What Makes Our Industry Great?

I’ve been traveling lately and have a few more trips coming in the next month. Travel can be grueling, but it is how business gets done. The personal relationships that are nurtured in face-to-face meetings are just one of the things that make our industry great.

It makes sense to leave our comfortable offices and attend local, regional or national trade shows. We learn things that benefit our businesses by attending conferences. There is a value to traveling to meet with people in person. It may not seem so when you consider the logistics of travel and time away from the office, but once you are doing it, you don’t regret making the effort.

As I started writing this commentary, many of my colleagues were at the PPAI North American Leadership Conference (NALC) in Nashville. This is an awesome event that I have had the pleasure of attending several times. I am sorry to have missed it this year.

The ASI Power Summit is in a few months and I am very much looking forward to attending that. Both the PPAI NALC and the ASI Power Summit offer engaging discussions with industry leaders and useful education content. And again, these events and the relationships that are nurtured by attending them make our industry great.

Of course, not everyone is able to travel and attend meetings like these, but you can get connected with people locally through your Regional Association Council. Learn more about the regional association closest to you here.

At my regional association event, the SAAC Show, held in Long Beach, Calif., I began a relationship with a couple of great suppliers who I’ll be working with on an exciting new brand and program we are developing—Success Fit 4 Life!—a content-driven program for the health and wellness market.

Head to Toe Apparel is designing a killer performance cap. I learned that Zorrel is the official Iron Man T-shirt and its line is awesome! In addition, it offers private label, tagless branding. That is a big plus. Sometimes you miss benefits like that looking at a catalog or website. Discovering what suppliers can do to enhance our business at trade shows makes our industry great. This gives us a business advantage.

Next month I am making a personal trip to AdCapitol, a supplier in North Carolina that has developed Smart Tiers, a revolutionary moisture management fabric we will use in our SuccessFit 4 Life! line. This product is amazing! Here’s a “real world” product review done in 100-degree Southern California heat. It’s a privilege to be a part of launching a game-changing product.

After visiting AdCapitol, I’ll be spending several days in Nashville for SuccessFit meetings. Again, building personal relationships are good for business, and these relationships are what make our industry great.

More on SuccessFit 4 Life! will follow in the future as the program evolves. I should note that a few select, savvy distributors have the opportunity to be a part of it. If you work with large organizations and are passionate about a healthy lifestyle, feel free to contact me to be considered for this exciting new program.

I invite everyone to post what you like to do to stay healthy in our new non-industry Facebook group, SuccessFit 4 Life! This is basically the same as our industry FPT SuccessFit group, but it is open to those inside and outside of the industry.

Our exclusive, industry-only FPT SuccessFit Facebook group enables you to connect online with colleagues that have similar interests. That’s good for business, and yet another thing that makes our industry great.

I know posting your fitness activities and heath-oriented information may seem like a chore, but it’s all about encouraging others. As you do that, you will be motivated as well. Consider using a social media management tool like Buffer to post in multiple places in one swoop. It’s easy!

If you are unable to get to our industry events personally, there are many LinkedIn and Facebook groups you can participate in. Get connected!

At recent industry events, I was able to interview Tim Andrews, ASI president and CEO, and Paul Bellantone, PPAI president and CEO. We discussed relevant industry topics that I am able to share with you. The opportunity to bring this content to you is made possible because I’m leaving the comforts of home to attend business-building events.

There was a technical difficulty with our HD video recording on the Tim Andrews interview, but we do have the recording through a live Periscope broadcast. Sorry for the poor video quality, but as always Tim shares good stuff.

It’s always nice to visit with Paul Bellantone. In this video with Paul, we talked about his thought-provoking commentary in PPB magazine and the upcoming PPAI Expo that will be awesome!

We filmed some other interesting videos at a recent trade show that we can share with you.

In this short video, Brian Padian from Logomark talks about QCA accreditation and how that benefits distributors.

Here’s a FreePromoTips exclusive! This is information you won’t get anywhere else! This thought-provoking video clip features Don Sanders from SellPromoProducts.com and Brandon Greaney from Makana Line. Check out What Can We Learn About Shoes and Selling?

I’ve been blessed to be able to take in much of what our industry offers, but as noted, not everyone has the ability to stay connected in the same ways. Everyone does have the opportunity to take advantage of the opportunities that are available online and locally.

The people I’ve come to know are who make our industry great. A while ago I wrote a piece that sums up my thoughts on our road warriors. These travelers make huge sacrifices to not only do their job in the industry, but to help you be more successful doing your job. I feel it’s appropriate to close by sharing a link to this commentary that honors them: Salute to Our Industry Heroes. Enjoy!