skucast

Denise Taschereau, CEO and co-founder of Fairware, took four months off from work to travel, and in this episode, Mark Graham visits with both Denise and Sarah White (Fairware's Chief Operating Officer) about how they were able to work together to create such a refreshing opportunity.

Snugz USA is a $40 million powerhouse led by owner and CEO, Brandon Mackay. Powered by an incredible team of talented professionals, Snugz remains one of the most respected suppliers in the industry, a manufacturer whose diverse product line has grown far beyond lanyards to include leather goods, personal care products, food, and even shoes.

We sit down with Jake Malishkevich (Promodealer) to learn about his journey and mine the lessons he has learned, including: the importance of Google AdWords then and now, how process is the most important part of a new salesperson’s training (and a distributor's growth), navigating the online world of trendspotting with products and how Amazon and Wal-Mart entering the industry is a non-issue.

Steve Levschuk is the CEO of Talbot, recognized by Deloitte as one of The 50 Best Managed Companies in Canada - twice! We sit down with Steve to talk about acquisitions vs. organic growth, supplier partnerships, international business, compensation models, and what it takes to become a “best-managed company.” Steve is also a distributor candidate for the PPAI board, and we discuss his vision for t...

Lori Kates has overseen many transitions since she first began as controller of Vitronic in 1996. Honored as ASI’s Supplier Woman of Distinction in 2013 and listed on The Counselor Power 50 for the past 4-years, she continues to pursue excellent operating principles intended to propel Top 40 supplier IMAGEN Brands to even greater heights.

Todd Pottebaum is the President of Quality Resource Group, a $35 million promotional products and print distributor with over 50 salespeople, located in the Minneapolis, MN area. This episode reflects on principles of success, particularly personal and professional development, and how we can implement these into our own experience.

skucon, the conference for entrepreneurs, mavericks, and both young and young-at-heart professionals, is back, and it's at an all-new venue with a stellar lineup of some of the brightest and best in the business. In this episode, Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew provide a quick overview of topics and highlight some of the speakers who are taking the stage.

Dan Frailey is the President of RuMe BrandSuite, the promotional division of the wildly popular retail brand RuMe (which stands for “reuse me”). RuMe BrandSuite has taken the industry by storm and was recognized this year by ASI’s The Counselor magazine as the fastest-growing supplier.

Andy Thorne, Co-Founder and Sales and Marketing Director at Outstanding Branding, was our special guest at commonsku University at The ASI Show Chicago, discusses the realities of partnerships, building a brand, utilizing a business coach, healthy margins, workplace culture, and more.

Recorded live at commonsku University at The ASI Show Chicago, we discuss what it takes to climb the path to success, and we chat about key factors that contribute to growth: net profit, mentorship, sales persistence, margins, and more.

In this episode, we sit down with Mitch Freed, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives with Genumark and we explore how to begin to affect change that invigorates and transforms your business!

In today’s skucast, we discuss successful distributor client shows and, through the lense of a learning perspective, we share the evolution of the commonsku events. Mark Graham shares the sweat, the fear, the risk, the return, and the reward of spectacular event marketing. We hope this episode inspires you to build community events with your customers!

The author of “Promo Plight,” Counselor Magazine’s Executive Editor Chris Ruvo, joins us to highlight his research. We discuss what this pressure means for the health of the industry, and, most importantly, how distributors are responding to market pressure with positive solutions.

Tactics! From referrals to uber-like sample delivery, Mitch Silver of Printable Promotions shares some of the secrets to building a robust inside sales organization in the promotional products industry.

In this episode, we sit down with Rod Brown, the CFO of MadeToOrder, a $25 million Bay area distributor and we ask critical questions regarding some of the most important numbers in business.

Amazon has won a patent for on-demand apparel, and the news headlines suggest panic for all apparel manufacturers. Is this news an opportunity or a threat? Does this impact the corporate apparel business, and if so, how? We cover these questions and more in this episode.

This special edition of skucast was recorded live at The PPAI Expo during Mark Graham's Podcasting 101 class. As a part of the class, we demonstrated the power of podcasting by discussing a distributor's unique value proposition. Through this conversation we discovered insights into how you might discover your unique voice, not only for podcasting, but also for attracting passionate, dedicated cus...

Join us in this episode as we trace the business journey made by Casey Schorr and Kevin Materi of Printfection and learn how they created a robust swag management platform that found its stride after continuous acts of transfiguration.

In this episode, you’ll learn about Ted’s passion to distinguish himself and his company from the plight of the “me, too” promotional world and you’ll learn about his journey from atypical promotional company to a discerning agency that works with customers who value his service.

In this episode, we speak with Tom Goos, President of Image Source, about the speed of change in the industry. As a former chairman of PPAI, Tom has a unique perspective on the health of the industry and what the future may hold.

In this episode, Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew travel to California for a site visit of the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs to give you a taste of the skucamp experience.

In this episode Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew continue their look into the future of the industry and discuss the trends that are shaping this movement, highlighting just a few of the key players who are becoming dominant forces in the race to emerge as winners of the new creative class.

This episode was sparked by a controversial article published in The Counselor magazine entitled, "The Big Squeeze: Are Promo Distributors Putting Too Much Demand on Suppliers?" Samantha Kates, commonsku's Vice President of Sales, joins Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew as they wade into the controversy to discuss supplier rebates, price negotiations, and more!

In this episode, Mark and Bobby discuss how the industry has splintered into specialties, namely four distinct market segments: smaller distributors (usually 1-person, less than $500,000 in annual sales), pure e-commerce players, agency or niche verticals and company store providers.

In today’s episode, Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew discuss the potential pitfalls and opportunities with the company store model.