Friday, October 29, 2010

The Tasteful Thank You



While helping you brainstorm ways to thank your customers for their patronage this year, we left a few people out. These are people that you may see everyday, but often forget to thank for their hard work and dedication to your business' success. They may be the ones that get the most face time with your customers or the ones who fill out the paperwork and make the phone calls so you don’t have to. I’m talking, of course, about the members of your team, your back office, your staff.

It’s important to not only give thanks to your customers for their loyalty, but also the members of your team. If you’ve got a workforce as small as one or as big as one thousand, their hard work helped your business to survive or maybe even thrive in these tough times.

It is often tough to give gifts to both employees and customers without stepping out of bounds. Many businesses impose rules on their officers and their purchasing department concerning the gifts that they receive. Want a way to thank your whole accounting department, or the entire purchasing department of your best customers, without breaking the bank, and without singling out one individual? Give a gift to the whole department - one that can be shared. That way you let everyone know that you recognize their effort.

We sell those classic popcorn tins everyone knows and loves. You know the kind, the giant circular tin, seemingly never ending. This gift is a classic for a reason. Flavored popcorn is one thing that never goes out of style. These tins come in all shapes and sizes and can be given as a gift to the whole department, or on an individual basis. This gift is good if you’re leery of any food allergies you’re not sure of. I don’t think Stan in processing would appreciate a gift of cashews that will just make him break out in hives.

I love giving sweet gifts as thank you gifts: chocolates, cookies, candies. I love anything that gives a sweet reminder to my wonderful team. What better way to celebrate making a sales goal than with cookies iced with positive reinforcement? Anything from “Way to Go Team!” to “Congratulations!” can be printed on these delicious treats. Other foods, like lollipops, chocolate bars, bags of nuts, and even those popcorn tins can be a great way to express your appreciation. (I keep a stock of cookies on hand to thank those who send referrals my way.)

These are great things to do in the office, but are you looking for something people can take home with them? My daughter’s terrible caffeine habit is well known to her boss (as is the caffeine intake of her coworkers.) For a special thank you to her and her coworkers, their boss gave them a small bag of delicious, gourmet coffee. This is something she savors, reserving a scoop or two for weekends and holidays (or vacation time.) A variety pack was created for each employee, containing some coffee, some cappuccino, and hot chocolate packets (which were the first to go… let’s just say the sweet tooth runs in the family.)

Let’s get creative this year for our gifts for our employees! These food items can go a long way as gifts and can be imprinted in sweet icing, on a bag, or on a tin. Please browse the links and email or call us with any questions on products. Let your team know that they can have their cake (or cookie) and eat it too!
Mmmmmmmm.

Steve
www.raggo.com

Monday, October 11, 2010

Customer Appreciation Gifts

Since I’ve gotten you thinking about parties, let’s take a look at another great end-of-year event. This year, if you don’t feel a holiday party for your office is right, why not throw an end of year “Customer Appreciation” bash, gala, open house, social or good old-fashioned party?

This is a great way to get all of your most loved customers in one room and thank them for their time and their business this year, or in years past. It’s a great way to start off the new year, letting your favorite customers (or all of your customers) know how much you appreciate them while you take the opportunity to share your plans, your outlook or your goals for the coming year. It is also a way to give your most valuable clients a "warm fuzzy" feeling about you and your business that will last through the competitive times ahead. There are situations when that little bit of edge is necessary to ward off your competitors.

Check out our previous blog for decorating help (we’ve got the napkins, plates, cups, tablecloths and everything else you need to decorate)

I have a great gift idea for you. Do you want to give them something with sticking power, something your clients will look at not just daily, but multiple times every single day? Something that will make that "warm, fuzzy" last over many years and will make it available and visible in your customers' offices whenever your competitor shows up? If we measured “favorite” by the number of times we look at something, then one of my favorite things is the clock on my desk.I’m always checking the time (not so much for when I can leave work, but how long I have until I need to leave for that meeting, appointment, or to make that phone call to California or Brazil). If you think about it, nothing other than the monitor you are looking at right now rivals the advertising ‘hits’ you get with a clock or a watch.

Clocks, like all products, come in many shapes and sizes, so think about the message you want to send.

Is your business all about innovation and creativity? Desk clocks come in many shapes, and this one is quite a unique design. Give a gift that will help your clients 'soar' in the New Year. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) There are other shapes offered from simple geometric shapes, to golf bags, pianos, guitars, and classic cars-even pens with clocks built in. Check out some of our other designs. If you don't see a shape you want, contact us. I am sure we can find it.

Are you interested in a more classic look and feel? Check out this beautiful masterpiece. Its got a great look with roman numerals and a lovely mahogany finish. We have many similar timepieces, perfect for your favorite clients' desks.

Why not both new AND traditional? This time piece has a streamline look with a analog clock face. Put this on any desk and your sure to dress it up without being too busy.

Clocks are a great way to keep you on your customer's mind..every time they check the time. Best of all, they’ll thank you for the help.

Steve
www.raggo.com

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Moving Ever On



Summer is ending, Autumn is here, and before you know it, you’ll be wrapping Christmas gifts for friends, family and co-workers. Now is the best time to get your promotional products ready for this Holiday season. And perhaps that includes a holiday open house, family gathering, or small work party.

We’ve got everything you need to make planning even easier for you!

Some questions to consider when planning: Is this for a specific holiday, like Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa? Or is this a general holiday party? What colors will I use as a scheme? (Traditional green and red? Silver and blue? Gold? Any other combinations?) How many people will I invite? Is this formal or informal?

Once considering these questions and writing out a guest list, you’re probably getting together with the caterer and planning a menu, looking for a venue, and drawing up some decoration ideas. I bet you’re also planning to hit the store for the same old cocktail napkins, boring plastic cups, and the usual paper plates. Grabbing a few blasé gift bags and impersonal items to fill it.

Why though? This is your year to shine as host or hostess, so why not make the most(est). I’m sorry, I could not resist with that one.

If you’re throwing a party for business associates and employees or potential clients, take a look at our cocktail napkins. Imprinted with your logo and a special message, these are great items to include with your delicious buffet or delightful finger foods. Your party colors or business colors can be imprinted on white or colored napkins, adding a personal touch to even the smallest detail.

Will you be serving punch or cocktails? Plastic cups, in clear, frosted or various colors, can also be imprinted to match or compliment your napkins. Perfect for your family recipe of egg nog or that special party punch.

Even the plates can be personalized to meet your party needs.

After guests have mingled and enjoyed each others (and your own) company, how do you thank them for their time? A great gift for the holidays, especially if your guests have a Christmas tree, is a Christmas ornament. There are many to choose from, flat shapes to ordinate glass balls. My favorite lies right in the middle. Consider a traditional Christmas ball emblazoned with a “Happy Holidays!”, “Merry Christmas!”, “ ‘Tis the Season”, or whatever strikes your fancy. Include your business name and the year. Consider keeping to your party theme colors or your own business logo—your guests can enjoy these gifts every holiday season.

And yes, we do have gift bags. You can personalize the gift bags to include your business name along with “A special gift for you” or any other holiday message. Putting the chorus of your favorite Christmas carol or another meaningful holiday song to you is another way to personalize the bag itself and make this particular holiday gift special.

These are just a few ideas of some great holiday gifts and party items to consider. Please check out the website for any other holiday needs.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Environmentally Friendly Key Tags

Wow. This hitting for the cycle is really hard! It may take a little longer to find the home run in key tags, but here are 3 tags that fit the bill for single, double and triple.

Remember, we established that environmentally friendly advertising products will be products that are

1) recyclable, reusable or biodegradable
2) renewable, sustainable, organic or somehow do no (or less) harm to the environment when manufactured or disposed of, or
3) made from recycled materials.

Using a baseball analogy, we will call products that meet one of the categories above a single. If a product meets 2 of the categories, it is a double and if it meets all 3 of the earth friendly categories it is a triple. If we find a triple that is also on sale, then we will rule that one a home run.

We have quite a few key tags that reach first base. I chose the TTR from Americanna line, show at the left, because it is made from 100% post consumer recycled tires. Getting them out of the landfills without burning them is a good thing. They also carry 2 other shapes in recycled tire key tags - round and barrel shaped. Let us know if you want a different shape as many of our key tag manufacturers (not from this line, but from others) offer some level of recycled content in their materials.


Swinging for a double are 3 tags from AmPro's Nature Ad line. These tags are made from corn plastic and so are both manufactured from a renewable resource and are biodegradable. Shown at the right is the rectangular version. They also offer an oval version and one shaped like an ear of corn.


The triple comes from CorporateKey. It is an environmentally friendly flashlight key tag which uses solar cells to power 3 LEDs, the case is made from recycled materials and it is manufactured completely lead free ('LED free' in the text on the web page should have been 'lead free'. It is, after all, an LED flashlight). Shown at the left, this key tag is recycled, uses renewable energy and uses no lead in the manufacturing. Definitely a triple.


No home runs this time, but I will keep looking for them. Maybe I will try to hit the cycle with bags next time. That should be interesting.

Until then.

Steve
www.raggo.com

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Environmentally Responsible Advertising Sluggers!

Alright. Finally. The 'Big Guns' are at the plate. Excitement is in the air and everyone is paying extra to see if they can clear the bases....here goes.


First up is a pair of pens from ID Line. Both of these pens, the Goodkind Woody (at the top)and the Goodkind Timbercrank fill all of the categories we established for environmentally responsible pens (see our earlier post here for that discussion). All of the Goodkind Brand pens do. First, they are reusable ... in the pen world, that means that they are refillable. Brass refills, which themselves are made of recycled brass, are just $0.60 ea plus shipping. Second, they are manufactured from sustained yield birch, use a non-toxic varnish and are embellished with laser engraving rather than ink imprinting. Third, the steel clips and crank are made from recycled steel. So, these pens are reusable, sustainable, non-toxic and made from recycled materials. Definitely a pen that touches all the environmentally friendly bases!




Now up to bat is one of our heroes, the RCP from Graphco Line. This long ball hitter features a barrel made from recycled cardboard, which is also biodegradable, and the clip is bamboo...one of the most sustainable crops around. All this environmental friendliness AND it is currently on sale through the end of September! Sale price is $0.44 each plus shipping. Set up is FREE. BOOM...out of the park it goes.

I will try hitting the cycle with environmentally friendly key tags next time.

Steve
www.raggo.com

Hit for the Cycle with Environmentally Friendly Ad Products

Reviewing our categories of environmentally responsible promotional products, we hold that they will be

1) recyclable, reusable or biodegradable
2) renewable, sustainable, organic or somehow do no (or less) harm to the environment when manufactured, or
3) made from recycled materials.

Let's see if we can hit for the cycle with eco friendly ink pens.

Hitting first is an entry from one of my favorite pen companies, Bic. It is the Bic Ecolutions Round Stic pen. With a body made from 74% pre-consumer recycled material, originally used in the production of automotive part trays, it fills the roll of the lead off hitter by getting on with a single...it satisfies category 3 above. It is also currently on sale for $0.29 ea plus shipping through the end of August, but since all 3 of our categories above are not filled by this pen, it is only 'a hard hit single.'









Next up is the Legend from Target Line. This pen's body is made from corn (a renewable resource) based plastics and is biodegradable, so it fulfills both categories 1 and 2 above. Its low price and low minimum order are also very attractive, so we will call this hit a stand up double!


Our sluggers will be up next time to provide us with a couple of 'environmental long balls'. I can't wait to show them to you. Until then...

Steve
www.raggo.com

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Another Environmental Homer

Let’s review the ‘categories’ of environmentally friendly advertising products we discussed last entry. They will either be


1) recyclable, reusable or biodegradable

2) renewable, sustainable, organic or somehow do no (or less) harm to the environment when manufactured, or

3) made from recycled materials.


I love using the baseball metaphor for ranking the environmental friendliness of a product. If a product falls into one of the categories, it is a single. If it meets two, it is a double. Products that fall into all three of the categories we will call triples, AND if it is on special, then it is a home run. As in baseball, we have a lot of singles in our database, fewer doubles and even fewer triples. Home runs are few and far between. Here is another


This is the Eco’brella from Four Seasons. Both the canopy and the frame are made from recycled materials, the fabric is certified to not contain any harmful substances, the handle is bamboo which is both renewable and biodegradable, and it is on sale through 09/01/10. The sale price for 50 or more of these environmentally responsible umbrellas is $19.98 each and we will even throw in free setup, saving our customers another $50. Another one out of the park!


We can’t always hit homers, though. We will talk about some triples next time.


Steve

www.raggo.com

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Hitting Environmental Home Runs

Well...so much for resolutions, eh? I resolved at the beginning of this year not to let this blog thing go unattended for long stretches of time. For those of you who are counting, it has indeed been about 4 months without an entry. Time flies, doesn't it? I suppose that all new habits need refocusing and readjusting occasionally. Thank you to Jim, the web guy extraordinaire in my Wednesday Leadshare Group, for holding me accountable and reminding me that blogging is an everyday (or at least an every week) thing.

Perhaps I would have an easier time blogging if I focused on products instead of me. We will try that.

Nowadays, many consumers are thinking about the ways that their buying choices effect the environment. Businesses are no different, but in the business world it becomes more of an economic issue rather than a political one. In this time of tightening budgets, for instance, most businesses are taking steps to reduce expenses. These can be as simple as replacing old light bulbs with new, energy efficient ones. (Available with your imprint). More proactive measures might include encouraging customers to bring their own shopping bags, or asking if they even need a bag, instituting a telework program or giving incentives to carpoolers. These are simple measures, but added together they can help to reduce costs on both the corporate wallet, and on the environment.

You might have taken steps in your own life to become environmentally-responsible even though you weren’t trying. After all, reducing waste and consuming fewer resources ought to have an economic benefit of some sort. Perhaps, in an attempt to lower your printing costs, you have begun to recycle ink jet or toner cartridges in your business. Maybe you chose energy efficient appliances, bought some of those colorful tote bags from the grocery store or you even replaced a few bulbs in your own house with those long-lasting ones.

Whether or not you are personally concerned with such things, many of your customers likely are. To address both your promotional need and their environmental sensibilities, advertising products are popping up everyday claiming the mantle of ‘environmental responsibility’. There are more than 36000 products from over 500 manufacturers in our database that claim to be environmentally friendly. Before we go any further, though, let’s take a look at the term “environmentally-responsible.” Loosely defined, environmentally-responsible people examine their habits and work toward living a life that creates less waste, consumes fewer natural resources and attempts to reduce any negative impact that their actions have on the environment. It would follow then that environmentally-responsible products either create less waste, consume fewer resources or are less environmentally destructive than their non-environmentally-responsible counterparts. Simply stated they are either

1) recyclable, reusable, biodegradable or somehow do not end up in a land fill or degrade quickly when they do,

2) sustainable, renewable, organic, or at least does no harm to the environment when produced, or they are

3) produced from recycled materials.

Some of the products we offer fit only one category. Some however fit into all three of the categories above. One that does fit all three is the wire-bound Ecomaxx monthly planner from Payne Publishers. It is made from 100% recycled paper, the cover is 100% recycled coverstock, 30% post consumer (PCW) fiber, the wire binding is 90% recycled wire, and it is 100% chlorine free (PCF). So, it is biodegradable (#1 above), does not use harsh chemicals (Chlorine) when produced (#2 above) and is made from recycled everything (#3 above). Additionally, there are ecological "green tips" each page and if you order before July 30, you get a 10% discount. All this AND your ad gets daily exposure. Sounds like a home run do me. A weekly version is also available if you prefer that format.

More 'home run' eco-friendly products next time.

Steve

Monday, February 8, 2010

Sn....oooooooh......no.....

Soooo....more snow. Good thing I sell snow shovels! We had something around 2 feet this past weekend and I guess another 12 inches of so is expected overnight and into tomorrow. The average snowfall for the DC area is around 21 inches each year, so we will get more than 150% of our annual expected snowfall in less than one week!

Wonderful.

Looking out of my dungeon/office window at the snow, I am reminded of the snow globes we did for a local church. They were looking for ways to raise money for a building project and we suggested the globes. We took a series of photos of the current building....

...sent them off to the manufacturer and got a pre-production proof back in about a month. After the appropriate approvals, we produced and delivered 500 of them (the minimum order) in about 3 months. Voila...

They can work from artists' drawings as well, so we can produce the domes with replicas of a building not yet built. Actually, any 3-Dimensional object, real OR imagined would be suitable. If you are interested in selling snow globes as a way of raising funds for your organization this year, now would be a good time to start - especially if a committee is involved. That way we can get them in time for the Holiday selling season.

Remember, now, there are only 318 shopping days left until Christmas! I wonder if I sell snow blowers...hmmm.

Steve
www.raggo.com

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Save The Last Dance For Me

I need a break from shoveling snow! (Snow Totals) I haven't been this sore for a very long time.

One of my favorite customers forwarded me an email recently. The original email was from one of our online competitors (Yes, some of them are STILL in business!) and it offered the environmentally friendly, recycled cardboard ink pen with bamboo clip shown on the right at special pricing - $0.59 each plus set up and shipping for 200 or more pens.

It is a pretty good price. List for 200 is $0.66 ea, so it is a 10% discount.

Her 7 word message to me:

"Hi, Steve. Check this out. We're interested..."

She understands.

Her company has been doing business with us for almost as long as we have been open for business - 13 years this August. They know us. They know that our job - our only job - is to get them the right product at the right price and deliver it on time. I looked at the pen then looked through our sale sheets and sent her the following email.
"Thank you for thinking of us. We do have them...but they are less expensive. Here is the info

We can increase the pricing if you need us to. $0.59 each is fine with me ;^)

Let us know if you want us to proceed at $0.44 with no set up.

Steve"
By asking us, she saved 33% instead of 10%!

The concept that she and many of our long-time customers understand is that we are a full-line distributor. We are not bound by a certain set of manufacturers or by franchise or corporate agreements. When our suppliers - there are thousands of them - offer us sale pricing, we pass it along. We have multiple suppliers for most of the products we offer (9 different suppliers of the pen above) which means that they are competing for my attention and business while I am competing for yours. Since we have thousands of manufacturers with thousands of products on special at any one time, we cannot possibly list them all. Our Specials pages contain many of the sale items from our 'go-to' manufacturers, but it doesn't list all of them.

So, if you see something you want somewhere else, let us know. We understand...it's OK to look. Just be sure to contact us before you buy. Chances are very good that if one of our competitors has it on sale, we do too. But we will give you ALL of the discount instead of only part of it.

Steve
www.raggo.com


Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Being Remembered for Saying Thanks



I don't know if you belong to any leadshare, network marketing, BNI or other type of referral marketing groups. If you don't, you are missing out on not just the referrals that you might get, but advice and ideas from folks who have and are running businesses. Last year I had the opportunity to speak to one of the lead share groups I belong to. During that 10 minute presentation, I told them about my future blogging exploits and asked them to write on the back of their business cards, one or two topics that they would be interested reading here. In order to encourage participation, I promised to draw one card from all of the suggestions and give one of our chocolate-dipped 'Thank you' cookies to that person. Theresa, the real estate agent extraordinaire in our group, asked a really great question:

"How do I give something with my advertisement on it to someone and make them think it is a gift"

It's a great question because it gets to the heart of what we try to accomplish when we use ad specialties as business gifts. We want the giftee to think fondly of us as we give them the item and to remember us warmly whenever they use or look at the item in the future. Now, you can't expect to get that effect by handing them a pen or a mug and saying, "Here. Take this item with my logo on it." It won't matter if it is a $0.71 Bic Clic Stic or a $146 Waterman Carene.

Instead, we have to 'romance' it a bit. Put it in a gift box or basket. Better yet, put their name on it along with yours. When you give it to them, don't just say "Here." Tell they why you are giving it to them and what you want them to remember whenever they use the item. If you can't be there, add the sentiment to a card included with the gift. Make a big deal of it.

A few years back I gave our best referral sources - the folks in each of the Leadshare groups I belong to who referred the biggest new customers that year - Waterman pens. At the next meeting, when the time for announcements came, I stood up and explained to the group about the award I was giving, showed them the pen (Waterman pens still get oohs and aahs) and asked the award winners to come and get their pens. I shook each person's hand and said so everyone could hear, "I want you to remember whenever you use this pen, that my job at Raggo Advertising Products is to help you write more business." and then I promised them that they would never run out of ink. All they had to do was call me and I would get them a refill.

I gave them a 'memory hook' and I made the hook personal. I hope that they still remember.

So, romance it up a bit. Put a bow on it or wrap it in gift wrap or buy a gift basket and add the item to it. Put their name on it if at all possible. Whatever you do, though, make it memorable and make it personal.

Thanks, Theresa

Steve

Friday, January 22, 2010

Fun and Clever Things!

I am aways amazed at the variety of our products and the variations in the ways that they can be used. A few years ago I had a client who was looking for pens that had a really big circumference, like the Bic WideBody Grip or the Big Kahuna from Gold Bond. These are over-sized pens with grips. They are appreciated by almost everyone (ie., they have a higher perceived value than smaller, but similarly priced pens). They are especially coveted by those folks getting up there in age, like me, as well as arthritis and other joint-pain sufferers. My customer's best prospects were people over 50, so it seemed like a good idea. Anyway, I entered 'large pens' into my database and got 1300+ listings. That was too many to quickly look through, so I changed terms to 'wide pens' and got about 500 selections. Finally, I entered 'giant pens' and out came 29.

Glancing through the list I clicked on the Giant Monster Pen from Great Big Stuff. Wow! 1.5 feet in length and it writes! Ha! That's longer than most people's forearms! "Too big for our use" I thought. "Who could I show this to?"

Fast forward a few years and I am sitting in one of the referral marketing groups I belong to. We had decided that, in order to increase the number of referrals we pass, we would reward the member who passed the most leads with a gift certificate to the restaurant we met at as well as a trophy which would be passed to subsequent referral leaders. Kind of like the Stanley Cup, but cheaper and without the blood and broken teeth. Something that conveys bragging rights. Linda, our group's new Secretary, said, "We should get something fun and clever!" As I was driving back to the office I thought "What do we give the person who writes a lot of leads? OH! Why not a giant ink pen. After all, it takes a lot of ink to write a lot of leads!"

After getting the requisite approvals, we ordered one in, took it over to Dave, the sign maker in our group, to be lettered and...wait for it...wait for it...TA DA! here is our Leadshare Group's Quarterly Referral Award Trophy

Clever and fun, right? Now if I could just find an efficient way to market them to all of the business networking, leadshare and referral marketing groups around the globe. Some medium that doesn't cost any money, but can be seen by everyone, everywhere searching for referral trophies. Hmmm...Any ideas?

Steve
www.raggo.com

Monday, January 18, 2010

Trial, Balloons

Ahhh....I have remembered one of the reasons I stopped making New Year's resolutions. It's the whole business of having to keep (or at least trying to keep) them. There is usually a pretty good reason why we needed to make the resolution in the first place - why we needed that extra 'prod' to our consciences that resolutions represent. It usually has something to do with liking the things that we resolve to give up or not liking the things we resolve to do. After spending a good number of hours this past week updating our Specials pages and repairing broken links on our web site, I found out on Friday that the repairs needed to be repaired again and some of the links that were working on our Specials pages no longer worked. I guess our vendors were working on their web page resolutions as well. Such a hard life I lead... (I know, I know, everyone is laughing)

So I have repaired the repairs and updates. Let me know if you find any of the hyperlinks on our web pages don't work. There is a sugar cookie dipped in dark chocolate in it for you!

I did notice something unusual this year while updating the Specials. For the first time in a very long time balloons are on sale - even the mylar ones. Balloons are one of those ad specialties that have never really needed to go on sale. They are quite inexpensive without the sale discount, and usually in fair demand. Think about it. Just about every event we celebrate can be celebrated with balloons. Open houses, anniversaries, Grand Openings, fairs, trade shows and award ceremonies almost always include balloons either falling from the ceiling or tied to sign posts or carried by kids of all ages. After all, if you are exhibiting at a trade show or expo or street fair of any kind, wouldn't you think it was great if everyone walked past your competitor's booth carrying one of your balloons!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Time to Hit Restart Again


It has been a very long time since I made a New Year's resolution. I think it was the late 70's and I was at the US Naval Academy at the time. Something about keeping my weight down so that I would not have to go through the agony of making weight for next year's boxing season. I was a Brigade boxer at the time and in case you can't tell, I am the guy on the right. Going from about 180 in the off season to 139 to make weight in the fall was not something I looked forward to. I usually had to accomplish the loss in less than a month. You can check out my LinkedIn page to see how well I have kept that resolution (not!). In any case, I am going to make a couple of resolutions this year.

First, I am going to focus on my web presence. I will not let my web pages go out of date and I refuse to have a multitude of broken hyperlinks. I know that it is going to take some time to repair it and a lot more time to keep up with it. After a week of waiting for vendors and taking care of customers, for instance, I have ALMOST gotten our Current Specials pages updated. Add to that the changes our vendors make to their pages without our knowledge and we have a recipe for trouble. Nevertheless, that is what resolutions are about, isn't it - addressing and readdressing challenges that we have failed to meet in the past. My waistline is proof.

Second, I am going to change the way I look at this blog-thing. Granted, I did not really understand what it was all about when I started. A quick look at previous posts shows that I approached these entries as sales presentations rather than a means for you to get to know me. I might have come close on a couple of them...I really do hate cheap ink pens, for instance. Overall, though, I focused on product rather than relationship. I will go for relationship this year.

So, then, what does this mean? Hopefully, more work for me and a better experience for you. If you are better informed about our pricing, can get where you want to go on our web site, and if I can better relate my 13-plus years of experience with these products here, then all will be well. If not, then I will have another resolution for next year.

Hoping you have a very prosperous and happy new year.

Steve