Cold-calling isn't a favorite activity for most salespeople, but there are some simple ways to make the process less painful, speaker Connie Kadansky told the audience during her session, "Overcoming Cold Call Reluctance," on the first day of the ASI New York Show. To build a great sales pipeline, distributors should aim to have 25 "good conversations" with clients and prospects each day, Kadansky advises. If you're reluctant to make cold calls, set a small goal – like making five cold calls per day, and work your way up from there. One tip: Put 25 quarters on your desk each day, and put each in a jar once you've made a cold call, until you've put all 25 in the jar.

Here are some other things to keep in mind as you strive to improve cold-calling, according to Kadansky. Seventy-five percent of the success of a cold call depends on the tone of your voice, not what you say, Kadansky says. Record a few cold calls and listen to your voice. If it's friendly and engaging, as opposed to nervous-sounding or abrupt, your chances of success will be much higher. Approach a cold call with the right mindset. If you go into a call thinking that you're providing the person on the other line with a great opportunity, you're going to have better success. On the other hand, if you're worried you're interrupting them or they won't like you, Kadansky says, those fears will come through in the tone of your voice.

Surround yourself by pleasant, familiar smells. It may sound silly, but Kadansky has worked with top executives to overcome their fear of cold-calling by having them smell their favorite scents – like suntan lotion or lavender, before picking up the phone and making a call. "Smelling your favorite scent makes you feel immediately relaxed and in a better state of mind," Kadansky says. Also, don't take rejection personally. "Don't worry about what others think of you," Kadansky says. "Focus on what you think of yourself. If you think you're a great salesperson with something great to offer, you're ultimately going to be successful no matter how many times you get rejected."

Colman and Company, an apparel decorating supply company based in Tampa, has announced record monthly sales of its Hotfix rhinestone supplies.

The company reports this segment of its business up more than 40% year to date, with a record number of new customers for its rhinestone supplies. The Director of Marketing for Colman and Company, Mark Stephenson, gave credit to a combination of factors leading to the increase in sales. The first is the creation of the new Brush n Bake rhinestone transfer systems, which include easy to use rhinestone design software, a Graphtec cutter for creating templates, and enough supplies to create a variety of sample designs for under $2,500. The second reason for the increase Stephenson cited was the staff’s knowledge and customer service.

Rhinestone clothing, car decals and gift items can be seen in most retail outlets, but is particularly popular in the Dance, Cheer and Sports communities. Many schools and teams use local, small businesses to produce custom rhinestone designs that include a school mascot, team names and support t-shirts like “Soccer Mom”.

The upward trend in the Rhinestone apparel business can also be seen in the sales performance of its sister company, ColDesi, Inc., who supplies the more advanced, high production CAMS Automatic Rhinestone Machines all over North America.

Counselor Top 40 supplier HanesBrands(asi/59528) posted a $51.4 million profit in the first quarter of 2013, the company announced. A 700% year-over-year increase in operating margins (due to higher product prices combined with lower cotton costs) offset a 2% decrease in sales to create strong profit for the quarter. Last year HanesBrands posted a $26.8 million loss in the first quarter.

"We are pleased with our ongoing strategic execution, which resulted in improved profitability in the first quarter and bolsters our outlook for the rest of the year," said Richard A. Noll, Hanes chairman and chief executive officer. "Our operating profit margin was strong, our brands are commanding more retail shelf space, and our product innovation is working. We have more margin improvement potential ahead of us."

Hanes' Branded Printwear division, which caters to the advertising specialty and screen printing industries, experienced a sales decline of $15 million in the quarter. Hanes said the decline was a "planned reduction of commodity-oriented branded printwear sales." The company expects a decline of $40 million to $50 million in branded printwear sales in 2013.

Last year Hanes sold its European imagewear business and discontinued both its private-label program and Outer Banks product line. The company says those moves will have no effect on results in 2013.

Top 40 Canadian distributor firm BrandAlliance (asi/145177) announced this morning that it has named Marc Roy as its new CEO. Roy, who left fellow Top 40 Canadian distributor Accolade Promotion Group (asi/102905) as CEO three years ago, joins BrandAlliance as a member of its board of directors and his appointment is effective as of May 27, 2013.

“We are thrilled to have Marc play a significant role in our long-term strategic plan of accelerating growth in North America, as well as globally,” said Nick Thompson, BrandAlliance’s chairman of the board. "Marc’s extensive experience in the promotional products industry and track record in delivering results, while leading transitioning companies, made him the ideal addition to our executive team. He is also a motivational leader who will continue to inspire and support our award-winning culture.”

As the second-largest distributor in Canada (as measured by industry revenue), BrandAlliance reported North American ad specialty revenues of $49.7 million for 2012, an 11% increase over 2011.

A new collection from SanMar's fashion-forward District and District Made lines will be available starting May 31. More than 50 new styles and several brand new fabrics will be featured as part of the collection.

That was just one of the exciting annoucements SanMar made this week. Additionally, the industry-leading supplier revealed that the District and District Made brands have been showcased at top music festivals this spring.

First up, District was on hand at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas as a sponsor of Rolling Stone’s “Rock Room.” District provided more than one thousand t-shirts for Rock Room performers, attendees and Rolling Stone executives and partners.

Next, District headed to the desert for Coachella, rubbing elbows with attendees of the Hard Rock Music Lounge in Palm Springs, CA. District had its first collaboration with NY-based fashion designer Mara Hoffman, who created an exclusive design for the District racerback tank (DT237), capturing the spirit of the desert.

“Our District and District Made brands continue to evolve, but at their foundation is an appreciation for community and artistic expression,” said Rhea Aslin, senior brand manager at SanMar for District. “We’re excited about the work we’ve done since our launch last June to build awareness for the brands and align ourselves with events and celebrations that really speak to the District community. And we’re just getting started.”

Quashing fears of a precipitous drop in hiring, the United States economy created 165,000 jobs in April, driving the unemployment rate to its lowest level since December, according to the Department of Labor.

In another positive sign, the government also upwardly revised job creation estimates for February and March. Labor officials now say 332,000 jobs were generated in February and 138,000 the following month.

The gains in April were powered by the private sector, which added 176,000 jobs. The overall tally, however, was dragged down by the fact that the public sector shed 11,000 positions last month.

In April, the unemployment rate dropped from 7.6% to 7.5% even as the size of the labor force increased. The total number of unemployed people in America stands at 11,659,000, according to the government’s count.

May is a great month to buy Stahls’ Hotronix heat press equipment.

From May 1 to May 31, receive free ground freight shipping with any machine purchase. This special offer is good for Hotronix and MAXX brands including the state-of-the-art Fusion™ and Air Fusion heat presses.

See the full line at stahls.com/heat-press. For more information or to place your order, call 800.4.STAHLS.

Private companies in the U.S. added 119,000 jobs in April – a gain powered, in part, by small businesses, according to a report released today. The ADP National Employment report revealed that companies with fewer than 50 workers increased their ranks by 50,000 positions, while medium-sized businesses contributed 26,000 jobs and large firms added 43,000.

Industries that performed strong in April included construction, which rose by 10,000 positions. While professional/business services increased by 20,000 jobs, trade/transportation/utilities posted the biggest gain at 29,000. On the other side of the spectrum, manufacturing employment decreased by 10,000. Unfortunately, despite the April gain, economists had some gloomy words, noting that the 119,000 positions marked the slowest monthly employment expansion since last September.

“Job growth appears to be slowing in response to very significant fiscal headwinds,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “Tax increases and government spending cuts are beginning to hit the job market. Job growth has slowed across all industries and most significantly among companies that employ between 20 and 499 workers.”

Moody’s Analytics works to produce the ADP National Employment Report in conjunction with ADP, a provider of human capital management solutions. Derived from ADP’s actual payroll data, the study precedes the federal government’s official monthly employment report, which accounts for the public and private sectors. That report is due out Friday.

Police in Bangladesh have arrested the owner of an illegally-constructed building that collapsed last week, killing nearly 400 garment factory workers. Apprehended near the Indian border, Mohammed Sohel Rana was transported to the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, where he was being held for questioning on charges of negligence, illegal construction and forcing laborers to join his work. Authorities also detained Rana's father, along with four owners of apparel factories housed within the dangerous building.

Rana Plaza collapsed last Wednesday as thousands of garment workers toiled inside within five apparel factories. While Rana had approval to build a five-story building, he added three additional floors illegally. When huge cracks started webbing through the building last week, police ordered an evacuation. A bank and some first-floor shops closed, but garment factory managers on the higher floors allegedly ordered workers to continue their shifts. Of the 3,122 workers employed in the factories, at least 382 were killed in the collapse. The tragedy is the latest black eye to Bangladesh's apparel industry, which accounts for 80% of the Asian nation's $24 billion in exports. The death toll far eclipsed what had been the sector's biggest calamity to date: A fire five months ago at the Tazreen Fashions factory that killed 112 people.

For some in the apparel sector of the ad specialty industry, the latest incident has them reconsidering their position in Bangladesh. "We do have some relationships in Bangladesh that we will be looking at again," says Joel Freet, national sales manager-corporate at Cutter & Buck (asi/47965). "We will continue to seek production partners that can provide the highest quality products from a safe and secure working environment."

Others in the market, though, say the building collapse may ultimately prompt better protections for third-world garment workers. "I believe that you will see a concerted effort by American and European apparel companies to clean up shoddy, sub-par factories in Bangladesh," says David Bebon, CEO of DBEBZ Apparel, a manufacturer of woven and knit sport shirts.

Specifically, some suppliers believe that the auditing processes western apparel companies use to certify that a factory is safe could be intensified. "The tragic incidents in Bangladesh are sure to prompt the international manufacturing community to expand their concerns for working conditions to include closer audits of the physical structures themselves," says Ira Neaman, CEO of Vantage Apparel (asi/93390). "Governments may need to allow the use of outside building inspectors to certify the structures are safe."

For those looking for great deals on heat-applied graphics products and equipment, Imprintables Warehouse recently launched a new website called “The Dump at Imprintables.com.”

Each week, products that have been overstocked or discontinued are offered at deep discounts in "The Dump." Categories include vinyl cutters, heat presses, heat transfer vinyl, sign vinyl, and more.

All products will be available for a limited time or while supplies last. Some products even include a fast, fun video you can watch that will give you some application ideas and possibly make you laugh.

Imprintables Warehouse is a full-service distributor of equipment and supplies to create a wide range of apparel and sign graphics including digital cutters, printer/cutters, heat-applied materials, sign vinyl materials, and heat presses. For more information, contact the company at 800-347-0068 fax: 724-583-0426; e-mail: info@imprintables.com; or visit www.imprintables.com.

In the latest positive sign for the U.S. economy, bank risk managers are forecasting that lending will increase to small businesses in 2013, according to a new survey. Conducted for FICO by the Professional Risk Managers International Association, the survey showed that more than half (52%) of risk managers believe that total credit extended to small businesses will rise over the next six months.

Additionally, more than 70% of the 255 survey respondents said that demand for small-business loans will rise, while nearly a third predicted that there will be enough credit to meet such demand. In a related finding, the survey revealed that about 80% of respondents believe the delinquency rate on small-business loans will remain flat or decrease.

“In the past, the banking professionals we survey haven’t been as optimistic about credit for small businesses as they have been for other types of lending,” said Andrew Jennings, FICO’s chief analytics officer. “The upbeat sentiment makes me think it’s possible that we’ll see small businesses picking up the pace of investing and hiring in the months ahead.”

The FICO survey is supported by other recent data that demonstrates an opening up of credit for American small businesses. In March, the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy reported that small-business lending increased in the fourth quarter of last year for the first time in 10 quarters. Another survey, released by Biz2Credit – which connects entrepreneurs to loan options – revealed that approval rates for small businesses seeking loans at big banks.

Counselor Top 40 supplier Ennis (asi/52493) announced this week that its net sales increased from $517.0 million for the year ended February 29, 2012 to $533.5 million for the year ended February 28, 2013. The 3.2% revenue increase for Ennis, which is a wholesales printing and apparel manufacturer that is the parent to industry suppliers Alstyle Apparel (asi/34817) and Admore (asi/32050), came from positive results from its print segment. The company's print sales for the just-completed fiscal year increased by 20.4%, while its apparel sales fell over the 12 months by 16.8%.

The company also took a hit to its consolidated margin in its fiscal 2013, which fell by nearly two percentage points to 23.3%. Again, Ennis' apparel segment was the main impetus for the decline, as its apparel margin decreased from 21.6% in 2012 to 13.2% in 2013 due to the higher cost of cotton in finished goods and reduced sales volume stemming from sale-side pressure, the company said.

"Our apparel results for the fiscal year were impacted by the high cost of cotton in finished goods inventory," said Keith Walters, chairman, president and CEO of Ennis, as well as a member of Counselor's Power 50. "We attempted to match the sales price with the cost through the sale of this high-cost inventory, rather than reducing our selling price below our embedded costs. Thus, we absorbed the negative financial impact over our inventory turn cycle rather than recognizing the large impact of an inventory write-down in a single quarter, as some of our competitors did."

Walters, though, said that the company's inventory is now more balanced and it foresees increases to come in its apparel sales and margins. "Most of the higher-cost cotton has made its way through our apparel's finished goods inventory and the divergence between the current purchase cost of cotton and the average cost in finished goods inventory continues to shrink," he said. "As a result, we expect our apparel margin will continue to improve, as it did this past quarter. Our print margin continued to remain healthy and improved this quarter."

Ennis ranks as the fifth-largest supplier on Counselor's Top 40, reporting more than $300 million in annual North American ad specialty sales.

Nick Reynolds and Chris Dobens were about to head down to the finish line of the Boston Marathon when they found out about the bombings. As the events of that tragic Monday unfolded, the two Emerson College students pondered a way to help the victims. The idea: charity T-shirts with the slogan “Boston Strong.” Cueing up Google for a T-shirt printer, they found Ink to the People, a Milwaukee-based decorator that prints user-designed T-shirts if a minimum number are sold. Reynolds and Dobens designed the T-shirt and set the minimum at 110. As of press time, over 34,400 have sold, generating more than $500,000 for The One Fund charity, set up by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.

“The real story is these two college kids using this platform we built and being super successful with it,” says Marshall Atkinson, COO of Ink to the People. “We feel a little silly talking about our platform.”

The royal blue T-shirt features gold lettering that says “Boston Strong” in all capital letters. The colors represent the official colors of the Boston Marathon, and the name is a nod to the Livestrong charity and its widespread unifying message. “We came up with the phrase ‘Boston Strong’ as a way to show support to our community,” says Dobens, an 18-year-old freshman majoring in marketing. “We are grateful to be able to contribute and in our own way help the victims of this tragic day.”

Ink to the People agreed at the outset to donate 100% of the sales from the first 1,500 shirts sold to charity. After that, $5 of the $20 price point went to the printing of the shirt, with the remaining $15 given to charity. “When Nick and Chris approached us with their idea, their hope was to make a small mark and help those in need with their T-shirt fundraiser,” says Jay Berman, principal of Ink to the People. “This tragedy in Boston hits close to home and we wanted to help give back.”

Started last year, Ink to the People combines the principals of crowdsourcing sites like Kickstarter and Groupon with the idea of T-shirt printing. Users can create an idea for a shirt, upload to Ink to the People, and then use social media to spread the word. If enough people purchase the shirt, Ink to the People prints the shirts and mails it out to the buyers. If the minimum isn’t met, the shirts aren’t printed and nobody is charged. Atkinson says the idea was to take away the hassle of upfront costs for a great T-shirt design. “The website is designed to take all that pain away from you,” he says. And not only is The One Fund receiving a massive donation, but Ink to the People is also receiving major media exposure for its innovative idea, generating coverage in the Wall Street Journal, Mashable and more. “It looks like an overnight success,” says Atkinson, “but we’ve been working hard for a year and a half on this.”

Hirsch International -- a distributor of industry-leading apparel decorating equipment -- is hosting an open house at its Solution Studio in Charlotte, N.C., June 7-8.

From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., attendees will have an opportunity to see decorating equipment from all aspects of the industry, including Tajima embroidery machines, Seit laser bridge machine and singlehead lasers, Kornit direct-to-garment printers, MHM automatic screen printers, and Pulse digitizing and automation software.

Representatives from every product line will be on hand to do demos and answer questions, and you can tour the Elkin, N.C. distribution center. Don’t miss this chance to see the latest state-of-art equipment in the industry as well as network with industry peers.

To register, go to http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e790896n0a893875&llr=hzohqbdab

For more info, contact Hirsch International at (800) 394-4426; email: care@hic.us; or visit the website at www.hic.us