OK, so I am back to the holiday gifts.  I want to go back to this subject for a couple of reasons.  The first one is that the last few days I have seen the exact same commercial and it makes me think of my blog/newsletter every time!  The commercial is for Kmart and is advertising their layaway department.  If you start shopping now you can put the presents on layaway. . . pay for them little by little. . . and have them paid off in time for the gift giving!!

When I sent out my first newsletter a few weeks ago, I mentioned that many of you might think that it is too early to start thinking of purchasing for the holidays.  Well, was I ever wrong!  Since then, not only have I seen the Kmart commercial many times, I have also spoken with several different business friends.  They told me that they have already started shopping. . .one started shopping in August, another started in September and another has almost all of her shopping completed!  WOW!  I guess great minds think alike!  It is never too early to start thinking about the holiday gifts and Kmart is telling everyone!

The second reason that I wanted to go back to this subject is that there are some really nice options for gift giving with your corporate logo.  If you are one of the people that like to give nice gifts but want it to have your logo on it, let me know . . .I can help.  I totally understand and have several options.

I mentioned this to the NAG group this morning but you may not have been there.  If that is the case, you are in luck!:)  There are many ways to give your friends, family, employees and customers holiday gifts that also can come from the company.  The person you give the gift to can advertise for your company all year. Not only that, they also will show that your companies' image is important to you.  A nice pen is great but sometimes you want to give something different.  If you are looking for a gift that will last, why not put your logo on a nice jacket, fleece pullover, sweater or hat?  The person you give it to will wear your logo around town and continue advertising for you!

If you are thinking, "I want to give a nice gift but I do not want it to shout out our logo because then it might not be worn."  Do not worry because there are ways to get around that!  Logos can be placed in different locations.  They do not always have to be on the left chest of a shirt or jacket.  You could put them on the sleeve, on the shoulder or the back by the tag.  These are nice, different locations to put logos.

Logos can also be embroidered as a tone on tone.  This means that the thread used will not be the colors of your logo but will match the color of the garment being embroidered on.  For example, if you have a nice brown, suede jacket and you want your logo on it but you want it in the left chest area and you do not really want the bright colors of your logo, we can embroider the logo in a brown a little bit darker or lighter than the brown of the jacket.  This way your logo is on it . .  it is still visible but it goes well and does not shout out to those that see it!  We have done this very successfully for several of our clients.  It always looks really nice.

Do I have you thinking?  What have you seen embroidered that you really liked?

Do you need some more ideas?  Let me know and we can meet!

Labels: Embroidery, gifts, holiday gifts, Kmart, logos, NAG - Non Affiliated Group, professional, tone on tone

Today I went to visit a fellow NAG member, Carole Palazzo, with Braden Business Systems.  Braden had their Fall Open House which was a wonderful event!  I have not ever visited Braden before but was I ever impressed!  They had a very nice facility as well as an excellent show room displaying many of their machines!  I am not sure if I should just call them copiers because they were so much more than that!

There were machines there that would read the veins in your finger (not your finger print!) and from that reading, know which document to print out!  There were other machines there that brought me back to college and to my previous teaching years.  The name was the only thing that was similar though.  I always worked with a Rizzo machine when I was in college as well as when I was a special education teacher.  The machines that I worked with were nothing like what is available now!  I was very impressed!

Not only was I impressed with the machines they had available but I was also impressed with the people that worked there.  They were very knowledgeable about their product as well as very friendly!  I never had any idea how big Braden was!  They seem to be very team oriented!  By that I mean they really support their employees.  One the one wall in the hallway they had pictures dating back to 1998 of trips they have taken their employees on.  It looked like they were having a lot of fun.  It was also enjoyable looking at the pictures to see how Carole has changed over the years!  I am sure that her wonderful personality has always been there though.

A new area that Braden has just started is Office Supplies.  They were giving away free samples as well as catalogs of the items that can be ordered.  When you order from their webpage you will have them the very next day!  If you are in the need of anything copier oriented, please call Carole!  She is a wonderful person and really knows her stuff!  Not only did I enjoy walking around Braden today but I also left with some really nice give aways!  Thank you Braden Business Systems and Carole!

Labels: NAG - Non Affiliated Group, Networking, Open House

This morning I got up early to make it to my bimonthly networking meeting for NAG.  Today was special because I was the featured speaker.  Jeff Bowe and I take turns facilitating the meetings but today he was running a little late.  This meant that not only was I speaking at the end of the meeting but I was also facilitating to get things started.  Unfortunately after everyone had their chance to go around the room and give there minute or more spiel about themselves, I only had about 7 minutes to speak.  Because it was running late, some of the members started to get up to head to their other appointments.

During my brief speak, I was able to mention a few things that were on my list.  Again, because of time I only was able to quickly mention these items.  One of which is the start of this new blog!  I explained how it is very important to me that I become the expert when it comes to embroidery and promotional products for my customers.  If I do not know the answer then I will do my best to find the answer.

Most of the blog discussion occurred after the meeting was over between a few of the remaining members including Amy Stark, Jeff Bowe, Mary Pat McKee, Jim Hugenard and of course myself.  We discussed how to get others to know about your blog.  It was mentioned that we need to start checking out each others blogs and leave messages on their blogs.  The helps to move blogs higher in the search enginges.  When I returned to the office I did just that and started by checking out a few of their blogs.  I started with Jeff's.  Read my comments.

I was able to show a few samples of the picture weave gifts, quality of embroidery, green products, antibacterial promotional product and embroidered toilet paper.

[caption id="attachment_63" align="alignnone" width="330" caption="Embroidered Toilet Paper"][/caption]

Of course the question that I always get was asked, "Why embroider toilet paper?" and of course the answer is "Why not?".  I then continued to give other reasons such as it is a very memorable item!  Anyone that I show it to will always remember that I embroider toilet paper.  I am OK with this because at least they remember me.  Another reason is that is shows that we can embroider on things as delicate as toilet paper.  It is a unique way to show your company logo along with the embroidered towels.  Always have your logo in front of your customers even when they use your restroom.  And last but not least, it is a gift for the person that has anything.

So, what do you think?  Do you like the embroidered toilet paper?  Do you have other uses for the embroidered toilet paper?  I wouldlove to hear them!

Labels: Amy Stark, blog, Blogs, Embrodery, embroidered toilet paper, Embroidery, gifts, InFocusSelling, Kristie's Kreations, logos, MPM Marketing, NAG, NAG - Non Affiliated Group, Stark Reality