by Kirby Hasseman
Yesterday on this blog, we talked about the affect that Tariffs will have on your marketing budget. They will have this affect because a high percentage of promotional products are imported from China. With that being said, there are some great promotional items that are made domestically, that can still wow your customers and prospects. So, here are 5 great promotional products that are Made in the USA.
5 Made in the USA Promotional Products
16 oz Tervis Tumbler
This classic double walled Tervis Tumbler is not only a hit in retail, it is made in the USA. These amazing drinkware pieces are almost impossible to break, and are a great branding piece that will used over and over again. Check that item out here.
Sticky Notecubes
And speaking of long lasting, how about these 3 x 3 adhesive cubes? These amazing promotional pieces not only give you a great imprint space to tell your story, they tend to last forever. And since they are adhesive, each sheet is seen again and again and again. There are plenty of sizes and shapes and price points. Check out one here.
Lip Balm
Just in case you are thinking that you can only get higher priced items, think again. One of the best bang for your bucks in marketing comes in the form of Lip Balm! This item has a great price point and the perceived value is great! As a matter of fact, 40% of your customers are probably addicted to Lip Balm. What a great marketing piece to have your brand image wrapped around every day. Check out this option (with SPF) here.
T-Shirt
Believe it or not, you can get a quality made t-shirt in the United States. So if you want to avoid changes in pricing on your apparel, or you just want to promote “all USA made, you can do that with a quality t-shirt. From cotton to fabric to sewing, this t-shirt is put together here in the US.
Sunscreen
As summer (finally) starts to show up in most of the United States, now is a great time to think about sunscreen as a promotional items. For outdoor company events, golf outings, and so much more, sunscreen is the perfect promo piece (regardless of where it’s made). You can learn more about this item here.
There are plenty of other great options to create an amazing promotional campaign and avoid the tariff issue. Just talk to your Account Executive for more ideas. And if you need someone to be “your person” you can head to our About Us page and pick one! Or just email us here and we will take care of you.
One Final Thought on Tariffs
Although this is a big issue for our industry, I do want to say one thing to put your mind at ease. If you are working with a good promotional consultant, this should not be a huge issue for you and your company, long term. When you meet with your representative, it’s simply about budget setting. As you discuss the project with them, just make sure they (or we) know your budget constraints. It’s the job of the Promotional Professional to keep you in between the lines.
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by Kirby Hasseman
One of the most talked about topics in the last few months in the promotional products world has been Tariffs. It’s been talked about because it can and WILL affect your marketing.
Our goal at Hasseman Marketing is to keep you up to date with what you need to know…so let’s dig into what this means for you and your marketing budget moving forward.
Previously, I wrote a blog post about how tariffs will affect your marketing. You can find that post Here.
Just as a reminder, at my most recent visit to the PPAI Expo in January, tariffs were the talk of the show. When it comes to branded merchandise, a huge percentage of the items that are sold in the industry are imported from China. I mentioned in the previous blog post that the “pricing could change.”
And that price IS changing.
David Nicholson from PCNA (one of the largest suppliers in the Promo industry) released a statement on Wednesday, May 15, 2019. Currently, this is what we know.
- Tariffs on the existing $200 Billion of Chinese imports will increase from 10% to 25% effective June 1st (for shipments made prior to May 10th).
- The 25% tariff impacts the product categories originally included in the 10% tariff regulations that were enacted last September. The major categories relevant to our industry are: Bags and Stationery products, and portions of Drinkware, Technology and other Accessory categories.
- The US Trade Representative announced Monday that the US has begun the formal process to expand the 25% tariff to all other imports from China (i.e. those currently not subject to tariffs).
- This represents an additional $300+ billion of imports from China and would cover a large majority of product categories sold in our industry. The public hearing and comment period end June 24th – so the expanded range of tariff categories would not be imposed until after that date.
As I said, we at Hasseman Marketing want to be a great source of information for you and your team. Whether it be a great idea for posting on social media, tips on video or the trends and news of the day, we want to be a resource.
So what does this mean to you?
It means, quite likely, the price of promotional merchandise that you purchase will be rising. Now is a good time to start thinking about the items you are using to promote your brand. Here are a couple of questions to consider.
- Are you completely happy with the items you have been using? If the answer is yes, then the price increase might be acceptable.
- Can we look at new options that could better fit into the budget moving forward?
- Are there domestically made products that might fit our needs? We are going to be creating a list of some cool products that are made in the U.S. for you and your organization to consider. Be on the look out soon!
If you have more questions, please feel free to reach out to us and we can discuss it! Make sure you never miss an update! Sign up to become a VIP here.
by Kirby Hasseman
It’s time for the 8th episode of the He Said/She Said Podcast with Hasseman Marketing! This podcast is designed to give an inside look at being married and being entrepreneurs and the projects we are working on and the challenges we are facing! We talk about business, family, community and more. So listen in and let us know what you think!
On this episode we talk about…
Trending Topic
This week Kirby and Amy talk about the month of May. When it comes to running a business and having a family, they find that May is a tough time of year. There are some many activities going on and wrapping up, it’s difficult to make it to everything. They talk about what they do when they feel like they are disappointing people.
Weekly Whirlwind
This leads nicely into the whirlwind this week. May also brings graduation parties, an Open House for HMC and more. But Kirby and Amy discuss how sometimes, that is exactly what you need to get projects done. The house always gets cleaned when company is coming over, right?
Lesson In Life
The goal of the lesson in life is just to provide a bit more value on the podcast. This time Kirby and Amy talk about what to do when you are dreading a project. We all have times when a project is overwhelming. How do you tackle it? Who is better at this? Find out on the podcast!
Shout Outs
Each week we want to give a shout out to an organization or an individual doing good work. This week Kirby gives his shout out to teachers! It’s a tough time of year to keep the attention of students. Thanks for keeping up the good fight teachers. And Amy’s shout out this week is to the Imagination Library. This great program, started by Dolly Parton, gives out books to kids from 0-5. Coshocton County United Way is celebrating giving out their 100,000 book! Seriously cool stuff.
So that’s a wrap! We will be back…and we will continue to improve. Any feedback will be welcome as we try to provide you value! If you want to subscribe you can do that where you normally get podcasts…or you can head here to follow on Soundcloud.
Thanks so much for listening! If you have any topics you want Kirby and Amy to cover, please comment and let us know! Oh…and if you like this content, check out this page where you can find all of the content we create!
by Kirby Hasseman
Podcasting has become an amazing and popular way to communicate your message and build your brand. It’s easy to get started. And, when done right, it is an extremely personal way to communicate to your audience. They really get to know you and your point of view. So how do you get started podcasting? Today we will cover some basics…and what has worked for me.
I started podcasting nearly 3 years ago. Though I have done podcasts on my own, I have found the most success with other people. I enjoy the interaction and it helps to keep me accountable to be consistent.
Promo UpFront Podcast
For years, I have recorded a podcast with my buddy Bill Petrie every week. First it was called unScripted and can be found here. For the last several months, we have shifted a bit. It’s called the Promo UpFront podcast. You can find that one here!
We talk about topics in the marketing and branding world and release the podcast every Friday. The unScripted podcast is designed to give our honest, unedited opinion on the topics that are relevant at the moment. What I love about this podcast is that it truly is off the cuff. I don’t know what Bill is going to bring up and he is in the dark about my topics. It’s fun. And the audience seems to respond to this authenticity as well. We have won a few awards for the podcast, and that is rewarding. But it’s a fun and fairly easy way to create conversation and to build our brand.
He Said She Said Podcast
More recently, my wife Amy and I have started a weekly podcast called He Said She Said. Because of our diverse interests, people are often curious about what we are doing. We thought this might be a way to give people a “behind the scenes” look. Amy and I talk about a “trending topic” each week and give people insight into what we are working on. We also try to provide a lesson of some kind and we give a weekly “shout out” to someone we are inspired by. It’s a fun new podcast and you can find it on our Soundcloud channel or just simply come to our blog each and every week.
Delivering Marketing Joy
Delivering Marketing Joy is the “OG” of content for me. Each week I interview a different leader in the business and marketing space. DMJ started as a web show, and it still is and can be found here on PromoCorner. But as it went on, people asked for me to provide them a podcast version of the show! I obliged and you can find that here on Soundcloud!
So those are our current podcasts…so how do you get started? Let’s dig into that.
Equipment
One thing that hangs people up on podcasting is the idea that you need a ton of equipment to get started. You don’t. Sure, the better the equipment, the better the sound. The better the sound, the better it is for your listener. That is true. But don’t let that stop you from just getting started. Your laptop has a microphone built in. That’s not the best, but it records! If you want a better microphone but do not want to break the bank, the one I recommend is the Blue Snowball USB microphone. It plugs right into your computer and gives really good sound. There are always ways to upgrade. Now that I have been at it a bit longer, I use this Yeti Blue Snowball and I love it. But to get you off the ground, this is a great start!
Recording Platform
While there are plenty of options when it comes to the platform you use to record your podcast, I use Zoom. It’s become ubiquitous, so nearly everyone you want to interview will know how to log in and use it. In addition, I find that the overall quality of video and audio is solid. You can even break the video and audio tracks apart if you want.
Editing Software
The other concern I hear from people who are interested in starting a podcast is, “will I need new software to get started?” The answer is “yes” and “no.” You will (most likely) need something to edit your audio file. But the level of editing will vary greatly depending on the kind of podcast. If you are doing something like our unScripted podcast, we pride ourselves on the fact that editing is minimal. If you do a quick google search you can find all kinds of audio editing software. But I like to keep it simple. We have Final Cut X, so that is what we use. I have talked to many people who can get started by using iMovie or Moviemaker to get their podcasts off the ground. Again…keep it simple. Get started and you will learn what works and where you need to upgrade.
Hosting
Once you have recorded your podcast, and then edited it into a finished product, you will need to host it somewhere. In other words, where will you upload it so someone can find it and listen. Again, there are lots of options. The one I use the most is Soundcloud. We upload most of our content there and then we have set up rss feeds to send the podcast to Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and other places where most people listen. The other app that I kind of like is Anchor. What I like about that format is, they make it easy to record directly to your phone and upload directly from there. Although that won’t create podcasts that are nearly as produced, it does get rid of some of the production hurdles that stop so many people.
Point of View
Beyond the equipment, I think it’s even more important to establish what you are going to talk about. Do you have a topic where you are a true expert? Are you in an industry where you can help people? Do you want to highlight your community? Whatever your topic is going to be, I think it’s important to have a clear direction. No one wants to listen to someone drone on with no coherent thought. Think out what you want to cover. In addition, have an opinion. You don’t need to be a “shock jock.” But so many people are afraid to say anything that might be perceived as controversial. So…they say nothing at all.
Length
There is no set answer to how long a podcast should be. That’s the beauty of podcasting. People listen to it as they have time. Think about how you listen to them. You might be in the office, or in the car, or you might be working out. I generally am a fan of brevity…especially when starting out. You don’t want to make something longer just for the sake of it. Say what you need to say…then stop talking.
Getting Started
The biggest lesson I would like to share with you is, you need to get started. So many of us wait until the mythical time when everything is perfect. We don’t want to start until we have everything figured out. That time will never come. In addition, the way you “figure it out” is by starting. You create a podcast. You listen (and you might even cringe a bit). Then you adjust and get better. Rinse and repeat.
If I can help you or answer any questions on how to get started, please email me here. I am happy to help. I can’t wait to hear about your podcast…and your journey along the way.
P.S. As a cool side note, I was invited to be a part of the 100th Episode of the Your Living Brand podcast. You can listen to that here.
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by Kirby Hasseman
It’s time for the 8th episode of the He Said/She Said Podcast with Hasseman Marketing! This podcast is designed to give an inside look at being married and being entrepreneurs and the projects we are working on and the challenges we are facing! We talk about business, family, community and more. So listen in and let us know what you think!
On this episode we talk about…
Trending Topic
This week Kirby and Amy talk about the fact that it’s Election Day. No, it’s not one of the big November election…but a local election and what that means to them. In addition, they give an update on their oldest daughter, Skylar, leaving home to pursue her career in dance. Learn all about that here.
Weekly Whirlwind
This time Kirby talks about all of things swirling around at HMC and trying to get himself out of the way. He doesn’t want to the bottle neck that keeps things from rolling. Amy gives a quick update on what is happening on the building project and how she is filling the time.
Lesson In Life
The goal of the lesson in life is just to provide a bit more value on the podcast. This time Kirby and Amy talk about where they find motivation and inspiration. We all have times where we need a boost. Find out what they lean on here. Oh, and here is a link to a blog Kirby wrote on the subject as well.
Shout Outs
Each week we want to give a shout out to an organization or an individual doing good work. This time Amy circles back to those that are willing to throw their hat in the ring and serve government at a local level. Kirby talks about the City of Coshocton and West Lafayette and a ground breaking project that they are working on together!
So that’s a wrap! We will be back…and we will continue to improve. Any feedback will be welcome as we try to provide you value! If you want to subscribe you can do that where you normally get podcasts…or you can head here to follow on Soundcloud.
Thanks so much for listening! If you have any topics you want Kirby and Amy to cover, please comment and let us know! Oh…and if you like this content, check out this page where you can find all of the content we create!
by Eric Dingler
Today I want to share with you the checklist we have developed that guides us like a roadmap during the design process of each new website we build. And now you can use this checklist to get your own perfect website.
Not every business needs to pay for a web designer. I mean, I don’t go to the doctor for every little medical thing and I don’t get the advice of an attorney before I sign every single document in my life. However, sometimes I need a doctor, sometimes I need an attorney, and sometimes you need a web designer like us. But for the times when a do-it-yourself website works, we hope this article helps.
What is the perfect website?
Before we get into the checklist, let’s define ‘the perfect website“. Website design, like graphic design, video production, or pizza topping preferences is subjective. What people think makes a website “perfect” is influenced by their age, experiences, personality, education, etc. However, there are some elements that are objective that lay a foundation to get you that perfect website.
For example, your website should:
- Be easy to read by humans, search engines, and adaptive equipment for people with disabilities.
- Load fast, people won’t wait.
- Be responsive to different screen sizes.
- Add value to the people who visit it.
The Checklist For An Objectively Perfect Website
So technically, this is going to be checklists inside of a checklist.
First, let’s explore the steps you’ll want to take to get to your finished website. Then, below, I’ll explore each of these in a bit more detail.
Table of Contents:
- Determine your website strategy.
- Develop a plan to market your website.
- Plan for your website’s setup.
- Prepare the content for your website.
- Know how you are going to maintain your website.
- Build your website.
Determine Your Website Strategy
The most important outcome in this step is to determine your primary call to action, also know in the biz as CTA, to meet your website’s goal.
If you get stuck, wrestle with this truth about websites. Every website solves a problem, even your’s. If you aren’t sure of the problem your website solves or should solve, email me and I’ll help you figure that out
Questions to determine your website’s goal.
- What do I want people to know?
- Why do I want them to know it?
- What do I want people to do?
- Why do I want them to do it?
Questions to help you determine your website’s strategic call to action based on your goal.
- What is the most valuable action every website visitor needs to take on my site for them?
- What is the most valuable action every website visitor needs to take on my site for my business?
Now, can you match these two up into one call to action? If so, that’s CTA gold!
Other factors to determine at this step.
- Who is your ideal audience? (influences look and feel)
- Where will they be when they need/visit the problem your website solves? (influences if you should design mobile or desktop first)
- How are you solving the visitors’ problem? (influences functionality and features)
Develop A Plan to Market Your New Website
This might seem strange to put your marketing plan at the top of the list like this, but it’s important to know your keyword strategy before you do anything that follows.
A keyword is a word or short phrase you are going to design your site around to help people find your website in search engines.
You can have more than one keyword. At Hasseman Marketing we are developing keyword strategies around “Video Production“, “Promotional Premiums“, “Graphic Design“, etc. So, instead of putting all of these on one page, we developed our website so each keyword has its own page. Another way to think about this might be to ask yourself, “what are the different services we offer?” Or, “what problem (or problems) are we helping people solve”.
Also, for local SEO it’s important you are consistent with your company name, address, and telephone number. Setting up your Google My Business is a great step to take here.
Additional things to consider at this stage:
- What social media platforms will you be on? (influences functionality and layout decisions for your website)
- Will you have and maintain a blog? (influences layout and functionality)
- Will your SEO strategy be local, national, worldwide, or a combination? (influences the copywriting you’ll want to do, alt tags on your images, etc)
Plan Your Website’s Setup
Now that you know what you are going to have on your website, you are almost ready to start actually building the website.
But first, there are a view things to decide, even if you are about to do a redesign of an older website.
- Domain Name. You want to get a quality and easy to remember URL for your website. The URL is the “www.thisisyoururl.com” that you will promote as your address on the internet.
- Website Hosting. This is where your website will live. You can use a drag and drop builder like WIX or Weebly, in which case they will be your host. Just make sure you check the fine print in the agreement. Sometimes they claim ownership of your content. Or, you could use a CMS (content management system) like WordPress. Which currently is over 30 percent of the internet. Even big brands use WordPress. Target, Sony, Best Buy, BBC America, Disney, Facebook Newsroom, and many many more. We use WordPress for all of our sites and the sites we build for website owners. So for hosting; if you use WordPress, Joomla, or another self-hosted CMS get a good one. We use and recommend Siteground. (just a quick note: that link there is called an affiliate link. That means if you click on it and sign up for hosting with Siteground, we make a small commission. Affiliate marketing is something you might want to research as a way to monetize your new website if that’s a goal you have.)
- Branded Email. Be professional. You’ll look better and be taken more seriously if you have an email that is [email protected] compared to using [email protected]. Most website hosting companies offer an email solution…but we have never found one we like. We use Office 365 at Hasseman Marketing, but we typically set our website owners up with GSuite by Google because it’s a bit easier to use.
- Theme. BTW, If you do use WordPress, you are most likely going to want to use a Theme. We use and recommend Divi by Elegant Themes. (This is another affiliate link like the one we explained above.) At the time of writing this post, over 570,000 websites are built on Divi. It has a robust support network, and you can find thousands of articles and YouTube videos on how to do all kinds of things in Divi. It’s the most popular premium Theme currently on WordPress right now for both do-it-yourselfers and WordPress web designers like us.
- Email List. You are more than likely going to want to gather emails to build a list. We use both Infusionsoft and Mailchimp and we love them both.
IMPORTANT SECURITY NOTE: It is best and safest if you use three different providers for your domain name, website hosting, and branded email. If you get all three at one place and just one of them get’s hacked…then the hackers have access to all three and can really hurt your business. So, use three different providers and three different password for each one. I know, all those passwords are a pain, that’s why we use LastPass.
Prepare The Content For Your Perfect Website
Based on your strategic goals, call to action, and SEO strategy you are ready to start gathering and preparing your content. We strongly recommend hiring a professional copywriter who specializes in online marketing copy. Or at least visit several top quality sites and look carefully at their language.
A couple of tips.
- Write for people first and search engines second.
- Write in a logical order using headings based on a hierarchy. If this point doesn’t make sense, it will when you start building your site. You will have several options for headings. H1, H2, H3, etc. I remember the first couple of websites I built for fun. I thought these just helped me present titles in different formats. So, I would style the H1 and the H2 to look almost the same, except have a different color maybe. Then I learned I was doing it all wrong. The H1, H2, H3, etc helps search engines and screen readers make sense of your website. What you can’t see as you are reading this post is the HTML code that computers can see. The title of this post is “wrapped” in H1 tags. The next subheading is inside H2 tags and then I have an H3 tag, and back to an H2 tag. Think back to writing outlines in school. This is the same idea. Now, these title tags are important in helping search engines see what your content is about but most importantly, it shows the search engine you have thought of the visitor experience.
- USER EXPERIENCE IS QUEEN. Content is King, but the experience of your website users, known as UE or UI in the biz, is queen as it relates to ranking in search engines. BTW, why is ranking important? How many times have you scrolled to the 4th page in Google to find a car mechanic? The ranking of your site is vital if you want to spend less money to get more visitors so you can make more money in the long run of your business.
- Think accessibility. Keep in mind that there are hundreds of thousands of people on the internet with disabilities that deserve to be able to access your website.
- Use common language. If you must use an acronym, explain it. Just because I know what WYSWYG means, What You See Is What You Get, doesn’t mean everyone else in the world does.
- Rename your images before you upload them. Name your pictures with names that tell people what the image, or at least what the page the image is on, is all about. Make sure here you add the “alt description”. That’s an option you will see when you are building your website. It’s found in different places, and its critical for screen readers and search engines. Seriously, this is probably the biggest place do-it-yourselfers miss out on adding a super easy way for people to find your content. If you have a pizza shop in Coshocton. Name every picture a little bit different along these lines. “Best pizza in Coshocton” “This is our award-winning pizza in Coshocton” “Get a Pepsi delivered with your pizza anywhere in Coshocton”. Honestly, if you do this, it won’t be long before your pizza shop is the first result in Google anytime someone searches for “pizza in Coshocton.”
- Resize your images before you upload them into your new perfect website. (notice how I used my keywords “new perfect website” there…and then I did it again here, that’s just a little SEO for ya). Your pictures don’t need to be more than about 1500px wide. And should definitely be under 200 kb in size. If you need help with this, check out this website where you can resize images for free.
Know How You Are Going To Maintain A Perfect Website
Your website will need TLC after it’s built. After all, there is no denying it, the number of people who hack into websites for fun is on the rise. And your website will be a target one day for a hack. Preventative maintenance is the key. Or as grandma always said, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” I mean, my grandma didn’t say it, but maybe yours did.
- Start with good quality hosting. Again, we strongly recommend Siteground.
- Use strong passwords and change them every so often.
- Update your theme and plugins. Now, this may only apply to WordPress. I don’t use other website content management systems (CMS), so I can’t speak into them. But in WordPress, you should update your theme, plugins, and WordPress itself weekly. PRO TIP: Wait at least 24 hours after an update is available before you install it. Sometimes an update can break your site. Let others find out before you do. Also, Tuesdays seem to be the best day to updates.
- Use plugins and third-party security services. Just Google option for the platform you are building your site on, and you will find what you need.
- Once a year at least run a security check on your site. We use Sucuri
Build Your Website
Now that you have your plan in place, it’s ready to give life to your new website.
While building your site, keep referring back to your strategy and marketing plan to ensure you aren’t drifting.
Since you may be using any number of Content Management Systems like; WordPress, WIX, Joomla, or Drupal we are going to close this post here. Building a website on these different CMS’s is going to be unique to that system. And the point of this blog post isn’t to teach you step-by-step how to build a website, but what it takes to get the perfect website…objectively of course.
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