Trade shows have garnered a lot of popularity over the years as a prime spot for people to pitch their ideas, products and services and make sure that they’re being noticed. For that to happen, you’ve got to recognise the goals that you wish to achieve with the event as this is a big opportunity to make a name for yourself in your chosen market..  

Lead generation, bagging a sale and launching or promoting a product or service are some common goals that you’re likely to have. 

It’s quite possible for you to nail all these goals but it would do you good to have one primary focus for your stand at an exhibition – which is usually to make sure that you send out a clear message to your target audience.  

The biggest challenge for your business perhaps will be to figure out a way to attract people to your stand because at the end of the day, it all boils down to visibility and how you’ve exploited it to your advantage. 

In this piece, we’ll cover ways that’ll help ensure that you’re the centre of attention at an exhibition! 

Making a good first impression 

The way your stand is set up, its layout and design will go a long way in luring a certain number of people. If your stand is eye-catching, it will pique the interest of onlookers and they will be compelled to come see what you’ve got in store. The second most important thing is that your branding must supersede your design and your brand message should be clear.  

People generally identify with things that are easy to understand, so give it to them as it is! Good lighting with attractive signs in your stand will attract attendees from everywhere. 

People identify with people 

You need the right kind of people to make your products more marketable and this can prove to be a bit tricky. Imagine walking around an event and looking at a stand where the employees are either busy on their phones or talking amongst themselves without a shred of interest on the event or its attendees.  

As a passer-by, you sure will be disappointed by this. Another aspect that can put off potential leads, are sales reps that are overly pushy and will go to any lengths to drag someone into buying something. There has to be a balance when the sales personnel are trying to make a sale.  

People will identify with other people who have the perfect balance and approach when at a trade show. So, make sure that the sales representatives on your stand are people who are genuinely interested in what you are selling and reflect the same enthusiasm onto its visitors. 

Leave an impact 

Offer the visitors incentives to be a part of your exhibition stand. You can hold competitions and promotions in return for a bit of information from them. You could even put across a ‘tell a friend’ deal so as to get your brand name that extra bit of visibility.  

You can also do pre-event promotions to draw attention to any special discounts or deals you have up for grabs. This would create a buzz as people will start talking about your brand even before they visit the exhibition. 

Freebie frenzy 

As an exhibitor, there is no escaping the ‘promotional freebie’ that is expected of you, and there are thousands of options that you can choose from. A promotional pen is a go-to option,with promotional mugs and t-shirts not too far behind in terms of popularity.  

Since these are very common, it is important that you add a bit of something extra to these items that will give them that WOW factor - which in turn will leave an impact on people.  

Keeping in mind the three U’s (Useful, Unique, and Unforgettable) of promotional products is extremely important when choosing an item for your brand.  

So, if you want people to flock around your stand at an exhibition or a tradeshow, you’ll have to be creative with your approach, your design, and your products and services, amongst other things.  

Ensure that the staff you have on board are friendly and they know when and where to draw the line. Do your homework in advance and find out everything that you can about the event to ensure its relevance to your business and brand.  

It will all depend on how well you know your audience and the entailing goals and expectations you have with yourself and your brand. Take the tips mentioned above in your stride and have a stand that’s successful right off the bat! 

When we look at it from a business perspective, nobody will value your brand and what it stands for, if they don’t trust you. This is exactly why your brand has always had more to it than just a name and face.  

You’ll see that some businesses have excelled at humanising their brands by associating it with people who made it all happen. By doing this, they make their brand more human, enabling customers to relate to it and thus make it more memorable in their minds.

Succeeding in creating a brand that’s humanised and relatable is all the difference between marketing that leaves an impact and one that people tend to forget easily. A brand has to have a human quality to it in order to spark a connection amongst potential customers.

As the marketer of your business, you’ll try to drive more traffic to yourself, generate quality leads, convert them into paying customers, retain them and add to your revenue. That’s the process that’s generally followed, isn’t it?

But just for a moment, businesses should set aside this money-driven concept and actually see for themselves what it’s like when you sift through your company’s website?

What about the email marketing campaigns that you’ve been running to acquire more leads and the social media trends you’ve been following with the same money-making mindset?

Have you ever stopped and pondered over how successful your brand can be if you quit pushing sales-driven content and started establishing connections as a real person?

We take it that by now, you’ve understood that the best thing that you can do for your brand is to humanise it for assured long-term business growth.

Here are 3 things that you can adopt to connect better with your customers and target audience.

Share Your Story With Everyone In All Honesty

Why would any person buy from you and continue being loyal to your brand, especially when competitors are lurking? The answer is simple - it’s because they feel a connection with your brand and relate to it at some level.

This familiarity that they feel and share with your brand is what makes them like you and when this happens, your customers won’t care about all the marketing and advertising you do. The personal connection will suffice because that is what breeds trust and consequently purchases from your brand.

As a brand, there’s a simple lesson that you should learn. It’s all about being authentic and 100% genuine and whatever you have to say has to come from a place of utmost honesty.

Sure, you can represent yourself the best on social media, but don’t hide behind the facade that it creates with all the blogs and PR. Your business is an entity in itself which is why it should reflect that very quality without holding anything back.

Come To Terms With The Fact That A Business Is Social

Nobody can deny that it’s a digital world and today it’s all about the kind of following you have on social media that will give you the required brownie points.

But this doesn’t mean that the old school ways count for nothing. For better branding, there has to be a perfect balance between online and offline marketing methods.

No matter what, online marketing is always going to be impersonal and at times, robotic. What you should come to terms with is accepting the fact that a business brand is meant to be social and have a personal touch to it. Many of us have forgotten this as we are caught up in the competition to get the number one spot on search engine pages.

A business should be able to engage with its audience both online and offline. Please your customer base online with discount codes and interesting content, then give away freebies like branded pens and promotional items offline.

Adore And Value Your Customers and Target Audience

Take a moment and think about what and who makes your business profitable? Think about the people who stumble upon your website and get you the necessary traffic needed to keep on operating. What about the people who religiously follow you on social platforms and recommend you to others?

This is perhaps the very crux of every business being successful. It’s all about valuing your customers and loving them for what they’ve done for your brand. It’s a two way street - if you love and value your customer base, they’ll reciprocate as well! You can do this both online as well as offline, giving your brand a more human feel to it.

These are some simple yet very crucial practices that you should apply. At the end of the day, people still want to buy from brands they like, understand, trust and know. That aspect hasn’t changed one bit.

So, work towards integrating all these aspects in the story of your brand as you go on about engaging with your customers on a daily basis.

Get in touch with us today, and we’ll help you concoct solutions that will help customers remember you amongst the flurry of competition.

Of course, it comes as no surprise that these aspects have made Instagram the #1 photo-sharing application. Nonetheless, it doesn’t stop there; drill a little deeper and you’ll get to see a hint of every other app – Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter.

That being said, Instagram is one such place where you can not only share images with some catchy captions to it and create a kickass story, but also follow people, as well as brands that you adore.

Because of its ever-growing popularity in the world of social media, it goes without saying that it is by far one of the best platforms for businesses to connect with their target audience.

 Moreover, if you play your cards right and offer them what they’ve been looking for, then you’ll surely accomplish more than expected – after all, you wouldn’t want to give up on a platform with a crazy user base, would you?

Still don’t believe us that an app can help you achieve the things you’ve always dreamt of, at least with regards to your marketing? Well, the team at Supreme Pens has put together a list of brands who have taken the world of marketing by storm using the popular hashtag site.

Amazon

If you wish to stand out from your competitors and be the only brand that every other consumer talks about, then nothing works wonders than appreciating and thanking them. Perhaps that’s the major reason why Amazon is known to be the #1 brand and why Jeff Bezos is so rich...

Coming to their Instagram marketing campaign, it was a mere photo that Amazon posted on their account in order to mark their number 1 position in the “2017 Harris Poll Corporate Reputation Rankings”. And in that image, as a gesture of appreciation, they had mentioned a “BIGTHANKS” code offering a massive discount to users for that specific day - and of course, their customer base lapped it up!

Lesson to learn:

Have you ever come across anyone saying no to freebies, promotional offers and discounts? In actuality, people just love receiving stuff for free. Moreover, this is the best way to turn your Instagram audience into potential leads.  Not to mention thanking your users makes them feel valued, as well as reinforces their association with your brand.

Adidas Originals

Adidas’s recent marketing campaign assisted them in bolstering their place amongst the crazy trainer-mad fan base out there.

All they needed to do was create an appealing and fascinating video featuring some prominent hip-hop faces, like Stormzy, James Harden, Snoop Dogg and Desiigner - and then present their original line up using a hashtag #ORIGINALs. With the help of this video, the brand has managed to bag a hell of a lot of customers, so it’s a win all round for the popular trainer brand.

Lesson to learn:

If you’ve always dreamt of establishing your brand amongst an overcrowded market, there’s nothing better than teaming up with some sensational figures who’ve got a stronger presence in the industry. Mind you, this is the best approach to brand your business’s promotional marketing! If you don’t have links to famous faces like the majority of new and small brands, try teaming up with Instagram influencers who will be genuinely interested in your products.

Starbucks

Every year, in the month of December, Starbucks comes up with a #RedCup Contest to endorse their red cup – a holiday-themed seasonal drink.

In order to give the contest a personalised touch, Starbucks eggs on their consumers to post images of their coffee to win their most popular gift voucher. Till date, there have been 40,000 photos uploaded by people and you know what... there are no signs of it slowing down either.

Lesson to learn:

Conducting events and contests is one of the best ways to create a buzz around your campaigns. And when a gift for participating is included, it becomes all the more tempting for potential customers.

Marketing on Instagram is undoubtedly a hard nut to crack, but it is not at all impossible.  And now that you know how influential and beneficial it can be to your business, it is better that you get started now and come up with a kickass instagram marketing campaign!

Instagram is popularly known as a photo sharing application, and it’s pretty obvious that brand building strategies surrounding it would most likely involve posting an amazing picture… but that is just not it!

From marketing to providing professional guidance and encouragement or conducting contests and developing your relationship with the followers, Instagram can be utilised for a lot of things apart from simply sharing pictures.

If you aren’t making use of Instagram for more than what it is capable of, then you’ve certainly landed in the right place. In today’s blog, the team at Supreme Pens have put together a list of social media business tactics that’ll enhance the visibility of your brand, improve your ROI and expand your existing customer base.

So, rather than simply concentrating on visuals, we’ll be delving deeper into social media and showing you some amazing ways to go beyond the norm.

Let customers know your location

When it comes to using social media to increase your brand’s visibility, how could we even miss out on its feature of helping your customers locate you. Perhaps you’re surrounded by several other businesses or it’s just difficult to find your location - no matter what, simply mention the exact address in your profile bios and tell people what they’re supposed to look for when trying to locate you.

Now, we did tell you to go beyond visuals, but that doesn’t mean you cannot upload images. In order to make finding you a bit more easier for customers, post a picture of your front door assuring them that they’ve come to the right place.

Conduct campaigns and contests

Did you know it’s possible for you to make money through online platforms by giving out freebies, like promotional mugs, branded pens and keyrings, to name a few?

Yes, it is true and needless to say, social media is by far the best medium to make use of this simple but clever marketing tactic. There are several social media marketing ideas that you can put to use in the form of campaigns and contests.

Instagram campaigns are one of the best ways to increase your number of followers, develop trust, spread awareness about your brand and work alongside influencers in your field.

Gaining more followers is pretty simple with the help of contests. Just ask them to follow your brand if they wish to participate and later you can ask them to tag their fellow friends. This will ultimately bring you good results, provided you execute your plans properly!

Share shoppable posts to sell products

Ever come across a product post along with a price tag? Well, that’s yet again a better way of branding your products on social media! Not only will you be showing your customers a photo, but you will also be promoting your brand by providing them a direct link to your website - talk about taking your sales up by a notch!

Another amazing thing about these posts is that you can promote them in the similar fashion as you do with your regular posts, leading customers directly to your store to purchase your product.

Post videos

Many of us are visual being and videos let you reap some really incredible benefits when you’re showing your customers how a particular product is made or works.

Studies have also revealed that nearly 87% of online brands make use of video content in their branding tactics. If you wish to stay ahead of your competition, then it’s high time that you start posting video content.

Photos do, no doubt, appeal to a lot of customers, but at times videos can be that much more captivating!

Social media is in many ways a complete package which lets you market yourself, develop relationships and trust with your customers, and allows you to demonstrate that you’re the best in your market. So, what are you waiting for? Get going and let your creative juices flow!

If you are keen to provide some freebies to your newly found fan-base, get in touch with our team - we’ll certainly be happy to help!

You need a brand and a way to effectively brand yourself - whether the scope of your business is big or small, profitable or non-profitable, B2B or B2C, you need a branding strategy.

If you think you can do without branding yourself just because you’re a start-up, you need to reconsider this entirely! You will have to do a bit more than just getting involved in networking events for your business to take off.

You will have to concentrate hard on branding yourself in a good light so that your customers and clients are convinced with what you’ve got to say and the kind of products and services you wish to sell!

So as a start-up, if you have your doubts about branding, here are some points that will make you think otherwise!

Gives your business a unique identity

Branding your start-up right off the bat is perhaps the best way to go up a notch from your competitors. With an impressive brand name, you can concentrate on acquiring and attracting clientele that’s loyal and targeted.

This is bound to give you a solid competitive edge in the market. You can emphasise all the unique aspects of your business and let your customers know about the gaps you plan to bridge. This way, you will be able to carve out a niche that’s yours and yours alone.

Ensures that your business stays in the market for a long time

A brand that’s well established and well-rooted conveys the message that it is here to stick around. This then becomes a definite stepping stone for start-ups to be the most reliable and identifiable names in their niche.

Branding is not just about having a catchy tagline and an impressive logo; it is about being consistent in the message that you convey to your target audience. Your customers and clients should be able to identify you across all channels, be it ads, promotional items and branding, your website, email campaigns or social media posts.  

You’ve branded yourself well if your customers can single you out from the crowd.

Enhances your traction

The way your start-up is branded speaks volumes about your business values as it helps customers associate trust with your brand name.  When customers strongly believe in a brand, they’re bound to choose you over your competitors. When this happens, it’s no longer about just attracting customers - good branding will help you retain their goodwill, which is undoubtedly the biggest asset your business can have.

Branding for start-ups thus holds a lot of value as it places a responsible image in the minds of your customers. So working towards gaining that initial traction is extremely important.

Helps develop a good and positive business image

Remember when people judged a brand by what they saw on TV or heard on the radio or maybe read about in a magazine? That’s in the past now.

All that matters today is the number of “comments” and “likes” you get on social media platforms. Getting your brand endorsed by an influencer can give your brand image quite a boost, almost immediately. This doesn’t mean that offline promotional tools are completely dead and gone. You can have influencers hand out promotional pens, t-shirts or mugs as giveaways to your target audience.

Trust and loyalty towards a brand are like Rome - these can’t be built in a day. You will have to ensure that you send out positive messages as a part of the branding plan. This way, your rivals won’t get the chance to get ahead of you and secure the position that you hold in the market. For this, you need to be abreast with the most recent social media trends!

Helps find solutions to issues that customers have

Today,  brands connect with their customers over social media and it’s no different for startups. The way you connect with your target audience, engage with them, understand their concerns, while addressing their issues, will go a long way in building a good brand image.

When customers have issues with your product and service, they want speedy solutions for them. So make sure that you resolve their queries at the earliest possible convenience.

To give your branding a nudge in the right direction, get in touch with Supreme Pens today.

This stands even truer for small businesses, but most individuals don’t dedicate enough time towards coming up with a robust networking plan. As business owners, what we need to understand is this – the reason that networking works is solely dependent on the connections we establish, which leads us to form a relationship with the said network. If this relationship is nurtured properly, you can wield it to expand your business horizons.

When we take this into consideration, we glean that it will surely work out in our favour if we are strategic in our networking endeavours. And to exploit the networking aspect completely, it is best to understand the types of networking events that will work in your favour.

Because Supreme Pens is all about gaining brand recognition, we bring to you these six networking events that will help expand the scope of your business.

1. Casual Contact Networking

When you chat to individuals in a casual setting to establish connections and build your network, that is exactly what casual contact networking is. This could be anything from a happy hour meet-up, to a local chamber after hour event.

The whole point of this setting is to make connections with individuals in an environment that’s more relaxed - an environment that’s not buzzing with professional energy and is very non-business like and laid back. Simple techniques like these to gain new business will work wonders for your brand.

2. Strong Contact Networking

This type of networking event is put together with the sole intent of passing business referrals around to other members of the group. A very good example of this is Business Network International which is an American franchised networking organisation that has connections worldwide.  

The goal with this type of event is to strike reliable business relationships with the individuals present in the group. This will instil trust in both the parties right off the bat and your chances of being repeatedly referred will increase.

3. Community Service

Being an active and involved member in your local community can go a long way in helping you and your business to be more noticeable. This form of networking will give you and your company a chance to give it back and in exchange it will open doors for new business opportunities.

At times, giving it back to the community may not result in instant and direct business, but the exposure that your business gets will surely lead to indirect business in some way or another. Plus it improves your brand image, not to mention it’s a great marketing tool for a small business.

4. Professional Links and Connections

When you have professional tie-ups, you can use them to create tactical alliances with other entities in your niche. There are several people who are proficient in particular aspects of a profession and if they have a client who needs a particular type of service which they incidentally don’t offer, they can refer you to them.

Someone from your professional link can surely make for a suitable fit so that referrals can happen back and forth. Additionally, going to associations from your professional circle who cater to the same niche as you is another brilliant way to build your network and to reach out to prospects.

5. Business and Social Groups

Social events are the stairway that will lead you to successful business transactions. Therefore, attending such events is always recommended so as to foster business relationships and connections. You can also add a promotional product to your strategy of networking as it is more than just a gimmick for your business.

6. Women/Men Organisations

Being a member of organisations or clubs that are specifically designed for women or men are also a potential pool of business that you can tap into. You can befriend individuals who can turn out to be a great source of referrals, especially if your product caters more heavily to one gender.

Your business is all about the connections you make, both with customers and other businesses, so make it count. Get in touch with us today to see how we can pitch in!

That being said, as a marketer, you’ve got to learn how to correctly put these platforms to use in order to reap their benefits.

Of course, having an active presence plays a huge role since it’s essential for your survival. Nonetheless, that won’t be enough for you to take your brand to the next level – being updated about all the latest developments and implementing them into your business is equally imperative!

We’re already nearing the end of the year and trends are constantly evolving, so admittedly, it’s certainly not easy to keep yourself updated about all the things happening in the social media landscape whilst simultaneously running a successful business.

Keeping that in mind, the team at Supreme Pens have compiled a list of trends launched earlier this year which you may well have missed – but don’t worry, you’ll soon be in the loop.

Instagram stories have taken the world by storm

Instagram stories are ludicrously exciting, not to mention the easiest way to lose hours without even realising. And the new popularity does not look like it is going to dwindle any time soon.

Also, with all the Snapchat-esque filters, which can turn you from normal human into cute puppies and bunnies in just seconds, Instagram has definitely exceeded themselves.

Compared to all other video platforms, Instagram stories have grabbed the spotlight and become a huge deal in the marketing world. Earlier it was just your profile where you could possibly add a link. But now Instagram stories allow accounts with more than 10,000 followers to add a link in their respective story.

It’s perhaps one of the coolest ways for brands to boost their purchasing and enquiry opportunities, which is why it has made the top of the list. It’s a marketing tool all businesses should utilise.

Paid promotions are presently all the rage

Social media is constantly changing and being in the loop with what’s working one year does not necessarily mean that you’ll be doing the right thing a year later. Simply remaining relatively active on numerous platforms will not be enough anymore – you must push your brand to do better.

If you wish to take your marketing tactics up a notch, then it’s high time that you move away from all platforms that are “free” and instead focus on the investment that paid approaches bring. Paying for paid promotion might cost more initially, but when the sales start flooding in, you’ll certainly be happy that you took the leap away from all things free.

Since the inception of this approach, Facebook has managed to bag over 6 million advertisers on their platform, while Instagram has captured the attention of around 2 million marketers on a monthly basis.

The reason businesses favour this approach is because it is simple, relatively cheap and it enables them to reach a particular demographic that they might not necessarily connect with by other means.

Online hangouts have become the norm

Online hangouts blend really well with Generation Z and the trend of live streaming. Think about Houseparty – this is basically an application which allows people to FaceTime with multiple friends in a group setting.

In the year 2017, this app made quite an impression with its speedy growth and it struck the right chords with its target audience.

This trend is soon going to connect with Virtual Reality, though admittedly, last year it did seem like every brand was promising integration with VR. When in reality, so far, the only VR that has reached the world on a huge scale is Pokémon GO – though it was an amazing few weeks for many people, so who’s really complaining?

But it has been noted that this year has been different, as huge steps have been made in the social media world.

Most of the promising apps coming our way have got another year of beta testing left, but that aside, there has been constant improvements in technology and we will all get to reap the benefits when they are finally released.

That being said, it is Facebook that’s once again at the epicentre for many, with its virtual Facebook Spaces. And it’s something everyone is excited about, so keep your eyes open for its arrival!

So, that wraps up our list of social media trends which will certainly help you take your brand to the next level to ensure that you stand out from the rest of the competition.

But remember, whilst social media is a huge part of marketing your business, you need to also go old school and explore all the traditional marketing options too.

Yes, that’s right, we’re talking branded pens, free office mugs and all the other cheesy stuff that is still the go-to for many companies because ultimately, it works. There’s just something about a freebie that a simple scroll through social media can’t contend with.

As a small business you’re unlikely to have the kind of advertising budget of the corporate big boys. They succeed in global domination by channelling a plethora of resources solely into the marketing of their brand. Without the kind of funding to support a huge campaign, growth can be considerably slower, and the impact of each action harder to measure in terms of results.

If you’re a smaller company you essentially have to be far better at marketing and much savvier than the big companies. Where should you be focusing your marketing? Do printed pens or business cards have a better effect?

1. Online advertising

When done right, digital marketing is hugely effective, and not everything you do needs to cost a lot. A regularly updated blog is a source of frequent, high quality onsite content. In a business of 12 staff, each of you could write just two posts a year and you’d be able to put out fresh content every two weeks without added significantly to staff costs. These posts could be written as and when people have time rather than to a specific deadline. Share these blog posts on social media channels for a bit of free marketing which doesn’t require any effort at all, and you’ll be well on your way to building a strong brand presence.

Building your online presence generally will help people to find your business and services, and through that you’ll hopefully be able to gain some momentum. This is a bit more specialist, and as such you will need to dedicate some funds towards it, but it will be well worth it when you begin to see some return.

2. When there is such thing as something for nothing

People love free. Whether it’s a trial of software, or two weeks membership to a reward scheme, there will be some sign ups. These sorts of offers will cost you very little and allow people to ‘try before they buy’ as it were. It can also help spread word of mouth as people are more like to recommend a product which they’ve used themselves and seen the value of.

If you offer a product, weigh up the pros and cons of offering a few freebies. You could send them out to blogs who review products, or offer a giveaway, but if your products are more expensive a competition might be the best option for you.

3. Traditional marketing

Whilst for big companies the brochure might be a dead concept, it’s still really efficient for smaller businesses, especially when they’re service based. You can see real and measurable returns. There are plenty of places you can have brochures printed, so shop around for a good deal. Make sure everything has been effectively proofread before you sign off on a project, because any mistakes will be costly to amend and can lead to a whole batch of brochures becoming completely unusable.

Networking similarly works for new and smaller companies, because building contacts expands the people you’ll be able to reach without having to do on going or expensive marketing campaigns. By meeting the right person at your local chamber of commerce they might introduce you to someone who will become your biggest client; really it’s all about who you know.

4. Getting the word out

Physical marketing using something like printed pens allows you to give a useful product to your clients so that they remember both you and your brand. The average printed pen will pass from hand to hand for months, maybe even years before it’s thrown away – for something which can cost just 12p per unit that’s great value.

More expensive promotional marketing objects can also be successful – if you look around your office now at the mugs you’re drinking your coffee from, at least one is likely to be a bit of marketing. You’re more likely to remember that particular brand name if it sits in front of you on a daily basis. If it also happens to be your favourite mug then that company has done very well indeed – it’s very unlikely to get thrown away in a clean out.

Whether you choose to just go for printed pens, or mugs, or a range of marketing materials, it’s always a good idea.

When you’re trying to get your brand noticed, it’s pretty obvious that you’re going to want some sort of marketing campaign. Where to start can be a bit of a minefield. There are no less than four different things you need to consider, and they’re nice and easy to remember because they all begin with a ‘P’.

For a successful business you will need the right product (or service), sold in the right place for the right price, with suitable promotion. Product, price and place are all pretty much down to you, but we’re able to help you out a bit with your promotion.

We’d like to suggest a further two ‘p’s which will help you with your product’s promotion: personalised products.

What sorts of products should you choose?

There are a vast range of promotional products on the market, and you’re likely to have had your fair share given to you over the years. Think about the ones which you hang on to, which you’re happy to receive, and which you’d remember the company name after using them.

Lanyards, stickers, and those things which you can stick on a window which have googly eyes are all essentially useless. You’ve probably been given hundreds at trade shows or events, maybe at training, and when you’ve got home they’ve gone straight in the bin. They’re basically useless things which you don’t need and you wouldn’t have bought yourself, and really you have absolutely no need to keep them.

Instead, pick things which people will actually want to use and keep. Personalised pens, sticky pads and note books are the sorts of useful stationary items which you would actually hang on to, and better still use on a daily basis. People use them, people need them, and better still, they won’t cost the world for you to produce.

How much should I spend?

You’ll need a budget. Set a realistic one and put as much as you can into your personalised pens rather than the lowest amount possible.

You should also choose higher quality products rather than buying thousands of cheap ones. The quality of your promotional products reflects on your company, so if you go for the cheapest thing you can find, you’re company can end up looking cheap. If you’re skimping on your marketing, what else are you skimping on? Are your products cheap, and will they break after first use just like your pens do?

Instead, pick a middle of the market option. There’s no need to spend tonnes per item, but it’s much better to have a reasonable number of useable products than to have 20,000 personalised pens which nobody wants. It’s not just a numbers game, it’s about knowing when to compromise quantity for quality. After all, if you actually ordered 20,000 pens would you ever have time to give them all out?

Spend time on the design

We’ve already mentioned how your personalised pens or other promotional products are an extension of your brand identity, so you’re really going to want them to look good. There are plenty of colour choices available, some fully customisable while others are available in predefined colours. The cheapest and quickest option is to find the colour barrel which is closest to your corporate identity (one which compliments rather than complicates your logo. A simple black or white barrel usually looks good, or if you’re feeling braver you could have your logo printed in white on a coloured pen.

There’s lots of different ways you can brand yourself on a promotional product, so spend time planning your choices, and speak to your provider to see if they have any suggestions.

What is calligraphy?

You may hear calligraphy described simply as ‘beautiful writing’. Even the word ‘calligraphy’ is a union of two Greek words – Kalli, which means ‘beautiful’ and graphy, which means ‘writing’, but if you’ve got even the faintest interest in calligraphy as a profession today you’ll know there’s a little more to it than that.

A group of 30 professional calligraphers were asked to define calligraphy as a profession[1], and this is the net result: “Calligraphy is the art of forming beautiful symbols by hand and arranging them well.

It’s a set of skills and techniques for positioning and inscribing words so they show integrity, harmony, some sort of ancestry, rhythm and creative fire.”

Before the advent of typewriters and computers, people were very much dependant on handwriting. For notes and simple bookkeeping any old handwriting would suffice, but for formal documents such as deeds or contracts, or meaningful text such as books or poems, people would rely heavily on the artistic skill of a calligrapher.

The tools that calligraphers used to create such beautiful text were comprised of carefully constructed wooden implements or feathered quills that were dipped in ink. Today’s calligraphers have a wider toolset to choose from, from specialised calligraphy pens with angled nibs to ink cartridges which can be easily replaced.

Granted, there is less demand for hand-penned ornate lettering today, but calligraphers are still employed at design agencies and graphics specialists for work that needs a skilled human touch.

What does a calligrapher do?

A calligrapher working in the modern world will typically refer to a ‘calligraphy alphabet’ to form the basis of attractive, hand-penned lettering. Some calligraphers might prefer to use older techniques and equipment like quills and ink reservoirs, but the majority of calligraphers today will take advantage of specially made calligraphy pens with slanted or flat nibs.

It’s common for some calligraphers to use modern tools for practicing and coming up with new styles, and then more traditional equipment to create the final piece.

Either way, practice and repetition play a key role in the life of a calligrapher. Some texts will be penned countless times before the final piece is created to ensure it’s of the highest standard and no mistakes are made.

Anyone producing anything from shop signs and product labels to certificates and formal invitations might require the services of a calligrapher.

Where does a calligrapher find work today?

We know that calligraphy was important before the age of typewriters and computers; it provided a much-needed service when it came to formalising written communication between important parties.

But what do calligraphers do in the age of laptops, smartphones and Google? Is there still a demand for calligraphers?

The short answer is, yes.

Calligraphers are still an extremely valuable asset to companies and agencies that are involved heavily in design work. Some pretty impressive virtual fonts and typesets exist that can be applied to designs, but sometimes a personal, bespoke touch is needed to really make a piece come to life. Here are some of the places a calligrapher might find demand for their services today:

• Event organisers like wedding planners may hire calligraphers to pen invitations
• Educational bodies may ask a calligrapher to help create diplomas and degrees
• Graphic design firms may enlist a calligrapher to help create new typesets and fonts
• Shops and restaurants may employ a calligrapher to create their signage

However, most calligraphers will work on a freelance basis, offering their services to various clients as and when they need them. Invitations, posters, formal documents and personalised pieces of prose like poems and books might all require the input of a calligrapher at one stage or another.

Is calligraphy the right career choice for you?

Like any creative career path, starting a career in calligraphy can be difficult at first, but it can also be extremely rewarding. If you’re fond of artwork and enjoy penning letters and writing by hand then you’ll find a lot to like in calligraphy. Not only will you get a chance to exercise your passion for writing and spread your creative wings, you’ll also be getting paid for the privilege, contributing truly unique work that will live on for years and years to come.

If you’re confident that calligraphy is for you and you can picture yourself deriving a lot of satisfaction from it as a career, it’s important to be prepared to work hard. Even for skilled artists and people who are good with their hands, calligraphy takes a great deal of patience and practice. In order to make it as a calligrapher, you’ll need to practice over and over again and be willing to put in a great deal of time and focus before you can reap the rewards of a successful career.

Do you need qualifications to become a calligrapher?

Calligraphy is nothing more than a hobby for some people, but enthusiasts can certainly build a successful career in calligraphy if they’re willing to put in the time and effort.

There are no formal qualifications that a calligrapher must have before finding employment, but there is a range of training courses that will certainly help you along your way, with one of the most renowned coming from the Society of Scribes and Illuminators. You may also find things like local calligraphy groups and events useful; like-minded people who want to discuss the profession and share ideas, and perhaps even practice together.

If you’ve got the drive and determination and are willing to put in the practice and build a portfolio that shows off your talents, you might be lucky enough to attract one or two clients and go from there. Some sources of work for a calligrapher are completely unsuspecting, like greetings card companies or small retailers, but approaching graphic design agencies and showing them your work is probably the best place to start.

A good idea might be to get yourself a website to showcase some of your work, or perhaps even write letters to agencies and workplaces that you think might be interested. All it takes is for one of these contacts to reply and you could have your first client.

When one client becomes two clients, and your body of work and experience starts to grow, you can call yourself a professional calligrapher.

Of course, it’s not all about freelancing. There are opportunities for in-house salaried positions as a calligrapher if you know where to look, but these are less common. Calligraphy is such a niche talent that’s often used quite sparingly, so it’s best to keep your options open and build a network of potential clients.

How much do calligraphers earn?

How much a calligrapher earns depends very much on the type of work they undertake. If you choose to freelance and slowly build a network of clients you can earn good money, but inconsistently. If you manage to get work as an in-house calligrapher for a design or graphics agency, you’ll be able to earn a decent, steady salary for your services, but this is less common.

Your earnings as a calligrapher are usually down to you and how you market yourself. With a good portfolio and a solid work ethic, you can approach as many potential clients as you like and build up your client base until your schedule is full or you’re making a comfortable income.

Some clients may pay a monthly retainer for regular services whereas other may just pay you for occasional work, so it’s important to have a plan in place and stick to it.

What does it cost to get started in calligraphy?

Really, all it takes to become a calligrapher is some ink and nib to write with, which won’t cost you any more than £20 from any art store. Some nice paper helps too, but that can come later once you’ve practiced a little and worked out whether or not calligraphy is right for you.

If you’re blessed with a budget and lots of free time, you might be willing to consider enrolling in one or two calligraphy classes that can help bolster your natural talent and build your portfolio, but this isn’t really a requirement per se.

What about career progression and prospects?

Career progression in calligraphy is really down to you and where you want your career to go. If you’re aspiring to get a steady, stable income, working for an agency as an in-house calligrapher might be your safest bet. Here your skills will be valued and used on a regular basis and even if there isn’t much progression within the business, you’ll find your portfolio starting to fill up in no time. This alone can help you more than just about anything with career progression.

If you approach a client about working as a calligrapher the first thing they’re likely to ask isn’t, “Do you have a degree?” or “Where did you study?”. The first question they’ll ask is, “Can I see some of your work?”. If they like it, you’ve landed your first client.

For all your branded pen and stationery needs, visit Supreme Pens.

Do you recycle? Do you ever think about your carbon emissions?

What about from a business point of view? Different story?

Enough with the questions. It’s time, if you don’t already, to think about what your business is doing… or can do for the environment.

Whether it’s important to you from an environmental point of view or as a selling point, being an eco-friendly business is something to be considered.

There are various ways that you can bring your business up to scratch when it comes to reducing carbon emissions but if you’re looking for easy wins, you may find these suggestions pretty helpful!

Think about your resources! Look around…

Have a look at your work surroundings and consider how much thought has been put into making things eco-friendlier. Have a think about your consumers and question whether your carbon footprint could affect their choice to be associated with you. It’s so important to think about and make decisions when you look from the business’ perspective and that of your consumers. With regards to how to do this, it could be anything from recycled paper, business cards used on recycled stock or bigger aspects like furniture, travel arrangements and businesses processes.

Travel

You hear it all the time, and in reality, it’s not always that easy to use public transport instead of to drive or cycle to work. And in fact, just 4% of commuters cycled to work in 2014! With so many options available for greener alternatives of transportation, it’s time we actively did something about it. In an ideal world, cycle superhighways will increase across the UK but this is somewhat a distant expectation for now.

However, as a business, can incentives be offered to provide staff with reasons to change their habits? Can you make things easier for them so that they can cycle to work or offer a car parking space for those who take part in a car sharing scheme? Think outside the box, make it easy for your employees and don’t be afraid to try ideas out.

Share the Love

You may well be an eco-friendly champion but the big question is; have you told anyone or suggested that they should too? Email footers are such an easy way to encourage others to think about their carbon emissions. You’ve probably seen emails that at the bottom of the signature, ask if you really need to print it? It really works!

Combine your branding, use your organisations' tone of voice and ask your recipients too – you don’t know who you may influence!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

So simple! But not always a priority as working on your business has a funny way of being the centre of attention! If you struggle to be on your eco-friendly game, set up a system so that it becomes second nature. Signage, correct bins and if you have to, incentives! Do your bit; reduce unnecessary packaging by looking for products that use less and reuse where you can. Disposable items are handy, granted, but reusing can reduce the need for so many of the disposable products on offer these days. We’re living in a society where recycling should be very simple but people are often put off by the do’s and don’ts of what goes where.

Go green on products

The world is your oyster when it comes to green marketing strategies so get stuck in! Whether it’s using recycled stock for your business cards, office paper or direct mail; or eco-friendly promotional pens and pencils to spread the word about your business. Just think of it as old school marketing tricks (that work!), with an eco-friendly, modern twist. You’ll be surprised by the reaction you’ll get from those around you, potential new opportunities and last but not least, the good deed that you’re doing for our planet.

So think about it! Can your business be an eco-friendly warrior?

Good luck!

Do you remember a few years ago when you would go to a trade fair or a conference and come back with carrier bags filled with those awful pom-poms with sticky feet and goggly eyes? The ones that your kids would stick all over their room? They are an example of bad promotional advertising. When used badly, promotional material is utterly useless. You would be better off investing in a flock of white doves, attaching your company name to them and setting them free in the hope that someone finds and captures one than buying a batch of those irritating, big-eyed, pom-poms. Really, they are that useless.

Promotional material is about providing your customers with a product which they can use and which will remain useful for a prolonged period of time. Let’s consider some facts about promotional material. Did you know, for example, that promotional pens have an average of around eight owners before they are discarded. That means that your company’s name will be seen by eight people for every one pen you distribute. On top of this, 39% of people who have received a promotional pen in the past six months can remember the company’s name. And finally, in a recent survey of people at JFK airport in the US, 71% of those surveyed reported having received a promotional item in the past twelve months and 33.7% of these people still had it on them. Perhaps most tellingly, 76.1% of these people could remember the name of the company on the promotional item, whereas only 53.5% could name the name of a specific company advertisement in a newspaper or magazine they had seen in a newspaper in the last week. The results are beginning to add up, right? People like getting promotional pens, people use promotional pens and, as long as they are durable, promotional pens will remain in circulation for a long time.

So every-time the user picks up the pen and uses they will remember your name. Every time someone else uses that pen, they too will remember your company’s name. No, not quite. Unfortunately for marketers and manufacturers of promotional pens, they do not quite have that amount of power. They can, however, have a lot of power, but only if they are designed and distributed correctly.

So, you have decided that you are going to invest in a batch of promotional pens, but now you need to decide what information should be included on them. The space available to you on a pen is very limited, and you do not want to clutter it up with needless information which makes the pen look like a mess. The more content you want to include, the smaller the text is going to have to be. It is important to remember that other forms of advertising and promotional materials allow greater space to provide information. Promotional pens are not intended to tell the user everything about the company, but are instead meant to act as both a hook and a reminder. They should be viewed as a way of ensuring that the user ends up enquiring further about the company. A website address is therefore a crucial piece of information to include. Time and again, companies include their telephone number needlessly; someone in possession of a pen is unlikely to want to ring up and speak to someone about exactly what it is that they can offer them. Providing a website allows the user to explore the company’s services at their own leisure. The company logo and website is enough content to include on a simple pen.

It is important to also consider what type of pen to purchase. Pens come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. Cheap, plastic pens are great to give away at fairs and conferences, but for valued customers a more upmarket pen might be an influential purpose. High quality promotional pens are likely to be viewed favourably by executive types. However, this could mean that they treasure rather than pass on the pen, thus limiting the influence of the pen.

Finally, it is important to consider how many promotional pens to buy. Buying as many as possible in order to get the best value for money can seem like an attractive proposition to small business owners, but it is not necessarily the wisest option. Promotional pens might be cheap but they do cost money and thus the worst scenario is one where pens are being wasted on family members and friends of the company. Similarly, growing businesses might be considering a rebrand in the future and thus it would be a waste of money to be stuck with thousands of pens covered in an outdated logo.

A few years ago, promotional material lost its way and became perceived as a mere gimmick. Nowadays, companies seem to have more sense and are targeting specific users and groups of customers with specific materials such as promotional pens. With users statistically being able to recall the names present on them, promotional pens have proved to be a durable and influential form of marketing for companies. They do, however, cost money and despite the low cost per pen, it is important to consider the quantity they are bought in and, more importantly, what content should be present on them. If you are indecisive, remember you could always go for the wide-eyed pom-pom characters instead. Your children will love them.

With the right planning and preparation, attending business events doesn’t have to be expensive, and the opportunities to network and generate brand awareness can far outweigh the pros of investing a small fee and a few hours of your valuable time. Plus, you get the chance of an ‘unplanned wildcard’ of bumping into just the right someone who changes things overnight.

Yet despite the wealth of opportunities available at your fingertips, one of the biggest issues faced by smaller businesses and start-ups is that they’re often unaware of the most effective ways to maximise their opportunities without incurring too large a cost. With that in mind, here are the top opportunities for start-ups and small businesses at events and exhibitions:

Share your knowledge through social media platforms

As a start-up or small business owner, you’re probably already aware that most events and exhibitions now include an “ask the expert” session. As these allow speakers to address a room full of ready and waiting prospects, they can act as a great opportunity for you to shout about your brand and expertise, though you’ll need to brand yourself as an industry spokesperson to really make an impression.

Not sure where to start? Social media usually does the trick when it comes to establishing yourself as a “thought leader” in your field.

Start by being vocal about industry issues and communicate them to your target audience- just don’t forget to use popular, relevant hashtags in your posts (particularly in the case of Twitter), and connect with as many big influencers in your chosen industry as possible. LinkedIn is also a great platform for this as it’s a business-specific social network.

When creating your social media profiles, you should also make sure to include key achievements and any speaking experience you’ve gained over the years. Event organisers are always looking for more participants to fill presentation slots at businesses exhibitions, and social media gives them access to a large talent pool.

If the opportunity does arrive, you might want to consider collaborating with industry peers to present your topic, perhaps to give alternative viewpoints from different processes of the supply chain. Remember, if you have a compelling topic and the evidence to back your presentation, you could potentially be a retuning speaker.

Take advantage of trade press (where possible)

It’s not just social media that creates these speaking and networking opportunities, however. Within many industries, the trade press can be key in identifying the main movers and shakers (and you could be one of them). Just remember, you don’t need to be a big player in the industry to make the rank. Sometimes a little innovation is all it takes!

Liz Brookes, Director of Grapevine Event Management said: “Events are a great opportunity to meet and engage with key influencers within your sector.

“Attending an event, whether as an exhibitor, delegate or speaker, is an investment in your time, and the benefits to be gained far outweigh any potential costs you may need to pay at the outset.

[…] And if you’re invited to speak, even better. Featuring alongside some of the key players within your sector not only builds your personal brand, but that of the business you represent.”

Engage with attendees through live participation tools

As is the case with most events and exhibitions today, “live streaming” and “hashtag” chats (the latter of which is commonly used on Twitter) have become something of a trend.

These modes of “live participation” offer an avenue for your target prospects to immerse themselves in the experience, providing them with a platform to discuss questions and answers as the event progresses. Not only can it give you some useful insight into the industry issues your audience cares about, but it can create a valuable opportunity for start-ups and small businesses to develop brand awareness by actively participating in these conversions.

Alison Battisby, social media consultant and founder of Avocado Social said, "if you are not using social media as an event speaker in 2017, it could be damaging to your brand. Using social media at events is a great way to get people engaged, create long term relationships and expand awareness of your brand and events. These days I find when I speak at a conference, I get a buzz of activity on my Twitter and LinkedIn profiles showing that people like to stay in contact, or ask you questions via these tools - or simply to validate your experience and credibility."

Even when you feel your industry acumen does not qualify you as a speaker at certain events, you can still be a part of the conversations created by other speakers.

As Lesley Williams, the Sales and Events Development Assistant at Production 78 explains, event apps are one of the main trends that brands need to know about for 2017.

She said: “The mobile applications which will be used in events in 2017 are already being considered by every event planner and manager.

“Expect more event apps bringing gamification principles—competition, achievements and rewards to guide attendees toward desired behaviours—to conference-based learning. Users will be rewarded for participation, like accumulating points for consuming and sharing content.”

As well as hashtag chats, make sure you utilise these apps to build rapport with potential prospects.

Liz King, CEO, Liz King Events, techsytalk said, "As an introvert, I've benefitted greatly from social media when it comes to maximizing networking connections at an event. While I'm definitely not the life of the party, I can follow the event hashtag and make connections with people that way. Then - when we meet in person for coffee or to chat, the conversation is much more comfortable!".

Make the most of networking opportunities

Often, the main reason a business owner will attend an event or exhibition is to connect with as many people as possible. Just think about it; attending an event will easily put you in a space with like-minded people who are all looking to do business. This offers you a prime opportunity to introduce yourself and your business. Planning-ahead and booking in with people if you can as people will see that you are serious about making the most of their time.

Just like in any other walk of life, people want to engage with people who are interesting, and have something relevant to talk about. Don’t be ‘that guy’ (or gal) who insists on talking about themselves and does not ask any questions or care about the person you are talking to.

To get the most from events, you need to make sure you talk to the right people. They can be hard to pick out, but don’t get caught out by being trapped by an over-enthusiastic pitcher or feel obliged to stay talking to the same people for the whole event. Have some pre-planned ‘ejector seat’ lines that are polite and leave everyone feeling that you valued their time. If you are really stuck just run for the toilets and hide until the danger has passed!

Even if you can’t talk with everyone in detail, promotional items (such as branded pens) are an effective way of reinforcing your brand after the event, plus they can be a good ice breaker for starting up conversations!

Consider all options when choosing business events

Finally, make sure you think carefully about the events and exhibitions you attend. Whether you’re an exhibitor, guest speaker or even an attendee, make the most of your time and money at the right industry event.

To gain the best opportunities for your start-up or small business, you should also be aware of where your customers are coming from, as well as the areas you want to market your brand to. For example, if your target market comes from Birmingham or Manchester, you should look up events in the vicinity instead of searching too broadly.

As mentioned, social media can be a great platform for finding out about local events (even if you’re not planning to share your wisdom as a speaker). Websites such as the Business Events Finder are also a good place to start looking for local events.

There are many great opportunities for start-ups and small businesses at events and exhibitions- make sure they form part of your marketing strategy in 2017!

If you don’t see a return on investment, you are just wasting time and capital. Promotional marketing is a really valuable part of your advertising campaign, so plan carefully to get the most benefit from it.

Include the right information

Should you try and fit all your information into a tiny space, or should you go for something minimal? It can be difficult to work out what to include on promotional materials, especially when space is as limited as it is on branded pens. You’ll have a lot to say, and a lot of information you can give.

If you try and include too much information, it’s likely to go unnoticed, or worse, be impossible to decipher. The more text you want to fit on to the barrel of your pen, the smaller everything will need to be. You’ll be heavily compromising on clarity in order to include things which won’t necessarily be useful. Save this for brochures and your websites, or even sales calls. Information like your job role, your phone number, and your address can be saved for business cards.

All you need to put on you branded pens is your company’s logo, and your web address. If whoever is holding the pen is interested in finding out more about you, they can head over to your website and find out exactly which services you offer. A phone number is less useful because the purpose of your company won’t necessarily be clear from your logo alone, and people are unlikely to phone up on the off chance you do what they think you do.

How many pens should I buy?

Because branded pens are such a reasonably priced marketing method, it might be tempting to buy thousands in bulk. If you’re only a small business though, you might find that you’d giving them to all your friends and family for every birthday and Christmas for the rest of their days. The number of pens you’ll need depends on how and when you’ll be distributing them.

If you have a stall set up at a trade show, your marketing materials are likely to disappear in minutes, especially pens and bottle openers. At banks, pens near desks will also vanish rapidly. If you’re giving pens out by hand to customers as they visit you, you won’t need many at all.

While a higher quantity of pens will fall into a cheaper price bracket, if you aren’t going to use them then you’re spending more than you need when the money could be being used elsewhere. There is also the possibility that you’ll undergo a rebrand before you use them all, at which point they will become entirely redundant.

Which type of pen should I pick?

There are cheap promotional pens and there are executive versions. For your most valued clients metal cased branded pens make excellent gifts, while the lower cost plastic versions should be used for a mass market and to build general brand awareness.

There are so many variables with promotional marketing that it’s impossible to give a clear set of rules for every business. If you’re not quite sure which would be the best pens for your particular company, feel free to contact us for more guidance.

As a small business, you’re unlikely to have a lot of capital available. You’ll want to ensure that your initial investments make a difference and positively impact on brand awareness. By pooling your resources into savvy marketing, you’ll be able to help your company grow.

You might have noticed the popularity of logo quizzes in recent years. This prove to us how important brand is. The ones that work best are the ones which are instantly recognisable. Sometimes you can even guess the industry of a company whose logo you’ve never come across. Simply put, a lot of thought should go into your brand image. Once that’s sorted, it’s time to spread the word.

1. Build a strong web presence

Gone are the days when you needed an office to run a business, now many companies operate online and perform extremely well.

To get your company off the grown, all you need is a good website. It doesn’t need to be complicated, or hugely expensive, but it should be strong. The branding will be representing you, and it will be a great way of people finding your company. Once you have a bit more capital, you’ll be able to use SEO companies to help further establish your presence, so that when people search for relevant terms they’ll be able to find you easily.

2. Produce a blog or a newsletter (or both)

Producing regular content such a blog posts or newsletters will keep your web presence fresh, and will remind people who’ve found you in the past that you are a growing and active company. It’s easy enough to build a website and then leave it to stagnate. If you’ve spent money on the design you’ll find that you’ve just wasted part of your marketing budget.

Regular interesting blog posts will show you as a source of relevant information, and hopefully you’ll be able to pick up some new customers along the way.

3. Freebies

Giving away things is a great way to get yourself noticed. And it doesn’t need to be really expensive. You just need to think about your market and your budget. Start out by ordering a batch of promotional pens to give out at events and to customers. Give some to your friends and family as well, and get your name out there.

Promotional pens have a longevity few other marketing products can claim. They get passed from person to person, and because they’re useful they’re less likely to get thrown away than a business card, for example.

4. Network

Making contacts is a huge part of your initial phases of marketing. There are plenty of free events you can attend all over the country, and signing up to your local chamber of commerce will help you meet other businesses as well.

Brand awareness is key to the success of your business. Make sure you have plenty of business cards with all your relevant details including your website, name, email, telephone number and position within the company.

Trade shows are also really good networking opportunities. Again, make sure you have plenty of business cards, and bring along some of your promotional pens. All these simple acts will help build your brand, and you’ll learn a lot from them as well.

5. Organise a giveaway

On a bit of a larger scale than the promotional pens, you can organise a competition. If you are selling a product, make one a prize. Set up a form so people need to subscribe to your newsletter to enter. You can gather a lot of prospective clients this way. If you’re running a service based company, offer some kind of discount. The more people who hear about your industry the better, and if you have to do some work for free to get several leads, it will be worthwhile.

Digital marketing isn’t the only way your business can advertise itself. Yes there are plenty of effective online techniques which will all help to build your brand, but there are also tried and tested methods of physical marketing which can help to promote your business, as well as make stronger connections with clients.

Face to face communication gives your sales team an excellent opportunity to show their skills, and can help you meet and form connections with new people. Often these people won’t need your skills immediately, but will in the future.

Taking your company to a trade show can be really beneficial, as long as you prepare. Whether that is how many promotional pens you bring with you or if you want to offer any special offers for purchases on the day, you’ll need to weigh up the costing against the potential returns. With so many points to consider, it’s vital that you organise yourself well in advance.

What Are You Hoping To Achieve?

Before you get started, make a list of what you want to achieve from the show. There has to be a reason you’re planning on going, whether it’s to trial a new product on a large scale or to increase brand awareness. The clearer your idea of this is, the closer you’ll be able to get to achieving it. If you go in without a strategy, the chances are you won’t be able to realise your goals.

Budget

You have to spend money to make money. Sad but true, there is no way you can market your business thoroughly without setting a budget, and spending a little bit of money. You’ll probably have an existing marketing budget, and a portion of this can be put aside to spend at trade shows.

You’ll need banners to make your stand look appealing, and any other sort of decoration. You should also make sure you have plenty of business cards. After you’ve showcased your business and what you have to offer, it’s a good idea to have something to give away which has all your details on. Even if whoever you interact with is really interested in what you’re offering, there are so many other businesses around that without prompts, it’s nearly impossible to remember who’s offering what.

Promotional Marketing

Along with your business card, you can also offer something useful like a mug or a promotional pen. What you giveaway will often depend on your budget and your business. Key fobs, tote bags and bottle openers are also popular possibilities. University fairs will give away items such a bottle openers or promotional pens because they know that they are items which will be used. Medical conferences are less likely to give away bottle openers because it sets a negative image.

Promotional pens are a particularly safe, and inoffensive pieces of merchandise, which are useful and can therefore be used on a regular basis, keeping your company fresh in their minds. Because they’re low cost they can be bought in bulk, meaning you’ll be able to reach a wider audience.

Check Your Product

Of course, you’ll also need any products which you’re demonstrating. If there is anything which could go wrong with these products, make sure you have a backup, or the ability to fix the issues. There is nothing worse than paying for a stand at a trade show only to be let down by the very product you’ve gone to showcase. Even the most reliable and simple of designs can experience issues, and the travel element in itself can be the problem.

If you’re using a laptop presentation to display the benefits of your service, be sure to backup any important files, and enable offline access to any sites in case you can’t connect on arrival.

Brief your sales team on the purpose of the show, and make sure they represent your company well.

If you haven’t ordered promotional merchandise such as printed pens in the past, it can seem a touch overwhelming.

Once you’ve decided that printed pens will be the best option for your company (or one of the options you’re going to use), then you will need to begin researching types. And there are a lot. From low budget stick pens to more expensive executive pens, there is something to suit every budget and every purpose.

But even if your budget is fairly unlimited, executive pens might not be the best choice for you.

Consider Purpose

Where will you be giving out these pens? Are they going to be posted or will you hand them out?

The quality of the pens you buy will reflect on your business. Just like a low quality business card on flimsy paper will make your company look unprofessional, a poorly constructed and badly printed pen will make it look like a cheap advertising gimmick.

If your pens are to be posted you’ll need something relatively robust which will be unlikely to break in transit, and additionally you’ll need it to be both compact and light to lower costs. Something like a stick pen is probably the most appropriate for this purpose, and you’ll find these are the sorts of pens you receive from charity mail outs and with questionnaires.

Cost

Once you’ve decided where and when your pens will be given out, make sure you’re aware of your budget. One of the options on the Supreme Pens website allows you to sort the products by cost. In doing so you are able to see what sorts of pen will cost what amount. The starting prices listed on the website will be the highest order bracket size, with small orders of 250-500 pens costing the most per unit.

Picking Your Pen

There a huge number of different printed pens available (although bear in mind not all of them can be printed with more than one colour, and if they can it will increase the price). Read on for a guide to the different categories on our site.

Stick (prices start at 7p)

Stick pens are very basic and simple in design but in their simplicity is their elegance. Comfortable to hold, these are the pens that are there for you when you just need to jot something down. The low cost means you can have plenty – perfect for those on a tight budget. They’re also pretty durable.

They come with a removable cap to avoid accidental scribbles.

Twist action (prices start at 8p)

Twist the top of these pens to tuck the nib away. No lids to lose and plenty of written elegance available. If you’re after a branded option, take a look at the Espace range, which are our most popular option in this category.

Retractable (prices start at 9p)

Retractable pens come with a coloured clip (you can pick the colour in some instances), and a clickable top.

Rubber Grip(prices start at 9p)

You’ll also find some of these in different categories dependent on mechanism, but to make sure you get the most comfortable pen to write with for extended periods of time, chose a rubber grip. We can even send out free samples of the grips so you can check that the material is what you’re after. If you’re not sure which will suit you best, contact us and we’ll be able to advise you further.

Eco-pens (prices start at 11p)

Our eco-pens are made with 80% environmentally friendly materials. Have a look at the individual product pages for details. These pens are perfect for companies who are concerned about their environmental impact.

We sell pens in a range of materials and finishes, from metal, to frosted plastic, to recycled paper. Browse through the Supreme Pens website so see what’s available, and if you’re still unsure what would be best suited to you, please contact our dedicated team.

When picking any sort of marketing materials, you must consider the implications. The colour, the style and the design will all give your clients subconscious messages about what you’re company is like.

If you choose a cheap pen which is badly printed or doesn’t work you’re not exactly giving out a terribly good message. And that isn’t to say you need to spend a fortune – cheap pens can work perfectly well, you just need to find the right one for your purpose.

The pens which you’ll hang on to forever tend to be very personal. You want your pen to be a good one, but also one which many people use and – if possible – remember the branding on there.

Because of this, you’re going to want to pick something inoffensive, comfortable, and which you can get your branding or website on.

Different Strokes

There are three main types of promotional pens to consider: ballpoints, rollerballs, and gel pens.

Ballpoint pens tend to be relatively cheap to produce, and long lasting. The ink is viscous and non-water based which means you’ll end up with a consistent writing thickness.

Ballpoints tend to be the most common choice, and they are quite a wise one. Because the ink lasts for a long time, so will your promotion. As long as the pen lasts, it’s unlikely to get thrown away.

Rollerballs work in a similar way to a ballpoint pen, but use less viscous ink. They flow much more smoothly, but the ink won’t last quite as long.

If you choice a particularly stylish, heavy weight metal barrel, it might suit the smooth writing style of a rollerball refill; if the pen is good enough, it might even get refilled rather than landfilled.

Gel pens are a good combination of the two types. They use smooth water based ink, but give the performance of a ballpoint pen.

A gel pen like the BIC Intensity Gel Clic is a quality looking thing. Well put together and ergonomically designed with a rubber grip for longer writing sessions, it’s the sort of pen you won’t want to lend to a friend.

Cost

Cost is variable depending on which style of pen you’re thinking about. Supreme Pens offers a wide range of promotional pens at a variety of price points to suit every business.

With stick pens starting from just 7p per unit, and executive pens from just 44p per unit, you can go as high or low end as you can afford.

Branding

It will state on the pen’s product page what the barrel print area is. This will be given in millimetres, and you will need to provide artwork. The artwork you send will need to be this size.

Eco pens are a really good option for green companies. If your company is outwardly environmentally conscious, it’s a must that your promotional pens reflect that. Pick recycled plastics, biodegradable barrels, or natural products to make sure your marketing reflects your brand’s image.

Never invest in marketing without fully considering your target market and your brand, and how all three will interact. With some careful thought, promotional pens could be the best (and most reasonable) advertising you ever pay for.

If you’re interesting in the environment, you might have noticed our range of eco-pens. This is a selection of personalised pens which also send the message, “my company cares about the environment.”

An obvious benefit of an eco-pen is that they are environmentally friendly. They are produced using recycled or sustainable materials including wood, plastic and paper. If you want a pen which looks as if it’s environmentally friendly, the versions made from recycled paper or cardboard are particularly good. Have a look at Ecoretract. The barrel is made from recycled cardboard, and the tip, clip and button are plastic.

For a more expensive, and elegant looking design, WoodOne’s personalised pens and mechanical pencils are a good choice. Not only is the barrel made from sustainable wood, they are also refillable. The barrel will be long lasting because of the high quality material it’s produced from, and will be far less likely to snap than plastic, or to be damaged by liquids like cardboard.

Does Eco Cost More?

While the cheapest eco-pen offered by Supreme Pens is slightly more than the cheapest pen generally, it is very minimal. For the want of 4p per unit, you can offer your customers an environmentally friendly pen rather than one which has been produced from unsustainable materials.

In the same way as other types of personalised pens, much of the cost depends on choice. Eco-pens start at 11p for a basic stick pen, and go up to 93p for a small order of WoodOne pens.

So while eco-friendly personalised pens might cost slightly more, the few pennies you save per unit will be costing the environment a lot more.

Why else should you consider buying eco-pens?

They provide a talking point.

If you pick a pen like the Ecoretract or WoodOne, they look interesting and different. They are more tactile than a basic stick pen, as well as the fact they’re not harming the earth.

Explain to your customers why you picked them (unless you did it for marketing reasons, and then you might want to tell a small white lie instead).

Most eco-pens are also designed to hold refills, because the more they are reused, the lower their impact. Once the pen is beyond use, remove any springs and the refill cartridge. These components will have to be landfill as they make up the 20% of the pen which isn’t eco. The remaining part can be buried in the ground, where it will eventually biodegrade.

You could also ask yourself what makes something eco? If it’s cheap looking pen which writes poorly, there is an increased chance it will be thrown away. As a result, regardless of the material it is made from, if the pen isn’t used then it can’t be considered environmentally friendly.

You’re promoting your company’s eco-credentials .

If you’re printing your company name on something, you want to be sure that that something represents what your company stands for. If you’re a high end hotel, you might chose metal executive pens with a rubber grip. If you’re a charity, you might chose a basic stick pen to show that you don’t waste your money. If you’re an environmental lawyer, you are unlikely to fill your office with plastic and faux fur.

These are extreme examples, but as with any marketing material, your choices are a direct reflection on your company, so make them count.

If a personalised pen is the only impression someone gets of you, make sure it says what you want it to.

We know that promotional marketing works – after all, last year UK marketing masterminds spent £55 billion on everything from price discounts to key rings and pens. Few business will continue to spend money on something which doesn’t work. There’s no point and your company will soon struggle with funds.

Traditional uses of promotional products

Companies become stuck in their ways, and it can be hard to see alternative purposes for age old, highly successful marketing practises. Normally, branded pens would be saved for customers. They would be given out at corporate events or when you’re signing a new deal. They’re ideal for trade shows, but when can they be used in other places?

A different method

While giving customers products will help increase brand recognition, inside your company they can be used to motivate and help reward your employees for meeting targets. Simple branded pens can be given out freely, so that they are used frequently both in and out of the office. More high cost promotional product can be used to incentive roles. The benefits then are three fold – you’re marketing, motivating, and increasing work rates.

That said, it’s easy to undervalue the simple pen. With one biro you can write for months, jot down countless ideas, and produce thousands of insightful and interesting notes.

A really lovely branded pen can make the perfect milestone marker for your staff. Reward long service (or what is long for your industry if you have a high staff turn around) with high quality gifts will motivate people to stay. Combine gift or discount vouchers with something that has your company name on it, as it makes an attractive, relevant and usable memento.

Similarly you can reward staff for hitting other targets such as sales or for providing exceptional customer service. . You could even have personal details such as name or achievement engraved or printed onto the products to make them even more personal and unique.

How It Helps

Besides from motivation through a carrot-not-stick style method, if you give these products (especially branded pens) to staff who are regularly working with external businesses and clients you will be able to reinforce your brand image simply, effectively, and very subtly.

There is no need to overwhelm anyone, a mug with your logo printed on for coffee at your meetings or a branded pen or ledger to take notes will not only build your brand but also present your company with as professional. For smaller companies this can help make you look more established, as lots of businesses which have just started won’t have this kind of strong branding message – many won’t even have their own domain for email addresses or a website – if you do you’ll be making your business look substantially more organised.

What are you more likely to lose: a small piece of paper with a phone number scribbled on it, or a pen? I don’t know about you, but I lose small pieces of paper on a painfully regular basis unless I’m being especially careful with them. And sometimes I manage even when I think I am being careful.

Business cards are essentially small pieces of paper. They might be lovingly designed and beautiful. They might be interesting and different. But they are unquestionably small pieces of paper. They can get lost in the pages of a diary, or screwed up and forgotten at the bottom of a bag.

Enter the humble promotional pen. This is essentially a bargain wonder product. While you can buy more expensive options, they start at just 7p per item when you buy 5000 or more. How many other forms of advertising with as much impact can you think of which would cost you just £350?

Useful Marketing

Even if the person who has your pen isn’t interested in your services at the time they receive it, it doesn’t mean that they won’t be in future. If they’re anything like me, they won’t throw away a good pen. At some point in the future your promotional pens will reappear and be used. Without even thinking about it, you will use a pen at some point on a daily basis, probably more than you expect as well.

Promotional pens can be printed with your logo, and therefore your company will be associated with that pen every time it’s used.

If you have a telephone number or web address printed on your marketing, customers can also find your contact details with ease (rather than having to find a small piece of paper).

By giving out promotional materials which are actually usable, it is far more likely that your materials won’t just get thrown away.

Low Cost

I mentioned briefly earlier how cheap promotional pens can be. Depending how many you buy, and which types you chose, the costs can vary from as low as 7p per unit for a mass order of basic stick pens through to £2.56 for a small order of some of our best metal executive pens.

The price you pay will depend on the quantity ordered, how many colours you need for your printed logo, and the type of pen itself. We have pens to suit small budgets as well as beautiful and smooth executive pens which your customers will want to keep for life.

Many of our pens are refillable, and this information is available on most product pages (though feel free to contact us if you have any questions).

You don’t need to spend money distributing the pens – they’re the kind of objects people will pick up at your office when they use them to write down a meeting, or something you can hand out when ask for a contract to be signed. For the price they cost, let your customers keep one of your promotional pens and every time they use it they will be reminded of your company (especially if it’s a particularly lovely pen!).

Promotional pens are a great addition to any business. Just have a read of our article on their enduring value if you’re still not convinced!

Setting up a strong and good value marketing campaign for your business can be tricky. You need to think about reach, about return on investment, and initial as well as ongoing costs. In fact, without a good budget and a dedicated department, it can be extremely difficult to do well.

Value added marketing is something which to you costs very little, but is worth more to your customers and therefore it not only directly advertises your company in and of itself but it is also acts as a useful gift. There are all sorts of ways you can do this, from high end products which will cost more initially but will encourage and help you to maintain contracts, to low cost advertising methods which are perfect for the mass market.

The trouble can lie in trying to find a product which is going to add value for your clients (and be suitable for as many of them as possible), cost you little, and won’t become dated. For a low cost solution, promotional pens might be the perfect answer. With costs starting at just a few pence per unit, there should definitely be room in your marketing budget for them.

Buying the right volume

There’s no need to spend vast amounts on your promotional pens. Buying a large volume can bring in additional business, but for small or startup businesses, this can encourage growth faster than you’ll be able to deal with it.

Some of your budget should be spent on promotional products, but this shouldn’t be where all your funds go. You’ll also need brochures, a good website, a dedicated phone line, business cards, and maybe some posters or print advertisements. It’s important that you divide your marketing budget up in the right way in order to get the most value from it.

Why It Works

Because the initial investment cost is low, you won’t be pooling too many of your resources into a single idea. If you later find they aren’t right for your particular industry you simply don’t buy more when you run out.

Promotional pens are the sort of resource which will sit on your client’s desks, or in their bags, and they will pass from person to person, meaning that a single pen can be seen by multiple people over an extended time period. They are less likely to get thrown away than other methods such as brochures and business cards as they are something which can be used.

Even if you don’t realise, you will probably use a pen in some context at least once a day. Can you remember the branding on the last pen you used? It might not be the most obvious form of marketing, but by putting your branding on promotional pens you know that it will be in the hands of your customers if they need it.

The next step

Phone numbers tend to not be the best form of contact information, as your customers might be unsure whether you offer the right services or products for them, and it won’t be obvious from the small area of marketing that the barrel of a pen allows. Include your web address and make sure the page you are directing prospective business to sells your company well. What you do should be very clear very quickly, or people just won’t bother searching for this information.

There are no ongoing costs other than the initial investment. There is no need to update copy or change information because you will only put the very basics on the barrel. All you really need to include is your logo and website (or a phone number if you don’t have one).