TIM ANDREWS BLOG
Thoughts and opinions on the advertising specialty industry
ASI Magazines Win Big
Tuesday July 20, 2010 | Filed under:
The summer before my senior year at Ball State University, I scored a dream internship at the Dow Jones News Fund in Manhattan. The experience provided a solid foundation in journa...
Cool Products From Hot Sponsors
Friday July 16, 2010 | Filed under:
How do you determine what’s hot? Counselor magazine editors tackle that question every year when devising their annual list of the hottest people, products and ideas in the ad spec...
School’s Out – But School Products Are In
Thursday July 15, 2010 | Filed under:
It’s never too soon to stock up on Back to School items, and I got a terrific preview of fun products this week at ASI’s Chicago show.Click here to watch my Tim’s Take sampling of ...
We Like It HOT
Thursday July 15, 2010 | Filed under:
It’s almost 90 degrees in Chicago, but we’re staying cool at the ASI Show, where we’re previewing thousands of innovative new products just in time for the second half of the selli...
State of the Industry Sneak Peek
Wednesday July 14, 2010 | Filed under:
Counselor’s State of the Industry issue – our largest and best-read issue of the year – is about to drop and I’m offering a preview in Tim’s Take, a video shot during the opening d...
A Billion-Dollar Idea
Friday July 2, 2010 | Filed under:
How does a billion dollars in sales sound? That’s what the industry could realize if distributor firms answer my challenge to add 20,000 new sales reps to grow our market, stimulat...
Some Like it Cool…We Like it Hot
Thursday July 1, 2010 | Filed under:
One of the best parts of this job is checking out all the cool stuff fueling this industry. This week, we released a Top 10 list of the hottest products with the season’s coolest f...
Sprint Your Way to Savings
Friday June 25, 2010 | Filed under:
Are your clients, family, friends and colleagues contacting you more frequently on your cell phone or by text message? Landlines, what are those?I recently spent a few days in New ...
A Virtual Thumbs Up
Tuesday June 22, 2010 | Filed under:
We love feedback because it helps us continually improve our products and services. Of course, we especially love positive feedback because it makes our day.This week, during anoth...
Celebrate the Top 10 U.S.-Made Promo Products
Tuesday June 22, 2010 | Filed under:
Not long ago, The New York Times asked “Is anything made in the U.S.A. anymore?” Their answer? “You’d be surprised.” I know I was.The U.S. remains by far the world’s leading manufa...
We’ve Got Your Number
Friday June 11, 2010 | Filed under:
What would you say if someone offered you a complete customer service center – for free?That’s exactly what ASI is now offering distributors who buy our 2011 Spectrum catalog. In D...
Advisory Board Nominations Now Open
Wednesday June 9, 2010 | Filed under:
The only idea worth having is the one worth sharing. And one of the best idea-sharing forums in the industry is now accepting nominations. Now through July 31, you can nominate you...
Save Thousands in Credit Card Processing Fees
Friday June 4, 2010 | Filed under:
Does your jaw drop to the floor each time you open your credit card statement? One comment I often hear from members is they’re getting “killed” with additional merchant account f...
ASI Called “A Formidable Force”
Friday November 5, 2010 | Filed under:
We recently invited a panel of suppliers and distributors to ASI to talk to employees about ways they use our products and services to run and grow their business. It was illuminat...
Are You an All-Star?
Wednesday October 27, 2010 | Filed under:
Here in the Philly area, we are still stinging from what was a debacle of a weekend in Philadelphia sports. The Phillies choked and fell to the Giants in game 6 of the NLCS, and th...