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Monday
January 18, 2010 ASI Pledges $100k to Education InitiativesFiled under: Education, Industry Initiatives, Media Coverage, News About ASI, Research, Using Ad Specialties ASI is seriously committed to education, so it should come as no surprise we’re committing a serious amount of money - $100,000 - to our latest campaign to demonstrate the value of promotional products to end-buyers. Taken together, ASI’s latest broad-based education efforts will encourage buyers to increase their use of advertising specialties in their marketing plans while creating a bigger buzz about the power of promotional products in the national media. We definitely hit the ground running. Check out highlights of the campaign: Media blitz. Aggressively pitching stories to media nationwide, highlighting the reach and effectiveness of promotional items. A recent ASI story about the dramatic increase in sales of hand sanitizers resulted in nearly 100 media mentions nationwide, including spots on CBS Money Watch, Philadelphia Business Today and Live 5 News. ASI Show-related publicity. Increasing pursuit of media coverage of advertising specialties among the five metro areas of the ASI Shows. Florida State Representative Kevin Ambler and Senator Paula Dockery visited the just-completed Orlando show and the Orlando Sentinel wrote an article about it (comments accepted online) and posted ASI TV videos featuring interviews with the politicians on its blog. Orlando’s CBS station, Local 6 News, also provided a sneak-peek of the show. Successful Promotions magazine campaign. ASI’s award-winning editorial team is sending a monthly e-newsletter to 600,000 marketers, filled with case studies and education. A PowerPoint presentation about the positive return-on-investment (ROI) of promo products has already been featured, available to download here. Also, a new Facebook fan page for the magazine will be launched first quarter, providing additional resources and editions of The Joe Show. ASI Marketing Advisory Board. This recently-formed board of business leaders is driving the industry forward by connecting with end-buyers and sharing their feedback and suggestions with the industry. Research. ASI Research published an advertising specialty impressions study in 2009 for distributors to send to their clients and prospects, showing them the high ROI of promotional products. The study will be updated this year. For more details, read the press release by clicking here. Tell me which initiative you think will have the most impact - or what ideas you may have - by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Tuesday
November 3, 2009 Power Summit Video About EconomyFiled under: Community, Education, Industry Initiatives, Members, Research
Click here for a video outlining these key insights from our sessions:
Click here for the video. What are your thoughts? Post a comment or email me here. I’m also on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Thursday
August 13, 2009 SAAC and State of the IndustryFiled under: Community, Education, News About ASI, Research I participated in an industry event recently - the 2009 SAAC Show in Long Beach, California. The Specialty Advertising Association of California invited me to discuss the state of the industry before the APS Group (Advertising Products Suppliers). I shared results of our second quarter sales survey, conducted by ASI’s Larry Basinait, who takes the pulse of the industry through numerous research studies and surveys. I thought you might be interested since, not surprisingly, it shows ad specialty sales are off about 14%. The report broke down the forecast for the second half of the year by company size and it discovered something worth noting: the bigger the distributor, the more pessimistic. Of those reporting sales of less than $250,000, 26% expect sales to be higher, and 47% expect sales to be lower. Of those earning $1 million and up, 19% anticipate higher sales while 50% percent expect lower. As far as trends, the study showed that buyers want more services, like fulfillment. They also want more access to marketing program information, such as educational videos and materials beyond a product leave-behind. They want ideas on how to use promotional products, how to track ROI and how to educate their bosses, peers and colleagues. I also shared with the group recent improvements ASI has made to education - in direct response to what members are requesting. In sum, we took a great education program and made it even better, by merging it with our editorial team. You can see many of the new offerings by clicking here, including free access to the brand-new, 10-CD Distributor Success System. Tell me what you think about the current state of the industry by posting a comment now or emailing me here.
Tuesday
July 21, 2009 New Email Marketing Tool for DistributorsFiled under: Education, Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI, Using Ad Specialties Today we’re launching a new, easy-to-use email marketing tool that allows distributors to quickly create and send email marketing messages and promotions to customers with the click of a button. The latest ASI distributor benefit was unveiled on our first day of ASI Show Chicago. Read all about it in the press release, by clicking here. ASI chose RatePoint, Inc., a leading provider of user-friendly, Web-based communication tools, to provide the program to ASI distributor members. RatePoint is providing the program at a substantial savings, exclusively for ASI distributor members. I’m especially pleased with this powerful marketing tool because it costs about the same as the price of lunch, and you can choose from over 100 ready-made templates or can create a custom template. The new program includes:
Additional features include customer feedback tools that allow your clients to easily provide testimonials and feedback that distributors can use to promote their Website and LogoMall site, and at no extra charge. The new email marketing tool is available immediately, with a 30-day free trial for distributors with no further obligation. This latest distributor member benefit joins more than 12 other member savings programs from ASI, including discounts on UPS® shipping, group health insurance options, office supplies at OfficeMax®, credit card processing and digital artwork services. To check it out, visit asicentral.com/ratepoint. For more information, contact Dale Denham, senior vice president, at dale.denham@asicentral.com. I’d love to know what you think. Post a comment on the blog or email me here.
Wednesday
July 15, 2009 Serious About Education with New ASI Distributor Success SystemFiled under: Education, Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI ASI is serious about education, as is evident from the $1.3 million we invest each year Our new learn-as-you-go series includes an introductory DVD and ten 30-minute lessons on CDs, along with a workbook and motivational flash cards. The best part is you can use it when you want, where you want - at home, in the car, on a PDA or through a smart phone. The program is part of ASI’s generous ASI member benefits program, and is shipped free to new ASI distributor members. Distributors attending three education classes during the New Distributor Success Track at the ASI Show in Chicago on Tuesday, July 21, will receive a complimentary copy. It’s also available electronically to all ASI members, by clicking here. You’ll recognize some of the faces in the series, as it’s led by ASI executives, and supplemented with interviews from successful distributors, top suppliers and industry experts. Let me know what you think of the series and post a comment now. See you in Chicago!
Thursday
June 11, 2009 Act Now – Physician Payments Sunshine Act Could PassFiled under: Education, Guest Blog My father always told me to be prepared to fight for what I believe in and I’ve And while there are many causes and challenges to commit to, there’s one facing our industry that needs action from nearly every distributor and supplier: the Physician Payments Sunshine Act of 2009. This act would require drug companies and medical device manufacturers to disclose the value of payments or gifts of ANY amount to physicians, including all advertising specialties. While there is some consideration the House might provide an exemption for items under $5, this amount is still too low, and the Senate bill still does not exempt any promotional products of any value. So, either way, we have to push to increase the exemption to $25, in order to save thousands of industy jobs. Any drug or medical device company will be prevented from handing out promotional items at trade shows or in the office, because no one will want to take the time or painstaking effort to report the value of every single promotional item given (like pens, clipboards and mugs.) This bill has good intentions, however, it also has far reaching ramifications. Since I’m obviously against bribing my doctor to give me medicine, I support the spirit of this bill. But, the way it’s written will damage pharmaceutical promotional products sales for our industry, which will further impact the overall economy. In addition to the revenue lost by distributors who sell to these companies, suppliers will obviously lose revenue and overall declining sales could lead to even more industry job cuts. Doctors are constantly bombarded with messages and new information. Frankly, I want my doctor to be able to keep a pen or portfolio that will remind him of a drug or device that may make a difference to my health. I hope you recognize how significant this issue is to you and to the health of our overall industry - whether or not you sell promo products to the pharmaceutical market. So what can you do? Small things done by 100,000 of us can go a very long way and I’ve put together a few easy links for you to contact your representative. Take a quick moment to send them your thoughts, using these links and the draft of my letter below, and be sure to pass this information to your sales and support staff. Please comment on this blog to indicate that you’ve sent a letter to your representative. Together, we can make a difference. - Dale Denham is senior vice president at ASI. Email him here. To email your Senator: 1. Click here and select the link after each of your Senators to contact them using the web form. 2. Insert your information and send your version of the letter below. Draft of Letter: Dear Senator [Last Name]: I oppose S.301, the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, and ask that you strongly consider the potentially devastating effects on those of us in your constituency. While the intentions of the bill are commendable, there are significant negative ramifications that may not be clear to the drafters of the bill. I am not a manufacturer of drugs or medical devices, but I am in the promotional products industry and this bill will drive out hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and result in a significant loss of jobs. Specifically, the proposed law does not establish a minimum dollar amount related to the “transfer of value,” which will cause manufacturers to stop providing promotional products. Promotional products are very cost effective advertising items, not a “free trip” or other “gift” that has no advertising or educational value. If you support this bill, I strongly urge you to allow tangible forms of advertising and education to be exempt from the bill, or at a minimum exclude those under a reasonable dollar value. With over 30,000 promotional products businesses across the United States, many of them entrepreneurial small- and medium-sized businesses that now help drive most of the business growth in this country, and the thousands of jobs potentially at stake in the 19 billion dollar industry if this act passes, it is a very important issue. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, [Your Name]
Tuesday
June 9, 2009 Do you know Word – Really?Filed under: Education, Guest Blog, Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits Now is the time to make sure your company is positioned to take advantage of the Examining and streamlining processes, raising efficiency, and putting in checks and balances, at a time when business is a little slower, is a prudent decision. And, you can be certain that the tools and systems you have in place provide more functionality and can offer more information than you are already using now. I wrote this in Microsoft Word before posting it, but I don’t know all of Word’s other features. I’m constantly using only a small percentage of its capabilities, because I’ve yet to see the value of taking time to learn more. This is true not only for Word, but any software program, including our industry-specific ProfitMaker program for instance (which ASI Computer Systems provides for distributors and suppliers to use for entering orders, tracking inventory and producing business reports). So if you’re a ProfitMaker user, here are recent improvements you might not have used yet that can really help you out: More resources than ever
ESP Online Search
New Activity Manager
Reports
ASI Services directly integrated
Direct Supplier Website Integration
If you’re not a ProfitMaker user, visit www.asicomp.com to learn more about how it can streamline your operations and provide you with more time for selling. Look around your office and think about what programs and resources you already have that can contribute more to your operations, and ultimately, your profitability. - Dave Wirth is president and chief operating officer of ASI Computer Systems. Email him here. |
subscribed to that theory throughout my life.
turnaround from this challenging economic period. Every organization can find areas where improvements are possible and needed.