be safe this year from the ghost and ghouls and of course the dangers of the streets when searching for the treats.  I remember, long long time ago, when I use to go trick or treating we would always carry a handy flashlight and we would always recieve a handy dandy plastic bag with some stock halloween artwork on it from the local community bank or police organization to carry our treats. 

I still haven't stocked up on the Halloween goodies for the kiddies and I need to put the finishing touches on my costume. My wig leaves much to be desired, but Jen was nice enough to loan it to me, so I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. I tied up the pig tails last night and I fully plan on looking ridiculously unconventional at the office tomorrow. But it will be weird considering the fact that I've pretty much bypassed Halloween already and moved straight on to the holiday season. My week has been filled with corporate gifts, corporate gifts and more corporate gifts. I've been telling Sarah to play the holiday music cd she has for a while, and I'm thinking that it might actually happen tomorrow. Because the holiday season is already here...

No customer likes to hear when they are placing an order that there is a minimum order requirement, but, in the promotional product business it is the status quo and very much necessary.  Many of our products are sold at a low dollar amount and if we did not have a minimum order requirement we would surely loose money.  No question, it is difficult to balance the need to be fair to customers as well as the need to be fair to ourselves; however, you would be hard-pressed to find a customer who will sympathize with any company's need to make money.  In our business, Motivators is able to maintain a price advantage for many of our clients due to our minimum order requirements.  Our clients are able to buy products at deeply discounted pricing allowing them to make the best budgetary decisions.  We do not restrict the dollar amount of an order, but, we do require that the order meet the minimum quantity within our pricing matrix.  Nevertheless, we also recognize that there are occasions when a lower then normal minimum quantity may be needed and we strive to accommodate that need within reasonable measures.  On the Motivators website, we have a page of low minimum quantity products which are listed by category.  These promotional items have the same high quality as any other product we offer, but, it satisfies the customer who is looking for the same discounted price with a lower minimum requirement. 

 

                 

 

As you all know, rolling out of bed and getting ready for work in the morning is a difficult task.  So here I was the other day, getting ready for work at a much slower pace than usual.  I looked at the clock just as I was about to walk out the door, and I realized I would be late if I didn't get a move on it.  I literally ran out the door and stood on my front stoop in complete shock.  The lawn was covered in a massive amount of frost.  I couldn't believe this was happening in OCTOBER.  As I stood there with my mouth hanging open, it occurred to me that if the lawn was covered in frost, then my car must be covered in frost also.  I slowly turned my head, and there it was, a frost covered car.  I was already so late in leaving for work, I didn't know what to do.  It would take a good ten minutes if I put the defrost on, so I started to wipe the frost with my jacket sleeve.  This did nothing, except leave my sleeve cold and wet.  And then I remembered, I always keep my ice scraper in my car.  I grabbed my ice scraper and started scraping at the windows like a crazy person.  And to top it all off, I even made it to work on time.

Sometimes I'm truly astounded at the fact that anything can be made into a promotional product. It's just crazy. There are classic promotional products like promotional mugs and custom t-shirts, but then I see things like the potted plant below that Ozzie just blogged about and I almost scratch my head. Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome item but who would have ever thought to make plants promotional? Sure your imprint won't be on the leaves but it'll be on the pot. I've been working on our promotional holiday gifts collection all day with Sarah, our merchandiser, and I've seen all the hot new promotional items that we're adding to the collections before. And maybe today's just a scratch my head kind of day, but some of the things are really impressive. Like this custom bar set in a stand. Nevermind a corporate gift, that's just a great gift.

 

 I know that with the economy being what it is, it's difficult to justify spending a lot of money on promotional products or corporate gifts, but some of them are just so nice!

So when people think of promotional products - most think of pens, calendars, apparel, office accessories, etc. Recently, however, Laurie and I requested a sample of the Paperwhites Single Bulb Pot Set. This is not your everyday promotional item, but I can guarantee you it is a perfect promotional giveaway for many occasions (just put your logo / imprint on the pot and get your name out there! Laurie may even consider this as a cool centerpiece for her wedding reception - Laurie & Bill, Blooming with Love...). We got the sample about 6 weeks ago and it was nothing but an onion-like bulb, some polished rock fillers and a 100% biodegradable bamboo fiber pot. Amazingly, right in front of our eyes, we saw it bloom into a colossal 16" plant that is not even completely bloomed yet. Everyday we come in, excitedly measuring the size of our plant, astonished at how big it has gotten. On average it seems to grow about 1/2" to 1" per day. Make sure to keep an eye out for this great new promotional item on Motivators.com! 

You remember that little paper game that you used to play when you were kids? The one where it was folded into a fun little diamond shape, and your friends told you to pick a number, and then a color, and then a category? It was basically like a fortune game and for those of you that don't remember it, we actually sell a version of it and it's the Leeds Fortune Teller game. Looks like this:

 

Anyway, I just figured out a way to play it on the Motivators website. Here's how and here are Sarah E's answers to find out her promotional product fortune.

Pick a Category: Eco-Friendly

Pick a Sub-Category: Eco-Friendly Bags

Pick a Page 1-4: 3

Pick a Row 1-10: 7

Pick a number 1-4: 3

According to my results, the 3rd item in from the left in row 7 on page 3 of eco-friendly bags is...*drumroll please*: Gemline Recycled Expo Tote!

It's a fun eco-friendly tote that's made from 51% recycled materials and has 28" shoulder straps. It's available in Glacial Blue or Moss Green (two very earth friendly colors!) It starts at $7.98, has a great imprint area and is perfect for making an environmental statement at your next trade show!

I really hope everyone read that last little bit in a game show host/announcer type voice because that's really what I was going for. I have way too much fun with promotional products.  Thanks for playing the promotional product fortune teller and we'll see ya next time!

I am a sucker for Home Goods. I love finding fun things to put in the apartment to make it feel more "homey." One of my favorite things I have picked up along the way is the The Photo Coaster Set item #30164. They look great with my nieces and nephews pictures in them, and are functional! I have gotten a lot of compliments on the quality of the coaster, and updating the pictures are easy!

Though we do not have the power to prevent and eliminate completely all problems and calamities from taking place in our lives, we can strive to be prepared to deal with them in a way that reduces our stress.  And, if anyone would attempt to manage their stress, an important starting point for effective stress management is identifying the source of stress in your life.  The American Psychological Association (APA) says that the leading cause of stress is money and work.  According to their statistics three-quarters of Americans are experiencing stress due to these two factors.  Other sources of stress, the most recent APA survey traces to the difficulties of managing work and family responsibilities together.  Thirty-five percent of those surveyed by the APA cite their jobs interfering with family time as a source of stress and one in four said that they had been alienated from a friend or family member because of stress, with eight percent saying stress was the cause of a divorce or separation.  So, once you have identified the origin of your stress the question then is how do you manage it?  Well, there are healthy and unhealthy ways of managing stress.  The APA survey indicated that four in ten Americans, 43 percent, say they overeat or eat unhealthy foods to manage stress; 39 percent drink alcohol; and 19 percent smoke cigarettes.  The alternative or healthy way to manage stress would be: listening to music (54 percent); reading (52 percent); exercising or walking (50 percent); spending time with family and friends (40 percent); and praying (34 percent).  Here at Motivators we introduce other healthy ways to manage your stress.  For example, stress reliever products such as stress balls, can help you squeeze out some of the tension you may be feeling during a hard day at work.  Ladies may utilize the Aromatherapy Kit, which uses essential oils and other aromatic compounds from plants for the purpose of affecting one's mood or health.  Another stress reliever can be a customized massager which works out tension with spa like treatment.  Again, I reiterate that though we may not be able to prevent every problem that comes up in our life, we can strive to be prepared to deal with the problem in a way that reduces our stress.         

Leeds Essentials Apple Incense Kit 

 

                 

This morning started off great, left home a little early on my way to work at Motivators. As I pulled in the parking lot of Dunklin Donuts my car decided to shut off.. So me being the car Guru that I am popped open the hood, checked my battery connection, etc evertyhing seems to be fine. Started the car again but it was idling kind of rough. I couldn't find the problem. Called a friend of my that happens to be Audi Tech. He explained there is a Idle adustment screw that I should turn it up a bit. I was so happy to have my Multi Functional Tool