At iPROMOTEu, we love our Affiliates and are committed to helping them achieve their goals. We also believe in sharing their stories — how they got into the promotional products business, what led them to join our organization, how we’ve supported their success, and what they enjoy most about working with us. Check back often for more Affiliate success stories, and be sure to sign up for our newsletter to be notified when new spotlights are available.
About PromoMonster
PromoMonster is an iPROMOTEu Affiliate based in Rolling Meadows, Illinois and founded in 2008 by Charles (Chuck) Feldman and his business partner Steve Goldstein. For more than 10 years, PromoMonster has been an industry-recognized, award-winning leader in branded promotional products, corporate apparel, and incentive merchandise. They offer a client-centric, boutique-style service coupled with large-firm leverage that allows them to deliver best-in-class service and competitive pricing. PromoMonster specializes in the manufacturing, industrial, entertainment, gaming, automotive, construction, and health care industries and partners with a prestigious roster of national and global clients.
PromoMonster was founded after Chuck and his parents decided to close the clothing manufacturing business that they were running together in 2008. Chuck then reached out to Steve Goldstein, a salesperson at the company, and together they opened up PromoMonster in October of 2008. Since then, PromoMonster has changed office locations four times and has added long time associate Mary Karlov as Director of Operations and Mike Jiang as National Accounts Manager.
Searching for a Solution
PromoMonster had customers but they were looking for support, and so they reached out to and interviewed a number of different promotional products distributor organizations — one of which was iPROMOTEu.
After speaking with iPROMOTEu Executive Vice President Rick Badiner, they asked iPROMOTEu along with a couple of the other organizations they met with to send them contracts outlining their terms and conditions. Upon reviewing the contracts, the decision ultimately came down to iPROMOTEu and an iPROMOTEu competitor. “We were kind of between the two of them, trying to decide what to do,” Chuck said.
After reading through both of the organization’s contracts, they realized that if they were to do business with the iPROMOTEu competitor, they would need to sign away their customers and would lose the rights to them — not to mention that their contract was overly complicated and exceeded 50 pages in length.
“iPROMOTEu’s contract was light and easy. It was only six pages, three of which were just explaining the company. We felt comfortable with them. Rick Badiner has been in our shoes as a distributor and totally understands it. He and I really hit it off, so we decided on working with iPROMOTEu.”
With iPROMOTEu, PromoMonster was able to continue doing business under its own name and could retain the rights to its customers, which, along with his relationship with Rick, was appealing to Chuck.
Putting iPROMOTEu at the Forefront
When they first started working with iPROMOTEu, PromoMonster wasn’t taking advantage of all the benefits that came with being an Affiliate.
“When we first started working with iPROMOTEu, we were keeping it a secret. I didn’t think that our customers or prospects needed to know that we were with iPROMOTEu because that was on the supplier side of things. From the customer standpoint, we were simply PromoMonster,” Chuck said.
Soon, a couple of large opportunities arose, and PromoMonster began talking to the iPROMOTEu team about how they could change their approach.
“One thing I realized was that we had significant financial strength that we weren’t telling our prospects about. We were keeping it a secret. So I switched things around and put iPROMOTEu in front,” Chuck said.
“Now, when I walk into any prospect meeting, one of the first things that I tell them is that we’re backed by a $200 million company and that we can take any size order without a deposit. Suddenly, I was being looked at in a different light. That was the biggest change in putting iPROMOTEu at the forefront.”
How iPROMOTEu Services Benefit PromoMonster
iPROMOTEu offers plenty of different services to its Affiliates to both empower and support them in running their businesses. Chuck takes advantage of these and has used the iPROMOTEu Virtual Assistant Program (VAP) and currently uses a business planner to help him run his business.
“Our business planner has been instrumental in helping me run my business. We talk every week and he provides me with suggestions. It’s nice having somebody to bounce ideas off of. Small businesses don’t have many advisors, so having that advantage is very beneficial,” Chuck said.
He cites iPROMOTEu’s Affiliate Services as being another considerable benefit to his team during the early stages of his affiliation as well as how beneficial it can be for new Affiliates. “Having worked with iPROMOTEu for so long, I know who to go to when I need different things, but for new Affiliates that might not, they have Affiliate Services to refer to. As an Affiliate, you can call Affiliate Services with any issues that you might have.”
A Successful Affiliation
With the help of iPROMOTEu, Chuck was able to grow PromoMonster exponentially from its first year as an Affiliate in 2008. Since affiliating with iPROMOTEu, Chuck’s business has grown more than seven times over.
In terms of the greatest benefit that PromoMonster receives from affiliating with iPROMOTEu, it would have to be simply working with their team of experts. “The number one benefit is the team of people that you have behind you. In my office, we’ve got our team doing our jobs, but I also know I’ve got my accounts receivable, collections, order follow-up, and invoicing covered. All of that is handled by iPROMOTEu. I still have to be a part of the team, but I don’t have to worry about hiring 40 people,” Chuck said.
Chuck credits iPROMOTEu for helping him grow into a credible business. “The biggest thing that iPROMOTEu has done for Steve and me is helping us build a legitimate business from nothing. We went from having a few customers to 3,000 square feet, multiple offices, and needing additional space. We’ve turned into a company,” said Chuck. “Since the day we decided to affiliate with iPROMOTEu, I can truly say that we have been very satisfied and thankful for our decision. We knew we would be with a company that is fair, responsible, and honest. A company that is always striving to be the best partner for their Affiliates. A company we are proud to be a part of.”
“The amazing team at iPROMOTEu has helped us grow into a better version of PromoMonster. The support we receive gives us the ability to present ourselves as a boutique-style, quasi-advertising agency while our backend makes us a powerhouse to both vendors and clients.”