Old Promo Items?

I have a few tote bags left from the PWN trade show I exhibited at in April (see previous posting on Eco-Friendly Tradehow Promotional Piece). While they were a huge success, I'm left with a few bags that I hate to leave sitting on my desk shelf.

I was trying to think of a way to still put those printing dollars to use. Here are some ideas I came up with:

1. Donate left-over promotional items to The Special E, a charity that makes use of extra business promo stuff and passes them around to people in need.

2. Conduct A Raffle: I could always try to gain a few more email addresses for my email list by posting a photo of the tote online and and asking for new people to sign up for my e-newsletter. The winner gets a free tote. But then there's shipping and postage involved. Do I really want to pay for something I'm trying to give away?

3. Save Them For Next Year: These totes went over really well. But that's part of the problem; are they too memorable? Not that I think I have the world's greatest trade show giveaway by any means, but keep in mind, they're bright orange. I'm also the exact opposite of a pack-rat and hate having clutter around. Saving them for a different trade show opportunity that I may or may not work could keep these things around for quite a while yet.

Finally, I could just keep thinking about it. I've tried to research blogs and articles about recycling these things or how to keep them working for you without putting money into it. Do you have any ideas?

Eco-Friendly Tradeshow Promotional Piece

The PWN organization that I belong to is hosting their annual conference on April 17th in River Falls, WI. The conference doesn't just include a keynote speaker, but a chance for local area businesses to exhibit at a small tradeshow.

This year, I wanted to hand out a promotional business piece that would really catch attention. I feel that my business is helping clients to have better self-promotion - I should follow my own advice! I decided that since I've taken my business to a greener level, I needed to find something that wasn't likely to end up in the trash, something that was eco-friendly and something that was likely to be used. After much price hunting, I decided I'd hand out cloth bags (for groceries and such) with a fun decal screen printed on it. And wonderfully, I was able to find a local area business owner to support by sending my project to be printed there.

I'm very excited about this piece and just received a print proof of it yesterday. I went with the orange bag to keep in line with my company branding and wanted to create an attractive decal; one that wasn't just attractive and that people didn't mind carrying around, but a decal that actually spoke for my business. Anyhow, my eco-friendly tradeshow promo piece is below.