It's hard to imagine a simple black and white pencil being much of an advertisement, but it is. We distributed these at sales presentations, seminars and workshops, and we gave them away to clients and anyone who came in the door.

We chose a thicker-than-average pencil, with a hefty eraser. I like logo pencils better than pens. First of all, they're cheaper. Second, they write upside down. Advertising specialty companies sent us dozens of sample pens emblazoned with "CareerLab." But I never found one I liked as much as the pencils.