The last time you were given a promotional T-shirt or pen did you wear it with pride or stash it away in your bottom draw? That can be the difference between success and failure for businesses and organisations depending on whether they get their marketing campaigns right.

And it is the job of Maryellen Jackson, owner of Atlantic Stitches, to help her clients make the most out of their promotional products.

"In a nutshell, I sell products to businesses to help them market their business to their customers and end users," she said.

"I use promotional products to do that, including everything from pencils and pens to mugs and shirts - it is anything that helps them to get a sale and to actually stay in touch with their customers." Indeed Ms Jackson, who runs the business from her home in Knapton Estates Road with three full-time staff, has made products for a range of customers from individuals, schools, clubs and churches to small and medium-sized businesses and even Government departments and the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation.

She said usually a client calls up for an item such as a shirt and then comes back for additional ideas to market their organisation.

Atlantic Stitches will ask a specific set of questions about the client's campaign to meet their individual needs, according to Ms Jackson.

"Each business is very specific," she said.

"A construction company, for example, is not going to have the same needs as a business that is predominantly in an office environment." Ms Jackson started off as a PE teacher at Warwick Academy, having got her qualifications at St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Salem State College in Massachusetts, North West State University in Maryland, Missouri.

But having worked with a number of promotional products like polo and T-shirts for incoming freshman at college, she decided to try her hand at making them and started up her own business.

She bought an embroidery machine in 1998 and launched the company two years later, admitting it was a big leap into the unknown, having never run a business before.

"It was a big leap of faith and trust," she said.

"I did not know much about how to run a business and I had to learn quickly by trial and error, but what I did know was how to treat people and I started to think what I would want from a customer's perspective." Since then the business has grown from strength to strength, picking up more repeat orders and loyal customers, mainly just by word of mouth. However, for Ms Jackson, it was all about customer service and providing a level of quality of which she was proud.

Among the satisfied customers were former Premier Alex Scott, who sent her a letter of thanks for her service.

She also received her Certified Advertising Specialist award in 2007 from the Promotional Products Association International, the benchmark for what is a $19 billion industry in the US, and is currently working towards her Master Advertising Specialist accreditation.

"Very often we have clients who call us with an hard order to fulfill and seemingly we have to magic up a compilation of products for them, but whenever that happens you get a really good sense of satisfaction from it," she said.

"We had a case in point where a local charity called up on a Monday and they needed goods for an event right away and that same Friday they were delivered here and collected." With the world now a much smaller place thanks to improved transportation links, Atlantic Stitches sources 99 percent of its products from the US, while the rest come from Canada, Pakistan and China.

But it is really the advent of e-mail and the Internet, which has allowed the company to develop fully and meet its customers' requirements in this ever increasing age of technology, said Ms Jackson. "Internet usage has definitely affected the way we do business both locally and with our vendors," she said.

"That has definitely sped up the communication and also the processing of orders - there are some companies that we will do business with and I have never even met the person concerned because we use e-mail and the Internet. But the rapport between the client and us is always there in the friendly, down-to-earth kind of approach to the way we do business." She said the biggest hurdle facing her business and the industry as a whole was enabling customers to get the maximum return on their investment, including knowing which market to target with their products and how to reach those people.

"It has got to be added and perceived value at the same time," she said. "It is just understanding who you are dealing with, in choosing the right product and structuring the whole programme around the objective they want to fulfill." And with 250,000 promotional items available in the industry, it is even more important for the customer to choose the right product, according to Ms Jackson.

"I like to come up with about eight different choices for the client," she said.

"That is the advantage of dealing with a company direct - they know what they are getting from you - they can go to the Internet and buy the product, but without any real knowledge of what it is.

"My goal with Atlantic Stitches was to create a business that was distinct from any other business that sells the same goods, by not only providing them with the product and service, but wanting the product to do what it is designed to do and to see our clients be successful as a result." Ms Jackson, who is kept busy by her five-year-old daughter in her spare time, also plays hockey, having represented the Bermuda women's national team and club side Canaries. She went on tour to the CAC Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic two years ago.

She enjoys playing, coaching and umpiring cricket as well, playing for the women's national side on their tour of South Africa in February and is due to make the trip to Argentina in March next year. "There are plans to expand the business," said Ms Jackson. "Atlantic Stitches will continue to exist in its own right and there is another arm of the business that is going to grow out of the company dealing with the consultancy side of things.

"I love what I do and it is the most rewarding experience for me, particularly the variety it gives me, but what I like best about it is coming into contact with, meeting and building relationships with people, including clients and vendors.

"I like to be able to shake a hand, say hello and give someone a smile, it is not just about exchanging money." Just remember that the next time you receive a promotional shirt or pen - the amount of thought and work that goes into making it.