skucast

In today’s episode of the skucast, we’re bringing you a live session from skucon 2023, recorded just this past Sunday, and it’s called The Tipping Point: In three, brief 10 min interviews, we’ll talk with three distributors who have each experienced a turning point in their business, we’ll uncover the challenges they faced, the obstacles they overcame, and the tipping point that led to their growt...

Tom Rector (Founder and CEO) and his team at ScreenBroidery grew over 143% from 2021 to 2022, and along the way, they created a pretty special experience: A Shark Tank Experience bringing together clients and suppliers. Today, we talk with Tom about their phenomenal growth, his advice for entrepreneurs during uncertain economic times, and a little something he calls, “Storytelling Land.” Join us!

Today’s episode is all about AI and, more specifically, the phenomenon of chatGPT. Are new emerging technologies like chatGPT threats or opportunities? Will deep learning tools replace consultative salespeople in the promotional products industry? Will tools like chatGPT disrupt traditional search methods like ESP and Sage? Join us as we explore the future of AI and chatGPT for promo!

Whether you are a team that is in-person and at the office 100% of the time or whether you are a hybrid team or completely virtual, we are all figuring it out: trying to find the best way forward to work on strategy together while maintaining a strong culture

The supplier of the future is working –right now– to create this very catalyst for growth. And we’re not talking to the wonderful technologists who are behind the scenes making these changes possible, we’re talking with the front line sales team who sees this change as the new leverage for sales growth.

And we can think of no better way to celebrate our 250th episode than by inviting commonsku cofounders Mark Graham and Catherine Graham on today’s episode to talk about the major trends driving and shaping the future of our industry and the sometimes small-scale and quiet changes happening beneath the surface that will become seismic disruptors in the immediate future and over the next 2-3 years.

Jeremy Parker began in the business just like many of you did: hoofing it, old-school style, knocking on doors, cold calling customers, and landing business. Today, we talk about how swag.com has soared from $300k in sales to nearly $40 million in a span of seven years and how an award-winning documentarian became the co-founder of swag.com

Jorge began working for Hirsch in 2010, straight out of high school, after meeting Hirch vice president Paul Hirsch on the soccer field. He started as a production assistant and after 12 years of mastering every machine in the building, from the print machines to the forklift, he’s now the Lead Production Manager. Jorge, or George, is an integral asset to the back of house at Hirsch, and, accordin...

We’ve been hearing and talking recession rhetoric for months. And by “we” I mean the collective we: business leaders, media, economists, and the world. Regardless of whether we’re already in a recession, or whether there will be a recession, or whether there won’t be a recession, for business planning purposes you can still find your focus for growth for 2023, regardless of the economic climate.

At skucamp, the leaders of three of the industry’s largest suppliers joined Catherine Graham, commonsku’s Co-founder and CEO on stage to answer audience questions and discuss the state of the industry now and their perspective on the future. The panel featured David Nicholson - Vice Chairman at PCNA, Dan Pantano, President & CEO at AlphaBroder Prime, and Jonathan Isaacson, Chairman, and CEO at Gem...

Landon Wade, the owner of Goodson Clothing Supply, and his team are reinventing the way we think about branded merch, business partnerships, and transparency. They believe that the product you choose to carry your brand name speaks values and the old way of choosing merch is broken.

donothingclub is a collaborative design project curated by Ben Gabriel and Julian Trompeter based in New York City focused on exploring the potential of connection through design.

There are undercurrents happening in the industry that start as small ripples but eventually become waves that bring a sea change of disruption to the business: that’s what this episode is about. Each quarter, we’ll bring you highlights and insights from guests featured on our podcast, our events, and our articles, that reveal an undercurrent of an idea that has the potential to completely reshape...

Chuck Hammond bought the family-owned business back in 2003. At that time, there were 15 employees, and today, Raining Rose employs over 300 full-time and 150 contract employees. Raining Rose was an early adopter of everything sustainable: they received their LEED certification in 2015, and were designated a B Corp in 2016. Raining Rose has appeared on Fortune’s annual 100 Fastest-Growing Inner Ci...

Today we talk with Michael about how to tame your advice monster as a leader and how to transform your leadership by embracing curiosity-driven coaching. And whether you’re in a leadership position or simply work with others, you’ll learn some fascinating tactics you can use now!

Gemma Aguiar is Founder and CEO of Design Like Whoa, a women-led and San Francisco-based agency with a design-forward focus who makes sustainable attainable for their clients.

Microsoft dropped their first capsule collection called Hardware and to create their branded clothing line they partnered with Gavin Mathieu, Creative Director and CEO of Supervsn Studios, the LA Times called Supervsn LA’s premier streetwear energy brand.

Here's the thing about that piece on swag by Elizabeth Segran in Fast Company: it missed the mark. Where Fast Company is right: No one wants the return of useless low-quality conference swag that ends up in the trash. No one. Not recipients, not buyers, and (surprise!) not sellers.

Kate Hallett is the Chief Marketing Officer at Harper + Scott. She has over ten years of integrated marketing experience with a proven track record for growing businesses. Kate is a passionate storyteller with disciplines across multiple industries, including enterprise and late-stage startups in both B2B and B2C environments.

Dan Pantano is the President and CEO of alphabroder –  Prime Line, one of the foremost leaders in the industry. With more than 90,000 customers, they ship over 50,000 boxes and more than a million units of product a day. It’s a massive operation, and we chat with Dan about some of the most pressing issues facing alphabroder and our industry.

Ben Pawsey is the VP of Marketing at HPG, one of the largest promotional products suppliers in North America, comprising 10 specialist brands including Hub, Origaudio, Debco, and more.

Each year, ASI (Advertising Specialty Institute) reveals insights from their State of the Industry Report, the single most researched report about the promotional products industry, providing in-depth analysis on multiple topics including trends in growth, challenges in manufacturing, industry verticals that possess the most opportunity, and much more.

SwagCycle is a startup focused on responsibly managing the lifecycle of branded merch. When companies rebrand or get acquired, many of those companies, through their distributor partners, often dispose of their obsolete branded merchandise.

Our guests are Matt Fischer, CEO and one of the founders and owners at Probitas Promotions, and Krisi Lund, Account Manager and client expert extraordinaire. Probitas is a North Dakota based distributor. Part of their story is the merging/acquisition of Trojan Promotions in 2019. Trojan Promotions was a distributorship owned by Jessica and Troy Nelson who were tragically killed in an accident. Tod...

In this special episode of skucast, Seth Godin joins us to talk about the opposing views in which people view the challenges of climate change: wizards who believe that only technological innovation and human progress offer hope for the planet; prophets who seek dramatic reductions in the ways that humans interact with the natural world; and ostriches who say there is a possibility that the climat...