ASI Introduces 10-part Program to Help Distributors Jumpstart Their Business

TREVOSE, PA – July 15, 2009 – Advertising Specialty Institute^®, the largest media and marketing organization serving the advertising specialty industry, introduced today the ASI Distributor Success System, a 10-part instructional program designed to help distributors jumpstart their business and broaden their knowledge of the promotional products business.

The learning series includes an introductory DVD and ten 30-minute lessons on CDs, along with a workbook and motivational flash cards.  It is designed for flexible and easy use at home, in the car, on a PDA or through a smart phone.  The package has a retail value of $299.
 
The program is shipped free to new ASI distributor members, and is also available electronically to all ASI members, at www.uat-asicentral.com/success.  Distributors who attend three education sessions at the ASI Show in Chicago on Tuesday, July 24, will receive a copy of the series.

“The ASI Distributor Success System is part of our ongoing commitment to providing the best education in the industry,” said Timothy M. Andrews, president and chief executive officer of ASI.  “We developed the learn-as-you-go program with input from our education advisory board and research focus groups and it’s designed to keep our members on the cutting edge.”

The learning series is integral to the $1.3 million investment ASI devotes annually to ASI Education, its comprehensive education initiative providing a variety of resources, including:  webcasts and videos, articles from ASI’s publications, an online learning center with free courses, the ASI Show education schedule, business webinars and the ASI Distributor Success System.

Each section of the Distributor Success System contains valuable insights for distributors, including these topics:

• Introductory DVD:  Industry Overview and How-to-Use Guide
• Nailing Down the Basics 
• Creating a Business Plan 
• Marketing Your New Business 
• Selling Success 
• Avoid These First-Year Pitfalls 
• Building Profitable Client Relationships 
• Managing Your Business 
• Creative Program Case Studies 
• Wearables Crash Course 
• ASI’s Products and Services 

The ASI Distributor Success System is led by ASI executives and supplemented with interviews from successful distributors, top suppliers and industry experts.

In addition, featured content provides distributors with a clear roadmap for building more profitable relationships with clients, generating repeat sales, creating better partnerships with suppliers, finding the right products, and conducting business in a more credit-worthy manner.

To access the new ASI Distributor Success System, click here.  For more information, contact Melinda Ligos, vice president of professional development, at [email protected].

About ASI
Advertising Specialty Institute is the largest media and marketing organization serving the advertising specialty industry, with a membership of over 26,000 distributor firms (sellers) and supplier firms (manufacturers) of advertising specialties.  Supplier firms use ASI print and electronic resources to market products to over 22,000 ASI distributor firms.  Distributor firms use ASI print and electronic resources, which contain nearly every product in the industry from more than 3,500 reputable suppliers, to locate supplier firms and to market services to buyers.  ASI provides catalogs, information directories, newsletters, magazines, websites and databases, and offers e-commerce, marketing and selling tools.  Visit uat-asicentral.com.