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Wednesday
November 4, 2009 Social Media Contest for ESP Online for MacsFiled under: Community, Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI I’m the chief technology officer for ASI and I’m also a Mac user, so I’m especially excited that we’re developing ESP Online for Macs that will be available soon to the advertising specialty industry. To be among the first to be notified when the new ESP Online for Macs is available, register here. And we’re starting the celebration early by giving away a $250 American Express gift card – good as cash – in a drawing among users who engage with us in social media. Just share your comments about the new ESP Online for Macs, or any other ASI product if you’re not a Mac user. Tell us what you think. Enter the contest three ways: — Post a comment right here on Tim’s blog about the new ESP Online for Macs or any other ASI product. You might tell us how we’re helping, or what you’d like us to start providing. — 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 Tim’s 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 Tim’s Twitter – or both – you’re automatically entered. You can still post a comment here on the blog for an extra entry. If you don’t have these accounts, visit the sites through the links above to get your free account. The new ESP Online for Macs will run right on your operating system – no Windows required and no third-party software needed (like Parallels). If you don’t use ESP Online and you have a Mac, using ESP will change the way you do business. It allows suppliers to feature their products for distributors, and allows distributors to quickly search and find the best promotional products for their end-buyer clients among nearly every product in the industry. Watch these sites for more information about ESP Online for Macs, and let me hear from you. Enter the contest – it’s open now through November 30, 2009 (rules). — Keith Keith Tuskey is the chief technology officer for ASI.
Wednesday
November 4, 2009 ESP Online for Macs: The RevolutionFiled under: Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI You wanted it, and you got it. ESP Online for Macs will be here in early 2010. That means anyone using a Mac – including myself since I just switched from a PC – will now be able to run ESP directly on their computers. No other installations or third-party programs are needed, and no additional cost. If you want to be among the first to receive ESP Online for Macs, register now at asicentral.com/macintosh. Now, that’s revolutionary. The development of ESP Online for Macs has been underway for several months and you’ll get your first look with a demo at the upcoming ASI Show Orlando (Sunday, January 3 – Tuesday, January 5, 2010). To read the press release with more details, click here. ESP Online is of course the industry’s leading sourcing and marketing program with 2.5 million promotional product searches conducted in a typical month. About 32,000 distributors use ESP today to access products from 3,500 reputable ASI suppliers and market their products to end-buyers. In addition, the program allows suppliers to view products (without pricing) from all suppliers included in ESP Online, to help them benchmark their offerings versus the competition. Suppliers can also view all ASI Supplier Ratings, to learn more about the positions of other suppliers within the system. For your chance at $250, participate in the ESP social media contest underway now in the very next post after this from our CTO Keith Tuskey. I’d love to hear about your ESP experiences, so post a comment or email me here. I’m also on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Tuesday
November 3, 2009 End-User Buying Habits StudyFiled under: News About ASI, Research
It’s amazing what you can find out by just asking, and we found out some great stuff, like:
Studies like this, and all the others we’ve done this year and have planned going forward, make it a fascinating time to be part of this industry. But we’re always looking for new ideas to explore that will provide information to our members, so if you have anything you’d like to know more about, just ask, because “It’s amazing what you can find out by asking…” — Larry Larry Basinait is ASI‘s executive director of research services.
Tuesday
November 3, 2009 2009 Power 50 AnnouncedFiled under: Community, Members, News About ASI It’s almost too easy to use superlatives when describing a company’s top players. After all, they reached the apex because they’re the best at what they do. The men and women on this year’s Counselor Power 50 list – announced last night at the ASI Power Summit – truly deserve every accolade. Each one is an industry ace. This year, in recognition of the biggest industry news story of the year – BIC’s acquisition of Norwood – the No. 1 spot honors both Nicolas Paillot, general manager of BIC Group (asi/40480), and Paul Lage, president of Norwood Promotional Products. The other top-ranked executives in the 2009 Counselor Power 50 ranking include:
I’m also happy to say that there are 14 newcomers, including Derek Block, CEO of Touchstone (asi/345631); Maribeth Sandford, CEO of Bag Makers (asi/37940); and Anthony Corsano, CEO of Anvil (asi/36350). What I like best is the democracy of the voting system. While the exact ranking is determined by Counselor editorial experts, they rely heavily on the survey sent to all of you, asking which names go on or off and which names move up or down. They also carefully consider each nominees’ achievements and the state of their business. For the complete Counselor Power 50 ranking, visit asicentral.com/power50. To view photos from the 2009 ASI Power Summit, click here. What did you think of this year’s list? Post a comment or email me here. I’m also on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Monday
November 2, 2009 Help shape the future – join a new ASI advisory boardFiled under: Guest Blog, Industry Initiatives, News About ASI The secret to serving customers well is relatively simple: Listen, and then take action on what you’ve heard. Every day, ASI listens to members’ needs via emails, phone calls and conversations. Over the past few years we’ve also enjoyed great feedback through our editorial and ASI Show advisory boards, which help us make tough decisions while providing significant insights from multiple perspectives. Now, ASI is going one step further and establishing four new advisory boards where we will share information, discuss pressing industry issues and receive guidance from each other. The four boards are:
I’m thrilled to be involved in these boards and work directly with each board chairperson. Tim Andrews, president and CEO of ASI, will chair the ASI Advisory Board and the other three boards will be chaired by one of the ASI members serving on each board. Board member positions are not honorary. We expect everyone to be involved and prepared for each meeting, and board members will have the opportunity – through our discussions and meetings – to shape the industry and in some cases ASI’s role in the marketplace. I’ve had the pleasure of serving on several boards, including for-profit, non-profit and advisory. Each experience has been personally and professionally rewarding, allowing me to gain new experience while benefiting the organizations by sharing my knowledge and insights. I’ve developed lifelong relationships that have increased revenue in my own organization. The more energy I’ve put into a board, the more everyone benefits. So the cliché rings true: You get what you give. No matter who you are, no matter what size your company is and no matter how long you’ve been in the industry, I encourage you to consider serving. To nominate yourself or someone you know, complete the online form by clicking here, or send me an email at dale.denham@asicentral.com. The nominating committee will select the final ballot from the nominations and present it to ASI members for an online vote in December. Final board members will be announced in January. Details about each of the boards are available in the press release here. — Dale Dale Denham is senior vice president of ASI.
Monday
November 2, 2009 2009 Power Summit Happening NowFiled under: Industry Initiatives, News About ASI The ASI Power Summit 2009 at La Costa Resort and Spa near San Diego is underway. In the last 24 hours, we’ve enjoyed a speed networking event, a keynote speech by Hollywood marketing wiz Gordon Paddison and an interview with economics expert Roger Farmer, which yielded some fascinating answers. Check out the photos we’ve posted so far by clicking here. Much more news is coming through our editorial channels soon, so stay tuned! If you’re here with us in California, I’d love to know what you think so far, so post a comment or email me here. I’m also on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Thursday
October 29, 2009 Calling All Rock Star Sales Reps for a ContestFiled under: Guest Blog, News About ASI I love you: Salespeople who didn’t view the bad economy the past year as a hopeless situation, but rather, looked at it as an opportunity to really stand out and get it done. In a year that could have resulted in the death of any salesman (or woman), you rallied. I come to my love of great salespeople from being the editor of Advantages magazine for many years and having written about them, read about them and gained the utmost respect for them. And if you’ve read my columns in Advantages, you also know, I’ve been married to Steve, a sales executive, for 22 years. (I was a child bride…no comments, Tim Andrews.) I’m no stranger to your agonies of defeat, having heard about the “end of the month,” “making quota” and how sales “is not a 9 to 5 job, Kath,” time and time again. On the flipside, I’m happy for your thrills of victory. Through years of relationship-building, establishing trust and loyalty among his clients, and simply checking his BlackBerry daily, Steve wrapped up three sales while we were on vacation in Key West last week. And, despite the economy, this is turning out to be one of his best years ever. Yes, I am a proud wife. But I’m also proud of you…the dedicated and determined sales professionals in our industry who have hung in there and made it happen. Sales pros are so important to a company’s bottom line that our sister publication, Counselor magazine, even named the distributor sales rep its Person of the Year. And at Advantages magazine, we also want to recognize outstanding sales performance. So we’re looking for entries for our first-ever Salesperson of the Year contest. Think about it: In the past year, did you come up with something really creative that led to a huge sale? Did you have the largest sales volume in your company? Did you go way over 100% of your quota, despite the challenging times? Have you gone above and beyond for a client? Are you the one and only ad specialty sales rep your client would ever work with? If you think you or one of your colleagues could be a contender, send me an e-mail pronto to: khuston@asicentral.com. Let me know what makes you so spectacular in 100 words or less. Write about the measures of your success and give us one of your sales secrets. If you would like to include a client testimonial, do that too. If you’re the winner, you’ll be in the spotlight because, let’s face it, you are a superstar in your own right. Not only will you be profiled in our January issue, but you will also be the subject of a podcast interview. In addition, a $500 Amex card and prizes to help you further succeed will be all yours. And of course, you will have bragging rights for the year…and maybe a crown. I’ll think about that one. – Kathy Huston is the editor of Advantages magazine at ASI. |
