October signals the start of the Holiday season - Halloween decorations next to holiday lights. Consider getting your corporate gift selection done early for better prices, more selection and less stress. Food, wine gifts, gift cards, and technology are all very popular. Gift sets that include a couple of these at the same time are very successful.

The gift card in a journal or nuts with wine tool are examples of combining the products for a great result. You give something to be enjoyed now and later.

Check out other ideas here.

We are seeing some great graphics sublimated on everything from shirts to banners to pillow cases. We can take full color art and do all over prints on many products. So, if you are looking for an incentive or reminder of an upcoming sale trip or conference, consider a pillow case! It fits everyone and has great advertising space. No worrying about small type or cost per color.

The pillow case in all its large full color glory is a unique gift that is mailable and packable. They cost between $12.50 - $27.50 depending on quantity and size. The minimum is 6. Do a pillow drop for your next hotel or resort event!

We constantly ask our clients about color - how many colors are we printing? what color do you want the shirts? what is your pms color? In marketing, color is very important. It has meaning and generates attention. Here are some qualities associated with colors:

Red --excitement, strength, sex, passion, speed, danger.
Blue --(listed as the most popular color) trust, reliability, belonging, coolness.
Yellow --warmth, sunshine, cheer, happiness
Orange -- playfulness, warmth, vibrant
Green -- nature, fresh, cool, growth, abundance
Purple --royal, spirituality, dignity
Pink -- soft, sweet, nurture, security
White --pure, virginal, clean, youthful, mild.
Black --sophistication, elegant, seductive, mystery
Gold -- prestige, expensive
Silver -- prestige, cold, scientific 

We encourage you to celebrate your logo colors and use them as much as possible. Even logos that are predominantly black and white might be able to use color as a background or as an accent. Your tradeshow booth, shirts, marketing collateral, email signature and giveaways should all reinforce your colors. This will help generate the attention you want, strengthen your brand and reinforce your message. 

We can put together color-centric proposals for you. Let us know!

We are fast approaching St. Patrick's Day where people enjoy being Irish (or pretending to be), drinking beverages and hanging out with friends. It is full of images of shamrocks, Guiness Beer (see last year's blog) and leprechauns. Conversations about luck and the lucky also take place. Are you lucky?

There's a great article about How to Make Your Own Luck from a few years ago that remains true today.  Here are the four main principals:

1. Maximize Chance Opportunities

Lucky people are skilled at creating, noticing, and acting upon chance opportunities. They do this in various ways, which include building and maintaining a strong network, adopting a relaxed attitude to life, and being open to new experiences.

2. Listen to Your Lucky Hunches

Lucky people make effective decisions by listening to their intuition and gut feelings. They also take steps to actively boost their intuitive abilities -- for example, by meditating and clearing their mind of other thoughts.

3. Expect Good Fortune

Lucky people are certain that the future will be bright. Over time, that expectation becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because it helps lucky people persist in the face of failure and positively shapes their interactions with other people.

4. Turn Bad Luck Into Good

Lucky people employ various psychological techniques to cope with, and even thrive upon, the ill fortune that comes their way. For example, they spontaneously imagine how things could have been worse, they don't dwell on the ill fortune, and they take control of the situation.

We look forward to the new connections and business we will create this week. We are checking out the cool swag out in the world that might work for our customers. And, we will probably raise a pint on St. Patrick's Day!

Every year on Valentine's Day, people decide whether to recognize the people who matter to them. Many people consider it a "Hallmark" holiday and some feel that it's a reminder of couplehood (or non-couplehood). We choose to view it as an opportunity to celebrate those in our lives who matter. And those people are family, friends, customers and suppliers.

Happy Valentine's Day all of you! We feel very grateful to have you all in our lives. We wish you a great day with your special people. 

P.S. If you can't decide whether to "buy in", just think how much you enjoy getting a call or card from one of your people. It's the best and you can do the same for them.

Brainstorming and potlucks have a lot in common. They both have contributions from various people with a bit of the unkown - or luck - in the outcome. We all know who we choose to bring food to our potlucks and may even which recipes we want them to bring. We also know who we turn to when we need to brainstorm. We are all looking for contributors who can deliver the best and most interesting results. 

Getting different people's contributions in either case adds variety, perspective and collaboration to any project. One idea or food item might spark another one. As an example, at our office potluck, one person is know for their great pulled pork fajitas. That leads to tortilla soup, guacamole and salsa. Not exactly earth shattering but it shows how one idea inspires others. 

We put on our chef hats and brainstorm ideas every day. You inspire us. We'd love to inspire you! Turn to us for your promotional potlucks. Together we will create great results.

"Paper" seems like the obvious answer but now we know that paper takes a lot of resources to produce. So, the real answer continues to be: NEITHER. The solution is to bring reusable bags when you shop and not just at the grocery store. For a great explanation of paper vs plastic, check out this link.

If you are interested in using reusable bags in your marketing campaigns and holiday events, let us know. We have many choices in various materials: recycled non woven, organic cotton, jute, denier, neoprene and canvas. There are sizes and styles for every budget.