As a small business owner, I know how important it is to stay in contact with my customers.  Doing so lets them know that I am more concerned about establishing an ongoing relationship than just making a single sale.  For me, staying in contact can take several different forms, such as sending out monthly newsletters, sales notices, updated product catalogs or even annual reviews.  No matter what kind of materials I choose to send to my customers it usually takes a lot of time and effort to successfully complete a mass mailing.  Fortunately, I have supplies such as Avery address labels that make the whole process go a lot faster.

I prefer Avery address labels over other brands for a number of reasons.  One thing, Avery address labels are the product of choice for popular word processing programs such as Microsoft Word or WordPerfect.  This means I can format my Avery address labels right from my word processor without having to perform tedious measurements first.  I simply select the product number from a drop down box in Word, execute the mail merge feature and wait for the printing run to finish.  It’s really as easy as that!  Then the Avery address labels come out perfectly centered and very professional looking.  This is exactly what I want since that’s the first thing my customers will notice when they receive their envelopes.

Another reason that I prefer Avery address labels is that they come in a variety of sizes and styles.  One thing I can’t stand about business mailings, it’s when the label is either too big or too small for the envelope.  I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.  When I get an envelope like that, I immediately start thinking that the correspondence is from a completely amateur operation.  That’s not the image I want to project, so I make sure that I choose the right Avery address label for the job.  When I’m sending out my catalogs I use bigger envelopes, which of course call for bigger labels.  On the other hand, a simple letter would call for something smaller.  No matter what size I need, I know I can find an Avery address label that will be a perfect fit.

Finally, I continue to buy Avery address labels because they are a good value.  I constantly have to worry about my bottom line and sometimes it’s hard to find quality products at a reasonable cost.  But there are several office supply websites that offer fantastic deals on Avery address labels, so I’m always sure that I’ll be able to replenish my stock while remaining well within my budget.

If your business, church or charitable organization sends out a lot of mass mailings, I recommend using Avery address labels instead of other brands.  The first impression that your envelope makes on the intended recipient is extremely important.  So don’t put your faith in cheap products.  Check out a few of the great deals on Avery address labels and order some today.

Packaging supplies are some of the first things you have to think about if you want to have a business in your home. Though you may not have to have a lot at first, when things get busy, you want to make sure you don’t run out at a bad time. Those who have stores on eBay often have to have a good supply on hand, and they want to make sure they have the very best so that they do not come upon a lot of unhappy customers. Even one bad feedback and wreck someone’s reputation.

Luckily packaging supplies are not too expensive, but it may seem like it when you first go out to stock up. If you don’t have a lot of money, you may be tempted to squeak by with items of a lesser quality. You don’t want to do this. You want packaging supplies that are durable and that will withstand anything you can imagine happening to your package was well as some things you can’t imagine. There are probably some things that happen to packages en route to their destination that we don’t even want to know about.

When it comes to packaging supplies, you want to make sure you get a quality tape to seal up your packages. You don’t want to use string, or a tape that will come loose once it is exposed to moisture. Get something that is proven to hold not matter what you put it through. You also want to make sure you get good stuffing material when you buy your packaging supplies. Get peanuts for larger packages and make sure you get more than you think you need. As time goes on you may be able to use less once you figure out how to package more efficiently, but when you start out you want to err on the side of caution.

You can find many places to get packaging supplies at a good price. If you buy in bulk you will pay less. There are many places online as well as office supply stores in your community that may have just what you need. There are also places that specialize in packaging supplies that may have the best deals you can find. If you network with a few people in your town that also have a need for supplies, you might want to place your orders together as one big order to save even more money.

Are you old enough to remember the days when someone in the office had to lug a heavy postage meter and stand in line, waiting for a turn to fork over a check in exchange for crediting the meter with the check’s amount of postage? What a hassle. Thank goodness those days are long gone.

Now you can have the convenience of having a meter in your office, but you don’t ever have to traipse on down to the Post Office to fill it up. Thanks of technology used by Pitney Bowes, a venerable company based in Albany, New York. Venerable here meaning that they have a long and successful track record helping people with weighing and affixing postage to packages in their own offices. There may be other U.S. companies than Pitney Bowes that make postage meters, but Pitney Bowes is the big player in the market.

How does it work?  You might wonder. It comes with a phone cord. Plug it into any old standard telephone line, push the meter’s “refill” button, and it takes less than a minute to refill the meter. Less than a minute compared to the old standing in the post office line routine. Not bad. Then you unplug the meter and get back to building your business. Your credit card will be charged with the amount credited to the meter. What could be easier for a small business person or office manager?

Another thing is you don’t have to use one of those flimsy little hand scales to weigh your packages.  You hope and pray that it’s accurate amount so that your package isn’t returned with a “postage due” stamp on it. You don’t have to worry about putting too much postage on either. The meter comes with a nifty electronic scale that can determine the exact weight of your parcels. And voila, you have a very professional level mailing operation.

Now, stamps are wonderful. They come in all sorts of beautiful designs. But metered mail looks more official, more professional. The company offers a 60 day trial, so you have nothing to lost by trying it out. Sometimes they offer free bonus coupons that are redeemable for postage after the trial period.

If this piques your interest, you can find more information at www.PBMAIL4.com. Before you jump in, though, it would be a good idea to evaluate the volume and type of mail you send out. Obviously if you mostly just send out a low volume of letters and use a FedEx delivery occasionally, stamps and a FedEx account may be all you need. Bumping up to a meter may not make sense. But if you’ve got some volume and variety in package size and weight, and you want to contribute to your professional presence, check it out.