Seasonal promotions are more than just colors or materials.  Uses such as a fan, sunscreen,  a floating keychain, or a beach towel are great seasonal promotions.  A coastal area can take advantage of a beach-side promotion.  Others can go all out with community get-togethers.  No matter the geography, using a spring promotion can be very beneficial.

What do people like to buy around Homecoming?  Well, where we are, it’s anything red, white, and/or with a gamecock…including items that you can use as promotions.  Balsa or plastic fliers, megaphones, noise makers, pompoms, and t-shirts in school colors…all of which can easily be imprinted with your information.

If Homecoming is very soon in your area…it is still possible to get some promotions ready.  There are rush items available, and with overnight air shipping they can be at your door in as little as five days.  If it’s THIS week…well then here are a few ideas:

• Set up a face painting stand near the entrance of the football game (inside if allowed)
• Have t-shirts/vinyl yard signs made locally if possible
• Have spirit signs painted, or paint them yourself, and post them in the store window (or ask the school…come spirit squads will make them for you)

Maybe this will help you get ready for the influx of school spirit around Homecoming…and reap the rewards!

Actually, prices are often really good on “some” items at any time. You simply have to wait on the item you want to “go on sale” when you need it. The problem – seasonal needs are very similar for many people, and prices generally will follow the “supply vs. demand” model of fluctuation… so, when you need it is NOT the time to buy it (for many seasonal items).

This post is about encouraging you to think forward… to plan now, and buy now, for what you will need in the upcoming season. If you are going to send cards, order custom holiday cards now. If you will send food gifts, like popcorn tins or gourmet cookies or chocolate, order these corporate food gifts now… don’t wait until you need them when supply is limited, time is crunched, and your options are fewer.

Go ahead… fall forward in your thinking about your business gifts and promotions. The extra time spent now will mean that the pressure will be greatly reduced later.

Oh yeah, don’t forget the boss. You can find other executive gifts, besides food gifts, suited for them.

9-11 Flag Raising

On this day in history, we all pause to remember that painful morning 7 years ago.  As one, we rally ’round the flag, and Ground Zero in NYC.  I have seen this area in person, and even 3 years after the horrendous attack, all the emotions of that time were pulled forward once I gazed upon the soil laid bare.  As one nation we mourn, and as one we shall rise again.

The American economy took a hard hit that day as well.  In the past 7 years, it has yet to recover.  Many would say that, in this time of pain,  a company should support its nation as best it can, and I totally agree.  I’ll even tell you how.  A patriotic promotion of any form shows both support and pride.  But why use them only for a little while?  Patriotic promos are for all year!

Show your pride with these ideas, and please remember those who died September 11, 2001.

A calendar as a promotion is no new thing.  Since the calendar is seen every day, it really helps!  Try to look into advertising calendars…ordering them can be an annual event that helps your business!

Fire Prevention Week will be here before we know it and if we need things to commemorate this event, now would be the time to start looking into the way to order fire prevention week stuff.

About Fire Prevention Week

In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson issued the first National Fire Prevention Day proclamation, and since 1922, Fire Prevention Week has been observed on the Sunday through Saturday period in which October 9 falls. According to the National Archives and Records Administration’s Library Information Center, Fire Prevention Week is the longest running public health and safety observance on record. The President of the United States has signed a proclamation proclaiming a national observance during that week every year since 1925.  — Reproduced from NFPA’s Fire Prevention Week Web site, www.firepreventionweek.org. ©2008 NFPA.

October 9th, 1920 marked the 49th anniversary to the Great Chicago Fire, one of the most destructive fires in the last few hundred years.  This year’s observation of Fire Prevention Week will mark the 137th anniversary to the fire and the 88th observance of Fire Prevention Week. If you need items to help kids learn about fire prevention, check out the promotional products available. You could use fire prevention coloring books, or fire ladder growth charts, etc. to assist kids in retaining these lifelong lessons about fire safety and prevention.