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ST. LOUIS -- Andy Murray was hired as the St. Louis Blues' head coach on Dec. 11, 2006, and lost a home game to the Blackhawks that same night. So, it was fitting that Murray was fired Saturday as his team was preparing for the Hawks' first visit to the Scottrade Center this season. The Blues came out fighting for his successor, Davis Payne, in his first game but wound up getting a beaten ...
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A lot has been written about promotional pens over the past few years. Most of the articles are nonsensical keyword stuffed gobbledygook which either state the obvious or don't really state anything at all. For a little fun, you should read a few of the articles from 2007 or earlier when quality was not as important as keywords. Thankfully, things are now changing.

I have been in the promotional pens industry for about fifteen years. In that time I have been asked a lot of the same questions. These are good questions that need to be answered and I shall do it here. Following is a list of the 7 most asked questions about promotional pens.

Will my logo and details fit on that pen? You might be surprised how often this question is asked. Pens are not big so they do not look like they can accommodate a lot of print. In some cases the answer is very little can be printed. If you are trying to print a lot of information, you will want to look for straight sided pens. A couple of brands to look out for are Senator Pens and Prodir Pens. These pens are made to be printed and offer print areas that are usually large enough for a logo and three lines of text such as a slogan, web address and telephone number. There are a lot of designer pens on the market that usually have a lot smaller print areas due to their more curvy designs. If you really have a lot to print, look into Lecce Pens which are manufactured in Italy but are sold all over Europe and the US. Lecce specializes in printing in digital full colour all over the barrel. Many pens offer an additional print area on the clip.

What is more popular blue or black ink refills?: Blue ink is the most popular refill colour. If your company requires black ink refills, it is best to state this from the beginning. Many pens are only available in one refill colour or the other so a lot of pens may be eliminated from the beginning. A lot of businesses, law firms and medical related industries require black ink refills. There are plenty of pens on the market with black ink and most good pen websites will let you know which colour refills are available for each pen. It is worth noting that Senator, Prodir, Bic and Lecce all supply pens with a choice of black or blue inks.

What is the origination charge?: The origination charge is an unfortunate but necessary part of printing promotional pens. It involves quite a few processes which are time consuming and labor intensive and result in a screen for screen printing. A different screen needs to be made for each print colour. For more information, James Cleere of The Pen Warehouse wrote a very informative article on the subject which was published on October 27 2009 by EzineArticles.

What is Mix-n-Match?: You have no doubt seen icons on websites and in printed media explaining that this or that pen can be mix-n-match made to order. There are now quite a few pen manufacturers that offer the service. When pens can be mix-n-matched, you have the option to choose from colored parts to make a truly corporate pen. You are able to choose the nib, barrel and clip colours. Some of the fancier designs allow you to choose the colors of special features as well such as ring colours. Please note that you will usually need to allow two to five weeks for this service depending on the manufacturer.

Are cheap plastic pens good promoters?: You get what you pay for. I am of the opinion that the cheapest pens can do more harm than good. People like to use pens that are nice to write with. This is important for eco reasons as well. It is no longer cool to give away thousands of cheap gifts that are just going to go straight in the bin adding to our already over burdened landfills. It does not cost a lot of money to order pens that have a lot of writing life. My recommendation is that you contact your supplier and ask for a few free samples. Write with them as much as you can for a few days. If you like writing with a pen, chances are your customer will. The most important thing to understand is that a pen that has been thrown away will no longer sell for you. A pen that is used regularly will promote your business or organization each time it is picked up to write.

I need pens in a hurry! What can I have? This will vary from country to county but for the most part you can expect a lot. Senator Pens and Lecce Pens both offer excellent rush order services in the UK, Europe and the UK. Of course, any supplier worth their salt will also have a nice list of quality generic pens that they can supply fast. It used to be that you could only print one color in five days. Manufacturers have begun to wake up to the fact that businesses require a lot better. That is why some manufactures are even printing full colour in as little as 24 hours.

What is the difference between digital full color wrap print and full color print?: Advances in digital printing have made it possible to print in full color much faster and cheaper than ever before. The print is applied and wrapped around the entire barrel of the pen and there is rarely an origination charge. Some manufacturers such as Senator Pens offer a full colour print service but it is not as good quality as digital print. Their older method of process printing is printed directly onto the pen in its normal print area. It does look fantastic but I personally prefer pens printed with the new full color digital wrap method.

Now I would like to invite you to visit my promotional pens website. The site is packed with a large range of popular corporate plastic pens. You may also be interested in visiting my promotional gifts website which features hundreds of popular business gifts.

Dan Toombs is Managing Director of CompuGift Limited. Established in 1997, CompuGift was the first internet based promotional gift supplier in the UK.

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