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Thursday
July 15, 2010 We Like It HOTFiled under: ASI Shows, News About ASI It’s almost 90 degrees in Chicago, but we’re staying cool at the ASI Show, where we’re previewing thousands of innovative new products just in time for the second half of the selling season, and enjoying networking events like the Counselor HOT party. To check out Wednesday night’s action, click here for all the photos and a complete list of the 41 people Counselor honored for shaking up the industry. I’d also like to recognize the HOT Party sponsors – MY M&M’S|Mars Direct, BamBams, Sabina, Otto International Inc., Halo/Lee Wayne and Chulani Promotional Products Inc. The HOT party at W Hotel-City Center followed the ASI Chicago Gala at the Hub 51 nightclub. At that party, we celebrated this great city, which, along with 26 miles of lakefront, boasts more than 200 theaters, nearly 200 art galleries and more than 7,300 restaurants. I’m working my way through them all, one by one. At the gala, ASI TV really shook up the joint with a video dance contest. Next week, you can vote for your favorite dancers in the Counselor PromoGram. Our show at the McCormick Place, Chicago’s premier convention center, is the largest show of summer and the biggest event to visit the Midwest. No wonder. McCormick Place itself offers the largest amount of exhibition space in North America (2.2 million square feet). It seems everything in the great Midwest is big! The show closes later today. If you attended, please let me know your favorite experience by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Wednesday
July 14, 2010 Straight from Chicago: Strategies for SuccessFiled under: ASI Shows, Education, News About ASI This morning I put Harris Cohen, president and CEO of All-In-One (asi/34256), on the Hot Seat to discuss a number of industry trends, including supplier inventory, investing in new products and “The Big Idea.” To watch a Tim’s Take video filmed after the interview, click here. Harris agrees with many distributors on the importance of maintaining a deep inventory and says now that the economy’s easing, there’s no excuse for empty shelves. All-In-One, which helped introduce flash drives and USBs to the industry, is now immersed in encrypting and full-color imprinting and personalization. As Harris says, personalization takes any product to the next level. I also got a chance today to interview ASI Show’s VP of sales, Karen DiTomasso, after her packed supplier panel, “Quick Strategies to Get Noticed & Generate More Quality Leads.” Click here to watch. Karen was joined on the panel by Josh Goodelman, VP of Liqui-Mark Corp. (asi/67675), Jim Moore, senior VP of sales and marketing at Molenaar (asi/71980) and Fran Ford, senior VP of J Charles Crystalworks Inc. (asi/62985). These industry vets bring a combined 100 years of experience to the table. The session – new for 2010 – provided suppliers with quick strategies for exhibiting, including these three nuggets:
In addition to an array of educational offerings at every show, don’t forget ASI also offers dozens of online tutorials through ASI Education. I’m off now to get ready for tonight’s Chicago Gala Celebration, followed by the Counselor HOT Party. Make sure to check back for loads of photos from these events tomorrow. Let me know what you’ve learned so far at ASI Chicago, which ends Thursday, by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Wednesday
July 14, 2010 Happy Birthday, ASI RadioFiled under: ASI Shows, News About ASI Any day that starts with cake is a good day. And this morning we celebrated a wonderful milestone – the two-year anniversary of ASI Radio – with cake, balloons and special guests during a live broadcast direct from our show in Chicago. As any fan of ASI Radio knows, our five regular radio co-hosts consistently deliver the best of industry news in a lively program every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. ET. Topics run the gamut, from advice on selling to big companies to building business referrals and using new marketing techniques – you name it, and our radio hosts have covered it. In addition to knowing the industry inside and out, Melinda Ligos, Andy Cohen, Michele Bell, Kathy Huston and Joe Haley are as snappy and engaging as anyone on radio today. Today’s Radio Show guests included Matt Bertram, president of Fields Manufacturing (asi/54100), which sponsored Tuesday’s full slate of classes, and direct marketing and business expert David Blaise. Both guests stressed the importance of keeping up with new trends and ideas through continual education. And, in a nod to Counselor magazine’s special State of the Industry issue, the Radio Show featured a game show-style quiz hosted by Senior Writer Dave Vagnoni. See how many answers you know: 1. What’s the top way to find new business in our industry? Online, networking, referrals, or asking your neighbor? 2. In 2009, what was the industry’s top revenue-generator? Bags, USB drives, T-shirts or pens? 3. What was the top market in 2009? Financial, government, health care or education? 4. Which region is most optimistic about the market? Southwest, Southeast, West, Northeast? 5. What percentage of orders from suppliers was delivered on time to distributors in 2009? 88%, 91%, 97% or 92%? If you caught our rendition of the “Happy Birthday” song, you know our hosts made the right decision when they chose a career in promotional products over an appearance on “American Idol.” And, anytime you miss a live show, don’t worry: All shows are archived so you can listen to them anytime. Visit the ASI Radio Web page for complete instructions. Happy birthday, ASI Radio! For more photos, click here. Let me know how ASI Radio has helped your business by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Quiz answers: 1. referral 2. T-shirts 3. health care 4. Southwest. 5. 92%.
Wednesday
July 14, 2010 State of the Industry Sneak PeekFiled under: ASI Shows, Research Counselor’s State of the Industry issue – our largest and best-read issue of the year – is about to drop and I’m offering a preview in Tim’s Take, a video shot during the opening day of our Chicago show. Click here to watch. In the issue, we report that both distributors and suppliers are abundantly more optimistic about the health of the market in 2010 than they were in 2009. What that tells us is that growth is here, and more is on the way. Even further, 63% of distributors expect to increase their sales and profitability in 2010, which is a good indication of a solid year ahead for everyone in our industry. Our data comes from separate surveys returned by distributors and suppliers and analyzed by Larry Basinait, executive director of research services for ASI. As Counselor reveals, the top three sales categories are health, financial institutions and education. I’m happy to report that doctors and health-care organizations are promoting themselves more, which is helping offset the hit the sector took from legislative restrictions placed on Big Pharma. The growth of finance and education comes thanks to government education and retraining programs now available to the unemployed. So, if you haven’t started chasing your local educational market, now’s the time. And, there’s more. The issue also contains a Business Planning Guide, which provides strategies and tactics for distributors to plan for business growth over the immediate and long term. Broken up into four time-based sections (immediate, 2010 fourth quarter, 2011, and a long-term two-to-four-year horizon), the guide offers advice sure to invigorate and energize any organization. Let me know what you’re doing to recharge your business by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Tuesday
July 13, 2010 Celebrating ChicagoFiled under: ASI Shows, News About ASI We’re off to a great start at our show in Chicago, which continues through Thursday at McCormick Place. ASI’s vice-chairman, Matthew Cohn, hit the ground running this morning with an educational seminar for newcomers. The advice he gave to more than 100 people attending the session – “How to Get the Most Out of Your Trade Show Experience” (sponsored by Ariel Premium Supply Inc., asi/36730) – really applies to anyone, whether they’re here for the first time or a trade-show veteran. It all boils down to three main points:
To watch my first Tim’s Take with Matthew, just click here. Let me know how you make the most of your trade-show experiences by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Friday
July 2, 2010 A Billion-Dollar IdeaFiled under: Industry Initiatives, News About ASI How does a billion dollars in sales sound? That’s what the industry could realize if distributor firms answer my challenge to add 20,000 new sales reps to grow our market, stimulate the national economy and put Americans back to work. ASI is doing its part by placing help-wanted ads for 100% commission-based sales reps on the job sites Monster and CareerBuilder across major markets. All you need to do to participate in this pilot recruitment program is email us at recruitment@asicentral.com with your contact info, number of sales reps needed, experience level desired and regions or states to cover. We’ll pass on all leads generated by our ads. This call to action – an industry first – is also appearing in the July issues of ASI’s Counselor and Supplier Global Resource magazines, hitting desks and mailboxes now. We’re sending it out across all social media channels as well, and we encourage you to do the same. Distributors will benefit by increasing their turf and making more sales. Suppliers will benefit by selling more products. The unemployed will benefit by getting back to work. It’s a win-win-win situation. Let’s face facts. Since the downturn, this industry has shed thousands of sales reps and lost $4 billion – the same loss Chrysler posted since declaring bankruptcy. When an industry’s suffering like automakers, it’s time to think big and act bold. We can get the ball rolling in three simple steps: 1: Generate sales. Get more reps on the street and making sales calls. 2: Get new reps up to speed fast. Tap into ASI’s array of multimedia education offerings, including the New Distributor Success Track, the Distributor Success System, free online webinars and education sessions at every ASI Show. 3: Sell people on this industry. How? By giving them the facts. Promotional products are one of the most efficient advertising mediums available in business today. The average cost-per-impression of an ad specialty item is $0.004, which beats nearly all other forms of advertising. Every time I meet someone outside the industry, I ask how often they’re contacted by distributors. Most of the time, their answer is “never.” That tells me we’re simply not covering all of the geographic and end-user markets. There are opportunities out there right now – and we should be taking advantage of them. Adding more reps will also solve another crucial problem: lack of diversity in our industry. A sales force that reflects all Americans will be better able to develop all opportunities the marketplace has to offer. If you’re still not convinced of the need to hire one commission-only sales rep, ask yourself this question: What do you lose if you don’t? The answer? Sales. Let me know what you think of ASI’s call to action by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Thursday
July 1, 2010 Some Like it Cool…We Like it HotFiled under: Industry Initiatives, Using Ad Specialties One of the best parts of this job is checking out all the cool stuff fueling this industry. This week, we released a Top 10 list of the hottest products with the season’s coolest features, including a USB wind turbine and a football that transforms into a can koozie. What more do you need on a hot summer day – or to inject a little sizzle into a summertime promotional campaign? The Top 10 Coolest Hot Products:
To see photos of the products and purchasing information for each, click here. And for more info, click here to read our press release. What products are heating up your recent campaigns? Let me know by posting a comment or emailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. |
