Counselor PromoGram

Survey Reveals Top Cities For Small Businesses
For the fifth year in a row, Austin, TX, has been named the best city to start and grow a small business, outranking 100 other U.S. metro areas with populations of at least half a million, according to a study released by The American Cities Business Journals.
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The booming metro boasts a growing population, adding more than 106,000 at the start of this decade; strong private-sector job growth, its employment base nearly 14% larger in 2013 than it was in 2008; and a 1.73% increase in the number of small businesses between 2010 and 2011, based on the most recent data available.

The Business Journals has been analyzing federal statistics to analyze small-business vitality in 101 metropolitan areas since 2005. The highest scores go to regions with prosperous economies, rapid population expansion and a density of businesses with 99 or fewer employees. Overall, the South is the most promising region for entrepreneurs with 10 of the 20 best metros for small businesses. The West had seven, the East two and the Midwest one in the top 20.

Miami-Fort Lauderdale ranked second in The Business Journals’ list this year, with a strong concentration of 30 small businesses for every 1,000 residents. Typical markets had just 22 per 1,000. No. 3 is Provo, UT, with private-sector jobs spiking 5.5% between December 2012 and 2013. The other top markets for small businesses this year? San Jose, CA; Houston; Bradenton-Sarasota, FL; Oklahoma City; Orlando, FL; Denver; and Raleigh, NC.

Down at 101, in last place, is Memphis, TN, which continues to lose jobs and businesses. Private-sector employment in the Memphis area declined by 11,800 jobs, or 2.2%, over the past five years. The number of small businesses there dropped by 2.4%, from 2010 to 2011. Rounding out the bottom five, in descending order, are Lakeland, FL; Wichita, KS; Stockton, CA; and Youngstown, OH.

The complete ranking of geographic markets can be viewed on The Business Journals’ website at www.bizjournals.com.

Industry Delegation Heads To Washington
A group of industry professionals is headed to Washington D.C. this week to lobby Senators and members of the House of Representatives on issues pertinent to ad specialty companies.
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The fifth annual PPAI L.E.A.D (Legislative Education and Action Day) event, which will include 70 industry professionals from 30 states, will result in more than 250 meetings with congressional representatives and their staffs.

“Actions taken by Congress directly affect the promotional products industry’s ability to conduct business and serve its customers,” said Paul Bellantone, president and CEO of PPAI. “Our continued goal of working closely with lawmakers on behalf of promotional products businesses, our members and their customers is more important than ever in order to protect our industry’s growth and economic competitiveness.”

Chuck Machion, ASI’s senior vice president and senior counsel, who has attended the lobbying event in the past and will be on Capitol Hill for this year’s session, believes the effort is an important one for all companies in the ad specialty market. “It’s vital for lawmakers to understand how their decisions impact our businesses every day,” said Machion. “It’s a great opportunity for us to educate them on our market and the value of promotional products. Some don’t know the impact this industry has, and we’re looking forward to discussing that with them.”

Also on the docket for the delegation’s conversations with members of Congress are tax and employee status issues that industry companies are grappling with. Specifically, the group will look to educate lawmakers on the impact that would be felt by proposals to reduce the ad tax deduction (see story here: http://bit.ly/1kGGpOe) and to change the tax filing status of independent contractors.

This year, PPAI is also encouraging the whole industry to get involved in the L.E.A.D. effort by writing to lawmakers at the same time as its delegation is represented in Washington. With its “Virtual Fly-In,” PPAI is asking all members of the market to send messages to Congress this week. Just click here to take action and let Congress know the value of promotional products.

PPAI L.E.A.D. will take place in Washington, D.C. and virtually April 9-10.

Safeguard Acquires Supply Company
Top 40 distributor Safeguard Business Systems (asi/316203) announced last week that it has acquired Nashville-based Financial Institution Supplies Inc. (FISI). Financial terms of the deal, which closed on April 1, were not released.
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“Safeguard is thrilled to bring on the FISI organization as a part of our network,” said Scott Sutton, vice president of Safeguard. “Their team is excellent, they are top notch in servicing the customer and their innovation is ever evolving, fitting in seamlessly with Safeguard's vision and mission for the future. We are expecting this partnership to elevate the customer experience with additional initiatives and offerings that will help customers successfully grow their businesses.”

FISI’s business is focused on a core group of sectors, including integrated programs for the financial, health care, and manufacturing markets. The company, which was founded in 2006, provides office products and print supply chain management for its customers. It’s the latest in a string of acquisitions for Safeguard, which has brought on companies such as Prime Business Solutions, Innovative Print & Media Group, and Consolidated Graphic Communications within the past two years.

Last year, Safeguard ranked as the 34th-largest distributor in the ad specialty market. The company said that it increased its North American promotional products revenues by 12% in 2013.

Study: Facebook Tops For Social Commerce
Facebook is the social media platform that drives the most online sales. That’s according to a new study from Shopify, which found that Facebook funneled almost two-thirds of all social media visits to Shopify-run web stores and resulted in about 85% of all orders from social forums.
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Facebook was especially dominant in certain shopping categories, said Shopify, an e-commerce platform that enables businesses to create e-commerce stores. About 98% of photography-related social commerce came through Facebook, followed by sports/recreation (94%), pet supplies (94%), drop shipping (93%), jewelry/watches (92%) and clothing/apparel (87%).

Despite Facebook’s pole position in the sales driver race, other social platforms powered commerce too. For instance, Pinterest generated 74% of orders in the antiques/collectibles category, while YouTube facilitated 47% of sales of digital products. Twitter, meanwhile, helped spark 18% of catalog and home/furnishing orders. “While Facebook was the clear leader, marketers may fare well when using secondary platforms such as Pinterest, YouTube and Twitter in conjunction with their Facebook page,” according to eMarketer.

That point was further emphasized by Shopify’s finding that, while Facebook accounted for the highest volume of sales, it finished in fourth place when assessed on average order value. Polyvore took the top spot with a $66.75 average tally, while Instagram was second at $65. Pinterest came next ($58.95), followed by Facebook ($55). Twitter’s average order value was $20 behind Polyvore’s pace at $46.29, while YouTube’s $37.63 put it in last place behind others that included Reddit ($52.96), Vimeo ($50.75), LinkedIn ($44.24) and Google+ ($40).

The Shopify study analyzed data from 37 million social media visits that led to 529,000 orders.