Category: Uncategorized

The Real Reason Industry E-commerce Firms are Growing Faster Than You

Staff Writer

By now you have heard the fact that overall industry firms grew at 1 percent, while industry online firms grew at 33 percent. According to PPAI research, “The proportion of online sales compared to total sales in the industry increased by 4 percentage points from 13.6 percent in 2013 to 17.9 percent in 2014.” Wait, you have valuable relationships and great service, yet overall online firms are growing faster than traditional firms? Why is that?

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Ask the Accountant

Harriet Gatter

Question: I am starting out as an ad specialty distributor. Is it better to set up my books on a cash or accrual basis for tax purposes?

That is a question to be answered by your CPA. As is the case with all tax laws, the answer is not cut and dry, or simple. It is contingent on many factors, such as how your business is structured, the amount of gross annual sales, and whether or not you inventory items.

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Colliding Worlds: Does This Scare You?

Jeff Solomon, MAS

In building our PPAI-award winning FreePromoTips.com program into a valuable resource for the industry, we have always made a conscious effort to keep it out of the radar of the non-industry online community. This is a program with content that specifically is focused on the promotional marketing industry.

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Are You Selling What They Are Buying?

Paul Kiewiet

You must remember this: Your customer is not buying a promotional product. They are buying the benefits that promotional products deliver. They are buying the thrill of sharing their company’s brand, image and stories with their audiences. They are buying a gift that will share their values and promises with people they want to have a deeper and stronger relationship with.

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Goofus and Gallant … A Tale of Two Businesses

Jeff Solomon, MAS

Some of you may recall the classic characters Goofus and Gallant from Highlights Magazine for Children. As you might guess, Goofus did things wrong … and Gallant, as the name implies, was gallant and did things right.

In doing some research on this, I learned that the Goofus and Gallant feature never offers direct lessons or shows consequences. Highlights CEO Garry Cleveland Myers III notes, “It simply shows a wrong way and a right way of doing things, that’s all.”

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30 Days With a Macbook Air

Dale Denham

Until 30 days ago, I had never used a Macintosh for more than a few minutes to do a specific task. So when I had a chance, I gave up my Lenovo Yoga for the Macbook Air for 30 days.

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