Finding "Hot" products is easy for me. The promotional advertising industry puts on several major shows in cities such as Dallas, Orlando, Las Vegas, Chicago, etc. In addition, there are 5 major travelling expos that hit the biggest markets in every region.

I attend 5 to 6 of the travelling shows each year, and let the factory reps put their top products in my hand. Being able to examine the items, checking out the features, and advantages over the competition, is much easier than trying to pick the products from pictures in a catalog.

In July, I'll be flying to Chicago to attend one of those major shows - Over 1000 suppliers will be there, and I'll only have about 8 hours to glean as much info as I can. I've already attended the Southern Showcase, Advantages Roadshow, NSA Showcase, & SAGE Showcase, so I can skip a lot of the suppliers I've already visited with this year.

The suppliers are actually picking up what is hot retail, and then determining which process is the best for adding a company's name, logo, etc. So what is big in retail in 2006, is likely to be "Hot" in my business this year.

Dennis Bevers