JoAnn Laing's Blog - All About Small Business

When attending an event as a sponsor, booth participant, and/or speaker, event merchandise is an effective and often economical way to reach and engage prospects and customers. 

Whether the event is in person, entirely virtual, or hybrid, event merchandise can play a role in your growth plan.  Merchandise can serve multiple purposes for your business, including:  

• Token of appreciation for customers reinforcing that you appreciate and care about them.  
• Incentives to boost attendance, help to create a memorable event, and  
• Powerful marketing tool to promote a particular brand message and/or heighten your company’s recognition.     

Here are some strategies to effectively leverage customer event merchandise as marketing collateral to get the best return on your time and money. 

Know Your Strategy and Define Your Goals 

Understanding how to strategize your merchandise to achieve the best results is vital in creating a successful merchandising operation.  Some core strategies can be implemented to create a successful plan for introducing branded merchandise. 

Defining your goals is about understanding what you are trying to achieve with your products.  Having goals can be particularly important with event merchandise. The specific objectives desired for implementing branded merchandise can and should be aligned with the overall goals of the event.  Some common goals can include: 

• Increasing brand awareness 
• Generating income 
• Thanking attendees 
• Creating connections 
• Promoting a cause 

Benefits of Branded Merchandise 

• Increased brand recognition: well-placed branded merchandise turns into a visible, ongoing reminder for your business 
• Creating a memorable experience assists in differentiating the event in attendees’ minds and keeping it at the forefront of their minds. 
• Showcases company culture: For example, a water bottle reflecting environmental responsibility and tech merchandise can underpin a tech company’s core offerings. 

Choosing the Right Merchandise 

Poorly chosen merchandise that does not fit the event, company, or audience can have the opposite impact as well-chosen merchandise.  Selecting the wrong merchandise can significantly limit its potential impact and become a budgetary waste that does not meet your business goals. 

Take versus Tossed 

A key to ensuring items are taken home and used comes down to the type of products being offered. High-quality, useful products such as water bottles and tech gadgets are more likely to be kept and used than cheap or irrelevant swag that quickly breaks, fails airport security screening, or has limited usability, which will be tossed. 

Practicality and Functionality 

It is best to select items that attendees can readily use and incorporate into their daily lives.  Branded merchandise will be used and seen frequently, increasing the impact of potential brand awareness growth and relevance in the person’s mind. 

Relevance to the Event Theme 

Tailoring a product to a potential audience is critical to connecting with attendees and resonating with what is important to them. Moreover, aligning items to the purpose of the event and branding can reinforce an idea or message. 

Consider Your Audience 

Different merchandise will appeal to various audiences, and tailoring it to your target demographic can make a huge impact. For example, attendees at an environmental event will be more likely to appreciate eco-friendly items, whereas attendees at a technology conference may be more receptive to tech gadgets.   

Some ideas for products to appeal to different audiences could be: 

• Customers: high-end tumblers, Bluetooth speakers, power banks 
• Employees: pens, notebooks, branded shirts and caps 
• Guests: travel tumblers, snacks, plush toys 
• Students: beach towels, waterproof Bluetooth speakers 

Consider Scale and Budget 

Adjusting merchandise choices to fit the event’s size and scale is essential. If the event’s attendance is projected to be limited, scaling merchandise to accommodate this is vital. In comparison, a significant event requires a larger merchandising budget and large quantities that appeal to a broader audience. 

Offer Appealing Items 

Choose appropriate items from your branded merchandise that fit the event. It is crucial to encourage customers and others to wear or use it—and promote your business. Make your event merchandise appealing to recipients by seeking input from your customers, partners, and employees. Collect important insights straight from others. Use a survey to ask your recipients what they would like to receive for merchandise and choose the most popular recurring answers. 

While there is a vast array of options when it comes to branded event merchandise or gift ideas for events, there are some that often prove to be winners: 

• Custom totes 
• Branded t-shirts 
• Branded treats 
• Personal care products 
• Customer beverages 
• Branded caps 
• To-go cups 
• Tech gadgets 
• Umbrellas 
• Key rings 
• Enamel pins 
• Water bottles 
• Stickers 
• Socks 
• Toys 
• Blankets 
• Slippers (scuffs) 

Consider Creating Urgency and Exclusivity

These two concepts intertwine to encourage members to get their hands on merchandise as soon as possible. For example, create a merchandise line limited to event attendees who sign up or take another action by a specific date. 

If you have multiple offerings, like a hat, water bottle, or T-shirt, ask customers what they would like in advance and either send it before the event or set it aside for pick-up at the event to obtain maximum marketing benefits before, during, and after the event. Also, encourage recipients to wear or use the merchandise to gain maximum exposure. 

Create a Social Media Challenge 

Social media is a tool that can broaden the reach of your merchandise more than recipients simply wearing the items out and about. Your business likely already uses social media to engage potential and existing customers—take it a step further by including the merchandise in a social media marketing campaign. Here are a few ideas you can try: 

• Themed challenge. Create a challenge for interested parties to win a prize. For example, you might challenge recipients to wear their new merchandise while out and about. Ask members to tag you in their posts to be considered for a prize, which could be an additional merchandise item. 
• Use current trends. Put your own twist on a current social media trend. For instance, ask recipients to participate in the #ThrowbackThursday trend, where they post pictures from past events and a photo of themselves wearing current event merchandise. 
• Work with influencers.  If there are influencers related to your business’s work or industry, consider sending them merchandise for free and asking them to share a post while wearing it to promote your business and the upcoming event you are participating in. 
• Use a hashtag.  Create a memorable, snappy hashtag that’s specific to the event. This will make it easier for people to find similar posts and important information about the event and for you to see which recipients are using the merchandise to market your business and the event. 

No matter which social media challenge you implement, offering a reward to incentivize participation is a good idea. For example, you could offer a gift card to a local restaurant or store to the person who gets the most likes, comments, or shares. 

Leverage Partnerships to Co-Brand Merchandise 

Utilizing your partners or event sponsors is another way to market your business’s event participation. Partnerships with well-known, reputable local businesses or companies can encourage your recipients to wear the business’s merchandise out and about. 

In the case of an industry conference, you could work with a local group or industry supplier to sponsor your business by providing co-branded merchandise for participants. They would gain brand recognition, and your customers and potential customers would receive high-quality, relevant merchandise featuring your brand identities. 

Final Thoughts 

Events can be crucial to your company’s growth. Merchandise can play an important role in helping customers and potential customers feel appreciated and connected to your business. It can also serve as a way to raise the business’s profile and create an event that attendees are sure to remember. 

In today’s fast-paced, chaotic business environment, it’s easy to lose your footing. Companies that embrace purpose as their guiding North Star are navigating the chaos and thriving in it – outperforming competitors, inspiring employees, and building lasting connections with customers.

What is Purpose?

Purpose is the guiding “why” that aligns your team, clarifies decision-making, and propels your business forward. A well-defined purpose creates resilience, focus, and growth without sacrificing efficiency or profitability. For businesses striving to navigate complexity, purpose is not just a nicety; it’s a necessity.

The Power of Business Purpose

According to a Harvard Business Review study, purpose-driven businesses grow three times faster than their competitors. They also experience 46% higher market share growth and see measurable gains in employee engagement, customer loyalty, and innovation. This is because purpose cuts through the noise and chaos; it gives business owners, managers, and teams clarity about what matters most.

Some Benefits of Purpose   

1. Employee Engagement and Retention – Purpose attracts, aligns, and retains talent with your business. When 70% of employees define their personal value through work, purpose-driven businesses should tap into this intrinsic motivation. Further, engaged employees are more productive and likely to advocate for your business, which is crucial for successful growth and organizational change.

2. Customer Loyalty and Market Position – Purpose can be a great differentiator in crowded markets as customers decide why they should choose your brand. Customers increasingly demand that companies act with integrity and make a positive impact. A purpose that resonates with customers and employees drives purchase, loyalty, repeat business, and perhaps premium pricing and referrals, which drive growth and profitability.

3. Resilience and Long-Term Growth – Purpose provides a compass and stabilizing force during challenging periods of disruption and change. It helps owners and managers prioritize, make tough decisions, better align teams and resources, and enable leaders to focus on profitable, strategic growth. According to multiple long-term studies, companies with a clear purpose outperform competitors by 40%.

Please share other benefits you have incurred by having a purpose driving your business.

Challenges of Purpose

1. Defining purpose is not easy. It must be real, not performative. A founder’s vision often drives purpose – simple, singular, and straightforward. Think about why – the cause or belief that drives your business.

2. Purpose must evolve as the business grows; purpose becomes more complex and must be integrated into strategy, culture, and operations, ensuring it informs everything from hiring and product/offering development to customer service and decision-making. To clarify a multifaceted purpose, consider these dimensions: the overarching reason the business exists, how the business solves problems or provides solutions for customers, and the key principles that guide decisions and behaviors. A multifaceted approach ensures that purpose is both unifying and adaptable, aligning your business across its growing complexity

Stakeholder Expectations

Business owners and managers often must balance diverse expectations from customers, employees, suppliers/vendors, investors, and other stakeholders. Purpose can be a standard, unifying thread that aligns stakeholders without compromising your business’ focus.

Summary, the purpose is your most significant competitive advantage. It grounds your business, aligns your team, and focuses your growth. Business owners and managers who embrace purpose find it easier to navigate the complexities of scaling, turning chaos into clarity and confusion into focus.

To succeed, define your purpose, commit to it, and watch your business thrive.

Large companies may be doing more with AI than smaller businesses, according to a new survey of American workers. Larger companies are more likely to have the infrastructure to support new tech initiatives and help employees upskill, suggests ADP research.

AI + Small Business Usage > Competition

Nevertheless to become and stay competitive, your small business should leverage AI.  Whether your workplace has not yet started or has already begun integrating AI, here are some things you should consider:

• AI needs to be endorsed by the head of the business.

• It can and should be the responsibility of IT and legal.

• AI must be budgeted, as there is expense involved and ultimately gains to be tracked.

• Privacy of company and customer data is paramount, even during proof of concept.

• If making agents, start making them very focused, for one specific task only.

• Education of employees is essential; after all it is your employees who will using and working with AI.

The best way to move ahead is by doing. Consider your business goals and needs, then apply the technology to help you achieve them. 

Selecting the right AI tools and apps for your business involves a strategic approach. Here is a guide to help you make an informed decision:

Identify Your Goals and Needs

• Assess Business Goals: Determine what specific milestones you want to achieve and what challenges do you want to address (e.g., marketing, customer service, operations).
• Define Use Cases: List the tasks you want to automate or improve with AI.

Research Available Tools

• Explore Options: Look for AI tools that cater to your identified needs. Use online reviews, industry blogs, and comparison websites.
• Check Features: Evaluate the features of each tool to ensure they align with your requirements.

Consider Budget

• Evaluate Costs: Analyze the pricing models (one-time fee, pay-per-use, subscription) of the tools.
• Look for ROI: Consider the potential return on investment based on the tool’s impact on efficiency and productivity.

Evaluate Usability

• User-Friendly Interface: Choose tools that are easy to use, reducing the time required for training and ensuring a higher adoption rate among team members.
• Training and Support: Check if the provider offers training resources and customer support.

Assess Integration Capabilities

• Compatibility: Ensure the AI tool can integrate smoothly with your existing systems (CRM, project management, etc.).
• APIs and Plugins: Look for tools that offer APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) or plugins for easier integration.

Check Scalability

• Future Growth: Choose tools that can scale with your business as it grows, allowing for additional features or user capacity.

Read Reviews and Testimonials

• User Feedback: Look for reviews from similar businesses to gauge satisfaction and effectiveness. Pay keen attention to negative comments.
• Case Studies: Explore case studies that demonstrate the tool’s impact on companies in your industry.

Trial Period

• Take Advantage of Free Trials: Many AI tools offer free trials. Use this opportunity to test the tool’s functionality and fit for your business; be careful of protecting your data.
• Gather Team Feedback: Involve your team in the trial to get their insights on usability and effectiveness.

Data Protection

• Read and understand data protection:Learn what is being done to protect your company and customer data, as well as who owns and controls the data.
• In case of breach: Who is the responsible party and what is the remediation protocol.

Make an Informed Decision

• Compare Options: After thorough research and testing, compare your top choices based on feedback, features (including data protection), and pricing.
• Select the Best Fit: Choose the tool that best meets your needs while offering the best value.

Review and Iterate

• Monitor Performance: After implementation, regularly assess the tool’s performance and its impact on your business.
• Be Open to Change: Stay updated on new tools and technologies, and be willing to pivot if a better solution arises.

By following these steps, you can select the right AI tools and apps that will enhance your business and drive growth effectively.

AI Tools & Apps

Here are some tools and apps to checkout:

Content

• Jasper enables users to effortlessly generate high-quality written content. 
• Copy.ai helps users quickly generate high-quality written content.
• Grammarly enhances written communication by providing real-time grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style suggestions.
• Consensus is a research tool that helps get your answers with credited citations, specifically from research papers. 
• Lavendar.ai improves the effectiveness of written content; it also checks the clarity, coherence, and content engagement, and provides suggestions accordingly.
• DALL-E allows users to easily create high-quality images.
• Gamma is an automated presentation generator. 

Communication

• Dialpad Ai for business communications and overall productivity.
• Speechify for turning text into audio.
• Wondercraft AI turns written content into engaging podcast episodes. 

Productivity

• Notion productivity tool that incorporates AI to enhance organization, collaboration, and project management seamlessly.
• Superhuman is an email assistant that streamlines email productivity.
• Vimcal schedules time efficiently; it organizes schedule to maximize work periods.
• GPT-4 for business ideation and general knowledge sourcing.
• Fireflies transcribes and analyzes meetings into a condensed summary for future reference.
• Feedly is a news aggregator app that compiles news feeds to customize and share with others.

Marketing

• HubSpot is a comprehensive inbound marketing platform.
• Canva is an intuitive graphic design tool to help users create visually appealing marketing materials quickly and easily.
• Mailmodo is an email marketing platform.
• Seventh Sense for email marketing campaign management.
• Taplio and Tweethunter are LinkedIn and Twitter scheduling apps with AI features.

Sales

• Salesforce Einstein is an extension of the Salesforce CRM platform that enhances sales processes by providing intelligent insights and automation.
• HubSpot Sales Hub is a powerful sales automation tool that integrates with HubSpot’s CRM to streamline the sales process and enhance productivity.
  • Chorus.ai is a conversation analytics and sales force training tool to analyze sales calls and meetings to improve sales performance.
• 6sense for automating lead capture.
• Clari for sales forecasting.
• Reply.io for sales engagement automation.
• Zia is an AI-powered sales assistant, which aids the sales teams by automating manual entry of leads data, lead scoring, and sales forecasting processes.

Customer Success & Support

• Zendesk is a customer service platform that manages customer interactions across multiple channels, providing a seamless support experience.
• Intercom is a customer messaging platform that facilitates real-time communication between businesses and their customers through chatbots and targeted messaging.
• Freshdesk helps businesses manage customer inquiries through various channels, enhancing overall customer satisfaction.

Knowledge Management

• Kipwise is a collaborative knowledge management tool designed to help teams centralize and efficiently share internal knowledge.
• Confluence is a collaboration tool that helps teams create, share, and manage project documentation and internal knowledge.

Planning & Task Management

• Upmetrics simplifies the business planning process; since it’s a cloud-based application, your team can easily collaborate and work on your business plan from anywhere in the world.
• Trello is a visual project management tool that helps teams organize tasks using boards, lists, and cards, making it easy to track progress and collaborate.
• Asana is a comprehensive task and project management tool designed to help teams coordinate work, set priorities, and track progress in real time.
• Monday.com is a work operating system that enables teams to manage projects, workflows, and everyday tasks in a customizable, visual format.

In conclusion, as you navigate 2025’s business landscape, leveraging AI has become essential to enhance efficiency and drive growth. Please share some of your favorite tools and apps.

2025

An aside: if your business is into creating its own devices, consider NVIDIA Jetson to create breakthrough AI products across all industries.

No one is talking about the looming deadline facing every American corporation in the New Year.  While expected to be leniently enforced in its first months, every small business must comply by early in 2025.

Called the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) it is new regulation with a reporting deadline under the Corporate Transparency Act that is fast approaching.  As a result, small businesses face critical compliance challenges and are grappling with how to meet the outlined requirements.

Advisors such as Registered Agents Inc., a leader in business formation services are stepping in to help with expert tips and resources to simplify the process. 

Little noticed two years ago as its provisions were included when authorized by Congress to help anti-terrorist efforts, the BOI requirement will add to the government’s ability to more closely monitor and tax small businesses.

Despite its good intention, the BOI for instance will tighten the net around entrepreneurs with multiple companies who use inter-company trading schemes to reduce taxes. Enacted to combat illicit activities such as money laundering and terrorism financing, the CTA requires most corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs), and other similar entities to file a BOI Report with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Most corporations, LLCs, and other entities created by filing with a secretary of state or similar office need to provide background on every beneficial owner.  There are no exceptions, however there are Exempt Entities.

There are deadlines for older companies who must file by January 1, 2025.

The enterprises formed between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024 have 90 calendar days from the date they receive actual or public notice of their creation or registration to file their initial BOI Report

Businesses Formed on or After January 1, 2025 must file their initial BOI Report within 30 calendar days of receiving actual or public notice of their creation or registration

Failure to file or submitting false information can result in civil penalties of up to $500 per day, criminal fines up to $10,000, and imprisonment for up to two years.

Business owners can file directly with FinCEN themselves or hire a third party like Registered Agents Inc. to file for them.

Trusted partners for entrepreneurs may charge as little as $25 for filing.

“While some competitors in our industry have used the requirement as a way to gouge business owners, Registered Agents Inc. want to reduce any friction around starting and maintaining businesses,” said Jon Garrison, Treasurer at Registered Agents Inc.

Some Expert Tips from Registered Agents Inc.

“Many small business owners are still unaware of these new requirements, which could lead to unintentional violations,” said Jon Garrison, Registered Agents’ Treasurer. “Our mission is to educate and support businesses to ensure full compliance and help them avoid severe penalties.”

1. Assess Whether Your Business Must File:
   • Review Exemptions: Certain entities, such as publicly traded companies, banks, and tax-exempt organizations, may be exempt.
   • Resource: FinCEN’s List of Exempt Entities
2. Identify Beneficial Owners and Company Applicants:
   • Beneficial Owners: Individuals who own or control at least 25% of the company or exercise substantial control.
   • Company Applicants: Individuals who filed the formation documents (for entities created after January 1, 2024).
3. Gather Required Information:
   • For the Company:
     • Legal name and any trade names.
     • Principal business address.
     • Jurisdiction of formation.
     • Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN).
   • For Each Beneficial Owner and Company Applicant:
     • Full legal name.
     • Date of birth.
     • Residential address.
     • Unique identifying number from an acceptable document (e.g., driver’s license, passport).
     • An image of the identification document.

If you are reporting for multiple entities, you can apply for a FinCEN ID, which can be useful but it is optional and not required to complete a BOI filing.

4. Prepare to File Electronically:
   • FinCEN’s Filing System: Reports must be filed electronically through FinCEN’s secure filing system.
   • Create an Account: Set up an account in advance to streamline the filing process.
5. Plan for Ongoing Compliance:
   • Update Reports Promptly: Any changes in reported information must be updated within 30 days.
   • Maintain Records: Keep detailed records to support the information provided in the BOI Report.

“Navigating these new requirements can be daunting for small businesses,” added Garrison. “With our extensive experience assisting over one million entrepreneurs, we simplify the process, allowing business owners to focus on what they do best.”  Of course, this is for a fee.

Additional Resources and Support

• Comprehensive Guide on BOI Reporting:
  Registered Agents Inc. BOI Reporting Resource

It is essential to register your business soon, preferably before the end of 2024.

REGISTER NOW!