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Tuesday
June 23, 2009 What’s Your Question 35?Filed under: Community, Industry Initiatives, Members Let me admit something right off the bat – I’m not under 35. However, I was more than happy to answer some questions for the new Facebook group “Promo 35,” which provides an online forum for young industry professionals. The group is the brainchild of Charley Johnson of SnugZ/USA (asi/88060), who is posting several interviews with industry leaders and movers and shakers. The interviews have thought-provoking questions, such as “what do you wish you knew back in your 20s that you know now?” or “what piece of advice would you give the younger generation hoping to be in your shoes later in life?” Read my answers here if you’re on Facebook. If not, they’re below. The last question, #35, is crafted by the interviewees. What would your question be? Post it on the blog now or email me here. 1. What do you wish you knew back in your 20’s that you know now? Early in my career, I thought every decision – no matter how small – was life or death, do or die, must win at all costs. What I’ve discovered is that you pick your battles, and you pick when you must win and when you just want to win, and you save your ammunition for the times that you really need to unload it. Many people think they have to win every debate, every business discussion, every last nickel on the table. That isn’t the case, and in fact in the long run you ultimately lose because everyone thinks you always have to have it your way. 2. What one thing do you wish you would have done in your earlier days? What one thing do you wish you would have NOT done in your earlier days? A. I wish that I had spent more time just out of college traveling and visiting the world and learning more about other cultures. I’ve been able to do that in the last few years, but I think that my personal and professional development would have been helped by having some of those experiences early on and not later. Of course, easy to say but tough to afford when you’re earlier in your career. (Although travel and experiencing the world doesn’t have to be expensive to be good.) B. I really don’t have any regrets. If you approach things that are difficult with an eye to learning from the experience, and taking that away with you, I think really you have few regrets. 3. What piece of advice would you give the younger generation hoping to be in your shoes later in life? Be honest. It’s okay to make mistakes, as long as you learn from them, and acknowledge that you made them. The worst thing to find out is that someone isn’t honest, isn’t truthful and tries to cover up every little error in judgment they make. We make a hundred decisions in a day – sometimes hundreds of decisions in a day – and not every one of them are going to be the correct ones in the long term. But in the moment, you have to make the decision, and you have to do the best you can. 4. What helps you get up and go to work in the morning? I love what I do, and I love the people I do it with, both professionally and in my personal life. I long ago decided that working somewhere that I didn’t like, with people I didn’t respect, or spending time with friends who I didn’t really like that much, was a big waste of time. 5. Name a vice you have? I’m not sure it’s a vice, but one thing that I sometimes struggle with is tackling the biggest problems and biggest issues first. It’s natural for me to try to do the little stuff first, and get to the big, bad stuff later. But if you tackle the bigger, tougher things first you’re fresher, you have more energy and your brain is going to be more engaged. Plus it makes everything after that seem simpler. 6. What would you stand up for no matter how much backlash came with it? After really gathering the facts, and deciding what I think was right, I’d stand up for that position no matter what. 7. Is the customer really always right? Please no politically correct responses; we want your honest opinion. Absolutely not. But neither are we. One of the most important things in business is to really listen to the other parties and understand where they’re coming from, calmly explain your position and where you’re coming from and then trying to reach some sort of a middle ground that works pretty well for everybody. There’s nothing worse than people who call me yelling about something, or staking their ground and saying “you must do this or else.” We’ve all talked to those people, we’ve all gotten their letters and emails, and we’ve all met them. Sometimes you just have to say, “Is this really worth the effort I’m putting into this?” And if it isn’t, you have to walk away. One of the hardest things is “firing” a customer, but I certainly have done it and I certainly explain to people that I plan to do it. Usually, if they’re reasonable, they’ll calm down and realize that they’ve been too aggressive or just plain too mean. If they don’t, then I don’t want them as a customer, or as a prospect or as a friend. 8. What famous person has this world put up on a pedestal that you believe does not deserve to be there? Rather than an individual, I’d say a whole host of “famous” singers, performers and politicians. We sometimes idolize people for no good reason other than they’re doing their job. 9. If all of a sudden you had control over the entire promotional product industry what ONE thing would you change? I would try to take away some of the paranoia that exists among and between distributors, suppliers and decorators. There’s a lot of unproductive worry about relationships, and I think in the long run it hurts the industry more than it helps any one business individually or the industry as a whole. 35. Your turn to ask a question, you can ask any question you want, something you want the readers to think about and answer for themselves. If you could do anything, knowing that you wouldn’t fail, what would you do?
Thursday
May 28, 2009 A Supplier’s Way to Help Distributors – Offer EQPFiled under: Community, Guest Blog, Industry Initiatives Usually I wouldn’t post even slightly commercial guest blogs from ASI members, but I received the following email from a prominent industry supplier and wanted to pass it along. From Tom Between pharma and banking and cut backs from most other companies, we figure distributors could really use some relief. As a supplier, we wanted to help, so we decided to do something we have never done before: offer EQP on everything, with no restrictions or fine print, through August 31. EQP refers to ‘End Quantity Pricing’ – and it is the lowest price a supplier can possibly offer a distributor for an item. It is typically the lowest price offered for high-quantity orders. If our customers have already earned EQP on anther order, then we will provide EQP less 5%. We are trying to give distributors and their sales people ammo to close sales, even if we sacrifice a bit of our own margin. We have urged other suppliers, and even our competitors, to follow our lead. Temporary pain for us may help a few distributors do better.
Thursday
May 14, 2009 Facts and Photos From Toronto’s RoadshowFiled under: ASI Shows, Community, Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, Members, News About ASI I attended an Advantages Roadshow in the world-class city of Toronto, along with our “True North” hosts, Fred and Leslie Oesen, and wanted to share some photos and information from the trip. Canada is one of the largest trading partners overall with the U.S. and promotional products sales are about $3.5 billion there. We’re committed to the Canadian marketplace and provide Canadian versions of LogoMall websites for distributors and ESP Online – featuring Canadian suppliers – and our best-in-class Advantages Roadshows now reach nine cities in Canada. I’m also looking forward to seeing our Canadian suppliers and distributors at the ASI Show in Chicago, where we host a special Canadian reception that’s typically packed. When you share a border that’s 5,522 miles long, shows on both sides are paving a lot of two-way streets leading to better business. Let me know if you have any stories or experiences from the beautiful Northern Lights country by posting a comment now or email me here.
Friday
April 24, 2009 First Qtr ’09 Sales Off 17.6%Filed under: Community, Industry Initiatives Today we announced that first quarter 2009 sales were off 17.6%. And, in 2008, overall advertising specialty industry sales reached $19.8 billion, up 1.2 percent over 2007, as estimated in the January 20, 2009 edition of PromoGram from Counselor magazine. For the press release, click here. The exclusive ASI first quarter sales report showed that the year-over-year decline represented a decrease of $700 million in ad specialty sales compared to first quarter 2008. Less than a quarter of distributors (24%) reported an increase in sales in the early months of 2009. Only two quarters ago, 40% had reported an increase in sales. For the full year 2008, spending on advertising specialties, or promotional products – items and incentives branded with a company logo or marketing message – was 3% greater than radio advertising*, $12.8 billion greater than outdoor display ads** and ahead of the 2.6% estimated decline in overall U.S. advertising for 2008*** (Radio Advertising Bureau, Outdoor Advertising Association of America and The Nielsen Company are the sources). The industry increase also matched the 1.1 percent growth rate for the United States GDP for the same period.
We invest $1.3 million each year to educate suppliers and distributors on how to market themselves more efficiently, network more effectively and reach qualified business partners, and an exclusive ASI impressions study is available here that provides ROI figures that prove the value of advertising specialties in marketing campaigns. Industry companies are optimistic about 2009, but continue to watch several factors impacting the industry: 1) Volatile economic conditions in North America. 2) Increasing demand for “green” products, despite the recession. 3) Continuing fluctuations of prices for materials used in manufacturing. To learn more about the quarterly sales analysis, click here.
Thursday
April 2, 2009 Charitable giving: Dig a little deeperFiled under: Community, Members, Using Ad Specialties No matter what your personal situation, it’s a guarantee somebody out there has it worse, which is why it’s more important than ever to give. Right now, organizations like food banks and homeless centers are in critical need, especially since many of those organizations depend on contributions from foundations that are feeling the pinch. Here at ASI, we have a longstanding tradition of giving – in good times and bad. Last year alone, United Way received about $23,000 from ASI employees, including the company match. ASI is a family-owned company, chaired by Norman Cohn, which also believes strongly in giving back.
Above and below: The Cohn family at this year’s Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation fundraising walk. Left to right: Suzanne Cohn, Norman’s wife; Norman Cohn; Sydney (middle), Matthew’s daughter; Mackenzie (front left), Matthew’s daughter; Lea (front center), Matthew’s wife; and Jennifer Morrison (front right), Lea’s mother. Norman’s son, Matthew, vice chairman, and Matthew’s two young daughters, Mackenzie and Sydney, have spearheaded a drive (www.cohnsisters.com) to help cure diabetes and have raised nearly $300,000 so far this year – and a total of over $700,000 over the last two years. Many industry folks generously supported the team with donations or products that were used during this year’s walk.
Even if you don’t have a dime to spare, there are other ways of giving back. Volunteer time at a community organization, clean out your closet and bring clothes to a homeless shelter or donate blood. Believe me, you’ll feel great.
ASI is recognized as platinum-level sponsor for a total pledge of $120,000 to the Promotional Products Education Foundation. Here I am receiving an award on behalf of contributions made by the Cohn family and ASI, from Wayne Greenberg, left, account manager for Geiger. Our employees feel great all year long by contributing to a wide variety of causes, including the Adopt-a-Family program with our local American Red Cross, which a good majority of our staff participate in each year and have contributed over $11,000 to since 2005. We’re also involved with the Bucks-Montgomery Center for Human Services food drive, MANNA, Boy Scouts food drive, Toys For Tots, A Woman’s Place cell phone drive, and the Ronald McDonald House. The list goes on. I’m not sharing this to toot ASI’s horn, but to remind everyone that we can’t forget others who still need our help, especially in these economic times. Every dollar counts, and every dime matters. As more floods affect our colleagues and friends in North Dakota and other weather-related disasters are becoming a challenge for people in several states around the nation, please consider donating to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund here. Tell me how you or your company contributes. Post a comment now or email me here.
Thursday
March 19, 2009 Help Requested for Arts Council of PrincetonFiled under: Community, News About ASI
The Arts Council of Princeton (I’m on the board) moved into a wonderful new building a few months ago, assuming several years ago that it would be paid off by construction’s completion. While $8 million was raised, there’s still a $2 million mortgage. Given the current economic situation, raising big dollars has been tough. So, we’re keeping the mortgage for now, to the tune of $10,000 per month. The Arts Council of Princeton deserves to thrive. We provide low-cost arts programs — painting, music, dance, theater — to the community and no-cost arts programs to underprivileged children who otherwise wouldn’t experience the power of the arts. I think the arts can impact people in very positive ways, and know in my heart that my early exposure to the arts made me realize there were more possibilities in life than what I saw growing up. I’d like your assistance to help the Arts Council. Any amount of money is very appreciated. It could be $10, $20, $50 or $1,000 — or $10,000 if you just hit the lottery. And I really mean any amount. We’ve already downsized the staff, and there isn’t much more we can do on the cost side. To donate online, click here. If you prefer to mail your contribution, the address is: The overall site, at artscouncilofprinceton.org, explains the programs and why the organization is so vital to the community. For those of you who don’t know, Princeton is in Mercer County, New Jersey. The Arts Council serves the entire county and beyond, which includes a number of economically-challenged areas. (You aren’t giving to a bunch of Princeton fat cats.) If you are involved and passionate about another charitable organization and prefer not to support the Arts Council, I understand and appreciate that. In that case, I’d suggest you make a contribution to that group if you can. I’ll tell you that every charitable group needs help — overall giving is off 30-50% in most places. Thanks very much for considering my request, and for doing what you can for whatever charitable cause you want to support.
Thursday
October 30, 2008 Talk to Your Clients Now About the EconomyFiled under: Community, Education, Guest Blog
Back in 1992, when Bill Clinton ran for president, his campaign slogan was “It’s the economy, stupid!” Sure enough, 16 years later, most of us would agree that the current economic climate is #1 on our minds. All you need to do is turn on the TV for five minutes and you can’t help but notice stories of instability in our financial markets, unemployment rates on the rise and stock market highs and lows that make the biggest roller coaster at Six Flags seem tame. Last week on CAPPAChat we posted a survey to our readers about how the economy is affecting business. The answers were unsettling, but not unsurprising – 100% of people said the economy is affecting their business and 88% think that this crisis will carry over into 2009. Where does this leave us? Many companies are looking for ways to “trim the fat” and the first place they look is the marketing budget. The mentality is “we can live without marketing for six months, but we can’t live without paying salaries.” If we take a minute to examine this theory, we quickly realize that it’s flawed from the start. In economic downturns the last thing you want to quit doing is marketing, because if you quit marketing for six months three things happen: 1) You loose brand momentum, recognition and loyalty, 2) Sales drop, and 3) After brand momentum, recognition and loyalty fly out the window, your sales are down and guess what…you can’t make your payroll, stupid! If I had a perfect formula for fixing this problem let’s just say that I’d probably be spending my days in the lap of luxury. What I can give you are a few tips and tricks that have worked for us:
Many of us are 1-2 people companies and sometimes you feel like you’re an island unto yourself. If you’re wondering where to go to ask questions and get advice like this, network with your suppliers to build lasting relationships, keep up with the latest on the industry via education, attend tradeshows and bounce ideas off of your peers…the answer could be within your regional promotional products association. Post a comment now or email me at jennifer@360promos.com, and be sure to check out the blog for the Corridor Area Promotional Products Association, at www.cappachat.com. |
O’Boyle
