Most folks wouldn’t mind seeing their name in lights.

Thanks to ADG Promotional Products (asi/97270; www.adgpromo.com), I finally got the chance.

ADG was nice enough to send me a personalized sample of the Luminate Delta Stylus Click Pen (#P45986) – a new writing instrument for 2017.

As you can see in the pictures here, the company info and – ahem! – the name of yours truly light up and stay lit when you click the touch screen stylus tip at the top. Don’t want the illumination? Press the stylus tip again, and the lights go out and you’re left with a nicely executed imprint.

Now, ADG says this stylus pen features the market’s first laser-illuminated imprint, which sounds kind of cool in a Star Warsy way. I can also attest that the stylus works well with my iPhone and iPad, and that the comfort grip has spared my office worker hands from further calluses related to pen pushing…

Still, I’m not sure if all of that would have been enough to make me do what I’m doing now – writing a piece exclusively about the Luminate Delta Stylus Click Pen to share with the thousands of promotional product professionals who read content on ASICentral.

Candidly, what really compelled me to take action was the fact that ADG personalized the pen with my name. I felt gratitude at their taking the time to do so. The personalization component really helped the pen to stand out from the scores upon scores of samples we receive and comb through in the course of a month here at ASI’s magazines.

So, as you may have guessed, here’s the takeaway: When doing self-promotions that involve branded merchandise, consider personalizing the products you send to prospects. Sure, this presents additional challenges and might not always be feasible. But when you personalize, I bet more than a few recipients will sit up and take extra notice of you, the way I did with ADG. You’ll seem that much more professional, on point and truly interested in helping the prospect. Perhaps that will put some earth between you and competitors, giving you an edge in ultimately earning the business of recipients. I suspect it will.