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Before You Give A Mouse Pad As A Gift, Consider This... |
By:
Alexa Ferotina |
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Before You Give A Mouse Pad As A Gift, Consider This...
Alexa Ferotina
One does not have to be a computer expert to know that one needs a mouse for the curser to work. And for the mouse to be more efficient, it does not hurt to have a mouse pad. But enough techno-geek speak. Many feel that a mouse pad is a mouse pad is a mouse pad. YMany users opt not to use one. They use books, pieces of shipping boxes and even paper plates (and wonder why the curser isn't moving very fast) I'm not making fibbing. I know some of them. Others without a computer are certain a mouse pad is a small rental unit for rodents. That part is a joke.
The mouse (which incidentally sits on top of the mousepad) was invented Stanford student Douglas Engelbart in the early '60's. . He named it "the bug" but it was later changed to "the mouse". He did not create it to be put on a mat or pad but held in one hand and the user would type on a five-key chord keyset with the other. This system was short-lived. The mouse pad was invented by Xerox employee Armando Fernandez. He first named the mouse pad with separate words, mouse pad, and later fused the two names into a single word "mousepad". Xerox published his invention in 1979. Advertisers caught on fast and began advertising and giving them as corporate gifts. This remains a tradition today. But it has changed in many ways.
Mouse pads, if designed properly, can be an ideal corporate gift. The trick to giving the right mouse pad, today, is to think of the end user, the beneficiary of the pad. Rather than the age-old "my company logo on your mouse pad", savvy businesspersons and entrepreneurs are giving "theme-related" mouse pads as gifts, and often humor or cartooning is incorporated. For instance, giving a mouse pad to a doctor? Why not one featuring a medical-related cartoon? To a scientist? A science-theme cartoon makes perfect sense. See the difference? It is what you might call "non-invasive marketing". With so many promotional items on the market today, if one is not going to be creative in the process of giving one, it is best not to waste time and money doing it. But if one takes a few minutes and finds one "that works', it works like nothing else, and very well.
The person not only sees and uses the mouse pad every day, he/she remembers it came from you. It needn't even have your name and/or web address on it. The receiver will remember this gift. It will be very very different than other gifts received. If you've never tried it, simply try it. This is definitely an experiment in gift-giving worth a try. I didn't believe it at first and now I'm hooked. I have never gotten more business simply from sending out fifty or so cartoon mousepads from any other advertising medium. And I don't even put my logo, name, or URL on it, just attach my business card. Make it a true gift, not a promotional one. And they always thank me and I know they appreciate it.
Kids market were the first noticed in the mouse pad world. Big firms like Disney and others had their characters like Mickey Mouse and Goofy and others on a mat. These continue to be big sellers and can be found at places like Walmart and other major stores.
Cartoonist, entrepreneur, Rick London, producer of Londons Times Cartoons, was the first to create professional-themed cartoons onto high quality mouse pads targeting the corporate business and adult gift-giving market. His themes include everything from dentistry to pro-sports to lawyers to veterinarians. He sells them at his his cartoon stores such as JustFunnyMousepads.Com. They have become very big sellers in both the corporate world and regular arena of unique gift items.
People are looking for originality and the more original, the more memorable. The name of the game is to forget "corporate etiquette" when corporate gifts are being sought. Seek originality. People will remember and do business with you.
Alexa Ferotina is an entrepeneur that uses originality and humor in corporate and personal gift-giving that clients and friends remember. One of her favorites is giving the most memorable corporate or personal gift. Her favorite website to order is http://www.justfunnymousepads.com/ Cartoon Mousepads As Corporate Gifts
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Article Source: http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article65006.html |
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