As mentioned before, I see a lot of product all around the world. But, Chocolate-covered tarantulas and BBQ Worm Crisps were new - even for me. Inspired by TV hits such as Fear Factor, interest in things like this has skyrocketed. Featured in London’s...

Got this great picture in from our customers Dave and Helen at Pumpkinland Iowa . Pumpkinland is a third generation family farm in Orange City, Iowa. And they do more than just pumpkins at Pumpkinland (although they do pumpkins pretty darned well!) -...

Came across this table made out of a shipping carton the other day. It was featured in a book about green design (coolhuntinggreen.com) and it made my smile for two reasons. First, how many of us did this anyway as a student? (Or, even more recently when...

I read all of the customer product reviews our customers share with us and this one caught my eye this morning. Vincent mentioned that he paired our imprinted balsa glider with a cholocate airplane he sells and sales went up 40%! Great creativity at The...

We've added several new 'Blue Papers' (our version of white papers) for you on a wide variety of topics. None of them are out to sell our products - they are 100% useful, actionable content for your organization. Topics range from 'Getting...

We recently did some pens for Alex at SpryPR - very creative people. How creative? How about a stop motion 'thank you for the pens' video!? Check it out here: http://www.sprypr.com/4imprint Thanks Alex - we love it...!

In a previous post I offered to do free imprinted pens for people who are out there starting businesses in this economy. We've done lots of orders and have even helped a few folks come up with logo designs. Our new friend Simone is working on starting...

Our Catalog Manager, Tara Jansen-Meyer, just published a children's book about her dog called, "What Kind of Bean is this Chihuahua". We're all really proud and excited for her. The book is available now on Barnes & Noble , and will...

On a recent trip to Target(TM) for washing liquid and shampoo, I took a little walk around. (As a shopper and a merchandiser, Target is an important barometer of trends and product development. So, I like to keep an eye on what they’re doing.) I was absolutely...

Just a quick update on the 'Free Pens for Start-ups' project. This has really been a blast. We've done pens for new ventures in healthcare, photography, pest control, accounting, public relations - even a cool site that sells every kind of...

Hearing form more business start-ups as a result of my post earlier in the week . Have to say we're having some fun with this. We just put through an order for a gentleman named Zoltan who has recently started a non-medical senior care business (which...

In my last post I offered 250 free pens to the first 100 people who let me know that they are starting a business in this tough climate. I put the offer out there just to celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit that is the engine that always moves us forward...

How to clean up the current economic mess is a complicated topic with lots and lots of opinions. We've had more internal debates and discussions than I can count, and while there is sometimes disagreement on things like stimulus packages, bail outs...

It’s been a hectic start to the year and I’ve just been politely reminded that I haven’t told anyone about any interesting tales or products from my travels. Germany was the first trip of the year with our UK team to visit the European trade show for...

One other place to watch for new colors in 2009 is on eco-friendly products. It used to be that these products were available in limited colors – usually variations of white or natural/brown. But, now we’re starting to see these products available in...