No matter where you are in this business, how much you have accomplished or what level of success you have achieved, there is always a next level. Many of you reading this may have the mental scars and bruises to show for your hard work. For some, those scars and bruises may be piling up…
Read MoreWhat do promo buyers want? Like really want? That’s the $64,000 question. Since there’s no magic potion to drink so we can hear what others are thinking (that’s only on the silver screen, thankfully), we not only have to listen to what customers are saying, but we also must interpret their often unvocalized expectations. Case…
Read MoreTechnology has made many tasks easier. We continue to focus our search toward other tools and sales programs that execute the jobs we find challenging, uninteresting or unimportant, but too often fail to understand the value of or lack of effectiveness. Let’s be real: Sales is not easy. To be a successful salesperson requires dedication, determination and discipline…
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To me, it seems like many people choose to stay behind their desks all day because they are too proud to call prospects for appointments. That’s a real bad place to be proud. Too proud to pick up the phone and try to make an appointment, too proud to listen to suppliers that want to…
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Another week, another great slew of promotional products. From minor league promotions to concert apparel, it was (as always) a difficult task to narrow down my finds. But, I did my best, and here is this week’s fave five…
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Question: I have online stores. Do I need to collect sales tax on web sales? Answer: It used to be that you only had to collect sales tax in other states if you had some sort of presence or “nexus” in that state. Everything changed with the Supreme Court decision South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc.…
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Buy a mirror. There are two kinds of people in the world. And you can learn a great deal by their responses to handling a misstep. Let’s say you are going on a walk and trip on a crack in the sidewalk. The first kind of person gets critical of the homeowner with the crack…
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It’s time to blow up much of the nomenclature that is used by others—and by us—to describe what we do. But certain words keep cropping up, even within the industry. And they’re not the only ones that give us a bad rep. I want people on the outside to understand how creative and impressive everyone involved is. Here are a few terms to reconsider…
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I might have to officially dub February the month of promotional products because I keep spotting amazing promos left and right. Honestly, it was difficult to even narrow my list down to five, but, readers, I did it. From musician merchandise to restaurant collaborations, here’s what I’ve had my eye on this week. 1. Kacey…
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What’s your reputation? How can you fix or improve it fast? About 30 years ago, Proforma had a reputation problem. We had been in business for 10 years, and the distributorship was growing fast along with our new franchise business model. Actually, our growth was a little too fast for our capital structure, resulting in…
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