Prior to launching my website, I made the decision that I wanted to make the experience with you, my readers interactive and fun. One way of doing that was coming up with some really cute promo items to pass out and share. I had the gimmick, now I needed the goods.
I had one problem, though, that most small businesses and ventures encounter. There are millions of purveyors out there that offer personalized pens, pads, and promotional items – but only in large quantities.
I was just starting out. I was on a budget . What was I going to do with 2,000 personalized car magnets? Where would I store them? More importantly, how could I afford them? These websites that offered customized creations for what they claimed to be such a low cost were not what I needed. $1 per item times 1000, ads up! My search was on.
Luckily, I stumbled upon Sticky Life. They are one of my now not-so-secret vendors that I recommend to people who have either a business or personal need for personalized products that you stick on or slap on something or someone. (I didn’t even realize that many people use services like this for producing wedding favors, political campaign advertising items, or sports memorabilia on the local levels at first, but they do! So the usefulness could be endless.)
While I may pay more per individual item for custom temporary tattoos, or window static clings, or specially designed key chains, I don’t have to order a thousand. I can order a dozen, and save my dollars that way. I picked my item, determined the size I wanted, easily uploaded my design, paid, and the deal was done.
Even if you are not a graphic designer, StickyLife.com’s interactive tools allow you to add text, clip art, or images that are your own easily. You can then position the pieces using the pointer of your mouse and a few clicks on the screen.
I do use another vendor for my personalized clothing items, and two others for TheLadyinRedBlog.com pads and pens – but I’m not ready to go public with them yet. They are gems of a find that also don’t require the placement of large orders. Imagine, though, if there was a one stop customized print shop for all kinds of items - not just stick-ons, or clothing, or office supplies – but everything where you didn’t have to worry about placing huge orders to receive a mediocre quantity discount. Now that would be business bliss, for me. I haven’t found one that’s all encompassing to my diverse needs yet, though.
That said, I’m very appreciative that there are vendors out there that cater to start-offs like me. Quantity was my concern, because that drove cost. Plus, I like the flexibility to change things up a bit and ad some variety to what I stock up on. The idea of maxing out on one design doesn’t appeal to me as much as ordering let’s say 50 stickers of one kind and 50 of another.
We all know that over time sometimes logos change and you don’t want to be stuck with old stock. Or maybe you want to create something with appeal to a certain subsector of your audience. Maybe it’s a gals versus guys situation and you want to feminize or masculinize your merchandise and not commit to a few billion bumper stickers that look identical.
So for starters, check out StickyLife. They understand you don’t have to force customers to purchase things in bails of 100 to be successful.