When Sheryl traded the stability of her telecom career for the wilds of entrepreneurship, she didn't just switch professions—she started a love affair with the world of custom swag. In our latest episode, we journey alongside Sheryl as she celebrates a 15-year dalliance with promotional products, from the early days of crafting gift baskets to becoming the go-to guru for branding magic. She pulls back the curtain on the art of selecting the perfect items to reflect a brand's essence and the importance of personalization in both products and client relations. With a blend of humor and hard-earned wisdom, Cheryl demonstrates why her approach isn't just effective—it's a testament to the power of passion in business.
Networking isn't just exchanging business cards; it's about building bridges that endure, a reality Sheryl knows well. She walks us through her strategies for fostering client loyalty, the creative navigation needed during the pandemic, and how staying connected through personalized communication led to her enduring success. Get ready to hear tales of laughable branding blunders, the surprising versatility of pickleball sets in marketing, and why sometimes the simplest swag, like a trusty pen, can leave the most indelible mark. This episode isn't just a case study on promotional products—it's a masterclass in cultivating lasting business relationships with a hearty dose of levity.
When Sheryl traded the stability of her telecom career for the wilds of entrepreneurship, she didn't just switch professions—she started a love affair with the world of custom swag. In our latest episode, we journey alongside Sheryl as she celebrates a 15-year dalliance with promotional products, from the early days of crafting gift baskets to becoming the go-to guru for branding magic. She pulls back the curtain on the art of selecting the perfect items to reflect a brand's essence and the importance of personalization in both products and client relations. With a blend of humor and hard-earned wisdom, Cheryl demonstrates why her approach isn't just effective—it's a testament to the power of passion in business.
Networking isn't just exchanging business cards; it's about building bridges that endure, a reality Sheryl knows well. She walks us through her strategies for fostering client loyalty, the creative navigation needed during the pandemic, and how staying connected through personalized communication led to her enduring success. Get ready to hear tales of laughable branding blunders, the surprising versatility of pickleball sets in marketing, and why sometimes the simplest swag, like a trusty pen, can leave the most indelible mark. This episode isn't just a case study on promotional products—it's a masterclass in cultivating lasting business relationships with a hearty dose of levity.
Speaker 1:
Where did it all start? Sure, just bring me back to the beginning, cheryl.
Speaker 2:
Oh my gosh, when I was five now I kind of stumbled into it a little bit. It wasn't like I grew up thinking want to sell pens for a living or whatever, but I worked in telecom for kind of the corporate job for I guess like 15 years and then I went into a smaller but I was working in telecom and I worked in customer service and then majority of the time in marketing. So I had used promotional products and I always remember the sales rep that would come into our office and I had an event coming up or something that we were planning and I needed to have a giveaway or whatever. And she would come in and she would sit down this huge catalog and she's like, just pick whatever you want. And then she was left, wait a second, one week later, I don't know, all this stuff looks good. And then I'm like I got a theme for my event, like what goes with that. So anyway, then when I was deciding that I kind of wanted to get out of telecom in the corporate world, I decided I wanted to just kind of quit.
Speaker 2:
For a while I did some consulting and then I had a friend that was talking to me and I was like I think I really want to start my own business, but I'm not sure what. And he was a realtor and he's like gift baskets are so awesome, like I can see you making gift baskets. I'm like, ok, I can do gift baskets. So I started. Yeah, it sounded creative and fun and just totally different than what I was doing before. So I did that for a while and then people would be like if I did a coffee basket people would say, oh, we want to put a mug in that has our logo in it. So I started working with a local company to do that and I'm like, oh, I forgot about these promo things. They're really fun.
Speaker 2:
So in the gift basket was very concentrated kind of on the real estate market where promotional items you can talk to anybody about promotional items, everyone likes to use swag. So I just found that I kind of migrated to that. So I kind of did stumble into it. But I had been exposed to it when I was working at marketing in telecom, so I kind of knew a little bit about it. But I also kind of reflected back on that Like I don't want to treat customers like use your catalog, go for it, or we have a million items on our website. So if somebody says, oh, what's your website? And I tell them, but you're like, don't go there yet.
Speaker 2:
You can do that if you're a shopper. Have at it Like some people love doing that. Most people don't have time, so business owners especially.
Speaker 2:
Especially, yeah. So we try to help people figure out, like, what's the right product to reflect your business, what's your budget, kind of what your likes are, or, if you have a specific event, what goes with that. So we try to make it a little bit more customized and try to help them figure it out, because it is overwhelming if you think, hey, you know what, I'll get a pen, I can get a pen with my logo, give it out to everyone, great. And then you go and they're like 10,000 pens and they're different colors and some of them don't work well. So we kind of know, yeah, that's the worst, to give somebody something and it falls apart and they didn't make it, it's not their business.
Speaker 1:
But it reflects on them yeah.
Speaker 2:
So we just try to help them figure it out, which makes it fun for us too, because it's always something a little bit different. But yeah, that's how many years have you been? Doing this 15 was last year was our 15th year. Congratulations, thank you. It's hard to believe I know right.
Speaker 2:
When you start doing the math. But it's also it's funny. It feels like a long time, it feels like I can't remember what I did before this, but then it also feels like it's refreshing, Like it's always. There are always new products coming out. We get to work with a lot of different types of customers, different situations, so it always feels fresh and new, which is a great thing. I never I wake up in the morning I'm like, oh yeah, I get to do this day. It's fun. Like I still think it's really fun.
Speaker 1:
Well, that's so pivotal to be able to stay in it for the long haul. Any business, yes, is to still feel like you love showing up for work.
Speaker 2:
Right, you know, like it's challenging you or you just get some excitement from it in some way, shape or form, whether it's the people you work with or Right, yeah, I feel like we're fortunate and grateful that we have a lot of great customers and clients that we have relationships with and that just, you know, that kind of drives me and inspires me, so that kind of keeps me going. There's some frustrating moments too, I won't lie, but for the most part it's just it's still a really fun business and ever changing, so I think that's what makes it it's not monotonous. You know, we're not doing the same thing every day, so Right Now.
Speaker 1:
how did you start marketing this?
Speaker 2:
I think, one of the biggest things was the chamber, the Loudoun County Chamber. I didn't really know about networking. I didn't really have to do that when I worked my corporate job that much so I wasn't even familiar with that and somebody invited me to a chamber breakfast and I was like oh okay, there's like a hundred some people know is actually intimidating kind of.
Speaker 2:
you know so it. But it kind of bought me out of my comfort zone and I got to meet a lot of people and I think our chamber is just very unique and very supportive and made a lot of friendships through it too. So I think that kind of got started and then I participate in lead chair. I still do that, which is a smaller kind of section, kind of similar to like a B&I.
Speaker 1:
How did you meet your husband by the eye?
Speaker 2:
I met my husband. Someone introduced us.
Speaker 1:
I thought I was like three that working, oh no, Well it was kind of.
Speaker 2:
actually I was, the chamber had some event and I had a table and I normally don't do that very often, but I had a table talking to different people and a mic from Sandy Spring Bank came up and we were talking and stuff and he goes like, oh, I've got this guy in my networking group that does marketing. You know, maybe you guys could kind of help each other out and like, sure, that's, you know, that's fine. So we met and we really clicked like we laughed a lot and I had just gotten divorced, so it was had no interest in dating at that point. But then we and then we started working together because I would like help him with his clients. If they need a promotional stuff, I'd help them out. And then it just kind of developed from there.
Speaker 1:
So different type of one to one, very different. That's awesome, though, okay. So networking has been a big driving factor for business and personal relationship. It's multifaceted. Yeah, yeah, extra bonus.
Speaker 2:
I guess I hadn't planned on that, but whatever, whatever works In terms of like.
Speaker 1:
how do you build such a strong piece of clients Like? What's the secret to long term success? Because networking can help you bring in those clients, but then you've got to do more to like keep them over the years.
Speaker 2:
Right, we stay in contact with them. We do social media, but we also do email blasts and stuff like that kind of on the outside, like kind of keeping in contact with them. But then we call them, we email them. You know I'm always checking to see what they had ordered last time about this time of the year. Check in with them. Hey, do you need how's your inventory or do you want something new?
Speaker 1:
Is this manually? You're going in and doing this stuff, or Some of it is manually.
Speaker 2:
I'm like kind of a little bit old school.
Speaker 1:
Well, I think it's very personal when that's something. Okay, bye, folks, bye.
Speaker 2:
Yeah. So I mean we have Google Sheets, that kind of keep track of how many touch points and who we talk to and stuff like that. But it is all about the relationships and just staying on top of it, staying in contact with them, and you know like I might see a product that works great for a healthcare company. So I'll give them a call and say hey. Or you know, send them a link and say, hey, this looks really cool. Did you think about this, might work for you, or something like that. So it's just those little things. And then I think the networking helps to keep your name out there and people need to kind of keep seeing you. And I kind of stopped doing networking during COVID because I felt like the zoom and I mean I didn't completely stop it, but I kind of pulled back on it. And then I started getting back into it and I had a couple different people say oh, I haven't seen you in a while. I'm like okay, I guess I got a little comfortable with that.
Speaker 1:
I don't think that's a bad thing and the reason why I say that. I think I said that literally too when you walked in today. It's been a while since I've seen you, but I'm in the same boat. I don't network anymore period At all. This is my networking right now.
Speaker 2:
Nice, yeah Well, it's very one-on-one.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I'm doing it my way Right, boarding it. We're going to share it with the world. So then it's this conversation that like blasts it out to a lot of people, that way Sure. We're making good use of our time together, exactly. Yeah, I stepped away from networking myself because time like time commitment, yep the energy, but if it's working, obviously you continue doing it. But I was like how can I network but flip the script?
Speaker 2:
Right. No, this is very unique and I think it works perfectly for you. And I think that's the key is that you have to find what works for you, what works for your time schedule. You know, if you have kids lots of times, you can't make the evening stuff and you just have to figure out what works for you, and I think you have to be out there, but you don't have to be everywhere, that's kind of what you guys do, though right, right, like segue into that.
Speaker 1:
Nice yeah, isn't it? Though, like people that don't want to be there all the time when you've got these products. If it's not, you've physically, in the physical form, like you've got products out there cups, pens. Sorry, I just had to like no, that's good, I need to bring you along with me.
Speaker 2:
That was really good. Well, it is true, Like if I give, say, I give clients a coaster and it sits on their desk and maybe they haven't heard from me for a while or haven't seen me or something like that, but every day they put their couple in that coaster. You know, they think of me and they're like oh you know, I might need some more stuff or I need to talk to Cheryl, or something like that. So I haven't gone that far.
Speaker 1:
I will never go that far actually, yes, I'm going to do that. I'll be like see, cheryl, it works.
Speaker 2:
True, that would be horrible.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and then every time you get a haircut or like change, you have to like update the mugs.
Speaker 2:
But True, yeah, I'll put my like 30 year old picture on the mugs.
Speaker 1:
Oh, so what when you're like six?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, nice.
Speaker 1:
So, in terms of like, why do clients first reach out to you? Like, what is the usually the primary reason of why you guys even started a relationship in the first place?
Speaker 2:
Sure, I think a lot of it is. They have an event coming up and they know they have that table, they have that booth and they need to have something to hand out.
Speaker 1:
It's an opportunity that's presented to them and they want to make the most use of that opportunity.
Speaker 2:
Right. And then also we just have, like we do apparel obviously. So we, you know, people will call and they need to get everyone in their staff and pull their shirts or hoodies or, you know, pats or whatever they want. So it's more kind of lots of times there's a specific need, like, oh, I've got this event and I need something or giving the staff recognition or something. But then a lot of times it's just we need stuff, we need swag, we need to have some things in our car that you know, when we stop in and see someone we do like a little leap behind. And it doesn't have to cost a lot of money. It doesn't have to be something elaborate. It can be, it can be a pen and a notepad, but it's just something that has your name on it. They're going to appreciate that, because everyone likes getting free stuff. And then hopefully it's something practical. We usually try to suggest things that are practical. I mean, sometimes you get the wild idea of something that it's one of the wildest ideas that you've seen somebody do.
Speaker 2:
We have done. We did it's kind of fun, it's not really wild, but we did pickleballs for, but like a couple years ago when it was just starting to get popular, and it's funny because back then we had a hard time finding pickleballs. Now they're everywhere and you can get the paddles. You know you can get the whole thing. But we can also do really custom things. Like one time we had a tech company that their logo is a circle and so we made a stress ball like their logo. So like when I mean typically you'll just put your logo on a stress ball, this had like their whole logo around it. So they were like throwing it around and it's their logo, they're throwing it around. So you can do. You know you can do some really cool custom things. They're kind of overseas and stuff, but those are unique.
Speaker 1:
Do something wild. Do something wild.
Speaker 2:
I have to think about it. Yeah, that practical side of me kind of comes out. Well, you do a little bit of that consulting.
Speaker 1:
When you're working with business owners, you're like, let's not, let's make it crazy yeah.
Speaker 2:
Well, that's the thing is, if you do anything, that's you know it is cool to have something, that's fun and everything, but you know you give it away and then they take it home and they give it to their kid and they play with, or yeah, it goes in a drawer or it's trash or something. So for that moment it's cool and they get it and they think it's cool. But then long term you know it's gone, it's out of mind.
Speaker 1:
Then it's out of mind my head if I put my face on the mug.
Speaker 2:
You're really into putting your face on there?
Speaker 1:
Well, he's like no, Sorry, continue.
Speaker 2:
No, that's OK, I'm going to have to make up a mug with your face on it at this point.
Speaker 1:
You look like what the heck is this, sharla? You're like. You told me about this idea.
Speaker 2:
You wanted this, you needed this. So, anyway, we do try to find things that are practical, like people actually use and will keep for a long time, like something simple, like Chapstick, like everyone uses it that's something to consider too Like men, women, kids, year round, the hand sanitizer was really in.
Speaker 1:
Those were really in A few years.
Speaker 2:
They're still popular because people are still conscious of that, and we did have them before COVID. We did them as well, not as much as we did during COVID, but so things like that that are handy, useful, I feel like are really important. But I also feel like people think of promotional items, as the Chachki stuff, and it is, there's no doubt. But we also have, like, we have Toomey bags. We have Nike hats, toomey the brand name bags, leather portfolios.
Speaker 1:
We have a range of so if you want to spend A little higher end products by somebody it's impressed by, when they're like ooh Right exactly this is really nice.
Speaker 2:
And yeah, so we have. If you want to spend $0.50 or you want to spend $500, there's a whole range of things and I think that's why it's important we always talk to the customer about what your budget and also, what are you trying to? Are you trying to impress them with that retail brand? Because that seems to be a real popular trend in our industry is Yeti cups and getting all of the different retail. Like, if you go in a store and you see a Nike shirt, we can probably get that. So a lot of people.
Speaker 1:
By the way, I'm sorry to interrupt you. By the way, I'm not a tax professional, but I do know from speaking to an IRS auditor that if your name is on the product it is a different. You can write it off in a different manner than if you just give a gift Because it now goes under the marketing expense versus Talk to your tax person about this. It goes under the marketing expense because it's got your name on the product versus I'm just buying an Nike T-shirt and gifting it to you as a present.
Speaker 2:
True, that does make sense. Yeah, I mean, I know for us we always put it under marketing expense whenever we get something that has our logo on it. So, yeah, that's a big difference. Good point, though, yeah.
Speaker 1:
There you go. It's a great thing to sell that when you're stopping it.
Speaker 2:
I need to know that right, all these notes. You're talking to business owners.
Speaker 1:
You're like hey, you're going to be giving holiday gifts anyways, but your logo on it. And now they're not holiday gifts, they are marketing. It's much easier if you ever got audited when you're like, this has got our logo on it. It is now a marketing expense, marketing expense, yeah, again not a tax Advisor or professional. I'm just saying that for legal purposes it's a good tip, but after having a conversation with an IRS auditor that is how they would at least a specific auditor could easily say yes, that's a marketing expense Interesting Same.
Speaker 2:
I have to keep that up here.
Speaker 1:
So business owners don't get any of this information until after the fact. True, so when us professionals can come in and say, hey, as we're thinking about holiday gifts, as we're thinking about giving away items or representing your business and brand, keep that in mind that when you're spending $5,000 on XYZ products, you're not just gifting people stuff. This is also part of your marketing. Marketing program yeah, that will be categorized as such.
Speaker 2:
Right.
Speaker 1:
Because you're working with us, because we're going to put your name and logo on it.
Speaker 2:
That's true. Yeah, we went through this last year really kind of fine tuning how we categorize things like in QuickBooks for expenses, and it helps our bottom line a lot. So that stuff's important. Just one of the many things that you have to work on.
Speaker 1:
What would you say to a potential client, just to kind of like wrap this up, if you were talking to somebody who was a business owner, what are some of the top three to four things that you say to them? Besides, keep it practical.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I mostly try to find out from them what's your purpose Like? What are you trying to accomplish? Are you just having something to hand out? Do you have a specific purpose for it? Do you have a specific look for it? Obviously, what's your budget? So it's more kind of trying to find out from them what they're looking for. But then I can go back and or discuss with them at the point some ideas for them so that they don't, you know, have to look through a bunch of stuff and I can make it more kind of tailored and customized for them. So I think it's really trying to understand what their needs are.
Speaker 1:
What I love about you you're such a not soft-spoken, but you're not a. You don't feel like a, the typical salesperson where you're gonna be pushing products towards somebody. That's not a good fit. If anything, you would be the person that's like yeah, I know, don't get that, I do that.
Speaker 2:
I'm like you don't want that, it's not gonna work, you're not gonna be happy, yeah, and even if it's like between a couple things and one thing's more expensive, obviously, which would make more money for me, but something else is less, but it really makes more sense for them, I would do that. So I never consider myself a salesperson.
Speaker 1:
I, you're a consultant Advisor?
Speaker 2:
Yeah yeah, I mean, I think it's all about relationships too. We have relationships with our customers and it's I don't ever feel like when I'm sitting like this with a client, I don't ever really feel like I'm selling anything. I'm just trying to help them figure out what they need to do, to help kind of boost their marketing efforts. So I never and if you know, like growing up or going to college and everything I would never like pick sales at all. What did you?
Speaker 1:
Because I am a quiet what did you want to do growing up?
Speaker 2:
Oh, when I was little, probably, I wanted to be a veterinarian.
Speaker 1:
You wanted to help whether it was animals or people.
Speaker 2:
I guess. So yeah. Yeah, I mean, I do like helping people and it feels good, you know, so yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1:
I love it. So basically, what you would do sitting in front of somebody is figure out what they need before you even have a conversation about how you might be able to help them.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely Like if I go meet a new client I will bring items that I think that they might like, because sometimes you don't know until you see it. But first off I need to kind of understand where they're at and what their plans are and what they kind of, what they're looking for, their objective, I guess, and then you know I can pull out and say, does this work? And then I can also suggest other things. It's not like I can bring everything in this one little bag, but I do. You can wear it, yes.
Speaker 1:
It's a nice shirt, thank you I really do like this shirt. I was going to say it looks very, very nice, it's a Nojiya. I don't know, it's a brand.
Speaker 2:
I really love.
Speaker 1:
I know no brands. Some of my daughter comes and tells me Mom, can I have this? I'm like what the heck? Why is that $100 more than this other thing she's like?
Speaker 2:
well, it's a brand, it's yeah, exactly, some people are really into brands and that kind of gives them recognition when they give, like you say, a Nike shirt versus you know whatever Cool factor.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah, that makes a big difference.
Speaker 2:
But it also makes a big difference in price. If you want that little swoosh, you're going to pay for it, but maybe that's important to you.
Speaker 1:
We can't iron those on for you.
Speaker 2:
Oh, tried that. It doesn't work well, it's about the legal thing. I don't know.
Speaker 1:
Well, you showed up at our door. Thank you so much for having this conversation.
