Are you a business owner seeking unique promotional items to distribute at conferences and trade shows? Are you an author looking for swag to hand out at booksignings and conventions? I’ve got a neat marketing tool idea for you to consider: a USB business card from USB Memory Direct.

The company approached me about sending free flash drives printed with either my logo or a book cover in exchange for a review and blog post. I eagerly accepted this opportunity as I was scheduled to lead a self-editing workshop at a writers’ conference and wanted to offer items for the goodie bags.

Many writers give out bookmarks, postcards, and business cards at conferences and signings, but I wanted something more memorable. USB Memory Direct specializes in custom-printed flash drives, which can be an effective marketing tool due to their recognizable shape and large print area. When I described the flash drives to one of the conference organizers, she loved the idea. Paper swag tends to get thrown out, but a flash drive is a practical and useful memento.

How Can A Flash Drive Be A Marketing Tool?

Credit card flash drives are a great choice for artists and professionals alike. These flash drives fit into a wallet or purse, and can be printed across the entire surface of the card using the company’s high quality full color printing process. You can print it like a promotional flyer or like a business card complete with your contact information for easy reference. The company can also offer data preloading of your documents, portfolio, or media.

USB Memory Direct has several options for business card flash drives such as card-tab, round card flip, card flip, card spin, compact card flip (great for keychains),  and card twist. You can see examples of each option on the company’s website. In addition, they offer wooden USB drives in different grains and colors, including one style that resembles a book.

USB Memory Direct also offers classic compact flash drive styles, USB wristband/flash drive bracelets, leather USB flash drives, USB pens, and printed power banks. All can be customized to promote your brand.

Review

I found USB Memory Direct efficient and pleasant in their communications. They helped me select a flash drive style, asked me to send a high-resolution image, and e-mailed me digital samples so I could see how it looked. I chose to send the Shortcuts for Writers logo, but using one of my book covers would have been another option.

My flash drives were the compact card flip style which features a flip out USB drive, helping to protect the data from everyday wear.

They arrived extremely well packaged, each flash drive in its own clear plastic wrapper. I was impressed by the sleek design, and the printed logo came out great. They company was even able to put my website on the back.

Unfortunately, the pandemic led to the cancellation of the conference where I planned to give these out. I’m eager to distribute the flash drives in the future and am certain they will be well-received. They would also be nice for giveaways; for example, an author could pre-load the flash drive with an e-book, short story, or bonus content, and there would still be plenty of room for the recipient’s own files.

In addition to distributing the flash drives at conferences, I will likely give some to my editing clients. These flash drives are definitely a unique and useful promotional product, and I recommend checking them out. For more information, visit the USB Memory Direct website. And if you like the design of the Shortcuts for Writers flash drives pictured above, here is the link to the compact card flip style.