Every business needs new and creative methods of marketing, but how to accomplish that when everything seems to have been done already?  Direct mail has an approximately 2% interest rate, internet marketing can only go so far, and then there's the sticky problem of how to keep existing customers all competing for limited marketing budgets.  Personalized items may be the right answer for your marketing needs.

Useful items that have your name and logo are a surefire attention getter, as you get multiple customer exposure out of each item.  How much of a better ROI is that than a one time piece of junk mail that will find its way to the trash can a few seconds after it is recieved?  In addition, promotional items allow you to target your lucrative niche markets much more effectively.

A good example of effective use of promotional items are personalized golf balls.  Twenty six million golfers in the world is not a small market, and golf balls displaying your logo will reach out to that prosperous niche.  Each and every time your customers go to play golf, you gain both the customer's recognition and the interest of their golfing partners. Whether you hand them out wholesale or reserve them as appreciation gifts for your ongoing customers, promotional golf balls can be an invaluable addition to your overall marketing efforts.

However, to continue with the example, cheap or shoddy golf balls will fail to impress anybody.  If you give a cheap ball to your valued customers, you may even wind up driving them away, so finding a company that can provide quality merchandise is important.  In addition, you need to make sure your logo is clean, well designed, and imprinted in a durable manner.  Of course, this isn't true just of golf balls but applies to any given promotional item you want to commission.

Fortunately there are several companies out there that provide excellent promotional items. Whether you're looking for custom logo golf balls, corporate imprinted apparel, or simple tradeshow giveaways it is relatively easy to find a quality company that can provide you with the quality service, products, and support that you'll need at a reasonable cost. Searching on Google or Yahoo for "promotional items" yields pages of companies to choose from.  Look for a company that has reasonable cost on items, cross compare between companies, and check for a service guarantee, and adding custom items to your overall advertising strategies should be a headache-free and profitable project.


Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• You'll need a logo that communicates your business and its values in color, shape, and any words used.
• Reserve higher cost items as personalized gifts for your valuable, ongoing customers.