A month from now, Signs of the Times magazine’s parent company, ST Media Group Intl., will present its 22-exhibitor Signage + Decoration Pavilion as part of the ASI Chicago show, which will be held July 15-17 at McCormick Place. So why should you care?
When you sell a sign, 90% of the time you’re essentially selling branding to your client. You’re including their logo and, ideally, the font, colors and shape of the sign are brand extensions of what appears at your client’s brick-and-mortar facility, whether it’s a retail store, restaurant, lodging establishment, professional office or a multi-tenant building.
Ad specialties exist for one reason: to provide keepsake brand extensions in the form of glasses/mugs/cups, calendars, apparel, etc. If you agree with the adage that it’s significantly easier to sell more to one client than to find another client, then it makes sense to maximize your relationship with your existing customers.
Do you want to begin marketing coffee mugs by themselves? Probably not, but if you’ve provided the diner with a neon sign, wouldn’t it be easy to offer them accompanying coffee mugs with their logo? Or shirts? Or baseball caps?
More than 700 companies will be showcasing their wholesale capabilities at the ASI show. All you would have to do is place the order and determine your markup.
Plus, in ST’s Signage + Decoration Pavilion, you can visit sign-industry stalwarts Magnum Magnetics, Marabu, Gemini, Budget Inks and several screenprinting suppliers.
You don’t know anything about ad specialties? Come here the free, hour-long session entitled “Launch Your Successful Career: The Essentials of Ad Specialty Sales.” Do you like the ideas of Stephen M. R. Covey, author of The Speed of Trust? Attend his free, half-day session, entitled “Selling at the Speed of Trust.” Do you want to learn about screenprinting? Pavilion exhibitor Workhorse Products will sponsor a three-hour course entitled, “Screen Printing 101,” with an emphasis on T-shirts.
The three-day event will begin with a day of educational opportunities, and the two tradeshow
days will follow. Here’s a link to all the activities: www.stmediagroup.com/sdpavilion