Money for Nothing

As one of the admins of the wildly popular Promotional Products Professionals page on Facebook, I am often called on to break up middle-school playground fights and to determine what’s an acceptable topic to post. I am amazed (and maybe I shouldn’t be) at how often the topic of “what to charge” comes into play. And then there’s the fear and loathing about competition from lowballers.

Some of our best and brightest have suggested that we shouldn’t take these lowballers seriously. They’re hobbyists at best, and their actions have no impact on us professionals.

Look…I get it. It’s very frustrating when you do all of the scut work on a project, only to have it sent out for quotes. In my time, I have designed many custom, one-of-a-kind items only to not get the order…and then see it on someone else’s shelf. Sadly, it’s the nature of the beast, and it can and does happen.

But (for the most part) I have managed to keep my head held high and continue to work the only way I know how: professionally. If and when I start selling based on price, I’ve lost that advantage.

If you know me at all, you know how I hate this word as it pertains to our industry, but if the end-user is too cheap to pay for professional results, why waste your time on low-end projects and customers like that? Unfortunately, there’s always someone hovering around (wait…that’s too high-minded…let’s go with “bottom-feeding” instead) waiting to make pennies.

I’ve worked too long to “give it away”. Even when I was starting out, I still didn’t want to make pennies. I had standards, and bills to pay. This might explain my success (or lack thereof) when I began as a struggling distributor, but I digress. I knew enough to get paid for the quality of work and services I offered.

Here’s the question: why are so many industry people willing to just “give it away”? Newbie car salespeople don’t do that. Freshly graduated doctors don’t underprice their diagnoses. Why should the promo peeps be different?

I’m in no position to be holier than thou: I’ve made some questionable decisions in this career, and have had to lower my profit from time to time in order to appease a good customer or an exceptional prospect. But I’ve drawn the line at just underselling for the sake of getting the order.

(I’ve been waiting for an excuse to use this line…full disclosure: it’s not original). If you’re doing this in order to gain exposure, let me tell you something: unless you’re a flasher, exposure is highly overrated. Okay, that may not be fully relevant, but I love the line.

But it’s true: exposure doesn’t pay the rent and it can’t feed your family. It’s a transparent trick to make you believe you’re getting something in exchange for what is essentially volunteer work.  

You know I’m all about professionalism. According to at least one dictionary (remember those?), a professional is “engaged in a specified activity as one’s main paid occupation rather than as a pastime.”  So here’s the thing: if you’re doing something professionally, it can’t be a hobby, and you have to get paid. You can’t just “give it away”.  

What about working for charities? Don’t they at least deserve a discount? Let’s remember this: every charity is a nonprofit, but not every nonprofit is a charity.

Stop making assumptions about how much we believe a potential client can or can’t afford. They’re not going to tell us so we will never know. Just because it’s a nonprofit or a charity, doesn’t mean there’s no budget for promotional items. I know because organizations like Charity Navigator keep track of how much of a charity’s budget goes to fundraising campaigns.

Not to name names, but let’s just say that the Save The Texas Prairie Chicken Foundation does, in fact, spend more than 50% of their budget on fundraising activities. You can’t tell me that they have no money and deserve a break.

What’s my point (a question we all wonder when reading these columns)?  Not all charities are created equal. They are often huge, professional organizations with big budgets for promotional products. If there’s enough money to pay the CEO a six-figure income, there’s enough money to order some custom knitted socks.  

Shameless plug? Sure. I told you I can’t afford to give it away either!

Mike Schenker, MAS, is “all that” at Mike Schenker, Consulting, where he assists businesses entering the promotional products industry, mentors professionals, and offers association management.  He is a promotional industry veteran and member of the Specialty Advertising Association of Greater New York (SAAGNY) Hall of Fame. He can be reached at mike@mikeschenker.com