In the days of BlackBerrys, Palm Pres, and email contact lists, the basic paper business card may look like a relic. But does giving these out signal you as behind the curve?

Nope, not at all. In a world where a lot of communication happens electronically, the business card remains a valuable, tangible way to promote yourself and your company while providing your contact details to someone. The important thing is to produce business cards that are memorable and informative, ones that can instantly sum up your brand in a glance.

While social media may get all the hype right now the vast majority of business interaction in this country still takes place face to face. So while it is great to stay ahead of the technology game and how it might relate to your business there are tried and true aspects of business that remain strong and relevant and business cards are one of those!

November is that time of the year when many are feeling grateful for all that they have. In business while it is a good thing to be grateful for your customers and express that gratitude throughout the year this time of the year it is emphasized even more so here in the US due to Thanksgiving.

We decided that we would share some ideas for showing gratitude to your customers using promotional products.

One great way is to think of the customer’s field or industry and find an appropriate gift to give them. For a tech company maybe send them a roll-up computer keyboard.

Another idea that is independent on the customer’s field is through the use of food. While we can print your logo on packaging and candy jars we can also print your logo on a bar of chocolate or on the M&Ms themselves. Everyone loves food and so it is a great idea to associate your company brand with some delicious treats.

The third idea is to use the seasons to send a particularly timely gift of gratitude. It can be the promotional item itself or it can simply be your logo modified for the season. We recently helped a HVAC company change their logo’s colors to be black, orange, and brown to align with the fall season they are going through right now. It was a fun way for them to interact with their customers and reinforce their brand though a unique promotional product.

Lastly a very simple handwritten note should be sent. Whether it is from company letterhead or a simple 4X6 notepad you can send a note to your customers for a wide variety of purposes. Some are for placing an order others are for alerting you of a problem, general feedback, or compliments from them.

So no matter how you do it, a promotional item or a kind word via a note, it is wise to communicate your appreciation to your customers during this month but throughout the year.

If you happened to watch NFL games the past several weekends, it would have been hard to miss the seas of pink promotional merchandise worn by different players and refs. For those wondering as to why, the reason is to promote Breast Cancer Awareness. Throughout October, the partnership between the NFL and the American Cancer Society is on full display.

The official NFL Pink website explains: “NFL games will feature players, coaches and referees wearing pink game apparel, on-field pink ribbon stencils, special game balls and pink coins – all to help raise awareness for this important campaign. All apparel worn at games by players and coaches, along with special game balls and pink coins will be auctioned off at NFL Auction, with proceeds benefiting the American Cancer Society and team charities. This is an issue that has directly touched the lives of so many in the NFL family, and we are committed to helping make a difference in breast cancer prevention.”

This campaign is another testament to the power of promotional merchandise and products. Not only do these pink apparel items and branded game accessories create buzz, but they also double as fundraising promotions to draw in money for an important cause.

If you are looking for a cost-effective way to build awareness for your brand, you could take a few notes from the American Cancer Society and their partnership with the NFL. Like we have shown in past studies, promotional products offer the visibility, appeal, and a solid return on investment that every company needs to utilize to build a successful and well-recognized brand!

Promotional products, marketing collateral, and branded apparel is not the easiest thing to shop for. You can’t just walk into Target or Walmart and buy 20 sweatshirts and give them your logo on a USB drive and pick it up a hour later like you can with photo printing. It can be a bit comlicated but here are a few ideas that can help make your promotional product order a bit easier:

1. Have the right type of file format if it is a first time order. EPS or AI files are vector art work that is required for the majority of items. Embroidery is one of the few imprinting methods where we can use a JPG or BMP file format. Vector art files allow us to shrink or enlarge your logo without a degradation of quality.

2. Give everyone time. Last minute rush orders are costly as it often requires people from the manufacturer to work overtime to squeeze your job into production schedule. Also if the shipment has to be expedited that can cost a lot of money too. Typically you want to give yourself about 10 business days or 2 weeks for production and shipping.

3. Price breaks. The more you buy the less you pay per item. We send quotes at the requested  quantity but often include the pricing if you were to go to the next higher price break. Some items it barely costs more to double your order – this is often true with stickers and labels.

These days businesses are getting more and more into social media as a method to gain mind share amongst their customer bases. Another popular trend right now is in the mobile technology space where smartphone sales growth is excelling despite tough economic times. These powerful little supercomputers like the Apple iPhone and Android HTC Evo allow customers to combine several separate devices like a phone, gps, wireless internet connected laptop and jam pack them into one convenient tool for their busy lives.

Along with these handy devices comes new apps like QR code readers. A QR code is a small one color – 2 dimensional bar code that when photographed by many smartphones the user is taken to certain websites or presented with offers. Japan has been using them for years in store windows, websites, and even on billboards as seen above.

For example, the QR code you see below will take you to EMS Promotions’ Google Places page where we have coupons, company contact information, and a link to our website.

QR codes are just one of many new technologies people are starting to use to reach consumers who are leaving behind the laptops and desktops of old in exchange for mobility. So are you ready?

Sales from manufacturers come and go on a constant basis but a trend we have been noting over the last several months is the Tiger Woods’ brand of apparel is consistently discounted. Whether that has to do with his recent marital troubles it is not known but if we were to guess the bad press sure hasn’t helped his “marketability”.

Nonetheless these discounts are on some very nice quality items and the TW branding is pretty inconspicuous on most of these garments so it is a great time to upgrade the quality of your next polo order!

Summer time is a common time for companies to host employee picnics or golf tournaments and the perfect opportunity to give branded items to the attendees. Company sponsored events are good ways to recharge the batteries by stepping out of the office and interacting with each other in a different atmosphere. Summer time promotional products also help by getting your logo on a wide variety of fun items that can be used in many different ways.

One such item is logo imprinted flippers. I don’t know about you but when I slip into my slippers a good feeling spreads across my body. The relaxed footware is a perfect symbol of summer fun and is an affordable promo item as well starting from under $5 a pair.

VHS tapes and walkmans may have been firmly cast into oblivion but another 1980s invention, the Post-it Note, is marking its 30th anniversary this month as popular as ever.

The little yellow square of paper that changed lives was actually the product of an engineering mistake by 3M scientists who accidentally stumbled upon an adhesive like none other that could stick and be repositioned on just about any surface.

It has remained among the top five best-selling office supplies in the United States each year ever since.

The three-by-three-inch (7.6-by-7.6-centimeter) pad has also evolved over time and now comes in eight sizes, 25 shapes and 62 colors, including the original Canary Yellow, sold in 150 countries.

[via Yahoo News]

Headwear is one of the more popular custom logo products ordered in the industry and one of the first decisions a buyer has to look into when ordering embroidered caps and headwear is the style of the hat. While there are many different styles a significant difference is if the hat is unstructured or structured. Structured and unstructured hats make up two of the largest categories of embroidered hats.

Custom logo structured hats all have one defining characteristic in that there is a pocket of air (small amount of space) where the hat does not make contact with the head, this pocket is located at the hairline of the individual whereas an unstructured hat fits snug against all parts of the head. Look at the image below to compare the unstructured hats on top and the structured hats on bottom. It is important to know that there are varying degrees of structure amongst the structured hats. Some structured hats can almost fit as relaxed as an unstructured hat but an unstructured hat will never result in the look seen on the bottom row of hats in the image below.

As for the current headwear trends you will see structured hats commonly on baseball players and other team sports as well skaters and people in the hip hop scene where they leave the bill of the hat flat and do not crease it. Unstructured hats have a very broad appeal and are used by all different types of groups. EMS Promotions polled its staff and came to the conclusion that about for every structured hat we sell we sell 3-4 more unstructured hats, so if you are not sure what you might want for your next order and want to err on the side of caution it never hurts to go with a good looking custom embroidered unstructured hat.

Unprecedented relief efforts are gradually escalating in Haiti, following a powerful earthquake last week that devastated the small island nation, killing an estimated 200,000 people. While international agencies & assigned peacekeepers delivered 200 tons of food & other supplies on Monday, many Haitians remain homeless & unable to leave Port-au-Prince, their nation’s capital. “It seems that the number of rescuers are simply too few and their reach is too limited,” said Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations. “The situation is just overwhelming.”

Currently, the U.N. has 7,000 troops in Haiti, with 3,000 deployed in Port-au-Prince alone. The U.S. is planning to send a total of 12,000 troops, along with $100 million in aid pledged by President Obama. On Monday, a group of European nations also announced it will provide $500 million in disaster relief. Additionally, dozens of humanitarian agencies and charities, including the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and UNICEF, are promising to use donated funds to supply food, shelter, clothing, comfort and medicine to needy Haitians. “Our priority now is to bring medical aid to cover the needs of thousands of people who were injured in the quake, and to prevent the spread of illness and diseases in the coming days,” said Yasemin Aysan, the Red Cross’ under secretary general for disaster response.

You can get involved by donating to the Red Cross by simply texting: “HAITI” to 90999. A $10 donation will show up on your next cell phone bill. See the Red Cross site for details.