Recently, I had an “Ah Hah Moment.” Don’t laugh when I tell that I’m just now realizing that at its core, we are an industry that’s based on products and price. …Really?? This revelation came after my wife and I went to a trade show recently.
In FreePromoTips.com, the popular business resource program I publish, we focus on business content and work with a few great suppliers to showcase how products can provide promotional marketing solutions. When I go to a trade show, I have a different agenda than most distributors. I’m primarily focused on reporting what’s happening at the show and looking for new products to share with our large audience. I’m also a distributor that’s affiliated with a large company.
In my distributor business, we’ve positioned our company as a solution provider, using slogans like: We Don’t Sell Stuff…We Provide Solutions. We also created a PPAI Pyramid award-winning campaign based on The Marketing Toolbox… all the tools you need to build your business. I network with like-minded people and generally, I don’t think too much about just selling product and price. That’s not to say that what we do is not price-challenged or doesn’t focus on stuff. I just don’t think much about it.
It’s been many years since my wife has attended a trade show, as she’s busy with other things. She does understand the industry and it was at her urging that we expanded our apparel decorating business to include promotional products many years ago. After the show, I began receiving a barrage of product-focused e-blasts, which initially I saw as a negative result of her going to this show. My wife got many badge scans!
In the weeks since this show, it hit me that you never know what can come to you through an e-mail blast. Prior to this show I had most of this stuff blocked. Lately I’ve had a flurry of nice products opportunities come my way.
I started to realize that these e-mails have value as I hunt for fresh ideas I can offer my clients for the distributor side of my business. This is a paradigm shift in my thinking. As a salty old industry veteran, I just thought e-blasts were for stuff sellers. Wrong.
While I personally was not a fan of blasts, my thinking has changed and I confess that I actually now like them and use them. I’ve become good friends with Brad Cairns from Promo-Cast and we use his company to promote our SuccessTracks Education Experiences and spotlight important topics FreePromoTips covers.
We receive a tangible result from these e-blasts and I know suppliers do as well. Brad told me about one of his customers who had a product on a blast that a distributor needed. Their previous supplier could not deliver the item. It turned out that this has resulted in significant ongoing business for the supplier and the distributor is happy as well. It only takes one look from a distributor for a supplier to get business from these e-blasts, which is why so many use them. I understand why so many distributors and suppliers are into e-blasts.
This “Ah-Hah Moment” has tweaked my thinking on how we can help both distributors and suppliers in a new way on FreePromoTips.com. Since this program was created back in 2005, it’s been my position that we need to be showcasing products, while also offering real world selling solutions. That’s something we still feel strongly about, but there also is a value to showing products in a way people are used to seeing.
We have launched a new section on FreePromoTips.com… GP2: Good Products. Good Price. This component of our program features product specials and video product reviews. After talking with suppliers and distributors who understand the unique way we reach the marketplace, it’s clear that this will be a nice supplement to our other business building content and industry commentary. What a revelation: Good Products-Good Prices… GP2!
Jeff Solomon, MAS is affiliated with a Top 10 distributor company. The FreePromoTips.com website and e-newsletters he publishes are packed with beneficial information and exclusive FREE offers from a few forward-thinking supplier companies. Don’t miss out on what’s happening! Opt in to receive their e-newsletters! LIKE their page on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.
