So, you want to make more money, have some fun and be more important to your customers than ever before. And, you don’t want to make any investment or have to learn too much or think too hard! Well—promotional products sales are just what you are looking for. OK—stop laughing and I’ll let you know how easy it can be. You probably think you have to join an organization and pay dues, organize a complete office and become familiar with about 3,400 supplier companies where you won’t have credit and you don’t know anyone. Well, that could all be true, but let’s look at some less painful ways to add this nice profit center to your business.
As with any business, if you narrow your focus and specialize, you can give concentrated service to a specific group of clients or market segment. For example, to service the retail automotive market (automobile dealers) you may need to regularly only work with five or six good lines. Some sellers have chosen to be even more specific and sell only a certain type of promotional product. Many years ago, when I was still operating a commercial printing company, one of my competitors who printed several weekly “penny saver” supermarket handouts also sold shopping totes by the thousands. The same clients who bought the advertising flyers resold the tote bags in the markets.
Across town in my shop, we did a lot of printing for schools, both public and private, and they were my first customers for promotional items. The high schools had school book stores or “team” shops with merchandise featuring the school’s logos. I supplied that merchandise: T-shirts, sweats, water bottles, locker mirrors, baseball caps, coffee mugs, fun flyers and about 25 other items. I needed six suppliers and one local screen printer to manage that business.
If this seems logical to you, the next question is how to find even the few lines that you need. Obviously you can scan the ads in Print Professional and other industry publications or try to locate what you need online. But, this approach is quite time consuming. This is where “joining” comes in. Most cities will have a promotional advertising (or specialty advertising) association. Most are affiliated with the national not-for-profit industry trade association, Promotional Products Association International. Through regular meetings, table-top trade shows and getting on the association mailing list, you will quickly have information from dozens or even a couple hundred suppliers of promotional products. If you are in a joining mood, there are other groups that can be quite helpful—for a price! There is the national association, a couple of private, for-profit information and publishing companies that provide research and tools for the promotional products industry and there are specialized distributors.
Specialized distributors are a bit like “trade printers” in that they have no direct end-buyer customers. You sell through the trade printer. They produce the job, deliver the job and sometimes even bill the job—and you make money. A specialized distributor (the good ones) solicit no direct end-buyer business and sell exclusively through independent business owners like print shops, fundraising companies, party organizers and full-time promotional products sellers. Some are organized as franchises (where a fee is charged—at times substantial) but most are not. The shopping you do finding the specialized distributor that is comfortable for you will end up being a great investment of your time. A good specialized distributor will provide the capital necessary to grow your new profit center. They will have strong training available, a great support staff and lots of experience with a remote sales arrangement. They will take the credit risk on your customer’s order and will handle almost all the time consuming administration needed to process orders. Other things to look for are free online catalogs, proprietary printed catalogs, a lucrative commission or profit structure, a flawless reputation in the promotional products industry, stable and strong financial condition and special pricing considerations from the best suppliers in the business.
The most important thing to look for is nothing—nothing to lock you in and nothing to cost you money! If a specialized distributor wants you to obligate yourself to a binding agreement, it may be a sign they don’t think you will be happy with their service. If they want a fee or for you to purchase a “gateway” into the industry, keep looking! Be sure you have complete equity in your accounts and that the distributor will not attempt to do direct business with your customer if you leave the arrangement.
For some printers, forms dealers and other brokers working with a specialized distributor is a great point of free entry into the promotional products industry. It provides a chance to learn the business and make good money with no initial investment. When the time and sales volume is right, some will leave the arrangement with the specialized distributor and handle everything themselves. Those that picked well in the first place usually continue to work with the specialized distributor because the income will be greater and the work level will not interfere with the main business, be it printing or other services.
Your questions and comments are welcomed and encouraged. Promotional product sales are the perfect complement to general printing sales and fits well with brokers, too.
Good $elling.
About the Author:
Gregg A. Emmer, chief marketing officer, is a 16-year veteran with Batavia, Ohio-based Kaeser & Blair. He previously owned a commercial printing company, and currently provides business consulting services for a wide range of clients. He can be reached via e-mail at gemmer@kaeser-blair.com.
Gregg Emmer is chief marketing officer and vice president for Kaeser & Blair Inc. (K&B). He has more than 40 years of experience in marketing and the promotional specialty advertising industry. His outside consultancy provides marketing, public relations and business planning consulting to a wide range of other businesses and has been a useful knowledge base for K&B dealers. Contact Emmer at gemmer@kaeser-blair.com.