The Custom Ink Staff is a team of design enthusiasts and promo product experts dedicated to bringing your ideas to life. From screen printing secrets to the latest trends in custom gear, we draw on decades of collective experience to help you create something unforgettable.
Virtual Team Building That Works: How to Engage Remote and Hybrid Teams
Remote work and hybrid teams are the new standard in business. While productivity has held up fine, keeping employees engaged, connected, and invested in the company is a different challenge entirely. Gallup’s 2024 data shows 25% of fully remote workers feel lonely at work. Microsoft’s Work Trend Index found that 59% of [...]
55 Fun Team Building Activities & Games for Work in 2026
Only 21% of employees globally are engaged at work, according to Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace report — costing the world economy $438 billion in lost productivity last year. If you’re the person responsible for changing that number on your team, this list is for you. It covers 55 team building activities across [...]
The Complete Guide to Team Building: ROI, Stages, and Strategy
In one year alone, disengaged employees cost the global economy $438 billion in lost productivity, according to Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace. That’s more than the annual GDP of Norway. This expense happens because teams aren’t working well together. If you’ve ever run a team-building program that [...]
Custom Tech Gadgets vs. Branded Pens and Totes: Your Guide to Cost-Effective Promotional Items
Did you know that a branded pen generates 2,436 impressions over its lifetime, while a power bank generates just 870? On paper, the pen looks like the stronger marketing investment — and for some small businesses, it is. But here’s the catch: 40% of consumers say receiving a custom power bank makes them more likely to do business [...]
Holiday Giveaway Ideas for Small Business: Branded Gift Baskets Customers Actually Keep
Twelve months from now, one of your customers will still be using a gift you gave them this holiday season. The others will be forgotten by February. According to ASI’s 2026 Ad Impressions Study, 78% of consumers hold onto a branded item for a single reason: it’s useful. That insight should shape your entire holiday marketing [...]
The School Spirit Gap Survey: Is Your School Paying the Turnout Tax?
School spirit doesn’t happen by accident — and neither does the gap between schools that have it and schools that don’t. Our School Spirit Gap Survey — a 2026 survey of 447 PTA coordinators, booster club leads, athletic directors, teachers, and school administrators across the country — puts a number on what we call the [...]
Wearable Marketing for Small Businesses: How to Design Custom Hats & Apparel
A branded hat delivers high-impact advertising. It’s worn for an average of 10 months and generates about 3,400 impressions over its lifetime, at a cost-per-impression of just 3/10 of a cent, according to ASI’s Ad Impressions research. That ROI is unbeatable for small business owners who need every marketing dollar to count. [...]
Don’t Be the Invisible Booth: Pop-Up Shop & Trade Show Marketing for Small Business
There is a moment every first-time trade show exhibitor knows: you spend months planning, order everything on time, set up the booth, and then realize the exhibit next to yours has a floor-to-ceiling backlit display, matching staff polos, and a prize wheel drawing a crowd. Your folding table with a paper sign and a pile of business cards [...]