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Make a Splash in Unusual Places - When salespeople go looking for new business you might not think pool parties or poetry readings (in cowboy hats, no less) would come into play ... but you would be wrong. From Advantages magazine. January, 2011.
Make a Splash in Unusual Places
By Alex Palmer
January 2011

When salespeople go looking for new business, they usually try the typical tactics: hobnobbing at networking events, canvassing the offices of big companies in the neighborhood, or picking up the phone to call clients about possible referrals. You might not think pool parties or poetry readings (in cowboy hats, no less) would come into play ... but you would be wrong.

For Tim Larson, owner and president of Skyward Promotions (asi/328465), the Chrysler assembly plant in Rockford, IL, was the holy grail of sales in his region: some 25,000 employees with huge potential for buying promotional products. But first he had to get through to a decision-maker. “I’d been trying to get in there for so long,” he says. “There were always so many people to get through, and so many barriers – I ran into a brick wall every time.”

It turned out the way into the plant was not through the front door, but through a rambunctious kids’ pool party he took his sixth-grade son to. While his son hung out with his friends and ate snacks around a local hotel’s pool, Larson got to chatting with one of the other parents. It was not a particularly memorable conversation, but he described the kind of work he did and they exchanged cards at the end. Apparently, he made a big splash.

A few weeks later, Larson’s phone rang. It was the assistant to the Chrysler plant’s manager who had gotten his number from a neighbor – the same woman Larson had spoken to at the pool party.

“He says, ‘I understand you do this, this and this,’ and I just said, ‘How do you know?’ ” says Larson. “Honestly, this woman had nothing to go on to recommend me. She didn’t know anyone I’d worked with or the work I’d done. I’d just told her, ‘If it wears a logo, we deal with it,’ and I cannot even tell you how much business I’ve done for Chrysler since.”

From motivational signs around the plant to lapel pins and wearables for employees to safety brochures and tally boards, Larsen has moved from one project to the next for the plant, with the manager who he originally did a banner for connecting him with four other people at the facility.

With a 500,000-square-foot expansion planned for the plant next year and Chrysler’s operating profits beating all expectations in its recent earnings report, the future is looking bright.

Dirty Business

Yvonne Morrison, president of Image Apparel (asi/229910) was horsing around when she recently scored a major client.

Specifically, her daughter was competing in a horse show in North Carolina, and Morrison took the opportunity to introduce herself to a judge. When he found out that she distributed promotional products and could do branded plastic stadium cups for events, he asked for a card. “We did a big order for him (300 cups), even though I was all dusty when we met,” she says. And she expects there will be more in the future.

Morrison’s and Larsen’s experience of finding a great sales lead through an unconventional channel is not uncommon. For an industry that creates products for all manner of events and promotions, ad specialties sales reps and distributors have found that new business can be found in surprising places if you’re willing to look for them.

The Cowboy Way

Take, as another unusual example, Wendy Vaughan, who runs OBP Promotions and Awards (asi/286314) by day. By many an evening, however, she is performing cowboy poetry, a kind of entertainment inspired by the lyrical poetry and tall tales that workers on cattle drives and ranches would improvise in the 19th century, popular in the Great Plains and Alberta, BC, region where she lives.

“I perform at places like the Cochran Historical Society or Calgary Stampede, usually for 20 minutes, or sometimes just 15 – I judge it by how the audience is responding,” Vaughan jokes.

While her cowboy poetry shows are just something Vaughan does for fun, they have also proven to be great for business. At the Tim Hortons Brier – the annual Canadian men’s curling championship – one of her performances got her in contact with a committee organizer of the event. Vaughan suggested that they consider doing silver belt buckles for participants and mount them on plaques for those less inclined to wear them. The organizer loved the suggestion and placed an order.

Another time, Vaughan was approached by a marketing manager from a major telecommunications company, and she continues to be a client. On a different occasion Vaughan started speaking with a man who turned out to be an organizer for a North American firefighters convention, who tapped OBP to work on their upcoming event.

Drew Stevens, a 28-year sales veteran and owner of Stevens Consulting Group, says that these sorts of social events are just the places that salespeople too often overlook when brainstorming where to find their next lead. “There is no reason, if you are at a social function, whether it’s a party or a ball game with your church group, that you shouldn’t get into conversations with people and let them know about the value you provide,” he says.

Stevens points to the holidays and other get-togethers with family or friends as great opportunities for sales leads that many business leaders do not take advantage of. “Everyone’s busy catching up and socializing, but ultimately work will come up, and it’s a great chance to ask about possible opportunities,” he says.

Hello, Old Friend

This outlook to networking is not limited to in-person interactions. Jason McSweeney, president of dream INK (asi/183364), admits that he is not naturally an aggressive salesman, but he does like talking about what projects he is working on when updating his Facebook status. Doing so has paid off in surprising ways.

“A friend who I played baseball with in eighth grade is now a partner at an appliance place in the town next to us,” McSweeney says. The friend had been working to shift his company away from its current promotional product supplier to someone more reliable, and after seeing McSweeney’s updates, the Facebook friend decided to reach out.

McSweeney jumped at the opportunity and has been working for the client ever since. “It was really like subconscious advertising,” he says. In fact, he has gained about a half dozen solid customers through Facebook, most of them old friends who live in his same city.

A recently added client was a high-school friend McSweeney had known since the early 1990s who is now working in a marketing position. She needed someone she could trust to take over the company’s ad specialty work. “Sixteen years is quite a while to retain a sale,” jokes McSweeney. He says that because Facebook has gotten him connected to people he may not have spoken to in years, and it adds to the value of the exchange when they reconnect. “It brings a bit of nostalgia with it, like, ‘Remember that summer when all we did was ride bikes?’ You get a good feeling, so you naturally have positive reinforcement to do business together,” he adds.

While finding a sales lead through old friends on Facebook is much different than landing a client through a fortuitous conversation at a kids’ birthday party, these sorts of surprising leads actually have a lot in common.

“It’s very trustworthy and it’s not where people expect to be sold,” says Mark Hunter, president of sales consultancy The Sales Hunter. He adds that spending time in places where your target customers are likely to go on their downtime is an excellent way to strike up a casual conversation that can lead to a formal business deal.

“I picked up some huge consulting clients just hanging out at a Panera Bread,” he says. “Find out where that traffic is; go hang out at the local bar where the workers from a company you are targeting go after work.”

Down the Street

You catch more flies with honey and, sometimes a potential competitor can turn out to be a business ally. Oliver Specialties (asi/287300) is run out of the small, tourism-focused town of Travers City, MI, located on the “baby finger” of land near Lake Michigan. The company produces a wide range of coffee mugs, pens, calendars and the like, themed around the city, in order to appeal to visitors. But in addition to Oliver Specialties, the same small town has a screen printer producing promotional shirts for tourists.

Rather than challenge each other on the same promotional-product turf, Barbara Meredith, president of Oliver Specialties, and the other distributor worked out an arrangement. She would connect the screen printer with clients of hers looking for T-shirts, while he would send her the business when customers asked about cups, calendars or other non-apparel items.

“Someone would call him and say they needed pens and coffee mugs for something and they also needed T-shirts,” says Meredith. “I would say, ‘I just happen to know a guy who has a substantial screen-printing business,’ and he’d give me a 15% discount.”

She gives the example of one big order where a client wanted concert T-shirts, which the other distributor handled, but also matching sunglasses, which she provided. Meredith has acquired a number of sizable clients over several years through this arrangement.

Thank You, Wrong Number

Kathy Gralike, president of Blue Sky Apparel & Promos (asi/141913) also got assistance from a competitor in landing a client. Though in her case, the competitor had no idea they had helped out. “An art museum called the wrong number and got me,” she says.

When Gralike explained the sort of work she did to the museum manager on the other end of the line, it turned out she was in the midst of seeking a distributor who could create some marble awards for the staff. The museum has become a regular client of hers.

“If you’re calling the wrong place, I’m still going to try and get that order. I’m a hunter,” Gralike says.

That willingness to bend the rules a bit also served Roberta Clark well. Rather than cut out of work at the stroke of 5 p.m., the owner of RKC Promotional Products (asi/303554) is in the habit of answering her home-office line at all hours, including on weekends and after hours. This paid off big one day when she picked up the phone well after business had wrapped up for the day. “At first I thought it was a crank call, because it was someone from a local radio station,” she says.

As it turned out, the person from the station had been desperately calling distributors in the area because the online order they had placed for a 36-inch trophy was not going to be delivered in time. With about five days to get the trophy, customize it and send it to a conference they were holding in the Bahamas, the station needed someone to start on the project that night. But Clark was the only one who answered the phone, and she got the $1,200 sale.

Since time was of the essence, Clark ordered the trophy without customizing it and took it to Encore Etch (asi/52464), a supplier she had worked with in the past and trusted, for the fast customization. The order went through smoothly and the station became a regular client, even expanding a regional “Rock Store” award to be used company-wide, ensuring she would be working with the client over the long haul. She estimates having done some $30,000 worth of business for the company since.

Bert Martinez, a sales training expert and speaker, applauds Clark’s willingness to think outside the typical workday. “Whether you’re calling a doctor or distributor, you want a solution now, and if you can get someone a solution now rather than a day from now, it not only gets you that sale, but can build instant credibility and trust,” he says.

Martinez sees Clark’s experience as representative of the larger truth in sales: Those who are there when the customer needs them are the ones who make the sale, whether that’s in the office after hours or at a horse-riding competition. “Thinking outside the box is really essential when you want to set yourself apart, reduce the amount of competition and make some serious sales.”

Alex Palmer is a freelance writer and editor based in NY.

5 More Great Places to Chat Up Prospects
1. At a concert, waiting for the bathroom. You never know who’s waiting behind you and is just as annoyed that the ladies room line is always longer.
2. Waiting to check out at the grocery store. Even CEOs need bread and milk now and then.
3. On vacation. Yes, you’re on vacation, but you’re also right there with hotel managers, souvenir–shop owners and resort activities directors.
4. At the vet. Perhaps the person next to you in the waiting room is a director of Human Resources.
5. Touring college campuses with your kids. Recruiters need your creative ways to attract top students.

Trend Spy - Here are five business and industry trends that distributors should keep their eyes on as they plan for 2011. From Counselor magazine. December, 2010.
Trend Spy
By Betsy Cummings
December 2010

Here are five business and industry trends that distributors should keep their eyes on as they plan for 2011.

In the third quarter of 2010, the ad specialty industry expanded by 8.4%. Yes, while the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) grew by only two percentage points in the third quarter of the year, this market quadrupled the growth rate of the American economy overall.

Credit the positive outcomes to renewed marketing efforts on the part of clients – in fact, most distributors say that their customers reinvigorated their marketing campaigns in 2010 after laying low and reducing budgets in 2009. And, they credit the overall industry revenue expansion to distributors being able to get a bigger piece of the advertising pie. With promotional products proving a cost-effective medium for marketers to spread their corporate messages, distributors are becoming increasingly effective at convincing clients about the return on investment and viability of ad specialties.

And, what does 2011 hold? Experts predict a still-expanding economy, but not the robust growth of three to five years ago. For distributors, success in 2011 will depend on deepening client relationships and an ability to prove the value of cost-effective advertising like promotional marketing.

Plus, distributors will have to keep a keen eye on the trends that are shaping the industry and the ad specialty business overall. Read closely, and get yourself prepared now to capitalize on these trends in the next year.

Trend 1
The New Hiring Reality: Applicants Are Plentiful

“In the last 18 months – certainly in fiscal year 2009 – it was tough times, and we laid people off,” says Dave Regan, vice president of sales for The Vernon Company (asi/351700), a Counselor Top 40 distributor based in Newton, IA. As a result, “We’re operating pretty lean,” he says.

But as business ticks upward for Vernon, that pared-down staff is suddenly feeling a little stretched. In fact, Regan says, the company has expanded its revenues by 10% in 2010, and as a result Vernon’s overworked employees are asking, “Can we bring people back?” Regan says.

If there’s any silver lining to the economic downturn, it’s that the pool of overly qualified applicants has expanded exponentially. While most distributor principles contend that talented salespeople are difficult to find in any economy, distributors that are expanding their business and looking to hire for positions from graphic designers to customer service reps can expect to choose from some of the most qualified job candidates they’ve seen in years. “We plan on hiring extra people at the beginning of next year,” Regan says. “There’s a pool of candidates out there as good as ever.”

Other distributors are discovering the same. When a temporary worker was called in to replace an employee on maternity leave at Counselor Top 40 distributor Jack Nadel International (asi/279600), the temp proved so talented that the company is considering making her a full-time offer, says Craig Nadel, CEO of the Culver City, CA-based firm.

Trend 2
Customer Awareness: Product Safety Is Crucial

As clients are increasing the amount of promotional items they purchase, they’re also keener to ensure those products are safe, says Regan. Amid numerous recalls in 2010 – of both promotional items and consumer products – clients are more aware than ever about product safety and knowing exactly what they’re putting in the hands of their customers and promotional recipients.

Hazardous elements, such as phthalates, cadmium and lead, for example, continue to be an issue, particularly for distributors and suppliers of promotional products. The problem the industry faces, though, is that customers who demand cheaper products sometimes pay for it with items whose safety can’t be guaranteed, says Regan.

Tests from the International Organization for Standardization, like the ISO 9000, or the industry-specific Quality Certification Alliance, are becoming standard for orders that run through Vernon, Regan says. Admittedly, those tests don’t come cheap. “It’s very expensive and it takes an awful lot of time,” he says. But risking an unsafe product in a tight market is a risk –and added expense – the company’s not willing to take.

And, as production demands increase overseas, while employment and factory issues continue in places like China, safety can be sidelined by manufacturers. In fact, a recent survey of suppliers conducted by Counselor’s sister publication, Supplier Global Resource, shows that 32% of suppliers say they have no product testing or safety measures currently in place.

“I think in some ways they don’t get it,” Nadel says. It’s a problem he predicts will continue for the industry well into the New Year. Coupled with clients demanding safer products – and asking for proof that they are indeed safe – distributors are facing tougher standards and tests to back them up. In fact, in some cases, customers are going further than ever for evidence of the safety of promotional products. “Some clients are actually wanting to visit our factories to make sure the factories are certified and up to code,” says Mark Ziskind, COO of Caliendo Savio Enterprises-CSE (asi/155807), a Counselor Top 40 distributor based in New Berlin, WI.

And, there are some things distributors can do to protect themselves from potential penalties. In regards to children’s products, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act states that distributors of children’s items (any product intended for use by kids under 12) can insulate themselves from financial or legal penalties if they get a safety certification letter from their suppliers of the specific products in question. “The law is clear about the difference between distributors and suppliers when it comes to children’s products,” says Frederick Locker, principal partner with Locker Greenberg & Brainin, a law firm that works with the Toy Industry Association. “Distributors can definitely protect themselves by getting letters from suppliers certifying that their children’s products are safe.”

While this law only governs children’s items, Locker believes additional laws could be in the works to regulate the safety of other product categories. “Sometimes regulation can be a good thing, in that it clearly states who’s responsible for what,” he says. “It would probably give distributors some clear ways to insulate themselves.”

Trend 3
Buying Habits: The New Client Approach

While clients are indeed beginning to increase their promotional budgets and look at new marketing efforts, they’re also approaching their purchases in new ways. ROI is the key, they say. Distributors say they’re dealing with a newly sensitive customer base that’s focusing on ensuring they get the best bang for their marketing buck.

“I just had a discussion with one of our salespeople who felt like we should promote more high-end products and materials” because of their higher price points, says Regan. “I proceeded to talk to him about the fact that his average order size is down this year,” which is why the salesman is trying to promote higher-price products. “There are stats that will tell you the average order is getting smaller,” Regan adds.

Indeed, in Counselor’s 2010 State of the Industry survey, distributors reported that the dollar size of their orders has gone down about 10% over the past three years. Even further, 41% of distributors said that their clients believe it’s important to justify their promotional product purchases with ROI statistics – that number was only 29% just three years ago.

As a result of these shifts, marketers have not only pulled back on what and how much they buy, but also in how they use promotional products. “Historically, as long as someone was willing to buy it, a client, operating with management’s approval, would put a logo on it,” says Ziskind. But now, “Senior management is saying, ‘enough.’ ”

That has completely changed how clients approach the promotional product purchasing process – and in turn, it has shifted the role in which they see distributors participating. In short, a shifting market has made them more sensitive to how far they can stretch their promotional dollars – putting more of an onus on distributors to act as guides in end-user promotions.

“During a pitch you have to understand who the brand is, their target audiences, the positioning of the brand, and then leverage those strengths and play off of them vs. just trying to show them cool promotional products,” Ziskind says. “You have to be more of a strategy partner.”

But where some distributors see orders coming in with a more strategic bent behind them, others are seeing clients simply buying more products, even if those products are bought with greater purpose and more strategy than they once were. “What I’m hearing from our affiliates now is that their customers seem to be opening up their wallets a little more easily and quickly,” says Ross Silverstein, president of iPROMOTEu (asi/232119), a Counselor Top 40 distributor based in Wayland, MA. “I think it is slowly moving to the buying habits that they had in early 2008 and 2007.”

Trend 4
Supplier Partners: Inventory Is Just-In-Time

Distributors faced an uncertain reality in 2010 when it came to placing orders: Suppliers were sometimes out of stock on products, or worse, missed ship dates on orders because they didn’t realize that they didn’t have enough inventory on hand to fulfill the order in time.

“We had a bank customer this morning who wrote and said, ‘We’re having trouble getting the order produced,’ ” says Nadel. “We’ve been seeing more and more situations like that because suppliers are short on inventory.”

Or, once an order was placed, “We would find out after the fact that the inventory wasn’t there,” says Silverstein. “Better suppliers would upgrade the product, kind of like a rental car” when a customer checks in and finds the car he reserved is unavailable, Silverstein says. One instance of this would be unfortunate, but the situation happened repeatedly over the past year with some suppliers, Silverstein says. This caused the word to spread among iPROMOTEu affiliates that certain suppliers should be avoided.

Back when shelves were stocked but orders were drying up, panicked suppliers did what they could to clear the space. Some of those actions included not restocking on certain orders – a move that, while helpful to a supplier’s bottom line, sometimes hurt distributors that couldn’t fulfill end-user orders. That may be changing, according to distributors we talked to – but not necessarily through restocked shelves.

Many suppliers have moved toward a strategy of consolidation, Silverstein says, in hopes of strengthening their market standing by joining forces with a competitor. Others are moving to just-in-time delivery, relying on quick production times rather than risking managing inventory that may not move, says Nadel.
“I think warehousing is going away,” says Debbie Abergel, senior vice president of marketing for Jack Nadel, in part because savvy end-users are demanding lower costs in the wake of the recession.
Ultimately, though, it’s incumbent upon distributors to have consistent conversations with their suppliers in 2011. Check in with them on inventory for repeat orders and stay in touch throughout the year to find out about their inventory levels on products you order the most.

Trend 5
New Product Introductions: Retailers Rule

Consumers are king. That may sound like an odd statement for the ad specialty market, where B-to-B transactions are the norm. But more clients these days are looking to what’s hot in retail as a barometer of what their employees and consumer audiences will want as giveaways and rewards.

The trend has become so pervasive and important that some promotional product customers are tracking “purchase influencers,” Ziskind says, eyeballing what’s popular in technology, clothing, food and beverage and other purchases.

Sure, promotional products have always followed the retail market to some degree. But these days they’re doing so at a quicker clip – instead of waiting a season or two, the industry is looking for hot trends that can transfer immediately to products for end-users.

Clients in the retail sector want promotional products that will help define their brand as the first choice among their consumers. A similar attention to the retail world is happening among end-users interested in apparel, who are copying clothing trends from stores like Abercrombie & Fitch.

“A lot of it has to do with logo placement and design,” Ziskind says. For example, printing logos on the hems has recently been popular, he says. “If clients are going to spend money on items, they want them to be items that people will want to wear or use repeatedly,” he says.

In other words, think quality when selling in 2011. Your clients want retail-inspired products that their target audience would pay for.

Betsy Cummings is a senior writer for Counselor.

The Hot List

Trying to pinpoint the latest market trends? Here are four factors that will be shaping the ad specialty industry in 2011.
- The job pool is rich. That’s not surprising, considering the number of employee layoffs in the past few years. Distributors who are looking to regain some of the talent they were forced to let go, or add staff to handle new business as the economy recovers, say they’re seeing an amazingly robust pool of applicants when seeking new hires.
- Green is still growing. The market may just be getting its legs back, but the environmental movement has powered on. That doesn’t mean it’s exploded (higher prices kept cost-conscious end-users at bay during the height of the recession), but certain regions that have been typically green (think California) are seeing plenty of environmentally friendly orders. “It’s the hottest product we already have in our inventory,” says Debbie Abergel, senior vice president of marketing for Jack Nadel International (asi/279600).
- Perfection is key. A tight market means clients can be more demanding – and distributors know it. Expectations of perfection will only increase, predicts Mark Ziskind, COO of Caliendo Savio Enterprises-CSE (asi/155807). That’s precisely why CSE is pushing its yearly $200,000 “mistake incentive” program, in which $50,000 is set aside per quarter to split among employees. Every time someone makes a mistake, the company deducts the value of the mistake from the pool – double the value if it’s CSE’s fault. It’s a crucial management tool, Ziskind says, in a market where pressure from clients for low-cost, perfect products is more intense than ever.
- Pets endure. If there’s any market that’s recession-proof, it’s the pet industry. “People are just passionate about pets,” says Craig Nadel, president of Jack Nadel International (asi/279600). Perhaps people turn to pets for comfort in tough times. Or, it might just be the fact that plenty of pet products are reasonably priced, making them promotional items that cost-effectively spread a warm and fuzzy brand message.

Ace the Awards Market With These Tips - Here’s a quick course on what types of awards exist, creative trophy solutions and reasons that special recognition may be in order. From Advantages magazine. December, 2010.
Ace the Awards Market With These Tips
By Tonia Cook Kimbrough
December 2010

When it comes to awards and trophies, just about every client you serve has a need – from small businesses to large manufacturers, nonprofits to educational institutions. Here’s a quick course on what types of awards exist, creative trophy solutions and reasons that special recognition may be in order.

DEFINITION

What Is a Trophy?

According to The Free Dictionary, a trophy is a prize, such as a cup or plaque, received as a symbol of victory, especially in sports. It can also be a memento, as of one’s personal achievements.

You’ll find that trophies come in many forms. Traditionally you know them as two-handled silver or silver-plated “cups,” usually engraved. However, today’s trophies are more frequently formed into statues that represent an organization or idea. For example, The Grammy Award is a gilded gramophone statuette, and the Vince Lombardi trophy is a regulation-size football crafted in sterling silver that’s given to Super Bowl winners.

Trophies can be made from many materials, ranging from high-end marble, bronze and crystal to wood, acrylic or resin.

Award Challenges & Solutions

Not every award situation calls for a classic trophy. Here are three scenarios that require a different approach:

Challenge: A client has a limited budget but wants to recognize all employees for an excellent year.
Solution: Choose a useful desktop item like a paperweight, which can be embedded with an award icon or shaped as a trophy. Paperweights come in many materials and shapes, as well as at a variety of price points.

Challenge: A client seeks a “perpetual” award, one that can be added onto over the years as tenure or accomplishments increase for the recipients.
Solution: Some plaques have an area for additional engraving as years progress, or slots into which names or degrees (stars or symbolic bars of rank) can be added. Jewelry provides another option. Link and charm bracelets, for example, may work particularly well for a female audience.

Challenge: An employer wants to provide anniversary awards that a recipient can share with his/her family or friends.
Solution: Food gifts housed in emblematic containers or etched candy jars provide a treat that can be shared, plus a symbolic vessel to be kept as a long-term reminder of accomplishments.

10 Types of Awards
1. Custom product replicas, frequently created out of poly resin, bronze or wood
2. Crystal vases etched with a message of recognition
3. Letterman jackets with symbolic emblems, bars or team information
4. Cup-style trophies
5. Plaques or framed recognition
6. Emblematic jewelry or watches, engraved with years of service or award name
7. Seals and emblems
8. Medals or coins
9. Ribbons
10. Certificates
15 Reasons to Give a Trophy
1. Sportsmanship or sporting event
2. Honor roll or graduation
3. Top donors
4. Humanitarian efforts or volunteerism
5. Sales achievement
6. Dealer/distributor recognition
7. Quality markers
8. Safety record
9. Years of service
10. Customer satisfaction
11. Most valued (employee, client, teacher, player, etc.)
12. Record-setting efforts
13. Milestones (commemoration of an event or achievement)
14. Product innovation
15. Environmental efforts
Word That Award!

Stuck for a phrase to engrave on the award you’ve chosen? Check out the ideas at www.awardswording.com. You’ll find a helpful list of popular phrases, categorized by type of award. Recognition guru Jeff Anderson, president of Trophies2go.com, blogs on the website that you should begin brainstorming award verbiage by asking, “Why am I giving this award?” Capture the essence of what the award symbolizes in a succinct one-liner.

Sell Your Client on Custom Awards

If you want to set your award solution apart from your competitors, present custom options to clients. Though these may require a bit more time and budget, the benefits are compelling.

Highlight the opportunity for your clients to use custom awards to clearly represent the unique quality and character of their brands. A product replica, for example, generates instant brand recognition. Customization also allows for your client company to create a cohesive image that extends from its typical marketing across its awards programs.

Finally, recipients are more likely to appreciate and display awards that have been conceived and crafted with their tastes and accomplishments in mind. An “off-the-shelf” award doesn’t convey the same level of effort or caring on the part of the giver.

Not Your Same Ol’ Trophy

Does your client want to break the mold when it comes to the next round of recognition awards it hands out to employees or key business partners? Think of high-end items that are used and seen with frequency.

For example, a fine leather briefcase or satchel embossed with an employee’s name and years of service will send her off on customer calls in style. Or, how about a collection of golf clubs that could be awarded over time, as goals are met or tenure builds? Try crystal ornaments to recognize Employees of the Year – that will add sparkle to their family holiday decorations. Laser engrave MP3 players for a “You Rock” award.

The lesson: Don’t be afraid to think beyond the traditional trophy when your clients want to recognize hard work or loyalty.

What’s the ARA?

The Awards and Recognition Association (ARA) is a membership organization of 4,000 companies dedicated to increasing the professionalism of recognition specialists and advancing the awards and engraving industry. It hosts the annual International Awards Market, scheduled for 2011 from February 23-25 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

AWARD ACCENTS

Awards have built-in potential to upsell. Every time a plaque or trophy is given, there should be “accessories” to enhance the occasion.

For example, congratulatory letters or certificates provide details of the event and signatures of key executives who are bestowing the award. Packaging, whether a specialty gift box, velvet bag or display case, adds formality while increasing the perceived value of the award.

The surrounding event itself opens the door for additional sales. Suggest banners, decoration or commemorative favors for guests. Also provide name badges, place cards or other means of attendee identification.

7 Hot Trends for 2011 - For the top looks in apparel, think purple, performance fabrics and clean styles. Read on to learn what’s up in the world of wearables. From Advantages magazine. December 2010.

7 Hot Trends for 2011
By Jennifer Vishnevsky
December 2010

For the top looks in apparel, think purple, performance fabrics and clean styles. Read on to learn what’s up in the world of wearables.

There’s a lot going on in the apparel field, including changes in color, fabrics, fashions, textures and decorating techniques. One factor that can’t be ignored is the cost of cotton. Cotton prices have skyrocketed to their highest level since the Civil War, mostly due to high demand in Asia and disappointing crops in several countries.

However, according to the Advantages Promotional Products Usage Survey, 53% of buyers say that shirts are the most effective products, so it’s more important than ever to stay educated about apparel. Here are some of the key trends to note as we head into the first quarter of the new year.

1. Jewel Tones

If you’re looking to add value and class to your promotional campaign, invest in deep jewel tones. Rich tones, such as amethyst purple, ruby red and sapphire blue, have a bold, lush quality. It is ideal to pair jewel tones with neutrals, particularly black and white.

Purple is leading the pack now. “Purple has been huge over the last year. Bright lavenders are an extremely hot color at retail right now. Bright jewel tones continue to be popular both in retail and in corporate apparel,” says Joanna Whitling, merchandising buyer at GatewayCDI (asi/202515). “Some of the shades of purple are starting to become a little more muted, like lilac and eggplant.”

Lauren Cocco, merchandiser and decoration specialist with Vantage Apparel (asi/93390), sees that purple is a more popular jewel tone among women. She suggests that blue jewel tones, like sapphire, work well for men and women alike.

Sales Tip

Pitch jewel tones to your corporate clients. They can be paired neatly with navy, black or brown, some of the traditional colors that are suggested for executives. Of note: The color purple, currently one of the most popular jewel tones, represents leadership, good judgment and trustworthiness. For your clients who are focused on retail, they can trust you to find a great selection of jewel tones in designer brands.

2. Distressed/Military

There’s no denying it: Burnout is still hot. “Blends used in burnout and other washed tees are very trendy. They may look vintage, but they feel super-soft and comfortable,” says Janine Toner, marketing coordinator for Broder Bros. (asi/42090). “The distressed look that comes from pigment-dyed and burnout tees is all the rage, especially with younger audiences. Plaids, military-inspired garments and sheer tanks and tops – which are perfect for layering – are also really fashionable right now.” Aside from being trendy, distressed wear also looks and feels comfortable.

Toner notes that distressed fabrics are mostly used in T-shirts, tanks and hoodies. Military caps and camo T-shirts, hoodies, hats and outerwear are the most common military-inspired garments. Military jackets for women offer a great alternative to the basic blazer. “We’re continuing to see a military influence in wearables – bold lines, strong shoulders and epaulettes,” says Amber Lee, marketing coordinator for CSE (asi/155807). “Jackets and shirts that have the military detailing will continue into spring.” A key element in pulling off the look is to counteract the masculine feel with a feminine touch, ideally with leggings or skirts.

The burnout style is a leading look for fashion tees. To achieve the look, T-shirts are chemically distressed so that portions of the material are so thin that they’re almost see-through. The sheer feel of the tee matches up with a big trend in apparel nowadays – layering lightweight tees. “The burnout process is interesting and it’s great for layering, which continues to be a strong trend,” says Cocco. In addition, she points out that using natural appliqué fabrics like cotton twill give a piece a distressed, vintage feel. “Applique is still a trend in lettering and patch-type looks. It’s a great way to add interest and dimension to a design,” she says.

Sales Tip

Vintage, distressed styles like burnout tees work great with various decorating techniques, including rhinestones and allover prints. Think young when you pitch the burnout and distressed look. Reach out to nightclubs and schools to tap into a younger market.

3. Performance Fabrics

At a time when people have enough on their plates, it comes as no surprise that performance and worry-free fabrics are becoming more and more in demand.

Most notably, fabrics that resist wrinkling, staining and fading are popular –especially for sport shirts and wovens. On the texture side, smooth cotton and stretch fabric blends are more durable and resist stains and wrinkles. “With such hectic work schedules, people prefer clothing that is easy to take care of, as well as fashionable,” says Toner. “These fabrics help customers with the daily maintenance of their clothing, as most people don’t have time to iron their clothes on a daily basis or worry about how their clothing will hold up after a couple of washes. There is also a significant cost savings with cutting down on trips to the dry cleaner, which can really add up.”

Performance fabrics in outerwear continue to be popular and fashion-forward, namely in soft-shell jackets. “The biggest thing is that they are incredibly functional. If you get the right style, it’s affordable and lightweight,” says Mike O’Connell, owner of Moko Loko Merchandising (asi/466637) . Whitling echoes the functionality of performance fabrics. She has seen an increase in their popularity among her corporate clients, due to moisture-wicking and UV-blocking capabilities. “The trend started with polo shirts and specialized golf apparel, but has now moved into more traditional categories like outerwear, T-shirts and headwear,” she says.

Also, the popularity of performance fabrics has a lot to do with lifestyle. “Customers want to feel comfortable. Being active is becoming a lifestyle, so they want to wear polo shirts that wick, don’t show perspiration and have UV protection,” Cocco says.

Sales Tip

Make sure to point out how the attributes of performance apparel will help your clients in their lives. These items will appeal to modern-day men and women, so target working professionals. Think also about young adults who are just out of college. “You’re seeing performance wear for the corporate jobs in the younger generation. They see those items in their college stores, so they look to wear them for work,” says Whitling.

4. Simple, Clean Lines

Maybe we can blame (or thank) Jon Gosselin, but it’s time to bid farewell to the era of Ed Hardy. Apparel is moving away from overly embellished and into more subtle, sensible looks. “Full-neon colored shirts seem to be on their way out. We’re seeing more neutral shirts. There may also be a trend of cleaner-looking tipped polos,” says Toner.

No one can deny that simple is in. “I see basic styling as being important right now. You’re seeing the male button-down with one pocket,” says David Bebon, CEO of DBEBZ Apparel.

Lee notes that there’s a lot less bling. “We’re seeing a focus on fresh, clean looks. In the past, there’s been so much embellishment, detailing, grommeting and foiling. Moving into 2011, we’re seeing less of that at retail. There are more muted colors and more clean, classic lines,” she says.

The same goes for screen printing. While allover prints are still popular, they will be toned down a bit. “You’ll see a subtle background design and a hint of color. They won’t be as bold and vibrant as we have previously seen,” says Cocco.

Sales Tip

When you’re developing a campaign that involves some simple, basic shirts, make sure to emphasize how you’re in tune with the world around you. Since your clients are retail shoppers, make a note of how the fashion world is shifting to a simpler style. You’ll be able to show your clients that you’re on top of your game.

5. Specialty Inks

Decorators are looking into the appeal of conservative color prints. “Going into 2011, less is more,” says Mary Strapason, director of sales and marketing for Apple Imprints Apparel (asi/36553). “The focus has always been on getting the most colors on the shirt. Now, it’s more about using specialty inks.”

One popular screen-printing ink creates a 3-D imprint; it’s best used on heavier T-shirts and fleece, not sheer tees. By using newer inks, Strapason points out that decorators can print from the base of the shirt. “It’s more fashion-forward. You can use color-changing inks, glow-in-the-dark inks and more. The more specialty inks that are used, the more value there is for the apparel,” she says.

Sales Tip

Funky inks are very appealing to the music industry, so think about highlighting the unique qualities of these inks in your next event, bar or concert campaign. Aside from being a great platform for a logo, the apparel’s value will increase with the exclusive inks.

6. Laser Etching

One of the ways that the subtle look in apparel is being achieved is through laser etching. In this method, a logo is displayed via a laser burning off the top layer on polyester pieces. “Leaving a dimensional look is a great way to add value to an item,” says Cocco.

Laser etching gives some variety in terms of logo placement, whether it’s vertical, over seams, on hems or on pockets. “Laser etching works best on most synthetic fibers, microfiber polyester knits, performance polos and polyester camp shirts,” she says. “It’s most popular on fleece because it gives a layer of dimension and actually burns the surface fabric.”

Sales Tip

Since laser etching is perfect for fleece, think about using it for winter promotions, whether it’s for a sporty educational campaign or a holiday fundraiser. When you’re pitching to a client, make sure to think creatively regarding logo placement. Instead of displaying a typical horizontal message across the chest, steal the spotlight with a dimensional vertical logo.

7. Tonal Embroidery

Tonal, color-on-color embroidery is one of the hottest ways to display a logo. Like in the past, the left chest is popular for logo placement, but more logos are showing up on back yokes. “Embroidery is going more tonal. It’s cool, hot and design-forward. You can get a French blue shirt with French blue embroidery. You can get a tone on tone, color on color, sold on solid. They are matching and blending with the garment,” says Bebon.

O’Connell echoes this decorating advice. “As far as logos go, you should be tonal. Black on black or black on gray,” he says.

Sales Tip

Since tonal embroidery is very sleek and crisp, think about selling this look on a uniform. In addition to schools, there are plenty of industries where employees are required to wear uniforms, such as hospitality and health care. Make the most of your supplier’s resources to create a really unique look.

Jennifer Vishnevsky is a staff writer for Advantages.

Hot off the Runway

Mariana Leung, founder and editor of MSFabulous.com, reports on fashion from around the world. “In North America, I saw a lot of clean, crisp looks at the spring 2011 shows,” she says.
Designers Cynthia Rowley and Vivienne Tam both showed ladylike jackets and cardigans ending just below the waist. They were paired with simple A-line skirts that hit above the knee.

Rebecca Minkoff also had a polished, clean aesthetic, but used knits instead of wovens to accomplish the look. Another option for casual chic came in the form of crisp, tailored pants. Christian Siriano from Project Runway created simple, polished looks for daytime in white and tan.

In fabrics, Leung saw eyelet, crochet and cotton lace fabrics on the runway. For spring/summer, another hot fabric is bamboo. “Bamboo knits have a wonderful hand, and bamboo is cooler in the summer than cotton,” says Holli Gibson, designer for LamanBlu. For fall/winter, Gibson points to cotton and bamboo knits, recycled poly/cotton, faux fur, alpaca wool and velvet.

For her spring 2011 L.A.M.B. runway show, singer/designer Gwen Stefani showcased rocker chic with more color than ever before, including the popular jewel tones used in other lines. Other notable trends from her show: bold prints and playful plaids.

Women Of Industry - Confident they can succeed, more women than men are choosing the ad specialty industry to start their first business. That’s just one finding of an exclusive Counselor study comparing the attitudes, backgrounds and perceived opportunities of business owners. From Counselor magazine. November, 2010.

Women Of Industry
By Dave Vagnoni
November, 2010

SHARE & BOOKMARK

Confident they can succeed, more women than men are choosing the ad specialty industry to start their first business. That’s just one finding of an exclusive Counselor study comparing the attitudes, backgrounds and perceived opportunities of business owners.

In the early days of W.M. Martin Advertising (asi/353512), few really knew who owned the one-person company. That, it turns out, was by design. “My banker told me to use my initials in the company name so people wouldn’t know we weren’t male-owned,” admits Winnie Martin, the distributor’s founder. “It was very difficult back then for women to get financial backing.”

Back then, which was 1983, Martin faced plenty of chauvinists, stereotypes and maddening business policies that left her frustrated, but far from defeated. “Just to get a business phone put in, I had to ask for my husband’s signature,” she says.

Undaunted, Martin saw opportunity. Even before her company was christened, she found her first client, A.J. Weller Corporation, without much effort at all – thanks to a very important contact.

“Somebody had to handle all the gimmes,” Martin says. “Twice a year, I’d go out to the national sales force at meetings and give presentations.” And, she’d sell them on a variety of promotional products. All the while, there was one fact she held back from her newfound client contacts: her husband was one of the owners of their company.

Never lacking for confidence, but not always having such a built-in solid referral, Martin started to build up her company with other accounts, taking advantage of her background in apparel and show business to win clients and close deals. A generation later, W.M. Martin is one of the most notable women-owned distributorships in Texas, and Winnie is proud to tell people she’s the one behind those company initials. “Tremendous changes in the industry have been made,” she says. “We owe those changes to women like me.”

Those changes – some subtle and others dramatic – have recently brought on quite the surge of momentum for women. While the majority of industry companies are still run by men, ASI membership data shows nearly 35% of distributors and more than 20% of suppliers are now owned by women.

And according to the newly-released Counselor Entrepreneur Study, 98% of those women feel their businesses are a success. Even further, the study shows that both female and male entrepreneurs in the ad specialty market have consistently grown the revenues of their companies – 85% of men and 81% of women business owners say they’ve grown their company’s revenues by double digits annually since inception.

While male entrepreneurs tend to run larger companies (30% of men and 17% of women say their annual revenues are more than $500,000), according to the exclusive survey, the majority of industry business owners now feel women have an equal or better opportunity to win sales contracts compared to men. At least in the ad specialty industry, the idea of a gender gap is fading fast.

To prove it, laid out on the following pages, we detail six key findings of the Counselor Entrepreneur Study. Plus, we profile six entrepreneurs, ranging from the long-tenured to the barely-getting-started, who are excelling as leading ladies of the ad specialty industry.

Finding #1: Women Want To Be Their Own Boss

As a single mother with no child support, Laura Forbes realized she didn’t have a choice. “I had to make it,” she says. Clearly, she did.

Her story begins in the lowlands of Mississippi, where she grew up with an especially strong and successful role model. “My dad was an entrepreneur,” Forbes says. “He was a soft-drink bottler.”

Yet, even with that positive influence on her life, Forbes at first didn’t necessarily see herself as a business owner. She attended tiny Delta State University and found herself unsure of which career path to take. “I dabbled in several things,” she says. “My background was in education. I was a teacher. That gave me strong organizational skills. I also worked for a local newspaper as a reporter. That helped me to hone my writing skills.”

Feeling a bit unfulfilled, Forbes eventually decided she wanted to work for herself. Young and adventurous, she thought about starting her own travel agency with a close friend. “I had an advisor who told me there was no money in it,” she says. Fortunately, she listened. Soon after, along with a college roommate, Forbes instead founded Ad Impressions, a promotional products company based in Jackson, MS. “Opportunities were all in front of us,” she says. “We were lucky in that regard.”

Thirty years and one large merger later, Forbes runs distributor Zebra Marketing (asi/365683), a Memphis, TN-based company that generates $10 million in annual sales. “We’re still growing, but we do it with a family approach and a southern small feel,” she says. “I’ve learned you don’t resist change. You use it to your advantage.”

While her business success makes her a standout, Forbes’ motivation to start her company is actually very much in line with other women in the ad specialty industry. The great majority (69.9%) of women surveyed agree that becoming their own boss was the main reason for going into business. “You can always be working, but you don’t have to punch a clock,” she says. “Women need flexibility.”

That need for flexibility is also shown in another main reason women entrepreneurs start their own businesses: to integrate work life with family life. That’s exactly what motivates Robyn Greenfield, owner of Monee, IL-based Advertising Solutions (asi/112753). “I work from home and have no overhead,” she says, getting ready to spend some time with her 9-year-old son. “I think we’re about to make cookies.”

Greenfield, who sells promotional products and embroiders items, has a business degree and left a Chicago law firm to focus on her family. She started her distributorship about four years ago and already has 300 clients, including Green Garden Elementary, the school her children attend. “I don’t do any cold-calling,” she says. “My customers are my friends.”

Finding #2: Women Have Less Formal Training

Known only as the pointy-haired boss (PHB), the incompetent, micromanaging office “leader” is a well-known villain in the Dilbert cartoon strip and television series. For good reason, he’s also a particular favorite of Mary Schulenberger, president of Parle Enterprises (asi/291134) in Burlingame, CA. “I was at an idea fair, kind of like a mini-trade show, for Cisco,” she begins. “I was asked if I could come up with a stress ball of Dilbert’s boss for John Chambers to use.”

Schulenberger learned that Chambers, Cisco’s CEO, liked to throw out stress balls with PHB’s likeness during question-and-answer sessions at major company events. And, Chambers happened to be looking for a new company to provide them. “I got in touch with Scott Adams, the Dilbert cartoonist, and found out I had to get a license,” she says. Coming through for her client, Schulenberger got a license to distribute several Dilbert-themed stress balls. Cisco was a happy customer and soon other companies were, as well. “Dell bought some, Oracle and Red Hat, too,” she says.

Schulenberger, whose company was profitable last year even during the recession, says it was “by accident” that she even learned of the ad specialty industry. She was working at a restaurant when she met the owner of the now-defunct Tiburon Industries. He offered her a job as a northern California sales rep. “We just sort of clicked,” she says.

Servicing clients like local yacht clubs, Schulenberger felt she was just starting to grasp the industry, but that’s when a curveball was thrown her way. Tiburon went out of business, leaving Schulenberger at a career crossroads. “I was an independent contractor,” she says. “It wasn’t like I had this idea to start a company.”

Even so, Schulenberger took a leap of faith. Without formal training or a college degree, and working out of her own house, Schulenberger founded Parle Enterprises in 1986. “I felt like I was thrown into the deep end,” she admits. “After six months, I moved into a real office.”

Turns out Schulenberger needed the extra space. Over the last 23 years, her client list has included names like Hewlett-Packard, AT&T and Pacific Gas & Electric. “Our industry is really good for creative folks that want to work hard,” she says.

Schulenberger and others like her have proven that formal business training isn’t a prerequisite for industry success. In fact, according to the Counselor Entrepreneur Study, nearly two-thirds (65%) of women respondents weren’t trained in how to run a business prior to starting up an industry company. Kim Lysik Di Santi, founder of executive coaching firm Total Strategy, isn’t surprised by those results.

“You’re either an entrepreneur or you’re not,” Lysik Di Santi says. “It’s anybody’s game out there if you have a knack and you use your talents.”

Finding #3: Women Invest In Technology

Her high-end designs have been found on movie sets, in the finest department stores and on the most basic promotional products. And while many suppliers struggled through the recent economic downturn, Natalie DiPicciotto found a recession-proof process that bowls over even the pickiest clients. “It’s called metal imaging,” she says. “And it’s our exclusive in this arena.”

Metal imaging, as DiPicciotto describes it, is the epitome of cutting-edge technology, taking multicolored, high-definition artwork or photography and capturing it into aluminum that never chips or fades. Of all the suppliers in the ad specialty industry, only DiPicciotto can provide the technique, which can be used on a growing list of items ranging from coasters to bag tags to mousepads. “People can’t replace it,” she says. “It’s really been amazing.”

The mechanisms behind the technology are, well, secrets, but it’s no surprise that DiPicciotto’s company, the aptly-named Steel Threads (asi/89475), has gotten plenty of play from distributors and end-users alike. Recently, DiPicciotto designed custom metal-imaged binder panels, with designs of actors Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr., as a specialty item for those who worked on the film Sherlock Holmes.

One particular panel has a front view of Downey Jr. in character as Holmes, cast in light and dark tones against a stark black background. Every detail you’d see in a high-resolution image, from the several layers of pipe smoke to the creases in Holmes’ shirt sleeve, comes through dramatically in the panel. “It’s like making a piece of art,” DiPicciotto says. “People freak out when they see this stuff.”

Yet, while metal imaging is a powerful device for DiPicciotto, she doesn’t believe it’s her only recent success. “Our biggest investment has been in marketing and our website,” she says. “We now run our website internally, shoot our own photography and send out our own e-blasts.”

Indeed, DiPicciotto’s passion for being on the leading edge of technology and staying ahead of trends actually places her in a popular spot. Whether it’s by using state-of-the-art equipment, by developing an innovative product or by creating buzz through social media, 88% of women entrepreneurs surveyed believe they’ve invested in technology that will spur future growth.

Of that industry group, 39% of women feel strongly and are especially positive about their technology-based investments, compared to 36% of men. “If there’s a quicker or easier way to do it, women are going to find it,” says Francine Schill, author of The Successful Gal, a handbook on how to start a business. “I think it’s a mindset that women have. That’s why many are tech-savvy.”

Finding #4: Women Take Advantage Of Networking

Known in industry social circles as “The Queen Bee” and on Twitter as “LogoLady,” the chatty Barbara Dail didn’t sell her first order of promotional products until she was 50. She’s definitely making up for lost time. “It hasn’t always been easy for me,” says Dail, just as she was expecting confirmation on a $50,000 order. “I’m very active in the industry and I know a lot of people.”

Truly, that might be an understatement. During her two decades in the ad specialty business, Dail has built up a successful distributorship and enjoys an ever-expanding network of always-willing-to-help contacts. Yet, her lively industry career only came about because of circumstances no one would ever wish for. “I was in the hospital for a double mastectomy and they came in and got me from my bed,” she remembers. “My husband was in the hospital, too, at the same time. They found out he had cancer. They gave him four months to live.”

Fighting courageously against bladder cancer, Dail’s husband lived five more years, long enough to see all of the couple’s children – three adopted girls – graduate from college. It was no doubt an emotional time for Dail, but she accepted every challenge and made the most of it. “My husband had been a real estate developer and I had never worked,” she says. “I realized I needed to get a job.”

Predictably, at least to those who know her, Dail quickly got energized. Putting her upbeat personality to full use, she went to work for a local ad specialty company on the suggestion of a friend. “On my first day, I got a $1,000 order before noon,” she says.

Having been a dedicated volunteer in her community, Dail reached out to anyone she thought would listen to her pitch, including her husband’s many friends. It worked. Dail had found a career and the industry had found a gem. Soon, Dail decided to open her own company, and The Creative Solution (asi/170768) was born in Yorba Linda, CA. “My business partner and I never thought we’d fail,” she says.

With those difficult years behind her, Dail has hit her business stride. She’s helped build up Coffee Talk, the popular industry networking club, to more than 150 members. She’s found a social niche through Facebook and Twitter, where she discusses just about anything, save politics. And she’s organized extensive industry support for Operation Gratitude, a nonprofit that sends care packages to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. “We’ve sent T-shirts, food, stadium cups, notepads, even stuffed animals,” she says. “No one in the industry has ever turned me down. We’ve sent 600,000 packages.”

Of course, not all women have reached the networking heights that Dail has, but they’re apparently following her lead. The Counselor Entrepreneur Study found that 89% of women who own businesses in the industry believe they take full advantage of networking to grow their companies. What’s more, the majority (52%) feel strongly about their networking skills, compared to 44% of men.

“Women form tight bonds,” says Lysik Di Santi. “Networking used to be about male-dominated golf outings. Now there’s almost been a backlash of female-focused events.”

Finding #5: Equal Business Opportunities

When she moved from St. Louis to Sacramento, CA, in 1986, Joann Devereux made a life-changing decision by simply looking in the phone book. “I saw there were only eight distributors here,” she says. “So I thought I’d do that.”
Devereux chose wisely. Today, her company, Just Call Inc. (asi/237905), generates annual revenues of $4 million and operates in a 4,200-square-foot building with three showrooms. “It’s all about customer service,” she insists. “We knock ourselves out. We’re extremely diversified. This week alone we have three new clients in three completely different industries.”

Although her company’s sales are largely based on referrals, Devereux has also been quite successful at bidding on and winning contracts. She feels being a certified woman-owned company sometimes allows her an advantage. “Working with me can be beneficial to a client who’s then recognized as supporting a woman-owned or minority-owned company,” she says. In any case, she has learned not to shy away from the bidding process just because it involves a little extra work. “Some you get, some you don’t,” she says. “Some you get because only one or two even responded.”

While Devereux’s local and national clients are in industries as varied as higher education and construction, among her best repeat customers is the state of California. “For the Department of Public Health I’ve done aprons, T-shirts and beach balls for their programs,” she begins. “For the California lottery, I’ve done apparel, padfolios, scratchers and electronic dice.”

It turns out Devereux’s good luck with the government hasn’t stopped with winning contracts. Earlier this year, she applied for a loan with the U.S. Small Business Administration so she could further expand her company. “It was simple,” she says. “I was amazed. I think we were approved in less than two weeks.”

The extra money has allowed Devereux to move her company into a better and more cost-effective space in Carmichael, CA. “I got tired of paying high rent,” she says, adding that “the market was perfect” to buy.

Truly, business and life are also pretty close to perfect for Devereux right now. Much has changed since she first looked in a random Sacramento phone book 25 years ago. But what hasn’t changed is her feeling that women have just as much right to business deals as men. After all, she thinks, women are better multitaskers. “I think we can juggle more clients,” she says.

Regarding the multitasking, experts tend to agree with Devereux, but on the topic of perceived equality, there’s more disagreement than not. “On paper, women are sometimes better received,” says Cynthia McKay, a psychologist and CEO of The McKay Group, a business consultancy firm. “But women tend to have difficulties fighting past the gatekeepers. It’s still an unequal playing field.”

Yet, in the ad specialty industry, business owners have a strikingly different view. According to the Counselor Entrepreneur Study, men and women think they have similar access to capital and equal opportunity to win contracts. In total, just under 65% feel the opportunities are equal, while 34% of men actually think women hold a bidding advantage.

Finding #6: More Women Are Starting Their First Business

In 1981, Marty Hickerson’s first customer turned out not to be a customer at all. “They promised me enough business for a year,” she remembers. “They ended up never coming through.”

It would have been easy for Hickerson, who had just graduated from LSU, to abandon her seemingly ill-fated career in stitchwork and try a different profession. But the young Louisianan had a rather expensive problem – a $15,000 embroidery machine that had to be paid off. A bit staggered, Hickerson steadied herself and went to work. “I went out and pounded the pavement,” she says.

And what a pounding it was. Hickerson would become one of the most successful distributors on the Gulf Coast, with her company, H&H Embroidery & Promotions (asi/216831), reaching sales of $2.5 million annually. “We had to earn it,” she says.

To be sure, Hickerson’s path to profit was traveled with more than a few bumps, especially at the start. “I was scared to death the whole time,” she admits. “I didn’t even know I needed a business license to operate.”

Hickerson got that license, and focusing on corporate embroidery, has kept her machines running through five presidential administrations. “You either go big or get out,” she says. “If you want to make a living doing this, you need a full-blown operations center.” And that’s exactly what Hickerson runs. From the small office that housed H&H’s first machine, the company has expanded to take over an entire Baton Rouge-based business complex.

While Hickerson has enjoyed great success through needlework, Rama Beerfas launched her career with a heat press. “I did six T-shirts,” Beerfas remembers. “Six months later I was asked for some balloons. You can’t heat-press a balloon.”

Seeing a business opportunity and eventually keying on two niches, Beerfas has built San Diego-based Lev Promotions into a full-service marketing agency. At the start, she handcrafted custom items, but now targets larger clients, particularly in the hospitality and nonprofit markets. “Creativity is a huge part of the job,” she says. “I think my edge and the edge of women is passion.”

Experts like McKay go further. “Women are resourceful and solution-oriented,” she says. “Women can take two paper clips and owned a business before, compared to just 41% of men.

Janelle Marks, Ericson Group Louisiana

When asked how many, Janelle Marks pauses. Then, without even a hint of pretentiousness in her voice, she answers matter-of-factly. “All of them,” she says. “I have all of the casinos in Louisiana.”

No, the Bayou State doesn’t quite compare to the Vegas Strip, but there are more casinos in Louisiana than there are in Atlantic City. From Isle of Capri to Harrah’s to Grand Palais, there are 14 total casinos in Louisiana, with five of them in Shreveport alone. “I do a lot of ‘gift of the month’ programs,” Marks says. “People accumulate points on their players’ cards and after so many points they win prizes.”

Many of those prizes, of course, are promotional products, and Marks provides them – for every casino in the area. “I try to meet the goals of my clients,” she says. “I’m doing what I love.”

Marks’ love for the industry actually didn’t begin in Louisiana, where most of her accounts are, but in Tennessee, where she attended college. After graduating from the University of Memphis, she took a job with Memphis-based distributor Ericson Group (asi/188701) and quickly earned a prominent place in the firm. Frequently, she would travel with the company’s owner to Louisiana, especially to the Horseshoe Casino in Bossier City. “We booked all their entertainment,” Marks remembers. “We would also do signage and giveaways for shows.”

As time passed and as her travel became even more extensive, Marks was offered a unique opportunity to take over high-profile Louisiana accounts and begin her own company there in 2001. She named her company Ericson Group Louisiana. “It’s an entirely separate company and I work from my home office,” she says. “I do about $600,000 to $700,000 a year.”

Those sales figures, while certainly impressive, gain even more value when you consider that Marks is a single mom, raising a two-year-old daughter named Brooklyn. “There are certainly challenges,” she admits. “I start my day dropping my daughter at daycare at 6 in the morning. Then I start making sales calls and I do try to get out there in the field, dropping off samples or maybe taking clients to lunch. I use my gift of gab.”

Marks still finds plenty of time, though, to spend with Brooklyn. “She even comes to dance aerobics with me,” Marks says.

Despite her strenuous schedule, Marks has ambitious goals. In the next year, she’d like to add another major entertainment account and at least one more Fortune 500 client (she already gets business from Clear Channel).
“I love meeting new people and learning new things,” Marks says. “What matters most is building relationships.”

Kathleen Watts, The BrandMarket

Known as much for her creativity as for her charm, Kathleen Watts has been able to attract customers that are the giants of their industries. GlaxoSmithKline, General Mills, Disney, Verizon and Mattel – these are just a few of Watts’ clients. “Image is everything,” she says. “Some people go in with Power Point presentations and it’s a snoozefest. You have to do something different.”

Being different is clearly what makes Watts and her company, The BrandMarket (asi/145006), so successful. A small business with a staff of only 10 people, the Newport Beach, CA-based distributor offers clients the resources typically found in a much larger firm, including graphic design, fulfillment and website development. “We act more like an ad agency and we’re not just about promotional products,” she says. “We feel that there’s almost nothing we can’t brand.”

Always looking for the latest trends in advertising, Watts travels extensively around the world, hoping to spot a new idea she can tweak and incorporate into her mix of services. “I want to see how things are being packaged and pitched,” she says. “I want to see what’s popular. I want to provide a creative edge.”

For several years now, that’s exactly what Watts has done for another one of her best and most notable clients, ESPN. It was the cable sports network that actually discovered The BrandMarket at a Knicks’ game in New York. “They found us at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box,” Watts says. “We had done temporary tattoos to promote a Britney Spears album and they were in the boxes. We had our contact info in there as well, and the next day we got a phone call.”

Capitalizing on the opportunity, Watts quickly won over a valuable new client, and today The BrandMarket works closely with the sports juggernaut’s ever-expanding list of entities, from ESPN The Magazine to ESPN Deportes.

“Recently, we did a program for them as part of a career day to lure in new job applicants,” Watts says. “We came up with microphones made of foam that had the ESPN logo and all of the sponsors. Inside of each microphone was a T-shirt. They loved it.”

It’s fitting that Watts has developed such good relationships with broadcast companies like ESPN, ABC and HBO. After all, when she began college at Arizona State’s Cronkite School of Journalism, she intended to pursue a career in television. “But I got absorbed in advertising,” she says.

It would be cliché to say the rest is history. It would also leave a huge gap in Watts’ life. The truth is, in between her days as a coed and her founding of The BrandMarket, Watts has been an entrepreneur many times over in multiple fields.

In her early twenties, Watts owned a modeling agency and made good use of her ability to scout talent. Later, she was the main talent booker for the Billboard Music Awards (this was before her stint leading a special-events company, where one of her most memorable experiences was throwing a birthday party for the king of Morocco).

Somewhere in the wild timeline, Watts lived in Italy, where she mastered Italian and brushed up on some other languages, as well. “French I’m a little rusty on,” she admits with a laugh.

Eventually, of course, Watts did find her way into the ad specialty industry, becoming the first employee at Counselor Top 40 distributor PromoShop (asi/300446). After a year and a half of seasoning there, she was ready for her entrepreneurial foray in this market.

“There’s no blueprint on how to be an entrepreneur,” Watts says. “I’ve always heavily relied on my instincts.”

Sharon Rowe, EcoBags

As if swimming across the Hudson River wasn’t a big enough accomplishment, Sharon Rowe has her sights set on an even greater and greener goal. “We’re about cleaning up the planet, one bag at a time,” she says.

While her words, to a skeptic, might come across like a carefully rehearsed corporate tagline, Rowe is not a sweet-talking marketer. Nor is she a bottom-line businesswoman who’s looking to cash in on a gold rush of eco-friendly demand. If anything, Rowe is an environmentalist who just happened to be two decades early to a suddenly crowded party thrown to help save the planet. “We have a clear and focused environmental message,” says Rowe, owner of Ossining, NY-based supplier EcoBags (asi/51554). “We use the most sustainable materials and all our products are certified Fair Labor. This is not about making a buck.”

What it is about, Rowe says, is making a difference by changing the mindset that a single one-use plastic bag is perfectly harmless. In this discussion, Rowe is happy to say she didn’t have to cut in line. She was at the front of it. “I was the first to bring organic totes to the market,” she says. “EcoBags are an iconic brand, because it states our intention right in the name. We want to provide quality, durable goods.”

The first of those goods, introduced back in 1989, was a simple, lightweight and expandable string tote. Without a business plan or a marketing strategy, Rowe went from store to store in New York City, carrying samples and enough faith that her product would eventually be well-received. Finally and explosively, it was, and fittingly it happened at an Earth Day event in 1990. In just four hours, Rowe sold 4,000 bags, and her company had officially found its place. “Today, we do about $2.2 million annually,” she says.

Even as her competition increases, Rowe’s company stands apart from other manufacturers. In 2008, Rowe was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Business Council of Westchester (NY), the same year she was featured in Time magazine as a pioneer of the eco-friendly bag movement. In 2009, she was selected by Glamour as one of 70 women making major contributions to “green” living. And this year, she’s making her silver-screen debut as one of several environmentalists featured in the film Bag It.

While seeing herself in a movie will certainly be a thrill for Rowe, attention is not what she wants most. That’s why swimming across the Hudson last year really wasn’t the biggest deal to her. What was more important to Rowe was that by swimming, she raised $1,200 for leukemia and lymphoma research.

“I’m not saying I swam fast,” Rowe says. “But I do enjoy challenges.”

Linda Turlington, Pura Vida Promotions

Linda Turlington couldn’t have expected her trip to Costa Rica to turn out the way it did.

In the small village of San Juaquin, the locals now know her as Mama Linda – a survivor, a supporter and a friend. “I’ve had a lot of good fortune,” she says.

Very easily, Turlington could’ve missed the chance to become such an important part of this simple, but proud, community. She and her husband only traveled to the Central American country to visit their son Ryan, a college student at N.C. State who was studying there. “Before we came we had set up a driver to take us around,” Turlington says. “In talking to him we found out his wife was going to have a baby and he needed some help to support his family. So we invited him to live with us for awhile. That’s just who I am. We had an open bed.”

Grateful for the chance, the driver, Enrique Chaves, accepted the invitation and flew to North Carolina, where the Turlingtons lived. “He took a job working with my husband,” Linda says. Over time, Chaves was able to accomplish his goal and was better able to provide for his wife, Denia, and soon, the couple’s newborn daughter, Lupita.

Everything was going as hoped, but it wouldn’t last. “I remember it was April and it was 10:20 at night,” Turlington says. “We got a call that Enrique had been in a severe accident and we had to get to the hospital right away.”

Chaves, who was working on a highway crew, had been hit by a tractor trailer.

Fortunately, his injuries, while serious, would not claim his life and, in time, he would recover. The process, though, was slow, so Turlington tried to bring Chaves some much-needed support. “I worked with the U.S. State Department to secure the papers to get his wife and baby here,” Turlington says. “We were able to do that.”

Later, with even more help from the Turlingtons, Chaves and his family built a new house of their own in Costa Rica, replacing the 12-foot-by-12-foot cinderblock building they used for shelter before. As a show of thanks, when Enrique and Denia had their second daughter, they named her Lynda. “I’m her godmother,” Turlington says.

Touched, but still seeing the need of so many others in San Juaquin, Turlington wanted to do more. “We started sending supplies,” she says. “We sent containers of clothing and took books for the schools. It was wonderful.”

No doubt, in giving all she did to the Chaves family and their Costa Rican community, Turlington has gained much more. Most importantly in her mind, she learned the meaning of what her newfound friends call pura vida, a special feeling that she’d take home with her to North Carolina. “Pura vida is the wish that life be good for the person you’re speaking to,” Turlington says. “It means pure life. That’s what I decided to name my company.”

And, Pura Vida Promotions (asi/302502) in Kernersville, NC, has its own very unique story of trials and successes. Suffice it to say, Turlington has been the keystone, amazing the people around her with her resolve and strength. Even as she faced her own difficult recovery from two brain surgeries, Turlington kept her business growing. “I had customers come to my hospital room and we planned the company’s annual meeting,” she says. “I actually hand-made silver bracelets for the event as I recovered.”

Few entrepreneurs would have even attempted what Turlington passes off as just a bit of a rough patch. Today, with hundreds of clients, including a major financial company, Pura Vida surpasses $500,000 in annual revenue in the slowest of years.
As competitors, colleagues and her closest Costa Rican friends all know, success couldn’t happen to a better person. “Every day I realize how blessed I’ve been,” Turlington says.

Sarah and Jenifer Caplan, Footzyrolls

On the often snowy and always hilly campus of Syracuse University, Sarah Caplan figured there had to be a better way. Fortunately for women, there was, and with the help of her sister, Jenifer, Sarah helped take it to market. “We did tons of research and even had focus groups,” Sarah says. “The feedback was positive. People thought the idea was genius.”

The idea, simple yet sophisticated, was the springboard for one of the newest and trendiest suppliers in both the retail world and the ad specialty industry. Called Footzyrolls (asi/54915), the Miami-based company launched its first products in August of last year – and already revenues have hit the $1 million mark. “We’ve worked 25 hours a day,” Jenifer says. “We’ve put all our own money into this and we’ve created the shelf space in the market.”

Footzyrolls, which come in a variety of colors, sizes and designs, are rollable, foldable and portable women’s shoes that can fit into the smallest of purses or clutches. Close in style to ballet flats, Footzyrolls were first marketed to replace uncomfortable heels at the end of a night out, but the water-resistant and skid-proof shoes can also be dressed up for special events like weddings. “This is a hyper-competitive marketplace,” Sarah says. “Things change very quickly, but we’re going to stay ahead.”

To do that, the Caplans realize they have to work smartly and efficiently, especially considering they live in different states, and, incredibly, have full-time jobs apart from their Footzyrolls operation. “Sarah works for J.P.Morgan and has a background in finance, and I work for Ernst & Young and have a background in PR and accounting,” Jenifer says. “We use Skype and can run our business from our BlackBerries. We can track and see every order. Every customer is important.”

Clearly high-energy performers, the Caplans have aggressively promoted their products worldwide, selling them online, through industry distributors, and in major stores like Bloomingdale’s and Lord & Taylor. Footzyrolls products have also been featured on Oprah and Good Morning America, and have been used to promote feature films like Sex and the City 2.

Thanks to marketing momentum, Footzyrolls have also developed quite the celebrity following, with dozens of models, singers and actresses – from Tyra Banks to Taylor Dayne to Susan Sarandon – now sporting the Caplans’ stylish flats. “We’ve met so many amazing people,” Jenifer says. “Whenever we see someone new place an rolling out more products.”

In fact, the Caplans say, five or six more Footzyrolls products will be introduced later this year. “We’re not just talking shoes,” Jenifer hints. “There will be other related accessories, as well. Our goal is to at least double our sales by next year.”

Start Me Up - All entrepreneurs learn something in their first year of business. Usually, that lesson is learned the hard way – often gift-wrapped with a warning sign. For Bret Bonnet, the cautionary tale was one of taxes. From Counselor magazine. November, 2010.

Start Me Up
By Betsy Cummings
November 2010

SHARE & BOOKMARK

All entrepreneurs learn something in their first year of business. Usually, that lesson is learned the hard way – often gift-wrapped with a warning sign. For Bret Bonnet, the cautionary tale was one of taxes.

When Bonnet started Quality Logo Products (asi/302967) seven years ago, he formed an “S” corporation, thinking he’d wisely avoid double taxation. So Bonnet, president of the Aurora, IL-based multimillion-dollar distributor, was shocked to receive a 1099 at the end of the year reporting more than $500,000 in income, after one of his creditors had mistakenly recorded his business status as a sole proprietorship instead of an “S” corp.

Every time Bonnet received payment by credit card it was recorded as personal income – for which he owed taxes. “I had to chase down 300 forms,” he says. The mistake took four years to fix and an endless amount of red tape to muddle through with the IRS.

Ready to launch the next Counselor Top 40 distributor firm? Plenty of startups have grown into behemoth distributorships. But to do so you’ll need to make it past the first year – avoiding your own mistakes as well as those others may make.

That’s not always an easy task. About half of all startups, regardless of industry, fail in the first five years, according to the Small Business Administration. The good news? That also means about half make it through the first year to begin a long and successful run. The difference is often in how they approach business that first year.

The same holds true for distributor firms, whether they’re a one-man show out of someone’s home or a small office with a staff of three. Read on to find out some of the best strategies to help entrepreneurial companies thrive through the first year and beyond.

1. Form A Plan

Writing down a business plan “drives the proverbial stake in the ground,” says Rick Revetria, director of business consulting for San Mateo, CA-based Sensiba San Filippo, an accounting and business-consulting firm. But too many entrepreneurs get bogged down with the details and length of a business plan, trying to make it perfect from start to finish.

That’s not necessary, says Daniel Murphy, founder and president of The Growth Coach, a business coaching firm in Cincinnati. Specificity is fine, but some of the best plans are short and sweet (about a page or so), and as simple as 10 goals on a napkin.

Questions to be addressed in the plan? According to Murphy, “ ‘Why do you want to do this?’ and ‘Where do you want to go?’ are two basic questions entrepreneurs should ask themselves.” In addition, Murphy says, within that plan should be an indication of how much distributors are willing to sacrifice in the pursuit of a successful business. Working 100-hour weeks may not be unheard of in the first year or two. On the other hand, it’s certainly possible to work less and enjoy more personal time. The key is to know the balance you’re seeking.

Once a short, specific plan is formed, it’s vital that distributors have an honest conversation with themselves about where their best skills are, as well as what their weaknesses are. Not great at finances? Hire an accountant – at least for a few days a month. Can’t handle sitting down to do the necessary administrative tasks of the business? Contract services with an intern or even a virtual assistant that can be acquired for less than $1,000 per month.

2. Don’t Go Into Debt

This mantra applies to distributors who think they need to borrow money either to form their startup or keep it afloat. It also applies to those insistent on taking out a line of credit to pay for business expenses in the first year.

Bonnet launched his own company with savings and hefty credit card bills that charged 14% on purchases. A successful distributor now, he says the strategy of borrowing and financing operations through high-interest credit cards worked for him. But he admits it took him a year to collect any income and four years to pay off his debt accrued during the startup phase.

Trying to get a business off the ground? Consider this advice: “I will only start a business that I can bootstrap for $2,500 and where I can collect money mostly in cash,” says Andrew Neitlich, the director of the Institute for Business Growth in Sarasota, FL. Almost anything that might cost a lot (brochures, for example) can be accomplished for less (public speaking, for free or a fee, at networking events), he says.

To that end, Rodger Roeser, president of Eisen Marketing Group, a public relations firm in Cincinnati, says distributors should carefully weigh the benefits – and financial drawbacks – of even necessary expenses.
“The most expensive business card is the one that gets thrown away or never looked at,” Roeser says. Sure, business cards are a necessary expense, but they’re not a place to throw away a lot of money. And even the best-looking card is worthless if it’s not backed up by an aggressive sales and marketing plan.

3. Make Sales The Focus

It seems simple – until you’re mired in the finite details of running a business, paying bills, collecting bills, fulfilling orders and overseeing everything else that goes into managing a brand-new business. But entrepreneurs have to always remember to keep their eyes on the selling prize. Any time not spent selling and working with clients to close deals is time that isn’t targeted to the company’s ultimate goal: revenue generation.

To start their sales efforts, Roeser suggests that entrepreneurs make sure they have a complete understanding of the competition in their local marketplace. It’s amazing, he says, how many of his clients “don’t know how many competitors they have, and have no clear understanding of the products they offer.”

Also, new businesses need to have specific targets when it comes to clients. The last thing distributors should do when beginning their sales efforts is spend time cold-calling every potential customer. Find the market sectors and companies in your market that are advertising their products and services – and identify the organizations and industries that are hiring. These can be good places to begin your promotional marketing efforts.

4. Get Ready To Fail

No, it’s not a bad thing. Failures help entrepreneurs determine what will work in their business – in fact, if you’re not failing at anything, experts say, you may not be taking enough risks in your new business.

“Whatever you put in a business plan is going to fail,” says Neitlich. Not exactly a morale booster. But Neitlich says those failures, an expected part of the startup process, simply need to be planned for financially.

“Think of your business as a testing ground,” Neitlich says. That’s not to say that every test should fail. But distributors should keep that inevitability in mind as they plan marketing campaigns, for example. Rather than blowing $5,000 on one catalog campaign, break that budget into five $1,000 campaigns across different marketing platforms to see which one will work best.

Surprisingly, one of the most successful and sought-after promotional products – a pen – failed as a self-promotional item for Nelson Penalver, director of Logistical Outsourcing Inc. (asi/255497) in Miami. Buying and distributing pens didn’t work, Penalver says of his startup marketing efforts several years ago.

Pens, Penalver says, “go away with whoever takes them and they never come back.” Catalogs sent through expensive mailings also failed to drive new business. What worked after those two efforts? In-person cold-calling. Penalver says that he drove through business districts throughout the Miami area, introduced himself in person and dropped off catalogs face-to-face. “Believe it or not, by doing that there’s still an account with us that buys an average of $300,000 to $400,000 worth of products a year,” he says.

While face time might be ineffective and too time-consuming for others, the fact that Penalver tried several marketing methods before finding success is an important lesson to learn, experts say.

5. Get A Coach

This doesn’t mean you should immediately go out and hire a consultant in your first year in business. Instead, coaches should be free through mentors you have or networks you join. “Find someone who’s been to the top of the mountain and ask how they got there,” says Murphy. There are helpful mentors in every industry, he says. The key may be finding one who’s in a different region and not a direct competitor.

Another option is to assemble an informal board of directors – a team of colleagues, business experts, financial advisors and others who can “nudge you back on path,” when the business gets off course, Murphy says. It’s imperative that advisory boards not include friends or family members, as it’s possible that “they’re going to have fears and limiting beliefs. You want people around you that have been there and done that,” Murphy says.

New distributors should also seek advice from the brightest minds they can find. “Don’t be intimidated at the prospect of approaching the best and the brightest,” chologist and founder of Manhattan Business Coaching in New York, and author of Ambition is Not a Dirty Word.

One more option: National organizations with local offices, such as SCORE (Service Corp of Retired Executives), offer a free service that provides business advice to startups.

6. Don’t Get An Office

Too scared to commit to an office lease, Penalver launched his distributorship out of his garage several years ago. “Everybody was asking for a two- or three-year commitment,” he recalls.

Two years later, as his business began to grow, Penalver did the inevitable and moved to a 700-square-foot office with additional staff. “It was scary,” he says. “Very scary.” Rent, it turns out, was the least of it. The real cost came not from the $1,200 a month Penalver paid in rent and agreed to commit to for 24 months, but in the additional cost of an alarm system, phone lines, liability insurance and added payroll taxes for his nine employees, among other expenses. “It’s all the little expenses that come along with it,” that makes moving to an office so expensive, he says.

Indeed, it’s those unexpected costs that overwhelm entrepreneurs, says Tom Souza, CEO of Personalized Experts (asi/294295), a distributor in Boca Raton, FL. “To have a nice office is really cool, but every expense is doubled – two phones, two electric bills,” he says. “Work out of your home as long as you can.”

More to the point, “Do you really need an office in the promotional products business?” asks Jeff Huckaby, CEO of rackAID LLC, an IT management company based in Jacksonville, FL. Probably not, say experts, particularly if you’re a sole proprietor. Working out of the home can save a distributor thousands of dollars a year, and help save time as well, since the commute is nonexistent. The key, experts say, is knowing when to walk away. Too often the home office beckons even when the workday is done.

Karl Lalemand, CEO of DBS-Designs by Skip (asi/179616), in Auburn, ME, agrees. “I’m a workaholic and I was able to work seven days a week 24 hours a day,” out of a home office, he says. That is, until his wife put his bags on the front porch one day and told him to choose – the family or the business. That’s when he knew the pull of a home office was too much for him.

7. Pay Yourself A True Wage

Entrepreneurs make the decision to break away from a company and start a business on their own for many reasons: scheduling freedom, the itch to run your own operation, the drive to make more money. And yet, regarding the money bump, well, that’s not usually the case – at least initially. Most small-business owners don’t pull in big salaries until years down the road, and often don’t make money at all the first few years of business.

That said, for distributors in the black their first year, Huckaby says that paying themselves a “true wage” not only gives them a better picture of their company’s actual salary costs, but allows them to reduce their taxable income, as well.

“Labor is your largest expense,” says Huckaby. For startups where each employee wears multiple hats, it’s easy for a business owner to lose sight of just how much money it would take to actually hire individuals to fill those various roles, from marketing to janitorial services.

Not sure what typical wages are for each job? Websites like www.salary.com offer salaries by zip code throughout the country. While they may not be exact for the ad specialty industry, these sites give a rough estimate of what a distributor would need to budget if he wants to free up his time for more sales calls by hiring, say, a graphic designer.

“If you don’t have an understanding of what it costs to do everything you do, then it makes it very difficult to identify areas where you might be able to hire someone,” Huckaby says. It also “distorts your business” perspective, potentially leading distributors to think they have more cash to play with on their P&L statements than they really do.

Betsy Cummings is a senior writer for Counselor.

Tried And True: Three Mistakes To Avoid

For every startup, there are seemingly obvious mistakes that business owners either fail to understand or decide to overlook, getting themselves into trouble after year one. Here are three mistakes to avoid in the first year as the head of a startup company.

1. Mixing personal and business finances. Too many small-business owners dip into personal accounts to cover business costs or slap down their business credit card to buy a new couch for their living room. For distributors working out of their home, funding the entire startup themselves, it may seem fine to mix finances, since they’re likely coming from the same pool. But don’t do it, experts say. Why? It makes tracking finances (i.e., separating personal and business expenses) down the road a nightmare.

2. Never getting out of the home office. If your commute involves walking from the living room to the den to set up shop, consider yourself lucky. But don’t forget about the doldrums that can set in from never leaving home. Get out and create a commute, advises Jeff Huckaby, CEO of rackAID LLC, an IT management firm in Jacksonville, FL. A quick, 10-minute walk around the block or to a local coffee shop is enough to create the sensation that you’re leaving home to go to work. The same should be done at the end of the day as well, he says.

3. Not knowing when to quit. For many startup distributors, the office is often tucked away in a corner of the house. That means work is always accessible and often a gnawing presence that’s hard to ignore. But it’s important to shut off the computer and step away from the home office at the end of the workday, experts say. To do that, Huckaby suggests distributors set time limits for working after-hours at home.

Learning to Grow - As the economy recovers, industry companies are again on a growth track. Fast success, though, can often hamper a company’s health. Here are five classic growth mistakes – and how to avoid them. From Counselor magazine. October, 2010.
Learning to Grow
By C.J. Mittica
October 2010

As the economy recovers, industry companies are again on a growth track. Fast success, though, can often hamper a company’s health. Here are five classic growth mistakes – and how to avoid them.

Success wasn’t an accident, Bruce Wimmer thought at the time. Jensen Beach Marketing (asi/234720) was going places, thanks to a ripe economy, aggressive marketing, pinpoint targeting of clients in government and the hiring of capable salespeople. Started in 2000, Wimmer’s distributorship was growing steadily at around 20% a year; by 2006, Jensen’s success spiked enough to rank it as the fifth-fastest-growing distributor in the industry.

“Basically we were in the right place at the right time at that point,” Wimmer recalls.

Wimmer, however, couldn’t tell that the light of success was an oncoming train. His municipal clients slashed their budget as the economy’s woes descended like a black cloud over their Florida beach town. Having expanded rapidly and borrowed too much, the president of Jensen was left reeling. “There was a lot of free money flowing back years ago, a lot of easy money to get, a lot of business loans you could get,” he says. “Now we’re in a stage where we’re paying everything back that we had borrowed years ago.”

After layoffs and other cost cuts, Jensen’s revenues had fallen 50% from its best years. Honest and forthright about the company’s trials since those days, Wimmer espouses a practical outlook: the need to diversify his client base and become more proactive in identifying customers. “We’d like to grow again,” he says, “but we’re going to do it a lot more slowly.”

The rags-to-riches tale holds a special place in folklore, but it’s the next chapter, the riches-to-rags postscript, that’s nearly as commonplace. When giants come crashing down, it’s often from the sum total of errors made during their greatest spurts of growth, when everything is changing so quickly. Most importantly, such instances are timeless; they transcend the typical eras of failure like the dot-com bust or the most recent recession.

In the ad specialty industry, you don’t need to look far to witness such occurrences. Promopeddler.com (asi/300367) soared in the online marketplace, notching 865% growth in a three-year period and ranking on the Inc. 500 list for America’s fastest-growing private companies. Yet by April of last year, company co-founders and Counselor Distributor Entrepreneurs of the Year Monte Baumgartner and Lewis Amicone were looking to sell or merge the company after sales fell by more than half. The distributorship was later bought by Branders.com (asi/145021) and its CEO Jerry McLaughlin (coincidentally, the reigning Counselor Distributor Entrepreneur of the Year).

And then there is the spectacular flameout of CorpLogoWare. A Counselor Top 40 company in 2007 that at the time was one of the fastest-growing firms in the industry, the distributor ran up over $25 million in debt and was out of business by the spring of 2008.

“I pressed too far too fast, and I’m to blame for that,” CorpLogoWare CEO Jack Levine told Counselor at the time.

At the height of its growth, CorpLogoWare carried 130 account executives and went through nearly double that amount to get there. For Marv Reineke, whose company, Pure Marketing Group (asi/302553), had 195% growth between 2007 and 2009, it was a firsthand lesson in the evils of excess. “It was growing so fast and the turnover was so high,” remembers the former CorpLogoWare exec, “we almost had a rule where you didn’t ask somebody their name for the first 30 days. You didn’t know how long they would be there.”

The same could be said of businesses that burn too brightly without the fundamental safeguards in place. To that end, here are five classic mistakes of fast-growing companies – and the alternate choices that can lead to secure and continued prosperity.

Growth Mistake 1: Lack Of A Plan

As a former chief technology officer in the heart of San Francisco’s dot-com boom, Martin VanDerSchouw saw it time and time again: the complete absence of a forward-looking plan.

“People would have fantastic business ideas, but good ideas are really a dime a dozen,” says the president and CEO of Looking Glass Development, a Denver-based performance management company. “It’s the ability to execute those ideas well, and that requires a strategy that’s forward- looking.”

On the surface, it sounds like obvious advice. If you start a business with the expectation of succeeding, why wouldn’t you plan for a way to sustain that success once it has arrived? And yet, start-up distributors and entrepreneurs are often locked into survival mode – continually focused on what’s next – and feel too busy to tend to the big picture.

“How many distributors do I know,” asks Motivators Inc. (asi/277780) President and CEO Ken Laffer, “that get up every morning and say, ‘OK, so what am I going to do today? I think I’m going to see if I can call up a couple customers and get some business.’ They don’t really have a roadmap. They just go about it day by day trying to make a living so they can feed their family.”

By contrast, Motivators (which experienced 75% growth from 2007 to 2009 in the teeth of a fluctuating economy) creates yearly and quarterly plans and revisits them every month.

Growth Mistake 2: Ignoring The Finances

Perhaps right now you’re accruing clients left and right, generating referrals by the dozen and rolling in massive order after massive order. You take your new big order to a supplier, and what happens? They don’t trust your credit and demand a down payment. Without planning for that, “You don’t have the money to run the rest of your business,” says Marc Simon, CEO of Counselor Top 40 distributor Halo Branded Solutions (asi/35600). “You have to plan your liquidity and capital.”

No matter the type of growth (organic growth, bringing in new salespeople or an acquisition), liquidity comes first, says Simon, who resurrected Halo from a bankruptcy stint six years ago by instituting a “depression-era mentality” of maintaining capital.

While a simple point, it reveals a fundamental error of fast-growing companies: They don’t mind their finances enough. Why not? Because startups are often created by ambitious salespeople with high aspirations and tireless work ethics. Translation: they aren’t numbers people.

“Salespeople’s strengths are rarely financial and operational controls because they’re really just trying to close deals out there and take care of clients,” says Jon Sloan, president and CEO of Mercury Promotions & Fulfillment (asi/267770). While he and Executive Vice President Michael Wilson regard themselves assalespeople at heart, Sloan gained operational knowledge while working at Halo and starting the Beanstalk Group. It’s critical for salespeople to realize “how to leverage and maximize that to sell more, not for it to be an enemy,” says Sloan, who has helped take Mercury from $4 million to over $20 million in his seven years with the company.

Gaining that knowledge and having time to act on it, however, are two different things. As companies grow and hire more people, running the show increasingly becomes about managing both money and people, according to business growth expert Steven S. Little. “While they’re both about being good managers, they are somewhat unrelated to each other,” says Little, an author of three business books. “You have to be spending 100% of your time on both – which is impossible.”
At that point, Little advocates, it’s time to bring in someone who can handle one of those areas.

Growth Mistake 3: Accepting Every Deal - Big Or Small

It was the kind of score any up-and-coming distributor hopes for: a big national client with money to spend. When Cutting Edge Advertising (asi/173456) took on such a client, the Odessa, TX-based distributor recorded a 261% leap in revenue in two years. Shortly afterward, President Doug Chisum and his staff sat down to figure out what to do next. One decision: That would be the last large-scale client the company took on.

“We decided then that we know what got us to Point A,” Chisum says. “It’s the smaller customers, the more consistent customers, things of that sort. The interesting thing about the big accounts is they’re great to have, but if they leave and you’ve got all your eggs in that basket, you’re in big trouble.”
And so it happened that the big national client later cut back, and even gave its business to another distributor for a six-month period. By not stretching itself too far, Cutting Edge won the client back. “We keep our overhead down so we can afford to be very competitive in our pricing structures,” Chisum says. “The other company couldn’t do that, so we got that back.”

Now, at just under $2 million in revenue, Cutting Edge has weathered the economic storm well and is moving forward purely on referrals.

The restraint that Cutting Edge showed is rare but necessary. Like a vacuum sucking up every speck of dirt in its path, fast-growing companies fall victim to the impulse of accumulating every client they can. Not only does this include the prototypical “bad” client (one who is perhaps difficult or stingy, and who tends to inhibit profitability), but also the major clients that can stretch a distributorship way outside its means.

“The hardest thing for a salesperson is to turn down an order from a big client, no matter if your company is ready for it or not,” Sloan says.

Sloan knows from personal experience. Based on his time with large distributors, Mercury aggressively targeted famous brand-name companies upon his arrival.

But when push came to shove, “I was hesitant, and we didn’t take it on so fast,” he recalls. “It took us a couple years to build the processes that could take this company to the next level.” Now, he says, there’s no piece of business that Mercury can’t handle.

The philosophy doesn’t just apply with clients. Pure’s Reineke and co-owner Dane Van Breene passed on the opportunity to acquire a company and bring on a number of salespeople. “We thought, ‘That might make our numbers look great, but it would just turn our world upside down,’” says Reineke, whose distributorship has been the second-fastest-growing in the industry since 2007. “I think in the end it would have hurt us more than helped us.”

Growth Mistake 4: Doing Everything Yourself

By the sweat of your brow, you raised your distributorship up from nothing. You had your hand in everything from sales to customer service to plunging the clogged toilets. Now, says Little, is the time to let go. “If you believe you are the best salesperson and no one can be better, that’s how it will turn out,” he warns. “And if you believe you have to be hands-on with every aspect of the business to be successful, that’s what will happen.”

In short, if every single detail requires daily monitoring, long-term growth will be an illusion. Finding star workers and putting them in positions to succeed is what really opens the door. “Your job is to be the coach, and go find Michael Jordans,” Little says.

The problem, though, is that small businesses are afraid of losing their identity and changing what worked so well. Add more people, the thinking goes, and you lose your inherent advantage in something like customer service. To that end, Little points out the difference between answering the phone yourself and creating a training program modeled on the beliefs that made your company’s customer service a great success. “You haven’t let go of that core value,” Little points out, “which is you’re going to differentiate on service and be better at it than everybody else. You’re just accomplishing it in a different way.”

It’s an inescapable fact of growing swiftly: You have to add people, processes and technology. The informal system that worked with two sales reps and a handful of clients won’t work with 20 sales reps and hundreds of clients. “In order to grow, you have to have people. It takes people to process all this paperwork,” says Laffer, whose company has added 25 employees in the last 18 months and has also invested heavily in technology.

Growth Mistake 5: Taking On Exorbitant Expenses

Adding all those layers of people and processes may perpetuate your success, but doing so blindly is a dangerous gambit. The best fast-growing companies are often managed like startups when it comes to watching expenses.

But, many high-growth businesses start out running lean and hard, and then relent by taking on inventory and investing in random new technologies and processes when the money comes in. “I have been with several companies where that has happened,” says Reineke, who has been in the industry since 1987. “They kind of get a little bit cocky and think, ‘Now that we’re growing and rolling, let’s take on one of those big inventory stores.’ And the next thing you know, they’re saddled with a lot of inventory and money sitting on the shelf.”

Pure combats that by running its company stores on-demand, with limited overhead and liability. Motivators has invested heavily in its growth, but has made sure to maintain workflow efficiency by always keeping expenses in line with its stated business plan. Laffer points to the importance of an enhanced business flow process – one that can be expensive but worth the investment. “Streamlining the process – being able to get the order into the system, art completed, proofed and out in the hands of the supplier in a relatively short period of time without any errors – is a differentiator,” he says.

While systems are critical in building up a company’s workload capabilities, they also add extra layers between it and the customers. That, says Little, is when companies start putting their interests ahead of their clients. “They rationalize that it’s better for customers, but really it’s better for us,” he says about implementing new systems. “It’s easier for us. It’s less expensive for us. That’s when you get into really dumb decisions.”

In the worst-case scenario, committing to money-eaters like a cavernous warehouse or pricey new software can have a devastating toll if the growth ceases. “You have to be careful,” Simon says, “that you’re not locking in long-term commitments based on assumptions that the business will stay there, where the assumptions may or may not hold true for the future.”

As the flaming wreckage of the riches-to-rags stories will attest, the assumptions of the future do not always hold true.

C. J. Mittica is a staff writer for Counselor.

Growth Plan

Looking for more successful strategies to manage growth? Here are four that experienced distributors and experts point to.
1. Banking proactively. If you’re waiting until the last minute for banks to rescue you, you’re out of luck. “The thing I tell business leaders is you need to set up those lines of credit when you don’t need them,” says Martin VanDerSchouw, CEO of business consultancy Looking Glass Development. “Because when you do need them, you need them immediately.”
2. Major in chemistry. Hiring star workers is important, but throwing together a bunch of alpha egos is a disaster waiting to happen. “If we had someone who came to our door who might be a decent producer but didn’t mesh well,” says Marv Reineke, co-owner of Pure Marketing Group (asi/302553), “we wouldn’t hesitate for a second to say, ‘You know what, it’s not working for these reasons.’”
3. Take on the hard stuff. Owners and execs will do the things they like to do, but not address the gaping holes that are difficult to plug – like addressing fixed capital costs that aren’t in line with revenues or the business plan. Sure, those costs may lead to growth now, but if they’re long-term contracts (on a big building lease, for example), they can be hard to get out of if the business starts to lose some of its momentum. The best managers of fast-growing companies aren’t afraid to make hard decisions on expenses – even when the organization is flying high.
4. 4. Know your place. Each stage of growth isn’t the same. Going from zero to $1 million or $2 million is far easier than making the next leap up to $5 or $10 million. Create a business plan at each growth phase, so that the organization overall has a roadmap to follow. – CJM

Married and Harried - This couple has been thrown into a partnership before they had planned and are now trying to build a distributor company in the face of a difficult market. Here, our experts map out a plan for them to succeed. From Counselor magazine. July, 2009.

Married and Harried
By Betsy Cummings
July 2009

This couple has been thrown into a partnership before they had planned and are now trying to build a distributor company in the face of a difficult market. Here, our experts map out a plan for them to succeed.

It seemed like an airtight plan. For so long Chrisy Taylor and her husband Kris had wanted their own company, a place where they could call the shots and control their careers, rather than have an employer do it for them. “We just always wanted the lifestyle of owning our own business,” says Chrisy, 28. T In sleepy Fredericksburg, VA, a commuter city in the shadow of Washington D.C., they’d worked out their vision: Chrisy would launch the company of their dreams – a budding distributorship called Taylor Ink (asi/342244) that would serve the local market, and perhaps the state, and … who knows … maybe even the southeast. After a few years, when the business was solidly on its feet, Kris, 29, a trainer at financial software developer Intuit, would quit his job and join Chrisy fulltime.

But even the best laid plans can be derailed.

In February, 2008, 18 months into their three-year plan, Kris was laid off from Intuit, throwing their well formed strategy into a tailspin. “It was one of those unexpected things,” says Kris, who has a dirty-blond goatee, closely-cropped hair and, in jeans and a Taylor Ink T-shirt, could pass for a college student. Kris says he and Chrisy had to ask themselves, “Do we make the leap or do I get back into the job market, knowing it’s only going to be for another year or so?”

In hindsight, the decision might have seemed riskier than it was. The two, looking to start a family, decided they’d rather have Kris stay close to home and jump in earlier than expected. Who knows if he would have found a job in the area, or if he would have been forced to work in D.C. or Richmond, either of which would have added a four-hour commute to his day. So they plowed ahead with a space in a newly built office park, surrounded by other startups – a video game shop on one side, a physical therapist on the other.

So far, they’ve managed to grow the business each year. They hoped that friends, family and regular referrals, as well as sizeable Yellow Pages ads, would drive business. This hope panned out initially. Their first full year of sales totaled $71,000 – not a huge sum, but enough to keep their doors open. By 2008, that number had risen to $148,000.

The plan seemed to be working, but then the economy stepped in. Now, thanks to this year’s bleak market, the Taylors are scrambling to maintain growth. They’ve accrued about 300 clients, though, “I wouldn’t say they’re regular,” Kris says.

At least not all of them. But some of them are, and those have been very loyal. One, a perky, fast-talking woman named Myrtle, entered their storefront on a recent morning and bantered with Chrisy about her pregnancy as much as her order. She spent a solid 15 minutes in the store, a fair portion of that time taken up by personal chitchat. Relationships are “the thing that motivates me every day to be here and want to do this,” Chrisy says.

Never mind that the economy is showing only slight signs of recovery. Forget that promotional products can be a hypercompetitive, commodity-based business, even in the best of times. Put aside that the couple has no sales team or much of a business development plan.

The Taylors, who are expecting their first child this month, remain undaunted and believe in their operation and its ability to grow in the years to come.
“It’s so stressful, but it always feels so much more worth it than what we did before,” says Chrisy, who once worked in real estate. She pauses to thumb through paperwork piled on her desk in a sparsely-decorated showroom, then continues: “What we did today, we did that. Nobody handed it to us.”

And, in fact, what they’ve done on their own has been impressive, say the experts we asked to weigh in on how this two-person shop can expand. “This is a very common start-up process with a married couple,” says Charles Matthews, Ph.D., director of the University of Cincinnati Center for Entrepreneurship and president and director of the International Council for Small Business. “They have some income to backstop them, but they have this idea, desire and passion around the business they want to start, and they go for it. And that’s great.”

But then things start to change as the business fluctuates according to the marketplace. Pretty soon, “the only constant in their life is change,” Matthews says. Kris loses his job, “they’re expecting their first child … and the economy goes bust. It’s a trifecta – the wrong trifecta.”

That said, there’s no best or worst time to start a business, Matthews says. The key, he maintains, is in the execution. Here are five steps our experts say this couple needs to take to build their company into a growing and sustainable operation.

STEP ONE
Sharpen The Focus

When the Taylors first explored business ownership, they considered buying a small, local embroidery shop valued at $120,000. “It could be a good opportunity” to jump into an existing business already flush with clients, Chrisy remembers thinking.

But their instincts, and some due diligence, steered them in another direction. For one thing, their bank, after reviewing the embroiderer’s financial statements, told them that the business wasn’t worth the asking price. When the owners started upping the price – to $150,000, then $180,000, and ultimately over $200,000 – the Taylors decided to walk. “For what we could buy it for, we could start our own business,” Kris says.

So they did, opening a front office and production space in a newly developed office park just off Fredericksburg’s busy Route 3. For $1,950 a month, the Taylors operate out of a 1,500 square-foot facility. Their front lobby with its high ceilings feels particularly spacious, and is decorated by only two small ficus trees next to a pair of dark wicker chairs and a freshly-filled water cooler. On a far wall, a smattering of T-shirts, hats and screen-printed artwork showcases Taylor Ink’s recent handiwork. Half of the front office space sits empty, unfilled since the departure of a graphic designer who had shared the place. It’s a symbol, perhaps, of the potential business they have yet to tap.

Nearly three years later, the Taylors aren’t sure they’re in the best spot. “Someone came in yesterday and said, ‘I didn’t know this office park was back here,’” Kris says. “That’s the last thing we want to hear.”

Their office park – three rows of green-roofed, brick buildings – is nearly half empty, and largely obscured from the closest roadway. The Taylors say they don’t want a prominent retail presence in a strip-mall shopping center, because they have no interest in courting customers who may want “a boyfriend’s picture on one shirt,” Chrisy says. At the same time, they want to be visible enough to attract local business owners who might spot the company on their drive home from work.

These are all good thoughts, says Bob Olmstead, owner and founder of Olmstead Business Development, a business consultancy in Austin, TX. But, they need to sharpen their focus, he adds, to figure out where they stand in the ad specialty arena, particularly within their immediate marketplace.

To zero in on their business niche, Olmstead has some strong starting advice for the duo. “They need a more realistic view and understanding of what it means to own a business,” Olmstead says.

The Taylors have made clear that they want their distributorship to support a better lifestyle for them and their family. But the business world may counter with a harsh reality. “The market could care less about their desires for independence, a better life, more time with kids,” Olmstead says. “That’s not to say those aren’t wonderful personal reasons for getting into business. Those are great personal reasons. But they’re not market driven reasons.” Ignore the market, Olmstead warns, and the company could start to lose ground or even go under.

Too many young, new entrepreneurs attach very personal ambitions and emotions to their first company, Olmstead says. It’s understandable, but it’s a dangerous mistake. The best way to look at a business? “It’s not something you own or possess,” Olmstead says. “It’s something you grow and build, something you’re a steward with.” Become too emotionally attached, and “you’re going to make all kinds of bad mistakes, because you’re going to make emotion-based decisions,” that may not always be rational, he says.

STEP TWO
Create A Structure

Most days, like this recent spring morning, Chrisy mans the front desk while Kris processes T-shirt orders in the back on the company’s screen-printing machine and dryer. Chrisy, dressed in a black sweater set and light brown cords, is juggling one of several different jobs – order processing, marketing, customer service.

Kris is roaming the office checking on T-shirt orders and contemplating his next opportunity to sell in the field – something he spends less than 20% of his time doing. That’s mostly because they’ve tapped out their production capabilities. Kris has spent recent weekends screen printing or working until midnight finishing an order. But something else is stopping their sales: “I’m not a natural seller,” he says. Chrisy is even less enthusiastic about the sales task. “If someone comes in the door, I become a seller,” she says. “But I hate going out to sell. I’m a customer service person, not a salesperson.”

“We both wear so many hats,” Chrisy says. “I’m absolutely amazed at the different ways I have to change my day up.” That often means changing and overlapping their general roles, as well. It’s not uncommon for Kris to field customer service calls or take orders, for example, then run to the back to finish up a T-shirt order.

Vagaries aside, for the most part, it seems to work. But Olmstead says those blurred job duties guarantee future failure. A company without specific job descriptions and assignments will eventually stagnate. “They need at least a quick, down and dirty job description for these roles,” he says. It doesn’t have to be complicated – just a couple of sentences or paragraphs “to clearly define where each person’s responsibilities begin and end,” he says. Otherwise roles start to merge, processes become sloppy and important details – like order shipments, artwork and customer follow up – start to fall through the cracks.

All well-run businesses start with this simple, stable structure, Olmstead says. From there, the Taylors can lay the groundwork for current and future goals – and dole out work assignments based on who is responsible for what. Without accountability, Olmstead adds, it’s tough to attain goals and move forward.

In that sense, he says, the Taylors should map out their course of business twice a month in an off-site location. That overview should include a review of sales and revenue numbers, a sales trend audit, a report on top customers, a staffing review, and a look at upcoming major projects, marketing efforts and other important corporate actions. Without these two initial and ongoing steps – a corporate structure and regular review of progress – the company “will continue to have a husband and wife reacting … putting out fires and trying to will their business into success by force,” Olmstead says.

STEP THREE
Master Marketing

When Taylor Ink first opened, Chrisy and Kris promptly placed the largest ad available in their local Yellow Pages. They were handed their first business lesson when they learned the ads wouldn’t run for another six months, when the newest edition of the books were printed and distributed. Still, they maintained that marketing effort, and now they’re in two local phonebooks, to the tune of $700 a month.

Those ads offer great visibility, the Taylors insist, and occasionally a substantial order, but they admit that their greatest traffic – as is the case with many distributors – comes by way of referrals from existing clients. “We have ads in the phonebook and have done other types of marketing,” says Chrisy, “but referrals are why we’re open.”

In fact, building that network from current customers is what Chrisy loves most. “Neither one of us ever aspired to be screen printers,” Chrisy says. “Neither of us ever thought, ‘Wow, we can make shirts all day.’ But it’s that personal interaction I really enjoy.”

That’s what keeps the two of them passionate about their fledgling firm. And that personal interaction is crucial, says Matthews. But it’s probably not enough to sustain steady growth year over year. “Sales is king,” Matthews says. “It’s okay to rely on word of mouth. If you do a really great job, a lot of people will see your products and ask for referrals.” And viral, word-of-mouth marketing often moves fast in today’s market, “but it can only take you so far,” Matthews says.

Though the Yellow Pages may feel like a marketing security blanket, Matthews says the Taylors should consider nixing the ads altogether and using that $700 a month more effectively, perhaps by hiring an additional seller or production member (more on that later). Trynka Shineman, chief marketing officer for VistaPrint North America, a small-business marketing services firm in Lexington, MA, agrees that the $8,400 a year being spent on Yellow Pages ads should definitely be re-evaluated. “That’s a lot of money and a big portion of marketing spend going to a single channel,” without a lot of understanding about its effectiveness, he says.

Instead, Shineman says, there are plenty of marketing efforts the two could make through other channels that would cost little to no money, and probably generate more business. For starters, she suggests that the Taylors launch a regular e-mail campaign (monthly is ideal, Shineman says) highlighting promotions and products by tapping into a database of existing customers. That should be supported by a quarterly direct mail campaign that drives peak buying seasons and new product releases.

Kris agrees that that’s a good idea. It’s the execution that stumps them. “I would love to say we have this great database of customers and we follow up, but at this point we just don’t do it,” he says.

A better place to start, Matthews says, may be with activities they’re already very comfortable with, and even enjoy. Kris, for example, is tech savvy, and has already launched a company page on Facebook. With 39 members and one wall post, it’s not generating much buzz. Still, it’s a start, and could be a great place for Kris to build sales momentum.

Feeling overwhelmed with time constraints may mean hiring an additional worker part-time to help with direct mail and e-mail campaigns. “Our existing customers, that’s a great pool to market to, but it’s finding the time to do that,” Kris says. “It stinks saying that,” he admits, but says finding time to do any marketing has been tough.

The answer may be that they’ll have to prioritize marketing activities, following through on those that seem most effective in the beginning. Maybe one month, the couple, who are both warm and social in person, can attend a Chamber of Commerce meeting where they can network as members. Another month they’ll skip that meeting and spend an extra hour sending out an e-newsletter. The key will likely be to formally schedule marketing initiatives – even if they’re Spartan – each month, so that they become official pieces of business, just like customer orders, rather than wishful projects that constantly remain on the backburner.

Regardless of which direction the Taylors move, it’s crucial to track their marketing efforts so that they know where their dollars are being spent most effectively, Shineman says. Chrisy agrees. Right now, “we have a policy of asking” where new customers learned of the company, she says. “But we don’t have a great way of tracking it” and charting the big picture of one marketing move versus another.

In addition, Olmstead says, the company would be smart to thank each client after an order with a personalized note and gift or incentive – particularly in this marketplace where customer loyalty is vital. A series of events, thank-you notes and ongoing business offers makes it exceedingly difficult for customers to walk away, and increasingly harder with each additional offer, Olmstead says.

“Here I am, a customer who has bought a bunch of T-shirts,” Olmstead says, by way of example. “I have gotten some touching thank-you notes and some cool gift cards from Taylor Ink. In fact, the one time I dropped $5,000 they even sent me a $50 gift card. What a class act company they are. Then I get this note that for every referral I send their way that orders 500 or more T-shirts, I get X number of dollars off my next order? And on top of that, they throw a cool Christmas party for their clients each year? Are you kidding me? Where do I sign up?”

STEP FOUR
Move In A New Direction

Ultimately, Taylor Ink will stand out in Fredericksburg, and in other markets, only if it clearly defines its niche. “At the end of the day, you have to be able to answer some very basic questions,” Olmstead says.

These include: How big is the market for what I am proposing to sell? How is the competition doing the same thing? Which one of my competitors is the most successful at this enterprise? Why are they successful?

Being able to answer these and other questions will set Taylor Ink on the path to faster and steadier growth, even in slow times. To that end, the Taylors feel as though they already have a handle on many of those questions. “I feel like we have a fairly good grasp of the local business here,” Chrisy says, then admits, “There’s always room for finding more information out.”
Ideally, they would tap an industry leader to learn how better to market their T-shirts vs. promotional products, for example, which account for only 10% of their business. That alone is a strong indicator of their market strength. “I don’t see promotional products being more than 25% of our business,” now or at any point in the future, says Kris.

But Chrisy says she’s not entirely comfortable – or sure it would be possible – to solicit advice from an industry competitor. Instead, she’s focused on a local baker, who has given bits of wisdom here and there in the few years Taylor Ink has been open. She says the owner of that bakery might be a source for overarching small-business questions.

For now, the Taylors think they’ve nailed the element that sets them apart from competitors, which is strong customer service. “There are two things I hear” about competitors, Kris says. “One, competitors were taking forever to get orders completed. And two, they didn’t have any customer service. All they said was, ‘What’s your order and give me a credit card. We’ll call you when it’s done.’”

That may be, but Olmstead says the two still need to identify their top sellers (probably T-shirts or some other apparel item) and push those items to prospects and current clients. “Know what items offer your greatest profit margins, and via monthly or weekly meetings, lock in a strategy to move those items the most,” Olmstead says.

STEP FIVE
Hire One More

Predicting when to hire another worker and in what capacity might be one of the biggest decisions the Taylors are grappling with at the moment. In fact, it’s one of the biggest decisions new business owners can make in their early years.

With a baby being added to the mix, Chrisy isn’t sure how available she’s going to be for the first month after the baby is born, and Kris can’t run the shop alone. As new business owners, they’re reluctant to relinquish control of responsibilities to newcomers, whether it’s inside the office or out in the field.

For now, Chrisy has set up an office at home and may work from there a few days a week. Or, they may change their business hours at the store, working three or four days instead of five, or setting up customer visits by appointment. “I’m not convinced it’s the right approach,” says Kris, who worries about losing out on clients with fewer days worked each week.

The Taylors are at the crossroads many small businesses arrive at, which begs the question: When is the right time to hire another staff member? Yes, their sales are steady and have risen each of the three years that the company has been in operation. But taking on a new staff member brings with it a whole new set of expenses and expectations.

Still, experts say, they would be wise to eventually invest in another employee. Probably the smartest move, says Matthews, is to hire a production worker so that Kris can spend more time in the field selling.

In fact, says Shineman, that $700 a month Taylor Ink spends on Yellow Pages advertisements could be spent instead on a new hire’s salary. Doing so would not only free up Kris and get him out of the back of the shop and out on the street, but allow the Taylors to keep an entire sale in their pockets. Why pay out a commission to a new staffer when the Taylors could keep it for themselves?

Proactive selling in general, however, may not be the first thing on the Taylors’ minds. “It just seems so much that within this industry,” or at least “around here that sales reps are only producing the smaller volumes of work,” and not the big orders or high margin revenue that Taylor Ink is seeking, Kris says. “But who knows. I’m not saying that we’re not going to try it. Maybe we’ll give it a shot.”

Call it another strategic idea in the early lifecycle of a husband-and-wife business.

Besty Cummings is senior writer for Counselor.

Anatomy Of A Start-Up - Counselor follows three new distributors through the ups and downs of their first year in business. From the formation of business plans to deciding whether to take on employees, we’ll be along for the ride. From Counselor magazine.

Anatomy Of A Start-Up
By Andy Cohen, Joe Haley and Melinda Ligos

Counselor follows three new distributors through the ups and downs of their first year in business. From the formation of business plans to deciding whether to take on employees, we’ll be along for the ride.

Distributor No. 1: Michaela Raner
Distributor No. 2: Scott Mollahan
Distributor No. 3: Christine Cersosimo

Part I: Bringing Up Baby

By Melinda Ligos

Michaela Raner started her distributorship last year while five month’s pregnant. Now, as a mother of two, she’s overseeing a growing business.

Imagine being in labor, about to give birth, and calling up a business contact for advice. Not the ideal time to make networking calls, you say? Don’t tell Michaela Raner.
This was the situation on a sweltering day in Tempe, AZ, last August when Raner, the founder of Mack & Jack’s Marketing Solutions (asi/258682), found herself having contractions just a few months after she’d launched her business. Not expecting that the baby was really coming—she wasn’t due for another four and a half weeks—Raner grabbed her BlackBerry and laptop and headed to the hospital just to be on the safe side.

For the next few hours, she patiently fielded client calls, while experiencing progressively stronger contractions. But that didn’t deter Raner from answering the phone. “I had a laundry list of unfinished business, and I wasn’t feeling that bad,” Raner says. So with her nervous husband by her side, she took call after call from clients from her hospital bed. She provided advice. She answered their questions. She even took an order. And then, ever so patiently, she told each of them that she was about to have a baby and ended the call.

Jackson Robert Raner was born at 6:04 p.m. that evening and by that time, Raner not only had a second child—she had a substantial piece of new business as well. “One hot prospect told me that they were so impressed with the customer service that I provided while I was in labor that they were going to move all of their marketing and advertising business to Mack & Jack’s,” Raner says. “Needless to say, I was thrilled.”

This situation might sound slightly over-the-top to some. To Raner, it’s simply the way she prefers to conduct business: She is determined to give clients personalized, 24/7 attention, and nothing, not even the small matter of childbirth, is going to get in the way.

Certainly, Raner’s determination was evident that day she opened Mack & Jack’s (named after her two children), a full-service advertising agency, out of a home office last May. Most women wouldn’t think of starting a business when five months pregnant, but for Raner, the timing was right. After seven years in sales and marketing—including a five-year-long stint in direct mail advertising—Raner decided to strike it out on her own in order to gain the flexibility to spend more time with her growing family. She worked out a deal with her last employer, the owner of a local print shop, who agreed that she could take some of her clients with her provided she use the employer as her quick-copy print vendor. “My go-to market strategy in the beginning was on the print brokering side,” Raner says. “I never really even thought about selling ad specialties.”

But after just a few weeks in business, a client she’d brought over from her old job, Interstate Mechanical, called Raner and asked if she could procure some logoed hats for him. “I told him I wasn’t a hat dealer, but I’d do some investigating,” she said. She stumbled on to ASI and subsequently, to hundreds of suppliers who could provide her with the hats she needed. She ordered the hats from Hit Promotional Products (asi/61125) and soon after, spread the word to clients that she could provide promotional products as well as other advertising and marketing services.

A Personal Touch
As difficult as it might have been to launch a brand new business while pregnant, plodding through the first few months with a new baby proved to be an even bigger challenge, Raner says. Since she was still heavily into the client acquisition phase of her business, Raner couldn’t afford to take off any time after Jack was born. The day after she got out of the hospital, she hit the pavement, making cold calls and servicing the clients that she already had. Since she was nursing full-time, Raner had her mom drive around with her on sales calls, and stay in the car with the baby—air conditioning blasting to combat the 110-degree desert heat—while Michaela gave her pitch to prospects. “I’m really big on pitching people face to face rather than over the phone,” Raner says. “I find it’s easier to build a rapport with someone that way.”

Raner’s spiel is short and to the point. “I’m honest, I’m extremely well organized, and I can serve all of your advertising and marketing needs,” she tells potential clients. And she leaves them with an informational brochure about her company, and sometimes, product samples, if they are in the market for advertising specialties.

In August and throughout the fall, Raner logged hundreds of miles on her Toyota Sequoia driving all over the Valley of the Sun—and spent more time than she might have liked nursing while in the driver’s seat. In retrospect, those first few months were tough, Raner says. “My mental state was not what it normally is,” she says. “A new baby and a new business at the same time—that causes a lot of anxiety.”

But Raner was determined to make personal visits to as many local businesses as she could. And slowly, that effort began to pay off. One of Raner’s biggest clients to date is Splashadello, a retail store that’s opening up in Tempe this month, and sells essential oils and skincare products. The owner, Rita Lewis, needed help with her marketing efforts, and heard about Michaela through a babysitter. “As soon as I met her I thought, ‘this woman is an organizational freak.’”

Raner arrived with a binder in hand, offering a suggested timeline for what Lewis should do on the marketing side in the 60 days leading up to her store’s grand opening. “She told me when I would have to order my bags, tissue paper and stickers; when I’d need to get my signage, when I’d have to book advertising and when I should talk to the media to generate excitement for the store,” Lewis says. “I was impressed. I remember turning to my husband and saying, ‘She’s a turnkey marketing solution. We just press a button and, boom! We have a marketing plan in place.’”

Indeed, Raner prides herself on her organizational abilities. She has a large whiteboard in her office which she uses as a project board. She breaks it down into sections: estimates, projects in progress and completed projects ready for invoicing. She also takes copious notes when meeting with clients, and always follows up after a meeting to reiterate a timeline that’s been agreed upon. “It helps my clients stick to their deadlines, too,” she says. “They are always very receptive.”

Another way Raner makes sure that she’s dotted every “i” and crossed every “t” is to deliver items to clients, such as artwork or promotional products, in person. Obviously, she could hire a courier to do these tasks, but Raner isn’t willing to do that just yet. “It would really be nice for me to hire someone to pick up things and make deliveries, but I’m one of those people who can’t quite let go,” she says. “I look at each delivery as an opportunity to talk to the client and see what else they might need. So there I am, every day, driving like a maniac all over the valley.”

Challenges Ahead
Raner didn’t set any hard and fast revenue goals for her first few months in the business. With a new baby, she figured she’d just work as hard as she could and see what happened. But she’s set ambitious goals for 2008, and so far the outlook is promising. Raner hoped to reel in revenues of $30,000 per month every month of this year, and she achieved that goal in January, and blew it away in February, with $50,000 in sales.

If she wants to keep up that pace, though, Raner realizes she’ll have to make some changes in the next few months. For instance, she frets that she soon won’t be able to do everything herself—even though she prefers it that way. “I’m getting to the point where I’m going to need a project manager—preferably someone with design experience as well—who can help me handle some of the day-to-day activities.

“I’m good at multi-tasking,” she says, “but it’s difficult to decide where I spend most of my time. Right now, I’m doing all the invoicing, all of my own accounting, all of my order placements ... at some point, this is going to be too much.”

Raner also wants an office—quickly. At presstime, she was looking at a site that would give her more space than the makeshift office she’s fashioned at home. And, Raner hopes to find the time to be even more creative in her prospecting. Currently, she’s experimenting with a kit she could leave behind with prospects who have just opened their own new businesses. “I call it a ‘Start-up kit,’” Raner says. Inside, the kit has samples of everything a new business might need, from letterhead stationery to business cards to logoed pens and magnets. “I want to drop this off to every new business and say, ‘These are some of the things I can help you with.’”

Finally, Raner would at some point like to figure out a specific niche she’s good at, and penetrate it. “Right now my clients are all over the map,” she says. She recently scored a deal with a local Carl’s Jr. franchise to do their interior signage. And, she sells promotional products to Baja Motorsports, a large company that sells off-road vehicles to companies like Pep Boys. A diverse client base for sure.

But, Raner acknowledges, until her business is more established, she’ll likely continue her travels throughout the Arizona desert, calling on any and all businesses that might use her services. “Right now,” she says, “I’m just going to take whatever I can get.”

Up Close & Personal

Name: Michaela Raner
Company: Mack & Jack’s Marketing Solutions
Location: Tempe, AZ
Start-Up Date: May 2007
Revenue: $80,000 through first two months of 2008
Major Roadblock Overcome: Operating a new business while giving birth and raising her second child
Goals For ’08: Move into new office, generate $30,000 in revenue each month, hire an employee
Corporate Culture: Raner runs a one-woman operation that is highly organized and focused on personal service. She works out of her house right now, but is looking at office space and feels like she needs to hire some help – quickly.

Part II: Movin' Out

By Melinda Ligos

In this month’s installment of our ongoing Open For Business series on three startup distributors, Michaela Raner wrestles with the decision to move into an office.

The way she describes it, Michaela Raner recently dodged a bullet. In March, she was all set to sign a contract for her very first office – a small, attractive 900-square-foot space just minutes from her home – when the deal fell through at the last minute. “The person who leased the space led me to believe he was open for negotiation,” Raner says.

The pricetag on the office was $1,200 per month, and Raner figured with a little wheeling and dealing she could shave a hundred dollars or more off the monthly price. When the lessor wouldn’t budge, Raner backed out – and is now relieved about her decision. “In retrospect, it was really too expensive for me at this point,” says the perky blond.

The sour deal gave Raner time to formulate a new plan, one that she thinks makes much more financial sense. She’s decided to share a space with a business contact who owns a commercial cleaning company and needs storage space. The two will rent an industrial-type office space that has both a front office and storage space. “I’ll occupy the front office and the cleaner will use the back for his storage,” Raner says. Such office space, in a slightly less upscale part of Tempe, will also be cheaper for Raner. She estimates her monthly rental costs will be about $400. “It may not be as pretty but it’s what I need at this point,” she says.

Whatever she does, Raner still feels strongly that now is the time to move her business out of her home. With Mack & Jack’s acquiring new clients nearly every week, her office is piling up with promotional products and catalogs (much to the chagrin of her husband).

“My desk looks like a bomb went off and my husband is a neat freak,” Raner says. “The two things don’t really mix.”

Besides some gentle pushing from her husband, Raner believes that she needs office space in order to present a more professional appearance to clients, which include a number of local companies, including Baja Motorsports, a bath products retailer and a Carl’s Jr. franchise. Right now, Raner is forced to meet with clients in their offices or at a local Starbucks. “I’d really like a place clients can come to where I can showcase the work I’ve done,” says Raner. “A showroom of sorts.

“It’s definitely time for me to find my own space.”

Raner, of course, isn’t the only entrepreneur struggling to figure out when to move into an office and how to survive through the first few years in business. Check out our sidebars on pages 148 and 150 for some expert advice.

Office Space: To Rent or Not To Rent

While Michaela Raner is one entrepreneur who has quickly reached the breaking point and has decided she needs to move out of her home and into an office, Gary McWilliams has one piece of advice for others who are thinking of making the same move: Be careful what you wish for.

“Sometime shortly after starting up a new company, all people think to themselves that it would be great to

have an office to go to every day,” says McWilliams, principal with Hotwire Consulting, a management consulting firm based in Sacramento, CA. But too many people end up taking this step way too early in the lifetime of a company.”

McWilliams warns that taking on extra overhead when it’s not necessary can be a decision that haunts a company for months. In fact, he says that he’s consulted with entrepreneurs who moved into an office within their first year in business and promptly broke their leases as quickly as possible. “You come to realize that the costs end up outweighing the benefits,” McWilliams says.

To determine if you can afford an office, McWilliams suggests taking a close look at your balance sheet. It’s not just the revenues you’re bringing in on a monthly basis, but the total cost and expense structure that you face.

McWilliams believes that new companies should keep costs as low as possible within their first year to two years of business. Otherwise, he warns, companies can get into a tough cycle to break where all of the incoming revenues go to fixed costs, as opposed to being invested in growth initiatives.

“Startup companies should be focused on trying to find ways to grow their businesses,” McWilliams says. “When you have to worry too much about managing costs, then you take your focus away from marketing and selling.”

McWilliams does, though, see some good reasons for moving into an office. If you don’t have the space in your home or want to have a place to bring clients and brand your business with a physical space, then an office is probably the only way to go. In these cases, he suggests trying to take out a small-business loan so that you can have some working capital when you take on the extra office costs. His advice? Have at least six months of capital on hand that will cover your costs.

“The last thing you want to do is take on extra expenses if you don’t have financing,” he says. “This is how brand new companies get into big trouble financially.” – AC

Survey: Startups Survive The Early Days

No employees, no profits, no sweat. Nearly 60% of new businesses have no employees during their first year and 37% have no revenue. Yet, most make it through these early years, according to a recent study from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The firm has followed 5,000 businesses founded in 2004 through their early years.

“It takes time to establish a new business in the marketplace,” says Robert Litan, vice president of research and policy at Kauffman. “Starting a new business has always been risky. However the fact that almost half of the businesses (45%) actually reported a profit in their first year is both surprising and encouraging. Previous informal surveys we have done suggest that people believe that startups are a lot more unprofitable for longer periods of time than they actually are.”

This is especially true for ad specialties distributors. In fact it is one of the best industries to get into if you have no financial backing, says Brad Streeter of Streeter Enterprises (asi/338118). “You can do it with other people’s money if you have good credit.”

Many distributors are born out of the home with no employees, says David Woods, CEO of Adventures in Advertising (asi/109480). “There is fairly low overhead so promotional products distributors will certainly be profitable in their first year,” Woods says. “If you have a sales background and good relationships you can build a strong business quickly.”

According to the survey, more than half of small businesses had profits in excess of $100,000 in their first year. Less than half (44%) had no debt financing in their first year and about 17% started with $5,000 or less. About 80% had some positive equity investment in their first year with the majority coming from business owners themselves. Just 10% used external equity sources in their first year. “It is noteworthy that only a small fraction of startups relied on outside equity and an even smaller fraction (2.7%) relied on venture capital,” says Litan.

Streeter, who is involved in a number of small businesses, says the most common mistake owners make is undercapitalizing their businesses. “That’s why most people don’t succeed,” he says. “They end up planning for the best-case scenario and not what happens when things don’t go your way. The economic IQ of most people is low.” – KH

Part III: No Time to Sell

By Melinda Ligos

In this month’s installment of our Open For Business series on three start-up distributors, Michaela Raner celebrates a big deal and desperately searches for more help.

Throughout the spring, Michaela Raner was musing over her good fortune. Not many advertising specialties distributors can boast revenues of more than $30,000 per month after just a few months in business. An upswing in sales prompted Raner to sign a lease on her first official office space in May, moving out of her home office to a 600-square- foot, $720-per-month-spot just three miles from her home. She had her mom paint the office to match the company’s logo colors – white, orange, green, and navy blue – and Raner waited for more deals to roll in.

Then the housing crisis hit. “It’s absolutely horrible here,” says Raner, speaking of the mortgage lending fiasco that has hit Tempe particularly hard. “All of the small business owners I sell to are freaking out, because people aren’t spending money.” Indeed, the housing situation is grim in Arizona. In May, there was one foreclosure for every 201 households in The Sunshine State, compared with one in every 483 households nationwide.

Although Raner said she hasn’t lost any of her customers, some of her clients, including a retailer selling high-end bath products, have pulled back on routine spending for promotional products. “A few are skipping trade shows, or ordering items quarterly when they used to do it monthly,” Raner says.

As a result, sales have been up and down for the last few months. In April, Mack & Jack’s brought in only $17,000 “and May was in the toilet,” says Raner, with sales of $12,000. But the news isn’t all bad. June and July picked up for Mack & Jack’s, and at presstime, Raner was confident she’d be back at her $30,000 monthly revenue goal for July.

To keep sales up, Raner is doing what many smart distributors are doing in an uncertain economy: Right from the start, she’s positioned herself as a marketing consultancy – and she said most new business is coming from clients who want more out of her than just a few products.

She recently scored a major coup when one of her clients, LeVecke & Co., a franchise organization that includes 170 fast food and quick stops including a number of Carl’s Jr. and Hardees restaurants, sent out a call for RFPs. Raner had been fulfilling the company’s business card orders for several months, and competed against several other business owners to win the business. Now, she’s handling the company’s promotional products, signage, brochures, and other printed materials, to the tune of more than $10,000 per month, and expects that amount to grow significantly.

Help Wanted
Of course, with big deals come big challenges. Ever since she opened her doors, Raner has been struggling with how to best manage her time. “I’m only one person,” she says, “and I can only do so much. It’s just me doing everything – finding new clients, finding vendors, picking projectsup, making deliveries. It’s too much.”

That pressure has only increased as Raner’s business picks up. And certain things she’s got on her to-do list – such as attending networking functions hosted by the Tempe Chamber of Commerce – have been impossible to complete.

Raner recently hired a freelance creative director to alleviate some of the pressure, but finding sales help has proven to be more difficult. At the beginning of the year, she hired a childhood pal who lives in Oregon as an independent sales rep. The friend had no previous sales experience but was excited about the prospect of a flexible job with 100% commission. Unfortunately, the partnership has flopped. “She was gung ho in January and sold two projects right away,” Raner says. “Since then, nothing. She thought it would be a good opportunity but maybe she doesn’t think so anymore.”

Indeed, finding experienced reps who are willing to work on 100% commission can be a challenge. But in late June, Raner snagged another rep who seemed promising. Through a family friend, Raner learned of a woman who had just quit her job after 13 years as global marketing manager for Intel. “She kind of wanted to lay low for a while before starting her new gig,” Raner says.

But Raner enticed the woman to shadow her for a day, and took the woman on an action-packed day-trip that included a publicity photo shoot at one of her retailer client’s stores. At the end of the day, the woman signed on as an independent rep. At presstime, she’d already brought in four new clients to Mack & Jack’s. “We still haven’t worked out our roles fully yet, but I hope she’ll focus more on sales and I’ll be able to attend more networking events and focus on business strategy,” Raner says.

Pricing Squabbles
Another time-gobbler is putting together accurate bids for clients. Raner has recently taken pains to make sure she’s allocating all of her costs, and has had some push back from clients on items like delivery charges. “People have asked me why I am charging them a surcharge for delivery and I’m like, ‘Gas is four bucks a gallon now, people,’” she says.

Clients sometimes balk at design charges, Raner says, which is frustrating to her. “Sometimes, customers will say, ‘Can’t you just do this extra thing for free, it’s not going to take you that long,’” Raner says. “But I’m in this business to make money.”

Another challenge for Raner has been maintaining positive cash flow while dealing with slow-paying clients, including LeVecke, which typically pays 90 days out. Raner quickly developed a solution by requiring all of her clients to pay 50% up front. Although she has met little resistance to the new procedure, Raner said it was difficult for her to implement. “I’m a salesperson by nature,” she says, “so it’s hard for me to also be the person who lays down the law.”

Targeting The Right Talent

With more projects to fulfill than time in the day, Michaela Raner recently decided she needed to add staffers to her growing company. She hired a freelance graphic designer and two sales reps who are operating on a 100% commission pay structure.

The only problem she had is that one of the reps – a childhood friend – isn’t working out. Despite an initial flourish, this salesperson just isn’t motivated enough to succeed for Raner. It can be a common problem that start-up distributors in the ad specialty industry have – finding good people willing to work for a 100% commission sales job.

Experts say the key is to target the right type of people. It may be hard to find somebody with industry experience who’s willing to work for a start-up business on a commission-only basis, so distributors need to expand their horizons. Janet Haas, president of Lightning Consulting, a coaching and training company based in Reno, NV, suggests targeting a couple of different sectors for new industry talent.

“Look at moms who are looking to get back in the workplace and college kids who need money,” Haas says. “Those two demographics can be perfect for a 100% commission sales job. The college kids need the money, and the mothers who have been out of work for a while will be motivated simply to work and find quick success.”

Haas says that distributors can more easily target these demographics today than previously, because the Internet has specific sites where these people hang out. A company could advertise on Craig’s List or other message boards for college students, and it could post notes in church bulletins and other local media for moms hankering to get back in the workplace. “It’s funny how ignored that demographic is, but I talk to more women looking to reinvigorate their careers than any other identifiable group of people,” Haas says. “It’s an underserved recruiting market, but it’s something that should be tapped into. It can generate a lot of talented people at a low cost. Money isn’t usually their motivation. Work is.”

“The best person to sell for a new company is the person who started the business.” – Janet Haas, Lightning Consulting

Haas says, though, that entrepreneurs have to be careful about the types of jobs they’re hiring people for. For instance, she says that start-up companies should be looking for administrative employees before they’re looking for any new salespeople. Her message? It’s important to build up sales, but customer service is key in the beginning.

“The best person to sell for a new company is the person who started the business,” Haas says. “You shouldn’t be wasting time training a new salesperson; you should do everything you can to free up your own time so that you can sell as much as possible. Hire an administrative assistant to handle projects and customer calls that you don’t have time for. Don’t waste your time with things that can be done by a very low-paid intern or assistant. Hire those people first and go out and spend your time selling.”

The Price Is Right

One struggle that Michaela Raner has had in her first year in business has been getting pricing right. As she’s tried to tack on shipping and transportation charges, she’s gotten pushback from clients. When she wanted to add design charges to her invoices, some clients have balked. It’s a problem that many entrepreneurs consistently face and experts say the key is to factor in all of your costs to the overall price you quote to clients.

“Some clients need completely itemized invoices, and in those cases, you can’t just lump all of your costs into one number. But otherwise, it’s a good idea to approach pricing as an all-encompassing thing,” says David Klubacher, vice president of JAX Ideas, a management consulting firm based in Denver, CO. “The key is to factor in more expenses than you’re used to thinking about when it comes to pricing.”

Like rent and electricity, says Klubacher. Most entrepreneurs price their products based on the amount they paid for those products plus the profit margin they’re looking to achieve. That’s too shortsighted, he says. “Don’t you have other costs in your business besides just the cost of that product?” Klubacher asks. “Your gross margin on the price you set probably isn’t going to cover all of those other expenses, so you have to factor those in.”

Klubacher believes entrepreneurs tend to price their products and services too low out of fear of losing business to lower-cost competitors. But, he says, it’s an entrepreneur’s job to prove the value in their offerings to prospects and current clients. “If you undercut yourself in the beginning of a client relationship, you’ll never get that money back,” he says. “New businesses should do their best to price products on the high side – with everything factored into one price – so they can truly make a net profit that matters.”

“If you undercut yourself in the beginning of a client relationship, you’ll never get that money back.” – David Klubacher, JAX Ideas

Overall, Klubacher says the best thing entrepreneurs can do as far as pricing is concerned is to truly figure out the amount of profit you need to make on each deal so that you cover all of your costs. Total all of your monthly expenses, he advises, and then divide that amount by the number of deals you have each month. That’s when you can determine how much to add onto each deal above the cost of goods. “Then and only then,” he says, “is when you’ll know what to charge customers.”

Part IV: Show Me the Money

By Melinda Ligos

In this month’s installment of our Open for Business series on three start-up distributors, Michaela Raner figures out how to get clients to pay up.

If Michaela Raner had the chance to play good cop or bad cop, she’d always opt to be the good one. “I never like to be the tough guy in any business situation,” she says. But this fall, when some key clients began to get behind in their payments, she found herself having to reconsider her approach.

Raner was accustomed to giving clients 30 days to pay their bills, fronting the cost of goods herself on credit cards. (She says she is unable to get a small business loan.) That seemed to be working until recently, when a late-paying client put her $17,000 in debt in a matter of a month. “I put myself in a pretty bad situation,” she says. After some prodding by her husband, Raner realized that she was going to have to require all clients – no matter how big or small – to pay 50% upfront. And, she took a harder line with deadbeat customers.

“I put my foot down,” she says. Raner solicited the help of a lawyer to track down payments from clients with outstanding bills, “and basically put the fear of God in them.” She also took a hard look at her client list and fired a handful of clients who were frequently late paying their bills. The process, she says, was not an easy one. “It’s difficult when I’m supposed to be the happy-go-lucky sales rep but at the same time be the mean accountant that needs the money,” she says. “But I had to get wise. I’m not a bank.”

Sales for November were over $45,000, $15,000 higher than Raner’s $30,000 per month goal for 2008.

Branching Out
Unlike some distributors right now, Raner is bullish for 2009. Her key growth strategy is looking beyond her backyard in Tempe, where the burst of the housing bubble has really affected business, to find big clients that could guarantee her a steady stream of income well into next year. One of her strong points has always been her ability to work her networking contacts. And that process is paying off. This fall, through a former co-worker at Kinkos (where she used to work), Raner learned about a group of resorts in Park City, UT, that was getting ready to do a promotional blitz in Europe. Raner supplied promotional items for the company, which liked her work so much, they gave her the name of another Park City company that was looking for marketing services. The company, which sells fractional ownership of multi-million-dollar homes, ended up hiring Raner to be their exclusive marketing and advertising agency. As a result, she’s providing all kinds of promotional products, such as robes, slippers, shampoos and towels, to the company for use in the homes. Plus, she’s handling all of the firm’s advertising and print work, including its marketing plan.

Help Wanted
While Raner may not have any shortage of business, there’s one thing her business is lacking: talent. She’s tried a number of different strategies to find labor on the cheap. First, she hired a childhood friend who lives in Oregon to be an independent rep. That partnership quickly failed when the woman realized she wasn’t cut out for a job in sales. Then, over the summer, she hired a former marketing manager for Intel to serve as an independent rep. At first, things looked promising: The woman brought in four new clients to Mack & Jack’s. But then, the arrangement faltered. “She expected me to really do all of the legwork, and for her to make the money,” Raner says.

Unable to afford base pay or benefits, Raner has taken a different tack lately: hiring interns. She reached out to both Arizona State University and Collins College, a local design school, to find graphic artists and salespeople. So far, she’s hired a part-time graphic artist from Collins who graduates this month, along with a sales associate from ASU who works 20 hours a week. Raner pays the graphic artist $10 an hour, and she gives the new sales rep a percentage of any business she’s able to bring in. At presstime, Raner had also inked deals to bring on two more independent reps, including a longtime friend who owns a business magazine in Tempe. “He has a good pool of resources,” she says. In mid-November, the friend brought Raner on a sales call to a chain of nine local rehabilitation facilities that was looking to promote itself to local hospitals. If everything goes as planned, Mack & Jack’s will provide promotional items, such as T-shirts and brochures, to all nine facilities.

While this partnership seems to be working, Raner acknowledges that she’d have more luck hiring good personnel if she were able to offer base salaries and benefits to sales reps. “If everything goes as planned with my business, someday I’ll be able to have actual employees, rather than all of these independent contractors,” she says.

Melinda Ligos is editor in chief of Counselor.

Hiring on the Cheap

When you’re operating a start-up business in a down economy, expense control is often your number-one goal. It’s not enough to sell as much products and services as you possibly can. You also have to make sure you expenses are in line with your revenues – or else you’ll end up in the same trouble that so many entrepreneurial ventures find themselves in.

It’s a situation that Michaela Raner certainly understands. As we’ve followed her promotional products operation during its first year in business, she’s had a constant focus on watching her expenses and finding ways to cut costs and achieve revenue goals without breaking the bank. The strategy has even trickled down to the people she’s hired to work at her company. After an initial foray into hiring some experienced people to work at her company, she now has moved to hiring interns at a much cheaper cost.

“It’s a smart strategy right now,” says Haley Gray, the president of Gray & Associates, a business consulting and coaching firm based in Chicago. “Number one, you have to be watching your costs at this point. But number two is even more important: this way you can get cheap workers who are very dedicated.”

Gray suggests looking to local colleges, or even some high schools, that have intern programs where they can get school credits. “This is often free and the kids who are in the programs are motivated to learn,” Gray says. “They have to do a good job to get the credit they need for school. And they’re also looking for valuable experience that they can put on their resumes.”
To find these students, Gray says distributors should contact their local schools and universities’ field work program coordinators. These are the people who tend to organize the schools’ efforts to place students in local jobs. “The best thing you can do is position your offering as a place where kids can learn the marketing business,” Gray says. “This is a highly-sought-after area by students with communications degrees – of which there are many – so you should appeal to what they’re looking for.”

If you’re going to have somebody do customer service, say so. If you’re looking at them simply packaging items together, call it fulfillment. “Whatever need you’re trying to fill, make sure that you’re presenting it in a way that would interest people looking to gain résumé experience,” Gray says. “Don’t just advertise the job as doing odds-and-ends around the office. Give it a title, like ‘operations coordinator’ or ‘customer service coordinator.’ Make it as appealing as possible to potential job candidates. This is how you can successfully get the kind of cheap labor that won’t impact your bottom line, but will enhance your company’s business.”

When It’s Time to Fire A Client

It’s a decision that all businesses struggle with at some point: When to get rid of a client that’s too much of a drain on your resources. Michaela Raner had to deal with such a decision in her first year in business.

Some clients of hers weren’t paying bills on time and were causing her company to have serious cash flow problems. So, she pulled the plug and fired the clients before the situation got any worse.

“It’s often very difficult for new companies to walk away from revenue, but it can be necessary sometimes,” says John Underhill, chairman and president of U Street Partners, a business consulting and management firm based in Alexandria, VA. “Here’s the way I tell my clients to look at it: If you have a customer that costs too much money to fulfill or who saps your accounts receivable system, then you have to make a move.”

It’s crucial right now, Underhill says, that companies monitor their receivables on a minimum of a monthly basis. “If you feel like you’re entering a cash crunch, then you should be checking your receivables weekly,” he says. “You just can’t afford to let clients go for net 30 or 60 or 90 days right now. Banks won’t be increasing your line of credit and they probably won’t be eager to give you a loan, so you have to depend on your customers to pay on time.”

And those that aren’t should be fired, Underhill suggests. He says the first step in the client-severing process should be a letter from you explaining the situation from your perspective. Whether it’s because of nonpayment or because the client is simply too much effort for minimal return, you should lay out the terms of the situation as you see it. “People are often understanding if you give them some background,” Underhill says. “Tell them the situation and be clear about walking away from the relationship if that situation doesn’t improve in the next 30 days.”

That kind of deadline is vital. And once it’s out there, you have to be willing to stick to it. When you’re investigating your receivables, determine exactly what your cash flow can and cannot handle as far as this client is concerned. If you can let it go another 60 days, then that’s your deadline. If the problem has become so dire that another two weeks is all your financial system can bear, then say so.

“You have to be clear with clients about your intentions and then you have to really be willing to walk away,” Underhill says. “This can’t be a bluff or you’ll lose all credibility in the client-vendor relationship. If you’ve analyzed the financials enough and know that you’re ready to sever the partnership, then you can put the deadline out there. Just don’t be surprised if the client simply says OK. Right now, cash is hard to come by and if they’re not paying their bills, it’s probably for a reason.”

Final Analysis: The Nonstop Networker

When we first met Michaela Raner, president of Mack & Jack’s Marketing Solutions (asi/258682) in Tempe, AZ, she regaled us with tales of taking phone calls from clients and prospects while in labor with her second child, Jack. (Raner named the company after both of her children.) Looking back at her first full year in the ad specialty industry, Raner credits much of her success to her ability to constantly network with clients, old colleagues and even child hood friends who might give her referrals.

Raner finished 2008 with revenues of $238,000, $122,000 short of her original goal. But she says she’s pleased with how the year turned out. “Obviously, the economy stinks,” she says.

And the greater Phoenix area was particularly hard hit when the housing bubble burst, putting a severe damper on the local economy. Over the summer, she lamented that retail clients she had been relying on for business were reducing their marketing spend. But instead of continuing to tap into the local economy, Raner expanded her horizons and worked old business contacts in Park City, UT, to gain a number of accounts in the popular resort area. Now, she’s regularly flying to Utah to service a new client, a fractional ownership company, and provide promotional products to a group of ski resorts. Plus, she just inked a deal to provide marketing services to a Park City firm that is about to launch a new cosmetic product that will be touted as a non-surgical alternative to a tummy tuck.

At the same time, Raner is feeling more bullish about her prospects with local businesses in Tempe, ironically, because the economy is so bad there. “Because so many companies are laying off their marketing teams, they’re starting to outsource their services,” she says. “It’s a win for me because they still need marketing services, even if they don’t have people to do the job.”

After changing her payment policy (she now requires clients to pay 50% upfront), Raner also now has more cash flow and plans to spend more on marketing her company. She also recently discovered that many suppliers are willing to provide her with discounted products for self-promotions. She’s taken some of the suppliers up on their offer and is planning to purchase towels and water bottles to do a promotion at her local gym, a 24 Hour Fitness franchise, which lets members hawk their services on select evenings.

She and her independent rep, Christina, a recent college graduate, are also putting together a marketing kit they can use on cold calls that includes sticky notes and other small promotional items that feature the Mack & Jack’s logo. Both Christina and a second employee, a graphic designer also just out of college, have proven to be great finds for Raner. But finding such talent hasn’t been easy: Raner first went through a series of bad hires, all of whom were friends or friends of friends. “One lesson I’ve learned is that hiring friends is a good way to ruin a friendship,” she says. She also has found that hiring entry-level workers is a better way to build her business, at least for now. “When I hired people who were my age or older, they had this mentality that they knew better than I did how to build my business,” she says.

With a full year under her belt and a continued focus on growing her pipeline of contacts, Raner has set a goal of $600,000 in sales for 2009. And in five years, her dream is to be listed among the top 25 local advertising agencies in the Phoenix Business Journal. “That’s when I’ll know that I’ve finally made it,” she says.

Distributor No. 2: Scott Mollahan

Part I: Great Vintage

By Joe Haley

Scott Mollahan started his business in the middle of 2007 and quickly racked up more than $2 million in revenues. Here’s how he did it – and how he intends to keep it up.

Now, this is the way to start a business. Leave your old job one day and immediately open up shop with clients ready and willing to sign deals.

Meet Scott Mollahan, the founder of Insight Resource Group (asi/231569), based in Orinda, CA, just outside of Oakland. “I talked to some of my clients to see if they’d stick with me if I started my own company. Many were very supportive,” Mollahan says, as he sips a glass of zinfandel during lunch at a golf course in the heart of Napa wine country. “It helped my conscience to know that there was some built-in revenue there when I first started out.”

Like the first deal he signed when he was on his own. Just about the day after opening Insight Resource Group, Mollahan was on the phone with Chalone Vineyards, a wine producer in the Napa region, that was looking to put together a program for its sponsorship of professional golf tournaments throughout the year. He had managed the promotional program for one tournament for Chalone at his previous company, but now they wanted him to oversee the production of their promotional items at eight different tournaments over a six-month period.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he says. “Here I am, I just opened up shop, I’m barely operational, and somebody is already throwing a huge deal at me. I was psyched. At the same time, I was also quite nervous.”

It was a big deal, indeed. Mollahan says the Chalone golf tournament contract is a $100,000 project. Not bad for your first day in business. Mollahan was tasked with putting the Chalone logo on golf balls, bags, hats, shirts, umbrellas, golf tees, ball markers, and flag sticks. And all of the items had to be finished at the same time, delivered to the appropriate tournament sites and packaged like the client needed.

“It was quite a task, but it was so worth it,” Mollahan says. “I mean, that was a huge kick start to my business. The program has had a great response, and the client is looking to expand it even further. It was perfect timing.”

A Banner Beginning
Who owns a client: a company or a salesperson? It’s an age-old question, but in this case the answer is quite clear. Mollahan left his previous job and says he took about 80% of his clients with him. He had been a sales rep for Applied Graphics for more than 11 years, helping the print and promotional products company grow from a $5 million operation to more than $35 million. He alone was responsible for more than $3 million annually in revenue. He built a good client base in the wine and spirits industry – his backyard is chock-full of wineries and liquor companies – and had a solid mix of business between printing and promotional programs.

But when Applied Graphics was acquired by Innerworkings (asi/231438) in October 2006, Mollahan knew his time at the company was short. He stuck it out until the middle of last year, but the new management structure led him to think of other options. His first thought: Strike out on his own. “I felt confident enough and knew enough clients that I felt were loyal to me to take the leap,” he says.

Of course, starting a business at 38 with four kids at home under the age of 8 can be quite the scary proposition. “Yeah, I was freaked out initially,” he says, while driving to see a client and also reading e-mails on his Blackberry. “It’s scary times when you decide to leave the comfort of a job you’ve had for many years and start out on your own. You worry about a lot of things that you didn’t have to think about before – like paying bills and hiring employees and having enough money to cover your costs.”

Yes, that’s an area that gets most new businesses into trouble. Cash flow is often the issue that entrepreneurs underestimate – and Mollahan was no different. Insight Resource Group had such a successful beginning that Mollahan soon found himself in a cash crunch in the fall last year. The company reeled in revenues of about $2 million between June 2007 and January 2008, and the need to front money on many of those deals to pay vendors before clients paid their bills put Mollahan’s company into a cash crunch that successful new businesses often find themselves in.

“It was tough for about a month there,” says Mollahan, who started his business with his own savings and no other funding behind him. “The payables and receivables just weren’t lining up, and I was paying out a lot more than I was getting in within any kind of timely fashion.”

The solution? Mollahan had to spend a lot of his time talking to clients about bills and convincing them to pay. “It’s not something I like to spend time on because it means I’m not out selling,” he says. “But it was necessary at that time. I think clients had to personally hear about the situation from me to really react. They receive bills and confirmations that clearly lay out payment terms, but it seemed to really work when I picked up the phone to talk to them about it.”

Small Company; Unique Approach
As the lone salesperson for his company, Mollahan knew he’d need personnel help to get his company where he wanted. He readily admits one of his weaknesses: “I’m not a good administrator,” he says. “I’m a salesperson. I like building relationships and coming up with projects for clients.”

So, thankfully, he has somebody in his own home who can take on some of the administrative aspects of Insight Resource Group. Mollahan’s wife, Valerie, was instrumental in getting the company set up initially. She purchased and set up the computer system (six computers and one backup), scouted out office space, helped to hire employees, determined human resource programs and developed some marketing plans. “I love the various aspects of the business,” says Valerie, who is in the office on this late-February day to take the company’s employees out to lunch and get a pulse of how things are going in the office. “We have so many different programs and interesting projects going on at any one time,” she says. “I’m happy to help out in any way I can.”

In envisioning his company, Mollahan knew he wanted to have a family-friendly atmosphere. Really, how could he have it any other way? With three boys and one girl at home (ages 2, 4, 6 and 8), the Mollahans have their hands full without a business to run. So, in hiring employees, Mollahan is using job-sharing situations as an enticement to strong workers who are looking for a flexible schedule. He has hired four women who share two full-time jobs. Two of them, Michele Houston and Mary Jaccodine, share the job on the promotional side of the company. And the other two, Robin Bateman and Dana Roberts, share a job on the print production side of the business (Mollahan says that the two sides of the business are about evenly split as far as the company’s revenue is concerned).

“It really started as a job share, and it is ostensibly a job share, but they’re all so dedicated that they’re always reachable by e-mail and phone even if they’re not in the office,” says Mollahan, who motivates his staff with a 401(k) program and bonus incentive plan that’s based on sales. “It has worked out great,” he says. “They update each other every step of the way on projects so that they each know what’s going on. We never miss a beat when one leaves the office and another comes in.”

Which is vital, because the Insight office is a busy little place. It’s only a three-room, relatively nondescript office, but the company fulfills projects for 25 to 35 clients, Mollahan says. Like the one he’s talking to on this pristine February day in Northern California. About a half-hour drive from Mollahan’s office is one of his biggest clients, Foster’s Group, the makers of various brands of beer, wine, spirits and non-alcoholic beverages. He’s meeting on this day with Lisa Cervone, a Foster’s brand marketing associate to discuss some point-of-purchase displays that Mollahan is building and printing for Foster’s.

Cervone and Mollahan have worked with each other for years, and she is one of the clients that supported his move when he struck out on his own. They have a client-vendor rapport that makes them practically buddies. “Scott usually knows what I’m looking for from our promotions,” Cervone says about Mollahan, who has serviced the Foster’s account for more than 10 years. “I wanted to still work with him when he started his own business because it helps to have a vendor who has experience with our brand. That consistency is important.”

On Tap For ’08
While many entrepreneurs lay out a clear business plan for where they want their companies to be in one, three and five years, don’t count Scott Mollahan among that group – for now, at least. He wants to gauge his success after a year in business before he creates a concrete plan for the company. “I think it’s hard to do a five-year plan before you’ve had a year under your belt,” he says, as he drives away from Cervone’s office. “I want to see what we accomplish in our first year before I decide what our next steps are.”

For now, though, he knows one thing: He’s not hiring any additional salespeople. He’s got it covered himself. While the company has passed the $2 million in revenue mark within its first year, Mollahan doesn’t at this point want to take on the task of attracting, interviewing, training, and paying new salespeople. “I don’t think we’re at the stage where we’re ready to put sales on the payroll,” he says. “Really, I only trust myself to do the sales for now.”

Mollahan does, however, have big goals that he knows he wants to accomplish over the next year. For one, he needs to diversify his client base. While the wine and spirits market has been very lucrative for him, and has helped him to launch his business in a way that brings in a lot of quick revenue, he knows that he has to spread his wings a bit. Consolidation has hit this market, and so he’s starting to lose clients as companies merge. Separately, he knows the foundation of his business will be much better if he is to diversify where his revenues are coming from.

“In the beginning, you go to where your clients are and wherever you can get business from,” he says. “So, I’m ok with how we’ve started, but we need more widespread clients. No one account is like 50% of our business, but Foster’s for example is big for me. If I lost them to a merger or budget cut or something, I’d be hurting.”

That’s precisely why he’s spending the next six months focused on diversifying his client base and trying to make deeper inroads into current clients. To do that, InsightResource Group recently launched what it is calling “The Green Roadshow,” which is a sales presentation to new and current clients focused on eco-friendly promotional products and print options. Throughout the months of March and April, Mollahan is visiting clients with eco-friendly products in tow, and is pitching them on the benefits of promotions that have a “green” flavor. To introduce the program, Mollahan sent a targeted e-mail promotion to seven of his top clients. He immediately got three appointments to present his ideas to an especially receptive client base in environmentally-conscious Northern California.

“Our clients are beginning to say that their consumers are asking for these kinds of things,” he says. “We want to be at the forefront of this. Our goal with the roadshow is to introduce clients to this stuff and let them know all the capabilities. We want them to think of us when they think eco-friendly promotions.”

Part II: Smart Marketing

By Andy Cohen

In this month’s installment of our ongoing Open For Business series on three start-up distributors, Scott Mollahan details how a creative marketing plan helped him overcome a slump.

What’s the best remedy for a business slump? Creative and aggressive marketing techniques. It’s a strategy that Scott Mollahan is now employing. After a banner first eight months in business – a six-figure deal the first week he was open certainly helped – Mollahan found himself in an unusual position a few months ago. His company hit a soft patch in sales during the first quarter of 2008. “We were going great initially, but then the beginning of this year was a little slow,” says Mollahan, whose client base is centered around the wine and spirits sector. “It’s somewhat of a traditional slow time for the wine industry and the economy in the Napa Valley has been a little slower this year.”

It was that kind of atmosphere that motivated Mollahan to do something different, to push the marketing envelope so he could get in front of more prospects and clients. “I knew we needed to take action in marketing and sales and not just sit around hoping that things would turn around,” he says. “We had to create something that was new.”

And so the Insight Resource Group’s Green Roadshow was born. The plan was to create a marketing pitch to current clients and new prospects that was focused on using eco-friendly promotional products within their marketing campaigns. Of course, it helped that the “green” marketing effort was pitched to companies in the environment-friendly culture of Northern California, where Mollahan’s business is based. “From previous conversations with clients in this area, I knew that they’re trying to promote themselves as caring about the environment,” he says. “It seemed like a natural fit.”

Mollahan sent a personal letter to about 20 clients introducing his company’s Green Roadshow. The pitch? Let me come to your office and show you the wealth of eco-friendly promotional products that can be used in your marketing plans this year. Clients were quite receptive. Mollahan and his staff made eight presentations within a month of launching the program and he had another four appointments scheduled in the second month. “I see the whole Roadshow as a way to introduce clients to green products,” he says. “I’m not trying to close business during these meetings.”

However, one meeting in particular has turned into big business for Mollahan’s company. He met with a minor league baseball team’s marketing department and the timing was perfect. The team, he learned during the meeting, has made a commitment to make its whole stadium green by 2009 – everything sold and used in the stadium (think cups, plates, everything) will be eco-friendly. So, green promotions are a natural fit for this organization.

Mollahan has now sold them an eco-friendly bag that the team gave away to fans on Shopping Bag Day in April, as well as stadium cups that are made of biodegradable plastic. “We also ordered them an organic cotton apron that they’re giving away for a Father’s Day promotion,” Mollahan says. “We’re discussing all sorts of stuff with them and I’m sure we’ll continue to get orders for green items from them.”

Ultimately, Mollahan believes that the marketing effort of his Green Roadshow has opened new doors for his company. “Clients have been really responsive,” he says. “They appreciate hearing about this information and thank us for providing it, because it’s something they know they need to look into but maybe haven’t had the time yet. We want to position ourselves as more of a marketing firm, and this is helping us do that. It gives us a way to provide marketing ideas to our clients. That’s our pitch right now.”

Confident that his sales slump is over, Mollahan took the step to hire another full-time employee, bringing his roster to five employees. When hiring, Mollahan likes to get referrals from friends, business acquaintances, anybody that he knows and trusts. This hire came through a referral from his accountant and the match was perfect. “She’s strong with data analysis and is well versed in Quickbooks, so we didn’t need to train her on order entry or anything like that,” Mollahan says. “She basically closely watched our other employees for a week and then was up and running.”

Indeed, like all small businesses, Mollahan’s company doesn’t have time for a full training period. This newest hire was managing a large order for hats in her second week on the job. “Things move quickly around here,” he says. “There are a lot of projects happening at one time, so we can’t afford a long ramp-up time. Any new hires have to be chipping in immediately, and we’ve been lucky to identify people who want to do that.”

Overcoming A Sales Slump

It happens in every entrepreneur’s lifetime. At some point, the sales slow down, clients don’t call as much and revenues begin to slide. It’s the business slump.

Scott Mollahan experienced a brief slump at the beginning of this year, and he quickly dug his company out of it with a creative marketing strategy. How can other distributor entrepreneurs find their way out of a sales downturn? Get aggressive, experts say. “I see far too many people cut back during a slump and find ways to cut costs as opposed to finding ways to increase their sales,” says Jan Alexander, founder and principal with New York management consulting firm The JAX Group. “A downturn is the time to get out there even more, meet with as many people as possible, and prove that you belong.”

Alexander suggests increasing your call volume in times of a sales slump, and if you have employees, make sure they’re doing the same. Now is the time, she says, to get aggressive with your sales calls and give clients a reason to speak to you. “Either cut prices or offer something that they can’t get elsewhere,” Alexander says. “The key is to catch people’s attention and get in front of as many buyers as possible.”

A slump certainly isn’t the time for the meek. As Alexander points out, you have to get in the face of potential clients where they are. So, increase your networking, she says. “And as a seller of promotional products, you can find buyers anywhere, you always have a sales opportunity if you’re willing to take it,” Alexander says. “In the supermarket, at the bank, where you buy coffee in the morning. These are all potential buyers of promotional products. Don’t let an opportunity go by without talking about what you do.”

Alexander also advises entrepreneurs to firm up their client relationships during a downturn in business. While you have to increase your new business, you can’t ignore the clients that are the backbone of your top line revenue. “Take somebody to lunch once a week or send a birthday card to an important client,” she says. “You should stay front and center with these people so they don’t forget about you when it’s time for them to order new promotional products. Also, listen to their marketing challenges during your conversations. That’s where your biggest sales opportunities will come from.”

When To Take On A New Employee

While Scott Mollahan has a big enough business that he’s hired five employees in his first year in business – including his most recent addition two months ago – most entrepreneurs struggle with how and when to bring on an employee. In fact, moving from a one-person shop to a company that has to hire, train, manage and retain employees is a huge step that most entrepreneurs aren’t sure how to tackle.

The key? Making sure your overhead can sustain having an employee. “I talk to entrepreneurs all the time who are guilty of hiring an employee before they really need the person and before they can really afford the person,” says Howard Lefebvre, president of HLA Associates, a consulting firm based in Nashua, NH. “They figure they can just cover the salary and they’re good to go.”

What they often tend to forget about, Lefebvre says, is other expenses like taxes, health care costs, insurance, computers, lost productivity due to sick days, etc. “An entrepreneur has to be sure that he can really cover the costs for that first employee,” he says. “Most end up overlooking something and then regretting it.”

Lefebvre suggests waiting one quarter to two quarters before actually making the leap and taking on a new employee. In other words, once you’ve decided that you need help, wait another three to six months before actually hiring somebody. “You need to know that your bottom line and cash flow are flush enough to sustain having an employee,” he says. “And you should take worst-case scenarios into account. Will you have enough cash if revenue drops 25% for a couple of quarters? Are you taking on this person because you’re anticipating higher revenues? That’s not a good reason to bring somebody on. You should absolutely need somebody on staff to help with current projects that you’re overloaded with.”

Once you’ve determined that you have the resources to hire a new employee, the key is to find the right one. Lefebvre believes the best first employee for an entrepreneur is somebody who’s not like them – somebody who brings new skills to the company. “Many managers gravitate to people like them who have the same work style, but that’s not what you want in a first employee,” he says. “Bring on somebody who can do things that you can’t do. You’ll be a two-person operation, and the last thing you want is to have both people with identical skill sets.”

Ultimately, Lefebvre believes, an entrepreneur’s first hire should have entrepreneurial aspirations themselves, and should show an ability to solve problems quickly. During interviews, he suggests asking questions about previous businesses or departments that the candidate has overseen and make the person offer anecdotes about how they got the department out of a problem.

“You want to determine if they have good decision-making abilities, because you won’t be able to make every decision yourself,” Lefebvre says. “You need a partner – somebody who can manage a business but isn’t exactly like you.”

Part III: Expansion Plans

By Andy Cohen

In this month’s installment of our ongoing Open For Business series on three start-up distributors, Scott Mollahan discusses his decision to hire a new salesperson and how he’s trying to diversify his business.

Sometimes it takes a little slap in the face for an entrepreneur to realize his company’s weaknesses. That’s how it happened for Scott Mollahan, when he was on a recent sales call. TVisiting one of his best clients – a company he’s worked with for years now – he heard some great news. “They told me that they had named me one of their preferred promotional vendors,” Mollahan says.

It was a proud moment for Mollahan. This was a big company with large budgets to spend on their promotional programs, and Mollahan saw this as a chance to solidify a base of revenues. Of course, every good instance for a budding entrepreneurial star has to be dampened by a reality check, though.

“They then said that my company was one of three companies that were being named as preferred promotional vendors,” he says. “They were honest with me and said what they felt I did well and that they’d be buying those things from me, but they also said that my company has a weakness in apparel. So they’re giving that substantial business to another company.”

Ouch. Yet, that was exactly the kind of wake-up call Mollahan knew he needed. His company had just celebrated its one-year anniversary in the beginning of June, and he reached all of his revenue goals in that fiscal year – raking in about $4 million in revenues. But he knew there was a hole in his offerings.

“I come from the print world, especially in the wine industry, where we’ve done a lot of packaging, gifts-with-purchase promotions, and those kinds of things. But I haven’t done much work with apparel,” Mollahan says. “It’s an area that I knew we needed to focus on and figure out how to break into, but hearing it directly from one of my top clients was the push I needed to make it happen. Clients that I’m already working with use a lot of apparel in their promotions, and right now they’re giving that business to other companies. I don’t want to miss out on it.”

So, Mollahan decided to do something he hadn’t yet planned on doing. He hired a new salesperson specifically to break into the promotional wearables market. As of presstime, this rep had agreed to work at Insight Resource Group, but hadn’t started yet. The key for Mollahan, though: She has a history – and a book of business – with wearables. “She knows everything there is to know about selling apparel into promotional programs,” he says. “It’s exactly what we need to expand and grow our business to another level.”

The strategy was an about-face from Mollahan’s original plan. He had been the sole salesperson at the six-person company. And he wanted to keep it that way. “I don’t think we’re at the stage where we’re ready to put sales on the payroll,” he said when Counselor first met with him in February. “Really, I only trust myself to do the sales for now.”

But that was then. Now, Mollahan says his outlook has changed. The conversation with his client helped push him that way, but he knew he had to make the move sometime soon. “I was the only one selling,” he says. “There’s just so much one person can do.”

And Mollahan believes the risk of bringing a new person onto the payroll is worth it. The compensation plan he’s set up has a mix of salary and commission, but more of the fixed cost is on the front-end. “There’s an initial three-to-six months risk, but she’s coming with a book of business, so we should begin to realize new business quickly,” he says. “It’s a bit of a financial risk but I think it’s worth it right now. Her strengths are where our weaknesses are.”

The Need to Diversify
The new salesperson will certainly help Mollahan achieve one of his main goals from earlier this year: business diversification. Before starting his company, Mollahan had become a promotional and printing expert in the wine industry. In fact, most of his clients today are in the wine market. But with that sector succumbing to some economic pressures and going through consolidation, Mollahan knows he has to broaden his customer base.

“We’ve achieved a high level of success in one market, but we need to branch out more,” Mollahan says. “We’ve found it easier said than done, but we’re working on it.”

While Insight Resource Group has certainly found new business outside of the wine industry – the company is outfitting a local minor league baseball team with a host of promotional products as the organization focused on offering eco-friendly giveaways to its customers this season – Mollahan has actually tried to leverage his wine industry contacts to broaden his company’s market reach. He has been working closely with the ad agencies that represent his wine industry clients to approach their clients in other markets.

“That effort has been pretty good,” Mollahan says. “It helps that I’ve worked with these agencies for a while, so they feel good about referring me to their other customers. It’s opened up some doors for us with a couple of new retail clients we’ve begun to do some projects for. Any referrals we can get are great and really help us spread our wings. It’s hard to diversify when you’re only a one-person sales force. I can only do so much myself as the only salesperson.”

Yet, Mollahan has been acting as a highly successful sales team all on his own so far. His company reached all of its financial goals for its first year in business – bringing in about $4 million in revenues – and he says he’s shooting for 30% growth in his second year in business. Ultimately, he knows he’ll need his current crop of clients to help him to achieve future benchmarks.

So when Insight Resource Group crossed its first anniversary in early June, he and his staff sent personal thank-you notes and gifts to all of their clients. Each person the company currently works with received a note thanking them for their business and for supporting the company in its first-year of existence. Each client also received a rose plant that they could place on their desk and watch grow (of course, remembering Insight along the way), just like they’d help Mollahan and his company to grow too.

“It can be a tough market right now, so we know that we need to stay in front of our clients as much as possible,” Mollahan says. “There’s a lot of competition and we’re a new company, so we need to do everything we can to remind our clients that we’re here and ready to help them with their marketing plans and promotional programs. They were thankful for the gifts and we’ll continue to do more things like that.”

Andy Cohen is editor of Counselor

Diverse Directions

Lack of diversity. It’s a common problem among startup distributors, as entrepreneurs naturally gravitate to the sectors they’re most familiar with. Scott Mollahan, for one, had a history of experience with providing print and promotional products to wine industry companies, so when he started his business a year ago, he called on the clients he knew best. What this has done, though, is create a situation where he gets most of his overall revenues from that one market, and he and other startup business owners shouldn’t be comfortable in that situation.

“You have to make an effort to diversify your client base,” says Christine Flickinger, president of Flash Consulting LLC, a management consulting and coaching firm based in Reno, NV. “It’s normal to go where you’re comfortable for new business, but successful entrepreneurs figure out how to branch out and reach sectors they haven’t done business in before.”

Flickinger says the key is to find a comfort zone within target markets that you wouldn’t otherwise be comfortable in. She says that entrepreneurs should be building up as many contacts as possible, and then using those contacts to expand business into connected sectors. “Say you sell to schools because you have contacts at your kids’ schools,” she says. “That’s fine, but those contacts should be able to put you in touch with PTA programs, sports teams, book publishers and even cafeteria vendors. You have to approach clients in a broad way.”

And you have to be willing to ask for referrals. So many new business owners, Flickinger believes, miss out on revenue opportunities because they don’t ask for referrals. “Make it part of your routine,” she says. “At the end of every sales call, say, ‘Do you know anybody else who could benefit from my services?’ They can say no or they can say they’ll get back to you or they can give you somebody off the top of their head. No matter what, it gives you an opening to follow up with them about it. You can’t let a meeting or phone call go without planting the referral seed into a client’s head.”

Flickinger believes that referrals are, in fact, the best way for entrepreneurs to build and diversify their businesses. But she also says that distributors should be focused on their networking efforts to ensure client diversity. Get to a Chamber of Commerce event or a PTA meeting or a local bowling league. “You have to be meeting new people constantly,” she says. “Make it part of your business strategy to make at least five new acquaintances every week. You’ll see your business grow quickly and evenly that way.” – AC

Reversal Of Fortune

Scott Mollahan, the head of Insight Resource Group (asi/231569), was forced to make a strategic about-face recently when he decided to move forward with hiring a sales rep for his company. He had planned on being the sole salesperson for the company, but soon realized that he couldn’t overcome a weakness in apparel and spread out to different types of clients by himself.

“Entrepreneurs have to be as flexible as possible, especially in their first couple of years of business,” says Howard Klimes, principal with Power Play Group, a business management consulting company based in Detroit, MI. “Yes, you have a business plan that you want to follow, and I don’t recommend veering from that too much. But company strategy has to be open to change in its beginning years. You can’t be so rigid that you miss out on good opportunities.”

Klimes suggests that new business owners review their go-to-market strategy every month, or at least quarterly, to ensure that they’re capitalizing on every possible path to new revenues. “It doesn’t have to be a formal or in-depth review, but you need to ensure that you’re recognizing your strengths and weaknesses on a regular basis,” he says. “It’s ok to have weaknesses, everybody does. But good entrepreneurs embrace those weaknesses and figure out ways to overcome them.”

Where Klimes believe so many companies go wrong is that the founders of these organizations shy away from their weaknesses and create strategies that ignore them. “It’s a matter of self-awareness and flexibility,” he says. “Do you have the wherewithal to notice your shortcomings? And are you prepared to change course to overcome those weaknesses? Those are questions that entrepreneurs have to be asking themselves regularly. You have to have an open-minded and flexible enough approach to change on the fly when opportunity knocks. Otherwise, you’ll miss the best ways to expand your business.” – AC

Final Analysis: A Sudden Success

Last February when we first met Scott Mollahan, the head of Insight Resource Group (asi/231569) in Orinda, CA, he was busy trying to determine how he could diversify his business. It certainly wasn’t the typical challenge for a start-up business.

While Mollahan was trying to find new clients outside of the wine and spirits industry – his niche market – other start-ups are simply trying to find anybody to say yes. Indeed, most new companies go after any business they can find, and pounce whenever somebody with a pulse is willing to buy.

Not Mollahan. He already had a book of business. The year before, he had left his full-time job as a salesperson for Applied Graphics. He was there for 11 years and had built up a rabidly loyal customer base in the wine industry, many of whom told him that they’d be willing to take their business with him if he started his own operation. So, Mollahan began fulfilling deals on day one – as opposed to hunting deals down.

“I talked to some of my clients to see if they’d stick with me if I started my own company,” Mollahan told us last year. “Many were very supportive. It helped my conscience to know that there was some built-in revenue there when I first started.”

Built-in revenue indeed. Mollahan brought in nearly $2 million in the company’s first year. And in 2008, Insight Resource Group’s first full calendar year in business, Mollahan’s operation racked up approximately $3.7 million in sales – about 60% of which came from the wine market. No, it’s not your typical start-up result.

But Mollahan has had some of the normal start-up obstacles of trying to get clients to pay on time, finding good people to hire for his growing company and deciding when and how to move into a new office space. He’s also operating in an industry that’s going through layoffs and consolidations, and he’s been dealing with rising prices on many of the goods he gets from overseas he’s finally got a Web site up and running after being in business for a year and a half.

So, no, everything hasn’t been perfect for Mollahan’s fast-growing company. But the results in year one can’t be denied. “We’ve done great,” he says. “We had one period in the middle of last year where I was concerned with a little slowdown, but then we ended the year really busy.”

And now, Mollahan is looking forward to expanding his business even further in 2009. He has six people on staff, but is looking for another salesperson now and knows he’ll need even more operational help as Insight grows. Of course, he has his worries – like the layoffs and consolidations hitting the wine market, the rate of unemployment in California and the depressed real estate market, the cost of goods from overseas and running a fast-growing operation with four kids under the age of 10 at home.

But he’s very happy with his first year in business. “It’s a whirlwind, for sure,” he says. “You’re making different decisions every day. But it’s great right now. We’re growing, we have a great staff and we’re always busy. All is good.”

Distributor No. 3: Christine Cersosimo

Part I: Steel City Drive

By Joe Haley

Christine Cersosimo is an extremely detail oriented entrepreneur. It took her nearly half a year to draw up a business plan and find financing – all before making sales calls.

The bottom floor of Christine Cersosimo’s home has turned into a functioning ad specialty distributorship. It most definitely wasn’t always this way.

The basement of her Pittsburgh-area home had served as an entertainment center for her husband, Les, to watch his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers, Penguins and Pirates on a large screen TV. Now? The area is sectioned in two. Half is still his and half is the proud office of Flow Business Solutions LLC (asi/195711), the distributorship Cersosimo just began in December. Ad specialty catalogs and product samples now dot the garage and the laundry room, and Cersosimo operates the larger half of the basement with her new business.

Being downsized wasn’t heartbreaking to Les. “That doesn’t matter; the business matters,” he says. “It’s no big deal. When love’s involved, it doesn’t really matter.”

This home office is well appointed. Currently, there’s one large work space with another soon to be prepared for the company’s first hire. Les isn’t being squeezed out, as there’s plenty of room on the business end of the basement. While a PC and a MAC occupy the desk top, it’s not crammed at all. In fact, it’s neat and orderly and full of inspirational messages – constant reminders of the goals ahead. Cersosimo has handwritten them all including her favorite, from her dad, “Don’t let the bastards get you down.”

And as she plods along, Cersosimo has to contend with her three dogs – Boris, a Jack Russell terrier; Katie, a beagle; and Cleo, a German shepherd. While she toils away downstairs, her pets keep vigil upstairs with an occasional bark from Boris, the most vocal of the trio.

Her first dollar and business card have been matted and framed, a Christmas gift from her husband. Which is typical of him, she says, as he backs her 100%. And, he’s not only supportive, he’s totally into it, she says. Currently Les is out on medical leave. A broken leg is keeping him from driving a 65-foot gas truck. “A rolling bomb ,is what my husband calls it,” she says. So, with free time on his hands (and he admits to being a bit antsy right now), he chips in and peruses catalogs. Cersosimo recently asked him to locate some pens, which he found to be a daunting task. “That’s crazy,” he says in disbelief. “It’s unbelievable how many pens there are.”

And while there are no traffic jams making her late for work, Cersosimo does admit to challenges in regards to working from home. There are so many distractions, especially household chores that need to be done. But, she handles it like she would if she was going into an office everyday. It is her job, after all, she says. And she’ll be home for a while, as she’s opted out of an office space in downtown Pittsburgh that she was planning on renting.

Cersosimo, who relies on her instinct as much as her brains, was getting an uneasy feeling from the landlord. He was unresponsive to her questions and she felt something was wrong. So, she decided to back out of the deal. Of course, there is a silver lining to making that executive decision. Staying home is a better bet because all her stationary has her home address and phone number as her business address. So she saves money twice – once on rent and once by not ordering new letterhead and business cards.

Plan On It
Cersosimo didn’t start blindly in this market. For four years she sold promotional products for another distributor. She was a customer service supervisor with a staff of four, did back-office sales work, communicated with vendors, followed up on orders, and handled inside sales as well as a smattering of outside sales. “It was a small family-owned company,” Cersosimo says, “so you tended to do a little bit of everything.”

But, she wanted more from sales. She actually wanted to help solve her clients’ problems, not just fulfill orders. “I felt limited and wanted to do more for my customers,” she says. “I got tired of being an order taker and needed more of a challenge. I refuse to be an order taker. I’m a solutions manager.” So she left and got started on forming her own company.

Cersosimo has a detailed business plan which she developed from research she did on the market as well as her own knowledge and experience. The five-year plan is extremely detailed. It includes all the pertinent information as well as her strengths and weaknesses. But the meat and potatoes details the anticipated sales growth as well as growth in the targeted client markets that she intends on penetrating.

Cersosimo has identified 600,000 potential users of her services. That includes companies and organizations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Eastern Ohio. Her business plan states that she will focus on less than 1% ‑ or 375 prospects – and strive to convert 75% of those into clients. Then she will add an additional percentage point worth of prospects each year. So, she has not only planned on sales growth, but specifically sales growth as it pertains to market growth. She will grow the industries she sells to in addition to growing the sales from those industries. And, sales are broken down in her business plan by product category as well.

With her business plan and strategy for growth in place, Cersosimo tried to raise capital toward the end of last year – no easy task in a time of tight credit markets for a new business with almost no revenue to show for it. Cersosimo quickly realized that no bank was going to back her before she actually invested her own money into the business. “If you’re not willing to invest in it, than neither am I,” she says is what banks and other lending institutions told her.

So, Cersosimo maxed out all her credit cards, and has tapped into her savings and retirement plan to show that she was financially invested in her new company. Even with that, it took her two months to get her financing. And, despite her hard work, she was only able to secure a third – $46,000 – of what she felt was necessary to begin her business. The monies came from the CL Fund, which is an organization that helps businesses in Western, PA. “They did not want to over-capitalize me is what they said,” she says, about the decision to give her much less than what she wanted.

But, not getting all the capital isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Cersosimo says that the lender didn’t want to give her too much at one time because she could come to rely on the money too much. This way, she builds credit and can come back for more money when she needs it. And, she says, the loan is only for six years, so she’s not over extended. “There’s no long-term investment involved with it,” she says.

Growing Pains
As a brand new ad specialty distributor, Cersosimo has faced some common challenges. One has been getting samples in on time to make sales calls. Cersosimo recently had to postpone a scheduled appointment because the samples she ordered for a proposal hadn’t all arrived. And, it’s not for lack of trying.

This client, Seton Hill University’s E-Magnify center for women entrepreneurs, a women’s business center that provides innovative programming and essential resources to help women start and grow their businesses, has an April conference it wants to secure logoed products for. As a client and a vendor of the organization, Cersosimo was on the job. In fact, she has been working the project for some time; she initially proposed logoed shirts the organization could sell for a profit.
For Cersosimo, the idea was a no-brainer. For an initial outlay of $200, E-Magnify could outfit its staff members for the conference in logoed shirts – and go the extra revenue-generating step of selling the items too. And although it’s not thousands of dollars, that money was the sticking point for E-Magnify, as it’s a federally-funded non-profit that has to work within a budget. And, as Cersosimo knows, they want the best quality for the lowest price.

So Cersosimo moved forward on getting the client exactly what it was looking for – eight samples each of a power clip, totebag and pen. And even though the contact is a product purchaser and does not care about much beyond having the logo on a product, Cersosimo makes sure that she shows good samples.

After searching through catalogs (Thanks Les!) and ESP Online, she contacted the suppliers, paid for samples (random, not spec), and even provided her UPS number for shipping. Unfortunately, the day before the meeting, she only had two of each sample. She had no choice but to postpone the meeting. “It makes me look bad as a company and as a client of hers,” she says.

The frustration (a catch-22 if there ever was one) is that with little sales history with suppliers, some are uneasy working with her. But, how does she build up history with them if they won’t work with her? And, although you can hear the frustration in her voice, it never gets her down even though there’s risk in losing the client because of the cancelled presentation.

Canceling the appointment was probably the smartest thing Cersosimo could have done. A week later, with all of the appropriate samples in hand, she gave a presentation on the value and importance of promotional products that wowed her client. E-Magnify execs were so impressed that they ended up ordering even more items than they had originally planned for their conference.

It has been one success in what is just the beginning for Cersosimo. She only started prospecting in late November and expects to start realizing some revenue from her efforts. “I am brand spanking new,” she says. “The company is in its infancy. I’m an organization of one. I do more prospecting than anything.”

That prospecting has uncovered some gold, though. Currently, Cersosimo is serving the needs of six clients, but she’s pursuing more. One is her former employer of 22 years. And although they know each other, the prospect – a husband/wife-owned printing company – knows little about marketing. “They have the worst branding I’ve ever seen in my life for a printer,” Cersosimo says. “To get these two to understand what I’m trying to do is incredible.”

But she’s working on it, even though she says she’s finding it difficult to put a tangible price on how promotional products can financially help an organization. “Everyone wants ROI,” she says. “Hell, I want ROI and I’m a one-person operation.”

Up Close & Personal

Name: Christine Cersosimo
Company: Flow Business Solutions LLC
Location: Coraopolis, PA
Start-Up Date: December 2007
Revenue: $4,000 in first three months of business
Major Roadblock Overcome: It took Cersosimo more than two months to procure a loan to get her business off the ground. Even then, she only received a third of what she wanted.
Goals For ’08: Hire two sales reps and an inside sales/customer service rep
Corporate Culture: Cersosimo had looked at renting an office space, but decided to turn her basement into a workspace. The basement now doubles as an office for her and the home of a large-screen television for her husband. Also three dogs roam the house liberally.

Part II: Financial Fitness

By Joe Haley

In this month’s installment of our ongoing Open For Business series on three startup distributors, Christine Cersosimo discusses the challenge of succeeding on limited resources.

In spite of rising gas prices, Christine Cersosimo has no choice but to be on the road. She sold her gas-guzzling truck and opted for a more fuel-efficient Toyota to make her sales calls, which she groups within areas these days. In addition, she also has to travel to and from the University of Pittsburgh for graduate classes. TAnd if that wasn’t enough, the time spent going to classes and handling the course work takes about 25 hours of her time each week. But, she takes it all in stride. “I’ll be in school until the end of next year,” Cersosimo says. “This semester is not over until August 2, then I have two weeks off and I start back again.”

Juggling school and running a business is certainly a challenge. And although it feels like she’s constantly hitting the ground running – every day – Cersosimo has no regrets with being a student and business owner simultaneously. “No. Things happen for a reason and I know that one is helping the other,” she says. “Doing the two in tandem I think they actually help each other. If I would have waited on going to school, I wouldn’t have done it. If I would have waited on starting the business I wouldn’t have done it.”

The business side of things has gotten is workable if you build slowly and smartly. “That’s kind of what I’ve been doing,” Cersosimo says. “I get an order and I’m building credit with vendors I’ve been using. And that’s a good thing because I don’t always have to hit my credit cards. I’m getting a little more regular cash flow, but it’s just a little slower than I anticipated. So I still work on the bigger customers but I try to balance it out with the smaller orders too and that’s what I’ve been doing.”

Moving forward through the hot summer months, Cersosimo is sticking to her business plan. “I have everything mapped out for the whole year,” she says. “I still plan on bringing on two people by the end of the year. Still hoping to bring on an inside customer service rep, but I’m not sure if that will come to fruition this year. It depends on the dollar volume as far as increase in sales. I’m plugging away and just focusing on my goals – daily goals, monthly goals, quarterly goals, yearly goals. I just stayed focused on that.”

And, despite potential market obstacles – a troubling economy, rising gas prices, ad specialty price points increases – Cersosimo says she’s confident in her abilities to overcome the challenges. “I don’t sell by price,” she says. “I’m not a transaction seller. I’m not an order taker. I build long-term relationships. I’m comfortable enough to ask somebody if they want something about their budget and their goals. And they tend to be more comfortable because I have a relationship with them to say ‘We need to keep it at a certain price, we need to keep it at this level.’ So, we work within their constraints.”

Joe Haley is managing editor of Counselor

Surviving On Limited Resources

Christine Cersosimo says that one of the biggest eye-openers of her first year in business has been how hard it’s been to be successful on the limited financial resources she has for her company.

It’s quite a common problem for entrepreneurs – especially those in the ad specialty industry who have to pay for goods prior to their clients actually paying for them. Getting a big deal – or any deal for a new business – should be a day of celebration but it often leads to concerns for distributors about how they’re going to front the money before they get paid. Which could be 30, 60 or even 90 days away depending on how reliable the client is.

“New businesses have to know that they can cover their expected costs from month to month,” says Henry Gregg, the founder and president of Freeport Consultants, a management consulting firm based in Freeport, ME. “You know what your fixed costs are, but you also need to plan for the costs associated with completing deals. If you have to front cash before clients pay up, then you need to have a cash reserve that you can tap into.”

For those who don’t have ready-access to capital, Gregg suggests applying for a loan from the Small Business Administration (SBA). There are many avenues to apply under, and while loans can be difficult to attain right now, the SBA and its bank partners have special reserves for new businesses with bright business plans. “You have to jump through extra hoops right now to prove your creditworthiness, but there are funds available through SBA loans,” Gregg says.

His biggest piece of advice, though, when applying for a loan is to create a solid business plan that details revenue and profit goals, and includes breakdowns of how many deals per month, quarter and year you need to sign to achieve those goals. “Lenders want to see that you have a clear plan for how you’re going to grow,” Gregg says. “Get your business plan in order before beginning the loan application process. Too many people go about it backwards.”

Outside of getting a loan, Gregg says there are some daily strategies new businesses can employ to ensure that their cash flow is solid. The first is to make clients pay more of their bills upfront. He suggests shooting for getting 50% of your invoices once an order is placed. “This not only gives you extra cash to cover the cost of the goods, but it also shows a larger commitment on the part of the customer,” Gregg says. “You want them to be invested in the deal, like you are, so that they aren’t as likely to walk away from it at any point.”

Also, Gregg advises his small business clients to closely watch their expenses and make sure they’re not taking on anything unnecessary. In the first year of business, he says, many entrepreneurs rent an office or fly to see potential clients or simply spend too much money on letterhead. “You need to have cash in reserve, and unless you have a loan or savings to fall back on, you should be monitoring your payables very tightly,” he says. “My advice to new businesses is to always watch every penny that goes out until you have a consistent revenue stream.” – AC

A Cyberspace Expansion

One way that small businesses are expanding their revenues with limited resources is through online means. While a lack of capital used to mean that businesses had to operate extremely locally, now companies can become national – and even worldwide – entities with just the click of a mouse. And in a time of economic uncertainty, many businesses report that the Internet is helping to keep them afloat.

According to a recent survey conducted by New York-based Web services firm Register.com, about 70% of 800 small business representatives surveyed expect their business to hold steady or even improve over the next year in spite of the United States’ current economic situation – and they’re thanking the Internet.

“The Internet is a tool; its infrastructure helps anyone who can take advantage of it and it can be a big help to businesses who use it well,” says Dr. Arvind Rangaswamy, research director for the Center for Digital Transformation at Pennsylvania State University’s Smeal College of Business. “The Internet allows for a business to be global from day one.”

So, how can startup companies in the ad specialty industry take advantage of this trend?

The first step, says Register.com’s Senior Vice President of Customer Marketing Doug Shuman, is to familiarize yourself with online basics. Take advantage of do-it-yourself kits, or hire a firm like Register.com that offers myriad Web-based service packages.

Once armed with Web site basics, choose a domain name, or address. “Your domain name is the most important part of online success – it’s your brand online,” Shuman says. While specific, the domain name must also be memorable and all encompassing. “You need to think about all the names customers might remember you by,” Shuman explains. He also advises buying several domain names to cover all bases.

Almost as important as a domain name is choosing a keyword or words customers will find your Web site by. A Web site is often ranked on a search results page according to how much businesses are willing to pay for a keyword.

Next, it’s vital to consider the site’s home page. “The number one reason people will leave your Web site is they don’t know what you’re about,” Shuman says. “I’m a big fan of being specific and brief.” Prices, product descriptions, contact information and service descriptions should all be easily accessible.

And content should not end there. “Having great content, not just product descriptions, will get people to come back to your Web site,” Shuman says. Include forums, articles and even blogs, but only if you have the time to keep up with them.

“The key to getting people to come back to your site is to provide unique information that’s not generally available on the Web,” says Rangaswamy.

Lastly, keep in mind that the Internet is a tool to help customers become familiar with products and services, but it is not a solution, Rangaswamy says. “While it can help business,” he says, “buying products online is unlikely to replace the human need to touch, smell and see items in person.” – KS

Part III: Down But Not Out

By Joe Haley

In this month’s installment of our ongoing Open For Business series on three start-up distributors, Christine Cersosimo talks about trying to keep her business afloat after three straight months of zero sales.

Talk to Christine Cersosimo for just a few minutes and it’s obvious she’s in a bit of a funk. “I’m just really down and I wish I could be more upbeat about stuff,” says Cersosimo, owner of Flow Business Solutions LLC (asi/195711), on a recent morning in mid-September. “It’s been a rough few months.” T Sales for the last three months for Cersosimo’s Pittsburgh-based company were a big goose egg. In a desperate search for customers, she has taken to driving through neighborhoods and industrial areas jotting down the names of businesses. From there she researches the companies, finds the marketing managers and begins the cold-calling process, sending direct mail pieces and rocking the phones. But lately, that effort just isn’t paying off. “You leave messages, but they’re not calling back,” she laments. And, when she does hear from people, it’s the same old story – they’re either not spending or they’re happy with their current vendors. No matter what industry she seems to target, or what size company, Cersosimo says she gets the same story.

“A lot of people say they aren’t spending because they’re worried about the economy,” she says. “I’m hearing that marketing is the first thing they cut.” Still, Cersosimo thinks some prospects are just using the economy as an excuse to let her down easy.
Others insist they want to stay loyal to their current advertising specialty distributors. “What I hear is ‘I’d really like to give you a try, but we work with so and so,’” she says. “And, they’re comfortable with who they’re working with.”

Or, maybe the truth lies somewhere in between. Cersosimo confesses that some of these potential clients might be afraid to work with a one-person operation. Bigger distributor firms, she believes, can more easily compete on price while she can only trim prices slightly.

Cersosimo recently had the opportunity to bid on a job with the Community College of Allegheny County. “It was actually a nice print job for an invitation package as well as for their monthly newsletter,” she says. She is hoping to get in with printing (where the bulk of her experience is) and then eventually work the contact and become the school’s promotional products vendor. “They allowed me to bid on that because my background is heavy on the print side,” she says. Unfortunately, though, the college chose another vendor.

Part-Time Cash
Cersosimo can’t wait forever for some positive cash flow. Her short-term solution? In July, she took a part-time job at a Costco near her home office. But that position has not been without its troubles, either. When she landed at the wholesale retailer, she was working the checkout area helping clients load and unload their carts. One day, she bent over to pick up a case of Gatorade and injured two of her vertebrae, causing her to miss a few weeks of work.

Upon her return, the company moved her into an office, where she spends her time calling former Costco clients in an effort to win them back. “I find it very ironic,” she says, as she’s basically doing for Costco what she wants to do with her company. “The only difference, it’s more of a warm lead,” she says.

The experience, though, has been somewhat beneficial, Cersosimo says. “It’s helped me establish a method of doing things” and practice her phone skills.

Failed Partnership Plans
Over the summer, Cersosimo was hoping to work out a partnership with the owner of a printing company. “He was going to come work for me, but he wanted an outrageous amount for his commission,” she says. So the deal never went through. Instead, the two agreed to an alliance of sorts. Since he’s in the printing business, the prospective partner will continue down that road; however, if his clients hit him up for promotional products (something he will also try to upsell), he says he will purchase them through Cersosimo. He in turn will mark up the product price for his clients. And a partnership could still be in the duo’s future. “We’re still convinced that it’s not such a bad idea to someday merge our operations,” she says.

Cersosimo is also working another angle with a former employer. The company she used to work for is a commercial printer. “They don’t do promotional products, but they have a dynamite client base,” she says. So Cersosimo and the husband/wife partnership are considering a plan whereby the print salespeople would sell promotional products to their current client base, and draw a commission from Cersosimo. In return, Cersosimo would get office space at the company and have access to the printer’s client base and data. “The stumbling block we’re having is [they’re wondering] what’s going to protect them from me stealing their list,” she says. Cersosimo says she’s offered to sign a “conflict of interest” form if need be. “Right now, though, there are too many challenges that need to be addressed before we move forward,” she says.

Despite all of these roadblocks, Cersosimo says she is committed to her business’ survival. To get to the break-even point for her company, she needs to bring in about $6,000 a month in revenue, which will allow her to pay her bills and reinvest in marketing efforts. One thing’s for sure: She says she’s far from throwing in the towel. “There is no way I am interested in dissolving my company,” she says. “I feel confident business will turn around.”

Joe Haley is managing editor of Counselor.

Beating The Slow-Start Blues

Christine Cersosimo of Flow Business Solutions has encountered a common problem for entrepreneurs: Stumbling out of the starting blocks.

Many new businesspeople end up focusing so much effort on their business plans and the goals they want to set for their new companies that they forget to spend enough time actually drumming up business and revenues. “I’m amazed at the amount of entrepreneurs who spend their first year in business not really signing deals or getting much revenue,” says Greg Thayer, principal and founder of GCT Consulting, a business coaching and training company based in New York. “I mean, why else did you start a company in the first place?”

The first thing Thayer recommends for any businessperson in a slump is to sign some deals – any deals. Don’t worry, he says, about the profit margin on these deals or the terms of the deal. “Just get it done,” Thayer says. “You can’t keep going without starting up some client relationships. I tell people to practically give it away in the beginning if they have to. The key is to get traction, make connections, and start making a name for your business with some customers.”

The worst thing an entrepreneur can do is to search for perfect clients. Thayer believes that too many new businesspeople end up trying to stick to their plans and goals so much that they get caught overanalyzing things. “Just get in front of people and start selling yourself and your business,” he says. “I don’t care who it is – whether it’s the barber down the street, your insurance broker or even your brother – but start pitching your products and services and closing some deals.”

Thayer suggests creating a call log and instituting some telephone goals for yourself. Get a list of prospects, even if it’s straight out of the phone book, and start calling 10 a day, or 12 a day, or 30 a day. “Set a call goal and start achieving it on a daily basis,” Thayer says. “Tell yourself that you’re going to call a certain amount of prospects every day – and then do it. I promise this will yield some business, but too many people spend a good portion of their days doing planning and setting up bank accounts and talking to business colleagues. Just stop doing those things and start making some phone calls.”

After that, Thayer believes that entrepreneurs need to network as much as possible. New distributors should join PTA groups, attend Chamber of Commerce events, see local speakers and try to write columns for local newspapers. “You should become an expert in your community,” Thayer says. “That’s how you’ll start to drum up business. And don’t forget to join some online social networks. Through LinkedIn, MySpace and Facebook, you’d be surprised how many entrepreneurs are finding new clients online. Some people think it’s a waste of time. It’s not. That’s how savvy marketers are creating lasting business partnerships right now.” – AC

Trouble in Steel Town

For some businesses, 2008 was like a Mac truck careening toward them. Before they could blink – bam. For Christine Cersosimo, that truck didn’t flatten her business until the fall.

At the outset of 2008, things were promising. Her company, Flow Business Solutions (asi/195711) based near Pittsburgh, PA, was up and running. She had a business plan in hand that she had crafted in detail and she was writing some small sales. But, then things got dicey as she tried to expand her business past her first couple of clients. When the economy faltered throughout the summer, her sales quickly dried up.

In addition, with the credit markets freezing in the second and third quarters, Cersosimo found financing to be nonexistent. She couldn’t get loans and banks were tightening their standards for any sort of line of credit. Operating a business, fronting orders and marketing the company was becoming impossible for Cersosimo. She maxed out her credit cards, but without revenue coming in, she found herself at a crossroads in the second half of ’08.

Cersosimo also struggled with finding people to work with her. She originally wanted to hire a rep besides herself. While she had an eager candidate for the sales role, that person turned Cersosimo off after she gave an unenthusiastic response to the job offer. Cersosimo quickly rescinded the offer.

Then she explored the possibility of merging her business with a partner, but it ended up not working out as the prospect requested too high of a commission rate on sales he made for Cersosimo. So, the two businesspeople went their separate ways. Ultimately, Cersosimo was left to handle the prospecting, cold calling and all the administrative aspects of her business by herself.

With no sales coming in and the inability to secure financing, Cersosimo had no choice but to shutter the business in the fall. Flow Business Solutions now lays dormant, temporarily closed while Cersosimo has been forced to find income. She has taken a job at a local Costco since July. That, though, hasn’t been without its issues – she injured her back while carrying a case of Gatorade on the job and has had to work in the back-office since. No, 2008 has not been an easy year for Cersosimo.

But, as she looks toward 2009, she’s trying to get her personal finances in order so she can jump-start her business one more time. “I hope to reopen after I graduate with my MBA at the end of the year, on a part-time basis at first, it’s time to financially rebuild,” she says.

It’s been a tough road, for sure, but Cersosimo is intent on getting her company going again. Cersosimo acknowledges that she perhaps bit off more than she could chew. Starting a business, applying for Women Owned Business certification, and going to night school to complete an MBA is quite
the challenge when you’re an operation of one.

“Being a business owner has many advantages and some disadvantages,” she says. “I will regroup and consider options at a later time.”

Melinda Ligos is editor in chief, Joe Haley is managing editor and Andy Cohen is editor of Counselor.

Get Blinged Out - All you need to know about decorating garments with crystals. From Wearables magazine. June, 2010.

Get Blinged Out
By Shane Dale
June 2010

Crystals

Q: What type of machine do I need to apply crystals to garments? What do I need to know before I apply them? What are the top garments to apply crystals to? Which fabrics are ideal for crystal application? What kinds of businesses buy garments with crystals?

A: All you need to apply crystals to apparel is a heat press, says Andrew Sequeira, co-owner of Sparkle Plenty Designs (asi/88444). “Just about any heat press would work, but it’s advisable to check with the manufacturer to see if the given heat press is suitable for that type of application,” he says.

Shell DeHosse, owner of Sparkles By Shell, says a regular iron can also be used, but it’s not preferable. “The easiest way is a heat press because it’s just one single press and you’re done, and it’s a consistent heat,” she says.

Application Cautions

New heat-press operators should be cautious when learning to apply crystals to garments, according to Sequeira. “If someone hasn’t worked with a heat press before, it’s advisable to do test cases first,” he says.

Unlike inks, Sequeira says crystals can move around during application if you aren’t careful. “When you go to apply it, do a quick eyeball over the transfer itself to make sure the stones are in proper alignment,” he says. “Invariably, you’re going to have some stones that are out of place, and some more than others. If it’s a lot out of place, that’s going to stand out. You need to know that ahead of time so you can make adjustments.”

And, since crystals are manufactured in bulk, Sequeira always takes time to look for defective or chipped stones. “Rhinestones are manufactured in the millions and millions,” he says. “You’re going to invariably have stones that need to be replaced.”

Top Garments

In terms of top-selling crystal-decorated garments, shirts are number one, with caps and tote bags right behind, according to Sequeira. “One of the other things we’ve just done is worked with linens and draperies that are embellished with the Swarovski stones,” he says.

Sequeira has also recently worked with a good deal of dry-fit athletic wear. “It’s a little more delicate in the sense that it’s more high-maintenance, but it still works for stone applications,” he says. “You can apply crystals to anything else that’s some kind of a fabric-based piece. It could be linens, draperies, napkins – anything.”

DeHosse specializes in ladies’ T-shirts. “I’ve sold a ton of three-quarter-sleeve shirts,” she says . “It’s definitely a ladies’ cut – not a unisex tee, but something that has a feminine cut to it.” She has also designed a lot of crystals on flannel pants for young girls. “They really like those, either with their sports team or the name of their cheer squad down the leg,” she says.

Lynda Morgan, co-owner of The Stitchin’ Chicks, says she’s placed “bling” on just about every kind of garment that one can imagine, but shoes are one of her specialties. “For that kind of apparel, we use the E-6000 glue,” she says. “We once did high-top sneakers. We put 150 Swarovski crystals on the shoes and we glued them all on individually. The only things we don’t put it on are things for children because there’s a choking hazard. But hats, shoes, shirts, jeans, aprons – we put it on everything.”

Cooperative Fabrics

Sequeira says cotton-based fabrics are generally the easiest for crystal application “because they’re low-maintenance; you don’t have to worry about the heat because with stone applications, you’re always dealing with high heat,” he says. “You always want to test it, but with cotton, it’s not going to be a problem.”

Sequeira cautions that synthetic fiber can scorch or glaze more easily than non-synthetics, which is why you may want to do a test run on synthetics, and you may need to tweak the temperature on the heat press prior to application. “For example, we work with 350 degrees on the heat press, so you can go with 320 degrees to 325 degrees and make it work, but below that, you’re not using enough heat for the [glue] to melt,” he says. “If less heat will still work and you’re working with something delicate, you may want to lower the temperature.”

In DeHosse’s experience, most fabrics, including synthetics, are “pretty forgiving” when it comes to the heat press. “The only thing I don’t generally have a lot of luck on is nylon. It’s pretty slick,” she says. “But most blends are just fine.”

Morgan, who says polyester also works well with crystals, adds that vinyl is not a fabric on which crystals can be applied via heat press. “If you put bling on vinyl, it’s going to melt on a heat press, so we use glue,” she says.

Rhinestones are the most cooperative form of crystals in terms of garment application, DeHosse says. “Rhinestones are the easiest to use because you can put it on just about anything,” she says. “If it can withstand heat, it can be applied with rhinestones.”

Top Industries

Dance schools and cheer squads are DeHosse’s top crystal consumers. “Especially when they do fundraisers for sports teams, it’s the moms who run the fundraisers, and they don’t want the simple unisex T-shirts,” she says. “They order the girlie T-shirts with a little bit of bling on it. We’ve done crystals for a couple of squads in which it was actually their performance outfit. When they got under the lights and moved, they really sparkled.”

Sequeira has recently been contacted about crystal apparel by religious organizations, among other groups. “It might be for kids’ teams, or women who are a group of dealers, or it could be for a completely informal reason,” he says. “It could be a fun piece for a collection of people that have a common identity.”

Morgan mostly sells crystal apparel to individuals, but the one organization that she consistently sells to is the Red Hat Society, a group of women who are primarily 50 years of age or older and typically wear high-end red and purple garments when they get together. “They’re all about bling,” she says. “They wear feathers and they’re all about that fancy look. We do have a large supply of red and purple because when they come in, they always want bling.”

Shane Dale is a contributing writer for Wearables.

Crystals Are Everywhere

Crystals have been popular on wearables for a long time – but they’re also catching on with non-apparel items.

In terms of wearables, Shell DeHosse, owner of Sparkles by Shell, just worked with a spiritwear client who wanted to do something special. “She had done rhinestones before, and we carry a sparkle vinyl, so we combined the rhinestones with the sparkle vinyl,” she says.

DeHosse created pants with lettering that spelled “cheer” down the leg in a hot pink color. “The vinyl is a slick material, so we had to actually cut a hole in the vinyl when we were cutting out the design,” she says. “It had to be big enough to fit the rhinestones into it so it stuck to the fabric.”

The client ordered about 50 pairs of the pants. “I see that’s where the market is actually headed with rhinestones: combining it with screen printing, with embroidery, and with vinyl,” DeHosse says.

When it comes to non-wearables, Andrew Sequeira, co-owner of Sparkle Plenty Designs (asi/88444), recalls a job where he added bling to drapery that a client used for a powder room. “We actually did a Swarovski crystal burst pattern – sort of a random scattering of stones – and we did it for an order of drapery that was 12 yards wide,” he says.

Sequeira says he was cautious with the crystal application because the drapery was comprised of a delicate, transparent fabric. “We did some test cases first, and those worked out,” he says. “It looked really cool because it was just a different effect.”

Sequeira says the project was much different from anything that Sparkle Plenty had previously done. “The idea that you can take a type of embellishment in the mindset of something that’s usually done for shirts, and do something like that – it does what people want it to do, which is create something really visually appealing,” he says.

Wearables Boot Camp - When you look in the mirror, what do you see? A confident wearables salesperson – or a fashion neophyte begging for guidance? For one distributor, the transformation began when he enlisted in our comprehensive educational program. From Wearables magazine. March, 2010.
Wearables Boot Camp
By Joe Haley
March, 2010

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? A confident wearables salesperson – or a fashion neophyte begging for guidance? For one distributor, the transformation began when he enlisted in our comprehensive educational program.

If everyone would just get with the T-shirt- and-jeans program, then all would be right in Steve Johnson’s world. In that dream scenario, the president of Simply Thankful Inc. (asi/327609) in White Lake Bear, MN, would not have to endure the stares and rolled eyes from his three children every time he had to “dress” for an event.

While Johnson takes the disapproving gestures in stride, he admits to being style challenged. Packing for trips can be dilemma. Whether it’s for a trade show or vacation, he usually relies on the assistance of his fiancé to match shirts and pants, creating outfits for each day. And his three kids often get in on the act. “I’m not really into style or trends,” he says. “I put something on and my kids say, ‘Dad, you’re not really going to wear that, are you?’ So I say, ‘OK, help me out.’” His most vocal fashion critics are often his two daughters, ages 18 and 16, but even his 12-year-old son can’t bear to watch a fashion train wreck unfold. “Sometimes he even has to help me out,” Johnson admits.

So when Wearables put out the call for a distributor who was in need of help – both with personal style and advice on selling apparel – it was Johnson who answered. He agreed to participate in a full day of apparel-related education at the ASI Show in Orlando, FL. In addition to that, he would take part in a one-on-one session with an industry supplier, gaining valuable insight as well as a new imprinted wardrobe for client visits.

The Backstory

When it comes to selling imprinted apparel, Johnson’s story is not unlike others. He was in a completely different industry but found his way into promotional products after designing a letterman jacket for handball players.

“There was never any cool handball apparel or merchandise,” Johnson says. The jackets begat tees and sweatshirts, and before he knew it, he had a company.
With the revenue coming in, Johnson and his partner decided to become full-time distributors over a decade ago, naming the company Bragging Rights. “I like the industry, it’s fun,” he says.

Things were looking up (ESPN and the University of Florida even contacted Johnson because they wanted to use the company’s trademarked name for a bowl game), but he decided to leave the industry in 2002 after going through a divorce. During that time he managed a private-school facility while also working in real estate during the housing boom, but the call of the ad specialty industry never disappeared. As a result, Johnson opened up his second distributorship, Simply Thankful. Currently, he is its only employee, working out of his home while he holds down a full-time job elsewhere.

Johnson’s goals aren’t overly ambitious. He is looking to target utility companies, a market that he worked with before under his previous distributorship. And he wants to spread his business among a variety of industries. “I’d like to find several different categories of clients,” he says. “We did a lot of business with Bragging Rights, but, I had all my eggs in one basket. I want 50 solid clients to work with and focus on year-round. I don’t think anyone needs 100 clients.”

Boot Camp D-Day

Johnson didn’t need to worry that the Wearables Boot Camp would be a Paris Island-like experience (no head shaving, name-calling or early morning calisthenics here). However, there would be intense education and consultations, something that Johnson knew he needed to improve his apparel sales.
“I’m pretty clueless when dressing,” says Johnson. “If I had a formal event to go to I would ask someone for help.” His problem? Matching colors and stripes with other patterns and knowing what looks best with certain styles.

The day of Johnson’s rite of passage brought the familiar chill of a 30-degree morning – except he was in Orlando for the ASI Show, and not his native Minnesota.

No matter the temperature, Johnson jumped into the day with the first of his five classes, sitting in the back, absorbing anything and everything the moderator was throwing out.

Over the next seven-plus hours Johnson would sit in on five sessions:
- “How To Sell Decorated Apparel – and Double Your Sales,” moderated by Ed Levy of Digitize4U
- “Apparel Sales Primer: Decorating, Sizing, Fabric Selection and More,” taught by Ira Neaman of Vantage Apparel (asi/93390)
- “Secrets from Million-Dollar Apparel Sellers,” a panel discussion lead by Nicole Rollender, Stitches editor and director of ASI Education
- “Creative Selling Into Hot Apparel Markets,” taught by Tom Flippo of Dunbrooke (asi/50930)
- “Top 10 Apparel Sales Challenges – and How to Conquer Them,” presented by Marc Held of Bodek and Rhodes (asi/40788).
- In the end, Johnson says it was worth it. “Seeing a lot of the different decorating styles was very helpful,” he says, confident that the knowledge gained will open him up to more apparel business and help him feel more prepared going into client meetings.
Johnson took that enthusiasm with him onto the show floor the next day. “Since I went to the wearables classes, I decided to walk the show floor and talk to some of those vendors,” he says. What did he find out? That he likes the idea of suppliers that do the imprinting, which is something he normally contracts out. He says, “It’s nice when you see some of these places becoming one-stop shops. I want to try them because they will help on shipping costs.”

Let’s Get Down to Business

The next phase of the Boot Camp was introducing Johnson to Paul Kory, national account manager for Vantage Apparel (asi/93390). The friendly interrogation revealed some stone-hard facts.

“You have to know a little bit about what you’re selling,” Kory says. Therefore, Johnson would be smart to get up-to-date on all the latest trends: fabrics, styles, materials, what’s hot at retail, moisture-wicking properties, UV protection, the latest versions of polyester, etc. “You have to be knowledgeable because your customer is going to ask you,” Kory says.

Kory stresses that clients see things in the stores and want to know whether or not they can have them imprinted. That makes it important when talking about the resurgence of polyester, for example, to distinguish between the properties of new polyester and the stuff that was produced in the ’70s. “Now, polyester is very lightweight, it’s comfortable and it wicks the moisture away from your body,” says Kory.

Another piece of info Kory passed on to Johnson cuts to the heart of the sales presentation. “You have to go in with a good, better, best scenario. You have to. You can build on that,” Kory says adamantly.

Finally, Kory urges Johnson to wear the apparel he’s showing his clients. And it should be logoed. “From a personal standpoint, you have to believe in it, you have to stand by it, so you should be willing to wear it. The logo has to look good and it has to be durable,” he says. In that regard, Vantage supplied Johnson with several new, imprinted pieces as part of a new wardrobe.

Making the Scene

Johnson agreed to do a live, on-air interview with the hosts of ASI Radio’s Tuesday Morning Show in Orlando. In front of several hundred show attendees waiting for the ASI Show exhibits to open, Johnson talked about his personal style challenges, the knowledge he was looking to gain and what he actually learned. And, being a good sport, he also took an on-air quiz about apparel decoration trends. Naturally, after his day-long education session, he aced the test – though the same can’t be said of the first time he took the quiz prior to the Boot Camp.

One high-profile event in Orlando is the ASI Fashion Show, and Johnson made sure to attend. Sitting alongside the catwalk with a well-earned cocktail in hand, Johnson absorbed all the apparel as well as the variety of accessories the models toted. And before it was all said and done, he was even interviewed by ASI TV to share what he learned.

Debriefing

After his full immersion in the world of wearables, Johnson is off on a new path, where his kids shouldn’t have to worry as much about what Dad is wearing out. (Perhaps he won’t be as stylish as the GQ models, but one can get away with pairing plaids and stripes and polka dots when one looks like, well, a GQ model.)

Johnson is also prepared to sell, sell and sell more wearables by offering a broader range of product categories imprinted with decoration techniques that he’s increasingly comfortable with, like laser etching and reverse-cut appliqué.

In the end, this raw recruit, who knew more than he realized, will make it just fine. (That’s our guess.) In six months we’ll check back with Johnson to will find out if our Boot Camp graduate has turned into a true apparel leader.

Joe Haley is managing editor of Wearables.

25 Fun Uses for Five Classic Products - Some classic products always strike the right promotional note. However, you can tune up their effectiveness to a higher pitch with a little ingenuity. From Advantages magazine. July, 2010.

25 Fun Uses for Five Classic Products
By Tonia Cook Kimbrough
July 2010

Some classic products always strike the right promotional note. However, you can tune up their effectiveness to a higher pitch with a little ingenuity.

Mugs Go Multifunctional

1. Spark recipients’ imaginations by customizing a mug with a poured candle inside. The gift becomes multifunctional, first as a decorative accent and scented gift. Then, after the candle is gone, the mug works for its traditional purpose as a coffee cup.

2. Create a fiesta in a cup for a fiery holiday like Cinco de Mayo, Mardi Gras or the Fourth of July. Imprint the mug with colorful symbols of the event then fill it with related paraphernalia. Themed candies, sparklers, beads, chili peppers, flags and more will help recipients celebrate.

3. Imprint a coffee mug with cooking measurements (1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/2 cup, etc.) so that the beverage holder can also be a useful tool for dinner prep. Works great for campaigns with a tagline related to “Service That Measures Up.”

4. Make coffee time into tool time by filling a mug with various handyman items, such as a measuring tape, package of screws, imprinted screwdriver, etc. Mugs are actually a great way to corral tiny fasteners at a workbench. Tie in a product message that reads, “More Time for Coffee With Our Tools on Your Side.”

5. Stock mugs with items to help employees feel better when they are under the weather. Imprinted with a message that says the employer cares, the mugs can be filled with instant-soup packets, soothing teas and throat drops. This is a great idea for cold and flu season. Gestures that build relations between employers and employees are more important than ever.

On Point With Pencils

6. Present a colorful array of logoed pencils artfully displayed as a “floral arrangement” by sticking them in a globe of florist’s foam tucked in an etched vase or bowl.

7. Get recipients involved in revealing a promotional discount by providing an imprinted pencil, blank piece of paper and an embossed piece of tin or other raised substrate in a direct-mail piece or at a trade show. Instruct participants to lay the paper over the tin and use the pencil to color over the plate to reveal the prize or discount.

8. Imprint the pencil as a ruler to add another reason to use it with frequency.

9. Appeal to the magical sense of wonder in a young audience by turning pencils into wizardly wands with clever imprints and added embellishment. Hand these out to schoolchildren with the message, “Study Hard to Make Your Dreams Come True.”

10. Go guerilla on a shoestring. Imprint a large volume of pencils as “business cards” that you leave on counters, tables and in offices around a neighborhood or in specified locations a target audience frequents. Pencils are often picked up and carried away in “finders keepers” fashion, putting your client’s name in circulation.

Flying Discs Take Flight

11. Use imprinted hard plastic flying discs as plates at a client’s next corporate picnic.

12. To engage Spring Breakers, plan a “Frisbee Golf Scavenger Hunt.” Clues imprinted on flying discs lead participants to each “hole” where they must hit a target to continue. The course eventually leads participants to a desired location, such as a sponsoring restaurant, club or resort where prizes for first, second and third place are awarded. Possible tagline: “Where Fun Takes Flight.”

13. Imprint invitations on a flexible, fold-up flying disc to announce a summertime event.

14. Design a flying disc to look like a wheel for automotive shops, imprinted with “Our Mechanics Always Steer You Right” – a great giveaway as customers ready their vehicles for summer vacations.

15. Glow-in-the-dark discs work well as crowd-pleasers for nighttime events, concerts and parades. Promoters or performers can throw imprinted discs into the audience to share brand messages and commemorative details of the occasion.

Grab ’em With Golf Balls

16. At a trade show, fill a luxury golf bag with logoed golf balls. A few balls will have prizes imprinted on them, as well (the grand prize being the bag itself). When prospects attend a brief product presentation at your client’s booth, they can draw a ball from the bag to see what they’ve won. Everyone comes away with a nice golf ball, at a minimum.

17. Use imprinted golf balls to loosely pack a small direct-mail package. The rattle will intrigue the recipient into opening the gift. Inside, tie in the campaign letter with golf terminology. For example, “There are no amateurs on our team. Let our experts help you ace your next project.”

18. Fill glass vases with logoed golf balls for table settings at your next golf event. The balls work well to hold up a floral arrangement while adding a branded touch of class to the
tablescape.

19. Use personalized golf balls as place cards at golf-themed dinners.

20. Think volume. Consider giving a large box of personalized golf balls with a company logo to key clients who you know love to play the game.

Make a Point With Playing Cards

21. Stimulate the appetite of consumers. Food or beverage brands can imprint backs of cards with cocktail or hors d’oeuvres recipes.

22. Educate new employees about key corporate personnel and departments with customized playing cards giving their “stats” on the back.

23. Introduce new products by outlining their features and benefits on playing cards destined for dealer networks.

24. Kick off a sales incentive program with cards that feature awards and travel destinations.

25. Provide customer tips, support numbers and important equipment information on playing cards to give to buyers when they’re considering an electronic or mechanical system. The message: “Our System Is the Safe Bet.”

7 Ways to Stand Out From the Crowd - A strong brand identity elicits trust from your clients, and trust from your clients begets more business. Here’s how to market yourself as a pro. From Advantages magazine. July, 2010.

7 Ways to Stand Out From the Crowd
By Jennifer Vishnevsky
July 2010

SHARE & BOOKMARK

A strong brand identity elicits trust from your clients, and trust from your clients begets more business. Here’s how to market yourself as a pro.

There are the logos we can’t mistake – the Starbucks mermaid, Nike’s swoosh, Tiffany’s blue box, McDonald’s golden arches. These iconic enterprises have been perfectly branded as experts in coffee, athletic apparel, baubles and burgers. s There are also the people who have successfully branded themselves as confident experts in their respective fields. Think Oprah, Donald Trump and Bono for starters. s When it comes to success in sales, too, there’s much to be said for standing out from the crowd. Here are proven ways seven of your peers are branding themselves as experts their clients can count on for all of their promotional needs.

1. Start a Video Series
Be a little off the wall.

When it comes to standing out among distributors, it helps to show a little spunk. Keith Wilson, account executive for PromoShop (asi/300446), launched a video series to show off products. The videos begin with Wilson singing a rap song: “I grant three wishes ’cause I’m Promogenie. My competition’s played out like Sergio Tacchini. If you’re lookin’ for the best and I’m not just in the West. Put me to the test, cause the genie never rests. I’ve been takin’ care of clients for a decade and a half. Livin’ off referrals, now you do the math.”

Recently Wilson began doing his own “flip of the month” – he shoots a video of new products and sends it to his clients. “I’m doing something different to stand out. I stay fresh and differentiate myself by being in front of my clients and prospects,” he says.

Wilson has found that the videos really resonate with his clients. “It’s easy to delete e-mails and screen calls, but a video keeps them captivated,” he says. And for someone who isn’t very computer-savvy, he can still dress up in genie garb and do something ingenious as part of the video. “I go way out of the box so that I can touch someone around the world with one click,” he says. Luckily, he’s been able to make sales because of the video – he has had clients come to him because the video popped up in their e-mail and reminded them of something they needed to buy.

TAKEAWAY TIP

If you’ve decided to go on camera to provide regular, educational content, be unique. “You can’t just pick an item out of a catalog. It has to be different,” Wilson says. “You need to get to people and grow your business at every moment. You need to have some exclusivity so that the only place they can find the item in the video is with you.” He, for one, likes to find the offbeat vendors and pitch their items that distributors can’t find just anywhere.

2. Write a Book
Focus your experience.

At Custom Design Marketing Inc. (CDM, asi/173073), Bob Dawson decided to incorporate his knowledge of the incentive and recognition industry. Since he joined CDM almost three years ago, he has developed a proven method of demonstrating how incentive and recognition programs can show a true ROI.

Dawson started thinking about ways that he had been helping his clients grow sales, and he decided to write a thesis about getting a return on an incentive investment. He tied financials to incentive programs, and showed the final product to his appreciative clients. When others in the industry began approaching him about the work he published, he realized that there was an opportunity to share the message about how he combined two careers.

Dawson met with a professional writer and explained the work he was doing. He collaborated with the writer and published The Secret to Incentive Program Success: Incentive ROI That Makes Bean Counters Smile! Over the years, he has also authored several other books about the industry and ROI.

Every time Dawson meets a new prospect, he is asked whether his strategies have worked for a company. “People like stories. They want to read something that sounds like it could work for their business,” he says.

TAKEAWAY TIP

If you’re ready to brand yourself by writing a book, make it as real as possible. “There are a lot of theory books that come out, but the author hasn’t done what they are writing about,” Dawson says. He advises against just interviewing different industry folks, and encourages potential authors to know what they are writing about. “If you’ve experienced it, write success stories, things that worked or didn’t,” he adds. He recommends that authors should offer solutions, not just point out what’s wrong in a consulting role.

3. Specialize in a Niche
Trust in your creativity.

Many years ago, Rick Georges, president of Georges Communications Inc. (asi/204609), was in charge of the bachelor party for one of his best buddies. He created a T-shirt by hand with fun dares written on it that the bachelor had to complete on his “Last Night Out.”

At the party, people asked where the shirt came from. Georges says, “Over the next few months a couple more friends, and friends of friends, got married and also threw bachelor and bachelorette parties. They asked me to create Last Night Out dare shirts for them too.”

Georges realized quickly that there was a market for the Last Night Out shirts. He designed logos for the bachelor and bachelorette and started selling a few hundred of the shirts around Ohio. A handful of stores and bars purchased them – and kept reordering.

Then one day 10 years ago, Georges walked into a Spencer Gifts store and noticed that they sold bachelorette party supplies, and his wheels started turning. His initial promotion included mailing a bachelor and a bachelorette Last Night Out shirt to Spencer Gifts. “They placed their first order for 3,600 shirts,” he says. In the first three months he received reorders totaling more than $80,000.

Georges saw the potential for the addition of other products then, too. He looked to industry suppliers for some ideas, including hanging shot glasses, glow badges, sashes and name tags. “Adding these new products through ASI suppliers helped grow my business, which started with just two T-shirts, to $1.5 million in sales per year selling just bachelor and bachelorette products. I now sell to over 1,000 stores in addition to Spencer’s 700-plus stores,” he says.

TAKEAWAY TIP

If you’re looking to specialize in a niche market, choose something new, fun and innovative, if that’s appropriate. “Make it something that the customer wants to keep and use,” says Georges. “You want your logo in front of them daily.”

4. Teach What You Know
Showcase your area of expertise.

Before she started her own company, Debbie Honig was buying promotional products in the corporate world. Through the companies she worked for, she could see that promotional products reinforced the business.

Now the president of Active Concepts Inc. (asi/104857), Honig started speaking more than a decade ago to college students and coaching organizations about how to put the buzz in their business. “When I started lecturing at the Fashion Institute of Technology, I was teaching some classes there about how to promote and market their brand. I’d talk to many different types of students to explain the marketing aspect,” she says.

Honig finds the benefit of teaching students is twofold. “Their eyes are wide open because they haven’t been taught any of this. I come in and walk around the room and I’m coaching them on how to promote their business,” she says. She mentions that the students start to see the world outside of textbooks. And most importantly, “I’m learning from them and they’re learning from me,” she adds.

After the class is over, Honig offers a free consultation for the students working on a project or a problem. “Sometimes, they turn me over to their bosses and then I ask if I can come in to make a presentation,” she says. She’s also started mentoring two distributors due to her speaking engagements. “The more you speak to a targeted audience, the more clear and focused you become on what your goals are,” she adds.

TAKEAWAY TIP

If you want to teach what you know, reach out to your network. “I received two master’s degrees from New York University and Baruch College, so I had a relationship with their human resources department,” Honig says. “I let them know that if they needed a speaker, I would be available in marketing or mentoring.” Through meeting people and networking, she was able to fill in for various speakers and then earn some teaching assignments.

Honig also recommends reaching out to related organizations and letting them know that you are looking to get into speaking. Prior to becoming a teacher, she had to work her way up with interviews and presentations.

5. Become an Extension of Your Client’s Department
Help them achieve their goals.

When the economy started to sputter last year, Noel Garcia, managing director at Boundless Network Inc. (asi/143717), sat down with his client to devise a plan to help them save money. He had been working with the client for eight years. Overall, their procurement department had a goal to reduce spending by $30 million.

Garcia came up with a way to reduce their inventory requirements by 80%. He put together a presentation and showed his client different ways to save money, ranging from distribution and handling fees to inventory capacity. “The client had been carrying around $150,000 to $250,000 worth of inventory, so we were able to come up with a solution to reduce inventory down to $30,000,” he says. By working with the client to create the presentation, he was able to take the relationship to the next level.

He has always been a partner, but last year, Garcia really became an extension of the client’s department. He even helped with international presentations to their management team. “The relationship has allowed me to have a lot more visibility into the account and the people who are involved. Salespeople face a challenge, being on the outside,” he says. “We’re on the same team. The relationship has created a lot more stickiness between us and the client.”
Garcia’s reward was a three-year exclusive contract, which should result in a threefold increase in business. “As they saw the value that I can provide as far as helping them achieve their objectives, it increased the trust in our relationship,” he says.

TAKEAWAY TIP

To become an extension of your client’s department, you need to learn to listen. “Talk business when the situation is right, but it’s important to let your client do the talking. You’ll find out what’s important to them,” Garcia says. By listening, he was able to find out where his client’s focus was and dig deeper into that area. “I found out more about the opportunities that exist to make a small order bigger. If you talk all the time, you miss those opportunities,” he says.

Garcia also notes that to become an extension of your client, “You have to get to know them and be comfortable. They need to share things with you. Then, you’re not working against them to make money. They will feel that and open up,” he says.

6. Special Service for Special Events
Assist with the details.

About 10 years ago, Paula Gossett, sales rep with Brown & Bigelow (asi/148500), started taking note of her regular, loyal clients and volunteered to work alongside them at their events, basically becoming a part of their team. She was already booking regular business with these clients, so she was focusing on providing added value and strengthening interpersonal relationships.

Case in point: One client was having a very large event on the island of Oahu, HI. There were 1,000 attendees. Gossett provided several items for this event and had everything shipped to the hotel. “I flew out and worked with the client for five, 12-hour days, getting everything set up, stuffing goodie bags, polishing awards, etc., and I did this at my own expense,” she says.

“One item we provided was Aloha Shirts with the client’s logo as part of the pattern of the fabric. ... totally custom job,” Gossett says. “Since the shirts were done overseas it made sense to bring them in to the country through the Port of Honolulu instead of into L.A. and then shipping them back. The only hitch was to figure out who would receive the shirts, count them and store them until the event.”

Gossett located a large commercial laundry and contracted with them to receive the shirts, count, press, hang, bag them and deliver them to the hotel. The laundry even placed the shirts on a rack by size so that it was very easy for the hotel to do room drops.

“The client is still talking about this,” Gosset says. The event is held annually and she does about $250,000 in sales a year with them. She notes that helping at special events is also a way to meet other contacts within the company. “I have extremely loyal clients. The projects are never bid out,” she says.

TAKEAWAY TIP

How can you follow in Gossett’s footsteps? “Put yourself in your client’s shoes and anticipate the things that they might need. Then do them,” she says. “It’s all about added value. Create the relationships and watch everything blossom from there.” Also help them manage their time. “Anytime you can take something off of their plate, it’s going to be very well-received,” she says. “For example, if they’re collating a large wearables order, you can offer to put all of that into a spreadsheet for them.”

7. Become a Public Speaker
Share what works.

For Mike Beckman, head of Proforma-BPM (asi/300094), giving presentations stemmed from a desire to share what was working for him. After Proforma asked him to share his knowledge at a national convention, he decided to hit the public-speaking circuit, because he enjoyed it so much. He earned a spot as a panelist for several education tracks at The ASI Show Orlando and will be giving three presentations at The ASI Show Chicago this month. Locally, Beckman offers his presentations to various chambers of commerce and business organizations. He recently spoke at the North Fulton Chamber and a local rotary club. “I enjoy sharing my insights into marketing so that others can possibly learn something that will expand their own business,” he says. “It’s also a great way to solidify my own personal thinking. Bringing business to myself is really an afterthought. My mindset is that if I provide a service to others, that service will come back to me in some shape or form.”

Beckman cites his public speaking engagements when he speaks to customers and prospects. “I can literally tell people that I’m an industry expert because I speak on it and share my knowledge. I tell people that they can learn from an expert like me,” he says. After recently speaking at a local chamber of commerce, he also booked two jobs.

TAKEAWAY TIP

According to Beckman, sharing is caring. “If you have something that sets you apart and it can benefit others, you should share it.” He recommends giving back as a way to brand yourself as a guru on the topic. “If it’s my idea to begin with, I know more about it. There’s no reason that the rest of the industry can’t benefit from that knowledge,” he says. He also recommends starting a blog: “We share our insights with our clients every day.”

Jennifer Vishnevsky is a staff writer for Advantages.

OUTSIDE THE BOX

Here, our outside sales experts offer their tips on specific ways to set yourself apart from the competition.
• Put your ideas out there. According to Anthony Signorelli, founder of Signorelli & Associates Inc., a training, design and consulting firm, “The only way to be an expert and convince people of it is to have content in an area that you can speak and write about. People need to have a way to see what you’re all about.” He also recommends creating a profile on
LinkedIn.
• Determine your area of expertise. “Find out who you are trying to talk to and be clear about that,” Signorelli says. He recommends avoiding the temptation of being an expert in everything. “You have to brand yourself to a pretty specific market,” he says. He advises focusing on one area and learning about how to communicate a focused message to a target audience.
• Coauthor a book. Michael Cannon, founder of Silver Bullet Group, has coauthored several books on sales and marketing. “Do it with an existing sales expert. There are a few companies out there that provide that type of service,” he says. “All I had to do was write a 15- to 20-page chapter in the book. The publisher creates versions of the book so that each author gets their picture on the front cover.” He encourages reps to hand out the books when prospecting so that they become branded an expert by association. “It’s a great way to build brand recognition and establish credibility,” he says.
• Use case studies and testimonials. According to Cannon, “If you say you’re great, most people will be skeptical. If other people say you’re great, the credibility factor is higher.” He recommends including case studies and testimonials on your website. “Once you have them on your website, you can sprinkle testimonial quotes on every page,” he adds.

Test Your Creative Power - Think you’re creative? Looking to be more creative? Take our quiz to measure your talents and get some new ideas on how to stimulate your business imagination. From Counselor magazine. March, 2010.

Test Your Creative Power
By Dave Vagnoni
March 2010

Think you’re creative? Looking to be more creative? Take our quiz to measure your talents and get some new ideas on how to stimulate your business imagination.

1) Which pair of qualities most
accurately describes you?
a) resilient and outgoing
b) understanding and honest
c) patient and trusting
d) curious and persistent

2) If you had unlimited money to spend, which of the following new cars would you buy?
a) black Ferrari Enzo
b) orange Porsche Carrera GT
c) blue BMW 7-Series
d) white Toyota Yaris
e) silver Honda Pilot

3) As an account manager, you’re looking for ideas for a cutting-edge marketing campaign. You seek advice from:
a) your boss
b) the janitor
c) a consulting firm
d) a crystal ball

4) Which of the following are you most likely to do?
a) sing in the shower
b) write in a journal
c) go to a drive-in movie
d) text message a friend from your desk

5) Which of these marketing plans do you like the most?
a) maintaining a consistent logo and tagline for many years
b) re-branding a logo and tagline every few years
c) joining at least three social networking sites
d) sending frequent press releases

6) You own a company with 50 employees. At 4:00 on a Friday afternoon in October, your staff is:
a) in a new-product training session
b) in a meeting planning next week’s sales strategies
c) cold-calling
d) eating pizza and playing office
Olympics

7) At a local chamber of commerce event, you are most comfortable doing which of these?
a) passing out your business card
b) doing more listening than talking
c) talking about new products you can offer
d) talking about new services you can offer

8) When facing a problem that you’re struggling to solve, you most often do which of the following?
a) take a walk
b) squeeze a stress ball
c) ask a colleague for help
d) research a solution on the Internet

9) You’re in charge of organizing an office retreat to increase creativity. Which of the following activities do you plan?
a) going on a nature hike
b) role-playing a negotiation session
c) holding a tug-of-war match
d) all of the above

10) You’re driving through a small town on your way to a trade show that begins in two hours. Suddenly, it begins to rain and your navigation system loses its signal. What do
you do?
a) keep driving in the direction you were headed, hoping the weather clears
b) call a friend to ask for directions
c) call your boss to let him/her know you might be late to the show
d) restart your navigation system and wait for a signal

11) Thanks to a brilliant idea, you’ve just won new business from a major client. What do you do next?
a) since you’re feeling lucky, you try to pursue other accounts
b) you go buy yourself an ice cream sundae
c) you send your client a thank-you card
d) you stay humble and continue your work schedule and routine

12) You’re stuck in a burning tower that’s 50 feet high. You have 25 feet of heavy rope, a pack of chewing gum, goggles and a pair of scissors. To escape you:
a) jump and hope you land softly
b) use the chewing gum and rope to reach the ground
c) use the goggles to put out the fire
d) use the rope and scissors to reach the ground

13) Which most closely resembles your daily schedule?
a) 10 hours of work, dinner with family, watch TV, six hours of sleep
b) 10 hours of work, watch kids play sports, search the Web, eight hours of sleep
c) Nine hours of work, exercise, drinks with friends, six hours of sleep
d) Nine hours of work, nap, dinner, reading, eight hours of sleep

14) You’re charged with making more money for a struggling circus. Which of the following strategies do you employ?
a) offer fewer shows, but charge more money
b) offer more shows, and charge less money
c) hold a fundraising gala
d) hire a new ring-leader, but keep all the other performers

15) Your goal for 2010 is to encourage creativity among your sales staff. You should:
a) tell them to eat together in the cafeteria
b) tell them to volunteer at a prison
c) buy them new computers
d) send them to the doctor to take stress tests

16) You’ve been given a special assignment by your company. Your job is to visit a state fair and find the most creative person to be your company’s new marketing director. Who do you hire?
a) a clown
b) the judge of a pie-eating contest
c) the attractive magician who is also a makeup model
d) the teenager who just won a huge stuffed animal by playing a game

17) You’re scheduled to give a presentation tomorrow morning to potential investors. After dinner tonight, you should:
a) watch a horror movie
b) iron the clothes you’re going to wear
c) go to a bar, have a glass of wine and relax
d) practice hand gestures in the mirror

18) When do you most often hold brainstorming meetings?
a) between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
b) during smoke breaks
c) between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
d) on late-night conference calls

19) You notice a friend looks a bit depressed. Which question are you most likely to ask?
a) What’s up with you?
b) Why do you look so sad?
c) How’s it going?
d) Hey, what happened?

20) In a brainstorming session with your sales team, you most often say which of these phrases?
a) I like these two ideas the best.
b) I love you guys!
c) Yeah, that’s great, but not for this client.
d) I want to hear the dumbest idea you’ve got!

21) How many words can be formed from the letters P-R-O-M-O?
a) five
b) seven
c) 11
d) 12

Answer Key

1) D
Reason: There is consensus among psychologists that curiosity is a key to creativity. Also, creative people tend to be persistent and don’t easily give up on what they believe.

2) C
Reason: A University of British Columbia study has linked the color blue to creativity.

3) B
Reason: To find innovative ideas, creativity coaches suggest speaking to people who have limited knowledge of your field of business. These people aren’t limited by commonly held beliefs. Children can also be great resources.

4) B
Reason: To increase creativity and idea generation, many psychologists recommend spending time writing each day.

5) B
Reason: Many creativity coaches advise companies to re-brand every few years to help business owners consider the future and expand their imaginations. Often cited is the marketing plan of McDonald’s, which has used 23 different slogans in its 70 years in business.

6) D
Reason: Researchers say having fun and being in a good mood helps people be more creative.

7) B
Reason: Some psychologists argue that high-level listening skills can translate into creative thinking.

8) A
Reason: Significant research, including a study at Indiana University Bloomington, has found that increasing psychological distance can boost creativity and aid in problem solving.

9) D
Reason: Psychologists generally agree that spending time in nature, considering different viewpoints and taking part in heated competition increases creativity.

10) B
Reason: The most creative people aggressively look for solutions and have disdain for the status quo.

11) B
Reason: While it’s important to show appreciation to your client, creativity coaches say quickly rewarding great ideas with positive reinforcement (like ice cream) often leads to more great ideas.

12) D
Reason: Psychologists use a variation of this problem to test creative thinking. To escape, you cut the rope in half length-wise and tie the two pieces together.

13) D
Reason: Increasing research, including a University of California San Diego study, links sleep with creative problem solving. Creativity is enhanced further if a nap produces rapid-eye-movement sleep.

14) B
Reason: Creative psychologists say ideas that seem to make the least sense (at first) often can be tweaked to be successful ones. Actor Tim Robbins was in a similar position with his failing theater company in Los Angeles. In doing the opposite of what initially made sense (he increased shows and lowered prices), Robbins turned the company around.

15) B
Reason: Researchers say one of the most effective ways to increase creativity is by embracing wildly new experiences. In contrast, comfort zones block creativity.

16) A
Reason: Studies show a good sense of humor contributes to creativity, so you should hire the clown. Conversely, someone who is judgmental is often limiting and is afraid to take risks.
17) A
Reason: Research shows high emotion can heighten creativity, helping you merge ideas.

18) A
Reason: Between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., research shows the brain has moderate levels of the stress hormone cortisol, making it the best time for focus and creativity.

19) B
Reason: Creative thinkers tend to ask questions that begin with “why” instead of other words. Asking “why” also usually generates conversation and can lead to solutions.

20) D
Reason: Creativity coaches say you should give your staff freedom to think differently, even asking for outlandish ideas. It’s called pie-in-the-sky thinking.

21) C
Reason: Creative-minded people excel at seeing different answers to questions. In case you’re wondering, the 11 words are: or, pro, mop, pom, moo, room, romp, prom, poor, moor and promo. Yes, moo totally counts.

Scoring
21 Correct – Creative Genius – We want to hire you.
17-20 Correct – Creative Guru – Just call yourself Captain Creativity.
13-16 Correct – Creative Expert – You should ask for a raise (or give yourself one).
9-12 correct – Creative Professional – The ad specialties industry is for you.
5-8 correct – Creative Student – You’re a bit of an understudy, but the talent is there.
0-4 correct – Creative Novice – Read this issue of Counselor every day this month from cover to cover.

Dave Vagnoni is a staff writer for Counselor.

Game Changer: How To Craft A Creative Sales Approach - On some level, most salespeople are the same. They call clients, pitch their products and services, cold-call prospects, and ultimately, try to close deals. Some do it better than others. And some simply live for the deal – doing everything they possibly can to get a client to agree to sign on the dotted line. From Counselor magazine. March, 2010.
Game Changer: How To Craft A Creative Sales Approach
By Betsy Cummings
March 2010

On some level, most salespeople are the same. They call clients, pitch their products and services, cold-call prospects, and ultimately, try to close deals. Some do it better than others. And some simply live for the deal – doing everything they possibly can to get a client to agree to sign on the dotted line.

But what sets good salespeople apart from the rest? In a word, creativity. It’s the salesperson who calls with an original proposal, who offers a unique promotional idea, who creates an out-of-this-world brand for themselves that truly succeeds in the ad specialty market.

There are many people calling on the same clients, offering information on the newest USB drives and desk accessories to make their promotional campaigns shine. But how many are really listening to their clients’ marketing pain points and trying to craft actual solutions to those problems? How many go out of their way to hand-deliver their own marketing campaigns to prospects? How many throw elaborate parties for their customer bases?

These are the types of sales strategies that savvy distributors are employing right now. Because they know one simple rule of sales: The only way to stand out from the crowd is to have an entirely unique go-to-market approach.

Indeed, in today’s market, exceptional creativity may be the best way to do that. But does that mean distributors will have to spend a fortune on outlandish exhibits or extravagant thank-you gifts for clients? Hardly.

Counselor found distributors who are using inexpensive, creative ways to grab client attention. Read on to see how they’re doing it.

Promoting Piracy

It’s all in a day’s work to transform into a pirate, says Maria Perez, president of AIA New Dimensions in Marketing Inc., (asi/109480), based in Elmsford, NY.

Last fall Perez and her staff donned swashbuckling gear at an end-user show to which clients were invited via boarding passes for a ship. The passes asked guests if they were “sailing first class” on one side. The response on the facing side of the card read, “So are we, in the promotional products marketplace.” The show was free for guests.

Why the pirate attire and not just a simple invite to come and see AIA New Dimensions in Marketing’s products? It’s all about standing out, says Perez, whose company organizes an annual costume-themed extravaganza for its customers. Past shows have focused on safari and ocean themes.

Perez says, “Clients were going nuts over this,” and the company landed several orders on the spot from some of the 110 customers and contacts who attended. “They’re actual buyers, not just anybody coming for the freebies,” Perez says.

Guests who attended the five-hour event were not only privy to the latest and hottest promotional products, but were also invited to attend either of two seminars: one on how to use calendars (courtesy of a Norwood Promotional Products rep) and another on the best ways to use awards and recognition pieces.
Attendees were also treated to a pirate-themed full lunch (dessert included) and were shuttled in private cars from their offices in the New York area – some as far as New Jersey – to the AIA New Dimensions offices and back. “We were trying to entice them,” says Perez. “I hired a car service, because I knew they wouldn’t take the train;” the car service made four or five trips throughout the day. When guests arrived, they were given light-up pirate hats. “Clients were asking, ‘When’s the next one?’ ” Perez says.

Done well, this is the kind of promotion and sales strategy that can keep clients coming back for more, says Steve Carroll, CEO of Lee DuBois Technologies, a sales consultancy in Ft. Myers, FL.

“There are three levels of a compelling sales or marketing message,” says Carroll, the author of Prospect or Perish, Make Every Sales Second Count. “The first level is generic, where one size fits all.” (Think mass mailings.) “The second level is targeted. The third level is the most valuable, and that’s when you personalize a message.”

While the pirate theme might not have been personalized, it certainly was targeted, Carroll says.

Superhero Sales

Call The P.O.P. Shop (asi/202900), a Geiger-owned company based in Alpharetta, GA, and you’ll be greeted with this message: “Hello! Your signal has been reached by the marketing superheroes at The P.O.P. Shop. Do not leave your marketing needs to mere mortals.”

A soothing, southern-accented voice on the company’s phone system prompts callers to dial the appropriate extension for departments like superhero sales or superhero customer service.

Visitors to the company’s Web site are greeted by the company’s superhero family – El Deflecto, Creative Inferno, Flythang and others. Each one has a bio detailing his or her superpowers – a lead pencil for a fingertip in the case of Creative Inferno, for example. The seamlessness of how The P.O.P. Shop is branded – from the phone system to its superhero-based sales presentations – is a crucial selling technique, says Brian Beam, one of the company’s marketing superheroes.

“We believe in the fact that if you can’t brand yourself, then how is the client going to trust you with their brand?” Beam asks.

Rather than a standard voicemail system, Beam and his wife Sonya, another company superhero, who work mostly out of their home, thought a voicemail system could seriously elevate the degree to which they engage clients and prospects. “It almost makes talking to voicemail fun,” says Brian, rather than simply passing a caller to an extension through routine voice prompts.

To remain creative for clients, the Beams create regular promotions for their own firm, in part to give clients a sense of how creative they are. In February, for example, they launched the “What Do You Love?” sweepstakes in which clients were asked to type in what they love – about anything – on the company’s Web site. One winner received a $200 iTunes gift certificate.

Responses include, “I love a slice of pizza in the morning” and, “I love Starbucks.” The first two days of the promotion brought in 39 new registrants to the company’s Web site and 28 new P.O.P. Shop followers on Facebook, which is linked to the What Do You Love?
promotion.

Consistency in branding is crucial to creativity and sales success, Carroll says. The P.O.P. Shop’s heroes are professionally illustrated throughout an organized Web site and clever phone system, as well as in communication pieces. It’s gimmicky, but it works. Other distributors, Carroll cautions, may want to make sure that any theme they incorporate so pervasively throughout their business model doesn’t confuse prospects. The key to this kind of creative branding and sales strategy is to stick with it – make it a part of everything you do, and clients will come to expect it.

The Ultimate Drop-By

When Mike Beckman cold-calls, he doesn’t bother to phone ahead. He simply drops by with his “warm-call intro.” That amounts to an unusual direct-mail piece that Beckman, marketing strategist for Proforma-BPM (asi/491193) in Cumming, GA, hand-delivers to a select group of prospects.

A recent attention grabber was a small cage built by Beckman with change inside. “This was in a box that had a question on the outside asking if the recipient was ‘Afraid of Change?’ ” Beckman says. Inside was a card letting the recipient know that Proforma-BPM could help them find a new vendor – namely, Proforma-BPM.

On another occasion, Beckman dropped off a decorated gift box with a small clock inside and a card explaining that his company was giving prospects the “gift of time,” since the prospects, Proforma-BPM promised, would “save time by working with us,” he says.

Taking direct mail one step further, Beckman says it’s crucial sometimes to deliver mail himself rather than waiting for the post office to do it. “If you mail something, you have no idea when they’ll open it,” he says. “If you drop it off, they get a phone call from the front desk and they have to open it.”

This is a tactic Beckman relies on monthly, usually delivering original pieces to somewhere between five and 10 prospects. “These are people I’ve never met before,” he says, but they’re ones he’s targeting based upon a demographic he’s interested in working with or a type of company he’d like to do more business with.

After dropping off the cages of change to five prospects, Beckman landed two meetings, as well as a request to call back the following month. Two others never responded. But a response rate of more than 50% isn’t bad, he says – much better than a massive direct-mail campaign that would be far costlier.

When dropping off a mailer, Carroll suggests that distributors think carefully about how the package will be received by the prospect – not just physically, but also psychologically. “How do you want them to feel when they open up the box?” he asks.

The beauty of such drop-offs, if done right, is that they “avoid the ‘breathing brochure’ syndrome,” Carroll says. If what a distributor presents through direct mail or in person is essentially the same information found in a company brochure, marketing materials or a catalog, the prospect or client is likely to think, “I can read the brochure and I don’t need you,” Carroll says. “That’s a breathing brochure” – a problem that makes the distributor obsolete. “You’ve got to go beyond that and do something special.”

Shaking The IDEA Tree

At the top of a page taken from a presentation folder made by SwervePoint (asi/340679) is written this bit of boastfulness: “We’re a fun, creative bunch that’s passionate about products and energized by ideas.”

Emphasis is placed on the word “creative,” with two arrows hovering above to draw readers’ eyes in to that very word. That’s where the competitive edge occurs as far as Juli Sinnett and Jamie Mair are concerned; they’re the Boston-based company’s principals of client services, and marketing and merchandising, respectively.

So, to illustrate SwervePoint’s commitment to creativity, the company “planted” an IDEA (identify, develop, execute and assess) Tree, a creative approach to doing business – and an idea illustrated throughout the company’s communications pieces – that metaphorically informs every decision and interaction they have with clients.

In fact, the tree, which looks more like a vine with its spiraling branches, also represents a uniform network of sales offices worldwide. No matter if clients are dealing with SwervePoint in London, New York or Boston, “They’ll get the same client experience,” says Sinnett. “That’s something that feels great because promotional products is such a fragmented industry.”

Working off the notion that team members climb up into the tree to pluck ideas from its branches, Sinnett and Mair say they’re able to provide a more creative, consultative sale to prospects and clients. “It’s more of a metaphor to open the door,” Sinnett says.

That kind of thinking is smart, Carroll says. In today’s market it’s important to reassure clients with strong imagery and language that speaks to their need for creative consultation. Ultimately, he says, distributors should want prospects and clients to “feel elated, positive, and confident.”

Betsy Cummings is senior writer for Counselor.

Keeping It Creative

Want to wow your customers with creative sales techniques? You should. After all, creativity is one of the main services that clients and prospects are seeking from advertising specialty companies.

Here are a few tips to infuse creativity into your sales efforts.
- Guard the gimmicks. Gimmicks are great, says Steve Carroll, CEO of Lee DuBois Technologies, a sales consultancy based in Ft. Myers, FL. Just make sure that they’re clever, not silly. Too many gimmicks, he says, “can be a danger point, because it’s limiting in the marketplace.”
- Make it personal. In today’s hyper-competitive marketplace it’s not enough to simply target an ideal group of customers. Marketing and sales pitches need to be highly personalized. One distributor, Mike Beckman, marketing strategist for Proforma-BPM (asi/491193) in Cumming, GA, personally delivers handmade, 3-D mailing pieces to a limited audience of prospects (as few as five). The in-person delivery adds an extra personal touch and gives Beckman a better sense of when a package has been opened.
- Be the ultimate brand. When The P.O.P. Shop (asi/202900), a Geiger-owned company based in Alpharetta, GA, formed its latest business model it did so with one thought in mind: If we can’t brand ourselves, how can our customers expect us to help them develop a brand? So the company created a superhero theme that is incorporated in everything they do, from their phone system to their sales presentations, says Sonya Beam, one of the company’s designated marketing superheroes (as they’re called on their Web site).
  The idea is to give yourself and your company a unique identity that dictates sales strategy and how you present the company to clients. Make it something that will differentiate you from other businesses – and stick with it. You need to be dedicated to the creative approach or it won’t work.
Creating More Selling Time

Ad specialty distributors often spend so much time on tasks that don’t involve selling – fulfilling orders, following up on invoices and talking to suppliers, just to name a few – that they neglect their main objectives. Yes, you need to create as much time in your day as possible for dealing directly with clients.

Carving out time for prospecting, cold-calling, following up on sales proposals and crafting new promotional programs for current clients is vital for distributors. You can’t get so caught up in other administrative tasks that you forget the thing that’s most important to your business: bringing in revenue.
Here are four tips to ensure you’re spending more time selling. These come from Scott Gingold, CEO of consulting firm Powerfeedback (www.powerfeedback.com), who specializes in helping businesses prioritize their time and go-to-market strategies.
1. Get up early.
  “A lot of businesspeople you deal with today are starting earlier,” Gingold says. “A lot of times, people have to get out of the mindset that the business day starts at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. It doesn’t. It starts earlier than that. I try to schedule myself a 6:30 a.m. coffee, 8 a.m. breakfast, another coffee at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. lunch.”
2. Don’t be a slave to e-mail.
  “It’s easy to fall into the trap of checking e-mail every two minutes rather than setting up a schedule for it,” Gingold says. “Have selling time, whether it’s on the phone or face-to-face.”
3. Consolidate appointments.
  “If I’m getting in the car and have to drive 10 miles, I’d better be looking at that map and saying, ‘Who else can I see?’ even if it’s just a courtesy call,” Gingold says. “If you’re right there, you might as well meet a current customer.”
4. Reinforce a positive attitude.
  Sometimes distributors shy away from selling because they’ve come to fear rejection. Turn that around by focusing on current clients that appreciate you and your business – the change in tone should help your confidence level. “If you’re getting doors slammed in your face, pop in somewhere that loves you and loves your company,” Gingold says. “You’ve got to keep pushing that rock up the hill.”
4 Steps To A Creative Sales Approach
1. Never say no. Being a creative partner to your clients means finding a way to always say “yes” to unique requests. Be the go-to distributor for the wackiest of promotions.
2. Think of new products to use. Many distributors look for untraditional products not normally found in the ad specialty industry so that they can surprise their clients. This approach will make you stand out.
3. A budget isn’t always a budget. Clients will often spend more than they planned for a creative promotion that will gain them attention. Offer options within their budgets, as well as other slightly more expensive options that will gain notoriety.
4. Position yourself in a creative manner. Distributors should be spending more time promoting themselves in unique ways to gain attention for their services. You can’t expect to be able to charge for creative services if you don’t promote your company as one that will surely get attention for its clients.

15 Sales Myths Busted - When it comes to sales, conventional wisdom is not always so wise. From Advantages magazine. July, 2010.

15 Sales Myths Busted
By Alex Palmer
July 2010

SHARE & BOOKMARK

When it comes to sales, conventional wisdom is not always so wise.

Bookstores, websites and infomercials offer countless pieces of advice on what it takes to boost sales. But, when it comes to selling promotional products, some of the conventional wisdom is not always on the mark, and may even be the opposite of what a sales rep or business owner should be doing if they are looking to bring in more business or hold onto existing clients.

“These myths get perpetuated because we want to assign some sort of value to what worked and want to be able to repeat it,” says Michael Port, author of The Contrarian Effect: Why it Pays (Big) to Take Typical Sales Advice and Do the Opposite. He points to notions like “sales is a numbers game” or that it’s key to “Always Be Closing (ABC),” as examples of where short-term tactics have supplanted the long-term goals of effective sellers. “When the person makes the sale, they may say, ‘Oh, I closed that sale because I used this tactic,’ when in reality they probably closed the sale in spite of that tactic,” he says.

Port is among the many experts and industry insiders who say that for truly effective selling, a different set of rules may apply for sellers. This month, we separate fact from fiction.

The Myth:
It takes a hard sell to make a sale.

The Truth:
You’re more likely to get business by not “selling.”

Sales literature is packed with stories of those who push through the doubts of skeptical clients, eventually convincing them of the value of their product and winning the customer’s business. But many in the industry say this can actually hurt business. “I am the farthest thing from a salesperson that you can ever imagine. I hate being sold to and I hate selling to people,” says Kathy Robinson, owner of WilKat Marketing and Specialty Promotions (asi/394019). “I offer my customers solutions, and if they want the solution, then we work well together. But I don’t try to ‘sell’ anything – I don’t like that word.”

Looking at what problems customers need to have solved, instead of how much money could be made, is an approach many distributors advocate. Robinson gives the example of a track coach she helped with a one-off order of flags for an event. Unprompted, the coach called two months later to order glow-in-the-dark cups and bracelets for a fundraiser. “It was just fun to help him out, and it seems to just come back to me over and over when I do that,” says Robinson.

Rob Knaszak, president of PDS Corporate Sales (asi/290671), says that even if a salesperson was to convince a skeptical client of the value of promotional products, the client might simply go for it on that single order and never be heard from again. “I can’t walk into a business owner’s office and convince them promotional products are going to help them sell their next power plant,” he says. “Either they are that way or they’re not, and they will reach out when they have a need. There’s never been that ‘light bulb’ moment during a sales meeting where I came up with a pitch that made someone who didn’t value promotional products suddenly value them.”

Knaszak says this is something sales reps too often have to learn the hard way. In his own experience, he has had huge companies unwilling to budget more than a fraction of what even some of his smallest clients spend on promotional products, and there’s little that can be done to sway them toward investing more. “I’ve had relatives that have companies who just don’t believe in promotional products, so I don’t try to sell them,” he says. “There are certain companies that believe in them and others that don’t.”

The Myth:
Sales is a numbers game.

The Truth:
Not necessarily.

While the phrase “smile and dial” may be a catchy saying, the notion that the more potential buyers you contact, the more sales you will make is untrue. Instead, a more systematic approach to seeking out the right sort of business prospects has proven more valuable for distributors.

Denise Graziano, president of Graziano Associates (asi/213121), has found that pursuing clients and referrals within the industries she is already serving can be fruitful. She began “going vertical” about 10 years ago, honing in on the insurance and health-care industries. Although it was difficult at first, and she felt like she might be letting go of potential opportunities by increasing her focus, it worked.

By learning from her clients and her own research about issues affecting brokers and health-care workers, Graziano found that targeting new clients came much more naturally, as she already had a sense of what their needs were. “When you can say you understand their industry, they don’t have to educate you on the work they do,” she says. “Your name comes up in the same industry, over and over, and you become the go-to person.”

John Moran, CEO of Starr International Enterprises Inc., advises sales reps to create a targeted list of prospects (generally of about 200 companies) that could benefit from knowing you, using research tools such as Hoovers and ZoomInfo, as well as social media sites including LinkedIn and Twitter. “You should become a subject-matter expert,” he says. “Educate your customer on trends in the industry negatively affecting similar businesses and innovative ideas to solve those issues.” He says sales has become more about buying than selling, and the salesperson who can provide targeted case studies and market research to potential clients is more likely to get the business.

The Myth:
Stick with what you know.

The Truth:
It can pay to diversify.

While going vertical has its advantages, by no means should an effective salesperson know just one or two industries. Christina Riordan, owner of REP Chicago (asi/303417), says she looks “across the board” for new opportunities. “The beauty of the industry is that you can work with everybody,” she says. After the challenges the economy presented, the distributors who rebounded often did so because of a diverse portfolio of clients, so as one sector took a hit, another was surging.

Larry Funk, president of Zeblue Corp. (asi/365684), says he would rather “be all over the place. I don’t want to be the financial guy or the pharmaceutical guy.” This was a lesson he learned from his earlier career in the garment business. The client base was limited and shifts in the market could feel like whirlwinds if they affected the few industries he worked with. Once he started up Zeblue, a diverse client base became a priority.

The Myth:
The Internet brings in a lot more prospects.

The Truth:
Personal connections are still key in growing your business.

A lot of business is local in the world of promotional products. Face-to-face meetings and familiarity with clients makes a big impact in maintaining strong sales year after year. Referrals remain one of the most consistent sources of new business for sales reps. “A majority of my new customers are referrals,” says Robinson. She cites a customer she worked with for a county fair promotion who then introduced her to several other local organizations, like Habitat for Humanity, leading to new opportunities.

A personal connection can also instill a sense of assurance in first-time customers, who might be a little nervous handing a big order to a salesperson they don’t know. “Clients worry that if they get on the Internet and find someone that way, if they have a problem with their order, it takes forever to get resolved,” says Shanda Reese Morton, vice president of sales for Reese Enterprises (asi/304982). “But if they’re working with me and they know me, they know who to call. That calms people down.”

Morton’s father started the company 16 years ago, and built up much of the client base by reaching out to locals near Reese Enterprises’ Ringgold, GA, headquarters. When her father passed away five years ago, she decided, “He would really want me to give it a shot,” and took the company over, following his personal, local sales style. “I have several clients who are mechanics – if I ever need oil changed or work done on my car, I know where to take it,” she says. It seems to be working. Last year marked Reese Enterprises’ best year in sales.

The Myth:
Personal connections are always better than Internet connections.

The Truth:
You've still got to have an online presence.

While getting to know your clients on a personal level is valuable, there are plenty of other ways to keep the lines of communication – and potential sales – open with clients. Morton has received responses by sending a blanket e-mail blast every week to her contacts, letting them know about deals and the products that Reese Enterprises is offering. She also uses Facebook and LinkedIn, utilizing the social media platforms to expand her impact with regular contacts.

Graziano advocates a “multi-pronged approach,” including social media and e-mail, as well as personal interactions, and emphasizes that nothing should be ruled out. “I just find that becoming more visible is a great way for people to get to know you,” she says. “Whether that evolves into a business relationship quickly, or takes longer, it’s a great way to stay in front of people.”

Funk, too, has found weekly e-mail blasts to be effective for staying in touch with the large number of contacts the company has. He says the value of sending out the blasts can be seen in the responses he gets back, which often have nothing to do with what the e-mail itself is advertising. Rather than putting pressure on the client, it just keeps you on their mind.

“I might have sent them something about magnetic memo clips and they send me back something about how they were thinking they should do bags for their next trade show,” Funk says. “It’s so they get the idea that we’re thinking about them, without being in their face or knocking on their door or making a phone call.”

The Myth:
Product knowledge is top priority.

The Truth:
People buy emotionally.

Sure, buyers want to know about the products they are buying, but often salespeople put more attention on this than needed. Expansive details about product features make the salesperson more of an unpaid consultant than a person carefully reading the emotional concerns of the client.

“Studies have shown that over 80% of the training offered to salespeople is product oriented,” says Joe Zente, president of Z3 Performance Development. “They then become eager to meet with buyers and tell them everything they know. But people buy emotionally, and features and benefits are not emotional.”

Similarly, when trying to make an impact on a new customer, the most important thing is often just to get the job turned around as quickly as the client wants, since a first-time client often comes to a distributor in a time crunch. Rather than needing to be swayed by an elaborate presentation, the customer just wants to know the job is going to get done quickly.

“A lot of times people are really on a tight deadline and they don’t even have time for samples,” says Riordan. “They just want to get the order in and taken care of.” She has found this to be the case more often than not, where practical concerns like turnaround time and price take precedence over all else. She cites a recent hotel client that was looking at notepads with four-color printing and large size, then downgraded to a basic option once they realized how long it would take and how much it would cost them.

The Myth:
You shouldn't give samples away unless you're sure they will buy.

The Truth:
You will stay in their minds if you get something in their hands.

As anyone in the promotional products industry knows, a tangible product with your name on it is an effective marketing tool. When Mark Mennell, owner of M Squared Specialties LLC (asi/470615), meets with prospects, he usually brings a scratch pad, pen and tote bag – standard promotional tools that anyone could use and will likely have around their desks for a long time. To help ensure his company’s name is on hand should a potential client need it, he also gives an extra sample to the receptionist.

By getting something in clients’ hands immediately after speaking, it shows how the company can meet the specific demands of the client (for a trade show or event, etc.), as well as the breadth of what can be offered.

But Mennell says it’s not just about getting another promotional product into the customer’s hands, but getting them an “eye opener” that’s somehow unique or of higher quality that might make them rethink how they’ve been doing their promotions.

The Myth:
Timing is everything.

The Truth:
No matter how you plan, they will buy when they are ready.

While a great distributor has to be ready to help a client when they need it, often this can come at unpredictable times. While staying in regular contact with clients is important for increasing the chances of future sales, there is often no telling when those sales might happen, and a distributor has to be ready to grab the opportunity when it comes.

“Most of the time you’re not going to be calling them the minute they need something,” says Mennell. “There have been places that I’ve stopped and dropped off information, and it’s six months or a year down the road when they call me up with an opportunity.” He will reach out to clients a couple months before they ordered last year, in case they are considering another large order and to see if they are looking at ordering something similar.

Bill Resnick, partner at Proforma Printing and Promotion (asi/300271), made an acquisition nearly two years ago of another Proforma company, with nearly 40 years of customers. The acquisition had been three years in the making, but the timing was finalized in October 2008, right as the bottom was dropping out of the economy.

“We planted the seed and said, ‘When you’re ready, let us know.’ It was lots of dinners and breakfasts before it came together,” says Resnick. “It really put us in a stronger position, thanks to those efforts and a bit of luck.”

The Myth:
In networking, bigger is better.

The Truth:
You might be more effective in a smaller group. Decide what works for you.

While joining a trade association or networking group is a great way to connect with other members of the industry, get effective sales tips and find new opportunities, sometimes it’s more beneficial to go with smaller, more targeted organizations. Morton was a member of an international networking group for several years, but decided recently that the annual membership payments were not providing the kind of return on investment she was looking for.

“We got tired of sending $400 to California, so we decided to start our own little group,” Morton says. Composed of about 20 local businesspeople from a range of industries, she has found her involvement to be more effective and more likely to lead to new sales than trying to navigate through a massive networking group.

Morton has also found success working through the chamber of commerce. She is a member of two local chapters, one of which she volunteers for as an ambassador, participating in charity work and attending events on behalf of the group. “Two of our largest customers came through ribbon cuttings for the chamber,” she says. “You build relationships that way.”

The Myth:
They call it "closing," because it's the end of the deal.

The Truth:
Closing is just the beginning.

Landing a great sale may be referred to as “closing the deal,” but for most small businesses, this is just the first step in what will be a long and mutually beneficial relationship with clients.

Resnick has learned that a deeper trust is established with the follow-up work he does after a sale goes through, often leading to more substantial orders. “We try to follow up with every single order,” he says.

While this has always been something the company prioritized (“It’s kind of the golden rule,” Resnick says), it came into clear focus when the economy went south in 2008. Finding new business was more of a challenge, and Proforma Printing decided to put additional effort into enhancing relationships with existing customers, showing gratitude with personal notes for every order that was more than $1,000, and gift baskets or some other token of gratitude for anything more than $2,500. Resnick credits these efforts for helping the company retain its customers throughout the recession, and it is now standard practice.

Similarly, even if things are going well, it’s n

Distributor No. 1: Michaela RanerDistributor No. 2: Scott MollahanDistributor No. 3: Christine Cersosimo

Part I: Bringing Up Baby

Up Close & Personal

Part II: Movin' Out

Office Space: To Rent or Not To Rent

Survey: Startups Survive The Early Days

Part III: No Time to Sell

“The best person to sell for a new company is the person who started the business.” – Janet Haas, Lightning Consulting

“If you undercut yourself in the beginning of a client relationship, you’ll never get that money back.” – David Klubacher, JAX Ideas

Part IV: Show Me the Money

Distributor No. 2: Scott MollahanPart I: Great Vintage

Part II: Smart Marketing

Overcoming A Sales Slump

When To Take On A New Employee

Part III: Expansion Plans

Distributor No. 3: Christine Cersosimo

Part I: Steel City Drive

Up Close & Personal

Part II: Financial Fitness

Part III: Down But Not Out

Distributor No. 1: Michaela Raner
Distributor No. 2: Scott Mollahan
Distributor No. 3: Christine Cersosimo

Distributor No. 2: Scott Mollahan

Part I: Great Vintage