After a long & rainy Northwest winter there's nothing I look forward to more than getting back on my bicycle. Apparently I have lots of company: according to BikeLeague.org over 57 million American adults ride a bike at least once a year (as of 2002, I'm sure that's higher now).

Savvy promotional marketers know that usefulness is the #1 reason a recipient will hang on to swag items they're given, so why not brand some good bike-related items this year? Here are five of my favorite swag ideas in this category:

BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC BIKE BOTTLES 

Bike bottles take a lot of abuse & anyone who rides regularly will probably appreciate a fresh new bike bottle. This Biodegradable Custom Bike Bottle is made in the USA and holds 24oz. of water. It will fit in any standard bike bottle cage & the neck is large enough to drop ice cubes through.

Most of the biodegradable bike bottles are white or clear, but this one comes in blue & green in addition to translucent clear. This one also has a nice range of cap colors to match your company color scheme. Priced from $.99/ea, this is a great swag idea for tradeshows or outdoor events.

Power Marketing Tip: Stuff bike bottles with smaller items like pencils, candy or special-offer coupons before distributing them.

CUSTOM BICYCLE BELLS are another fun bike-related swag item to put your logo on. Bells are a safety item every urban bicyclist can use, and this chrome-plated number has a definite retro appeal. Your logo is printed in full color under a clear protective dome, and the bells mount easily to any standard size handlebar. Our Custom Bike Bells have a low minimum order of 100 pieces and are a unique swag item that people will remember!

PROMO BIKE TIRE PATCH KITS come in several different sizes, but I like this one because it's small & inexpensive with everything a person needs for up to six repairs. The translucent plastic box is wrapped with your custom, full-color label as shown & contains 6 patches, glue, sandpaper and (thankfully for some) instructions.

Priced at under $2.00 this Custom Patch Kit is a great, creative marketing swag idea. Buy a nice bicycle as a grand prize at your next tradeshow and give patch kits as an incentive to enter your drawing - it's a great way to generate excitement AND leads!

   Next up, I just love this DETACHABLE LED BICYCLE FLASHLIGHT because it's so useful. Clipped to a bike handlebar as shown, it's a powerful and bright headlight for safe riding at night. Release the clip & it can be used just like a regular flashlight. Great for road riders or mountain bikers, this is an excellent promotional swag idea in the $5.00 price range. We recently did an order of these Bike Lights for a local utility company & they really look sharp with a custom logo (printed on the clip). With a super-low minimum order of 25 lights, this is a swag idea that can fit any budget!

Another staple swag item for bicyclists is BLINKING BIKE REFLECTORS, which save lives by  making bikes more visible in low-light conditions. Promotional safety reflectors come in many shapes and sizes, but I particularly like this Custom Tail Clip Light. It has 5 bright LEDs with over 100 hours of battery life and has both blinking & steady light modes. It comes with a clip assembly for mounting on a bike and has a nice large imprint area for your custom logo. Priced at less than $6.00 with a low minimum order of 50 lights, this is a versatile, safety-related swag idea that can be used by non-cyclists too!

Last but not least, check out this CUSTOM MINI BIKE PUMP that mounts to nearly any bike frame. Although it's custom-logo printed, this is a premium-quality alloy bike tire pump that any cyclist will appreciate. Lightweight and powerful, a frame-mounted hand pump like this is a must for long distance bike rides.

Priced closer to $20, this is the spendiest bike swag item I'm featuring. I could see these Custom Tire Pumps used as a gift-with-purchase for bike shops or as an employee incentive for corporate fitness programs. They'd also be a great way to promote a bicycle repair shop or other bike-related business. Comes with frame mount as shown.

Swag Connection also has lots of other bike-related swag ideas. If you type the word "Bike" into the search field on http://www.swagconnection.com/. you'll find over 200 bike-related swag ideas!

We can also hook you up with custom, full-color bicycle jerseys if you have a team or club to outfit.

Just contact me (Diane) with any questions or to discuss your bike swag needs. My direct email is: diane@swagconnection.com and my toll-free number is 866-247-4320 (M-F, 9-5 Pacific Time).

Thanks for reading & keep coming back for more swag ideas!

PS: Follow me on twitter for exclusive, budget-stretching "Tweet Deals": http://www.twitter.com/swagconnection

Tired of the same old selection of golf swag?

Looking for something fresh and different for your golf marketing in 2010?

Introducing the BirdieBall with Custom Logo
"The Most Accurate & Rewarding Practice Ball In Golf"

BirdieBall Custom Clamshell - Item #BBC

Just in time for your spring golf events, the Swag Queen is here to save you from the same old boring golf giveaways. After all, how many custom logo divot fixers and ball markers can one golfer really use?

Give them the one golf swag gift that will actually help them IMPROVE their game. The BirdieBall has been written up in Golf Magazine and featured on Good Morning America as one of the best golf gifts available. Now available with your custom logo, Swag Connection offers the entire line of custom logo BirdieBall products including the single-ball clamshell pack shown here.

How does BirdieBall work?

The Birdie Ball uses wiffle ball technology - it feels and flies like a real golf ball but only travels about 40 yards so it's easily retrieved. The reverse spin around BirdieBall's center of gravity created with the loft of the club is similar to that of a golf ball. It flies just far enough to show ball flight, but the non-dimpled surface and straight sides give it a short flight, long hang-time and a distinctive "turbine" sound. It's a favorite teaching aid of golf professionals around the globe.

Options, Pricing & How To Order BirdieBall from Swag Connection

The single BirdieBall clamshell shown above is the lowest-priced custom logo BirdieBall product we offer. These are available with your custom logo and come packaged as shown with instructions. Minimum order quantity starts at 150 pieces, and catalog pricing is around $2-$4/ea depending on quantity.

We also offer other BirdieBall kits including 3-piece clear tube packages and boxes of one dozen. We also offer the new BirdieBall Strike Pad Kit with Custom logo. All of these options, with pricing, can be viewed by clicking this link to Gold Bond Inc (our BirdieBall supplier partner).

TO ORDER, simply call Swag Connection at 866-247-4320 or drop us an email. We will be more than happy to provide more information or quote your BirdieBall project.

Thanks for reading & keep coming back for more great swag ideas!

Spring is just around the corner and everyone is getting back on their bikes.

Promote your brand this spring in a truly unique (and useful) way with these custom-logo Bicycle Tire Levers from Swag Connection:

As you can see, your logo or message really jumps out on this item! An essential item for every cyclist, these are an inexpensive swag idea that's really quite unique. I don't know about where you live, but here in Portland Oregon it seems EVERYONE is a bike commuter these days (including me when it's not raining TOO hard). Bicycle-themed swag is still fairly uncommon outside of bike-themed events, so this is one of those swag ideas I'm always looking for that hasn't been "done to death".

These are a no-brainer if your target audience is bicyclists or if you're in a bicycle-related industry, but I'd also say this item could be used to creatively market outside that small niche. For example, these would be a great way for HR to promote a "Bike To Work Day" to employees in a large company. Financial planners or business consultants could also tie in the idea of "leverage" with this item to promote their services.

This is also a swag item that could be used for a 'guessing game' promotion at tradeshows... basically you hand them out and have people guess what they're supposed to be used for. It's a fun way to get people engaged in conversation in a non-intimidating way, and the best guesses could be posted on your website for all to see!

Last but not least, these would be great swag for bike shops to give out for test rides or with the purchase of a new bike. This is just one of our bicycle-themed swag ideas - give me a call or send me an email if you're interested in finding out about other bike swag ideas.

INTERESTED IN ORDERING THESE CUSTOMIZED WITH YOUR LOGO?

Give me a call at 866-247-4320 and I'll be more than happy to help you out! I love hearing from my blog readers :)

Thanks for reading & please tell others about my blog. Keep coming back for more unique swag ideas!

Diane Nudelman "The Swag Queen"

This is an innovative and useful idea for anyone who plans or hosts large-scale events where food and wine is served. The CaterPlate is a clear plastic plate with a built-in wineglass holder AND re-attachable plastic utensils:

Your guests will love these plates because they can easily hold their plate, utensils and wineglass with one hand, leaving the other one free to select their food or shake the hands of other guests. You'll love them because they look sharp and professional with your custom logo - plus they stack flat and eliminate the need for messy piles of plastic eating utensils at your event.

The CaterPlate is Great For:

Convention Centers
Wedding & Event Planners
Hotels
Charity Events
Chambers of Commerce
Corporate Hospitality
Caterers
Theme Parks
Company Picnics

The CaterPlate is available with custom logo at quantities of 50 or more. It's MADE and PRINTED IN THE USA. The CaterPlate can be custom printed with up to 5 colors. There is no extra charge for metallic, neon or Pantone-matched inks. Made of #6 Polystyrene plastic, the CaterPlate is also recyclable.

INTERESTED IN CATERPLATES FOR YOUR EVENTS?

You can find many of the items on our blog on www.swagconnection.com. For current pricing, quotes or samples please contact us by phone (866) 247-4320 or email us: sales@swagconnection.com.

The CaterPlate is a patented design from American Accents.

Thanks for reading & keep coming back for more great swag ideas!

Baby it's hot outside! Temps in Portland will be over 100 degrees for the 2nd day in a row today, which I thought might call for a swag idea that's all about keeping it cool while promoting your brand.

Since this blog is all about showing you swag ideas that are a little out of the ordinary, I thought today would be a perfect day to talk about coolers. Not dinky little giveway coolers (although we've got those too). No, today I'm talking about BIG coolers for your comporate events, like these Double Ad-Coolers:

This style is a fully portable mini-bar with imprinted attachable banners. It measures 36" wide, 19" deep & 40" tall. Here's a picture of what it looks like from the back:

These can be purchased from Swag Connection in quantities as low as 1 cooler - or as high as several hundred for national branding campaigns. Perfect for beverage company promotions, company picnics, corporate hospitality, hosting sporting events or even high-end private parties. Prices on this model range from $212-$544/ea depending on quantity, with turnaround time of about 1 month.

If the double-sized cooler is a bit more than you need, here's the single-size version:

The dimensions on this one are 19" wide x 19" deep x 33" tall. This style comes in a price range of between $133-$355 depending on quantity, with a minimum of 1 cooler.

Lastly, the Jumbo Flexi AdCooler is a great choice for more of a self-serve event cooler. Popular for sports teams & schools, these sturdy and compact coolers hold 50-60 bottles or cans and up to 100 lbs of combined product & ice, yet they collapse into an easily portable size and come with a carry case:

The dimensions of the Jumbo AdCooler are 24" wide x 24" deep x 28" tall. Fully insulated & watertight, it's a great choice in an affordable price range - $66 to $146/ea depending on quantity with a minimum order of one cooler.

All of these custom logo event coolers can be purchased through Swag Connection, just give us a call or send us an email if you're interested in ordering these for your company. Thanks for reading & keep coming back for new, interesting & unusual swag ideas!