Saturday, May 21, 2005
News from the front
JPP news is proud to announce the birth of the new printed pens site, a great addition to our suite of sites and full of new products. Eco friendly to executive and budget to expensive the range of products has increased. There are some really stunning pens such as the LPC 026, 027 and 028 from Lecce, these are pens with a combination of deep lacquer and gold plate and I am sure that these will fly off the shelf at Christmas time. The Evolution Roller Ball is another new product, relatively inexpensive but none the less a really good pen, it compares well with the Parker Vector for example.
It is a good idea to become thoroughly familiar with this site as I declared to a potential customer yesterday that the Panther Extra Ball Pen was not one of ours – bad mistake.
Baseball caps - remember that the website does include some items that cannot be obtained here in the UK so it is always best to check the stock before you quote.
Remember that for stress products the lead time is about 4 – 5 weeks for most items on the web site so beware when quoting.
Ring binders with full height pockets front and spine and polypropylene boxes can be produced quickly if no print is required. Many customers are pressing for the shortest possible lead times at present; check with production before you quote.
Mouse mats continue to sell well with Brite Mats becoming more popular and hard top mats often being custom shaped, tear drops seem to be very common at present.
Printed mugs have not been doing so well just recently, ever since the TOP-MUG site disappeared in fact but we are doing our best to rectify the situation and are slowly getting more enquiries for these products, keep on pushing, the product is good and the prices keen.
On a different note I am off for a short break to Switzerland next week, I’ll send you a yodel! Happy selling.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Recycled products for business gifts
I am back on my recycled goods band wagon this week. Visit this website for all things recycled www.ecopromogifts.co.uk baseball caps, T shirts, bags, sticky notes, desk accessories, pens, pencils and much more. I was surprised myself to see what could be made from old PET bottles. Why am I so stuck on recycled goods? Well the other day I read this in an extract from Jonathan Sachs new book. ‘Two men were walking along a beach where a great number of sea urchins had been washed ashore after a storm. The younger of the two was picking up the sea urchins and putting them back into the ocean. The older man asked why he was doing this when it was obviously a hopeless task; only a few could be saved. The young man replied that he realised this but saving a few was far better than saving none at all.’ This got me thinking about the environment and recycling and the argument that we waste more energy by recycling products than we do in extracting raw materials and making new stuff. Frankly I can’t believe that the energy expended in digging up aluminium ore, refining it and shipping the stuff half way round the world and then using it to make new drinks cans is less than the energy required to ship old cans to a local reprocessing plant for reuse. Am I being naïve or what? Isn’t it just a case of good old human selfishness, looking for an excuse not to do something a bit boring? Whatever, perhaps it is time we all took a long hard look at what we are doing to our planet, perhaps we should stop spending money on shiny new bits of plastic and metal and go for the second hand stuff instead. So the next time a business gift is required why not think green and go for a recycled product?
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Summer drinks and printed mugs
Last week I was freezing cold and the last thing on my mind was a barbecue or picnic. Now that spring seems to have arrived – for a few days any way – we begin to think about what to do at the weekend and in our family a picnic by the sea springs to mind. All this has led me to think about out door events, business gifts and drinks and mugs to put drinks in and so here are a few ideas to get the sales juices flowing. Drinks bottles, great for all sporting activities or team building exercises in the wilds, canned drinks or bottled water, thermos mugs and flasks. Earthenware printed mugs are great for corporate events but if the budget won’t stand it then we can supply branded disposable plastic mugs. Don’t forget that picnics often end with a thunder storm so handy promotional umbrellas is a great idea. We have the super mini umbrella, just right for putting in a bag or rucksack. I seem to have strayed a bit from the idea of printed mugs but any sale is a good one so go to it my merry men!
