Industries such as automotive, real estate, health care, hospitality, travel and tourism as well as non-profits has employed bags as successful promotional vehicles. There are numerous case studies which attest to the versatility and practical nature of a tote bag.

Tote bags, as I’m sure aware, come in many sizes and materials. Briefly, two of the most popular categories are: Sturdy Non-Woven Polypropylene with stitched seams, side and bottom gussets, reinforced sewn handles, and hemmed opening and Cotton Canvas, open or zippered, with or without front, top and side pockets for additional and handy storage of pens, notepads, cell phones and other electronic devices. The latest wrinkle is, of course, Eco-Friendly collections which make for environmentally responsible gifts which let you make an impression and a statement that helping our planet is important and vital. Included are bags made from recycled, recyclable and natural materials like non-woven jute and “PET”, perfect as a carry-all or for grocery shopping and organic cotton where farming techniques maintain soil fertility and reduce toxic pesticides and insecticides that pollute our air and water.

No matter your purpose, there is a tote bags to fulfill your marketing and promotional objectives and meet your budget requirements. Three of my favorite companies for style, selection and dependability in the promotional products fields are: Acrobag at www.acrobag.com; Bagmakers at www.bagmakersinc.com amd Leed’s at www.leedsword.com.

Use a qualified e-mail list

To make sure your blast message gets out, send it to the appropriate contacts.
It’s very tempting to buy a 5,000 name list and just blast it out. But, how many of those “strangers” will actually open it. More and more, people are afraid of viruses and they’re reluctant to click on an e-mail from a name they don’t recognize or that looks suspicious. Your best bet is to do all the e-mailing yourself. Compile your list from people you may have met at a networking or chamber event or that you know from the social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. Target specific clients or your own prospects. That way, at least you have a fighting chance of someone opening and responding to your offer or message. A good clue is look at your own inbox and considers what you’d be willing to open without repercussion. If it’s someone you’ve worked with in the past, there’s a good chance that your e-mail will be opened.

Create a sense of value

You might want to include a special offer, such a free consultation, discount, gift or giveaway for responding. Even if it’s not exactly what a client or prospect wants, it may engender a conversation. Sharing information may get a strong response; you don’t always have to be selling anything. Something like, “what do you think of this” or “I ‘d like your opinion about…” should boost your open rate.

E-mail marketing is here to stay and its impact will be felt for years to come.
Best of all, you can measure success directly with web service sites like www.bit.ly which creates trackable URL’s. Used in conjunction with your website,
traditional direct mail and other advertising media, it’s a great means of attracting attention to your products and services.

Three of my favorite pen suppliers to the promotional products industry are: Bic Graphic USA at www.bicgraphic.com, Bullet Line at www.bulletline.com and Hub Pen Company at www.hubpen.com. Other recognizable name brand writing instruments can be procured from companies like Cross and Mont Blanc, which generally speaking, have a more upscale image and appeal.
Pens, as you can well imagine, come in many varieties, thick and thin styles in plastic, metal and wood and a wide range of price points. Popular styles include everything from stick pens to retractables with rubber grips to neat floating pens with icons or company logos floating in liquid to the newest rage of scented pens that smell like bubble gum, cinnamon, black licorice, lemons or flowers. Many pens today are green, composed of biodegradable materials that are truly environmentally friendly. There’s an endless variety, so I always suggest that clients get samples of pens to judge their writing smoothness, hand comfort/tactile feel and overall use/image to be conveyed.
Remarkably, there are pens to fit every budget and purpose from less than a $1.00 to $50.00 and up. Despite the emerging growth of laptops, I-pads, PDA’s/ interactive, touch screen phones and the like, people still carry a pen or two when they travel, are at work or at home. They’re handy and always dependable (except when you run out of ink). Adding your logo/brand and contact information can increase ROI and company and/or product/service loyalty and recognition.
Visit kaufmanadvertising.com and click on the Wear It’s At link for details and ordering information.

Incorporate a background or theme: This presents a powerful way of arousing the excitement and interest of your targeted customers. You can easily discover that the people are largely moved by the brochures which promote any lifestyle or theme. For instance, if you choose your brochures which are eco friendly and motivate awareness towards the environment as well as passing on your business message, they will be highly appreciated by your potential customers and preferred over the other ordinary ones. So, if you really desire to touch the heart of your targeted customers, all you need to do is to plan and incubate a theme or background which can hold the interest of your customers.

Lay stress on a particular or innovative key factor: While moving on with your brochure printing, you must highlight one key factor which is creative as well as innovative and which can prove to be highly beneficial for your customers. Instead of confusing your customers with lots of unwanted content, highlight and bold a unique factor of your products or services which can upraise the way of living of your customers and help them to accentuate their lifestyle.

Use attractive models: When online printing your brochures, you can consider using attractive models. A plain brochure is never noticed by the people whereas those images or pictures which are pleasing to the eye are often acknowledged by people in the first glance itself.

Always highlight the monetary benefits: People are always attracted towards those products and services which offer them monetary benefits. By highlighting the monetary benefits in your brochures you can easily enjoy the instant response of your customers. For instance, while offering a price reduction in your cosmetic products, you must bold or highlight the amount of money which can be saved by purchasing the product.

Rose is an article author who brings the information about online printing & brochures through article, news, press release and blogs. For more details on brochures & online printing visit our website. http://www.utharaprint.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rose_Wilson

Consider the fact that we’ve invested copious time and capital in top-notch desktop publishing applications such as Quark, In-Design, Illustrator and Photoshop. Also, outsourcing gives you an objective sounding board for research, idea generation and brainstorming, not to mention a plethora of professional writers, graphic designers and media specialists whose education and skills are specifically in the marketing/communications field.

I know. I know. You might say who knows my products and services better than
me, and you’re probably right. And maybe, just maybe, you were a marketing or communications major in college and you happen to be running the company or organization. By all means, if you have the time, inclination and talent, go for it. If not, consider making the investment in a competent, experienced agency who
may or may not have exact expertise in your field, but with a bit of education and guidance, can help you reach your goals and objectives by employing fresh creative coupled with proven concepts and the latest techniques.

Now here comes the shameless plug. We are a full service, award-winning advertising agency, and our focus is on helping small (er) business. Hopefully, we, and other agencies of our persuasion, offer an alternative to grappling with software that doesn’t yield the right file formats (i.e. Publisher) which can be sent to a printer or used for other forms of sharp, truly professionally-looking reproduction. Add to that the many forms of available media. How do you navigate through, evaluate and determine which of the mind-boggling mediums will work best in your situation? Wouldn’t it be better to have a filter with which to discuss your media options so you don’t waste your resources on something that may be hit or miss?

Of course, I’ll be the first to tell you that all media and forms of advertising need to be tested and continually tweaked, especially in our constantly changing 21st century business environment. In my experience, those who choose to handle their own advertising and marketing may be headed for disaster. Should you decide to hire an ad agency make sure they’re just your size and blend into your company culture and can work within your means. If you don’t have an established budget, general rule is to allocate 5% of total sales to your marketing efforts. By the way, Kaufman Advertising always offers a one time, no cost consultation at your office or ours.

I helped put 2 kids through college. As you can well imagine, we went on numerous tours of campuses. In just about every case, the students who conducted the tours were dressed appropriately. Yet, some of these students were wearing ratty tees or outerwear that should have been deposited in one of those donating bins you see in shopping centers. Of course, being in the uniform business I may be more sensitive then the average parent. But, shame on those institutions for not taking full advantage of an opportunity to showcase their “brand” and style through consistent, fashionable clothing.

For a reasonable cost, schools can dress tour guides in wearables that are comfortable, easy-care, practical and color coordinated. As a supplier/consultant to Penn State University, for example, we provide uniform solutions in the form of moisture-wicking polos, t-shirts, fleece jackets, sweaters, 3-in-1 all-season jackets (zip-out linings) and hooded sweatshirts. You could easily add a pair of wrinkle-free pants, cargo shirts, caps, knit hats and the like to complete the look.

The school logo and/or mascot should always be on the uniform components, either screen printed or embroidered, as appropriate and with due respect to budget sensitivities. Putting the student’s name on the chest can also facilitate a friendlier approach so that prospective students and parents can feel free to address questions on a more relaxed, personal basis. A lanyard with an attached name tag will also achieve the same purpose.

In the wearables arena, organic apparel is growing.  Everything from polo shirts, jackets and hats made from recycled plastic, coconut fiber, bamboo and organic cotton are quickly becoming plentiful. Plus, an array of products from pens to reusable bags and lanyards to notepads are being made in eco-friendly forms. If your company or non-profit is concerned about an eco-friendly image, the future truly is now. There are numerous examples of those who have already wholeheartedly embraced promotional products that even the great Mother Nature would approve of.

A natural foods company asked consumers to submit designs for organic shirts. These cotton shirts were definitely in line with company values, engendering a circle of trust and purity. A health care provider handed out green products at a yearly sales summit including an organic t-shirt. The strong message—‘we’re not just paying lip service to our commitment to green marketing’. Another company planted trees and gave out aluminum water bottles to demonstrate their eco-friendly stance. Even a fast food restaurant converted to organic shirts as well as recycled cinch sacks and pens to accentuate environmentally responsible traits.

Going green can be incredibly simple, given the plethora of eco-friendly products in almost every promotional category and many more on the way.

So see, Kermit, now it is easy being green.

Recently, Wear It’s At utilized DTG technology to beautifully satisfy the need for a single polo shirt for a school administrator’s program as well as staff tees for a local gym. DTG has wide-ranging application for both novelty, personal/family and business-related projects. Your promotional products professional can help you make the call when it comes to traditional screen printing vs. DTG.

Not so fast kemosahbee. Believe it or not, brochures are still being produced and coveted. Albeit not nearly at the pace of even 2 years ago according to research at various printing sources. Go to any car dealership, local bank branch or your doctor’s office and you’ll still find brochures in the rack. Visit an apartment community or new housing development and you’re likely to find a brochure with floorplans, site plan, and the like, characterized by pocket folder and inserts. My agency has done tons of these brochures over the past 26+ years. Maybe corporate capabilities brochures may have seen their heyday, but companies like those in the plethora of consumer and business-to-business fields still feel a need to print at least a moderate quantity to be mailed or presented as a leave behind after a meeting. It lends credibility and stability to the decision process and creates a degree of separation from the competition. I also know, first hand, that the steady stream of printed catalogs from promotional product suppliers still fills my vertical file drawers.

Maybe I’m a Cro-Magnon, but I think (and hope) there’s still a good reason to produce and print brochures. I’ve always thought of brochures as telling acaptivating story in a very creative process which involves the close collaboration of talented and experienced copywriters, graphic designers/production specialists and printing purveyors. You start with the premise of cooperation between words, graphics and stock. Writing copy (narrative) that’s compelling. Brainstorming a crisp, well-crafted layout design for the cover and inside pages that flows via use of typestyle/pattern, color and graphics to establish the desired look and feel. The image is further enhanced with the kmnowledgeable use of stock (paper) and other smart accoutrements such as die-cutting, embossing, debossing and foil stamping. Personally, I love going through the numerous stock swatch books with clients and choosing sleek coated or uncoated paper appointed with a linen, laid or other textured look to convey the perfect image.  Tell me how you get that from a computer monitor. Of course, many are happy to save the costs of producing and printing the brochures, opting to add PDF’s to their website which can be easily downloaded and printed to the desktop Epson or HP color printer. Great idea, but it can really lose something in translation…don’t you think?  I say, what the heck, invest in the brochure, too, and have the best of both worlds….hmmm.