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USB Technology
Thinking about Marketing – Consider USB Flash Drives
Dec 10th
Back in the late 1990’s USB drives were invented by computer designers who wanted a faster and easier way to store files because, the only forms of storage back then were either floppy disks or portable flash drives that were often bulky and inconvenient.
As the 21st century started, USB flash drives quickly became a huge part of the average computer user’s life because, computer users were able to save large amounts of files to a little “thumb drive” or “rabbit’s foot” drive without having to burn lots of files to disk.
USB Drives and Freebies
If you have a business and are searching for more ways to promote it, there’s nothing better than using USB flash drives for promotion. In today’s world there are literally millions of computer users around the world and almost every computer user from small children to the elderly can benefit from a USB flash drive.
Before having USB flash drives printed up, make sure that your flash drive has your logo, name, phone number and website address on it because, you want potential customers to call you when they need your services or solutions.
Where to Get USB Drives In Bulk
Before contacting a printer in your town, make sure that you check online for affordable printers because, there are literally hundreds of online printers that can offer you great deals on printing USB drives in bulk.
Once you receive your USB drive order, make sure that every drive has your company sales brochure and marketing information saved to it because, there’s no better way to get your sales information in front of a customer than by saving it to the USB drive first before giving it away for free.
Cross Promotions
To gain more return on your marketing investment, don’t hesitate to contact other business owners in your town and create a cross marketing promotion that involves them leaving their marketing materials in your store or office in exchange for you leaving your marketing materials in their office or store. This strategy will give you more traction out of your USB promotional marketing investment.
USB promotional marketing works and is a very effective form of advertising that can benefit any business.
USB Drives for Political Campaigns
Dec 7th
Election time is officially here and for many politicians it’s a time of hard work as they are diligently spreading the word about their candidacies in the hopes of getting elected for the first time or re-elected once again.
How can politicians get their message in front of more people without spending thousands of dollars on marketing costs? The answer is simple: USB Flash Drives.
Why USB Flash Drives?
USB flash drives are a hot marketing item right now because, almost everyone uses a computer these days and USB drives are an easy way to save files, pictures or programs without saving them to a computer and “bogging down” that machine.
The average computer user in this day and age finds their USB flash drive so useful that they take it with them wherever they go and this is a huge opportunity for politicians who want to get their message out. A politician’s campaign can have specialty USB flash drives with the candidates name and campaign slogan printed up and then before handing them out, that candidate’s message can be saved to the flash drive in a PDF format.
Are USB Drives Expensive?
No, USB drives are very affordable. There are many affordable online printers in this day and age that can affordably print a few thousand USB flash drives for under $500. The great thing about this type of ad specialty item is that they will be in use again and again so a political candidate can continue to get their marketing message out long after they are re-elected.
USB Drives Vs. Other Online Advertising
Another reason why USB promotional drives are an effective form of advertising is that they are seen by more eye’s than other forms of advertising like online, print or television advertising. Since a USB drive spends it’s time plugged into a computer, the average computer user will see it more often and that marketing message will be “imprinted” on that person’s brain.
Get In Front Of the Customer with USB Drives
Dec 5th
With the state of the economy right now it’s tough for any business to make sales because, more people have their guard up and are not spending money than four or five years ago.
With this situation like it is how can the average business owner get their sales material in front of a potential customer without getting cut off at the front door by the “gate keeper”? The solution to the problem is USB Flash Drives.
How USB Drives Work For Promotion
To use a USB drive for promotion, all a business owner has to do is save their sales information directly to the drive that way when the drive is given away for a gift, the recipient will have no choice but to see that company information or sales material on the drive when they open it.
If the sales process is made as easy and pain free for a consumer as possible, it will be easier to make more sales because, the sale is being made on the consumer’s time and they won’t feel pressured to attend a product demonstration or webinar.
Why USB Drives Vs. Other Forms of Advertising?
With an USB drive, all you have to do is plug it into the USB port on your computer and you can have double or trip the storage capacity that your computer has right now. The great thing about this form of storage is that you don’t have to worry about saving pictures, files, music, movies or games to your computer and slowing down your machine because everything can be stored on the USB drive.
Another benefit of a USB drive is that if a computer experiences a fatal problem and the hard drive has to be re-written or the computer has to be replaced, the computer owner can have confidence that all of their personal files and information are safe and secure.
Why USB Flash Drives Are A Necessary and Universal Tool
Dec 2nd
USB Flash drives are everywhere these days from home office desktops, kitchen computers to computers at work, in the field or on vacation.
Why are USB drives everywhere?
- They offer computer users the freedom and flexibility to save as many files and pictures as they want without bogging down their computers.
- USB drives are affordable and cost as little as $5 for a 2 GB flash drive.
- Unlike other ineffective forms of advertising and promotion, USB drives are a great form of promotion because, any logo or branding information that’s printed on them will be seen every single day.
1980’s USB Flash Drives
One of the most popular and cool uses for USB drives in this day and age is to have them printed up in shapes and styles that mimic things that were popular in the 1980’s.
For example: Quicksilver is now issuing USB drives in the shapes and styles of their 1980’s skateboards and surf boards. These flash drives are hot sellers especially for anyone who skated or surfed in the 80’s and is searching for a bit of nostalgia.
Other popular flash drives from the 1980’s are Transformer and Voltron flash drives, these flash drives are also hot sellers right now thanks to the popularity of the recent Transformer big screen movies.
USB Drives for Company Promotion
If you own your own business or you’re in the sales field and want to make a name for yourself, there’s no better way to promote yourself than by giving away free USB flash drives.
Before giving them away, make sure that you have USB drive printed with your name, logo, phone number and website address because, if a potential customer has more ways to contact you they will be more likely to contact you when they need your service than looking in the phone book to call a competitor.
USB flash drives – How they can benefit your business
Nov 29th
Back in the year 2000 the computer world changed once again when the first USB flash drive was released. Thanks to the USB drive, computer users were able to easily store files and take them anywhere compared to saving files to floppy disks which were still cumbersome and inconvenient.
In 2012 USB flash drives are used almost every single day by computer users who want to store excess files, pictures or games that they don’t want to store on their computers. The excessive use of USB drives also creates a huge opportunity for business owners who want to promote their businesses.
USB Drives and Value
Besides being a device that average people use every single day, USB drives also have a perceived value compared to other promotional items so if someone receives one for free, they are more likely to use it than other promo items.
What Marketing Message Works Best?
To use USB flash drives as promotional items a business should always have their company logo, name, website address and 1-800 phone number printed on the USB drive because, the more ways a customer has to contact a business, the better.
Personalize It
Instead of choosing a flat black or generic USB flash drive, a business should personalize the drive to match the businesses products, services or solution. In today’s world it’s possible for any business to get a personalize flash drive that best represents the products that they offer.
If a flash drive is cool and also fun, it will be used more regularly than a boring old flash drive.
Return on Investment
If you do any online research you will see that ad specialty items like personalized USB drives offer a higher return on investment than other forms of advertising because they are seen by more eyeballs on a daily basis and the owner is more likely to call a business owner when they need their help.
From Computers to Car Stereos: A Short Journey
Jun 15th
The owner of a local record store once advised me never to listen to the radio while driving: “Don’t let someone else play your soundtrack, man.” That was good advice, but back in the day, how could you avoid having to put up with the nearest station’s meatball disc jockey, only to hear static-laced cheese-puff tunes that only Casey Kasem could like? It wasn’t easy. It took a boom-box with twin tape decks and a lot of your time. But we did it.
Well, Turn It Up, Man
Today, with MP3 players, it’s a little easier to put together your favorite song list, even if it’s several hundred songs in length. And it took the automobile manufacturers a while to catch on, but they finally figured out that people wanted to be able to blast the hits from their MP3 players. They weren’t satisfied with the sounds that came squirting out of their ear buds. People wanted to hear “their music” come pouring out of the expensive sound systems that they had installed in their vehicles.
Mister Speaker…
The MP3 file is definitely limited in comparison to full-size .wav files, but so is a 2.0 megapixel photo snapped by the average cell phone camera when you put it next to a 12 megapixel picture taken by an expensive digital camera. The smaller (and clearly lesser) file still puts out the sound in an acceptably audible fashion, but recording artists, engineers and other high-brow types frown on it. As Franklin D. Roosevelt used to say, “Everyone’s against me, except for the electorate.”
It may well be that, in the near future, audio devices such as the iPod will be able to store and play full-size song files in all of their intended glory. When that day comes, Super Speed UBS-enabled equipment will be ready and waiting to push that sound through your speakers, whether you are comfortably at home or out there on the road.
Bluetooth: Getting Your Stuff Together
Jun 13th
Much sport has been made of certain groups of people who exist alongside the rest of us in this great American melting pot. Or salad bowl. Or whatever it is. There’s nothing malicious about it, really, it just so happens that certain things in life are often times giggled at no matter what… Like exterminators. Or people who smoke pipes. Or those who go around wearing their Bluetooth earpiece.
Productivity a Plus
The underlying jealousy, as betrayed by the accompanying disdain, is understandable. People with careers understand that Bluetooth isn’t just a hands-free listening device (although it does an exceptional job serving that purpose). It connects your phone to your PDA, or to your printer, or to your computer. The amount of time and trouble saved by Bluetooth is reflected by their success in a market where innovation leads the way.
Wi-Fi… Wi Not?
Wireless USB adapters, which link all your other stuff to your computer no matter where you are, make Bluetooth possible in the first place. It is an obvious and logical extension of the technological line which has grown from room-sized restrictions on routers to mobile broadband on demand. It was the immediate predecessor to the Smart Phone, the last big drop on the slippery slope to computers being completely swallowed up in the palm of your hand.
So who cares if the Bluetooth earpiece also saves a few lives on the road every year? With so many other uses, it routinely pays for itself, and is considered an essential commodity by many of its customers… Like metal detectors are. Or model trains. With USB connectivity, no matter what your walk of life might be, Bluetooth technology has made possible an offer that is genuinely open to virtually anyone.
Employers See Security Risks in USB Ports
Jun 11th
Up to 99 percent of computer users, welcome the addition of a USB port to their work desktop. USB transfer speeds and plug-and-play ease of use have shortened the amount of time that it takes to get the work done. Any reasonable person would conclude that employers would be the ones to derive the most satisfaction from this ubiquitous feature, but to employers, USB might as well mean “Unlimited Security Breach”.
Keeping It In-House
There’s a reason why many workstations are not equipped with CD or DVD drives and burners. And why large corporations use File Transfer Protocol (FTP) for file sharing within the parameters of their own Intranet. In the eyes of Big Business, the USB port is no different than a hole in the side of a bank vault. All manner of files, data, corporate secrets up to and including the recipe for Coca-Cola are at risk if a computer has a USB port – and what computer doesn’t?
A Game of Cat and “Mouse”
No manager wants to think that his or her Board Member boss was suffering through sleepless nights over something like that, so they tend to go a little bit further than covering their USB ports with masking tape (although it has been tried). They also have to worry about viruses coming into their networks by way of an unsuspecting employee with an infected flash drive. It all begs the question: What’s a boss to do?
Some in the administrative strata have taken to changing the BIOS settings on computers and providing password protection (passwords can be changed and assigned daily, if those in charge really want to go that far). Others take a less hands-on approach and simply disable write access to the USB port, rendering them read-only. Their concern is understandable in this day and age, when intellectual property is as sought after by criminals and competitors as is one’s client list or car stereo.
Flash Drives: Everybody’s Best Friend
Jun 9th
One of the most popular novelty and promotional products today is the flash drive. Everyone appreciates having one of these things, basically a USB-connected CD-RW that can carry all sorts of digital information. Flash drives were an instant hit and their use has only expanded over time. People may have snickered when they first saw their local gear-head wearing a flash drive like a talisman around his neck, but now they’re as common in the office as ballpoint pens.
Endless Possibilities
Businesses that deal in promotional items love flash drives as well. At first it was enough to merely disperse flash drives bearing one’s company logo. Then they had to start getting clever, with a sort of brinksmanship and flair that would make a car salesman blush. Suddenly, USB-enabled flash drives could double as pocket knives. Or pens. Or flashlights. Or laser pointers. Or all of the above rolled up into one device that, by the way, also holds several Gigs of data.
Stuff You Never Thought Of
If you ever wanted aromatherapy in the office, there is a flash drive that slowly burns off essence oils, using the power from the USB port. For the truly twisted among us, there is a teddy bear flash drive whose head pops off to reveal the plug-in, making it look as though he’s been stuffed head-first into your USB port. For those smokers who still exist in our society – you know who you are – there’s even a flash-drive that will light up your cigarette.
There are flash drives that resemble mad-bling engagement rings (some of them even sport Swarovsky crystal). And flash drives that look just like the fortune cookies you get from a Chinese restaurant. Or doughnuts. There’s even a thumb drive that looks very much like a real human thumb! Whichever way your sense of humor is bent, chances are you’ll find a flash drive that catches your fancy.
A Quick Introduction to Super Speed USB
Jun 5th
Up to this point, USB cables have been used to power the same tools as serial ports or parallel ports. They have the unique capability to transfer data from one place to the other, or to power external devices that some might describe as novelty items – little desktop toys that are the source of endless amusement but that bake no bread. With current “high-speed” USB 2.0 capabilities, we have become accustomed to such things.
5 Gigs Per Second
The next generation, USB 3.0, will be able to handle speeds ten times greater than that which have thus far experienced. This will not only increase productivity on the computer, it will spawn another wave of devices that connect to the computer by way of the USB port. How does 5 gigabytes per second sound, other than super-sonic? It will eliminate the need for “device polling” and minimize wait times on nearly all external computer applications.
Stepping On The Gas
So-called Super Speed USB 3.0 has also been meticulously backward-engineered so as to not render obsolete the 2 billion or so USB-enabled devices that have already been snapped up by happy customers throughout the global economy. Super Speed also brings in Sync-n-Go technology that cuts down on computer lag. It’s almost everything we’ve ever wanted in interactive computer use.
This may well put to rest the nightmares we have all had, similar to the ones in which we are trying to run away from danger in slow-motion, only involving watching the data bar crawl across the screen. Just as was the case when broadband rudely shoved dial-up and DSL out of the way, the difference will seem astonishing at first, and then will become part of our daily routines. The difference in productivity, as found on the bottom line, is something that should truly stand out.