From: TomCrouser@aol.com
Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 23:02:05 -0400
Subject: Hotline Cy: Advertising Specialties
Content-Length: 11414
X-UIDL: 833662909.000

Crouser Report OnLine May 31, 1996
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Tom Crouser will be presenting 

Family Print Shops: From the Worst of Times
to the Best of Times

 a discussion of the family and the print shop to the
Next Generation Session at the NAQP s Chicago Meeting on July 15th. Contact
NAQP to register.
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Hotline Cy: Advertising Specialties
Transmitted from Chicago, Illinois

I received an email message from Mike Byfield, Printing Center, Bartlesville,
OK (Michae0912@aol.com) concerning a problem he had with an ad specialty
vendor recommended by Helene s Hotline. Mike s note was one of several
similar ones I have received in the last few months. Mike writes...
==================================================


Thought you might like to know I encountered one of the rudest, most
unfriendly 

broads

 (and I use that word deliberately) from a Helene s
Hotline reference - you might want to re-evaluate this company s inclusion in
the future.



When I called asking about printed magnetic business cards, this lady
immediately DEMANDED (she did not ask, she demanded) my ASI number (and
stupid me, I wasn t even sure what she wanted.) She had me for lunch when I
said I was a printer (with no ASI #) wanting to find a new source for
magnetic business cards (which we sold 24 orders of last year, but lost our
manufacturer due to illness and a sold business), and that I had gotten her
company name from Helene s Hotline.

This rude bimbo informed me that she, nor her company worked for, had never
heard of, or cared about any such thing as Helene s Hotline and if I didn t
have an ASI number, I was wasting her time. For your records, this is who I
called - Customer Service at Magnet Inc. (listed under Magnetic Business
Cards,) phone #314- 239-5661.

Personally, I d drop this turkey from my list if I were you, but that is, of
course, up to you. 
We did, however, use other references from your list; got pricing, catalogs,
and GOOD, POLITE service, too. Thank you, Mike
==================================================

To understand what is happening, you need a little background.

I have told my readers time and time again that technology is progressing at
such a tremendous rate that is virtually impossible for even the largest of
printers to acquire all of the equipment and expertise necessary to provide
all of the graphic arts requirements of their customers. Printers are going
to have to do one of two things. They are either going to have to develop a
very narrow niche where there is little or no competition or they are going
to have to master the art of outsourcing (brokering). They are going to have
to learn how to take advantage of other s equipment, employees, and
expertise.

I have long felt that the advertising specialty business is an outstanding
profit center for the small to medium size printer. Virtually every customer
is a potential user of ad specialties; ad specialty vendors have outstanding
catalogs where each item is illustrated and priced with the retail price;
there is no inventory to stock; and ad specialty dealers are selling
printing.

Most ad specialty vendors will sell only to legitimate resellers. They are
truly 

trade shops.

 While some sell only through franchised dealers (like
Zippo) the vast majority of ad specialty manufacturers are just like you and
me - they are trying to sell more product and find new dealers.

I have been lobbying my publisher, PTN Publishing, to let me do a new column
on ad specialties. My thoughts were that we could introduce a new profit
center to the small to medium size printer, introduce the business to our
over 67,000 Quick Printing subscribers, and open up a new group of some 3,000
potential advertisers who know little or nothing about our industry.

In late February 1996 a cover for QP became open - the July issue. That cover
became open when PTN decided to combine the Quick Printing Man of the Year
award and the Top 100 Quick Printers. Management decided to give me the
chance to prove what I had been trying to convince them of - that a portion
of our readership would be interested in ad specialties. They have authorized
a 6-part series on the subject. If there is enough interest on the part of
the readers, the column will continue. If not, I will find something else to
write about. I feel that I am reading this need right.

The advertising specialty business has been virtually controlled by one
company - The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI.) ASI is a private
company, not an association. They offer many services to their associates
such as the printing of master catalogs, maintaining a list of detailed
descriptions of individual products, assigning membership numbers to vendors
(and dealers,) etc. No one can question that ASI provides a valued service
but they have too much power in this $30+ billion industry.

In order to join ASI you must have entered a fairly significant number of
orders with a fairly significant number of their member vendors within a 90
day period of time. For many potential dealers this is very difficult because
at the same time, ASI does everything in their power to pressure the vendors
into selling only to ASI member dealers. In addition, membership is very
expensive, especially for the small dealer. It is the epitome of 

restraint
of trade,

 but they have deep pockets and can make it very expensive for
anyone who wishes to pursue it through the courts.

A prospective dealer does not really need to belong to any group to get
started. All they need to know is the name and contact information of the
direct manufacturer and in some cases that manufacturer s 

Line Name.

 Ad
specialty catalogs do not generally have the name of the manufacturer or
contact information. As an example, you would have a difficult time finding
out that the 

Speedy Line

 was actually CHS, Inc. All you really need is
contact information to enable you to get in touch with the direct
manufacturer. There are a number of services that can provide this
information. The two least expensive of those services are my ADBFP database
and ASAP of Katy, Texas.

When I started looking for imprinted items for the July QP cover that would
introduce the Ad Specialty series, I contacted a number of different vendors.
100% of those vendors I contacted were excited about reaching this new
market. And, some of these vendors are among the ad specialty industry s
premier and most respected vendors. One told me, 

You are ASI s worst
nightmare.

 When I asked what he meant by that, he told me that the last
thing ASI wanted was to have the mystique of the ad specialty business
unshrouded.

That s the background. Now let s get back to Mike s problem. For years the
CSRs of ad specialty companies have had hammered into their brains that 

if
you aren t an ASI member, we can t sell you.

 These folks are somewhat like
the janitor at your shop. The janitor can tell one of your potential
customers 

NO!

 but he doesn t have the authority to make a decision. It s
going to take some time for that mindset to change.

In dealing with some manufacturers, printers are going to have to be
creative. If you are going to sell ad specialties you are going to have to
know a little about the ad specialty business. There is a tutorial in my
ADBFP database that tells you what to do and how to do it and that tutorial
is going to be the basis of my 6-part column in QP that starts in July. If
you are interested in this incredible profit center, read that series.

The basic to consider when you contact an ad specialty manufacturer, the
first thing you want to let them know is that you are a reseller of ad
specialties and have a customer who has a requirement for a product of the
type they manufacture. If the CSR asks what your ASI number is, simply tell
them that you have not found membership in ASI necessary in the past. If the
CSR gives you a problem, get their name and as soon as possible email me the
company contact info, what you are looking for and the quantity, and the
CSR s name you spoke with. I will then contact the company s sales manager or
president and will get back with you.

While some companies have franchised lines and will sell only through those
franchisees, most - even those who claim to be 

restrictive

 are very much
interested in selling to legitimate resellers. As a printer you have a place
of business, a fairly impressive customer base, a reseller number, and a
desire to increase your bottom line by marketing this new profit center.

The House of Gutenberg
Cy Stapleton
Box 151107
Lufkin, TX 75915-1107
(409) 637-7475
Fax (409) 637-1480
Email - hotlinecy@aol.com