Know-How Exchange : Other

I like branded USB drives; small, classy, reusable, they do what the mini-cds of old do. You can preload with all your sell sheets, powerpoint deck, case studies, etc.
If you're in a particular veritical you could do one in a particular or custom shape (check out www.customusb.com)

I also use these for conferences in lieu of binders and a tree's worth of printouts; the attendees really appreciate not having to pack all that in their suitcase home, it's much more green, and they can just insert into their laptops during session to access the same handouts.

1) Distributing a book you (or a member of your firm) has written, autographed of course, is a good way to go if a) the subject is relevant and b) the content is good.

"But we don't have any printed books," you object. Nowadays that is not an insurmountable problem. Creating an E-book for amazon.com, Nooks books (Barnes & Noble) etc. is much, much easier than writing a book for printed publication. An E-book can easily be just 30 to 50 pages long if the content is good.

Now you arrange as the author the right to distribute the E-book independently as well via amazon. If you want artifically to create value for the E-book as a client gift, price it realtively high, say $49.50 instead of $7.50. However in this case, you have to make sure the content is worth $50!

2) Consider finding an event or product that makes sense for your client. Organize a discounted price for it with Groupon if xxx people purchase it.

If an event appealed to a cross-section of clients (who are not directly competing with one another), then some surprisingly deep discounts can be negotiated.

There are two downsides. This approach takes a whole lot more effort than the excellent USB suggestion. Second, if for whatever reason you do not hit the minimum xxx target number of purchases, you have egg on your face.

3) Sometimes at seminars I have given out a Harvard Business School (HBS) case study. For a modest fee one could (still can?) have Harvard create a really nice binding for it, identifying the event, name of the presenter, etc.

Regards,
JH