Come summertime and there is a flurry of libraries attempting to inculcate a love of reading among school children by starting summer reading programs. These reading programs are a commendable effort by public libraries to get school children to get into the habit of reading in their free time.

Libraries choose the summer to start reading programs for a couple of reasons. For one thing, students who need extra help or personal attention are able to receive it. Another advantage of summer reading programs is that they are not held in school buildings. This helps the children to perceive the reading as fun instead of academic or boring. Summer reading programs also allow the teachers to experiment a little regarding the various ways they can make reading more interesting for children.

According to a study conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, students who are recreational readers academically out-perform those who aren’t. The study also states that voluntary reading helps students become better spellers, readers and writers. Therefore, getting more students to join these programs will only be beneficial for their future.

If you are interested in increasing the attendance at your reading program but aren’t sure where to start, then imprinted promotional products are a good idea. Handing out Brass Slide Bookmarks, imprinted with your logo, to school children will not only ensure that they remember you, it’ll also see to it that they give the program more than a passing thought. For students who have almost made up their mind to join but need a final push, these Photo Bookmarks will make the program more personal (and, therefore, more real) for them.

Rewards for achievements make any program more fun. As students advance through the program, give them fun items like journals and jotters. If the members of your program are middle and high school children, you could encourage them to write out whatever they like about the books they read in the journals. They could also conduct some research and make a list of books they are interested in reading.

And don’t forget about the parents! Parents are critical to a strong reading program. Children won’t learn to enjoy books if their parents don’t encourage this. Try giving parents an imprinted gift like an unusual desk clock to remind them to make time for reading.

Summer reading programs are an excellent way to introduce children to the magical world of books in a relaxed and informal manner. It’s the best gift you can give the kids of your town.

Without needing to research too far, it can be assumed what some of the top-selling promotional products are across the world: pens, shirts, coffee mugs, water bottles. They are great products, in and of themselves, useful and often-used. But sometimes it seems everyone has promotional pens to give away!

This is why it is key to set your promotional product giveaways apart from the rest. It does not necessarily have to be by giving away an “out there” or completely random item. Instead, think about the way you present the free gift to your recipients. If you’ve got a selection of custom-imprinted pens, don’t just throw three of them in a bag; show your recipients all the pens you have available and allow them to choose which ones they would like. By doing something as simple as this, you are making the entire giveaway that much more personal in the most subtle, unsuspecting way possible. You are indirectly encouraging your clients to show a tiny piece of their personalities to you while also making it known that you put a little more thought into these promotional handouts.

The same idea goes for promotional items such as T-shirts. Most companies tend to give away promotional shirts in a couple of generically large sizes, keeping the idea in mind that it’s easier to receive something that’s too large than too small. However, offering a variety of shirts in sizes to accommodate all of your recipients is an easy way to impress them with your consideration. By being able to supply your clients with their favorite T-shirt size, it will not be just another promotional T-shirt that’s four sizes too big and sits in their sock drawer, buried at the bottom. They may actually wear it.

All of these “outside the box” ideas can be tweaked to suit your promotional product needs. It’s just about putting a spin on the everyday, same-old, same-old promotional products so your efforts as a company stand out and shine.

Old Faithful, the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon, Times Square; these names are so closely associated with American history and identity that they make up the foundation of the American tourism industry. So it’s not much of a surprise that people within the United States, as well as other countries, travel extensively to take a look at these monuments, making tourism one of the largest retail sales industries in America.

According to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA), international travelers spend around $91.1 billion in the U.S. and, as a result, they generate a tourism surplus of $8.6 billion. The site also states that shopping is the favorite activity for American and foreign tourists alike. In such a case, what better way to ensure that tourists always remember you than handing out promotional products?

When attracting tourists to your state, imprinted lapel pins in the shape of your state or state-shaped mini-magnets are fun ideas. If you’re trying to remind people about a particular attraction, you have a wide variety of choices, such as custom stress balls that symbolize the highlights of your tourist attraction. If all these sound too mundane for you, there is definitely room for you to be adventurous. For example, if you need promotional items for a zoo, then you can try out plush toys or rubber ducks.

The NASAA says that, by 2010, tourism is slated to become the foremost service industry in America and you can be in line for your share of the pie. The key is to think like tourists in order to connect with them.

T-shirts have been extremely popular as promotional items for a long time, mainly because they are affordable, offer a lot of imprint options and shirt colors, and can be worn by anyone regardless of age and gender. But because they have been around as promotional items for so long, the novelty wore off long ago and now they are used mainly for their practicality and convenience. Is there any way to keep this promotional item from being dumped in the “boring and unoriginal” pile? Introducing the smashed, or compressed, T-shirt.

Smashed T-shirts are imprinted T-shirts compressed into a unique shape (with the application of 50,000 pounds of pressure) with an insert card affixed to the top of the shape. Put your logo on the shirts themselves, and use the card to offer other information relevant to the campaign. Smashed T-shirts have advantages: They are novel, portable because of their smashed shapes, and eco-friendly because they are generally made of 100 percent cotton.

In a case study published by distributor Aptco, steel manufacturer ClarkWestern used compressed T-shirts shaped like the cross-section of an I-beam to grab attention at trade shows and sales calls. The shirt’s compressed shape was designed to draw attention to ClarkWestern’s new construction framing product. The shirts were a hit because they were tangible products that the recipients could play with, and delivered an important message about the innovations the manufacturer was selling – before the shirt was even opened or worn!

So freshen up your campaigns with a new twist on a classic favorite.

Watching the space shuttle lift off to a new mission at the International Space Center or the Hubble Space Telescope reminds us all of one of the more inspiring American dreams. It seems logical that an organization that builds the space shuttle would sell souvenirs that are American-made as well. Somewhat surprisingly, many of the souvenirs you can find on a NASA tour are not made in the U.S.A.

Manufacturing products in the United States provides a lot of people job opportunities that they might not otherwise have. And there is some inherent value in simply being able to state that your product is American-made, as that’s one of the top things consumers are seeking.

If you look, you’ll find there are still some products that are manufactured in America, and other companies are following this practice by marketing new products or entire product lines that are solely made in America. The importance of “Made in the U.S.A.” has also hit the promotional products industry and many companies have now started marketing those products. So with the Fourth of July reminding us all of our patriotism, keep your eyes open for the latest “Made in the U.S.A.” products.