You can get great results with promotional products, even on a shoestring budget. Looking for a good item under $1? Here are some of our favorites:

Flavored lip balm

Adhesive screen cleaner

Nugget car charger

Coloring and activity books

Plastic sunglasses

Mini sticky flag book

Oval car magnet

Javalina pen

Mint box

Gum envelope

Power clip

I especially like that the standard decoration method on many of these items (lip balm, car magnet, mint box, gum envelope) includes full color artwork. If you have a logo with multiple colors in it, those are great options for a tight budget. Keep in mind that screen-printed and pad-printed items often require additional color run charges, adding expense to your project.

This Saturday, May 18th, the Rotary Club of Bethesda Chevy Chase will host its 8th Annual Strut Your Mutt Dog Parade and Festival in downtown Bethesda, MD. If you live in the area and own a dog (or just love them), be sure to swing by. In addition to the parade, enjoy dozens of vendor booths, kid-friendly games and activities, and a raffle. The event runs from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

Unfortunately, not all of us are able to attend Saturday's event, so we've opted to celebrate with a mini Mutt Strut of the Sonic dogs, here on our blog.

Lexi and Sade- belong to Seth and Julianne

Banjo- belongs to Courtney

Blaze- belongs to Debbie

Griff- belongs to Josh

Jordan- belongs to Brandon

Oscar- belongs to Debbie

Renley- belongs to Lindsay

Simba- belongs to Jamie

Between random samples, showroom samples, client projects and our personal water bottles and tumblers, there is a lot of drinkware floating around 435 East Diamond Avenue. Some pieces find their way onto a showroom shelf or to a corner in the office kitchen, but most of them get tossed into jumbled boxes and storage containers.

Julianne spotted a smart storage solution on a blog yesterday, and we just might have to put it in practice.


We thought our clients and readers- especially those with crowded supply closets- might appreciate this trick as well. Enjoy!

All photos from Spinning Our Webb- thanks for sharing this great tip, Heather!

SXSW 2013 ended nearly three weeks ago, so I'm more than a little late in posting this recap. Better late than never, right?

If you're a longtime reader of our blog, you might remember our post last March highlighting the various materials that Sonic created for .CO's SXSW 2012 event lineup. Well, this year I had the opportunity to visit with .CO at the Tech Cocktail event held at Stage on 6th and got to see all of Jamie's hard work in person.

.CO definitely knows how to create a buzz! I had a great time helping with the photo booth, chatting with attendees and watching guests enjoy the materials.

Here's a look at some of the items created for the event:



These bright orange glasses, SoftStyle T-shirts and bandannas were a huge hit at Tech Cocktail! People snatched them up left and right. Even the bartenders were sporting bandannas.

The bandannas were also a popular choice of prop at the interactive photo booth. Pictures from the booth displayed on rotation at the entrance to Stage on 6th.


These watches were a fully custom piece. Tidy packaging made them easy to unpack, stack and hand out.


Be sure to check out .CO's recap of the Tech Cocktail event and the rest of their experience at SXSW 2013!

I recently had the opportunity to spend a night at the Aloft Hotel in Dallas. Aloft is one of nine brands under Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

Aloft positions itself as a modern, fresh and fun destination, and I certainly felt that theme as a guest, in every detail, right down to the mini bath products and other hotel freebies.

The hotel's decor was gorgeous- my room, the lobby and common areas, truly every space- but working in promotional products, it's the little branded details that really catch my attention.

Take the notepad and pencil above, for example. How stinkin' cute are they?

They're not just cute, they're a smart use of promotional products, and they embody a best practice by which I like to abide.

The best practice I'm referring to is asking yourself, with every project- can it be just a little bit better?

With notepads, adhesive or non-adhesive scratch, standard decoration includes a 4-color process sheet imprint with optional full bleed. Many businesses just print their logo at the top, maybe a phone number or website at the bottom of the pad, and call it a day. To me, that seems like a waste. You've already paid for the entire sheet imprint, so why not get playful with design and create something more attention-grabbing?

Aloft upped the ante on a simple notepad (without upping their piece price) with the addition of the "a-list" ghost imprint. It's very subtle, and I'm sure many guests wouldn't pay it a second glance, but to someone like me who appreciates a good pun and clever design, it added a little something to my experience.

Take a lesson from Aloft, and before you sign off on your next promotional piece, take a moment to ask yourself (or to ask your trusted promotional rep)- can it be just a little bit better?