Welcome to the Virtual Antics podcast , where we help entrepreneurs streamline their business to six figures and beyond . These short , sweet and info packed episodes will inspire , educate and leave you feeling motivated to take one more step forward in your business . So put down your never-ending to-do list , because in this podcast , we are interviewing the best of the best in the entrepreneurial world as they spill their secrets to success . This podcast is sponsored by Nandora , the all-in-one software for entrepreneurs to grow their business , with unlimited landing pages , automations , emails and text campaigns , and so much more . I'm your host , natalie Guzman . Now let's get into it . Hey , hey , hey . Welcome back to Virtual Antics podcast . I'm your host , natalie Guzman . Today I have Swire Ho with me . I am so excited because he helps customers grow sales , routine employees and thank their customers with the custom branded products . Welcome , swire , how are you doing today ?
Speaker 2Good , I'm doing good . Thanks for helping me on the show , natalie .
Speaker 1I'm excited to have you on the show because actually I have an event coming up and I've been looking into custom branded products and this kind of is your wheelhouse . I'm so excited to have this conversation . So how did you kind of become an expert in this ?
Speaker 2I don't think in our industry . No one went to school wanted to be a promotional product industry . So how I got into it ? I was in the CD DVD replication business . So if you're only love like me , still remember by CD and DVD . That's what we do . We help film company record labels make those copies and then , along the way they finished their album , they asked do you guys do merch that we could sell on tour , or do you guys do the give back that we could hand away at red carpet ? So somehow I got dabbling into the promotional product industry and in 2013 , we sold the CD DVD product business and now focus exclusively on promotional products .
Speaker 1That is absolutely amazing and I've seen with my business the power of promotional products and it's really cool because it actually goes into a part marketing which is called brand awareness . So how can having promotional products help your business ?
Speaker 2I think you mentioned a really great point , natalie . We try really hard , you know , with the service and products that we have . We do social media , we go into networking just to let other people notice that this is our brand . Right , this is what we stand for . However , when they come through promotional product , they always ask so why are you doing that ? Why are what's the cheapest , whatever that you have ?
Speaker 2My approach is I will ask those clients you know , think about , your promotional product is a silent ambassador for your brand , because this is something that you'll be given to the recipient or you know , potentially it's your client prospect and then it will be sit on the desk . You know how would . That speaks about the value and then what you stand behind . When they see the product that you give them , can they remind what your company is about ? So if you don't think that's relevant to them , then you have to . You have to choose something else . So that's kind of the question . I'll ask them to begin the process . It's not just you know they get a pen , you should get a panel , they get a t-shirt , you should get a t-shirt . It's something that could speak about . You know what you stand for and that's where I would start .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's really powerful . You know , I don't think people realize the quality right . So I go to this event every year . It's actually coming up this month . Called PodFest is such a cool place for podcasters to go and interact with one another .
Speaker 1Well , I get a ton of shirts there every single year . There's one shirt that I will always remember the guy's name and it was actually because it was the softest shirt that ever felt and it made me want to ask him where he got his shirt . And I've met like hundreds of people there was hundreds of different companies and shirts I've received over the years of going to this event but I always remember Marc Savant because his shirt was like the softest shirt that I have ever worn in my life and it just you could tell the quality was there and it was a great shirt , and so you made a really good point . That quality is really comes first because it's representing your brand , and that actually made me engage in a conversation . Have you seen that where products actually make people like , engage with them because of , maybe , the quality , of the uniqueness of the product ?
Speaker 2Yeah , you hit on one of the most important points , especially in the trade show and event . But what's your product is a great conversation starter . You know , in your case it's a soft T shirt . Sometimes it could be a weird item , right , you're like what is this Like ? Can you tell me more about that ? And then you got them into your booth and start the engaging the conversation . Or we have also done that .
Speaker 2People would present , let their prospect know what kind of gifts that they have . You know , when they come to talk to them or book a meeting , you know they can receive that item . So this creates interest , creates curious , you know , for people to come to talk to you and I think that's whenever people are lining up on your booth . More people are going to line up on your booth because you see that if you see two guys crossing the arm sitting there looking angry , you're not going to talk to them . You want to go to a booth that has a lot of people . They seem to have a good conversation going on . You want to go check it out and see what's going on .
Speaker 1Yeah , and I've seen that too . Like I've been to lots and lots of trade shows and expos and all those things where they have lots of vendors right , and so I've seen the power of that where someone that only has like pens or you know , or very small items even , and it's not all over their booth , they're not getting as much traction as the people that have the shirt or they have like the spin the wheel to get a certain type of merchandise . Those things are so interactive and cool . And I once got StreamYard .
Speaker 1I went to StreamYard's booth and they had their mascot , which is like that duck , and it said StreamYard on it and that was like my favorite thing . I would show that in little videos on my meetings and stuff , like look how cool this is . Or I had a client that was asking me about video editing software . I could not remember the name of StreamYard at that moment and so I said one moment I went and grabbed my little duck and I was like it's StreamYard and so it's a really good reminder reminding you about the business name .
Speaker 2I like that . You're leading the conversation the perfect way . Another good way for a company to consider , like the StreamYard example . I use StreamYard , by the way . All of us are mini journalists right now , mini blogger , and then we all have a cell phone . You know , imagine that they know that you're really happy about the product you have . You probably snap some good photos on it and you probably have posted or sent it to your friends about the StreamYard doc that you received . So you actually they're using the cost of the duck , obviously , to give it to you potential prospect . And then now , without them telling you , you are sending it to your contact , to people who might be using StreamBrain . So they're actually using the process to turning you to a mini-journalist who is covering the bread . So that's another good strategy .
Speaker 1Yeah , it's a really cool content creation thing , right , because we're all about content creation these days , whether that's , like you said , the blog posts or the videos or the TikToks or whatever it is , and I feel like we're sharing through visuals now . So having an actual product that we're showing off is such a huge game changer in the marketing industry , because everything is visual . It's no longer about what you hear , necessarily , or what you see in written words , it's really stuff that's eye-catching , unique .
Speaker 1Like you said , for me it was the feel of that shirt and how nice that shirt looked on me , but there's definitely a power into having a really great product . So what are some things we should keep in mind when we're looking for a product to represent our brand ?
Speaker 2The best one that I could think of , if someone would have asked me that question , is a product that could give a taste of the actual experience for your product and services . So everyone is going to be unique , so obviously there will be a lot of follow-up questions down the line . But , for example , if you can give that's why when we go to Costco it's dangerous they give us a taste of this cereal , this taste of an ice cream , and if you like it you will buy the entire box . So can you actually use that and create the experience ?
Speaker 2On the promotional product so when people actually wear your t-shirt , you should duck and they actually want to go in and sign up for your proposal , or they want to sign up for your cost . That's something that is really powerful and it takes a little bit to find out what exactly you want people to do . But I would suggest everyone who's considered using promotional product to have an end goal in mind . You're not just buying a bunch of product to give away . You want to try to create some kind of call to action , either to sign up your cost , or maybe sign up for a newsletter , or maybe just outright book a call with you for talking about the product . With that in mind , then you could actually filter down really quickly what kind of promotion or product works for your
campaign .
Speaker 1Yeah , you know , I actually saw this company called Owl . It's another podcast company .
Speaker 1They did something really cool where they said sign up for a free trial and you'll get a shirt or you'll get to spin the wheel , I think they've also done , where you can spin the wheel and get any type of product but you have to sign up for the free trial , which is super cool because it gets them really interested in your product . They're also helping you with the sign up page , so it takes away all the troubleshooting that people might get turned off by , and then you show them that you signed up and you get the free product . So that was a really cool way to get lead generation , I thought , is that they got their name , they got their email and they got them signed up to the platform and then , of course , when that free trial ends , they will get prompted to put a payment in right to actually pay for the product . So I thought that was a really cool way .
Speaker 1What other ways have you seen , like at Expos and such , where people have used products to try to get new leads ?
Speaker 2Yeah , let's answer the question this way , dolan . Maybe they're listening and saying , ok , I only have five hundred dollars , right ? I don't have huge budget , right ? Like a lot of the big booths that we see brands are doing , you can still do that . You know , we all have social media following . We all have a social media profile , like most people will have . That you can actually utilize the same thing that you just talked about , nellie , you can do . Online speech sticks by one thing that is five hundred dollars . That is branded . You know that will get you something that really nice , right ? So you know , for people to follow you . Or again , just maybe sign up for your newsletter , sign up for your consultation . You get a chance to win that five hundred dollar product . I can tell you how many times that I follow someone forwarded to two friends and sign up for the newsletter just for the hope to win something that is ten dollars .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's awesome Everyone loves free stuff right .
Speaker 1It just makes us feel like we accomplished something when we win something . I feel like it gives us like that instinct right , because it's like , um , the instant I don't know what I'm trying to say , but it basically makes us feel really , really good when we win something and like we won a competition right , especially if you're competitive like me , and so that's a really cool way . I love that . You said that we could do it online . We could , you know , host sweepstakes and things like that . That's awesome . I know that my husband is big into the fishing world and they'll have like lives where these fishing companies will be like , all right , answer this question and you'll get , you know , a free shirt , whoever gets it right , and it gets people engaging on their lives and making sure they show up on the lives and all that . So it's really good for engaging too , for getting people onto live form content , which is awesome . What are some things that we should keep in mind when we're trying to find the right product or create a product ?
Speaker 2I think you have to answer the question . You have to answer a few questions . Obviously , for promotional product concern , like us to help you , because if you come to me and you call me and say I want promotional product , I'll say , like , what type of product would you like ? A lot of times that they don't know or they want to buy something that they saw on the event . But I normally will begin the process .
Speaker 2You know , tell me a little bit more about your ideal client . You know people who you want to target and sometimes that's a trick question . It's not a trick question , but somehow we get stuck on that because they they haven't thought about that . They always wanted to think . You know , using your husband example , everyone wants to fish right , like for me . If you target me , I probably won't move because I haven't been motivated in that in that industry . So you got to answer this question who are they ? Is it gender specific ? Is it ? Do they have a specific title within the company ? Is it a certain income level ? Is it certain geographical area ? If you're able to tell me a lot more detail and actually paint a picture , a picture of me , of who the ideal client are , they're different item that works for different group , right , you know ?
Speaker 2there's something work for soccer mom , then you know maybe , uh , you know a busy , busy professional , maybe someone that you know like gardening . There are something different for all those groups . So by letting me know what the ideal client is and also sure about what the color reaction will be , you know . Again , we talk about what would you like them to do after they receive that product . So if you , if you have that two question answer , then you are the good start .
Speaker 1That is amazing and that actually goes back to something that I preach about all the time , which is having a brand book . It basically says who your target market is , what is your brand represent , who you guys are , how your brand voice , your fonts , your colors , your logos everything this . Having a brand book and giving it to someone you know , like yourself , who will be creating promotional products , is so helpful because they have everything they need in one spot . They'll have access to the hex codes , they'll have access to the logos , especially if you're putting a logo on the product and you don't want to have to try to search for a vector file and try to guess your way around that . Having it all in this , like I do it like in a slideshow , which is really cool , but I have everything about my brand and so I give that to any type of marketing professionals or new staff coming .
Speaker 1But having a brand book is so , so important because we can easily give you all those details you need and you're looking for , but I love that there's a strategy behind it . It's not just we choose the products and we just give it out to everyone . You have you've shown multiple strategies that we can actually utilize in our business and to leverage these products , so that's awesome . I love that . Is there anything else that you want people to kind of think of when it comes to promotional products ?
Speaker 2Yeah , I'd like to share one more and I think this one is the most powerful that actually can help you double your business . It's not , it's not , Joe . Think about , like you know , we just finished 2023 . Look at your business in 2023 . Look for your top 10 or top 20 client . That means spending the most money with you , buying the most of your product and services . See who they are , See if they if you think of they could uh , it's a similar process to a new client Come with items that could that you can send them .
Speaker 2Send this to your top client and what you want to do is you want it to follow up after you send them the promotional product and ask them this question Make sure that you're checking with them , make sure that they're happy with what you have done for them in last year , and then at the end , you want to finish this question Do you happen to know a colleague , a friend or a family member who would be able to use our product and services ?
Speaker 2Would you mind to recommend them to us ? You'd be surprised to type of referral that you get by sending them a gift so they're inclined to take your call and then you make them feel that listen to any complaints . Obviously you have to address them , make sure that they're happy , and then you ask this question . You know , Chancellor Sun , maybe you work with a contact and a big company . Maybe there are different departments that can also use your product and services . Or maybe you talk to a mom who knows other moms there are mommy groups on Facebook . Or maybe when you talk to a fisherman like your husband , there are other fishermen , obviously , that he go fishing with . So by them speaking highly of you , the chances of getting you a quality referral is a lot higher . All it takes is a little dollar view , maybe a little incentive or promotional product and then good old follow up phone call .
Speaker 1I love that , because that final way that you've given us basically everything that you've listed has helped either with lead generation , retention or referrals , which is basically the whole cycle of keeping your business alive and well , and we can do that with promotional products . So I absolutely love all the knowledge you throw at us today . Where can we find more about you and your services ?
Speaker 2Oh , thank you , nellie . If you wanted to talk business , you know , go to a website at the promo dot com . Nellie , I'm also going to send you a link . I'm offering a free consultation for promotional strategy , deep dive for your listener . So if you click on that link , you know you can book me for the meeting and we will go through the same questions . Right , be ready to answer who your ideal clients are and what you would like to do with the promotional product . And I love networking . If you're on LinkedIn , you know , find me and connect me on LinkedIn . Uh , swai Ho hashtag the promo guy .
Speaker 1Awesome , I will make sure I put all that in the show notes . But thank you so much , swai , for coming on the call , and we'll talk to you guys next time on the virtual index podcast .