Dave Burnett provides an overview of four popular types of promotional pens: ballpoint pens, rollerball pens, fountain pens, and felt-tip pens. He describes the construction and features of each type of pen, noting that ballpoint pens are the most versatile but rollerball pens produce excellent ink coverage. Fountain pens have a history based on quill pens and some consider them very classy. Felt-tip pens like markers come in many varieties for different functions. Burnett concludes by promoting his company AnOpportunityKnocks.com as a resource for high-quality promotional products.

1. An Opportunity Knocks:
Sourcing and Product Ideas
Dave Burnett / db@aokmg.com
Today I Want to Address Some of the
Questions We Get on a Daily Basis
About Promotional Pens.
Let’s start with the two most popular varieties—
ballpoint pens and rollerball pens. Then I’ll
address some other great options, like fountain
pens and felt‑tip pens.

2. The Ballpoint Pen Is Without Doubt the
Most Versatile Promotional Pen.
The ballpoint pen receives its name from it
construction. There’s a little ball or sphere
attached to the very point of the pen that
helps distribute the ink onto the paper. So,
Custom Three-in-One Pen basically, when you move the pen, the rolling
Ballpoint with Stylus and Light
action of the little sphere dispenses the ink.
The sphere can be made of several different
metals, but usually they’re made of tungsten,
brass, or steel. Ballpoint pens have a self-
contained ink supply so you don’t need an
external source and there are refills for the Frosted Translucent Four-Sided Barrel
better ones. Wide Body with Contrast Color
Dave Burnett www.AnOpportunityKnocks.com

3. The Rollerball Pen Is Very Much
Like the Ballpoint Pen, But There Are
Major Differences.
The rollerball pen also has an internal ink cartridge and a ball
or sphere for a point, but the major difference is that they use
gel or water‑based ink, and the rolling action dispenses a lot
more ink onto the page, which carries with it some
disadvantages: they sometimes have a tendency to bleed
through the paper; the ink cartridge usually doesn’t last as long
so they run out of ink sooner; depending on certain situations
(like changing air pressure when traveling by air) they might
leak; and, finally, left‑handed people tend to smudge their
hands as they write because of the amount of ink they dispense
onto the page. Still, they are preferred by many because of the
Roller-Ball Styles excellence and consistency of the ink coverage they produce.
Dave Burnett www.AnOpportunityKnocks.com

4. The Third Type of Pen I Want to Spotlight
Is the Fountain Pen. This Type of Pen
Enjoys a Great History.
The idea for the fountain pen is based historically on the quill
pens that our forefathers and their ancestors used. They had
a separate ink supply and would dip their quills in the ink. A
hundred years ago it was common for desks to have inkwells,
basically holes cut out of the top corner of the desk to hold Moderno
the ink bottle. If too much ink was applied to the paper they Fountain Pen Set
would blot it to help it dry quickly. Most modern fountain pens have internal
ink reservoirs, which you can still refill either manually or by a vacuum
process—or you can get refills from the store. The difference with fountain
pens is that they have a nib instead of a ball or a sphere for a point. Some
people consider the fountain pen to be a very classy writing instrument.
Dave Burnett www.AnOpportunityKnocks.com

5. The Fourth Type of Pen I Want to
Highlight Today Is the Marker, Also Known
as the Felt‑Tip Pen.
Markers and felt-tip pens are basically made of two parts—a core of porous
material that contains the ink and a container. The majority of these pens
have a cap so that the ink inside the core does not dry out—I’m sure you can
relate to this if you’ve ever left one on your desk overnight uncapped; it’s dry
as a bone the next day. There are many different types of felt ‑tip pens to
choose from depending on their
function, including the dry‑erase
markers, permanent markers,
fabric markers, erasable pens, and
the most common of all, the
Dry Erase
Combo Pack
Extra Fine Point
Permanent Marker
Sharpies
highlighter.
Dave Burnett www.AnOpportunityKnocks.com

6. An Opportunity Knocks:
Sourcing and Product Ideas
Dave Burnett / db@aokmg.com
Get your name out there with
amazing promotional products
from AnOpportunityKnocks.com,
the number one promotional products
resource on the Internet.
Sixty-four categories and almost 200 subcategories of industry-leading
products, including (but not limited to): Apparel, Awards, Business Cases,
Calendars, Desk Items, Executive, Eco-Friendly, Golf, Health and Wellness ,
Key Chains, Luggage and Cases, Mugs and Tumblers, Pens, Pencils, and
Highlighters, Post-It Notes, Safety, Tools, Travel, USB Drives, and Watches.