Printwear & Promotion Live opens on Sunday, February 28 through to Tuesday, March 2 and offers the visitor all that’s best in blank garments from the UK’s major distributors and manufacturers with ranges covering the leisure, workwear, schoolwear, sportswear and promotional markets.

RSK Tech, specialist providers of e-commerce solutions for the garment decoration industry, have announced the release of the new and greatly improved Version 3.0 of their online garment designer and e-commerce solution RSK NetShirt. 

Sourcing City have announced the winners of their Distributor & Supplier Awards for 2009.  

Now in its third year, the awards drew the largest number of votes ever received. 

The media world doesn’t change very often, but when it does the change tends to be major. We are in such a change now, thanks to the explosion of use of social networking media and it is apparent that a lot of businesses are off the pace. Since the fifth anniversary of Facebook earlier this year there has been a lot of talk about the extent of use of social networking sites (plenty of it bemoaning that there’s too much). The classic comment is that students live their lives on them. But it goes far further than students. Use of sites goes across all social groups, income groups and age ranges. If you think that this is restricted to the youth market you’re wrong. Bear in mind, too, that those very students will soon be your business customers.

A return to what customers know

Alison McKenzie, brand director, Fruit of the Loom

Simplicity is the key to success in 2010. The garments that will secure orders are those that offer added value. Buyers are looking to maximise their promotional budgets as much as possible and they are demanding affordable, proven products that represent genuine value for money.

Blue Max has donated 2,000 T shirts for the benefit of injured troops in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.  

The T Shirts were provided after the company was approached by one of its customers, Martin Greenland from LogoWear Ltd.  

The promotions market is a hugely important part of the overall sales and marketing strategy for Powertraveller, the UK manufacturer of the powermonkey – the UK’s favourite portable charger for mobiles and other gadgets.

This year Powertraveller won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for their range of portable chargers. And according to the company, the prestigious award has helped increase interest from promotional companies both in the UK and in Europe.

A wunch of bankers

Many readers will have been delighted to see a promise to restrict bankers’ bonuses. I certainly can see no validity in people earning a monster bonus for doing their job properly. But there are three problems with the idea. First, it puts in question the principle of open-ended bonus structures for all business sectors, which is a wholly retrograde step.

It is a well-known fact that it’s a lot more cost effective to try to keep your existing customers, rather than attract new ones. Simple ways to do this are by consistently providing quality products and services, treating your customers well, and making it convenient and enjoyable for them to purchase from you.