8 replies to this topic

[ridety]

Wondering what other "promotional product distributors" have related businesses...

I.e. We do some in-house graphic design, paper printing / wide-format printing / heat transfer...but I don't own any separate business that's related to the promotional products industry.

What I have considered, though:

Indoor advertising, outdoor advertising, web design...

What about you guys?

[djoctagone]

Indoff operates four divisions: Promotional Products, Material Handling, Office Interiors and Business Products.

[amplady]

Good question!

I moved into the corporate gourmet gift market (with an old-style twist) with the Vintage Maple Loft since many of my customers cut back to 0 on their advertising budgets last year.

I nearly went "bankrupt" trying to run the VML shop at a local historic market venue - so, for now I'm sticking to the online version.

Retail (store front) prices are way too expensive for most business owners.
But, someday I hope to try again ;)

Now, I market the Printing portion (Smart Designs Publishing, LLC), the ad/promo (Assert Marketing Promotions) and maple/gourmet goodies (VML).

Whatever Works . . .

[tdrummond]

We do screen printing, embroidery, apparel, promo items, and all kinds of paper printing.

We really slow down after Christmas and don't get really busy again until March so I was looking for something to do. At the same time I was trying to set up merchant processing for my business and was really frustrated by how deceptive and dishonest so many were in the industry.

I decided I could do something about it and at the same time make a little extra money. It has been a rough road trying to find the right processors that would be honest and allow me to take care of my clients but I started my own Independent Sales for merchant processing.

I only work with referrals and those that are current clients and it has been a great boost to my bottom line. I thought I would make a couple hundred a month and have a little spending money. Last month I made almost $2K. The best part is that it is residual income. I don't have to start over every month. I think sometimes I should concentrate on that and hire someone to manage my printing business. One day maybe, one day...

[ridety]

tdrummond said:

We do screen printing, embroidery, apparel, promo items, and all kinds of paper printing.

We really slow down after Christmas and don't get really busy again until March so I was looking for something to do. At the same time I was trying to set up merchant processing for my business and was really frustrated by how deceptive and dishonest so many were in the industry.

I decided I could do something about it and at the same time make a little extra money. It has been a rough road trying to find the right processors that would be honest and allow me to take care of my clients but I started my own Independent Sales for merchant processing.

I only work with referrals and those that are current clients and it has been a great boost to my bottom line. I thought I would make a couple hundred a month and have a little spending money. Last month I made almost $2K. The best part is that it is residual income. I don't have to start over every month. I think sometimes I should concentrate on that and hire someone to manage my printing business. One day maybe, one day...

That's a great success story... Thanks for sharing!

[kimvenzke]

Yeh, going the independent sales route for merchant services can be good. I know our merchant provider MerchantPlus offers a pretty aggressive referral program. If anyone is interested, give them a call (800) 546-1997 x. 2109. They are also incredibly inexpensive and have some great tools. We switched to them about 3 years ago and have been super happy. I think they currently have a promotion code but it might be expired. I think it was STPAT, I'm sure they will honor it.

[tdrummond]

kimvenzke said:

Yeh, going the independent sales route for merchant services can be good. I know our merchant provider MerchantPlus offers a pretty aggressive referral program. If anyone is interested, give them a call (800) 546-1997 x. 2109. They are also incredibly inexpensive and have some great tools. We switched to them about 3 years ago and have been super happy. I think they currently have a promotion code but it might be expired. I think it was STPAT, I'm sure they will honor it.

I would just advise you to be careful when dealing with anyone in the merchant processing industry. Trust me they all have the best deal, just for you. I've heard and seen so many dishonest things when it comes to this industry, please, please be careful. Always get 2 or 3 quotes before signing up with someone.

If you are currently processing with someone and are not sure if you have a good deal, I'd be happy to review your statements and really tell you how good a deal you are getting. I do this all the time for companies and you would be amazed at all the little fees they are getting charged. This industry really needs to be regulated. As for the promotion code, that is just a gimmick please don't fall for it.

[kimvenzke]

Hi Todd, you are absolutely right that the industry is filled with gimmicks and shady people. One of the things I liked about merchantplus is that they were immediately more open with me about the rates then anyone else I ever spoke with. And yes, I did get about 5 other quotes. Merchantplus was the only company that immediately told me about their discount rate, mid-qualified, and non-qualified. Everyone else just gave me their discount rate. Also, if I don't do any transactions one month, the most that I pay is $9.95. In regards to the promo code, all it does is drops my monthly from $19.95 to $9.95 per month and the discount rate to 2.09% for a mo/to account.

I have been burned before and so far I am more than happy.

[tdrummond]

That is great. You should never be paying more that $10.00 per month. If you are paying 2.09% as a qualified rate you are still paying to much. Your qualified rate should always be under 2.00%.

As for the promo code that drops your rate, that is the gimmick. I'm not saying the company is bad, I'm just saying that they are using the promo code as a gimmick to make you think they are giving you good deal when in reality they should be giving you that deal anyway. The most important thing is that you are happy.

I have some clients that I show them how they are being taken for an extra $50 per month that they should not be paying. But for some of them it is not worth the hassle because they are happy. I'm a small business owner so anything I save anywhere helps my bottom line. :)