FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 14, 2012
For more information, contact:
Greg Ebel, 4imprint
920-236-7272, ext. 8396

Personal Productivity at Work: Are You Task-sloppy or Time-savvy?
4imprint® Presents Latest Blue Paper® and Podcast

(OSHKOSH, Wis.) – Your email inbox is overflowing. A colleague requests your contribution to a brainstorming session on a project you’re not assigned to. And your cubicle neighbor wants to talk about their weekend plans. Is it any wonder that you can’t get any work done? This month’s Blue Paper and podcast from promotional products retailer 4imprint, Personal productivity at work: Are you task-sloppy or time-savvy?, offers doable solutions to the distractions and bad habits endemic in the modern workplace.

With nearly every employer running a lean operation these days, personal productivity is more vital than ever. The Blue Paper, 4imprint’s version of a white paper, compiles the strategies of professional productivity gurus to manage the constant challenges that hinder efficient workflow.

“The tips and tricks in this Blue Paper can be applied by almost any employee in an office setting, from support staff to the CEO,” says Greg Ebel, vice president of sales and marketing for 4imprint. “If you are looking for some time-saving habits that could help you become more efficient in the workplace, the ideas in this Blue Paper could be just what you are looking for.”

The Blue Paper and podcast offers strategies for seven common personal productivity challenges and concludes with a suggestion for conducting a personal time audit. Topics include:
• Email inbox management
• Social media distractions
• Useful (and not-so-useful) to-do lists
• Silencing the office chatterbox
• And more!

To read this Blue Paper, or download the podcast, visit www.4imprint.com/bluepapers.

About 4imprint Blue Papers
4imprint Blue Papers are in-depth, how-to articles, distributed to 4imprint customers to help their organizations succeed. Accessible at www.4imprint.com/bluepapers, Blue Papers have covered popular, cutting-edge topics such as podcasting, online social media, search engine optimization (SEO) and experiential marketing.

About 4imprint
4imprint is part of 4imprint Group, Plc, a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange, serving more than 100,000 businesses with promotional items throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland. 4imprint offers corporate gifts, personalized gifts, custom t-shirts, promotional pens, travel mugs, tote bags, water bottles, Post-it® Notes, custom calendars, custom shirts and much more. For additional information, visit www.4imprint.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10, 2012
For more information contact:
Greg Ebel, 4imprint
920-236-7272, ext. 8396

2012 Promotional Products Person of the Year: Honor Reflects 4imprint Team

(Oshkosh, Wis.) – 4imprint’s leader has been named 2012 Person of the Year in the promotional products industry. The Counselor magazine, a promotional products trade publication, honored 4imprint President Kevin Lyons-Tarr at an event Wednesday night.

“Personally, I love it when this award ends up going to someone with the foresight to seize a game-changing trend – and the skills to parlay it into a whole new way of doing business,” said Tim Andrews, ASI’s president and CEO, in announcing Lyons-Tarr as the Person of the Year. “I’m talking about Kevin Lyons-Tarr – a direct marketing visionary with a personal touch. It’s clear nobody does the Internet better than 4imprint.”

The magazine cites 4imprint’s 36% growth over the last two years and its online strategy among the reasons for the selection. 4imprint is currently the nation’s 5th largest promotional products distributor, according to ASI.

“This honor reflects the spirit and efforts of our entire team,” Lyons-Tarr said. “Every time we interact with someone – a customer, another team member, a vendor partner – we try to make that interaction a success. When you work with an entire team that shares that approach, good things happen.”

In the eight years Lyons-Tarr has led 4imprint, building and maintaining that ‘do the right thing’ culture has been a top priority. For the last four years, the company has been honored as a Great Place to Work®.

“Our entire team works hard to make this a place where people succeed,” Lyons-Tarr said. “It’s a tribute to our team’s work when those efforts are noticed.”

About 4imprint
4imprint is part of 4imprint Group, Plc, a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange, serving more than 100,000 businesses with promotional items throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland. 4imprint offers corporate gifts, personalized gifts, custom T-shirts, promotional pens, travel mugs, tote bags, water bottles, Post-it® Notes, custom calendars, custom shirts and much more. For additional information, visit www.4imprint.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 3, 2012
For more information, contact:
Greg Ebel, 4imprint
920-236-7272, ext. 8396

4imprint’s Newest Blue Paper and Podcast Looks at Latest Trends in Business Blogging

(OSHKOSH, Wis.) – This year, blogging will celebrate its 15th anniversary. With hundreds of millions of blogs in existence, readers have different expectations and blogging platforms have more capabilities and nearly 200 million blogs in existence, businesses continue to ask how they can get their blog to perform optimally and stand out from the rest.

The newest Blue Paper® and podcast from promotional products retailer 4imprint®, entitled Benefits of Blogging for Business, takes an updated look at business blogs and the importance of having a strategy in place to fully utilize the content you are creating.

4imprint’s latest Blue Paper on blogging complements Blogging for Beginners (2008) and Intermediate Blogging (2010) and provides updated information on the kinds of content people are looking for in blogs and what platform capabilities are currently available that may have seemed out of reach in the past.

“Blogging is an important marketing and communications channel for many businesses,” explains Greg Ebel, vice president of marketing for 4imprint. “As blogging continues to evolve, this Blue Paper and podcast provides current insight on blogging for business in today’s world.”

4imprint has compiled research on building and maintaining a blog for your business, including:

• What platforms are available for building a blog
• Effective editorial calendar development
• Tactics for keeping your blog relevant

To download the Blue Paper, visit www.4imprint.com/bluepapers.

About 4imprint Blue Papers
4imprint Blue Papers are in-depth, how-to articles, distributed to 4imprint customers to help their organizations succeed. Accessible at www.4imprint.com/bluepapers, Blue Papers have covered popular, cutting-edge topics such as podcasting, online social media, search engine optimization (SEO) and experiential marketing.

About 4imprint
4imprint is part of 4imprint Group, Plc, a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange, serving more than 100,000 businesses with promotional items throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland. 4imprint offers corporate gifts, personalized gifts, custom t-shirts, promotional pens, travel mugs, tote bags, water bottles, Post-it® Notes, custom calendars, custom shirts and much more. For additional information, visit www.4imprint.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 24, 2012
For more information contact:
Greg Ebel, 4imprint
920-236-7272, ext. 8396

4imprint® Announces More Than $30,000 in In-Kind Grants and Donations to Nonprofits

(OSHKOSH, Wis.) – Through its one by one® philanthropic giving program, promotional products retailer 4imprint donated more than $30,000 in promotional items to more than 50 nonprofit organizations and charities throughout the United States and Canada in the first quarter of 2012.

In the spirit of 4imprint’s commitment to customers and community, the one by one program aims to help charities boost awareness for their organizations, reach customers, promote events, thank key audiences and much more through $500 in-kind donations of promotional products. The program also offered many donations of product samples to community organizations to use to further their cause.

“The organizations that received these one by one grants are doing important work in their communities,” explained Kevin Lyons-Tarr, 4imprint president. “It is inspiring to see the impact they are making and we are honored to play a small part.”

4imprint is accepting applications for its 2012 one by one program online at http://onebyone.4imprint.com. Any 501(c) 3 organization, registered Canadian charity, school or religious organization is encouraged to apply. Interested organizations are asked to submit applications a minimum of two (2) months before items will be used, to allow time for application processing and product delivery.

2012 one by one™ recipients to date include:

ANE Pediatric Stroke Foundation, Fort Worth, Texas
Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Asheville, N.C.
United Methodist Care Team, Bismarck, Ark.
The Arc/Morris, Morris Plains, N.J.
ARCS: AIDS-Related Community Services, Hawthorne, N.Y.
Arthritis Foundation – Hawaii Branch, Honolulu, Hawaii
Bosma Visionary Opportunities Foundation, Indianapolis, Ind.
Boys & Girls Clubs of North Mississippi, Tupelo, Miss.
Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama, Birmingham, Ala.
Camp Blue Skies Foundation, Charlotte, N.C.
Camp Encourage, Kansas City, Mo.
Chautauqua Striders, Inc., Jamestown, N.Y.
The Children’s Ability Fund, Edmonton, Alberta
Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre – West Toronto, Ontario
CAAFA: Community Alliance Against Family Abuse, Apache Junction, Ariz.
Concordia University, Irvine, Calif.
Cure 4 The Kids Foundation, Las Vegas, Nev.
Dorchester Children’s Center – Children in Crisis – Summerville, S.C.
Exceptional Care for Children, Newark, Del.
Families for HoPE Inc. – Crandon, Wis.
FHNB: Fishing has No Boundaries, Madison, Wis.
Food for Thought Project, Inc., Cumming, Ga.
Frederick County Foster Adoptive Parent Assoc., Monrovia, Md.
The Gbomai Bestman Foundation, Silver Spring, Minn.
Great Plains LIFE Foundation, Normal, Ill.
Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County, MD, Gaithersburg, Md.
Honor Flight Buffalo, Buffalo, N.Y.
International Pemphigus Pemphigoid Foundation, Sacramento, Calif.
Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation, Charlotte, N.C.
The Laurel Center, Winchester, Va.
Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, New York, N.Y.
Middletown Special Olympics/ Middletown City School, Middletown, Ohio
Montgomery Hospital Foundation, Norristown, Penn.
Muscular Dystrophy Association of Southern Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.
New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance, Middleboro, Mass.
Newport County Community Mental Health Center, Middletown, R.I.
Ogden-Weber Tech College Foundation, Ogden, Utah
Operation Fuel, Inc., Bloomfield, Conn.
Pawsitive Works, Bonners Ferry, Idaho
Pentucket Regional High School, Merrimac, Mass.
Project Lazarus, Moravian Falls, N.C.
Red Paw Emergency Relief Team, Philadelphia, Penn.
Reel Expectation Foundation, Dover, Del.
S.A. Independent Living Services, San Antonio, Texas
Safe Kids Gwinnett, Lawrenceville, Ga.
Skyline Drive Preservation, Inc., Rapid City, S.D.
Special Olympics Brookings, Brookings, S.D.
St. Agnes Parish, Green Bay, Wis.
Students for Safe Water, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
Volunteers of America of Kentucky Inc., Louisville, Ky.
Wrapped in Love Foundation, Inc., Bridgeville, Penn.
YMCA Lancaster, Lancaster, Penn.
YouthCARE, Minneapolis, Minn.
Zero, The Project to End Prostate Cancer, Washington, DC

About 4imprint’s one by one program
one by one is the charitable giving program of 4imprint. Now in its sixth year, 4imprint’s one by one program supports nonprofits with IRS-approved 501(c)3 status or Canadian-registered charities, religious organizations and accredited schools. Since the program began, the promotional products retailer has awarded nearly $827,000 in promotional products grants to nonprofit organizations.

About 4imprint
4imprint is part of 4imprint Group, Plc, a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange, and serves more than 100,000 businesses with its innovative promotional items throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland. Its product offerings include corporate gifts, personalized gifts, custom shirts, promotional pens, travel mugs, tote bags, water bottles, Post-it Notes®, custom calendars and much more. For additional information, log on to www.4imprint.com.

In only a couple of weeks, May 7-11, Teacher Appreciation Week will be celebrated at schools across the country.  It is an opportunity to say “Thank You” to teachers, staff, and volunteers for the work they do all year long.  Whether educating children or adults, from elementary school to secondary to graduate programs, teachers show commitment, patience and caring to their students to ensure they receive the best education available to them.  It is important to take time to thank teachers and educators, so they know that they are appreciated and the work they do matters.  Do something meaningful and special that they will remember, such as sponsoring a light breakfast with coffee, tea, and fruit or offering a gift of something they can enjoy in their personal time, such as golf or gardening.  It doesn’t take much, but a simple “thank you” can mean the world and shows that you recognize the talent it takes to guide our leaders of tomorrow.

Are you ready for square beverage bottles? Turns out the square-sided sports bottle is so much more than eye-catching.

• Square bottles actually hold more liquid than round bottles of the same height and width.
• The square shape actually allows for a more efficient use of storage space. This is valuable for both shipping and storing.
• Square sports bottles are stackable, and they don’t roll.

According to the design and environmental blog Inhabit, designer Andrew Kim developed this biodegradable concept bottle to show the impact Coca-Cola® could have simply by changing the shape of its bottle design.

This design change is coming to promotional products as well. Here’s the first example: Our exclusive PolySure Squared-Up Sport Bottle. The 24-ounce promotional water bottle comes in vibrant colors, both translucent and opaque.

The trend towards square shapes in sports bottles is still pretty new. So, be square. Your promotional items will really stand out from your competitors.

-Suzanne

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 12, 2012
For more information, contact:
Greg Ebel, 4imprint
920-236-7272, ext. 8396

Plan, Promote and Party:
A Beginner’s Guide to Planning Internal Company Events
4imprint Presents Latest Blue Paper™ and Podcast

(OSHKOSH, Wis.) – There’s no doubt about it: Planning internal company events is a challenging and time-consuming task. Well-planned events may re-launch a brand, educate a staff, build camaraderie and reward employees for a job well done. Poorly planned events, on the other hand, waste precious company resources and may actually hurt morale. This month’s Blue Paper and podcast from promotional products retailer 4imprint entitled, Plan, promote and party: A beginner’s guide to planning internal company events, provides in-depth guidance for anyone charged with pulling off a successful internal gathering.

With employee time and company resources at stake, businesses can’t afford to approach an internal event without a strong planning team, clear goals and an action plan. The Blue Paper, 4imprint’s version of a white paper, compiles the wisdom and experience of numerous expert event and meeting planners with additional resources to help internal event planning committees form a strategy to get the most value—for both employees and employer—out of a company event.
“Internal company events—from training sessions to team building to employee appreciation—are necessary for any business or organization,” says Kevin Lyons-Tarr, president for 4imprint. “This Blue Paper presents a strategic approach to planning business events and meetings that keeps company objectives in mind.”
The Blue Paper and podcast provide a step-by-step approach to planning an internal company event, including:
• Forming an event planning team
• Setting event goals and a budget
• Developing an action plan
• Promoting the event
• And more!
To read this Blue Paper, or download the podcast, visit www.4imprint.com/bluepapers.

About 4imprint Blue Papers
4imprint Blue Papers are in-depth, how-to articles, distributed to 4imprint customers to help their organizations succeed. Accessible at www.4imprint.com/bluepapers, Blue Papers have covered popular, cutting-edge topics such as podcasting, online social media, search engine optimization (SEO) and experiential marketing.

About 4imprint
4imprint is part of 4imprint Group, Plc, a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange, serving more than 100,000 businesses with promotional items throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland. 4imprint offers corporate gifts, personalized gifts, custom t-shirts, promotional pens, travel mugs, tote bags, water bottles, Post-it® Notes, custom calendars, custom shirts and much more. For additional information, visit www.4imprint.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 5, 2012
For more information, contact:
Greg Ebel, 4imprint
920-236-7272, ext. 8396

Gone But Not Forgotten: Better Employee Exits
4imprintTM Blue PaperTM and podcast discuss making the most of employee turnover

(OSHKOSH, Wis.) – Turnover is costly. Between lost productivity and recruitment costs, employee attrition is bad news for the bottom line. But forward-thinking employers don’t just shrug and move on when an employee leaves. They use it an as opportunity for growth.

That’s the message behind “Better exits: Making the most of employee turnover,” the latest Blue Paper and podcast from 4imprint. Blue Papers (4imprint’s version of a white paper) provide business insight culled from leading industry sources, including business books, human resource journals and mainstream news outlets.

“Employee turnover is something that every business has to deal with,” says Greg Ebel, vice president of sales and marketing for 4imprint. “This Blue Paper provides insights on how companies can leverage employee turnover and turn it into a learning and growing experience.”

The Blue Paper focuses primarily on employee exit interviews and how to gather honest feedback from departing employees. If the company can identify the challenges—internal or external—that drive attrition, it can make an informed plan of action for addressing those hurdles and limit future turnover.

Beyond exit interviews, the Blue Paper presents the idea of corporate alumni networks, and shares how other organizations are using them to win back former employees and drive down recruitment costs.
To read this Blue Paper, or download the podcast, visit www.4imprint.com/bluepapers.

About 4imprint Blue Papers
4imprint Blue Papers are in-depth, how-to articles, distributed to 4imprint customers to help their organizations succeed. Accessible at www.4imprint.com/bluepapers, Blue Papers have covered popular, cutting-edge topics such as podcasting, online social media, search engine optimization (SEO) and experiential marketing.

About 4imprint
4imprint is part of 4imprint Group, Plc, a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange, serving more than 100,000 businesses with promotional items throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland. 4imprint offers corporate gifts, personalized gifts, custom t-shirts, promotional pens, travel mugs, tote bags, water bottles, Post-it® Notes, custom calendars, custom shirts and much more. For additional information, visit www.4imprint.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 4, 2012
For more information, contact:
Greg Ebel, 4imprint
920-236-7272, ext. 8396

4imprint’s newest Blue Paper and Podcast
Offers Tools for Creating a Culture of Candor

(OSHKOSH, Wis.) – When it comes to honesty in the workplace, many people subscribe to the theory that if you don’t have anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all. Yet some say everyone needs to stop biting their tongues; those quiet conversations happening outside of meetings contain nuggets of information essential to company success. To identify issues before they affect the bottom line, experts say organizations should strive to create transparency in the workplace. How do you create transparency? Learn that and more helpful tips in the latest Blue Paper™ and podcast from promotional products retailer 4imprintTM, “Spare the messenger: how creating a business culture of candor paves the way to success.”

“Creating a culture of candor has been a hot topic of discussion for businesses,” says Greg Ebel, vice president of sales and marketing for 4imprint. “This Blue Paper and podcast dives into what a culture of candor is all about and how to create that kind of environment in a workplace.”

By creating a culture of candor, businesses can identify weaknesses within their organization, proactively forge solutions to problems and foresee opportunities for growth. 4imprint has compiled research on creating transparency in business, including:
• the risks associated with controlling the flow of information
• how a culture of candor can benefit businesses, beyond legal compliance
• practical steps for encouraging honesty in the workplace, as well as compassionate candor
• how to protect truth-tellers in your organization so they feel comfortable sharing information
• the popularity of social media, and its role in company candor

To read this Blue Paper, or download the podcast, visit www.4imprint.com/bluepapers.

About 4imprint Blue Papers
4imprint Blue Papers are in-depth, how-to articles, distributed to 4imprint customers to help their organizations succeed. Accessible at www.4imprint.com/bluepapers, Blue Papers have covered popular, cutting-edge topics such as podcasting, online social media, search engine optimization (SEO) and experiential marketing.

About 4imprint
4imprint is part of 4imprint Group, Plc, a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange, serving more than 100,000 businesses with promotional items throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland. 4imprint offers corporate gifts, personalized gifts, custom t-shirts, promotional pens, travel mugs, tote bags, water bottles, Post-it® Notes, custom calendars, custom shirts and much more. For additional information, visit www.4imprint.com.

Tech giveaways can be tricky, if you have a limited budget.  There are lots of great tech options for business gifts and employee incentives.  But, finding a tech giveaway that is affordable enough to hand out in a larger quantity can be challenging.  (Screen sweeps are an obvious exception!)

But, every now and then, a really useful and inexpensive tech giveaway comes along.  The latest is an easy-to-use MP3 player or smartphone stand.  This one is called the iWrench.

If this is something that would appeal to your customers, prospects, employees or volunteers, check out the Ear Bud Buddy (coming soon to 4imprint).  Like the iWrench, these promotional products work as an easel for your MP3 player or smartphone.  The Ear Bud Buddy also conveniently holds the ear buds used with the device.

Your logo is imprinted along the edge of the Ear Bud Buddy, which means your organization will be top of mind every time someone pulls out their ear buds.

-Suzanne