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Thursday
July 8, 2010 ESP Pay for Placement: Is it something you should use for your products on ESP?Filed under: Uncategorized Guest blogger and ASI Marketing Manager Jake Krolick dishes on the newest ASI Store addition, ESP Results Screen Advertising, or ”Pay For Placement”.
Interested in learning more about Pay for Placement? Click here.
Thursday
June 17, 2010 Tip of the Day - Motivate Your Employees the Smart WayFiled under: Uncategorized
Those numbers don’t surprise Michelle Smith, vice president of business development for O.C. Tanner, an incentive management company. “Many workers are feeling underappreciated with their leadership right now,” Smith says. “As the job market thaws, they’re going to go somewhere they feel more valued.” One of the main source of workers’ discontent these days, Smith contends, is the fact that their companies didn’t spend as much time – or resources – focusing on employee recognition last year. “Unfortunately, too many businesses pulled back on incentivizing employees last year, and now businesses are going to feel the effect of that,” she says. Now, some good news: If you make the effort now to connect with your salespeople and motivate them to succeed, you can gain their loyalty. The key is in retooling your recognition and rewards programs – immediately. You need to give them a reason to feel connected with your company other than a paycheck. That may have worked last year, but not now. And, don’t fall into the trap of continuing to use the same motivation and rewards programs that you’ve always used, Smith warns. “Your business has changed in the last 18 months,” she says. “Make sure you update your recognition plan accordingly.” Engage Employees Sooner Rather Than Later For this reason, Smith says, many of her clients are focusing on on-boarding programs, where new hires are recognized early on for their achievements. Indeed, Margaret Dickinson, founder of a graphic design firm, gives new hires a welcome basket stocked with promo items featuring the company’s logo, including a pen set, a company mug and a notepad. Every month for the new hire’s first year (assuming good performance), she adds additional items to the employee’s desk. “It’s kind of a game to see what I’ll give next,” she says. One recent month, Dickinson rewarded a new hire with a desk clock. The month before, it was a colorful mouse pad. “I also use this gift-giving sessions as a chance to check-in with the person,” she says. “I’ll say, ‘What are you working on?’ and ‘Are you doing the kind of work you expected?’ and ‘How can I help?’ Often, what results is a great conversation, which will help me learn more about what makes this person tick.” Wells Fargo & Company recently completed a merger with Wachovia and is in the midst of developing a new recognition program for the 26,000 members of its technology and operations group. According to Lisa Massiello, group recognition manager, Wells Fargo also makes a point to check in with new hires several times within the first year. After their first year with the company, employees are acknowledged with a Wells Fargo pin or other token of appreciation. Such programs are crucial, Smith says, especially at companies that are planning on ramping up their staffs this year. “It’s critical to make sure that everybody is rowing the boat in the same direction, right from the start,” she says. From Stitches Embroider Business Insights
Monday
June 14, 2010 Chinstrap - An ASICentral Local Celebrity!Filed under: General, Uncategorized Last year, I wrote about ASICentral’s very own Steve “Chinstrap” Hawk and how close he came to winning the vaunted annual “Philly Beer Geek” contest, losing by a hair of his chinny, chin-chin to Nate “Nugget Nate” Gefvert. In a battle that saw Steve get down on one knee and propose to his favorite beer — in this case, his fiancee and good sport, Crystal, dressed as a beer – Steve was dynamite that night, and we all thought he was robbed. Fast forward one year … With the bitter, skunky taste of 2009’s loss lingering in his mouth like an Old Milwaukee Light, Steve-O not only dusted himself off but raised the bar to a level that would make even the staunchest of beer connoisseurs and historians proud. By riding into the competition on a motorized beer cooler and composing a hilariously clever and inventive campaign speech hailing his nomination for Philly Pale Ale for mayor, “The Human Growler” — as he’s known in beer circles – not only blew away the competition, he tore a hole in it and tapped it! And we’re proud to say that today we here in ASICentral have a true local celebrity in our midst. Ladies and gentleman, congrats to this year’s Philly Beer Geek, Steve Hawk!
For more images from the event, click here. And for a text version of his campaign speech that put Steve-O over the top, click here. And for the winning campaign poster Steve-O designed, check this out!
Tuesday
May 4, 2010 Tip of the Day - Where Demographics MatterFiled under: Tip of the Day, Uncategorized Here are 4 occasions where demographics matter:
From May 2010 Advantages University.
Thursday
April 29, 2010 Poll: Should Prizes Be Banned From Kids’ MealsFiled under: Poll, Uncategorized
Santa Clara County, CA, supervisors have passed an ordinance this week that bans restaurants from giving away toys and other promotional products with high-calorie kids’ meals. The ordinance won’t be enforced for three months, but after that there will be fines of up to $1,000. According to Supervisor Ken Yeager, “This ordinance breaks the link between unhealthy food and prizes.” Sure, it’s a nice idea, but is the Happy Meal prize really the reason our kids are so fat and unhealthy? Hardly. It’s the parents who allow their kids to eat these foods five times a week that are the problem. But that’s just my opinion. What do you think? Take the poll now!
Thursday
April 1, 2010 Tip of the Day - Protect Your DataFiled under: Uncategorized Counselor Top 40 distributor Cintas recently released this top-10 list of ways to protect your data.
For more information, click here.
Friday
March 12, 2010 Win Cash and Prizes Just for Taking Our SurveysFiled under: Research, Uncategorized
But this research would not be possible without the data, which is why it’s so important that any and all ad specialty professionals should be taking the time to fill out our surveys — we want as many submissions as possible so that we know the research is accurate. Of course, filling out surveys can be time consuming and we know time is money. That’s why Counselor is offering an added incentive to both distributors and suppliers to take the surveys. Here are the details.
Please take the survey that applies to you today and help Counselor produce the most important research report done in the ad specialty industry each year. –TeamCentral
Thursday
March 11, 2010 ASI Store: Reserve Your ASI Show Booth Online (And Save!)Filed under: The ASI Show, Uncategorized
Not only have we added the ability to reserve your 2010 and 2011 ASI Show booths online in the ASI Store, but if you act this month you can save big $$ on booths and marketing. The following are the deals being run this month:
In addition to these deals, you can also get “Early Bird Specials” on 2011 shows as well as multi-show savings packages, all through the ASI Store. So what are you waiting for?! Click here to learn more about reserving your ASI Show booth in the ASI Store. And if you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact us at feedback@asicentral.com. For more information about The ASI Show, go to www.asishow.com, or call 877-ASI-SHOW. –TeamCentral *Must be done through the ASI Store
Tuesday
March 2, 2010 Poll: Is Green Movement Losing Steam?Filed under: Green, Uncategorized Just a few years back it seemed that everyone was jumping on the eco-friendly bandwagon. Whether you were buying an electric car or an organic t-shirt, “going green” was the hip thing to do and it was said to be more than a fad, but a trend that was here to stay. Then the recession hit, and the cards were shuffled a bit. According to a recent article in Counselor magazine, not only is the green marketing losing steam, but a number of experts agree that it is no longer as integral a focus as it had been just months ago. “A lot of businesses jumped on board because it was trendy, not because they believed in it. They did it because the polls showed this or a focus group said that. Others never got started,” says Simon Sinek, owner of strategic marketing consultancy Sinek Partners. “Now it’s not trendy.” But according to Marc Held, national sales manager of Bodek & Rhodes, not only is the green market doing well, but it’s poised to make a significant comeback, especially with apparel. Watch the video here, or click on the video below. What do you think? Is the Green movement losing steam? Take the new ASICentral poll now, or post a comment to the blog.
–MeanVinGREEN
Thursday
February 25, 2010 Photos From the ASI Show San DiegoFiled under: Uncategorized While we here in the Philly area suffer through Snowmageddon Part III, my pal Joan Chaykin is basking in the lovely California weather at the ASI Show San Diego. She also brought along a camera to further rub in just how nice it is out there on the Left Coast. Joan, this ain’t helpin’ us! Anyway, enjoy the pics …
Gotta be California …
Two clowns and a red snapper fish head. Nice.
Ahhh, California sunsets.
Giant statue of the sailor and nurse in that famous kiss pose.
Melinda and Kathy on the entrance to the Gaslight District.
Group shot posing with Andy. Strangely, we all think it looks like we’re visiting Andy (one of the youngsters) in the old-age home “Wave hi to the camera Andy!”
USS San Diego.
USS Midway.
Anchors aweigh!
Statue of Bob Hope entertaining the troops.
Southern California!
CJ and Matt.
Gaslamp Quarter. |
The world is a competitive place. Everyone is trying to get a leg up on everyone else. Just think about your everyday life: At the supermarket it’s good to be in the front of the line as opposed to the back, and it seems that on check-out it becomes a race with your fellow shoppers. I was at a concert last week and had seats in the 25th row. Now, my seats were OK, but I was watching the front rows with envy of their unobstructed sight lines and better overall experience. At the airport, first-class passengers and frequent flyers get the first rows on the plane, plus expedited boarding and check-in. Being ahead of shoppers, concert goers or passengers is not a necessity, but can make your life easier and more enjoyable. However, when it comes to business, being ahead of your competition is a necessity.
First, some bad news. Your top performers may be getting ready to jump ship. At least that’s what the results of a recent survey indicate. Right Management, a career consultancy, asked more than 900 workers in North America if they planned to pursue new job opportunities as the economy improves in 2010. Sixty percent said “yes.” Another 20% indicated they would be updating their resumes and attending networking events “just in case” a better opportunity comes along.
OK, maybe it’s me, but I just think this is ridiculous.
