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  • Politics Is Like Hiring A Hitman
    by Scott Woods inPolitical on2020-08-13

    For me, politics is like hiring a hitman. I have values and things I care about. I care enough about them to at least bother voting for 5 minutes every year for one issue or another. And because I care at least that much, I vote for people who align with the ability to realize the things I care about.

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  • Punching Above Our Weight
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-07-24

    I believe our vote is the punctuation of our voice. Without that resounding exclamation mark, I believe our voices are just incoherent noise.

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  • BLACK PROGRESS AMIDST SOCIAL CHAOS
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-06-16

    Recent events have raised the profile of historical injustice and inequities here in the USA. The entire world has taken note of the fact that BLACK LIVES MATTER.   We invite all of our friends to engage in actions that result in the greatest movement for change in our history. It is imperative that we take advantage of this opportunity to affect a positive change by ACTING IN OUR SELF-INTERESTS.

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  • Living in a Black No-Man's Land
    by Roger Madison Jr. inOur Community on2019-10-28

    There are many narratives that define the Black experience in America in this 2nd decade of the 21st century. Our striving over the centuries of our sojourn in this nation is a tapestry of every human experience -- oppression, enslavement, forced assimilation, dehumanization, exclusion, segregation, isolation, struggle, perseverance, achievement, excellence, celebration, mourning, despair, progress, setbacks, lynching, assassination, genocide, terror, self-hatred, low esteem, pride,...

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  • Fighting Racism
    by Scott Woods inOur Community on2018-10-25

    I had a boss who was racist. Not an outright bigot, of course; her toolbox was more subtle than most. We bumped heads a lot over inconsequential things. She frequently couldn’t keep my name out her mouth. Lot of gaslighting. You know…2018 style. I tried a lot of ways to combat or navigate her issues. None of them worked, and that’s saying a lot because I’m really good at fighting racism. But at the end of the day – every day – she was my boss, I had to deal with her, and that was that. Finally I...

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Corporate Gift Giving

I’m often asked what type of promotional items to give to valued customers. There are thousands of gift items to choose from. It is best to find out what your customer likes. How do you do that? I'm sure you have been to their office for business meetings, but you probably never even noticed that you can find out a lot about a person when you visit their work environment. 

 

The next time you meet them at their office, take a look around and check out what you see, this will give you and idea of the things they like. They might see other gift items that have been given to them. Some they may have on display for all to see, those are the gift items to take notice of. Find out if they have any hobbies. Do they belong to any charities or clubs? What type of sports do they play? Asking these questions will help you find out which gifts to choose.

 

 

Some items to think about giving are:

* Pen Sets

* Desk Sets

* Leather Portfolios

* Sports Items

* Clocks

 

When giving a corporate gift item to a valued customer, keep in mind the item is more about good well than it is about promoting your business. This customer has been doing business with you for some time, so don’t go inexpensive when choosing a gift item. Let the customer know how much you appreciate them. 

 

Should you imprint a gift item with your logo? The answer to that is no. This a gift, it should not be imprinted as a promotional item. Your client will tell others where they got the item from when asked. How many busines folks do you know that refuse to share the name of a person or company that gave them a gift? Find out who has the best quality corporate gift items. Like I said, you don’t want to go cheap on this one.  

 

Giving your valued customer a gift is one of the best things you can do, next to excellent customer service, that will insure they continue to do business with you.

 

EastLake Marketing Group sells promotional products. Having access to 700,000 products allows you to imprint your company logo message on just about anything. To view EastLake's product, corporate gifts, and greeting card catalogs, visit our wed site.