Jumbo All-Week Pill Box - KP9

Windage Wind Power - KP8

Big Thunder Tote Bag - KP7

...more

Printed Logo Candy - KP6

Felt Tubed Auto Towel - KP5

Full Color Business Cards - KP4

Plastic Post-it® Flip Top Holder with Pad - KP3

Plastic Post-it® Flag Pod - KP2

I'm back from our Expo in Las Vegas. Over 3900 suppliers with over 17 miles of aisle space made for a long week. Many suppliers old and new show their new products.

I'll be posting many of them in the next few days.

Full Color USB Flash Drive - KP1

Just added to our Memory Stick Store a credit card sized USB Flash Drive. We can offer a full color digital imprint. You can find many uses, Think company brochures, catalogs, magazines, media kits, event programs, trade show promotions, anything requiring a full color imprint.

Capture the full spectrum of your imagination with our new full color printing process. An overall richer portrayal of your brand image.

New Products

I fly out Tuesday morning for the PPAI Expo in Las Vegas. There will be 1000's of New promotional products, awards and wearables on display. I will be taking photos of many of the items and posting here as I can in the next couple of weeks.

Corn Plastic Cups

This past week we sold an order for our 16oz.clear corn plastic cups from our Corn Plastic Store. Our customer has a new recycled "green" material that they are selling. To promote it they will be serving green beer at a trade show in January. The clear cups to be filled with the green beer will have a white imprint so it will be able to be read in front of the beer ....more

Corn Plastic Products

Just learned that there are many NEW promotional products being made with Corn Plastic for 2007. More of our suppliers are adding corn plastic products to their lines.

We will be adding the new items to our Corn Plastic Website within the next few weeks.

Corn plastic is made from 100% U.S. grown corn and is biodegradable

Last minute Calendar Orders

Learned that an Appointment Calendar order for a customer in Quebec that was due to be shipped on Dec 8th is delayed and will not ship until next Friday the 15th. Shipping will take 4 or 5 days. The customer is leaving town on the 22nd and needs to get them out to her customers before she leaves.

The factory just received too many last minute orders and could not keep up. They are a week behind. It's just something that we can't control at this time of the year.

Here's a great reason to order calendars early in the year when the factory is not busy. In fact most of our calendar companies offer an early order discount for ordering in the first quarter of the year. The calendars are produced in the slow season, stored for the customer, shipped in the fall and billed when they are shipped with payment due on November 30 of that year.

Monday I'll try to get the factory to ship one day earlier and if we ship UPS 3 day, they'll get there on the 19th, which should be enough time for my customer to deliver to her customers before she leaves. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

We are still taking orders for 2007 Calendars. Of course they'll be delivered now in the first week of 07.

Received an order this past Friday for 700 large Year-In-View Calendars. It's a Custom Calendar with custom colors and two full color pictures. We'll be drop shipping the calendars in tubes directly to their customers around the World via US mail.

I'll try to convince both of these clients to order early next year.


Now is a good time to start thinking about that special Custom Calendar you've been thinking about for your company. Using full color images of your products, people, buildings, customers or using custom artwork, we've got a lot of time to think about and design your 2008 calendars.

Las Vegas PPAI Expo

January is a big month in the Promotional Products Industry. Our biggest show of the year takes place during the first week in Las Vegas. It is put on by the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI). I'm not a gambler , but I do love Las Vegas! There is so much to do even without being at the tables.

The show consists of a half day for committee meetings (I'm on the Technology Committee), a full day for education events and three long days of show. We go in on Tuesday morning and leave on a red-eye on Saturday night. In between, there is much to do and see. It's a fun week and an educational week and a great networking week.

I've been going the this annual Expo since 1973. My first two years, it was in Chicago, then Dallas for 25 years and now Las Vegas for the past 6 years.

We've been talking to many of our clients recently to find out what their marketing needs for 2007 might be. This helps us at the show when we are looking for new products and ideas for them.

Memory Stick Store

Just updated. The Memory Stick Store.

It shows flash memory, memory sticks and USB products that we are now selling to corporations.

Products are available in sizes from 32MB up to 8GB.

Stick-A-Strip Calendars

I have been selling some unique 2007 calendars lately. One is the Stick-A-Strip.

They are 14" long by 1-3/16" high, Imprinted vinyl with removable adhesive. Calendars are finished with gloss coating and split backs . The advertising goes in the center 2" and there is 6 months of calendar on each side. They fold easily and can fit into a #10 envelope for mailing.

People put them at the top or botttom of a monitor or on their keyboard. It makes for a very handy year at a time calendar that is always there. Of course, there are many other places that they can be put... near a phone, in a car, on the fridge, etc.

Food Gifts Ranked #1

For more than 20 years, Food Gifts have been the number one gift to be given at the Holidays. Prior to that liquor and wine was at the top of the list. But now they are considered to be in poor taste, not knowing if a recipient would appreciate or the possible liability if something were to happen.

Every year in at this time, companies and organizations around the country are faced with the problem of planning for holiday giving. What to give to their customers who have made them successful. To their employees who have been loyal. And to those who have given referrals. What do you give that will be appreciated as a ‘thank you’? Food gifts should be you choice.

In choosing a vendor for food gifts here are some of the thing you should consider:

• Freshness… when are the food gifts packaged for delivery to your recipient, in the summertime or when you actually order the gift?
• Packaging… are the gifts packaged so they will arrive in perfect condition?
• Quality… is there a 100% satisfaction guarantee?
• Experience… do they know what they are doing, do they understand the business marketplace?
• Branding… can they brand your logo along with the gift?
• Stress Free Buying… Can they offer a complete ‘Turnkey’ Program?
• Longevity… after the food has been consumed, what is left to remember you by?

Food gifts are traditional. They are an easy ‘No Brainer’ gift. Food gifts are fun. They can be shared with others in their office. Today food gifts are more convenient, they can be branded and in most cases, they are of high quality. Be careful of some of the very large well- known food gift companies, their volume is so high that they are forced to package as early as summer in order to be able to meet their demand.

In a recent survey of Business Holiday Gift Buyers, 61% choose Food Gifts well ahead of Desk/Office Accessories, 22%, and Games/Toys at 12% and Glassware/Ceramics also at 12%. Writing Instruments was 7^th at 7% While wearables was also at 7%.

U.S. Map Calendars

Sold a map calendar today. Actually it is a Color-Coded U.S. Map Year-In-View Calendar. It measures 25" x 38".

Some of the calendars will be put into a mailing tube for direct mailing to their customers and the rest will be hand delivered.

This is a great map for locating customers and salespeople.

A calendar sent to a customer becomes a billboard on their wall for your business for the next year.

MAS Certification

Master Advertising Specialist (MAS) and Certified Advertising Specialist (CAS) are the promotional products industry's professional designations. Sponsored by our association, Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), they are acquired through a combined result of years active in the industry, completed courses, industry contributions, and a passing score on a comprehensive exam. Individuals with MAS/CAS Certification are seen as industry leaders-those who have attained a higher standard of professionalism, knowledge and experience. There is also a continuing education requirement to maintain the certification every three years.

The MAS/CAS curriculum was designed with input from industry leaders in order to assist individuals in developing the full spectrum of professional skills and knowledge essential to success in the promotional products field. Educational programs are industry-specific, practical and focused upon personal and business success.

Master Advertising Specialist (MAS)
1. A minimum of 5 active years in the promotional products industry
2. Acquiring 170 points (100 points additional to that for CAS certification)
a. Completion of courses within a structured curriculum
b. Contributions to the industry
3. Passing a comprehensive exam to demonstrate industry knowledge

Certified Advertising Specialist (CAS)
1. A minimum of 3 active years in the promotional products industry
2. Acquiring 70 points based on
a. Completed courses within a structured curriculum
b. Contributions to the industry
3. Passing a comprehensive exam to demonstrate industry knowledge

At KelseyPromo, Barbara, Janice and I first earned our CAS and then earned our MAS. While many in our industry have earned their CAS, less than 1% has earned the MAS designation.

Corn Plastic Mugs

For years, plastic and acrylic mugs have been manufactured with petroleum based plastics and polymers. Amid soaring oil prices, disruptive supplies, and increased petroleum demand, our supplier is utilizing an alternative plastic that not only helps relieve U.S. dependence on foreign energy, but is based on a renewable U.S. agricultural product and is environmentally friendly to mother earth... CORN PLASTIC!

We now have plastic mugs made from corn plastic. The mugs come in three different sizes, a 16 oz. mug, a 10.5 oz. mug and a 17 oz. travel mug. They come in three colors - ag green, corn silk white and maise yellow. Companies buy them with their logo and give out to their customers.

The plastic used for these mugs, is made from 100% USA grown corn. It is a heavier mug than normal plastic and will break down in a land fill. Plastic made from oil will not break down at all. You can use these mugs for cold or hot drinks.

Corn-based plastics take just 45 days to biodegrade in a landfill. Normal plastic can take thousands of years to decompose. Corn plastics contain no petroleum, require 20 to 50 percent less fossil fuel to create and are derived from a renewable resource.

Corn plastic became big business in 1997, when Dow Chemical, the plastics giant, and Cargill, an agricultural company, formed a new company, Cargill Dow, to develop the material. Cargill bought out Dow’s interest in the joint venture in January and renamed the company Natureworks LLC.

Many plastic bags used at grocery stores have been made using this corn plastic for a few years now. They'll break down as good as paper. So the next time the clerk asks 'paper or plastic', you can be environmentally friendly getting either one.