Bruce Fox Blog

Estimated Read Time: 13 Minutes

At Bruce Fox, we have a wide variety of services that we provide, but one such service that has increasingly become more popular and utilized is our Fulfillment service.

A Summary of Our Fulfillment Services

Need the product to be 100% made in the USA? We can do it – right here in our New Albany, Indiana facility.

Need something shipped from overseas and stored here? We can do that, too.

Our Capabilities Include:

• On-site, dedicated warehousing facilities which allows us to manage and maintain your inventory.
• Utilize a stock and release method to take advantage of quantity pricing for custom products.
• Most release requests, or “callouts,” are typically shipped within five business days; many in 48 hours or less.

Estimated Read Time: 9 Minutes

Did you know that Years of Service is the number one type of recognition organizations have in place?

Yet, employees are no longer staying at companies for 30 plus years. Gone are the days of our forefathers when employees would get one job and stay there for their entire careers.

Now, employees regularly change jobs due to poor management, better benefits, more pay, flexible hours, and other personal or career opportunities. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the average person holds 12 to 15 jobs in their lifetime and that number is only projected to grow.

And with the demand for qualified employees thriving, who can blame them?

Estimated Read Time: 11 Minutes

I stumbled upon this article recently – How to Identify When an Employee Is Becoming Uninterested – and it struck a chord with me.

What they discussed was all correct. An employee might become uninterested due to things like getting a new team member, dealing with a new manager, adjusting to new procedures, an employee leaving the company, or even a disagreement in the workplace.

However, there was an obvious missing piece that echoed in the silence.

Where was recognition in this?

Employees want to be recognized, but rarely are.

Especially since only 14% of organizations provide managers with the necessary tools for rewards and recognition.

Estimated Read Time: 11 Minutes

I’ve noticed an uptick in Promotional Products Professionals saying they want to start investing in their marketing. They want to start promoting themselves.

Which makes sense, right?

But outside of handing out a lot of promotional product samples, what else can you do to promote yourself?

There are plenty of elements to that the equation, but an ever-growing answer is digital marketing; which is where my expertise comes in. So, here are some tools I’ve picked up throughout the years and, as an extra bonus, most of these marketing tools are free or mostly free.

I should note that we made a marketing tools list a while ago, which people having been asking for more tools since then, so here’s my version of the requested follow-up.

Estimated Read Time: 4 Minutes

Dave’s been in this business for a while. Anytime someone can claim 27+ years of knowledge, and that was a few years ago, then they’ve been in the promotional products industry for a while.

He’s seen the pop sockets, fidget spinners, and the fanny pack revival trends. Each popular with their target audiences and each were emerging trends at some point.

Combined with his years of experience, he, like many in the industry, has become apt in predicting certain trends.

In this case, he’s noticed three in our segment of the promotional products industry – custom awards and displayable products.

Estimated Read Time: 12 Minutes

It all started with an artist -a commercially trained artist whose early career was in advertising in New York as well as a sculptor and self-described “bon vivant.”

Throughout his travels, Fox had learned the traditional ways of metalworking and he was eager to bring his knowledge to the post-Depression American market. In 1938, he founded the company which still bears his name as the outlet for his artistic energies – Bruce Fox, Inc.

Estimated Read Time: 5 Minutes

Marble, gold, and silver are common for awards and plaques, but few people realize that they can (are typically are) too expensive for the budget. That’s especially so when the client wants something “more along their branding and company’s personality." That sounds more like a custom piece.

However, if custom is not possible, distributors have to find alternatives to the heavy marble awards to stand on desks or the shiny silver plaque that hangs up on the wall. However, there are ways to get that look without having to deal with the hefty weight, as well as avoid having to spend large amounts of money.

Estimated Read Time: 6 Minutes

Bruce Fox is unique in the industry, because besides creating custom and wow-worthy pieces, we also offer services few other suppliers (much less manufacturers) offer in the promotional products industry.

We are a design-build firm who offers a wide variety of services.

Estimated Read Time: 12 Minutes

Order-Taker – it’s not an endearing term, yet it satisfies the job description for many in the promotional products industry. From the Swag-Getters to the Branded Products Retrievers, our industry is flooded with people who just take orders without any question or real thought behind why their customer wants those tchotchkes.

Dave wrote a blog a while ago – Welcome to McPromoland, May I Take Your Order? this hit a little too close to home for some. Why? He called out many promotional products companies for being no better than a fast food joint.  

“If you are showing pictures and taking orders by number, and there is no personal relationship with your customers, then you are operating a McPromoland.”

Estimated Read Time: 8 Minutes

With all of the industry changes, distributors are left with a choice. You are standing at a crossroads right now. And you have two roads to choose from.

One is to continue to outsource your goods; whether it’s your cups, glasses, and certificate frames, or even your custom goods.

The other is to work with US manufacturers; ones who do not have to wait for overseas shipping, tariffs, or foreign holidays that shut down the country for weeks. In addition to satisfying the growing demands for products made in the USA.

As you are aware, there have been a few of articles written about this choice.

So, which road will you choose?