Wacky Top 10 Coolest Hot Promotional Products

Electronic Rock Guitar Shirt.
 

Wear it, play it, astonish your friends with it. Interactive tee shirt comes with mini amp and magnetic picks. Strum “guitar” to hear all major chords. For more information about this product, email to kennedypromos@yahoo.com

The CoolerGrill.

Keep cold ones cold and hot stuff sizzling. 

Grill coupled with two coolers is perfect for BBQs 

and tailgating. For more information about this product, email to kennedypromos@yahoo.com

USB Wind Turbine.

Wind turbine powered by computer's USB port creates a breeze – and a stir. Go green right from your desk. For more information about this product, email to kennedypromos@yahoo.com

Flexi-Vase.

Miracle vase is shatterproof, soft and flexible. Lays flat when not in use, then takes on vase shape when filled with water. For more information about this product, email to kennedypromos@yahoo.com

 

Fun Crayon.

Every kid on the block will want one. Holds five colors of crayon, yet is easy to grip.For more information about this product, email to kennedypromos@yahoo.com

Matrix Travel Wallet.

Fits everything from keys, coins and cards to flash drives and documents. Perfect for the world traveler or exec on the go. For more information about this product, email to kennedypromos@yahoo.com

Silicone Oven Mitt.

Won’t melt, stain or scratch. Never loses its shape. The can’t-miss kitchen accessory. For more information about this product, email to kennedypromos@yahoo.com

Slap-On Watch.

Slap on, slap off. Look out, next generation! Comes 
in 6 – appeals to all types. For more information 
about this product, email to kennedypromos@yahoo.com

Can-In-Ball Koozie.

Play catch with an 8-inch football, then unscrew lid, drop in can and keep drink cool. Perfect for sports teams promotions. For more information about this product, email to kennedypromos@yahoo.com

Deep-Etched Virgin Olive Oil

Etch whatever you want onto a lovely 750-ml bottle of 

Italian olive oil. For more information about this product, email to kennedypromos@yahoo.com

Interesting Statistics to Share on Client Gift Giving this Past Year

How many of you gave gifts to clients and prospects this year? 

According to a recent gift-giving survey from the Advertising Specialty Institute, average spending on such gifts was up nearly 14% to about $30 per gift this year. ASI's survey also found clients aren’t the only ones benefiting from corporate beneficence. Employers who answered our survey say they spent an average $42.52 per employee on “THANK YOU” gifts this year, up nearly 20% from 2010.

The survey shows That gift cards and cash remain the most popular employee gifts, with 38% of respondents planning to give gift cards to employees. Cash bonuses are second, but fell by 8 percentage points to 24% since 2010.

Does corporate gift-giving work? Nearly a quarter of respondents say giving gifts to clients and prospects results in sales and leads, with 27% of those surveyed saying the gift resulted in a referral and 24% reporting generating a lead or a sale.

Other survey highlights include: 

• Food/beverages are the most commonly cited gift for clients or prospects, with 32% of respondents giving them.
• Over one-half (52%) decorate their gifts with their logo.
• The most commonly attributed results of gift-giving are broad, such as a thank you (69%) or generating goodwill (60%).

 

Here are some of the custom imprinted items that were the most popular for our clients this past year.

• Computer Accessories  
• Outerwear
• USB Drives
• Customized Wine Accessories
• Gift Baskets & Towers
• Luggage Bags
• Employee Awards  

What was your favorite gift to give this year? Let me know by posting a comment or e-mailing me here or I'm on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn

How the Smart Phone has Changed My Life!

When I think about how I used start my day 20 years ago, compared to today, life is just way more convenient today.

In 1991 I was 38 years old and headed into my last 5 years of a 24 year career at the Star Tribune Newspapers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At that point, for a very few of us who weren't in denial, the hand writing was on the wall for the future of printed newspapers. Our days of walking to the end of the driveway to pick up our daily newspaper were, for the most part, coming to an end with the first half of the Baby Boomer Generation.

20 years ago, I would leave home a 7:00 in the morning and drive 22 miles to downtown Minneapolis where I would attend sales and management meetings and take notes using a pens and a legal pad. When I wanted to write a memo about the meeting, I would write it in hand write it and hand it to a person, called a Secretary, to type in on her network computer only to read, make corrections and print again. When I think back, it's a wonder we accomplished anything.

So now that you have the idea, let's flash forward back to today! I left the Star Tribune in 1995 and became self employed along with lovely wife of 32 years, Mary. As our kids moved onto college, we moved from Minneapolis to Summerlin, near Las Vegas, NV where we operate Kennedy Advertising and Mary Kennedy at RE/MAX Central.

Today, I get up in the morning and turn on my I-Phone GS. Now I'm not Mr. High Tech guy, but I do pride myself in knowing enough to be dangerous about what I want to get out of this utility. I call my SmartPhone as a utility because that's really what I use it for. I don't need to have the latest version of the phone. In fact, I purposely lag one model behind so when the version 5 comes out, I'll go for the version 4. I don't like to be on the front end of working out the bugs. I view my time as precious and use my I-Phone GS for more work and very little play. The only game I play each day is one called "Get Efficient with your I-Phone" I have no music loaded on the phone.

I sync the phone with my computer each day so my calendar and contacts are automatically updated and look the same in both places. I use several apps that are pretty basic and can be used when I'm away from the office. I use Google Voice for my Voicemail because I have one click access to listen to my messages and the messages are logged for me up on my I-Google Home Page.

The basics are the email downloaded from 3 different accounts that I can receive and respond to. As for the apps that I can access from my personal ITunes Home Page, I downloaded the Yahoo and Google Search Apps for in the field research. My Social Networking apps consist of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Yelp. I also receive property alerts from Zillow.com and Realtor.com. I only open them when I see that I have a message.

I'm also an information junkie so I check the headlines each day using the mobiles apps for Fox News, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Star Tribune, TwinCities.com, NFL.com, Fandango and the Las Vegas Review Journal.

The only real non- business apps I use, on a regular basis, are All Recipes, Groupon, Overstock, and Kayak for travel.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m not Mr. High Tech Guy and I’m sure I’m only scratching the surface with the apps that I currently use. To keep me moving forward and upward in the mobile app world, I have a subscription to the printed version of MacLife Magazine and I have the MacLife Mobile App on my SmartPhone.

If any of you have any mobile apps that really work well for you would like to share, please feel free to comment on this blog. Thanks!!

Wikipedia can be used to Help Promote Your Business!

I decided to take a break from being creative this morning and decided to go out on the Internet to look at websites that I frequently use in my business for research. For instance, when I decided to start blogging, I went to Wikipedia to read and consider it's definition of what a blog is. Although the definitions in Wikipedia are not considered to be official, it does have some good information like the definition you see below for "Blog".

 A blog (a blend of the term web log)^[1] is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Most blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites.^[2] Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (art blog), photographs (photoblog), videos (video blogging), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.

As of today, the are almost 15 million register users on Wikipedia. As of 16 February 2011, there were over 156 million public blogs in existence. If you think about it, this may be a good time to post your business profile on Wikipedia and if you haven't yet, start a blog using the Wikipedia definition.

Our Favorite Realtor Links on Realtor.org

We were at a RE/MAX Central Real Estate Training Session here in Las Vegas last week listening to a presentation on the potential of becoming an International Real Estate Specialist. At one point in the presentation, the instructor spoke  about the available resources (FREE with your Membership) on the National Association of Realtors web site that are rarely accessed. He thought that to be pretty unusual because most Realtors are members, but they rarely access the resources.

It took a minute and than it dawned on me about what a lame ass I am for not taking advantage of the opportunity to take a closer look. Now let me clarify! If you haven't looked at the site either, I am not calling you a lame ass. Just Me! I tend to be a little harder on myself because I pride myself in organizing information that people value. It just kind of ticks me off that the resource is sitting in front of me and I tend to get wrapped up in so many other tasks and this is something that's a given. It's just so...... LAME! OK enough ranting about it! Time to move on!So while Mary was out with clients over the weekend, I decided to login for a closer look and share my Top 5 FREE Resources that you can use to market yourself on the National Association of Realtors Web site or most commonly www.Realtor.org

1. Newsletter content for Home Buyers and Sellers. If you can't spend alot of time writing, or are not very good at it, there is content available for members to use and it's well written.2. NAR Apps and Toolbars The Apps are for your Smartphone and there are Toolbars for Ipad, Windows and Mac based computers. There are also links that will connect you to the NAR pages on the most Social Networks for Real Estate. If you are not linked to them yet. Do it while you visit this page.3. NAR Realtor Benefits This page does have a Marketing component, but you will also see other benefits from FEDEX Discounts to Health or Dental Care. It's a page that is worth a visit if you want to save some money.
4. NAR Web Feeds This pages lists NAR's latest headlines by topic. When you choose to subscribe, the content and resources are delivered directly to your RSS reader. Again, this is good information to share with buyers and sellers. But you have to be a reader. I suggest starting with 1 or 2 feeds. We get enough e-mail!
5. NAR Technology This page brings you up to date on the latest technology available to the Real Estate Industry.

We hope you found this information to be helpful! For more Ideas and Targeted Information, visit the Kennedy Advertising Blog and if we can help you with any Promotional Ideas, please let us know.

You can also visit Mary Kennedy's RE/MAX Central Blog for the most up to date information on the Las Vegas Valley Real Estate market. If you have clients that are looking for a great buy in a warmer climate, send them our way. We'll take good care of them.

Have a GREAT July!

Are you ready to exhibit at your upcoming Las Vegas Convention?

We hope that you have an outstanding time at your upcoming Las Vegas Convention. As I work with my Tradeshow Exhibitors to deliver high impact Printing and Imprinted Promotional Items to their Hotel or Tradeshow Booth, I get a chance to refine my Checklist for Las Vegas Tradeshow Exhibitors. Here is my latest!

1. Establish goals for your Las Vegas Convention at the outset that includes guidelines for measuring your success.

2. Remember sometimes bigger is just bigger. Over spending at Trade Shows can send potential clients the wrong message.

3. To give yourself plenty of time, order your Printing and Imprinted Promotional Items from Kennedy Advertising in Las Vegas, NV.3 to 4 weeks in advance. How to Order From Us!

4. Choose your attending representatives wisely. Make sure that they share the same company vision.

5. Consider your audience when selecting displays, uniforms, give-a-ways, and booth personnel.

6. Promote your booth in the weeks and months leading up the show, using everything at your disposal.

1. Email Blasts.
2. Social Networking.
3. Direct Mail Invitation to visit Your Booth.
4. Direct phone calls from Sales People to invite attendees to meetings or the trade show booth.

7. Establish booth responsibilities in advance of the show, including schedules and media training.

8. Set up meetings with key clients and prospects, as well as industry media in advance of the show.

9. Once “on the ground, begin “Tweeting, blogging, posting LinkedIn and Facebook updates to keep your customers and prospects who could not attend, up to date on what you’re doing.

10. Obtain a scanner or use your Smartphone to scan the bar codes on the attendees name badges that visit your booth or hospitality suite.

11. Collect business cards of people who visit the booth. Ask permission to email them additional information and/or add them to your email newsletter.

12. Offer product literature in a convenient fashion, like a CD ROM, instead of sending large folders of information with them.

13. Remember – It’s not just “Party Time” – Keep dinners out and entertainment to an appropriate level.

14. Take advantage of every opportunity see clients, prospects and put on a presentation if you’re asked to.

15. Sponsor an event if budget allows. Ask about having your message included in event emails and web pages.

16. Follow up once the show is over. Don’t let those business cards sit in a drawer. Get that contact information into a database and work those leads until you sell them or they turn cold.

Thanks for reviewing my list! Feel free to leave a comment and if you need any help as your event draws closer, feel free to call on us at anytime.

Best Regards,
John Kennedy
Kennedy Advertising
Las Vegas, NV.
888-725-4487

How do you integrate Imprinted Promotional Items into your Social Media Marketing efforts?

Social Media Marketing is an inexpensive way to expand your business network. Millions of individuals and companies are using the Social Networks today. Marketing your large or small business with social media is an important part of the today’s media mix. Marketing on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn seem to be the most popular in my Social Media Circles so far.

Giving your loyal follows, likes and connections, promotional gifts is a profitable way to reinforce your brand while engaging your customers and prospects.

Choosing the right promotional advertising gift will help to ensure you get the best return for your investment. Feel free to browse through our links and catalogs on our blog page. For more information on logistics and pricing, contact us today.