I showed you previously how promotional products help in marketing your business in a cost effective way. Similar promotional t-shirts are one of the most popular ways in which businesses, sports teams and organisations can improve their branding exposure, as not only are they cheap and affordable products to buy and customize, but branded t-shirts can also be both practical and fashionable, and many people will happily wear this kind of apparel in every day life, keeping your brand name constantly in the public eye.

When you are choosing a company to provide your promotional material for you, you need to think carefully about how much time and money you can devote to this task.  If like me you are running a small business with tight margins then you may not have many resources to spare on designing and ordering promotional products, but it is still important that you look into this area of marketing as it can have a big impact on the successful promotion of your business.

When I was looking for a t-shirt printing company I was impressed by the Indigo Clothing website, as it was quick and easy to use, and provided a fantastic range of different styles and designs of t-shirts from good value for money low cost Polo shirts through to high end apparel and even a fair trade organic cotton range.  Indigo Clothing also helped me to design the artwork for my promotional t-shirts, which saved me a lot of time and effort, and once I had ordered the t-shirts they arrived within just 10 days.  I also made some great savings by ordering in bulk using the promotional code ‘StockClearance’, and there are some other great offers on at the moment such as a student cashback discount of 20% (when you use the promo code ‘Cashback’).

Another point in Indigo Clothing’s favour is their diverse client list, which not only includes some huge brands such as leading mobile phone company ‘3’ and top beer brand Heineken, but also plenty of smaller clients as well including sports clubs, societies and schools.  This was a big bonus for me as I was looking for a service that could cater to the t-shirt printing needs of smaller clients, as well as being a large enough company that they could also provide a good range of discounts as well.

There are many reasons for investing in promotional apparel for your business, and t-shirt printing is a great place to start as this is an affordable and easy way to increase your branding both within the workplace and also out in the public arena.

There are many ways in which you can increase the exposure of your brand name and company logo, and one of the key methods is through custom promotional products. These include a range of affordable and useful items such as memo pads, umbrellas, mugs and so on, which are printed with your company brand details, so that even when they are just sitting on a shelf or desk they are actively advertising your business.

Key ways in which to circulate promotional products include setting up give away gift sets for executives, employees and customers, which include some excellent branded products such as fun games, cuddly toys and clothing, and also high quality gadgets including MP3 players. These gift sets are ideal for promotional competitions and also company events such as picnics, outings and team building days and are an affordable and easy way to reinforce your brand name and company image.

If your company is intending to have a presence at any up coming trade events and shows then it is essential that you reinforce your brand name as much as possible by setting up your booth or stall with multiply layers of branding from the clothing worn by employees running the stall through to the promotional give away items and leaflets to hand out to potential future customers and business associates.

Recently I found a nice resource of related stuffs – Adcentives West which provides a great range of affordable promotional products online, which you can customize and brand with your very own logo and company name. Some of the best selling products included branded ballpoint pens, sweatshirts, shopping bags and digital clocks, and also distinctive branded custom USB drives. Adcentives are also the preferred distributor of Greg Norman Apparel and Cutter and Buck, which are both great collections of name brand, high end corporate clothing ideal for promoting your business and increasing brand name exposure with products such as Polo shirts.

The term “franchising” covers a range of different business ventures, the most common of which is when the owner of a business (the franchiser) grants licenses to other individuals or businesses (the franchisee) to trade under their trademark and trade name, and sell their product or services. The franchisee will pay an initial sum for the license, and also a percentage of their revenue annually to the franchiser. The franchiser provides ongoing support for all of the franchisees, and keeps control over all aspects of the trade name and trademarks, and also how the product/service is marketed. Coffee franchises are a well known example of this type of business venture, and companies like Coffee Republic provide licenses to individuals or other businesses, to set up and sell their brand and style of coffee shop all over the world.

There are many smaller franchise opportunities, which can suit people who wish to run a business from home. Cleaning franchises are a good example of this, and can range from services such as domestic and commercial cleaning, sanitation cleaning, and cleaning product disruption and sales.

Home based franchises usually give you more freedom over how you run the business, but you must be aware that some goods distribution franchises are in fact multi-level marketing in disguise, which is a business area that is vulnerable to exploitation by dishonest or illegal practices. You can tell this kind of franchise immediately, as your income will be dependent entirely on the commissions you earn on sales, and also you will be expected to recruit other distributors.

The advantage of franchising is that you will be able to set up your own business with a business structure and product/service that is already tried and tested, and you will have ongoing support from the franchisor right from the beginning. You will be able to look at the other franchises and see how well they are doing, and also get some tips on how to run this type of business successfully. The disadvantage of franchising is that there will be a number of restrictions on how you run the business, such as only being able to sell the product/service to clients approved by the franchisor. Also you will be dependant on the franchisor, and if they go out of business, unfortunately all the franchisees will too.