Promotional goods, or ad specialties, are sold by marketing and distribution companies all over the world. There might be anything from bobble dolls to pens to very high-tech and creative items that you could receive as a gift.  Since retailers can spend a lot of money on promotional goods to send to consumers, and cereal businesses, non-profit organizations, and major credit card issuers will frequently give a promotional product away in a mailing or as an opportunity to buy a particular product.  Australian made promotional products profitable for producers that have a popular product.

1. Attendance at trade shows

There are many major trade shows in the promotional goods industry in which you can set up a booth and possibly meet manufacturers’ executives and distributors who may be interested in selling your product. You should go to one of these first to see how the booths are set up and what types of promotional materials are available. You should also search for booths with just a few items and tend to be run by an entrepreneur or a small business. Speak to them about their interactions and the steps they took to market that succeeded.

Also, talk about whether they’d like to share a booth at the next show to save money. Some of the most successful industry show includes:

• The Motivation Show (Chicago, IL)
• The Promotional Products Expo, which takes place in Las Vegas every January

The Reward Marketing Members Association and the Marketing Goods Association International are two groups where you can read more about additional trade shows and other industry news.

2. Publicity and ads for trade publications

The Promotional Goods Association and the Advertisement Specialty Association are the two leading trade organizations in the industry. Both have prominent trade publications and product lists on their respective websites. You may submit new promotional product updates to magazines for free; run advertisements in the magazines, and sign up for a page in their product folders.

3. Sales agents for manufacturers

Manufacturers’ agents market the goods to distributors and big major accounts. You may meet manufacturers’ representatives at trade shows or magazine ads, but a direct mailing campaign is possibly the most cost-effective way of reaching reps. However, if you can, try to provide as much information as possible in your rep mailing box, such as:

• Images of the product in use
• Any major promotions you might have heard
• Testimonials or other reviews from happy consumers
• Materials those reps and suppliers may use to promote the product
• Price lists

4. Pricing

There are many suppliers and manufacturers’ reps, which helps you market your product, but that also implies that you have to deal with a lot of commissions and price discounts. Companies’ sales agents typically earn a 10% to 15% fee, and distributors often earn a 40% discount. Australian made promotional products mainly to increase their daily sales.