This is a guest post courtesy of Amanda with her take of the top 5 oddball (yet oddly effective) promotional items you might want to consider implementing for your business and brand.

I personally love the fuzzy frizzy finger duster and the magic answer ball.

Another cool item I’ve seen used in the past are those small round rubberish things that people can use to twist the lids off of jars?

TOTALLY handy if you’re like me and can’t open a jar to save your life.

Anyhoo, how about you?

Used anything unique or odd ball in the past to help promote your business or create brand awareness? Drop your thoughts in the comment section below this post and share.

With the increased popularity of social media and online marketing, face to face meetings with clients or prospective seem to be dwindling.

Many companies would prefer to send an email newsletter or send a tweet to help gain visibility because it’s easier (and in many cases more effective) than hosting an actual event.

Social media and online marketing are extremely important, but face to face meetings are not to be forgotten. Hosting a company event allows you to better negotiate and sell because you are speaking to someone directly, and it allows you to hand out business promotional items.

Once your company has decided that hosting an event will be beneficial, thinking about business promotional items is the next step.

Why Business Promotional Items are Great

• Brand Awareness – People will constantly be reminded about your company if they are given a useful, yet promotional item.
• Contact Information – Many businesses put their contact information on promotional items, much like a creative business card.
• Cost – Promotional items do not have to be expensive, and they can usually reach a large audience. If the items you offer are items people can really use, you will find that you’re probably getting more exposure than if you were to send out a generic email marketing message.

Although many think of business promotional items as something cheap and something a local company would do at a county fair, business promotional items can actually be extremely professional. What you want to give away to your clients or future clients is up to you.

Business Promo Items for Any Occasion

When it comes to choosing business promotional items, it’s best to go custom. In other words, stay away from the boring plastic pens and oversized T-shirts and go for something with a little bit of personal.

In general, a business promotional item should support your brand image, target the customers you want (not just those that you have), and be given out in a professional manner.

Below lists a few unique business promotional items.

Duster for Computer

Everyone knows that computer screens can get very dusty, so some companies give away personalized computer dusters.

You can put your company name and contact information on the back of the duster, so when it is being used those who attended your event will be looking right at this information. Below is an example of The Frizzy Finger Duster.

Stress Ball

If your company targets businessmen and businesswomen, you’re likely to come across some stress. This makes a stress ball perfect for your audience and one that will probably be used during their work day for a long while.

This means that your company will always be remembered when your customers are daydreaming in that place where daydreaming happens most—work. Below is an example of stress balls from Adco Marketing.

Umbrella

This isn’t quite as strange as some other business promotional item ideas, but it is certainly effective and stays away from overly generic. You can put your company name and information either on the underside of an umbrella or on the outside.

It doesn’t matter what your target audience is with this item because if someone needs an umbrella, they are using the umbrella! Below is a photo of an umbrella from Adco Marketing once again.

Magic Answer Ball

This item works great if you’re trying to appealing to a younger crowd. You can put your logo and information on the answer ball and watch your customers and potential customers have some fun.

Certainly weird, but definitely effective. Below is an example of a magic answer ball from Quality Logo Products.

USB Mug Warmer

This is one of the strangest business promotional items I have ever seen, but it’s a little bit intriguing. Your clients and customers will go crazy for this item.

It plugs into a USB port on your computer and will keep your coffee (or beverage of choice) warm while you work. Brilliant! Below is another example from Quality Logo Products.

The most important thing that a company can do when planning out different promotional items is think about the audience. You might think something is really cool or you would use it all the time, but your audience might not.

You want promotional items to be something that people will use so that your brand gains visibility. In some cases, the weirdest items are the key.

Have you ever used a business promotional item that was a hit? What was the item and why did it work so well? Let us know in the comments below!

Alrighty ladies and gents… if you found this post useful you know my request! Use those handy share buttons off the the left and give a dose of strange yet effective to your pals.

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Hey there BGB’ers… this is a guest contribution regarding something highly important to the success of your biz.

In a word?

Money honey!

OK so that’s two words. Sue me, maybe you’ll get some.

Actually this post is more about the MANAGE-ment of money which we all know is just as important as making it.

If you don’t learn to manage it properly you can make money all day long and never get ahead.

So ’tis important to learn to manage it properly and luckily there are plenty of handy dandy tools in the world to help make it a little easier. Read on “mon” and suss out a few of the tools for yourself.

And if you have a fave money management tool not talked about here, do spill in the comments below.

For any business wishing to experience success, proper money management is crucial –if not the predominant pillar on the road to success. Even a company with a great and in-demand product or service can fail should its money not be handled properly.

Fortunately, there are a variety of money management systems that can help any business owner better manage their company’s bills, invoices, payroll, and additional operating costs.

Each of them has different pros and cons, making them best suited to different businesses. The three main types of money management systems are listed below.

Banking Advisors

A financial advisor at a traditional bank is a great money management resource, and one that nearly every business owner should consider having – regardless of their confidence in their own abilities.

Most major banks, like Bank of America and Suntrust, have business financial advisors on hand to help you handle any monetary needs, or questions related to your business.

The advantages of this system include the fact that your finances are being handled by a financial professional and you are able to more easily secure low interest business credit card and credit union checking accounts.

Not only does working with a financial advisor allow you to more easily apply and be approved for needed business credit cards, it gives you the following perks as well:

• Proven plans for financial success personally customized to fit your business’ needs.
• Professional help with maintaining your business’ long-term financial plan.
• Alerts to any discrepancies in your accounts.

BGB’s Note: Make sure you do your due diligence if you go this route and find a reputable financial advisor that knows their shite.

There are plenty out there just eager to make a buck off of your lack of knowledge, so bone up on some finance basics before you let any banking personnel influence your decisions regarding your money.

However, a bank is only available during the bank’s normal operating hours. What are you to do if you need service after hours?

While a business owner shouldn’t need a banker 24/7, having access to financial assistance is important. So to actually maintain full 24/7 support, it is always a good idea for a business to consider using a personal advisor, as well as a financial software or app to help them with their daily bookkeeping.

Computer Software Programs

There are several money management software products available; however, none is more trusted or more widely used than Quickbooks. Quickbooks can help any business owner quickly and easily organize all of your company’s finances, and allows you to do so in very easy and visual ways such as through graphs, tables, charts, and other items. The software even guarantees that it will pay for itself within the first ninety days, or you will get your money back.

A few of the other benefits associated with using this software include:

• Allows you to know your company’s financial situation at any given time.
• Reduces excessive need of an accountant during tax season.
• Allows you to see projections and create milestones based on current numbers.

Also, it is currently acknowledged to be one of the most popular accounting and money management tools for small businesses. While this clearly means that the product is likely to be sound, it also means that the customer support behind Quickbooks will also be high.

So if you should have a problem with the program or don’t understand how to use certain features, you will easily be able to get ahold of someone or find the right forum with the answer to your question.

Although Quickbooks is incredibly accurate, it may be you don’t want to limit yourself to a service that you can only use on your laptop or desktop. In today’s mobile world, many business owners want to be able to check and review every aspect of their business regardless of where they are.

For this reason, some owners may want to also download the Quickbooks mobile app or consider one of the following:

Easy Books

This is a great mobile bookkeeping app available for iOS. It is absolutely free, and lets you manage your company’s money from the ease of your iPhone, iPod, or iPad.

Easy Books is like a very simplified version of Quickbooks that has been designed for iOS mobile devices, and you can try it at no risk, as it is 100% free of charge.

Mint

This was actually intended to be a personal finance app, but it works just as well as a finance management app for a small business. The app can be synced with all accounts, and will let you know where you are within your budget and alert you to areas where you may be spending too much money – allowing you to make your company more cost effective.

Invoice2go Lite

This option is great for any business owner used to dealing with a lot of paper. If you’ve got numerous invoices out on a regular basis, have a stack of bills to keep on top of, or have payroll that you manage yourself, Invoice2go can help alert you to due dates or payments received, and can even let you interact with customers.

When it comes to easy business management, mobile apps definitely provide a wide array of tools to make that task easier. Any business owner looking to keep their finances in order (as well as other aspects of their business) should check out the variety of apps available for both Android and iOS as they will find they can make their business life much easier while on the go.

Money Management for a New Era

Now that you know the most popular forms of both traditional and more innovative bookkeeping and money management methods, start trying them out with your business to see which one you like the best. All of these methods work well; different people and businesses just have different preferences and needs.

As they say… different strokes for different folks! Ultimately how you manage your money and your business is up to you. And I’m sure there are a myriad of other equally useful tools out there to help you do it!

There’s no one size fits all solution so don’t be afraid to try out different things and nail down what works best for you. And if you found this post useful a’tall please consider sharing it with your pals. Their money will thank you.

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This is a guest post contributed by Adam Powers on Miz Snook-ay Snook-ay.

Why would you want to read such a post you ask?

Well… barring the inevitable “BECAUSE I SAID SO” shout, I recommend you read it because you might just learn a thing or two about growing a brand.

People like Snooki don’t just “fall into” fame and build loyal followers (well… at least I don’t believe they do despite all evidence to the contrary). Bottom line is they know stuff and you can glean some of what they know simply by observing them.

Then depending upon your own savvy, you can then take those gleanings you observed and apply them to your own business and brand. Now BOOYA. Good enough reason to read?  

Oh and please give Matt a warm welcome, he’s new ’round here. Peace.

Back in 2008, Nicole Polizzi was a regular 21 year old woman, who lived in Marlboro, New York with her parents, liked a specific type of guy and loved to drink.

Now she is making millions of dollars.

What has changed since 2008?  Absolutely nothing!

Today, she is referred to more as “Snooki” than Nicole.  She’s a few years older, still chasing “guidos”, flashing her underwear in the club and drinking till she can’t stand.

But she is also one of the most popular characters on MTV’s hit reality show “Jersey Shore” which has become the perfect platform to market her brand appeal.

Identity

Because of the popularity of the show and her wild and crazy antics she quickly developed quite the following.  In 2010, Snooki was one of the top celebrity Halloween costumes according to People Magazine.

The costume itself is pretty simple — a black wig, Bump-It, spray tan, push-up bra and an outfit that has some sort of leopard/zebra print – but that’s the beauty of it, Snooki’s marketed herself that way since day one of the show, again absolutely nothing changed.

While some may think her style and outlandish outfits can be hard on the eyes, she can easily be picked out of a crowd.

Snooki is recognizable, just like the golden arches of McDonalds, Nike’s swoosh, or the half eaten apple of Macintosh.  When building a brand don’t be afraid to be a little different or unique.  It’s important to separate yourself and stand out.

Being Social

Snookers is now the spokesperson for “guidettes” – females, usually of Italian-American descent who are loud, free speaking individuals with dark tans; that wear extravagant makeup and like their male counterparts.

Along with guidettes, the fans of the show and people who actually look up to her (yes, I’m sure those exist somewhere) have given her an audience to begin building her brand.

Snooki currently has over 4.6 million Twitter followers and 1.7 million likes on Facebook.  While sometimes you may not be able to understand what she’s saying at 4 in the morning after a night at Karma, when Snooki tweets, people listen.

She has the potential to reach about the same amount of people as the monthly unique web visitors to reddit (2 million), Digg (2.5 million) and Mashable (2.7 million) combined.

Having a strong social presence is another important factor when building a brand from scratch. Although we all wish for the 7 million supporters like Snooki, whoever does end up following your brand is doing so for a reason.

Keep them informed, offer discounts, coupons or advice.  The more involved you are, the more potential to see big returns!

Consistency and Expansion

The key to her success has been to stay true to youself, a similar belief to what “Lady Gaga” preaches (but I don’t know if I really believe that one).

The Snooki Shop enforces her Jersey beliefs with big eyeslashes, extravagant handbags and her famous “crocodilly”.

Her signature style doesn’t stop there either.  She has her own line of slippers that she made famous stomping around the Shore house with and has randomly become a New York Times best-selling author by speaking about what she believes in.

All the negative attention in the world hasn’t brought her down either.  While some may watch week in and week out to see if she’ll get knocked out again or thrown in jail, Snooki hasn’t let any of the negative attention affect her.

She has carried on and continued to expand her brand.

For the entrepreneurs of the world, it’s hard to for me to say but…take a lesson from the Snookster.  Stick to your roots.  Find your niche and push that hard.  As time goes along its okay to look into other avenues, however don’t venture too far away from what got you there in the first place.

Later this year, Snooki will have her own spin-off show with her best friend JWwow, mobile games and apps, her Supre Tan indoor tanning products and a primetime HSN event where she will premiere a new perfume.

There’s a lesson here and it’s not that drinking in excess equals success, it’s stay true to what your company stands for.  If you run a gym, don’t market yourself at a pizza joint, but maybe at a Subway.

If you own a high end furniture store, don’t hand out cheap plastic merchandise and if your company prides themselves on virus removal, don’t watch porn at work.

 Alrighty tighty… if you liked this post do BGB a solid and share it with your pals. And even better… tell Matt you liked it in the comments below. He’ll be grateful, I’ll be grateful, we will all have one big gratitude-fest. Sounds kinda fun right?

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This is a guest post courtesy of Lewis Love (<3 that name) that I hope you find useful. 

As any small business owner knows, to leverage your efforts can produce great rewards… but it can often be tough to do on a tight budget.

Hiring international students (and actually college students in general) can be a great way to help you gain that leverage but still respect yourself and your budget in the morning. 

Plus there are added perks when you go the international route that Lewis has dished on below. Enjoy and please leave any feedback in the comments section under this post. 

In this article we look at some of the ways small businesses and entrepreneurs can benefit from hiring international students, leveraging the power of using business students for part-time work.

By offering students who are studying business abroad a part-time job on a fixed contract you can limit your liabilities, whilst maximising your potential.

This type of position can act as an extended interview, like an internship, and can be extremely beneficial for both parties for many reasons.

Enhance the Quality of Your Staff

Students do more than just party and sleep, sometimes they attend lectures!

International students are often very driven and self-motivated too, the process which they have to go through to achieve a place at a foreign university is rigorous, which often helps to weed out the weaker candidates.

International students are sometimes studying at postgraduate level, or converting their local degree into one that is recognised internationally.

They possess a strong knowledge of their subject area but lack the time and experience required to secure a top-paying full-time position. By employing international students, you are choosing from a pre-selected group of extremely talented individuals.

Expand Your Cultural Identity

International students bring with them more than just a current understanding of their subject choice, they bring a wealth of knowledge about their culture. This could be vital for your business, especially if you are exploring international prospects.

The Internet and globalization has broken down borders between markets and now, especially web-based businesses, are more common than ever. Every day though, sales are being lost when international buyers are offended, concerned or even scared of doing business with certain companies, unaware of other countries’ culture and customs.

Hiring an international student gives you and your business the chance to learn about the country, politics and culture of where they come from, and you may be able to pick up on their language differences and business practices too.

Certain cultures have different negotiating practices and ways of entertaining prospective clients, all of which your international student may be able to teach you about.

Improve Your Contact for the Future

The students of today are the entrepreneurs of tomorrow, so by building your contacts now, you’re preparing your business for the future. Your contact at IBM or Facebook won’t be there forever.

In fact, IBM and Facebook might not be around either. The companies and individuals that replace them can probably be found in the campuses of universities and colleges all over the world right now, so by hiring an international student, you’re getting more than just a part-time employee, you’re obtaining a contact ‘on the inside’.

Whatever your business does, having student contacts now will set you in good stead for the future.

Cost Effective

Hiring an international student on a part-time basis is also cost effective. You can generally expect to pay a lot less for the work than you would if you were to hire a freelancer.

Some international students will even accept unpaid positions to enhance their resume. Creating a ‘project’ for an international student to take charge of is a great way of safeguarding your current business model, whilst testing the waters in a different area.

You could, for instance, allow them to create and manage your social media presence if you don’t already have one or charge them with creating a blog which is an excellent way to enhance your online profile.

Commercial Advantage

All of this adds up to give you and your business a real commercial advantage. Great staff at a great price should never be turned down, as it’s the people who make your business.

When the staff are also helping you ready yourself for whatever the future holds, you really shouldn’t say no.

International students can offer so much to a small business that big businesses can’t take advantage of, so celebrate, pick up the phone and call your local university.

Their careers department will be able to help you, perhaps even put an advert in the library for you, and before you know it, your business could be riding the wave, all thanks to one quick phone call.

That wraps it up BGB’ers! Hope you found the read useful and if you did please pass this post along to your pals. They will thank you and I will too!

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This is a guest post courtesy of Alan Grant.

I thought it’d be a fun piece to share with my fellow dorks as choosing your work space can vary massively based on personal predispositions.

This post highlights a couple (ahem) less than traditional ideas for your office.

My advice for the day? EVERY one should have an office in a fracken tree! Now who wants to make me one?

Oh and as always, if you love this post please feel free to share it with the populous. 

Modern technology means that you can start a business from pretty much anywhere these days. All you need is a laptop or smartphone, some kind of internet connection and most importantly a killer idea.

Once you’ve got these three things any of the following locations can be considered a viable alternative to traditional office space!

A Tree House

There aren’t that many practical advantages to starting your business in a tree house but there’s no denying that doing so would be pretty cool.

All successful entrepreneurs need an interesting backstory, about how they almost went bankrupt or were inspired to greatness by a homeless guy they met on a bus. Your tree house story will trump the lot and when you’re famous it’ll be chat show gold.

An Electronics Store

When you think about it electronic stores have everything you need to start a business. All the computers are usually hooked up to the internet and there will be loads of other gadgets floating around that you’ll be able to utilise. And the best thing is it won’t cost you a thing!

Admittedly you’re not going to be able to hang around all day, so you’re going to have move on pretty quickly. But one you’ve been kicked out of the Apple Store there’s always the likes of Sony and Best Buy!

The Boot Of Your Car

This is perfect if your new business involves selling. Think of your boot as a travelling store that allows you to sell all over the country, or even the world! It might sound a bit dodgy but even the biggest business have to start small.

I should warn you that if you want to start selling goods from your car there are certain regulations you need to make sure you follow. It would be a shame to get shut down before you’ve really started.

A Fishing Boat

Getting out on the water is a great way to ensure that you’re not disturbed. Plus nobody can look over your shoulder and steal any of your awesome ideas (think Napster and Facebook).

You might be wondering why it has to be a fishing boat. Well the truth is it doesn’t. It’s just that that fishing is a relaxing past time and has a history of inspiring people to achieve great things.

It’s probably not the best place to get everything set up but if you’re searching for that initial spark of genius there are few better options.

Not In Your Bedroom!

It’s actually pretty common for a successful business to start in a bedroom, but when you think about it it’s actually pretty strange.

It’s meant to be the one room in the house where you can relax and escape from the troubles of the day, which isn’t easy when the photocopier is doing its thing in the corner.

Surely these people have a lounge or study that would be better suited to the task. Or better still a tree house or a fishing boat!

Alrighty then. So how about you my pretties? Have a crazy locale for an office? Do tell, drop your thoughts in the comment section below. It’s kind of like the tip jar of ideas. 

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This is a guest post courtesy of Christian Muller on three big potential risks that can often go hand in hand with a rebranding effort.

While it’s not impossible to do successfully, it’s also not always easy.

In fact I’d even go so far as to propose it’s never easy!

But if you keep in mind these brief tips from Christian, you can increase your odds of a successful attempt and (possibly) avoid a fiery crash and burn.

I know, I’m such a little light of sunshine today aren’t I? As always, please drop any thoughts in the comment box below this post.

Muah.

Sometimes it is essential to rebrand your company.

If your image hasn’t been updated in a very long time, if your logo is confusing your customers, or if your message doesn’t correctly portray your company or its products and services, rebranding may be just what you need.

But rebranding is not an easy process, and it does not ensure that you will have success. Like any other business venture, there are plenty of risks involved, and you need to consider them before jumping in to rebranding efforts headfirst.

Rebranding Done Incorrectly Can Confuse

Rebranding requires a long and detailed process. Before you can start creating your new image, you have to take a good, hard look at your company and determine how you want to be perceived by your customers, by your potential customers and by others in the industry.

You then need to determine what kind of messaging will highlight your products and services. And most importantly, you need to determine the goals of your rebranding efforts. If you go into rebranding efforts without considering these things, your efforts will not contain any focus.

If rebranding is not thoroughly planned out in advance, you could end up throwing something together and causing confusion among your current customers, potential customers and others in the industry. If your new efforts cause confusion, you could end up losing your client base.

This is especially true with very recognizable logos.

For example, Nike has the famous swoosh mark as their logo. This logo has given them so much brand recognition that they don’t even have to include their name on collateral or products—the swoosh mark alone lets people know the item is coming from Nike.

If Nike were to change the swoosh to a triangle, it could cause confusion among their market. Nike customers may wonder if Nike closed, went bankrupt or changed their product line.

You also need to think about how to market your rebranding efforts. You cannot simply rebrand your company and throw it out in the world without any explanation or forewarning. This too can cause confusion among your customer base.

Rebranding Can Drain Your Marketing Budget

Rebranding is expensive. When you rebrand, you are not simply making a new logo, you are making a new image. This image then needs to be portrayed across all of your collateral, including your website, print material, signage, business cards—anything that includes your old image will need to be updated.

The more items you need rebranded, the more expensive it’s going to be.

If you didn’t prepare your marketing budget for a rebranding effort, you may not have any resources left for other marketing campaigns once you’re finished with the rebrand.

You will then be risking all of your money on one marketing tactic, and if it doesn’t give you the results you want, you could be left without money and without customers.

Rebranding Offers No Guarantees of Success

Rebranding can solve a lot of problems for some companies, but there is no guarantee that rebranding will be the right answer. Sometimes companies rebrand and don’t see any results.

It happens.

Customers do not like change, and unless you seamlessly rebrand without any hiccups, you run the risk of losing customers or not producing results.

Before you rebrand, you need to fully understand the risks involved. Not being adequately prepared can cost you your marketing budget, your current and prospective clients, and your place in the industry.

Decide if rebranding is worth the risk, and take your time to thoroughly develop a solid plan.

Like it dork? Show some love by sharing. You can use those buttons off to the left there and earn eternal gratitude from yours truly.

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Howdy hoo BGB’ers! Just wanted to give you the heads up on a guest post that went live last month, but I missed the public unveiling somehow and failed to share it with you guys! So here ’tis if you’re so inclined. Enjoy and I’d love comments, sharing and feedback as always!