A strong brand connection
Flash drives are a great promotional item because they get a lot of use. They rarely end up in a junk drawer. Instead, the recipient uses them at home, at work and everywhere in between to carry, transfer and share data, from family photos and music to department projects and homework. They are used every day in every way imaginable. And with them goes your logo and brand message. 

They are highly prized
Let’s face it. How many key chains or koosh balls can one person have? With USB flash drives, one is never enough. They are instantly recognised as being valuable to the recipient and having several is far better than having one (and one on a key ring is particular welcomed). 

An easy sell
Almost every promotional item outside of USB flash drives is static. In other words, the item has your logo and message printed on the outside of it, but that’s it. With flash drives, however, you can preload your sales materials onto it, from self-running presentations and catalogues to product sheets and website links. These can even be setup to run automatically the first time the recipient inserts the drive into their PC. We’d like to see a flying disc or baseball hat do that! 

Small package with big potential
The size of the USB flash drive has two big bonuses. First, it’s easy for the recipient to carry around with them on a daily basis and second; a lot of them can be shipped for a small amount of money. If you’ve ever shipped a thousand mugs from Point A to Point B you know how costly that can be. A thousand USB flash drives, however, one small box. 

Relatively cheap
Flash drives aren’t the most inexpensive promotional item out on the market today, true. Mugs, key rings and hats are all less expensive, particularly in quantity. But the base cost is only part of the equation. When comparing the items, you have to factor in the cost of printing, shipping, storage and warehousing (when no one wants another ball cap or mug). These can quickly make USB flash drives as affordable if not more so, particularly if you order the versions with less storage. Plus, you have to factor in the cost of having any promotional item miss its target, ending up in a drawer or in a kid’s toy chest. Cutting a few cents here and there can be the difference between having your message out in front of people every day and ending up in the toy chest next to Mr. Potato Head. 
 

When shopping for the next big thing in the promotional item, it’s often tempting to go with something breathtakingly new and fresh. But there’s always the inherent danger that today’s trendy gift becomes next week’s corporate joke. Koosh balls flying around the office were never appreciated. And you certainly don’t want your promotional item (and by inference your brand) to become the next item reviled by bosses everywhere.

The reason USB flash drives have become so popular in the marketplace today is their large storage capacity combined with their small size. Unfortunately, their small size means they can be easily misplaced or lost. In the case of the policeman, he had left the drive on the top of his car as he prepared to start his shift and drove off with it still there. 

While you may not be carrying around the identities of informants, you may want to still protect your data, particularly if your drive contains passwords, backups of your bank records or any other sensitive information.  
Many USB drives these days come with some measure of password and encryption built in. But if yours doesn’t have these features, here are some things you can do to keep your data from being viewed by others. 
If you just want to keep individual files inaccessible, you can usually do that in the program you used to create it. For example, in programs such as Word and Excel you simply need to go to the Tools menu. Click on Options and then the Security tab. It will then give you the option to enter a password and then confirm it. That’s it. Just be sure you remember your password or you’ll have to get another program to recover it. 
If you partition your USB flash drive into partitioned volumes, you can some password protect some files and not others using Cypherix LE. It can create its own vaults containing up to 25 MB each. Pretty handy, as long as you’re not trying to protect an Access database or other large file with it. It is free, however, something the products below can’t claim. 

Folder Lock allows you to password protect your USB flash drive, external drives or memory cards. A benefit of this program is you can open the files without installing the program on the computer you’re using. This can be a real bonus if you’re using the flash drive to move files between your home computer and the one at work. A lot of companies don’t let you install software on their computers. 
Folder Lock gives you a lot of choices. You can lock individual files, folders or the entire drive and you can use its encrypt feature to protect your USB drives, CDs and notebook too. 
When you need to access your drive data, you simply plug in your USB flash drive into any computer where Folder Lock is already installed or use the AutoPlay feature. Double click on the Locker you want to access and enter the password. 

The best program out there for locking down your USB drive data is Securestix. It runs on all versions of Windows and you can easily set up the security system for your USB flash drives.  
It uses AES-128 encryption technology, which is pretty high-powered encryption. If you do lose your flash drive, at least you know that no one is going to gain access to the files on it. 
In fact, the program not only locks your files, but also hides them from view. Anyone looking at the drive wouldn’t even see them, unless they had the software installed. Even then, they would need the password. And if you’ve forgotten your password, you can always use the Hint feature to remember it. 
If you’re not sure which product you like best, you can usually download a lite version that either offers a limited time trial period or has certain features disabled. This lets you work with the password protection schemes and features until you find the product that works best for you. 

Several of the products noted work on USB flash drives as well as computer hard drives and peripherals. If you need to protect your data all the way around, these may be the best option for you since you don’t have to learn different password protection and encryption protocols for every system you work with. 
The important thing to remember is that you want to protect your data. While you may think the day will never come when you leave your USB flash drive at Starbucks or lose it through a whole in your pocket, that day can come… often sooner than you think. At least if it goes missing, password protection of the data will give you some peace of mind that the drive is virtually useless to anyone who happens upon it.

Anonymous Feedback from our clients:

Excellent Service. Thank You

My only comment is that I prefer the lovehearts to the polos!

Everything we’ve needed help with, USB Company have come up trumps!

Each dealing we have had with you has been excellent in terms of speed, value for
money and helpful service – thank you!

From the very first point of contact USB Company were very professional and efficient. You were the cheapest and quickest for delivery, and we are very pleased with the product we have received.

Imran was very helpful and quick in answering all my questions.

A friendly, swift and comprehensive service. Thanks very much.

Excellent service and product exceeded my expectations. First rate!

I have been dealing with Imran and Tracy, they have been very proffessional
and helpful during this process. Having a mock up of the USB was very useful. We will recommending USB COMPANY to other companies. Thank you very much for you time and effort.

The product I ordered is first class and I will definitely come back to USB for
other products.

Great stuff.

An extremely fast and efficient service with an excellent end product. Will be looking
to repeat business for the foreseeable future. Many thanks!

Very impressed with the quality and timing of the whole service. Placed an urgent order on the Thursday – delivered on time on the Tuesday! First time using the company but will definitely look to placing more orders.

Thanks very much for your help. The product looks great and was just what we were looking for.

Received wrong order but rectified quite quickly

Our contacts Imran and Tracy were a great help in ordering process and
we will most likely be ordering some more USB’s in the new year.

We are very pleased with your patience regarding the situation with our colour and logo requirements. As UK and new European agents for an American company we needed to have our material “spot on”. Thank you for helping us to deliver.

Excellent very friendly and helpful staff. Thanks

Don’t really know about repeat order because of budget but if we have a requirement – yes

Great service …. did everything promised, easy and friendly to deal with.

Only unlikely to make a repeat order as it’s not something we use a great deal.
It was just a means of getting soft-copy handouts to students after some lessons.

I had a very urgent order and needed a split delivery. My inquiry was dealt with very quickly and my order arrived in time. It was very hassle free and we would definitely recommend your service.

The service at every point was friendly and quick and I was kept informed where the process was at every step of the way. The finished product was excellent and I felt the guidance I received when initially placing the order was fantastic.

Andrew is a legend!!!

The customer service was very good and the delivery was quick.

Speed and quality were fabulous.

We are very pleased with the extremely prompt service and the USB’s

Bespoke USB sticks are extremely popular these days. Not to be confused with standard shaped USB flash drives, Bespoke USB memory sticks can be made into any shape imaginable, from your logo to a replica of your product.

Any shape is possible, including 2-D and 3-D drives, in any colour imaginable. The only restriction is that the drive has to be big enough to hold the flash memory module and the standard USB connector that allows it to be connected to your computer. Fortunately, the custom drive company you hire can help you with the design to ensure that these constraints are taken into account.

While there are plenty of companies out there these days that will print your logo on a standard flash drive or memory stick, there are far fewer who will do custom design and production. That’s because custom drives require a larger skill set, including the ability to work with suppliers to integrate the electronics and the custom casing into a dependable yet affordable product.

If you want your company to really stand out in a market that is often flooded with generic flash drives, you might want to consider going with a custom flash drive product. While it will take some extra effort on your part to articulate your idea and review designs, the results can be well worth it, even with the higher unit cost of a custom memory stick.

So how do you find a dependable supplier for your Bespoke USB drives?

First, it’s important to find a company that actively promotes custom drive designs on their website or in their catalogue. This will be the first sign that they have the experience and expertise to create a custom drive design for you. It’s not important that they actually manufacture these drives on-site. Most companies farm this process out to factories in the Far East these days. What is important is that they understand the design process and how to integrate the electronics into the design you have in mind. Offering your target audience a drive that will fall apart or fail isn’t smart marketing and going for the cheapest product out there is an invitation to these kinds of promotional item disasters.

As you work with your design team they’re bound to make some recommendations or changes to your design. Consider each of them, as they may either be necessary or add features you may not have thought of initially. This may include a loop for a lanyard or a locking top to protect the USB connector from becoming damaged. A great promotional item company will have this kind of working knowledge of the products and how to best execute your idea.

Before you get too far into the process, you will want to request some samples of their past custom drive work. This is the best indicator of the kind of quality they demand and their capabilities. If a company is cagey about showing you samples, you may want to look elsewhere because you just may be their first custom USB drive customer. Given the importance of promotional campaigns, you never want to be someone’s guinea pig.

Finally, you want to discuss the electronics that are used in the drives. The memory chips are graded A through D and you want to know what grade of chips are in your drive. It’s not to say that a B grade is bad, just that it didn’t live up to the quality assurance process of a Grade A chip. Usually, the lower the grade, the more likely a chip can fail, have slow read/write speeds or not be able to fully access the level of memory advertised. Get the best grade you can afford and if at all possible, get products with Grade A chips. You won’t regret it.

The best advice of all is to do your homework before you order a large batch of custom USB drives that may not meet your expectations. And if you have the luxury of a few extra dollars in your budget along with time, you may want to order up a small batch first before ordering thousands. A lot of custom memory stick and USB flash drive companies offer production rates as low as 100 units.

In a very short period of time USB memory sticks and flash drives have virtually replaced CDs as the preferred backup device. The advantages are too hard to ignore – more storage space, smaller size and they’re virtually indestructible.

Memory is key

When we talk about the memory, we’re not talking about the size of the drive. That’s a personal choice and you can get drives up to 64 gigs these days. Instead, we’re talking about the quality of the flash memory chips that make this drive possible.

These chips are graded by the industry. Grade A is the best and they go down from there in grading. The key is to purchase Grade A whenever possible, or at the very least, the highest grade your budget can afford. You’ll probably have to ask the vendor for this information. It’s usually not posted on a website or in a catalogue. Just know that lower grade chips may have issues, including higher failure rates, the inability to access or use all the memory and sluggish read/write speeds.

Which USB?

USB 1.x and USB 2.0 are the workhorses of the flash drive business. If you need to choose between these, always go with USB 2.0, as it is backwards compatible. USB 3.0 will be the new standard, but you’ll pay a premium for them right now and a lot of computers can’t take advantage of their capabilities anyway, except the newest ones on the market. Avoid USB 1.x drives. They are painfully slow, even if they are a great deal.

Is it RoHS compliant?

If you’re in the EU, you need to know this one. RoHS is shorthand for Restriction of Hazardous Substances. The regulations are designed to protect EU citizens from hazardous chemicals and substances. If your vendor is using components that aren’t RoHS compliant, you can be held responsible for this as well as the vendor. So ask if the flash drive components are RoHS compliant and if you need them, ask for copies of the RoHS certificates.

WEEE, it’s recyclable!

At least it should be. WEEE is a directive that encourages products to be 65% recycled. If your organization falls under the WEEE directive, you want to make sure the drives you order comply with it, otherwise you may get into trouble.

When shopping for a reputable supplier to handle your USB flash drive or memory stick order, or any other promotional item for that matter, be sure you pick one that has experience in the product lines you’re interested in. If you’re in the EU, find a trusted supplier that understands the requirements outlined in RoHS and WEEE and don’t be afraid to ask a lot of questions, especially if they aren’t immediately forthcoming with answers. That should be an immediate warning sign that it’s time to move onto someone else.

Computers continue to get smaller. New ideas like netbooks continue to redefine modern computing. Unfortunately, the computer mouse hasn’t always kept up with this revolution, and most full featured mice are too big and bulky to cart around.

Early attempts at creating a portable mouse relied on making an existing design smaller. Unfortunately, these mini mice didn’t fit well into the hand and the buttons felt cramped. Worse, they didn’t always track well, causing the cursor to jerk across the screen.

The new generation of pokket mice are much more ergonomic. More important, they are small enough to fit in your pocket yet deliver a full sized mouse experience.

The secret is the shape. Instead of making a mouse designed to fit in your palm smaller, these new pocket mice are thin and rectangular, providing you with a tremendous amount of precision, and most important, comfort.

The Pokket Mouse from the USB Company is a good example of thoughtful design combined with great features. The mouse uses an optical tracking system so you don’t have to worry about the surface you’re working on. The optical system is extremely accurate. It is also low maintenance since you don’t have to keep it squeaky clean like the old roller mice.

It’s also extremely portable. Measuring just 13 x 50 x 84 mm, the Pokket Mouse fits easily into a shirt or pants pocket. A travel pouch is included to help keep the electronics clean. It’s not really necessary, but it is a nice touch.

For those wanting to make a powerful presence with their promotional and branding efforts, the Pokket Mouse is a perfect choice. The mouse comes in your choice of blue, white, black and red. For added impact, your logo lights up with a simple touch of the mouse so your marketing message is always visible, even in a darkened aircraft cabin.

Don’t be put off by its small size. The Pokket Mouse is full featured and a delight to use. It can go anywhere your laptop or netbook goes and will always offer dependable and precise tracking and clicking, so you can enjoy your computing experience without having to work on a trackpad all the time. As anyone knows, trackpads look like a cool innovation, but if you’re used to working with a mouse day in and day out, a trackpad can feel alien and greatly reduce your productivity.
If you’re looking for a high value, high impact promotional item for your next event or campaign, consider the Pokket Mouse.

A sneak peek at the next-generation Chromium OS from Google

Chromium OS isn’t supposed to be released by Google to the public until late next year, but the early betas are already showing promise. If Chromium OS lives up to its initial hype you can count on having an open source operating system that is fast, simple and more secure than any existing OS on the market today, including Windows 7, Mac OS X and Linux.

We’ve had the chance to test the new operating system on a netbook. Specifically, this is the Hexxeh USB build, which allows the Chromium OS to be booted from a USB flash drive or stick. Within 7 to 8 seconds after hitting the power button, the fully loaded Google Chrome browser has you ready for work. It’s lightning fast and could become the future of mobile computing.

One reason it shows potential is that the Chromium OS is designed for today’s computers. No matter how much Microsoft or Apple operating systems are updated they are still based on a computer framework that is more than 30 years old; a framework that dictates that the OS is the center of a computing universe.
But these operating systems were developed long before the Internet and web-based computing. As such, they’re akin to using a Betamax VCR with a high definition television – the technologies can’t make the best use of each other.

Access to the Internet is just a small part of a computer’s capabilities even though the Internet has become central to the user’s experience as they increasingly access files, games, multimedia, social networks and online applications.
Of course, Google isn’t ready to tout Chromium OS as the be-all do-all in their formal communications just yet. They still need access to Windows, Mac and Linux code to make their browsers work with existing platforms. But we believe they see the writing is on the wall and that Internet-based applications are the wave of the
future.

If this is the case, then Chromium is spot-on in its objectives. It is open source, promoting innovation and ready access to the development community. It is designed to be fast, simple and secure. And it is designed specifically to give you plug and play access to the Web for true mobile computing, taking advantage of applications that live within the browser, not the computer itself. Since there’s no central collection point of processing, security is simplified because each application has its own security sandbox, which makes it much harder to infect your computer. If there is a virus, it will stay isolated in the application, at least that is the theory.

But the commitment to security runs much deeper than that, according to Google. Every time you start your computer up, it verifies the code. If something is wrong, the operating system is designed to fix itself during a reboot. Even if a malicious code is added, the system will delete it.

The real beauty is its speed. So far, Chromium OS is proving to be extremely fast and responsive and the company says this is going to remain a high priority, to the point where developers are receiving specifications to ensure that the system doesn’t become bogged down with extraneous code and bloatware.

In our own tests we’ve been booting up our netbook with Chromium OS, setting the preferences so the computer boots off the USB as priority 1, with the hard drive #2. It has proven to be extremely faithful and consistent in booting up. And best of all, all of our settings, preferences and passwords go right along with us, regardless of the computer we’re using.

That’s true mobile computing and hopefully, Chromium OS will only get better as it undergoes more thorough testing and additional builds, along with the addition of new developer apps to enhance its capabilities.
We’ll have more on Chromium OS as it goes through its beta testing.

USB flash drives (sticks) are quite simply the most versatile and memorable item in the promotional gifts marketplace today. They allow you to pre-load information, giving the user quick and easy access to your latest catalogue or marketing campaign. I’d like to see a pen or mug do that…

But, what should you be looking for when buying promotional USB flash drive.

1. Quality
Make sure you choose a supplier who specialise in sticks and not a company offering everything. You’re looking to raise your profile, which will not be achieved by branding sub quality goods with your logo.

2. Marketing Message
A branded stick with your brochure or catalogue pre-loaded is a great way of getting your message across. In most cases we discourage the use of auto-run. It does not work on Mac’s and many administrators have blocked it.

3. Sales Vehicle
Using a stick as an incentive is a great way to get clients to buy a premium product. Alternatively it can be used as a bargaining tool for your sales staff. People love free gifts.

4. Speed
A good quality stick will have a minimum of 3MB/s writing speed and 15MB/s reading speed. Based on this a low quality 1GB stick would require approximately four minutes to fill up. A good quality one would take just under two minutes.

5. Packaging
A stylish gift box branded with your logo adds value to the stick. If you don’t have any specific packaging requirements we recommend using trays, which is more environmentally friendly.

6. Model
A professional supplier will be able to suggest a model to suit your requirements. Customising the shape or colour of the stick is a good way of making sure that you stand out from the crowd. A premium model may cost a little extra but will pay ultimately pay dividends.

7. Accessories
Adding a keyring or lanyard to the stick will allow the user to safely attach it to their person. Incorporating password protection is smart practice if sensitive information has been pre-loaded.

8. Branding
There are four types of branding which are commonly used, here are their pros and cons:
Silk Screen
Pros: cheap, quick lead times
Cons: can easily wear off on a keychain
Resin Dome
Pros: photographic quality, long lasting, short lead times
Cons: a bit more pricey
Engraving
Pros: long lasting, subtle and stylish 
Cons: no colours
Tampo
Pros: can print on rounded surfaces
Cons: high volume required

9. Express Service
If you are regularly buying sticks it might be useful to consider a supplier who retains stock in the UK. They should offer an express service and delivery can be as fast as 24 hours nationwide.

10. Price
When you purchase sticks you’ll want to get value for money but a very cheap price often means poor quality. If you have any lingering doubts insist on seeing a sample. Memory prices can vary on a daily basis so make sure you get an updated quote before you place your order.

A note on quality:
A good quality stick should work perfectly for approximately 10,000 write/erase cycles, which is the equivalent of filling and emptying the stick once a day for 25 years. Fake or white chips as they are often referred to can start to suffer from the very first cycle and are more prone to error messages and very slow data transfer speeds.

Since they continue to be so useful, both at home or the office, mouse mats make a really good gift item. If you’re looking for a smart choice for a promotional item, what’s better than having your logo or message constantly in view at the recipient’s place of work? For 8 or more hours a day, your message is constantly working for you, reminding prospects, customers and clients that you’re here to meet their needs.

If you’re looking for a promotional mouse mat for today’s input devices, you want to think about the thickness and the skid-resistant qualities of the item. These qualities are important. First, a mouse mat that is too thick won’t allow the ball of your hand to move with the mouse or to lift and stretch to reach a button on a trackball. Like the proverbial story of The Three Bears, a mouse mat that is too thin may save you a few pennies, but it won’t provide support and comfort for the recipient. When shopping for a mouse mat to give away as a promotional item, you want one that is “just right.”

If you want to help the recipient avoid repetitive strain, you may want to opt for a soft mat with a built-in wrist support. The end of the mouse mat is thicker than the section where the mouse goes. This thicker padding helps prevent repetitive strain injuries, which will be greatly appreciated by the recipient.
While we’re talking about quality of the mouse mat, here’s one more helpful hint. Don’t get one that has a textured top surface. These were great in the days of rolling mice, but the newest generation of laser mice don’t perform as well on them. The mouse should roll smoothly across and not bind. The tracking with a laser mouse is much more precise on a smooth surface.
The reverse is true for the underside of the mouse mat. You want the bottom to stay where it’s put on the desk or table. Nothing’s worse than having a mouse mat that moves around as easily as the mouse that’s on top of it. A good non-skid backing will do just fine.

If you’re looking for a fun mouse mat, consider one of the aqua mouse mats out on the market. These mouse mats have liquids inside of them that change the look of the mouse mat constantly. You can even add glitter or small metallic shapes if you’d like.

One thing you can count on. Mouse mats are here to stay. They are a great promotional item that your prospects, customers and clients will use in the most innovative ways while your branding message stays in front of them throughout the workday.

If your company likes to put a little something extra in their stockings, there are plenty of great new promotional items out this year that any stocking-stuffing Santa would be proud to give out.

One of the most practical but stylish gifts this year is USB sticks that double as wristbands. This allows the user to always have some extra memory with them to swap out files, share images or make quick backups before leaving the home or office. Since they snap right onto your wrist, they are always handy.
If you’re looking for an extra stocking stuffer, USB sticks in a wrap around wristband are a good choice that everyone will love. Plus, you can get them in an array of colours, which adds to their perceived value as a holiday gift.

As anyone knows, holiday memories are made to last and a digital photo frame is a great way to display them. These photo frames let you thank an employee for a job well done while keeping your message front and centre as the recipient shows others their cherished holiday photos.

Of course, the holidays don’t have to be all about practical gifts. If you want to show your fun side, USB massagers are all the rage right now. These massagers plug right into the USB port of any computer and give the recipient a little refreshing mid-day buzz to keep their hands from cramping from a long day of crunching numbers or finishing reports.

Another popular item this holiday season are branded USB powered speakers. These little marvels sound great and are the perfect gift for employees who are travelling on business regularly. You can choose from a wide range of powered speakers, including the new USB Vase Speakers that are perfect for laptops. They even light up, adding beauty and function to the recipient’s workday, whether they are in the office, at home or on the road.

Another thoughtful gift that’s sure to get lots of use is a 4-port USB Hub. Even with a desktop system there never seems to be enough USB ports these days, and it’s even truer with notebooks and laptops. One of the nice things about the newest USB hubs is that they are backwards compatible, so you can enjoy the speed of USB 2.0 while still using the hub with a USB 1.1 compliant computer.
Some of the newer hubs are really small, which makes them the perfect accessory for those that love their portable, anywhere lifestyle. These hubs also do a few new tricks. For example, some of the newest promotional item USB hubs have a time and date function. It can even tell you the temperature. Printed with your logo, this 4-port USB Hub is sure to be a hit with those lucky enough to receive one.

Whether you’re looking to add a little fun to your employee’s stockings or simply saying thank you for all their hard work in the past year, there are plenty of great USB promotional items out there to choose from. No matter what you choose, your employees will almost certainly be thrilled to be on Santa’s list this year.