The Right Fit

3. TO SAVE DOLLARS, GO DIGITAL
“For smaller quantity orders, consider digital printing,” said Barreca. Digital printing favors smaller orders since there’s no setup cost. The machinery is always ready to go and doesn’t require the creation of physical templates or plates, as is the case with many forms of non-digital printing.

4. TO SAVE MORE, SIMPLIFY
If digital printing is out, have a plan to reduce decoration costs in other ways. Cost-reduction can be as simple as keeping it small and to a standard location, or it can be more complex. Redesigning a logo to be a one-color silhouette, for example, can reduce decoration cost, but also may involve a little more work and time.

– All Points From “Doing Good—On The Cheap: Working with small nonprofits? Here are 5 ways to serve them as well—and affordably— as possible”

ON T-SHIRTS

1. FASHION IS IN
According to Margaret Crow, director of marketing at S&S Activewear, Bolingbrook, Ill., fashion T-shirts are more in demand in the promotional products industry than ever before. “It used to be that basic T-shirts were the only ones being screen printed. But now fashion T-shirts—burnouts, combed ring-spun cotton and trendy silhouettes—are being shown printed at retail, so promotional products dealers are asking for and buying more trendy styles,” she observed.

Crow added that customers selling printed shirts at restaurants, museums, resorts and similar locations are finding more success if the shirts show their message on a variety of fashion T-shirt options.

Mary Ellen Nichols, MAS, director of marketing communications for Bodek and Rhodes, Philadelphia, also subscribes to the theory that there is room for fashion in this market. “Our younger buyers and style-watchers are demanding fashion, just like they see in the retail stores. There is not only room for fashion, but a place for fashion, and it is a predominant place,” she stressed. “Our young buyers now making purchasing decisions were bred on fashion and brand names. They will continue that choice with their promotional wear.”