Promotional Banner Pens For Big Messages

September 4th, 2010

Promotional pens are great but there are times when I wish they had larger print areas.

That said, if I had to choose one promotional gift to promote my business it would be a logo printed pen. Why? Because pens are used by business people every day. People require them and use them. A good quality printed pen can promote your brand for months if not years.

Now let’s go back to that slight disadvantage of print space. You cannot have a promotional item that is so loved and used before people start trying to find ways to improve it. I know! Why not add a flag that pulls out allowing a much larger printable area.

If only that had been my idea! Sadly it wasn’t.

Oh well – in this post I would like to introduce to a pen that could be just what you are looking for. Let’s say you have a restaurant with a popular menu. You may already be giving away promotional pens to your loyal customers with your logo and contact details. What if you could go one step further and hand them a pen with a pull out flag that highlights your daily specials?

One of my good customers recently had a similar requirement. He is in the very competitive mobile phone industry and wanted to begin promoting a new mobile phone before it hit the market.

He was already giving away low cost promotional pens to his customers but thought the banner ad pen would be an excellent way to ensure pre-launch sales.

He had pictures of the phone printed on the flag with a pre-launch special. His customers could pre-order the phone and receive a discount. He only purchase 500 of the pens as the launch date was approaching quickly.

The promotion was a tremendous success. He sold out of his stock before the shipment even arrived. Now that is what promotional pens are there to do. They offer you a means of showing your customers the benefits of taking certain actions.

What would you print on the banner pen? Do you have a product or service that would sell better if you showed the benefits on a large pull out flag? Why not ask for a sample and to get the ideas flowing? Do you care to share your ideas or experiences? Please do by leaving a comment.

By Dan Toombs

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Posted in Promotional Plastic Pens | No Comments »

Promotional Pen Questions-How Do I Get the Best Value For My Money?

September 3rd, 2010

Promotional pens are an excellent way of getting your logo and company details into your customers hands and minds. Whether you are looking for low cost plastic pens or executive metal gift pens you need to know what you are looking for to get the best value for your money.

Before letting you in on what you should do, let’s take a look at some of the not so good advice I have seen in articles, blogs and other media.

Order From The Large Corporate Promotional Gift Companies

This advice is often seen written by, you guessed it, the large corporate promotional gift suppliers. Most of these companies built themselves up before the internet was around. They sent out thousands of brochures and catalogues which smaller suppliers could not afford to do.

One of these large companies ceased trading in the UK this year and rumour has it quite a few are not doing very well.

Why? Because all promotional gift suppliers are now working on a much more level playing field. You are much more likely to get better service and prices from the smaller internet based, tightly run promotional gift suppliers. Many bring in their own range of pens and print them in house. A lot of the owners of internet based suppliers used to work for the larger promotional gift supplier and have learned from experience how to run their businesses better.

How could the large dinosaur gift suppliers of the past compete with that?

Let’s look at it another way. If you purchase a quantity of promotional Parker Jotter pens from one of the larger suppliers you will pay more. They have higher over-heads and will continue to be more expensive unless they can downsize very quickly.

This is proving to be easier said than done.

Leave it all to a Sourcing Agency

Many companies still leave the sourcing of their promotional pens to sales promotion agencies. This is a very expensive chain of supply. Any good promotional gifts supplier should be able to help you with any design issues and sourcing at a fraction of the cost.

It is so easy to find promotional pen suppliers online these days that it is unbelievable these agencies still handle promotional product sourcing for their clients.

I have actually been told on many occasions by agency staff that they want to purchase pens that they can mark up 100%. Don’t fall into this expensive way of purchasing promotional pens!

Keep You Design Simple

Simply keeping your design uncomplicated will not necessarily get you the best value for your money! Yes it is often cheaper to print in one colour on the barrel but pictures sell better than mono coloured worlds and logos. The best pens can be printed in multiple colours and even in full colour.

So then, what should you do to get the best return on your promotional pens?

Shop around for price
Ask for samples and compare quality
Look for pens with large print areas so no one need squint to read your message
Look for pens that can be printed in multiple colours if your logo looks best in colour
Take some time to test your samples before placing an order.

It is really that easy. At the end of the day you are looking for excellent results more than you are a pen! A company that can offer you your dream – your perfect promotion – is the company you should use for promotional pens and gifts.

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Promotional Engraved Pens for Christmas-Important Information for Perfect Promotions

September 2nd, 2010
Engraved promotional pens

At promotionalpens.co.uk we specialise in engraving promotional gift pens

Have you ever received an engraved executive gift pen? Promotional gifts do not come much better.

Engraved metal gift pens promote brands like few gifts can. Pens are needed and used daily. Metal executive pens are usually kept for years promoting your business all along the way!

As Christmas is quickly approaching, I want to give you a few tips along with some valuable information about what to consider when using good quality metal pens as Christmas and end of year gifts.

Promotional executive pens have been popular Christmas gifts for clients and employees for decades. In the old days this was done by a high speed rotating cutter that achieved magnificent results. This high quality engraving process was usually followed by hand-filling the engraving with an infill colour: this process was a true art in itself.

The main problem with these traditional engraving machines was that they were quite slow and setup times were long. This made engraving promotional metal pens a timely and expensive process.

Nowadays, laser engraving has become the norm. Laser engraving has improved immensely in the past few years. You should ask for a sample to see the quality for yourself as you will not be disappointed!

There are some major advantages to laser engraving pens.

  • The engraving process is much faster
  • Laser engraving is perfect for fine detail
  • Setup times are faster and therefore less expensive
  • Small and large orders can be accommodated

So whether you are buying promotional engraved pens for the masses or just a few top customers, laser engraved pens will work perfectly. It is important to note, however, that with laser engraving you are limited to the base colour of the pen though the engraving can be blackened on some pens if necessary to achieve the best results.

While you are considering what to engrave on your gift pens, I would like to leave you with some design advice.

One of my customers took months to choose his metal pens and design for engraving. Unfortunately he did not discuss the design with me first and we had to make some quick last minute changes.

When engraving, you need to try to keep your designs quite simple and in line of site. You do not want to have a design that wraps around the pen because it is not possible. Always check the engraving area before going to work on your design and you will save yourself time and money.

Have you ever given away engraved executive pens for Christmas or another event? How did it go? Why not share your experiences or thoughts by leaving a comment.

By Dan Toombs

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Posted in Metal Gift Pens, Promotional Executive Pens, Promotional Metal Pens | No Comments »

Promotional Pencils are Ideal for Promoting Training Companies

September 1st, 2010
promotional wooden pencils

Promotionalpens.co.uk is the UK's leading online supplier of promotional pencils

The grand opening had been planned, practiced and anticipated for months.

Promotional mugs, printed pens, coasters and notepads are all placed neatly at each desk. The first group of students take their seats ready for instruction.

Sound familiar? Any good training company tries to make a good impression and often this is done with the use of logo printed promotional gifts. This training company, however, forgot one of the most essential products all students need – pencils with erasers.

Think back to your school days. It was surely important to you to be able to take notes and erase mistakes easily. That is what low cost promotional pencils allow your students to do . While you are at it you may want to order promotional pencil sharpeners to strengthen your brand even more.

The training company mentioned in this article realised their slight oversight within the first few days of classes starting. Students began to bring their own pencils which were much better than pens for jotting down ideas and drawing pictures and diagrams.

Overlooking the importance of purchasing promotional pencil is not a big problem even if classes have already started. Many can be printed and despatched within a couple of days. You will be spoilt for choice.
Look into the following and decide which is best for you;

Elegant all black wood pencils
Standard wooden pencils with eraser
Wooden pencils without eraser
Eco friendly recycled plastic pencils
Full colour printed pencils (This is done by transfer printing and looks fantastic)
Carpenter Pencils
Mechanical plastic pencil
Short pencils
Colouring pencils

Whatever your specialty, you are sure to find top quality pencils that will do the job and make your business look professional. There are so many makes and styles available to you so spend a little time to find those that will make your brand shine.

Have you ever asked for samples before placing an order? So many people purchase off the page without ever seeing the products before they arrive printed with their logo. If you have an excellent supplier this will not be a problem but ordering a sample will put your mind at ease.

Have you ever used promotional pencils to promote your brand? Care to share any thoughts or experiences here by leaving a comment?

By Dan Toombs

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Inspired By Nature – What to Look for in Eco Friendly Promotional Pens

August 31st, 2010
eco friendly promotional ball pens

The EnviroStick is the world's first promotional pens manufactured from 100% post consumer waste.

Every week I am bombarded with news letters, email shots and phone calls from different suppliers around the world trying to get their eco pens featured on my promotional pens website. More often than not, they are not very ecologically friendly at all.

What point is there in having a promotional pen manufactured in China from ‘recycled’ Chinese plastic that was never used in the first place and then importing it thousands of miles. The ecological cost in fuel alone must make the pens about as eco friendly as my old 4 wheel drive jeep. Incidentally the Jeep is no longer driven and has been for sale for about three years.

I am not a tree hugging hippy who spouts out ‘green issues’ but many people looking for eco friendly promotional pens take this subject much more seriously. These people need to know what they are purchasing. Just because a pen is promoted as being eco friendly does not mean it is the answer to all things ecologically bad.

If your business is trying to promote the fact that you have a strong eco policy in place, then almost any eco friendly pens will help you promote that. Bic, for example, offer the Ecolutions range but some of these pens are only manufactured out of 37% recycled plastic. This means that 63% of the material used to manufacture these eco pens is just like the material used in every other non-eco pen.

I guess it is fair to say that any amount of recycled material used in promotional pens is better than none. I have used Chinese produced eco pens to promote my own company. If you are not as laid back about green issues as I am, however, this is what you need to do.

1.) Look for eco pens that are manufactured close to where you do business. The fewer miles they need to travel to get to you the better.

2.) Check out the new promotional pens available that are manufactured from post consumer waste. The Lecce Pen Company manufactures a range of pens that have been manufactured from used Tetra Pak cartons. These are the cartons that you see in the supermarket that hold fruit juice and long-life milk. One of their pens, the EnviroStick is manufactured from 100% post consumer waste!

3.) You may also be interested in the large range of pens now being manufactured from corn starch and other vegetable starches. These pens are biodegradable and will decompose when they are thrown away when their writing life is over.

4.) Beware of recycled plastic pens. Some are manufactured from post consumer plastics but most of the plastic used to produce them is simply plastic that was never used. CD case pens, for example are manufactured from CD cases that were either faulty or cracked but never actually held a CD.

If you are looking mainly for stylish and innovative designs with a touch of ‘eco’ to them then you will have thousands of pens to choose from. If the ‘eco’ part of the pens is more important to you. then be sure you know what you are purchasing before placing that order.

Do you have a favourite promotional eco friendly pen you use to promote your business? Please feel free to leave a comment and share your experiences or thoughts.

By Dan Toombs

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Warning-Promotional Pens That Look The Same Are Not Always The Same!

August 30th, 2010

I would like to tell you a story about a customer I lost for a short time. This was a customer who had been very happy with our service and prices. There was really no reason for them to change suppliers had it not been for a mail shot they received from one of my cut price competitors.

Her boss received a brochure while she was on vacation. The brochure featured a picture or the Argenta ballpen. This is a very popular metal pen worldwide. I have seen it called other things such as the Lunar Pen and the City Pen but the distinctive style is the same.

Realising they were low on pens and had a upcoming trade show in a few weeks, he jumped at the special offer without asking for samples. He thought he had been paying far too much for his pens and was in no mood to pick up the phone to me. He sent his artwork and placed his order.

Such actions are not unreasonable. If you saw an iPad featured for sale by one supplier for 20% less than from another supplier and you wanted an iPad, would you not jump at the deal?

Unfortunately for my customers things didn’t go as planned. They received their new pens a day before their big event but they were not the same. The metal used to manufacture them was much lighter and they were difficult to write with because of a substandard refill. Basically they were not usable because there were such poor quality.

I learned when I first started in the promotional merchandise industry that many pens may look the same but they are by no means the same. You see, the popular designs can be manufactured by several competing factories in China. Some use cheaper materials to manufacture these lookalike pens and the resulting pens feel cheap and not nice to write with.

I love competition. It is part of what makes my job fun. But as a buyer of promotional pens you need to ensure you are comparing like for like.

If in doubt ask for samples. Any good supplier will be happy to arrange for you to see samples.

I am happy to say that my customer has come back. This type of thing will happen again but hopefully it will not happen to you. Always check the quality of your promotional merchandise and you will have far less chance of purchasing substandard merchandise.

Have you ever thought you were getting an amazing deal on promotional pens just to find that the goods were not what you were expecting? Please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences by leaving a comment.

Posted by Dan Toombs

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Posted in Promotional Metal Pens, Promotional Plastic Pens | No Comments »

Quite Simply the Most Eco Friendly Pen in the World

August 29th, 2010

Are you looking for eco friendly promotional pens? Did you know that many promotional pens that appear to be eco friendly are about as eco friendly as a poisoned trout. They are manufactured out of plastic products that were never used in the first place.

One good example is the recycled CD case pens that are all the rage these days. When was the last time you recycled your CD cases? When CD cases are manufactured there is a percentage that do not work or break in the manufacturing process. These are the CD cases used for these ‘recycled’ eco pens. They never served any useful purpose and they are not biodegradable.

That is why I get excited when a truly eco friendly pen hits the market. I know how important it is to many of my customers that they promote their brands with eco pens. The EnviroStick pen is such a pen. In fact, it is currently the world’s most eco friendly pen!

It is manufactured out of used Tetra Pak cartons. You know the cartons that contain products such as fruit juice and long-life milk. I could get more scientific but that would be boring for too many. The main thing you need to know is that the trim, barrel and even the refill are manufactured from post consumer waste and they are also biodegradable.

The only part of this pen that is not recycled is the ink itself!

The EnviroStick pen is available with a white or black barrel and a choice of popular cap colours. The EnviroStick pen is manufactured by The Lecce Pen Company. It is a budget pen which writes well for what it is. If you are looking for higher quality eco pens that are also manufactured out of post consumer waste, you should have a look at some of the other pens on offer by Lecce.

The Re-Pen Stick Ballpen is a good alternative as it is also manufactured from post consumer Tetra Pak cartons but they do not have the recycled refill yet. The EnviorStick is currently the only pen in the world that has a recycled refill.

You will also not be let down by the EnviroStick’s print area. There is a massive 45mm x 18mm print area on the barrel but it is only suitable for one colour imprints.

This could be a minor inconvenience for some and completely rule out using the EnviroStick for others.

Those of you who have multi coloured logos but still want a pen manufactured out of large amounts of recycled goods, I can recommend looking at the Biologo ballpen, the Biosense ballpen and the Biostick. Each of these are available worldwide and are manufactured out of recycled newspapers.

You may also be interested in looking into the large selection of pens that are now being manufactured out of cornstarch. These pens are manufactured out of corn and look and feel like plastic. They are also biodegradable so they will decompose when their writing life comes to an end.

Have you had any good or bad experiences with the pens recommended in this article. It would be great to hear your thoughts and experiences so please feel free to leave a comment.

By Dan Toombs

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Posted in Eco Friendly Pens, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Free Promotional Pens Just for Subscribing to Our Blog

August 28th, 2010

Free promotional merchandise builds brands. Who wouldn’t want a free promotional Parker Pen or a new top quality shopper bag?

The trick is to offer the kinds of promotional gifts that people will both want to own and also need to use regularly.

Promotional pens are this type of promotional gift. They are always one of the top selling promotional gifts every year without fail. Everyone needs a pen regularly and each time a logo printed pen is used it is building the advertising company’s brand. Recently promotional pens have started to be used much more often to get people to subscribe to blogs.

I know this because I sell promotional pens every day of the week and have done for many years. I have seen all the trends from the early days of the internet when anyone and everyone had their email address printed on their pens to the recent trend to promote social networks.

Now as increasing numbers of people are using blogging to communicate and educate their customers, blog address are beginning to be printed much more often.

Following is an example of how one of my customers does it who is on what one might call the A list of bloggers.

Anyone who visits his website and registers on his site receives his company brochure and a free Prodir pen. Prodir is famous for their top quality plastic pens so they are a good low cost gift that people appreciate. These pens and for that matter his blog advertise that anyone who subscribes to his blog’s RSS feed will receive a Parker Jotter Steel Pen and Pencil Gift Set.

This is a generous gift and perhaps more than most people will want to spend but it works perfectly for him and achieves the results he wants.

You may have a new blog and want to test the water first. Why not try offering a free Prodir Pen to anyone who subscribes to your blog. This is a very inexpensive way to get your customers and target customers to get to know you better and read your posts.

An Extra Bit of Advice

What do you think of when you hear the word ’subscribe?’ My customer made a point that could be of interest to you. When most people hear the word ’subscribe’ they think of subscribing to a magazine or newspaper. What do you need to do when you subscribe to a magazine? Pay!

When you offer your free pen for subscribing to your blog’s RSS feed don’t use the word subscribe. Instead say something like ‘Follow my blog’s RSS feed and receive a free Parker Pen’ or ‘Join my blog’s RSS feed and receive a free pen.’ He changed his wording and saw instant results. I hope you do too.

So what do you think? Do you want to give it a go? What do you have to lose? Would you like to leave a comment and share your thoughts or experiences?

By Dan Toombs

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Why Your Carpenter Customers Want Promotional Carpenter Pencils

August 27th, 2010

Do you have customers in the building trade? If so you will find many different promotional gifts that they will find useful. Promotional carpenter pencils are one of these products. Logo printed carpenter pencils are ideal marketing tools because they serve an important purpose and last a long time.

What other low cost promotional items can you think of that are portable, don’t leak and can erase your errors?

I am often asked by companies supplying carpenters with everything from cement to wood to food what business gifts they will appreciate most. Their question is always followed by my question – How much do you want to spend?

If you have a large budget and can afford to give away top quality tape measures, tools and workwear than by all means do so. Such gifts are very useful and will be appreciated.

The truth of the matter is, most businesses do not have huge marketing budgets.

One such business comes to mind. I was recently contacted by the owner of a sandwich shop that traded near Ingleby Berwick, the UK’s largest housing estate. Many of the shop’s customers are builders who stop by regularly for lunch. As there are many restaurants in the area, competition for the builders’ lunchtime trade is intense.

I recommended handing out low cost carpenter pencils printed with the shop’s logo and a sandwich meal deal. Carpenter pencils are used regularly and even when they are not used they are rarely thrown away. Instead they stay in the carpenter’s tool box until needed. If they are printed with a logo and contact details they can promote a business for months if not years.

Builders love carpenter pencils because they are flat and can be put down on a steep roof without rolling to the ground. The lead in the pencils is wide and flat instead of circular like normal pencils. The core is also harder than standard pencils so that carpenters can write on rough surfaces such as cement and wood. As the lead is flat, they can also write thin lines or fat dark lines simply by turning the pencil.

One more reason to give away these popular low cost promotional items is the fact that they are harder to find than other pencils. When was they last time you saw a carpenter pencil for sale in your local supermarket or stationery shop? Their usefulness and their scarcity helps make them the ideal business gift for carpenters.

Did you know that carpenter pencils can be printed in full colour? There are also many eco friendly versions on the market. You can purchase recycled plastic carpenter pencils and FSC wooden pencils manufactured from wood that is certified to come from properly managed forests.

What message would you print on your promotional carpenter pencils? Do you care to share your ideas?

By Dan Toombs

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Why Do Free Promotional Parker Pens Attract So Much Business?

August 26th, 2010

As I write this article I am looking at an ad for over 50s health insurance. I’m not reading it because I am over 50 – not yet anyway – it caught my interest because the insurance company behind the ad is offering a free Parker Pen just for requesting more information.

This is promotional gift marketing at its best. Parker pens are considered to be one of the nicest and most popular pen brands. Parker’s executive quality metal gift pens are often given as graduation and birthday gifts.

The Parker Pen on offer in the advert is not one of Parker’s famous executive gift pens, but the Parker Jotter. The Jotter is Parker’s best selling pen but it is also their least expensive pen. It has a plastic barrel with metal trim and that famous Parker clip. It has a Parker refill and writes like you would expect a Parker to write but it is the budget option.

This just shows how people are attracted to popular brands. The ad would be far less powerful if the insurance company was offering a free generic metal pen even if that pen were more expensive than the Jotter.

I am sure you have seen similar ads offering free Parker Pens in magazines, television and online. These offers work because people love to receive free stuff especially when that free stuff is manufactured by a respected and trusted brand.

Most of us put value in such things. We all know that if we see a Parker Jotter in our local stationery shop it will be more expensive than the Bics, Pilots and plastic generic brand pens on offer. If we do put our hands in our pocket and buy a Parker Jotter we feel as though we have purchased a good pen and have high expectations of it.

Whether your business is large or small, you could offer your customers or target customers free Parker Pens and expect excellent results. Here are just a few ways they can be used;

    Give them to people as an incentive to register on your website
    Give them as a free gift for every purchase over a certain amount

      Give away Parker Jotters to visitors to your exhibition stand

    Can you think of other ways to give away these popular name brand pens? Perhaps you have used them for promoting your brand. Care to share your thoughts or experiences? Please leave a comment.

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