The 100th Blog

Well here we are - 100 posts old today. I wonder if Blogger will send me a prize as soon as I click on the Publish Post button. I suspect not. Let's face it, 100 is not the biggest number is some people's worlds, but I'm rather proud of it, so I shall take a moment to look up at the ceiling and smile.

Mmmm. That's better.

I had so many different topics on my mind this morning, which makes a refreshing change from the uninspired writer's block that had been plaguing me for the last couple of weeks. Clearly, this blog has become and opportunity for me to rant and moan about all that's wrong in the world of sales - not as a soapbox, but as a means to train and educate.

I've learned things along the way myself, and I'm still hopeful that I can take all of these musings and get some publisher to turn them into a book for me. Still hopeful.....still....

But I looked back at post number 1. In it, I said that I would bring what's new and exciting in the world of promotional merchandise. After all, the blog had a second purpose beyond my exorcising my demons - it was meant to drive traffic to the Merchandise Mania website and by using appropriate keywords like branded merchandise, corporate gifts and so on, all of those lovely search engines (yes, there is more than one out there) would send new customers my way.

So this week, I thought I would talk about product, and as we're coming into September, now really is the time to start looking at your diaries and calendars for 2011.

We have so many designs to choose from. Desk diaries, A5 and pocket, with a range of cover styles and different colours, we're bound to have the perfect diary to match your corporate image. What's more, our diaries can include up to 16 full colour 'tip in' pages, allowing you to advertise your products and inform your customers and staff.

Here's the thing. Have you ever noticed how there always seem to be one style of diary that's so much more popular than the others? Yup - this one-

There's a reason for that. It's the cheapest model and as such, the diary factories make substantially more of them than any of the others. What happens next is that a whole bunch of forward thinking companies buy the more interesting designs early and so by October and November, everyone else is left to buy what's left on the shelves.

It's not that they want this design - it's just that they have to buy diaries because their customers expect them, and they're too late to have any real choice.

The moral of the story? Oh come on, surely you've figured it out. Order your diaries now, whilst the choices are plentiful and the prices are decent.

Hope that helps. Here's to the next 100 blogs.