At Motivators, there is one item in particular that I can say we have in any shape, size or form you want: a stressball.  Any event, industry, holiday, fundraiser you may have, we have a stressball for it.

Recently an ENT office called and asked for an ear. AN EAR? Yes, an ear stress ball. Item # 46942, all I had to do was type it in the Motivators search engine and it came up. I was a champ! I thought to myself, if we have an ear stress ball, what other odd items could we have? I made a list. Could any of these help promote your event?

Brains, any animal you could imagine, an alien, fire extinguisher, a taco, poker chips, an egg, a steamroller, lego blocks, an oil derrick, a wine bottle, a shrimp and my favorite a curling rock (see below).  In conclusion they have thought of everything to make into a small squeezy version of whatever you may want to take your daily frustrations out on!

On Sunday, Team Motivators attended the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk at Jones Beach, NY. Of course, being a promotional products company, we didn't show up empty handed. The Motivators crew made sure to bring along plenty of swag!

Our pink and white beach balls were a huge hit. People loved receiving these awesome breast cancer awareness promotional products -- they couldn't believe we were giving them out for free! It felt great to be able to give a small gift to the amazing people helping to make a difference.

The Motivators staff also wore special sunglasses so everyone could recognize us during the walk. Check them out: 

 Thanks to everyone who helped support Team Motivators!

This weekend was one of those non stop, keep going, need a nap, type of weekends. Friday after work we went to The Westbury Gardens for The Rise Of The Jack-O-Lanterns. There were 5,000 hand carved pumpkins displayed outside for people to view. The artwork was truly amazing, and Abby loved all of the faces. Saturday consisted of eye issues, tons of laundry, errands, and cooking. And then Sunday morning we has the breast cancer awareness walk with Motivators! This year was my first year actually walking, and I was so impressed by all of the other people that came to show their support. People were dressed to the nines in pink promotional apparel, while others handed out free bottled water. We did our part by donating money, and giving out our signature pink and white bach balls.

October is breast cancer awareness month and here at Motivators, we are doing our part.  There is a tremendous array of breast cancer awareness promotional products.  Whether you're participation in a walk, run or even bar crawl, you are sure to find something to promote your event.  Lapel stickers, debossed bracelets, pens, pamphlets, key chains etc. will keep you promoting the cause all year around.  That's not all:

Westbury, NY. Motivators, Inc., a leading online provider of promotional products, announced today its collaboration with the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund. Beginning today, whenever an order is placed for an item featured in the Breast Cancer Awareness section, A portion of the proceeds from this order will be donated to the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund, a Long Island-based breast cancer charity. This ongoing fundraiser will continue beyond October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

So not only are you raising money individually, but your order will help donate as well!

At age 36, Christina Applegate was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy. Now, four years later, the actress is willing to put on pink -- a color she says "usually washes me out" -- in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Applegate's foundation, Right Action, has teamed up with sportswear company ASICS to create a line of pink breast cancer awareness promotional products. The "Anchorman" actress told the AP that she hopes the brightly-colored apparel will help bring attention to the issue. "Every time you look at a pair of shoes or a jog top, you'll know you're creating awareness and conversation, especially with the bright pink, people will ask, 'Why are you wearing bright pink?'" she said.

The goal for her organization, Applegate said, is to increase breast cancer awareness among younger women. "This is not a disease only for 50-year-old women," she said.

According to the Right Action website, the ASICS breast cancer awareness collection includes running sneakers, a sports bra, head bands and knee pads. Items will be on sale through Oct. 31.

As we enter the fall officially, everyone has something else to be excited about. Some people are just happy the heat of the summer is gone, but others are excited about the leaves changing, Halloween coming, pumpkin flavored goodies and fairs and festivals of all kind. It is a fun time for everyone. However, October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  It is a disease that affects millions of women year. It doesn't just affect those who are diagnosed with it, but also all of their friends and family as well.

Surely, as everyone knows now, Pink is the color that represents the fight against breast cancer. Companies and organizations around the world use that color to promote charitable causes for breast cancer awareness. Even Motivators supports the fight against breast cancer, with every order for a large selection of not just promotional pink items but also customized awareness items, Motivators donates a portion to the Carol M Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund.

That means, you can show your support of the fight against Breast Cancer and not just promote your company at the same time. You can also be helping out in two ways, through your support and through the donation Motivators will make for your order.

It is always good to promote for a good cause.

Yesterday, after a long day of searching, testing and selling promotional products,  I went to a Long Island Ducks baseball game.  It was a beautiful evening for a ball game, and with ex-Mets Armando Benitez and Timo Perez on the team I was excited.  We got there a little before the first pitch and almost immediately the wave of promotional summer giveaways hit me.  It started at the front gate, where we were handed a promotional Bud Harrelson (for those who don't know, he is an ex met and current owner of the Ducks) bobble head.  Next was a promotion spin wheel of items donated from local companies to bring interested fans to their establishments.  On to the concessions where local breweries sold their beer with promotional cups and t-shirts.  Ok, now the advertising has to be over right?  WRONG!  Even in the restroom, there were promotional hand towels for port-a-potty companies!

Finally at the seats, the entire outfield wall looks like something out of the movie Major League.  Every space of wall is covered in advertisements.  In-between every half inning is a sponsored game or giveaway!  Even the mascot Quackerjack participates in these events and interacts with the crowd (my brother, girlfriend and I might of taken a picture with him, see below).  Even though the ducks lost, all in all it was a great night, and gave me even more appreciation for what promotional products can do for your company.

This past Thursday January 26th, Ken, Laura, Samantha and myself attended the SAAGNY winter showcase 2012.  The plethora of trade show items were amazing.  Any promotional product you could think of was there.  Any item you may want imprinted they had on display.  It really makes you think about how many of these items you come in contact with every single day.  We all had a great time walking the show and are looking forward to selling many of these item to our customers!

This past weekend, I did the Breast Cancer Awareness walk at Jones Beach with the Motivators team. Much to my delight, we received 2011 promotional items just for participating: comfy hooded sweatshirts that came in very handy for the cool, windy walk. Gathering way too early for any Sunday, we came to show our support for such a great cause.

The weeks leading up to the walk, I tried and tried to find out if dogs were allowed to attend. During the summer months I wouldn't dream of bringing Brodie to a Long Island beach because of the crowds alone, but in the off-season I thought "why not?" I tried calling Jones Beach - ring, ring, ring. I tried calling our local coordinator of the walk - voicemail. I tried asking around the office - nothing. Finally, about two days before the walk, it was posted: per Jones Beach State Park, no pets allowed. There it was - my answer.

I'm usually a rule-follower, but I just couldn't come to terms with this. I saw news footage of last year's walk and there were several dogs in the background, so I thought it might be worth a try. Worst case scenario: they tell me he has to leave and we turn around.

Sunday morning I was a little nervous about knowingly breaking the rules, but I think I was even more nervous that Brodie might be "B-A-D" (we spell that word in my house because he's quite the sensitive boy, cowering at the mention of it). To my surprise, the whole thing went off without a hitch. We walked the entire boardwalk and were not stopped once. There was a bit more pulling from my eager border-collie than I would have liked, but I was incredibly impressed with the way he behaved overall. We also met plenty of other dogs along the way who were showing their support with breast cancer awareness promotional products. Brodie was strutting a pink bandanna with the awareness ribbon symbol to show his support as well.

After the 5K walk, the stress of the crowd and getting lots of pets from new people he'd never met, my normally energetic pup was pooped. Mission accomplished. He came home and zonked out for the rest of the day while we watched the Bills/Giants game. The walk turned out to be a truly rewarding experience... on many levels!