Sales & Marketing Archives - PromoKitchen

The Sky Is Falling!

Posted on October 13, 2015 by PromoKitchen Contributing Editor

The following article was written my PromoKitchen Chef Marshall Atkinson, COO of Visual Impressions in Milwaukee, WI. He writes a blog and publishes posts weekly. Check it our here. The Sky is Falling! Chicken Little is on line one, and he’s none too pleased right now. That order you did for him got messed up along the way somewhere, and…

Successful Promotions Begin With One Letter. . . U

Posted on October 1, 2015 by PromoKitchen Contributing Editor

The following post was written by Monica Simpson. Monica consults for companies looking to give the best swag that represents their brand or product. In addition to writing about best practice, she visits expos, collects freebies, and blogs about who did it best. Her blog can be found at http://giveawayconsultant.blogspot.com MBAs love their acronyms almost as much as they…

Reprogramming Retail | Repost from Inc. w/ commentary

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Charity Gibson

Charity here. I’ve long preached in offline conversations that our industry would grow exponentially if we could as a collective, figure out a way to be nimble and agile enough to keep pace with the constantly evolving demands of the retail marketplace. If this were to occur, our end-user clients could ideally charge retail or better prices for goods they…

Distributors: Please Quit B***ng About The Online Competition

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Mark Graham

I read the following post on an industry discussion group this week and it compelled me to write this tough love piece. All of this has been written from the vantage of someone who started a distributorship 17 years ago and deals with online competitors all the time. Offline Distributor/33 Years Industry Experience writes: “It’s happened twice today. Lost…

Consider the Cost of Bidding

Posted on June 8, 2015 by PromoKitchen Contributing Editor

This article was written with the end user in mind by PromoKitchen Chef Kirby Hasseman of Hasseman Marketing When creating a promotional campaign, you want a creative powerful promotion that will wow customers and affect human behavior. That is what a great Promotional Products campaign can do…affect change. The best campaigns can create an increase in direct mail opens, engagement…

The Bel Promo Conundrum

Posted on February 4, 2015 by PromoKitchen Contributing Editor

By PromoKitchen Chef Nathan Bailey, President of Ideation Promos Amazing things happen after the ad specialty industry’s annual PPAI Expo in Vegas. Most people leave refreshed and motivated to have their best sales year ever. Many come away with new product ideas, strategies to implement, and marketing concepts to present to their clients. However, even with all the positive impact…

Everything I Learned About Sales, I Learned From High School

Posted on December 19, 2014 by PromoKitchen Contributing Editor

The following article was written by Mark Graham and originally featured on the CommonSku blog If you want to master sales, take yourself back to high school. Yes, high school. Think about it for a moment. You’re a sales rep and you’re looking to bring your product/service to market. Within that market, there are all sorts of buyers, each with…

What Do You Do?

Posted on December 18, 2014 by PromoKitchen Contributing Editor

The following article was written by guest contributor Bill Petrie, CEO at Brandivate “What Do You Do?” It’s 5:07 PM and you have just completed a 6.2 mile stretch on a trade show floor. The imaginary needles in your fatigued feet stab you with every step as you make the long trek back to the promise of relief in…

Is This Mike On?

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Charity Gibson

I often wonder if, as long-time professionals in this industry, we sometimes forget just how magical promotional products are to the world at large. We walk trade show floors and get lost in a sea of row after row of imprintable “things” – pens, USB drives, Koozies, pill containers, and lip balm. Our offices and vehicles are no doubt laden…

Demographics Disconnect the Social Selling Model

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Roger Burnett

Adages in sales have existed as long as salespeople. Plan your work, work your plan Inspect what you expect. Fail to plan, plan to fail. Adages like these are ingrained in the minds of most sales professionals, and many a sales manager rightly employ them as an integral aspect of their professional belief system. Salespeople and managers alike agree that…