After, and leading up to, the latest BlogHer conference in New York, there has been a lot of discussion about swag. I’ll be some other thoughts about swag in a later post, but today I want to talk about how swag can be an affordable way for small (or large) business owners to help promote themselves. But beyond just business, customized products can also be created to be unique party favors or wedding gifts.

Promoslogos.com is a website that specializes in creating affordable, personalized items. They have 500,000 items that can be branded with your name or company’s logo. From golf balls to teddy bears, promoslogos.com has a wide range of personalized items and promotional gifts. With so many different products, that also means that you’ll easily be able to find an item that fits within your budget.

Personally, I approached this concept a couple of different ways. First, I was thinking about what types of products would I want to send to my clients as a “Thank You” gift. Since I have a small business (and by small, I mean me) the gifts would have to be uber cheap in price, but not uber cheap in appearance. I toyed with the idea of having custom spatulas. At only $0.53-$0.65 each (depending on volume) and a nice selection of colors, I thought these would be totally unique and interesting. But then I wondered what spatulas had to do with graphic design and realized I’d probably want something more design-related, if that was even possible. After more searching I came across the Swanky Pens. They are a little bit more expensive, coming in at $0.75-$0.90 each, but they made me smile and have personality.

Taking a completely different route, let’s say you wanted to plan a fun birthday party for one of the kids. You can easily customize a fun gift, like a piggy bank, to say “Connor’s 10th Birthday” or something like that. At just $1.85 per pig, it seems like a very affordable party favor. If that idea doesn’t fit, they have lots of other “Games, Toys & Fun” items to select from.

When customizing your product, you type in the lines of text you want, select the product color and the color and location of the imprint that you want. You can mail or email the artwork, which can be text, logo, or both. It looks like they can only print single color on the items, but they have a variety of imprint colors. In addition to white and black, I also saw blue, red, pink, green, and gold – just to name a few.

There are a couple of things to note about promoslogos.com. You CAN order just one customized item. However your total order needs to be $20. Also, sometime set-up charges will apply, so it might be more logical to order more than less. If there was one recommendation, and I don’t even know if this is possible, it would be for promoslogos.com to include estimated set-up/printing fees.

Promoslogos.com sent me an imprinted stainless steel travel mug that shows their logo and text. This item is priced out at $2.42 – $3.24, but looks like it could easily sell in the store for more than double that price. I was impressed by the quality of the imprinting. The ink was solidly colored, was evenly distributed even on the curved surface of the mug, and seemed durable. I tried to scratch off some of the printing with my finger nail and while I didn’t completely dig into it, the imprint didn’t scratch or peel at all.

While most people associate swag with large conferences and corporations, promoslogos.com allows small business owners or even at home-parents to create affordable custom products and promotional gifts for businesses. For more information about Promoslogos, visit their website at www.promoslogos.com. You can also follow Promoslogos on Twitter.

The WiC Project Promoslogos Giveaway!

The Prize:

One winner will receive a $20 promotional gift card to www.promoslogos.com.

To Enter:

1. Visit www.promoslogos.com and leave a comment below sharing which item you would customize.
2. For a bonus entry, visit the Promoslogos blog and follow them via Google Friend Connect. Leave a comment below letting me know you did.
3. For one more entry, subscribe to the Promoslogos blog feed and leave a comment below.

The Rules:

One winner will be selected at random for this prize.

Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM EST, August 31, 2010.

Visit our Giveaway Rules page for general giveaway rules that also apply to this giveaway.

Disclaimer: This post consists of my (and/or fellow tester) opinions only. No compensation was given for this review/giveaway. I did receive a free mug from the manufacturer or representing PR agency to use and test for the purposes of this review. This did not affect the outcome of this review.

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