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Monday
December 21, 2009 New Sprint Wireless Savings for ASI MembersFiled under: Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI I hate to admit it, but I came of age when the very idea of cell phones was strictly sci-fi. Today, wireless devices of all kinds are so popular – and absolutely integral to any business – that a wireless discount makes absolute sense for our members. Our latest member benefit features savings on wireless services and equipment from Sprint are:
To sign-up for the program for free, click here. According to Dale Denham, ASI senior VP, we chose Sprint for very specific reasons: call quality, service coverage and commitment to emerging technologies. ASI is now the only industry organization delivering real wireless savings. Sprint will also exhibit at The ASI Show Orlando on Sunday, January 3, through Tuesday, January 5, when company reps will be happy to help you sign up for the program so you can start reducing your wireless expenses. I’d love to hear how member benefits have saved your company money, so please post a comment or email me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Monday
December 21, 2009 Educating Buyers in Today’s Philadelphia InquirerFiled under: Industry Initiatives, Media Coverage, News About ASI, Using Ad Specialties Monday’s Philadelphia Inquirer featured a story about the growth of hand sanitizers in our industry – educating end-buyers about the value of providing useful advertising specialties to their clients and prospects. To watch the video, “Philadelphia Business Today” (starts automatically), click here. To read the article online, click here. The story centers on how hand sanitizers now rival pens as one of the most popular logoed items. As we reported last week, searches of the key words “hand sanitizers” by promotional products distributors via ESP Online jumped 439% for the period between October 2009 and October 2008. Only searches for pens – which for years have been the best-selling logoed product in the promotional products industry – were higher that period. In addition, searches for sanitizer products of all kinds jumped by triple digits this year. Send the link to my blog (http://www.timandrewsblog.com/) to all your clients and prospects, as an idea for a product they might be interested in for their customers. What’s your hottest product for 2009? Please post a comment or email me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Thursday
December 10, 2009 ASI Radiothon: Help ASI Raise Money for The G.I. Go FundFiled under: Community, Guest Blog, Industry Initiatives, News About ASI The hosts of ASI Internet Radio’s Tuesday Morning Show are getting their charitable vibe on this week. Just launched this week, we’re introducing the first-ever ASI Radiothon. The live event will take place next Tuesday, December 15, at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, when we’ll dedicate our regular radio show to a charity drive to benefit The G.I. Go Fund, a great organization that assists veterans when they return to the United States. In conjunction with the live Radiothon, there’s a silent auction taking place this week. Go to www.gigofund.org/asiradio now to check out the items up for bid (high-end promotional products all donated by industry suppliers). There are watches, sleek pens, gift sets, sunglasses, digital photo frames, and more. In this silent auction, items will go to the highest bidder and the top bid each day will be updated on the Web site. Check back often. It’s a great way to donate to charity and do your holiday shopping at the same time. The G.I. Go Fund is definitely a worthy cause to donate to this holiday season. The organization helps veterans with financial and medical assistance upon their return from overseas. And it even sets up job fairs exclusively for returning veterans so they can find work and acclimate quicker into everyday life. Jack Fanous, the executive director of The G.I. Go Fund, will join ASI Radio on the phone next Tuesday to share stories of veterans he’s encountered and tell our audience exactly how his organization helps these people. It’s sure to be a revealing phone call to start off our Radiothon show. So, join in on the charity drive and help us raise money for this valuable cause. Go to www.gigofund.org/asiradio now to bid on items in the auction or to make a donation. And make sure to log-on to www.asicentral.com/radio on Tuesday, December 15 at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time to take part in the live Radiothon. Call the show at (215) 953-4979 or e-mail us at radio@asicentral.com to pledge your donation – and help us make the lives of returning veterans that much better. To read a press release about the fundraiser, click here. And please help us get the word out by posting the auction link to your own Facebook page and social media sites, and Twitter about it too. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go bid on some auction items – I have my eye on a sweet watch. -Andy Andy Cohen is editor of Counselor magazine and he can be reached here.
Tuesday
December 1, 2009 ESP Web Cash GiveawayFiled under: Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI We just announced two revolutionary new products: ESP Web and ESP Orders (espweb.asicentral.com). To celebrate, we’re giving away a $250 gift card in a drawing among those who engage with us in social media. Just share your comments about the new ESP Web and ESP Orders, or any other ASI product. I want to know your thoughts, and you can enter the contest three ways: — Post a comment now here on the blog about the new ESP Web, ESP Orders or any other ASI product. You might tell me how we’re helping your business, or what else we can provide. — Visit ASI’s Facebook page here and become a fan – click the icon at the top with the plus sign that says “Become a fan.” — Go to my Twitter page here, and become a follower by clicking the “Follow” button. If you’re already a fan of ASI’s Facebook or a follower on my Twitter – or both – you’re automatically entered. You can still post a comment on my blog for an entry. If you don’t have these accounts, visit the sites at the links above to get your free account. The new ESP Web is a revolutionary update of ESP Online. See the blog post right before this one to see how it will increase your sales dramatically and make distributors more efficient and more profitable. Watch these sites for more information about ESP Web and news from ASI, and let me hear from you. Enter the contest – it’s open now through December 31, 2009 (rules).
Monday
November 30, 2009 Revolution! New ESP Web and ESP Orders Boost Sales and ProductivityFiled under: Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI Imagine Google, Word and QuickBooks combined into one simple-to-use program focused on promotional products. It’s here – welcome to the revolution! ESP is improving the way distributors do business with two all-new products – ESP Web and ESP Orders – designed to dramatically increase sales and improve productivity. ESP Web is the update for ASI’s flagship business tool ESP Online, the industry’s leading sourcing and marketing program, with 2.5 million product searches conducted in a typical month. ESP Web allows instant access anytime and anywhere to products, supplier data, orders and customer information. And our new order management system – ESP Orders – will allow distributors to communicate electronically with suppliers by creating online sales orders, purchase orders and invoices. This far-reaching business system runs on standard Web browsers – including Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Mozilla’s Firefox and Apple’s Safari – and revolutionary features include:
ESP Orders, being released with ESP Web, is a complete order management program based on the best practices of industry-leading distributors. ESP Orders allows distributors to:
In the works for nearly a year, demonstrations of both products will be available at all ASI Shows, including Orlando, Dallas and San Diego. Suppliers will especially love the new ESP Web, since distributors are able to find products and place orders faster no matter where they are. Order errors are greatly reduced, as suppliers and distributors take advantage of the industry-standard screens found in ESP Orders. There are no additional costs to current ESP Online users who switch to ESP Web, and special pricing is available for ESP Orders. ESP Web will begin rolling out automatically to all ESP users during first quarter of 2010. To see an overview of ESP Web, visit espweb.asicentral.com. Users of ESP for Macs (previously announced) can visit espmac.asicentral.com. To read the press release, click here. And I’d love to hear what you think of these revolutionary new services so post a comment or email me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Monday
November 23, 2009 LogoMall’s Advertising Reports Provide a Snapshot of SuccessFiled under: Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI
The monthly reports are sent automatically to participating LogoMall Network suppliers and provide an accurate snapshot of business growth that tracks competition and also these metrics:
This is powerful information, and there’s more. The reports also include the click-through rates on digital ads in product spotlights, featured product sets and pay-for-placement positions, and show the supplier’s page-view rankings among the rankings from the top ten companies within a product category. It all boils down to more facts and less guesswork. You really can track everything that matters, from top-selling products to web traffic, and can adjust marketing plans accordingly. Last year alone, the LogoMall network received more than 8.5 million visitors, and more than 800,000 product searches are conducted each month across 10,300 LogoMall sites. For more details, read the press release by clicking here. And I’d love to hear about your LogoMall experiences so post a comment or email me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Wednesday
November 18, 2009 2010 Power Summit Announced – Special PricingFiled under: Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI How does sunny Florida in November sound to you? Then you’ll be happy to hear registration’s now open for ASI’s 2010 Power Summit – at special rates for early birds. Next year’s summit is being held at the spectacular Turnberry Isle Resort & Club in Aventura, Florida, not far from three major airports, including Miami International. As an added plus, room rates remain a value for 2010 and regular registration prices remain the same as 2009’s. We enjoyed an action-packed summit earlier this month in California – and from what attendees tell me, it was well worth the three days out of the office. Todd Singleton, president and CEO of The Singleton Company Inc. (asi/328000), loved our speed networking session so much he says he’s planning to adapt the same exercise for his client’s next big event. Todd told us: “Kudos to ASI for putting on such a clever session to break the ice.” As many of you know, the Power Summit is the premier gathering for industry executives and influential business leaders. Don’t miss out on superior networking and idea generating sessions at next year’s event, taking place Sunday, November 7, through Tuesday, November 9. To register for the 2010 event at special early-bird rates, click here. And to read more details, check out the press release click here. You can also see photos and videos from this year’s event here. And I’d love to hear about your Power Summit experiences so post a comment or email me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. |
