CentralZone Winter 2014-2015

www.DistributorCentral.com

The FREE centralized database serving Distributors and Suppliers of the Promotional Product Industry Issue: #006 / DCID: #1329866

WINTER 2014/2015

Elite Class of Suppliers Considered "Platinum" The familiar bold, circular arrow on the logo designating DC Platinum Suppliers tells only part of the story.

websites, printed catalogs, email blasts and elsewhere are part of a select group to have earned such distinction.

Platinum Suppliers as designated by DistributorCentral represent an elite group. This is not a designation given away simply for designation’s sake.

Distributors can be assured DC Platinum Suppliers abide by the highest standards in customer service and with a strong commitment to distributor-based sales channels.

“Our Platinum Suppliers are held in high esteem because much is expected of them,” said Tiffany Tarr, Vice President Sales of DistributorCentral. “We’re always pleased when suppliers elevate their involvement in DC in order to best serve their customers.”

The Platinum Supplier emblem gives indication of a commitment to quality and service.

Companies displaying the DC Platinum Supplier badge on

Platinum Suppliers in DC demonstrate a commitment to provide and maintain accurate product information and to honor all pricing. Their commitment to distributors is demonstrated by providing strong e-commerce tools and having been acknowledged in the industry for providing outstanding customer service.

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Winter 2014/15 // Issue #006 // DCID: #1329866

ADVERTISING Tiffany Tarr

TTarr@DistributorCentral.com 888-516-7358

CONTENT

Steve Hale

SHale@DistributorCentral.com 888-516-7234

SUPPORT / SALES DistributorCentral

info@DistributorCentral.com 888-516-7401 Brought to you by:

1200 Energy Center Drive • Gardner, KS 66030 www.DistributorCentral.com © Copyright 2015. DistributorCentral, LLC. All rights reserved.

ASTOR CHOCOLATE

DC Included in regionals' TOM Show 2015 circuit Participating promotional products associations have pumped up and expanded the traveling regional TOM Show in 2015. DistributorCentral’s Tiffany Tarr is an integral part of the picture.

The TOM Show hits the road starting on January 19 in Indianapolis. It concludes nine days and seven shows later in Kansas City. Participating regionals include the TriState Promotional Professionals Association (TSPPA), Ohio Promotional Products Association (OPPA), Michigan Promotional Products Association (MiPPA) and Promotional Products Association Midwest (PPAM).

Fresh from national shows in Orlando and Las Vegas, TOM Show exhibitors will be assured of having plenty of new products to show, 2015 catalogs and product samples. The TOM Show is free for promotional products distributors.

The program offerings at each TOM Show stop include a presentation by Tiffany Tarr, CAS, and VP of Sales at DistributorCentral. Tiffany, who was recently included in PPB magazine’s list of the rising industry stars, will speak on “Free Technology Tools for Distributors” with an emphasis on increasing productivity and profitability.

The 2015 TOM Show schedule is as follows, with exhibits open from 9am to 1 pm: • January 19: Indianapolis (TSPPA) • January 23: Detroit (MiPPA) • January 20: Cincinnati (TSPPA) • January 27: St. Louis (PPAM) • January 21: Columbus (OPPA) • January 28: Kansas City (PPAM) • January 22: Cleveland (OPPA) For information and registration, visit www.thetomexperience.com.

Welcome to DistributorCentral

These suppliers found plenty of good reasons to join DistributorCentral in 2014  Aventa  Awards ETC  Bagzazz  Belle Mar  Big Dog Buttons  Bondi Band  BuyPrintedDiscs  Captain Foods  Century Place Apparel  Coaster Factory  Crown Engraving  Crystal Impression  Devara  Discount Labels  DryCase

 Enduraline  Epoly  Formgraphics  Gempire  Gifts Import  Gordon Sinclair  High Tech Grafix  Howw MFG  Identification Plates  Idol Memory  ImprintID  Keyscraper  Logo Mats  Meetings Direct  Milestone Recognition

 MLS  Panda Pencil  POP! Promos  Presentation Folder  PromoBiz USA  ProRose  Providence Emblem  Puzzled  Riteline  Rivers Promo  Select Manufactures  Showdown Displays  Simba Cal  Sirsproly Gel Pads  Smart Go Logo

 Stop N Go  Stromberg  Suntex  Sweet Nut Tree  Techtron  Towel Specialities  Truebite  Vitabri Canopies  Webb Co  YOLO LLC  Zorrel  ZZ Promo

DistributorCentral sees over 2 million product searches per month across more than 10,000 distributor websites and DC’s internal catalog. Contact DC today! 888-516-7401

Winter 2014–2015 \\ Issue #006

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A

s promotional products distributors bask in the reflective spirit of a new year, one question comes to the forefront: What can I do to improve profits?

Ahhh, but we all do think alike. At DistributorCenteral – where “free” and “open” are at the root of this industry’s premiere product search platform – all efforts focus on helping distributors save time and money.

What gives DC the edge is knowing suppliers are in on the game. Unlike other product platforms, DistributorCentral allows suppliers total access to their products and pricing. As obvious as that might sound, this is unique to the industry. Suppliers using DC agree to keep their products and prices updated so distributors are assured of having accurate data without having to verify or backtrack during the selling process.

So, yes, Virginia, there is a one-stop shop where distributors can save time and money in 2015. That’s to use DistributorCentral exclusively for product search, web hosting and order management. With all the tools necessary to be successful in this competitive industry, DC offers a full package of services from a single, time- and money-saving platform.

FULFILLMENT ACCOUNT PRICE COMPARISONS

DC has a quick and easy-to-use compare page for products you have added into your Fulfillment Account? To compare, use the “Add Similar From Supplier Product” link.

This makes it easy to compare the pricing of your Fulfillment products to the Supplier’s current pricing in DistributorCentral, where you can then update the price if necessary.

To access this tool, login to your Fulfillment Account and then go to: Products > Advanced Features > Compare pricing On Products Copied From Suppliers.

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Winter 2014–2015 // Issue #006

NO MORE FREIGHT FRIGHT

Nailing down shipping costs is actually simple and easy. Accurate freight rates can be calculated in advance using real-time data from shipping providers and incorporating internal product and packing standards. The more data and variables plugged into the equation, the more precise the quote.

When placing orders through DistributorCentral, distributors save time and eliminate the uncertainty that causes buyers to balk. The DC Freight Calculator tool allows distributors to provide customers with shipping discounts or free shipping on selected products or special offers. The freight tool is automatically integrated with DC-hosted websites and can be integrated into custom third-party websites.

BE QUICK WITH THE BOOKS

DistributorCentral helps distributors save money on bookkeeping. By using DC to manage day-today financial matter and Quickbooks only for the big picture, you take advantage of a free service that’s easy to use and to integrate with existing bookkeeping systems.

GREAT GOOGLE!

DistributorCentral gives its PRO-level distributors the chance to boost sales with the Google Product Export Feature. This feature exports the products from DC into a format you can add to your Google Webmaster account, thus making those products available in the Shopping section of Google.

Once Google has received and approved your products, it will become part of the search results when people use Google’s Product Search Tool. When visitors click on products in Google’s Product Search Results they will be directed to your website where they can purchase those products.

Want more detail and to learn how to enable?

Visit DC’s blog at blog.distributorcentral.com

FREE AND EASY EMAIL

You already know DC provides free domain name hosting for websites created in DistributorCentral. Did you know DC will also host your email at no charge?

You can have as many email accounts and addresses as you like (up to 5 at no charge). Let’s say you have ten employees. In DC you can set each one up with their own mailbox. Also consider: • Emails can be automatically forwarded to a current email account (Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, etc.)

• Configure desktop email applications (i.e. Outlook, Windows, Mac, etc.) to check your email.

• Configure mobile devices to check your email.

REORDER REMINDERS

Often it only takes a bit of a nudge to produce a sale. DC’s Reorder Reminder feature allows distributors to quickly send customers “reorder reminder notices” for orders they have placed from your website or that you’ve placed for them using your DC account. It’s a great way to keep customers aware of your services and products.

DC-hosted websites can also include a reorder link when customers log in to your website. The link displays alongside each of their orders and, once clicked, will allow them to simply create a reorder from their previous purchase. Customers can review and adjust the order if necessary.

COMPARE AND PREPARE

Be sure to make use of the “Compare” feature DC offers while doing product searches. Here you can easily see a line-up of pricing, size and materials options for specific product lines.

The “Compare” feature also allows you to create collections, develop an email flyer and present quotes for multiple products. You can also create a custom catalog or collection to add to your DC website. continued on page 10 »

« continued from page 9

SELECT YOUR SUPPLIERS

We all have our favorites. Suppliers included.

DC makes it easy for distributors to specify which suppliers’ products to display on their websites. When creating Preferred Supplier Catalogs, you can select suppliers whose products you would like to display. Or, flip things to exclude certain suppliers’ products from being displayed on your site.

Perhaps you’d like to assemble a collection of themed or supplier-specific products to present to buyers. DC gives you the ability to do that and post the collection on your website.

PUMP UP YOUR SEARCH

To further enhance your product searches, DC has a robust extended search function that, in addition to searching our standard catalogs, simultaneously searches across thousands of supplier virtual catalogs, email blasts and supplier websites. We now search across VideoFarm videos, too. With a single search you can broaden your query to include these important product information and supplier specials resources.

It’s like having your own team of product research specialists at your fingertips!

Questions? Need more ideas? Call or Click to reach DistributorCentral

info@distributorcentral.com | 888-516-7401

Finding Distributors…and business!

Supplier and multi-line reps benefit from new DC Feature It happens to supplier and multiline road warriors all the time: plane lands, you grab the rental car and drive around a city visiting a handful of key accounts. What if you had a quick way to find ALL industry distributors within a few miles of your immediate location?

DistributorCentral’s “Find Distributors Near Me” feature is a quick way to check out a new area and find contact information for nearby distributors. You’re now in a position to pick up a new account or two of which you weren’t previously aware.

“As a quick reference tool DC’s Find Distributors Near Me feature saves time and allows our reps to visit more key accounts during a regional visit,” said Megan Zezzo, National Account Representative

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Winter 2014–2015 // Issue #006

for industry supplier, Jetline (UPIC: jetline). “It has also excelled as a research tool, allowing me to quickly find new distributors in areas

where we are looking to increase market share.”

David Shultz, VicePresident of Operations for DistributorCentral said the new feature – like other popular DC features – resulted from a five-minute conversation with a supplier.

“In this case a casual conversation initiated a rather simple development effort that led to a new feature,” Shultz said. “It’s resulted in immediate benefits for our users.”

Whether you need of a map or driving directions to your existing clients or you’re researching leads in a given area, DC’s tool can help you work smarter and more efficiently.

Suppliers, what are you waiting for? If your products are listed with DC you already have access to this free tool. Give it a try today!

Visit DC at the EXPO! Attending the 2015 PPAI Expo in Las Vegas starting January 11?

DistributorCentral will be there with a full slate of fun and worthwhile activities in store.

Stop by Booth #1983 to learn more about our free tools for distributors and suppliers; from a full suite of product research and presentation tools to robust, eCommerce-enabled website hosting to our order management tools. Count on DC to help you leverage our technology solutions to boost your business.

If you’re a DC PRO user, or interested in learning what it means to Go PRO, stop by Booth #1983 on Tuesday to pick up a wristband.

That’s your ticket to our popular networking event that takes place at the RíRá Irish Pub starting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan 13.

On Wednesday starting at 3 p.m., DC hosts happy hour in our booth. Simply follow the trail of green cups and join us for conversation and libations! Thursday is supplier day at DC. Suppliers stop by our booth starting one hour before the show opens to learn about our tools for suppliers including our all-new email blast marketing services. (Suppliers, don’t forget to register for our drawing.

We’re giving away a four-pack of email blasts!)

We’ll see you in Las Vegas from January 11-15!

Winter 2014–2015 \\ Issue #006

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Distributors + Suppliers Sharing web-based product templates can bring sweet results

L

arry Arntz has chocolate on his home page and it’s not because he’s messy by nature. The chocolate connection is available on Arntz’s promotional products website because a savvy supplier collaborated with the distributor to make it happen.

And both are smiling.

This confection collaboration is the result of what is proving to be a winning recipe, that being the sharing of online product information for presentation to more buyers.

Suppliers have at their disposal the ability to directly provide distributors with customized websites featuring the suppliers’ products. Even better, the products are displayed with the distributors’ name and brand.

Case in point is Astor Chocolate Corp., which has parlayed this capability into recruiting independent distributors – many who do not put priority on branded confections – to embrace high-end chocolates in their mix of offerings. It’s enabled Astor Chocolates – a leader in private-label chocolate amenities for the hospitality sector – to generate significant revenues in the promotional products industry.

DistributorCentral worked with Astor Chocolate to create a dynamic chocolate gifts website that can be easily copied and customized to distributor accounts for immediate use. DC designed a website template in such a way that Astor Chocolate has control of its online product images, specials and information as listed on distributors’ websites.

Updates as needed for seasonal promotions or new product offerings can be simultaneously posted across

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Winter 2014–2015 // Issue #006

all participating distributor websites.

“Bottom line is we’re giving distributors a living, breathing tool to increase sales,” said Charles Duggan, National Accounts Manager, Corporate Sales Division, Astor Chocolate.

Larry Arntz, whose Virginia-based promotional products consulting group serving clients in the MidAtlantic states, said adding Astor Chocolate to his product offerings was “a no brainer.” As evidence of the partnership’s success, he points to the Bronze Pyramid Award for Distributor/Supplier Collaboration as was presented to Arntz and Astor at January’s PPAI Expo.

“It’s been a great tool,” said Arntz.

“We appreciate it when suppliers do this sort of thing. It’s quick and easy and allows us to show clients more products.”

According to Jason Nokes, President of DistributorCentral, an increasing number of suppliers use online web templates and links to proactively partner with distributors to generate sales. Nokes said it’s part of a movement away from traditional supplier-based thinking where the responsibility of selling to end users was up to distributors.

“Suppliers increasingly understand the importance of working in true partnership with distributors,” said Nokes. “Technology provides the means for suppliers to provide distributors the means to show the product to customers and prospective customers.”

Sean McColl understands how to put such technology to work. As a sales associate with Austin-based

Boundless Network, he takes advantage of branded product websites and online catalogs as provided by the likes of Astor Chocolate, Galleryboard Packaging, SanMar and AdMints.

“It’s a progressive approach on the part of suppliers,” said McColl. “This helps us brand ourselves and increases the likelihood the client will buy from us.”

McColl, who represents literally thousands of products, said at the very least the branded sites as provided by suppliers help keep the product top of mind. When buyers like an idea and have a link to a branded website featuring that product, it’s the distributors’ name on the site who’s most likely to be contacted.

“Obviously the product has to be the right fit and at a fair price,” said McColl, “All things being equal, I will suggest to buyers the site that has my name on it.”

Duggan at Astor Chocolates considers the websites as developed and hosted

by DistributorCentral to be Astor Chocolate’s competitive advantage at this stage of the company’s foray into the corporate market. He credits the various e-Commerce management, tracking and web hosting tools as available on DistributorCentral to be an added bonus.

“On the template side, DistributorCentral helped us set things up from a retail perspective,” Duggan said. “We see the site giving distributors another chance to grow their revenue. They didn’t have the tools the capture the business. We’re giving them the tools.”

Incomplete Order Report

Your DistributorCentral account has a great feature that easily locates unfinished orders entered on your website. Once a visitor adds a product to the shopping cart and proceeds past the checkout page, the DC program will automatically log this order in your DC account for one week if the customer does not finish placing the order or abandons the shopping cart during the ordering process.

For example, imagine that a customer calls or emails you and says they had a problem placing the order on your website. You can locate their incomplete order in DC and finish placing the order for them.

There is also an “email link” in this area of your account where you can choose to email the customer and ask if they have any questions or if you can provide assistance with placing the order.

This area also keeps track of any unfinished orders you have started from within your DistributorCentral account.

Don't Overlook Web Privacy Policies

When using your DistributorCentral website to effectively market promotional products online, it’s imperative you have a Privacy Policy and/or Terms listed on your website.

Your Privacy Policy should list how your website collects personal information from your visitors. For example, if you have Contact Us or Quote forms on your website, visitors are asked to provide information such as name, email, phone and other basic contact information. When customers place orders from your website, the shopping cart collects contact and billing information. Be sure to to reassure your visitors the personal infor-

mation collected on your site will never willingly be sold or released to third parties.

It’s also a good idea to have Terms and/or a Return Policy included on your website. Here you can describe the services you provide, the terms your customers are subject to when they do business with you, and also how you handle returns.

Your Return Policy can rightfully be fairly vague, since the products ordered are subject to suppliers’ return policies, each with varying return policies of their own. You can still explain how returns are handle, but you may not be able to guarantee a refund will be given.

Lastly, the Privacy Policy and Terms should be your own and unique to your website. Take your time and thoroughly explain business practices and expectations of customers who place orders.

DistributorCentral.com | 888-516-7401 | info@DistributorCentral.com

For Distributors, DC is always

DistributorCentral is the only FREE tool for Distributor search DC makes it easy for distributors to locate, order and deliver quality products to end users. Because this most complete, accurate and full-feature centralized database is FREE to all distributors, it’s no wonder DC is the industry’s search platform of choice.

Best search engine in the business

If you’re looking for the top suppliers and most product options, you’re in the right place. DC searches are fast and accurate based on your criteria. You can expect accurate, up-to-date product information and pricing.

Websites and emails and domains

• eCommerce-enabled website and shopping cart • Host up to five websites with your domain names • Up to five e-mail addresses with 1GB of storage

Online Order Management

DC’s cloud-based software lets distributors keep on top of business processes and correspondence.

• Create orders and record payments to customers • Connect to the Internet and you have orders using a fully-featured shopping cart • Create invoices in DC; export to QuickBooks® • Integrate with merchant accounts for online payments • Receive/approve proofs from suppliers and relay them directly to customers • Proof approvals stored for every order

For distributors who want to step up their game, DistributorCentral offers the PRO level of service.

For one low monthly fee, distributors can expand their web presence, gain the ability to upload product images, enable Google® Product Feed and take advantage of other SEO-friendly features.

DistributorCentral 1200 Energy Center Drive Gardner, KS 66030