Happy Holidays from Logo'd Gear!

Happy holidays everyone! We hope you enjoyed our December series on branding. We look forward to working with you next year and providing you with quality service for your promotional needs! Logo’d Gear thanks you for your business and we look forward with you toward a prosperous 2011!

Business Branding: Saying it With Gratitude

Say Thank You.

It seems rather obvious, doesn’t it? Yet, how many times have you been sincerely and memorably thanked for your business? I bet you still remember the personal note, the perfectly timed gift, the letter of appreciation sent to your manager for your efforts. Personal message of thanks stand out. Impersonal holiday cards get thrown out January 1st. Promotional items with a personal touch get kept – and used throughout the year. Sincerely showing your thanks is memorable.

Take the time now to associate gratitude with your brand. Thank your customers and potential customers for the time they’ve spent with you. Consider sending a promotional item that will express your values – perhaps it’s an eco-friendly item or maybe it’s a portable USB drive. Maybe this year it’s just a hand-written note of thanks. Whatever you choose, you are building your brand. Make it a good one!

Located in Charlotte, NC, Logo’d Gear is the region’s premier provider of promotional products, branded apparel, tradeshow items, business gifts, and other related products. In addition to complete embroidery and screen printing capabilities, Logo’d Gear also offers online company stores and fulfillment services. Visit our website now at http://www.logodgear.com to see our extensive online catalog or call (704) 334-9333 to immediately speak with one of our branding specialists!

Practical steps to Branding Your Company

So far we’ve talked a lot about the emotional impact of branding. What practical steps can you take to identify your brand with your company?

This is where building a visual image of your brand comes in. No doubt you already have a logo. Although one of the most important items for your business, you will need more than just a logo to build your visual image.

• Do you have a tag line? Is it short and clever enough to be memorable? Logo’d Gear uses Stay in Front of Your Customers! It’s succinct and describes what we believe, what we do, and what we help you to do.

• Choose specific colors. FedEx is one of my favorite examples of this. The FedEx logo is the same on every product they sell, but Federal Express has chosen specific colors to represent specific products. For example, FedEx ground is green. FedEx critical is blue (code blue, anyone?). Once you choose a color scheme, keep it consistent. Use it in everything you do.

• Make it easy to recognize your company and your brand. Use your company name and tagline on everything you do, from emails to letterhead. Make sure your web site, social media tags and phone number are on everything that goes out.

• Order promotional products that promote your brand. Order logo’d bulk items like ink pens, post-it notes, notepads, coffee mugs, water bottles, or apparel and use them. Make sure these promotional items have your logo and tagline and are in the specific colors you’ve chosen. Give them away freely to your employees and potential clients.

Located in Charlotte, NC, Logo’d Gear is the region’s premier provider of promotional products, branded apparel, tradeshow items, business gifts, and other related products. In addition to complete embroidery and screen printing capabilities, Logo’d Gear also offers online company stores and fulfillment services. Visit our website now at http://www.logodgear.com to see our extensive online catalog or call (704) 334-9333 to immediately speak with one of our branding specialists!

Three Ways Effective Branding Impacts Sales Figures

Let’s take a look at the benefits of branding. A brand can impact your sales in 3 dramatic ways.


Word of mouth spreads easier and farther.

A strong brand converts inquiries into clients. Remember that saying “No one ever got fired for choosing IBM”? A branded service simple makes more sales; the trust factor is already there.

The sales cycle is shorter and faster.

Here’s an example: Logo’d Gear has a terrific reputation for providing quality promotional items in North Carolina. When a business needs a series of promotional items for a marketing campaign prior to a trade show, they might call us and one of our national competitors. When we get the business, it’s usually because (1) we had a strong recommendation, (2) that implicit promise of quality and delivery already starts the foundation of trust between our new potential client and our customer service personnel and (3) one phone call can close the sale.

Our brand for delivering quality promotional products on time and done right helps us stand out as more than just another branding company – it helps us Stay in Front of our Customers.

Located in Charlotte, NC, Logo’d Gear is the region’s premier provider of promotional products, branded apparel, tradeshow items, business gifts, and other related products. In addition to complete embroidery and screen printing capabilities, Logo’d Gear also offers online company stores and fulfillment services. Visit our website now at http://www.logodgear.com to see our extensive online catalog or call (704) 334-9333 to immediately speak with one of our branding specialists!

What is the Heart of Your Brand?

I’ve often heard it said that a brand is nothing more than a logo or the name of your company. “Branding” your company, your product, or your service really involves so much more. In Selling the Invisible, Harry Beckwith writes about “The Heart of a Brand”. He makes the point that the heart of a service brand and the key to long-term success is the integrity of the people behind the brand. It is the closest thing to a guarantee that your customer has. In other words:

• A service is a promise, and building a brand builds your promise.
• Invest in and religiously preach integrity. It is the heart of your brand.

Logo’d Gear sells promotional products. How do we stand out from all of the other promotional providers out there? We stand out because we have thought long and hard about our brand. Think about your experience with us:

We offer personal service. It’s important to use to “get it right” which means talking to you directly – not an automated customer service line.

We offer options because we understand that “one size doesn’t fit all”. This means we give our clients the option, for example, of setting up their own ‘customer store’ if that’s how they prefer to shop.

We have a strong sense of community service. We give back and we participate in our local community – not because we make money from it (we don’t!), but because it’s the right thing to do.

That last phrase really sums it up for the team at Logo’d Gear. We stay in front of our customers because it’s important for us to do the right thing.

It’s hard to put that kind of a brand on a coffee mug. Yet, when you see a coffee mug, a water bottle, pens – anything with our logo on it – we want the promise of our brand to be what you see when you see our promotional items. We want you to feel confident that when you buy your tradeshow items from us or outfit your team in our polo shirts, that we will deliver quality products on time, and done right.

Located in Charlotte, NC, Logo’d Gear is the region’s premier provider of promotional products, branded apparel, tradeshow items, business gifts, and other related products. In addition to complete embroidery and screen printing capabilities, Logo’d Gear also offers online company stores and fulfillment services. Visit our website now at http://www.logodgear.com to see our extensive online catalog or call (704) 334-9333 to immediately speak with one of our branding specialists!

Can You Brand a Turkey?

This series of blogs is all about the importance of branding, so I thought I'd write a tongue-in-cheek piece in honor of Thanksgiving. The funny thing is, as I thought about turkeys and branding, a series of brand names kept popping in my head.

Just for kicks, I did an internet search and found a series of interesting discussions on the kind (brand) of turkey that is the "best" one to buy. One of the answers said, "I always buy (brandname) turkey. I just trust the brand." There was no other reason mentioned for this customer's loyalty other than the fact that this brand evokes a feeling of trust. The customer didn't mention taste, safety, price or any of the other elements that can go into building a brand. The implication is that the customer trusted the brand enough to believe that this particular turkey would be juicy, taste good, and be a safe product. Why this brand over any of the other brands? Intrigued, I continued to search.

Over and over again, this particular brand of turkey is showing up on blogs and answers to questions. Is the turkey really that much better? Or has this particular company just done an excellent job at branding through a great marketing plan? I suspect it's a little of both.

Do your customers just "trust" your brand? Does that trust translate into brand loyalty? What are you doing right now to build and market your brand?

Located in Charlotte, NC, Logo’d Gear is the region’s premier provider of promotional products, branded apparel, tradeshow items, business gifts, and other related products. In addition to complete embroidery and screen printing capabilities, Logo’d Gear also offers online company stores and fulfillment services. Visit our website now at http://www.logodgear.com to see our extensive online catalog or call (704) 334-9333 to immediately speak with one of our branding specialists!

Branding 101: What is a Brand?

Did you know that despite our current economic situation entrepreneurial activity in the U.S. in 2009 rose to its highest rate in the last 14 years? In a recent study, the Kauffman Foundation found that entrepreneurial activity increased dramatically, with a tremendous number of new businesses starting, especially in the West and in the South.* With this much growth, how does a small business or budding entrepreneur brand his or her own ideas?

How do you make your company stand out from the rest? This starts a series of blogs on branding that I hope you find helpful. Comments are always welcome!

First, what is your brand? It is much more than just a logo. It is the recognition of your name, your company, or your products. It’s the feeling that your customers get when they see your company. Branding your company tells the world what values you want your company to represent. For example, part of Logo’d Gear’s brand is “Stay in Front of Your Customers”. It’s a value we believe in strongly, and we believe our customers do too. Why should you promote your brand? Next week, we’ll talk about the whys and then the hows!

*Source: http://www.kauffman.org/newsroom/despite-recession-us-entrepreneurial-activity-rate-rises-in-2009.aspx

Located in Charlotte, NC, Logo’d Gear is the region’s premier provider of promotional products, branded apparel, tradeshow items, business gifts, and other related products. In addition to complete embroidery and screen printing capabilities, Logo’d Gear also offers online company stores and fulfillment services. Visit our website now at http://www.logodgear.com to see our extensive online catalog or call (704) 334-9333 to immediately speak with one of our branding specialists!

What is the difference between Silk Screening, Screen Printing and Embroidery?

Over the years, we’ve gotten this question many times from customers who are ordering branded apparel for the first time. What’s the best choice to get your logo displayed most effectively?

The terms “Screen printing” and “silk screening” can be used interchangeably. They describe the process of decorating an item by printing a design in ink, one color at a time, through a tight silk mesh. It’s one of the most commonly used methods used for promotional T-shirts. Screen printing allows you to use multiple colors and designs.

Screen printing pricing is typically based on the number of colors in your design. However, the size of the design doesn’t affect the cost, so it’s an economical choice for larger designs found on t-shirts. Graphics with fine detail and small letters come out looking like a photograph!

Embroidery is the process of decorating an item by sewing a design onto it in color thread. Embroidery has more upscale apparel available than screen printing. For example, it is the most popular choice for corporate apparel like golf shirts, denim and oxford shirts. You can embroider on items like caps, towels and polar fleece. You can still use multiple colors but the design size is usually much smaller than can be done on a t-shirt.


The design must be digitized to run on an embroidery machine, so you will have to have your logo or design available as vector art (typically done in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or CorelDraw). We’d be happy to look at your computerized image and let you know if we can embroider it! Embroidery pricing is based on the stitch count, which is determined by the size and complexity of your design.

How to Start a Corporate Health and Wellness Program

What is the easiest way to increase your lifespan, improve your quality of life AND to decrease your company healthcare costs by thousands of dollars?

Did you know that currently 62% of companies with 200+ employees provide wellness programs? There is a great reason for this – comprehensive wellness programs WORK. They result in healthier and happier employees who are able to perform better at all levels.

So how can you implement a health and wellness program in your company? Here’s a great list of ideas: http://www.corporate-wellness-companies.com/corporate-wellness-program-ideas.html How do you kick off your new program?

Start with a branded health/fitness journal for those who sign-up to participate. This is a great way to encourage your employees and a terrific way for individuals to keep up with progress. Our journals even give great tips on eating and staying in shape!

Or, how about kicking off your wellness program with a stainless steel water bottle and pedometer? Have Friday Funday contests to see who can put the most miles on their pedometer each week!

If you already have a health and wellness program in your company, think about re-energizing it with incentive gifts for participation, meeting goals and exceeding goals. Try incentive gives that promote healthy activity such as logod golf balls, jump ropes, workout (yoga) mats, Ogio gym bags, Frisbees, and dryfit sports apparel. Here’s to happy and healthy living!

Earth Day 2010 – What’s Hot? (And what’s not?)

Happy Earth Day 2010!

Earth Day is a perfect time to renew your company’s commitment to any green efforts or to launch a new campaign for your clients. Here's a list of what's hot - and what's not! - as we celebrate Earth Day today:

What’s Hot?	What’s Not?
Digital Presentations that can be uploaded to your website or logo’d USB drives to leave with your customers	Using lots of paper to print off multiple copies of presentations
Soft, durable bamboo apparel made from renewable resources. Hypo-allergenic and anti-bacterial, natural fibers keep you cool in the heat and warm in the cold.	Polo shirts made from nylon or other non-biodegradablematerials that trap heat next to the body and don’t breathe.
BPA-free drinkware including travel mugs and water bottles or re-usable stainless steel bottles.	Styrofoam cups or plastic bottles. (Did you know plastic soda bottles can take up to 450 YEARS to decompose?
Recycling office electronics and used ink cartridges.	Throwing unwanted or used equipment or cartridges in the dumpster out back.
Pens made from bio-degradable corn plastic.	Hard plastic non-biodegradable ink pens.

Should You Go BPA Free?

We run special sales on items each week. This week our special pricing is for BPA Free coffee mugs and water bottles. Sounds pretty cool, right? But what is BPA? And why is BPA Free is the way to go?

What is BPA?
Very simply put, BPA is an organic compound used as a building block in plastics and plastic additives. Unfortunately, concerns about its safety have been around since the 1930s. In fact, in 2009, the FDA released a report raising concerns about its safety for infants and young children. Studies are showing potential links between BPA exposure and cancer, obesity, neurological issues, thyroid function and diabetes.

Here’s a quick list of Reasons to Go BPA-Free!

1. Scientific studies are conclusively showing that it is healthier for you and your children
to reduce your long-term exposure to BPA.
2. Non-plastic drinkware (like a stainless steel coffee mug) is tougher and less likely to break.
3. It is more expensive to recycle plastics containing BPA with a smaller aftermarket for the
recycled resins that are produced.

So choose to go BPA Free in your office and at home. When it’s time to purchase coffee mugs and water bottles for your company and your clients, call us and make sure you specify BPA Free. The added benefit to your bottom line? They’re on sale now through Earth Day on April 22nd!

Effective Transitioning Between Old and New Management

It’s happened to all of us at one time or another – we get a new manager. For some, it’s more than just a new manager, it’s a whole new management team. This recently happened to a new client of ours. How they handled the transition is an interesting case study.

This particular client has about 500 employees located in various offices around the United States. They have been in business for a number of years and had developed a very “old-school” management philosophy. When the owners decided to sell the business, new management came in with new ideas, new philosophies and a new energy.

They had many challenges. How would they allay the natural fears that come with any change in management style? How would they create a close-knit team feeling and loyalty among their employees and boost morale at the same time? How would they make sure that the new management philosophy became part of the attitude and customer service efforts of their employees?

First, the management team sat down and devised a new three-part mission statement that more accurately reflected their forward-thinking positive business philosophy. This three-part mission statement translated easily into 3 short memorable messages.

Next, they selected several promotional products to use as gifts for their employees. Each promotional product is imprinted with one of the new branding messages. These products were specifically selected for their usability and thus, visibility on each employee’s desk.

Next, to foster the feeling of belonging to one team (rather than several disjointed groups) they designed imprinted t-shirts and other logod apparel for their employees.

And last, the management team created an incentive program. By reaching certain milestones or simply for doing a great job, employees earn incentive points that allow them to select whatever branded promotional items they want – from leather portfolios to backpacks to laptop cases to pens to coffee mugs to…well, you get the idea. It lets their employees create their own incentive gifts.

Transitioning from old to new is never easy, but with programs like the one described above, a new management team can help make change easier in a cost-effective way.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina Logo'd Gear is a premier provider of promotional products. We help our clients Stay in Front of Your Customers! Visit us on the web at http://www.logodgear.com/ or follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/logodgear or linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/logodgear 9TDXJZJ7EY82

Employee Recognition through Promotional Products

I’ve talked about my college student on this blog before. This past week her school gave her a promotional padfolio and pen in recognition of a scholastic achievement. It was a beautiful black leather with her university’s name and logo emblazoned across the front and on the matching pen. The interesting thing about this story is her reaction.

She loves it - carries it around with her and uses it to take notes – not just for class, but on the job as well. It’s more than just a pen and pad for her – it is recognition of her achievements and it is very meaningful to her. She is proud of what it represents and uses it daily.

This is a great example of how recognition builds pride and loyalty.

Last week I wrote, “Promotional gifts help make your employees feel valued on an individual level. If an employee feels that you value their contribution as an individual member of your team, loyalty and job attitude grows.” This student’s reaction to the recognition of her achievements through a promotional gift is easily replicated at the corporate level.

Two additional benefits of employee recognition through promotional gifts are:

1. Employee recognition creates a team atmosphere.

• Consider team apparel like logod polos or button down dress shirts with your company name
and logo for tradeshows.
• Introduce branded padfolios for sales meetings and client sales calls.
• Give all employees a padded laptop case.

2. Recognizing your employees through promotional gifts can helps to reinforce sales promotions or other actions that are important to your business. At every opportunity, it reminds your employees of some event or action that is important to your business.

For example, one of our clients kicked off a company wide effort to reduce waste. They purchased stainless steel travel mugs for everyone in the office to use. Lids were not optional. The upfront cost was about 4 months worth of paper and Styrofoam cups.

The result? They dramatically reduced waste and cut 8 months worth of budgetary expenditures on disposable cups within the first year alone. An added (and unexpected benefit!) was that there were no more coffee spills on company computer keyboards or on company issued laptops – creating a direct cut in monthly hardware costs. A win-win for everyone!

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina Logo'd Gear is a premier provider of promotional products. We help our clients Stay in Front of Your Customers! Visit us on the web at http://www.logodgear.com/ or follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/logodgear or linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/logodgear

Employee Retention Tips

Do you want to make sure you keep your best employees when the job market rebounds? According to a recent study by the American Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and CareerJournal.com, retention will be a challenge. This study says that 83% of employees and 56 % of HR professionals think that voluntary turnover will rise as the economy slowly starts to improve. What can you do NOW to ensure employee retention in the future?

It’s clear that retention requires a competitive salary and great benefits. However, that is just a start. Did you know that companies that use promotional products have a higher employee retention rate than businesses that offer cash incentives?

Business gifts help make your employees feel valued on an individual level. If an employee feels that you value their contribution as an individual member of your team, loyalty and job attitude grows. Does this mean you need to run around handing out logod coffee mugs and imprinted pens? Not necessarily.

Here are Three Tips to Improving Employee Retention:

People want to enjoy their work. Make work fun.
For example, what if you gave your team a branded inflatable beach ball to toss around during times of stress – or to celebrate an achievement?

Recognize and celebrate success.
For example, what if you handed out personalized laser engraved pens for each milestone achieved by a project team? This sign of appreciation would be used everyday – a constant reminder of the company’s appreciation of the individual achievement.

Create and nurture traditions that are special to your group or organization.
For example, pick a monthly or quarterly charity to help or create a softball team or other group activity. Imprinted shirts with your charity goals displayed can have both a team-building and an inspirational effect.

These ideas – the imprinted beach ball, engraved pen, screen printed t-shirts – they are a means to end. The motivation is to remind you and your employees of accomplishment, to keep the feeling of appreciation strong, and to instill a sense of joy and a job well done. Most importantly, a happy employee is a retained employee!

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina Logo'd Gear is a premier provider of promotional products. We help our clients Stay in Front of Your Customers! Visit us on the web at http://www.logodgear.com/ or follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/logodgear or linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/logodgear

Are You Getting Ready for Earth Day? April 22

Earth Day is only six weeks away. It’s a perfect time to renew your company’s commitment to any green efforts or to launch a new campaign for your clients. Of course, there are many ideas out there for ‘going green’. Some ideas might be:

1. If you can’t go paperless, save paper and money by setting up your office printers to automatically duplex print.

2. Use 100% post-consumer recycled paper for all printing.

3. Provide employees with water bottles or coffee mugs made from recycled material to re-use. How many hundreds or thousands of Styrofoam cups do your company employees throw away – every day? In the long run, it’s cheaper for your company – and better for the earth – to provide coffee cups and water bottles branded with your company logo to your employees.

4. Get green by using organic products in your office and as gifts to your clients. Did you know you can put your logo and marketing message on biodegradable pens, biodegradable golf tees, corn plastic water bottles and coffee mugs, and bamboo shirts and hats?

So here’s our challenge to you. Create your next campaign to showcase Earth Day. We’ll work with you by discounting your Earth Day orders over $500 by %10 if you mention you saw this blog, saw us on Twitter, or got here through LinkedIn. And together, let’s work to make it a safer, more sustainable world!

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina Logo'd Gear is a premier provider of promotional products. We help our clients Stay in Front of Your Customers! Visit us on the web at http://www.logodgear.com/ or follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/logodgear or linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/logodgear

Promotional Products and the Five Senses

I came across an interesting quote the other day in a magazine about promotional products. It said:

"Promotional products are the only advertising medium capable of engaging all five senses."

That's really a powerful thought. Imagine - most consumers are inundated with advertising. I bet that in your office or home right now is a magazine with lots of print advertisements, right? Companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising campaigns where the only sense being used is that of sight. You can see the product, but you can't touch it, hear it, taste it or smell it.

An internet pop-up interrupts you (and can be very annoying!). Television or radio advertisements also interrupt and distract, although they might add hearing to the list of senses affected.

Only promotional products engage customers and are physically integrated into their business and personal lifestyles.

This week, for example, my company is featuring slim grip logod water bottles for our weekly special. Your customers can touch it (hold it), see the bottle (and your logo and branding message), and taste and smell whatever beverage is inside. Since these bottles are useful, customers tend to re-use them over and over again - re-engaging multiple senses - and helping to effectively communicate your message.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina Logo'd Gear is a premier provider of promotional products. We help our clients Stay in Front of Your Customers! Visit us on the web at http://www.logodgear.com/ or follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/logodgear or linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/logodgear

How to Promote Your Marketing Message - 6 Easy Steps!

Successful marketing campaigns don't just happen. You need a good plan that includes your target audience, budget and desired results. Here are 6 important steps to a successful promotion campaign:

1. Define your specific objectives.
What are your goals? Is it to increase website hits? Bring in new clients? Increase sales levels with current clients? Identify exactly what you want to accomplish.


2. Create an effective distribution plan to your target audience.
If your objective is to increase sales among current clients, then your target audience might be clients who have placed orders of X size with the past XX months. Carefully identify your target audience and then plan the best distribution plan for your promotional products. It might be a mailing or it might require onsite visits.

3. Create a central theme and message.
Ah, the favorite buzzword - branding. Make sure your marketing campaign has a recognizable theme. It might be a particular graphic, color, or prominent wording. Make sure you use the theme consistently and in all areas of your campaign, not only on your promotional items.Supporting your theme with a message helps to solidify your company's name, service or products in your target audience's mind. For instance, a small tourism development board created a theme with the message - "Planting Seeds Leads to Growth" and sent garden-related products (like logo'd edible mini-seed packets) to its target audience along with the promotional literature for the campaign.

4. Select a promotional product related to your marketing theme.
For example, if you were creating a theme around recyling, you might want to send green products like re-usable hemp bags or travel mugs made of recycled materials.

5. Don't pick an item based solely on price or the latest trends or fad.
The most effective promotional products are used in a well-planned, targeted campaign.

6. Call your favorite promotional products consultant. (Yes, we're hoping that's Logo'd Gear!) We can help you look for unique product ideas and creative distribution solutions - at no added cost. Our goal is always to help you Stay in Front of Your Customers!

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina Logo'd Gear is a premier provider of promotional products. We help our clients Stay in Front of Your Customers! Visit us on the web at http://www.logodgear.com/ or follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/logodgear or linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/logodgear

Can't Remember Anything? Plug in a USB Memory Drive!

I have a computer at work, one at home, and a laptop. Is it any wonder that I’m forever trying to figure out where I’ve saved something? It occurred to me that I’m not alone.


We have a college student working at Logo'd Gear. Swinging on her keyring is a USB memory drive emblazoned with the name of her school. She stores all of her homework and papers on her USB drive and is never caught without something she needs for school. What a great idea! Turns out her school sells logo’d USB drives in their bookstore.


One article I read mentions that USB drives are not quite as commonplace yet as T-shirt or pens, but those who use them as promotional giveaways are thrilled with the results. Using logo’d USB drives as a promotional items satisfies the Top 3 Reasons branded items are so effective:

1. Your clients will use them because they are needed and useful.


2. Since your clients use them, your company brand and message stay in front of your clients.


3. Providing your client with something useful and appreciated helps cement the relationship bond between you – resulting in repeat sales.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina Logo'd Gear is a premier provider of promotional products. We help our clients Stay in Front of Your Customers! Visit us on the web at http://www.logodgear.com/ or follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/logodgear or linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/logodgear

Top 3 Reasons to Give Logo’d Bags to Your Clients

Each week, we run a special for our customers. This week our special is bags, embroidered or printed with your company logo and brand with no set up fee. I got to thinking – other than to carry a bunch of material from trade shows, how do people use logo’d bags?

1. Go green! Re-usable bags are especially popular now. One cool new product is bags made from recyclable materials like bamboo or hemp. Not only do you get to re-use the bag, it starts out “green”.

2. Giving bags that clients use keeps your logo in front of them. I remember a friend of mine who got a logo’d insulated lunch bag from a vendor. She loved that bag and packed her lunch in it everyday. Five days a week her vendor’s logo and brand message sat on her desk. How’s that for advertising?

3. Bags are more than just tote bags and lunch bags. Airline-size friendly duffle bags and carry-ons can take your name, message – and contact information – around the world. It’s an easy way to expose your company’s products to a large audience.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina Logo'd Gear is a premier provider of promotional products.
We help our clients Stay in Front of Your Customers! Visit us on the web at http://www.logodgear.com/ or follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/logodgear or linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/logodgear

Help! My Budget Has Been Cut. I Can’t Afford To Buy Expensive Promotional Products for My Clients!

Many marketing or sales professionals think that clients will only appreciate expensive gifts. In today’s economy, tightened budgets don’t always allow for luxury promotional items – and many people think the only alternative are cheap pens. Interestingly, although expensive gifts have their place, they don’t offer the highest brand recognition and retention.

Studies have shown that the highest brand recognition is associated with promotional products that are USEFUL – not most expensive. What do I mean by useful?

A useful branded promotional product is a product that is worn immediately or that sits on your client’s desk and is used every day. Because they are seen and used, they showcase your brand daily. This is a subtle yet easy way to continue to build loyalty and trust - a way to Stay in Front of Your Customers! When the opportunity to use your products or services arises, your client will already be familiar and comfortable with your brand.

I have 10 sure-fire useful promotional items that you can imprint with your brand, email or website and telephone number that are guaranteed to be used daily by your customers. Make it easy for your clients to call you!

Snow and Ice; Hardly Nice!

Did you get some of the snow that blew through the East Coast over the weekend? Here in Charlotte, we got enough snow to shut the city down for a few days. City and county crews worked through the night to keep the roads passable once the ice started to melt.

Their ability to be prepared for unexpected emergencies was a tremendous factor in the overall lack of serious injuries and fatalities after the weather hit.

Unfortunately, we can't always prepare for the unexpected. The people of Haiti had no way of knowing or preparing for the tremendous tragedy that struck in January - and certainly very little way to prepare for the aftermath. Although our thoughts and prayers are with them, Logo'd Gear is proud to be able to assist in a material and practical way as well. On January 22nd, Logo'd Gear joined with the Job Corps Center in their Haiti Relief Corner effort to provide hundreds of t-shirts, polo shirts and pants to aid those who have lost so much.

We are grateful for the opportunity to be able to help and thank everyone who took part in this relief work!

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina Logo'd Gear is a premier provider of promotional products. We help our clients Stay in Front of Your Customers! Visit us on the web at www.logodgear.com, or follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/logodgear or linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/logodgear

Foil the Flu - It's Not Over Yet!

According to WHO (World Health Organization) as of November 2009, more than 207 countries and territories ahve confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has posted action plans on his website (http://www.flu.gov/) to help prevent the spread of the flu.

Since the flu germ is invisible and can hide anywhere - especially in the office. A stapler, a coffee cup, a ball point pen, a tape dispenser, dooknobs, on someone's hand could all hold the virus so it is imperative to keep your hands clean. If you have immediate access to hot water and soap, it's easy! But what if you don't?

Logo'd Gear suggests hand sanitizers and other disinfecting products. For a very affordable price, you can reduce the potential sicktime costs to your company by helping to prevent the spread of the flu. Provide your employees and your customers with small hand sanitizers with your logo. With the popularity of these products, you can help keep everyone healthy - AND provide a promotional product that will be used and visible everyday.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina Logo'd Gear is a premier provider of promotional products. We help our clients Stay in Front of Your Customers! Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/logodgear or linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/logodgear

Best in Charlotte 2009 - Embroidery Advertising!

I love it when the quality of the products we supply gets attention! I know that our customers have choices. We aren't the only supplier of promotional products in the world, so how do we stand out? (Of course, we'd like to think our service makes us the best but that's a story for another day!)

With that in mind, I am excited to announce that Logo'd Gear won the 2009 Best of Charlotte Award for Embroidery Advertising!

This prestigious award is given by the U.S. Commerce Association. Each year, they recognize outstanding local businesses throughout the country. They were established to recognize the best of local businesses in their community.

When you need your company's logo embroidered on your corporate apparel or any other promotional product, please think of Logo'd Gear. We promise to give you the same quality of service and product that won us kudos as Best of Charlotte!

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina Logo'd Gear is a premier provider of promotional products. We help our clients Stay in Front of Your Customers! Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/logodgear

How to Keep 83% of Your Customers Happy

Seems like the holidays flew by - and already we are almost halfway through January! One of our resolutions for 2010 is to keep the Logo'd Gear blog updated a bit more regularly - expect to see something new and thought-provoking weekly!

I read a great article recently on branding and power of promotional products. I was blown away by these numbers - did you know that 83% of all respondents liked receiving a promotional product with an advertising message? Eighty-three percent! Considering that a 1-3% response rate in a direct mail piece is considered favorable, are you effectively reaching out to over 3/4 of your customers?

The article went on to say that 48% would actually LIKE to receive promotional products more often. If you are responsible for branding your company and creating awareness around the services your company offers, your customers want to hear from you more often. How effectively are you using your marketing budget?

One last statistic to consider: Consumers indicated that 69% keep promotional products if they have a use for them. How useful are the promotional products you send your customers? Imprinted pens, logo'd coffee mugs, lunchbags...these are a few of the useful promotional items your competition uses to stay in front of their customers. Are you?

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina Logo'd Gear is a premier provider of promotional products. We help our clients Stay in Front of Your Customers!

www.logodgear.com
(Survey data from PPAI resarch through MarketTools Inc, PPB January 2010)