Custom Imprinted Bicycle Lights and Back to School Promo Opportunities

 

It get's darker earlier at the same time as back to school

If you have schools as part of your customer list, then you know that back to school time is huge for promotional products.  Everyone from PTAs to Frats, and from sports boosters to private school fund raising campaigns has reasons to give away or sell or raffle off hats, tees, candy, and yes, bicycle items.

Since most schools start up in late August or early September, there is another annual phenomenon that is taking place.  The sun is coming up later and going down earlier.  This means that cyclists need lighting to get to school or get home from after school activities.  Or they may need lighting just to enjoy night rides with friends, including the popular moonlight rides.

If you are active in the public schools, but haven't checked out private schools, this may be the most important blog post you've ever read.  Almost all private schools need to raise huge amounts of money outside of tuition.  Sure, it may seem that $15,000 per year tuition would be enough, but that is generally just what is needed for ongoing expenses and doesn't cover capital expenditure or special needs.  Therefore private schools are constantly putting on fund raising drives, and most commonly they have something to sell or raffle off.

Here is another gem you may not have thought about.  EVERY kid and young adult who rides a bike loves lighting.  There is just something cool about adding a light on your bike.  We sell horns, and for cruisers and some little kids, horns are great.  But lights are just plain desirable!!  Bike 'n Safety offers a line of lights from small bicycle safety lights to sophisticated bike headlights and tail lights.  So we can fit the price point, budget, or demographic perfectly for any school, from k-12 to college.

We bring all of this up in April, because, like everything else in the promo products biz, you need to start knocking on doors and making presentation in April and May to get the business for August and September.  Check out our offerings at http://biknsafetypromos.com.  And pay attention to this blog and to our email blasts.  We will be introducing several new items in the next 60 days.

How to Use Hashtags as a #PromoProducts Distributor

Twitter Results for #PromoProducts

Hashtags Are Easy to Use and Help You to Get Found Online

If you are creating any online content for your promotional products distribution business, you want to maximize the effectiveness of that content. The effectiveness starts with getting eyeballs on the

Boogles Molded Bicycle Safety Lights

content.  If you can get someone to look at it, hopefully it is crafted in a way to create action or conversion.  Simple.  Almost like a promotional product.  If I can get someone to look at the message on the product that I have given them for free, and they take action as a result, the product has done its job.  We happen to believe that our cute little Bug-Eyez or Boogles bicycle safety lights are really good at getting folks to see the message.  (Sorry, I couldn't help myself.)

Online content comes in two forms, long and short.  Websites, blogs, YouTube videos, articles, PR releases are all long form.  We typically use the short form media to point to the long form.  So we Tweet or Google+ or Pin or Instagram or update on Linkedin or Facebook with teaser messages to get folks to go look at the long form media.   These short form media can all take advantage of hash tags to create a better chance of more action.

A perfect Tweet might look like this:

#Chicago school raises $20k w/ bicycle safety light #fundraiser. Read How! bit.ly/schoolPromo #promoproducts

Your potential client might be doing a search on Twitter or some other Twitter search engine.  If they look up #Chicago or #fundraiser or #promoproducts, your tweet will be there.  Once they see your tweet, they might just choose to go immediately to the underlying media using the short url that you have provided.

Not all hashtags are created equal

Why not have #safetylight as a hashtag in the above sample.  Because no one is looking for the hashtag #safetylight.  We wish they were, but they aren't.  So, your primary use of hashtags will be to use them where there is lots of traffic.  How do you know?

There are many ways:

• Obvious things like virtually any major city name, major brand, movie star, current news story
• Important groups of things like cats, homes, kitchens, authors, cakes
• When it is less obvious, you can check with Twitter and see how often there is action
• You can also check with other services like http://www.hashtags.org/analytics/

So the above perfect tweet is using hashtags that were either obvious, like Chicago or fundraiser, or that I had researched.  #PromoProducts is the most used item in our industry, although #PPAI, #ASICentral, and #Swag were also good hashtags.  On the other hand, #Swag gets a huge amount of traffic, but much of it is unrelated to the industry.

Other instructional hashtag links

My goal in this post was to lay out hashtags in the simplist possible way.  If you already use social media in the way I described in the opening paragraph, then this will be about all you need to start using hashtags.  However, you might really want to dig deep and learn all there is to know.  Here are the resources that I found most useful:

http://4bn.co.uk/community/articles/hashtagsare-you-using-them-effectively-on-facebook-and-twitter?goback=.gde_1173397_member_5792884151577231362#!

http://mashable.com/2013/10/08/what-is-hashtag/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link

http://kljsocialmedia.com/what-is-a-twitter-hashtag/#!

The Promotional Power of Children's Museums & Healthcare Organizations!

Photo Courtesy: Deflam from Flickr
Painting by John Singer Sargent, 1886

Children’s Museum & Healthcare Organization Promotional Event

What happened to childhood being filled with carefree exploring, without the worry that often comes with activities they are involved in. This painting reminds us of a time and place where safety is not even questioned - it's assumed as being part of the equation.

BikeNSafetyPromos knows that inside of each and every one of us overgrown adults, there is a kid with memories of hopping on our bikes, and riding the neighborhood without any cares in the world, not even worrying about crashing without a helmet on. Kids today are not even allowed to think about getting on a bike without a helmet - and for their own good!

Indianapolis Clarian Health, along with other local health groups, partnered together to host the Emergency Medicine Bike Safety Fair at The Children’s Museum.  This event was not only free to the community, but also offered “bike giveaways, free bike helmets (while supplies last), a bike safety course, an obstacle course, crash prevention demonstrations, and stations for helmet-fitting, helmet decorating and traffic signaling/safety instruction.”

How Can We Get Imprinted Bike Safety LED Lights Into Their Hands?

Children’s museums are excellent places for children to discover valuable information.  Partnering up with healthcare organizations in the area provided a hands-on learning experience for children, as a preventative measure against common cycling related injuries.

Each year in the United States, bicycle-related injuries send approximately 350,000 children under the age of 15 to emergency departments. More kids, ages 5-14 are treated in hospital emergency departments with injuries related to biking than any other sport.” (emphasis added)

One of the benefits of having this type of bike safety event is that while it mainly focuses on making the event fun for children, it’s primary aim is to educate the parents, who are ultimately responsible for passing down responsible cycling behavior to their children.

What better way to grab the attention of little cyclists and their parents, other than showing them the safety benefits of bright safety head lights, tail lights, loud horns and bells offered as a promotional gift through BikeNSafetyPromos.  Bike safety for our kids is a top priority!

Check Out This Helpful Article: Multi-Tool for Bicycles Is A Great Promo Item - Dome Stickers POP!

A Fabulous Promotional Event To Consider

Safety LED Lights Would Be A Great Giveaway At A Bike Fest - Especially For Families Who Bike Together!

As mentioned in a previous post, cycling around the USA has increased 39% from 2000 to 2010.  An even more startling statistic revealed that in Los Angeles alone, bicycling increased 32% between 2009 and 2011.  

Family biking is a growing trend that has many benefits.  Not only does it get the entire family out of the house, away from video games and cartoon reruns, but it also gives parents the opportunity to model the importance of healthy exercise, along with the pure enjoyment of being outside on a bike.

The beach city of Santa Monica just put on its first annual Family Bike Fest, a free event that included a “bike swap, bike skills training, test rides and accessories, route planning and information, food, and fun activities.”  Parents were also encouraged to have their kids bring their bikes for safety inspections.  

It is hard to imagine that this is the first bike safety event in a city of this size.  But maybe this is the first event to focus on providing bike safety education and resources to families.  It is impossible to be too prepared when it comes to a child’s safety, especially when teaching them how to enjoy cycling in a city setting that also presents so many hazards.  

• Have you been to a community safety event like this?  
• What kind of accessories and prizes did they give out to promote cycling safety?  

There are limitless beach cities that could benefit from holding such an informative event, especially when it involves the safety of families with children who love to bike.  What better way to promote safety than with BikeNSafetyPromos safety LED lights?

You might have missed: Health and Safety: A Powerful Duo in Promotional Marketing!

Back To School Time - Every College Campus NEEDS THIS Promo Item!

Let’s Promote Bike Safety LED Lights On University Campuses!

When kids go off to college, parents are generally concerned about how their young adults will be able to cope with being away from home - if they will be able to pass all their classes, stay out of trouble, and graduate in under 5 years.  

But what about bike safety?  According to recent statistics, bicycle commuting has jumped 39% from 2000-2010.  Hampshire College in Massachusetts is just one of the many organizations who are bringing bike safety awareness to the forefront of their campus through an outreach program.  “We’ve noticed bike safety is an issue because a lot of students ride bikes all over campus and off campus,” says Officer Earl Brown. “So we wanted to come up with a fun and educational way to help them be more aware of bicycle safety.” 

Hampshire College is a great example of going into partnership with other colleges to promote bike safety awareness, by inviting bike industry businesses from the community to donate their time and resources which draw larger crowds to participate in this event.

They organized a three day bike safety campaign to reach three colleges in the area.  “At each event, officers will give students information on riding safely, bike maintenance, and other tips. Student emergency medical technicians from each of the three campuses and bike patrol officers will be available to answer questions. There will be raffles and prizes, such as helmets, reflectors, bike locks, and small medkits. The Five College Credit Union is raffling off the grand prize: a new bike.”  

BikeNSafetyPromos is a great resource for fun and practical bike safety promotional items. Why not approach the local colleges and/or universities to help put on a program to promote bicycle safety in your community? We will only see bike safety awareness grow one event at a time.

An Innovative Product That Potential Clients MUST See!

Have you seen the article we wrote about the many uses for Bug-Eyez bicycle safety lights?  This list was created from the ideas that you gave us at the PPAI show.  You also were very generous in suggesting potential buyers of both bicycle safety and general safety items.  We knew a few of these, and we will include those on the list below. 

You might find this list useful as you may already call on some of the categories.  Or you may be thinking you need a new idea or two for prospecting.  What a better way to go after new business than with an innovative product that potential clients haven't seen before, that was a huge hit at the PPAI show, and that is in a category with so many uses.  For more about Bug-Eyez, please visit http://BikeNSafetyPromos.com.

Have fun with the following list.  Better yet, go make some money:

1. Police Departments commonly have bike safety programs, rodeos, or work with schools and other organizations to promote bike safety, pedestrian safety, and related safety issues.
2. Optimist Clubs specifically target bicycle safety as a project and tend to have events during Bike Safety Month in May.  Sometimes Rotary, chambers of commerce, or other service clubs may be taking the lead in your area for these types of events.
3. If a local organization is not heading it up, sometimes the school is doing the leading on bicycle and pedestrian safety.  Check with PTA or other parent organizations as well as the school administration.
4. Parks and recreation departments or other city and county departments commonly have safety programs.  Find out from the mayor's office where to start looking.
5. There is now a national effort under the banner of Share the Road.  Check with your state offices or Google Share the road and your state, county, or city to see if there are programs locally.
6. Charity fundraising events for cyclists, runners, walkers, physically handicapped, and other groups are always looking for swag.  Bug-Eyez are the perfect item as they will actually get used at the event and after. 
7. Bicycles and breweries.  Bicycles and coffee shops.  Not sure why, but over the years cyclists have become fans of great brewing, whether beer or coffee.  Local businesses offering specialty beer or coffee will likely be very interested in offering Bug-Eyez as a promotional.
8. Pet stores and vets.  You may have seen our suggestion in the list of ideas for using Bug-Eyez.  One of those was attaching the LED safety light to a dog collar for night walks.
9. Hospitals - We heard from dozens of distributors at the PPAI show that their hospital clients have multiple events and ongoing projects around safety.  Every one of these folks also believed that Bug-Eyez would be a great item for these hospital based projects.
10. Closely related to hospitals was nurses.  Many believed that nurses would have personal uses for Bug-Eyez as they commonly are walking at night to their cars. 
11. Kid stores or souvenir locations.  Kids love anything that lights up or blinks.  Parents like to keep their kids safe. 
12. Running or cycling clubs.  Bug-Eyez can fit on handlebars, seat posts, belt loops, backpacks, fanny packs, camelbacks, or shoe laces. 

Do you have other potential markets for Bug-Eyez?  Please share. 

Awesome Little Cyclists Deserve Safety Lights, Too!

How Young Should We Start 

Cycle Safety Education and Awareness?

If you talk to anyone who has ever loved or cared for a child, it is no surprise that safety is always their number one concern.  “Every year, about 300,000 kids go to the emergency department because of bike injuries, and at least 10,000 kids have injuries that require a few days in the hospital. Some of these injuries are so serious that children die, usually from head injuries” (http://kidshealth.org/kid/watch/out/bike_safety.html).

Where is the best place to begin reaching out to kids?  It is increasingly more common for local school PTA Boards to invite members of the community to help sponsor a Bike Rodeo, specifically at the elementary age level.  William Fisher Elementary PTA recognizes that “at early stages, most children are taught how to ride a bike.  One thing many children may not be taught, however, is proper safety instruction...Some of the activities at the event included bike safety courses and a "turtle race" where participants attempted to go as slow as they could while maintaining proper balance. Bike and helmet inspections were also provided.”

Rodney Crowe, the manager at the local Richardson Bike Mart Frisco, provided free bike inspections for each child participant, including assessing whether or not the child’s bike was a good fit.  

A Bike Rodeo is a great opportunity to partner with local schools and their surrounding communities to promote bike safety for children.  And what better way to get kids excited about bike safety than to distribute bright and noisy promotional items from BikeNSafetyPromos?

Distributors Give AWESOME Ideas For USING These Promotional Items!!

We started out at the Las Vegas PPAI show thinking that our Bug-Eyez Bicycle Safety Lights might have a couple of applications other than bicycle handlebars and seat posts, but you super-creative specialty distributors were a cornucopia of ideas for other fantastic uses.  Get details, pricing, etc., at http://bikensafetypromos.com/.

The reason that this particular safety light is so versatile is the ease with which you can attach it to almost anything.  The silicone rubber band tail just wraps around and attaches to the hook at the front of the Bug-Eyez safety light.  How many ways can you use it?  

Here are the best:

1. Dog Collar for walking your dog at night.  
2. Backpack strap or back of the baseball cap or even a belt loop to keep track of your kids at a nighttime event like a state fair or Disneyland.  
3. Night time runners or walkers can attach to fanny pack strap, back of the baseball cap or visor, or even the shoelaces.   
4. Use the Bug-Eyez as a scrunchy in your ponytail for running, walking or even keeping kids in view.  
5. Attach to a ski pole or back of a ski helmet for night skiing.  
6. Senior Citizens can use on canes or walkers.  
7. Wheelchairs  
8. Bug-Eyez can attach to your keychain.  
9. Use at trade shows as giveaways.  We just experienced that almost no one put the Bug-Eyez in their bag.  It went on their purse strap, bag handle, in the pocket, or on a backpack strap.  The best trade show items are those that don't get lost in the bag.  
10. Great for purses for safety and for finding stuff in your purse in dark places like restaurants. 
11. Attach to your Camelback or other backpack hydration system.   
12. Construction workers on night projects.    

I'm sure there are other uses.  Please help us and others by providing your own suggestions.

Bicycle Tire Tool! When Does A Promotional Product Make the Giver a Hero?

BikeNSafetyPromos Presents:

Tire Levers - The Absolute Best Tool for Your 

Tire Changing Needs

NEVER USE A SCREW DRIVER TO REMOVE A TIRE!

Our Custom Imprinted Tire Levers are perfect for easy removal and replacement of bicycle tires.  The scoop on these Custom Imprinted Tire Levers gets easily between the tire bead and the rim for safe and quick repair.

Click HERE for a YouTube demonstration about just how easy these tire levers are to use...it's easier than you think!

Our Bicycle Tire Lever Custom Imprinted!

These Bicycle Tire Levers make a great economical giveaway for police and fire departments, state and local safety programs, as well as for any company or organization wanting to promote safety, health, environmental protection, and fun!

What are some other events you could use this promotional item for as a great giveaway?

You may have missed our HUGE list for Promotional Safety Light uses - created by Distributors themselves!

Bicycle Headlights Shine as Promo Product

Don't Get Bogged Down With Another Failed Do-It-Yourself Solution!

Introducing

The Multi-Function BEEMER Headlight

(meant for handlebars, not "real" heads, of course)

Many "bicycle" headlights are actually flashlights that have been fitted with a mounting bracket.

Not. This. One.

Our Super Bright BEEMER is a bicycle headlight first, with 5 High Power LEDs arranged to give a bright beam with just the right amount of dispertion for a cyclist riding on a dark street.

The quick-release integrated mounting mechanism was created with ease and precision in mind. This allows for quick and easy installation, as well as quick removal for hand use when needed.

BikeNSafetyPromos has designed this product not only to give marketing distributors an amazingly cost-effective promotional item for their clients, but this BEEMER headlight has been made because SAFETY is everyone's number one priority.

How can we partner with you today for your client's upcoming special event? Let's spread their name all over town, while promoting an awesome safety accessory that everyone can use!

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New Bike Item!! 180 Degree LED Safety Light with Huge Billboard

BikeNSafetyPromos has just announced our new Multi-Function Toadie Headlight, designed for serious cyclists.  This amazing headlight is SUPER BRIGHT and equipped with it's side facing yellow LEDs provides over 180 DEGREES OF VISIBILITY!  

These laterally facing yellow lights use 3 AAA batteries (which are included) for up to 100 hours of run time.  

5 High Power front LEDs arranged to give a bright beam with just the right amount of dispertion for a cyclist riding on a dark street.  It is factory rated to emit approximately 40 lumens.  There are three different light functions for you to choose from:

• Steady
• Blinking
• Chase

The silicone body and mounting strap provides instant mounting and removal with very little effort.  The tail wraps around the handlebar and then tucks under the chin for fast mounting and NO TOOLS NEEDED!

Not only is this safety item an invaluable tool for cyclists, whether riding at night or in heavy fog conditions, but it is an imprinted item -  which means that your clients can give this item away at various promotional events with their names printed on it!  

Safety is the #1 issue in bike riding - what better way to ensure your safety than to have this 180-degree light strapped to your bike?

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