Distributor News

Altitude Group today released an update on the offer they received for their promotional marketing division, which Promo Marketing first reported on in May.

Vice president of field sales for Norwood & BIC Graphic Dave Saracino discussed the recently launched "Ask Dave" video series at PROMOTIONS EAST 2011.

Experts worry that the risk of falling into another recession has increased, according to a CNNMoney economic survey.

To be sure, economists still place long odds on that worst case scenario. But the odds are a lot less long than they were just a little while ago.

A CNNMoney economic survey of 16 leading experts found they think there is about a 15 percent chance of a new recession. That's about double the chance they believed existed at the start of the year.

The Senate on Thursday voted down an amendment that would have required federal agencies to carefully assess the impact of proposed regulations on small businesses.

The vote was 53 for the amendment and 46 opposed. The measure needed 60 votes to pass. Six Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans.

The vote on the amendment, which was sponsored by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), came after several hours of fiercely partisan debate on the Senate floor.

Proforma, Cleveland, is to be the recipient of two 2011 American Inhouse Design Awards from Graphic Design USA. Proforma's "Better Together 2011 Calendar" and the "Connect the Dots" direct marketing campaigns were both recognized in the competition.

Before switching to Business/Marketing, I began my college journey as a chemistry major. One of the first things you learn in science is that there are hypotheses, theories and laws. The same is true in the world of small business marketing. There are educated guesses (theories), ideas that seem to work more often than not (hypotheses) and there are concepts that do not change for any reason (laws).

Before trying your hand at being an über-fancy advertiser, it's important to establish a foundation on fundamental marketing "laws." There are three laws that serve any successful marketing push—"the creative," medium and frequency.

The final scene in the movie "Too Big to Fail" shows Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (played by Paul Giamatti) talking with then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (portrayed by William Hurt).

The scene takes place in September 2008 after the two men had just arm-twisted some of the nation's biggest banks into taking $125 billion in government bailout money as part of a last-ditch plan to stop a financial meltdown.

Part of the deal was that the banks would reopen their lending windows, easing a credit crunch that threatened to worsen an already frightening economic slowdown.

Staples Inc., the office supply chain that owns Staples Advantage and Staples Promotional Products, has released a statement announcing the company's second quarter 2011 dividend.

Few small businesses have escaped fallout from the economic downturn of the past few years. However, as many indicators begin to show signs of improvement, entrepreneurs need to position themselves to benefit from the recovery, says Jim Muehlhausen, CPA and author of The 51 Fatal Business Errors and How to Avoid Them.

"The default mode is that we're all very scared," he said. "Business owners don't want to spend when they're in doubt, but it's important to make smart investments in your business as the economy begins to rebound."

Muehlhausen offers five crucial steps to recovery business owners need to take now.

The United States must "step up our game" to compete, including ensuring U.S. students are well trained for jobs in demand, President Barack Obama said.

The nation has "a set of long-term competitiveness challenges," Obama said at a Tuesday news conference, a day before he was to announce a deal with the largest U.S. industrial trade association that promised to prepare 500,000 workers for what the White House said would be "cutting-edge manufacturing jobs."