched or engraved logo.   These calendars are often the best options for a calendar themed gift.  To ensure the longest possible life, choose timeless styles that value desktop real-estate.

10.          Calendar Strips  (a.k.a. Monitor Calendar Strips)

Lower cost and inexpensively mailed calendar strips can include fully customized backgrounds featuring an organizations custom images.  These horizontal and vertical calendar strips attach easily to computer monitors with a removable adhesive making them widely popular in the workplace.  

With many companies and individuals placing greater emphasis on environmental responsibility, BNoticed recommends that businesses consider eco-friendly calendars including those that are made from recycled materials and which are recyclable.  For more information about BNoticed or about any of these promotional products, visit www.bnoticed.com.

Corporate training is an investment in a company’s employees and in the company’s future.   Companies that are successful over the long-term recognize training as a fundamental necessity.   Effective training not only helps to foster knowledge, skills and experience but also provides an opportunity to enhance consistency in the quality of a company’s products and/or services. 

Training is an investment that can yield far greater return over the long run.  While improved productivity, reduced error rates, and lower rework costs can be quantified; there are a number of less tangible benefits such as team building, reduced turnover, improved morale and increased customer satisfaction.  In addition, well trained employees can require less direct supervision and management.

To be effective, training must ultimately deliver employees that possess greater knowledge, improved skills and/or enhanced capabilities.    Key elements of an effective training program include: attainable objectives, effective instructors, focused trainees, engaging training methods/exercises, available/common tools, and effective post-training reinforcement.

Here are some ideas and insights to help make the most of a company’s investment in a training program:

Define Attainable Objectives

Focus training objectives on specific skills while taking into consideration the competency level of trainees.  Develop a strategy for different competency levels.  This may involve assigning employees with comparable competencies to the same class, or it may involve developing course material that team higher skilled employees to with lower skilled employees during training.  While focusing training on specific objectives is important, training should leverage all possible opportunities that are applicable to the material.  For example, many training programs can also be designed to develop relevant problem solving skills, enhance communication skills and foster team building. 

Use an Effective Instructor

Most people can remember those college or high school instructors who were truly outstanding… and those that weren’t.  Too often, ineffective instructors just lectured and simply regurgitated what could be read from text books.  Effective instructors engaged students with hands-on demonstrations, relevant stories and real life examples.    If your company doesn’t have professional trainers, consider hiring or contracting one.   For technical material, team a professional instructor with a subject matter expert from your team.  Another option is to use a professional instructor to train capable and competent team members to deliver the training.  Remember, just because an employee can do a job flawlessly does not mean that they can teach someone else how to do it!

Enable Trainees to be Focused on the Training   

If a student’s training is interrupted with inquires about their regular duties, trainees won’t be focused on learning.  Students should be removed from their normal work environment.  If you don’t have a facility on-site that will allow this, consider renting a room at a hotel or conference center.   Ensure the facility is comfortable (chairs, tables, ventilation, lighting) and adequately equipped (projectors, white boards, flip charts, etc.).   

To optimize use of classroom time, have lunch delivered.  That’s not to say that training should continue through lunch.   Rather, on-site lunches can give participants a chance to continue team building, casually discuss training material and ask questions of instructors.   Also, instructors can solicit feedback from students and adjust the afternoon session appropriately.  On-site lunches will help minimize the time required to reconvene the group after lunch while keeping students in a learning mode.  If the cost of lunch is a concern, compare the cost of sandwiches or pizzas to your investment in the course (labor costs, benefits, material, facilities, etc.) and the potential payback; the cost of lunch is largely inconsequential for extended training sessions.

Use Engaging Methods

People learn at different rates and in different ways.  Some people can learn well from reading, others prefer visual demonstrations and still others benefit most from actually performing a task.  In addition, one technique can reinforce another.  While it may seem redundant, consider that most highly effective employees gained their expertise by performing the duties repeatedly over years. 

Engaging exercises can be helpful to keep participants attention and reinforce lessons.  Using exercises in advance of a lesson can also help get students in the right frame of mind for subsequent training material.  For example, consider asking students to create an object using stress relief putty as an exercise before a lesson requiring creativity (e.g. creative problem solving, for example).   By giving each employee a different color putty and have them create a multi-colored item, the same concept can also facilitate team building.   Some other examples of exercises tied into a lesson’s subject matter include:

• Use custom dice or playing cards to demonstrate concepts associated with probability or statistics (e.g. statistical process control)
• Incorporate custom mirrors, voice recorders or even video recorders into roll playing exercises to help develop customer service, interpersonal or leadership skills.
• Have a hand-held Sudoku competition prior to an analytical lesson.
• Use chess sets to demonstrate strategic alternatives and consequences
• Demonstrate team work using Frisbees/flyers (have you ever tired playing Frisbee by yourself?)

Equip Students with Necessary Tools

Equip students with tools required for the class whether they are simply a note pads and a pen or computers and software.  All students should be working with the same tool.  Instructors won’t have time determine how 25 different calculators convert to percentages or to compensate for different versions of a software application.    Allow students to keep lower cost tools (e.g. paper, pens, rulers, calculators, etc.) to reinforce training and enable their immediate use in performing regular duties.  There’s no need to buy a calculator that can calculate percentages or to re-learn how to do percentages on a different calculator!   

Ensure computers and other high-dollar tools are set up, identically configured and tested before classes begin.   Provide hand-outs of training material presented so students can follow along during the course and retain for future reference.  For large volumes of material or to avoid overburdening traveling students, augment classroom hard copies with take-away material loaded on a Company USB Drive (e.g. Thumb Drive).

Combine training material, exercise props and tools into a take-away “tool kit” for participants.  Consider reinforcing their usefulness as tools by providing them in a customized tool box tin.   Logo messenger bags, totes and embossed folios can also be used for tool kits.  These kits become a resource for students while also helping to enhance the perceived value of the program and encourage other employees’ participation.   

For training a large body of students across an entire organization, create a logo for the course and imprint it on the tools, kits and other material used in the class.  This will effectively create a course brand reinforcing the company’s commitment to the training program as well as to professional development.

TIP:  Consider the overall needs of students in preparing “tool kits”.  Add a custom tin of mints to help students overcome any cravings,  a custom travel mug for refreshments, a stress ball to occupy restless hands or even a custom towel or yoga mat to facilitate periodic “stretch breaks”.

Post Course Reinforcement:

Acknowledge employees for successful completion of the course.  While framed certificates of completion certainly will do the trick, consider demonstrating the same level of innovation that you seek from your employees.  Provide employees with customized lapel pins or custom coins bearing the course’s logo.   Since many people like to collect and display such items, it can help to not only acknowledge the accomplishment but also encourage future participation in training courses to expand upon the collection.   

Utilizing take-away tools as noted previously can help reinforce course content.  Utilizing these tools (e.g. calculators, pens, etc.) in the course of performing their routine duties will help participants recall training material.

Encourage supervisors to refer to training material when interacting with their team.  This requires that supervisors also attend the training to be fully aware of the material.  Consider providing supervisors a tailored course that incorporates tips on how to reinforce lessons in regular work routines.

Ask past students to facilitate specific exercises in future classes.   While this may remove them from their routine duties, it can be an excellent refresher as well as provide current students with meaningful perspective. 

1.    Rainbow Flags

Rainbow Flags are the universal symbol of gay pride.  Whether you’re gay or not, you can show your support of gay pride by displaying a rainbow flag outside your home or business.  Incorporate the rainbow flag into window displays to further demonstrate you’re a gay friendly business.  If you’re attending a Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Parade, a.k.a. Gay Pride Parade, bring a Rainbow Bandana to wave and show your support.

2.    Pride Decorated Apparel

Incorporate a Gay Pride design on apparel items like T-shirts and Caps.  In addition to designs featuring the traditional rainbow or pink triangle themes, contact local LGBT Pride event organizers to find out whether there is a theme planned for local activities and pursue a design in support of that theme.  As a reminder, many pride organizations copy write their annual logo designs so be sure to get permission before using official logos and designs!

Tip:  If you’re purchasing apparel for resale at pride events, consider including more trendy styles of apparel like Military Style Caps in addition to traditional baseball caps.  Also, consider including form fitting apparel options like American Apparel branded tees as well as women’s cuts recognizing that participants may be more fashion conscious than encountered at other events.

3.    Rainbow & Pride Message Necklaces & Beads

Rainbow and Pride Message necklaces are always popular LGBT Pride items.  People are able to wear them as a subtle indication of their support for gay pride or as part of a more outspoken ensemble.   There’s a wide range of options from rainbow light-up necklaces that are perfect giveaways for night time and club events to rainbow ribbon necklaces and dog tags.

Tip:  Since many Pride celebrations are the gay community’s equivalent to MardiGras, consider rainbow colored beads as inexpensive giveaways for pride events or along parade routes!

4.    Rainbow & Pride Message Wrist Bands

Like necklaces, wrist bands are popular promotional and resale products for Gay Pride events.  From Silicone Rainbow Awareness Bands to Knit Rainbow Sports Bands and Rainbow Rubber Tube Bands, many of wrist bands can be customized with a logo or message.

5.    Rainbow Beach Balls

Why not associate your business or organization with fun and giveaway a bunch of Rainbow Beach Balls imprinted with your logo at pride parties and festivals.  They’re perfect for events that gather large crowds like concerts and comedy performances.    

6.    Pride Decorated Water Bottles & Travel Mugs

Support pride and the environment with Eco-friendly Reusable  Pride Designed Water Bottles and Rainbow Travel Mugs.  Incorporate your own Gay Pride design or message on the bottles and mugs.  They’re great resale items or gifts that will be used for a long time to come.  Many bottles feature a near 360 degree imprint area that can accommodate eye catching designs.

7.    Rainbow Antenna Balls

LGBT Pride parades and events in many cities draw tens of thousands, and in some city’s it’s hundreds of thousands of participants and spectators.  Imagine if parade participants were top give away Rainbow Antenna Balls to spectators along the parade routes.  Just picture all those cars leaving the event showing their support for gay pride!   

8.    Rainbow Pens

With all the phone numbers exchanged over a gay pride weekend, you can’t loose with a pride styled promotional pen!   There’s a variety of eye-catching including Rainbow Hair Funky Pens to Rainbow Light-up Pens and Rainbow Ball Pens!  Given them something else to take home with them, a pen with your logo on it!

9.    Rainbow Glitter Sunscreen

All that glitters may not be gold, it might just be Gay Pride supporters wearing your Rainbow Glitter Sun Screen!  They’ll not only sparkle but they’ll get the benefits of  SPF 10 or 30!  There’s even Black Light Glitter Gel for evening events.

10.  Light Up Party Items

There’s a variety of rainbow light up items available for those night time events that are sure to make them memorable.  From Rainbow Glow Necklaces to Light-up Barware, you can through a Light Up Pride event that’s sure to draw them in and keep them there!

BONUS.  Custom Condoms

As a bonus item on our Top 10 list, consider promoting safe sex by giving away Custom Condoms with your logo or message on the imprinted condom package!  There’s no better time to reach out to such a large number of people!

While most businesses recognize the value of promotional products for marketing and building their brands, promotional products create an opportunity for retail businesses as well in the form of resale products.   In many cases, promotional products are essentially identical to their retail counterparts.  In fact, many manufacturers have both retail and promotional product lines of comparable products.

While large department, warehouse and discount stores purchase products in a large volume to enable them to buy direct from manufacturers, smaller and medium size retailers as well as those looking for customized products have more limited options.  Promotional products can provide these retailers with both a large array of product choices with relatively limited minimum order quantities as well as the opportunity to customize products to further distinguish them from competitors.

Here are some tips to help leverage promotional products for resale whether it’s in a gift shop, retail store or on-line retailer. 

Buying Products for Resale

Anyone can buy promotional products.  In most cases, products can be customized with logos or as blank goods.  Some products sold by promotional product distributors can only be sold as blank goods based on agreements with the manufacturer of the product.  This is primarily the case with certain high-end  products and brand name merchandise (e.g. Bose, etc.).  Similarly, there are a few suppliers who may only sell products that are imprinted.  Likewise, the level of customization (product color, etc.) can be limited based on supplier and license requirements. 

When products are purchased for resale, businesses can avoid paying sales tax at the time of purchase from a distributor if they have a resale certificate.  The resale certificate is available through your State Board of Equalization.  You’ll need to provide the distributor with a copy of the resale certificate to be exempt from paying sale tax on your orders.   For more information, be sure to contact your state tax board or accountant for specific requirements.

Pricing & Profit Margins

Because promotional products are sold in bulk, there can be ample opportunity for a reasonable profit margin when reselling these products especially at larger quantities.  Of course, the amount that you can mark a product up will vary based on several factors such the product itself, the quantity you’re buying, the level of customization and your competitors prices.  Nonetheless, for many products, there can be ample profit margins even when competing against larger retailers.  For example, at the time of this writing, a major discount retailer’s website is advertising a 25 ounce stainless steel water bottle for $19.99.  The same style stainless steel water bottle can be purchased through a promotional product distributor for $7.99 for as few as 50 bottles or $5.00 for  500 bottles.

Tip #1:  Because Promotional Products are priced based on quantity purchased, retailers should ask their distributors what the price points are for any product being considered.  If you’re planning to purchase 100 ceramic coffee mugs at $3 each but there’s a price break at a quantity of 144 for $2, it makes sense to buy more cups than you originally planned.

Tip #2:  Ensure you consider the cost of shipping.  Often, a promotional product distributor will have multiple suppliers for any given product.   The costs of shipping can off-set savings from a more distant supplier.   Don’t pay 50 cents extra per item in shipping to save 25 cents in product cost by using a distant supplier!

Order and Inventory Quantities

While promo products are sold in bulk quantities, there are often relatively low minimum order quantities.  Retailers can benefit from these lower minimums as the basis of testing out new product offerings, offering a larger variety of options (colors, etc.) for any given product, as well as offering an expanded selection of products.   

Retailers, especially smaller businesses, should consider purchasing lower initial order quantities even at the slightly higher prices in order to assess customer interest and sales potential.   Follow up with larger order quantities for products based on demonstrated sales potential.   Take a similar approach when introducing new colors or expanded product offerings.  Note that when reordering the exact same imprint on the same products, there is typically no additional set up charge so the only incremental cost of this approach is the higher unit cost of the lower order quantities.  This approach, however, will limit risks associated with carrying a larger inventory of a slower moving product.   

Tip #3:  Ask your distributor if you can purchase an assortment of colors for your initial order to assess both the product and various colors.  While such assortments are not offered by all suppliers or on all products, some suppliers will even allow you to choose specific colors for the assortment.

Artwork & Customization

Customize the products with unique artwork to further distinguish the products from your competitors.  Consumers are increasingly purchasing products based on the imprinted designs or messages incorporated on the product.  Trendy, eye-catching graphics as well as inspirational, humorous or motivational messages can make an average product very unique and appealing.

Retailers have long embraced this concept when it comes to products like imprinted T-shirts and caps, but have often neglected to consider the potential for other apparel and non-apparel products.   More recently, many retailers are recognizing the potential with expanded offerings using screen printed designs on polo shirts and fleece.  Some are even introducing designs on outerwear like windshirts, rain jackets and coats.   

Don’t just focus on apparel; look at opportunities to incorporate custom designs on other products as well.   While most promotional products offer some level of customization, the extent varies from product to product.   Stainless Steel, Aluminum and BPA-Free Plastic Water Bottles are especially customizable with a near-360 degree imprint areas which can be screened with eye catching artwork and messages.  There are an increasing number of totes which can be customized with full-color artwork as well. 

Tip #4:  Consider using mixed media designs incorporating unique screen print techniques, appliqués, laser etching and/or embroidery.  

Tip #5:  Newer businesses should proceed cautiously with applying your own logo on products for resale.  While products featuring a business’s logo are great for promotions and branding, businesses will often need to develop a more loyal following from clientele in order to sell customers products with their logo.  There are some exceptions to this rule:  businesses with an especially eye catching logo as well as certain businesses such as bars and restaurants which more quickly develop such followings. 

Brand Your Products

Help build your brand with each sale.  There are a variety of ways to further build your brand even without prominently displaying your company’s logo on each shirt or product.  How often have we seen people look at other people’s tags to see who made a shirt?   Consider having custom apparel tags made and sewn into your resale garments.  In particular, those garments which you’ve customized with your own designs should include garment tags to remind the wearer where the garment came from.  

A major supplier of promotional sports bottles just introduced a great line of branding options for customers ranging from customized hang tags to business card and book mark inserts which can be designed to mirror the design on the bottles.  These tags can be particularly useful when products are given as gifts to ensure that the recipient has insight as to where the product was purchased. 

Finally, consider custom packaging.  Packages can make quite an impression… remember the cow pattern boxes of a major personal computer manufacturer?   While most brick and mortar retailers have their logo imprinted on shopping bags, many on-line retailers overlook the opportunity to further their brand with packaging.  If budgets are tight, consider something as simple as logo stickers to apply to packages.  Then pursue customized primary and secondary packaging as budgets improve.  For high end businesses, look at furthering your high end brand image with logo embossed stickers, logo imprinted tissue paper or logo imprinted ribbon.

Tip #6:  Make the package part of your product to further distinguish the product from your competitor’s and build your brand.  Many products have customized package options designed specifically for that product.  Just as the perceived value of jewelry is enhanced by a nice jewelry box, the same is true of other products.  For example, there’s some great triangular, flat, square and tube shaped pen boxes available.   In many cases, a high quality package will be retained and reused (e.g. as a keepsake box, etc.) for years to come.