Introducing the Foldable Water Bottle, voted the Best New Product for 2011 at this year’s Promotional Product Association International Show in Las Vegas!

Limited quantities will be available in March.

PRE-ORDERS are being accepted NOW.

Order right away to avoid missing out on the “Best New Product” of the year!

Call 1-877-606-6004 or e-mail ronp@rpmpromo.ca to confirm your order or if you have any questions.

The dull days of winter offer an excellent opportunity to shine!

Be noticed by adding some

COLOUR

to your next promotion.

Adding colour enhances your promotion for trade show themes, recognition awards, appreciation gifts and more. Find your ideal product, within budget.

Check out some colourful ideas here!

“There are two things people want more than sex and money – recognition and praise.” — Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Thank your employees. Thank your customers. Thank the people who help you.

What are the three most important parts of your business?   In my opinion:

1. Your employees. In most cases, they are how your customer perceives your company. You could have the greatest product in the world, but it is your employees that make the ship run smoothly.
2. Your customers. Let’s face it, if they don’t buy from you, then you don’t have a business to run or work for. There’s a whack of other places they could buy from, but they buy from you. Nice of them, isn’t it?
3. Your volunteers. Many businesses and organizations rely on the help of people who aren’t “on the payroll”. From the little things that need to get done to handling tasks that never seem to get done, or even helping with large projects or events. Volunteers are priceless.

 You may have your own personal opinion about this statement, but all joking aside you will likely agree with this.

People like and need to be appreciated.

For their work.

For their loyalty.

And guess what? It doesn’t take much to say “Thank You” and show them you really do appreciate them helping you with your business.

If you have great employees working for you, don’t lose them to a competitor because they don’t feel appreciated.

Same thing for customers. Have you ever walked away from a place of business because you didn’t feel you were getting treated very well, or you felt they didn’t value your business? Likely.

And if a volunteer knows how much you appreciate their time and effort, chances are they will help you again.

Customers, employees and volunteers are like teeth. Ignore them long enough, and they’ll go away. And once they’re gone they’re not easy to replace. Some may argue “no one’s irreplaceable”.  That may be true, but if you have someone really good at what they do, the time, effort and expense to replace them will far outweigh the expense and effort it would have taken to keep them.

Traditionally, most businesses thank their customers and employees during the upcoming holidays, although it’s good habit to do it more often. After all, if not for them you may not even be in business (or working for a business).

This is not an expense, this is an investment in your company. An appreciation gift costs much less than replacing a lost employee, or trying to make up for a lost customer or volunteer.

Many people aren’t sure how to say “thank you”. Is it enough?  Too much?  

If you would like help finding a great way to say “Thank you, I appreciate what you do for me”, I would be happy to offer some ideas. It costs nothing to put ideas together. Call or e-mail us right now!

In the meantime, here are some ideas to consider. Put yourself in their shoes – if you received something like this, how would it make you feel?

Please feel free to leave a comment, I’d like to know:

How have you been appreciated at work, and how did it make you feel about the company?

What’s the most memorable “Thank You” you’ve ever gotten for your company or boss?

The power of the (promotional) pen.  Now more powerful!

I don’t usually recommend a promotional product until I know a lot about what it is you are trying to achieve, but there are some products that work effectively for most types of business.

This month’s product suggestion is one of the most effective in terms of exposure and affordability: Calendars.

If you’re not already using them, you should be. And if you are, have you considered how to use them more effectively?

Here the top ways how promotional calendars can help promote you effectively, and with little investment. Since calendars come in various sizes, styles and price points, let’s keep it simple and assume we use a $2.00 wall calendar:

1. Targeted marketing. No squandered advertising dollars since you are putting them directly in front of your top qualified prospects and clients.
2. Long term exposure. Calendars are guaranteed to keep you and your message in front the recipient for at least 365 days of the year. Which leads me into point # 3.
3. Calendars are referenced on average of 12 times per day. What does this mean for you? Let’s do the math: 12 X 5 working days, X 50 work weeks = 3000 times one person will be exposed to your message. Some days may be less, some may be more. If the calendar cost you $2.00 and you get 3000 exposures for a $2 item… let’s see, that works out to about 7/100 of a penny ($0.0007) per exposure. I DARE you to find a more cost effective form of marketing (yes, there are a few comparable).
4. Many of your clients will ask for your calendars every year! Think about that. They are indirectly asking “can you give me something with your name on it that I can post on my wall for a year, that will get looked at over and over, for everyone to see”? Has anyone ever asked for a copy of your newspaper ad to put on their wall? I doubt it. If they have, tell me about it. I’d love to see it myself.

There are many more benefits I can list, and if you want to know some more, send me an e-mail.

If you are a current calendar user, or considering becoming one, here are some ways to put you ahead of the “calendar rivals” so that the recipient will display your calendar and not someone else’s (like your competitors):

1. If you know who you are giving them to ahead of time (and you should have a list of current clients and prospects), have your calendars PERSONALIZED with the recipients name! Imagine how you would feel if you received a calendar that said “Made especially for Your Name Here”. Put someone’s name on it and it takes precedent over all the other calendars, guaranteeing you front and centre for the next 365 days.
2. Did you know you can customize pages in a calendar at little or no cost? Include a page with your company letter, coopon sheet, maps, branch locations, tips, reference phone numbers – whatever information would be important to your clients! How much more valuable would that be to your clients?

3.  Do you send out greeting cards to your clients?  Where are all the greeting cards you got last year? Are they still hanging on your wall? Yeah, probably not. And if they are, it’s time to redecorate.  Here’s an idea:  why not send calendars in place of greeting cards in late fall (when most greeting cards are sent anyway, and ironically when most calendars are sent out too). You can even get your staff to sign the cover and add a personal note with marker. The money you spare on buying and mailing greeting cards can be put into mailing the calendars, and with the Mini Calendars, they cost just about the same but will last through the entire New Year, not just up to the New Year. However, if it’s within budget, sending a calendar as well as greeting card will provide one more way of staying in front of your clients without trying to sell them something!

To view the various styles of calendars that will keep you in front of your clients, e-mail me!

RPM Promotions helps you narrow down what products will be most suited to achieve the best results for you.  This may include helping you attract new business, thank existing clients, engaging with trade show promotions, recognition to employees, and so on.

We are not product pushers.  We will not suggest you buy something just because it’s on sale, or because your logo would look pretty on it.

Just as you rely on your doctor to prescribe the right medicine, you can rely on us to prescribe the right products and ideas.  Not only that, we will suggest how to use and implement those products properly and effectively.

We are your partner.  We will work with you to help you succeed, because when you succeed then we succeed.  Success is a blend of teamwork, trust and expertise.

Welcome to RPM Promo.ca we’re working hard at our new website so come back soon for more great info and ideas for how to use promotional products to draw attention to your company.