According to Business 2 Community, most trade shows are held during the spring, so small business owners have to start developing their marketing strategies now. An excellent sales team and unique promotional products are the best resources that independent companies can have in their booths. 

Highly-trained salespeople
An effective sales pitch can be the difference between finding a new customer and losing potential business. However, regular sales strategies might not work when it comes to promotional events. 

“I have no doubt companies’ sales staffs are terrific at doing what they do every day. But a well trained staff is the most important part of your trade show experience,” Malcom Gilvar, vice president of sales at a trade show firm, told Inc. Magazine. 

Entrepreneurs should hold training sessions in the weeks leading up to a trade show. The seminars should focus on specific goals to ensure that every representative will know what tactics to use. Additionally, owners should encourage their employees to work together when it comes to qualifying leads, to find consumers who are most likely to become customers. 

The right promotional items
Many companies distribute branded gifts at trade shows. Potential clients are bombarded with dozens of advertisements during the events, so it can be difficult for them to remember an individual enterprise. Small promotional marketing products provide consumers with physical reminders of businesses. Phil Cavanaugh, the vice president of events for Monster.com, told Inc. Magazine that his company prefers to distribute functional items instead of frivolous presents. 

“We still believe in giving people something tangible to walk away with, but you want something beyond the useless tchotchke,” Cavanaugh said. 

The best items depend on the nature of a trade show. For instance, attendees at a technological conference would enjoy small devices like promotional flash drives and calculators. The more relevant a gift is to a trade show, the more value it has as an advertisement. 

Alternatively, businesses can use functional items that are consistently popular. Consumers always appreciate promotional pens, water bottles and calendars. The branded gifts can be used at work or home, so companies are creating reliable advertisements that last longer than a trade show. No other marketing materials can match the longevity of the small items.

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According to the Ketchum Digital Life Index, consumers want gadgets that simplify their lives. You can give your clients and employees small devices that make many basic tasks easier. Below are some trendy tech gifts for everyone on your holiday shopping list.

Unique flash drives
USB drives are popular accessories because users can bring their files anywhere without carrying computers or relying on wireless connections to access cloud services. Models with unique features can make great personalized business gifts, as they have functionality beyond data storage.

A great gift for employees may be a USB drive that's attached to a promotional pen. The gadget connects to the pen cap so workers won't lose either item. Additionally, there's a model that also has a Wi-Fi detector to help your staffers find internet connections when they work remotely.

Your clients may want flash drives that are both stylish and functional. There are keychains and bracelets you can give your loyal customers that hide their USB drives. December is also AIDS Awareness Month, and there are storage devices modeled after the awareness campaign's red ribbon.

Assorted accessories
Technology cannot make consumers' lives simpler if the gadgets are difficult to use. For instance, a common complaint about some laptops is that the touchpads make on-screen navigation impossible. A wireless mouse can combat this problem. Employees will appreciate functional presents that make computing easier. Clients may also enjoy receiving the peripheral devices as holiday surprises.

You can also keep an eye toward the future with your presents. Laptops are quickly being replaced by tablets and smartphones, so you may want to give unique promotional products as gifts that make those mobile gadgets more functional. A branded stylus pen can make touchscreen phones easily navigable and a USB hub can increase a tablet's functionality.

Staying charged
Mobile devices often have short battery lives. Users are frustrated when there aren't any available chargers. Small business owners may not be able to give all of their customers and employees long-lasting batteries for the holidays, but mobile charging stations can make great promotional gifts.

Recipients may be surprised when you give them solar chargers during your celebrations. The power sources can charge smartphones and tablets for a few hours. These can be great gifts for employees who need their phones for business calls throughout the day.

Solar chargers can also be effective promotional giveaways. Tech-savvy clients will be exposed to branded content each time they use their power sources.

How to decide what to give
You should base your gift-giving decisions on your relationship with recipients. The presents you give to employees shouldn't be the same as the ones distributed to clients.

For inter-office gifts, give professional items. You want to remind workers that they're being rewarded for their excellent effort over the last year. Additionally, you can personalize each present for your staffers. For example, you can have each employee's name emblazoned on the side of their solar chargers.

You can give clients gifts to help celebrate the spirit of the season. That said, don't give something overly familiar that could alienate your customers. A custom pen with a USB drive is unique, but also keeps your relationships professional. 

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This can be a very important time because, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes, a growing number of people are less concerned about contracting AIDS. Approximately 50,000 Americans contract HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, annually, and the CDC estimates that one in five carriers does not know they're infected.

Businesses can promote awareness and get involved with the cause by adapting their promotional marketing products. By participating in AIDS Awareness Month, owners may help their customers realize how important it is to have themselves tested and do their best to stay healthy by taking necessary precautions.

Red Ribbon Campaign
As with all causes, AIDS Awareness Month has a colored ribbon. Where breast cancer has a pink one and yellow denotes support for military personnel, AIDS has a red ribbon. The goal of the ribbon is to give people a small token to demonstrate their awareness of the disease.

If you want to participate in AIDS Awareness Month, you can distribute promotional items bearing the red symbol. Many popular giveaways have been redesigned to reflect December's important cause and help raise awareness for the disease that affects so many people.

There are promotional key rings and flash drives modeled after a red ribbon, so consumers can have one on their person all year. Ribbons can be embossed on pens and printed on the pages within wall calendars. Owners can find any gift and make it part of the cause so customers learn about AIDS and what they can do to prevent its spread.

Doctors can do their part
No industry can raise AIDS awareness quite as high as the medical field can. Doctors advocate good health all year, but December allows them to focus on a particular disease that may not concern many of their patients. It's imperative that physicians encourage their clients to seek testing, especially if they're at risk.

If you work in a practice and are concerned about your patients and their potential exposure to HIV, you should encourage them to learn about the virus and the health risks associated with it. You can also explain the facts to them and give them reminders about staying healthy. You may want to consider distributing promotional wall calendars that recommend regular checkups throughout the year to ensure that patients are thinking about AIDS not only in December, but all year.

Unfortunately, doctors can't diagnose every client before they're infected with HIV. AIDS treatments require massive lifestyle changes, as patients must adhere to strict medicinal schedules and visit their doctors regularly. This can be jarring for victims, as they have to completely adjust their routines to include new tasks that they'd never previously considered. A physician can give a pocket calendar to a patient afflicted with HIV or AIDS, so he or she can see what the new schedule looks like on a daily basis.

Raising AIDS awareness in December can help save lives. While medical research inches closer toward developing a cure, it's important that people stay informed and take precautions so they avoid contracting or spreading the disease.

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Giving a away functional gift such as a promotional USB flash drive could be a great way to help clients stay organized, and also puts your brand right in their hand. A media storage device that has a logo printed on its topside would be with a consumer constantly. This means increased visibility for the company that gave the drive away.

A client may use the device at home, work, or on the go. With each use, the brand is going to be visible and in the mind of the user. By puttings a customer's needs first, a business will see an increased awareness of its brand.

Logo USB drives end up being beneficial to both parties. For their users, they are a great way to keep important documents on hand without having to carry a laptop. For the businesses that give them away, they are ensuring a consistent presence in the minds of clients. 

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Custom USB flash drives are a great way of helping companies keep information together, securely managing and transporting it with personal belongings. They're small and easy to carry, plus they can interface with any machine, be it a PC or a Mac, as long as it has USB functionality. What's more, these devices can be pre-loaded with corporate software in order to better promote the providing business.

Making a flashy impression

Custom USB drives and other small technological devices are sought by consumers. Usually these are an additional cost to clients, so handing them a free tool will likely ingratiate them to the business and create an immediate positive impression.

These tools are versatile, portable and user-friendly. They may be specially shaped to reflect the issue organization, or they could simply be printed with a logo and brand information. These tools come in a variety of shapes and colors and are cheap to obtain, though the return on investment will usually prove much greater.

The Huffington Post wrote that USB 2.0 drives are now becoming the norm.As online security threats mount, finding new ways to isolate data and encrypt it to prevent unwanted access are all great features available through portable external hardware.

More to do

Workers can accomplish more when they have the best tools to do their jobs. Many use online storage, but as these utilities become more questionable, more people are finding ways to implement external tools, making promotional USB drives a favorable investment for advertising purposes. What's more, these tools can do more than just store a few corporate files, users are finding.

Tech Republic wrote that more operating systems, both with Windows and Apple, are allowing password backups and wireless access with USB drive data. Just plug in the device and automatically create a write-protected portion of your hard drive, upload network information and keep track of higher levels of security on a personal computer.

Businesses can take advantage of these functions by making note of cool ways to implement custom flash drives so that recipients will be encouraged to use them more frequently. Greater usage and higher flexibility will increase visibility of the brand and present the issuer as an organization with greater tech savvy, an important element to possess in high-competition markets. These features show that a business truly understands the depth of technology around them and presents them as an innovator and leader.

One of the best parts about these promotional giveaways is that they really are ubiquitous in use. Regardless of what capacity a recipient wants to use them in, almost every device is compatible with USB technology, and even those without the function built in have adapters and other tools available for their integration, Core 77 pointed out. These devices carry all the hallmarks of top-performing promotional items and should be strongly considered as marketing tools for businesses in every industry.

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Give your employees corporate thank you gifts they can enjoy in their free time, such as a collapsible promotional flyer. They will love using it in the backyard with their kids on weekends or afternoons in the warm spring weather, and those memories they have can partially be attributed to you and your company. You can also give them a promotional beach ball in a bottle or a pocket can cooler that bear the name of the company they helped make such a success. Most importantly, both items will be conducive to them having fun and relaxation on the weekends with their friends.

USB flash drives are an ideal way to display your gratitude for those who helped make your company the thriving success that it is. They are practical and allow for easy data transference from one computer to another. Promotional flash drives will help make your employee's job easier, thus allowing for greater productivity while simultaneously showing them how you are grateful for everything they have done in the past.

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Give your clients promo items that are conducive to them working from home. Promotional USB drives are great for this purpose. This convenient item emblazoned with your logo will give your customers the ability to take any important digital documents that may be on their work computer, or one of their co-worker's hard drives, and bring it home with them so they will have everything they need right at their fingertips.

Some of your clients might also have secretaries at the office to help remind them of important meetings. By giving them promotional wall calendars or desk planners that they can keep at their home office, this will allow them to function independently and never miss vital appointments, like video chats or sales calls.

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According to The New York Times, a non-profit veterans group, Disabled American Veterans, often sends out mailings that request donations for its charity. After analyzing its return data, the group discovered that the response rate for its efforts was 18 percent. However, when they included pre-printed return address mailing labels personalized for the recipient, their response rate jumped to 35 percent.

This phenomenon highlights the benefit of promotional products and offers some insight into how companies might go about offering personalized items to customers. When people receive a free product with their name or important personal information on it, they are much more likely to pay attention to it. Their opinion of a small business could be increased by this simple act, even if it is only a company's name that's attached to it.

Of course, this intense personalization can be expensive, so it is important to select the right promotional products to use for this strategy. Promotional pens and personalized calendars can be successful options, but a small business that is certain of its customer base and willing to spend a bit more money might even consider making its mark with logo USB drives.  

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Consequently, one of the best promotional products available to small business marketers is the custom USB drive. This type of technology is quickly replacing CDs and even email as the premiere way to transfer and share data. Here are some of the reasons that companies should consider an advertising campaign that utilizes logo USB drives.

Their design varies
The simplest form a promotional USB drive can take is a plastic stick with an end that fits snugly into a computer. There is never any software to download, and files can be copied and pasted with ease. This type of drive is a cheap and effective way to grab the attention of consumers, but companies with a bit more money in their marketing budget can vary their promotional product design a bit. Some of the alternative types available include leather-bound executive USB drives, keychain USB drives that can be hidden in a tasteful bauble and USB pens. All of these serve different purposes on top of their primary function, and each can send a different message along with their branded logo or company name.

Everyone has a use for them
People with all sorts of occupations and from very different walks of life will appreciate a USB drive. With their love for digital media and technology, young people can share movies, pass along songs and keep photos on their person at all times. Businesspeople can keep important work documents with them whenever they travel. Children will even appreciate logo USB drives, as the games they play can often be saved to external data storage devices.

They can hold secrets
A particularly ingenious marketing tactic involves pre-loading logo USB drives with company pictures, catalogs, or other marketing materials, as well as special deals or discounts, and giving them out as part of a promotional product. Of course, companies shouldn't go overboard and stuff these computer devices full of company data that the user will have to delete in order to utilize the storage on the device for themselves. However, when consumers know that the useful, interesting and free products that a business gives away also come with good information and coupons, they will always be willing to accept a business gift of this sort.  

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1. Students
Being a high school or college student means writing a lot of papers and doing a lot of research – typically on multiple computers. Transferring information electronically requires a USB drive, making the item a useful personalized gift for any college student.

2. Recent graduates
After graduation, the real world starts. Unfortunately, the workforce might feel like a more stressful version of college life to some recent grads. These newly-minted adults may also have important paperwork or forms to keep with them at all times – making USB drives the perfect personalized gift.

3. Artists
Creating music, pictures or words has become a digital effort. Aspiring musicians will want a record of their work on them at all times (so they’re always ready for their big break). The same is true for writers, who might be wary of losing long passages or projects to computer crashes, and photographers, who typically love sharing their photos on the internet.

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