So I just got back to work from my 1 week vacation.  I took a week off of work to go on a little trip to Mexico with my girlfriend and her family.  We went to the Riveria Maya and we stayed at the Iberostar Paraiso Del Mar.  The resort was beautiful and it was like a little piece of paradise. We went Parasailing, jet-skiing and we even rode the zip-lines in the jungle. The rest of my time there was mostly spent at the beach or the pool, thats if I wasn't eating of course.  Something I noticied when I was there is that, it had promotional products everywhere.  They had custom imprinted water bottles, pens, drink coasters, shopping bags, beach towels, bottled water among a ton of other things I noticied during my stay.  Everytime I saw a promotional product I would tell my girlfriend "oh look at that, we sell that at Motivators.com." Often times I even had an item number which was very similiar to it which I could compare it to off the top of my head.  Before I became so familiar with promotional products, you really dont realize how often you see them and how much they are used.

At the start of May I was helping my brother baby-proof our house because his first born daughter is now walking.  We've been putting safety locks on all the cabinets, putting up gates and fences, putting some soft rubber on the corners of tables, and putting those little plastic covers over all of the electrical outlets. While I was searching the house for outlets, and putting in the safety pieces I thought to myself; these would really be great for a promotional giveaway. I mean, there are so many different companies who could be branding things like this with their logo. I made a mental note to myself to check out the site and see if we had it.  A couple hours later my genius idea had all but been forgotton.  Fast foward to today, I get a phone call from a guy looking at our Round Safety Outlet Cover, then I remembered how I thought these would make great promotional products.  With over 30,000 promotional products already on our website and hundreds being added every month, it's easy to see how I missed the fact that my brilliant idea already existed.

 

Last friday I was on the phone with a customer looking at our Promotional Drawstring Backpacks.  He told me he was looking for a quality piece made from nylon for a reasonable price. So I showed him through some of our items.  Ultimately, he decided to go with the String-a-Sling Backpack.  During our discussion he mentioned all he has been doing all day is going from site to site looking for the best option at the best price.  He said he was on the phone with another promotional products company, and he had told them he found a company that had the same item they have on their site for .30 less per item! So the guy told me the representative says "How do you know you can trust that company?"  The man I was speaking with said "I replied, because I trust Pat Summerall, Pat Summerall is on their website."  I really got a kick of out that, im sure you guys will to.

Of course he does, they all do.  Promotional products are often bought last minute right before the event starts. I'd say upwards of 70% of my calls are rush orders needed within 1 week.  Luckily we offer a large selection of promotions on our rush service. Monday I get a call from a customer, he tells me he is looking for a quality pen under $1.00 which he needs in his hands this Friday in Washington State.  First thing I immediately think of is the Bic Clic Stic. It fit his criteria perfectly.  This item is excellently priced under $1.00, available on the rush service and it’s a Bic item so the quality is obviously there. It has a huge selection of barrel and trim colors so I knew he could definitely find a color he liked. It offers a very fast rush service and can ship 1 business day after proof approval.  Turns out he liked the item; he loved that he could have them in time for his event.  He said he had called 2 other companies but they were not able to help him out.  I told him I was happy to assist and feel free to contact me directly for any assistance with any future promotion. 

 

By the time I realized it was already too late.  I was at the beach this past weekend and when we got on the sand and starting un-packing our things, it hit me.  I forgot to buy sun screen.  At that point I knew I was in for it.  We were only there for maybe 2-3 hours but by the time I got home I saw the damage was done.  I was burnt like a Lobster.  The day after, I was hot and sweating no matter what the temperature was.  You could have used me for a heater I was giving off so much heat.  The next day was the worst day of my life.  I was up lying face up on my bed all night long itching to the high heavens.  At one point I wanted to skin myself to relieve myself from the burning, stinging itch that I unfortunately could not itch.  I took multiple showers trying to give myself some relief, which did work for about 10 minutes.  I used some after sun burn spray with Lidocaine which did help a little.  Finally at 3AM that night I found some Anti-Itch cream which I used across my whole chest and stomach.  It took a good 20 minutes to work but finally the itching stopped and I fell asleep. To think this all could have been avoiding by just using some promotional sunscreen I had on my kitchen counter from work. There was no excuse for me not to carry it I mean the SPF 15- Sunblock is sized to easily fit in my pocket. I’m sure we've all been the victim of a terrible sunburn before.  At least for me this was a huge learning experience. I know I wont ever let this happen again and from now on my portable sun block will be with me. By the way, sunburn ITCHES!

 

Just like the Fonze.  As you all probably know by now my blogs are normally about different promotional products and how they are used in my day to day life.  For me, diet and weight training is a big part of my life.  Therefore, I for the most part cannot just go into a fast food joint when I'm hungry and pick up my next meal.  Each day, if I am going out of the house for awhile, it takes a little bit of planning and me estimating how long I might be out of the house to plan how many meals I have to bring with me. Promotional coolers are a god-send.  Without it, how would I bring my meals around with me and keep them fresh?  Unfortunately my car is not equipped with a fridge, so I settle for the next best thing which is the Wide Insulated Lunch Bag. This promotional bag is my favorite as it has a very wide base and I can fit 2-3 meals in there pretty easily. My lifestyle isnt for everyone but I could not have it any other way.  Obviouslly not everyone pre packs meals wherever they go, but everyone goes on trips with kids or to the beach and this type of product makes an excellent give-away no matter what the season.

I’ve been waiting and waiting and it’s finally almost time.  I’ve been on a strict carb-free diet for the past 8 weeks and counting in preparation for July 14, 2008. On that date Ill be leaving for a 7 day vacation with my girlfriend to Rivera Maya, Mexico. I’ve been running 2 miles in the early AM, going to the gym after work and lifting weights and another 2 miles of cardio before bed. I still have a ways to go before i am at 5% bodyfat which is where I need to be to be shredded for vacation.

My girlfriend is a shop-a-holic and needs to go to the mall for retail therapy at LEAST every other week.  So we have been shopping since early March for new outfits. I’ve been going shopping for all new clothes, sneakers etc as I need to be fresh to death as well. One thing I've noticied is, isn’t it strange almost all luggage looks the same? It’s a conspiracy in my opinion. Obviously loosing my suitcase on board is not something I would enjoy after all this preparation.  Something I recently got for our suitcases is the Luggage Spotter.  With this I feel comfortable being able to spot my luggage out of the bunch and making a quick get-away to the beach. This would make a great promotion for all types of businesses as this is something everyone can and will use every time they go on vacation. This can be given away at all different types of events to promote your business, year round.

 

During this time of year, during rain or thunderstorms loosing electricity is a common occurance.  Normally its at this point when people realise their handy flashlights are all out of batteries.  With the green craze thats going around right now why not pick up our Promotional Crank up Emergency Flashlight?  This item works without using disposable batteries.  Its powered by a crank that you wind on the side of the light. The extremely bright LED light will last a long long time and you will never have to buy replacement batteries.  A promotion like this is sure to stay with your customer for a long time to come because something like this is just so handy and always works when in a clutch.

 

It's getting hotter and hotter and the suns rays more intense.  What better promotion for this time of year than a well priced classy pair of shades? If I had to choose, I'd say my personal favorite is our sunglasses with blue lenses. These are sure to keep the sun out of your eyes when drving, at the beach or at an outside family get-together, all the while promoting your business.  Whats to lose?

Summer is finally rolling around, which means two things: Beach & Barbeques.  The beach is a great place to promote your company.  There are so many different products you can select to promote your company in the warm summer months.  Among my favorites is our 12" Multi-Colored Beach Ball.  This item is priced to sell and has a very large imprint area to support your company's summer branding.  Whats great about a Beach ball is that it appeals to many different age groups.  I mean, honestly who doesnt love playing with a beach ball?  This product can be given away and thrown into crowds at so many different types of events and functions its not even funny.  If your looking for your summer promotion, you just found it.