123Print's Tips for Your Small Business

19Aug 2015 by Cindy Berrier No Comments

3 Ways to Make a Results-Only Work Environment Work For You

News of the Web, Starting a new business

The Results-Only Work Environment, or ROWE, is a way to empower your employees and give them flexibility to do their job on their terms. ROWE was created by Jody Thompson and Cali Ressler, former human resources managers for Best Buy. They tried to find a way to satisfy employees' desires to have more control over their jobs. What they came up with was a workplace philosophy where employees are judged on one thing: whether or not the job is done. In a ROWE workplace, employees dictate when and where they work. As long as they deliver, whatever they decide is fine. While Results-Only Work Environments may not make sense for all businesses, many companies can tweak ROWE and find a version that works for them. Here are some common concerns about ROWE, and…

19Aug 2015 by Cindy Berrier No Comments

5 Quick Wedding Budget Tips

Marketing

For the budget-conscious bride, planning a wedding can get overwhelming. Little costs add up, and it's easy to find yourself paying for a more expensive wedding than you'd originally thought. However, it's possible to have a wedding that fits your vision of the perfect day without demolishing your savings account. Here are five tips for cutting costs:1) Keep Stationery Costs Low A lot of mailing costs goes into planning a wedding. These expenses may seem unavoidable: You do, after all, have to invite people to your wedding. However, you can bring the price of your correspondence down without resorting to hoping everyone checks their email. One way to cut down on postage is to have light, single-page wedding invitations. Skipping envelopes by using save-the-date postcards is another way to make your stationery…

18Aug 2015 by Cindy Berrier No Comments

How to Use QR Codes Effectively

Customer Retention, Marketing, Starting a new business

New businesses need to market their services in the best way possible. Generating brand recognition is one of the most important steps for growing companies, and also one of the easiest ones to mess up. It's easy to get excited about marketing technologies and dive into the coolest trends, but some marketing trends need to be given extra care. Quick Response (QR) codes are one marketing trend that can be beneficial if it is used well - yet it often isn't. While QR codes make a great addition to printed marketing materials like business flyers, they require more effort than simple text. Here's how to make sure your QR codes bring you a response. Audience When considering any kind of marketing tool, it's important to think about who you're trying to reach. In…

14Aug 2015 by Cindy Berrier No Comments

How to Make the Most of an Interview

Starting a new business

When you're bringing someone new into your business, it's important to make sure they're the right candidate. An impressive resume only tells you that they're capable of performing the basic functions of the job: The interview is your chance to get a feel for their their work ethic, how they function under pressure and if their personality fits into the culture of your company. These factors can be particularly nebulous for new businesses that are still in the process of developing goals for the future. Here are some ways you can ensure the questions you're asking get you the info you need: 'Tell Me About A Time...' Behavioral interview questions are your way of figuring out how a candidate acts on the job. They give the candidate an opportunity to share their experiences overcoming obstacles…

14Aug 2015 by Cindy Berrier No Comments

Business Cards: What Not to Do

Marketing

Your business cards should make an impression, but you need to make sure it's the right one. The wrong design decisions can take away from your message and leave whoever is holding them with a bad taste in their mouths. Here are some business card mistakes you don't want to make:Forgetting Contact Information The main point of a business card is to let people know how to reach you, so make sure yours does. It's not as simple as including a phone number and email address: You want to make sure there's a clear path to reaching you. If your email address is listed as [email protected], people may assume their emails won't go directly to you. Even if you're the only one reading emails sent to that address, it's important to list an…

13Aug 2015 by Cindy Berrier No Comments

Benefits of Handwritten Letters for Small Businesses

Customer Retention, Marketing, Starting a new business

Between emails, instant messages and texts, it's easy to forget about pen and paper. Research done in 2012 found that of 2,000 study participants, a third could not remember having written by hand in the preceding six months. Handwriting may be in decline, but small-business owners should consider brushing up on their penmanship.Hand written notes are an excellent way to network. The clearest reason for this is that they're unique, since most business correspondence happens over email. Because letter writing was such a standard practice before the popularity of email, the rarity of hand written letters only makes them stand out in a good way. Handwritten letters are really impactful for the person on the other end. Consider the last time you got a handwritten letter: Odds are good you were excited the moment…

12Aug 2015 by Cindy Berrier No Comments

Designing a Logo for Your Business Card

Marketing, Starting a new business

Making a logo is one of the major parts of establishing a brand and creating a new business. This icon will be the symbol for your company for years to come, residing on emails, business cards and all of your client or customer-facing communications. That's why it's important to take your time creating the logo to be sure it really represents your company. Here are some things to consider when making your logo:Logos Are (Almost) Forever Think about a big brand that is a household name. How often has that logo changed? The answer is very likely not often. Changing this iconic image can be difficult because it involves altering so much of your business, from the standard business cards to door hangers, email signatures and even the sign outside…

12Aug 2015 by Cindy Berrier No Comments

How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep When You’re Stressed

Starting a new business

Sleep is a fickle thing. Even when you're perfectly relaxed, it can sometimes be hard to get your brain to turn off. Adding stress to that equation only makes it worse: Every business card you wish you'd handed out and unchecked line on your to-do list can reduce the quality of your sleep. Before you know it, you're staring at the clock at 4 a.m., calculating exactly how many hours of sleep you'd get if you managed to fall asleep that instant. Poor sleep leads to more stress, which leads to worse sleep, so it's important to break that cycle as soon as possible. According to the Mayo Clinic, humans need between seven and nine hours of uninterrupted sleep. The average adult only gets about six and a half, so odds are…

10Aug 2015 by Cindy Berrier No Comments

Should You Order Business Cards?

Marketing, Starting a new business

There comes a point in every young entrepreneur's life when they have to decide, "Should I order business cards?" This often feels like a big step - like you're making your chosen career official, or like the idea of a company you've been kicking around is finally a legitimate endeavor. If you're trying to decide if you should order standard business cards, here are some tips to convince you it's a good idea:Are Your Company Details Finalized? If you're starting your own business, you don't need to know every nuance of the company before you order business cards. The only information you really need is the company name and a way to contact you. It's also smart to have a logo that you're really happy with and plan to use for the…

04Aug 2015 by Cindy Berrier No Comments

Consider These Tips When Making Custom Address Labels

Marketing, Starting a new business

As a business owner, it's important to provide insight and quality control in many aspects of your company. You want to make sure everything is on brand and represents what your values are. That means all forms of communication must be well done and thought out. If you're looking to make mail correspondence easier and less time consuming, you should make some custom address labels. Here are things to consider when doing so:Style If you've already made business cards, company flyers or event postcards you've likely established some kind of style that represents your company. Take a look at your logo. What colors do you use? This is a great place to start. Browse through the options that already exist, like "Solid Silver," "Great Connections" and "Evergreen Forest." There are…