Editor's Choice Decorated apparel business owners who are well established and desire the knowledge needed to expand and grow their business now have an Imprinted Sportswear Show workshop designed especially to meet their needs. Led by well-known industry consultant Mark Venit, this all-day class will lay the foundation on which you can build a successful plan for business growth and expansion. — Richard Lebovitz, Editorial Director, Impressions Thursday, July 17 Getting to the Next Level: Surviving and Thriving in Good Times and Bad 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Mark L. Venit, MBA, Apparel Graphics Institute For: Screen Printers, Embroiderers, Digital Decorators (200-400) Concerned about your company’s outlook in uncertain economic times? Is competition driving you nuts? Looking for SPECIFICS and SOLID SOLUTIONS about how to grow your custom apparel graphics sales volume in the face of entrenched competition and lowball predators? Frustrated about finding your way to “the next level?” Here’s your chance to move your business forward as marketing guru Mark Venit reveals the secrets that’ll change the rules of the game to YOUR advantage! Fasten your seatbelts, as Venit takes off the gloves in this power-packed program that smashes conventional wisdom about who makes money in our industry and how they make it. What you’ll take home is the strategic game plan AND the tactical weapons to meet — and defeat — your toughest competitors in ways they never imagined! In this session, you'll learn: • How to position your company for sustained long-term growth and profitability • What types of advertising media and campaigns work for selling custom apparel graphics (and which don’t!) • What are the magic words and tested techniques that transform price shoppers into long-term customers, • How to penetrate corporate accounts, enhance customer loyalty; boost order frequency, and increase “ticket size” EDITOR’S CHOICE If you’ve been to an Imprinted Sportswear Show lately, you’ve seen the vast array of blank T-shirts available today, but have your customers? With the selection of fashion-inspired garments for both men and ladies available today, why settle for a standard promotional program when you can upsell your client with something different? Join veteran contract screen printer Tom Vann of Target Graphics, Naperville, Ill., as he offers insight on how to create a dynamic T-shirt program using garments that are more than just basic. He’ll cover some of the industry’s hottest items as well as innovative graphics that will ensure your customers will keep coming back for more. --Marcia Derryberry Editor in Chief Impressions Magazine S15 – Upselling Higher-End T-shirts Saturday, July 19 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Tom Vann, CEO, Target Graphics Ltd. For: Promotional products distributors, screen printers (100-400) Don’t be an order taker. Anyone can produce a two-color logo on a 5.6-oz T-shirt. Does providing your clients with the status quo make you a valuable asset? Do you take a proactive approach to your clients’ promotions or are you hopelessly struggling to catch your breath as you react to the requests of your customers. You’re not alone, we’ve all been there. Learn how to easily turn the most “underrated” promotional product into a “marketing dynamo.” In this session you will learn: • How to explain to customers the long-term marketing benefits of well-executed T-shirt promotions • Why selling less quantity but higher quality can benefit you and your clients • How to identify quality T-shirts and graphics