BROOMFIELD, Colo.—At each of its upcoming 2010 events, The NBM Show will present a two-hour roundtable discussion, hosted by the one of the industry’s leading experts, Richard Greaves.

Q:

 I print rugby shirts for a women’s rowing team in the area and they’ve asked me to provide them with ideas they can use to expand their fund-raising efforts. I would like to show them something really neat so, if I make the sale, I can call on other rowing teams and try to do business with them, too. Any suggestions?

A:

Originally published as the cover of the July 6, 1916, issue of Leslie’s Weekly with the title “What Are You Doing for Preparedness?” this portrait of Uncle Sam went on to become—according to its creator, James Montgomery Flagg—“the most famous poster in the world.”

In fact, Flagg patriotically contributed forty-six works of art to the war effort in order to bolster the recruitment of citizen workers, soldiers and sailors for both world wars. One can only imagine what Uncle Sam saw in the faces of the men, women and children who gazed upon this poster back then. Was it determination? A readiness to serve? A confidence of victory over our enemies as long as we stick together?

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There’s no better opportunity than at a trade show to deal directly with vendors of everything from equipment to supplies to garments . . . and score some excellent bargains.

Tradeshows are a great opportunity for any business. But getting the most out of them is an art form. Let’s faceⁱ it, attending a trade show has its associated costs, in both money and time. But the opportunities are so attractive that making sure you get the most out of the experience can pay off significant dividends down the road.

Anything that speeds up the process adds to the bottom line, or it should. Too many times I hear embroiderers share their excitement over a new process, a bigger machine or a time-saving method with the customer in mind: “Wow, a six-head machine! Now I can lower the price on any shirt orders of six or more.” Or, “What a fast and efficient hooping device! I can lower my price to my customer because I am not spending as much time on their order.”

We all have that moment when we look at an item waiting for embroidery and scratch our head thinking what would be the best way to tackle this job? I’ve heard so many funny stories about difficult hooping; descriptions of embroiderers trying to frame horse blankets on hands and knees to gain that “third hand” are often shared in my Printwear Show seminars and at the Embroidery Line (EmbroideryLine.net) and more often than not the mental pictures the stories bring forth reduce the classes to gales of laughter.

There are things I collect: miniature shoes, quotes, people and helpful hints. I thought I’d share with you some of the ones I think are the best at smoothing the road, especially for beginners—that is, “newbies,” in our world.

Many people have helped and guided and advised me on my journey and I send out a thank you to all of them because naming them all would put me way over my word quota. You know who you are, though, and so do I.

Needles

Always suspect the needle first. Changing to a new needle solves many a stitching problem.

Apply silicone spray to the needle with a cottonⁱ swab to help keep it from gumming up when using spray adhesive or stitching through sticky backing or coated fabrics.

A whimsical moment recently had me wishing I could “see” what every professional embroiderer in the world was stitching at that very moment—an overview of where we are, what we do and why. I knew that I would see a lot of pure production embroidery and that is a good thing, as every business on earth needs the production embroiderer, even when we don’t need their specialty. But, I know I am not alone in wishing for, courting and producing more artistic products.