Catalyst Promotions Blog

I thought I would start out by explaining the best way to make sure you have the items you want in time for your event.  The time it takes to complete an order is often longer than the standard 10 days production time.  The reason for this is that there is a lot more to getting an order completed than the actual production of the item.  It can be easy to forget that art and shipping can sometimes add a significant amount of time to the process.

Depending on your needs, the art creation and approval process can be time-consuming.  The best way to shorten this is to have as complete an idea of what you are looking for as possible.  We are always willing to help turn your crayon on a napkin ideas into a beautiful design, but this can take time.  We will do our best to have art for you to approve in 2 or 3 days, but this may not be the end of the process. If the art requires a lot of revision, a few more days could be taken up.  The best way to ensure minimal art time is to send us “camera ready art.”  I will explain what this is in more detail in another post, but essentially it is vectored art and it is the format that we sent straight to the factory.

The next hurdle is shipping time.  This can be anywhere from 1 to 5 days.  Some of our factories have multiple shipping locations.  We will always ship your product from the nearest available location, but if the factory is located in California it’s a 5 day ship.  If you find yourself in a bind expedited shipping is available.  This can be very costly, especially for large or heavy items.  If you need your product by a particular date, please let us know so we can help you choose the best shipping option.

I know that you are not always able to begin the order process within the safety zone described above.  Sometimes your boss comes in and tells you to have something by next week and there isn’t anything you can do to give yourself more time.  Don’t worry, we will do everything we can to help you meet your in-hands date.  One way to start is by browsing through our Rush Items section on our website.  These are products that have a much shorter production time, sometimes as little as 24 hrs.  There will still be art and shipping time involved, but we want you to get the product you need in time that you have.

I hope this will be helpful as you think about what you need and when you need it.  If you know you are going to need something in the near future, go ahead and give us a call to get the ball rolling.  We can delay shipping if you do not want it too early.  Let us help you clear off your to-do list and you can relax a little knowing that you order will be there when you need it.

–Ken