July 07, 2008, 4:04 PM — Cool new things catch my eye, which is what happened right before I threw away the latest paper catalog from Discmakers, the CD and DVD duplication product source. They now have USB media duplicators.
How do you give away marketing materials? If paper is your only option, and you sell a service or product for a price that can absorb at least a few dollars of marketing cost per sale, start thinking USB. USB drives with your logo, filled with your marketing and sales information, may be unusual enough to move you ahead of competitors on the cool scale.
Here's the irony: eco-freaks will probably think you're hip because you're not giving out paper. I'm willing to be creating a USB drives requires more energy and creates more carbon than the equivalent amount of paper. But what matters is what your perspective customers believe. If they think it's cool not to take paper, let them think you're cool.
Discmakers doesn't yet seem to offer a USB drive duplication service, but maybe they will by the time you read this. What they do offer is a duplicator with four USB slots. Plug the master in the first slot, and three more to be duplicated in the other slots, and hit the “go†button. No computer needed.
They have units that copy 3, 7, or 11 drives at a time. If you normally give out a color catalog with more than 40 pages, I bet USB drive media will provide the customer more info for less cost to you. Plus you get that cool factor, because everyone likes an extra USB drive. Just be sure to leave 200MBs or more free space so the customer has a reason to keep the drive on their desk.
