Deciding on Colors Here comes fun! If your company has yet to choose a logo for major promotion, do not let color choice go unquestioned. Choose a contrasting color to emphasize your product or a color that creates subconscious interest in your product. Studies show that bright primary colors make a customer feel more exited, energetic, even hungry. Toned down colors such as a soft blue or taupe make someone feel more relaxed and comfortable. Using these proven hints can get your product noticed before others in any setting.

When company colors have been chosen, it supports company image to stick with them. At this point your product color becomes essential. Some of same color rules apply. If you choose a contrasting color (black and white, red and green) your logo will stand out more, but simply standing out is not always a positive thing. If you want to keep your product attractive, it helps to choose colors that compliment one another like a deep blue and a medium blue of same shade. There are some color combinations that do both jobs. Black and white is one of these, but this combo has been used to point of causing indifference in customer, unless it has a new flare like silver trim around your lettering. In all cases, however, if you have a strong company image based on your logo and colors, it is of highest importance to carry on that image in every promotional product and corporate apparel purchase.

The Human Factor The embroidering of your design can only be as good as embroidery operator running machines. Even in our high tech world there are several elements of embroidery that are human controlled. All garments are hooped in some fashion to mount them on machines to be embroidered. This hooping process determines exact placement of your logo and is entirely manual, thus your logo placement will vary slightly. Part of this imperfection is due to garment. Each garment comes from factory somewhat different than last. The location of pocket may differ in any direction. This problem occurs constantly, even with in same manufacturer, same shirt design, and within same exact size of shirts. It is a slight variation, however, and usually unnoticeable.

Hat Embroidery Almost every hat worn today is professionally embroidered. Always choose a quality hat with an appropriate structure for your logo. Hire a professional to layout your design carefully select placement to receive your company identity. When you have finished hats embroidered, they are embroidering your image on a domed surface. It can be very challenging for an embroider to work with finished hats. In fact, there are embroidery factories that outsource for hat embroidery because it is too difficult and frustrating. Certain designs lend themselves to troublesome embroidery, most prevalent problem is trying to place a novel of tiny lettering on a hat. This poses technical problems for machines and operators. In general, lettering under 5/16" will not be presentable on any garment, especially finished hats. When creating your logo for hats, try not to cram in a bunch of tiny text. It has been my experience that very few people actually read tiny text and it only deteriorates overall appearance of your product.

Final Suggestions Your image is everything! Take process of ordering your corporate apparel seriously, work with someone you believe is taking your order to heart. I always suggest five basics of embroidery: Make your designs simple. Use a quality garment. Make educated color choices. Use a knowledgeable embroidery company. Hire a digitizer who understands your desires, who will show you a sewout of your new design before you allow them to embroider your goods, and who will adjust it if is does not meet your expectations.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Rick Sheldon has 18 years experience in Promotional Products Industry and is currently CEO of Save on Promotional Products Inc. a Discount Online Promotional Products Company. He can be contacted at 1-800-826-8706; email: rick@saveonpromotionalproducts.com; or visit www.saveonpromotionalproducts.com.

7. Wear clothes with your logo. Name tags are great for participants but displaying your logo or name is important for building your brand. If you can't afford to have them done, create your own. There are transfer materials made for your ink jet printers (see your office supply store), find some nice shirts/blouses, and go create.

8. Don't just stand behind booth, go in front of booth and mix and mingle.

9. Stand up behind booth with a smile. If you get tired go sit somewhere else and have someone there that has an attractive approachable energy. Rule of thumb is to rotate energy every 30 to 60 minutes.

10. Display your web site name big and bold in background. Make name a different color than "www" and ".com".

Here's a bonus for you. How about going in with another one-person business and sharing costs. One that I like to use, is to work with someone like does chair-massages. It is a big attractor to people.

Oops, let me slip in another tip -- let's call it a super bonus -- for getting this far in your reading and in your mindset. If you are a shy person, a dead way to sell at a trade show, hire a trade show presenter.

A trade show presenter is experienced at attracting people to your booth. Their fee may seem expensive, and I said I was going to keep these tips in inexpensive realm, yet then if your ROI gains from it, it will pay for itself. And these experts on presenting at trade shows will pull in people all time. Find someone training for this type of work and you might even be able to barter.