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.

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.

Bumper stickers have become some cars’ best source of individualism. Like most trends, it started out slow, but the bumper sticker frenzy has turned into a free speech free-for-all. It is amazing the types of stickers one can find nowadays. Stickers exists for all types of people with all kinds of beliefs and opinions. And if you’re lucky when you’re stuck in traffic, a bumper bedecked in stickers can provide amusing or interesting reading material!

Companies would be smart to invest in these promotional items. Not only are custom bumper stickers a great way to maximize exposure of your company, but they also provide infinite possibilities to be creative, express an opinion or endorse a specific message.

During the recent presidential campaign here, custom bumper stickers kept to party lines, helping to separate and distinguish the candidates. They allowed people to voice their views and opinions as members of society, not just repeating the manufactured messages of a particular campaign. Instead of bumper stickers that simply stated, “OBAMA” or “MCCAIN,” numerous companies came up with their own creative twists on the entire “political” idea and made the whole movement much more individualistic.

Over the last few years, the focus of many bumper stickers has shifted to “thinking green.” Bumper stickers now circulate through every city in America with messages of going green and being more environmentally sound. With so many concerns circulating around our planet, people are becoming more and more aware of making the efforts to better the one Earth we have. Although it seems ironic that people choose to display these messages on their exhaust-releasing cars, people can still set themselves apart by the particular bumper sticker they choose to display.

Companies reaching for a new way to express their messages and interact with clients should consider custom bumper stickers. Besides speaking politics and thinking green, bumper stickers are also inexpensive, result in high exposure rates after being applied to a vehicle, are extremely durable (meaning they can last for years), serve as elements of personality for many drivers and their vehicles, and, most importantly, encourage freedom of speech and original thinking.

So the next time your company is brainstorming about new ways to promote, perhaps instead of choosing pens or coffee mugs, these decals could be the smartest, most innovative way to make your company’s message wider-known and, well, stickier!

In a world with an infinite variety of companies and promotional products, choosing the best and most effective hand-outs for your specific company can be a daunting task. It is vitally important, however, to take the time to brainstorm about what kind of products will best represent your company. Promotional action plans that are not well thought out do not reflect well on your company’s endeavors to give back to your clients on a relevant level.

For example, if you’re a woman who frequents nail salons, how would you feel if your salon’s promotional gifts of choice were the standard pens, mugs and business card holders? Although these items are useful within themselves, they are not the ideal product to hand out when promoting your beauty parlor. Why not hand out Designer Manicure Kits or Make-Up Brush Sets? These promotional products obviously speak much more to women visiting a nail salon and will be much more useful AND memorable gift.

A second example could be that you’re the owner of a western wear store and looking to promote your name at a rodeo show. Handing out promotional products such as picture frames or USB flash drives is great, but may not appeal to the specific audience attending this event. For a fun approach, consider a Horse Stress Ball, or a nifty American West Calendar. Not only will the recipients appreciate the gifts, they will give your company credit for speaking directly to their interests and hobbies.

As long as you and your co-workers take the time to put your heads together and muster up lists of the “right” kind of promotional products for every kind of specific event, your clients (and potential clients) will respect your efforts even more.

Imagine this scenario: You go to a trade show and set up a stall representing your company. This trade show has over five hundred different stalls each promoting a different business, and each, therefore, competition for you. Every business there also has a large stock of freebies to attract people. Some of the promotional items are cute; some are funny; some might even be novelties; but very few, if any, will really stand out from the rest. So how can you ensure that your promotional item will be one of the few that screams “Look at me”? You need a promotional product that actually does scream, or at least one that can repeat the name of your business as people play with it.

Talking promotional products (products that can record sounds) have been around the industry for awhile, but business owners have not yet managed to fully utilize their potential. These products are often a better bet than regular products since they are able to engage the recipient effectively, and their novelty has not worn off yet. Also, since you can record the name of your company AND imprint your motto on them, the items can be used to reinforce your brand and ensure that your business is top-of-mind for recipients. If you do not want to record your own message, many come with pre-recorded messages.

There are quite a few kinds of talking promotional products available, so finding one that suits your business and your tastes shouldn’t be difficult. Talking buttons, talking business cards, and talking stress balls are quite affordable; if you’re willing to splurge, you might look into talking plush toys or talking photo albums. The recording time for most products is about 10-30 seconds, though photo albums are one of the exceptions. The recording time for albums can be 10-20 seconds per page, with a total of 2-3 minutes for the entire album. That’s a lot of potential branding!

These chatty products have made sound a new dimension of promotional products. Don’t be afraid to let your promotional products (literally) do the talking for you!

The 21st century can well be termed the “green century” since the “Think Green, Act Green” movement started gaining real momentum within the last decade or so. People have become more aware of environmental issues, such as global warming and pollution, and their consequences. The wasteful use of natural resources and the dumping of non-biodegradable refuse is coming to an end, and now the need for environmental preservation and conservation of resources is fast becoming recognized as a necessity.

This movement started with regular people protesting against the global indifference shown towards the environment, but it quickly grew to include businesses which changed their practices and introduced new products that were more eco-friendly. This cause now extends to the selection of promotional products that raise awareness of these initiatives. Giving out a product that promotes a company’s name and its commitment to the use of recycled materials has an additional benefit. Along with promoting your company, these products also send out the message that your company cares about the environment.

When the promotional products industry joined the eco-friendly bandwagon, it came up with quite a variety of products ranging from paper pens to metal/paper to-go cups to products made of corn plastic. But one particular product that I think is quite interesting and innovative is the seeded music download gift card. These cards are packed with handfuls of high-quality seeds. When the cards are planted and watered, the paper biodegrades away and the seeds are left to germinate.

What a novel idea! Similar products include seeded party favors, seeded stationery, seeded invitations, and more. Now all that is needed is for businesses to realize the enormous PR value of using these gift cards and replacing the plastic cards with these eco-friendly options.

In any business, there are certain qualities that every salesman must have. Being personable is first; if you’re not good at talking to people or making idle chatter to get to know someone, you may want to consider a profession that involves a desk and a cubicle. Being approachable and able to engage in conversation with all types of people is imperative in this business. Of course, there is also responsibility. We all know that. Then there’s memorability. Being forgettable won’t get you clients. To round yourself out, you should have a decent sense of humor. You don’t have to be humorous, but you should at least have a good idea of what’s funny and what’s not.

A good business card should be a little bit of all of these qualities. If you are a straightforward, all-business-all-the-time type of person, then you would probably be alright with the traditional one-sided business card that everyone in the world uses. But, if you want to be personable, memorable, responsible and show your good sense of humor, you should think about doing something different.

Let’s say that you are at a trade show and you’re trying to attract new clients. You know that everyone looks for free stuff. But what if your “free stuff” was also your business card? Check out these business cards that double as magnets for all of your contact information – and can even print a photograph. These freebies are different enough that they will be memorable to a lot of people and aren’t as easy to lose as traditional business cards since they can be stuck somewhere in plain sight.

Or maybe you’ve been in contact with a potential client whom you know will give you some really great business. You have a meeting with them and you want to leave a lasting impression. As the meeting comes to an end and you bust out this chocolate business card, it’s not likely that they will forget you. This chocolate card is a delicious treat that would also show off your sense of humor and personality.

Of course, there will be people who don’t like chocolate or don’t use magnets to clutter their refrigerators, but there are plenty of other options to spice up your business card. Just remember that your business card should be a slice of you. By using a different model than the traditional business card, it’s likely that you will gain an advantage. Your clients will be impressed by your creativity and want to know more about you. And isn’t that the main point of a business card anyway?