158 replies to this topic

[Chris Miller]

Let's all take the time to get to know each other a little better! I will stick this message at the top so it gets plenty of attention.

I'll even start out :)

My name is Chris Miller, I run a small distributorship in Wentzville, MO (about 40 miles west of St. Louis). I also run DistributorTalk (this site), and have been in the industry for about 1 1/2 years.

I am married to a wonderful woman who is also a member here (DPI-Nicole) I have a beautiful little 2 1/2 year old girl, and another on the way in June. Family means the world to me and so I feel I am truly blessed because of what I have been given.

Most of my time is spent either playing with my daughter, or running my business & this site. There isn't much time for anything else at this point.

I collect hot wheels, and enjoy playing around on the computer in my spare time (what spare time? ;) ) and working out at the gym.

I hope others will reply too. I'd like to get to know you all a little better, and have a chance to meet all of you in person some day.

[designitdeb]

Hi Chris -
I am Debbie Wiese and my business is called Anything Goes Promotions, Inc. in San Diego, CA. I have two great partners. We all used to work for a company that printed their own products and we sold that product to the customer. They were limited to 35 - 40 items at any one time.Last May 14 we left to start our own venture and have no regrets. We don't set any limitations on ourselves about what we can sell other than we try not to sell product from companies who also sell direct to the end user. We are 3 crazy women who love to have fun while we work. We tell people "If we can't get it...You Don't Need It!" and we are often put to the test (sometimes I think just to challenge our statement) and so far we have been able to find everything the customers have thrown at us. We have a 3 room office which includes a showroom for our product samples. I also have an office in my home with a myriad of more samples and catalogs galore in both offices.
I am engaged to my high school sweetheart after 40 years (I thought he was killed in Viet Nam)and I have three wonderful children who are all grown. Both girls are married and have their own homes and are teachers at two different middle schools. (Hopefully soon they will make me a grandmother.) My son is in college studying business law and is engaged to be married next year.
For fun, my fiancee and I love to ride motorcycles and go on "runs" where the primary purpose is to raise funds for some kind of charity - prefererably one for children or to find a cure for some kind of disease. We travel all over the country doing this and have a blast. I also love gardening and the beach and reading. I go to church when I am in town but have to admit that I am on the road many Sundays trying to raise money for some cause. One of my side jobs is designing costumes for the theater - therefore the name designitdeb. I also have a network distribution business teaching people to buy their daily needs over the computer. I belong to BNI and PPAI and am in the process of joining the local Chamber of Commerce. In my free time, I try to exercise and have outings with my girlfriends or my kids. I even manage to keep up on many of the current movies. All in all, I lead a pretty busy life but I love it.

[rsuttles]

Hello Chris - love to hear a man share his admiration of his family....rare quality.

My name is Robyn Traylor. I have been married for 16 yrs and have 5 wonderful kids. My oldest is now in FL trying to start her life, and my youngest is 4! What a gap!!! ;) I guess I have been a member for quite some time, I have never posted anything before, anywhere. You see - I am busy too....too much for my own good I believe. I have taken time today however, to look at some posts on your site that are quite interesting and I think I can get the guidance I am looking for right here! I have been in the promotional products industry for over 10 yrs now. I have been on my own for about 7. In 2001, for the first time, my phone stopped ringing off the hook from new customer referrals and devoted customer orders. After caming out of denial that my phone was not going to start ringing again without effort on my part, which I never had to do before, I starting looking for business in my new area. I relocated to a small tourist town in WI from the Chicagoland area in 2000 after my hubby's job relocated. I was severely injured by the drop in economic spending in 2001 and during my unsuccessful solicitations of my "touristy" town, I wound up landing a full time job, in sales, at beautiful resort, that I was soliciting in the area. I believe this was the beginning of my distributorship demise. The demanding hrs required for the sales position, directly cut out the time able to be spent generating business for my own company. I was, am, very successful in sales with the resort, however, I miss my first passion.....running my own business and making a comfortable living for me and my family, from home. My family has gone through many growing pains not having me at home. I do, however, enjoy seeing people and interacting again, which I had almost totally lost while my distributorship was booming from my computer. 99.9% of all my customers, I have never met! I have done business with all sorts of great industries, including Nascar.

I am more recently trying to come back to my industry and am still finding road blocks, which by reading several of your posts, are not my imagination, which I was beginning to think. I have the desire, the drive, and used to have the knowledge to be successful......now I see I need more $ to be as competitive and visible in this stage of the game. I am ready for a serious change - I am thinking of relocating out of this small town to FL since my large family is slowly downsizing :( - I don't need such a big house any longer with a huge mortgage I really can't afford any more. The sales industry I am in at the resort has been my bread and butter for 4 yrs now and will more than likely be the tool to get my relocation done, since $ is essential for the new beginning. I will continue to search for the keys to bring my passion back to reality once my relocation is done. When that happens, hopefully this summer, WATCH OUT AD SPECIALTY - Robyn WILL be back in the saddle again! Just thinking about it makes me warm and fuzzy all over! :D

R-Suttle Design
.....only quiet for the moment.....

[Ray E]

Hi Chris, You should get an award at the PPAI Show for this web site. I have been in the business since 1975 and am still kicking. I have four children two girls and two boys. I have 12 grand children and 3 great grand children. None of my kids wanted anything to do with sales and I can not argue with their chosen professions. My two daughters own their own businesses and my two sons are both Majors in the Air Force one flies a KC135 Tanker and the other A-10 Warthog.
For most of my life I have had a single person distributorship. Now I would like to pass on some of my experiences by consulting and giving seminars. I am just very impressed with this web site and hope it is no flash in the pan. I am still in the dark thou , who are the sponsors? Ray E

[DBeavers]

Hello Ray,

We have a minor connection. Before I started selling promotional advertising on a full-time basis, I worked for Boeing, on the KC-135 project. Back in '87-'90, some of the 135s were re-furbished here in Lake Charles, with the remainder being serviced in Wichita, KS. I worked for Boeing nearly 6 months before quitting to move my business up to full time.

During my 20+ years, I've only sold for two companies. I started with Newton Mfg and switched to Kaeser & Blair, Inc in '93. I have two of my original clients still ordering from me 20 years later. Take care of your customers and their business, and they will take care of you.

I looked closely at a couple local distributor's operations, and decided I like being a dealer for a major distributor. It's a personal choice. I sleep better at night, not having to worry about being under-capitalized or writing off bad debts from non-paying clients.

My wife and I have 3 grown children, and are presently enjoying our first grandchilc. We have our first grandson due this fall. Since my wife was the stay-at-home Mom, working the home office, while taking care of the kids, she decided to continue the practice. We have our granddaughter in our home office now.

None of our 3 children have shown interest in our business, so I plan on working it another 45 years. At 97, I'll consider retiring. Maybe by then, I'll have and grandchild or great-grandchild interested in taking over for me.

Dennis

[D-I Promos]

Hello All!!
My name is Janet Kilgore and I am a advertising specialty addict
I started in this business over 17 years ago as a customer service rep, moved up to office manager then quit and went to work for another distributor as a sales rep for 7 years. One night I had a dream and in this dream someone I love (who as passed away) told me to do what my heart truly desired to go out on my own and I would be fine. The next day I went down got all my permits, license, opened a business checking account and gave notice and quit my job. April 20 was 7 years ago. Started out in my home and now own my own building. It has been tough!!! Between the ups and downs in the market and 4 hurricanes in Florida last year it was tight, but hung on and still growing. Through all this I could not have ever made it if not for my Family.... I have a wonderful supportive husband (Joe) who was my high school sweetheart and have been married for almost 26 years. We have 2 children. Our son (Lil Joe) just turned 24 and is a massage therapist training to go into pediatric massage therapy. Our daughter (Jessica) is almost 21 is a office manager and going to college to become a mechanical engineer. In our spare time we love to fish, water & snow ski, and take long rides on the motorcycle. We also have 2 dogs and 2 cats that are all adopted and rescued animals. They are our other children. The dogs (Roxy - 14 years, and Loula - 2 years) come to the office all the time with me and love when customers come by. I even have a couple of clients that just come by to see the girls (dogs).
Well that is Distinctive Impressions in a nut shell as well as myself and family.
Best of luck to us all and may we all prosper and grow!
Janet Kilgore
Owner
Distinctive Impressions
Riverview, FL

[cantork]

Hello All,

My name is Ken "KC" Cantor and I am the Sales Manager here at Studio Graphics, Inc. I retired from the Air Force (after 20 yrs & 5 mos) in February of 2000. My first adjustment to civilian life was managing a "High Tech" Sign Company (National Franchise name withheld). During that time I met the owners of this comany and was intrigued with what they did and the customer relationship processes they enjoyed. They hired me on in February of 2002 and I have not looked back. We do full service embroidery, screenprinting and ad specialty. The ad specialty is what I am hooked on most. I truly enjoy the client relationship building that goes on in this industry, and now can't imagine doing anything else.

I am married with 4 children, the oldest being 23 and the youngest (finally a girl) 8. We own a horse ranch in Texas, and enjoy (of course) riding and water sports. Also, my wife and I are certified PADI Divemasters and are crewmembers (in our spare time) for two 100' liveaboard dive boats, The MV Fling and MV Spree operated by Gulf Diving LLC out of Freeport, TX. We take passengers 112 miles out into the Gulf of Mexico, to the Flower Gardens National Marine Sanctuary for 2, 3 and 5 day trips. I have found that this has been a tremendous business windfall for my sales. I am normally trapped on the boat with up to 34 potential customers each trip I work. In between dives we talk about what each of us does which has led to a few very lucrative accounts.

I too enjoy this site very much, the exchange of information and ideas is incredible. Not to mention the free web site I won right here. Hope to meet a lot of you in person some day! :)

KC

[LaunchPad]

My name is Joe Holland and I own and run LaunchPad Representatives, Inc. We help distributors and suppliers understand and use technology in and out of the industry.

I have been in the industry for 12 years. First as a supplier (Axius/Auto-Shade), then on the technology side (promoOrder) and now with my own business.

I have been married to a wonderful woman, Jessica, since 1996 and we had our first child last September. His name is Scott. After years of collecting toys, comic books and Star Trek paraphenalia I now have someone on my level to discuss it all with.

[carrilg]

Hi Chris and all my fellow Distributors. I am Guillermo Carrillo (pronounce Guee-yer-mo Kah-ree-yo) residing in Centennial, Colorado. I moved here from Deer Park, Texas in 1975 and have fallen in love with this beautiful part of the country. I started my home base business in 2000 (part-time) and went full time in 2002 while retiring from corporate america. I do screen printing, embroidery and pad printing and have maintained a good client base. I have been married once for a total of 42 years to a wonderful women who continues to work as a Registered Nurse.

My business gives me the flexibility to do alot of activities that I was not able to do enjoy while in the corporate environment. At least twice a month I fly to other small cities in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska to have lunch or breakfast with friends. This is one of my passions that I look forward in doing and it doesn't take much of an excuse to go flying. I play golf as often as I can and the best time we have is with my friend that lives in a retirement community with a beautiful golf course. Live is hard but someone has to do it.

I have two grown children who are on there own and doing very well in life. I am a member of PPAI and try to remain active in local activities to support our community. Thank you Chris for this web site and for allowing us access to the many services it provides.

[patjr]

Hello World.
This ng or forum is a great idea! Thanks for putting it up.
I have already read a lot of posts, good stuff.
I am looking forward to reading more of the members opinions and maybe working up the nerve to posts some of my own.

Pat

[terryfic]

Hello everyone!
I'm Kathy Terry in Coral Gables, FL. Moved here from San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1987, and yes, I'm fully bilingual having been born and raised there. :D I don't look like I should speak Spanish, much less fluently so it can be fun or get me in trouble! Started with this industry back in Jan of '87 in San Juan with the Vernon Co., and after 6.5 years was made an offer I couldn't refuse (70% commission) with a small family-owned company (now defunct). The first 12 months were great and the last six a nightmare. I quickly learned what NOT to do game-wise with suppliers and clients and keep all business above-board. :lol: My ex-boss never understood that for all this is a big industry, alot us know each other and word DOES get around.
In August of 1994 I put together my own little shop (of horrors?) and have been happily plugging along ever since. Have had 2 indies and dropped them, am in the process of possibly bringing on a new one. I keep my company small and like it that way.
I am single, in the island tradition living with my parents and brother in a large house. Oh, along with 4 dogs. My avocation is Therapy Dogs and I've been doing THAT since just before Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and evaluating and observing newbie teams since 1993.
I love the industry and am glad I found it since I don't know when I'll be able to retire due to social insecurity... :eek: And this will keep me going for the next how many years?
Thanks Chris for the forum!
~Kathy~

[dchoate]

Chris,
After retiring from the Insurance industry and tiring of the medical profession, my sister introduced me to the world of promotional products. Being one of those who was always receiving the items, I felt that it would be easy to sell. HA! I have found that my niche is the school uniform industry, go figure. My husband and I were going to college in our early years and ended up focusing on his career as a laywer. 21 years down the road, we have a 13 year girl and a 4 year old (soon to be 5 on July 4th). My 13 year old loves my industry, but loves the glamour of her Aunt's promotional business in Nashville. She has the entertainers and I have "normal" people.

I run my business out of my home. However, my home sits on the north side of a huge lake and is surrounded by the National Forest. We have 88 acres, 4 horses, 3 dogs 2 children (not including the husband). I love the freedom my business allows. I also enjoy talking with other people in our industry. There are 2 suppliers in my area that I visit with and enjoy encouraging them and showing them possibilities for their business such as Smartblast.

Thanks for everything Chris! Oh yeah, this counts as a post, right?

[jmsadv]

Chris:

I just found your site and enjoy the comments from other industry members. I own and operate JMS ADVERTISING in Hagerstown, MD (Western MD). I began my 26th year on April 1st of this year. I started as an ad specialty distributor and that is what I still am some 25 years later. I have enjoyed our industry the trade shows, suppliers, and all of the people who make up our industry! I have seen many changes during the past 25 years as our industry has grown. In the "old days" there were just a few of us ASI listed distributors but now the lines have blurred as other companies have added ad specialties to their menu.
One problem that has not changed is where to find sales people? It has become even harder in recent years to find sales people who enjoy sales and want to work at it?
Does anyone have any suggestions where they have found a few good sales people?
I look forward to hearing from other distributors who I am sure have the same issues.


Jeff

[Chris Miller]

Hey Jeff,

Thanks for dropping in. It's good to have you!

You may want to try starting a new thread about finding sales people. I'd reccomend the "Running a Distributor Company" forum. You might want to check out the search too. I know there have been some other topics on this. :)

Thanks again

[tknapp]

Hi, my name is Tammy Knapp. I run a very small business out of my home, Promoting U!, which I am hoping will take off this next year.
I started in this industry about 10 years ago working as a customer service rep. for a supplier who was then sold, they offered me a position as one of their service reps. for their funeral supply division...I stayed for a few years, but as my kids grew I had more running to do. I decided to start my business and here I am 2 years later.
I have a wonderful husband, Bill, who also owns his own business in the wildlife control industry. He is also wrestling coach at out high school and middle school. Some great opportunities for me by the way! We have been married for 12 years and have two great kids. Stevie (our daughter) is soon to be 11, she is my soccer player and straight A student. Connor, is 8...an excellent wrestler and is starting his first year of tackle foot ball, at 50 lbs, it makes me a bit nervous, but probably can't be much worse that wrestling, huh?
I am also PTO president, which has been rewarding.
I presently only write an average of 2 orders per week, I plan on getting alot more aggresive next week when the kids get back to school so you should all hear alot more from me picking your brains. We tell our kids you have to learn from the absolute best in order to get better at what you do. That is why their summer camps consist of training and learning from Olympians. You guys are my Olympians! :)

Its great to be here!
Tammy

[Greyhill124]

HI All,
My name is Lisa and I've been in this industry since 1997 -- when I took a leap out of my corporate corner window and landed squarely in the middle of my own adventure travel business. I decided to sell pp on the side to pay for my personal life while letting ATS (my adventure business) recycle its earnings to continue to build the coffers for larger groups, etc.

I love the adventure side of my life -- it has taken me many interesting places and taught me so much about people and life. It has also allowed me to help others grow and learn -- a benefit that I feel I gain from as much as my clients :)

This past January I started on my own in ad specialties when the company that I had been doing sales for was forced to fold. Since January I have grown my little business slowly, taken a client mountaineering in Mexico, gotten engaged to the greatest guy (woohoo!), sent groups to Africa, Hawaii, Costa Rica, and the Boundary Waters (to name a few destinations), gotten married (whew! that was a LOT of work in a short amount of time!), and am now working on a manuscript that I promised the publisher I'd have to them by the beginning of Sept. We'll see if it get's published.... (keep your fingers crossed!)

Life is good. I admire your work here Chris, and I hope you gain from it on a personal level all the riches that you may not see arrive in your bank account!

[TheWeave]

This is Donna Weaver aka The Weave. Welcome, newcomer, to the ad specialty business. I've been in the biz for 12 years and am located in New York. Long Island to be exact. I am an ex-marketing communications manager that used to purchase ad specialty products. I have an advertising and marketing background so it was a bit easier to understand the different substrates and printing techniques. After a layoff, I started selling ad specialties for my distributor. Eventually he retired and sold me his business. It was really tough the first 5 years and is still tough keeping and generating new clients. I am also a small biz---just me and a few part-timers. My biggest problem is finding someone to sell for me full time. Although I offer a 50% commission, I can't afford full salary with benefits. In addition, it is hard to train someone whose knowledge, drive, creativity and excitement is as great as mine. Besides which, this industry (despite its challenges) can be really fun.:lol: I have a home-based business which allows me to work in my P.J.'s if I wish or take the day off to shop, do errands, go fishing with my daughter and husband and jump in the backyard pool (I have indeed conducted business by poolside). I can also pick and choose the people I do business with and don't miss the politics of a 9 to 5 job!

[JamesF]

Hello Everyone!



My name is James and I am the Account Executive / Western Region with Sorgâ??s Paper Place and TK Cups. Iâ??ve been in the promotional products industry since 2000 (as a distributor first and supplier for the last 3.5 years). I accidentally fell into this industry, but I found a nitch and I love working with our people, along with the enormous amount of different promotional products offered. I have a degree in Public Relations, plus a minor in Graphic Arts, and I have found that this industry is perfect with my educational background.



Since Sorgâ??s is located in Massachusetts and TK Cups is located in Texas, we decided to expand west to try to increase sales and service in the western states. So, I operate out of my office in San Diego, CA and can provide the western states superior focus and attention, as well as freight discounts.


Sorgâ??s Paper Place and TK Cups merged together about three years ago and we aim to provide everything food and drink related to distributors, as your â??one-stop-shop.â? As I hope you already know, Sorgâ??s specializes in custom-imprinted disposable napkins, cups and plates. TK Cups specializes in every cup with NO minimums. Primarily, our products are disposables and those are the best products to sell in our industry (hence reorders, and thatâ??s what makes this industry what it is).

[DanCadett]

Hello All, my name is Dan Metzger and I am with Cadett Marketing in Garfield, NJ. Just joined the forum and I am just trying to see what it is all about. Our customer base is varied, and we get some wacky calls from our customers. We have been using ESP for a few years, and even though it is expensive, we love it. Looking forward to participating in the chats.