When you think of a great gift, what comes to mind? T-shirts, coffee mugs, and award certificates are all items that you have to choose from but which carries the greatest emotional impact? What type of personalized gift option is unique, versatile, and long lasting? The answer to that question is custom lapel pins.

Small in size but rich in personal meaning, custom lapel pins are used by businesses and organizations of all sizes. They are also highly regarded by sports teams, schools and universities, non-profits, and clubs as the ultimate giveaway item. The reason we say this is quite simple. No other gift item educates, promotes, rewards, encourages, and raises funds for worthy causes quite the way that custom made lapel pins do.

Due to their personalized appearance, custom lapel pins generate interest wherever they go. People want to know where they came from and what they have to do to get their hands on a pin of their own. This is a great way for businesses to stretch their advertising dollar. Instead of relying on traditional forms of media to get their message across, they use their customers to spread the word. This word-of-mouth style form of marketing generates favorable results quickly.

Custom pins can also be used as educational tools. For example, the healthcare industry is always looking for new and inventive ways to promote wellness. By incorporating custom lapel pins into their fitness programs, they are giving participants an incentive for keeping in shape and they are also extending their message to far more people than they would reach without the help of a visual aid like a lapel pin.

Lapel pins are great for rewarding exceptional acts and people as well. Businesses, organizations, and schools around the nation create awards for their employees, members, and students for a variety of different reasons and occasions. These small tokens of appreciation go a long way with the recipients of the award because it instills a sense of pride and accomplishment in them. This helps encourage others to follow suit which leads the business, organization or school to success.

As you can see, there are plenty of reasons why custom lapel pins make the ultimate giveaway item. See for yourself. Chances are you’ll find a few new ways to use the pins to inform, educate, promote, reward, and encourage once you’ve received your order in the mail.

Pen pals across the globe enjoy swapping gifts with one another. These heartfelt mementos take life in many forms from foreign currency to postcards to stickers and stationery. One of the most enjoyable items being swapped between pen pals is custom lapel pins. These small tokens of appreciation are designed with the giver in mind and usually reflect a particular area of the world, a hobby or an interest.

When mailing out letters, pen pals can stick one of their lapel pins into the envelope before sending it off. This gives the receiver of the letter something special to look forward to. It also tells a lot about that person. Custom lapel pins are designed with a pen pal’s personality in mind. They can be small or large. Some are simple while other pins are much more intricate. Either way, they make great keepsakes for people of all ages.

Custom pins can be attached to cardstock and enclosed in an envelope. This allows the pen pal to further his or her message. A poem or quote about friendship can be included on the cardstock. This allows the sentiment to be personal and meaningful. Pen pals worldwide will appreciate the gesture and cherish their new gift from you.

A similar style of lapel pin called friendship pins are given out by world travelers. They usually have two flags on them. One comes from the country the visitor lives in and the other resembles the flag of the country they are traveling to. Throughout their journey, the men and women hand out pins to the people they meet. It’s a kind gesture that wins them dozens of new friends.

If you enjoy writing letters, you’ll want to give your pen pals something special to remember you by. Custom lapel pins are just that. Small, lightweight, and easy-to-mail, they make the perfect addition to all of your personal correspondence.

Schools around the country host winter balls and formals as a way of breaking up the monotony of the season and give students and staff something to look forward to. These organized dances are usually held on a Friday or Saturday night and often require a fee in order to obtain admission into the event. Rather than sell paper tickets, many schools are going “green” by creating a permanent way to keep track of the students entering the dance. The way that they do that is by creating custom lapel pins based on their event’s theme.

Worn in a visible location, custom lapel pins grant students and staff entrance to the dance. This allows others to identify them with the school and also keep track of how many pins are sold prior to and the night of the event. They also give party-goers a memorable and attractive souvenir to take home with them. This eliminates the need to purchase other types of items to give away at the event.

Lapel pins can be created in a number of different ways. First and foremost, there are several different styles to choose from. Pins can be cloisonné, soft enamel, diestruck or offset printed. Next, determine what image or photograph you want included on the lapel pins. Pay special attention to the type of font and the size of the text you want used. Once you have determined these items, it is much easier to decide on the size and shape of your custom pins.

Winter themes often include snowflakes and icicles. You can incorporate these items into your design easily. Snowmen are also a fun image to include. Whatever ideas you have for your school’s lapel pins, they’re sure to be good ones. When shared with a lapel pin manufacturer, they become that much better because before you know it, your students and staff members will be wearing the pins that you created.

January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month. Getting the word out about this silent yet devastating disease is easy when you have custom lapel pins made. That’s right! Used as educational tools, these small but effective pieces of memorabilia serve as miniature billboards by stressing the importance of regular eye exams.

Glaucoma affects the vision of 2.2 million Americans. It is usually painless so almost half of all people don’t know that they have the disease. Without treatment, it will eventually affect a person’s central vision and can even progress to blindness. Irreversible, vision loss from glaucoma, can impede upon people’s day-to-day living.

At special events held throughout the month, custom lapel pins are necessary. What other time of the year will you have access to so many people? If you are a hospital, an optometrist or a school, you can easily work awareness pins into your budget. The small tokens of appreciation can be used to thank people for taking classes, attending a lecture or promoting good eye health in the community. This encourages others to be knowledgeable and aware of glaucoma and how it can be prevented.

Lapel pins can take form in a variety of different sizes and shapes. That’s what makes custom made items extra special. Using the customer’s ideas and suggestions, lapel pin manufacturers come up with custom artwork and present it to the men and women via a full color digital proof. This allows the business or organization to view the proof and make corrections as they see fit.

Awareness month lapel pins are popular because they are effective. See for yourself. The next time you see someone wearing a ribbon on their shirt or sweater, ask them where they got it from or what it stands for. Chances are you’ll learn a lot about a disease or cause that you may have never even heard of.

Chinese New Year custom lapel pins are a hit with people all around the world. In addition to highlighting the popular Asian holiday, they also are used to promote good luck and prosperity. You can see people from other countries observing this exciting celebration.

Chinese New Year begins January 23rd, 2012. Chinese workers take this time off to reflect upon the past year and to ring in the new one. This year’s Chinese zodiac sign is the dragon. You will see this image on many of the pins created for Chinese New Year. Dragons symbolize dominance and ambition. In today’s tough economic world, these characteristics are helpful. That’s why this year’s celebration is likely to be a memorable one.

Custom lapel pins can be created in a variety of sizes, shapes, styles, and colors. For example, if you wanted your pins to look like fine jewelry, you would choose cloisonné as a style option. If your business wanted to hand pins out to the public and wanted them to have glitter or a dangling charm, you would most likely have the pins created in soft enamel.

The smallest details are often what make customized lapel pins so special. Simulated gemstone eyes can make Chinese New Year dragon lapel pins stand out. Imagine a die struck lapel pin plated in your choice of color. Metal plating options include antique gold, antique silver, and antique copper. These classic looking pins can be made to appear even more attractive when two ruby simulated gemstones are placed where the dragon’s eyes would be on the pin.

The sky is virtually the limit when it comes to personalizing your custom pins. You can include an image or a photograph as well as text. The pins can be cut-to-shape or feature cutout areas in the design. This helps give your Chinese New Year lapel pins dimension and appeal.

As a business or organization, you probably find yourself looking for new ways to promote yourself and the events that you hold throughout the year. Radio spots and television ads reach a specific audience whereas custom lapel pins make an even bigger impact because they are attractive and portable much like a mobile billboard. Instead of relying on traditional methods of advertising to make you successful this year, why not take matters into your own hands and design custom lapel pins all your own in 2012?

There are a number of different ways you can use the custom lapel pins that you order to take your business or organization from obscurity to superstardom. Here are just a few ideas that may be of interest to you.

Use custom lapel pins to:

• Identify employees, volunteers, and vendors
• Start an employee recognition awards program and hand out custom pins
• Thank new customers and members for their support
• Start a VIP program and offer an incentive for wearing pins
• Promote a special event or sale by having employees wear lapel pins daily

Having a quantity of custom pins on hand throughout the year is very beneficial. You don’t know how many times you’ll want to make a great first impression on employees, customers, vendors, and volunteers. You can do this easily by thinking of them and handing out custom lapel pins at different monthly events.

January 2012 is National Blood Donor Month and what better way to show your appreciation for blood donors and volunteers than with custom lapel pins featuring your unique symbol or logo? Custom lapel pins serve hospitals, non-profits, and charitable organizations like yours in a number of different ways. First and foremost, they’re practical. Who doesn’t like lapel pins?

Next, they can be designed in a way that resonates throughout a community. Imprinted with a message or slogan, they can be used as educational tools promoting blood drives. This is a great way to get citizens in your town onboard when it comes to donating blood. The message that you include on your pins can save lives.

Last but not least, at different events throughout the month, you can hand out custom lapel pins as thank you gifts for donors and volunteers that help make your blood drives successful. Small tokens of appreciation encourage others to participate. If people see the pins that you created, they are more likely to get involved in relief efforts. If they are unable to donate blood, they may want to donate their time or money.

Donating blood has notable health benefits. You can stress these by including a pamphlet or brochure with your lapel pins. In addition to helping save lives, blood donors can expect:

• Regular physicals from medical personnel
• Lower iron levels which reduce the risk of heart disease
• Reduced risk of heart attack and cancer
• Replenished blood

All of these contribute to a healthy lifestyle. If you want to encourage more blood donations this January, you’ll definitely want to stress the health benefits involved with giving blood. You can even include a message highlighting these on your lapel pins. That way, when people walk around wearing your National Blood Donor Month pins, others will pay attention and want to know how to get one of their own.

As a restaurateur, you know how important it is to maintain a competent and pleasant staff of food servers. Without these dedicated people, lunch and dinner services wouldn’t be near as successful. You can celebrate “Be Kind to Food Servers Month” this January by awarding your employees custom lapel pins. These small tokens of appreciation go a long way in making men and women feel valued and appreciated.

Custom lapel pins for food servers draw attention wherever they go. They add an element of excitement to standard work uniforms and can be used to announce a special program or promotion being offered by your restaurant. This is a great way to get people out of the house and into your dining room.

Award lapel pins make food servers feel appreciated. This adds to their success in the workplace. These individuals are more likely to go the extra mile when it comes to performing their job descriptions. They are more apt to do side tasks than their cohorts who are not rewarded with some sort of incentive. They are also better leaders and more concerned with safety.

These individuals are absent less, more productive, and likely to stay with the same employer for years. That’s a whole lot of benefits that can be accredited to a successful employee rewards program. Who would have ever thought that a tiny custom lapel pin could yield such positive change in your restaurant?

Do your part this January and order custom employee recognition award lapel pins for all of your food servers. Not only will it help you get your name out to the public, it will also make your employees glad that they work for you. A happy server makes for happy customers and that’s a proven fact.

In the past, Olympic lapel pins were created for spectators and collectors. Today, they are often made for athletes. That’s right! Olympic hopefuls can get their very own lapel pins to hand out. These tiny pieces of memorabilia help mark a gigantic milestone in each athlete’s life. Not only are they relevant and personal, they are also a great way to gain support from the public.

Instead of celebrating their triumphs alone, Olympic hopefuls can share their victories with the people that mean the most to them. All they have to do is wear one of their custom lapel pins wherever they go. They can also keep extras on hand to give out to their family members, friends, neighbors, and fans.

At qualifiers and other special events, lapel pins can be awarded as prizes to athletes. This is just one other way to show the versatility of these highly collectible items. They can also be traded with other athletes much the same way that baseball trading pins are. Each athlete can come to an event with his or her own stash of custom lapel pins. When they meet someone they like and want to swap pins with, they simply trade theirs for another athlete’s. This makes everyone feel like a winner!

Custom lapel pins can be personalized in a number of different ways. In fact, they can be a number of sizes, shapes, and styles. The pins can feature an image or a photograph as well as text. They can be further customized with color. This is a great way to get people to take notice of your athletes and the sports that they compete in.