Welcome to the promo playbook, the podcast where
suppliers come to win in the promotional products
industry. We're your hosts, Lisa Faustek and
Adrienne Barker, bringing you insider insights,
expert strategies, and no fluff advice to help
suppliers navigate the promo channel like pros.
From marketing to distributors to mastering software
onboarding, we cover it all. Whether you're new
to the industry or ready to scale up, this is
your playbook for success. Let's get started.
Hey everybody, welcome back to the promo playbook.
Today, we're going to do a short fight around
self -promos. I'm here with Adrienne and Kim,
and I'm going to start by asking Adrienne to
share her definition of a self -promo. What is
a self -promo? A self -promo for a distributor
would be a product that a distributor could put
their logo on and market. but it's your product
that they're going to be marketing with their
logo. So I had to repeat that twice because it
is so wonderful. And I just want to say that
self promo is so important. So suppliers don't
say no to a self promo. Even if it's expensive,
the distributor could pay for it. It's the number
one way that they are helping you to market your
business. That's my answer. Awesome. Great point,
Adrienne. And I like don't say no to self promo.
That's a great Great tagline. Kim, tell us your
story of how you learned about self -promos.
Seriously, I wish I listened to this podcast
as I started to get into it, because I do remember
when we first started on promo, a distributor
coming in saying, do you do self -promo? And
I thought, of course I do self -promo. I promote
ourselves all the time. That's why I'm hoping
you would buy it. I'm having no idea what it
was. And so I had to be taught. Thank goodness,
the distributor was a guide to tell me that,
no, no, no, a self promo is I want to put my
company logo on your product and be able to use
it and hand it and be able to give it out to
our top customers. And yes, by the way, usually
we get them for free or we get them at a discounted
price. And I was like, ah, now if a distributor
calls me, I actually know what a self promo is.
Fabulous, fabulous. So I love those two definitions.
I think for me, the most exciting part of a self
promo is that I know as a supplier that you're
promoting yourself for success and me for success.
And that's what Adrian mentioned. So now that
we know what a self promo is. Let's talk about
the cost of a self -promo. So suppliers offer
products from very inexpensive, like five, 10
cents, 50 cents, a dollar, all the way up to
hundreds of dollars. So how do suppliers cost
out self -promos? From my experience with Hydropique,
we do EQP with a shipper number. And we try to
stay in the 12 to 24 quantity range. Unless you're
doing a show, an end user show, or you have special
circumstances, you're doing a subscription box,
which by the way is the holy grail of self -promos.
We love it when distributors put our product
in a subscription box or a sample kit that's
going out. So talk to your supplier about how
you're going to use the self -promo and the cost
of a self -promo. Adrienne, you work with some
boutique suppliers. What do your folks do on
the self -promo front? So they do work with offering
a self -promo and then, of course, there's developing
the right product for your self -promo and quantity
and all of that is discussed. I actually want
to throw out Lisa this question. What's the cost
to a supplier not doing a self -promo? What does
that look like if you don't do it? Because to
me, that is more expensive to not do a self -promo
than to actually do a self -promo. How that cell
promo comes about in a beautiful setting would
be the distributor and the supplier meeting and
maybe something like this. Boy i really have
to tell you i have been using this mug daily
and i absolutely love actually you know what.
Lisa i want to sell this but i think i'm going
to put my logo on and you're gonna say to me
absolutely here's what we could do it and now
for the savvy distributors i'm gonna say okay
not only do i want. my logo on it. Maybe I'll
do something on the backside that would, you
know, talk about my city or my town. So it has
a little bit of a retail kind of feel for it.
But also, can you help me? I want to sell it.
Can you help me market it? Do you have flyers
that you could do? Can you create a flyer for
me? Wait, can you create a page for me? I mean,
you know, it doesn't hurt to ask these questions,
because if anyone already has the artwork and
the ability, it would be the supplier. So my
mind for a self promo, which should be thought
of, and really calculated, right? Your holiday
gifts in essence are your self promo. If you're
going to a trade show and you are having end
users in your distributor, that what you're handing
out is your self promo that you did. I think
there's got to be a lot of thought to it to just,
you know, just to say, yes, I want to do it.
Really consider who you're going to sell it to
be very, very clear. And that will make it an
easier process for the supplier and distributor
partnership. You get what you want. And the goal,
again, is to sell, sell, sell and sell the supplier
and the products you love. Awesome. Great, great
points. I love that ending. Sell products you
love. Kim, do you have anything to add to Adrian's
comments? Yes. For the supplier, it does seem
like a no -brainer. I always say, for Quirksical,
I'm like, to hold it, to touch it, to feel it
is to love it. That's where you really get the
engagement. If you are a distributor and you
have a favorite supplier or you love something
that you're using every day from your supplier,
share that love. It only brings more sales to
you. It really engages the brand. Let the brand
know that you're doing it too. Even if you're
not buying it from the brand specifically, it
could have been through a larger supplier and
they're running your self promo. But share like,
hey, I just want to let you know, I gave out
your canteens with my logo on the show and it
was a huge success. Thank you so much for your
partnership in this industry. Good stuff, good
stuff. I love all that. To just add to these
guys comments, door opener, right? It's just
your quintessential perfect door opener. So what
is it like for a small supplier to be able to
deliver these self promos? You know, I think
about the fact that maybe they don't have the
capacity or they don't have the inventory or
they just... You know, it doesn't fit within
their production management schedule. So this
is where it comes in, where you as a distributor
can help be a guide to your supplier and really
help them see the value that Kim and Adrian just
mentioned in doing self -promos and helping your
product gain traction out in the world. As you're
doing that, distributors with suppliers, you
know, a lot of times it's free with a shipper
number. or there's a reduced cost with a shipper
number. So don't be surprised if the supplier
does ask you for your shipper number for a self
promo. It just makes it easier for them to absorb
the expense that they're absorbing to do a low
quantity order to help you promote their brand.
So it's a partnership. It's a win -win. Try not
to take advantage of it. You know, don't order
too many. Don't order what you're not going to
use. You know, be reasonable with your request
and hopefully have a plan. The worst fate of
a self promo is to sit in your garage or your
basement or your office for months and months
and months and never get sent out to the customer.
So we do ask you to be smart with your self promos,
get the return on investment that you want and
the supplier wants. by getting those products
out in the wild to be touched and loved. Let's
see. Let's talk about logos. So what do you want
to put on these products? Adrienne mentioned
elevating it by adding a saying or a tagline
or a cool image. Make it creative. Make it special
if you can. The basic way is to put your logo
on it, whether that's one color, laser engraved,
or a full color logo. see what your supplier
has available, and then get creative with what
they have available. I have a great story to
share about a success story for a self -promo,
and maybe you guys have one too. We recently
did a self -promo for an end user show, where
one of my supplier partners gave out one of their
most popular top sellers, and that resulted in
a $36 ,000 order. from that end user that was
at the show. So when it is for something like
an end user show or you know for sure that the
distributor is going to put that to good use
suppliers, that's when you want to say yes. When
you know that it's going out there and it's going
to represent your brand in a way that makes you
proud. So that's really what I had on my list
about self -promos. Maybe I was on my soapbox
a little too much, you guys. What do you guys
think? What did you see with Quarks at Gold,
Kim? I agree with everything. I do think that
self -promote, people often are, a supplier,
especially a boutique, someone new might not
really understand what that is and just think,
are you just trying to get free advertising for
yourself? How does that help me? Why am I going
to do that? It's really not. First of all, they
are your sales person. So if you had them in
house, you would probably want them to wear a
shirt with your logo on it. You'd want them to
probably walk out with that mug with your logo
on it. They are an extension of your team. So
you really should look at them that way as an
extension of your sales team. And so while it's
self promo, it's also your internal promo, right?
But then I also wouldn't be afraid, especially
depending on cost or the type of product you
have to put some guardrails on that too. It doesn't
mean because you're offering a self -promo, sky's
the limit. They can have any product in any color
and do anything they want on it. It is okay to
say, I would love for you to have a self -promo.
Here are the four options that we have and here's
what we can deliver and here's the price. So
as much as we encourage and we want you to do
it, Don't be afraid also to set guide rails because
you don't have to offer everything to everyone
at every point in time. So that's important to
remember too. Yeah. Yeah. It has to be good for
the supplier and good for the distributor. And
just want to mention that it is like a regular
order. So you need to send a purchase order to
your supplier. to get a self promo printed and
delivered in the manner that you want it to be.
You need to approve a proof, you know, all that
good stuff. So we wanted to keep this one short,
so I'm going to let Adrienne give her last comments
and then we'll fly on out. Adrienne? So I'm going
to put on my creative hat right now and I want
to share a story. Okay, so here's a story. So
I actually always felt that One of the most fun
positions to be in is in the business of a distributor
is creating your self promos. To me, that's,
I mean, if you said, where do you, what department
do you want to be? I like, I want to be in the
self promo department creating it. So I will
share my favorite favorite. So I was doing union
trade shows and union trade shows. What are the
guys and the woman like to do? They like to drink,
they go to the bar. So I created a series of
coasters and the coasters actually had very little,
like where are, it was like along the bottom,
right? Where you have like around the four corners
distributed by, and then the name of the company
had, you know, the website and all of that. But
the coaster itself had all the words that a union
would use. And it was really fun. So I had that
I had a couple ones that were just like USA proud
to be that they were great. And then where did
I put them? Oh, let me tell you about the self
promo work. They were there at a conference.
They were learning. So at every place I went
and I took and they had a coaster on each section.
I'll tell you some of the rooms, that's all they
had. And it made a difference. And he put one
coaster in a spot. And then of course. Kim and
Lisa, I brought it to the bar. I was going to
say I'm sure you brought it to happy hour bartender.
Do you mind if you use this stack of coasters?
And, you know, of course, they're like 100%.
Yes, of course. I don't even know why. Like when
I go to that, like, where's your coaster distributors
get on it. But it doesn't matter what it is.
So I want to say one more thing. So it's really
fun creating that self promo. Have fun with it.
And The follow -up should be on both sides. Both
are responsible. If you're a supplier, you should
absolutely be following up. Lisa, did you really,
how did it go over? What was it like? And as
a distributor, I always call the supplier, thank
you so much. This is what happened. I got a lot
of results ready to place the next order. What's
my special pricing going to be? I mean, like
you have to develop the relationship. It's gotta
be both sides. So please consider that. And I
am stepping off of my whatever they call it.
Great, great story, great story. So don't take
it for granted, right? Don't take your suppliers
self -promos for granted. And we'd love to hear
your stories, your self -promo stories. Please
follow us, like us, put comments on our LinkedIn
page. We would love to hear from you and get
you folks on a podcast talking about your real
life stories of using self -promos in the wild.
So until next time, stay successful. and we'll
see you soon. Thanks for tuning into the promo
playbook. If you found value in today's episode,
be sure to subscribe and leave us a review. Got
a topic you'd love us to cover? Connect with
us on LinkedIn. We want to hear from you. Until
next time, stay smart, stay strategic, and keep
growing your supplier success.