Cannabis Labels Sales Set to Reach All-Time High

Perhaps few would have suspected it a generation ago, but the legalized use of marijuana, or cannabis, continues to grow through the United States. Currently, the medical use of marijuana is legal in 23 states, while use for both medical and recreation purposes is legal in an additional ten states. The initiative to legalize marijuana has created an extraordinary potential for sales. Forbes reports that worldwide sales of legalized cannabis are on target to hit $57 billion by 2027.

To be clear, U.S. law recognizes marijuana as the leaves, flowers, and seeds of the cannabis plant, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. But what does all this talk about marijuana have to do with labels? Everything. Regulatory, compliance, and warning labels for cannabis are required on all products. And with a multi-billion dollar industry, this translates into smokin’ hot opportunities for label sales in this budding industry!

Depending upon the regulations in a given state, the potential for compliance and warning labels can be huge. In 2018, marijuana dispensaries in California were mandated to have five distinct warning labels on every individual package of marijuana being sold.

  • A universal warning label with a marijuana leaf and an exclamation point inside a triangle.
  • A warning explaining that the products contained inside have not been tested according to new state laws.
  • Two government warnings—one for edibles, and one for other cannabis products. These labels alert users that the substance should be kept away from children and is only legal for those over 21, that they could be harmful to pregnant or breastfeeding women, and that caution is necessary when driving or operating machinery after use.
  • A warning label indicating that cannabis contains chemicals that might be cancer-causing.

Sound like a lot of labels? California isn’t the only state where labels are in high demand. Washington state currently requires a whopping nine labels on every product sold! And the requirements can and do change. This means dispensaries find themselves in need of new labels pronto in order to avoid getting into trouble with regulators.

Avoiding Hazy Information on Cannabis Products

Labels fall into two categories: information panels and primary panels. The primary panel on a product includes the name of the product, the cannabinoid content (the cannabis plant has over 480 natural components, of which 66 have been classified as “cannabinoids,” or chemicals unique to the plant), the item’s net weight, and batch number. They often bear a logo and aim to look appealing to customers on the shelf while not appearing too inviting. Regulations forbid any cannabis labels from mimicking candy or other products that might entice children.

Information panel labels, on the other hand, contain vital product information, including the company name and contact information, harvest date, “best used by” date, serving size, allergen information, nutritional information, instructions for use, as well as other important information. These labels must be thorough and follow individual state regulations.

Maureen Dowd, a New York Times columnist, wrote about a trip to Denver five years ago that included a sampling of a newly legalized cannabis candy bar. However, the candy bar lacked any information for usage. She nibbled a bit, only to find that nothing happened. She nibbled some more until she had unknowingly over-consumed the candy bar. What wasn’t made clear to Dowd on the shoddy and half-baked packaging was that the candy bar was intended to be cut into 16 servings. When the effects of the cannabis finally hit her, Dowd “lay curled up in a hallucinatory state for the next eight hours.” Clear labeling of Dowd’s candy bar certainly may have saved her the agony of waiting for the high to slowly wear off.

A Large Potluck of Products

Cannabis, both medical and recreational, comes in a number of different consumable forms. Some of the most popular include:

  • Smoking
  • Vaporizing
  • Medicated edibles, such as popcorn, crackers, lollipops, chocolate bars, and gummy bears
  • Tinctures or sublingual spray (squirted or sprayed under the tongue)
  • Transdermal patches
  • Topicals, including ointments, lotions, and sprays
  • Suppositories
  • Cannabis-infused beverages, including teas, smoothies, and juices

Again, all of these products require clear packaging and labeling. The relationship between manufacturers and labelers becomes a joint effort to market and package products according to regulations, ensuring proper and safe usage—clearly a jackpot opportunity for label sales!

Cannabinoid products are another huge market with the potential for increased label sales. Cannabinoids are products that contain CBD—cannabidiol—which is derived from the plant but does not contain the THC that causes the intoxicating effects of a marijuana high. The benefits of CBDs? Many people report feeling relaxed, and some swear by the natural health benefits of CBD supplements. CBD products are legal in all 50 states and are manufactured as candy, chocolates, syrups, lotions, gummies, vape products, soda, and even oil for pets, just to list a few. While these products don’t require the strict warning and compliance labels that cannabis products do, the number of CBD products available to consumers is growing like weeds, and all of them will need packaging and labeling.

Pipe Up and Snag Sales!

With a growing number of states legalizing cannabis, and a burgeoning market for CBD products, the potential to snag a piece of the label sales has never been easier. Reach out to manufacturers and dispensaries in your state to discuss how you can assist them with remaining compliant with required labels. Click here to find your state’s laws regarding label requirements on legalized cannabis products. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Label Works. We have the information and tools you need to ensure your potential cannabis label sale opportunities don’t go up in a puff of smoke!

The Long—And Short—of Post-it® Notes Orders

When your customers think about personalized printed Post-it® Notes, they probably think about notes printed in high quantities for promotional use. However, if your customers are looking for just a few Post-it Note pads, our short run quantities could be the perfect option! With full color printing, your customers can take advantage of the same personalization potential available in larger quantities.

Why Short Run?
One of the advantages of short run Post-it® Notes is that the lower quantities open up new possibilities. Your customers can use notes for a wider variety of uses when they have a wider variety of quantities available. And for you, short run Post-it® Notes also open up new possibilities for customer connections. Because you can offer low quantities of these classic sticky notes, you can work with a wider variety of customers and expand your customer connections.

Small Quantities, Big Possibilities
The quantities on short run Post-it® Notes might be small, but the possibilities are really big! As I mentioned, smaller quantities give your customers a chance to use these notes for a wider variety of uses.

Does your customer have a smaller business? Small quantities are a great fit for them! They can create notes for their office, perfectly-sized packs of promotional Post-it® Notes, and more.

For customers looking to create a promotional item for only their top customers or for only the attendees of an event, short run quantities could be the solution. Quantities range from 6 to 120, making it easy for your customer to choose a quantity that works for their audience.

Does your customer want to create a coupon for short-term spring sales? Not only do Post-it® Notes stick securely to the receipts that accompany a purchase, small quantities make it easy for your customer to print only as many notes as they need.

If your customer is looking for a perfect Post-it® Notes gift for their employees, short run quantities allow them to easily create personalized pads. They can create branded notes with their employee’s name for work anniversaries, holiday gifts, or simply to create a more personalized notepad for sales staff looking to make a personal connection with customers.

And if your customer simply wants to create personalized Post-it® Notes for personal use, short run quantities are perfect for that, too. Not only will these quantities better suit their budget for personal use notes, but smaller quantities are a better fit for everyday personal use. With quantities as low as six available, it’s easy for your customer to create a quantity of notes that is just right for them.

Ready to place an order? You can order short run Post-it® Notes quantities through our catalog, or in full color or spot color through Navitor.com.

How do your customers use short run Post-it® Notes quantities? We’d love to see you join the conversation in the comments below.

5 People You’ll Meet at Networking Events

Whether you’re attending a networking event to connect with potential customers or you’re going simply to connect with other local professionals, talking to the right people is essential to making good connections and making the event a success. Here are five people you are almost sure to meet at your next networking event, along with our tips on talking more effectively to them. And if you find yourself relating to one of these people, consider how you could improve on your networking skills—after all, every event is a chance to become a more effective networker!

The Chatterbox
Some people like to talk, and that can be great! However, when you’re up against a Chatterbox you might find yourself stuck in a conversation when you want to move on to another event attendee. If you notice this happening, try to stop any new lines of conversation before they really get going. You might even consider bringing the chatterbox along with you so that you can both meet a new person.

Think you might be a Chatterbox? Make sure you’re listening to the other person as much as you are talking. When you give them time to talk, you’re also giving them plenty of time to exit the conversation so that both of you can move on to new conversations.

The Wallflower
This is the sort of person who might not be comfortable in the networking setting, and whether they are shy or simply unsure of who to approach the Wallflower is a figure at almost every event. However, taking a moment to talk to them could give you the chance to make a valuable connection. Just make sure you’re paying attention to their responses and be ready to end the conversation if it’s not working out for either of you.

The Tagalong
One of the best things about networking events is that they are a chance to meet people, but the Tagalong isn’t meeting those people themselves. Instead, they’re following you and meeting all the people you’re meeting. This might make the event easier for them, but it can limit your conversational opportunities. If they’re becoming a challenge, take a moment to be frank; tell them that you want to connect with others, and advise that they do the same.

The Complainer
Whether they’re complaining about work or about some people in particular, it can be tempting to join the Complainer in venting frustration. However, that negativity could make it hard to make your networking event a positive experience—and if other attendees overhear they might not want to spend time with you. When you notice the conversation taking a negative turn, it’s usually a good idea to steer it toward more positive subjects or to politely excuse yourself. After all, someone who prioritizes badmouthing people at an event is probably a connection that won’t benefit you in the long run.

The Me-First
We’ve all met someone who took every opportunity to make things about themselves and to talk about their wins, and the Me-First is that person. While you’re at this event to network and learn more about the people there, remember that this has to be a two-way street and you don’t have to spend your evening catering to the Me-First’s ego. If you’re having a hard time getting a word in edgewise, it’s okay to walk away.

Have you met these people at networking events you’ve attended? How do you make sure your networking event is a success? We’d love to see you join the conversation in the comments below.

Bring Colorful Stocks and Substrates to Your Customer’s Print This Spring

yellow green business cards ASTROBRIGHTS stock colorful printWhether things are still snowy in your area or it’s already a warm day, spring is a great time for your customers to embrace color in their print order. Vibrant color can help bring eyecatching style to print for upcoming events, capture attention for spring sales, and might even be something that becomes a favorite for year-round use. And while every print piece is a chance to print a colorful image, colorful stocks are another great way to bring vibrant color to their upcoming print orders. Here are just a few of the products that allow your customer to embrace colorful stocks and substrates.

Business Cards
In the past few years, we’ve introduced a number of ways to bring color to add vibrant color to business cards using stock choice, and these stocks are a great way to bring an extra pop of color to your customer’s spring print orders. Consider using color core stock that coordinates with their logo to create a substantial business card for important upcoming business meetings, and vibrant ASTROBRIGHTS® papers are a good choice for business cards with allover color. Speaking of these vibrant stocks…

Announcements and Postcards
A lot of the stocks we’ve introduced to our business card selection have also joined the stock selection for announcements and postcards. ASTROBRIGHTS® stocks make for eyecatching postcards, and that makes these postcards a great fit for attention-grabbing promotions for spring sales. Color core stock, on the other hand, has a subtler look that can add a touch of unexpected charm to postcards and announcements.

Badges and Signage
Does your customer love the classic look of engraved badges and signage? They should consider using a colorful stock! Because engraving gives your customer a wide variety of stock options, it’s easy for your customer to choose a stock color that appeals to them.

Promotional Products
When your customer is preparing for an upcoming tradeshow or other event where they will connect with prospective customers, promotional products are a great addition to their print order—and those promotional products are yet another chance to add color! Most promotional products, from pens and pencils to bags and water bottles, are available in a wide variety of vibrant colors.

Do your customers love colored stocks and substrates? We’d love to hear more about the colorful print options they love in the comments below.

Which Informational Print Piece is Right For Your Customer?

Your customer’s spring and summer events are coming fast, and it’s time for them to prepare the print that they need to run tradeshow booths, mailing campaigns, and more. Your customer’s informational pieces—whether brochures, sales sheets, or postcards—need to be ready, and making their information more impactful starts with choosing the right product. Here are just a few of the questions you can ask to learn which informational print piece is best suited to your customer’s need.

How Much Information Do They Have?
The most important thing to consider is the amount of information that your customer wants to share. They might want to create an in-depth list of services available at their business, or they might want to illustrate only the must-know information about a new product. Knowing how much information they will need to include is a good way to narrow their options.

If your customer has a lot of information to share or wants to go into detail about a concept, then they’ll need enough space to let that information breathe. Brochures and sales sheets are a great choice, as are oversized postcards.

On the other hand, if your customer wants to focus on high-level information, a smaller print piece might be a better fit. Postcards, rack cards, and door hangers are a good option for these uses because they offer the same full color style but provide a more compact canvas for your customer’s information.

How Will It Be Distributed?
Once your customer knows what size their piece will need to be, they should consider how they will be distributing this information.

If your customer is going to be handing out the informational pieces in person, they have a lot of flexibility in their options. For settings where they will be handing out a large number of informational pieces—for example, if they want to create a piece for each product—they might want to focus on brochures or rack cards that will be easier to keep organized. If they want one big, splashy print piece, then a sales sheet will make a big impact at tables or booths.

If your customer intends to mail their informational piece, on the other hand, they want to consider how well each piece will mail. A postcard—whether traditionally-sized or oversized—is a great choice that is ready-made for mailing, but pieces like rack cards and trifold brochures are also a great choice because they are well-sized for mailing envelopes.

Do They Want to Get Creative?
We’ve focused mostly on traditional informational pieces, but there are creative options, too! When your customer wants to branch out from these more traditional pieces, there are a number of options they can consider. Magnets are available in a wide variety of different sizes and make a creative alternative to rack cards and sales sheets. For pocket sized informational pieces, consider business cards or trading cards. Door hangers, bookmarks, and announcements are other creative options.

Which informational print pieces do your customers love most? We’d love to see your suggestions in the comments below.

Hosting an Event? Here are 5 Questions to Ask While You’re Planning

Hosting an event can be a great opportunity to show off your business. A lunch and learn can be a good way to educate your customers about new products or important concepts. An evening dinner could be a good way to make your top customers feel important. An open house could help bring in brand new customers and to build word-of-mouth buzz. However, to make your event effective, it’s important to ask yourself these important questions.

1. Who Is Your Target Audience?
Do you want to encourage your top customers to continue using your business? Do you want to create more sales by bringing in prospective customers? Knowing what audience you’re targeting for your event can help focus your plans and ensure that you’re talking to the right people.

2. What Do You Need?
Once you’ve decided on your audience, make a list of everything you’ll need. Do you need to rent a sound system for a lunch and learn? Do you need to send invitations to your customers? Do you need to prepare a talk? Do you need to have catering or book a venue? No matter what type of event you’re hosting, take some time to make a list of everything you need to do before the event can get started.

3. What Else is Going On?
Have you ever scheduled a trip, only to find out that there was a big event going on at the same time? You will want to avoid creating that kind of challenge for your customers, so it’s a good idea to consider other events that might cause an issue. This will help ensure that your customers don’t have to deal with excessive traffic or challenging parking because of another event in your area, and it helps ensure that they won’t have a conflict that prevents them from attending.

This isn’t just local, though. Consider whether there are out-of-town events that your customers will be attending that might make them unavailable for your event. For example, if you work largely with schools then you wouldn’t want to schedule your event on the same weekend as a state education conference.

4. What Are Your Limitations?
You want to host a great event, but it’s important to know what you can or cannot realistically do. If your schedule is tight, hosting an all-day event might be beyond what you’re able to do at the moment. If your budget is tight, a catered lunch might be more challenging than a coffee hour event. If you have a quick turn between planning and the event itself, you might have to keep the guest list small and the event itself simple.

5. How Are You Going to Get People Through the Door?
Getting people to attend an event is all about how you pitch it to them. If you want to bring in the community, marketing in a local paper could be a good option. If you want to bring in your top customers with a feeling of exclusivity, you might want to invest in an announcement to invite them to your event. And for some audiences, an invitation or marketing pitch might not be enough; you might need to offer food or freebies to get them interested. Whatever your audience, it’s good to plan how you will encourage them to be at your event.

Do you plan events at your business? How do you ensure that they are a success? We’d love to see you join the conversation in the comments below.

What’s New at Navitor Specialty Products? Acrylic Signs!

In our efforts to bring you a wider variety of products, we’re pleased to announce that acrylic signs are joining the signs and badges offering from Navitor Specialty Products (NSP). And not only is acrylic stock a sleek and fresh way to update your customer’s full color signage, it’s available in six different products!

Why Acrylic?
Our new acrylic stock is a great fit for customers looking for an upscale feel and modern design touches. The clear acrylic is printed in full color on the back of the sign, with the clear stock between the print and the viewer adding depth and shine. It’s a contemporary look that brings full color print to your customers in a whole new way.

Freestanding Signage with Modern Appeal
Is your customer looking for a sleek sign that will add an upscale feel to tabletops, desktops, and more? Full color acrylic desk table tents and pedestal signs are freestanding options that are a great way to display office hours at the front desk, employee names on desktops, instructions for when a lobby is unattended, and much more.

A Touch of Metal with Steel Standoffs
While many of our acrylic sign options are freestanding, full color acrylic desk signs, wall art, and wall signs feature an added sleek detail: stainless steel standoffs. These steel standoffs add a touch of silver tone metal to your customer’s signage and add a subtle, modern framing touch to employee names, company logos, photographs, and the wide variety of other full color designs your customer might create.

Get Coordinated with Badges
Does your customer love the look of these new acrylic signs? They can even add acrylic stocks to their uniform with clear acrylic badges. They’re a great way to add a modern touch to any name badge order, and they’re even better when designed to coordinate with other acrylic signage for a polished and professional look.

Want to learn more? you can check out these new sign and badge options in the new product supplement from Navitor Specialty Products (NSP).

What do you think of these new signage options? We’d love to see your response in the comments below.

Create a Great Presentation in Less Time

personalized print sales presentationsYou’ve made it past the initial elevator pitch. Your new customer is interested. You’ve scheduled a meeting. You might be tempted to create a big presentation that will take most of your allotted time.

Then your customer calls. Maybe their day just got a lot busier. Maybe the weather looks like it is going to take a turn and they need to be out the door earlier than expected. Maybe they simply needed to shorten your meeting. It’s time to create a presentation that will pack a lot of sales punch into a limited time frame—and Navitor is here to help! Here are our tips for creating a great presentation when time is tight.

1. Start With What You Know—What Challenge are You Solving?
Whether you’ve had a chance to talk with your customer about the challenges their business is facing or you only know a little bit about the market they do business in, focusing on what need you’re fulfilling is an important way to bring focus to your presentation. If the customer mentioned that they are rebranding, for example, take a moment to discuss how ordering updated stationery pieces can help establish that brand. If they are moving to a new location, talk to them about updating signage. And if you’re going in blind, consider using our vertical market kits as a guide for which print pieces might be a good fit for their market.

2. Get Visual
You know how they say that a picture is worth a thousand words? When you don’t have time for those thousand words, embracing visuals can be a great way to pack more information into the presentation. Wherever you can, use graphs to illustrate data or diagrams to illustrate concepts like bleed. Not only do these visuals help your prospective customers understand the information you’re giving them, but they do so at a glance. And if your customer wants a more detailed discussion of the data you’re sharing, consider having a printout of the full information on hand.

And speaking of visuals…

3. Use Samples to Reinforce Information
Samples can be a good way to show your customers what final printed pieces will look like, and having print pieces to look at can help reinforce the information you’re discussing in your presentation. They are especially important if you’re going into your presentation without having had much contact with your prospective customer—samples can give them a great idea of what you can do.

4. End With a Call to Action
Especially when time is tight, having a clear next step in place is key to keeping the conversation going. Whether you’re going to call them in a week to discuss their needs further or they are going to send you their designs for business cards so that you can place the order, make sure that you end the meeting with a clear next step.

How do you create a great presentation when time is tight? We’d love to see you join the conversation in the comments below.

Effective Marketing Strategies For When Budgets are Tight

There are a lot of ways to approach your marketing strategy. You can lean hard on online marketing. You can advertise on television, on the radio, in magazines or newspapers. But all of these methods can be expensive. So how can you market your business when your budget is tight? Here are some effective—and low-cost—marketing strategies that you can use to get the word out about your business.

Work on your Public Relations
If you can make the news, it can be a powerful way to promote your business without making a big impact on your budget. A news story can help raise your profile in the public eye, and a news story feels more authoritative than an advertisement.

How can you get started? Consider a press release. Even if you only distribute the release to local news outlets, a press release is a good way to spread the word about big news at your business. From new locations to new products, there are a lot of pieces of news that could help you connect to the press. And, if you’re looking to make a splash…

Give Back
Giving back to the community is a great way to create a positive reputation for your business and to make the news. Sponsoring an event like a cancer walk, having a collection jar for the local food shelf at your storefront, or even taking some time as a business to volunteer for a good cause can be a good way to give back and to generate goodwill with customers and prospects.

Use What You Already Have
One of the best ways to save money in your marketing strategy is by using what you already have—and you might have more than you think! When you creatively use your existing resources, you can build a strong foundation for your marketing strategy and make your budget even more effective.

If you have a storefront, you have many promotional possibilities before you. Your storefront’s windows are a place to showcase samples or banners to advertise special offers. Your door and windows are a great place to display your logo and store hours. The sidewalk out front is an opportunity for A-frame signs to bring in walk-in traffic.

Talk to Your Suppliers!
One important thing you already have is your suppliers. From free sales kits and samples to digital resources like catalogs and flyers, your supplier might already offer a variety of pieces you can use in your marketing strategy. Navitor does—and we create new flyers every month!

Use Your Budget for What’s Important
No matter what your budget, saving money by using the previous tips can give you more wiggle room in your budget for more expensive marketing options. For example, using supplier sales tools might allow you to invest the time and money you would have otherwise spent in designing your own flyers in advertisement in a local publication instead.

How do you save money on your marketing budget? We’d love to see your tips and tricks in the comments below.

Quiz: Pens, Pencils, and Promotions By The Numbers

personalized custom promotional pens pencils full color metal lightTake a look at your desktop. If it’s anything like mine, you probably have a cup full of pens, pencils, and markers at the ready for taking notes, signing forms, and more. And chances are that at least some of your pens or pencils will be branded promotional pieces. Your customers might be interested to know just how effective pens and pencils can be at promoting their business.

So, do you know the numbers behind promotional pens and pencils? Take this quiz to find out.

1. Writing utensils like pens and pencils are some of the most effective promotional products around. How many times are pens used every day?
A) 3 to 4 times per day.
B) 1 to 2 times per day.
C) 11 to 12 times per day.
D) 6 to 7 times per day.

2. While writing utensils are lower in cost than many other promotional products, they still have a big presence in the market. Writing utensils make up about how much of promotional products?
A) 5.67%
B) 6.67%
C) 7.67%
D) 8.67%

3. There’s one region of the United States that owns more logoed pens than the average U.S. citizen. Which one?
A) The South
B) The Southwest
C) The East
D) The Midwest

4. Let’s get into demographics. According to a study conducted in the southeastern portion of the United States, who are more likely to own a logoed pen?
A) Democrats
B) Republicans

5. Speaking of demographics, do men or women own more logoed pens?
A) Men
B) Women

6. Of course, the promotional products market is all about value, and that’s about being seen. How much does each impression or viewing of a promotional product cost the company it promotes?
A) 1/20 of a cent
B) 1/10 of a cent
C) 1/5 of a cent
D) 1 cent

7. Let’s go international for the last question! Which of these cities has the highest consumer response to promotional pens?
A) Berlin
B) Mexico City
C) Paris
D) London

ANSWERS:
1) A. Logoed pens are used an average of 3 to 4 times per day throughout their lifetime.
2) C. According to PPAI, pens and pencils amounted to 7.67% of promotional product sales in 2017.
3) D. According to ASI, 68% of consumers in the Midwest own a logoed pen.
4) A. Democrats are more likely to own a logoed pen, with 74% of them owning these pens when compared to 65% of Republicans.
5) B. More women than men own logoed pens in the United States, though the gap is smaller than it was between political parties. 58% of women own logoed pens compared to 54% of men.
6) B. The cost per impression in the United States is less than 1/10 of a cent—that’s a lot of views per penny!
7) D. ASI says that 56% of people in London had received promotional pens in the last 12 months and rated them highly.

How did you do? Did you learn something new about pens and pencils? We’d love to hear about your score in the comments below.