For promotional pins, deal with an expert

Because promotional pins must be made by an outside vendor, look for vendors who offer a variety of designs and the ability to turn your design into a customized business pin.

I recommend: PinMart offers a wide selection of both stock and customized business pins. It manufactures pins for several major clients and can work with any customized design, whether submitted on computer or drawn by hand. The company can also reproduce an existing pin.

Deal with button manufacturers who offer a variety of styles

Advances in technology make possible a large variety of button styles, shapes and printings suited for any promotional campaign.

I recommend: Absorbent, Ink., offers offset or digitally printed buttons in a variety of shapes (round, diamond, triangular, square, octagonal and elliptical) and styles (blinking, magnetic, spinners). Choose the type best suited for your promotional campaign.

Create your own custom buttons through an online service

The Internet's ability to transfer text and images electronically makes it possible to design promotional and personalized buttons in-house, while an outside vendor does the actual printing exactly the way you specify.

I recommend: Zazzle features a drag-and-drop design tool that lets you upload your own images and text to create round or square buttons in a variety of sizes. You also can choose from a number of previously created designs, and you can even sell your own designs on its Web site!

For limited runs or budgets, create buttons in-house

Not every business or business campaign is best suited to working with an outside promotional button vendor. Businesses with fewer than 20 employees or running small promotional campaigns can often be handled efficiently in-house; other companies simply may prefer "doing it themselves."

I recommend: Good quality button makers are available through such e-tailers as Button Biz.com, which offers a variety of both round and rectangular button makers, as well as online tutorials. You can create logos online through Logoworks.com or LogoYes. If you like, you can use logo design software such as Logo Design Studio.