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Monday
August 23, 2010 Media Stats Tracks Your ROIFiled under: Member Benefits, News About ASI There’s no question advertising is vitally important for any business. (It’s the first name of ASI!) Now, we’re offering a new way for advertisers in our print publications to effectively gauge their advertising ROI through ASI Media Statistics, which tracks results for ESP, LogoMall and print – all in one place. It couldn’t be easier. Every month, suppliers can either check their inbox or go online to review a set of comprehensive reports tracking all ASI magazines, catalogs and editorial mentions for advertisers. We’ve been offering similar stats for ESP and LogoMall customers for years, so adding print was the next logical step. A team here at ASI consolidates all the data from a variety of sources to create a tailored report for each advertiser. In addition, if an advertiser sends us a list of their competitors, we’ll track those ad pages as well, so the advertiser can see just how their company stacks up. It makes strategizing and planning a snap. To read our press release about this latest service, click here. To review ASI Media Statistics, click here. ASI offers numerous print advertising opportunities, including our eight catalogs and six magazines: Advantages, Counselor, Successful Promotions, Stitches, Supplier Global Resource and Wearables. It’s worth noting that ASI publications have recently won 35 national editorial awards, including three Jesse H. Neal Awards – considered the Pulitzer Prize of B-to-B journalism. Let me know what you think is the most effective advertising vehicle by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. P.S. I can’t help but suggest you ask other magazine publishers to provide equivalent reports, and then – if they can! – compare your ROI from ASI magazines and digital media with any of our competitors. Hands down, we provide the best ROI you can get – and that’s based on conversations with our advertisers. If you get reports that show otherwise, drop me an email because I want to know.
Friday
June 25, 2010 Sprint Your Way to SavingsFiled under: Guest Blog, Member Benefits Are your clients, family, friends and colleagues contacting you more frequently on your cell phone or by text message? Landlines, what are those? I recently spent a few days in New York visiting family (yes, I’m a native New Yorker transplanted to Pennsylvania). At dinner one night, I was amazed at the number of people either talking on their cell phone or feverishly texting – something I try to avoid. Seems those of us who are “hooked” never turn our phones off because we’re afraid we’ll miss something. With cell phones and wireless technology being a major mode of professional and personal communications, having the ability to cut monthly costs is a welcomed opportunity – an opportunity ASI members are taking advantage of through an exclusive discount program with Sprint. I’m thrilled to tell you we recently negotiated even better discounts* that enable members, their employees and families to save even more.
No worries if you’ve already enrolled – your account will automatically roll over to the new enhanced rates. You won’t have to lift a finger to save even more on your wireless services. If you haven’t enrolled yet, put your phone or blackberry down and click here to get started. Please don’t hesitate to email benefits@asicentral.com, with questions, comments or suggestions regarding ASI’s Member Benefit programs. – Cathy Cathy Martino is ASI’s affiliate relations manager. *Discount does not apply to Simply Everything Plans and Mobile Broadband plans.
Monday
June 21, 2010 Discount Credit Lines for Your Equipment NeedsFiled under: Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, Members, News About ASI At a time when banks and credit card companies are tightening up lines of credit, ASI is smoothing the way for members to increase their cash flow while building their business through another new member benefit. The discount program – now available through ASI affiliate InteliLease – will save members an average of $800 on every $20,000 credit line used for new or upgraded equipment. That means any company, large or small, new or established, can apply for a line of credit at the lowest, most competitive rates available to lease everything from computers, furniture and phone systems to copiers, software (including ASI ProfitMaker) and more. Program features include:
ASI extensively researched numerous equipment leasing programs before selecting InteliLease for its low rates, personalized service and ease of application. For more information, click here to read our press release. And let me know your favorite ASI benefit by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Friday
June 11, 2010 We’ve Got Your NumberFiled under: Guest Blog, Member Benefits, News About ASI, Using Ad Specialties What would you say if someone offered you a complete customer service center – for free? That’s exactly what ASI is now offering distributors who buy our 2011 Spectrum catalog. In December, the first 100,000 Spectrums will come complete with an 800 number on each page that leads to an ASI call center. When end-buyers need info on any of over 500 products, a representative will happily provide it. Better yet – the ASI representative will then contact the distributor to let them know they have a hot lead and an interested client. There’s no additional cost. The catalog just needs to be preordered before August 4. For more information, click here to read our press release. With this latest program, distributors can better market themselves as a sophisticated, full-service operation – no matter their company size. And suppliers now have a way to track the performance of their advertising in the catalog. Spectrum is already one of the most recognized catalogs in the industry, and the 2011 edition will still feature all of the qualities that make it so successful: • “Customer Favorites” section, highlighting the most popular products Spectrum, which prints in November with a total circulation of 625,000, is just one of nine customized catalogs offered by ASI as sales-generating tools for suppliers to advertise a wide variety of products and for distributors to sell, market and promote their brand. Please contact me at dbrown@asicentral.com or at 800-546-1350 if you’re interested in learning more about the program. Since we’re printing a limited number, this will be on a first-come, first-served basis, so I urge to be the first to take advantage of this special program today. – Dan Dan Brown is ASI’s executive director of distributor services.
Friday
June 4, 2010 Save Thousands in Credit Card Processing FeesFiled under: Guest Blog, Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits Does your jaw drop to the floor each time you open your credit card statement? One comment I often hear from members is they’re getting “killed” with additional merchant account fees. You may not know, but there are two types of merchant account rate/fee structures:
Ours is a B2B industry and most cards used are key-in business/commercial cards. With most merchant accounts being the “tiered” type, the majority of transactions fall to the higher non-qualified (NQ) rate, which can be as high as 4% or more, depending on the processor/provider. Yikes! An ICP account eliminates all of those additional mid and non-qualified fees. However, ICP pricing is traditionally limited to large volume merchant accounts ($120,000-$250,000 in annual processing volume). Now, this is no longer the case, thanks to a new and exclusive ASI member program. To help members save even more, ASI affiliate Access Group has agreed to offer all ASI members interchange plus pricing, regardless of their processing volume. You can even get a free, no obligation savings comparison to see how much you will save by switching to the ASI member program. The comment I hear the most from members who have switched to Access Group is “Wow, I’m saving at least 30% on processing costs each month.” Some bigger member companies who switched are now saving as much as $40,000 annually. Be sure to take a few minutes to look into this great ASI member benefit, get your savings comparison and let me know what you think. Click here to request your free, no-obligation savings comparison to see how much you can save with the ASI member merchant account processing program. In addition to discounts on merchant account processing, ASI members save on shipping, equipment lease lines of credit, wireless services with Sprint™, graphic and design services, and much more. Visit http://www.spotasisavings.com/ (asicentral username and password required) to learn more about how your ASI membership can save you thousands each year. Please don’t hesitate to email benefits@asicentral.com with questions, comments or suggestions regarding ASI’s Member Benefit programs. – Cathy Cathy Martino is ASI’s affiliate relations manager.
Monday
May 3, 2010 Integration and Innovation: ProfitMaker Meets ESPFiled under: ASI Shows, Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI If you’re at our New York Show this week, be sure to stop by booth 615 to see the experts from ASI Computer Systems. They’re anxious to share the news on our latest innovation: ESP Orders now integrates with ProfitMaker to help greater simplify operations and speed up the sales process. ASI Computer Systems is the leading provider of business management software in the advertising specialty industry for good reason. They’re always on the lookout for ways to help make your business smarter and faster. Thanks in large part to their efforts, ProfitMaker — the premier order management and accounting system — now allows distributors to send completed sales orders from their ESP Order’s browser to ProfitMaker from anywhere. Users can choose to start the processing immediately or at a specific day and time, and reports will be stored in a corresponding and easily-accessible directory. David Wirth, president and chief operations officer of ASI Computer Systems, tells me distributors, suppliers and decorators love ProfitMaker because they have more time for selling and spend way less time on order management and office tasks. Not only is it more powerful software, it works alone or with other office programs, to make your business operations one seamless process. So please stop by booth 615 for more info at the New York show, which starts today with a full slate of education offerings. And let me know how ProfitMaker is working for you by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Monday
March 22, 2010 Let the Revolution Begin: ESP Web and ESP Orders DebutFiled under: Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI Tomorrow, one of the most ambitious efforts we’ve ever undertaken becomes reality when we start rolling out the new ESP Web and ESP Orders during our first virtual trade show of 2010. If you haven’t seen what ESP Web and ESP Orders will do to revolutionize how distributors and suppliers interact, watch the video here. The roll-out is the culmination of more than a year’s worth of work on the next generation of ESP and a new product, called ESP Orders. From the start, we put you – our members – front and center, and we reviewed thousands of your comments to develop revolutionary new services that satisfy your business needs. We also relied on a number of beta testers, like Bobby Lehew, director of operations for Robyn Promo (asi/309656), who took the new services out for a test drive and provided feedback. His conclusion? ”ESP Web is simple sophistication at its best. I submitted a project to a client within minutes of using it for the first time. I have the freedom to access ESP Web from anywhere and it lets me concentrate on my clients and their needs.” This next generation of ESP is now browser-based, meaning it will run in Explorer, Firefox, Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome. ESP Orders, brand-new, will allow distributors to easily transfer information from ESP into a sales order and then into standard purchase orders that can be sent to suppliers with the click of one button. The data will be easily integrated into ASI Computer’s ProfitMaker, QuickBooks or your own enterprise financial system. No one has to rekey data, and this is a huge time-saver everyone will love. It sounds simple, but getting this right required an entirely new approach to ESP – figuring out how to provide a true web-based platform, preserve the functionality users depend on every day and reduce inefficiencies between distributors and suppliers. ESP Web and ESP Orders will start rolling out to segments of ESP users during the virtual trade show taking place live from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. EDT tomorrow, Tuesday, March 23. A graduated rollout will continue throughout the spring. Training videos covering major new features of the services will be available on the log-in screen of ESP Web. Demonstrations of ESP Web and ESP Orders will continue in the training room at the ASI booth and in select “power session” rooms at all upcoming super regional ASI Shows, including ASI New York and ASI Chicago. I’d love to know what you think so please, kick the tires and take it for a spin if you can. Then post a comment or email me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. |
