DO IT YOURSELF Another great way to cut down on cost of promotional items is to do it yourself. Many times when placing an order, you will have to pay a set-up fee for printing (usually a one-time fee), then pay for actual printing and of course items. But perhaps you can do part of this yourself. If you are working with a local printer, you could possibly provide items yourself to be printed. For example, if you see a great close-out deal on t-shirts or plain coffee mugs at one of those warehouse stores, you could get a great bargain- much cheaper than buying them from printer. So, you will only have to pay printer for cost of printing and not for items.

BE LOYAL One of ideas we listed above was to put promotional companies against one another to drive down your cost. However, staying with same company can also save you money. Many times there is a one-time set-up cost, especially with making screens for t-shirts. If you keep changing companies, that fee will always be added. As long as your logo stays same, you will never have to pay that fee again at same company, which could have you hundreds. In addition, many companies will throw their loyal customers a bone every now and then. Keep that in mind.

Here are ten places to start with, on your networking journey to lucrative joint venture partnerships:

1.Live Seminars and Conferences 2.Breakfast Meeting Groups

3.Trade Shows and Exhibitions

4.Membership Associations

5.Introductions made through your business associates and vendors

6.Online discussion groups and forums within your industry

7.Live Training Courses

8.On Your Travels e.g. on airplane or train

9.Interactive TeleSeminars and TeleBootcamps

10. Other Networking Events e.g. at business parties

The size and quality of your network determines your income. The more valuable contacts you have in your network, more lucrative your joint venture projects would be. Build a profitable network, and increasing your net worth would be easier than you think.

Copyright © 2005 by Habiba Abubakar and Emprez. All rights reserved.

Note: You are welcome to republish this article as long as resource box at end is included unaltered.