Branding Blog

I have attended many trade shows over the 25 years that spans my sales life. For the last 16 years, I have served as president of Southern Advertising , and prior to that, I was in the uniform rental business. During my time in the uniform rental business, we attended many years of trade shows. To be honest, I did not fully appreciate how much they contributed to my sales as well as the networking that resulted in the contacts I made during those shows. We primarily attended maintenance and engineering shows here in Greenville, SC. There were always technology shows going on at the same time, and we got plenty of companies that would come in and visit from that.  Being someone on the ground floor of attending these events, my success hinged on giveaways for many reasons. The first reason was attracting the right people to our booth so we could introduce our company and what we could provide for them. The second, and the most important is giving away something that is unique and will

There are many reasons people order custom polo shirts online vs working with a local company to buy embroidered polos and I would like to explore both sides of the issue. When you buy locally, your sales representative is able to make a personal impression and normally can build trust quickly.  Additionally, you are most likely helping a local business in your community. There can be a perception that a local company has a better ability for a quick turnaround or running short quantity runs at a reasonable price. When you buy custom polo shirts online, your sales representative many times will have more knowledge of the best options available.  Allow me to explain … being online forces a company to constantly seek out the best values - there is a competitiveness that typically does not exist locally.  Another factor to consider is an online company can have a greater customer diversity which results in a better ability to recommend the proper polo shirt based on the custome

Being from the south I have grown up with friends and family with different camo personalities. Some people think if you are not wearing mossy oak then you are somehow lesser of a person and others in the middle and others really don't care. Selling custom camo hats for 16 years I have to say in the end it's a personal choice and many times a matter of functionality.  Here are the 3 main types of custom camo patterns usually customers look for in custom hats. Licensed Camo Military or digital camo Non-licensed camo I will go into each one share a little bit of info about each. Licensed camo would be a camo pattern that is designed and patented to replicate it you must a license to do so. We can resell the material if we buy it from a manufacturer that has a li

Every customer has different needs in regards to screenprinted or embroidered hats... In some cases screenprinted caps may be a better option than embroidered hats and here is why: Increase the colors that can be printed  Small detail can be replicated better Pricing can be much lower 4 color process can be achieved  In some cases embroidered hats may be a better fit than screenprinted caps and here is why: Event dates(rush orders) can be met easier Higher quality appearance More options of caps to choose from Crisper and sharper images More durable More Professional look The Cons: Embroidered Hats: More expensive Less detail can be accomplished Screenprinted Caps: Lower overall quality Less expensive look Durability is not as good Less options of caps Below on the left is a  Screenprinted Cap and right is embroidered hats:       Even though there are a few reasons customer tend to go the printed route such as budget or