Everyone likes free stuff. Not long ago I got a nice shoulder tote from the OC Great Park. It was filled with literature about renting their facilities. At DV Expo I got a personal size bottle of hand sanitizer with attached key ring from UsedAV.com! Of course their logo was all over it.

Want to be remembered? Give potential customers some free stuff! And put your name on it! Now it’s called a PREMIUM and it’s one of the classic ways of marketing yourself and your company. Premiums, often called Leave-Behinds, can be expensive (think Oprah’s new cars for her audience) or moderately priced such as Ballcaps, T-shirts, etc, or very inexpensive such as the ball-point pen with your logo on it.

Some Good Guidelines for Premiums:

• Make sure you have your WEB URL imprinted—not just your name!
• Pick an item related to your business
• Pick an item that’s either useful, interesting or unusual (MEMORABLE)
• Pick an item that will be used more than once (Ideally for a long time—That’s why the simple ball-point pen works so well. Calendars are also a perennial favorite)

Three places to get premiums of all kinds:

• Printrunner.com – bookmarks, post cards, calendars, magnets, DVD Sleeves, Notepads
• Prudent Promotions.com – pens, mugs, travel items, food, toys, golf accessories, apparel, tools etc
• Go Promotions.com - also has large selection of premiums

This  was originally presented as a "Marketing Minute" at the Monthly meeting of the LA/OC Chapter of MCAI in October 2010 by John Coleman.