Secret About Stress

You’re starting your own business and have the business cards, stationery and your product all ready to go. However, you need something to break the ice with prospective customers. One popular way to do this is with promotional stress balls! These ideal promotional products can be molded into many shapes and designs with company logos. For example, there are many services and products that can be promoted with cow shapes.

Promotional stress balls serve multiple purposes. Squeezing these promotional stress relievers decreases the user’s stress, tension, and frustration. It is also good exercise for the hand and muscles especially if one suffers from carpal tunnel syndrome. They are also the perfect promotional items to introduce yourself to prospective clients either in person, at trade shows, or via the mail.

Services and products that can be promoted with cow shapes are not limited to dairy farm and ice cream shop products. Of course, establishments dealing with animals on a daily basis such as veterinarian offices, pet stores, and save-the-animal organizations can offer these unique promotional gifts. Steak houses, pizza joints, pancake houses, and candy shops can utilize cow shaped promotional stress balls to advertise their business and products for sale such as steak sauces, pancake mixes, specialty candy, fudge, and cookies.

Children’s merchandise such as clothing and bedding are also products that can be promoted with cow shapes such as baby calves. Remember the nursery rhyme about the cow jumping over the moon? Promotional stress toys can market airlines, rental cars, and even u haul companies. Cow shaped promotional stress balls can be given to children over the age of three to occupy them during their flight or moving process while marketing services and products to their parents.

Any business that sells leather products as well as the animal rights organisations that are against leather can use these shapes.Exercise equipment are products that can be promoted with cow shapes.

Cows eat grass so what better products that can be promoted with cow shapes than items for the lawn and garden. Items such as mowers, tools, seed spreaders, weed whips, and garden gloves can be advertised to the consumer. Believe me it is done often and with great success.

Lightweight promotional stress balls are very affordable when purchased in bulk. They are easy to transport to visits to homes, businesses, or just to keep in the car for whenever the need arises. If you have products that can be promoted with cow shapes, why not take a chance on this simple marketing technique? You’ll soon thank yourself once you witness the success that you dreamed about!

A good friend of mine runs a small business and has a haulage company come everyday to collect his shipments that are sent across the UK mainly but also a few are sent aboard. He started to have a few issues with the haulage company so decided that he would look around and think about moving his business elsewhere. And do you know what won the new business? Well, promotional items won the business. What kind of promotional items, a promotional stress toy, or to be accurate a promotional stress truck that he was sent about a year previously and that had been sat on his desk day in and day out for all of that time.

The main reason for this was that the number was to hand and the promotional stress truck that was printed up with the company’s details had been in front of him each and every day he felt like he had a connection with the company.

That is how promotional items can work. They work on a physiological level. My friend had never had contact with the company but through the promotional items he felt he had and was already warm to the haulage company. The haulage company then discussed the business requirements and prepare a quote in a timely manner. And the business was won.

Promotional items are not always a short term gain product, they are great because if you select the right item, like promotional stress toys, they stay around in view of your potential customers for a very long period of time, and when the moment is right they will call you, quite often out of the blue.

There is a massive range of promotional stress toys available to suit all industry types so why not have a look to see if your company can benefit from these kind of promotional items.

Are you looking for a really fun and different way to promote your business or organisation? The sumo wrestler stress ball could be just the product you need to attract attention to your products, services or facilities. They have already been a successful part of the marketing campaigns of many companies so why not give these popular shapes a try. Here I would like to tell you about the stress product and how it has been used by other companies.

The sumo wrestler stress ball comes in two different shapes that I know of. If you search the internet, you will no doubt see them and perhaps more as new shapes are always being designed. Currently, the most popular is the sumo that is in a squatting position ready to pounce. Depending on your supplier, you should be able to purchase the same shape but with different facial expressions. Some are happily smiling while others have a more aggressive expression.

Sumos have the famous fat belly which is where they are normally printed. It is a really great imprinting area because the stress shape stands on the desktop with the belly protruding out advertising your message to your target customer. With a large print area of 35mm x 35mm you should be able to print a logo and contact details very easily.

This stress shape is 99mm x 84mm x 58mm and offers not only the belly but also the back and buttocks as printing surfaces. I have seen them printed with the logos of up to four companies without looking over crowed. Your promotional gift supplier should be able to assist you with what will look best printed where. As with all stress balls, these shapes can be manufactured in your corporate colours. This makes it possible to really made the shapes your own: as if they were designed for you.

Companies that have used these stress relievers are gyms, weight loss clinics, health food campaign organisations, universities and sports clubs just to name a few. Although this shape is normally found in the sports section of stressball websites, it is considered a universal shape that can easily be used to promote almost any type of business because it is fun to look at, throw around the room and squeeze.

I always recommend transfer printing stress toys which is by far the highest quality print. However, this is one of the products that can be pad printed with very successfully. The round belly offers an easy print surface and as the skin tone is normally flesh coloured, you can print most any colour without it g

There is no getting around it. The office is a stressful environment. For most of us, people can either be triggers for our stress or sources for relief for our stress. Unfortunately, because of the need to maintain a professional rapport with our workers, we have to be conscious on exposing our feelings too readily. That stop valve we put on our emotions at work can be a cause of stress in itself, and we have got to make sure the containment of stress does not lead perversely to the angry and hostile release of stress.

We need an outlet. The gym is an outlet for stress. Walking or jogging in the park is an outlet for stress. Punching a punching bag is a release of stress. Yelling in your car is a release of stress. But few offices come with their own gym. Offices are confined and don’t have the real estate to afford you a really satisfying jog. Maybe you could somehow get a punching bag into your office, but start yelling at the top of your voice from your desk and you might just find yourself out of a job.

Promotional businesses are only too aware that stress is one of the leading causes of decreased work productivity and absenteeism around the work place. Promotional businesses know there is a market for stress relief in the work place, and not only that, but promotional businesses want your business name and logo to be associated with good health in the workplace. Because the primary health issue in the workplace is stress, promotional businesses are glad to offer products designed chip away at any building stress in the work place. They are promoted as ‘toys’ but these are not toys in the sense that they are childish or forgettable. The toys offered by promotional products are toys in the sense that they are used for no practical purpose, but they are used.

The ‘relieve stress mentality’ is about finding something to occupy yourself without getting to occupied about it.Promotional Anti Stress Toys provide employers and employees with something to do without something to stress about, and as frivolous as they may sound, they’re very effective. The Promotional Anti Stress Ball is the most popular for squeezing away your anxieties. But there is also The Anti Stress Globe, The Anti Stress Cricket Ball, The Anti Stress Tennis Ball, The Anti Stress Golf Ball, varying sizes of anti-stress soccer balls and footballs, anti-stress cars, planes and trucks, anti-stress hard hats, hammers and bricks, an anti-stress boss caricature, anti-stress puzzles and anti-stress phone chairs.

Smoking is no longer cool. Those who do smoke want to stop and those who do not have little tolerance for those who do. Whether you reside in the UK, US or anywhere else for that matter, chances are health services and/or medical organisation are trying to help those who do smoke to stop. Even employers are trying to get their employees to stop. One way of spreading the word is through expensive TV and radio advertisements as well as other types of printed media. In the past few years, one of the ways organisations and businesses have been getting the message out and in the open is through the use of low cost promotional gifts such as stress balls. There are lung shapes, heart shapes and the two cigarette shapes I would like to introduce to you here.

The most popular cigarette themed stress ball shape is the cigarette pack. This pack is approximately the same size as a normal cigarette pack at 60mm x 110mm x 40mm. The pack appears to have three cigarettes sticking out. This very popular pack can be printed like a normal pack with all the health warnings or something such as “Crush the Habit.” Take it from an ex-smoker, when people are trying to stop smoking they need to find something to do other than smoke and these stress balls fit the bill! As with all stress balls, you can have these stress ball cigarette packs manufactured in the colours of your choice and print the with some pretty vivid full colour pictures.

The other popular cigarette shape is an 80mm x 30mm cylinder that is designed to look like a burning cigarette. Personally, I feel this shape, though it looks good, lacks the promotional strength of the other. It has less printable area and the print areas it does have are smaller. However, it is down to personal opinion so please look into both as this may just be the perfect shape for your promotion.

These cigarette shapes are easily found from promotional stress ball suppliers worldwide. They are not always a standard stock shape so you may need to search the internet a bit but you will find them eventually. Please note that as cigarettes and cigarette packs are normally white, these stress shapes are normally white as well. When white stress balls are exposed to light over time, they do tend to turn a bit yellow. You should therefore save white coloured stressballs in a dark place or even in the box in which they are shipped until you are ready to give them to your clients or customers.

There are some promotional stress ball shapes that are best purchased from a specialist. Train shapes are such shapes. You see, most of the standard stock train stress toys are dark in colour. They need to be transfer printed in order to achieve the best results and this is something that the majority of business gift suppliers are not able to do. Most stress relievers are pad printed which can look good on some backgrounds but is not to the same high standard as transfer printing.

That said, I would like to introduce you to the train shapes that are the biggest sellers worldwide. If you look around on the net, you will find a stressball supplier who specializes in each of these products. Normally, these suppliers have websites that are dedicated to stress relievers. They will also be more than happy to supply you with samples of their products to aid you with your decision. Each of the product listed below are available from most good promotional stress ball suppliers and can be printed with your logo and details.

The Old Steam Engine: This 98mm x 48mm x 62mm shape looks just like the old time steam engines. It is black as standard but a professional supplier will be able to manufacture them in the colours of your choice. This shape is a bit dated as it was the original promotional train shape made available but it is still a big seller.

The NEW Old Steam Engine: With time has come advances in stress shapes. There is now a new steam engine available that I far prefer to the old version. The 108mm x 48mm x 62mm shape features fantastic trim detail. I recommend asking your supplier to see all of the steam engine shapes they supply if steam engines are what you are looking for.

The Underground Train: These are replicas of the London Underground but they can really be used to represent the underground trains in other cities and countries. If required, your supplier should be able to change the design slightly without it costing you an arm and a leg. The 176mm x 42mm x 28mm shape fits perfectly into the average adult size hand.

The Subway Train: Based on New York’s subway trains, these are a great way of promoting the great city or many other speedy messages. The 143mm x 43mm x 35mm shape is equally as popular as the London Underground shape. Many companies purchase both for spectacular promotional displays.

The Eurostar: This 160mm x 38mm x 40mm shape is based on the Chunnel train but it looks very much like the high speed trains found in many countries. With a little work, the detail can be changed to fit in perfectly with you promotional message.

We all remember the Disney movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Their world was a fantasy land. Remember the dwarfs and the song they sung on their way to work? “Hi ho, Hi ho, Hi ho, its off to work we go”! O.K. come on now, be honest! How many of us are that cheerful as we fight traffic to get to the office.

Fact is, today in our western world, life is complicated. The demands of home, work, kids, pets and outside commitments constantly pull us in all directions. As employees, we come to the workplace with all types of things on our mind. And then we hear the statement; leave your personal life at home!

Employers, think about that statement for a minute. Is it possible to do that? Can an employee really check the personal stuff at the door and do their jobs with excellence. My contention is that they cannot. Study after study has shown that employees who are struggling in their personal lives are not productive employees. With the pressures of today’s economy, we must have productive employees committed to excellence to be successful. Customers have to many choices to just be mediocre.

So what is an employer to do? Is it our responsibility to deal with our employees personal problems so that they can be productive at work? Should we let a person go, when after many conversations, they just cannot seem to perform their jobs? How much “empathy” is enough? How flexible can we be? Can’t they just “grow up” and do their jobs!!! Ugh!

As employers, I am sure we have all had thoughts like those. How can we address this issue?

Let me suggest some things to think about as you wrestle with the balance between being a nice guy and running a business.

Here are a few:

1. How adept is your HR department or person at spotting issues before they get out of hand?
2. Do you even have an HR Department or HR Consultant to help you in these matters?
3. Do you promote an environment where an employee or their co-worker feels safe about asking for help?
4. Do you train your managers to recognize the signs associated with bringing personal issues to work?
5. Do you require folks to take their earned vacation, so that they have a break from the job?
6. Are people in your organization is the correct jobs? Satisfaction in their role in the company makes it easier to be productive, even when struggling with a personal issue.
7. Do you acknowledge that in the current economy, folks are struggling?
8. Do you tolerate gossip and rumors in the workplace?
9. Do you avoid dealing with one employee who is having a really hard time. and what effect does that have on all the other employees?
10. Do you ever do anything fun in your office?

One other thing that you can consider, is to bring in some outside training for employees. Teach them skills to deal with issues in their personal life. Lunch and learn session, EAP programs, substance abuse counselors, basic financial training; those are just some ideas that might help. The biggest objection to training, is that the financial cost is too high. I understand that comment, but consider the alternative. Loss of productivity, training cost of new employees, absenteeism and Workman’s compensation cost will all outpace the cost of some simple training in the long run.

Employees who bring their problems to work will always be an issue in the marketplace. How you as the employer choose to deal with it will determine the damage it causes in your organization.

Dealing with the the situation in a positive manner, head on, with some appropriate training is the best solution, In My Experience.

Starting and running your own business can be exciting and rewarding, but it can also be very stressful. For most of our almost 40 year marriage my husband has been an entrepreneur and I have sometimes worked with him. Having built my own business as a Stress Reduction Coach I have been reflecting on the stresses of being an entrepreneur.

Signs and sources of stress

Some of the signs of stress overload include irritability, anxiety about the sustainability of the business, and/or high business debt. Relationships within the family can suffer if they do not understand the entrepreneurial drive or the time and effort it takes to start and run a business. For women entrepreneurs, the job of running the household and balancing work and home can create enormous stressors. When you work from home, all the household tasks that need to be done can pull you away from your business. People who are drawn to be entrepreneurs are sometimes idea people who don’t like detail and repetitive tasks. Having to work on those things can create stress as well. And when you’re stressed it’s harder to concentrate and focus.

Organize your environment

One of the solutions is to reduce the stress and create an environment that discourages stress. Have a place where you can keep everything together and organized. A written plan of action for the business posted where you can see it along with a daily plan can help you focus the time you have available.

A system that works for me

I am not a person who comes to organization easily and I have struggled to find a way that works. Daytimers and lists help for a short while, but I have never been able to keep up with them. One thing I have found that works is to have a “big picture overview” of what needs to be done where I can see it. I have a poster board size piece of “static cling” presentation sheet that adheres to my door. It can be easily rolled up and removed if needed. I have several categories that I’ve posted at the top of the sheet, such as “website,” “presentation,” etc. These are written on standard sized post-it notes so they can be easily removed and changed. I brainstorm everything I need to do on small post-it notes. After I brainstorm, I then organize the notes in the appropriate columns. I also have a category that says TODAY for the urgent and important things. I can glance at the poster while I am working and see what else I might need to do and when I finish what I need to do, I can throw the post-it away. If something comes up that is not posted, I can put it on a post-it note and put it where it needs to be.

This “system” helped me write many graduate papers and I used it when I planned and wrote my dissertation. Now it helps me as I plan and work my business. This is just one technique that helps me reduce the stress of being an entrepreneur.

Promotional stress ball ATM machines are eye-catching promotional giveaways that can be custom-made to fit a variety of marketing campaigns. Like other personalised stress shapes you can literally decide how you want them to look so that they complement your corporate look perfectly.

It should be pointed out that promotional cash dispenser stress balls can be manufactured in the colours of your choice. This includes Pantone matching! There are very few business gifts on the market that can be manufactured in your own Pantone colours.

They can then be printed with a simple one colour print or up to full colour process. This can be quite a lot more expensive but the end result looks fantastic.

There are relatively large print areas on the back and on each side so if you have a lot to say you will have plenty of room to say it. You may like to print your logo nice and large on one side and then your contact details in the other positions.

Oh – and don’t forget that strapline!

Obvious users of such promotional items are banks. In fact these stress toys would be fantastic promotional giveaways for any financial institution. As they can be made in a business’s own Pantone colours, they really represent the image of the company well.

Promotional stress toy ATM machines could also be used as marketing gifts by accountants or financial advisors. They would certainly be a unique business gift and chances are the recipient would remember the innovative organisation that presented them with the gift for years to come.

In addition to financial firms, cashpoint stress balls can be made to fit the marketing campaigns of other types of businesses. The fact that cash machines are obviously used to distribute money could be played upon with slogans used to denote the money saving potentials of a product supplier or service provider.

One of my recent customers even used these fun shapes to promote public safety and staying aware of your surroundings when you are out on the town. The promotion was very well received!

So what are you waiting for? Do you like the ideas presented here? If you do, ask for a sample and get your next big promotion underway! One thing is certain. Promotional stress balls get your name and logo literally into your clients’ hands in a very fun and memorable way.

Promotional brain stress balls are one of the most popular shapes of stress balls that are used as promotional gifts. These printed stress relievers can be tailored to fit just about any marketing campaign. They are often printing with wording to the effect of ‘use your head/brain – try us as your supplier.’

Brain stress toys can be made in any size but the average and most popular size is approximately 70mm in length with the width at around 45mm. This size is just about perfect for the average hand to squeeze to fulfill the purpose of  stress relieving promotional items.

The print area is relatively large at around 40mm across and 25mm in height so a fair amount of information can fit on each side of the brain and also on the top if required.

As the texture of the brain stress toy shapes is uneven to represent a real brain, these stress relievers are best transfer printed. With this method of printing the transfers are applied by hand to lie on top of the textured surface and produces a very good print effect.

If these were screen printed there would be a great risk of a good print quality not being achieved as a pad is used for each colour of print using a machine. Due to the grooves in the brain the print would most likely become distorted. Unfortunately many stress ball suppliers still only offer pad printing.

Stress toy brains have the added bonus of being able to be manufactured in any colour. While the standard off white colour of the human brain is mostly used to produce promotional brain shaped stress balls there is the flexibility for these to be manufactured in your own corporate colour.

They actually look very effective when made in any colour so if you do want your brain stress relievers to stand out then it would definitely be worthwhile having them created in your own corporate colour or indeed even in any vibrant colour to get your brand noticed.

I always recommend asking for samples so that you can see first hand the quality of the stress balls you are purchasing.  There are some very good brain shaped stress relievers out there but a few factories still try to cut costs and sell substandard products.

So what are you waiting for?  Use your head  and opt for promotional brain stress balls as your next promotional giveaway!