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Monday
May 21, 2012 ASI Raises the Bar with ESP WebsitesFiled under: News About ASI, Using Ad Specialties ASI is in the business of providing solutions that directly benefit members, which makes today’s launch of ESP Websites as good as it gets. During countless focus groups, we listened to what members had to say and delivered a product that met all their needs, from social media and videos all the way to virtual-ready samples. I think it’s clear no one else in the industry can match the accuracy, power and shopping sophistication of ESP Websites. Best of all, LogoMall customers can upgrade to an ESP Website for free, plus receive a free ESP Website to brand for a best customer. Built for sales and gunning for leads, the new ESP Websites™ couldn’t be easier or faster. With one-click ease, distributors get hundreds of templates to choose from and instant access to the latest online tools and features needed to quickly create a distinct, custom-designed website. Most important, all sites are e-commerce enabled, allowing members to accept credit cards and customers to make down payments to secure orders. The built-in features of every ESP Website include:
Dozens of ASI employees dedicated themselves to perfecting ESP Websites. From concept to launch, it took nearly a year – with 15,000 hours alone devoted to development. During development, we kept the conversations rolling, asking numerous distributors to take ESP Websites for a test drive. The execs at Top 40 distributor Brown & Bigelow were so impressed the company is now offering it to their top performing salespeople. Here’s what William D. Smith, Jr., the company’s executive vice president, had to say: “We’re excited ASI has created a state-of-the-art solution that provides our salespeople with a professional, functional and personal web presence. The functionality addresses the needs of tech savvy clients and sales people, with social media links, virtual sample creation, artwork transfers, shopping cart and payment processing. From a corporate perspective, we appreciate that one administrator can easily update editorial content and merchandise on all of the sites, eliminating the need for each salesperson to focus on these tasks. This is an amazing solution we’re proud to offer our team.” As a stamp of approval goes, it doesn’t get much better than that. To upgrade, visit www.asicentral.com/ESPwebsites or call ASI support at 1 (800) 546-1350. New ESP Website customers are eligible to receive a free ESP Website to brand for a best customer. Contact your ASI account executive at 1 (800) 546-1350 or visit www.asicentral.com/ESPwebsites. Let me know what you think of ESP Websites by posting a comment, and if you have any questions, please e-mail me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Tuesday
May 15, 2012 Welcome to the New CounselorFiled under: Guest Blog, News About ASI Innovation is cool, right? We believe so. It’s what we try to promote to our readers, viewers and listeners every day in our various media outlets – print, Internet, video, social networks, online radio, electronic newsletters. So, about six months ago, we looked ourselves in the mirror and said: It’s our turn. This month, we’ve launched a redesigned Counselor® brand. The logo is bigger and bolder, the print version (which also happens to be physically larger than the previous incarnation) has a completely new look, and our new website (same address: www.CounselorMag.com) ushers in a new online portal for industry news and insights. It’s an exciting time for the Counselor brand. The print edition, which hits industry offices 13 times a year, has a bold new design that is meant to feature both user-generated content as well as news and trend analyses that will inform the industry – and always make you think. Also showcasing regular sections called News, Case Studies, Apparel, and Social, every issue of Counselor is sure to educate and entertain readers. This overall effort is more than six months in the making, and has taken a lot of brainstorming and work by a lot of people. The result, I think, benefits the industry by providing a media brand that delivers information and insight anywhere and everywhere. In addition to the print magazine redesign, the Counselor website has been transformed. Go now to www.CounselorMag.com to see a true media hub for the ad specialty industry. Containing the most recent news, analysis of the most pressing trends, how-to articles that offer practical business advice, and video coverage like no other in the industry, the new www.CounselorMag.com also provides easy ways for readers to interact with us. Twitter and Facebook feeds are planted on every single page – giving visitors ways to post comments and respond to articles in real time. Plus, news and articles (including a twice-weekly update of the industry’s personnel appointments and promotions) will be changed, updated and enhanced every single day – giving the industry reasons to visit www.CounselorMag.com as often as possible. So, take some time this week to check out the new Counselor brand. And let me know what you think about our own turn at innovation. Email: acohen@asicentral.com. Twitter: @ASI_AndyCohen. – Counselor Editor Andy Cohen
Thursday
May 10, 2012 Bright Lights, Big City, Great ShowFiled under: ASI Shows, Members, News About ASI The ASI Show in New York City is a wrap. And after hearing from scores of the 2,300 distributors and 310 exhibitors who attended, I’m happy to report it was a definite success all around. The stats are impressive: The three-day show at the Javits attracted distributors from more than 1,150 firms from 38 states and 11 different countries, making the show as cosmopolitan as the Big Apple itself. There was non-stop action, from a packed show floor and all-day education to continuous demos of the upcoming ESP Websites and the incredible Counselor Awards. A definite highlight was a captivating keynote by Facebook marketing executive Randi Zuckerberg (pictured with me, at right), who offered a slate of practical business tips on how to use social media to increase brand recognition and expand market share. In addition to sharing her Top 10 social media trends, she advised distributors to engage as much as possible with anyone who connects with their company through networking sites because, as she put it, “Haters are an inch from loving you. They just want to be heard. Listen to them and they could become your most loyal customers.” Here’s what some participants had to say about the show: Peter Zeiger, from Geiger (asi/202900): “Having access to the newest products for the later part of the year is so important for our team. They have been able to talk with leading suppliers and find new ways to make more money.” Tommy Lee, from Logomark (asi/67866): “The traffic at ASI New York has been great. In fact, I’m wishing I brought some more people to work the booth.” Michael Leone, from Hit Promotional Products (asi/61125): “ASI New York has been terrific. We have been so busy. There are so many great distributors at this show.” Be sure to check out ASI’s home page at www.asicentral.com for all the highlights from New York, including news, videos and photos. Before we start getting ready for ASI Chicago, taking place July 17-19 and featuring a full day of education with leadership and negotiation guru Tony Robbins and an inspirational keynote by former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, there’s already some news on New York 2013. Next year’s show will be held in the bigger, brighter North Pavilion of the Javits Center and feature an expanded education program, fashion runway show and keynote by Buddy Valastro, star of TLC’s hit show “The Cake Boss.” To learn more about exhibiting or sponsorship opportunities, contact Karen DiTomasso, vice president of sales, at kditomasso@asicentral.com. If you were at the show, please let me know what you thought by emailing me or posting a comment. I’m always interested in your feedback.
Thursday
May 10, 2012 Honoring The 2012 Counselor Award WinnersFiled under: ASI Shows, Members, News About ASI If you Kevin Lyons-Tarr, president of 4imprint (asi/197045), was honored as Counselor magazine’s Person of the Year for, among many other things, growing his company 18% last year and more than 30% over the past four years. At a black-tie gala at Cipriani restaurant in Manhattan, we also unveiled this year’s Counselor’s Top 40. On the supplier side, Broder Bros. (asi/42090) takes over the top spot on the list, after an increase of more than 30% in sales last year. Click here to view the supplier Top 40 list. And, for distributors, Staples Promotional Products (asi/120601) remains the largest company in the industry, with BDA (asi/137616) and Proforma (asi/300094) rounding out the top three spots on the list. Click here to see the complete 2012 Top 40 distributor rankings. In addition, we also honored Ash City’s (asi/37143) Garry Hurvitz for International Person of the Year, Activate’s (asi/141964) Fred Parker for Distributor Entrepreneur of the Year, BamBams’ (asi/38228) Dan Taylor for Supplier Entrepreneur of the Year, Overture’s (asi/288473) Heather Sanderson for Distributor Woman of Distinction and Leed’s (asi/66887) Sharon Willochell for Supplier Woman of Distinction. Go to www.CounselorMag.com for pictures and videos from the Counselor Awards ceremony, and for more information on all of the award winners. Last night we also marked another very special occasion: the 50th anniversary of the Cohn family’s leadership of ASI. In addition to Norman Cohn, our amazing chairman of the board, and his lovely wife Suzanne, we were joined by the family members pictured with me at right. All in all, it was an incredible night.
Wednesday
May 9, 2012 Tweet This: ASI Hosts Randi ZuckerbergFiled under: ASI Shows, Community, Members, News About ASI We’re thrilled social media expert and entrepreneur Randi Zuckerberg is the keynote speaker at the ASI Show in NYC Thursday at 8:45 a.m. I’m sure she’ll help everyone in the audience better promote their business by tapping into every new social media tool available. Long known as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s sister, Randi’s really come into her own since leaving the company and forming her own enterprise, R to Z Media. Zuckerberg also recently signed as an executive producer for a new reality show about Silicon Valley entrepreneurs on Bravo. Zuckerberg, named No. 45 on the Hollywood Reporter’s list of “Digital Power Players,” will speak on “Social Change Through Social Media: How the Web Changes the Way We Live, Vote, Organize and Work.” I’m most interested in what she has to say about ways today’s politicians are using social media to garner votes. As you may have heard, Facebook is using its considerable power for good, launching a new initiative to get more organ donors registered in order to help the more than 114,000 people in the US waiting for lifesaving heart, kidney or liver transplants. Click here to see how Facebook is using its site to get out the word. Here in NY, a Port Jefferson distributor, Hal Kramer, of HDK Enterprises, Inc. (asi/216795), gave us a ton of info on his efforts on behalf of the NY Organ Donor’s Network, the second-largest of the nation’s 58 nonprofit, federally designated organ procurement organizations. His group is trying to get people to better understand the critical need for donated organs, eyes and tissues. One donor, he says, can save up to eight people, but on average, 18 people die every day for the want of an organ transplant. You can find out more at: www.nyhealth.gov/donatelife. Are you an organ donor? Let me know by posting a comment. And if you catch Randi’s keynote, please share the best tip you heard.
Wednesday
May 9, 2012 Party With ASI In NYCFiled under: ASI Shows We’re getting ready for a major launch of ESP Websites later this month and to celebrate, we’re hosting a launch party at the ASI Show in New York. If you’re at the show, the free beer starts flowing at 2 p.m. today at the main ASI booth #816. The fun continues with more beer, wine and snacks at the show entrance right after the show ends at 4:30 p.m. Stop by and check out the live demos, giveaways and free upgrades. Click here for a sneak peek of everything ESP Websites (which is replacing LogoMall) has to offer. In addition, we’re hosting an ESP Websites webinar on May 23. Click here to register. And mark your calendar: Around May 18, we’re launching what I believe to be the very best virtual sample tool in the industry. The keywords for this new tool – which will greatly benefit your sales force – are simple and easy. It works like this: When an end-buyer’s logo is uploaded, it’s automatically correctly placed and sized on every virtual sample-ready product in ESP Web™, the new version of ESP Online, and in the upcoming ESP Websites™. All of your ESP® users will automatically have the virtual sample tool as soon as it goes live, and your ESP Website will be enabled as soon as you upgrade from LogoMall. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have at the launch party, so please stop by. And if you’re at the show, let me know what you think so far by emailing me or posting a comment.
Monday
May 7, 2012 Big Show in the Big AppleFiled under: ASI Shows, Community, News About ASI This week, we’re in New York City for our next-to-last show of the season. The schedule is packed and best of all, we’re unveiling a few surprises. The show is Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Javits Convention Center on the city’s West Side, a few blocks from the Hudson River and close to Penn Station, the theater district and Restaurant Row. If you’re attending the show and have some time to take in some sights, I highly recommend a jaunt to the city’s newest and most interesting park – the High Line, built on an historic, elevated freight line snaking from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues – right near the convention center. Tuesday at the show is, of course, a full day of education (sponsored by Fields Mfg., asi/54100), including a slate of seminars and workshops offering credit toward the ASI® Certification Program. Wednesday and Thursday are exhibit days, and we’re expecting a packed show floor both days. There’s bound to be nonstop networking, buying, selling, connecting and learning along every aisle. Be sure to stop by the ASI booths to check out the upcoming ESP Websites™ and to visit our all-day launch party in the main booth. And if you haven’t already, get a live demo of ESP Mobile™ and activate your free license. Wednesday night, I’m heading to the black-tie Counselor® Awards – the industry’s most prestigious and anticipated awards event – being held this year at Cipriani 42nd Street restaurant. We’ll honor the 2012 Person of the Year and International Person of the Year while applauding a number of other important industry movers and shakers. Throughout the show, you can check out all the news right here at www.asicentral.com, where we’ll post photos, videos and the 2012 list of Top 40 distributors and suppliers. After a long night of dancing and mingling, I know I’ll be dragging a bit on my way to our 8:45 a.m. keynote by marketing czar Randi Zuckerberg, who recently lit up the blogosphere with news about her upcoming reality show featuring Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Randi – the sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg – is a social media leader in her own right, and I can’t wait to hear her tips on best using all the Web has to offer. Make sure you follow her on Twitter – she never fails to amuse and inform. And it’s never too early to register for ASI Chicago (July 17-19) at www.asishow.com. To learn more about exhibiting or sponsorship opportunities, contact Karen DiTomasso, vice president of sales, at kditomasso@asicentral.com. If you’re at the show, please look for me to say hello and let me know how your business is faring this year. Or post a comment or e-mail me. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. |
