PromoKitchen Contributing Editor, Author at PromoKitchen

How To Lead Today

Posted on January 29, 2013 by PromoKitchen Contributing Editor

Paul Kiewiet, MAS, is a speaker, coach, writer and the executive director of MiPPA. Leadership is not about being liked. It’s about doing what’s right. This means being visionary and looking beyond your corners of the promotional products world. It means that as a distributor, you must strengthen the supplier channel and vice versa. You must ruffle feathers, or you’re…

PromoKitchen Party / Las Vegas Style!

Posted on January 9, 2013 by PromoKitchen Contributing Editor

PromoKitchen is once again hosting its flagship party at the PPAI Expo.Come one, come all! This will be a chance to catch up with old friends, meet some new people and chat about ways we can shake up the industry in 2013. Spread the word! Where: https://www.facebook.com/HOBLasVegas House of Blues Las Vegas 3950 Las Vegas Blvd South (inside Mandalay Bay),…

RFP Is The Life For ME?

Posted on August 18, 2012 by PromoKitchen Contributing Editor

The following article was written by Marsha Londe, Partner and CEO at Tango Partners RFPs aren’t going away. When driven by purchasing alone, the intent is to reduce costs or number of preferred suppliers. And both are appropriate goals to control spend, logo usage and rogue buyers. Fortunately, what has diminished is the reverse auction determined to lower pricing beyond…

RFP Tips

Posted on August 18, 2012 by PromoKitchen Contributing Editor

Tips for Responding to RFPs Review the full document From the intro of the RFP through the market basket, note clues of what they really want. Highlight points and make margin notes. First thoughts and reactions help you craft answers. Note all deadlines. Evaluate if this is an opportunity where you want to invest time, resources, and expense. …

PromoKitchen Party @The SAAC Show

Posted on July 31, 2012 by PromoKitchen Contributing Editor

The PromoKitchen community is hosting a party at the SAAC show! Come one, come all. This is following a rich party tradition after Vegas, Orlando, San Diego, Chicago, NYC & Dallas. This will be a chance to catch up with old friends, meet some new people and chat about ways we can shake up the industry in 2012. Spread the…

Juggling 101 – The Entrepreneur’s Guide To Sanity

Posted on July 31, 2012 by PromoKitchen Contributing Editor

The following article was written by Ruth Verver, partner at Paperclip Promotions. Being your own boss is one of the most amazing and rewarding things you can do. It also tends to be the kind of thing that ties your stomach in knots and causes your head to spin. It’s the beginning of the year…where are all of those sales…

The “S” Word

Posted on July 5, 2012 by PromoKitchen Contributing Editor

The following article was written by Danny Braunstein, vice president sales and business development-Western Canada at Talbot Promo. Last week, the promotional products industry was featured on the front page of the venerable Wall Street Journal. The focus of the piece was on ASI Chairman and industry pioneer Mr. Norman Cohn. To be sure, press of this magnitude is a tremendous coup…

Productivity Tools for Distributors – The Capture

Posted on June 19, 2012 by PromoKitchen Contributing Editor

Jen Vaughn is the Marketing Director for commonsku; commonsku is a next generation CRM, order management and social collaboration tool for the promotional products industry. Distributors are constantly being pulled in many directions at once. Quotes, research, RFPs, meetings, new products, order follow-up, ringing phones, and the inevitable fires to squelch can derail the best of daily to-do lists. I’m…

Kill, Kill, Kill The Catalog

Posted on June 18, 2012 by PromoKitchen Contributing Editor

Mitch Mounger is CEO of Bellevue, Washington-based Sunrise Identity, a Top-50 distributor, member of QCA’s Distributor Advocacy Council and recipient of the Family Business of the Year and Best Place to Work awards by Counselor Magazine. People always ask me, “What’s the next big thing in promotional marketing?” That’s the million-dollar question, right? If I knew the answer, I’d be the smartest…

Want To Be A Line Leader? Have The Confidence To Carry The Soap Bucket.

Posted on May 31, 2012 by PromoKitchen Contributing Editor

The following article was written by Russ Mogell, CEO of Seven Sourcing, and he can be harassed via email here. My five-year-old son, Jack, is in pre-school, and each day a student from his class is chosen to be the “line leader.” The line leader is responsible for carrying the soap bucket and leading the class down the hall to the…