Every time we attend meetings we are inundated with tiny reminders — i.e., paper clip holders, pens, candy, sewing kits, stress balls, etc. — of those who sponsored the breakfast or lunch meeting. They leave these things so you remember them and might call on them for your next business transaction.
With the Realtor/Builder luncheon coming up in October, we thought it would be a good idea for you to tell us what are your most favorite and useful marketing items that you have picked up over the last year. This might persuade those preparing for the luncheon to stock up on the things you like, need and want, rather than things you will just toss after the event.
For the record, my favorite is the grocery list notepad/to do list with magnetic backing. I put them on my refrigerator, use them everyday and am always searching for more!
— Michele Gillis
“I have to say that I agree with you on a notepad. I prefer the plain sheets rather than the grocery list. The type with magnetic backing with a place to attach a business card is my favorite.”
— Liz King, Watson Realty
“A thin plastic card for your wallet that has interest rate factors on one side and title insurance, deed stamp information on the other.”
— Tom O’ Connell,
Watson Realty on Amelia Island
“The items I presently have on my desk are an insulated drink holder, coffee mug, letter opener, interest rate mortgage calculator card, card holder and note pads.”
— Peggie Wattron,
Century 21 Lighthouse Realty
“The most useful item I’ve ever received is an eyeglass cleaner. It looks like a pair of tweezers with cleaning pads on the end. You slip it over a lens and clean every square millimeter of glass. I still have it and have looked everywhere for another.”
— Ken Wood, Watson Realty
“As a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, I attend annual conferences and trade shows in Las Vegas, Orlando and Atlanta. You see all kinds of promotional handouts, but some of the most memorable and useful are a quality corkscrew and bottle opener. I toss this in a pocket on my luggage and it is always handy when I travel. A pocket size tape measure is useful when you are working with scaled drawings at the convention. I also like small containers of breath mints; they are always appreciated when you are meeting with clients and prospects.”
— Steve Tool,
Grubb & Ellis | Phoenix Realty Group
“I love Post-it notes and blue ink pens that have the roller ball. Also, you can never have enough chip clips!”
— Judy Hicks,
Re/Max Real Estate Specialists.
“My favorite gift has always been sticky notes, simple but used almost as often as my pen some days.”
— Shelley Trela,
Premier Properties Realty Group
“My favorite advertising premium is the 5 by 7 spiral bound blank notebook. Charles Gifford from Amerispec gives these out every year and every year I get one. What makes it such a fun favorite for me is it is where I keep track of my business development ideas. It is always with me, and I think of Charles with every note I write!”
— Wallace J. Conway,
Florida HomePro, Inc.
“I took home a years supply of Post-it notes from OakLeaf Plantation at last year’s luncheon and use them every day. The advertising is on the side of the cube rather than on the note itself, which I think is great! When a relocation buyer came into town in February and wanted a new home, I took him straight to OakLeaf and he bought one of the first homes to be built out there. I’m not sure if it was the Post-it notes that put that community into my mind that day, but I’m sure it didn’t hurt.”
— John Nicholls,
Re/Max Real Estate Specialists
“I like frisbees [actually, my 100-pound dog likes them!] I love the clock that Realty/Builder Connection gave out — you touch it and it opens like magic. [I’m not just saying that because you are R/B!] I love the stress ball which really looks like a stress house.”
— Julie Humphress,
D.R.Horton
“I think if I were to get a bottle of Napa Valley Cabernet, preferably a 1997 or a 1999, with someone’s name on it that I would find great use for it. I’ve already got plenty of pens. If it came with a set of wine glasses, a corkscrew, and wine sleeve I’d really remember who they were.”
— Brad King, BB&T
“I am with you on the magnet thing. My last purchase was calendar magnets.”
— Todd Arnold,
Kent and Associates Realty Services
“Post-It pads, thin drink covers for water bottles and soda, and mechanical pencils with erasers, not regular pencils.”
— Brenda Perkins,
New Homes Realty Inc.
“The note pads with a ‘to-do’ list is the best of the lot! Either to use at your desk or on the refrigerator.”
— Sue Hollis, Watson Realty Corp.
“Highlighters, pens and pencils are always useful. My favorite thing ever was a stamp that was self-inking, a circle divided into quadrants with the directive ‘Initial Here’ on it. It is great when countering on contracts.”
— Clare Berry,
Berry & Co. Real Estate.
“The magnetic grocery list is my favorite also. I have one on my refrigerator right now and use it constantly.”
— Kerry Prodromides ,
Century-21 St. Augustine Properties
“Your favorite is also mine: the grocery/to do pad with the magnetic backing. Also, winning lottery tickets are good.”
— Toy Scott, Norville Realty, Inc.
“My suggestion for something to hand out would be a pocket calculator with the applicable logo. This is very handy for figuring everything from closing figures to how much you are spending at the grocery store.“
— J.J. Cogdill
“The most useful marketing give-a-ways I’ve gotten — better yet, kept the longest — have been small tape measures, mini calculators, dashboard visors and jar openers [rubber type]. In the ‘door prize’ category, it has been umbrellas, coolers [ice chests] on rollers, information tubes/boxes and flashlights [including batteries].
— Pam Bingemann,
Bingemann Realty Sales
“Looking around my work area, I see a small calculator from Atlantic Builders, a grocery-list type note pad from insurance salesman Lance Malcolm, a LandMar pen that really works, a highlighter pen with three ink choices from Shands and a tin of breath mints from North Florida Builders. And thanks to The Shipyards for the terrific pint beer glasses they gave out at their groundbreaking — they’re at home and frequently used.”
— Fred Seely,
Realty/Builder Connection
“My favorite is either the initial stamp or arrows to initial. It used to be popular.”
— Connie Mabry,
Coldwell Banker Walter Williams
“I like cups, always handy to have around the office.”
— Aleia Haney,
Beckman Mortgage Company
“Pocket organizer with pen and notepad.”
— Debbie Davis,
Arthur Rutenberg Homes
“I think I like the old timey note pad, large ones with lots of writing space, as well as anything. Pens, too. Seems like I have always lost one.”
— Sandra Bryant,
Watson Realty in Ortega/Avondale
“I’m with you: my favorite promotional item is the ‘to do’ or ‘grocery list’ with magnetic backing. I also like the chip clips, and never seem to have enough around my house. Seems like everybody has pens [most don’t write very well] and Post-it notes [which have so much logo on them that there is very little room to write].”
— Laura G. Smith,
Countrywide Home Loans
“Trade show gifts and trinkets are really nice to receive from vendors and in many ways they keep their product and name in front of us all year. I enjoy sorting through all the items after the shows and putting each in a special place. Some items actually stay visible all year long because they require a location on your desk or in your home that does not allow drawer storage. Out of sight, out of mind is certainly true in all businesses. I prefer items that stay visible the whole year through: magnets, pencil holders, calendars, to name a few.”
— Dan Daniel,
Prudential Network Realty
“I can’t say that I have a favorite, but I am happy to provide some of my personal likes and dislikes. I have to think everyone’s a little tired of stress balls and all the various types of insulated holders for your drink cans and bottles. Notepads are good. We all use them [even though we all try to accumulate less paper]. Thermal coffee mugs for those early mornings in the car are also great. Other types of mugs are good, but I think we all have a pretty good collection of those. Pens and pencils are not usually well received as most of us also have a pretty good assortment of those by now. Something unique, but useful, like a tape measure or a magnifying glass [both, of course, with the advertiser’s name on them] is another idea. If someone wanted to go to the trouble, golf balls, tees and tennis balls are also welcome. If the recipient doesn’t play, he or she usually knows someone who does. I suppose, in closing, the truth of the matter is that you can’t please all of the people all of the time, but I would encourage the providers of these give-a-ways to go for useful and practical whenever possible. That way, we’ll all use what we take away with us and remember the advertiser for a long time to come.”
— Sue Ann Ogden,
Suncastle Properties, Inc.
“We can never have enough pens and paper pads. I really have no desire for other people’s key chains or coffee cups. Decent bags are worth keeping. The little portable fan I received at the last function was great for walking through an un-air conditioned spec houses with!
— Christine Rich,
ICI Homes at Turtle Shores
“I picked up a cool key-chain flashlight at a conference last year that is really handy!”
— Emily Mager,
The Haskell Company
“I really like a large beach bag that I got at a trade show last year. I filled it up with all of the stuff you mentioned. All of that stuff has been used up or thrown away and we still use the beach bag quite often.”
— Jay Anthes, JVD Finance
“I also like the grocery list notepad with magnetic backing plus pens with blue ink.”
— Rose Lampe,
Magnolia Properties